April Juice FM New Music Night at The Haunt

Posted on 29/04/2012 by brightonmusicblog

Another month, another Juice FM night at The Haunt, and another three Brighton bands who are all completely new to me. Where do they find them all? I guess it’s probably the endless demos they get sent because they’re the local radio station. But they certainly do a good job of picking great bands for their regular nights.

First up were Tigercub, who distracted me with double denim and a haircut last seen spotted on Dave Hill from Slade in the 1970s. A late start meant that their set of rock stompers was over far too soon.

Tigercub

Having thought after the first band that the night would be a rock night, Holy Vessels mixed things up by kicking off their set with a song with a very predominant banjo. It was their only track that used banjo, but it was a strong statement of intent for their half an hour on stage, which mixed up country, rock and Americana and was a far more melodic affair.

Holy Vessels

Once upon a time, post-rock was noisy and angular, but then Sigur Ros came along and made it all a bit twee. thedealwasforthediamond hark back to the way it was, sounding like Mogwai at their loudest, or Rothko with the bass leading proceedings. thedealwasforthediamond turned things up to eleven, and quite literally blew the audience away. I was quite glad I had ear plugs in my bag!

thedealwasforthediamond

Abi Wade & Heliopause supporting Sea of Bees at The Haunt

Posted on 20/04/2012 by brightonmusicblog

It’s always pleasing when a visiting band gets a local acts to support them, and it’s doubly good when two Brighton acts get added to the bill. Wednesday night, Sea of Bees played at the Haunt, and as well as Stealing Sheep who have supported them on their whole tour, they were also supported by Abi Wade and Heliopause.

Abi Wade continues to astound every time I see her. Conventional wisdom says that if you’re going to have drums, strings and vocals you’d probably have a whole band. Conventional wisdom also says that you play a cello by pulling a bow across the strings, not using the bow, a variety of drum sticks and even a hairbrush not just on the strings but over the whole instrument. At times last night Abi recalled the dexterity of The Durutti Column’s Vini Reilly who coaxes out rhythm, melody and backing out of just the one instrument, but Abi also has the advantage of a fantastic voice. If there was Brighton act that I’d say people ought to see right now, it would be Abi Wade.

Second act on last night were Heliopause, who were the first band I saw at Sea Monsters earlier this year. Their roots are in folk, but their sound is so much more than that – There’s electronica involved, but it’s not folktronica like Four Tet used to make before he went jazz. There’s elements of post rock in there too, and sometimes the guitars shimmer and send shivers down your spine. What’s important is that it all works so well together, and these elements aren’t clumsily thrown in, which gives the band their own sound the separates them from the crowd. Their next album is released on 5th May, and from what I’ve heard so far, is a real treat for the ears.

Abi Wade is next playing on 10th May at 7.30pm at the Unitarian Church as part of the Great Escape Festival and again on 11th May at 3pm at Latest Music Bar as part of the Alternative Escape. Heliopause launch their album with a gig on 5th May at Brighton Electric Studios.

Abi Wade live at the Old Market

Posted on 25/03/2012 by brightonmusicblog

Abi Wade at The Old Market

Last time I saw Abi Wade, back in December of last year, she was playing the acoustic spot at the Source New Music night at the Pavilion Theatre. Her ‘Of Blood and Air’ EP had just been released, but she was playing to a largely unappreciative audience. In the past three months a lot has changed, because last Thursday night she played to a packed out hall at the Old Market, where the crowd were hanging on every note. Support came from Dan Edwards & Max Crawford, and Luke Sital-Singh. Rumours of me having missed the support because I was distracted in The Conqueror around the corner are unfortunately true. We arrived just as Abi’s set started, and my companions marvelled at both the simplicity and the complexity of her setup. With just one person on stage, it is quite incredible that the sound of a whole band is produced. Somehow, with the aid of a tambourine and a stomp box on drum pedals, cello strings being bowed, and plucked, and the cello body being tapped with the bow, and drumsticks and even a hairbrush, and warm rich sound was created which, had you not been watching, that thought that it was only being created by one person wouldn’t have even crossed your mind. For three quarters of an hour, we were treated to a selection of tracks from the debut EP, and a whole host of other material, including an interesting cover of One Hand Holding by The Maccabees. We were left wanting more, which is the way thing should be – thankfully, Abi’s got a lot more gigs coming up soon: On 18th April at The Haunt (supporting Sea of Bees, with fellow Brightonions Heliopause also on the bill), 27th April at The Hope (supporting Dan Mangan) and 13th June at the Prince Albert (supporting mancubbabywoman)

Bleeding Hearts Club again

Posted on 06/03/2012 by brightonmusicblog

It’s that time of the month. First Monday.

Bleeding Hearts Club featured in this blog not so long ago, but seeing as it’s a regular monthly event upstairs at the Price Albert in Trafalgar Street, and inevitably excellent, it is not that surprising that it features again.

This month we had four acts, each playing about four songs each and some excellent sounds from the house DJ in-between.

First up was the bizarre yet memorable King of Cats, a man in shorts who went from quiet twee to slash-and-burn hardcore within a verse of a song. He also did something very strange with a second microphone which gave him the ability to detour into these strange sonic interludes which made him sound a bit lie, er… well, a king of cats. He also had some CDs for sale, in home-made sleeves shaped like underpants with a picture of female genitalia on the front.

It was never going to be a normal night.

Next up was Al Chamberlain, apparently playing only his second ever gig. A little shy and self-depreciating he played a series of charming songs telling stories of love and adolescent innocence which completely charmed the audience.

He was followed by Lux Harmonium, a sometimes two piece with – you guessed it – a Harmonium, but also some of the most exquisite guitar-playing by Devonian Luke Jones which just got better and better as their set progressed. Fortunately, the night’s host Chris Davies called Luke back for a fourth song which was absolutely outstanding. Worth the pittance of an entry fee alone. Wish I’d remembered what it was called, but you can buy a CD and no doubt it’s on it.

Finally, headliners Fire Eyes played – drum machine, guitar and violin fronted by some quirky vocals. Apparently slightly under-rehearsed they strung together an assortment of sort of Mazzy Star influenced songs, battling with their equipment but managing to fascinate and rounding off a fine evening.

There was the usual candles-on-tables, a joke from a Christmas cracker that was as stale as old cheese, and something about every record label that wasn’t the Bleeding Hearts record label being rubbish. Suffice to say, we all went home very very happy.

Lovely.

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Photographs by Southcoasting

Shrag at Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar

Posted on 25/02/2012 by brightonmusicblog

Last night, Shrag kicked off the first date of their tour to promote their new album Canines (due for release in May). It’s a double headliner tour with Tunabunny and to celebrate there’s a split single with each band taking on a side of the 7″. Shrag’s track is Tendons in the Night, which you can watch the video for here:

None of the supports were from Brighton, so I’ll rattle through them quickly – Dogtooth are the new project from Shrag’s original Canadian drummer Leigh Anne Walter, who’s teamed up with singer-songwriter Kate Gerrard, and the Metatrons were like a day-glo version of Shrag. If you didn’t know that co-Headliners Tunabunny were from Athens, Georgia you could have guessed from the opening song which sounded an awful lot like one of their hometown’s most famous bands (and I’m not talking about the B52s here). Over the course of their set though they ended up sounding a lot more like the Breeders, and that was no bad thing at all.

Dogtooth, The Metatrons and Tunabunny

Shrag arrived onstage later than advertised, which is kind of inevitable with four bands on the bill, and wasted no time in treating the audience to a set which was mainly made up of tracks from the upcoming album, with only a handful of tracks from 2010s Life! Death! Prizes! Last month, Shrag posted up a new track called Chasing Consummations which hinted that the band might be maturing a little – while they might be developing on their recorded output, live they were still just as full of energy, and the banter inbetween songs was anything but mature. After forty five minutes which had me sold on the new album, the band were off, without an encore.

Shrag

The split single is being sold on the tour, but can be bought from the usual places (Well, Resident have it on their website)

Juice New Music Night with The Bobby McGees, Native Roses and Moya

Posted on 01/02/2012 by brightonmusicblog

It takes a lot to persuade people to come out on a freezing January evening, so Juice pulled out a few stops for the first New Music Night of the year. Opening act Moya released her acoustic debut EP last year – I posted the video of her covering Primal Scream’s I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have the other week. Apparently she’s in the studio at the moment, in a room next to Wiley, who’s interested in a collaboration of some sort! Vocally, Moya’s a less annoying Duffy – earnest singer songwriter stuff. She had another musician onstage, sitting behind a drum kit, but next to a keyboard, and who obviously fired off a lot of the backing tracks. Meanwhile Moya stood out front without even a guitar to hide behind, so she made do by wearing a big brimmed hat, making it near-impossible to see her eyes.

Moya

The second band of the night were Native Roses, whose website claims that they’re “a troupe of young bohemians”. In reality they’re an indie rock band, most notable for the band member who left when she got her own record deal – the drummer’s sister is Birdy, who made waves early last year with Skinny Love. Without her, they’re still a band worth looking out for though.

Native Roses

Headlining were the Bobby McGee’s, who are a band who could only really exist somewhere like Brighton. As much cabaret as music, with a dark, dark streak that runs through them, but at the same time a veneer of wide eyed innocence. Twee-core, they call it. You may have seen the Bobby McGee’s around town before but not as you would have seen them last night. The story is that Jimmy McGee was talking to someone at Jazz FM, and somehow ended up telling them that he had a Swing Band (he didn’t), and consequently got this non-existent band booked for a Jazz FM Christmas Party. The band had to move quickly, and have bolstered their members, and last night brought along a troupe of swing dancers. (note to Native Roses – that was what a troupe really looks like!). In their set which barely lasted three quarters of an hour, they rattled through dozens of songs, each of which showed a different side to their wit and charm.

The Bobby McGee’s

Rob’s Sea Monsters Diary part 5, 27th January 2012

Posted on 27/01/2012 by brightonmusicblog

Sea monsters just keeps getting better and better. Tonight’s gig was amazing. Quite possibly – and I know it’s very early to start using these words – gig of the year. Strong words, I know.

First up were DA-10.DA-10 stood out because they were the first band I’ve seen so far (except Robert Stillman) not to rely on guitars at all, and the only band on the whole bill of Sea Monsters to make dance music. Picture a slightly more chilled out Daft Punk, with the bottom end of their sound enlightened by the kind of filthy noises made since the advent of dubstep and fidget house.

DA-10

Next up was Speak Galactic. Our paths had crossed briefly several weeks ago, when they supported Laetitia Sadier at the Green Door Store. They were incredibly loud though, and I was meeting a friend, so I stayed in the bar. I should have gone and investigated though, because it turns out that Speak Galactic were one of the most interesting bands on the Sea Monsters bill so far. Owen Thomas, who effectively is Speak Galactic (there’s a drummer too, but you can see all the amazing ideas are coming from Owen), played on tuesday night as part of Cinemascopes, and I noted that it was him who elevated them above a normal band. On his own, the ideas are flying out everywhere – songs skip around genres and technology is pushed to the limit. I was incredibly impressed. If this guy isn’t a superstar in the next twelve months, then there’s something wrong with the world.

Speak Galactic

Then came Nullifier, whose lead singer was Speak Galactic’s drummer. One of their keyboard players was playing last night in Negative Pegasus. In fact, all of the band members seemed have been playing in other gigs in Sea Monsters. There were seven members in Nullifier, which proved (for them at least) to be too many to fit onto the stage. So the singer, a bassist, and the guitarist performed out in the audience (leaving two keyboard players, a drummer and another bassist onstage). Which made the photography challenging to say the least.

Nullifier

And last of all was Restlesslist, who were an absolute triumph. Where other bands came and played sets, Restlesslist transformed the Prince Albert into another world. And while they might have been headlining a night a Sea Monsters, they would have been equally at ease headlining a stage at Glastonbury. The band – all six of them – were accompanied on stage by an eye patch wearing Mark Campbell, who between songs narrated a psychedelic story involving dogs in hats, shapeshifting beauties, and volcanic eruptions. Between his words Restlesslist effortlessly skipped around pretty much every genre in the textbook – Rock, pop, musical, krautrock, calypso, you name it. If any other band over the next two days managed to beat this performance, then I’ll be amazed.

Restlesslist

Riots Not Diets Christmas Party / Shrag live at the Green Door Store 17/12/11

Posted on 20/12/2011 by brightonmusicblog

Shrag first came to my attention (musically at least) last year when I saw them supporting Pains of Being Pure at Heart at the Concorde. I fell in love with them immediately – they reminded me of loads of the bands I loved in the mid nineties – Prolapse, The Delgados, Bis and Heavenly. Funny then, that support at the gig was Tender Trap – fronted by Amelia Fletcher, who also fronted Heavenly all those years ago. For most of Tender Trap’s set, Shrag lead singer Helen King stood at the front transfixed. It must be quite an honour to have one of your heroes supporting you at a gig in your hometown. Since this is the Brighton Music Blog, not the Oxford Music Blog, so I’ll skip over Tender Trap’s support and head straight onto Shrag’s set. They played a roughly equal mix of tracks from 2010’s Life! Death! Parties!, earlier tunes and songs written for their upcoming album due to be released next year on Fortuna Pop. The band don’t really aim for professional – the start was delayed by a couple of minutes while the bassist was fetched from the bar, and when a string broke on Bob Brown’s guitar, he didn’t have another spare guitar to swap with, instead having to use keyboard player Steph Goodman’s, which was “impossible to tune”. But it doesn’t matter one jot – I’d rather see a band who are funny, and intense, and who I can relate to instead. Their set was over far too quickly – one of the downsides of fast paced punky indie pop. Let’s hope they play again soon when their album comes out in the spring.

Shrag

Sweet Sweet Lies Christmas gig at the Haunt

Posted on 15/12/2011 by brightonmusicblog

When is a headliner not a headliner?

For the gig I went to this evening, the answer could be that the listed band were on early, at 8.30pm. Or it could be that all three bands on the bill could easily be headliners in their own right. I’m quite sure I’ve probably seen all three of these bands headlining their own gigs over the past couple of years. The gig itself was only a fiver – which would be a bargain to see any of these bands, let alone all three, but it wasn’t until I arrived that I realised that also included a shot of Tuaca in the bargain too. Bonus!

First up were Kovak, on criminally early at 7.30. But what a great way to start – they’ve honed their electro pop over many gigs in Brighton over the past few years, and now know exactly how to get things warmed up. They even threw in their cover of Atomic which they’ve been playing the last few times I’ve seen them.

Next up were the band billed as headliners – Sweet Sweet Lies. After a few technical hitches with the keyboards, they kicked off their classic brand of guitar led pop. They’ve been secretly working hard since the last time I saw them a couple of years ago, and now everything seems even more polished and professional than ever. Like Kovak, if things go their way, they could be headed for big things.

Finally, we had Mean Poppa Lean. It’s impossible not to like Mean Poppa Lean. Even if you don’t like funk, you can’t help but be seduced by their silliness, their outfits, and the fact that they’re just a great band. So it’s best just to join them in their fun. It only took them a couple of songs before pretty much the whole band were just stripped down to their crazy home made pantaloons / boxer shorts. And that’s probably why they were put on last!

Live Review : Jane Bartholomew at The Basement 6/12/11

Posted on 11/12/2011 by brightonmusicblog

This was going to be a review of what was pretty much unanimously gig of the week in the local press – Meg Baird at The Basement last Tuesday. The focus wasn’t going to be Meg Baird – she’s an American folk singer – but the support, local singer songwriter Jane Bartholomew. I’d been given a heads up about the gig by Jon, who’s written a few posts for the blog, who told me it was going to be a good gig, but I hadn’t heard of Jane before the night.

And it was an amazing gig. I don’t really have the vocabulary to fully describe it – not being that into folk, I can’t make the meaningful comparisons with other artists and sub genres which would tell you that much about it, and my enthusiasm about the gig won’t make things much clearer either.

What I can tell you though is that the gig was exactly why I started the blog. I know quite a few local bands, but what I also know is that there’s some serious talent around town which deserves to be heard but so often goes unrecognised, which I want to find out about and shine a light on. For me, it’s all about the discovery of these artists, the pride that we live somewhere that generates such creativity, and the ongoing support.

So I guess I should write a bit about Jane Bartholomew, and the gig. Jane makes quirky, magical folk music, which was ideally suited to the small intimate environment of The Basement. Most of the time she played alone on the guitar or autoharp, but on some songs she was joined on accordion and violin, and on a couple of songs, the vibraphone. However, whatever the instrumentation, it’s Jane’s voice that really captivates. It’s almost childlike and brings something rather special to her songs. Musically, everything seems so accomplished and rich – far more than I would expect from a support band. It was all so good that at the end of the show, I bought the cd and it hasn’t left my stereo since. And I guess Meg Baird was pretty good too (she was fantastic), but she’s not from Brighton, and I know that there’s been plenty of other reviews written which will say how great the gig was and how ably she coped at the end of the gig when one of her strings broke.

You can buy Jane Bartholomew’s album on her website here.