Sea Monsters 3 streaming now!

Posted on 12/01/2013 by brightonmusicblog

Sea Monsters 3 is still a few weeks away yet, but to get us in the mood, they’ve put up a Soundcloud stream of the cd that they’re giving out to people who buy a week ticket. It features one track from each band who are playing, so if there’s anyone you haven’t heard of (which is still quite a few even for us), you can take a listen here:

That’s not all though. Over on Bandcamp, they’re GIVING AWAY downloads of the past two years compilations! There was some great tracks on there (Fear of Men’s Doldrums and Us Baby Bear Bones’ Rain still get a lot of plays around here):

Thomas White supporting Fragile Creatures at the Prince Albert

Posted on 18/12/2012 by brightonmusicblog

Back in May, Thomas White played a low key set for the Great Escape Festival at a venue called Shipwrights Yard, a hidden courtyard off Middle Street overlooked by Lout and Republic of Music’s offices. One of his backing vocalists for this gig was a certain Mr Adam Kidd, who had recently formed a band which had still yet to have recorded any music, or settled on a final line up. Fast forward seven months, and the tables have been turned, with Thomas White giving Adam’s band Fragile Creatures a leg up by playing a support slot.

Thomas White

Thomas White has spent his last gig of the year playing a fresh set of songs. He’s spent much of the past twelve months playing shows drawn from this year’s album Yalla, but now he’s looking forward. Armed with nothing but his guitar and his voice, White played a short set of covers, taking in a rare Beach Boys track and a stripped down version of Wonderful World, and rounded things off with the Twelve Days of Christmas and Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer.

Fragile Creatures

Fragile Creatures didn’t play any Christmas Songs, but they did alter the titles of their tracks to give them a festive edge. Over the course of 2012 Adam Kidd has been honing his accomplished guitar pop, and last night showed a fine performance of some very polished songs. It was Adam’s backing vocals with Thomas White that first caught our attention and it was the harmonies that really shone last night and made their songs – none too shabby in the first place – really stand out. I look forward to hearing more of what Fragile Creatures have got to offer in 2013.

They Might Swim / Dead Cars / Evil Son gallery

Posted on 26/11/2012 by brightonmusicblog

One of our gig picks last weekend was Evil Son headlining the Prince Albert. Here’s some pics from the night (click to view large):

Bleeding Hearts Club 10/9/2012

Posted on 11/09/2012 by brightonmusicblog

We keep writing about Bleeding Hearts, but then they consistently keep putting on great gigs, and this month was no exception.

Al Chamberlain

First up last night was Al Chamberlain. When I spoke to Bleeding Hearts top dog Chris Davies at the bar before the gig, he described Al as a “professional Northerner, who does a song about trains”, which was certainly true, but doesn’t really tell the half of it. Al reminded me a lot of The Montgolfier Brothers, one of the bands that Alan McGee pinned his hope on with Poptones, his project after the closure of Creation Records. Despite nobody I’ve ever met having heard of them, The Montgolfier Brothers are one of my favourite bands – they make beautiful songs with lyrics about being at the precipice of the end of a relationship which are very well observed and utterly heartbreaking at the same time, and Al’s songs had similar qualities. Perhaps the most famous song about trains is The Locomotion, which doesn’t really sit alongside the acoustic aesthetic of Bleeding Hearts. In Al Chamberlain’s song about trains, tracks and stations become metaphors for components of relationships and by the end everything’s ok, both with the relationship in the song and with any fears about the handling of locomotive based songs.

Ingrid Plum

Monday’s second act was Ingrid Plum. Ingrid sang solo a capella folk songs, unencumbered by other musicians or instruments. Of the four songs she sang three were her own compositions but you wouldn’t know it and could easily have mistaken them for traditional songs hundreds of years old. Her fourth piece was a cover of Chris T-T’s M1 Song, made her own in the same style. It was an electric performance which had the room held in silent captivity hanging on every note. Ingrid has just released an EP – head over to her Facebook page to find out how to get hold of a copy.

The Droplets

It was all change for third band The Droplets, who also featured Al Chamberlain on guitar. The Droplets also live in the past musically, but instead of hundreds of years old folk music they play 70s AOR, covering the likes of Randy Newman and Big Star. Musically it was note perfect, but it was the voice that made it something special.

Steve Elston

Finally, it was the turn of Steve Elston, who had apparently played quite a few of the early Bleeding Hearts nights, before disappearing off their radar. He’s turned up again playing guitar for Das Fenster (who completely coincidentally Ingrid also sings backing vocals for), and has made a return to Bleeding Hearts. If you weren’t looking you could have been forgiven for thinking that there was more than one person on stage, such was the sound emanating from the speakers. I don’t want to throw words like this around lightly, but Steve may possibly be the best guitarist we’ve written about at Brighton Music Blog. His fingers performed feats of technical brilliance, yet the music that was made had a degree of tenderness rarely seen alongside this level of ability. Utterly breathtaking.

Bleeding Hearts 10th Birthday Gallery

Posted on 06/07/2012 by brightonmusicblog

It feels kind of appropriate shooting the Bleeding Hearts Night on film, because aside from Hattie Cooke’s iPad adding a bit more reverb to her guitar, everything else onstage could have been from any point in the last fifty years, so why not record it in a similar way too?

Anyway, happy birthday Bleeding Hearts – ten years is an amazing achievement. Here’s to the next ten!

(click on the pics to view large)

There’s some more pics over at out friends Brighton Noise

Bleeding Hearts Club / Recordings Profile

Posted on 15/03/2012 by brightonmusicblog

Firstly, an apology from me. This was meant to be an interview with Chris Davies, Head honcho of Bleeding Hearts Recordings, and the man behind the long running Bleeding Hearts Club at the Albert. We met and had a good long chat over a few pints, with the intention of turning our conversation into a riveting article about what it’s like to run a label and how to start a successful night. But I forgot to press record. So all I have is my recollection, and none of great quotes which would have made it a much better read. Bleeding Hearts is still something worth writing about though – the night is going from strength to strength, and next Monday the label is putting out Thomas White’s third solo album – so there’s never been a better time to write about them. Anyway, enough with the apologies, and onto the article.

Chris Davies of Bleeding Hearts Recordings

Mid-way through the nineties, Chris Davies headed down to Brighton from the Midlands for a weekend, and ended up staying. He didn’t have any plans to become a leading figure in the local music industry but managed to just fall into running the city’s longest running nights and starting up a record label putting out records by some of the best local talent.

The first Bleeding Hearts Club was around nine years ago. Chris was working at Borders, and lots of his colleagues were musicians, so to provide them with a platform, The Bleeding Hearts Club was born. At the beginning, it never had any real agenda – the music policy was defined pretty much by the acts that were around at the time – but over time the night settled into an acoustic folk type affair. At times, it’s been completely unplugged without any amplification, and the only light coming from candles on the tables. Other times Chris has been a bit playful and put on bands who don’t quite fit the mould, to have a poke at audience members who are taking things a bit too seriously. His philosophy is that the music is there to be enjoyed, not over analysed. Respect the music and be quiet when the bands are on, but also respect everyone at the night who are there to enjoy things.

A few years ago, the night was in a creative trough, and feeling unappreciated (speak to any promoter in town, and they’ll tell you what a thankless task it is) Chris put the night on hold. You can’t keep a good man down though, and it was around this time that Bleeding Hearts Recordings was born. The first release was a compilation of some of Chris’ favourite acts who he’d put on, and in the past 18 months, there’s been an assortment of vinyl, cds and downloads from the likes of BirdEngine, King James, Mute Swimmer, and The Robot Heart. A few months into running the label, the nights restarted, after the realisation that an act could sound good on tape, but it’s how they perform and how they interact with the audience that really matters.

This month, Bleeding Hearts Recordings put out what deserves to be their biggest record yet, when they release Yalla by Thomas White (from Electric Soft Parade, Brakes and a million other Brighton bands). The album was recorded while Tom was bored and homesick on an extended break in Egypt (before last year’s unrest) and was never meant to get a proper release, but everyone who heard it was so impressed that they convinced him that it needed to be heard by the world. We’ll post up our review of the album at the weekend before it’s release on Monday. The first fifty copies (available through Rough Trade and Resident) come with a five track bonus EP, and if you buy the album through recordstore.co.uk, you can grab yourself a signed copy. There’s an instore gig at Resident on Monday, where they’ll be selling the album at a knock down £6.99 (back up to £9.99 the following day), and Thomas will be playing at the next Bleeding Hearts Club on 2nd April.

http://www.bleedingheartrecordings.com/

http://bleedingheartrecordings.tumblr.com/

Tiny Dragons “Phantoms in the Night” single launch at the Prince Albert

Posted on 03/03/2012 by brightonmusicblog

It’s the 29th of February – a day that only comes around once every four years. Hopefully it won’t be another four years until the next Tiny Dragons single, because it’s very good stuff indeed. To celebrate, they’ve put on a night at the Prince Albert.

Support came from Meatloaf at Marys, who I managed to miss, and Alice Amelia, who is a local singer songwriter. She’s got a fantastic voice and is a tremendous pianist – I was reminded of Little Boots funtimes videos she posted to youtube, or to when I saw Marina & The Diamonds live and rest of the band left the stage and Marina just played piano and sung solo for a few songs. There’s great potential there, which I reckon could be found by broadening the sound a bit more – it’s hard to keep people’s attention just with piano and voice, and even just someone else providing a bit of bass or percussion could make all the difference.

Alice Amelia

Despite only having three members, Tiny Dragons are a perfectly formed band. Unusually singer Lizzie also takes on bass duties. And they play accessible rock that’s a bit funk influenced. I need to turn this around now though, because my description so far sounds like a female fronted Level 42. Musically, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers are a better comparison, although having a female lead changes the dynamic a lot. The beating heart of the band is Lizzie’s deft bass playing and her huge, soulful voice. There’s a lot more going on with Jim’s guitar playing than you’d expect too with subtle use of delay and reverb to create a much bigger sound, while Marcus holds together the rhythm section on drums and provides backing vocals. Tiny Dragons have got a great sound, are brilliant musicians, and also played a set of really strong songs too. Definitely a band to watch out for.

Tiny Dragons

February Bleeding Hearts Club

Posted on 08/02/2012 by brightonmusicblog

At the end of the words I wrote for last month’s Bleeding Hearts Club, I said that I would definitely be heading back at some point. I didn’t know at the time that it would be quite so soon, but there were a few bands on this month’s line up that caught my eye.

First up was Ampersand – I featured the video for his new single 20 Seas 4 Oceans in my Media Roundup post about a fortnight ago. Better known as Matt Hainsby from Fujiya & Miyagi, Ampersand plays beguiling solo acoustic pop music. He supplemented his guitar with the occasional loop and sample fired on some foot pedals, but it really was all about his voice and his playing. The single lollops along like a lazy stripped down Fujiya & Miyagi transported to the west coast of America. The other tracks didn’t really hint at krautrock at all and sounded a bit more retro; I’d go so far as to say that on the last song I was getting a bit of Roy Orbison. I was impressed enough to buy the 7″ of 20 Seas 4 Oceans that was for sale. If the song wasn’t enough, the record also comes with a rather beautiful gocco Ampersand print made on very thin wood. You can buy it from the Great Pop Supplement website.

Ampersand

Next up were Naomi Hates Humans. They’re not from Brighton, and it was their penultimate gig, so even if I was moved sufficiently to tell you that you must go and seek them out (which to be honest, I wasn’t really), it would all be too late. So I’ll move swiftly onto Kate Daisy Grant. My first impression of Kate was a very child like quality – a toy piano can do that. In the space of four songs though, the instrumentation became less important, and some top songs and an amazing voice shone through. The last track was especially good – with the addition of some lush strings and a big trip hop remix it could easily be the next bond theme.

Kate Daisy Grant

Kate’s accompaniment was headliner Nick Pynn, who’s one of the great unsung heroes of the music world, playing and touring with some of the biggest names in rock, pop and, er, comedy over the past twenty years. We were treated to a short solo set at Monday’s night gig which consisted of a couple of songs on the fiddle, one one a handmade Appalachian Mountain dulcimer, and one on cocolele – a ukelele with half a coconut shell for the body! This was a virtuoso not a novelty set though, and a fantastic way to round off the night.

Nick Pynn

Rob’s Sea Monsters Diary part 7, 29th January 2012

Posted on 29/01/2012 by brightonmusicblog

So, that’s your lot. Six days of gigs, with an incredibly diverse line up, showcasing some of the best that Brighton has to offer. Thanks to One Inch Badge, The Prince Albert, and all of the bands.

The final night started off with The Physics House Band, who were kind of prog jazz, with arpeggiated wigouts with time signatures changing all over the shop. It would appear that this music didn’t die in the late 70s, it just went to sleep for thirty years and grew some balls in the meantime.

The Physics House Band

The second band were equally baffling on a line up which was predominantly indie. The Squadron Leaders were three middle aged men making authentic instrumental Surf Rock (almost) like they used to in the fifties. I say almost, because there was a bit of bass and the odd sample being fired of stage, but aside from that it was a basic twang guitar, sax and drums. Fans of Dick Dale, Link Wray or The Ventures would be impressed. I loved it, but then I’ve been hiding my passion for surf rock for a good few years now.

The Squadron Leaders

If The Physics Band went back to the 70s for their blueprint, and The Squadron Leaders looked at the 50s, it was like Us Baby Bear Bones hadn’t even seen the rulebook. Most bands on over the festival didn’t stray too far from the typical guitar / guitar / bass / drums – Admittedly, a few dropped one from the list, and some added keyboards, but overall there weren’t many surprises. However, each member of Us Bear Baby Bones had at least three instruments in front of them – Front woman Puff had two microphones (one of which should have been run through a sampler, but technical difficulties beset them), a clarinet and a tom tom, Daisy had several keyboards and an autoharp, and Luke was playing guitar, sampler and glockenspiel. Did I say front woman? Yes, UBBB were one of only two bands on the whole bill fronted by a woman (the other being Fear of Men). Musically, they play dreamy, yet ambitious pop. If you wanted some kind of reference point, I might mention Bat For Lashes, but also tell you that UBBB are much more magical, and that the comparison can tell you only so much and you really ought to listen to them to know what they’re like; Except the only track released into the wild so far is Rain, which is on the Sea Monsters compilation. The new stuff is being released on the 10th of Feb (coinciding with their next gig at The Hope), so you’ll have to wait until then to hear some more.

Us Baby Bear Bones

The last band of the festival was Tall Ships, and they had The Albert ram packed for their set of angular indie songs with post-rock breakdowns. They were an ideal band to finish things up, getting the crowd more animated than they had been all week.

Tall Ships

So that was Sea Monsters. I heard a lot of great music and discovered a lot of amazing new bands. The highlights for me were some of the bands who broke the mould – Us Baby Bear Bones, Restlesslist, and Speak Galactic – who obviously felt music so strongly that it just couldn’t be expressed in traditional ways.

How long until Sea Monsters 3?

Rob’s Sea Monsters Diary part 6, 28th January 2012

Posted on 28/01/2012 by brightonmusicblog

So, today’s diary is being written a little bit differently from the previous days. Since the gig I’m writing about was on a friday night, I’ve got the luxury of having a bit more sleep than I’ve had the rest of the week, and have done the write up the following morning since I don’t have to go to work. Unfortunately, that extra passage of time (as well the little bit more beer I allowed myself) means that my recollection may not be quite as sharp as previous days. We’ll see though.

First up were Twin Brother. On record, just the work of Alex Wells, live he’s complemented by a full band. Without wishing to just re-type the words from the program, there’s no denying that you can hear the Strokes and Arcade Fire in his music. I feel a bit bad for only catching the end of their set, since they were flagged as ones to watch in several of the previews of the festival I read.

Twin Brother

Next up were Jumping Ships, who despite only being second on the bill, managed to pull the biggest crowd of the night. They played angular guitar pop, not a million miles away from what Twin Brother performed (I guess that’s why they’re on the same bill). The bassist was full of energy and making maximum use of the space he had. They’re playing the Hydrant tomorrow night, where hopefully they’ll have a bigger stage to play on.

Jumping Ships

Then it was Black Black Hills, who I’ve seen a couple of times in the past few months, and seem to get better every time. This time they’re revelling in the glow of their debut single “A Drowning” being awarded The Source’s Brighton track of 2011. They’ve got a fantastic captivating front man, and the doubling up of the drums makes their sound so much bigger. My bet is that this time next year, they’ll be the ones headlining.

Black Black Hills

Finally we had Munich, with their broody cinematic pop. Stewart commanded the stage at the Albert – it’s small scale made all of the bands seem larger than life, but for Munich, the effect was that you really were at something special. It wasn’t that difficult for them to make that little bit more effort – just half a dozen table lamps – but it’s the little touches that make a band stand out and Munich certainly did. Over the past couple of months, Munich have been putting the occasional new tune up on their bandcamp page. Get over there and check them out.

Munich

Only one more night of Sea Monsters to go, which makes me a little bit sad in a way, because I’ve really enjoyed this week. I think my body could do with a rest though!