'Kappa' load of this...The Grafham Water Sailing Club unveil new single

I reckon there’s something in the water you know. All of a sudden there are so many great bands springing up all over the Midlands it’s become freakin’ impossible to keep up with them all. Here’s one that’s escaped my notice so far (yeah, I’m a slack arse), The Grafham Water Sailing Club. Sure, it might not be the snappiest name in music but you know where snappy names lead you? N-Dubz. I rest my case. Formed in Coventry last year the band’s latest offering, Kappa Kappa, is part 60s noir spy film soundtrack and part post punk epic, with a dash of millennial angst thrown in for good measure. It’s one of those broodingly brilliant tracks that makes you at least 26% cooler just by listening to it. If you want to see if they can cut it live you’ve got a couple of chances in April too, the first is handily (well handily if you’re Midlands based anyway) on 4th April at The Bulls Head , the second est dans le Paris, Avril 28th a La Cantine de Belleville. Er...tres bien. 

Ice Ice Playlist...

Okay, so now we’re clearly  in a new ice age given the endless sub zero temperatures gripping most of the UK I might as well use it as a flimsy excuse to upload a bunch of random old tunes linked tenuously by the word ‘ice’. Yes, that old chestnut again. Some you’ll know, one or two you might not...depends how ancient/anal you are...

It would frankly be rude to start off with anything other than Professor Green’s spiritual granddad, Vanilla Ice. Ol’ Vanilla arguably ushered in the era of the white rapper (forgive him Lord, he knew not what he was doing) and, whilst his fame may have lasted slightly less than a strawberry mivvi in Dubai’s midday sun, we’ve still got this cheeseball hip hop classic to remember him by...bless...

From the ridiculous to the sublime, still sticking with the hip hop vibe here’s Ice Cube’s Today Was A Good Day. Bizarrely this track was introduced to me by Alexei Sayle who was standing in for some DJ on Radio 1 about 60 years ago...no idea why...maybe it was Savile off on one of his ‘charity’ events?

Okay, back in the time machine for some top notch 80s indie, first up The Icicle Works’ Love Is A Wonderful Colour...

...and you can’t have The Icicle Works without Icehouse’s Hey Little Girl can you eh? Not sure you’d get away with certain parts of this video these days but we’ll gloss over that and just enjoy the band’s...er...‘homage’ to Messrs Ferry and Sylvian.

Right, fast forward to this millennium for some Fiery Furnaces and their Tropical Iceland. The Friedberger siblings have been unusually quiet recently (after releasing an impressive 8 albums and an EP in 6 years, plus 12 solo efforts from Matthew Friedberger...including 9 in just 12 months...and 1 solo effort from sister Eleanor) but it seems like they’re touring North America in May so who knows, they might be back in business. Expect 17 double albums, a musical, a 23 hour tour documentary and a neat range of tea towels before the year’s out.

Okay, let’s go all out now, Foreigner’s Cold As Ice may have one of the cheapest videos in history, seemingly filmed in a railway siding whilst the guard was having a crafty fag somewhere, but it’s a stone cold classic...

Finally, just to prove I listen to stuff recorded less that 400 years ago, here’s Korean pop poppet Hyun-a with Ice Cream...which bears more than a passing resemblance to Kelis’s Milkshake. Don’t listen to it more than once, it’ll rot your brain.   

Stay warm my friends...

Misty's new adventure...

Way, way back...early noughties I think it was...I came across a new-ish band from Birmingham playing at The Flapper one night. I can’t recall who the chuff they were supporting but what I do remember is falling instantly head over heels madly in lurrrrrrve with them – so much so in fact that I ended up buying two copies of their debut homemade album that night. They, Misty's Big Adventure, sounded – and still do for that matter – like no one else around, fusing ska, loungecore, pop, punk and a dozen other genres that probably only exist in the mind of their gloriously dishevelled looking leader, Grandmaster Gareth. They’ve flirted with fame ever since, landing some decent support tours, getting some airplay on the cooler radio stations and inspiring devotion amongst their small but perfectly informed fan base. I’m ashamed to say I’ve not seen them live for a while, something I fully intend to rectify this year, but in the meantime they’ve just released yet another classic track, Aggression, a kind of freaky assed Ghost Town for the 21^st Century...which is timely as we’re now not so much living in a ‘ghost town’ as a ‘ghost country’, but that’s far too depressing to contemplate today eh? Both the video and song embrace familiar Misty’s themes, notably a feeling of detachment from 98% of ‘society’ which is something I can certainly relate to. There’s such a jolly ska beat behind the track and a delightfully sick sense of humour in the video that you somehow find yourself dancing through the tears though. Genius.  

PS: As if a new Misty’s track wasn’t enough Grandmaster Gareth has slipped out a rather splendid new one as well...busy chap.   

Miss Halliwell...back from the dread

What makes a great band? Decent tunes? Meaningful lyrics? A pretty logo? Sure, all of these might help but what marks out the great from the good - in my humble opinion at least - is one thing that few people really, truly focus on...belief. Does that lead singer really mean what he or she is singing about or is it all (or partly) just an act? When they come off stage are they still the same person? Let’s face facts, many performers are just that. That’s not necessarily a bad thing by the way, if they really lived the kind of life they sang about they’d all be dead by 27...which quite a lot of them were come to think about it. Anyway, I guess what I’m going on about is integrity, the kind of borderline madness that drove Richey Manic to carve 4 REAL into his arm with a razor blade (still arguably one of the most beautifully disturbing moments in music). Having read his blog for a while I can confidently say that Miles Perhower, frontman with the reanimated (and massively underrated so far) Miss Halliwell, falls...dives headfirst perhaps...into this category. Have a read. It’s great stuff. Disturbing sometimes but hey, life ain’t always a bowl of frickin’ cherries eh? Once you’ve read the blog (there's more here too...see what I mean?), had a cold shower and hugged a loved one whilst weeping gently to yourself for a while, make plans to head on down to The Wagon and Horses (Digbeth) on Friday night (29^th March) for Miss Halliwell’s first live show in ages. Oh, and here's a trio of some of their best tracks to date as well...enjoy. 

The Semi Regular New Music Roundup Thingy w/e 22nd March 2012

“Music ain’t like wot it used to be back in the 70s” say some boring old farts, but here’s proof that it’s pretty much just exactly the same as it used to be back in the 70s. Step forward Wolf People with this rather awesome piece of post rock folk, All Returns (out 15^th April). Majestic. Can someone bring ‘em to Birmingham soon please? Ta! Eh...hang on...they’re coming! This Is Tmrw just booked ‘em for a gig in May! Whoop!

Okay, this is one of those ‘we’re not going to reveal our identity’ kind of things. Colour Of Bone (could be a person, could be a band, could be a weird cult with pointy hats and sixteen wives for every chap...could be The Alarm...) may be hiding behind silhouettes at the moment but one thing’s certain, his/their particular brand of fuzzy pop rock is pretty addictive.  Oh...hang on again, just found out it’s some dude called Sam Stockman, an actor who’s in something called Whitechapel on something called ITV?!  Honestly, you just can’t keep a secret nowadays can you eh?

This is real good. Me, You and Thomas are a two piece from Brizzle who specialise in raw, fuzzy indie rock. The lead singer’s got a vaguely folky / shoegazey feel to her voice which neatly juts up against the battered drums n’ geeetttar. This single’s out on Howling Owl Records on 8^th April and there are just 50 copies. Blimey. If they’d like to send me one I promise to walk up and down the streets playing it to random strangers.

When Edwyn Collins’ brain exploded (or, to be more technically accurate, when he suffered a double cerebral haemorrhage) back in 2005 it seemed pretty certain that he’d not last more than a few days. When he did it seemed equally certain that he’d never walk or talk again, let alone write and perform stuff. Miraculously though, he is. And it’s right up there with some of his best releases too. Blimey. Ed wins...

Priscilla Queen of the Desert @ The New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, Wednesday 20th March 2013

Musicals can be a little camp, sometimes intentionally, sometimes accidently. There’s certainly no doubting which side of the yellow brick road Priscilla falls on though. The whole thing makes Julian Clary look like Bear Grylls on steroids. There’s a plot of course – the everyday take of a gay man’s trip across the outback in a knackered old bus to meet his son for the first time – but it’s really just a shameless excuse to plunder disco’s greatest hits. And what huge hits they are (oooooh errrr missus), kicking off with a simply fabulous version of It’s Raining Men (I've made no secret of my lurve for this track over the years) performed by ‘The Three Divas’ who descend from the rafters in the first of a series of gloriously OTT frocks. That’s just for starters of course...Don’t Leave Me This Way, Venus, Go West, I Love The Nightlife and I Will Survive all come out of the closet...and that's before before the interval.

The story revolves around the show’s core trio, Tick (Jason Donovan), Bernadette (Richard Grieve) and Felicia (Graham Weaver) and whilst this isn’t the kind of night that’s necessarily overly concerned with character development there’s enough in there to get a flavour of Tick’s struggles with his sexuality and Bernadette’s transsexual transformation. Grieve makes a particularly convincing post op and it’s easy to imagine that he/she does indeed keep his/her manhood in a jar in his/her purse (ready to stuff down the throat of younger rival Felicia). Donovan of course is by far the biggest name in the show and given his well documented (and false) outing by The Face magazine back in the 90s it’s particularly good to see him embracing his camper side with such joyful abandon. It’s the quieter numbers that suit his voice the best though and Act Two’s bedtime scene with son Benji featuring Always On My Mind was one of the show’s more touching moments. Naturally there are a few Donovan related lines scattered in there too with Tick mentioning a crush he had on Scott (the character that Donovan played in Neighbours). Kylie’s in there too of course with Felicia in particular worshipping at the temple of La Minogue culminating in a suitably camp Confide In Me.

Vocally it’s actually The Three Divas (Emma Kingston, Ellie Leah and Laura Mansall) that steal the show and their frequent appearances always ramp up the party atmosphere a notch or two. There are a number of fine star turns from the supporting case too with Francis Mayli McCann bringing the house down with her Cynthia (the things that girl can do with a ping pong ball...) and Ellie Leah (taking a break from being a Diva) as the pendulously breasted Shirley.

Whilst the set’s basic but effective the producers have wisely gone all out on the costumes, filling the stage with a retina scorching burst of colour and glitz and it’s frankly impossible not to get swept along with the whole thing. The main characters might’ve spent the show in drag but the evening most certainly didn’t...

Priscilla Queen of the Desert is at the New Alexandra Theatre until Saturday 30^th March. 

Flatpack packs more in...

The annual Flatpack Festival kicks off today and, on top of all manner of weird n’wonderful films, there are even more music related goodies on offer than ever before too including screenings of contemporary music vids at Yorks Bakery Cafe (Friday 2^nd March – FREE!) and a showing of a new biopic on Terri Hooley ‘Godfather of Belfast Punk’ (also Friday 22^nd, tickets £5/£7 9pm at The Electric Cinema). 

For more info on these and a bumper popcorn bag full of other loveliness head over to their info(Flat)packed website. 

BC Camplight rides again

A few years back BC Camplight released the truly awesome album Blink of a Nihilist (from which the little beauty above is taken). Sadly it failed to set the world on fire (what do they know eh?) and he vanished from sight in a puff of smoke. Well, he would’ve done if it had set the world on fire....maybe it was a dust instead? Anyway...it seems like he’s had a few, well, let’s say ‘challenges’ in the intervening years culminating in seeing an alien in the Arizona desert (where he was living in a camper van) which in turn inspired him to quit his US homeland and decamp to...er...Manchester. Hell, it happens. So now he’s back, back, BACK etc with a new single Thieves InAntigua. If the Beach Boys had become a mariachi band this is how it might’ve sounded like. Yep, it’s that good. Enjoy...

He plays the Manchester Deaf Institute (his first headline show for FIVE ruddy years) on 6^th April and hopefully he’ll travel a little further afield soon (Birmingham...hint hint). 

Sex, blogs and rock 'n' roll...

Okay, maybe not so much sex on this post, although you are looking particularly hot today...hubba hubba. Nope, this is a blatent post to promote a trio of lovely people who deserve some of your time/admiration/money.

First up the lovely Jodi Anne Bickley and her One Million Lovely Letters project. Actually 'project's' too small a word for what she's doing...it's more of a lifelong commitment, a vocation...a calling...she's like the pope without all the smoke, dudes in dresses and Latin schnizzle. For the uninitiated Jodi was a rising star of the spoken word scene before a nasty little tick bit her at a festival and she contracted encephalitis which then led to a stroke. Here she is in full flow...



Confined to bed for long stretches at a time she decided to turn her talents to writing letters to people who needed a little pick me up, with the aim of completing ONE MILLION. That's a whole lotta writing my friends. Incredibly she's not charging anyone for this and is doing it just 'cos she's one of the loveliest people on planet earth...

Next up a new blog from a dude I met at a gig last week, David Malys. It seems he's been reading The Hearing Aid since it started in 1794 (hands up who else was at that amazing Beethoven / Haydn show...those muthas rocked), for which he frankly deserves a medal. Anyway, he's started a blog, Seven Inch Selections, a fascinating trawl through his record collection complete with the stories behind each purchase. There's something addictive about vinyl and Mr M captures this passion/madness better than most. Plus, if you're a nosy git like me it's the perfect chance to snoop around another man's record box without having to break into their house and get arrested.

Finally the legend that is Tom Peel has launched a brand new Subscription Service promising exclusive access to all his new songs plus all kinds of other goodies including (for a mere £35!) a personalised song too! Good grief. In a better world Tom would have his own TV Show, range of dolls and chain of tea shops but for now he remains one of the best kept secrets in outsider pop. As cool as a British summer and just as trouser moistening...

Here's the man himself with the big sell...how can you resist eh?



Plugs over, here's some music for you to play LOUD.



Gawd bless Primal Scream eh? Can't think of a song title, hell, what year is it? 2013? That'll do! Coming soon, Good Friday, May Day, The Seventh Sunday Before Advent and National Fish and Chip Week...

Semi Regular New Music Round Up w/e 15th March

Whoops. Not done one of these for ages. Oh well, anticipation is everything eh? Strap yourselves in...strap on a strap on...strip and strap...hell, everything goes here...

If you watch one video today (apart from one featuring cats dressed as ninjas, a mouse humping an elephant or David Cameron being fisted by the new pope), make it this one from the lovely / slightly deranged Darwin Deez.

Old skool Jan Hammer/Depeche Mode synths and a shouty bloke? That’s me happy then. Welcome to the delightfully named Lust ForYouth...insert your own Jimmy Savile gag here.

Sticking with the young theme here’s another odd vid from Young Dreams...underneath it all there’s a rather lovely hi-life tinged anthem to hope in the face of adversity...that sounds familiar.

This sounds a little like The Rolling Stones if they were fronted by Keith instead of Mick...it’s not...it’s Black Manila...but still...I imagine it’s a darn sight cheaper going to see ‘em...and probably a darn sight more ‘satisfaction’ too...

Ever wanted to know what Elvis Costello’s pump it up would sound like if it was sped up? You’re in look, here’s NYC punks ParquetCourts.

After listening to Parquet Courts this little beauty from Body Lotion and The Bloody Hands (yes, that’s really their/her name) popped up...it’s three years old but hell, it’s new to us right? I pretty much guarantee this’ll be the most original thing you’ve heard this week...month...year...

That’s all for this issue. I’m going for a rub down and a packet of nuts...

Claudia Brücken @ O2 Academy, Wednesday 13th March 2013

Back in the glorious golden days of pop, the mid 1980’s, ZTT Records released some of the biggest and most exciting tunes around, with Frankie Goes To Hollywood effectively ruling the charts (and wardrobes...who didn’t have a Frankie Says...t-shirt eh?) for a year or so. Whilst Holly Johnson and co were busily corrupting the nation’s youth with Relax however another ZTT band were producing some of the decade’s most intriguing songs. That band was Propaganda and the singles, Duel and Dr Mabuse, still sound remarkably fresh nearly 30 years on. In the intervening three decades or so the band’s lead singer, Claudia Brücken, has released the odd album here and there and guested on a handful of tracks but now she’s well and truly back with a fascinating solo release, The Lost Are Found, a series of cover versions of hidden gems from everyone from Bowie to The Band. Live shows from Claudia over the years have been rare and tours...well...I can’t remember one...so tonight was a pretty big deal.

Dressed in a simple black suit, heels and diamond necklace and joined by a band that includes partner Paul Humphreys (one half of synthpop kings OMD) she still looks a million Deutschmarks. It’s the voice that really grabs you though and opening number Kiss Like Ether (one of the singles from her own hidden gem, the 1991 album Love: And A Million Other Things) is the perfect showcase. Sounding upbeat and poppy one second then dark and seductive the next she’s got an impressive vocal range, more importantly she knows how to use it adding light and shade just where it’s needed. Kiss Like Ether had kind of faded from my memory a little but it’s a truly great track with hints of Donna Summer’s classic State of Independence and Siouxsie’s Kiss Them For Me in there. Tonight’s backing vocalist David Watson did a particularly fine job of accompanying her too.

It was clear that the lovely Ms Brücken has taken some time with the setlist, sensibly mixing in the older more familiar tunes with the newer stuff and setting off the more chilled out tracks with the dancier numbers. Introduced as “A song from my past” Dr Mabuse made an early appearance and it still sounds groundbreaking, a unique mix of the gothic and the dancefloor, a soundtrack for nightmares and nightclubs. Awesome. Not sure that the added guitar worked so well on this one tonight, perhaps being so familiar with the more sparse original was a factor? A minor quibble though.

Cloud Nine (a co-write with Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore) could almost be a Bond theme, where’s this track been hiding eh? Love it. A gloriously, fabulously, brilliantly camp Snobbery and Decay made a strong pitch for song of the night, with Claudia and David trading lines like Garbo (Greta) and Johnson (Holly).

Of course tonight wasn’t just about revisiting past glories, there’s a new record out and a languid reworking of ELO’s One Summer Dream showed Claudia’s more chillaxed (as the kids used to say) side. It was a classy and suitably dreamy interlude, achieving that wonderfully filmic quality that made you temporarily forget the sub zero temperatures waiting for you outside (yes, it's still ruddy freezing)... 

On top of ELO there was another Brummie link thanks to Claudia’s cover of The Lilac Time’s The Road To Happiness, a country tinged track with a vaguely 60s feel that’s undoubtedly one of the new album’s highlights. Again the more subtle nature of the material showed a different side to Claudia’s vocal ability wrapping you up in a mellow cocoon of sound. Heavenly stuff. An orchestral (manoeuvres in the dark) embellished and very timely cover of man of the moment, David Bowie’s Everyone Says “Hi”, neatly capped off the main set. 

Encore? Of course. As Claudia herself acknowledged she couldn’t play a gig without performing Duel and for 5 minutes a fair portion of the mainly forty something audience went a little weak at the knees (come on now, I’m not the only one who had a Claudia crush after watching that video). If anyone mocks music from the 80s point them in the direction of this tune, sure it sounds of its time but equally there’s stuff in there that makes it seem oddly timeless. Add those slightly disturbing lyrics (the slow lingering death of a relationship?) and Claudia’s dance dominatrix delivery and you’ve got one of the smartest pop songs in history.

Judging by the eager swarm of middle age fanboys around her at the end of the show Claudia’s allure remains as strong as ever but she’s ripe for discovery by a whole new generation of fans raised on those who’ve followed in her wake, step forward everyone from Goldfrapp to Lady Gaga (I’d be frankly amazed if Ms Germanotta didn’t have Duel on her iPod). Simply one of the most distinctive (and underrated) voices in pop. Now that's Propaganda you can all believe in...

   

The Lost Are Found tour continues: 

Fri 15th – Manchester – Academy 3

Sat 16th – London – Borderline

Sun 17th – Brighton – Concorde

Layers / Scholars / This Is Sinister @ The Sunflower Lounge, Tuesday 12th March 2013

Ahhhhhh springtime, dontcha just love it? Longer days, buds on the trees, daffs springing up everywhere, the sudden reappearance of our old friend Mr Sun...except someone, somewhere seems to have failed to read the script this year as the temperature allegedly plummeted to a nut shrivelling -10 today (with wind chill). Good grief. Happily tonight’s compact and subterranean venue rapidly achieved a slightly more tropical feel courtesy of This Is Sinister. They’ve been knocking around for a few years now and what was once an odd mix in their early gigs seems to have gelled remarkably well. Psych, prog, country, rock, beat...no genre’s immune but somehow they make it work. Musical trainspotters might make links to Pearl Jam and At The Drive In in places but this lot are frankly impossible to pigeonhole and there aren’t too many bands you can say that about these days. Pick of the set included Idle Pleasures and the country rock tinged Never Find A Way, complete with added harmonica, neither of which I can find online anywhere so you’ll just have to go and see ‘em instead. Oh, and ask them to do tonight’s closing number too, a spirited and pant wettingly enjoyable version of Twist and Shout that might just be one of the greatest covers of all time...

Time then for battle of the front men, with London boys Scholars sending their dude up first. The Sunflower Lounge is a little like an adventure playground with stuff to jump off, climb up, stand on, lean over...and Mr Scholars was all over it, leaving the stage after the very first note and spending most of the show in amongst the crowd. You have to admire bands who really make an effort and one glance at Scholars’ You Tube account (172 videos so far and counting) plus their extensive range of merch shows you just how serious they’re taking their one shot at fame and fortune. Happily they put just as much effort into their performance, delivering one anthemic rocker after another. There’s a decent blob of punk spunk in there too with both Bad For Business and Damages (off forthcoming album Always Lead, Never Follow produced by Hundred Reasons’ guitarist Larry Hibbitt) coming across like The Hives getting it on with Rocket From The Crypt...in a sex dungeon. 

It’s new single Black and Blue, with its vocal gymnastics and quiet / loud / slow / fast bits that most make Scholars well worth studying though and if record sales had anything to do with energy tonight it’d sell a million.

A year or so into their existence Layers are shaping up nicely thanks in no small part to lead vocalist Lance’s ability to bring a little more soul to the traditional rock set up. Oh yeah...he’s a human dynamo too, that might have something to do with it. Sensing that he needed to up the stakes if he was going to top Scholars’ main man he took an even more physical approach to performance, culminating with an audacious / suicidal set closing backflip and crowd drenching courtesy of a bottle of mineral water and just the odd drop or two of sweat. In between they played a short but nuclear powered set peaking with last year’s statement of intent, Corners. It’s a freakin' great rock song, neatly tapping into the full range of human emotion in just three minutes, fear, regret, anger...throat shredding insanity...and Lance made the most of it leaping about like his feet were on fire (maybe they were...I wouldn't be at all surprised). Impressive. It was all over far too soon though but, as the old saying goes, always leave ‘em wanting more eh? Appropriately enough the slightly more reflective (only slightly more...it still rocked like a mutha) closing number Gradually was dedicated by Lance to tonight’s promoter, the lovely Rhi Lee, who’s sadly been seduced by the glamour of Laaahnden. Cor blimey...apples and pears...you’re ‘avin a larf...leave it Phil/Grant he/she’s not werf it etc etc. Rhi’s been an invaluable supporter of the local music scene here in Birmingham for a while now, putting on some amazing gigs as well doing her thang at The Flapper and The Institute. She’ll be sorely missed. What a 'Rhi Lee' (sorry, couldn't resist it) great night to end on though.

  

Gone Swordfishing...

For a moment a few years ago record shops seemed to be going the same way as eight track, laser discs and video tapes. Hundreds...thousands perhaps...closed down leaving a huge vinyl shaped hole in High Streets and lives across the world. In Birmingham alone we lost (deep breath): Plastic Factory, Frank’s Wild Records, Second City Sounds, Tempest, Highway 61, Reddingtons Rare Records plus two Virgin/Zavvi stores, a Music Zone and Borders (which had a pretty decent music section for a while). There may even have been more, lost in the memory somewhere. There were record fairs too, at least one a month, with queues to get in and rooms jam packed with unsavoury smelling men all vying for that rare copy of some obscure album from an equally obscure 70s rock band. That was then but this is now and, with HMV grimly hanging on by its claws, Birmingham was left with just independent record shops – The Diskery and Swordfish (plus Music and Video Exchange...but that’s more of a pawn shop...steady now...PAWN). I’ve not been into The Diskery since about 1988, but I imagine it’s not changed much. They tend to deal purely in old/second hand/collectable stuff as opposed to anything released this millennium. So Swordfish, to borrow the title of Graham Jones’ fine book on the decline of the record retailing was, ‘The Last Shop Standing’.  Faced first with high rents and then the end of their lease it seemed doomed. Incredibly though last Saturday, March 9^th, they opened up a new store in Dalton Street, just a stumble away from Birmingham Magistrates Courts (perfect for those with a...ahem...'criminal record'...oh dear).  

As with their last incarnation it’s mainly a mix of second hand and collectable stuff at the moment but they’ve just stocked – and sold out of (more copies coming I believe) – the new Bowie album and have a decent range of vinyl reissues on offer. 

If you want something the chances are they’ll know where to get it too. The owners, Gaz and Mike, have been running the place since 1979...first in Hurst Street, then Needless Alley, then Temple Street and now their new home and the walls are liberally adorned with cool mementos from over 30 years in the biz. 

I spent three happy hours in there myself on Saturday and emerged with a handful of vinyl and a couple of bargain CD’s. Pleasingly there was a steady stream of punters during that time and that’s pretty much the reason for this piece. If we want a physical record shop in Birmingham then we...all of us...yes...even you...have to support it. 

So spread the word, pop in once in a while, order something, have a chat, soak up the atmosphere, experience it...trust me...that’s something you can’t just download.  

Swordfish Records is at 66 Dalton Street, Birmingham, B4 7LX Opening hours 10am – 5.30pm Monday to Saturday.

Tel: 07563 567473

Email: swordfishrecords@gmail.com

Website: www.swordfishrecords.co.uk

Twitter: @SwordfishBham

Layers live!

This Tuesday hotly tipped rockers Layers play The Sunflower Lounge along with Scholars and This Is Sinister...all for a budget busting £4.



With Birmingham suddenly hotter than a sumo wrestler in a sauna (step forward PEACE, Swim Deep, Laura Mvula, Jaws, Goodnight Lenin etc) they might just be the next ones to break through. Be there or have to lie to your mates in 6 months time...and you know how you get when you try to lie...all sweaty and blotchy, it's really not a good look.



Tickets here!

PS: There's a nasty rumour that this could be the lovely Rhi Lee's last gig as a promoter in Brum for a while, so make twice the effort to be there. So what if you live in Nebraska...there's still time if you hop on a plane.

Mostly Awesome...

Mostly Jazz, Funk and Soul Festival has just unveiled its line up for this year and...well...just take a look at this...

Chic, Bonobo, Soul II Soul, Craig Charles...now that's a line up worth getting your knickers in a twist for...or someone else's knickers for that matter. Further down the bill there's plenty more treats with The Blockheads, Greg Bird and Flamingo Flame, Troumaca, Smoove & Turrell...hell, it's all good. Oh and Candi Staton too. If she plays this my head might explode...

Tickets WILL sell out so if you want to go (silly question) get yo ass into gear right now. For the trainspotters out there here's the full bill in a day by day stylee. 

Friday

Bonobo // Hypnotic Brass Ensemble // Hiatus Kaiyote // Troumaca // Yes King // Stubborn Heart // BJ Smith // Greg Bird & Flamingo Flame // Alternative Dubstep Orchestra // Antelope

Saturday

Candi Staton // Craig Charles // The Blockheads // The Fantasy Funk Band // Smoove & Turrell // The Haggis Horns // Jess Roberts & The Silver Rays // The Soul Circle Gang // Dubcherry // Terri Shaltiel // Leigh Coleman

Sunday

Chic featuring Nile Rodgers // Soul II Soul // Snarky Puppy // Gogo Penguin // The Initiative // Mammal Hands // Lokkhi Terra // Richard Foote Marching Band // Martin Trotman Band // Anthony Marsden Band // Stella Roberts Band // Jazzlines Ensemble

Tickets are on sale now and are priced from £35 - £85

CHECK OUT THE REVIEW FROM LAST YEAR'S FESTIVAL!

For more details visit www.mostlyjazz.co.uk

Don but not forgotten...ATD's back

Rapper, producer, mixer...Akira the Don...or maybe that should be Akira the Dad now, is back with a brand new mixtape, number 29 no less.  Needless to say it's another winner, oozing with lyrical loveliness and...er...bangin' beats. Yes, bangin' beats. I'm down wiv da kids. Brrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaap. Enjoy.

Claudia-llelujah!

Back in the mid 80s Propaganda released a pair of truly classic singles (see above...if you’ve not heard them you’re in for a treat) and the voice behind them was the lovely Claudia Brücken. Since the Propaganda days she’s done a bunch of other stuff, most recently working with partner Paul Humphreys (from synthpop pioneers OMD) as Onetwo. Now she’s off on an all too rare tour of the UK and Germany this month to promote her latest release The Lost Are Found, a fascinating set of covers from everyone from Pet Shops Boys to The Band. Hurrah! Unmissable. Here’s the list of dates:

MARCH 2013 – UK and Germany

Tues 12th – Glasgow – ABC2 – tickets
Wed 13th – Birmingham – Academy 3 – tickets
Fri 15th – Manchester – Academy 3 – tickets
Sat 16th – London – Borderline – tickets
Sun 17th – Brighton – Concorde – tickets

Wed 20th – Bochum – Zeche – tickets
Thu 21th – Frankfurt – Nachtleben – tickets
Sat 23th – Berlin – Postbahnhof – tickets
Sun 24th – Hamburg – Gruenspan – tickets

And here’s the latest single from the album, a timely cover of Bowie’s Everyone Says “Hi” from his 2002 album Heathen. Enjoy...

Amanda Palmer and the million dollar question...

If you're a struggling musician these days just how do you make a living eh? Amanda Palmer attracted a fair bit of flack last year when she seemed (seemed being the operative word) to  be asking bands and artists to play at her shows for free. This coming hot on the heels of her million dollar crowdfunding success (her fans stumped up over $1m to pay for her new album and stuff). In a recent TED presentation she touches on this but, more importantly, she gives her view of a model that could, potentially, offer bands a way of making money. And boy, do most bands need to find a way of making a little. Of course it's a lot easier for her as an established and, it has to be said, particularly engaging personality. The concept of sending round a hat after a gig might smack of begging too but I've always thought of the idea as being more akin to leaving a tip after a great meal. The idea of letting people pay rather than making them pay for music is also an interesting one. Radiohead did it a while back with one of their albums although again they were already up to their necks in fans. It would be interesting to see what would happen at a 'local' gig for instance though. It's not necessarily THE answer to musicians struggling to make a living but might it be an answer...? Anyway, watch the video (cheers to Mr H for the tip off) and see what you think.

Oh, and here's Amanda's latest offering too.



And here's the track that started my unrequited love affair with the divine Miss P...still one of my favourite songs of all time.

San Cisco / The Lights @ The Institute, Saturday 2nd March 2013

Just imagine the conversation San Cisco had with the person booking this tour...

Booker: “G’day guys, fancy touring the UK this spring?”

Band: “Spring eh? Sounds good to us, it’s 40 degrees here in Oz and we’re sweating our cobblers off. What’s the weather like in Pommieland?”

Booker: “It’s lovely, trust me...you might need a cardie, but no worries sports”

Band: “Okay, we’ll do it!”

Some weeks later, as San Cisco are chiselling the icicles off their noses (and other body parts too I imagine), they must surely wish they were back in Oz. Yep, it’s still freakishly cold here but, for one night at least, San Cisco bring a little indie pop warmth to the place.

First up though, from closer to home...Stourbridge to be precise...The Lights. The drums seemed to be a little high in the mix for much of their set, which made catching some of the vocals a tad tricky, but the lady Light’s voice is an impressively powerful thang and managed to make it through the sonic mush relatively unscathed. Occupying the sort of ground that perhaps Deacon Blue (ask your granddads) held back in the day they’ve got some really strong tunes, pick of the bunch being the country tinged Low Hundreds, and the pleasure that they clearly got from playing live, to a decent sized audience, was pretty infectious.    

Formed in 2009 in Freemantle, Western Australia (where the temperature rarely drops below t-shirt and shorts weather) San Cisco are fresh from a tour of the US supporting The Vaccines, but this seems to be their first jaunt across the UK. Bless ‘em. A four piece the core dynamic revolves around lead vocalist/guitarist Jordi and vocalist/drummer Scarlet and it’s when this partnership gets going that the magic really happens. From The White Stripes and Blood Red Shoes through to er...Kylie and Jason, the boy/girl thing is a pop staple and San Cisco do it better than many, with Jordi’s more upbeat vocal delivery acting as the perfect foil for Scarlett’s slightly deadpan style. Things kick off with the Scarlett-less (vocally speaking at least) Golden Revolver though, which could almost be a jangly distant relative of The Drums Let’s Go Surfing. Picking up the pace a little Fred Astaire (off current EP Awkward) quickly showcased Scarlett’s skin pounding. There’s something particularly sexy about girl drummers, maybe it’s a Freudian thing...big sticks and all that...er...maybe it’s just me...hmmm...either way she makes it look effortlessly easy whilst producing the kind of big, beefy sound that often reduces blokes to a sweaty mess in minutes (mind you it was a touch ‘cool’ in here this evening).

Many of tonight’s songs have an upbeat summertime feel, perhaps with the exception of the most summery titled one of all, Beach, a shimmeringly low key synth driven daydream of a tune punctuated by Scarlett’s hauntingly simple “so far away, so far awaaaaaaay” refrain. Beautiful stuff. It’s the twisted fairytale world of Wild Things and the relationship on the rocks anthem Awkward that show San Cisco at their indie pop best though. Both benefit from Jordi / Scarlett sharing vocal duties with Wild Things emulating Beach’s more dreamy feel whilst Awkward’s a full on New New (that’s new) Wave classic replete with a naggingly catchy da da da da da do do do do do do do singalong chorus and Jordi channelling his inner Davy Jones on tambourine.

There’s an above average mix of styles and influences scattered through tonight’s set, from the 60’s psych tinged Reckless through to the straight ahead Arctic Monkeys-ish rock ‘n’ roll of Stella and, for a first tour, an impressive turn out too. It really doesn’t take a huge leap of imagination to see some of their best tracks becoming indie anthems, with Awkward practically a shoe in for one of the catchiest hits of the year (yeah I know it’s been out for a while in Oz but it’s new here right?). Get them on this summer’s festival circuit and it could be a San-tastic year for them...

The Semi Regular New Music Roundup w/e 1st March

Spring already? Thank the chuff for that. Bits of me were getting distinctly frostbitten. Here’s a bunch of stuff that somehow seeped into the old ears this week...

Youth Lagoon (Trevor Powers to his ma and pa) conjures up this trippy mix of psych gaze, perfect for turning on, tuning in and dropping out to. Stick with it, it takes a minute or two to hit its stride...

Okay, this ain’t new but I’ve only just started hearing it on 6 Music. Scroobius Pip vs DJ Yoda. Freakin’ awesome.

Post punk. Yeah! Skinny boys with skinny ties drinking skinny lattes. It’s a skinny thing. London’s Snapped Ankles add a little dance floor groove to the underground sound of 79-81.

What is it with geeky looking white dudes dancing like freaks but looking as cool as a polar bear in a deep freeze (see also the bloke from Dutch Uncles)? 2013. The year of the geek dance. Oh yeah...this art rock beauty from Cymbals makes a pretty ace soundtrack too.

Everything that Public Service Broadcasting does is top notch. Fusing Krautrock style motoric beats to old Public Information films might not sound like a particularly attractive concept but it just works so darn well. Here’s their latest...out as special Record Day 7 inch vinyl release on April 20^th