Around a month ago, Van Zon released their debut EP “All Things, All One Aglow“, and a couple of weeks later, Glasshouse Red Spider Mite released their EP “What Do You Mean The Monster?… Hahaha“, and last night the bands played a double headline launch gig at Alphabet, supported by London band Catbandcat. We went along with our camera to capture things for posterity:
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Monday night wasn’t meant to be a Big Long Sun headliner – the lineup for Dead Dog Promotions second anniversary gig was meant to be topped by Bristolian Bingo Fury, but illness meant that Jamie Broughton’s band got bumped up the bill, and deservedly so.
Also on the line up were Van Zon and Hill Collective, who brought a chair up to the stage to sing a jazzed up version of Happy Birthday to Dead Dog / Ideal Living head honcho Billy Marsh
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Earlier this month Memorials released their debut album Memorial Waterslides on Fire Records (last year’s Music for Film didn’t count as a debut because it was soundtracks, apparently). The duo have just completed a UK tour to support the release, starting in Scotland a couple of weeks ago and culminating in a hometown gig at Alphabet last night, supported by Emma Gattrill. A personal highlight for us was the extended version of the album’s centrepiece Memorial Waterslide II (if you’re wondering about part one, that was released on their Centre Pompidou EP earlier this year), which brought to mind some of Stereolab’s extended psychedelic tracks – indeed both bands share a manager and Laetitia Sadier was spotted in the audience at the gig (Graham Sowerby from AK/DK – playing at Alphabet next week – and David Best from Fujiya & Miyagi were also in attendance). The gig ended early without an encore which gave me the time to enjoy a drink at Alphabet’s gorgeous new bar downstairs, which feels like a sophisticated secret drinking den and might well be Brighton’s best kept secret.
Memorial Waterslides is out now at record shops, streaming sites and at bandcamp:
There’s been a bit of an anomaly since the introduction of streaming that while you can get your recordings online the moment you’ve finished recording and mixing them, there’s always going to be a bit of a lag to get a physical product out in the world. Ladylike released their latest single Horse’s Mouth back in July, but the physical option – on flexidisc – is just coming out now and was available as part of the ticket bundle for last friday’s show or at the Merch stand. If you didn’t make it to the show you can pick it up on their bandcamp page. Support at the gig came from newcomers with familiar faces Goodbye, who we’ll be keeping an eye out for, as well as a Mandrake Handshake DJ Set, who aren’t a Brighton band but Elvis’s support for the local scene is unsurpassed, so warrants a mention. Here’s our photo gallery:
I haven’t made too many posts recently. Some gig pics are still going up on Instagram, but last night wasn’t just some gig. It was the launch of Sad Dads new single Surf Instructor, supported by Room Service and Telecom, as well as the reveal of who was behind I Flipping Luv Brighton. There was a raffle (where two of the prizes were won by Miles Soft Top and Maximilian, surely some kind of fix!), excursions from the stage into the audience, swimming pool noodles being thrown about, even a light sabre fight from Room Service, and a whole load of love in the room. Some bands take music very seriously indeed, but last night showed that you can have a great time when you don’t
Surf Instructor is out now
Hot on the heels of the release of their top twenty debut album One More Thing, Lime Garden closed their UK tour on Friday night with a sold out gig at Chalk. Support came from Ladylike (who are locals so also feature in the gallery below) and Ugly.
There was a shoutout to Chloe’s mum up in the balcony when they played Mother, quips about seeing the four coolest women on International Women’s Day, one of the friendliest mosh pits I’ve seen in a while, and, by all accounts, massive queues at the Green Door Store after they announced that’s where the afterparty would be.
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This week Brighton Music Blog favourites Projector hit the road to promote their new album Now When We Talk it’s Violence. There’s a whole bunch of other tour dates (go check their website), but obviously the only one that really matters is their hometown gig, which took place at Green Door Store last night. It was everything you’d hope for and more – the album played through larger and louder than you’d have heard it at home, a mosh pit, band members removing layers of clothing, a Pixies cover, and fantastic support sets from Ideal living and Vincent Vocoder Voice. Go stream the album (or better still, buy it) today
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HAPPY NEW YEAR! When we first saw Van Zon supporting Flip Top Head last year we knew it wouldn’t be long before they were headlining gigs, and last night they did, playing their first bill topping gig at Green Door Store. If you missed it, they’ve got a whole bunch more shows coming up – check their instagram for details. Support came from Moon Idle, playing their modern take on trip hop, and Nina Kohout, whose layered vocal tracks definitely pushed our buttons. As usual, click through to view large
It’s been a bit quiet on the blog over the summer, as the local scene always gets quiet in festival season (although there has been a few gigs where we haven’t taken so many photos, which just ended up on our Insta feed). Gigs are firmly back now though, and last night saw the return of Nanocluster – Immersion‘s live night where they invite guests to collaborate for a week culminating in a performances at the Rosehill. As noted last night, it’s been four years since the last local Nanocluster (although they took the event to SXSW festival earlier this year), and it was a joy to see the event return. Last night’s guest was Cubzoa AKA Jack from Penelope Isles, who brought psychedelic guitar squalls to Immersion’s kraut based electronica, all accompanied by visuals that I assume were put together by Malka Spiegel, judging by the output of her personal Instagram feed, which featured emotive views of Brighton and beyond. There’s no word yet on when the next one will be, but hopefully it won’t be in another four years!
Apparently it’s been ten years since Thomas White last played a solo gig. It’s not like he hasn’t been busy since – In that time there’s been a couple of Electric Soft Parade albums, the formation and retirement of The Fiction Aisle, unexpected ambient side project Queer Drone Freedom Ensemble, and drumming duties with Rose Elinor Dougall (and more recently with The Waeve). For much of the latter years of that period though, as he explained onstage last night, he was beset with writers block, which only lifted when his father passed away. He’s back writing songs again now, with a new EP on it’s way shortly, and this was intimate gig was the first opportunity to play some of those songs, as well as highlights from his extensive back catalogue and the odd cover.
Support came from M. Butterfly, Unholy Jo (who was responsible for encouraging Thomas to play live again) and 3D Jesus.
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Brighton Music Blog 