Another week, another Riot Act! Promotions gig. All good though. This one is at Le Pub on
Friday 3 October. Roll up, roll up.

Loci
Pioneers of agit-rawk, Loci wield music writhing with energy and intent offset by dreamy shoegazing. Loci have toured across the country shaking the apathy from the indie-saturated music fans. This is musicwith edge, with dark intelligence and a sarcastic smile.


New State Radio
New State Radio are a hard-hitting four-piece political rock band from Newport, South Wales. Original members Richie Whittaker (Vocals/Guitar), Adam Brustad (Drums), and James Sadler (Bass) have recently been joined by Simon Strickland (Guitar)
The band formed in the summer of 2006, while the news was dominated by the Israeli bombing of Lebanon. Outraged, the band wrote 'Lebanon Is Burning', immediately setting out their stall as intelligent, uncompromising artists. They released the brilliantly received Broadcast News EP in early 2007, with songs such as the Orwellian 'Not Far From Fiction' and World War I tribute 'Sons to the Guns' grabbing the attention of BBC Wales among others. This was followed by a UK tour in Summer 2007, taking in venues such as the Water Rats in London and the Cavern in Liverpool, and also organising a successful gig in aid of Stop The War, during which they collaborated with Manics-connected Welsh poet Patrick Jones and were interviewed for The Big Issue Cymru.
New State Radio continue to expand their fan base while throwing their support behind causes such as No 2 ID (a campaign against the introduction of compulsory ID cards and a DNA database) and Love Music, Hate Racism. They also continue to be outspoken critics of the war in Iraq, the rise of the BNP, and 'New' Labour's relentless attack on the working-class. With a new record and tour planned for the end of 2008 and a more expansive sound through recent addition Simon Strickland's guitar, NSR hope to spread their message further afield for a long time to come!"
"Tune in to New State Radio", "Truth and justice in various tempos", and "Music affects every corner of society and, with conviction, can change it. We think the rest of our generation feels the same. How do you feel?" Pepto Dismal

The Auto Dropouts
The Auto Dropouts are the latest in the new wave of fine bands to come from Scandinavia. Superb musicians and songwriters, they have absorbed the best from British and American music and popular culture, and given it a quirky and melodic northern twist. The result is a unique blend of classic catchy pop and heart-wrenching rock torch songs. The Swedish 5 piece invade our shores with 2 gigs in London but you can catch the Auto Dropouts as they drop into Wales for the first time with a very special visit to Le Pub in Newport on Friday October 3rd when they support the rather wonderful and strange Loci. Also on the bill are New State Radio and Lil Deaths.

Lil Deaths
Lil Deaths are a dynamic indie rock powered trio from Newport, Wales.
The mixture of genres comes from each of the members varied influences and induvidual backgrounds; creating an unique and original style of poptastic vocal harmonies with a driving rhythm section and flowing bass lines.

Doors 20.00, Tickets £3.00 Doors £5.00
Tickets Available From: Diverse, Rockaway, In Exile, and www,wegottickets.com

Prog Rock Supergroup Comes To Town

FIREFLY MUSIC LTD PRESENTS:

PANIC ROOM with special guests Evolve Reverse

For those of you who like a bit of invention and a few surprises in your rock music, a band who, according to Total Rock radio sound like “a splendid melting pot of styles and genres, throwing out rock, jazz, blues and more ethereal moments at almost every turn… Led Zeppelin meets Kate Bush” is a reason, not for panic, but for celebration.

Panic Room feature current and ex-members of Karnataka, Mostly Autumn and Fish’s band, making them one of the only prog-rock supergroups in existence. Classic Rock magazine gave their debut album a whopping 8/10 review, saying it was “sensual and tribalistic… mixing hypnotic ethnicity with pulse pounding passion,” which sounds like a pretty fascinating proposition in anyone's book.

Support comes from Porthcawl's Evolve Reverse who have been compared to a modern Simon & Garfunkel but also take in such influences as Alice In Chains, Steely Dan and Super Furry Animals.

Monday 29th September 2008, The Point, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff Bay
£9adv/£11 on the door 7:30pm

Tickets are available through Spillers Records (02920 224905/www.spillersrecords.co.uk), Ticketline (02920 230130) and The Point (02920 460873/www.thepointcardiffbay.com) and are £9 in advance and £11 on the door.

Labels: Cardiff, Panic Room, The Point

On paper this probably wasn't the best context for this band. Monday was the opening of freshers week and, being a catch up for most of the regulars in Tommy's Bar, seeing the band probably wasn't the main reason people were there, and word of a rather cheap and satisfyingly destructive ale was also doing the rounds.

So it was like a creeping ninja that Frederick Stanley Star quietly smashed their way into the crowd, stunning the audience and distracting from the background chatter. Their music - mid-West spiritual Americana come-South Glamorgan - was enough to the turn heads of some of the more cynical visitors that evening. The band eased into their songs slowly but powerfully, reaching vocal crescendos which pulled you into the melodies and the lush instrumentation. FSS remind you of jam bands like Broken Social Scene, with the charm of looking shambolic but actually being very talented and well organised. Musically they are nearer Fleet Foxes and others from the more folky-indie end of the spectrum, and there is little in Britain to compare them to at all. This was always something more trumpted by Pitchfork than the NME - although that never stopped me spending my early 20s listening to I see a Darkness until every last tear was kicked out of it.

FSS can create something as powerful as that - extending a warm rainbow, gospel hug to the room, despite the challenging atmosphere of the evening.

Their debut album launch, with support from Little Bears Wail and Broken Leaf, takes place at Clwb on Friday October 17. £5 on doors.

Labels: cardiff, fredrick stanley star, howard gardens, saesneg, the family

QU Junktions presents...

Arctic Circle + Munch Munch + Katapulto + Illegal Seagull DJs

This is a show of pleasures rad, rare, guilty and racy. These are the musical kids who make bands that inspire people, do things their own way, daring deeds done dirt cheap and good. This is a jumble sale of a show and all the better for it.

Often it is an impulsive thing, the way we react to music. Music can make you jerk wild, hot flush, grow fins, bear gifts or just close eyes and dream. Tonight we have put together an awfully good evening of acts who all harness their impulses (all three acts rely on a deep well of emotions and freeform sensibilities) and keep them in a beautifully controlled condition that allows their music to touch wonderful places. This includes a favourite adoptive daughter of Bristol, Ms Anni Rossi who still travels the world to great delight, the gracious guitar playing of Mr James Blackshaw and a VERY special assembled drone orchestra led by Duane Pitre featuring some of Bristol and London's ancient and new outer-fringe musicians. Early arrival is pretty much demanded for a night of 'Kept Impulses'.

When you have Arctic Circle in a room playing at you its like watching a well worn, colour saturated photo of old friends come to life and make you dance and feel happy. Arctic Circle up, close and personal smell good and sound woozy and beauteous. A pan-euro-indie-sound-sitting-room-jam-band. Tonight is their night, they have helped make the bill and have begun to draw the circle....join in.

Arctic Circle are innocent but know their stuff, they walk the streets you know but they stare into space. They can write hit songs but pop off to pubs and lakes, draw cartoons or form an offshoot outfit. Arctic Circle is a place you want to go and see the lights in the sky. Their presence goes madly straight into your head and beams light onto memories you might have forgotten. Arctic Circle could be a suicide cult, they could all work at the same bank... they all have their own marvellous backgrounds but that's another story.

The Arctic Circle sound is bella bella (skippy Greek island hopping pop) ... classic Bristol (yes...Sarah Records)...it's Belle and Sebastian (knowing losers win)... Cardiff (underground kids' psych-sounds) ... it's mental (Finnish) folkish musical fauna...it's all a go-go. They do the boy/girl vocals and the males could be wearing the skirts for all we know. They have a box of tricks that includes accordion, clarinet, glockenspiel, effects pedals, pan lids, melodica, analogue electronics and all the rest. At live gigs the stage often resembles a jumble sale, echoing their love of homespun aesthetics and languid afternoons. Their humdrum lyrics tinker with domesticity and pithy politics yet they somehow unearth the poetics of yearning that lurks deep within the washing up.

Munch Munch are cherry picked and rightfully so. They cruise and crash and then they do something special again, rather than play it safe. They also happen to make joyous poppy prog craziness in a unique style - no wonder they stand out. Hip German label Tomlab liked what they hear and are putting out their records. Hand-built and disjointed are all good words for this quartet. Reference points are tossed about liberally and wildly: The Unicorns and Deerhoof are touchstones of inspiration, for sure, but the end product is quite unlike what any established constituent parts could have envisaged at the outset. Discordant beginnings and chant-along mid-period meanderings build to a climax propelled by keyboard stabs and squealed vocals. Hyper-hyper go go.

Katapulto crash-lands from Poland and brings the party in a warm, fruity and engaging style of his own mad making. YES he wants to take over the UK music charts and pays tribute to Phil Collins, the 'King of England', but he is also brilliant. He sings, pounds his computers and effects and makes a wrong dance kronk.

Illegal Seagull are arty crunchy DJs and party planners. Happy burlesque hardcore! They do glaring, glorious distortion so well and will certainly add further mischief to the night. Bring sunglasses.

Bristol County Sports Club
Fri 10th Oct 2008 / 7.30pm / £6 adv

TICKET OUTLETS:
Bristol Ticket Shop / Here Shop (Stokes Croft) / 20th Century Flicks (Clifton) / Ticketweb
CREDIT CARD BOOKINGS:
0870 4444 400 / http://www.bristolticketshop.co.uk
http://www.ticketweb.co.uk

Labels: Arctic Circle, Illegal Seagull DJs, Katapulto, Munch Munch

September Joy. It could be messy. We have a new floor in Meze to play with and a silly amount of bands. I'll run through a few of them and update the others when I get time!!

Lupen Crook's not an entertainer, he's a self-absorbed prick who wants to confuse people. His words, not ours. Acoustic singer-song writer Lupen Crook sings, or rather crows, songs about rape, skeletons and gang warfare. Think a demon zombie Devendra Branhart minus the cloying hippy nonsense. His (their?) album 'Iscariot The Ladder' has been on the Diverse listening post since the day it arrived in store and is one of my albums of the year. Folky but shout, acoustic but loud, they're just plain deranged really. I didn't seem to be able to see these nutjobs live anywhere so I booked them myself. Lets be honest, what other band will be described as ''Indie folk heroes'' by The Sun newspaper this year?

''Utterly compelling'' - NME

''To say the atmosphere of a gig rests on the proverbial knife’s edge is a rare statement indeed. For Lupen Crook and his band of ‘birds however, it illustrates just how captivating their agitated pop is - and the stop start animation of the band can be visually seen to make its onlookers flinch with expectation'' - Artrocker

"Lupen Crook stands alone as one of the few artists around who seriously defies categorisation" – The Fly

"…An air of insanity and a genuine edge-of-the-seat brilliance" – The Sun
'''Iscariot the Ladder' is the perfect fuck you... The benchmark has been set for album of 2008; who's going to beat this?'' 9/10 Whisperin and Hollerin

The Shebeats are an all girl indie band hailing from mostly London/Swindon but with a little bit of Newport thrown in. Holly, Alice, Sophie and Ciara play spikey guitar pop which will put a smile on your face from a thousand yards. You can hear bits of Sleeper and even Veruca Salt in the mix but it it might just be that if Newport's finest, the 60ft Dolls had been the opposite sex they'd've sounded like these young upstarts.

Thats all downstairs,
upstairs we are launching 'dance fridge' with DJ Vernon Tessio and live electro acts...

Telegram from the Queen. Picked to play this years In The City, Manchester musical extravaganza. Hailed as the breeding ground for new and upcoming talent, Telegram from the Queen hope to beep, bip, boom and zoop their way to a record deal.
For fans of 8-bit electro.

Glow have played and indeed DJ'd at Joy before so you may well have experienced them before. If you've not had that pleasure, here's what Venue magazine said about them:
'Bristol-based trio Glow met while studying music at uni. You might expect, then, an album of virtuosic knob-twiddling and lab-tested musical perfection: and, though that does fuel this extraordinary debut, it runs more on a sheer fascination with music and all its strange, atmospheric possibilities. Thickly layered beats and samples, melancholy, sighing glides of brass, twitches and swerves from sequencers and keyboards: textbook electronica thus far. What’s far less expected is their pairing with Ben Johnson’s downbeat, almost nakedly honest vocals. There are echoes of Radiohead’s nervy electronica or Spiritualized’s celestial comedown drone, but there’s more warmth, emotion and vulnerability than either. Highlights: ’Open Your Heart’, a duetted autopsy of a relationship; ‘Tape Riser’, a twitching, bewitching beast, feverishly kinetic like The The’s epic synth/drum thumpalongs. And ‘Mathematikoi’ simply entrances: synth and trumpet that sound like a new planet being discovered.'

Hopefully we'll have a bit of animation thrown in too, a few more bands and the usual free badges. If you're new to Newport, come down and check us out.

Every Thursday @ Barfly, Cardiff

DJ's itBoy and Alex play a full tilt mix of the best Alternative, Metal, Rock, Punk, Industrial, Beats at Cardiff's Newest Rock Club!

Expect to hear: 36 Crazy Fists - 30 Seconds To Mars - Avenged Sevenfold - AFI - The Automatic - At The Drive In - Atreyu - Alkaline Trio - Alexisonfire - Anti-Flag - Biffy Clyro - Blink182 - The Bronx - Bjork - Billy Talent - Blood Hound Gang - Bullet For My Valentine - Brand New - Bring Me The Horizon - Children Of Bodom - Combichrist - The Cure - Coheed & Cambria - The Clash - Coal Chamber - The Distillers - Deftones - Disturbed - Depeche Mode - Dragon Force - The Drowning Pool - Enter Shikari - Fall Of Troy - Fall Out Boy - Faith No More - Fightstar - Funeral For A Friend - Feeder - Finch - Foo Fighters - Greenday - Guns'n'Roses - Hatebreed - Hell Is For Heros - House Of Pain - The Horrors - Head Automatica - In Flames - Incubus - Jimmy Eat World - Killswitch Engage - Less Than Jake - Lamb Of God - Lostprophets - Limp Bizkit - Linkin Park - Machine Head - Metallica - Madness - Marilyn Manson - My Chemical Romance - Muse - Nirvana - NOFX - NIN - N*E*R*D - No Doubt - Offspring - Orgy - Panic At The Disco - Public Enemy - Pixies - Pantera - QOTSA - Pendulum - The Prodigy - Refused - Rob Zombie - Rancid - RATM - Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Rise Against - Rammstein - Sublime - Static X - Snot - System Of A Down - Snake River Conspracy - Sex Pistols - Soil - Smashing Pumpkins - Slipknot - Therapy? - Trivium - Tool - The Used - Underoath - Weezer....and a shit load more!!

Guest DJ's, Theme Nights & Album Launches. Check out the DISCORD Hall Of Shame on MySpace & Facebook to see what you got up to last week!

"The DISCORD crowd blow the roof off the motherf**ker!" - Kerrang

"The best rock club the West Country has ever seen!" - Metal Hammer

"Kiss Rules & Discord is good times" - Frank Carter (Gallows)

DISCORD (EVERY THURSDAY NIGHT!)
CARDIFF BARFLY
10.30 - 2AM
£3 B4 11.30PM / £4 AFTER
18+ (ID REQUIRED)

Drinks Promotions:
Fosters/VK - £1 bottles
Jager Shots - £1

Website:
http://www.myspace.com/discordcardiff

After the successful launch party with The Hague's Orgue Electronique, fresh and innovative Cardiff club night, Disco Nectar returns at a new venue on September 20 with another quality line-up guaranteed to make you dance. Headlining the second instalment of electronic brilliance is Planet Mu’s Syntheme aka Lou Woods from Brighton. At only 23, she is fast becoming an “ACID legend” (Boomkat) and RubaDub have called her music “top stuff that will please anyone who isn’t a po-faced goon who doesn’t like having fun”. Her tunes feature sophisticated acid and bass lines upon solid drum sequences, ambient soft synth layers, and occasionally heavily-edited audio samples. Syntheme brilliantly fuses very fresh sounds with the robust and harmonic foundation of 90s acid.

She has several releases to her name on WeMe and Planet Mu, and remaining typically elusive, her new project under the moniker Kobi, will be out on Balkan Vinyl this month. Syntheme has rocked crowds Europe-wide including a string of livesets at festivals such as BLOC, Triptych and Bangface. She is not to be missed.

We’re equally proud to present homegrown talent, The Hidden Persuader, as we eagerly await his first (and fully deserved) vinyl release on Berlin label Bass4Bots. As well as live shows across the UK, THP has had extensive airplay including a Radio 1 session for Rob da Bank’s One Music show in 2006. Expect relentless, funk-fuelled electrobass with distinct elements of the Drexcyian Detroit sound from the talented Access Tonal Communications operative.

Residents, C++, who was born with records fixed to his hands, and electro veteran, Synchronoise, will spin a mixture of oldskool classics along with new tunes spanning Acid, Electro, Techno and Italo.

Sat 20th September@Tafod,
53-59 Despenser Street, Riverside,
Cardiff. CF11 6AG

10pm-3am
Door tax:£5

http://www.disconectar.com
http://www.myspace.com/kobiyo
http://www.accesstonalcommuications.com
beehive@disconectar.com

Péchés Mignons stands for originality, diversity and flirtatious, cheeky fun brought to you by people who care about presenting the freshest live music and supported by unique, quirky and quality performing acts, rounded off by sweltering Djs set.

Péchés Mignons launches it's debut event in TJs Newport on Saturday October 11th at 8.00pm till 4am with a party that will bring a fresh new flavour to the nightlife in the city.

Péchés Mignons introduce you to...

SICKNOTE
Electro Breakbeat Punk
Sicknote delivered their unique quirky, mischievous, occasionally dark and consistently twisted B52's-meet- Alabama 3 style Beats with anarchically clever lyrics that unveil a scarily insightful view of this weird and wonderful world of ours…Further mixed with an amorphous concoction of belting, energetic breaks…and the whole show can only be described as bonkers!
You really have got to see it to believe it…you'll never quite understand it, and why would you want to?
Treat yourself to your Sicknote as soon as possible…
To see some videos click here

TOY TOY
Dubbed 'thillingly filthy electro-poppers' by Time Out. Toy Toy are a synthrocking, punk-electro outfit from London with crack-pipe pop tunes tomake you buzz.
Gigging since December 2007, Toy Toy performed at Glastonbury Festival this summer sharing the bill with Bishi and Ebony Bones. The band also played Underage Festival and recently won a slot on the new bands stage at the Offset Festival. They have supported the Shortwave Set and have gigs booked supporting Trash Money and N-Trance.

Toy Toy are working with producer Robert Harder (Babyshambles, Whitey andSoho Dolls) and alongside Miss Odd Kid and Trippple Nippples are
featuredon Girl Powder (Lofty Records). A compilation of international femalefronted electro and hip hop acts to be released in November 2008.

THE DELINQUENT DAMSELS
Péchés Mignons parties are all about mixing things up and creating a special mix of performing and alternative entertainment, so gig goers can also marvel at the coquettish shernanigans of The DELINQUENT DAMSELS, awelsh Burlesque troupe, Who'll entertain you with a classical combination of tease and unique burlesque glamour with the modernity of rock gals with attitude.
Be ready to be enchanted by their magical tease...

DJ'z on the night include:
WINCHESTER-will start off the night with funky tunes to keep your mood up till themagical naughtiness of The Delinquent Damsels takes you on a journey oftease & glam...

NEIL YOUNG (Lamerica)- will rounded off the night with mad and bouncing tunes to get you off the ground till 4am...

Labels: neil young, péchés mignons, sicknote, the delinquent damsels, tjs, toy toy, winchester

Can I start by saying that this isn't my work, I'm cheating. I've just cut and paste a press release that I've been sent. I say this because I find the Blue Gillespie write up funny too. Anyway, new Riot Act! Promotions date, it's in Le Pub on Saturday 27 September and has the following bands playing:

Blue Gillespie
Blue Gillespie describe themselves as a stoner heavy rock group riding on the crest of lead singer Gareth David-Lloyds success on screen in Torchwood, but do not be fooled by this uncharacteristic modesty. The Gills combine many musical traditions, from bluegrass to hip hop, creating a powerful sound-noise that guarantees to tornadolate the fanatically nauseating masses that flock to their gigs.

Syrinx
Syrinx is a female fronted progressive rock band, from Abertillery in South Wales.
The Bands was formed in the summer of 2006 by Jordan Bool and Matthew Westcott, who decided to create an alternative and progressively-fuelled band, influenced by the likes of Rush, Mars Volta, and wide range of rock genres and styling’s.
Jordan and Matthew were later joined by talented Mike Edwards on drums, Alex Read on Guitar and finally, Eleanor Phillips as Lead Vocalist and front man; all contributing to the composition process of their material, with most lyrics written with Jack Price, friend of the band .
Special Guests
Special guest to be announced shortly.
For further information go to www.riotactpromotions.com

Doors 8pm. Tickets £5.00
Tickets Available From: Diverse, Rockaway, In Exile, and www,wegottickets.com

Labels: blue gillespie, le pub, riot act, syrinx, torchwood

QU Junktions presents 'Kept Impulses' with...

Anni Rossi + James Blackshaw + Duane Pitre 'Ensemble Drones'

Often it is an impulsive thing, the way we react to music. Music can make you jerk wild, hot flush, grow fins, bear gifts or just close eyes and dream. Tonight we have put together an awfully good evening of acts who all harness their impulses (all three acts rely on a deep well of emotions and freeform sensibilities) and keep them in a beautifully controlled condition that allows their music to touch wonderful places. This includes a favourite adoptive daughter of Bristol, Ms Anni Rossi who still travels the world to great delight, the gracious guitar playing of Mr James Blackshaw and a VERY special assembled drone orchestra led by Duane Pitre featuring some of Bristol and London's ancient and new outer-fringe musicians. Early arrival is pretty much demanded for a night of 'Kept Impulses'.

So it will be evening of strings plucked and bowed, heavenly art song, intermingled drones, and resonant acoustics from a trinity of acts who know how to create a special atmosphere. Taking place in the brick and wood setting of Redland Park Church with tea and cakes, this will be a night to savour.

Anni Rossi sings songs that delight in being half wild, half controlled. A performer who wows audiences with her unique blend of classical virtuosity,a beautifully tamed viola and her vocal acrobatics. Hailing from Illinois, USA, she is blessed with a distinctive voice that leaps effortlessly across registers, while simultaneously playing the viola as she sings. Her songs are alive with possibility and she has that Greenwich Village class via East European barn dance mixed with a artful singer/songwriter allure all in bundles. Like Beirut or Kate Bush she has hit upon a sound that is idiosyncratic, un-contrived and wholly adorable. Where ever she plays audiences go crazy for her coffee hit songs.

Anni has been caterwauling and foot stomping her way into audiences' hearts across Europe ever since Kieran Hebden spotted her and invited to perform at London's Homefires Festival in 2005. She caused a stir at Venn '07 and returned to Bristol back in January for a sell out Cube show. Now she's signed to 4AD and has a debut EP called 'Afton' out this October, fleshing out her unique sound with clarinet, hand percussion, double bass and lush string arrangements. Somehow her songs manage to capture the vitality and abandon of her live shows as she pushes her voice and viola to the limit. Uplifting, joyous and totally unique.

James Blackshaw plays straight for the heart, 12-string guitar music. Magic, spirit-lifting compositions for the agnostic age from one of England's finest young guitarists. Meditative in quality, like a twig in a river, this music gracefully moves and spirals into different patterns, motifs and harmonics. Open tunings, fine ears and an ability to drift into extended emotional pieces make his work resonate as much with minimalist composers like Terry Riley as exemplary contemporary finger-pickers like Jack Rose. He has released prolifically and Michael Gira is the latest to be entranced by his unique guitar style and has signed him to Young God records (Devendra Banhart, Akron/Family). A man who can coax out overtones and harmonics to send tingles down your spine. Lushness extended forever.

Ensemble Drones really plans to be something special, to set the tone for the evening and quash the raucous capitalist Saturday night melange occurring outside the doors. It will reconfigure your inner ear and make time elastic. Duane Pitre is a Brooklyn-based composer and performer who is going to collaborate with a large ensemble of Bristol and London based musicians to fill the church with transcendental drones. 'Ensemble Drones' is a composition for 12 or more acoustic/electro-acoustic instruments (strings, wind, brass, sine-tone generator). Reading from a score that provides a basic structure around which they can improvise, each player contributes towards a composition that is focused yet fluid, minimal yet dense. An exercise in discipline and freedom, in the refinement of music, and in communal focus. The results should make for ethereal, slow-motion chamber music that will be amplified by the church's natural reverb.

at Redland Park United Reformed Church, Bristol
Sat 18th Oct 2008 / 7pm til 10.30pm / £7 adv

TICKET OUTLETS:
Bristol Ticket Shop / Here Shop (Stokes Croft) / 20th Century Flicks (Clifton) / Ticketweb

CREDIT CARD BOOKINGS:
0870 4444 400 / http://www.bristolticketshop.co.uk
http://www.ticketweb.co.uk

Labels: Anni Rossi, bristol, Duane Pitre, James Blackshaw, QU Junktions

Seabear were awesome, I think they've nicked top spot in my best live band end of year poll. Just thought I'd get that in early. I'm getting ahead of myself though as the evening didn't begin with a Seabear, it began with a Sea Cow...

When you first set eyes on Jam On Bread you could hazard a guess at where this was going. Beardy man (more later) with ukulele emblazoned with a Times New Viking sticker. He (as he is but one man) kicked things off with a song called 'I'd Choose To Be A Manatee' which was all about wanting to be a Sea Cow (understand now?). With lyrics such as 'don't have to pay council tax or worry about terrorist attacks' it was hard to argue the point. This was followed by more oddities, a song about a Swedish record label and a song about eighties pop lyrics that quoted Jason Donovan. The lyrics were personal without being self indulgent, quirky without being annoying and funny without being daft. A song about his having the piss taken out of him for having a beard went, ' they like to call be Jesus which I thinks a bit odd, I've got a bit of a beard, I'm not the son of God'. Good call. Thoroughly entertaining.

The filling in the Bear sandwich was Alex Dingley and his band. I'll be honest, I'm a bit confused by this lot. They started with a song called 'The Matador' which was pretty folky and could've been The Battlefield Band or something. I started to panic a bit at this point thinking I might be about to watch a Levellers support act. The guitars kicked in from that moment on though (bass was sporting the evening's second Times New Viking sticker, it nestled alongside a ...Trail Of Dead one) and the crowd started showing the kind of adoration that has led to my confusion. They're by no means a bad band but the crowd reaction led me to believe I was watching The Clash, I think I was missing something. To be fair, the two people I spoke to afterward both owned the album and urged me to give it a listen. I will, mainly because the last 4 songs sounded a bit like The Crocketts and I fucking loved The Crocketts.

On to the headliners and my new favourite Icelanders. I go and watch loads of bands these days and work in a record shop so listen to loads of music so it's really not often that I hear something that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It's so hard to describe this music to someone without them hearing it because it didn't really sound like anything I have a reference point for. I'll damn well try though. The have members of both Sigur Ros and Mum's touring bands and you can see parts of both in patches. Seabear though are a different proposition, the songs aren't 11 minutes long for a start. The layers of instruments underpinned by the haunting trumpet playing, by a man incidentally, that looked like he was having the most fun in the world, recalled Beirut, if Beirut had grown up playing Bjork hurling on a remote island rather than in Santa Fe (to my knowledge they didn't play Bjork hurling in Santa Fe either, I'll check Wikipedia).
There was acoustic guitar, violin, keys, electric guitar, a mad instrument that was like a harmonica with horns coming out of it, a trumpet, bass, drums and a voice that brought to mind Tom Barman from dEUS in his more reflective moments (ie not screaming 'Friday, Friday, Friday' at people). The band looked like they were having a blast and wherever I looked there were people grinning.
The last song was called 'Lion Faced Boy' and was 'about a boy, who ate a face, and screamed like a lion'. Nuts, obviously but nuts in a genius Neutral Milk Hotel (look them up) kind of way as opposed to a 'look at me, I'm trying to hard' kind of way. It all just worked beautifully and I urge everyone that likes music to try and see them live or at least buy their album. I'll leave you with the words of my friend Sioned:
"They completely envelop and overwhelm me, I keep getting goosepimples and my face hurts from smiling".
I really can't think of a better way to sum them up.

So another great night from the guys at Shape, ably co-promoted by Dance Like This. Keep it up people, keep it up.

Labels: clwb ifor bach, dance like this, jam on bread, seabear, shape, the alex dingley band

The first bands have been announced for this year's Swn Festival. It's held (as last year) in various venues across Cardiff from 14th to the 16th November (with opening night party on 13th November). So far, the following bands are confirmed to play the event:

James Yuill, The Pipettes, Stephen Fretwell, The Chapman Family, Martin Carr, The Boy Least Likely To, Rolo Tomassi, Clinic, Tubelord, Dananananakroyd, Indian Jewlry, Volcano!, Agaskodo Televerek, The Lovely Eggs, Serefina Steer, Pete And The Pirates, The Big Pink, It Hugs Back, Jay Jay Pistolet, Peggy Sue, Skatar, Fanfarlo, The New Tea Party, Legowelt, Heavenly Records DJs, Young Marble Giants, Genod Droog (last ever show), High Contrast, Goldie Lookin Chain, Euros Childs, Future Of The Left, Truckers Of Husk, Joy Formidable, Jamie And The Lionhearts, Gallops, Sweet Baboo, Duffraine, The Last Republic, Rod Thomas, Gwyneth Glyn, Threatmantics, Huw MM, The Afternoons, Fred Jones, Eilir Pierce, Llwyd, Danblagroyd, Picture Books In Winter, Zwolf, The Ash And The Oak, Butterflies With Beards, Friends Electric, Random Elbow Pain, Right Hand Left Hand, Little Eris, Radio Luxembourg, Lifting Gear Engineer, Pagan Wanderer Lu, Hemme Fatale, Wrightoid, Georgia Ruth Williams, Alex Dingley, Little My, The Muscle Club, Pixel H8, Seindorff, The School, JT Mouse, Valley Lines, Orcop, The Hidden Persuader, Frederick Stanley Star, Attack + Defend, Nia Morgan, Lindsey Leven, Acid Casuals (DJ set) and Dig! with B-Music DJs Carl Forecast and Huw Evans.

Other events confirmed for the festival are:

Swn Silent Disco, Swn Cinema, Scrabble Swnday,
Sleeveface Workshops and art exhibitions from Mark James, Llyr Pierce, Sleeveface and Clwb Ifor Bach's 25th anniversary.

There will also be three days of music conferences, talks and workshops from 13th - 16th November and a launch party on Thursday 13th November.

Swn buses will operate throughout the festival, allowing wristband holders to get from venue to venue with ease. Swn Festival also gives free programmes and timetables to all.

Wristbands cost £45 and allow free entry to all events on a first come, first served basis. Each event at Swn will also be priced individually for cash payments on walk up, however priority will always be given to wristband holders. The opening party on 13th November will be for wristband holders only.

Swn curator, BBC Radio 1's Huw Stephens, says of the event:
“For the second year, the Swn weekend in Cardiff is going to be another mouth watering weekend with some of the best new bands around, incredible art and film and a full three days of music conferences. From the Thursday evening to Sunday night, there'll be music in Cardiff's venues from across Wales and from around the world; laptop geniuses, banging bands, superfly DJs and acoustic troubadours. Welsh legends Young Marble Giants playing at the National Museum of Wales will be special and there are even more Welsh headliners this year; Euros Childs, Future of the Left, High Contrast and The Pipettes. Bands are coming from across Wales to play, and the line-up is an eclectic mix of thrilling new music. And all with a backdrop of Cardiff city centre and its enthusiastic promoters and venues. We're very excited about Swn 08; it's going to be a weekend to remember and not to be missed!”

Swn wristbands are now available from the following outlets:
www.sebon.co.uk
The Gate, Roath, Cardiff, buy online at www.thegate.org.uk or by phone on 02920 483344

In person from:
Spillers Records, 02920 224905, The Hayes, Cardiff
The Point, 02920 460873, Mount Stuart Square Cardiff
Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff

Nowhere in Newport Huw? Tut tut.

(Somewhere in South Wales, our hero Saesneg has set up camp. A civilised urban creature of Newport, one day coming back from work he lost his mobile phone and broke his PC in a coffee related accident. Seeing this as a chance to escape the binds of modern living and join the animal kingdom - returning to nature - he ran off into the woods with nothing but a towel and his iPod. After two months, his batteries ran out...)

Can anyone read this? I'm really fucking cold. It's the middle of August and its pissed down again and my fingers are wrinkly. It's lucky I've come across this Wi-Fi capable laptop with a working internet connection in the woods, so I can send out a mayday call to some of my friends. So, if anyone's reading, I could use a bag of balti mix and a cup of tea right about now.

(Time passes. A kind gentlemen comes to Saesneg's aid with a caffinated beverage and savory snacks, leading him into olde-Cardiff, where - in a bar in Roath - he is given a set of fliers about forthcoming musical entertainment)

Bands.... I remember bands! Sigur Ros.... Those mysterious viking-boat dwellers from the cold lands north. And Mum who were, err, also from Iceland. It appears on Sunday a band with some of the members of Mum and Sigur Ros's live band will be appearing in Clwb playing tunes appearing as Seabear. But they sound nothing like either band... well maybe a bit like Mum. Their music is very playful but more short and sweet than either Mum or Sigur Ros, going for four minute melodies instead of drawn out icelandic landscapes. Nothing wrong there, there's nothing about the cold wastes of Iceland that says you HAVE to make music like that. Or perhpas it's reflected instead in how they weave gentle melodies in and out of their songs, keeping you warm during the painfully cold Reykjavik winter - ARRGH, MORE STEREOTYPES.

To their aid come Alex Dingley Band. Alex Dingley is in the mighty English/Welsh language Texas Radio Band, but sticks to English here, who evoke a kind of less-than-twee-but-still-C86 sound, but far more dramatic than that. Seabear are also supported by one man Manchester outfit Jam on Bread. £6 on doors, which open at 7.30pm.

(Goes to take a shower)

Labels: saesneg

Riot Act! Promotions are busy boys. Get down to Le Pub this Friday for...

Project Serpo
Two heads from Newport, throw in a laptop , keyboard, some geetars and a couple of toy megaphones and Bobs yer Monkhouse.
Project Serpo sound like something between a super sweaty techno disco rave up and a beardy folk evening with snippets from b-movie horror films,80s game show jingles, pinches of organ and slices of guitar and some space-madness .

Prosperina
The band formed in early 2007 when Original core members Gethos Woolcock (Songwriter, Lead Vocals, Guitar) and Rob Jones (Drummer) laid down the blueprint for Prosperina. When Geth's former outfit (respected space rock band 'The 9ine') was brought to a tragic end after one of it's core members suffered a near fatal motorbike crash, Geth took time out in solitude to begin crafting the songs that would become set favourites 'Rebirth' and 'Temples'. The duo honed the crushing sounds together for one full cycle of the moon before recruiting first bass player Richard Barakat. After a string of Successful shows including a debut gig with British prog legends 'Oceansize', they decided to expand the soundscape by initiating 'Dustvine' member John 'the Baptist' Launder on second guitar. His unique brand of soulful playing coupled with his love for delay, ebow and other space toys opened the band up, giving birth to the sound of prosperina. After the unexplained departure of Richard Barakat the band recruited Jamie Sales on bass. The current and most solid line up to date consists of Owen 'loaf' Foote on drums, and Emerson 'sonny' Floyd on Bass as well as Gethos and Baptist. Prosperina has shared the stage with Russian Circles and End of level Boss, as well as playing many shows with their local brotherhood of bands which include Suns of Thunder, Tabularasa, The Buffalo Kings Bomb the Sun, and Dead Wolves

Buffalo kings
Based in Swansea, South Wales. The Buffalo Kings have been hard at work.
With a new line-up, The Buffalo Kings are best heard live and loud.
The band are back on the road and hitting it hard with their own unique and potent blend of whiskey laden power grooves.
Best described as a rolling juggernaut of fuzz rock rekindling the very spirit of the golden era of rock n roll.
Creating an electric atmosphere of blistering energy that leaves crowds astounded and craving more.
So keep your eyes peeled and your ears to the ground……The Buffalo Kings are coming

Rogora Khart
Fleeing from beneath the oppressor's jackboot, this band of vagabonds, miscreants, wanderers and rogues that are Rogora Khart come with their compelling desire to bring you entertainment and joy with their eclectic repertoire of Georgian, and Eastern European music, verse and theatre.
Ha-ba!

Doors are at 8pm, tickets are £5 STBF and available from Diverse, Rockaway, In Exile, and www.wegottickets.com

Labels: buffalo kings, le pub, project serpo, prosperina, riot act, rogora khart

A Qu Junktions Triple Shot presents...

Wildbirds & Peacedrums

Here come one of the bands of the summer WILDBIRDS AND PEACEDRUMS, even the name brings to mind spiritually uplifting, erotic and exotic imagery, sounds and feelings. They certainly generate that in their performances. They are simmering in fine fine fashion at the moment, so catch them close and intimate at The Cube with fine fine support acts and DJs. After a summer break this is the first Qu Junktions show of the late summer season.

Wildbirds and Peacedrums...such a lot from the bare essentials. These two are the forbidden fruit laid bare for us to admire....too good to believe. Wildbirds & Peacedrums create hot, exotic songs with a haunting sense of the blues, freeform soul and a loose-limbed percussive edge that seers them way clear of the bland. The pair's stripped down, tantalising primal show left audience agog at Venn 08 and are on real roll. They are duo from Sweden, who got signed to Leaf and now traverse the world singing sweet and raw. The songs are imbued with a sense of scatter-jazz, Scandinavian pop and widescreen dynamics. Nina Simone certianly gets channelled, as does the energy of jazz gospel, some one man marching band dynamics and some good tunes + they look good in technicolour.

support from Peter Broderick + Silver Pyre

Peter Broderick is a young and gifted multi-instrumentalist from Portland who plays in the Dutch ensemble Efterklang. Solo he captivates with hush hush instrumentals and cinematic lushness. He releases on Type and comes highly reccomended.

Recently relocating to Bristol, Silver Pyre forges a sound from the depths of his native rural Somerset. Blending richly crackling textures with yearning vocals, his music echoes its rugged coastline, legendary free parties and the oppressive pulse of the nuclear power
station.

At The Cube Microplex, Bristol
Sat 13th Sep 2008 / 8pm / £6 adv

Labels: bristol, cube, Wildbirds and Peacedrums

UBERALLES PRESENTS...

BORN RUFFIANS

When one of your tunes is hand-picked by one of the hugest mobile phone companies to feature on their advert, you know you're on to a winner. More than just the obvious benefits, it's also a sure-fire sign that your tune is, what Jerry Lee Lewis used to call, 'Kill-uh'.

Born Ruffians, just one single, a couple of EPs and an album into their career have received that lucrative stamp of approval with their single, Hummingbird, currently selling phones by the bucketload. And, chances are, they'll follow the other bands who've been dealt that same hand and will be selling out venues and notching up mega-sales any time soon. Oh, and an appearance in the recent Channel 4 teen drama, Skins, won't have done them any harm either.

From Midland, Ontario in Canada they come, numbering just three. And with a refreshing, schizophrenic take on indie rock they are armed. In fact, so refreshing is their outlook that they've been signed to the legendary electronic label, Warp Records. The NME love them, Time Out labelled them “a must see” and even The Guardian quite liked them. Drowned In Sound webzine summed them up best though, labelling their sound “equal parts zappy pop smarts and bracing complexity”.

Thursday 18th September 2008
Clwb Ifor Bach, Womanby Street, Cardiff
£6 in advance, 7:30pm

Tickets are available through Spillers Records (02920 224905/www.spillersrecords.co.uk), www.seetickets.com and Clwb Ifor Bach's box office (02920 232199) and are £6 in advance

Labels: born ruffians, canada, cardiff, clwb ifor bach

Another exemplary PeppermintPatti night, another celebration of double X chromosome superiority, another week's pay dropped on the merch stall. You only play a PP gig if one or more of your band members have ovaries; oh, and being very good helps. Such is the case with Heck, who've coalesced around ex-members of Sammo Hung, Mo-Ho-Bish-O-Pi and other local guitar bashers, and who make satisfyingly chunky slabs of mid-tempo rock, vaporous guitar lines circling low-end strut. They rarely take proper flight, but have a weighty heft that I like.

Fast forward to the end of Betty & The Werewolves's set and they're literally jumping for joy. To be fair they're doing this at most points of the set, such is the band's delirious dedication to ramalama garage and frantic pop. It's dangerously close to perfection: playful, stylish, ultra-tight, and leaping out from some place that demands excitement, vitality. The most fun since, like, forever.

With Wet Dog, as with B&TW, you get the feeling that they arrived fully formed the moment they picked up their instruments. They also look ridiculously cool, while clearly operating outside such crappy frameworks. Their actual music is primitive, repetitive, pretty great: song after song that takes Liliput as a starting point, and stomps itself into something more strung out, more weirdly British. These awkward, joyous shapes seem to come from nowhere. More nights like this please.

Brand spanking new Cardiff promotions types Simatik debut with a jam-packed line-up at semi-spanking new Cardiff Buffalo-spin-off 10 Feet Tall.

Head-lining the nght are Bridgend rock outfit The Hustlers who draw definite Arctic Monkeys comparisons with their kind of simple, pop-culture indie tunes, there's a definite sense of fun-loving imagination to their tracks though that puts them a step up from other imitators. 'Lois Lane' features delightfully retro guitar solos and an opening that almost bursts into 'Walking on Sunshine'!

We Are The Afterglow have a more scrappy approach, there are shades of Queens of the Stone Age, notably in tracks like 'We Don't Need Fathers', and curious whispers of latter Red Hot Chilli Peppers. In fact, there seems to be a new direction and genre twist to each track I've heard, all centred around confident instrumentation that inspires almost unintentional head-nodding and foot-tapping even as I write this.

I'm pretty sure I've got a copy of Man Without Country's demo CD knocking around somewhere, and I remember being pleasantly surprised by their excellent production and song-crafting skill, and by the sounds of a recent BBC Cymru session they've come on in leaps and bounds since that release barely a few months ago! The Bridgend three-piece have a sort of ethereal sound to their music that draws comparison to Snow Patrol and The Smashing Pumpkins.

I'll be honest with you, I couldn't find anything out about Beard of Blessed via my usual means of research (*cough* MySpace *cough*), but, the three bands I have already mentioned should warrant your attention and anything else will, I imagine, be a cherry on an already tasty cake. Simatik have an interesting slate of gigs coming your way over the next couple of months and a determination to bring you a diverse and interesting range of bands.

Labels: simatik hustlers we are the afterglow man without country beard of blessed

Another band from the Big Scary Monsters label (Blakfish, Tubelord, Cats & Cats & Cats). I love this label and have got a bit of a promotional end on the go in Diverse if anyone wants to check some of their catalogue out. This Town Needs Guns play a Kruger night in Clwb next month about a week before Cats & Cats & Cats (who they released a split CD with) play Joy in Meze Lounge. Before then though, you can have a look and listen to this.

Labels: big scary monsters, cats and cats and cats, joy, kruger, this town needs guns

OK, first up is a mental note to self to go find Ellen and say hi next time so we don't review the same thing. This could be fun though as I'm bollocks at doing reviews, that why I post a lot of previews, I can steal other people's hard work. However, I'm a pro, I turned up early (mainly because I like Zissou) and only had a pint of Coke all night so my feelings weren't tainted by piss poor wine and I even took a note book so that I looked like a wanker and could remember things. So, here goes...

The night was put on by Shape who are run by the good members of Attack + Defend. It's actually a bit like what we try and do at Joy, put on some diverse and interesting bands with some visuals and have a night that's a bit different to the norm. Last night there were three bands.

Zissou were first up (either Ellen missed them or didn't want to do comparisons to her own band!), the first thing I notice is that Rhys had grown a shitting massive beard. Quality. Anyway, I've seen Zissou twice before when they've played at Joy and the sound has been a lot better than it was last night. These guys have a lot going on at once, there's 6 of them playing guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, violin, wierd tubey, blowy mini keyboard thing (yeah, yeah, do you know what it's called?) plus 3 of them singing, when they started I could hardly hear the vocals and everything else sounded a bit muddy. It did get better though. The first part of what I've described above is what's going to earn them the LC! parallels. To be honest I just think that they've arrived at a similar place through sharing a lot of influences, there's a bit of Broken Social Scene in there, a bit of Flaming Lips and at times, and this is what sets them apart, a bit of Sonic Youth. Yes, there's duel vocals and catchy indie songs, they're rough around the edges but I don't mean they're not practised, just that they don't want to be a polished pop band. When Jack is giving it his all on guitar and Rhys is hammering his violin they sound like they could easily appear between Mogwai and Slint on an ATP bill. If you want to go and see a band that have all the tunes (and t-shirts) of the indie scene but the mindset of a punk band, check out Zissou.

Next on were The Jelas and I have to say that agree with Ellen on this one, the wine had nothing to do with it. If someone said that I was going to see a discordant rock band with awkward time changes and a singer that looked like Thurston Moore I would kind of assume I was going to like them. If you imagine you have jigsaw pieces representing Captain Beefheart, Pixies, Deerhoof, Moldy Peaches and Sonic Youth that didn't quite fit and needed twatting together with a hammer then you'll get an idea of this band. Nice, off key, Malkmus-esque vocals, a great drummer and talented bassist/hamlet can on stick player were all excellent individually but needed to click more together. As somebody stood next to me said 'if that's them playing, I'd hate to hear them practise'. Maybe they just weren't my thing as they seemed to go down well with the rest of the (very full) venue.

And now Yacht. I have to admit that as soon as they started I thought 'The Death Set' to myself. There are definite similarities, shouty vocals over what is essentially a karaoke track, mostly bass and beat driven, occasional guitar and on the second track a tinkly piano that I briefly thought might turn them into Utah Saints (U-U-U-Utah Saints). The general song structure seemed to consist of call and response, repetitive boy/girl vocals but to be honest, nobody cared because although I'm not going to rush out and buy the album, they were wildly entertaining and did everything with a smile and a sense of humour. There was some classy dancing that's synchronicity put Tom Daley and his whinging diving partner to shame. There was also an inter-song geography lesson showing us where they were from, USA, West Coast, Portland, North Portland, right down to a photo of their house and their address (4008, N Mississippi Avenue #4, Portland, 97227-1114). A friend of mine thought they 'were like Nathan Barley dressed by the cast of Mad Max', they weren't his thing. They were fun though, there was a lot of messing about with a laptop and a mid-set Q&A but as the band themselves said 'professionalism - who wants it, who needs it, fuck you'.

Labels: clwb ifor bach, shape, the jelas, yacht, zissou