What a weekend – I saw over thirty bands over the weekend, many of which were local. Here’s a gallery of them all. We’ve got: Jennifer Left, Justin Saltmeris, Curxes, Kinnie The Explorer, Us Baby Bear Bones, Anushka, Fear of Men, Martin Rossiter, The Bobby McGees, IYES, Jacko Hooper, Kins and The Beautiful Word. As usual, click on the image to view large:
SXSW
3/12 – 2.45pm – Red7 (Terrorbird SXSW day party)
3/13 – 1pm – Hype Hotel 301 Brazos (Gorilla vs Bear x Yours Truly)
3/14 – 1.15pm – Hotel Vegas (Austin Psych Fest)
3/14 – 3pm – Flat Top Burger Shop (Music for Listeners)
3/14 – 9pm – Valhalla (Kanine/Fat Cat Records showcase)
3/15 – 3.30pm – End of an Ear (Instore)
3/16 – 1.30pm – Fader Fort (Fader)
3/16 – 3.15pm – inside House of Vans @ The Mohawk (AV Club/Flower)
3/16 – 4.40pm- Latitude 30 (British Music Embassy)
New York
3/19 – 8.30pm – Glasslands Gallery, Brooklyn (Headline show)
3/20 – 8pm – Pianos, New York (w/Field Mouse)
And if you didn’t make it to the gig last weekend, and aren’t in America, then here’s a new video for Seer, which was the previously unreleased track from Early Fragments:
Isn’t the weather meant to be getting better by now? And aren’t the days meant to be getting longer? It’s still dark when I get home from work. At least it’s almost the weekend, which means it’s time for us to flag up the local bands we think you ought to see over the next few days.
On Thursday night Clowns play at the Green Door Store, supported by Frank Melena Band and Victorian Hunter. As front men go, they don’t come much better than Clowns’ Miles Heathfield, so this comes highly recommended. And it’s free! Over in Hove at the Bee’s Mouth, Zoe Hazel Hedderwick headlines the first Lipstick & Picks night – a new monthly night showcasing female musicians, which is also free.
Friday night’s biggest gigs to mention are some musical legend supported by local bands – Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band headline the Concorde, supported Son Belly, and Damo Suzuki from Can headlines the Green Door Store. Not only is he supported by Sons of Noel and Adrian, Soccer 96 and Eyes & No Eyes, but members of each of these bands will also be playing with him for his set. Friday is also Lout’s next Brighton Rocks night at Sticky Mike’s, with Saint Savanna, The Dancers, Farrow and Pizzabones.
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There’s also another Brighton Rocks on Saturday at Sticky Mike’s – Ham Legion, The Creaking Chair, The Evil Son and LSD-25 are on the bill. House of Hats host another Harvest Session at the Brunswick, with support from The Self Help Group and Katharine Rose. Later in the evening Kovak host Club Kovak at the Blind Tiger, where you’ll have one of your first opportunities to see them playing tunes from their upcoming album live. Support comes Paper Playground and a DJ set from Youth. I suppose we ought to mention that Woodingdean’s finest X-factor contestant Frankie Cocozza is playing at the Haunt too.
Just the one gig to mention for Sunday, but it’s one we bought a ticket for before we even realised that the support would be a local act. Melody’s Echo Chamber plays at The Haunt (not Green Door Store where tickets were originally on sale for), and we’re looking forward to see them almost as much as we’re looking forward to Fear of Men who are supporting.
When we interviewed Jess and Dan from Fear of Men back in July, they’d just finished touring with Best Coast, had recorded Mosaic – a 7″ for the Too Pure singles club which got released in October, and were about to get their heads down and start work on their debut album. They’ve just finished recording but to tie up a few loose ends before it comes out and to help get newer fans up to speed with their back catalogue, the band are putting out a collection called Early Fragments, which brings together their 7″ and cassette releases so far, as well as a new track Seer:
Early Fragments comes out on marbled black and white vinyl and is released by Kanine Records on 11th February. Technically, it’s a US released but you’ll be able to get hold of it from Resident.
The full tracklist is:
1.Seer
2.Mosaic
3.Your Side
4.Green Sea
5.Born
6.Doldrums
7.Ritual Confession
8.Spirit House
Later in February the band are touring with Veronica Falls (sadly there’s no Brighton date), and are then heading over to the states to play SXSW, and Festival NRMAL in Mexico.
There’s something about Fear of Men that makes them feel like stars-in-waiting. There’s their releases, all great songs, which they’ve made sure have all been issued on 7″ or cassette so that they’re all physical artefacts, but given online exclusive streaming on Pitchfork before anyone else. There’s the decision not to play too often in Brighton so that when they do it feels more special. Then there’s the support slot with Best Coast, giving them an audience not just across the UK, but Europe too. Watch this space, because next year we predict big things for Fear of Men.
Here’s four videos to keep you entertained. Two for new songs, two for some not so new songs. Jennifer Left and Abi Wade released their new singles yesterday (and Jennifer Left is having a launch party for hers at the Blind Tiger on Thursday). Mosaic by Fear of Men and Spectre by Curxes both came out earlier in the year, but the videos have only just appeared:
Jennifer Left / Diggory (itunes link)
Abi Wade / Heavy Heart (itunes link)
Fear of Men / Mosaic (Resident link)
Curxes / Spectre (itunes link)
All eyes are on the Mercury Music Prize tonight, but they’re not the only awards to be watching. It’s also a great year for Brighton acts in the end of year nominations over at Artrocker. On top of their Mercury nomination, The Maccabees are up for band over the year. Dark Horses whose album Black Music is out this week did well too, picking up nominations for best single for Radio, and Best New Band. Tall Ships and Fear of Men are also up for Best New Band too. Head over to the Artrocker website and get voting!
Yesterday Fear of Men played the Brighton launch of their new single Mosaic at the Green Door Store, at an event put on by Be Nothing called HappyFest. It was an all dayer, and loads of other bands played – The Hundredth Anniversary, Feature, Wild Cat Strike, Flamingods, Furrow, Lovepark, Female Band, and Shudder Pulps. We could only make it for the end of end of the night and caught Boston’s Female Band and the headliners. Fear of Men make a point of not playing too frequently, making their live gigs more of an event, but have broken cover for their new single – which you can buy on 7″ from Resident here. I could tell you how much I enjoyed them live, how great the performance was, how their collection of releases so far sound like a really sold set of songs, how I can’t wait to hear the new stuff that they’ve been holed away writing this year, but rather than all that, here’s a few shots from their set (click on the pics to view large):
Here’s another blog post of a couple of assorted media that have come to our attention that we’d like to share.
First up we have the b-side to the upcoming Fear of Men single coming out on Too Pure that we wrote about a few weeks ago. Mosaic, which is already getting airplay on BBC 6Music, is out two weeks today and the flip Your Side sounds like this:
Next is a remix of one of the tracks from Cate Ferris’ Deep Breath, Ready, Get set GO EP. Condensation has been remixed by Talking Books, and doesn’t feature on the cd:
Finally we have another video for the next single from Bat For Lashes upcoming album The Haunted Man. This is the video to accompany All Your Gold, which also comes out on October 15th:
Normally I hold off on writing about things until close to their release date – it always frustrated me reading articles in music magazines about tunes I wouldn’t hear for weeks and weeks. And I figured that it’s better for the bands too – a reminder about their releases close to when they come out might improve their sales a bit, allowing them to make more music for us all to enjoy.
But I’m throwing all that out of the window today, because the new Fear of Men single has just dropped into my inbox, and I want to share it with the world. It got it’s premier earlier today on Pitchfork, and it’s up on Soundcloud for everyone to enjoy. Hot on the heels of Green Sea which came out in May, Mosaic is a bit brighter and airier than it’s predecessor, and is sprinkled with samples over the band’s now trademark guitar pop.
Mosaic is being released on the legendary Too Pure Records and comes out on October 15th on limited blue vinyl. You can pre-order it from Resident here. Fear of Men are having a launch party for the single at the Green Door Store on 20th October, supported by Hundredth Anniversary.
If you’re reading this outside of Brighton, and wishing Fear of Men would come and play near you, you may be in luck – they’re also playing the following dates:
15/09 Southsea Festival, Southsea
18/09 Borderline, London (supporting Best Coast)
30/09 Underground Festival. Gloucester
20/10 Green Door Store, Brighton
21/10 SWN Festival, Cardiff
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