Brighton's annual takeover by marauding hordes of attention grabbing big names, showcasing Norwegians playing four or five times, major label hopes, mathrock challengers and suchlike. Pretty much everything bar a few standalone gigs is sold out, but just in case you're there next weekend allow us to mark your cards. As usual some of the early selections are made on blurb alone because we aren't mad, and though we've limited it to one slot per artist some of them are playing several times over so watch out.
THURSDAY 16th
12.40 Made In Japan (The Haunt)
13.30 Oyama (Above Audio)
14.30 Honeyblood (Dome Studio)
15.30 Young*Husband (Prince Albert)
18.30 Whirr (Concorde 2)
19.15 Eaux (Digital)
19.30 Girls Names (Coalition)
19.45 Fist City (The Hope)
20.00 Of Rust & Bone (Metro Hub stage)
20.30 Cloud Boat (Brighthelm Centre)
21:00 Fear of Men (Latest Music Bar)
21.15 Pinkunoizu (Prince Albert)
21.45 Everything Everything (Dome Concert Hall)
22.00 Beach Fossils (Green Door Store)
22.15 Balthazar (Prince Albert)
22.30 Lord Huron (dome studio)
23.15 Melody's Echo Chamber (Corn Exchange)
23.30 Phosphorescent (dome studio)
00.00 On An On (Coalition)
00.30 Husky Rescue (Brighthelm Centre)
FRIDAY 17th
12.15 Lawrence Arabia (The Haunt)
12.45 Kid Karate (Audio)
13.45 AA Wallace (Blind Tiger)
14.00 Jacco Gardner (Komedia Studio Bar)
14:15 Katie Malco (Pavilion Tavern)
14.30 Amateur Best (Fitzherberts)
15.00 Skip&Die (Komedia Studio Bar)
15.30 Alarm Bells (dome studio)
16.00 Luke Sital-Singh (Fiddlers Elbow)
17:15 Bear Cavalry (Pavilion Tavern)
18.45 Shuyler Jansen (Unitarian Church)
19.15 Golden Fable (Sticky Mikes Frog Bar)
19.30 Marika Hackman (Unitarian Church)
19.45 Velociraptor (The Haunt)
20.00 Nadine Shah (St Bartholomew's Church)
20:15 My First Tooth (Pavilion Tavern)
20.30 Caitlin Park (Queens Hotel)
20.45 Marques Toliver (St Bartholomew's Church)
21.15 Spectres (Above Audio)
21.30 Charlie Boyer & The Voyeurs (dome studio)
21:45 Stagecoach (Pavilion Tavern)
22.00 Towns (Above Audio)
22.15 Drenge (The Hope)
23:15 Tellison (Pavilion Tavern)
22.30 Fear Of Men (The Basement)
23.30 Royal Canoe (Sticky Mikes Frog Bar)
23.45 The Adelines (Blind Tiger)
00:20 Fight Like Apes (Pavilion Tavern)
01:25 Johnny Foreigner (Pavilion Tavern)
03:15 Her Parents (Pavilion Tavern)
SATURDAY 18th
12.30 Sisters (The Hope)
13.15 Fenster (Komedia Studio Bar)
13.30 Mary Epworth (Komedia)
14.30 WALL (Komedia)
15.30 Za! (Prince Albert)
16:35 Son of Dave (St Ann’s Well Gardens)
16:45 Olympians (Pav Tav)
18:15 Hold Your Horse Is (Pav Tav)
18.30 Parlour (Audio)
19.00 Eliza and The Bear (St Mary's Church)
19.45 The Penelopes (Queens Hotel)
20.00 Cheatahs (Coalition)
20.30 The Physics House Band (Concorde 2)
20.45 Eagulls (Coalition)
21.15 Tall Ships (Concorde 2)
21.30 The Veils (St Mary's Church)
21:50 Grace Petrie (Mrs Fitzherberts)
22.00 Parquet Courts (The Haunt) OR Sweet Baboo (Green Door Store)
22:10 The Bobby McGees (Mrs Fitzherberts)
22.15 Big Deal (Blind Tiger)
23:15 We Are the Physics (Pav Tav)
23.30 Woods (dome studio)
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Friday, May 10, 2013
Without Feathers - Red Little Heart
Three voices, three largely acoustic guitars. One voice instantly recognisable (or so STN would hope if you've been following our work) as Emma Kupa formerly of Standard Fare, one less instantaneous but earpricking in Nat Johnson, latterly solo and before that of Monkey Swallows The Universe, and one maybe less so in Norwich-originating singer-songwriter Rory McVicar. They've just released their first three demo tracks for name-your-price download, a lead vocal apiece as it should be, from which we've plucked this Johnson-led exquisite brokenness.
Thursday, May 09, 2013
Track-by-track: The Android Angel - Lie Back And Think of England
The first of a very occasional new series to STN in which people we've covered talk us through their current album. The first we alight on is the work of Paul Coltofeanu, who you might have known of through Free Swim but who put out an album last month of fascinatingly widescreen lo-fi warped psych-pop shapes under the name The Android Angel, complete with an intriguing backstory upon which we asked him to elaborate:
In the summer of 2011, I took my guitar to Eastern Europe where I spent ten days working on a farm in Romania, three days working on a farm in Ukraine, ten days at Sziget Festival in Hungary, and seven days in Berlin. Lie Back And Think of England is the album I have made about my experience.
1. Homes
I recorded the bells sound onto my mobile phone while on a cycle ride high up in the mountains of Transylvania. They were hung around two horse's necks. I added the sound of a piper. The bells kinda slowly pan across the speakers while the piper is constant to create the image of a lone musician on a hillside watching a small procession go past.
2. Solutions
I met an English guy called Danny on the farm in Romania and travelled with him to Ukraine to work on a water buffalo Farm. He was really passionate about bears. I found him quite inspirational. He also gave me a book about the importance of finding a passion. I never read it - I kinda felt I didn't need to because I figured Danny probably embodied its message.
3. Lie Back and Think of England
Being a long way from England gave me a different view of it. Public confidence in the government and the press was reeling from the expenses and phone hacking scandals, and then the riots started while I was away too. England likes to portray itself at the forefront of enlightenment, and in a lot of ways I think it is, but at that time it also showed how stuck in the dark ages it is in some ways too. The female vocal is provided by my friend Sarah Mahony. Was chuffed when John Kennedy played this song on XFM.
4. Distant Star
I met this amazing girl in Ukraine who helped me get to a train station so I could continue my journey. I wrote this song for her. This song was featured on the BBC Introducing Mixtape.
5. Ability Park
I met a girl called Asia on the train into Hungary and I went with her to Sziget Festival in Budapest. While I was there I met lots of people from all over Europe which was really enriching. This instrumental is supposed to represent those glorious hazy wanders from stage to stage at a music festival.
6. Foreign Son
This was actually the first song I wrote when I spent the summer of 2010 in New York. It didn't quite fit with the album borne from that experience (2011's Marble Sun), but it seems to fit on this one. I wrote it in Washington Square and I think it is New York talking to me telling me to man up and enjoy life instead of writing loads of 'cry-wank' music which I had been doing up to then!
7. Her Shoulders
I have a thing about shoulders.
8. Chicago John
Recording live drums can be such a mission so I goofed around for the first time with midi beats on garage band. I recorded four or five songs which were mostly awful but I couldn't get this one out of my head. I had a bit of a rough year last year and often I couldn't get to sleep. To help me sleep I invented this imaginary, comic-book world of espionage in my head and Chicago John was one of the characters in it. This song was also featured on the BBC Introducing Mixtape and played on 6 Music by Gideon Coe.
9. A Parliament of Owls
Without wanting to sound like a dick I think this track most represents where I am musically in 2013 - lost for words, searching for something new, a little bit devoid of inspiration, stuck in a tunnel. For that reason it works above all others as the final 'full' composition on the record. I am moving out to North America for a few years at the end of July to start new projects and recordings.
10. Follow the River
This short outro is the orchestration from the title track given it's own space as the sun sets on the record. It was a very, very profound experience in Eastern Europe that I am not entirely sure I will ever fully get my head around.
Paul/The Android Angel has a few live dates:
28th May Brighton Sticky Mike's Frog Bar
2nd June London Foxfest
20th July London Spice Of Life
27th July Redfest
In the summer of 2011, I took my guitar to Eastern Europe where I spent ten days working on a farm in Romania, three days working on a farm in Ukraine, ten days at Sziget Festival in Hungary, and seven days in Berlin. Lie Back And Think of England is the album I have made about my experience.
1. Homes
I recorded the bells sound onto my mobile phone while on a cycle ride high up in the mountains of Transylvania. They were hung around two horse's necks. I added the sound of a piper. The bells kinda slowly pan across the speakers while the piper is constant to create the image of a lone musician on a hillside watching a small procession go past.
2. Solutions
I met an English guy called Danny on the farm in Romania and travelled with him to Ukraine to work on a water buffalo Farm. He was really passionate about bears. I found him quite inspirational. He also gave me a book about the importance of finding a passion. I never read it - I kinda felt I didn't need to because I figured Danny probably embodied its message.
3. Lie Back and Think of England
Being a long way from England gave me a different view of it. Public confidence in the government and the press was reeling from the expenses and phone hacking scandals, and then the riots started while I was away too. England likes to portray itself at the forefront of enlightenment, and in a lot of ways I think it is, but at that time it also showed how stuck in the dark ages it is in some ways too. The female vocal is provided by my friend Sarah Mahony. Was chuffed when John Kennedy played this song on XFM.
4. Distant Star
I met this amazing girl in Ukraine who helped me get to a train station so I could continue my journey. I wrote this song for her. This song was featured on the BBC Introducing Mixtape.
5. Ability Park
I met a girl called Asia on the train into Hungary and I went with her to Sziget Festival in Budapest. While I was there I met lots of people from all over Europe which was really enriching. This instrumental is supposed to represent those glorious hazy wanders from stage to stage at a music festival.
6. Foreign Son
This was actually the first song I wrote when I spent the summer of 2010 in New York. It didn't quite fit with the album borne from that experience (2011's Marble Sun), but it seems to fit on this one. I wrote it in Washington Square and I think it is New York talking to me telling me to man up and enjoy life instead of writing loads of 'cry-wank' music which I had been doing up to then!
7. Her Shoulders
I have a thing about shoulders.
8. Chicago John
Recording live drums can be such a mission so I goofed around for the first time with midi beats on garage band. I recorded four or five songs which were mostly awful but I couldn't get this one out of my head. I had a bit of a rough year last year and often I couldn't get to sleep. To help me sleep I invented this imaginary, comic-book world of espionage in my head and Chicago John was one of the characters in it. This song was also featured on the BBC Introducing Mixtape and played on 6 Music by Gideon Coe.
9. A Parliament of Owls
Without wanting to sound like a dick I think this track most represents where I am musically in 2013 - lost for words, searching for something new, a little bit devoid of inspiration, stuck in a tunnel. For that reason it works above all others as the final 'full' composition on the record. I am moving out to North America for a few years at the end of July to start new projects and recordings.
10. Follow the River
This short outro is the orchestration from the title track given it's own space as the sun sets on the record. It was a very, very profound experience in Eastern Europe that I am not entirely sure I will ever fully get my head around.
Paul/The Android Angel has a few live dates:
28th May Brighton Sticky Mike's Frog Bar
2nd June London Foxfest
20th July London Spice Of Life
27th July Redfest
Tuesday, May 07, 2013
Her Parents - Lithuanian Mercedes
You probably know the Her Parents drill by now - thrashy punk, shouting of obtuse lyrics, all over in double quick time. 76 seconds this time, and it's about what it says in the title after a fashion, only with a little less shouting and, dare we say, a little more of a melody the postman can whistle. Second album Happy Birthday (currently streaming via DIY) is out May 13th on vinyl, a week later digitally, via Alcopop!, features songs called Why Are You Hitting Yourself and Hollow Out A Horse, and as it all fits on one side of a 12" they've put its predecessor Physical Release in the flip. Can't say fairer deal than that.
Dates!
25th May Manchester Kraak
26th May Glasgow Old Hairdressers
28th May Nottingham JT Soar
29th May Oxford Wheatsheaf
30th May Glasgow Undertone
31st May Brighton Prince Albert
1st June London Old Blue Last
Dates!
25th May Manchester Kraak
26th May Glasgow Old Hairdressers
28th May Nottingham JT Soar
29th May Oxford Wheatsheaf
30th May Glasgow Undertone
31st May Brighton Prince Albert
1st June London Old Blue Last
Thursday, May 02, 2013
Sky Larkin - Motto
If it seems a while since we last heard from Sky Larkin it's because Katie has been around the world as the fifth Wild Beast, Nestor has been supplementary drumming and tour managing around and about and Doug has been leaving to get a proper job, replaced Future Of The Left-style by two new members, Sam Pryor of These Monsters and Nile Marr of Man Made (and yes, he is). They recorded a third album with usual producer John Goodmanson at the tail end of last year, due out in autumn; this first taste is longer and more concentrated, the mesh of guitars and rumbling bass nodding more openly towards Sonic Youth at their more decodable but still essentially them, thrusting shards of sharply circling riffs and Katie's way with smartly syllable-recursive couplets and detached worldview present and correct. After a date tonight at the Scala and Live At Leeds on Saturday they're embarking on a tour supporting Dutch Uncles in three weeks' time and then some dates with Marnie Stern. Great to have them back amongst us.
Islet - Triangulation Station
The propulsive madmen/woman of Cardiff jagged frenzy and instrument-swapping Kraut-psych-absurdity are back with a second album, Released By The Movement, in the autumn, from which comes a single out 10th June that, obviously, sounds nothing like normal ideas of an single, though it might qualify as a distorted signal beamed in from some other dimension. It does sound like it's been recorded at the other end of a long corridor but otherwise there's a lot of repetitive mantras, a lot of arrythmic percussion and vintage synth drones, some weird vocal arrangements falling over each other and the sense that it might make slightly more sense watching the four of them on stage pushing each other on to greater brain-melting heights.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Standard Fare - Rumours
And so one of the finest power trios indiepop ever offered sail into the distance (or in Emma's case into Without Feathers, a trio with Nat Johnson and Rory McVicar, who played their debut gig on Saturday, are at Norwich Birdcage on Friday and have Indietracks ahead) with a limited edition release on a Vancouver label of an out-take from Out Of Sight, Out Of Time that's just as it always was, a propulsively jangly shuffle of stories told amid the wreckage of a breakup wherein our narrator attempts to cope by listening to the titular album. A neat apparent full stop on a never less than smartly enjoyable band.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Weekends away: May Day bank holiday weekend
A new weekly post for this summer where we guide you through the sets you should be seeing at British festivals the following weekend. Please note that a) we cannot be held responsible for clashes and b) we haven't heard and judged every band here, most of the locals will have been judged on their stated influences and whether their blurb didn't make us feel physically sick. We accept no responsibility if the unknowns turn out to be rotten.
Liverpool Sound City
"The largest city centre music and arts festival in the UK". Tickets available on the day for one (£35), two (£55) or three (£70) days, or a £200 delegate pass allowing access to parties and conferences featuring speakers and conveners such as Andrew Loog Oldham, Tracey Thorn, Steve Levine, Dave Haslam, Ken Nelson, Chris Hawkins, Dan Smith off Bastille and the traditional John Robb and Peter Hooton.
THURSDAY 2ND
19:00 - 19:30 Blank Maps (Mello Mello)
19:30 - 20:00 Loved Ones (Cathedral)
20:00 - 20:30 The Wild Eyes (Shipping Forecast)
20:00 - 20:30 Waylayers (Sound Food and Drink)
20:30 - 21:00 Ofeliadorme (The Attic)
21:00 - 21:30 Natasha Haws (Mello Mello)
21:00 - 21:30 Secret Rendezvous (Brooklyn Mixer)
21:00 - 21:30 Wonderlust (Bold Street Coffee)
22:00 - 22:45 PINS (Shipping Forecast)
22:15 - 23:15 Oneohtrix Point Never (Kazimier)
22:15 - 22:45 Spring Offensive (Epstein Theatre)
23:15 - 00:00 Drenge (Shipping Forecast)
00:20 - 01:00 Alessi's Ark (Leaf Cafe)
FRIDAY 3rd
18:00 - 18:30 Vasco Da Gama (Art Academy)
20:00 - 20:30 Alpha Male Tea Party (Screenadelica)
20:15 - 21:00 Toy (Cathedral)
21:00 - 21:30 Charlie Boyer & The Voyeurs (Art Academy)
21:15 - 21:45 Witch Hunt (Leaf Cafe)
21:30 - 22:45 The Walkmen (Cathedral)
22:00 - 23:00 Savages (Art Academy)
22:15 - 22:45 The Chapman Family (Leaf Cafe)
23:00 - 23:30 Dingus Khan (Sound Food and Drink)
23:15 - 00:00 Still Corners (Leaf Cafe)
23:30 - 00:45 Everything Everything (Art Academy)
00:15 - 01:30 Thee Oh Sees (Kazimier)
01:15 - 01:45 Police Squad (Krazyhouse)
01:45 - 02:30 Future Of The Left (Screenadelica)
SATURDAY 4th
15:30 - 16:00 Laura J Martin (Liverpool ONE Dome)
18:00 - 18:30 16 Hole Boots (The Brink)
19:05 - 19:35 Death Masks (Art Academy)
20:00 - 20:30 Last Days of 1984 (Garage)
20:30 - 22:45 Dexys (Cathedral)
22:00 - 22:30 Golden Fable (Garage)
22:30 - 23:00 Mercury 13 (Black-E)
23:30 - 00:00 Amateur Best (Kazimier)
00:30 - 01:30 Big Deal (Shipping Forecast)
01:45 - 02:30 Bo Ningen (Screenadelica)
Live At Leeds
The venerable Leodensian takeover on bank holiday Saturday for the seventh time, plus some seperately ticketed gigs and the Unconference on Friday, the Vaccines in Millenium Square on Sunday and the Live At Leeds 5-a-side Football Tournament on Monday. £22.50 tickets are still available online.
12:00 - 12:30 Lone Wolf (Milos Upstairs)
13:00 - 13:30 Menace Beach (Nation Of Shopkeepers)
14:00 - 14:30 Backyards (Wardrobe)
15:00 - 15:30 Blackeye (Leeds Uni Mine)
15:45 - 16:15 Charlie Boyer and the Voyeurs (Leeds Uni Refectory)
16:30 - 17:00 Post War Glamour Girls (Leeds Uni Stylus)
16:45 - 17:15 Dinosaur Pile-Up (Leeds Uni Refectory)
17:00 - 17:30 Witch Hunt (Leeds Met 2)
17:30 - 18:00 Pete Roe (Cockpit 3)
18:00 - 18:30 Sweet Baboo (Wardrobe)
19:00 - 19:30 Marika Hackman (Brudenell Social Club)
19:30 - 20:00 Kleine Schweine (Milos Downstairs)
19:30 - 20:15 Savages (Leeds Uni Stylus)
20:00 - 20:30 Maybeshewill (Leeds Uni Mine)
21:00 - 21:30 These Monsters (Leeds Uni Mine)
21:15 - 22:00 PINS (Leeds Met 2)
22:15 - 23:30 The Walkmen (Leeds Uni Stylus)
22:30 - 00:00 Everything Everything (Leeds Uni Refectory)
23:00 - 23:45 Sky Larkin (Leeds Uni Mine)
Sounds From The Other City
Salford's celebration of new music, taking over Chapel Street's bars and crannies on the bank holiday Monday. Advance tickets £18. No stage times yet, so here's some names to ring in red Bic:
BC Camplight (Islington Mill)
Daedelus (Islington Mill)
Die Hexen (Angel Centre)
DIVORCE (Angel Centre)
GREATWAVES (St Phillips Church)
Haiku Salut (The Crescent)
Parenthetical Girls (The Crescent)
Post War Glamour Girls (The Crescent)
Rozi Plain (Islington Mill)
September Girls (The Crescent)
Still Corners (St Phillips Church)
Treetop Flyers (Islington Mill)
Liverpool Sound City
"The largest city centre music and arts festival in the UK". Tickets available on the day for one (£35), two (£55) or three (£70) days, or a £200 delegate pass allowing access to parties and conferences featuring speakers and conveners such as Andrew Loog Oldham, Tracey Thorn, Steve Levine, Dave Haslam, Ken Nelson, Chris Hawkins, Dan Smith off Bastille and the traditional John Robb and Peter Hooton.
THURSDAY 2ND
19:00 - 19:30 Blank Maps (Mello Mello)
19:30 - 20:00 Loved Ones (Cathedral)
20:00 - 20:30 The Wild Eyes (Shipping Forecast)
20:00 - 20:30 Waylayers (Sound Food and Drink)
20:30 - 21:00 Ofeliadorme (The Attic)
21:00 - 21:30 Natasha Haws (Mello Mello)
21:00 - 21:30 Secret Rendezvous (Brooklyn Mixer)
21:00 - 21:30 Wonderlust (Bold Street Coffee)
22:00 - 22:45 PINS (Shipping Forecast)
22:15 - 23:15 Oneohtrix Point Never (Kazimier)
22:15 - 22:45 Spring Offensive (Epstein Theatre)
23:15 - 00:00 Drenge (Shipping Forecast)
00:20 - 01:00 Alessi's Ark (Leaf Cafe)
FRIDAY 3rd
18:00 - 18:30 Vasco Da Gama (Art Academy)
20:00 - 20:30 Alpha Male Tea Party (Screenadelica)
20:15 - 21:00 Toy (Cathedral)
21:00 - 21:30 Charlie Boyer & The Voyeurs (Art Academy)
21:15 - 21:45 Witch Hunt (Leaf Cafe)
21:30 - 22:45 The Walkmen (Cathedral)
22:00 - 23:00 Savages (Art Academy)
22:15 - 22:45 The Chapman Family (Leaf Cafe)
23:00 - 23:30 Dingus Khan (Sound Food and Drink)
23:15 - 00:00 Still Corners (Leaf Cafe)
23:30 - 00:45 Everything Everything (Art Academy)
00:15 - 01:30 Thee Oh Sees (Kazimier)
01:15 - 01:45 Police Squad (Krazyhouse)
01:45 - 02:30 Future Of The Left (Screenadelica)
SATURDAY 4th
15:30 - 16:00 Laura J Martin (Liverpool ONE Dome)
18:00 - 18:30 16 Hole Boots (The Brink)
19:05 - 19:35 Death Masks (Art Academy)
20:00 - 20:30 Last Days of 1984 (Garage)
20:30 - 22:45 Dexys (Cathedral)
22:00 - 22:30 Golden Fable (Garage)
22:30 - 23:00 Mercury 13 (Black-E)
23:30 - 00:00 Amateur Best (Kazimier)
00:30 - 01:30 Big Deal (Shipping Forecast)
01:45 - 02:30 Bo Ningen (Screenadelica)
Live At Leeds
The venerable Leodensian takeover on bank holiday Saturday for the seventh time, plus some seperately ticketed gigs and the Unconference on Friday, the Vaccines in Millenium Square on Sunday and the Live At Leeds 5-a-side Football Tournament on Monday. £22.50 tickets are still available online.
12:00 - 12:30 Lone Wolf (Milos Upstairs)
13:00 - 13:30 Menace Beach (Nation Of Shopkeepers)
14:00 - 14:30 Backyards (Wardrobe)
15:00 - 15:30 Blackeye (Leeds Uni Mine)
15:45 - 16:15 Charlie Boyer and the Voyeurs (Leeds Uni Refectory)
16:30 - 17:00 Post War Glamour Girls (Leeds Uni Stylus)
16:45 - 17:15 Dinosaur Pile-Up (Leeds Uni Refectory)
17:00 - 17:30 Witch Hunt (Leeds Met 2)
17:30 - 18:00 Pete Roe (Cockpit 3)
18:00 - 18:30 Sweet Baboo (Wardrobe)
19:00 - 19:30 Marika Hackman (Brudenell Social Club)
19:30 - 20:00 Kleine Schweine (Milos Downstairs)
19:30 - 20:15 Savages (Leeds Uni Stylus)
20:00 - 20:30 Maybeshewill (Leeds Uni Mine)
21:00 - 21:30 These Monsters (Leeds Uni Mine)
21:15 - 22:00 PINS (Leeds Met 2)
22:15 - 23:30 The Walkmen (Leeds Uni Stylus)
22:30 - 00:00 Everything Everything (Leeds Uni Refectory)
23:00 - 23:45 Sky Larkin (Leeds Uni Mine)
Sounds From The Other City
Salford's celebration of new music, taking over Chapel Street's bars and crannies on the bank holiday Monday. Advance tickets £18. No stage times yet, so here's some names to ring in red Bic:
BC Camplight (Islington Mill)
Daedelus (Islington Mill)
Die Hexen (Angel Centre)
DIVORCE (Angel Centre)
GREATWAVES (St Phillips Church)
Haiku Salut (The Crescent)
Parenthetical Girls (The Crescent)
Post War Glamour Girls (The Crescent)
Rozi Plain (Islington Mill)
September Girls (The Crescent)
Still Corners (St Phillips Church)
Treetop Flyers (Islington Mill)
Saturday, April 27, 2013
The Graphite Set - These Streets
Lily Buchanan, the East Lothian-bred art student turned singer-songwriter who is The Graphite Set and releases her debut EP on 2nd June, makes no bones about the Nico influence on her plangent vocal style and probably not too many about the Patti-to-PJ lineage of her awkward folk-influenced art-psych anxiety. Pushed along by teetering guitar lines from the Smoke Fairies' Katherine Blamire, with a few names who've turned up on the periphery of previous STN favourites also involved, Buchanan sounds wracked by circumstance as guitars stop, start and turn strident around her.
Last Days Of 1984 - Lost Hearts
Already something new from the duo, this time heading in the kind of dark electronic shoegaze direction M83 pioneered and the likes of Factory Floor approach latterly. This being Last Days Of 1984 there's an oppressiveness to how they arrange it as waves of distorted guitar noises crash around and over the synth stabs and queasy swamp of what's lurking in the darkness underneath, a quasi-hypnotic squall overtaking the polyrhythms and casually downbeat vocals above.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Summer Of Blood - Mainstream Rituals/Summer Ritual I
For the Wicker Man associations and, well, that bandname Sheffield-based trio Summer Of Blood are if anything on the swoonsome side of things. Featuring Reenie and Dafydd from the late Nature Set, who were on last year's STN album, they're equal parts girl group sway and synthpop iciness, here striking an eerie gentleness amid Kate Bush quoting and synth coda.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
The Crimea - Last Plane Out Of Saigon
Quick primer for Crimea newcomers: emerged out of the Crocketts (two cracking albums, lots of live madness), picked up by Peel, flirted with the mainstream (including a top 40 single and Top Of The Pops appearance), toured as arena support, became reportedly the first band to put out an album for free online, then went on a hiatus that's just ended by their signing to Alcopop! (and Lazy Acre) to release a double album, Square Moon, on 29th July. And in all that time Davey McManus doesn't seem to have aged. The first track starts out seeming set for the ballroom before developing into a piano-led, subtly soulful summer strings-swoon built around maturing wistfulness. Also, it's another one for that list of songs where the title only features as the final words (Up The Junction, Virginia Plain, Just Like Heaven
Seazoo - No Wrenching of Guts This Time
Seazoo describe themselves as "a three-piece Post Teddycore explosion happening now", which surely negates any more need for information. More digging reveals they're from Wrexham and only went public about six weeks ago with an EP, Ken, that benefits from the peculiarly Welsh habit of stylistic abandon along Gorky's lines, here resembling early Los Campesinos! stripped of their Arts & Crafts back catalogues or Joanna Gruesome without the fuzz pedals.
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