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Day: 14 October 2014

Feature: Party For The People

Party For The People is a social-enterprise born in Sheffield 2 years ago. The idea was to find a way to give back to the community and those in need through everyone’s favourite past time, partying. With humble beginnings in bucket raising and selling sweets on the dance floor the focus quickly shifted to ticket sales and Party For The People now operates a fully-fledged ticketing agency, donating a percentage of the booking fees from every ticket to charity. They also throw their own parties; all profit from which is donated to various good causes. Just last week they hosted Deep Space Orchestra at Soup Kitchen in Manchester’s Northern Quarter and alongside Gold Teeth brought Daniel Avery and Artwork to their own venue in Sheffield, raising £1,300 in the process!

Being the only not-for-profit ticketing organisation in the UK, PFTP offers a unique way to add an ethical dimension to music events at no extra cost to partygoers or promoters, a self-defined but accurate “revolutionary solution”. Knowing the debauchery of the night before had a positive impact on those who need it should go some way to soothing that hangover and as PFTP have no shareholders 100% of their net profits are reinvested into the charities and causes they support.

Since its inception PFTP and its “good times for good causes” movement has gained pace considerably, with partnerships with the likes of Warp, the O2 Academy, Sankeys and Tramlines, Farm and Gottwood festivals secured. In line with this growth has been the increasing number of charities they support, which includes the Leeds Little Livers Campaign and Sheffield Mind; as well as those with a more global focus such as Send A Cow and Oxfam. Hosting a room at Pangaea’s ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ Festival, alongside Manchester based parties Hi Ku and Groove Kitchen, they also raised £150 for UoM’s RAG society. Go here for more information on these charities and their aims.

Last year sponsorship from the National Lottery allowed PFTP to begin a project titled The Night Kitchen. Redeveloping the location of the former nightclub Dirty Little Secret alongside CADS (Creative Arts Development Space), another Sheffield based non-profit, , they turned the space into a creative hub for the city and a location for some of the best parties in town with a décor inspired by Maurice Sendak’s ‘Where The Wild Things Are’. The space is also home to a 12 month programme of workshops with the aim of providing young people of socially excluded backgrounds the opportunity to gain experience in artistic pursuits, including creative set design, event production, digital arts and more.

Watch a video of this process below:

Party For The People are always looking for enthusiastic individuals to join their cause and have many opportunities to offer, including paid and volunteer positions in journalism, blogging, web design, graphic design, event production, promotion and more. If it sounds up your street then get in contact via their website here.

And to find out what’s going on in the city and to plan that next night out with a clear conscience go here.

Fallowfield Baa Bar brawl leads to road closure

A vicious fight took place in the early hours of the morning on Sunday the 12th of October outside of Baa Bar in Fallowfield forcing police to close Wilbraham Road at the junction with Wilmslow and Moseley Road.

The fight erupted between two large groups of drinkers just after 3:15 am and although shocked students looked on as the violence escalated it is yet to be confirmed if any Manchester students where directly involved in the violence or why the incident began.

As the violence became more severe riot police vans were called to stop the violence from becoming any further out of control.

Despite the apparent scale of the fight only one man, in his early 20s, has been reported to be suffering from any injuries, having received a blow to the head. However despite the potential seriousness of his injuries, he is not thought to be in a serious condition.

Police officers say that so far one man has been arrested on suspicion of assault, but enquiries are still ongoing.

The area where the fist-fight occurred is very close to the halls of residence of the Fallowfield Campus, and many fast food restaurants. For this reason it is usually bustling with people, and very rarely unoccupied.

Therefore if anyone has any information about the bust-up or was present at the time of its occurrence, they should call 0161 211 2113, Greater Manchester Police on 0161 856 4973, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

The final nail in the coffin

This Halloween delve into your nail varnish box to get creative with some cute-not-creepy seasonal nails. Here are five of our favourite super-easy designs to get you ready for Halloween.

 

The Perfect Pumpkin (pictured above)

Simply add an orange base and then use a toothpick to paint on the pumpkin face with triangles.

 

The Super Skull and Crossbones

Photo: evil.girl666 @Flickr

Add a black base and again use a toothpick or small brush to paint your white skull face and bones.

 

The Frankenstein

Photo: tatievangelista @Flickr

Use any shade of green as a base coat and simply paint on your eyes and stitches with a toothpick.

 

The Wicked Witch

Photo: jenniferl @Flickr

Use this Halloween as your excuse to jump on board the pointy nail aesthetic trend. Don’t want to cut or file a thing? Simply add a base of nude, then add tape from each side of your nail, meeting in the middle to create a triangle, and then fill with any dark colour. Wait to dry then simply remove the tape to give a witchy nail illusion.

 

The Daring Drip

Photo: lauracollop@Flickr

Add a nude base then use any dark shade to bring from top down to the middle of the nail to create a dripping effect.

Preview: The Orb

18th October

Academy 2

The Orb will once again mesmerise the people of Manchester after a sell out performance in October 2013. The exclusive show promises to be of consciousness-expanding and awe-inspiring status.

The genius that is Dr. Alex Paterson will pilot the night performing first as The Orb with two of their most prominent albums. Their debut album, Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld, was essentially the album that kick started ambient house popularising low volume with multiscreen video projections. UFOrb was the group’s first UK number one, a phenomenal achievement for a genre that a few years prior was an undefined entity. The honourable doctor will then take the crowd on a 90-minute journey called ‘Orb in dub’.

With the event set to last six hours in Manchester’s Academy on Saturday 18th, expect a mystical and captivating experience into the mind of The Orb. If you can prepare yourself for a night like this, check out their first two records, as they will be showcased on the night.

Tickets are available now on Ticketline, priced at £17.

Interview: Darlia

“If I had a black afro, people would say we sound like Hendrix too, you know.” Frontman Nathan Day doesn’t take well to the never ending comparisons to Nirvana, although it’s hard to ignore the similarities when the heavy chorus of ‘Queen of Hearts’ starts to play. Darlia, the band who’ve twice been named Zane Lowe’s Hottest on Radio 1, are on tour and loving it. If you haven’t heard the explosive sound of Darlia yet, hold on—because they’re about to go off.

Amidst being track of the week in NME for almost every EP they’ve released and getting spotted by fans whilst on rides at Alton Towers, the three-piece pop-rock band from Blackpool are just down to earth, cheery chaps who are living their dreams and having fun.

“We all went to the same school together… although Jack was way more popular than me and Dave.” The band explained that they’ve been playing music together since they were 10 years old, but it’s only in the last two years they’ve pulled some amazing songs out of the bag—leading them to secure a record deal and what seems like endless touring.

“We’ve played Manchester three times this year, and it always sets the precedent for the rest of the tour—we love Manchester so much.” Talk about a precedent being set—when they played Sound Control earlier in the year, Nathan thought they were “taking the piss” because the crowd reaction was so wild. “I was wondering if someone had organised a flash mob!” Reviews of that particular show include good times and paramedics—someone suffered a head injury, and another person had broken nose from the sheer enthusiasm of the moshing. Dave shared another story from the tour—”Jack normally takes his shirt off on stage, so one night someone shouted it during a set, but I thought they said take your shoe off… so I flicked it off stage and played the rest of the set with one shoe.’

Although a relatively new band, they’ve had mountains of hype and success since they formed, having already played the John Peel stage at Glastonbury and gracing the Festival Republic stage at Reading and Leeds. “I just wanted to get rid of it,” says Nathan, describing his guitar smashing antics at both events. “It’s just like, why won’t you break? It keeps getting fixed… I’m saving up the next smash I think.”

The lads all seem pretty humbled by their success—‘in career terms, it was astonishing [to play Glastonbury].” When questioned about boredom and loneliness on tour, bassist Dave explained that “it’s why we get the hotels to put in an extra pillow… for us all to cuddle!” Guilty pleasures whilst traveling on tour appear to be listening to Daniel Bedingfield and Craig David. “It’s not as bad as it sounds! One minute it’s on shuffle and the next thing we know we’re listening to Blue.”

What’s next for Darlia? “An album is in the works at the moment. It’s hard to get it just right, so there’s no date set yet.” Although they’ve just finished their third tour of the year, it’s likely that Darlia will be back on the road in no time. “We really love the fans, it never gets annoying or anything. It’s so nice when they recognise you and say ‘hi’, stop you in the streets, you know?”

Opinion: This Blood Has Taken Its Toll On Me

Maroon 5 have managed to create a song and video which makes Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ look like a feminist anthem. If you’ve not yet seen their video to ‘Animals’ then be prepared for a shock. It’s a far cry from ‘She Will Be Loved’. The video shows a psychotic butcher becoming obsessed with one of his customers, a young woman, and traces his obsessive mental process. Front man Adam Levine is shown following a woman home down dark streets, taking photographs of her, grabbing her flesh aggressively and hanging onto carcases in a butchers store room, before smearing blood on his face and body. In the final scene of the video, a man and woman clutch each other naked whilst blood pours all over them, matting their hair and covering their bodies. This scene feels reminiscent of the blood splattered lift scene in ‘The Shining’ and is an uncomfortable thing to watch in a music video setting.

We seem to have entered a dangerous and depressing domain within popular music, where artists try to outdo one another for the most controversial video or lyric in the business (see Robin Thicke & Nicki Minaj). This video is so offensive and provocative that it will surely spark a debate surrounding the lack of age ratings in music videos which apply to feature films. As music videos become ever more explicit it seems appropriate to protect younger generations from harmful or damaging material; even if this material is set to music. The problem with this video however, is that it is not only disturbing to younger people, but it is equally (if not more disturbing) for teenage girls and women. If you are a woman, you will know that the fear of a sexually-aggressive male figure tracing your steps at night is an all-too-familiar threat, and something that shouldn’t be ‘performed’ in a music video. It is done so in a way which makes it appear sexually attractive and makes it seem as though it is a natural by-product of men’s lust.

Another problem with Maroon 5’s video is the undercurrent of violence; not explicit, but implied. This frustratingly means that it is more likely to be age-restricted for nudity than for its depiction of stalking or implied assault. Whilst not always explicit, violence is everywhere in this video and is distinctly sexual. As watchers we assume that the blood Levine smears on his mouth and body belongs to the animals he has slaughtered, but the editing and lyrics make the origin of the blood ambiguous, and you wouldn’t be crazy for assuming that it could belong to the woman that he is fetishizing. The video cuts from a young woman’s flesh, to the flesh of an animal being prepared in a purposefully disorientating way. It further cuts from a woman sleeping in underwear to Levine punching a hanging carcass. One of the most explicitly stalker-like scene is a scene where Levine appears to stroke the woman’s arm at a bar (where she turns away from him and shuns him, clearly blocking the unwanted attention). Not only does this choppy editing style literally communicate that the woman is a piece of meat, but it confuses passion and lust with encroachment and aggression. Ultimately, the video suggests that a predator/prey relationship is both normal and necessary in a male pursuit of a romantic partner. It’s not at all surprising that domestic violence groups have had a ferocious reaction to the video.

If you want to watch the video, watch it with caution, and pay close attention to the creepy lyrics which go alongside these images. As if the video’s stalker message wasn’t clear enough, Levine actually sings; “Maybe you think that you can hide, I can smell your scent for miles,” which ultimately plays off the female fear of a predatory man and further perpetuates the kind of attitudes Emma Watson addressed and broke down in her famous UN speech.

Live: Outfit

7th October

Gulliver’s

8/10

When a band introduce their set with, “we’re going to be playing mainly new songs”, it can mean either one of two things; they’re using this audience as guinea pigs for a trial run of half completed numbers, or, they’re so confident with their new tracks, they’ll play them even if it’s not what the audience wants to hear. Clearly Outfit are of the latter seam, and in spite of the risk, they pull it off with extreme professionalism.

Based around the focal point of singer and keyboardist Andrew Hunt, the band patiently respond to his progressive piano chords that slowly saunter around the minor key. With the looping of basic guitar riffs and the swooping of cymbals sliding in and out of earshot, Outfit maximise on the bare minimum. It is because of this reliance on sudden quietness, that it’s hard to tell when one song ends and the next begins. The interludes and pauses play into the ambience just as much as the multi-layered instrumentation of sounds like Lightsabers, Gameboys and reverberations of impending doom. Outfit thrive off the reduction of noise, down to the simple repetition of three chords on piano. Yet Outfit are anything but simple. It’s a phrase thrown about often to any guitar band that takes on electronics, but much of Outfit really does sound like Radiohead, particularly in their intellectual arrangements and attention to minute detail.

Although the downbeat pop vibe that encapsulates the room is heavily weighed down by the melancholy minor key, older tracks such as ‘Elephant Days’, are more coherent with a strong upbeat chorus that grounds the song where others disappear out of recognition. It’s the final song that captures what Outfit are about, with each musical part easily identifiable as an individual sound, whilst working in exact equilibrium to flatter each other. Despite the complex construction of every song, Outfit depend on the individual contribution, and as true perfectionists, don’t allow even the finest of details to slip.

Live: Scottish Soulful Weekender 4

Park Hall Hotel, Chorley

26 – 28th September

7/10

The Scottish Soulful Weekender (SSW) is a somewhat unusual festival in that it is comprised primarily of DJs, with live music complementing the electronic throughout. Still being in its infancy, SSW—potentially jarringly named, to those unfamiliar—markets itself as being held near Preston. Indeed, in its previous three incarnations, it was held at the Cairndale Hotel, in the picturesque market town of Dumfries, Scotland. This time—the fourth year in which the festival has been running—it has found itself being held at The Park Hall Hotel, roughly eight miles south of Preston, whose location close to the centre of Britain makes the festival relatively accessible to those all over the UK. Such a location change, at the cost of the previous, particularly quaint setting, fits in with the somewhat elitist yet friendly and cosmopolitan attitude of the festival’s organisers.

Being held in a hotel, it should immediately be clear that this is a different kind of festival (notably, the organisers have not described SSW as a ‘festival’ in their marketing) to those that students tend to find themselves flocking to. The general vibe of this weekender is something rather unique: during the best part of the daytime, the festival felt like a distinctly awkward school disco, with not much besides the replacement of 11-year olds with primarily middle-aged partygoers to differentiate the two. I am almost certain that myself and my accompaniment, at the ages of twenty one and twenty respectively, were the youngest people in attendance.

I do not mean to suggest that SSW has nothing to offer young adults: the progressive aesthetic which Yogi Haughton—its chief promoter—has emphasised is one that should be attractive to younger generations, if only it had more exposure herein. The weekender itself embodies a pleasingly progressive approach to house music, with an emphasis on crossover and fusion; particularly with the funk and soul genres. A look at the line-up on the impressively laid out SSW4 website will reveal an array of DJs hailing from a diverse range of backgrounds, and expound upon what they have to offer. SSW yields more for the price of admission than most popular festivals: weekend tickets cost only £99, with double rooms available for an added £91 for two nights—or an added £116 for three.

The itinerary of the festival was scheduled to be as follows: three main rooms (The Blue Room, The Shrine Room and The Pressure Point), in which the majority of the booked DJs play, plus an outdoor area (So Chill), and finally, a room in which emerging talents can book themselves in to show off their DJing skill (The Goldmine).

Unfortunately, certain difficulties led to The Blue Room being cut very soon before the weekender kicked off, leading to its performers being moved to the other rooms, which knocked many performances off of the stated times in the schedule. To my annoyance, I ended up missing out on Anne Sexton’s set—one which I was particularly looking forward to. Despite this, I was far from left deprived of quality live soul music. Big Brooklyn Red delivered a stunning and unique vocal performance alongside Dave Hulmes and Groove Assassin, and legendary house vocalist CeCe Rogers, together with both his keytar and myriad of excellent faces. Saturday night in The Shrine Room was stellar throughout, with a live band backing a series of excellent singers, chief among them being Garfield Fleming, whose set was unforgettable.

SSW seems to be progressing as a festival; and is faring admirably in its aim to bring house music and the music that came to creatively form a significant portion of it to an increasingly diverse audience.

Live: The Travelling Band

Gorilla

4th October

6/10

Indie-Folk outfit the Travelling Band pack out Gorilla’s 700-capacity venue with their warm, mid-tempo melodies. In their generous 90-minute set this eight-piece band played a large portion of their back catalogue with every musical instrument short of a kitchen sink. They played quiet, introspective folk ballads. They played warm, driving indie which had the crowd singing along. They finished with some stomping folk-blues-rock. The cleverness in their set-list was that they somehow made all of these changes happen smoothly.

Electric guitar. Acoustic Guitar. Banjo. Harmonica. Keyboard. Bass. Drums. Violin. Cello. Tenor Sax. Trumpet. Trombone. It was hard to keep track of how many times they switched instruments/members throughout the evening. This helps them sound different song-to-song and while it is impressive that they can carry this many instruments to a gig it did seem overdone at times. In the end, it is the one thing they didn’t change—Nick Vaal on drums—that was the best thing about seeing them live. He played the entire set with a massive smile across his face and a vigour that reminded me of Animal from the Muppets.

The songs are polished, well written and at times anthemic—in their own indie-folk way. They sounded at times like a cross between Mumford & Sons and the Thrills. I liked seeing this band, and they played a strong live set which their fans thoroughly enjoyed. But I noticed that the additional string section, which sometimes became the additional horn section, seemed far less connected to the audience than the other members.

Trying too hard at something because you love it is not a crime; but it should not get in the way of the music, or come across negatively. When the lead singer said, “If you see anyone talking then do what I do and look at them as if you’re going to kill them and fuck their sister,” he was kidding.

But only just.

Live: Sylvan Esso

6th October

Soup Kitchen

8/10

Sylvan Esso played a sensational but short set at Manchester’s Soup Kitchen on Monday night. The support act came in the form of Cosmo Sheldrake, a multi-instrumentalist who builds up the many layers present in his songs via live looping. Despite the naff name, the complexity and quality of his songs was simply amazing. Announcing to the audience before ‘The Moss’, that the samples used in this song were recorded by “smashing bits of Welsh slate against each other”, he certainly captured the audience’s attention.

Anticipation was running high by the time Sylvan Esso took the stage. Despite half the duo being ill, their set was lively and well received by a very responsive crowd. Opener ‘Hey Mami’, was as tight and slick as on record, and singer Amelia Meath’s vocals oozed warmth. The energy of follower ‘Could I Be’, got the room shuffling to it’s infectious beat. The trappy ‘Wolf’ and the dancy ‘H.S.K.T’ maintained the electric atmosphere in the room and kept the crowd dancing. ‘Coffee’, Sylvan Esso’s debut single, and perhaps the most well-known song in the bands repertoire, was performed as emotively as on the record, and it’s slower and slightly downbeat sound provided a beautiful moment of respite. The set closed on the epic ‘Play it Right’, a song which builds off the live looping of one vocal line. Its large sound momentarily transported the crowd away from gloomy underground confines Soup Kitchen, and was a clear display of the band’s enormous potential.

Sadly it felt like the night ended slightly prematurely, with the whole gig lasting less than 45 minutes. The band acknowledge that the reason for this is that they only have one album, but a hint at new material, or at least a cover song would have been nice. However, it was still a great opportunity to see this brilliant emerging talent play a smaller and intimate venue before their career catapults.

Live: The Horrors

27th September

Albert Hall

6/10

Ignore the tight jeans and the baggy hairstyles, this isn’t a one-off horror show. This is just another stop on the tour machine for Faris Badwan and Co. The lights are on—blindingly so at times—but is anyone really at home within this band of misfits?

Everyone’s heard the stories about The Horrors of old. Nowadays Faris barely talks to the crowds, let alone throw black paint over them. Despite the production of the night being flashier and louder than ever before, the band feels distant. The song choices aren’t bad—there’s an excellent back catalogue here—but they are boringly predictable. From opening with the first track on their new album (‘Chasing Shadows’) to ending with the same track they’ve closed with for the last three years (‘Moving Further Away’). Truly epic tracks like ‘Sea Within a Sea’ are still too good to be cut down and used to pad out the middle of a set. But unfortunately it was, and I could barely hear that bit that sounds like a whale love song. What a travesty.

If the problem is with the music, it comes down to the new album. Luminous has its beautiful moments born out of the loving self-produced sounds. But played live alongside raw psychedelic punk tunes like ‘Scarlet Fields’ dilutes the essence of both. The new tracks sound muddy and the older tracks from Primary Colours have lost their edge.

But for a band like The Horrors, sometimes just being there is enough. Their avid fans push and shove about, like it was only yesterday that they cried their paint-filled eyes out after hearing their first album Strange House live for the very last time. Since then, The Horrors have learnt how to spoon feed their fans what they want. Today it was a decent show with impressive lights and set list designed to promote the new album. But this bowl of post-punk-psychedelic-shoe-gaze-electro-pop (with a hint of disco?) is starting to smell a little off. There’s still time left, maybe it’s the time for a radical new flavour?

Live: These Ghosts

8th October

Soup Kitchen

7.5/10

Following the unveiling of their three-years-in-the-making second album Still the Waves last month, These Ghosts have been supporting the release on a nationwide tour with math rockers Tall Ships. The Soup Kitchen show was the first of four dates—as well being the band’s first ever appearance in Manchester—and all signs point towards the Norfolk three-piece being one to watch out for in the near future.

Despite being tonight’s support act, by the time These Ghosts began, the venue’s infamously tiny basement was already crowded. Relying heavily on their latest release, they opened with ‘The Great Unknown’, with its restless, fidgety rhythm section and nimble guitar work setting the tone for the rest of the set. In a live setting, the Radiohead comparisons ring even truer; every band member constantly juggled operating carefully layered samplers and synthesizers in addition to their main instruments, and frontman Calum Duncan seemingly came onstage equipped with both Thom Yorke’s expressive falsetto and hipster ponytail.

The shuffling beat and haunting lullaby vocals of lead single ‘Coat of Feathers’ was an early highlight, and ’Safe’ will no doubt quickly become a live staple for the band, with an airy, euphoric chorus and swirling guitars that would sound at home in venues much larger than their current billing commands. The piano heavy, glitchy rhythmed ballad ‘Gold Heart Green Skin’ followed soon after, before closer ‘Where Two Lines Meet’ showcased Harry Hall’s frantic drumming in what is perhaps the band’s most propulsive track to date.

Only two albums in, These Ghosts’ knack for intricate arrangements and soaring hooks is already impressive, and although seeing an up and coming band in an intimate setting is always enjoyable, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the band visiting larger venues next time they decide to venture up north.

Album: Yellowcard – Lift a Sail

Released October 7th

Razor & Tie

6.5/10

The Florida based pop-punk band Yellowcard released their new album Lift a Sail on their new record label Razor & Tie on October 7th, featuring what seems to be a rather different adaptation from their earlier sound, although vocalist Ryan Key’s punk vocals still soar just as they did during Ocean Avenue days.

This album is a more personal adaptation of the things going on in the band members’ personal lives with Ryan Key dedicating beautiful singles like ‘One Bedroom’ and ‘Madrid’ to his wife and ‘My Mountain’ to his departed Grandfather. This is the first album not featuring the band’s longtime drummer Longineu Parsons III, but the new drummer performs just fine with some crashing drum patterns on songs like ‘Transmission Home’—mixed with some soaring guitar riffs, it is definitely a recipe for a good rock song. Overall, the album’s sound is rather catchy and beautiful and surely a new turn for the the band’s long adapted alternative/pop-punk sound. The opening song ‘Convocation’ is quite interesting with violinist Sean Mackin taking the lead and again on ‘MSK’ which consisted of mainly violin and some electro synth keys work.

Up to this point the album is a rather evolved expression of the band’s musicality. Featuring heavy riffs on songs like ‘Crash The Gates’ and ‘Illuminate’, a feature that is popular with the band’s way of playing but in a different, new perspective. Memphis May Fire vocalist Matty Mullins provides guest vocals on ‘The Deepest Wall’. Both singers coordinate very well with vocals exchanged during the song. Guitarist Ryan Mendez’s commendable work manifests in the nicely anticipated built up to his solo in ‘One Bedroom’. So far the candidate for the crowd pleasing sing along song seems to be ‘Make Me So’.

The album has its drawbacks as well such as in ‘Fragile and Dear’ the lengthy running time makes it feel like its dragging. Eventually it can be concluded the tracks are of a slower tempo with a fair amount of ballads. It is a new turn for their sound which is bound to bring their audience back for more.

Album: Jamie T – Carry On The Grudge

Released 29th September

Virgin EMI

7/10

Let me take you back to September 2009. Oasis had just split up, Susan Boyle was a thing, and everybody I knew had a side fringe. This was also the month that Kings and Queens, Jamie T’s previous, much loved album was released. Now, he is back with the highly anticipated follow-up, Carry On the Grudge.

In the 5-ish years since Jamie pretty much disappeared off the face of the earth, the musical landscape has undergone a massive overhaul, and honestly, I was a little worried how Jamie T’s music would fit in to this new climate. However, it seems that over the last 5 years it wasn’t just the music scene that had changed.

Sure, there are times on Carry On the Grudge which almost seem like an ancient relic of those days of boys with guitars and chips on their shoulders. For example, tracks like ‘Rabbit Hole’ and Radio 1’s beloved ‘Zombie,’ still have that urgent, hip-hop, punky edge that Jamie became so well known for.

Despite this, the album as a whole has a chilled, almost melancholy sound. If I could use one word to describe it, it would be pleasant. Sure, it’s different to what I might have expected, but still thoughtful and tender and with a sinister edge. A prime example of this is first single ‘Don’t You Find’, a bold reintroduction to one of the most distinctive British musicians of the last decade.

The album itself isn’t a complete departure, but instead a boiled-down, reflective reimagining of his previous musical style. All in all, it seems like a new twist on the same old influences, rather than a completely different direction for Jamie T.

Live: Hawkwind

October 4th

Academy 1

8/10

Madcap ‘space rock’ troupe and overlords of the universe Hawkwind headlined their very own ‘Hawktoberfest’ at Academy 1. Okay, ‘overlords of the universe’ may be a slight overstatement, but that’s the kind of impression they give off. Dave Brock’s apocalyptic opening spoken word passage reduces the crowd to minions, enslaved by the interplanetary gods on stage.

“IN THE FACE OF SONIC ATTACK, EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF.” “DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE YOUR LIMBS.” “EVERYTHING ENDS HERE.” It’s finally happened. Hawkwind have tricked 2000 people into paying a £22.50 entry fee to their own mass execution.

You get the feeling the creators of ‘Spinal Tap’ may have been to a Hawkwind gig or two. Cosmic dancers dangle from drapes on either side of the stage in an intermission of droning synths and space gun noises. The videos being projected onto the backdrop are hilariously bad—one involves keywords like ‘WAR!’ ‘POVERTY!’ and ‘9/11!’ all spinning with powerpoint-level effects atop pictures of various humanitarian crises. The colourful patterns that fill the screen for the next song look like a kid is playing around on Paint. But it’s old school and the people love it. It’s also forgiveable when you remember that these guys are pretty old and probably haven’t quite got the hang of the internet yet.

Aside from the supplements, the music is thrilling. From their huge back catalogue they cherry-pick a setlist that spans 30 years while managing to sound remarkably coherent. ‘Orgone Accumulator’ in particular, from 1973’s Space Ritual, sounds phenomenal (as does anything from that album, 40 years later). Their material from the 70s has aged so well, sounding as if catapulted through the time warps and galactic worm holes they always sung of. I can see this brand of psychedelic music coming back into fashion, in a backlash against a tide of vague introspective bands labelled psychedelic just because they use lots of phaser effects. This is truly bonkers psychedelia with a punk edge. Long live Hawkwind.

One more thing—to Academy 1: kudos on the new air conditioning system.

Live: Childhood

4th October

Deaf Insitute

6/10

Having been working on tracks for over four years, Childhood only released their debut album Lacuna in August of this year. Since the record is made up of an accumulation of songs they’ve been sitting on for a while, Childhood enter onto the stage with an aim to prove the progression of their sound over that time.

This means interspersing catchy riffs with hints of the more experimental, as if dipping in and out of some psychedelic trance. ‘Pinballs’ epitomises this perfectly; progressing louder and louder until what sounds like a spaceship arriving splinters into disarray, butchering the tempo to within an inch of what it was before. This ebbing of fast and slow goes down well and although coming as a sweet surprise first time round, when repeated again in other songs such as ‘Pay For Cool’ and ‘When You Rise’, the magic is slightly lost.

Singer Ben Romans-Hopcraft’s vocals are lyrically indecipherable most of the time, but in songs such as ‘Right Beneath Me’, the dreamy contrast between his deliciously smooth bass and gentle falsetto forgives all with its velvety charm. Saving the best till last, ‘Solemn Skies’ keeps on growing, and this time isn’t reigned in at any point for dramatic effect as with earlier songs, making it somehow more dramatic.

Childhood straddle that fine line between appearing effortlessly cool and just lazy, as their dreamlike sound could be mistaken for blandness. Yet despite being shoved in the corner practically entangled in the backing curtain, it is the synth that takes control in turning potentially plain indie riffs into something quite unique, proving Childhood to be more than just another jangly guitar band.

From the Vault: Joanna Newsom – The Milk-Eyed Mender

Released March, 2004

Drag City

Made back when Newsom still made songs under five minutes, The Milk-Eyed Mender suggests at her precocious talent for beautiful arrangements and enchanted storytelling. ‘This Side of the Blue’ (once used on a ‘switch off your mobiles’ cinema advert) has always felt so familiar, even when it was fresh to my ears. Newsom has a capacity for soaking her songs in a comfortable nostalgia that evokes universal childhood pursuits of fairy tales and semi imagined worlds. At times, but just enough and not too much, her songs have a touch of melancholy, like the soft and slight ‘En Gallop’.

Her vocal style can tip in to the cat lady screech, especially when layered up such as on the ‘Sprout and the Bean’, or when wailing the chorus of ‘Sadie’ or all of ‘Three Little Babes’. The vocals become almost intolerable in the short ‘Peach Plum Pear’, but the sadness in the lyrics and descending vocals that sing “I am blue,” feel honest and sincere instead of fey and jarring. The final ‘Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie’ hints at the Newsom that is to come, with more careful vocals and a space granted to the music, a space which means her later songs can bear repeated listening without getting boring.

For Newsom, her voice is another part of the instrumentation to arrange and listening to more recent work shows how such arrangements have evolved. Her most recent album, Have One On Me (with three CDs), features an almost classical approach to arranging. In it, Newsom offers variations both in the story telling and in the music that span the entire album, picking up themes on a later track.

Wise or incredibly naïve, affected or gauche, the tweeness sometimes riles as you yearn for something a bit less featherweight. For anyone who tires of Newsom’s earnest folking, the remix of ‘Book of Right-on’ by Clouds is beautiful and demonstrates her appeal beyond any initial antipathetic impressions. The whole album sounds like an aural iteration of some Baltic tapestry and the dreamed landscapes Newsom weaves with her harp are endlessly beguiling. It’s a perfect starting point to follow her to stranger lands in her subsequent albums.

Album: Electric Youth – Innerworld

Released 29th September

Last Gang Records

8/10

Three years after their initial exposure with the sleeper hit ‘A Real Hero’, their collaboration with French outfit College from the critically lauded Drive soundtrack, Canadian electropop duo Electric Youth have finally emerged from the studio with their first full length album, Innerworld. Filled with much the same retro stylings as their debut single—which gets an encore here as the album’s hypnotic closer—the record is a faithful throwback to the world of 80s pop; this shouldn’t be surprising for a band who takes their name from a Debbie Gibson song. Every track is carried by the familiar warm soundscapes of vintage keyboards complemented by haunting, ethereal vocals, resulting in an album which is both immersive and otherworldly in even measure.

After a short, instrumental opener, lead single ‘Runaway’ introduces the vast, cinematic quality that permeates much of the record, awash with synthesizers and chugging new wave guitars as vocalist Bronwyn Griffin, whose voice bears more than a passing resemblance to a young Madonna, delivers the first of many euphoric choruses. The wistful, nostalgic ‘Innocence’ is another early highlight, which laments the loss of youth over cascading keyboards and a restrained, pulsating beat. ‘Without You’ meanwhile, the album’s most unabashedly pop moment, is a Robyn-esque breakup song that melds dreamy, soaring vocals with twinking synths over a driving bass line.

As far as debut albums go, Innerworld is impressively well thought out and cohesive, though this strength is also at times its downfall; whilst the likes of ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘The Best Thing’ are both melancholy ballads whose quality justify the album’s tendency for sleepy tempos, ‘If All She Has Is You’ and bonus track ‘Modern Fears’ both overstay their welcome with plodding rhythms and hooks that, try as they might, never quite achieve liftoff. This is a small complaint—which, given the quality of the high points, is forgivable—but also one that keeps the album from achieving the status of an instant classic.

Anyone who enjoyed ‘A Real Hero’ will undoubtedly find Innerworld worth the wait, as each of its tracks follow roughly the same formula of hazy, intricately layered pop. Electric Youth have created a distinctive sound which, if they can build upon effectively next time round, has the potential to be welcomed by the mainstream and indie kids alike.

Album: James Yorkston – The Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society

Released 14th August

Domino

5/10

Cellardyke is a village in the east of Scotland, and there are two different traditions of wassailing, one equivalent to Christmas carolling and the other, the Orchard-Visiting wassail that involves visiting orchards in cider-producing regions of England to recite incantations and sing to the trees to promote a good harvest. The most original thing about this album is its title.

The Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society is pretty boring. I love folk music and have happily sat through some Yorkston before, but you’ll not find anything here that you wouldn’t find elsewhere – from the very Bill Callahan-like ‘Guy Fawkes’ Signature’ to the clingy female backing vocals (which I thought he would’ve lost by now) that I have come across too many times elsewhere with The Moldy Peaches, First Aid Kit, et al. There’s even a very good impression of Thom Yorke in ‘Feathers are Falling’. It’s very à la mode folk-y: akin to Fleet Foxes and all that, i.e. there’s more of exactly the same from Yorkston.

Of course there is always something in the bridging of different styles to create something new. But there’s nothing new here: there’s little combination, every song simply switches from one type/artist’s panache to another.

But from other reviews it seems that I’m missing something. Everyone seems to love it — but they talk mostly about the lyrics — the music itself has just been described as “haunting” and other such adjectives typically used for this genre of music. The lyrics are occasionally interesting when they’re not his typical style of nonsense rambling. For example it’s sweet when he quotes his “oldest” saying “when I grow up I will be the king of the moles and will build you a home…” on ‘Sleep on’, a song about losing a loved one. They’re an attempt to immortalise things in his life—experiences with his children and such, and why not? But this is only worthy of a hobby, to play to a familiar audience in his local bar perhaps—lose those stalk-y backing female vocals and that would be lovely to sit in on. But that’s it.

At least it’s not a painful listen—they go down quite smoothly. Just so bloody ordinary.

Album: The Marmozets – The Weird and Wonderful Marmozets

Released October 6th

Roadrunner Records

9/10

The hype surrounding Marmozets has been considerable, culminating in performances at Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds earlier this year. With the release of their debut LP The Weird and Wonderful Marmozets, the hype can be believed and the title of the album proves accurate.

Instantly, the quintet from Bingley grab you by the balls and tell you that they mean business with the heavy and exhilarating opener ‘Born Young and Free’, following it up with lead singer Becca Macintyre’s angry snarl on the punk-riff driven ‘Why Do You Hate Me?’ The album offers plenty of heavy punk compositions by the Macintyre boys on drums and guitar and the Bottomley brothers on bass and guitar, with lead vocals and screams that make it seem like the world is ending. This is shown on tracks like ‘Cover Up’, which has a bizarre staccato chorus, ‘Vibetech’ opening with the strangest intro riff I’ve ever heard, and ‘Move, Shake, Hide’ which will please fans of harder, almost metal, music.

Sadly, towards the end of the album the anger and weight of the punk sounds begins to wear. Fortunately, the LP isn’t just filled with music that angry teens like to mosh to in dark venues with sticky floors and a ubiquitous smell of piss; it is varied by the slower tracks like ‘Cry’. The track swells from a slow piano lead song to a climactic middle section and down to a slow outro, with Becca showing some impressive and more subtle vocals. The final track ‘Back to You’ also has a slow progressive ascension into a cathartic and uplifting final jam from the boys of the band.

The cheeky and playful attitude (e.g. giving the coffee and tea makers a special thanks in the back of the booklet) of the band and the downright bizarre riffs on some of the album’s tracks are worthy of the title of the LP and differentiate Marmozets from other hardcore punk rockers. If they can keep up the rate they’re going at it, won’t be long before they are among the big names in modern rock.