The Fly Wessex

2007-12-16T09:21:00.002+01:00

The regional content for THE FLY music mag has moved here: http://ourtribe.mobi/default.aspx?uid=1&pid=8&sid=11558&m=Site&

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Bestival 2006

2006-09-25T17:34:00.000+01:00

by Matt Golding

Images by Paul Johnson

Despite the rash of fatally mundane brand named events that fill the summer seeming to prove otherwise, no one ever claimed organising a festival was easy. But why Sunday Best made the decision to open the festival gates at 10am on the Friday, only two hours before the music begins, will probably forever remain a mystery to everyone except the accountants. Still, the inevitable 3pm queue of oversleeping traffic jam victims that wind their way through the Alactrazian perimeter of bag searches and sniffer dogs maintain their good humour, despite the fact they are missing James Yorkston and watching the value of their tickets go the way of an ostrich burger in a portaloo.

Following the strong but predictable guitar dirges of iLiKETRAiNS and the kookily named but otherwise paper-thin pop rock of Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly., the Mystery Jets take the main stage. Their otherwise energetic and enjoyable (if oh so indie) set is marred however in a tragic sight that will be repeated at random over the course of the weekend – the amps and microphones being cut, bang on schedule, as the band attempt to continue their encore and before they have even said goodbye. What should have been a triumphant encore for a horde of hands ends in confused and frustrated silence.

Friday evening headliners Gogol Bordello’s bouncy, gonzo gypsy acousto-punk is in full heat. It’s gaudy plastic and shallower than a kid’s paddling pool, but the band have all the ammunition they need to celebrate the first night of what is for many the summer’s last knees up. With two hoary and prancing virtuosos fighting for the centre stage and an array of violins, guitars, accordions, tambourines and fire-bucket-cum-drum-kits at their disposal, the self styled New Yorkers nee Eastern Europeans show the crowd how to pogo Ukrainian style, and stake an enduring claim as memorable headline fare.

In settings resplendent with lefty broadsheets and WI sponge cake, Heather and Johnson’s funky folk eases the crowd into Saturday morning at the Bandstand in The Village, the da’ Bank’s answer to that hippy bit at Glastonbury. Sadly, despite a good show and the fact that a backbone of quality folk and dance is one of the Bestival’s great strengths, they fail to inspire too many to watch stadium folk lynchpin and festival veteran King Creosote on the main stage. It’s not his most passionate performance by any means, but Kenny’s soulful folkals and clean guitar sounds carry the band through melodic baselines, masterfully brandished Hammonds and one sunny tune after another.

Anyone who frequents commercial festivals will know that they are, essentially, the same collection of bands, arenas and stalls that tour the country every summer, so anything that sets one out from the pack can only be a good thing. Which is why the Bestival’s fancy dress parade is a masterstroke. Life is a lot more fun in costume, and following the cancellation of this year’s circus theme due to reports of rampant coulrophobia* amongst patrons, festival goers were encouraged to get wild and original with their costumes. Bizarrely, either due to a massive case of psychic leakage or more likely the popular sex appeal of a man named Depp, this resulted in a festival full of thousands and thousands of pirates. Yaar, lubbers… ye scurvy rat is wearing the same parrot as me. Pirate outfits have been ditched in the Blue Pavilion though, which despite being just a lavishly furnished tent, seems to give of an atmosphere of West End exclusivity that only stopped short of bouncers checking your shoes on the door. Such was the setting for the electro-house of Ulrich Schnauss and broken-Fisher-Priceness of Mum whose engaging clicks, loose beats and subverted sonic ‘scapes inexplicably clear the bop hungry crowd. Headliners Amorphous Androgynous, long time side project of the great Future Sound of London, do devastatingly little to prove that they were ever anything more than a self-indulgent hobby hiding behind regal livery. Their choice of set is predictable and unadventurous leftfield electro, flitting whispishly between styles and genres… acousticity, reggae, drum ‘n’ bass, click ‘n’ glitch, tribalism and even the odd smattering of Tibetan throat singing are present in what is essentially a ‘My First Picture Book’ of world music. The overall progress of every track is distinctly pedestrian, lacking any of the expansive imagination you’d come to expect from the brand or even the Androgynous themselves. Thank God then for The Black Dog, whose four hour DJ started in the small hours of Sunday morning and kept the dream alive until the sun was practically up.

Filling the Sunday afternoon hangover slot are Tunng, whose harmonic electro-folk sound is well poised and eminently suited to a sunny Sunday and the obliqueness of life. The Young Knives draw a large crowd and their aggressive, action packed sound is of exactly the type that will guarantee a band success for an album or two. But there’s really nothing new in there, save another adolescent take on the same formula.

Bat for Lashes are a band whose name is quickly becoming associated with the folktronica scene, and not without good reason. Despite spending over half their set time setting up an array of instruments, the few tunes they play give the band a sparse, well composed edge and an array of acoustic ethnicity that hovers around but stays just the right side of pretension. Natasha Khan, lead singer and creative force, is very much the centre of attention, at times rendering her cohorts redundant for entire tracks – to the point at which they seem bored – yet the engaging soundscapes are enough to keep the interest of her audience, if not the violinist.

And the summer is almost over, leaving just enough time for the excellent and amply bearded Deep South rootishness of Devandra Barnheart and Sunday night headliners the Scissor Sisters. Everyone is familiar by now with Jake and co.’s noughties disco pop and theatrical live shows – naturally, both these things are delivered with effortless professionalism and pzzang. The Scissor Sisters are an analogy of our tawdry times, marketable sleaze and permeated with a desire to be offensive whilst alienating no one… a high profile end to a decent festival, but summing up a doubt at the bottom of the heart of the weekend. The posture is perfect and the pillow talk romantic, but is there any soul underneath? Still, if the sex is good and the relationship only one weekend a year, who cares?

* It’s a mortal fear of clowns see, endured by unfortunate people whose first memory is of being mauled in their pram by a man called Bonzo.

Bestival Press Release

2006-08-03T17:51:00.000+01:00

- Gypsy Punks storm Bestival as Gogol Bordello (pictured above) headline Friday night on the Main Stage

- Plus Guillemots confirmed for Main Stage on Saturday

- Future Sound of London presents the Amorphous Androgynous confirmed for The Blue Pavilion

- Xbox Lost & Sound arena revealed

Well its hot out there and even hotter at Bestival HQ as we’re dancing for joy at our latest line upadditions. In true Rob da Bank style he’s picked the hottest act of the summer for the prestigious Friday night headline slot, the mighty, mischievous Gogol Bordello. Sitting pretty next to the Scissor Sisters and the Pet Shop Boys there is no doubt New York’s infamous Gypsy punks are set to rocket as Bestival goers experience their unique headline quality – not to be missed!

It doesn’t stop there. Guillemots, the most eccentric band of musicians you'll find this side of, well, Gogol Bordello, have just confirmed for the main stage on Saturday. Another of Rob’s top tips, Guillemots are fronted by the ace bearded showman Fyfe Dangerfield and with a stunning debut album Through The Windowpane whipping up a frenzy both sides of the Atlantic.

Completing the new acts to add, our 24 hour arena The Blue Pavilion Inspired by Rizla plays host to the Future Sound Of London presents the Amorphous Androgynous - a psychedelic/cosmic rock/ambient/progtronic supergroup fronted by Future Sound Of London's Gary Cobian and featuring Gary Lucas (Jeff Buckley co writer/Captain Beefheart). Expect sitars, drums, guitars, electronics, visuals and a monstrous psychedelic bubble exploding in your mind and eyes! Headlining The Blue Pavilion on Saturday.

Last but not least we’re pleased to announce another new addition to our arenas - the Xbox Lost & Sound stage in association with Vice magazine bringing you intimate live performances from some of the most exciting artists this summer, featuring live performances from some of the UKs most talked about bands, including Cazals, Whitey, Archie Bronson Outfit, Man Like Me, and Ladyfuzz, the Xbox Lost & Sound stage is set to rock in 2006.

Bestival takes place on 8-10 September at Robin Hill Country Park, Newport.

For tickets and a full line up, visit the festival website.

Sigur Rós

2006-07-13T18:04:00.000+01:00

Southampton Guildhall - July 2006
Words & image © 2006 DJ Webb

With a white curtain covering the front of the stage, Sigur Rós (pronounced ‘see orr rose’) open tonight’s show with the title track from their latest album ‘Takk’ and immediately a hushed silence comes across the audience. Sigur Rós don’t want you to dissect the music and decide what message they have put in to a song. They want you to listen, to watch and discover what the song means to you. The ethereal sweeping sound of a cello bow on a guitar is perfectly accompanied by the lights and video projected onto the stage. This is not just about the music, it's more than that. It's about taking you out of the now and letting your senses wander to another, more surreal place. The perfect review of a Sigur Rós show is to experience it for yourself. I for one struggle to put into words the show I watched tonight.

The Pipettes

2006-07-09T16:09:00.000+01:00

Southampton's Joiners - July 2006
Words & image © 2006 DJ Webb

Heading over to the Joiners on this sunny summer evening, two things keep coming to mind. Firstly, it's going to be very hot in the Joiners tonight and secondly this isn’t your normal Joiners crowd. Gone are the metallers and emo-kids, replaced by pretty girls in pretty dresses - and that’s not just the audience. The Pipettes are something else. Three gorgeous girls in polka dot dresses, backed by four preppy boys in matching tank tops. I feel like I’ve been whirled back in time to the high school dance in Back to the Future. The Pipettes bring doowop into the 21st century, with a seductive edge to their dresses and their onstage banter and quirky mini-pop songs about boys, bitches and booze. The Pipettes are the breath of fresh air the Joiners needed on such a hot summer night.

Isle of Wight 2006

2006-06-26T15:58:00.000+01:00

by PH
Images courtesy of isleofwightfesitval.com

I arrive at the festival site late on Friday night (thank you Red Funnel), just in time to catch most of The Prodigy. The crowd is friendly as I move through it and there is a strong sense of that unique ‘festival vibe’ - people dancing randomly on their own, the smell of beer and strong weed fills the air and faces are adorned with smiles fuelled by the narcotics I can smell, but also by the prospect of another two days of festival in the sun. The Prodigy rock as well, which helps. With their crowd pleasers pumping out one after the other, they give me a very good first impression of the Isle of Wight Festival.

Saturday starts lazily, barred as we are from the ‘main arena’ until 11am. I must congratulate Carling, however, who manage to make the time pass enjoyably thanks to their ‘Beer Amnesty’. They swap warm cans of beer for ice cold ones, you see, so there’s no need to drink tent-warmed beer all weekend. Anyone who’s been to a festival, or just had to drink warm lager on a hot day, will appreciate the enormity of the effect of this service. Speaking of services, Virgin Radio, the nation's pop and rock radio station, broadcast live from the festival all weekend, providing listeners with exclusive coverage of the big names, as well as backstage interviews. You can check it all out on their website.

Anyway – back to the festival and I make my way down to the stage to catch The On Offs, who have the dubious honour of being first on. Despite as favourable a reaction from the crowd as you would expect this early in the (drinking) day, the three piece lacked the personality and presence required to back up their bitty sound. Uninspired, I wander away from the main stage to see what else is on offer for the discerning festival goer and music lover. In amongst the usual food and clothing stalls are two other live music outlets – the Nokia ‘Rock up and Play’ tent, which allows up and coming bands to, you guessed it, turn up and play, and ‘The Bandstand’, a…err…bandstand. As with all ‘up and coming’ bands, it’s a bit hit and miss, but there are a few acts who hold my attention long enough to persuade me to sit on the grass in the sunshine, drinking cold beer, and listen for a while. The other big discovery for me was an act performing at The Pussy Parlure, a Victorian style pub/club. The Crazy Circus Cabaret is a collective of circus performers and acrobats who put on a variety show of considerable skill. A refreshing break from the norm if you like that sort of thing, which I do.

The Kooks

I return to the main arena for Saturday’s big hitters. The Kooks’ reaction from the crowd is immense and deservedly so. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are headlining festivals this time next year. Dirty Pretty Things and The Editors follow with largely forgettable sets, leaving Primal Scream to really get the evening going. My first big surprise of the weekend comes from the Foo Fighters. Despite being treated to some Dave Grohl drumming, their sound lacked the energy and punch that I expected. It was entertaining – Monkey Wrench still goes down well – just not as intense as you might expect a Foo’s festival set to be. I’m standing about level with the sound desk and the bass isn’t shaking my insides – something’s wrong there.

Foo Fighters

Determined not to get distracted by the Pussy Parlure again on Sunday, I settle in front of the main stage to watch The Delays, who benefit from being reasonably local… and popular. Their sound and presence suits the big stage and they keep the crowd's attention well. To be honest, they’re not really my bag – it’s a bit limp-indie-pop for my liking – but there are enough people enjoying it, and singing along, to make my opinion irrelevant on the day.

The Delays

Veterans Procol Harum follow, turning my head with the one song that I recognised but inspiring little more response. Kubb play a similar trick, their set as non-descript as it was unrecognisable, except for their one song that everyone recognises – whatever that’s called. Maximo Park catch my attention with a more energetic and interesting sound. In contrast to the Foo Fighters, their sound engineers seem to have got it just about right. Lou Reed sets things up for the evening, playing to a largely nostalgic audience, and is followed by this year’s big career revival, Richard Ashcroft. Predictably, his set mixed old classics with select tracks from his new album, but it was entertaining enough and there are worse songs to be listening to in a field on a summers evening than ‘The Drugs Don't Work’ and ‘Bittersweet Symphony’.

Richard Ashcroft

The second big surprise of the weekend is that I actually quite enjoy Coldplay. I think they’ve made some decent music in their time but the last time I saw them – at the V Festival – I gave up after ten minutes because they were really rather boring. They fit the mood and situation perfectly this time, however, and I sing along with 50,000 other people enjoying a chilled out Sunday evening - in a field, on the Isle of Wight.

Coldplay

Strapping Young Lad

2006-06-15T15:18:00.000+01:00

Wedgewood Rooms - June 2006
Images: © 2006 www.seventhframe.com
Words by Armchair Anarchist

There are many challenges that music journalists face - describing Strapping Young Lad is just one of them. Imagine a trio of beefy yet fairly regular-looking middle-aged metallers. Imagine them churning out thick walls of extremely heavy music, all huge guitar lines and hectic drumming. Now equip them with a frontman who resembles a Klingon without the armour and forehead lumps. Endow this frontman with a strangely humorous and manic stage presence, plus the ability to howl like a banshee and growl like Beelzebub. Make him gurn and goof and mock himself, his band, the audience and the very genre he works in. Make it funny. Make it clever. Make it shake your bowels around with bassy savagery. Got that in your head? You’re still nowhere near it. Like them or loathe them, this band are unique in bringing humour and intelligence to one of the most po-faced scenes there is. Nothing else compares.

Ejector Seat's All-dayer

2006-06-07T01:37:00.000+01:00

Southampton's Joiners - May 2006
Image: © 2006 www.rivaljoustas.co.uk
By Chris Thorp

Upon arrival to the bustling venue I manage to catch the start of MoneyTree’s set, which is a good place to start for the evening’s music. Fronted by an extremely cheerful character, their quirky brand of jazzed-up rock proves to be somewhat hit and miss. Coming across as a mix between early Incubus and Biffy Clyro, their ambitious stop-start style can be both impressive and frustrating – although they have no problem in keeping the audience entertained. Rival Joustas, although initially having technical issues, obliterate the stage with their frantic performance, culminating with an invasion from the hyperactive crowd. Their songs are powerful and memorable, and the energy with which they play is easily transferred to the listener. I’m sure many people are concerned with the mental stability of the lanky vocalist (with much of his time spent dribbling or lying on the stage with his feet in the air), but for the most part this lack of stability seems to be the highlight of the evening. Having to catch the last train back means I can only watch half of Jeniferever’s performance. Witnessing their songs is like being sucked into a whirlpool – the louder the music gets, the more you get drawn in until there’s no chance of escape. The cover of their album, ‘Choose a bright morning’, perfectly illustrates their take on post-rock. It conjures up images of lush landscapes and forces of nature in the mind’s eye. After leaving, I can hear the thunderous noise continuing inside, regretting that I can’t experience where it would have taken me next.

Rodrigo y Gabriela

2006-06-07T01:24:00.000+01:00

The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - June 2006
Image & Words: © 2006 DJ Webb

One of the greatest things about this job is getting to see bands you love, the other is getting to see bands you’d never heard of before. Tonight's sold out show falls firmly into that first category. Rodrigo y Gabriela’s style of music has evolved from their days in Mexican death metal bands. Now, with just two acoustic guitars, Rodrigo y Gabriela deliver an unrivalled musical experience. Filled with a drive and passion you rarely see today, Rodrigo y Gabriela take you on a rollercoaster ride. From the simple beginnings of ‘Satori’, to the epic cover of Metallica’s ‘Orion’, the intensity with which they play never lets up. The only singing tonight is that of the crowd to the cover of Pink Floyd's ‘Wish you Were Here’. Otherwise it isn't missed, or needed, it would only distract you from the music. And the music is, after all, what Rodrigo y Gabriela are all about.

Larrikin Love

2006-06-07T01:12:00.000+01:00

West End Centre, Aldershot - June 2006
Image: © 2006 www.larrikinlove.co.uk
By Michael Evans

Recently, I’ve seen an awful lot of bands that have been guilty of one of two crimes. Either cramming too many tunes into one song or, frankly, not having enough tunes in their entire set to make even one song. Happily, Larrikin Love fall into neither category, managing to make their various styles into a consummate whole. And whilst on record Larrikin Love come across as slightly dull, playing live they are the most arresting band I’ve seen in a long time. Describing themselves as “Bluegrass, Punk, Reggae” it’s hard to disagree as song after song leaps its way madly, from nimble fingered country pickin’ to rocking like a bastard - all via some laid back reggae and crazy skanking. With a charismatic frontman and a whistle toting bass player to boot, what more can you ask? Well worthy of your seven quid.

Stu's Hi:Fi 2006

2006-06-05T15:09:00.000+01:00

Director

Hi:Fi Festival Day 1
Image & Words: © 2006 Stuart Leech

As the rain sets in at the Matterley bowl, I’m turning my attention to the Live Arena. Early on are sets from Director and Kharma 45. With no introductions on the stage and no real idea of who the hell these people are, all you can do is watch and listen. All of these early bands are only playing to a handful of people but still put on an admirable show. Director have just signed to Atlantic records and you can hear why. They have a geeky look and a mature sound. There are memorable songs and decent hooks; it's very easy to relate to their music. Kharma 45 put on a competent set - but are just so easily forgettable.

The Go! Team

Up next are The Go! Team, who are now playing somewhere near full capacity in the Live Arena. They always have tons of energy and Hi:Fi is no exception. They play through most of their debut album including the hit Ladyflash. The band are good and Ninja can really sing/skit/rap over anything - but they leave you wanting much more.

Mylo’s DJ set is up next and unfortunately my indie sensibilities can’t cope with a man in a silly hat, playing some vinyl (Although I’m sure the Ed will disagree!) Mylo fucking rocked, people, don't listen to the man - Ed.

Hard-Fi

I reviewed Hard-Fi back in December and, apart from a couple of new tracks, the set seems to be exactly the same. Nothing special occurs for the band’s first festival headline slot, which is a shame. They still have some great tunes and, to me, their tracks always sound and feel better played live. They have obviously acquired more fans after their recent sell-out tour and their recent Brixton Academy residency, but they desperately need some new material.

The Bees

Day 2

A bright, sunny Sunday - a complete change to yesterday. Today I’m starting with Isle of Wight's The Bees, and what a great way to start. The 60s psychedelic rock really captures the summer mood. They have a great sound and the band are fascinating to watch as they chop and change instruments. Drummers turn into bassists, keyboard players turn into guitarists and so on. Following this cracking start, on come Brakes. Made up of half The Electric Soft Parade and half of British Sea Power, the songs couldn’t be further from either. It's acoustic-country-punky-rock and includes a rendition of Johnny Cash’s Jacksonville. Enjoyable and weird in equal measures. After basking in the sun for an hour or so, Kosheenare on and kick off their set with hit 'Hide You'. They continue through some other well known tracks and some more recent material but, unfortunately, Kosheen have been appearing early on festival stages for years - and I think that's where they're destined to stay.

Ian Brown is tonight’s headliner - clearly unable to stay away from us for too long. The set starts with 'I wanna Be Adored' and I doubt there's a better way to get an entire crowd on your side. Playing a combo of solo hits, such as 'F.E.A.R', and various Stone Roses' tracks, this really is a Greatest Hits set. Not being old enough to remember The Stone Roses at their height, I have no idea if Ian Brown could ever sing - but he definitely can’t now. Despite that, I could listen to these classic tracks all night long.

Ian Brown

Udy & Kat's Hi:Fi 2006

2006-06-05T15:08:00.000+01:00

Hi:Fi Festival Day 1
Images: © 2006 Kat Gibson/Hi:Fi Gallery
Words by Udy

Car parked... tent up... wristbands obtained. We’ve arrived well before the festival gates are open and we're looking forward to a top weekend of music. The idea of a camping festival, with the emphasis on dance music, excites us and although a lot of it veers toward 'cheese', there are plenty of names we're well up for seeing. Once we're in it’s time to make contact with the guys at the Punch Funk stage.

Punchfunk Stage

Hailing from Portsmouth, Punch Funk have been given this unique opportunity to showcase local talent all weekend and for their most prolific face, Chris Vaux, it's a dream come true. He is clearly ready to go all out - and his grin is even wider than usual. “I think we are really doing something different here with today being all about the DJs and tomorrow showcasing four of Pompey’s top bands,” he tells me, before running off to schmooze with more proud locals. A quick flick through the programme leads us over to the Breaks Arena, hosted on Saturday by the Air label. Adam Freeland is playing and is entertaining the crowd with a mixture of party beats and his own classic cut up remixes of rock tunes, pretty much as expected but enjoyable nevertheless.

One half of Tiefschwarz plays a groovy set in the Electric Arena. The only reason we know it's happening at all is by advance email; sadly, the line-up for this tent has been omitted from the weekend's programme. As a result, the crowd for Dave Clarke is pathetic and he's clearly angry. Despite this, he plays an absolutely awesome techno set, the best we've seen so far.

We pop our heads into the Live Arena and check out a few tunes by Super Furry Animals, all of which please and amuse. They're a great band and have a massive audience completely enthralled with their 'surf's-up' harmonies. There's a point where the necks of three guitars are raised in the air together, in an almost surreal Ghostbusters moment. The night is rounded up with Geushky’s overlord Ian Void, smashing out a set with Vortechtral at the Punch Funk stage. Afterwards Ian tells me, “the sound was good, the vibe was ace... we could have continued for ages.”

“It doesn’t seem to have sunk in that we are playing (at Hi:Fi) yet”. We're up early to catch the band's arrival from Portsmouth and George, bassist with The Exits, is in high spirits. To my right the Wiservice lot are playing football and members of The Aviators and Rolling Dog are milling around. Once everything kicks off we are blessed with enough sunshine to see the bands through.

Wiservice

Wiservice open the day with enough energy to considerably raise the mood and The Aviators have a few sing-a-longs under their belts. Rolling Dog display the jolting craziness we’ve come to expect and The Exits are, simply, spot on and completely right for this festival.

The Exits

From this point onwards the highlight has to be Layo & Bushwacka, in the utterly amazing Radio Soulwax tent. From breaks and house, to funky techno, these guys are veteran masters - and it shows.

Soulwax Stage

It’s not long before we realise that 'King Monkey' is about to take to the Live Arena, so it’s an exit, stage left, for a drink. Ian Brown comes on stage to the Stone Roses' classic “I Wanna Be Adored” And he doesn’t really need to ask. The crowd absolutely love him and even though the geezer simply cannot sing, it doesn’t matter. His tunes are amazing and the band are even better. Moving onwards and, before we know it, we're faced with the best set of the weekend. Soulwax waste no time in living up to the fact that this dance tent is their own. Four men, three synths, one bass guitar and one drum kit have never sounded so unbelievably fat. Mainly sticking to tracks from their most recent album, we're thrashing around like rockers addicted to techno, just the way they want us to.

Soulwax are followed by the great Erol Alkan who continues the madness, before two members of the band return to the stage in their Too Many DJs guise.

And, so, Hi:Fi ends perhaps the way it intended to: a tent rammed to the gills with electro-rock, riffs crunching over electro, hip-hop and techno beats complimented with a smattering of Madonna, Bloc Party and of course... Michael Jackson. The weekend is complete.

The Answer

2006-06-01T17:53:00.000+01:00

Portsmouth Guildhall - May 2006
Images: © 2006 www.theanswer.ie
Written by Stewart Ireland

It’s like the 80s and 90s never happened at all, Free are still one of the biggest bands on the planet and silk paisley shirts are still... "hip". The Answer are having fun, cranking out memorable tunes like Keep Believin’ and album opener Under The Sky; Paul Mahon’s guitar solos constantly flirt with feedback, crashing against Cormac Neeson’s soaring, energetic vocals that slice through the music against the rumbling groove of bass and drums. So why does my attention wander? Maybe it’s the size of the hall, maybe it’s the very British crowd response (clap, but let’s show a bit of decorum please). I think the reason I’m bored is more to do with the music - this type of rock and roll blew people away... in the 70s. The fact The Answer won ‘Best New Band Award’ at the Classic Rock awards speaks volumes. It’s a shame to say it, but I think they were born about 30 years too late.

Richard Ashcroft

2006-06-01T16:00:00.000+01:00

Portsmouth Guildhall - May 2006
Image & Words: © 2006 Stuart Leech

Richard Ashcroft still manages to pull a crowd a sellout the Guildhall, mainly to a 25-year-old+ crowd obviously old enough to remember his heyday. There is no doubting Ashcroft's voice; great range and tone. There is also no doubting his songwriting ability, but consistency is not one of his strong points. His new 60s soul influenced album contains some well crafted songs, as do his other albums, but listening to these interspersed with Verve tracks just makes you want more from his newer material. He manages to fit Sonnet, The Drugs Don’t Work and Lucky Man into his set and finishes with an epic version of Bitter Sweet Symphony. Hearing the entire crowd singing "I'll take you down the only road I’ve ever been down” makes you understand what a big impact Ashcroft and the Verve have had on a generation.

Hi:Fi 2006

2006-05-31T16:52:00.000+01:00

From Creamfields to Homelands, and We Love Homelands to Hi:Fi, Matterley Bowl near Winchester is now well-renowned for hosting a constantly evolving music festival every May. Dance music is one of the fastest moving, widest reaching genres of music out there and Angel music (Godskitchen/Global Gathering) reckon they know the next move on the festival map - integration. Hi:Fi's aim was to appeal to the "iPod generation" and fuse indie rock with dance, during two massive events - one in the North of England, one in the South.

Many of the artists played both festivals, with the likes of cheery media-lover Ian Brown being flown from one end of the country to the other. Festival promoter, James Algate, said: “It was an ambitious undertaking to launch a new two day rock n’ dance weekender with camping to replace the old Homelands format so it is highly rewarding to have been given the thumbs up by the crowds. To reach 75% capacity in year one is a great result and we are already looking to build on everything positive for next year’s event.”.

The organisers proudly announced they had raised a total of £15,000 for charity, in the South alone. The money raised is to be split equally between Upper Itchen Valley Society and Naomi House.

So. You've heard the background, you've seen it bigged up by their own promotion team (because they're never biased, are they?) and we know they raise money for good causes - but what's gonna make you get off your arse and buy a ticket in 2007? Did Hi:Fi cut it as a music festival? Did the integration work? Well, while Hi:Fi North's journos were all busy holding down tents and trying to stop stages blowing away, Wizard of Oz styley, TFW's guys were finding out what Hi:Fi South really had on offer.

As much as we wanted to be everywhere all at the same time, it was impossible. So Udy & Kat, dance scene lovies and organisers of Portsmouth's Under Your Nose events, covered one end of the festival site, while Stu, upcoming rock photographer and all-round indie kid, covered the other. When they met in the middle they both agreed that Ian Brown couldn't sing. Now what were the chances of that happening?

Read Udy & Kat's account of the dance arenas here, or click here to read Stu's version of more rock-orientated events.

Funeral For A Friend

2006-05-30T19:26:00.000+01:00

Funeral For A Friend - Southampton Guildhall - May 2006
Images: © 2006 www.funeralforafriend.com
Written by Sam Goodman

I saw Funeral for a Friend almost a year ago and they were dreadful. Tonight’s incarnation is a totally different animal. Confident, bombastic and polished; they do little less than shine. Despite singer Matt Davies’ announcement of a new album early next year, FFAF take the safe option and play their back catalogue - not that anyone here particularly minds. Thrashing out their hits with surprising energy, they whip through ‘Rookie of the Year’, ‘Bullet Theory’, ‘All the Rage’ (complete with a cameo appearance by 'tall motherfucker' Charlie from Fightstar) in quick succession. After a while, the duelling guitars and double bass drum fills begin to blend into one and the “we love you guys” banter really only makes them sound like a metal Goldie Lookin’ Chain - but the crowd here lap it up. Sure, Davies’ thanks are the same, careworn words he may utter every night, but after the effort put into FFAF’s performance this evening, I get the impression he means every one of them.

Liam Frost & The Slowdown Band

2006-05-25T16:21:00.000+01:00

The Joiners - May 2006
Image & Words: © 2006 DJ Webb

Lots of good things have been said about Liam Frost & the Slowdown Band, and tonight at the Joiners you can see why. This 6-piece from Manchester quickly mesmerise the crowd and draw people into their quirky sound. The Slowdown Band deliver the perfect music to capture Liam’s melancholy, transform it and lift it to a hopefulness that fills every inch of the room - yet remains intimate and honest. With lyrics you can’t help but sing along to, Liam Frost & the Slowdown Band take the best of the Americana greats and deliver it with a whiskey-soaked catharsis that can’t help but leave you refreshed and yearning for more.

Brenda

2006-05-23T23:03:00.000+01:00

Brenda Ep Review - May 2006
Image: © 2006 Brenda
Written by Chris Thorp

The first thing to note about Brenda’s new EP is that when you have finished listening to it, you can’t remember a single thing of it. The second thing to note is that it’s really rather good. Instead of battering the listener with brash, catchy songs, they present us with a set of slow-burning, avant-rock compositions that conjure up emotional states rather than getting your feet tapping. Stream-of-consciousness vocals soar above layerings of guitar and drum-lines that continue to build until they’re suddenly mutated into another direction. The CD ends with a brutal and overwhelming descent into noise, which leaves the listener mentally exhausted – and yet when it finishes there is the unmistakable urge to play it again. This is music to be absorbed again and again. Just don’t try and play it at a party.

SWAY

2006-05-23T20:44:00.000+01:00

Interview with Sway - May 2006
Image: © 2006 Kid 73
Written by Kid 73

Kid 73: How’s the tour going with The Streets?
Sway: It’s going really well man, enjoying myself, having fun, opening eyes a lot more. It's a good experience because it’s like being at square one again. Considering that 99.9% have come here to see The Streets. I’d say possibly 20% of the crowd know my music and the 80% is what gets me back to square one. I have to convert that crowd, I have got to either make them love me or hate me.

Kid 73: Where is the biggest response you have had so far?
Sway: Edinburgh was massive that’s because they hate the Union Jack innit. I got booed for a good 30 seconds. We got the Scottish flag behind the Union Jack - so we came on and we accept the boos for like 30 seconds as they throw their drinks and stuff, we reveal the flag underneath and they go ballistic. That’s probably the biggest response I have heard on a night for us. In Newcastle we came out on the stage with our jackets on and I asked ‘any Arsenal fans in the place?’ and everyone went ‘BOOOO’. Me and Turkish took our jackets off and we had Newcastle shirts on and they went crazy, I have never seen that many people roar like that before.

Kid 73: What’s in store for the Soton crew tonight?
Sway: [Laughs] Southampton doesn’t really have an angle for me. I love Southampton but I know Southampton for Craig David and I’m not sure how this crowd feels about Craig David.
Kid 73: Ask them.
Sway: If I get booed then there is no return from that. What do I do? If I ask and they all boo there’s no return, I don’t think I could stop the boos.
Kid 73: You could rip a Craig David album in half.
Sway: I wouldn’t do that I’m a fan. Especially not in his hometown, that’s damn disrespectful.

Kid 73: So how much longer for the tour?
Sway: Four days, then we have two dates with Hard-Fi. That’s gonna be a hard one. I am expecting them not to have any knowledge of my music whatsoever. That’s what I am expecting. I’ll be very, very surprised if I see one person singing along to the lyrics.

Kid 73: Do you change your set for a Hard-Fi crowd?
Sway: No. There would be no point in doing that, because I would just prefer people to accept me for what I do. It would be all good doing just rock songs but I’m not a rock artist. I would love to do rock songs... But... I ain’t got any [Laughs].

Sway’s new single is out 22nd of May entitled ‘Products’ with a brand new exclusive track ‘Baby Father’ with some alternative remixes including an exclusive remix by Mr Hudson who is the hotly tipped new David Bowie.

Protokoll

2006-05-23T09:40:00.000+01:00

Southampton's Joiners - May 2006
Images: © 2006 DJ Webb
Written by DJ Webb

Since I began writing reviews for TFW I’ve kinda made it my mission to go out and see bands I wouldn’t necessarily see if I was the one paying for the ticket. Tonight was no different. Billed as 'NME Approved Electro-Pop' I went in with open ears and open mind. Well whoever decided Protokoll were electro-pop has different ideas about 'pop' to me. This Boston four-piece could be described as a lot of things, but pop? With their fast paced, drum-driven tracks coated with a film of effects-laden guitar and Jose De Lara’s superb lyrics, each new track gives you another layer to peel back and explore. If your not bouncing along to this, something's wrong; and it's not the synth-driven, post punk of Protokoll.

Tin Hut Festival

2006-05-21T15:11:00.000+01:00

Press Release

Bands from around the south have signed up for a summer music festival
to raise cash for a new community building for Stroud.

The Tin Hut Music Festival, in Stroud, will be headlined by acoustic funk rock quartet Goondocks on July 15. They will be joined by local bands One Weird Fish and The Wide Eyes, top south coast blues group The Mustangs and Devon’s Amy Newton.

Talks are continuing with a several other acts to complete a marathon
12-hour line-up.

The festival will be on land next to Stroud’s existing village hall on
the A272.

East Hampshire’s Stiff Promotions is lining up the bands for the
festival.

Tickets can be reserved in May on-line at www.stiffpromotions.co.uk.
They are also available later this month from Music Sense (15 High Street),
One Tree Books (7, Lavant Street) and Stiff Promotions’ ticket hotlines
07931 370110 and 01730 231733.

Tickets bought before June 15 will cost £10.Tickets bought after that
deadline but before July 15 will be £15. Tickets at the gate will be
£20.

Amusement Parks On Fire

2006-05-21T13:10:00.000+01:00

Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms - May 2006

Written by Armchair Anarchist

At last, a guitar band with more substance than surface style. Amusement Parks On Fire herald a return to the shoegazing sounds of the early 90s. There’s some grunge in the mix, some stoner-rock, some metallic hints and a small dose of electronica. It all adds up to a lush wall of sound, driven by guitars but avoiding rock clichés. The use of keyboards and sampled textures really lift them above the crowd of new-wave wannabes that pack the music papers. Slow, dreamy vocals lurk in the sonic undergrowth, hinting at an introspection that makes a refreshing change from overblown egos and daft haircuts. It’s a soundtrack to sitting in a sunlit park in the summer, with a head full of dope and a gut full of cheap cider. Granted, they’re not the most thrilling band to watch, but that doesn’t matter when you can close your eyes and let the music draw pictures inside your head.

NME New Music Tour

2006-05-21T13:03:00.000+01:00

The Long Blondes + ¡Forward Russia! + The Automatic + Boy Kill Boy - May 2006
Images: © 2006 Stuart Leech
Written by Armchair Anarchist

The Long Blondes have a sleazy West Coast new-wave sound, complete with oh-so-kooky female vocals. There’s a rockabilly vibe to some of their set, but the dynamics are obvious and clichéd. This monotony isn’t helped by the samey vocals, and they’re lacking ideas. They’re nowhere near as art-school as they’d like to be. ¡Forward Russia! suffer from the opposite problem. They’re trying far too hard to be clever, with a big collage of discord and randomness. This wall of noise is topped off by vocals that sound like Justin Hawkins on a ketamine binge. There are some interesting ideas in the mix, but they get lost in the sea of histrionic oddness. The good bits are brilliant, but the other 75% is almost unlistenable. The Automatic are cheesy pop dressed up as new-wave cleverness, but the clothes don’t fit. They’re tight and energetic with great stage presence. But regrettably they only have one song, and it’s not a particularly inspiring one either. Dull tunes performed perfectly - tall on talent, short on style. Headliners Boy Kill Boy are the only act with any real balls to their music, but that’s only by comparison to the others. By not trying too hard, they succeed in being much more enjoyable. Their song-writing acknowledges the value of good hooks and catchy choruses, and they have great audience rapport. It’s limpid but listenable guitar pop, held together by attention to detail and bold structure. The Radio 2 play-list beckons.

¡Forward Russia!

FOPP'S NEW MUSIC AWARD

2006-05-18T11:12:00.000+01:00

ONLY ONE WEEK LEFT TO ENTER FOPP’S AWARD FOR NEW MUSIC 2006!

If you’re in an unsigned band, based in Hampshire, know you’ve got what it takes, but just can’t seem to get heard, you’ve only one week left to enter this year’s Fopp Award for New Music and get the break that you need.

The Fopp Award for New Music, is a partnership between independent, award-winning Music retailer Fopp, the PRS Foundation (PRSF) and Clear Sound & Vision (CSV), and gives emerging bands in London and the South East* an amazing opportunity to:

· Record a three track ep at a professional studio for free

· Have their recording edited, mixed, mastered and pressed.

· Work with designers on artwork for their finished CDs.

· Have their music sold at Fopp stores nationwide

· Play at a London Showcase in front of key industry players

There’ll be four winners chosen by a panel of music industry insiders. The panel will include key figures such as Dougie Bruce from Universal Publishing who works with The Kaiser Chiefs and Maximo Park; Stuart Clarke – the Talent Editor at industry trade bible Music Week and Jimmy Smith, A & R at Parlophone, home of Coldplay and Radiohead.

Now in its third year the Fopp Award has already completed successful schemes in the South West in 2004 and Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North East of England last year, taking ten bands to the next level of their careers, and showcasing them to key industry figures in London.

Ewan Santer, lead singer of 2005 winners Thee Comrades says: “We have learnt so much about the music industry from taking part in this scheme. The partners have all been hugely supportive and we have gained a lot of exposure and increased our profile significantly as a result."

Entries can come from any genre; you can be in a band or a solo artist. If you’re over 18 and write your own original material (no covers!) then you’re eligible. More information, application forms and terms & conditions are available in Fopp Stores and from Fopp (www.fopp.co.uk), Clear Sound & Vision (www.c-s-v.co.uk) and PRSF (www.prsfoundation.co.uk) websites.

Deadline for applications is the 26th of May 2006.

Whirlwind Heat + Manic

2006-05-18T09:56:00.000+01:00

Club NME at The Consortium, Bournemouth - May 2006
Image: © 2006 Kid 73
Written by Kid 73

Having toured with the likes of The White Stripes, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and the mighty genius - Beck, Whirlwind Heat carry a sack of kudos onstage. With their stripped-down drum kit, Moog and bass set up in a line at the front of the stage, they spring into action - startling a crowd teeming with so much anticipation you could spoon it out of the air. The first few tracks are delivered with frenetic pace; stripped down ditties with a post punk electro vibe. A slight change with ‘Uptight’, which is just Leftfield of mainstream pop, with anthemic chants of ‘UPTIGHT!’ to punctuate it. Two songs later they sing about donating sperm in ‘Gene Pool’ and the crowd are won over. Quality ‘mooging’, drumming and bass lines, splashed liberally with musical eccentricity that adds up to a band you just know are going to make it. Manic swapped their support slot for headline slot due to sound check problems and consequently performed to a dwindling crowd after Heat’s performance. Manic have an almost trademark L.A. rock sound with strong vocals and melodic ballads, driven by wailing guitars. Tight, atmospheric and slightly predictable you could be forgiven for thinking you had heard their songs before. There is obvious talent, especially in the lead singers voice, but there has to be a breakaway attention-getter and they don't seem to have it in their arsenal yet.

Ejector Seat - The All Dayer!

2006-05-18T00:30:00.000+01:00

Ten bands, one night. Or is it ten nights, one band? No, that would be silly. They said it couldn't be done. They were wrong, oh yes. Southampton's Ejector Seat promo team want to do naughty things with your head, and they want to do it in The Joiners. FOR ONE WHOLE GODDAM DAY! Yes, a whole one. So if you fancy 'coming down' from your Hi:Fi high in style - get off the train at Southampton Central and get your collective arse to here, people:

Jeniferever - From Sweden, Jeniferever make stunning epic indie. ''It's not often that I'll say this, but Jeniferever is a band everyone needs to hear, regardless of personal taste. It's music is that compelling. The songs drip with emotion, saturated to the core with an overwhelming feeling of urgency... simply wonderful.'' Album of the month www.decoymusic.com 'Stunning... bands like Jeniferever have never been more essential' 8/10 Rock Sound www.jeniferever.com www.myspace.com/jeniferever

volcano! - Hailing from Chicago and signed to the excellent Leaf Label, this band are on their first UK tour in support of their debut album, which is quite simply stunning. 'What volcano! have achieved in simple terms, is to create the most forward-looking, genre-eschewing, sense-battering album I've honestly ever heard' 10/10 Drowned in Sound www.volcanoisaband.com www.myspace.com/volcaonisaband

The Retro Spankees - They played Southampton last supporting Bearsuit, and they were absolutely brilliant; all mad as hatters. Since then they have supported Misy's Big Adventure on tour (playing everywhere apart from the Southampton date; annoyed!) and have released their debut album. Expect songs about ants, lots of rubber ducks and the biggest smile on your face... www.retrospankees.com

Rival Joustas - Best unsigned live band in the world? If there was such a contest, this Southampton band would surely be one of the favourites. They have recently returned from being on tour with The Mystery Jets. www.rivaljoustas.co.uk www.myspace.com/rivaljoustas

Leisure - criminally under-rated local band. listen to their stuff on myspace and tell us its not true, especailly hey who turned up to... what a tune! www.myspace.com/listentoleisure

Moneytree - "It's cluttered, it's odd and it's also quite spankingly superb'' KKKK Kerrang! Great local band who only recently came to our attention. So many influences... www.myspace.com/treesmadeofmoney http://www.aroundthemoneytree.com/

The Pirate Ship Quintet - stunning post rock 6 piece from Bournemouth. we love them. recently supported Cult of Luna at the Joiners.'The beauty of the Pirate Ship Quintet is in the ease with which they build up, from the simplest of beginnings, to a sound that quite simply knocks all thoughts out of your head. Each song rises to an awesome crescendo of sound before slowly fading into an empty silence' The Fly www.thepirateshipquintet.co.uk www.myspace.com/thepirateshipquintet

Glow - played at one of our Rhino nights recently, and were brilliant. 'Woozy glacial poptronica, weaving lilting vocal purrs, ebbing scuttle beats and a quiet majesty not unakin to Radiohead's forays into laptop weirdness. Bonus points for having a flugelhorn too...' Lo Fi Hi Fi www.fablesofglow.com www.myspace.com/fablesofglow

Cathode-Ray Mission - A late addition to the bill, but a worthy one, as we love this band. Difficult to pin down, with critics comparing them to everyone from Joy Division to Adam and the Ants and Gang of Four. "they're a bit like a sticky-back-plastic Joy Division, or a male Slits, or a scrawny Gang Of Four, or none of those" Drowned in sound www.myspace.com/cathoderaymission

Trial and Error - indie punk upstarts, who played for us last year. They make music that we normally hate, but we like them, which must mean they are bloody good at what they do... www.myspace.com/trialanderroruk

The Streets + Sway

2006-05-17T23:42:00.000+01:00

The Guildhall, Southampton - May 2006
Image: © 2006 Kid 73
Written by Kid 73

“SWAAAAAAAY” shouts the Southampton crowd unanimously, at the request of DJ Turkish. “I can’t hear you!” he retorts. “SWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY” and as if by magic Sway appears with the trademark Union Jack masking his face and pulls a pose, centre stage. Always the showman and a perfect warm-up act, Sway barrels through the likes of ‘Little Derrick’ and the massive ‘Up Your Speed’, to great effect judging by the crowd going nuts. “Southampton up your speed” = crowd participation, something Sway is a master of between rhymes and tracks - so the crowd at Sway gigs love it! They get to hear the hottest MC in the country and the show is personalised – the man's a genius.

The Streets' Mike Skinner is rocking some sort of Miami Vice image at the moment and when he runs onto the stage I get blasted away. The last two times I've seen him he has, quite bluntly, sucked. Not tonight though. His game has been raised and by the time he gets to ‘When You Wasn’t Famous' I'm sold. He worked the stage for all it was worth and when his tracks are given the live band treatment, it blossoms from boy racer music to a more funky-house-almost-disco type of cloud that engulfs everyone and transfixes their gaze. A 19-track set list and I shudder to say it but almost all of them were fuckin' marvellous. (Yes, but are those man boobs? - Ed)

The Kooks Announce Biggest UK Tour To Date

2006-05-17T22:47:00.000+01:00

Press release:

Loveable almost-locals The Kooks, who are currently celebrating their sixth week in the Top Ten singles and album charts, have announced details of their biggest UK tour yet. The 19-date tour includes Southampton Guildhall - hoorah for not-so-easy-to-sell-out venues!

This is their fifth UK tour this year, having sold out their previous four in a matter of days.

The dates which begin in September and run through October are as follows...

September:

Tuesday 26th - Nottingham - Rock City

Wednesday 27th - Bristol - Academy

Thursday 28th - Brighton - Dome

Saturday 30th - Southampton - Guildhall

October:

Sun 1st - Norwich - UEA

Mon 2nd - Newcastle - Academy

Tues 3rd - Leeds - University

Thurs 5th - Sheffield - Octagon

Fri 6th - Manchester - Academy 1

Sat 7th - Manchester - Academy 1

Mon 9th - Exeter - Uni Great Hall

Tues 10th - Cardiff - Uni Great Hall

Wed 11th - Birmingham - Carling Academy

Fri 13th - Cambridge - Corn Exchange

Sat 14th - Glasgow - Barrowlands

Sun 15th - Aberdeen - Music Hall

Tues 17th - London - Forum

Wed 18th - London - Astoria

Thurs 19th - London - Shepherds Bush Empire

Hi:Fi Update + Site Map

2006-05-16T13:21:00.000+01:00

The Fly Wessex team, in all his/her shitfaced and disheveled 'glory', will be queuing up for the vilefestivaltoilet experience and the overpriced, warm cans of Stella with the best of them as we cover this year's Hi:Fi South. See below for in-depth festival updates and information - also, just out: Site map! Keep scrollin', you festival bitches.

Portsmouth's own PunchFunk will host a stage at this year's event. PunchFunk is the brainchild of Chris Vaux who developed the concept from his hospital bed, right after the not-normally-life-affirming experience of getting beaten up by an off-duty doorman. PunchFunk will be there both days and host to a "huge 32x25ft inflatable covered stage and a gut busting Function 1 Sound System" Chris also states: "we will be showcasing the best local DJs and bands over both days along with surprise cameo slots from some of the finest artists around...". Line-up TBA. For more info, check their Don't Stay In page here.

Site Map

Click this little baby to see exactly where to get your drugs! We're kidding, of course, but you can get a vege burger, 5 pints of lager, catch a film in the cinema and take a ride at the funfair - although perhaps not in that order. If you're using some versions of Firefox or Internet Explorer, you might need to click the image twice to fully enlarge it.

ANGEL FESTIVALS & GLOBAL GATHERING PRESENT:
Hi:Fi NORTH + SOUTH

Ian Brown, Hard-Fi, Maxïmo Park and Go Team join forces with Paul Oakenfold, Sasha & Digweed and Morillo to ensure that Hi:Fi explodes in Jaw-Dropping Style!

Hi:Fi is an incredible, new, double music festival taking place in May 2006. It’s the UK’s FIRST EVER festival to boast a line up of both block-rocking bands and super star DJ’s. Running simultaneously in two separate sites in the north and south of England, Hi:Fi will attract over fifty thousand music lovers for the most unforgettable night of their lives. Taking place over the last bank holiday weekend in May, it’s the first festival of the year and will kick start the summer in spectacular style.

Hi:Fi South:

Hi:Fi South will be a two day camping festival in the legendary Matterley Bowl near Winchester on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th May between 2pm-4am each day. Headliners include:

HARD-FI

SUPER FURRY ANIMALS

GO TEAM

SUBWAYS

ERICK MORILLO

MYLO

IAN BROWN

LEMON JELLY

PAUL OAKENFOLD

SASHA AND JOHN DIGWEED

CARL COX

2MANY DJS

Hi:Fi South will feature six arenas (see sitemap above) each night including one giant Live Outdoor Stage, the Godskitchen arena, the Electric Arena and the uber stylish Hed Kandi VIP. On Saturday night Movement will host the Drum and Bass Arena and Ali B’s Air Club will host the Breaks Arena. Whilst on Sunday these tents will be exchanged with the legendary Radio Soulwax mish mash and the infamously pumping Polysexual & Slinky Arena.

Richard Archer from Hard-Fi says, "We're really looking forward to this one. Hi:Fi is going to be our first festival headline show. We're going to make a proper weekend of it and we'll definitely be sticking around for Ian Brown on the Sunday - he's a true legend."

James Algate, the festival organiser says, “Hi:Fi is the festival for the iPod generation. The event will offer something for everyone musically by bridging the gap between out and out dance and live shows. We want to give our guests the opportunity to see their indie and dance heroes performing side by side for the first time. This is something that we believe will suit the more eclectic music tastes of the 21st century perfectly.”

Hi:Fi will be a festival of firsts:

This is the first time live bands and DJs have been so closely combined on a line up

This is the first time the North East has had its own festival having been sandwiched for so long between T in The Park and Carling Leeds

This is the first time a camping festival has taken place in the Matterley Bowl Estate

Hi:Fi will also feature a quality bill of non-musical entertainment including chill out areas, fun fairs, cinemas and exclusive VIP arenas. A special promotion is being organised to allow local bands from the North East to win a set at Hi:Fi North whilst up and coming DJs can win a set at Hi:Fi South. This will be an amazing one off opportunity to play in front of a giant crowd.

Hi:Fi is being organised by a group of the biggest festival promoters in the UK. The Angel Music Group who are responsible for the successful Global Gathering festival, Live Nation who promote over 80 outdoor events per year and Mean Fiddler who produce Reading and Leeds events. In addition Glastonbury talent booker Martin Elbourne Is responsible for the live music and bands.

Hi:Fi TICKET INFORMATION

Hi:Fi South offers a number of ticket options although only weekend and weekend VIP tickets are on sale now:

Single Day General Admission - £54.50 + bf / no camping

Single Day VIP Admission - £90.00 + bf / no camping

Weekend General Admission - £99.00 + bf / includes free camping*

Weekend VIP Admission - £150.00 + bf / includes free camping*

*Camping facilities for all weekend ticket types are the same

VIP tickets will entitle guest access to a private arena where they can rub shoulders with the event performers and enjoy a private bar and lounge with its own DJs and acts.

Tickets for both events can be purchased now from www.hififestival.com and will feature regular updates on the line-ups and current news pieces. The 24 Hour Ticket Hotline is: 0870 042 2006

OPENING TIMES

Hi:Fi South Opening Times: Saturday May 27th 2pm-4am per day / Sunday May 28th 2pm-4am
Camping site: Opens: Friday 10am Closes: Monday 1pm
All questions on camping and the campsite can be found at http://www.hififestival.com/

Duke Special

2006-05-14T23:07:00.000+01:00

The Joiners - May 2006
Image: © 2006 courtesy of dukespecial.com
by PH

I wasn’t going to mention the support act tonight but, having seen Thomas Truax in action, I can’t help it. The words ‘unique’ and ’entertaining’ are often wrongly used but I'm in no danger of misusing them in association with Mr Truax. He makes his instruments out of wheels, gramophone horns, bells and tumble dryer outlet pipes. He tells stories, makes jokes and asks for help from members of the audience. He unplugs his guitar, jumps off stage and goes and plays a song in the ladies fucking toilet! If you ever have the opportunity to see his show you would be a fool to turn it down. Duke Special makes his music with more orthodox instruments but is no less unique or, indeed, entertaining. “(Duke Special) is like a character that I become as I walk up on stage,” explains Peter Wilson - the off-stage Duke Special. “It’s based on turn of the century Music Hall and Vaudeville Theatre - wind up gramophones, dancing bear routines and travelling dwarfs. Like a circus sort of theme.” There are no bears or dwarfs on stage tonight, though. It's just Duke, his piano, a wind up gramophone and a percussionist with a variety of instruments including a cheese grater and balloon whisk. The music is not as off the wall as you might imagine. The piano is the driving force, moving from delicate to footstomping with ease. The percussion is varied and, strangely, amusing at times. His voice has a great tone that endears you to him and his songs. The ‘turn of the century’ theatre influence was difficult to imagine when he was explaining it to me before the gig, but now I’m watching him I can see what he’s on about. There is a certain theatre to the whole thing and I can tell by looking at him, dreadlocks falling over his eyeliner-rimmed eyes, that I'm not watching Peter Wilson playing his songs on a piano, I’m watching Duke Special perform them. “I didn’t want to be just another person with an acoustic guitar, singing songs about his feelings,” he explains, “I want to be honest and say something from the heart but I also want to entertain.” And entertain he certainly does.

Air Traffic Signing

2006-05-13T00:27:00.000+01:00

Quote & Image: © 2006 www.airtrafficlive.com
Written by Jonny G

Not many bands have an interesting story behind ‘their name’. Air Traffic, however, do. These four members formed and rehearsed in an old aircraft hanger. Signals from the local air traffic control would invade their amplifiers, hence the name was born. Air Traffic are originally from Bournemouth and started making their mark in 2004. They played mainly across the South Coast before taking their unique style to London in 2005, seeking that elusive butterfly 'fame'. With their music described as ‘piano-led indie rock’, Air Traffic comprises Chris Wall (piano, guitar and vocals), Tom Pritchard (guitar), Jim Maddock (bass) and Dave Jordan (drums). Air Traffic’s main influences are founded on bands such as Radiohead, Muse, Keane and Coldplay, yet they bring their own unique style into the mix. Driven by “a blinding compulsion to write good music, and even more so to deliver it in explosive performances to as many people as possible,” the attitude and the music was obviously right. In 2004, Southampton’s Factory Road studios hosted and recorded Air Traffic and five of their songs. These songs obviously found their intended mark. 2006 brings the news that Air Traffic have signed to EMI and labels don’t get much bigger than that. With the signing so fresh that EMI don’t yet have Air Traffic listed on their website, we can only wait to see what this move will bring. Maybe the swap of an upright piano to a Steinway will be the first sign.

The Dionysus Live Dates

2006-05-10T19:04:00.000+01:00

The Dionysus have a whole load of gigs planned around the area over the next few months. Dates and venues below.

Click here to read TFW's archived album review.

More live details are available on the band's website.

Tour Dates

Friday 19th May 2006
The Railway Inn, Winchester

Monday 22nd May 2006
Art School Bar, Winchester

Friday 9th Jun 2006
King Alfred Uni, Winchester

Friday 30th Jun 2006
Carters Bar, Polzeath

Saturday 1st Jul 2006
The Double Locks, Exeter

Friday 28th Jul 2006
The Hobbit, Southampton

Saturday 19th Aug 2006
The Double Locks, Exeter

Naomi Hates Humans

2006-05-10T14:43:00.000+01:00

My Space Track Review
Image: © Naomi Hates Humans
by Roger Emery

First impressions can sometimes be deceiving but don't let them make you miss out on Naomi Hates Humans. Have you actually listened to all the tracks? You don't like it, do you? Maybe it’s not your sort of thing, or you think it’s not very musical. Now go and listen again, and then take a third listen to ‘Pipe Dreams and Lullabies’. Now can you hear it? Potential? Possibility? Originality? Hope? It’s like one of those very early recordings of someone successful and now considered a musical genius, but in black and white and all scratchy and raw and ten years before they hit the big time. It was only when it was later dug from the vaults did they see the early genius potential. Ok, the middle section of ‘Heads Down’ conjures weird chords that make my head tingle and ‘Consensus Counts for Nothing’ labours its point, but I like to be challenged, don’t you? This is categorised as experimental - it’s supposed to challenge! It’s the sort of stuff I’d happily listen to in a small underground bar on a wet Sunday lunchtime while supping a pint and wondering what I got up to the night before. Naomi may hate humans, but not all humans should hate Naomi.

Leaves' Eyes

2006-05-09T23:39:00.000+01:00

Live - Frog-on-the-Front - May 2006
Image: © 2006 Mastersound Entertainment
Written by Armchair Anarchist

The German approach to rock and metal is less jaded than that of the UK; Leaves’ Eyes illustrate this difference vividly. A respectable cluster of goths and metal-heads have turned up to see them. But they won’t be gracing Kerrang’s front page any time soon, despite having a beautiful female singer. They’re just too sincere, you see. The English sense of irony can’t deal with the lyrical clichés and the un-ironic over-the-top-ness of it. Musically, they’re superb. Lots of dense rhythmic guitar work, frantic fret-board attacks, tight drums and soaring vocals. It’s all there, fighting against the dreadful acoustics of a venue unsuited to guitar acts. They play to fifty people as if they were a stadium audience. But it’s just too much, a shade too gothic and emotional... and very reminiscent of the bombast of hair-metal. I was a good boy, though – I didn’t laugh out loud more than twice.

Bluesky Research

2006-05-09T23:30:00.000+01:00

True Spirit/Ask For The Dawn - Single Review - May 2006
Image: © 2006 www.myspace.com/theblueskyresearch
Written by Tommy L

Bluesky Research have probably been threatening to force themselves into the nation’s consciousness for longer than any of Portsmouth’s bands. Perhaps this double a-side single will be the catalyst. From 'True Spirits' drum intro, first thoughts spring to Coldplay’s 'In my Place', but after a few bars any fears of similarly insipid mediocrity are banished. Sure, it's essentially piano-based rock, but it’s as beautiful and uplifting as so many of their contemporaries are dull. Its dynamic builds from a piano-led start to an overwhelming guitar crescendo and, frankly, it's fantastic. The same is true of the flipside, ‘Ask for the Dawn’, whose mix of dance beats, rock guitars and sing-along chorus wouldn't be out of place on a Charlatans album. It’s as reassuring as it is refreshing to know that people are making music like this. With the right exposure and a bit of luck, the big-time beckons.

THE BEES RETURN

2006-05-09T16:57:00.000+01:00

TOUR DATES

“Highlands and Islands tour”

The Bees are back. Isle of Wight’s finest return to the live circuit in May before the release of their third album in the summer. The band made their first (mercury nominated) album (Sunshine Hit Me) in their shed and their second (Free The Bees) in Abbey Road. 'Chicken Payback' from Free The Bees is currently featured on the high profile Sure World Cup TV ad. Their new record (Octopus) is being recorded in their new basement studio on the Isle of Wight.

The band will play a few small shows to road-test the new album tracks, ahead of bigger dates
in the autumn. Bee Aaron Fletcher says “We’re really excited to get back out there again. We’re particularly excited about the Scottish dates, we’ve always loved playing up there, the crowds are amazing”

May 2006

18th The Great Escape, Brighton
20th Tropicalia Festival, The Barbican
28th Hi-Fi South Festival, Winchester

June 2006

12th CARGO, London

July 2006

5th The Marquee, Cork, Ireland (supp Robert Plant)
23rd The Lovebox Festival, Victoria Park, London
29th Across The Tracks Festival, Leeds
30th Night and Day, Manchester

August 2006 HIGHLANDS and ISLANDS tour

2nd Raigmore, Inverness
3rd BA Club, Fort William
4th Fusion, Orkney
6th The Loft, Forres
7th The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
9th tba
10th Reading Room, Dundee
11th GUU, Glasgow
12th North Star, Shetland

The Piltdown Hoax?

2006-05-08T22:03:00.000+01:00

'Acoustic EP' - May 2006
Image: © 2006 www.myspace.com/thepiltdownhoax
Written by Hannah Chislett

It’s obvious The Piltdown Hoax? don’t care a lot, either about their music or their audience. The music isn’t exactly inspired, but it’s sweet in comparison with the fucking voice! Shut up, man! Why do things have to have twee vibrato in every word? Shamefully, the lyrics are also sub-par. Some political fingerings, but not enough to mark them apart from the rest. What will redeem this band? Despite the amount of instruments it mentions in the sleeve, I find no evidence of another band member, and as the EP drags by, it seems like it’s just the vocalist with a guitar on his lap. Track 3 seems promising, more upbeat and less dirge-like, but the voice tears at your teats when it comes in. But look! Another band member! Seriously, is this a joke? I’m sure I’m missing something. Their namesake was a prank, so maybe this is a folk skull with a Chris Morris jaw. I’ve no idea but I’m not laughing out loud, as the kids say. The final song on the EP is sweet in its way, with the penny whistle soothing frayed nerves. But tread here carefully, because I can’t help thinking that, with this band, a free CD isn’t cheap enough. Maybe they should pay me.

Kubb

2006-05-08T21:39:00.000+01:00

Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms - May 2006
Image: © 2006 Stuart Leech
Written by Stuart Leech

Somewhat of a surprise tonight, although being downgraded from the Pyramids is not necessarily a good sign, the wedge was busy if not completely packed. A mixed audience from younger fans to the audience you might expect of 30-something females. The music and performance is a surprise for me, the songs that haven’t been released as singles off their debut album move along at a faster pace than those which we would consider typical of Kubb. The band are tight, keeping the steady pace of the well known songs and somewhat cautiously letting go on the more upbeat album tracks. It's here that the guitarist appears in a world of his own, playing some unexpected licks and riffs. I think it’s easy to overlook a band for being dull, but live they put on a convincing performance of well-crafted pop songs. No parental guidance stickers here, obviously, but plenty of enjoyment.

LoHz

2006-05-07T23:51:00.000+01:00

'Jellybass' - Album Review - May 2006
Image: © 2006 www.jellybass.co.uk
by Jo Daley

This album is one for going out to. You all know what I mean - it’s Saturday night, you’ve been drinking various flavoured vodkas and you’ve got your dancing feet strapped firmly to your body. There's one track which stands out triumphantly, it’s 'Vulgar'. I’m listening to this for the first time and it’s Tuesday afternoon, around tea time. Kids are walking home from school, settling down to Blue Peter and I’ve got this up to ear-bleeding volume. With closed eyes, I'm wishing I was in a kitchen at a house party, dancing on the worktops. The climax in this song transports me to a 30s swing club, filled with ravers. Jellybass will make you move like a human water bed. They’ll make you want to dress up and dance like a fool. It's music for turning up loud and playing to your friends, just to see their faces light up and heads start bobbing when the songs reach their dramatic peaks. This is better than good, this is godlike goodness. Get it, go out and turn to jelly.

Michael Evans

2006-05-07T23:47:00.000+01:00

About Michael:

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Every Move A Picture - The West End Centre - May 2006

Every Move A Picture

2006-05-07T23:35:00.000+01:00

West End Centre, Aldershot - May 2006
Image: © 2006 Michael Evans
Written by Michael Evans

If the job of a support band is primarily not to piss everyone off, then Every Move a Picture succeed. But whilst they prove themselves commendably tight in blasting out their super, streamlined disco rock in an impressively muscular manner, you can’t escape the feeling that this is a band in search of a chorus. When it finally arrives, during last song and new single ‘Signs of Life’, it’s excellent. However, since it’s tied to a fantastic riff and some mean keyboards it unfortunately makes the rest of the set seem a trifle dull in comparison. Still, the girls down the front are dancing and hey, even this reviewer’s feet attempted a brief shuffle at one point, so they must have something going for them. Built on good foundations then but lacking that killer punch.

Blackwire

2006-05-07T23:18:00.000+01:00

Club NME - The Consortium, Bournemouth - May 2006
Image: © 2006 Kid 73
Written by Kid 73

The three Leeds' lads that make up Blackwire blew into Bournemouth via Brighton whilst on a twenty-two date headline tour. Surprisingly bright and breezy, they chucked a Frisbee around and played with their rider (jewellery, postcards, straw hats, food) whilst awaiting sound check. Onstage at midnight they took their positions at the front, flicked the drums on (they don’t have a live drummer, all the beats come from a large, white cube) and started to freak. It wasn’t until their third song ‘Attack, Attack, Attack!’ that the crowd started to nod heads and bend knees. Obviously spurred on by this, and growing onstage balls, the lead singer knelt down, fiddled about then jumped up with a Bournemouth postcard stuck to his forehead. By the time of their anthemic ‘Hard To Love, Easy To Lay’ the lead singer was rolling around on the floor in front of the stage. Blackwire’s demeanour shows a band that have been on the road a few times before. Watching them just doesn’t set my world alight though. Sure, there is sparking close to kindling but they all just miss. Perhaps sometime soon the spark will hit wood and ignite, but it didn’t tonight.

Duke Special Press Release

2006-05-05T16:17:00.000+01:00

Duke Special has taken Music Hall, Northern Soul and intelligent pop and lovingly crafted and carved out a style of his own, proudly led by his love of the old ivories' - Charlotte Dryden, The Fly

'a voice shot through with equal measures of honey and heartbreak' - Roisin Ingle, Irish Times

'Duke Special writes great, repentant love songs, like Rufus Wainwright without the silk cushions, or a less histrionic Bright Eyes' - Ben Graham, The Fly

Bruised romanticism is probably not the first thing you notice about Duke Special. If you meet him in the street, it's more likely to be the unlikely dreadlocks and implausibly wide trousers. If you see him onstage you'll be struck by his remarkable voice, and then perhaps the gramophone and the curious menagerie of supporting musicians. But his songs - heartfelt, poetic and passionate - will be what stay with you.

"My most favourite thing was to sit in the dark, playing the piano. Music was all I wanted to do." The Duke grew up in Belfast with his mother, father and three sisters. "My sisters and I all learnt piano. It wasn't an optional activity." When they were young, the Duke and his sisters would sing traditional Irish songs in churches and community centres. "That's probably where my sense of melody comes from, from folk music, church music - music for people to sing together." It's no surprise then that a Duke Special gig will often end with a sing-along that few can resist.

"People always used to say that my songs sounded like something from a musical," says the Duke. "For a long time that horrified me." As a reaction, he started playing in a succession of rock bands with little success. "Finally I realised that I had to do what came naturally to me. But I wanted to find a way to play the piano and sing that didn't make me the new Elton John."

The concept of musicals led him to consider a more theatrical approach. "I got really interested in vaudeville and music hall. I loved the idea of all these strange Victorian entertainments with their crazy descriptions. I recognised that spirit in what I was doing. I wanted everything to sound 'old'. But most of all I want to be entertaining and connect with people on an emotional level".

Duke Special finally began appearing as himself in 2002, accompanying himself on the piano and with an antique gramophone. "It instantly felt right, and the way it looked on the stage with the gramophone and old box microphone meant that people knew it was something different."

The gramophone is also integral to last year’s album 'Adventures in Gramophone', which features an array of fascinating sounds from cheese graters and wardrobe doors to harp, brass and strings all woven around the piano and his unique voice. "I wanted to create a world for the listener to visit that was unlike anywhere else they'd been or anything else they'd heard."

The Duke has gradually recruited a small collective of eccentric musicians to explore this world with him, including drummer and percussionist Chip Bailey ("A clown, a juggler, a renegade Morris-man. He's definitely one of a kind") who will accompany the Duke on the May shows, and other unusual instrumentalists from around the globe. In some combination they are regularly to be found bringing the Duke's antique songs of confused love and doubting faith to life.

Duke Special has toured extensively over the past year throughout Ireland, the UK and Germany including tours with Aqualung, Rufus Wainwright, Hal, David Ford, Gemma Hayes, Juliet Turner, Bell x1 and the Frames. Meanwhile Jack White (of The White Stripes) and The Hives are among his growing set of admirers.

The new album “Songs from the Deep Forest” will be released ONLY on a box set of 6 seven-inch vinyl records on tour and in selected retail outlets from June 12.

Live dates;

5 May: Northampton Soundhaus
6 May: Stockton Georgian Theatre
7 May: Swindon Riffs Bar
8 May: Southampton Joiners
9 May: Brighton Hanbury Ballroom
10 May: Leeds Cockpit
11 May: Birmingham Glee Club
12 May: Eastbourne Underground
13 May: Swansea Chattery
15 May: Derby Victoria Inn
16 May: Bristolar2
17 May: Liverpoolacademy 3
18 May: Glasgow Barfly
19 May: Aberdeen Tunnels
21 May: Leicester Charlotte
22 May: Manchester Late Rooms
23 May: Wrexham Centralstation
24 May: Newcastle University
25 May: London Bush Hall
27 May: Belfast Empire Hall
28 May: Belfast Empire Hall
16 Jun: Dublin Whelans

For more info, see www.dukespecial.com

Chikinki - Press Release

2006-05-04T22:34:00.000+01:00

Chikinki's limited new single You Said will be released on 8 May on their own label, Urban Cow. You Said is a volatile cocktail of equal parts dirty vocals, heavy bass, acid synths and a good measure of Chikinki magic. We defy anyone who doesn't stand proud after hearing this gem, ready to champion the band to their next level…

The single will be supported by a handful of UK dates around the release before the band head back to Europe for some high profile shows and festivals.

The tour heads to Winchester Railway Inn on Sun 14th May.

The Datsuns

2006-05-04T09:21:00.000+01:00

+ SSM + Little London - Wedgewood Rooms - April 2006
Image: © 2006 DJ Webb
Written by Armchair Anarchist

Local lads Little London are back in black after a lengthy absence. They launch straight into tight and punchy, whisky-soaked rock songs. The newer material sounds a little heavier and more metallic but retains their usual vibe of self-destruction. They come across like an evening of escapist alcohol abuse, turned up to eleven. The crowd is pleased to see them back. Next up are SSM, a hard act to classify. A three-piece with drums, keys and guitar, they peddle a curious trailer-park mash-up of rock styles from space-metal to alt.country and everything in between. The set starts slow and strange but gets more focussed toward the end, with a corresponding increase in audience enthusiasm. They’re either the future of rock or a smudge on the radar screen – only time will tell. The Datsuns can be relied upon to do exactly what is expected of them, however. And that is balls-out rock’n’roll riffage – fast, frantic and loud. Their detractors call them a one-trick pony, recycling ancient ideas but that’s what makes them so enjoyable. Their set is a riot of grin-worthy lyrics and fretboard twiddling that hits all the buttons marked ‘good time music’. They roar through song after song with precision and passion, with the audience happy to handle the words to their favourite numbers. Gigs like this need no justification beyond the smiles of the attendees staggering out into the night. Seriousness is over-rated; the world needs more frivolous rock songs. The Datsuns deliver.

Fivemiledrive

2006-05-04T08:58:00.000+01:00

'Houston, We Have A Pop Song'(Smalltown Records) - Single Review - May 2006
Image: © 2006 One Life Left
by Armchair Anarchist

I guess one more sub-sub-genre won’t hurt. Enter emo-thrashpop! The single’s title sums up the style, a knowingly ironic pop sensibility. But the music itself is too heavy for daytime radio and that is its most redeeming feature. First track ‘Houston...’ sets the standard with big bright metallic riffs married to a soaring epic vocal style. Current clichés are balanced by quirky tricks – a pseudo-techno breakdown adds a bit of variety. Second track ‘Astasis’ starts well in the same vein but never seems to take off in the way it promises to, despite some interesting recording techniques. Based on the workaday quiet-loud-quiet dynamic structure, it has B-side written all over it; competent, but not inspired. Final track ‘You Know I Don’t Dance’ is a better effort. Driven by frantic snares and cowbell underneath chugging chords, there is the sense that the kitchen sink wouldn’t quite fit into this one. But the chorus is a sing-along gem, and the cheeky key-change before the outro can’t fail to raise a smile. This well-produced single lets the songs do the talking. Fivemiledrive are saying, “come on, cheer up, stop taking it so seriously” - a refreshing change from a million identikit myspace mopers.

One Life Left

2006-05-03T23:28:00.000+01:00

The Joiners - April 2006

by PH

Judging by the reaction from the female portion of the crowd, to the introduction of One Life Left’s lead singer, he’s quite a looker. I don’t really feel at liberty to comment, being a heterosexual male, but let’s just say that if ‘cheek bones’ and ‘jaw line’ were categories on ‘Band Frontman’ Top Trumps, he’d score pretty highly. And he uses it well with a confident but not cocky presence. Close your eyes and he’s just as impressive with superb vocal range and control. That’s not to take anything away from the rest of the band, who are tight, rhythmic and melodious in all the right ways. If they came to the top of my Top Trumps hand, I could do a lot worse than to play the ‘ones to watch’ category.

Messclean

2006-05-03T13:22:00.000+01:00

The Elements + Bullet + The Waysters - Frog-on-the-Front - May 2006
Image: © 2006 www.myspace.com/bulletyeah
Written by Armchair Anarchist

Pub-rock will never die – The Elements are proof of this, more's the pity. Forty years down the line and people are still seeking authenticity by being Beatles clones. An extensive rent-a-mob of friends and family cannot distract from the fact that this band are pedestrian and uninspired. The songs are predictable and inanimate, a smear of bland pop styles and clichés. They make Oasis seem like a ground-breaking art project. If I never see them again, it will be too soon. Bullet provide a welcome relief with some tongue-in-cheek rock and roll action. Simple garage songs are rolled out with strength and a sense of humour. They don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s sleazy and cheesy, prime foot-tapping fodder. They’re hardly the most original act on the planet, but a satisfactory soundtrack to beer and cigarettes on a Friday night. Last up are The Waysters, a gang of young teenagers with lots of potential. They are tight and proficient despite their lack of years. Their stagecraft is lacking but that comes with experience. They need to broaden their influences, however - the pervasive influence of Bloc Party is impossible to ignore. Still, if you’re going to imitate a band it might as well be a unique one. It will be interesting to watch this lot grow musically. Hopefully their youth won’t keep them from getting the gigs they need to polish their skills.

Set To Stun

2006-05-02T10:00:00.000+01:00

The Opera House, Bournemouth - April 2006
Images: © 2006 www.offthestreets.co.uk
Written by Sam Goodman

It’s an early start for tonight’s Opera house event and school is barely out as I take up my spot at the bar. This, however, is no ordinary Wednesday. ‘Set to Stun’ is the brainchild of local singer/songwriter and youth worker Laura Nicholson and features 11 bands between the ages of 11 and 18, over two stages. As all proceeds from tonight are going to the Mayor’s Charity Appeal Fund, it’s not long before the Mayor himself is kicking things off and introducing first act Cause for Concern - whose old-school rock (and Metallica covers) get an early mosh pit underway. That there are so many bands on tonight means there is barely pause for breath between them let alone room to cover everyone here, but it’s clear from an early stage that every band is putting their heart and soul into the performance. Third on, Fitzpain really begin to pick things up with a polished and melodic style, delivered with enthusiasm from start to finish. In songs like ‘Broken Harmony’ there is a touch too much Nirvana but the effect on the crowd is electric with singer Andy putting on all his best “rock” posturing throughout. On the second stage, and drawing the biggest audience, are Gun Angel. Raising (or lowering) the bar as far as young bands go, Gun Angel are all 11 or 12 years old and open with an almost note-perfect ‘Smells like teen spirit’. Their crowd is a mix of fans, gob-smacked onlookers and sing-along parents who are clearly as impressed as I am. Racing through another cover and then their own ‘Screw it’ (do they really teach them words like that nowadays?!) it’s as though Hanson never grew up but instead moved to Boscombe. Fearne are noticeably older and more experienced than most of the other bands playing tonight and it’s a fact quickly apparent in their music also. Playing the sort of acoustic based indie favoured by art students and people who buy their music in Sainsbury’s, their initial crowd response is comparatively lukewarm at best. Their Travis-inspired Britney Spears cover and a wealth of hummable, inoffensive tunes does much to win them some new friends though, as does their relaxed and humorous stage presence. Rounding things off with the impressive, lovelorn ‘Green Eye Shadow’, on which their male/female vocals seem much less contrived, and a rendition of ‘Chocolate Salty Balls’, they clearly have potential. The night concludes with a curious mix of the emotionally articulate post-hardcore of Write In Pictures and the immensely popular and infectious pop-punk of A Flaming Florence. Both acts are greeted by a crowd dancing like they never want it to end. Tonight was a great night not only because of the money raised but also, especially perhaps, for the opportunity presented to the bands and the scene involved.

For more information on the bands listed in this review or how you can get involved with projects such as these, please visit www.offthestreets.co.uk

Manna

2006-05-01T22:52:00.000+01:00

Roots Manuva + The Bays - The Consortium, Bournemouth - April 2006
Image: © 2006 Kid 73
Written by Kid 73

If there was ever a night that would prompt the king of UK Hip Hop to jump onstage and improvise, it’s “Manna” at The Consortium. So up jumped Roots Manuva and, with true British eccentricity, he played three records (badly), jumped on the mic, talked trash and left. It’s different but most of all it’s rock ‘n’ fuckin’ roll. I think sometimes we forget that genius skips hand in hand with eccentricity, down the musical brick road. The Bays were their usual stupendous self. Onstage they are like a mighty serpentine that coils itself round the audience and draws them closer to the stage, compacting them into a solid ball of ‘dance’. The Bays improvise everything onstage and don’t rehearse. What you get is a one off performance every time you see them. They don’t release CDs either, so live onstage is the only place to hear them. Andy, the drummer, is one of the best in the world and charms the snake with a backbreaking 90 minutes of solid rhythmic improvisation. Chris ‘Palmskin’ pokes electronic gadgetry and out comes unimaginable samples, while everyone loses their minds on the dance floor. Morphing from what is loosely termed as ‘quality house’ all the way to the rip-roaring drum ‘n’ bass finale the group manage to yet again prove that the performance is indeed the product.

Ivor Cutler Night

2006-05-01T18:27:00.000+01:00

A Solid Air Event - The Green Room, Portman Hotel, Bournemouth - April 2006
Image: © 2006 Zach Bayliss
by Jo Daley

A huge projection of a BBC documentary on the late cult poet Ivor Cutler acts as a backdrop for a night I feel will be brilliantly thoughtful and entertaining. I sit with the rest of the Cutler fans in quiet amusement, the only sounds breaking the silence are ripples of appreciative laughter at tales being told of Cutler. The first artist on stage is a young man by the name of Isaac Howlett. He opens with 'Bounce, Bounce, Bounce' and warms the stage for a strange and insightful night. Martin Roberts appears onstage with Thom Wykes, both sporting rather haunting white masks. Watching them perform is like watching two, normally shy, boys who had too many E-numbers behave abnormally outlandishly. There are toy ducks being shaken at microphones as Tom reads from Mr Nonsense. My favourite line being “Noel Edmund’s face? Fucking hell.” Chris Brown, a town crier from Wimbourne, performs a few shanties, acapella, then encourages the audience to participate in his performance of 'Eating Cakes'. He is a few cakes short, I am thoroughly charmed. Steven Lake of the A+E line sits sideways at a keyboard, a projection of some of his short films playing silently behind him, reflecting his creativity; he plays with intense nervousness. Barton Fink are up next. All that comes out of my mouth is gleeful laughter. These boys are brilliant performers and amusing musicians, one of whom is covered by a big pink blanket “to create distance”. I’m absolutely stunned by the beautiful, warbling harmonies emerging and sit in awed silence, until they perform 'Big Rock Candy Mountain' and from behind me emerges an eerie chorus of the audience whistling along - to which, of course, I join in. Fred and Lisa (Henry’s Phonograph) soldier on, despite missing a band member, and open with 'I believe in Bugs'. They play a short and sweet set and leave the stage making way for the next band. Language Timothy make me feel like I’ve wandered into a room at a house party and I should probably leave, but I’m drawn to them and guiltily enjoy their wonderfully “tickety-boo” performance. My eyes are drawn away from rolling my cigarette as Michael Wookey sits down to his toy piano and 50s Hohner Organetta; he begins to woo the audience with his sombre melodic voice. The two other band members add melancholy beauty. Martin uses his trumpet as a slide on his ukelalee and Deena sits at her mini drum kit wearing a slanted sailor’s hat. I close my eyes and I’m on a broken carousel in an empty fairground. They are a perfect end act for an evening laced with devoted attention from everybody involved. Another triumph from Conrad and Paul, and a perfect tribute to the legendary Ivor Cutler.

Latest Issue

2006-04-29T23:14:00.000+01:00

May 2006
Next Wessex page out in July
For a list of stockists in our region click here!

Click the image to enlarge it

Amusement Parks on Fire - Press Release

2006-04-28T14:23:00.000+01:00

“There’s ample adolescent earnestness on the self-titled debut album by Amusement Parks on Fire, an English band that sings sentiments like ‘All you ever know is what they sold you.’ But it’s swept up in a whirlwind of guitars and guitar noise, or silenced in somber crescendos for strings and piano. This band prefers ambience to finger-pointing.” - Jon Pareles, The New York Times; January 2005

Hailing from Nottingham, England, APoF’s early demos swayed none other than Portishead’s Geoff Barrow into signing the band to his Invada Label in 2004. No small feat considering Barrow is normally “rock-shy,” yet he was attuned to the band’s sweeping epics enough to realize this was more than just your average rock band, more than rock itself, but a force of its own. A giant sweeping effort, made by one uncommon young man—this was something rare.

“This debut is not the prog of tedious old arseholes like Pink Floyd, but the shimmering beauty of Kevin Shields, with a side-kick of…Sigur Ros and Spiritualized. Lick ‘Venus in Cancer’ with its crashing layers of fractured noise tissue, or ‘Wiper,’ which sounds like the sun rising on the greatest night of your life.” - NME

Feerick is no longer alone in his pursuit. After assembling his band—Daniel Knowles (guitar), Jez Cox (bass), Pete Dale (drums—Amusement Parks on Fire won over the normally staid UK crowds last year with shows that quite literally blew people away with sheer volume and abandon. Sharing bills with bands like the Secret Machines, the Dears and Kaiser Chiefs, APoF began to build its current legend as a breathtaking live act, the uninitiated staring agape at these lads, wondering where the hell they came from.

“For anyone who’s seen APoF live, this record consists of the key elements of those…indefinably LOUD performances, interspersed with a couple of almost classical interludes that reinforce the genius-in-a-bottle waiting to be unleashed.” - DrownedInSound.com

“…I doubt anyone’s ears can claim to have received such a mélange that is equal measures sonic battery and aural beauty as Amusement Parks on Fire in recent times. Quite simply, this is a stunning debut record, a triumphant fanfare that heralds the arrival of yet another precocious young talent…” - DrownedInSound.com

What, no TFW quotes? For shame! Keep watching for upcoming live review and let our very own Armchair Anarchist quote you happy!

Amusement Parks on Fire are about to tour as joint headliners with Scarling, including a night at Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms (May 15th). For full tour see dates below:

Apr 30 2006 8:00P - First Floor - Derby

May 2 2006 8:00P - Concorde 2 - Brighton

May 3 2006 8:00P - Barfly - Birmingham

May 4 2006 8:00P - Fuzz Club - Sheffield

May 6 2006 8:00P - The Forum - London

May 7 2006 8:00P - Waterfront - Norwich

May 8 2006 8:00P - Academy 3 - Manchester

May 10 2006 8:00P - Barfly - Glasgow

May 11 2006 8:00P - Global - Newcastle

May 12 2006 8:00P - Joseph's Well - Leeds

May 14 2006 8:00P - Fleece - Bristol

May 15 2006 8:00P - Wedgewood Rooms - Portsmouth

May 16 2006 8:00P - ULU - London

May 19 2006 8:00P - Lido - Berlin

May 20 2006 8:00P - Pop Up - Leipzig

May 23 2006 8:00P - Paradiso - Amsterdam

May 25 2006 8:00P - Nouveau Casino - Paris

May 26 2006 8:00P - VK - Brussels

May 28 2006 8:00P - Dot To Dot - Nottingham

Jun 2 2006 8:00P - 333 - London

Aug 12 2006 8:00P - Summersonic - Tokyo

Aug 13 2006 8:00P - Summersonic - Osaka

Bluesky Research - Press Release

2006-04-28T13:37:00.000+01:00

James Crump - Beats Drums
Matt Gill - Plays Guitar and Sings
John Hicks - Sings and Tickles Ivory
Sam Richards - Basses and Sings
Charlie Waddington - Sings and Plays Guitar

On May 29th Portsmouth quintet Bluesky Research release the debut double AA-sided single on their own Research Recordings (Distribution through Genepool). The band also run a monthly sold out 300 capacity club Research in their hometown where they play, promote 2 other acts and DJ. They won't be hanging around waiting for things to happen, they're out there doing it on their own terms.

The tracks "True Spirit" (co-produced with the band's Charlie Waddington) and "Ask For The Dawn" were produced by Greg Haver (Manic Street Preachers, Super Furry Animals and weirdly enough a co-write with Simpsons creator Matt Groening!) in Stir Studio in Cardiff at the end of 2005 . Available on CD and 7", both formats will be numbered.

Bluesky Research come from that true tradition of proper classic British rock bands and show a depth of writing that encompasses everything from The Verve, Pink Floyd and The Stone Roses and even reaches over the pond to Beach Boys 3 part harmonies.

The band have supported the God-like Ian Brown. Charlie Waddington from Bluesky Research also co-wrote 'Sweet Fantastic' on Brown's last studio album 'Solarized'.

For a review of the single keep an eye out for Tommy L's take, on The Fly Wessex.

Catch them live at the following venues:

May 13 - Southsea, Research

Going My Way Presents...

2006-04-28T11:00:00.000+01:00

Cult of Luna + Pirate Ship Quintet - Southampton's Joiners - April 2006
Images: © 2006 DJ Webb
Written by DJ Webb

I didn’t think six people could fit on the Joiners' stage let alone move around on it, but when the Pirate Ship Quintet clamber on they prove it can be done. With their instrumental set pieces these six lads look and sound ready to set the room alight. At times I 'm reminded of bands like Sigur Ros and 65daysofstatic and if I’m the only person to have flashes of Claudio Sanchez, on sight of the lead singer, I’ll eat my hat. The beauty of the Pirate Ship Quintet is in the ease with which they build up, from the simplest of beginnings, to a sound that quite simply knocks all thoughts out of your head. Each song rises to an awesome crescendo of sound before slowly fading into an empty silence. If I didn’t think six people could fit on stage, I knew eight couldn’t.

Fortunately (I guess) for Cult of Luna, they are two men down tonight, their lead singer staying in Sweden with a new born. If the Pirate Ship Quintet’s sound knocked all thoughts from your head, Cult of Luna knocks you to the floor and dances on it. From a virtually non-existent wash of lights these six Swedes blast out a wall of sound that leaves the Joiners positively bouncing. With their apocalyptic soundscapes Cult of Luna prove that you don’t need to understand the lyrics to understand the music. From the three mad moshers at the front, to the event organisers quietly appreciating their hard work at the back, everyone left the crowded floor smiling.

Udy & Kat

2006-04-26T14:40:00.000+01:00

About Udy & Kat:

Udy & Kat's Articles:

FIDGeT Presents... Trevor Loveys + Herve - April 2006

FIDGeT presents...

2006-04-26T14:00:00.000+01:00

Trevor Loveys - Southampton's Freedom Bar - April 2006
Image & Words: © 2006 Udy & Kat

After a quick look on the Internet to locate the Freedom Bar, we find that it is apparently Southampton’s only Gay Bar and Club. Although this seems doubtful we are instantly reminded of a weekend spent in Berlin just a few weeks ago where our love of techno music also led us to a Gay venue. The music on offer is steady throughout the night and very rarely deviates from the stated theme of ‘Clicky House Music.’ This is no bad thing as it is hugely funky and at no point even approaches being cheesy. In fact the description does the style a huge disservice and is about as useful as the last of the great sub-genre descriptions: Tech-House. After the warm up set from event promoter Craig Walsh, we are treated to a great set from Trevor Loveys and Herve. Utilizing two laptops and a range of interactive control devices the pair fire off a set of their own material interspersed with a few cheeky remixes. So far so good, unfortunately the only other people in the room apart from your reviewers are around twelve friends of the promoter. This is a huge shame as with a bit more work in advance the night would be going off with a bang. As it stands the music is still very good but a huge part of the dance scene is having other people to share it with.

Blissfields Tickets Sold Out!

2006-04-24T18:53:00.000+01:00

Tickets for Blissfields are now SOLD OUT! But if you fancy going along and giving them a hand as a steward, you still can!

The Blissfields festival features 2 days of excellent local, signed and unsigned bands.

Blissfields takes place from 7th to 9th July. Full details are available from the festival website.

The Line-up so far...

Friday Night Acoustic
Stevie
Michael Shearer (REB Singer)
ChrisT-T
Piney Gir
Susy Thomas
Andy Comley
Jim Bob (ex Carter USM)

Saturday Mainstage
Menin Shortz
Subgiant
Airhammer
Red Eye Banquet
Monty and The Butchers
Dead! Dead! Dead!
Mystery Jets
Enjoy Destroy
The Schla La Las
Larrikin Love (To be confirmed)
The Tucans
Toupe
Skuba

Other Entertainment
Pirate Fairies
te Pooka
DJ Chix

Rolling Dog

2006-04-24T13:48:00.004+01:00

+ Kid Idiot - Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms - April 2006
Image: © 2006 Simon Bartlett
By Adam Reed

To the backing of PJ & Duncan’s ‘Let’s Get Ready to Rumble’, Kid Idiot arrive on stage. But don’t be alarmed. The Portsmouth three-piece aren’t here for some M.O.R. Saturday evening TV action or any after-school-soap-opera-cum-smash-hits-rap-icon skulduggery, they’re here to rock the Wedgewood Rooms and win over a few new fans along the way. With songs like ‘Lose Weight’, ‘Diary’ and ‘My Goodbye’ they belt away the frustrations of being a twenty-something guy, with fun lyrics to a hard rock soundtrack. Kid Idiot are loud, animated and fun; something very refreshing in a scene where, particularly on stage, bands so often take themselves too seriously. Having followed the Rolling Dog story from their days of indie pop in pubs, it’s a wonderful thing to watch them in action as they headline a packed Wedge for the nth time. The modern-day Dog are polished, professional and their live experience is relentless. Hardly pausing to catch breath, they plough their way through tune after tune of what they call ‘indiedancecore’. This can be crudely summed up as sophisticated punk that carries with it an uncontrollable urge to swing your hips. Matt Woolway’s vocal range gives the band a dimension of their own and his stage performance is enchanting an already captivated audience who love every minute of tracks like ‘Question Answer’, ‘Scenester’ and ‘Spookyvision’ - as recently featured on XFM Unsigned. With dates lined up in London over the coming months, polish those dancing shoes and get out to see them.

Club NME at The Consortium

2006-04-22T19:21:00.000+01:00

The Bishops + Thomas Tantrum - April 2006
Image and words by Kid 73

Thomas Tantrum are only into double digits when it comes to playing gigs and you can tell. That said though, they have possibilities aplenty. Megan has an almost Cocteau Twin voice that is haunting and distinctive. If only the band could find a way to amplify, build, subdue and rein it in they could have something special. It is all about the voice though - and she is cuter than a two-week-old kitten, which will do them no harm whatsoever. The Bishops jump onstage styled like a black and white 1960s TV show. The music seems to be an elixir that they joyfully take to let their Mr Hyde side out, as they fully spazz out then snap back to Dr Jekyll and harmonise their mop tops, smiles and lyrics. I thought for a while that Paul Weller was out back with a live feed and the band onstage were just holographs. The sound isn’t everyone’s cup ‘o tea and it is certainly from a bygone era - but it does have a sprinkling of the contemporary to beef it up. It’s almost like Jagger and Lennon had a love child, who then shagged Paul Weller and had lovechild twins, who then found a drummer. New single ‘The Only Place I Can Look Is Down’ is out soon and has all the right ingredients – guitar solos, harmonising and bounce-off-the-walls energy.

Freezerburn

2006-04-21T11:58:00.000+01:00

Debut Single - Dealing With Your Mental Illness (Skribble Records)
Image: © 2006 Skribble Records
By Tommy L

Freezerburn are a peculiar bunch. ‘Dealing With Your Mental Illness’ starts with a Libertines-esque guitar jangle but quickly turns into an atmospheric epic with effect-drenched verses and clever harmonies. The girl/boy vocal playoff is like hearing the Magic Numbers possessed by the demonic heart of Gorillaz, and the fact it’s all slightly off-key adds more than a small element of intrigue. But this is also the track’s downfall. I realise it’s oh-so-trendy to be ‘DIY’ and bands like Grandaddy (RIP) have long been making songs which despite being woefully out of tune sound fantastic. But Freezerburn are just a little too ‘clever’; you can almost hear the sarcasm dripping from the speakers. Sure, there are ideas in abundance and the harmonies on the outro are incredibly beautiful, but when the parts are compiled there’s just something lacking. Discovering what it is will be the key to their future.

Thomas Tantrum

2006-04-21T11:15:00.000+01:00

My Space Demo Review - April 2006
Image: © 2006 Thomas Tantrum
By Hannah Chislett

Danger lurks at the close of every verse. The whole experience is like that bit in the middle of a Ryan Adams song where it suddenly goes all Daniel Bedingfield or something, making you tut under your breath. I half want to garrotte them to see if some pinkish fondant comes out, or just guts - because they have those, for sure. In trying to be different, to subvert, they seem to end up becoming tirelessly predictable. 'Pshand', which knits you into its drama and then throws you overboard all of a sudden, ends in a catastrophic, pseudo live-show guitar squawk which makes you go, “shiiiit, I feel seasick”. It delivers you gracelessly into ‘Armchair’, which has its eras of beauty, followed by long, dark years of grime and absurdity. The lyrics are completely obsolete, either ridiculous or incomprehensible. It has something, but it’s more Smash than mashed potato. 'Trust rhymes with Crust' pokes at more of the Cat Power influence I’d heard about. Anyone who labels this band ‘acoustic folk’ may as well have pulled two random words out of a hat. With the ‘kookiness’ of Tegan and Sara, the vocal spassing of Kings of Leon and occasional caricatured English dialect, it’s all about the voice. Without her voice, the music would be beige at best. But I don’t forget it. I jabber all day…“They say the world is one big stage”… and I feel cute.

Bestival Press Release

2006-04-20T19:47:00.000+01:00

8 - 10 September 2006
Robin Hill Country Park, Newport, Isle of Wight

Rob da Bank, curator of the award winning Bestival, has announced the Sunday night headliner as The Scissor Sisters in their only confirmed UK date this summer. A host of marvellous other acts including the Mystery Jets, Hot Chip and John Martyn have also been added to the bill.

Alongside the legendary Pet Shop Boys, who headline Saturday night, the Scissor Sisters will be the grand finale on the main stage of what will be one of the greatest ends to the festival season. Rob da Bank has been beavering away to ensure this year’s Bestival is the best ever – with even more great bands, top DJs, strange happenings, exclusive arenas and boutique festival fun to keep you buzzing all weekend.

Here’s some of the new acts he’s confirmed for the Bestival bill:

LIVE

Scissor Sisters
The Scissor Sisters shot to fame over an incredibly short period of time. They performed not one but two amazing sets at Glastonbury 2004 have been crowned with numerous awards the world over. Set to release their second album in November 2006 this is their only confirmed UK summer date and we at Bestival are very very excited to see what they have in store for us as their shows are always unique, always spectacular, always special.

Mystery Jets
The hottest UK indie act about line up for a Friday main stage mash up. The happy family, psychedelia, prog rock and pop extraordinaire roadshow is gonna blow the Isle Of Wight away as they revisit their amazing Making Dens LP and play some new stuff. Yeah!

Hot Chip
Three years on the trot for the electronic wizards at Bestival – we can’t get enough of them!

John Martyn
Rob da Bank finally manages to bribe the folk, rock and blues hero to come over from Ireland. If you’ve never heard it, his 1973 LP 'Solid Air' is one of the most amazing records ever made... From the man who was mates with Jimi Hendrix, Nick Drake and Lee Scratch Perry to name a few!

Nizlopi
The Christmas number one duo excite with their acoustic hip hop and honest vocals. It’s not all about the JCB!

Breaks Co-Op
Zane Lowe’s band that he started with Hamish Clark in New Zealand back in the late nineties.

Son of Dave
This genius one-man band returns for his second year at Bestival

Metronomy
Hot underground electronics from Franz Ferdinand's favourite remixer

The Bikini Beach Band
See them do some brilliant surf cover versions

Christ
Ex-member of Boards of Canada playing a very rare live set

Psapp
Hottest property in music made from toys and found sounds. Beautiful.

DJs
Ricardo Villalobos - The best underground techno DJ around
Terry Hall - The man!
Huw Stephens - Rob da Bank's Radio 1 compadre
Vicarious Bliss - Uber-cool producer & house DJ from Paris’ Ed Bangers label
Ulrich Schnauss – beautiful electronica from Germany
Múm (DJ set) – sublime Icelandic electronica
Alfredo – Balearic legend
The Black Dog and friends with Rob Hall (Skam), Dub Kult (Traum/Warp) and Claro Intelecto (Modern Love)
Annie Nightingale - Radio 1
Nick Luscombe - XFM
John Stapleton – Bristol institution
Bugged Out! : Chilled Out!

That’s all for now folks, more to announce soon though!

Our fabulous Boutique Campsite is now open for business so if you want to do Bestival in style and stay in a luxury tipi or the stunning new Bohemian Bivouacs then check the website for booking details.

Bestival 2006 Day Tickets – Sold Out!
No more day tickets left I’m afraid. Come for the weekend!

Bestival 2006 Weekend Tickets
Our Early Bird promotion is now finished and full weekend camping tickets and ferry packages are now available:

Non-Islanders Full Weekend Ticket (inc camping)
Adult - £105 / Child - £52.50 (5s & under – free)

Isle of Wight residents (& NUS) Full Weekend Ticket (inc camping)
Adult - £95 / Child - £47.50 (5s & under – free)

Arctic Monkeys

2006-04-19T10:54:00.000+01:00

Bournemouth International Centre - April 2006
Image: © 2006 Kid 73
Written by Kid 73

I was secretly hoping their hype would prove to be a folded sock stuffed, by record execs and Svengali marketers, down the drainpipes of a slightly above average band. Seven songs in and it all fitted into place. ‘Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But…’ played after the incendiary ‘Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ was for me, the track of the night. This is where I can see the Arctic’s light shining brighter than a magnesium matchstick. ‘I Bet You…’ and ‘When The Sun…’ are to The Arctic’s what ‘Parklife’ was to Blur – a mainstream call to chant and foot stomp – but their depth is in the tracks kept nestled in the album’s ample bosom. Always comfortable onstage and lazily nonchalant about getting the gig over with, they wandered around twiddling knobs on amps and instruments. Part of their charm is undoubtedly the ‘cute’ varnish the media has ronsealed onto them, but, every band has to have an image and theirs suits them. Are they the real deal? In a word – damnstraightskippy.

Psyattica

2006-04-19T10:14:00.000+01:00

Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms - April 2006
Image: © 2006 Stuart Leech
Written by Armchair Anarchist

I just don’t understand. Psyattica have it all. They’re young, they have great stage presence and excellent musical skills. They’re a good-looking bunch of lads, clearly a big hit with the young ladies in the audience. So why are they writing music that, although catchy and well-structured, seems aimed at people twice their own age? The basic sonic trappings of the current emo-rock styles are there, as are the haircuts and clothes. But the songs never leap out of the box and claw for your throat. Instead, they perch on the sofa and pass the remote when asked. It feels too safe, accessible and inclusive. There’s no blood, sweat and rebellion at all. I itch for them to do something daring, to shake up and smash the formula - but they don’t. They’re a talented young band, for sure. But they’re playing music for old men, to young girls.

Breed77

2006-04-18T21:45:00.000+01:00

Portsmouth Pyramids - April 2006
Image: © 2006 DJ Webb
Written by DJ Webb

After this month's sold-out show at the Joiners I was expecting big things tonight. It’s a shame that the rest of the crowd were elsewhere. Breed’s first 3 songs went down well with the fans on the barrier. The screams of adoring female fans is still ringing in my ears as I head out of the pit. However, as I walk through the crowd it appears a lot of people are still to be won over. Jumping around on stage more than anyone in the audience, vocalist Isola finally seems to be driving their Gibraltarian rock into people's heads. As ‘Apathy’ comes to a close he galls the crowd with, ‘how’s it going Bournemouth? Brighton? Portsmouth? Now I’ve got your attention!’ And, with the crowd's attention, they turn and blast through the last two tracks of their set. Finishing with the crowd-pleasing ‘La Ultima Hora’, Breed leave the stage to cheers that shouldn’t have been this hard to draw out. 2006 could be the year that Breed77 leave their ‘next big thing’ tag behind and actually get the following they deserve. Someone just forgot to tell Portsmouth.

The Organ

2006-04-18T14:44:00.000+01:00

Heal/Repair Promotions - Lennons - April 2006
Image courtesy of theorgan.ca
Words by Hannah Chislett

As I arrive at Lennons I'm greeted by the sight of The Organ, strolling about the place as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I am, quite naturally, star-struck. Despite wishing to avoid fuzzy generic stabs in the dark, I want you to imagine, if you will, Morrissey with breasts and charm singing over Chameleon-esque bass and twanging melodies - with all the simplicity and desperation of Joy Division before they got really depressing. Show stoppers such as ‘There is nothing I can do’ are mellow song stylings in comparison to jaunty motherfuckers like ‘Steven Smith’ and ‘Brother’. The Organ are creating a new brand of freak; lost boys mourning youth before it’s even over, sexy but androgynous, proud yet humble, boy but girl, smashing together to form a somehow coherent bundle of intense stage and social presence. This is going to change everything.

Other Fly Writers

2006-04-18T13:30:00.000+01:00

The Fly Magazine is distributed throughout the UK and contains many regional reports besides the Wessex one. If you're a band from our region and you're touring in their region, drop them a line. If you're a band from their region or you offer any kind of service to the industry, you'd be mad not to get in touch - these people want to write about you!

England

Bath & Bristol
Theo Berry on bathbristolfly@gmail.com

Birmingham
Emma Lilley on smokin_demons@hotmail.com

Bolton/Wigan/Preston
Yarky on yarky@outofthegray.com

Brighton
Ben Graham on bengraham@toucansurf.com

Cambridge
Holly Davies on intheointment[at]googlemail[dot]com

East Midlands (including Nottingham, Lincoln, Leicester, Derby & Peterborough)
Jen Thomas on Gigs@fragileuk.com

Leeds/Sheffield/Bradford
Kate Wellham on kink@therandomain.com

Liverpool
Will Fitzpatrick on youkillbugsgoodman@gmail.com

Manchester
Lisa Durrant on lisajayned@gmail.com

North East
Heather Steeley on heather@heathersteeley.co.uk

Northampton
Matthew Carey on matthewccarey@gmail.com

Reading
Martin Khal on martin.kahl@channelfly.com

West Midlands
Karl Cremin on karlcremin@yahoo.co.uk

York
Alex King on weareexit@yahoo.co.uk

Scotland

Aberdeen
Kirk Burton on joetown_punk@hotmail.com

Edinburgh
Brodie Smithers on prettygreenmusic@hotmail.com

Glasgow
John Clarke on johnclarke75@yahoo.co.uk

Wales

North Wales
Gary Cut on garycut@cut23.com

Northern Ireland

Charlotte Dryden on charliesangels72@yahoo.co.uk

NEWS LETTER

2006-04-17T23:37:00.000+01:00

Want to go straight to the home page and read the reviews, the news and the features? Click here.

Otherwise please stick your email address in the box on the top right hand side of this page, underneath the main logo. If you're really lucky, you'll get fortnightly updates on all the new music we're covering, from local and national bands.

As if that wasn't enough, we'll also be telling you how to get your band, or service to the music industry, promoted on the site and in the magazine, giving you occasional discounts to those services and screaming advanced shout-outs on competitions and upcoming gigs. Go on. Dare ya.

Hannah Chislett

2006-04-13T03:06:00.000+01:00

About Hannah:

All Hannah has ever wanted is a quiet life and is never happier than when she is seated comfortably, with a cigarette working its evil magic on her, knitting, with a cup of earl grey and a cat to hand. If you try hard enough, she knows you can knit and smoke at the same time. It just depends how much you want it. It may surprise you, then, that this comfort-monger can often be found tapping her oversized feet to some really thumping bass or epileptic drumming at some night of hardcore fun. Watching her dance is kind of like watching someone have a fit, actually. Complete with foam. Never having any money, the simple pleasures of reading at bedtime and music all the time are those which keep her fulcrum ticking. As a further point of interest, she shouts at people who don’t walk their dogs on leads along main roads, her only form of political protest.
Hannah is also responsible for TFW's unique and somewhat dowsed-in-acid news letter, which you can subscribe to on the right hand side of any page! Yay and stuff.

Hannah's Articles:

OK Go! - Live - April
The Organ - Live - April 2006
The Piltdown Hoax? - EP Review - May 2006
Thomas Tantrum - Demo Review - April 2006

Hundred Reasons

2006-04-12T14:21:00.000+01:00

Wedgewood Rooms - April 2006
Image by Stuart Leech
Words by Armchair Anarchist

They’ve been off the radar for a while, but Hundred Reasons are back. Their sound is a little heavier and faster than before but still possesses that trademark clarity and choppy, energetic guitar work. Tonight’s set contains the usual mix of frenetic rock-outs and gentle, thoughtful numbers. It’s a joy to watch a proper live act working and a rare thing to see a band enjoy themselves this much. Their performance is polished but natural, delivered with utter conviction. And the crowd love it - singing along to every word, grinning like loons. Colin is a riveting frontman, confident without being cocky; the guy can really sing. No unintelligible, angry ‘ I-hate-my-parents’ shit required – just honest songs sung with passion and a vocal range to kill for. The haircut scene could learn a lot about song-and stage-craft from Hundred Reasons. But I hope they keep the secret to themselves.

Be Your Own Pet

2006-04-12T11:46:00.000+01:00

The Wedgewood Rooms - April 2006
Words and image by Stuart Leech

I can’t remember, in any of my Easter holidays, ever being lucky enough to have been treated to a matinee performance from a hotly tipped young punk band. Be Your Own Pet grab you by the scruff of the neck. With no stage props or impressive lighting, just raw energy you can’t do anything but be captivated. There’s no set list this afternoon either, just shout-out requests from the crowd. Hardcore riffs from the guitars and bass, along with some intricate drum pieces, make the unplanned, unpolished punk ethic disappear - it is clear this band know what they are doing. Thirty minutes in, after a brief chant of 'get your tits out' from the ever-so-mature Wedge crowd, leads to 'Go Fuck Yourselves'. One more chaotic song with all the anger that this outbreak caused and the band are gone, but thirty minutes is enough to realise that you will be hearing a lot more from them in the future.

OK Go!

2006-04-11T20:20:00.000+01:00

The Wedgewood Rooms - March 2006
Image courtesy of okgo.net
Written by Hannah Chislett

As OK Go! take the stage, all the girls in the audience squeal. All they’ve wanted all night is to catch a glimpse of lead singer Damien Kulash. Every eye in the room traces his shape as he swaggers and ponces. He’s got us - girl, boy, young, old - we all want him. The music, although a little repetitive in places, is always well delivered. The mixture of old and new delights both long-time servers and those who are bushy-tailed in the world of Ok Go! Despite personally preferring their early stylings, feeling that their very appeal lies in sugar-sugar-candy pop, the new songs really do show a maturity which has yet to mirror itself in their audience. And as everything comes crashing down and the crowd start to yawn - realising, of course, that it is now hours past their bedtime, the image of Ok Go! dancing in beautiful and guileless synchronicity sends us away into the quietly humming night. The smell of teenage sweat explodes from the doors. It will be days before I smell normal again.

Stiff Little Fingers

2006-04-11T12:08:00.000+01:00

The Opera House - March 2006
Image by Zach Bayliss
Words by Jo Daley

I get a blue VIP band fastened around my wrist and I feel a bit wrong. I’m here to see Stiff Little Fingers, my soundtrack to drinking cider and throwing stones at swans, yet I get to sip free champagne as the support band play. As Stiff Little Fingers appear on stage, the audience goes up in flames. Their performance is tight and works as well as a lovingly maintained 50s Jaguar. They’ve had years to play these songs and they do so effortlessly. They do, however, look like they were meant to play at a folk festival. It looks like they give it all they’ve got yet it’s not a memorable performance. Even the lengthy encore lacks lustre. I’m neither disappointed nor overwhelmed by the Stiff Little Fingers but they do leave me with a strange feeling of disillusionment.

Mirrorball

2006-04-11T12:01:00.000+01:00

K Bar, Bournemouth - March 2006.

Image Courtesy of www.mirrorballmusic.com

Written by Jo Daley

I’ve listened to a few Mirrorball songs before coming to see them in Bournemouth's K Bar in tonight and I’m looking forward to seeing them live. But after sitting on uncomfortable chairs, with a wonky table, and quite frankly wanting to cry at how bad the sound technician is, I’m not in the best of moods to hear anything. I am pleasantly surprised though. I can tell they're all nervous about playing their first gig in four months, but they shine through the shoddy sound and dim lighting like a lighthouse to a lost ship. Their meaty melodies and layered songs demonstrate the talent of each musician in the band and they perform well, considering the circumstances. I look forward to seeing them in a decent venue with the audience they deserve.

Dios Malos + The Fratellis

2006-04-10T18:16:00.000+01:00

Club NME at The Consortium - April 2006
Words & Image by Kid 73

Dios Malos have a Cali ‘stoner’ rock vibe about them as they trip through their short, 25 minute set. Harmonious and atmospheric songs conjure pictures of sea and sand in your mind’s eye. There's no real crowd interaction and they seem so relaxed I half expect to look at the stage and see them all reclining on a sofa, playing their instruments. Technically they are very talented, but overall it’s a subdued affair. In stark contrast, the word subdued is not in The Fratellis dictionary. As part of the rising Glasgow scene that is starting to get everyone’s ears twitching, this six-legged, three-headed behemoth of a band hug the crowd, slip a firecracker in their pocket and push them away to explode on the dance floor. Their drummer has so much energy the only thing that would make him hit the drums harder is a run up. Teetering on the edge of pop, their songs are instantly recognisable and partly predictable - but nonetheless loveable. Whilst naysayers point to the big label contract and drivel on about “Arctic Simians and Libertines rip-offs”, The Fratellis are out back having a smoke and listening to their roadie play banjo. Their sound is undoubtedly ‘in’ at the moment and with messy hair, tight trousers and a musical energy so thick you can spoon it out of the air, they will have detractors and advocates aplenty. In the yin and yang of the music industry talk is talk, good or bad and they have a lot of talk. Watch them rise and catch them in a small club… while you still can.

Sepultura + In Flames

2006-04-10T16:43:00.000+01:00

Portsmouth Pyramids - March 2006

Image courtesy of Sepultura.com
Written by Kid 73

“Look at that kid, he’s only about 8. I want my son to come along to this sort of stuff when he’s that age”, said my mate Lewis pointing to a kid dressed in an oversized black tee shirt, standing against the back wall. “Dude”, I say, “he’s a wallflower. If he’s not in the front moshing with the rest - he’s no son of mine!” Sepultura are blasting out track after track from new album ‘Dante XXI’. Temporarily devoid of long-time drummer Igor, his replacement for the tour Roy Mayogora (ex Soulfly) manages a worthy keystone for their performance. With founder Max leaving to concentrate on Soulfly, Derrik Green is on frontman duties. As loud as ever, they thunder through an almost flawless performance, all the way to the brutal finale ‘Roots (bloody roots)’. The whole crowd are going nuts – hardcore stylee. Even the concrete floor is moving! Derrik puts in a great performance. I know some purists say it’s not Sepultura without Max, but hey, get over it! Enter In Flames, exit ¼ of the crowd. The Swedes have a glitzy light show, a more styled appearance and a massive drum kit. Sadly they don’t even manage to shadow the intensity and, for want of a better word, ‘brutality’ of Sepultura. They sound almost pop by comparison. After 30 minutes we down our pints and head for the door.

DJ

2006-04-05T13:20:00.000+01:00

About DJ

David (DJ as he signs himself, or Deej! as Paula has christened him) has been fiddling with cameras since he first stole his Dad’s trusty Nikon SLR way back before the Internet was invented. After a lengthy hiatus, photography was rediscovered as was rock and roll, and with a trusty 2MP Fujifilm digital camera by his side, DJ and the two became intimately intertwined. After a number of years shooting bands from the crowd with a finger over the flash (if your camera's got no manual controls, improvise) the time came to get a real camera and make something out of this crazy love. In recent months DJ has shot everyone from local scene favourites like Dead! Dead! Dead! to gypsy punk allstars Gogol Bordello - with as many bands in between as you could feasibly see without going deaf. Check out www.photography-of-rock.com to see some more of his work and find out how to book him for your next gig, or check out the images used on this site from the links below.

Images:

Oceansize Interview - March 2006
Oceansize Live - The Wedge - March 2006

Images & Words:

Breed77 - Live - April 2006
Cult of Luna + The Pirate Ship Quintet - Live - April 2006
Liam Frost & The Slowdown Band - Live - May 2006
Protokoll - Live - May 2006
Rodrigo y Gabriela - Live - June 2006
Sigur Ros - Live - July 2006
The Pipettes - Live - July 2006

Oceansize Interview

2006-04-05T11:38:00.000+01:00

Image by DJ Webb
By Armchair Anarchist

Nearing the end of a tour promoting their latest album ‘Everyone Into Position’, Oceansize dropped into Portsmouth to play the Wedgewood Rooms. Armchair Anarchist managed to corner them before the show and ask a few questions.

AA: Every band hates to be pigeonholed, but if you had to put yourselves in a box, what box would it be?

Mike [vocals, guitar]: Progressive death indie! We always get stuck with the ‘prog’ tag. You don’t wanna lumber yourself with that kinda thing. Every style of music can have its shite side.
Mark [drums]: If you can look at a ‘magic eye’ picture and get it, or at least make the effort to try, you’ll probably get our music.

AA: Anyone in the same box with you?

Gambler [guitar]: Not big enough - very small box!
Mike: With all our equipment, there’s just no room.

AA: Any collaborations in the pipeline?

Mike: We’re making arrangements to get involved with the ‘Your Codename is Milo’ desert sessions thing.

AA: Any fantasy collaborations?

Steve [guitar, vox]: God!
Mark: Rob Crow from Heavy Vegetable.
Mike: I’m in his friends on Myspace now!

AA: How many friends do you have on there?

Mike: Personally? About sixteen!

AA: What about your creative process? How do you write those big complex songs? Do you start with the lyrics?

Gambler: Lyrics always come last.
Mike: We compile a lot of motifs and they get bent into different bits. We end up with twenty different versions of one idea, completely unalike.
Steve: We record everything we play at the rehearsal room, so it’s fully editable - we use Logic Audio. We can compare bits, see what works with what, cutting and pasting.
Mike: [We’re] compiling a library of little gems, little nubs. Suddenly one day you work out what a bit needs to do, where it needs to go.

AA: What advice would you offer young unsigned bands?

Mike: Get a manager.

AA: Before you get signed?

Mike: Definitely. If you think you’re worth presenting to the whole world, you need someone with a bit of clout behind them, some confidence. And a leather jacket. No leather jacket, then they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing! You need to trust someone to deal with [the business] side of it, while you make sure the music’s as good as it can be.
Steve: Having your own soundman is important too - you wanna impress people as much as you can.

AA: Do you think downloading is making music a more democratic arena?

Mark: Definitely. It’s deregulating a lot of things. Anyone has the power to make music and spread it around as a taster; then you can buy direct from the source. Each person or band could be their own record company now. The internet is just the conduit.

AA: The album’s been out in the U.S. for about a month. Do you plan to ‘crack the States’?

Mike: Find someone to lend us twenty grand, we’ll be right over! You’d have to literally move there for a year to even think about it. Someone out of Cooper Temple Clause told me ‘You can’t flirt with America, you have to shag it.’

Creative Commons

2006-04-04T20:10:00.000+01:00

by Adam Reed

If you’ve ever, in a bored 5 minutes, strayed from the main body of The Fly Wessex site, with its fantastic reviews and profiles, then you may have come across the ‘copyright notices ’ link in the lesser-visited ‘Information’ section of the site. If you’re anything like myself, the copyright page probably wasn’t high on your list of pages to visit, but if you had, then you would have come across the site’s ‘Creative Commons deed’. But what's it about?

Traditional copyright law basically states that no artistic work, such as a music track, can be used in any way, shape, or form by another individual without the express permission of its creator, usually accompanied by a royalty fee. But, as has been widely publicised, this hasn’t exactly proved compatible with the modern Internet age in which people all over the world are ‘sharing’ music and other creative works. And that, in essence, is where Creative Commons (CC) comes in.

As with seemingly most things these days, the idea emerged from the US where some of the most high profile cases involving copyright infringement of music have occurred. Frustrated by the limitations of copyright law and its restrictive, nanny-like control that enabled corporations to hold all the cards over rules governing distribution of music and other creative works, a professor at the Stanford Law School set out to make his own set of licenses. His ideal was that these licenses would be used by musicians, and creators of other intellectual property, to take full control of their works, allowing them to state in advance if and how they are happy for their work to be distributed and used.

Old school copyright laws assume that the copyright holder wants full control over their works and, as such, would rule against its free-sharing without gaining explicit permission first. CC, on the other hand, realises that there are benefits to be gained from making work more freely available. It allows the creator to enter into a kind of negotiation with others where they set their own terms in advance. To simplify, think of it as the already widely respected concept ‘copyleft’. Whilst copyright states ‘respect rights, pay for use and give the creator credit’, copyleft states ‘respect rights, but you don’t need to pay, just acknowledge the original source’.

So how does it work?

Well, there are a number of different licenses available under CC, some of which are more directly suited to other forms of work, such as the sharing of scientific reports and computer coding. We can ignore those for now and concentrate on those that directly affect the main focus of The Fly: music. This essentially leads us to CC’s ‘Standard License’, which allows the artist to specify whether or not they are willing to allow commercial use and or modification of their work. There are two pre-prepared licenses – Firstly there’s the ‘Sampling’ license. This gives permission for people to take and transform pieces of your work for any purpose other than advertising. Secondly they offer a standard ‘Share Music’ license, aimed at the musician who wants to spread his music on the web and file-sharing networks, whilst protecting it from commercial use or remixing of any kind. CC is so flexible, however, that creators can pretty much mix and match their own rules to create a bespoke license that best suits their needs.
And as idealistic as this may sound, it’s already happening. CC is now being utilised by reputable artists the world over – indeed, household names such as the Beastie Boys showed their support with the launch of an album in association with Wired magazine. Brazilian music legend Gilberto Gil is another example of a man who has embraced the changes. Gil actively encouraged musicians across Brazil to experiment with his work in the name of producing more diverse and exciting music.

But couldn’t he have done that without CC? Well maybe, yes, but strictly speaking, under traditional copyright law, each re-mixer would have had to request his direct permission and pay him a fee every time they sampled his music, but with CC, he can say ‘don’t even bother asking, feel free to use it, just acknowledge me’ and, if he wishes, ‘but you can’t sell it on afterwards’!

However, it’s in relation to that same point that some of the main criticism of CC emanates. Some points of view are that it does nothing more than add complication to what can be quite a vague legal area to begin with. Why not just leave it as it is – black and white, rather than adding various shades of grey into the palette?

Well, for a start, the flexibility CC gives to artists is quite fantastic. In an ideal situation, it should mean wider exposure for new music. Bands can make their material readily available and sit back and watch while their popularity grows. The Arctic Monkeys did just that and managed to attain god-like status in the music industry even before the release of their debut album. And how many of the bands we feature on this website do you think rely on visitors, to their own sites or blogs, hearing their music as a means of widening their fan base? In terms of building a following, unsigned acts can benefit from CC by operating in the same playing field as artists signed to a label. It may even give them a competitive advantage because without the influence of a record label, CC can empower artists to come up with their own, innovative methods of pushing their music in the public domain.

Not that signed acts necessarily feel bound to the rules of their labels though. Selfish Cunt didn’t agree with their label’s scheduled release date for an album, so instead made all the tracks available on their website with a CC license. Like many bands, Selfish Cunt make their living from touring and gigs, whilst they see very little return from their records sales. So in terms of achieving their own objectives, CC is perfect.

"The more people who listen to us the better - maybe more people will then turn up to our gigs and make it more worthwhile for us. We prefer to have 400,000 file-sharers listening to our stuff for free than the 1,000 who paid $8 for our album. You can’t buy that kind of publicity for $8,000," the band told Henry Lacadaemon at h33t.com.

So what does CC mean for you? Well, if you are an artist and your motives are just to make music that people want to listen to, or build upon to create their own sounds, then CC could be the way forward. Indeed, even if your aspirations are a little more commercial and you dream of one day topping the charts with your own hit record, then the potential CC presents for achieving wider audience recognition could also be a useful step in the right direction. So check out the Creative Commons website to investigate which licenses best suit your needs.
If, on the other hand, you’re simply a music enthusiast, look out for the CC symbol whenever you’re downloading music. Click on the CC icon for instruction on how the artist wishes their work to be used so that you can rest safe in the knowledge you aren’t breaking any laws.

To see other features on the site navigate from the menus above.

Arctic Monkeys Play Bournemouth BIC

2006-04-03T18:38:00.000+01:00

Who The Fuck are The Arctic Monkeys, new single from The Arctic Monkeys is released on April 24th.

Please note the way the use of the word Fuck in the title makes the band seem instantly 'hip' and 'cool'.

The band have also also announced new tour dates for April.

Thu 13 Nottingham Rock City
Fri 14 Glasgow Carling Academy
Sat 15 Newcastle Carling Academy
Mon 17 Bournemouth BIC
Tue 18 Plymouth Pavillions
Wed 19 Wolverhampton Civic
Fri 21 Newport Centre
Sat 22 Rotherham Magna Centre
Sun 23 Blackpool Empress Ballroom
Tue 25 Hull Ice Rink
Wed 26 cambridge corn exchange
Thu 27 London Brixton Carling Academy

Mogwai

2006-04-01T11:23:00.000+01:00

Live - Southampton SU - March 2006
Image courtesy of Matador Records
Written by Chris Thorp

It seems that Mogwai have been taking fashion tips from rapsters Goldie Looking Chain for tonight’s performance. As they present themselves on stage in matching green tracksuit tops, it’s easy to mistake them for the kind of ruffians you would prefer to avoid on a dark night. As dubious as this decision might be, it doesn’t stop the band from performing in the spectacular way that any Mogwai fan would expect. Kicking off with the first two tracks from new album ‘Mr Beast’, their set manifests itself like a pulsating wall of noise. At times delicate, at other times the sheer volume makes various parts of your anatomy vibrate like it has a will of its own. Braithwaite can be a little off-putting with his stern looks into the audience, as though expecting us to say something back, but the euphoric sounds that wash and bounce around the venue are enough to distract us from this. Their new material is more rocking than their previous efforts, and helps to make tonight’s performance more accessible for the un-informed listener. It’s good to know that the most important name in post-rock can still affect us the same as they did 10 years ago.

Oceansize

2006-04-01T10:51:00.000+01:00

Live - Wedgewood Rooms - March 2006
Image by DJ Webb
By Armchair Anarchist

Oceansize sound as wide as their name implies, and they are involved with their own music so deeply they should be wearing scuba gear. Their songs are varied in tone and texture, but with a consistent sound that is distinctly their own. They sail from haunting emotional moments of distant quiet into typhoons of guitar and drums that hammer your entire body and mind. Huge swells and tidal waves of controlled feedback will suddenly leave you becalmed in a vast open space, underpinned by subtle vocals and rhythms as precise as a ship’s clock. Beached and stunned, you can do little but permit the immense forces to wash over and around you. Oceansize understand how to completely possess an attentive audience and leave them staggered, reeling like drunk sailors on shore leave. And tomorrow you will wake up and want it to happen again... and forever.

Clearlake

2006-04-01T10:09:00.000+01:00

The Railway Inn - March 2006

By Matt Golding

Maybe it’s just the Sunday blues, but Clearlake never really get off the blocks this evening. They're here at The Railway to promote the release of new single 'Neon' [Domino Records, March 20th]. Perhaps in a different time and place they would have set the room alight, but the sad fact is that both the band and the crowd, frankly, look knackered and the material just isn’t working. Each song ticks over at the same pace; a collection of stock repeated phrases lacking any real musical vision or lyrical depth. The band are aware of this though and, refreshingly, engage with the audience over the fact. What follows is an hour of anecdotes, jokes and friendly banter, interspersed with musical interludes – creating an intimate atmosphere which is actually a pleasure to be a part of. Musically uninspiring they may be, but you’re unlikely to see a nicer bunch of chaps on stage anytime soon.

Dead!Dead!Dead!

2006-04-01T09:48:00.000+01:00

Debut Single - 'George Lassoes The Moon/Mightiest Melodrama Of Them All'
March 2006

By PH

What to say about The Deads that hasn’t already been said? Every possible superlative has been bestowed upon them by numerous local and national music commentators. This debut single, however, is just ‘new versions’ of two tracks that fans, and presumably industry types, have been able to listen to, both live and on their two EPs, for ages. Isn’t that, I dunno, a bit of a cop out? Well no, actually, it isn’t. It’s a bloody good move. These are songs that have evolved over time, through hundreds of gigs, and the recordings reflect this. Not only do they display the infectiously eccentric talent that would have attracted the fans in the first place, but also a confidence and maturity that the previous recordings did not. Whereas some bands might start sounding tired of songs as time goes on, Dead!Dead!Dead! sound more alive than ever. Which is just as a debut single should be.

Birdpen

2006-03-30T21:52:00.000+01:00

EP Review - 'Be Yourself'

By Jo Daley

I am going to be honest, I like this and I know why. The first song on the EP ‘Be Yourself’ is an early 90s, haunting, jolly song brushed with chanting rhythmic style. It keeps me guessing as to what comes next, each drop of rhythm or bass are cleverly placed. The second song ‘Slow’ is my favourite. The Twiggy Ramirez-esque riff pulls you like a train to the next stop; you don’t know if you’re going to stop in the middle of a hippie festival or a rock concert. Dave’s vocals echo with tones of Jim Morrison, Thom Yorke and Ben Ottewell. I feel like I’m running through a maze with 10 foot high bushed walls, it’s snowing, there’s helicopters overhead shining their spotlights down on me and every time I think I’ve found the way out, I trip over my own expectations; I’m surprised by a twist and I’m running again. The third song ‘Sunlight Darkening’ holds beautifully its dark harmonies which twist in and out of the melodic guitar with heavy but graceful skill. The song builds to a Beta Band breakdown, letting me catch my breath, stopping to poke its tongue out, then starts running again. These boys have got something good. They know how to keep me wanting more. These three songs are the past, present and future. This EP is alive, it’s moving and breathing and leaving a trail of sweets behind it as it races ahead. Check out www.birdpen.com if you want proof.

IoW Festival Takes it Old Skool

2006-03-29T18:26:00.000+01:00

Bespectacled Scotsmen The Proclaimers and 60s rockers Procol Harem have been added to the line up of this year's Isle of Wight Festival. Yes, this year.

What?

The acts announced so far are...

Friday 9th June

The Prodigy, Placebo, Goldfrapp, The Rakes and Morning Runner

Saturday 10th June

Foo Fighters, Primal Scream, Editors, Dirty Pretty Things, The Kooks, The Proclaimers, The Upper Room, On Offs and 747’s.

Sunday 11th June

Coldplay, Richard Ashcroft, Lou Reed, Maximo Park, KUBB and Procol Harum

The festival takes place at Seaclose Park on the Isle of Wight. Tickets are, sadly, sold out.

One Night At...The Venue

2006-03-27T11:20:00.000+01:00

Press Release

Best In New Live Music Coming To The Isle Of Wight Once Again...

FRIDAY 14th APRIL, The Venue, Ryde Theatre, Isle of Wight

Following the huge success of the first event on 10th March, 'Friday night at The Venue' will never be the same. Curious Generation delivered on their promise to bring a night of top class new bands to the Isle of Wight’ (www.wightvibe.com). But, it doesn’t end there. London based, Curious Generation and island music college, Platform One once again are bringing a selection of the best new bands/artists in the UK to The Venue at Ryde Theatre on April 14th.

Rumour has it that the island is becoming a breeding ground for up and coming new bands and once more two island bands, selected by Platform One, will be supporting London’s finest. Acoustic act Cozy Flashbak kicks off the night followed by the much-hyped modern and thoughtful British Rock Band, Kody. Dishing out big songs, in a big noise with a big passion, Kody impressively clocked up 70 gigs last year, resulting in a deal with the new Isle of Wight based label, Tidal and have now ended up supporting the best of the UK music scene. The ‘No frills, full on rock 'n' roll’ of Rotating Leslie shows that the Londoners are one of the music scenes sleeping giants. Described by MTV as ‘Magical, Mystical, Bewitching’ and with NME lauding their ‘jangly, harmonic, gritty art pop’, Rotating Leslie have supported some of the music scenes most exciting bands including The Subways and Goldie Lookin Chain. Rotating Leslie play on the back of their self released debut album 'Infrequent Mild Peril’ with fresh and exciting well crafted songs which are life-affirmingly good, but what else do you expect after being expelled from various schools, arrested and nearly driven insane by LSD?

The headliner could not be more exciting. Vincent Vincent and the Villains are quite simply the hottest band in London, if not the whole of the UK. In their own words ‘It’s sweet rock and roll and it’s getting louder. Soothing the city, slaking it’s terrible thirst, gentling it’s pains. The sound you love – the rocking bawl of a gang you always wanted to be in’. In Radio One’s words ‘Listen to this piece of music, it’ll change your life…as we introduce you to Vincent Vincent and the Villains’ – Zane Lowe. You must not miss the most naturally talented cool cool cool popular rhythm group on the scene today as ‘…it’s slick stuff indeed from the remarkable Vincent Vincent and the Villains’ – Mojo.

Curious Generation which has strong links to the Island are committed to bringing top level acts back to the Island and helping the growth of new music on the island by supporting the Islands Music College, Platform One.

Curious Generation’s ‘One night at…The Venue’ returns on April 14th. Book early to avoid disappointment.

Dreadzone + Decker Gives Chase

2006-03-24T12:23:00.000+01:00

Higher Ground Festival - The Consortium
March 2006

by Matt Golding

Judging by his habit of turning the microphone on the crowd for shouting competitions, Decker Gives Chase MC, Jonathon Swift, may well have been a children’s entertainer in a past life. Delivered in a slightly odd, fake LA drawl, his freestyle is repetitive at times but spat like bile and full of angst. Playing hip-hop, drum n bass and electronica live with drums, bass, synths and vinyl scratching DGC are, for the most part, unbelievably tight. They filled their hour, but not without padding… like most products of the suburban ghetto, they seem to be scratching around for something to say. Time means nothing to Dreadzone though. It’s quite possible that they exist in the centre of a paradox-defying anomaly. Even the heaving crowd look as if they’ve been randomly sucked from all corners of the last thirty years. Mixing classic roots, 70s dub and 80s rock with 90s ska, big beat and leftfield, Dreadzone have had years of practice at hitting the right buttons and they’re all marked 'party'. It’s bombastic and one-dimensional – bouncy guitars and a bit of reverb do not a reggae track make - yet it’s impossible not to be carried along by these men, throwing themselves into their music like wild eyed teenagers. But despite the knee-pumping, arm-waving, bar staff pogo-ing scene, there is an atmosphere of timeless melancholy. The favourite sounds of a fading generation - and a dread of the inevitable hung over Sunday morning of the soul.

Thomas Joseph - Profile

2006-03-23T23:13:00.000+01:00

Why you have such a ridiculous name:

Don’t blame me, blame my mum!

Members:

Written and performed by Thomas Joseph, drums performed by Ollie Austin.

Website:

www.thomasjoseph.co.uk & www.myspace.com/thomasjoseph

When & how you formed:

Formed though boredom, heartbreak and head aches.

Where can we usually find you if we want our money back or something?:

At a gig near you!

The kinda sounds you play:

It's acoustic chilled out music. Some say like Jack Johnson. Check out the review on the Fly Wessex.

Your heroes:

Lennon (in spite of Yoko), Cobain (it was murder!).

Your thoughts on world politics:

Leave me out of it!

The top three things readers need to know about you:

1. You can get my music free if you ask nicely.
2. I will be touring in the summer and will do my best to do a gig near you if you ask.
3. I do my best to get back to everyone who contacts me.

Bestival Press Release

2006-03-23T22:28:00.000+01:00

8 - 9 - 10 SEPTEMBER 2006
ROBIN HILL COUNTRY PARK, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT
www.bestival.net

• Bestival curator Rob da Bank announces the Saturday night headliner as Pet Shop Boys. A UK festival exclusive!

• 8 stages of boutique festival fun - live music, top DJs, cabaret & super strange happenings. Supported by BBC Radio 1

• Other live acts include: Devendra Banhart, The Stranglers, The Fall, King Creosote, Jamie T, Cagedbaby, Kid Creole and The Coconuts, Amadou & Mariam, Nathan Fake, The Young Knives, The Sunshine Underground, Kanda Bongo Man, Planet Pendulum, Switch, The Boy Least Likely To, Mara Carlyle, James Yorkston and The Athletes, Fence Collective, The Aliens, My Robot Friend, Electronic Elvis, Kitty Daisy & Lewis, Jeremy Warmsley, Mr Hudson and the Library, Vetiver, Klaxons, Tunng, Jeggsy Dodd, Eberg, Electronic Elvis, Magnetophone with Sonic Boom and Kwaing Creasite, Get Cape.Wear Cape.Fly plus Young Blood Brass Band AND MUCH MUCH MORE TO STILL BE ANNOUNCED…

• Plus a host of the finest DJs: DJ Marky, DJ Yoda, Annie Mac, Cosmic Fury (Tom Middleton & Fred Deakin), Erol Alkan, DJ Zinc, Justin Robertson, Mary Anne Hobbs, Lindstrom & Prins Thomas, Touche, Jazzanova, Rob da Bank, Flower Power (Ibiza), Chris Coco, The Black Dog, Mixmaster Morris, Digital Mystikz, Skream, Kode 9, Various Production, DJ Derek, Gaz's Rockin Blues, Quiet Village, Sonic Boom, plus much more to come...

• Hosted by those saucy masters of ceremonies The Cuban Brothers – playing live and unadulterated

• And the Biggest Fancy Dress celebration ever goes Circus theme!

• Plus many more bands plus two headliners still to be announced!

So that's a wee taster of what promises to be the most eclectic and fun line up ever from Mr da Bank. Not only that but we'll be packing our small and beautifully formed festival full of Sunday Best surprises and strange happenings. Last year we decided to hold a little fancy dress party for a bit of fun. About 10,000 Cowboys and Indians turned up and broke the Guinness World Record for 'the biggest fancy dress party' ever. This year we're going mad for the Circus theme so we'll be calling all strongmen, bearded ladies, freaks, performing seals, lions, ringmasters and sword swallowers (but don't sue us!) or just come as you are! All that plus an even bigger and better Boutique Campsite including a beach café, double deckers and the new Bohemian Bivouac - a travelling Boutique B&B bought to you by Bestival's creative brain box Josie da Bank (further info very soon!)

Bestival is certainly a jam-packed cacophony of musical treats and it's the spirit of Bestival that makes it a truly magical weekend for happy campers. The site is crafted with love with Josie's hand drawn designs filling the festival with wondrous imagination. The festival is put together with love by a team dedicated to bringing the best in boutique festival spirit to the rolling English countryside every year. Fantastic food, the coolest cocktail bar ever – The Bollywood Bar plus a bunch of new and amazing stuff and acts are still to be announced – Plus more cracking headliners to boot! You'd be bananas to miss it!

The Aviators + The Stations

2006-03-22T14:09:00.001+01:00

Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
March 2006

by Armchair Anarchist

The Stations are a fresh-faced young bunch, all skinny polo-shirts and cheery grins. They’ve got confidence. They’ve got good instruments. They have a backdrop. What they don’t have is any killer hooks. Well, to be fair, they *do* have hooks...but they all belong to one of a selection of classic British guitar acts spanning the era from the 60s to the 90s. Their songs are well structured and performed with an enviable fortitude. But like a lot of young bands, they haven’t quite made it out of the shadows of their influences. It’s all a little too obvious – they would benefit from a firm sound of their own, and from stretching themselves a little further. The Aviators also suffer somewhat from sounding like a gamut of other bands at the expense of sounding like themselves. There’s no finding fault with their musical skills. The singer in particular has a stunning voice with a matching stage presence. The vocal harmonies would have Neil Finn muttering into his beer. The musicianship of the whole band is tight and polished. But the songs are a huge smear of Britpop clichés, focusing on the slow-paced end of that now-defunct scene. Everything from the lead licks to the drum fills sends you right back to the late 90s. Something extra is needed, a genuine sense of thrill to lift the material up from its pedestrian feel. Ten years ago, they would have been contenders. Today they sound like a brilliant tribute to a dead movement.

One Life Left

2006-03-22T14:05:00.000+01:00

Demo Review – 'Machine'

by Chris Thorp

Be careful not to have the volume too loud when putting this disc into your player, as you may get caught off-guard. After a short burst of noise from all instruments, the first track ‘Ghost in the Machine’ settles into a quirky kind of groove, which takes a few seconds to get your head around. This is music I could quite easily imagine in the charts. The vocalist’s abilities particularly remind me of all-too familiar pop-rock acts such as Stereophonics and Maroon 5, although the musicality of the band as a whole will appeal to a more alternative audience. Second track ‘The Seven Thunders’ continues with the same punchy approach, whilst ‘Passing Place’ ends the CD showing their more delicate side – which works equally well. The songs are played with feeling and ingenuity without crossing the border into ‘cheese territory’, which many pop-rock crossovers fail to avoid. This is a slickly produced and packaged demo, which deserves to get them a great deal of attention, very soon. For more info visit www.onelifeleft.net

Faetal - Live

2006-03-20T21:31:00.000+01:00

The Joiners - March 2006

By Timur Bekir

Hold on a minute, where’s the drummer? A question I ask myself more than once tonight as two of the bands performing this evening rely on a backing track for their beats. Faetal’s brand of electro goth-rock sounds epic tonight and the backing track they use provides the band with a massive soundscape. Dark and angst-ridden, they are caught somewhere between Depeche Mode and Gary Numan. Their sound is impressive and they will no doubt provide the soundtrack for the next funky Hollywood rehash of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. What is missing from Faetal’s performance tonight is raw energy and this is undoubtedly what a live drummer adds to a performance. Using such an expansive backing track may invite criticisms of Karaoke surrounding their live shows - but since when has the dark side ever given a shit what the critics think?

Thomas Joseph

2006-03-20T09:56:00.000+01:00

EP Review - 'Monitor Mixes'

by Adam Reed

After a long winter sitting inside behind drawn curtains, clinging to the radiator, Thomas Joseph makes you want to turn up the stereo, open the window, let the sun stream in and embrace what is hopefully the start of spring. Anything that kicks off with a bluesy hook, like track 1 ‘Streets of New York’, is guaranteed to grab my attention; the cool, rhythmic verse ensures that my head keeps nodding to the very end. It may only be, essentially, a song about a shopping trip to the Big Apple but never has traipsing around stores, viewing overpriced clothes, seemed so cool. ‘Criminal’ is a more gentle, acoustic love song - of sorts. Like all good songs of that genre, it's suitably stacked full of cliché’s but pleasant enough not to let that irritate. ‘Clocks’ is piano-lead and slower still, though thankfully it's infinitely more tolerable than the Coldplay song of the same title. ‘Somewhere To Park’ brings back that springtime feeling. It evokes pleasant images of a daytrip in the singer’s silver Cadillac, presented to us in the style of Jack Johnson. But just when you start to pigeonhole this artist ‘Knaves of the Bronze Age’ takes you by surprise. It lifts the tempo with two minutes of instrumental blues rock and rhythms. The whole package is concluded with ‘A Little While’ which introduces some harmonica into proceedings. It neatly rounds off a solid set of six tunes that won’t stray far from my CD player for the duration of the spring months.

The Mag - Profile

2006-03-15T23:35:00.000+01:00

The role you play in the music industry:

Music magazine solely for unsigned and independent bands.

Name of your organisation:

The Mag

Location:

All over the UK.

Contact Details:

editor@the-mag.me.uk

Website:

www.the-mag.me.uk

Any discounts your offer:

All of the content is free, including MP3 downloads. We cover costs through advertising, which is available at a discounted rate to unsigned bands (1/2 price).

Any causes, policies or things you feel passionate about:

We are passionate about music, you only need to read our rants page to see the evidence. The whole purpose of The Mag is to highlight the incredible talent that’s available outside of the High Street CD shop and Top 40.

The top five reasons readers would use you over your competitors:

1. We have 400,000 visitors a month to our website, which is a lot of people reading about your band if you get featured.
2. All our MP3s are totally free.
3. We have a great gig listing that you can submit your live dates on for free and browse what’s on in your area. (TFW's listings come from The Mag, see here for details)
4. Our reviews are totally independent and honest.
5. We have great cartoon versions of ourselves on the site if you search hard enough!

Want a profile on the site? Click here for more info.

Pure Musical Sensations (PMS)

2006-03-15T17:43:00.000+01:00

by Matt Golding

Gone are the days when choosing a radio station meant flicking between Radio 1 and 2 and having to decide which was less annoying. What with this new fangled Internet thing, Radio is going through something of a renaissance. One product of this is that PMS Radio, a long running Merseyside alternative music show, is now streaming on the BBC website. Presenters Roger Hill and Joe Shooman say PMS exists ‘to provide an intelligent and diverse alternative’ to other radio shows. The playlist, covering everything from indie to hip-hop to electronica and more, is testament to this ethos - something they describe as “a sense of freedom and edginess”. Filling a niche left by the demise of shows like John Peel’s, Roger and Joe are quick to dispel any suggestion that PMS’s appeal is limited to local listeners. “It has always had a much wider audience and is not a strictly local show,” Roger explains, “We have been streamed for some time now and this allows a world audience to tune in.” Whilst the event listing portion of the show remains locally focused, bands from anywhere can plug their gigs on the PMS website. Roger and Joe also encourage musicians to send in their recordings, saying, “Any musical artist or artists with good music from anywhere in the world are, and always have been, welcome to submit it to us for possible play on the programme.” So don’t just stick your MP3s on Myspace and forget about them. Internet radio is growing all the time and, as well as PMS, there are a variety of stations and shows in the Wessex area (like X-Treme Beats and The Get Out) and they all need a supply of music. Here’s one final piece of advice from Roger and Joe; “Make good, honest, unabashed, original, brave, challenging music. And do your research. There are a few programmes that are happy to play your music if it fits that particular programme’s ethos. We’re one of them. But you need to find out where these shows exist and, crucially, what they play.”

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The Trend Press Release

2006-03-13T18:51:00.000+01:00

Press Release & Tour Dates

One year. One hundred gigs. One sold out demo.

Word is spreading.

The Fly tip the band as One To Watch. The Trend are future household names,’ they say.

Elsewhere, reviews struggle for reference points. They cite influences as diverse as U2, Bruce Springsteen, and Funeral For A Friend, before hitting on the point that it’s not the band’s sound that reminds them of our most successful acts – it’s the sheer brilliance and magnanimity of the songs they write and the passion with which they perform them.

The Trend will be HUGE. They’ve got that spark. And that look. New demo Somebody Somewhere, then, should sell millions. But only 1000 copies exist.

It’s amazing. It’s been produced in a bunker by the crazy/brilliant Adam Whittaker (Rakes/Dogs Die In Hot Cars/other acts that don’t sound like The Trend!) and it represents a band ready to hi-jack the world’s consciousness.

Tour Dates:

Mar 23 Preston, 12 Bar
Mar 27 Nottingham, Social
Mar 28 Leicester, Attik
Apr 11 Winchester, Railway
Apr 15 Reading, Three B’s
Apr 24 Coventry, Colosseum
May 5 Darlington, FACT

Going My Way Presents...

2006-03-12T12:56:00.000+01:00

Clark + The Media Lounge + 65daysofstatic
The Opera House - March 2006

Words & 65daysofstatic image by Kid 73

I walked in and The Miramar Disaster had already heavily chewed through their set. It wasn’t late; it was just gone 8pm, but the night started at 7 and went on ‘till 11. What are we, like 15 years old? Pint 1: The crowd nod their heads in a faux head bang, whilst sipping beers and the band finished. It’s unfair of me to review them on the strength of two songs, so I’ll stop there. Pint 2: Clark, formerly - and probably still is - Chris Clark, primed his gear and slammed buttons, tickled knobs and fannied about with electronic wizardry. He doesn’t use decks he uses Midi equipment. What you get is a loosely held together musical sound that flirts with Drum ‘n’ Bass, Disco handclaps and electro eccentricity. The sound teeters on the edge of musical oblivion and, just as it tips towards certain death, a sonic lifeline appears out of nowhere and saves it. Pint 3: The Media Lounge get out their Ginsu blades and slice visuals and music from DFA 1979, Kylie, The Chippendales, Tatu, Captain America and others into a half-hour of visual sushi. Salty, spicy as wasabi and just as colourful and well presented. Pass the chopsticks I want more. Pints 4 & 5: 65daysoftatic frenetically and voraciously devour their 12-song [!] playlist, from ‘Ghosts’ to their new single‘Radio Protector’. The band are adept at creating a vast instrumental wall of sound. The bricks are heavy but the mortar is tranquil, soulful and morose - in equal measures. Being honest, it gets a bit monotonous. There was a mic onstage but it was like a coccyx or an appendix – possibly a relic of a bygone era as it was only used to say ‘thanks’ to everyone on the tour.

Commercial Profile

2006-03-10T17:13:00.000+01:00

The role you play in the music industry:

Original, eye-catching, badass websites for the masses.

Name of your organisation:

err… Naomi

Location:

London

Contact Details:

naomi@naomistuff.co.uk

Website:

www.naomistuff.co.uk

Any discounts your offer:

Preferential rates for unsigned bands. Drop me a line and we can discuss.

Work you have done in the past; the highlights:

The Fly Wessex site!
The Common Redstarts Site - www.thecommonredstarts.co.uk
The Ninjafest 05 site - www.yolondon.net/ninjafest.html
The Psychofags In BinBags site - www.psychofags.com

Any causes, policies or things you feel passionate about:

I do special rates for unsigned bands and I don’t deal with major labels. Watch my scene points rack up.

The top five reasons readers would use you over your competitors:

1. Originality
2. Good rates
3. Quality
4. Good hair
5. 100% meat-free

Want a profile on the site? Click here for more info.