Felix Fables long MonteMarte

Felix Fables Paris Tour 2013

by Album Review, EP Review • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Felix Fables are heading back to Paris at the end of May, where they will be busking everyday in Montmartre and gigging in venues around the city in the evening.

Felix Fables one of our favourite bands -  have an inimitable hard-hitting sound. Their unique stomp draws from elements of Americana, Blues and Indie and is over-scored by soaring four-part harmonies. Conjuring up thoughts of beauty and raw grit, the band’s electrifying stage presence challenges themselves and their audiences to have a far better time than anyone would believe possible.

Felix Fables shortFollowing on from their magnificent debut album ‘In This Town’ (released in 2011) they have since been working very hard – gigging all over – and creating a new 6-song EP titled “A Little Rain.”

We had a listen, and here’s what we thought:

Starting off with ‘A Little Rain’ set against shimmers of golden light cymbal, and the most delicately picked guitars, this EP gets going rather cautiously.  A tremulous voice creates a delicate lattice-like unfolding of lyrics,  images and elegant whispers.  Like all FF songs, this has a big presumptuous heart. So,  if you look up the blustery sleeves … you will find another song crying to get out. This new song grabs you by the braces and twirls around the room. You really will feel relieved – especially towards the end – when the refreshingly thumped culmination gloriously overwhelms the sensitivity of those early whimpers.

With an artistic misquoting from the ‘Merchant of Venice’, ‘Shadows In Her Soul’ starts with the highest and most fascinating yowl you may have ever heard.  The sound sends a shiver up your spine – which reverberates all the way down to your tubes. The banjo suggests a well-worn path – a dusty road  perhaps -  and country ditch creatures as only friends. The pale yellow moon fades. And the night draws in. Then the song clamors and jangles until it is a full tin-can orchestra.  Full of life and mystery. This song is absolutely excellent. Brimming with passion and forgiveness.

‘Angry Son’  has that cut-smoke bitter emptiness to it that we could associate with Dylan. The ticking drums match the loose-string guitar-work and the pigeon-toed vocals that step carefully across the cracks. The percussion is clear – but fascinating – and it never takes attention away from the softly spoken voice – and in fact it adds charm and  mystery of its own. This is a wonderful song.  With a charming melody, very thoughtful words and inspirational vocals. And the sumptuous finish is so hot – it will boil your brusket.

‘Devil’s Winter’ is as subtle as a dragonfly wing. Featuring the mournful soprano vocals of Georgia Mason (the band’s former singer) – the voice may not be to everyone’s taste -  the song is, however, an extremely ambitious hymn that perhaps makes the case for cold sense over loss.

The band has been bashing out ‘Find My Way Back Home’  at concerts recently. The spectral guitars (reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac) -  and the stomping beat -  soon gets inside your head and plays games with your adrenal cortex. Before you know what you’re doing, you’re pulling up your trouser legs, tucking in your socks, and dancing away on the slates. Your hobnails ticking on the surface. And for sure, it is not enough to just love this song. You have got to live it too.

– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: https://www.facebook.com/felixfables

PARIS GIGS:

Monday 27th May
Les Deux Moulins – Rue L’epic Montmatre
https://www.facebook.com/events/249093695233309/

Friday 31st May – E.P. Launch
Au Petite Moulin – Montmatre
https://www.facebook.com/events/512346822157258/

Sunday 2nd June
Corccorans – Montmatre
Last night Madness
https://www.facebook.com/events/513827378675620/

The Bora long

The Bora – Only One

by video release, Video Review • Tags: , , , , ,

Squelching fuzz-punk pop trio The Bora featuring  Will Tierney (Vocals/Guitar) Thierry Sequeira  (Drums) and Alex Roberts ( Bass/Backing Vocals) have released a shiny video to go with their new song ‘Only One’.

Named after the wild katabatic winds that rip through Croatia during winter - the lads have been gigging extensively. So far they have supported bands like Sick Puppies, Futures, The Like, BullSeeRed  -  playing nights such as Club Fandango in London. The Bora also receive regular airplay on BBC INTRODUCING, All FM, Shock Radio, AmazingRadio etc.

The Bora shortTheir flashy new video has just been released.  We took a peek:

This song is about what is really dear to us – what we really hold precious. Probably, when you boil it all down, it’s just one thing. Only One. 

So the guitar-chords build up those ideas like a scaffolder might build up his tower.  Sounds are bolted on,  and  then wrenched & ratcheted together. The percussion is always guiding – and always persistently urgent. The guitars fuzz around.

And the “I hope we never fade…” vocal is almost plaintive in it’s anxiety. But this is a happy, upbeat song, with a surfing surge to it.

The fine guitar-work – with some astonishing vocals  – makes this piece seem irrepressible and exhilarating.

– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: https://www.facebook.com/theboramusic

 

 

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KARHIDE – ROUGH SLEEP

by EP Review • Tags: , , , , ,

Karhide,  aka Tim Waterfield, has been programming beats for as long as DJ Shadow – but where Josh Davis came from a background of hip hop culture and breakbeats, Tim’s electronic upbringing in the East Midlands was through the industrial-strength beats of Godflesh and Frontline Assembly.

Cutting his teeth in the now-legendary ‘Big Black-but-one-louder’ Nottingham duo Ann Arbor, Tim has been refining and distilling a long lineage of electronica and guitar music for more than a decade, reaching his purest statement of intent with Karhide, more than twenty years since he picked up his first drum machine.

KARHIDE shortKarhide records take a blowtorch to the heavyweight guitars of Jesu and Pelican and fuse them to crushing beats and drifting electronica that increasingly take their cue from the most out-there explorations of Four Tet as much as the devastating beatwork of Squarepusher.

What’s even more remarkable is that every instrument on the record is played by Tim (who only brings in the best drummers he can find to attempt to match his devilish programming) – and that he can pull this stuff off live too, with the precision of Slint and the chest-quaking volume of Jesu.

Years of playing alongside bands including Pitchshifter, Refused, The Get Up Kids, Karate, Oxbow and Fudge Tunnel have turned Tim – and Karhide – into a seasoned live outfit, easily outmatching most bands’ volume and intensity with his one-man show. There’s no need for vocals to get in the way when there’s intensity, power and stately melody running through every moment of a Karhide set.

His “Rough Sleep” EP is out on Field Records on the 17th June.  The title track was originally composed for a fundraising compilation for homelessness charity Shelter (Music For A Good Home 2), for which Karhide was asked to contribute alongside such luminaries as Wire, Four Tet, Karma To Burn and Ride.

We had an early listen.  Here’s what we thought:

Title track ‘Rough Sleep’ has an audible alarm beeping and  threading its way through the thicket of military style drums (thus the ‘Rough Sleep’ context perhaps?) A kraken of slow moving voluminous bass notes then wades through the distorted reed-bed of sounds.

The rhythms caused by the wavelets are not unlike Seventies Style Black Sabbathy rock. The sounds then turns a different tide – towards a Genesis sounding prog-rock omelette of fainted patters and spatters.   The overall effect is calming and reassuring.

‘Piano Run’  has the same wriggle-some morning alarm beats, this time creating a more contorted, jagged sound.  The piano takes great manful strides through the piece – and the movement builds up in peaks – then disperses like the first morning tide. Leaving muddy puddles of liquid synth and beautiful piano.

‘Daydream’ starts like one of those Ennio Morricone sound tracks – haunting, melancholy and sweaty. You can feel the tension in every flick of the side-winders tail and every buzzing mosquito bite. Little by little,  a pile of shebeen drums and knocked off bottle-tops comes to the fore. And then the strings create some edgy spectral tension.

– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: https://www.facebook.com/karhide

DSC_0417

The Manic Shine at Great Escape Brighton

by Live Music Review • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

London four-piece, The Manic Shine is a rock band unlike any other that we encountered at this year’s Great Escape Festival. We saw them play at the ridiculously tiny Fishbowl Brighton during The Animal Farm showcase. With a vast sound that ties together progressive alt / rock sensibility with noise synth (a sound which they have called “metamorphic rock”) their songs involve incredible solos, great tempo changes and a throbbing groove – to deliver a concentrated dose of intoxicating and addictive art rock .

DSC_0426Their first number ‘Tin Crown Kings’  was set against a freckled surface of sour faced beeps and percussive gloops, with acid guitars that started to fizz and splutter all around.

There were low and painful groans of bass guitar from Hutch Hutchison – and there were ruffles of powdery riffing from Ozzie and Orren  – working together on guitars. But it was the “Tin Crown Kings…” chorus  -  so gently vocalised  – against the plentiful bluster of drums from Tamir Karp – that really made this song stand out. Like many ‘Manic Shine’ numbers this was funky and groovy at times – but was also bitter,  sharp and heroic.

Then progressive-metal sounding ‘Leatherface’ had a whole jungle full of bustling percussion sounds,  with plenty of squelching guitars chatter boxing to each other. The elastic bass guitar frolicked freely on this number, as vocalist Ozzie Rodgers  annunciated the lyrics with rhythmic precision. Hefty yawning grimaces of guitar added bumptious dimensions to the line: “You can make believe if you want…”    And then the song broke down into a gentle meandering. It found a heart of pastoral and verdant luxury. This was an immensely satisfying creation. Lofty in ambition.

‘Use Your Horizon’ had a lot of powerful riffs.    You know,  the kind  that deliver the familiar low rumble that will send  a shiver down your spine and put a wide smile upon our gleaming gnashers. The rhythm was loose hipped and complex. And it felt closer to a boogie bounce than to metal. But the riff restored our faith. Yes, this was a true rock song. It had that colossal weighty feel to it. We could feel our hearts tingling and our sap rising.

DSC_0456‘Weightless’ started with a gentle tap of the skins, and the odd chortle of guitar. Then the whole thing became emblazoned in a searing light of powerful imagery. This was the song that most reminded us of Dream Theater.  It had the same bold ambition and that similar unrestrained technicality.

The voice (in this case anyway) reminded us of Serj Tankian. Theatrical, passionate, cynical …  and even histrionic .  The flumes of guitar that were foamed out by Orren Karp   – against those  blossoming vocals  – became the very core of this magnificent song.

This was a slick, adventurous and totally stoned performance. And we were very  glad that we saw these lads in the sticky and cramped atmosphere of the Fish Bowl.

Because, this time next year, they will be up on the main stage!  You had better grab them now, while you can…

– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: https://www.facebook.com/themanicshine

The Manic Shine UK Tour Dates

May 24     The Shed Leicester
May 25     4 Winds Festival Port Talbot
May 30     Hole In The Wall Colchester
Jun 01     Camden Rocks     London,
Jun 07     The Star w/ Sons Of Icarus Guildford
Jun 08     The Watershed     Milton Keynes
Jun 16     Hooteananny     Inverness
Jun 17     Cafe Drummond     Aberdeen
Jun 19     Bannermans     Edinburgh
Jun 20     Pivo Pivo     Glasgow
Jun 21     The Windy Ha     Saltcoats
Jun 22     The Eildon Centre Coldstream
Jul 27     Scruffy Murphys Birmingham
Aug 03     Vicfest 2013     Norwich,
Aug 25     Northwich Festival Cheshire
Aug 30     Worcester Music Festival Worcester
Oct 04     Central Bar     Gateshead
Oct 12     The Brunswick     Gloucester
Nov 02     The White Horse High Wycombe

skipanddie long 2

Skip&Die at Great Escape Brighton

by Live Music Review • Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Skip&Die are a fruity band of colourful characters, jungle rhythms and discreetly politicized ideas -  generously garnished with bumpy dance styles and exotic arrangements.   We enjoyed their sparkling show at the Dutch Impact event at the Great Escape at the  Komedia on Friday.

As a live act, they are totally infectious. A gumbo of joyful celebration and prosperous abundance. Starting out as a collaboration between the South African singer and visual artist Catarina Aimee Dahms (aka Cata.Pirata) and Dutch producer Jori Collignon (C-mon & Kypski, Nobody Beats The Drum) the project has now developed  into a full-fledged live band.

Jori-Collignon-skip&die-©-NSongs like “Love Jihad” have scratchy backbones of sound that tend to run along the jagged edges, and rumble down the spines. On this song, a rubberized bass zings low, and spits out like a piece of meat on the hot-plate.

Crazy pirouettes of Eastern pipes hoop, gloop and play footsie against a flat horizon of didgeridoo and drone-pipes. All of this is magically woven together into a framework of irregularly sketched pieces -  by the extraordinary voice and talented bravado of Cata.   Her vocal is sinful and sinuous at times – and playfully protesting at others. But it’s always chirping and optimistic.

“Jungle Riot” is another huge tapestry of colorful fun.   A dusky slow-setting supplicant moan of dark notes whirl and twirl for attention. Meanwhile,  a surprising burst of drums creates a sand storming pebble-dash of dusty powder.  The vocal is vigorously insolent and sardonic.  And even if there is an element of tongue-in-cheek sarcasm in the distinctive lyrics,  the sentiment is laudable and very smart.

At heart,  though, this is a dance-along song. It’s a lace skirt rustling joy of fun and frolics. Fruity, conceited and absolutely tempting.

New song “Anti-Capitalista”  is another zither-wood twiddler of a song. All tongue twisting sharpness and effervescent velocity. Full of reco-reco ratchet-like sounds.  But, like all Skip&Die pieces, this song harbours serious messages behind those lacy drawers and the Cha Cha Cha club-room rattles.

This band is totally recommended. They will get your party going.  And they will  keep it moving … long into the night.

– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: https://www.facebook.com/skipndie

Skip&Die were playing at The Great Escape Dutch Impact Show
Komedia Studio Bar, 44-47 Gardner Street. Brighton

skip&die-sq-©-Neil-Mach-May

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Birth of Joy at The Great Escape Dutch Impact Show

by Live Music Review • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

‘Birth of Joy’ are like a three-piece version of  ‘The Doors’ – but found on a “bad mood” day.

Gertjan Gutman does the whole Ray Manzarek bass thing on his keyboards, whilst Kevin Stunnenberg is the  Krieger/Morrison character and Bob Hogenelst provides the honest fury of the drums together with some tempered backing vocals. The band play a fast paced psychedelic sixties style blues-rock – with the kind of fire, passion and artistry  that  you thought had departed from this world – and was last seen on the Right Bank in 1971. We enjoyed the band’s steamy set at the Dutch Impact Showcase at the Komedia on Friday.

First song “Teeny Bopping” screamed in like a hawk on the swoop – in  a flurry of feathers, teeth and claws. But after the furious entry, robust wings of hurdy-gurdy organ and docile guitars tended to fold over the piece to create a protective layered shell. The “Teeny bopping …” voice in the chorus was reminiscent of Paul Weller. But we needed to imagine him with a shocked expression on his face – because his pants were on fire. This image best describes the true excitement of this number. It was brutal, fast and white-hot.

Image © Neil Mach 2013

Image © Neil Mach 2013

Later in the set, the band played ‘Motel Money A Way’ which has a “Bits and Pieces” sounding riff to it – and it briskly chugged along like an Arend-Eagle choo-puff  that was clattering down the mangled tracks of drums that had been grooved out by Bob.

The poetic – yet jarring  -  organ shimmered and wallowed to Kevin’s vocals – as he sneered and smirked. The liquid guitar started to drip and bubble around those anxious rhythms, as the voltage and the tension increased dramatically. Then the voices became anxious. “Well that’s the motel money away…”  He grimaced.

Concluding song ‘Make Things Happen’ had a daggering swagger of gleefully sinful drums and an organ that sounded like it was a snake on fire … writhing and squirming … until it contracted into a ball when the vocals came in and stretched healing hands over it.  The guitar on this song was flexed to the point of painful contraction, and the keyboards bubbled and fumed under the intense heat.  But – at heart- this was a song that celebrated the dexterity of pounding drums. That powerful, corrosive and totally sinful rhythm was wickedly ablaze.

– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: https://www.facebook.com/birthofjoy

Birth of Joy were playing at The Great Escape Dutch Impact Show
Komedia Studio Bar, 44-47 Gardner Street. Brighton

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Gabrielle Aplin and the boring English Rain

by Album Review • Tags: , , , , ,

When you take ‘English Rain’ as a poetic notion it evokes pleasant images – a light shower, perhaps, to freshen up the bluebell woods. Or a pleasantly refreshing spritz to cool things down before bedtime on a sultry summer evening.

But of course, this is nonsense. When you take time to really think about ‘English Rain’ you remember the miserable truth. The daily deluge is actually the boring and regular backdrop to all of our lives – on this forlorn windswept island in the North Sea.  Disrepair and soggy ruin is everywhere. And the unceasing rain just makes things a whole lot worse. But we get on with it don’t we? We just “Get up and get going.” That’s our shared motto. Sod the bloody rain

And so Gabrielle Aplin has decided to title her debut album ‘English Rain’. What a beautiful and poetic idea. Or is it?

Gabrielle Aplin shortAplin is the girl who wrote her first song ‘Ghosts’ at age 14 and set up her own record label at age 17 (she has she since signed to Parlophone. ) But she is probably best remembered as the girl who brought us that bleached-out version of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “The Power of Love” at Christmas. Thanks for that. The song reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and was played endlessly on John Lewis TV ads. So Aplin is the very essence of a “newcomer with experience.”

The new album includes 12 songs, and has already been chalked up – by some – as ‘boring’. Well, is it?

The album begins with ‘Panic Cord’ – (Aplin shares writing credits with Nicholas Atkinson and Jez Ashurst on this one.) On this track there is an agreeable scatter-brain bead-box of gentle tapping percussion, with some fine-combed country accompaniments and very delicate picked guitar. That voice is radiant and charitable. It glows in the dark. The chorus is warm and friendly. But the trembling sub-text of the song is one of self-reflection and regret.  “I pulled the panic chord – maybe I’m the one to blame ….”  She says. “Maybe you were just too nice to me…”  The words stumble out like an unwitting confession.

‘Keep on Walking‘ is a thumping call and response song. It revives the Southern spiritual. The vocals may be as sweetly churned as meringue-based buttercreams,  but the lyrics retain a tartaric sourness to them:   “I feel much better you’re not around …. so keep on walking”.  This is certainly not wet or boring. It’s subtle in it’s delicious wickedness.

The album’s second single “Please Don’t Say You Love Me” has a Country and Western twang to it. You can imagine the local moms kicking their heels to it at the club line-dance in the village hall. As usual, this is a confessional hymn  “I’ve been a fool – I’ve been a fool before”.  It is revealing and intimate.

Longish track ‘Home’ has a gentle piano and some more of those tenderly strummed chords. A masculine backing vocal is very agreeable.  ‘Home’ is not,  apparently  ”Just somewhere to lay your head.”  Gabby tells us informatively.  But this song is also about being on the road – and so having to take your home along with you ‘inside your head’. But if your home is a place to share – to share with a loved one – then how do you take that with you ‘inside your head’? That is the bittersweet angle of this song.  It talks about ‘the home’ that we can’t take with us.

“Ready to Question” has a big school-choir feel to it. Aplin’s vocal dips and soars like a falcon, as it flies around the great scenery. And she’s a fast bird.  Skimming, flittering, diving and falling.  Then “The Power of Love” comes up.  Even if you feel tempted to skip this one, it may be best to give it a play. It is actually a shimmering glorified apparition of a song. And it is one of the very few popular songs written about the ‘Holy Spirit’…  So if you are of charismatic persuasion, you might want to try this one out.

Perhaps to be “Alive” and to be “Human” you need the power of holiness pumping in your veins – along with the normal blood and water.  And ‘Alive’ is a song about passion and kindness. “It’s not too late … Just rely on me now.”  she suggest. Then in “Human” Aplin begs the other (male?) to prove that he is human by showing some faults. We can all connect with that notion can’t we?  This is a song about the sin of pride. Pride can take over someone – and it creates an impenetrable shield. Then their individual beauty cannot shine through. “I love your flaws [...] crave your mistakes …” She says. Yes, the ‘demon’ here is self-perceived perfection.

In “November” we finally get the allusion about “the English Rain.”  This song thuds against you like the bleary-eyed splots of icy water that drench us all year round. The kind of rain that soaks us through to our bones. It is cold and heartbreaking. And you feel utterly dejected.  The vocal on this track is pale and hazy – and the guitar feels soggy and abandoned. But it is an incredibly poignant number. This is rewarding, suggestive and virtuous.

The album concludes with ‘Start of Time’ with guitar twangs and a spooky voice that shimmers and spirals out of control. It is smoky at times, but always lacy and trembling. The voice soaks deep into your skin. And then it gradually warms you up.  Just like the sun. Which will come out. Eventually.  Even in England. Keep chanting for it. Keep praying for it. And it will come.

Far from being ‘boring’ this is an enormously enjoyable and interesting album. There are contours to explore, high-points to climb, and there are deep gullies to discover.

Play it. Enjoy it. And never mind the English bloody Rain.

– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: https://www.facebook.com/gabrielleaplin

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Handmade Festival Leicester Picks

by Festival News, Music Festival • Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

With an array of exciting artists on offer – such as ‘Rolo Tomassi’, ‘Nine Black Alps’, ‘Dutch Uncles’, ‘The Twilight Sad’ and ‘We Were Promised Jetpacks’ – the new Hand Made Festival taking over Leicester this May promises to be an unforgettable weekend.

There is a whole bunch of entertaining, surprising & amazing acts to enjoy. Here, we hand-pick some of the music that we are most looking forward to seeing:

surrender the coast1: Surrender The Coast
Friday 19:15 – 19:45
The People’s Photographic Gallery
2 Wellington St

‘Surrender The Coast’ are a Leicester based ‘Hardcore / Southern Rock’ five-piece band formed in 2010.

‘Pulling Teeth “is a raging monster of a song from their ‘Breaking Morals & Losing Morale’ disc. With docile guitar riffs and cutting-edge musicianship, this song soon bites deep into your neck. The vocals are tight and steady – and fly at a rapid pace.

The rolling rhythms amaze and astonish. The ‘Southerness’ in this song is a snakelike wrapping of guitar that twirls itself around the blast-furnaced chuggings of the hardened bass lines. It’s brutal stuff -  fearless and crucial.

– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: https://www.facebook.com/surrenderthecoast

 

maybeshewill2: Maybeshewill
Friday 20:45 – 21:30
The People’s Photographic Gallery
2 Wellington St

Maybeshewill is a British instrumental band based in Leicestershire, UK.

The band is comprised of James Collins (Drums), John Helps (Guitar), Matthew Daly (Keyboards) Robin Southby (Guitar), Jamie Ward (Bass)

The band follow a steadfastly DIY ethos by trying to be as self sufficient as possible and consequently they record, mix and master their own records, run a record label, booking agency, recording studio and promote shows in their home town.

They have released three albums and numerous EPs, singles and remix compilations. In the UK and Europe their albums are available through Function Records and in Japan through Xtal.

‘Co-Conspirators’ has rich folds of piano and icicles of dangerously overhanging guitar. These sounds sheet down like a penetrating sleet of hail-stones.

Exuberant wealth is selflessly provided and indomitable euphoria is in rich supply. This is a heady mix of soft sapphire sweetness and steely determination. An amazing piece of work!

– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: https://www.facebook.com/mybshwll

LITTLE NIGHT TERRORS short3: Little Night Terrors
Saturday 19:15 – 19:45
The People’s Photographic Gallery
2 Wellington St

The Little Night Terrors are pure pop dynamite.

‘The Terrors’, brothers Andrew & James Stone and cousin Dan Holyoak, are about to throw a hand grenade into 2013’s music scene.

Little Night Terrors  -  inspired by Hunter S Thompson, tape decks, EH Holy Grail & Invisible Touch – have been holed up in a farmhouse in Kent with producer Simon Barnicott, (Arctic Monkeys, Temper Trap, Bombay Bicycle Club) losing their minds, but making music.

Last year they self-released two singles, the livewire ‘Pocket Rocket (Where the Light is)’ which went top #50 on the itunes alternative chart.

In September 2012, they put out the groove shaker ‘Young Lion’, which was blasted out during the Formula One coverage worldwide & on Made In Chelsea.

Every show that the boys played last year in their hometown of Leicester sold out, including a raucous gig at the O2 Academy, which is featured in the ‘Young Lion’ music video.

‘Pure’ rattles along like the matron’s bike. The slack chain-sounds clack and rick, and the pavement churns up shingle pieces that bounce off your toes.

The voice is pure and charming – it’s as happy-clappy as a large plumed hat in the chapel on a Sunday. It’s as fresh as a dew-dimpled lawn on a fresh morning, and it will keep you awake and buzzing right through until sunset. The unbridled joy.

Oh – and look at the “Hula Hoop Girl” video. It is highly recommended!

– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: https://www.facebook.com/littlenightterrors

4: Charlotte Carpenter In The NightCharlotte Carpenter
Saturday 20:00 – 20:30
The Cookie Jar
68 High St  City Centre

Rising Folk-Pop starlet Charlotte Carpenter has been tipped as the next big thing amongst female singer-songwriters. A very young and innovative musician, she has contemporary melodies laden with traditional influences. Charlotte’s debut EP ‘Let it Go’ reached Number 42 on the iTunes chart in September. Her follow up EP ‘In the Night’ is released in March with a music video directed by David Spearing who has previously worked with McFly, Wretch32 and Rhianna.

‘Blame it on Anything’ from the “In The Night” EP has a dainty tinkerbell accompaniment together with lucidly mellow slide guitar. Charlotte’s voice is principled and steadfast. And yet is also has some greasy turned up edges – the voice is like a waxy old book. Charming, oily and deeply loved.

The melody is beautiful ‘country style’ creaky – like a favourite old well-worn rocking chair. So you soon snuggle down into those layers of deeply padded sound. And drift off slowly, softly singing to yourself.

– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: https://www.facebook.com/charlottecarpentermusic

Her Name Is Calla5: Her Name is Calla
Saturday 21:00 – 22:00
Bishop’s Street Methodist Church
Town Hall Square, LE1

After playing live throughout the United Kingdom to much critical acclaim with the likes of iLiKETRAiNS and The Twilight Sad, Her Name is Calla released their debut album, The Heritage, in 2008, followed by a well-received headlining tour. The album lasts over 50 minutes, despite only containing six tracks.

In February 2009, they announced their arrival on the German label, Denovali Records. Denovali re-released The Heritage on vinyl in late 2009.

The band released The Quiet Lamb, containing 12 tracks and lasting over 75 minutes, on 8 November 2010. NME gave it a score of 8/10, describing it as “massive, pastorally apocalyptic music”. The Sun called it a “ten-track jewel of a record” that engages the listener “in a rare and beautiful way”.

Lead vocalist Tom Morris also tours and releases music as a solo artist under the name T E Morris, as does multi-instrumentalist Adam Weikert as Weikie.

The single “Ragman Roll” starts with an inclement piano, then an alarmingly bleached vocal from Tom bursts through the side shutters like an unwanted yowl in the night.

The emotion of this entreaty reaches heights of almost painful altitude – before it is embraced by tufts of frond-like sound that wave like flapping ghost-wings in the moonlight.

The tiny foiled tings of cymbal brush effortlessly across the surface. And the song soon soon ferments itself into an hysterical stew – until it finally boils over the edge a in a froth of fervent power.

– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: https://www.facebook.com/hernameiscalla

Preacher & The Bear6: Preacher & The Bear
Sunday 19:30 – 20:00
The Guildhall
Guildhall Lane, LE1

Preacher & The Bear play real sleazy box-car travelling blues.

Songs like ‘Can’t Afford No Train’ have oodles of wonky honky-tonk piano and vocals that are as gritty as sofkee morning shakes generously dotted with shrimp shell.

The guitars are greasy and thick as mud on your hull, and the bass is as dirty brown as burnt umber.

Songs are full of fat eyed gravy and smelly onion grease.

And don’t expect to get away feeling fresh from this band – this music is so trashy that it will stain your saucy fingers.

– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: https://www.facebook.com/preacherandthebear

Handmade Festival

The Festival is 24th to 26th May at various venues across Leicester City. Click HERE for tickets or check out : https://www.facebook.com/handmadefestivalleicester

 

Animal Frm long

ANIMAL FARM SHOWCASE at THE GREAT ESCAPE

by Raw Ramp Music Mag • Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Animal Farm is a forward thinking independent music company whose 360 range of services include artist management, booking agency, record production, record label and music publishing.

They are hosting a showcase at The Great Escape in Brighton on Friday 17th May at The Fishbowl. The line up, in order of appearance, is The Manic Shine, Beat The Poet, Athletes In Paris, iremembertapes. and Sunset Strip Club.

The Manic ShineThe Manic Shine – 7:00 pm

The Manic Shine are a four-piece rock band from the north of London. They are unlike anything you have heard before. With a vast sound that binds progressive alt/rock with atmospheric synth noise  – they combine incredible guitar solos with time signature changes and a heart-pounding groove -  to deliver an intoxicating wall of metamorphic rock art.

This year they are busy supporting their fan-funded album ‘Let Go Or Be Dragged’.

Songs like ‘Tin Crown Kings’ are as delicate and nimble-fingered as they are destructively sharp and detrimentally infectious. On this track, a sinfully scorching guitar sneers its way through the verse, just before bursting into the pack of stars and brazen shapes that is the chorus  – which explodes into full-blown view. Bass notes are burnished and bright -  and the voice has an espresso-flavoured corona to it -  while the drums have a penetrating intensity to them that whips up your energies and stokes the fire.
– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: http://www.facebook.com/themanicshine

Beat The Poet – 7:45 pm

Beat The Poet’s debut single ‘Kerb Crawling Love’ has now been released. We had a listen:

It is a dark sludgy affair, but it incorporates a whiff of a black leather bomber and a crepe-soled rocking edginess to it. It’s as if Arthur Fonzarelli had been heavily influenced by Tubeway Army… Slightly bleak, slightly down-at-heel and faded. Yet the song still retains the misty eyed hope of Brylcreem in a jar,  and the twang of Gretsch on the sidewalk. — © Neil Mach May 2013 –

Link: http://www.facebook.com/beatthepoet

 

 

Athletes in Paris

Athletes In Paris – 8:30 pm

Athletes In Paris come from the Northeast and sing in an accent that -they suggest – is too broad for anyone outside a 50 mile radius of Sunderland to fully comprehend!

Their idiosyncratic, danceable indie-pop sound is induced by two drummers, chanted gang-vocals and frantic guitar-work. They may make you realize that they could be the missing link between Sting, Prefab Sprout and Katy Perry.

Link: http://www.facebook.com/AthletesinParis

 

i remember tapes

I REMEMBER TAPES – 9:15 pm

Influenced by dark new wave and bright modern electronica, The “iremembertapes” are a modern mash-up of atmospheric synths, melodic indie guitar riffs and sharp electro beats that you can rock-out to.

This electro-indie trio seamlessly integrate synths and drum samples into otherwise great ‘indie’ songs. Deep layering in the choruses and catchy melodic verses exemplify the bands’ multitude of influences. Their explosive stage presence urges bubbling crowds to burst onto the dance floor.

The band grew up around Winchester playing with various hardcore punk and metal bands. Then, in the autumn of 2011 the band released the single ‘Gossip’ to enthusiastic support from bloggers and radio shows alike.

On ‘Gossip’ a gusseted bass frolics as playfully as a kitten-cat around synths that are as smooth and silky as a malinki mink reclining on a slinky bed. The ultra-sharp drum machine is as fierce in its corrective manner as a stiff school ma’am with more cane than patience.  And Tom Ferry’s voice is charmingly reminiscent of those delectable 80’s hey-hey days when we all had loadsa money … and the time to spend it.  This is staggeringly powerful yet gently nostalgic. All at once.   — © Neil Mach May 2013 –

2012 saw the release of their impressive debut album ‘Human Architecture’ in the UK – and across the world.

Link: http://www.facebook.com/iremembertapes

Sunset Strip Club

The Sunset Strip Club – 10:00 pm

The Sunset Strip Club are a pop/rock band who jacked in the grit and greyness of the north of England and wound up in the glitz and glamour of the French Riviera.

Joe, Damo, Chris and Simon met in the mid noughties as school mates in Hull. Gigging on the toilet circuit brought interest from managers, labels and publishers. Tours with The Automatic, Little Comets, Orson, The Hoosiers, The 1975, Florence and the Machine and even Peter Andre (Yes!) lead them up the usual garden path … until someone had an Eureka moment and exclaimed: “Let’s move to Nice!”

Setting up shop as the French Riviera’s premier party band introduced the northern oiks to a different lifestyle of pleasure and… well, mainly pleasure. There’s a lot you can do in Hull before soundcheck, but you can’t go jet skiing. Playing at the Adelphi has its perks, but so does performing at Russian oligarchs’ weddings in Monte Carlo.

This change of lifestyle inspired the quartet to develop a unique style of radio friendly pop that sounds new, exciting and fresh, combining the poeticism of Dry The River with a The Killers-esque instinct to go for the jugular and a European je ne sais quoi.

‘Einstein’s Theory’ has a collection of dainty jewel-box sounds that ornament the obliquely soothing tom-toms. Then a strident vocal rises like a mast-head from the foam.  This song is long on lathers -  and it soaks like a bloater in the bath house.  Languorously, it gently soothes away the aches & pains of the day and it relaxes all those pent-up anxieties. You can sleep now. And put away your fake addictions. Well, at least till morning.
– © Neil Mach May 2013 –

 

To learn more about ANIMAL FARM click here: http://www.facebook.com/theanimalfarmmusic