ATOMCK – (fast local grind for fans of agoraphobic nosebleed and the locust)

MACHO INSECURITY – (extreme brutal Birmingham noise monger crust punk for fans of extreme noise terror, napalm death and drop dead)

INSCRIPTURE – (local deathcore metal for fans of bmth and suicide silence)

SENSORY CHAOS -(local tough hxc tech metal for fans of lamb of good and jfacb)

BEADLEHAND DYSMORPHIA – (slow progressive epic doom metal from cardiff)

Dj’s Bex n Loz playing proper hatred filled metal on the decks after the bands till late.

teh links lol….

http://www.myspace.com/inscripture
http://www.myspace.com/atomckmusic
http://www.myspace.com/sensorychaosmusic
http://www.myspace.com/machoinsecurity
http://www.myspace.com/beadlehanddysmorphia

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TUESDAY 19TH OCTOBER

THE MEZE LOUNGE NEWPORT
======================================

NO ADVANCE TICKETS

http://www.myspace.com/videonastiespresent

meze lounge
6 market street
newport wales
gwent
np20 1fu

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Animal Hospital is Kevin Micka, and he has a very big table. Lots of knobs. A camera projects all this twiddling onto the wall behind him. It’s music that may come from the same guitar-and-drums-added-sparingly-to-drones place as Arcs Of Semen, but AH’s one man control centre ensure that the resultant sound destination is minutely tweaked, sculpted towards greatness. There’s a lot of looping natch, singular guitar notes modified and layered. Mostly though, it’s the noise whipped from concrete tones, gradually rising to a tasty cacophany, always based on some underlying melodic nous. Which is a windy way of saying: one song sounds like Ratatosk, one like Theo, and the rest just beautiful. It’s Sunday night and I’m in love with men in beards again.

It’s hairy in the Buffalo too. A thin crowd barely masks the four frigging drumkits onstage, along with various arms, legs and megaphones flailing. Who needs instruments? Foot Village beat skins like they’re trying to fashion Simon Weston’s face out of football trophies; furiously, maniacally happily. It’s not just drumming though: there’s lots of screaming as well. Shouting and yowling up at the sky, call and response and mentalness in the round, plus plenty of non-sequiters hurled out and repeated by each of the four members, even without the conch-like megaphone. Lest you think any of this is just noise scree, consider this: there’s more playful inventiveness, bizarro humour and party rhythms in this poxy room tonight than in most venue’s annual listings. Foot Village pop like fireworks. Aah. Ooh.

Possibly the shyest person ever to walk through Newport, Midori Hirano sits behind her table and lets things snowball slowly. The amalgamation of sounds she produces starts so quietly the usual crowd chatter feels part of the enveloping soundscape, but give it a few minutes, with barren piano notes looped and crunched together, delicate vocals floating amongst them,and knockout beauty emerges. Kind of impossible to describe without coming over all Jilly Goolden and letting rip with the gradually melting iceberg imagery, Hirano creates music of chilly gorgeousness, keyboard and laptop conflagrations of no little wonder.

Dirty Goods. Ah.

For all the kit and effort on show from Max Tundra, the thought that keeps bouncing around my brain is “You funny little man”. No finer sight than a small balding dude, dancing on the spot, becoming ElectroPrince, and sometimes the tunes reach the same heights too. Ben Jacob’s winning pop is a selection box of homemade, wonky charms, brightly coloured keyboard noises and malfunctioning Spectrum beats, but the real fun is in how much is invested in the performance. There is excitable stomping in the vocal gaps, random grabs for a recorder or other sonic toys every few minutes, arms and falsetto reaching to the audience like lost friends. Clone him by the thousand and sort Britain out: a superlative festival’s happy endpoint.

InteriorMonologue:

Scotty: I liked two things about Heirs very much – One: A drummer who looked like he hated every single person in the audience; I applaud that kind of attitude. Two: A guitarist that spent an inordinate amount of time tuning a guitar which only made a noise rather than any discernible notes - this sound is generally known as the sound of the end of the world.

InteriorMonologue: Heirs are amazing.  It’s not really post-rock, more post-industrial-feedback-noise-core.  Or Something.  Scotty’s right, the guitarist basically had a million effects pedals that allowed him to make a massive racket.  He also looked exactly like Hugh Cornwell on the cover of The Stranglers’ Black & White.  The drummer looked a bit like Jack from Future Of The Left.  Only more psychotic.  He didn’t move his head.  Or make facial expressions of any kind.  I should probably mention that the other guitarist was wearing a leather waistcoat and glove combo.  And a moustache.  Genius.

InteriorMonologue: The Night Terrors had a theremin player.  He was also the bass player.  A really, really fucking good bass player.  Thirdly, he was Meze Festival’s second giant.  I have no idea how to describe their sound, another amazing drummer, fuzzy, loud, rhythmic bass and keyboards that somehow made it sound almost poppy.  They ended with Faith No More’s Woodpeckers From Mars.  Brilliant, I pitied the headliners.
Scotty: People are going to obsess over the Theremin aren’t they? They shouldn’t.

InteriorMonologue: I needn’t have worried, Electric Electric are astonishing.  Genre?  Who the fuck knows.  I guess if you like Battles and Fuck Buttons then you need to see this band.  Fuck it, go to France.  Synth/keyboard player again wove his magic around the third absurdly talented drummer of the evening.  The guitarist stopped, started, fucking rocked, and if memory serves me right, sang something.  With his voice.  Of course, we were all deaf by then so I can’t be sure.  Amazing show.

Scotty:  I text a mate during the gig to tell him I might have just seen the best live band I have seen this year (and this is a year in which I saw Magnolia Electric Co.) He told me they had a ‘wafty’ name. I told him they were French. He then decided they had the best name ever. That’s a true story.

Spider Kitten

Is this day five or day six, then? It’s already the fourth time this month I’ve been to the Meze, and it’s getting to feel worryingly like a second home. If I start enjoying the Tetleys they’ll have to wheel me away for treatment. Until then, the small matter of five more turns, all ostensibly noise/metal but all distinctive enough to prove that even a supposedly genre-specific bill can have something awesome for everyone. Away we go…

Off to a rousing start with the combined talents of Atomçk and Cementimental. A marriage made in a serial killer’s dank basement. Cementimental stands at the bar with a wired-up ipod, er, waiting for me to get served before him. Whoops. Ricocheting around the venue, mic in hand, he creates harsh, textured electronic noise from customised electronic detritus before he’s joined by a guitarist, adding further piercing feedback, and then Atomçk’s vocalist. Thereafter it’s a straight-up grind attack, enlivened with scattershot blastbeats and noise bursts. As the vocalist wheels about, garotting himself with the mic lead, his gutteral screams mesh in with either hyperspeed noodling, slower, technical riffing or a mixture of both in one invigorating blur. In short, brutal bursts like this it’s thrilling stuff.

Every time I see Brown Wings I wonder why they don’t get more gigs. Can’t be the name, surely? They’re way more versatile than you’d first think; stoner grooves and almost bluesy riffs add variation, and mean the impact when they do cut loose with the Lightning Bolt-inspired tech attack, Gareth’s arms a dizzying blur, is all the greater. Their game would be raised if the mid-set discussions (a lack of match fitness, maybe) were cut, as they lose a little momentum. They’re getting there though.

My ex-housemate raved about Spider Kitten for ages. All I really knew of them was their use of a drum machine, so it’s a surprise to see Chris from Taint helping out on drums. You wouldn’t know it was a one-off. The guy hunched over a table full of electronic kit and pedals might not add a whole lot tonight, but there’s plenty in this besides. Nice doomy, sludged-out metal with some slyly tuneful Sabbath moments in there too, and the bassist’s unable to control his grin as they loosen their shoulders and rock the fuck out.

Speaking of which, on tonight’s form the new Death Of Her Money album should be bloody great. It’s easy to take them for granted – no theatrics, no flashiness, they don’t particularly look like a storming, intense heavy rock band.  Except they are.  Shuddering, sludgy basslines, huge washes of distorted guitar, Kaskie bent double and screaming as his pedals get an absolute hammering. They spin out slow-build, epic metal with an emotional whack without ever being overblown. Splendid.

Big Naturals

Bristol’s Big Naturals set their stall out from the start, constructing an elaborate crescent of amps on the floor; this is going to be punishingly loud, you sense.  And so it is.  It’s a bass and drum line up, but this time with a more considered heaviness that embeds titanic riffs deep in your sternum.  The fact that space dictates they’re practically on top of the crowd helps – it’s like being hermetically sealed within the Who’s PA.  The bassist’s nimble like Mike Watt, the oblivious drummer locks into his own world of rolling improvisation.   We have to leave for the train after two songs and 10 minutes, passing a worried looking Meze Fest promoter on the way.  It seems the neighbours aren’t keen on the street-shaking noise and a swift curfew is called.  It’s almost fitting it ends this way.

Vivers:

InteriorMonologue: Thinking With Sand were the first band ever to grace the stage of a Joy event.  They scared people.  They’re now a hundred times better and at times you can even hear the vocals.  A success.

Vivers: I wouldn’t say Bayonets were moody, but they have brought their own individual spotlights to shine upwards at each band member. Okay, they are quite moody, with a hefty emo touch to their anguished guitar racket. Their interesting twist is to strip most everything back, wailing over half pace noise, or minimal instrumentation. A chewy, intriguing strop, rather than hats off brilliance.

InteriorMonologue: There is a fine line between genius and total head up arse wankerdom.  Bayonets tread it finely.  The individual spotlights are going down as being so preposterous that they’re cool.  The guitarist has absolutely no centre of gravity and has to constantly move to stay on his feet.  While this must be incredibly annoying in everyday life, it’s great on stage – cool.  He’s wearing white socks and shoes – not cool.  One of them is wearing a vest – not cool.  Here’s the tie breaker, they sound like Crackout.  This gets a big thumbs up from me but I can hear some muttering even as I type.

Vivers:  I confess to not always joining in the adulation of Stray Borders that many in these parts feel. I’ve always been fond though, and swept up in the air of opening night giddiness, Newpart’s ace inclusive drawing, and the discovery of a fucking hot snack bar in the venue, this band’s talents hook into me, and grab me throughout a great set of post rock beauty. They lean on the serene, high guitar lines heavily, and let it crash only a couple of times. Top drawer, and maybe they always were.

InteriorMonologue: I love Stray Borders, I love Stray Borders, I love Stray Borders.  Carlie is wearing a dress.  I’m drunk.  I end the evening telling her I’d fight her for cheese.

Vivers: Caspian have a healthy noise addiction. They must have a good few handfuls of metal in their collections. In basic terms, they fully rock out, all those noodly, tranquil moments pushed to the side to make room for bent double headbanging. The Boston band actually remind me of Rock Of Travolta’s set from earlier in the year: quickly wandering into long zones of guitar abuse, shifting and riffing and crashing every few bars, happily flailing and flinging axes. Heavy instrumental post rock goodness from tall freaks all dressed in black: yes, I think this month is fully afloat.

InteriorMonologue: Caspian have an Arsenal of guitarists.  That’s right, a capital ‘A’.  Masses of talent up front.  Although they’ve gone old school and picked a giant to lead the line.  The man is about 8ft tall and makes the rest of the band look far away.  Epic.

In short, the gig was ace, we all got drunk and I like joint reviewing with Vivers because I don’t have to write about the music.  Thank you and goodnight.

THE SHITTY LIMITS
The Shitty Limits are one of the most exciting bands to emerge from these shores in a long, long time. The band have a sound that mixes 60’s garage, 70’s punk and 80’s hardcore. Sounding like a speeded up Wire fronted by a less glass punctured Iggy Pop. Their frenetic songs that are backed up with explosive live shows that have gained a formidable reputation in the DIY scene.

Their debut album ‘Beware The Limits’ hit the shelves in July, following a flurry of 7″ singles that are sold out but available to download for free on the band’s myspace site. They were previously picked by Fucked Up to appear on the third installation of the American punk rockers’ mixtape compilation CD series.

THE SICK LIVERS
The Sick Livers play gutter level punk rock and roll with the greasiest of garage ease and sleaze. Any show could be their last; they would die on stage for yours and their pleasure.
Ginge, VJ, Dai and Matty rose from the ashes of the much missed Viva Kinevils to carry forward the punk ‘n’ roll flame, bowling shirts and all. If you want punk rock, swearing, wild entertainment and big shoes, look no further than South Wales favourite rabble rousers.
Doors are at 8pm, it’s open until 2am with DJs after the bands.

SOLUTIONS
Solutions are a three piece from Cardiff brought together by a mutual love SST and Rough Trade Records, No Idea, Husker Du, TV On The Radio, Milloy, Future Of The Left, Desparacidos, Idlewild, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Read Yellow and XTC. They don’t sound like any of them. Their energetic, angular punk rock has more in common with Latterman or Fugazi.

The band recently had their support slot at Future Of The Left’s album launch recorded for BBC Radio One.

SATURDAY’S KIDS
At the begining of 2008 four friends, two guitars, a bass and drums came together to form Saturday’s Kids and play music. Influenced by the likes of Sonic Youth, Black Flag, Fugazi, Decendents, Joy Division and Pissed Jeans, they’re in their late teens but making music that a lifetime of angst seems to have informed.

Normally a band this age will be writing pop songs about girls that fucked off with a guy because he owned a Mark 3 Ford Escort, not Saturday’s Kids, they’re less Blink 182 japery, more Dead Kennedys sneering. Staccato vocals and sinister bass recall …Trail Of Dead, for every 1 minute blast of punk noise and shouting, there’s some subtle guitar work and a dirty melody. Usually followed by punk noise and shouting.

£4 advance and a fiver on the door.

In the past three years Maybeshewill has…Released an EP, two albums, a single, split 7″ and split 12″ in the UK, Europe and Japan, toured the UK with Fight Fire With Water, Worriedaboutsatan and And So I Watch You From Afar (though not at the same time), toured Japan with Ovum, been Huw Stephens’ album of the week, played with the likes of Foals, Johnny Truant, This Will Destroy You, 65daysofstatic and Amusement Parks On Fire (as well as several hundred others), started their own record label, played the Dot To Dot, Truck, Hockley Hustle, Summer Sundae and Brainwash Festivals and been very bored in vans and on aeroplanes for a large proportion of their lives. There are more plans afoot, but then there always is…

“They’ve the potential to become a domestic instrumental act that truly matters over the next twelve months.” – Drowned In Sound

“All of this is incredibly easy on the ear, positioning Maybeshewill as a poppy alternative to post-rock bands that make you work your bollocks off just to be rewarded with a single nugget of prettiness or meaty riffage. We’ve all been there; we’ve all been impatient. Here, everything’s laid out for easy access and instant enjoyment, and you’ll be constantly coming back for more. This full-length introduction to what Maybeshewill can do signals the arrival of a compelling, fascinating talent.” – Drowned In Sound (8/10)

“Most bands couldn’t juggle the collective noise of Mogwai and Glassjaw without exploding… These songs are extremely quick to kick your teeth in when you least expect it” – Kerrang (KKKK)

“Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing – but that’s exactly the point” – RockSound (8/10)

CATS & CATS & CATS (Pictured)

Cats and Cats and Cats stagger their trademark brand of catchy math rock with folk inspired post rock sections. Starting in early 2005 when friends Ben (Vocals, Guitar) and Tom (Bass, Backing Vocals) met Doug (Drums) at the University of Hertfordshire. Their debut EP, Victorialand, picked up some great reviews and the attention of the UK experimental rock underground. Never being ones to grow musically stagnant, Cats expanded their line up to include Adam (Guitar) and Eve (Violin) to record 2006’s mini album Sweet Drunk Everyone. The new direction split opinion with a weighting towards a fuller, more ambitious post rock sound. Extensive touring followed with the band sharing stages with their heroes Youthmovies, 65 Days of Static, Foals and Blood Red Shoes and performing twice at Glastonbury Festival.

Cats x 3 were soon gaining label interest and, after releasing a split single for Wolf Party records, decided their next release would be with Big Scary Monsters records. BSM has been releasing consistently innovative and inspiring records for years and the label seemed like an obvious choice for the band. The split EP with Oxford’s This Town Needs Guns (Sept ’07) was a storming success and received rave reviews from the likes of NME, Rock Sound and Drowned in Sound. Huw Stephens invited both bands to record a Radio 1 Session which was aired in early October.

Currently the band have just finished recording their first full length album due to be released late 2009. The album, titled If I’d had an atlas, contains 11 previously unreleased tracks and the band are currently booking an October tour to promote the first single.

THE MUSCLE CLUB

The Muscle Club formed in early ’08. Self released a 7” single. Recorded two BBC Radio 1 Sessions (one at Maida Vale) and eventually managed to sort themselves into releasing their EP with the help of Smalltown Records.

They have toured the country twice, from Scotland to Southampton. They have played with the likes of Cursive, Future of the Left, Danananaykroyd and Johnny Foreigner.

Short sharp spiky indie pop not too dissimilar from The Cure’s earlier efforts played along side contemporaries such as The Cribs.

CAT MATADOR

Cat Matador are a 4 piece experimental indie band based in Oxford comprising of Liam Martin: Guitar and Vocals, Sian Lloyd-Williams: Violin and Backing Vocals, Wolfgang: Bass and Backing Vocals and Christopher Roe-French on Drums.

They specialise in creating swathes of sound that are original, memorable and well structured. The songs range from ethereal, shoe-gazing, prog-influenced soundscapes to more melodic and poppy outings. Somewhere in between the sound of close personal contemplation and a large aircraft taking off, they wield delayed guitars, fuzzed up bass-lines, disco beats and soaring strings to sculpt their distinctive sound.

Recently sharing the stage with acts such as iLikeTrains, Kyte, The British Expeditionary Force and Jonquil, they have been likened to many vastly varying acts such as: The National, British Sea Power, The Flaming Lips, The Cure, The Tindersticks, Joy Division, Cajun Dance Party and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

“Cat Matador create a high-octane form of indie rock that veers between epic and introspective but with enough force and character to keep the large crowd fully engaged” – Nightshift Magazine

“Curiously arresting…It seems like it really shouldn’t work but makes it all the more pleasurable that it does, the sum being truly greater than the parts” – The Fly

“Indubitable” – BBC Oxford Introducing

“part pop and part misery….Cat Matador show enormous commitment to their material, an experimental grunge/rock that is quite original, dynamic, catchy and very clever…they will surely emerge sooner or later as yet another amazing Oxford group” – Oxfordbands.com

PLUS:

DJ STEVE HONEYWILL

DJ MOGSY (CLUB NME)

DJ JAMIE SWIFT (SET IN MOTION)

For full into regarding the month festival in association with The Joy Collective, see http://www.mezefestival.co.uk

This is the opening gig of October’s Meze Festival and is going to be an absolute cracker.  Anyone who has a love of post rock can’t really afford to miss this one!!

Caspian’s first full-length album “The Four Trees” finds one of post-rock’s most promising bands rising to new levels of creativity, execution and sonic prowess. An “elegantly composed assault on the senses, embodying everything that is worthwhile about Post-Rock” (Northeast Performer), what Caspian have created with “The Four Trees” is nothing short of a monumental record for the genre in which they inhabit, and the underground indie rock community in general. It’s an album that tugs at your heartstrings with every sweeping moment and refuses to let go. Quite simply, this is a record for listener’s with enormous imaginations.

“The music of Caspian is concerned with storytelling and creating a powerful atmosphere for personal reflection”, muses Philip Jamieson, guitarist for the band.
“It seemed natural for us to do an ambitious, involved record that told some kind of story… A story that could connect on an accessible, wide level for a broad range of listeners but still maintained a sense of unique, individual identity that felt personal to each listener’s distinct narrative.”
Big words? Indeed, and that is the essence of “The Four Trees” in a nutshell: A sprawling, dense album that is intentional and bombastic in its desire to make your arm hairs stand on end, but subtle enough to find your own personal space in, a space somewhere tucked beneath an enormous brick wall of reverb drenched sound.

“In some ways, The Four Trees is our answer to the dis-connected and un-focused flow of contemporary rock records”, Jamieson continues. “Throwing an album on and playing it from start to finish is becoming a lost art in the new digital iTunes age, and we feel like there are people out there who want more than a couple of great moments here and there that they can fast forward to. Under estimating our listener’s commitment to attaching their own story to an album is something we collectively as a band want to avoid.”
This is a wise observation by Jamieson. Though punctuated by moments of sheer musical glory (the triumphant, uplifting and emotionally devastating melodies of opening track “Moksha”, the all-out thrash to the middle 8 of “Crawlspace”, the gentle un-ravelling of the shimmering acoustic finale to “ASA”) “The Four Trees” secret weapon is its ability to connect to its listener on a level that goes beyond simply its recorded parts and into a world of sonic story telling at the height of its powers.
“Of course, at the end of the day we just want to make a powerful rock record”, says Jamieson. And rightly so – “The Four Trees” is without question one of the most musically diverse and instrumentally accomplished records of its kind. Huge bursts of guitar noise, galloping rythmic interplay, pounding percussion, pummeling bass and warm drones… Musically the light and shade captured by Caspian on “The Four Trees” is confident, bold and unique. Very rarely does a band encompass so much emotional territory while maintaining a unified sensibility and an unwavering sense of adventure. “We’ll continue making records that make sense of the things we’re experiencing as individuals and as a band”, Jamieson finishes. “And if we find some like-minded listeners along the way, we welcome them on the journey and move forward together.”
“The Four Trees” was recorded by Ethan Dussault at New Alliance Studios in Cambridge, MA and mastered by Nick Zampiello (ISIS, Converge, Torche).
Caspian is: Philip Jamieson, Calvin Joss, Erin Burke-Moran, Chris Friedrich and Joe Vickers. The band assembled in the autumn of 2003 in their native North Shore, an Oceanside stretch of land northeast of Boston and performed their first concert in August 2004. Since their first performance, the band has toured the United States 5 times in support of their 2005 EP “You Are The Conductor” and their debut full-length album “The Four Trees”.

“With crushingly pretty melodies, Thor-approved feedback, loops and guitar hooks, The Four Trees transcends post-rock cliches with meticulously crafted songcraft.” SPIN
“One of Boston’s brightest new hopes. Caspian has something real to convey with the talent to pull it off.” BOSTON GLOBE
“A wondrously ethereal debut album… chilling beauty.” THE BIG TAKEOVER
“A Conceptual masterpiece. 9/10”-SILENT BALLET

Tempted out of retirement, Stray Borders step up for the Caspain support in the name of “love thy beautiful soundscape, love thy melodic noise”.

This will be their first show back since taking hiatus last year.

Cardiff post-rock beauties Stray Borders have been dealing their soundscapes to ears since 2006, and ‘Lost in your map you left signs in broken line and waves of ink’ is the band’s first EP. The EP features four tracks of glacial sounding post-rock and was recorded

Having shared stages with luminaries such as Hope of the States, 65daysofstatic, Future of the Left, Meet Me in St Louis, Los Campesinos!, Vessels and Errors; the band  built up a great underground following and gained national radio play.

Bayonets released their debut album ‘Wishes & Wishes’ in March 2008, bringing comparisons to contemporaries such as Long Island’s Brand New, Manchester Orchestra, Thrice and more.
Bringing critical acclaim from magazines such as Kerrang who called it ‘a glistening, towering gem of a debut KKKK’ and Rock Sound who described it as ‘bursting with potential’ – ‘Wishes & Wishes’ has seen Bayonets touring extensively across the UK and is stirring up a storm of excitement around this young four-piece from Hereford.

Thinking With Sand are two members of elctronic trio Snork Maiden ate lots of sugar and listened to Loveless, lots.  This October show sees the addition of two other people to the stage who cannot be revealed for tax purposes.

Tickets are a fiver on the door and available in advance for £4 STBF from Diverse, Spillers and others.  For full information, go to http://www.mezefestival.co.uk/