October Gig Previews

Posted on 03/10/2017 by brightonmusicblog

Here’s our now-officially-regular-again October gig preview post. And it’s only the 3rd October! It’s getting nearer to the start of the month every time we do one.

21199608_10155790394317376_1071634475236220162_o There’s a lot to see this weekend, and hopefully something for everyone. On Friday night (6th) you could opt for The Dials, who launch their album at the Hope & Ruin, accompanied by a lightshow by Innerstrings and also a DJ set by Steve Mason. Alternatively you could head to the Rosehill where Shona Foster plays with her new band, supported by Ellie Ford. Or you could head to the Prince Albert, where Sparrow (or should that be Sprrw these days?) launch their new album 21762858_1975943142689831_1015946315148142499_o .

Then on Saturday night you’ve got King Mob Magazine’s first All Dayer at the Green Door Store. Their headliner Leyya is from out of town, but for the price of your ticket (only a fiver in advance), you’ll also get to see Blush, Tuval, Mother Me, Good Guy Clarence, Sad Girls Club, Circe, and Ezekiel Doo. If that doesn’t float your boat, then Normanton Street headlining the Haunt is also a good bet.

20690388_1868747650041573_4992534138454513008_o There’s a gig at Sticky Mike’s that caught our eye on Thursday 12th October – The Professor and the Gentleman, which puts Professor Elemental And Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer on the same stage for a night of chap hop. I expect The New Faith frontman Will Charlton to be just as dapper as them when they launch their new album, Me on You, on Friday 13th October at the Brighthelm Centre.

22046019_1844937522201940_7004050308091849527_n Our next pick is AK/DK’s gig at the Green Door Store to launch their new album Patterns / Harmonics which is on Tuesday 24th October. Yesterday the supports were announced as Battery Operated Orchestra and Japanese Sweets. The following night (Wednesday 25th) Yonaka play at Patterns as part of the Hopscotch tour alongside Anteros and Stereo Honey. If you fancy seeing Yonaka but can’t make the 25th, the band have just announced a gig at the Green Door Store on 19th January.

Onto the last weekend in October now with two gigs on Saturday 28th October to tip. The first of these is the next Spectrum gig (they’re also running a seminar on 25th October with Tru Thoughts called How To Put A Record Out). This gig at the Basement doubles up as the launch party for the Dog In The Snow album Consume Me, and also has Knightstown and TEEFF on the bill. The other gig that night that we’d be at if we could be in two places at once is the Heavy Load reunion gig at the Green Door Store. Heavy Load were a much loved punk band made up of band members with and without learning disabilities, formed in the noughties who were active until their final gig in Trafalgar Square as part of the Paralympics in 2012. They also formed Stay Up Late, a charity set up to help people with disabilities to take part in evening activities where they might not have support from carers. A documentary was made about them which was screened in March this year and subsequently reunion talks took place, but sadly lead singer Simon Barker died in August. The reunion gig is taking place in his memory, and rather than getting a new singer in a raffle is taking place for people to sing songs. You can apply here.

An Alternative 2016 Albums best of…

Posted on 28/12/2016 by brightonmusicblog

So Rob always has his top ten Brighton albums of the year and it’s always very good and there are usually one or two overlaps with Jon’s but they’re never the same, so in the spirit of diversity and a reflection of the excellent year 2016 has been for music, Jon thought he’d drop a few Rob failed to mention and which happen to be top of his list. Continue reading →

Guest Post : Bee Adamic’s Great Escape Picks

Posted on 16/05/2016 by brightonmusicblog

Now Europe’s most talked about showcase festival, is taking place in a matter of days in our fantastic city. The Great Escape Festival is seen as a ‘mecca for music lovers’. It’s baby sister the Alternative Great Escape will soon be eclipsing the main event.. with the 2016 lineup proving to be even stronger. One of the things I love about the alternative events, is not only are they in your standard live music venues, but you’ll also see them hosted in at your favourite bagel bar, vintage clothes shop or even courtyard. Here are my top 10 highlights for this year’s Alternative Escape: Continue reading →

Ellie Ford launch for ‘The Other Sun’

Gallery

Posted on 23/04/2016 by brightonmusicblog

This gallery contains 12 photos.

Ellie Ford launched her debut album ‘The Other Sun’ at Bleach in Brighton on 22nd April. Brighton Music Blog were there to share in the fun. Opener Alabaster dePlume decided to play in the middle of the room without amplification, … Continue reading →

Gigs we’ve spotted

Posted on 03/02/2015 by brightonmusicblog

Right now, with the evenings going sub-zero it might not seem too appealing to get off the sofa and into town for some live music. We’ve seen a few upcoming gigs which will hopefully change your mind though, starting off with a couple from newly refurbished venues:

You might have noticed that right now The Hope is covered with scaffolding and has been closed for a few weeks. on 12th February it reopens as The Hope & Ruin, And Riots Not Diets are hosting their opening party, with Shopping, The Soft Walls and Keel Her setting the bar for what’s to come.

Another venue which has just had a facelift is The Martha Gunn on Upper Lewes Road. Not traditionally known for gigs, it seems that’s to change in their newly reincarnated form. This Saturday (7th February), Becky Becky headline, supported by a stripped down Fiction Aisle, for a free gig put on by the Flash Bang Band affiliated F=KX.

Fiction Aisle are also support for The Academy of The Sun‘s gig at The Old Market on 19th February. Nick Hudson’s most ambitious project to date have played a few low key gigs so far, but Nick has a history of turning his bigger gigs into events not to be missed.

Fiction Aisle aren’t on the bill for the welcome return of The Bleeding Hearts Club, but it’s surely only a matter of time since Bleeding Hearts put out Tom White’s solo Yalla album. The Bleeding Hearts Club has left it’s old home of the Prince Albert and has relocated to a new home at The Rialto Theatre on Dyke Road, with Gary Goodman, The Hornblower Brothers, Tandy Hard and Mudlow playing on 16th February. After this month, they’ll be back every second monday of the month for the rest of the year.

Another regular night which is making a return soon is The Harvest Sessions, which are restarting on 4th March at The Komedia, coming back with a bang with Luke Sital-Singh, Jacko Hooper and The Standard Lamps.

The following night Della Lupa launches her new single Storm of Swallows at One Church. Not content with just playing a gig, the evening also comprises an art exhibition by Beth Steddon who provided the artwork for the single, a dance performance from the dancers who choreographed the video, and support from Ellie Ford, Summa, and Kwil.

An alternative End of Year Brighton Top ten

Posted on 26/12/2014 by brightonmusicblog

As Rob has been meticulously drip-feeding his top twenty from 2014 into the blog over the last few weeks, I thought I’d provide an alternative listing just to show the diversity of our blogging tastes. That meant, no duplication with the Rob-o-Sphere, and so out went Curxes, Cate Ferris, Fear of Men, all of which were excellent in my book.

That left me with the following selections capturing ten (well, eleven) of the brilliant sounds and songs that emerged from our fair city over the last year in a shambling semblance/pretence of order:

1 Bentcousin – Dizzy

These terrible twins have been drip-feeding the cosmos with some ace songs, but this was the killer track for me released on a vinyl 7 inch and with some super Brighton-relevant rapping from Rory P.

2 yourgardenday – Something in the Music

A gorgeous plea for tolerance and harmony and a love of music, this had a limited release last year as lead track on Robin Coward’s Flat Stream EP, finally getting a full on-line release this summer.

3 Time for T – Free Hugs

An adorable band writing some adorable songs, this slunk of 70s soul has a great chorus and a charming video in which the band spend the whole song hugging Brighton people. Did I say it was adorable?

4 Sharon Lewis – Boxer’s Glove

Released right at the tail end of last year, this came from the Simple Things EP that accompanied Sharon’s excellent album, a melancholic tale of domestic violence, harsh but beautiful.

5 Fragile Creatures – Fragile Creatures

This band write some classic pop and none better than this – the self-named winner from their first EP which came out this summer.

6 Ellie Ford – Low

Singer-songwriter who had her debut EP re-released by Hidden Trail Records this year, from whence came this song, and also released an excellent covers EP. Ellie Ford is a singer who just gets better and better and her debut album should come out next year.

7 AK/DK – Maxwell’s Waves

This track comes from their album titled ‘Synth + Drums + Noise + Space’ which kind of sums up their sound without the excitement of their stunning live shows.

8 Slum of Legs – Razorblade the tape

This band are manic live, and their initial punky 7″ single on the Tuff Enuff label captures just half of this energy. This was the b-side.

9 Fiona Sally Miller – Lanterns

From one of three EPs released on the same day, this was one of the proper songs rather than the underwater experimental or live tracks, but like so much of Miller’s work it sounded magical.

=10 The Delta Bell – Wasted

Hiawatha Telephone Company – Dave

‘Wasted’ is a classic rambling country song sung by the gorgeous tones of Kate Gerrard and hit all the right notes in my book.

Shamelssly squeezing an eleventh song into my top ten I’ll come clean and admit that I had a hand in ‘Dave’, but it’s a song that ought to resonate in 2015 it being election year. Ripe for a cover, but for now we have this.

Hidden Trail records launch Ellie Ford’s EP

Posted on 26/04/2014 by brightonmusicblog

We’ve been loving the Ellie Ford ‘Show Night In’ EP for a while, but after a couple of superb compilations the excellent Hidden Trail Records are putting it out as their first physical artiste release. It was launched last night at Brighton’s Red Roaster Cafe and we were there to enjoy a great night of some of the UK’s finest singer-songwriters.

First up was Stevie Ray Latham, a young folkswinger who completely inhabits the spirit of a young Bob Dylan circa1963 but writes his own brilliant songs which he conveys with real aplomb. Songs like the excellent South Coast Blues show off his authentic style. His new album on Brighthelmstone’s At The Helm records is due out soon and is definitely going to be a cracker, and we hope to bring you more info on that in due course.

Kelly Oliver was new to me. An out-of-towner, from Stevenage, this was her first gig in Brighton. We’re not supposed to mention the non-Brighton folk so I won’t dwell too long on just how excellent she was, but she’s played the Cambridge Folk festival and with Dave Swarbrick of Fairport Convention and judging from last night she’s going to be a big hit on the folk scene. Last night we were particularly taken by her song Grandpa was a Stoker and her cover of Beyonce’s If I were a Boy.

Headliner for the night was Brighton’s own Ellie Ford and she completely owned the small Redroaster stage, switching with ease between guitar and harp, claiming to have not played her EP for a while with typical flaky charm, then proceeding to play some magnificent soulful versions of the EP’s songs that held the packed room rapt. The songs sound even better to me live than on record, but particularly stunning in both forms was Low, which tonight was performed in a tentative heartful rendition that was quite stunning. There were also some new songs from the album-in-the-making which we really hope to hear before the year is out.

Ellie has also just released a ‘Covers project’ and show cased some of those tunes and a few others, two gorgeous Joanna Newsom songs, a Karen Dalton cover, a fantastic version of Bob Dylan’s Corrina Corrina, and ending with an unplanned encore of a beautiful interpretation of Dylan’s Buckets of Rain.

A terrific singer who is growing in confidence with every gig, Ellie is definitely one to watch.

Words and pictures were by Jon Southcoasting