April 2014
www.brumnotes.com music and lifestyle for the west midlands
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J AW S COMING OF AGE
RECORD STORE DAY SPECIAL What’s happening at Brum’s best record shops AND ALSO: Adam Shelton: 10 years of The Rainbow / Blood Red Shoes Scott Matthews / Goodnight Lenin / The Ex / Sky Larkin and more… PLUS: The verdict on Damon Albarn’s debut solo album / Fashion trends to get you ready for spring / This month’s best new art exhibitions / Your complete guide to what’s on across Birmingham April 2014
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Charlie Simpson
Sat 25th Oct • £15 adv 1pm -11pm Weekend ticket £25 adv
Sat 17th May • £18.50 adv
Knock-Out Jam
Thurs 15th May • £15 adv
Rescheduled show • original tickets valid
Professor Green 10.30pm-3.30am • £4 adv
OVER 18S ONLY - PROOF OF AGE REQUIRED
Thurs 17th Apr • £3 adv
Propaganda present Good Thursday Fri 4th Apr • £12.50 adv
Sat 17th May • £5 adv
UK B-Boy Championships
Sun 18th May • £24 adv
Fri 7th Nov • £16.50 adv
We Are Saviours Courtney Love
Mon 7th Apr • £14 adv
Sun 15th June • £8 adv / £15 VIP
+ Dayshell + The Smoking Hearts
Thurs 10th Apr
Memphis May Fire + The Word Alive + Cytota
Sat 12th Apr • £20 adv
Matt Cardle
Sun 13th Apr • £16 adv
Patti Russo
Andy Jordan
Thurs 26th June • £15 adv
Heaven & Earth + M.ILL.ION
Sun 29th June • £30-£35 adv Seated show • over 18s only
Hollywood Babble-On Moved from The Institute, Birmingham Original Tickets Still Valid
Extreme
Pornograffitti Live Tour + Leogun
Sat 19th Apr • £8.50 adv
Mon 7th July • £15 adv
ft. Fortunes + special guests
Brian Jonestown Massacre
Tues 22nd Apr • £11.50 adv
Sun 20th July • £13 adv
Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats
+ Black Moth + Admiral Sir Cloudseley Shovell
Thurs 24th Apr • £10 adv
Blood Red Shoes + DZ Deathrays + Slaves
6.30pm - 10pm
Ultimate Genesis Mon 21st July • £12.50 adv 6.30pm - 10pm
Onslaught Sat 23rd Aug • £22.50 adv / £25 VIP 9pm - 5am • over 18s only
6.30pm - 10pm
Bassman Birthday 2014
Celebrating 30 years since the release of ‘The Smiths’, performing album in full
Tues 26th Aug • £12.50 adv
Fri 25th Apr • £11 adv
The Smyths Sat 26th Apr • £12 adv
Mordred + Furyon + Valous
Brody Dalle
Tues 23rd Sept • £15 adv
Mon 28th Apr • £12.50 adv VIP tickets £24.50 adv
Sat 27th Sept • £20 adv
Patent Pending & People On Vacation Tues 29th Apr • £16.50 adv
Clutch
Mon 5th May • £17.50 adv
Andrew Strong
Sat 10th May • £19.50 adv
Embrace
Fri 12th Dec • £11.50 adv 6.30pm -10pm
The Doors Alive
Weds 28th May • £8 adv
+ Ego Honey + Faith + Jungle Doctors
Futureproof
7pm - 10pm
The Summer Set Ones To Watch
At The Gates
Sat 5th Apr • £6 adv
Thurs 10th Apr • £7 adv
Within Temptation + Delain
5.30pm - 11pm
Sun 7th Dec • £18 adv
FOR THE VERY LATEST LISTINGS PLEASE CHECK OUR WEBSITE
+ Jai McDowall
Gareth Gates
Mon 7th July • £28.50 adv
6pm - 10pm
Catch the Rainbow Tour
Asking Alexandria
The Vibe
with Kevin Smith & Ralph Garman
Fri 18th Apr • £12 adv
Graham Bonnet
5.30pm -10pm
Weds 25th June • £17.50 adv
Weds 16th Apr • £20 adv
6.30pm - 10pm • Rescheduled - original tix valid
World Final
6.30pm -10pm
Sat 31st May • £27.50 adv
Graham Parker and The Rumour
Halestorm
Sun 26th Oct • £15 adv 3pm -11pm Weekend ticket £25 adv
6.30pm - 10.30pm
Emblem3
6pm - 10pm
UK B-Boy Championships
Fri 5th Dec • £15 adv
Primal Fear + Chrome Molly The Fray
Sat 27th Sept • £12 adv 8pm - 1am • over 18s only
Quadrophenia Club Night Big Screen Film Show with DJ Drew Stansall (The Specials) plus The Atlantics (playing the movie hits) + The Coopers + The Birmingham Club A Go Go DJ’s
Sat 18th Oct • £16 adv
Katy B
The Last Carnival + Redshift + The Colliers + Room Service
Fri 11th Apr • £10 adv 6.30pm - 10pm
Novana
(Nirvana Tribute) 20 years of In Utero, performing Album in full + A Poetic Yesterday
Sat 12th Apr • £10 adv
Rescheduled • original tix valid
Sex Pistols Experience + Tommy Gun
6pm - 10pm
+ Connor Harris + Canary Swing + Rewind
Thurs 29th May • £9 adv
The Riptide Movement Sat 31st May • £10 adv
Metallica Reloaded Weds 4th June • £12.50 adv
Wooden Ships
+ The Cult Of Dom Keller
Fri 6th June • £8 adv 6pm - 10pm
Hozier Thurs 3rd July • £4-£6 adv
Mon 21st Apr • £9 adv
Sick Puppies + The Feud
School Of Rock & Pop Showcase
Sat 26th Apr • £5 adv
Fri 11th July • £10 adv
GlassBullet
In Hindsight
6.45pm - 11pm
6pm - 10pm
+ Salvation + Feral Sun + Black Tongue Messiah + Signs of Fire
Weds 20th Aug • £12.50 adv
Sun 27th Apr • £12 adv
+ Sanctorum
Norma Jean
My Ruin
+ Life Ruiner + Night Verses + Branson Hollis
Tues 9th Sept • £10 adv
Mon 28th Apr • £8 adv
(Pearl Jam Tribute)
Fearless Vampire Killers
Pearl Jem
+ Dead
Fri 19th Sept • £10 adv
Fri 2nd May • £10 adv
Definitely Mightbe
6.30pm - 10pm
6.30pm - 10pm
Kazabian (Kasabian Tribute)
(Oasis Tribute) 20 Year Celebration, Performing Definitely Maybe in Full
Tues 6th May • £8 adv
Sat 20th Sept • £10 adv
Sun 11th May • £11 adv
Sun 28th Sept • £12.50 adv
Bad Rabbits Pure Love
Tues 13th May • £10 adv
Martin Stephenson & The Daintees + Helen McCookerybook
Weds 14th May • £19.50 adv
Michael Franti & Spearhead Mon 19th May • £15 adv
Hank Wangford & the Lost Cowboys
UK Foo Fighters Rescheduled • original tix valid
Hats Off To Led Zeppelin Fri 17th Oct • £10 adv 6.30pm - 10pm
The Modfathers UK’s Number 1 Tribute to Paul Weller & The Jam
Sat 18th Oct • £10 adv
Danny & The Champions Of The World Sat 8th Nov • £10 adv
‘Waltzing With Wangford 2014’
Antarctic Monkeys
Weds 21st May • £12.50 adv / £27.50 VIP
Sat 29th Nov • £11 adv
Up Close and Personal Acoustic Tour
The UK’s No. 1 Stone Roses Tribute
M.A.D.
The Clone Roses
16-18 Horsefair, Bristol St, Birmingham, B1 1DB 2
Doors 7.00pm unless stated • Venue box office opening hours: Mon-Fri 12pm-4pm, Sat 11am-4pm • No booking fee on cash transactions Brum Notes Magazine ticketweb.co.uk • seetickets.com • gigantic.com • ticketmaster.co.uk
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Tuesday 13 May
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AT WAR WITH REALITY 2014 PLUS GUESTS
MONDAY 26 MAY
BIRMINGHAM GLEE CLUB GLEE.CO.UK 0871 472 0400 GIGSANDTOURS.COM 0844 811 0051 WHITEDENIMMUSIC.COM A METROPOLIS MUSIC PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH WME
MONDAY 16 JUNE SUNDAY 7 DECEMBER
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A METROPOLIS MUSIC PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH 13 ARTISTS
April 2014
TO U R A N N O U N C E M E N TS & P R I O R I T Y B O O K I N GS • F I N D U S O N
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CONTENTS
Katherine Priddy at Cafe Ort, Balsall Heath. See more on P36. Photo by Wayne Fox. Brum Notes Magazine Unit 12 The Bond 180-182 Fazeley Street Birmingham B5 5SE info@brumnotes.com 0121 224 7363 Advertising 0121 224 7363 advertising@brumnotes.com Distribution StickupMedia! 0121 224 7364 Editor: Chris Moriarty Contributors Words: David Vincent, Daron Billings, Dan Cooper-Gavin, Ed Ling, Lyle Bignon, Saima Razzaq, Ben Russell, Tajinder Hayer, Tom Roden, Stephen Brolan New Music Editor: Amy Sumner Arts Editor: Dan Cooper-Gavin Food & Drink Editor: Daron Billings Pictures: Andy Hughes, Wayne Fox, Rob Hadley Design: Adam Williams, Andy Aitken Connect Twitter: @BrumNotesMag Facebook: www.facebook.com/ BrumNotesMagazine Online: www.brumnotes.com
Regulars News 6-7 Fresh Talent 10-11 Style 32-33 Food & Drink 34 Live Reviews 36-37 Album Reviews 38-39 What’s On Guide 40-46 Music and Features Behind the Scenes: Goodnight Lenin 8-9 Arts & Culture: Tim Shaw/Michel François 14-15 Scott Matthews 16 Record Store Day in Birmingham 18-19 Blood Red Shoes 22-23 Big Deal 24 Sky Larkin 25 The Ex 26 Jaws 28-29 Adam Shelton 30-31 All content © Brum Notes Magazine. Views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Brum Notes Magazine. While all care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of content, Brum Notes Magazine will not be held liable for any errors or losses claimed to have been incurred by any errors. Advertising terms and conditions available on request.
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metropolis music present
ROBBIE WILLIAMS SWINGS BOTH WAYS LIVE
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MONDAY 09 JUNE
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SUNDAY 11 MAY
BIRMINGHAM GLEE CLUB
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THURSDAY 5TH JUNE
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ALBUM ‘BURN YOUR FIRE FOR NO WITNESS’ OUT NOW ANGELOLSEN.COM
A METROPOLIS MUSIC PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH X-ray and ie:music ltd.
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PLUS GUEST
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A METROPOLIS MUSIC PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH PAPER AND IRON BOOKING CO.
THURSDAY 08 MAY
BIRMINGHAM PLUS GUESTS
MONDAY 23 JUNE
BIRMINGHAM THE INSTITUTE
THE INSTITUTE
0844 248 5037 GIGSANDTOURS.COM
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April 2014
TO U R A N N O U N C E M E N TS & P R I O R I T Y B O O K I N GS • F I N D U S O N
A METROPOLIS MUSIC & SJM CONCERTS PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH WME
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month of world class dance to take over venues across the city One of the largest celebrations of dance in Europe returns to the West Midlands this month. The International Dance Festival Birmingham 2014 runs from April 24 to May 25, offering a month of world class performances, collaborations, outdoor spectacles and more. Events will take place across various venues, including Birmingham Hippodrome, DanceXchange, Symphony Hall, Warwick Arts Centre, the Crescent Theatre, The Rep and the streets of the city centre. The prestigious Birmingham Royal Ballet kicks things off on April 24 at the Crescent Theatre, while other standout shows will include Québécois dance company Cas Public joining forces with Birmingham choir Ex Cathedra for an ambitious re-imagining of Duruflé’s Requiem, while Matthew Bourne’s internationallyacclaimed New Adventures and RE:Bourne bring a unique production of Lord of the Flies to the Hippodrome, featuring a cast of young talent. Visit www.idfb.co.uk for full details.
one beat weekender to serve up two days of new music this summer
have you bagged your free cd?
New music festival One Beat will take over a whole weekend when it returns to the leafy surrounds of the Mac in Birmingham this summer.
Give this magazine a shake and you may well find a new CD drops out. That’s because we’ve teamed up with Digbeth-based collective DIE DAS DER and Dead London Records to unleash a special compilation of acts from across Birmingham and beyond. Copies are being circulated to celebrate Record Store Day, with 100 of them being hidden in random copies of this very mag. The album features 14 acts and, in the space of 45 minutes, runs the gauntlet from postpunk and hardcore, to grunge, indie-pop and good old fashioned rock’n’roll. Featured artists include Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam, The Mighty Young, The Starries, Wax Futures, Ghosts of Dead Airplanes, Eat Y’Self Pretty, Milk Teeth, Shana Tova, Rulers, ANiMA, Cold Ocean Lies, Bombers, Why? Said The Moon to Earth and IONS. A limited number of CDs will also be given away on Record Store Day at Polar Bear Records and at Slipped Discs, a free show curated by Die Das Der at The Sun at the Station in Kings Heath. And if you’re blessed enough to have found a CD then get in touch with @WeAreDieDasDer on Twitter. For more info turn to P11 or see our Birmingham Record Store Day guide on P18-19.
The event will double in size for its third annual instalment, taking place across Saturday and Sunday, July 19-20. Building on the sell-out success of last year’s offering, Mac Birmingham and One Beat Records have teamed up with local promoters This is Tmrw to turn it into a two-day celebration of new music, taking place in the unique amphitheatre-style outdoor space nestled in Cannon Hill Park. Among the acts already confirmed are Troumaca, Johnny Foreigner, Dumb, Juice, Grafham Water Sailing Club and Curb. There will also be live appearances from Ekkah, Midnight Bonfires, Elephantine, Hoopla Blue and The Oddysee, as well as Dumb live at One Beat some very special guests that are yet to be announced. DJ sets from the likes of MHVH, This is Tmrw and Jack Parker will also keep the festival spirit going throughout the weekend. Both days will include an all-day bar, plus food stalls and a vintage market, while the Bull’s Head in nearby Moseley will host after parties with late night guest DJs, offering free entry to all One Beat Weekender ticket holders. Tickets are £28 for the weekend or £15 per day and available online or in person from the Mac box office on 0121 446 3232 or at www.macbirmingham.co.uk.
god damn to unleash debut single on one little indian records this month Black Country rockers God Damn will this month release their first single since signing to London label One Little Indian. Recorded in analogue at Liam Watson’s legendary Toe Rag Studios in Hackney, God Damn release Shoe Prints in the Dust backed with It’s A Pity on April 21. The release will be supported by a flurry of national dates, including appearances at The Great Escape festival in Brighton. A superb video accompanies the single and is available to watch on YouTube now. God Damn are currently recording and mastering their debut album between London’s Metropolis and RML Studios in Wolverhampton, the the LP scheduled for release later in the year. Shoe Prints in the Dust is released via digital download and 7ins vinyl on April 21. For updates, follow @GodDamnTheBand on Twitter. 6
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chronicling brummie life through a lens A new social photography project has been launched, showcasing more than 40,000 photos of people, places and events across Birmingham. Some Cities features a dedicated image sharing website focused on the work of snappers of all abilities in and around the Second City. The pictures are shared through Twitter or submitted directly to Some Cities, and cover a variety of subject matters, including portraits, skylines, wildlife, industry, architecture, nightlife, shopping and more. Co-founder Dan Burwood said: “To have recorded such a phenomenal number of images in a relatively short space of time shows us and the world just how many stories unfold in our city at any one time, and that Birmingham really is home to an incredible amount of photographic activity. We’re already working with a community of incredibly talented photographers to take the project forward, and invite residents and organisations across the city to join us on the next step of this exciting shared journey.” New images can be sent directly to Some Cities by email (birmingham@some-cities.com) or via Twitter, tagged with #Birmingham, #somecities and #brumfotos, and will form part of an ongoing digital archive of life in the city. Visit www.some-cities.org.uk. Photos above by (top to bottom) Adrian Lowe, Stephen Lloyd and Alun Severn.
chase & status + annie mac headline may day rave GlobalGathering and The Rainbow will join forces to bring some of the biggest names in UK dance music to Birmingham this May. The two clubbing powerhouses have combined to create M*A*D*E Birmingham, a three-day event across the venue’s various spaces, including the huge outdoor arena. There will be DJ sets from the likes of Chase & Status, Annie Mac, MK and Netsky throughout the party, which runs across the bank holiday weekend from May 2 to 5. The day and night-time event will also bring together some of Birmingham’s best loved underground clubbing brands, including FACE, Seedy Sonics and 2:31. Tickets, starting from £15, are available at www.m-a-d-e.com. April 2014
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behind the scenes
Photos by Richard Shakespeare
Always up for a challenge, Goodnight Lenin decided to mark Record Store Day in unique style by setting themselves the task of recording, mixing and mastering two tracks on vinyl all within 24 hours. After first holing themselves up in Birmingham’s Highbury Studio first thing in the morning on March 23, they laid the tracks down in analogue before racing over to Artisan Audio to put the finishing touches to what would become their limited edition 7ins vinyl release, through label Static Caravan. In a fitting tribute to some of their musical heroes, the tracks were covers of Almost Cut My Hair and Helpless, taken from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s 1970 seminal west coast album Déjà vu. Lead singer John Fell talks us through the whole whirlwind adventure. “The songs were pretty easy to choose. Recently, we felt that we’d released a lot of stuff that didn’t really reflect what we are as a band now and we found that what we were playing in our lock-up was completely different to what we were releasing. We are predominantly influenced by American music, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Jonathan Wilson, Phosphorescent, The Byrds, Gram Parsons and, of course, Crosby, Stills & Nash. With [our debut] album due for release later this year we wanted to rectify our previous choices by putting something out there that really showed what we aspire to be and the music we love. There is no doubting that Goodnight Lenin is a west coast Americana band, via Birmingham. “We chose Highbury Studio because we wanted to achieve that raw sound that artists like Crazy Horse had in the 70s – recording in analogue, 8
playing live in a room and onto tape was perfect for us. Highbury is a beautifully warm studio and is such a comfortable place to record. I think we all individually feel really at ease there and it comes across in the recordings. Then we took the individual tracks over to Artisan Audio to work with Aidan Laverty. He knew exactly what we were after and polished the tracks ever so slightly without losing their rawness. That’s a hugely vital part of the process so it really was a case of the two studios working together. “In terms of the recording, it couldn’t have gone any better. We finished seven hours ahead of schedule and probably could have done another track in hindsight, but I’m glad we focused on the two. The quality of our output is hugely important from now on so it would have been a bit deflating to put something out there that compromised on that. This process was a risk but I think it’s our best work to date by a long shot. “The digitalisation of music is a subject that as a band we’re still divided on. We tend to discuss every aspect of what we do and feel it’s important to have integrity and make sure we’re doing things for the right reason. It’s a huge, promotional tool which makes your music far more accessible whilst also making it more ‘throwaway’. This is why I think this release is pretty cool along with Record Store Day in general. It gives those who want the physical something special to hold,
collect and cherish, whilst not completely turning your back on a marketing tool that can really help you as a band.” Goodnight Lenin celebrate the release with a headline show at The Prince of Wales in Moseley on April 17, a venue they sold out on their last appearance in Birmingham. “The live aspect to our show is vital, it’s what we love doing. It’s why it took us so long to get the album together – we just wanted to play live and nothing else. The last show at The Prince of Wales was so special, we’re hoping it will be a little different this time and we’ll certainly be airing a few tracks from the album. It’s called In The Fullness of Time, which seems fitting for the amount of time it has taken, and is due for release in November. It was also recorded at Highbury Studio and mixed partly over at Artisan Audio, but half of the tracks were mixed by Californian guru Jonathan Wilson. He has played a huge part in us finding our sound so we’re delighted to have him involved.”
Goodnight Lenin release 24/7 for Record Store Day on April 19, through Static Caravan. They are live at The Prince of Wales, Moseley, on April 17. For a full guide to Record Store Day events in Birmingham turn to P18–19.
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TO KICK OFF THE WEEKEND, WE HAVE DJs ON THURSDAY 17TH FROM 6PM UNTIL CLOSE. GOOD FRIDAY REALLY IS GOOD HERE WITH DJs FROM 6.30 UNTIL LATE, THEN ON SATURDAY WE HAVE MORE OF THE SAME, TO TAKE YOU INTO EASTER SUNDAY WHERE WE HAVE FREE LIVE MUSIC FROM 4PM AND WILL BE SERVING UP GOOD OLD FASHIONED SUNDAY ROASTS ALL DAY!
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Words by Amy Sumner and Ben Russell
Cannon Street Cannon Street are made up of Nadi and Rukaiyah Qazi, two sisters crafting beautifully modern folk songs delivered in an intricate and complementary vocal style. ‘On tour, in transit on some road, somewhere,’ as part of their first ever tour, they tell us about the journey so far. “We’ve been singing together our entire lives,” explains one half of the duo, Rukaiyah. “We formed Cannon Street around a yearand-a-half ago and the music we create is very harmony-focused. “We have many musical influences, and they are ever-changing. Right now we’re listening to a lot of Bombay Bicycle Club, Marika Hackman, who we’ve just had the pleasure of supporting, Joan Baez and Antony & The Johnsons.”
Steady Hands “We’re like pop stars, but we actually mean it.” Not the most obvious or even eye-catching of mission statements, but it sums up Birmingham-based junk pop band Steady Hands perfectly. The band are something a bit different, something slightly unusual. Comprising a unique collaboration of musicians from different musical
facebook.com/cannonstreetofficial Former West Midlands residents and with a growing local fanbase following a series of heartwarming performances in Birmingham, the duo are now residing in London. They’ve taken the transition in their stride though. “I’m at King’s College,” explains Rukaiyah, “we’ve got the Tube here, and people walk as fast as I do which is always a plus. “The move has been fantastic, although we do really miss Birmingham. Also there are no amazingly crappy food places in London...shout out to [Balsall Heath fast food outlet] Zaffs, forever our favourite food establishment!” Cannon Street headline the Bohemian Jukebox Sunday Social at the Bull’s Head, Moseley, on April 13.
facebook.com/SteadyHandsMusic backgrounds, they say the band’s aim is to produce a clear and colourful expression of contemporary songwriting. So, clearly wanting something more than your safe and friendly three-and-a-half minute pop song. Formed by songwriter Josh Herring at the Birmingham Conservatoire in 2012, the band’s material started life when Josh began arranging his songs for a larger ensemble built from fellow Conservatoire musicians. The band’s debut album, Fault Lines, featured an impressive 12 players. However, after the initial excitement of such a wildly varied set-up, the band reduced to a more manageable five members, giving them greater focus, allowing each musician their own space. The band are currently writing a new album Hunter/Gatherer (working title) due out in May. The album, produced by Luke Morrish (currently working with Charlotte Church), will feature a variety of instruments and some larger arrangements but the band say they will remain a five-piece when playing live. From a band that began as nothing more than an ensemble project, it has turned into something rather special. And it only shows signs of getting better. Steady Hands are live at Swordfish Records on April 19 and The Adam & Eve, Birmingham, on April 25.
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Brum Notes Magazine
Cold Ocean Lies
facebook.com/ColdOceanLies of post-punk and choruses so catchy they’re veering into alt pop. That they’re still learning is evident, they’re reserved and, at times, shy. But there’s something there. “Most of the time I write my lyrics when I’m walking on my own,” says Luke. “This sounds weird, I sound like such a weirdo, but I sing bits of songs to myself while I walk...only quietly in my head. If I think of a nice line I’ll base the song around that and that’s what I did with The Game, I based it around the opening line, ‘I crumble when I hear your name’.”
“Two hours is a long time when you’re picking words out of a sieve,” concludes Cold Ocean Lies’ softly spoken frontman, Luke Brickett Haycock. It’s a Sunday night, we’re sat huddled around a small table in Cherry Reds and we’re trying to devise a ‘deep back story’ as to how the band came up with their name. Eventually, the truth is conceded, “I printed off a load of words, cut them up, and then we spent two hours sat there arranging them.” This modern age. Cold Ocean Lies are a four-piece formed in Lichfield (“though if you say you’re from Lichfield people say, ‘well where’s that?’ and you end up saying ‘near Birmingham’ anyway”). Having formed just over a year ago through a labyrinth of emails and Facebook messages, the band played their first show at their school’s battle of the bands (“We’d never actually heard Luke sing, we’d had three practices and on the night we turned up and winged it,” says drummer Luke Marvin), and ended up headlining their first ever show in Birmingham last September. Since then they’ve been on the ascent, attracting attention from London’s Turn First Artists and cutting their teeth at venues across their adopted city. For a young band, they’re incredibly impressive – “it gives us time doesn’t it, we haven’t passed our best and still have a lot of time to improve,” Luke M says. Having been in separate bands previously, they’ve all learned what they don’t want to do and within Cold Ocean Lies they’ve settled on a sound that they’re comfortable with. It’s undeniably grunge-rooted but with elements April 2014
For a long time The Game was their only available track online. If you’d made it to one of their shows, you might have picked up a demo which included B-side Wasted Time, both of which brim with crashing crescendos and youth in revolt but which exemplify completely opposing elements of their sound. “The Sunflower Lounge last September was definitely a good show for us,” says Luke M of what they’ve achieved so far. “We ended up headlining last minute and that was quite a lot of pressure...we only found out the week before so needed to extend the set with not much time left. But the great aspect of that show was that it established us in Birmingham,” carries on Luke, “that was our first show in the city. “We’ve been recording with Ryan Pinson too,” he continues. “[the now sadly defunct] Wide Eyed pointed us in his direction and that was the best decision we’ve made – he understands what we want.” With guidance from Turn First and exciting recordings in the bag, it’s all moving forward for the boys. So what can we expect from their headline show this month? “Acrobats and pyrotechnics,” elaborates Luke. “Okay we’ll just bring the one eagle then. Seriously, we have new songs which we haven’t played anywhere before. Turn First are helping us out and giving us some constructive criticism... which is essentially more songs like The Game. I hope that’s not our one hit. But all it is is catchy choruses isn’t it?”
THE PLAYLIST This month’s tracks are all taken from the Die Das Der/Dead London Records compilation album, produced especially for Record Store Day. Look out for free copies being given away across the city. @WeAreDieDasDer
Wax Futures Clocks and Clocks and Clocks An explosive beginning from post-hardcore Telford trio Wax Futures whose Fugazi-tinged admission builds to the repeated moniker: ‘This is not a test this is actually happening’. All aboard!
The Starries Every Every Former Idlewild tour buddies The Starries submit Every Every which is an off-kilter alt rock banger, a heavy yet melodic three-minute thrash.
Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam Halloween II Sebadoh and Trail of Dead-influenced alt pop from the newly expanded four-piece, Halloween II is one of the highlights of the compilation and is to be played LOUD.
The Mighty Young And Then The Rain Came Down Garage rock at its finest from elusive Birmingham duo The Mighty Young. It’s ballsy (a full minute before you’re allowed any vocals) and when they do come in they’re dripping in Jack White. Just how we like our blues rock served.
Shana Tova Dear Friends A welcome return from the Tom Robinsonchampioned trio, Dear Friends is playful indie pop brimming with energy and assuredness. Three minutes well spent.
Milk Teeth Forty Six Punk rock grunge from the Bristol four-piece which begins with a souped-up slacker female vocal and progresses into a dual fronted attack.
Eat Y’Self Pretty Porcelain Avalanche Indie pop five-piece Eat Y’Self Pretty draw us to a close with their euphorically buoyant Porcelain Avalanche. Watch out for this one – it’s got a chorus-and-a-half on it.
Cold Ocean Lies are live at The Sunflower Lounge on April 12. 11
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arts & culture
Ikon at 50: Michel François Helping continue Ikon Gallery’s 50th anniversary celebrations, this month sees the launch of the first UK retrospective of the fascinating Belgian artist Michel François. Dan Cooper-Gavin spoke to the show’s curator Stuart Tulloch to find out more. Michel François may be relatively unknown in the UK, but he’s a prominent figure overseas, with his CV boasting major shows at the Venice Biennale and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. His works include enchanting photography and film, but he’s perhaps best known for his sculpture. Ikon’s curator Stuart Tulloch explains François’ appeal: “It’s about sculpture and ideas about sculpture and what things are made of in contrast to other things – what seems very precious against what isn’t very precious.
“There’s a fantastic work called Golden Cage 1. The process of making that piece of work is inspired by stories of people trying to cross the Mexican/US border. He’s cut smaller bits of steel from it, and what would normally then be the waste product, putting what’s been cut from it inside it. So, the cage itself becomes the most appealing thing, that barrier becomes the most appealing thing, that people are trying to cross. Once you’re through it, why are you trying to cross it, really, just to get a whole load of worthless steel? What’s normally thrown away, irrelevant, becomes the most interesting, the most valuable part of it.” It’s not just the value of material that interests François, but also its durability. “There’s a 14
wonderful photograph of somebody showing the elbows of their sweater,” says Tulloch, “where the elbows have been rubbed and rubbed and rubbed until the fabric gives way and there’s holes. From that, there’s then sculpture as well, pieces that have been worn away. There’s a block of ice that will melt over the course of three days, in comparison to another block that’s of a more solid material.” The exhibition places a strong emphasis on the sequencing and context of its constituent parts. “As you go through, he’s pushing your attention in a very similar direction all the time,” continues Tulloch, “but they’re all works in their own right, they’re all great in their own right, either whether they’re something to make you smile or something thats physical presence is then intriguing to you, and then pushing your attention – so you’ve seen that over there, and then if you look at this at the same time as looking at this... “Some of the photographs are wonderful – wonderful moments that he’s caught. Great film. There’s a really nice one of someone that Michel saw out the window and filmed who’s trying to break down a wall, but she’s using the tiniest hammer, as if being given the job but not the tools to do it, and not really intent on fulfilling the task, either.” 2014 marks Ikon’s 50th anniversary. Tulloch puts the gallery’s success down to the combination of its global scope with its involvement within the local community. “It feels very connected to Birmingham, to the wider West Midlands as well,” he says, “championing great artists from the region, really working with audiences from the city in particular – and then going to the furthest corners of the earth to find artists to bring back
to Birmingham and show here. Whilst it feels very local, it couldn’t be more international, and that makes it very special.”
Having moved to Birmingham just over a year ago, Tulloch is well placed to give his verdict on our local arts scene. “It’s doing well. Within the visual arts, it’s a city that really wants to make things happen, and is making things happen, with the other projects that are going on. They’re all supporting each other, from what’s going on at Eastside, Lombard Method, Grand Union, and then smaller, younger places coming up as well. There’s some great artists who are based here who are doing interesting things, and as much as any city outside of London, Birmingham’s really giving it a good go. Birmingham’s doing very well at finding its place, not just through visual arts, but then the other art forms. The Birmingham Arts Partnerships are very developed, I think they’re very supportive, much more so than other cities. I think it’s healthy.” Ikon’s excitement about the Michel François exhibition is tangible. “Michel is very important,” says Tulloch, “somebody that has a very significant career, is making sculpture, thinking about sculpture within the world now, both conceptually and also in the material nature of it, how we have a relationship with it. There’s great imagination in there, there’s wonderful humour in there too, and all very, very smart. He is a brilliant artist.”
Michel François: Pieces Of Evidence opens on April 30. Admission is free. Brum Notes Magazine
arts & culture
TIM SHAW: Black Smoke Rising The Mac may be a family-friendly venue, but its new exhibition focuses on the darker side of human nature. Dan Cooper-Gavin speaks to sculptor Tim Shaw about his harrowing new show Black Smoke Rising. At first glance, Tim Shaw’s work appears to be exclusively political. Of the three large-scale installations that make up Black Smoke Rising, the main attraction is the intensely powerful Casting A Dark Democracy, whose centrepiece is a 17ft hooded figure inspired by the notorious torture photographs from Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison. But its relevance extends far beyond the Iraq War.
“When I first began Casting A Dark Democracy, I can’t deny that it was made with a good deal of outrage towards our government’s decision to join America in what could be described as a controversial war, if not illegal. So, there was certainly a political voice there. But more important than that, it goes back to the more timeless, universal aspects of the nature of humans.”
“That figure, when I first saw it,” says Shaw, “I thought, ‘this is the shape of something that could have been dug out of the ground from thousands of years ago’. Ok, this is something that may have happened in the prison a year before to an individual and carried out by some other individuals, but the shape of this thing is much more timeless and universal than that. It’s been there with us through the centuries – it’s there in Goya’s etchings of the penitents, it’s there in the Ku Klux Klan, it’s there in many things. I describe it as something that falls just beneath the human psyche, reminding us of what we are. A lot of the work I create, it goes back through the centuries – it’s about human behaviour, and the unchanging nature of it.
A huge part of the appeal of Shaw’s work lies in its profoundly disturbing, nightmarish quality. Soul Snatcher Possession, another of the Black Smoke Rising installations, features grotesque, slightly larger-than-life figures on the verge of committing an unspecified atrocity. But far from depicting some hazy dreamworld, for Shaw it’s a lot closer to home.
“It’s interesting that when people talk about conflict today, sometimes you say, ‘This is terrible, this many wars,’ but there always has been many wars and conflicts around the world. What has changed is that we are now able to get minute-by-minute news on what happens everywhere in the world, and are constantly reminded that conflict and war are inherent attributes to human behaviour. April 2014
“If you’re walking down the street, life can change very quickly into that nightmare – if you take a step onto the road and a lorry comes along and flattens you, or you turn a corner down an alleyway where there’s a gang. I remember being on the scene of a crash, a cyclist was killed – the lorry turned left and the cyclist was wiped out. That’s an example of where the ordinary transfers into something nightmarish on the turn of a button. With a work like Soul Snatcher Possession, in a sense, they are just people, but that change that happens, it doesn’t have to be dramatic for it to be an absolute nightmare. “When you meet somebody that’s in a powerful position and they’re very pleasant but that
person’s not getting what they want, things can change. I was thinking about the Russian journalist [Alexander Litvinenko] that was poisoned in the UK a couple of years back. This is what Soul Snatcher Possession is about – if diplomacy doesn’t work, then at the end of the day, you can be got rid of.” Shaw arrives in Birmingham after being conferred into the hallowed ranks of the Royal Academicians, following in the footsteps of the likes of John Constable, JMW Turner and Joshua Reynolds. “I greet it as a major honour, really,” he says. “It’s nice to be able to tie into this institution that’s very old, that’s part of tradition. When we were conferred, we had to go and sign this parchment that dates back to 1768. I think it provides greater contact within the mainstream art world – I work out here [in Cornwall] in a place that’s quite remote, so all the more so for that, really.” But while it’s a coup for the Mac to have attracted Shaw to Birmingham, the show’s also an important milestone in Shaw’s career. “I have had several solo shows in the past at commercial galleries and a couple of public solo shows, however this is probably my largest show to date in the public arena, so yeah, it is a big thing for me.”
Tim Shaw: Black Smoke Rising opens at the Mac on April 12. Admission is free. 15
Home Comforts One of the Midlands’ best loved and consistent songwriters of recent times, Scott Matthews continues to deliver, with his fourth album due out this month. But this time he’s gone full circle and ditched the expensive studios in favour of recording it in his own house. He tells David Vincent why home is where the heart is. Debuting new material is often a nervous experience for musicians, no matter how experienced they are. And although Scott Matthews says he has been blown away by how receptive audiences have been to his latest offerings, he admits, in those few quiet moments before he steps into the limelight with guitar in hand, he’s still fleetingly gripped by self-doubt.
“I’m very excited about it. There’s 11 songs on it and I think I did justice to them,” he says. “That mindset, ‘can I play them on my own?’, that definitely creeps into this album. Last time, I made it work with a three-piece [but] it’s not cheap to take a band out, so there was a little bit of that thinking behind this record – can I do these songs justice every night on my own?
“About 10 minutes before I go on stage, this crushing doubt just kicks in,” he confesses. “But within five minutes of being on stage, it’s flipped on its head. I know why I’m there. So in this 20-minute period, I’ve gone from one extreme to the other. And then the adrenaline kicks in, and you’re just buzzing from the occasion when you come off stage.”
“Still, those Brian Wilson moments happen, ‘that harmony would be nice, a theremin in there would be ghostly’. So it took time.”
It’s over a decade since Wolverhampton-born Matthews went solo, making his first live appearance at the old Robin 1 in Brierley Hill back in 2003. He’s since proved to be one of the region’s most consistent and well respected songwriters, earning an Ivor Novello Award in 2007, working with Robert Plant and Danny Thompson, and more recently performing as part of Way To Blue: The Songs Of Nick Drake, a package that took him all the way to Australia, performing with the likes of Lisa Hannigan, Vashti Bunyan, Robyn Hitchcock and Green ‘Scritti Politti’ Gartside.
“There’s no one producing this album, this was recorded at home, I made this record at my home, put a microphone in front of the guitar and the end result, it sounds nice.
“It was such a great experience playing the Sydney Opera House – the 2,000 capacity space! And I’m doing From The Morning or A Place To Be and thinking ‘can I put my own spin on it?’. But it was a great thing to do and I met some important people, like Danny Thompson. It got me touring and it got me to chapter four.” Chapter four is album number four, the aboutto-be-released Home: Part One. 16
Having recorded previous long-players with established producers in established studios, for Home, Matthews decided to opt for a more familiar setting.
“I’ve got a new skill set. I’ve recorded it all, cellos, drum kits, and I’m pleased with how I engineered it,” he continues. “You might expect a super lo-fi organic thing, but I’ve picked up a lot of tricks from watching other engineers and producers. People have said it’s a really solid sounding record.” Recording in comfort, without the clock ticking, a more relaxed Matthews noticed a change in his vocal performances. “I do sing differently at home. There’s always someone there when you’re in the studio, you get that voice coming over the playback. At home you don’t get that and it’s quite nice to be flexible, take a few more risks. There’s no one there who can hear those dodgy bits, you can experiment easier,” he laughs. “But there is a
danger of being isolated. You do need someone to say ‘that’s shit!’ or ‘that vocal was great!’. My missus, Sally, has been great with all that. If I get the thumbs up from Sally, that’s alright for me.” The new set-up has meant a new dynamic too, and that has all contributed to an evolving sound, with noticeable new influences. And there’s even an instrumental. “This album is the first time I’ve done an instrumental, the track has flugelhorn, Spanish guitar, percussion, there’s a bit of a Love thing – though it doesn’t really sound like Love. It’s a full scale thing, four minutes, not an interlude. It’s very different to anything I’ve ever done before.” If the record has seen him go home in a literal sense, thematically it’s also about him reconnecting with his roots. “We all get inspiration from something,” he explains, “from bus journeys, seeing a great film, a homeless person on the street. Themewise, it’s about getting back to my roots. I’m four records into my career, and I write about what makes sense to me. I’ve been fortunate to play in America, Europe, Australia, and coming back and putting your case in the hall, that feeling, that emphasises the home thing, it’s what it’s about. Those subjects, those ideals are in this record. You have to have a strong lyrical theme people can relate to. That’s important, that’s something tangible for the listener. My goal is for someone to have those same feelings as I have.”
Scott Matthews is live at the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, on April 8. He also performs at the Lunar Festival, Tanworth-in-Arden, Warwickshire on June 8. Visit lunarfestival.co.uk for details. Brum Notes Magazine
April 2014
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record Store Day aPriL 19, 2014
Photo by Rob Hadley
Now into its seventh year, Record Store Day is an international celebration of the physical format with independently-run record stores across the UK and America coming together to raise awareness and show appreciation for the physical side of music. Special vinyl and CDs will be produced exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists across the globe are involved in unique performances and exclusive promotional products. Amy Sumner finds out what’s happening across Birmingham. This year Record Store Day takes place on April 19 and across Birmingham and beyond, record stores, artists and creative collectives come together to celebrate the day with a variety of special releases and performances. We spoke to participating stores to get a taste of what you can find away from the high street this year…
Left for DeaD (Custard Factory) “Record Store Day is the biggest and busiest day of the year for independent record stores and Left For Dead will be stocking the exclusive releases and putting on bands throughout the day. The Exploding Sound Machine, Grand Union, Schnauser and Dan Whitehouse will all be play- ing live and I’m in discussions with several other bands. I’ve worked several RSDs in the past and it’s always really exciting,” explained Andrew Haddon. “Left For Dead opened in November last year and RSD is a great opportunity for the shop to introduce itself to new customers. It’s not just about 18
making money on the day, it’s about connecting with the city and building relation- ships with punters, musicians and music lovers in general. RSD is all about getting people back into their local store and discovering new music.”
SworDfiSh (city centre) “Getting involved with RSD is a great thing for us as the widespread publicity the event receives helps to raise the profile of the shop. Gareth Owen continued: “On the day we will have three acts playing instore in association with Brum Notes – Matthew Edwards, a local singersong writer and band leader who has lived in San Francisco for 20 years but is back here now and performing, string pop quintet Drakelow and the beautiful Charlotte Carpenter. All this is good for wrestling people away from the internet!”
Death or GLory (Redditch) “As a community-oriented company set up to
support local bands and artists, we’ve decided to do Record Store Day in our own characteristically independent way. We’ll be producing our own compilation album featuring 15 local bands and artists including Racing, Layers, Arkks and Shaake. The record will be a snapshot of current music in Redditch, enabling those with a passing interest to further explore these bands. “During the day we’ll also have four acts playing – Stuart Woolfenden, Byron Hare, Music Like Lemons and Layers. We see RSD as our opportunity to really promote local bands,” said Steve Hadley.
MiLque & MuhLe (Custard Factory) Nathan Warner of M&M told us: “On Record Store Day we will be open as normal, 11am-6pm, and in the afternoon we’ll have two bands playing outside the shop. We will be giving away free beer and cake to celebrate the day and all are encouraged to stick around and make a day of it!” Brum Notes Magazine
eLSewhere DIE DAS DER presents Slipped Disks – A Celebration of Record Store Day ft. Wax Futures, Ghosts of Dead Airplanes, ANiMA, IONS, David Motes, Emily Tura, Mutt (acoustic) and Kate Roberta at The Sun at the Station, Kings Heath, from 3pm. Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam, ANiMA, Geordie Blake and Rick Wellings perform outside Polar Bear Records, Kings Heath, from 1pm, also presented by DIE DAS DER.
“Slipped Discs is all about celebrating and extending the opportunity that record Store Day provides to labels, acts and of course record stores to showcase their wares. that, and fun loud bands in a smallish room!” – Die DaS Der
Milque & Muhle
Polar Bear
Photo by Gavin Wray
Left for Dead
Swordfish
urban Village will be offering 10 per cent discount off all record purchases on record Store Day, and the first 50 customers will receive a special urban Village record patch. Death or Glory
April 2014
haVe a ruMMaGe Record Store Day will see exclusive tracks and unheard gems emerging from artists across the globe. This year’s list includes exciting looking numbers from Camera Obscura, LCD Soundsystem and Nirvana, among others, and, locally, here’s what you’ll find from West Midlands acts: Drakelow - String / Grace Cathedral Park (Red House Painters cover) - limited vinyl and CD release with all proceeds split between Cancer Research and Rage Arts. Drakelow frontman Matt Pinfield said: “We chose the cover after delving back into the Red House Painters catalogue after hearing the new album by Mark Kozelek, Benji. We took the same approach in going back over songs I’d written that, for whatever reason, we don’t play live or have never recorded and picked one that still resonates with us – we hope you enjoy the results of our browsing!” Bis / Ghosts of Dead Airplanes - Minimum Wage / Hair Metal Shame - split 7ins picture disk. Greg Smith, from Ghosts ODA, said: “We kept in contact with Bis since we played a show with them in Glasgow after we were not long formed. Via Do Yourself In and Cargo Records, stuff’s going on and we’re quite looking forward to inflicting some droney sludge with an Abba-ish coda upon unprepared pop pickers in the name of Record Store Day!” Goodnight Lenin - 24/7 - limited 7” vinyl. John Fell, GNL frontman, said: “Music can be so throw away with the surge in internet sales so it’s such a beautiful thing to create something physical, something you can hold and really focus on when you choose to listen to it. We’re also keen on creating really nice artwork...this release was designed by Kevin Doody and is definitely tongue in cheek but it works so well!” DIE DAS DER compilation - limited CD run. We’re giving away 100 copies of this CD, comprising 14 West Midlands acts, which have been slipped inside special copies of the magazine – flick to our Playlist section on P11 for a snapshot of what’s on the disk! For further information and a full list of releases visit www.recordstoreday.co.uk. Share your RSD experiences @RSDUK using #RSD14. Visit www.brumnotes. com to find out how you can get your hands on the special DIE DAS DER compilation album. 19
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DoubleTrouble After a decade of making records, Brighton two-piece Blood Red Shoes have gone DIY. “We thought this album felt like the right time to take that risk.” They tell David Vincent about their “light-bulb moment”.
When it came to recording their recently released eponymous fourth album, Brighton garage/punk duo Blood Red Shoes had just one place in mind to record – Berlin.
to lose their way, Ansell and guitarist Laura-Mary Carter have returned with arguably their best album yet, kicking predecessor In Time to Voices into the shade.
Blood Red Shoes, we’d never be comfortable just being a straight rock band, we’re always trying to contradict ourselves by writing more downbeat and atmospheric songs.”
“We definitely liked the idea of letting our surroundings influence us,” says sticksman Steven Ansell, fully aware of the city’s influence on shaping albums by the likes of Bowie, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Depeche Mode, even U2. “I think you can hear some of the toughness and industrial quality of east Berlin on our album, as well as the kind of freedom and the party spirit that Berlin has. I think it’s pretty impossible to make an album there without the place influencing you because it’s so distinctive.
“On the surface it’s very different [to In Time to Voices] because it’s much more imperfect, looser, more chaotic and free, and certainly most of the songs are faster,” Ansell reckons. “But in terms of the writing I think we learnt a lot about writing more interesting song structures and less repetitive melodies on In Time to Voices and I think you can really hear that on this album. There are also songs with different instrumentation, like piano, keys, brass, vibraphone...all those things we’d never tried until the third record. We just recorded them in a different way on this album but it has elements of that layered approach...just done with more punk rock attitude.”
While previous long-players had been recorded with producer Mike Crossey (Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, Jake Bugg, Foals, The Enemy), this time Ansell and Carter took on both engineer and producer roles.
“Berlin has so many things you can do,” Ansell continues. “We did everything from taking rides along the River Spree or visiting the Mauer Museum, to breaking into an old abandoned amusement park, to going out to clubs and bars until we didn’t know what day it was. It was cool to have a totally flexible schedule where, if we didn’t feel like any magic was happening in the studio, we could just fuck off out into Berlin and do what we liked, and come back again at 4am if we chose to do so.” While that might sound like a recipe for self-indulgent disaster and an open invitation for any band 22
Discussing the LP’s highlights, Ansell says: “I really love the song Stranger. It’s a layered, melancholy and atmospheric tune, which I think a lot of people wouldn’t expect us to do. We’ve been trying our hand at that sort of style for a while and I think it’s the best articulation of a feel and sound we’ve had in our heads for a long, long time. Then I also really love [recent single] An Animal because it’s just a straightforward, energetic rock’n’roll, scuzzy mess. Those are the two very different sides to
“We’ve been talking about it for a long time,” Ansell says of their decision to go DIY. “On the third album we ended up keeping some of the recording we’d done ourselves for the album demos, because we couldn’t make them any better in a big expensive studio. That was definitely a light-bulb moment, like ‘oh, we’re here spending hundreds a day with a really experienced producer and actually the demo we made in our shitty little practice space sounds the best’. You realise that feel is everything and the idea of ‘professional’ recording is pretty much a myth. Mike was also really encouraging saying we should try it, and always very complimentary about the demos we made ourselves, so we thought this album felt like the right time to take that risk and just do it ourselves.” Notably, the album is also released on Jazz Life, the band’s own, brand new, imprint. Brum Notes Magazine
FACEBOOK.COM/SUNATTHESTATION - TWITTER: SUNATTHESTATION “We plan to release other bands, once we have the time and brain space to do so,” explains Ansell, of their ideas for the label. “We’re very lucky to have survived to four albums in a world where most bands barely get past two, and certainly can’t sustain it as a living. [It] feels like we should help get some focus on other great bands out there, of which there are many, especially around Brighton right now.” In what looks like something of a grand statement against bass players, Blood Red Shoes are heading out on tour with two other bass-free power duos: Aussies DZ Deathrays and fellow Brit duo Slaves. “Laura-Mary discovered Slaves and played me some YouTube footage of them live and immediately we said, ‘they’re coming on tour with us!’ We got in touch and it turns out they’re Blood Red Shoes fans and have been seeing us since they were like 14, so it was meant to be. Such a great, unusual punk band and incredibly confident on stage. “DZ Deathrays, we’ve toured with in the US and Canada and in mainland Europe, so the UK seemed like the natural next step. They’re very much our brothers of the road. “There’s something about other two-piece bands that you can really see a similar dynamic to what Laura and I have, we’ve noticed it a lot. So we always enjoy having other duos around – it makes us realise we’re less insane than we thought. They’re also both totally badass bands…I’ve heard the new DZ Deathrays record already and trust me, it’s killer!” The current dates will also see the Shoes perform a different bunch of songs every night, something else helping to keep it interesting after a four-album career. “We’ve made a rule for this tour that we won’t repeat the same set list, we’re going to change it each night,” Ansell reveals. “It will be drawn from all four albums and the Water EP, but which exact songs will be different each night of tour, and we’re gonna rework a few bits to keep it fresh. So the only definite songs that will make the cut are a handful from the latest record like An Animal, Speech Coma, Everything All At Once....” Perhaps surprisingly, the current album marks the duo’s 10th anniversary. Looking back over the decade, Ansell says: “Our original aspirations went so far as ‘let’s just be a band’. I mean we’re both ambitious and we both felt like we had a shot at doing it ‘full-time’ and being able to quit working other jobs, but beyond that we’ve just run with it really.
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“We’ve definitely not had the easiest ride of it and we’ve fought very hard to keep our band alive at various points, but I think most bands have to, actually. It’s kind of a test to see what you’re made of.” With plans to spend more time Stateside as well as return to Eastern Europe this year, have the globe-trotting Blood Red Shoes achieved everything they set out to achieve all those years ago? “In terms of achieving everything we’ve wanted to, no, we’ll never be satisfied and I never want to be. That’d be the death of us,” Ansell states firmly. “You have to stay hungry, both creatively and also in terms of your audience. We have no shame in admitting we want to be a popular band and we’re always keen to find ways to get our music out to a wider audience.”
Blood Red Shoes are live at the O2 Academy 2, Birmingham, on April 24. Support, comes from DZ Deathrays and Slaves. New album Blood Red Shoes is out now. April 2014
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Two Unlimited Transatlantic duo Big Deal have beefed up their sound with a full band setup as they prepare to hit the road this month. And while their original boy-girl dynamic may have got gossip-hungry chins wagging in the early days, they’d much rather let the music do the talking, as Amy Sumner finds out. “It bothered my girlfriend. A lot,” says Kacey Underwood, one half of the core duo in dream pop guitar outfit, Big Deal. He’s talking about the media’s interest in the relationship between himself and his musical partner, Alice Costelloe. “You can’t really blame people because when it was just the two of us on record and on stage, that’s the logical thing to assume. As long as people still enjoy it they can think whatever they want,” he concludes. The two are from opposite sides of the Atlantic and were each already in bands when they met in the UK. Underwood was a teacher at the same school as Costelloe’s mother, who would tell him how well they were doing consistently. Eventually the pair met (after Costelloe’s mother had suggested she see Underwood for guitar technique) and the band began life as a two-piece from there. There’s 10 years between them which is probably what prompts the interest in their partnership. yet The Guardian dubbing them ‘Lolita pop’ seems somewhat unfair. “When people make comments like that you learn more about them than they learn about you,” says Kacey. “We learned early on that people make up some funny genres to put us in. Lolita is a great book though, so that’s cool. “We have very similar sensibilities though, more so than with our former bandmates, who didn’t 24
have those differences. We argue plenty, but in the end the songs are better for it.” In 2011 Big Deal released their debut album, Lights Out. In 2013 they expanded out to a four-piece for their second record, the more grunge-pop, June Gloom. “It was a very natural progression,” explains Kacey. “In the Darwinian survivalist kind of way. We like playing as a two piece in our bedrooms, when we write, and occasionally in small venues. But when it comes to playing live at festivals or bigger rooms, it just gets harder and harder to get the songs across. Limitations are good to have, but sometimes you have to be realistic. “The songwriting is always changing,” he continues. “The first record we mostly wrote on our own, then cobbled the songs together later. Now we tend to write from start to finish together. There is a window, you can feel it and when it’s open you have to jump through right then otherwise fighting to finish the songs will kill your spirit.” There’s an evident progression in that songwriting and the deliverance of it, which sounds bulkier than ever before. Swapping Spit and In Your Car, two singles from June Gloom, both retain the beautifully harmonised vocals which smack of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart of the first record, but the accompanying instrumentation just seems to give it a bit more edge.
The band are set to step out on tour with Birmingham boys Peace this June. They’ve also recently toured with Depeche Mode, which is a pretty cool gig to have to your name, by anyone’s standards. “That was a very, very cool gig,” enthuses Kacey. “We had an amazing time, kind of like joining the circus – an extremely well-run circus. They are heroes of mine, and a huge influence on us so it felt amazing to be a part of their world for a time. The gigs were trial by fire, lots of things run through your head before and during the show. We learned to ride it out. As a band I know we can do anything now.” And are there any plans for a third album yet? “We have about 20 new songs to finish,” confirms Kacey, “and hopefully we’ll start recording in the fall. In the meantime we have an EP coming out in July to tide us over.” Big Deal call into Birmingham as part of their European spring tour this month. We were eager to know what they’d made of their past experiences here…until we found out. “We have played in Birmingham before, someone wrote a really nasty review of it,” recalls Kacey. “Someone also got stabbed outside the venue the following night. I kinda hoped it was the reviewer. Just kidding…” Big Deal are live at the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, on April 3, with support from EKKAH and Clubs. Brum Notes Magazine
The Sky’s the Limit Atmospheric indie outfit Sky Larkin have been making music together for the best part of a decade, after first getting together at school in Leeds. But a new line-up and the release of their best album yet, in the shape of 2013’s Motto, has given them fresh impetus. Amy Sumner speaks to a band brimming with energy. Sky Larkin have always been a long distance relationship kind of band. Having originally met in high school in Leeds, guitarist Katie Harkin and drummer Nestor Matthews had been writing songs together since they were 15 but only really started as Sky Larkin when Katie relocated to university in London and the pair would take it in turns to visit each other to practice. They released two records followed by a three-year hiatus during which time Katie toured with Wild Beasts, Nestor started drumming with Menace Beach and the outfit expanded out into a four-piece before the release of their third record, Motto. The fact that Motto was released to their most positive reviews yet is very much a testament to the work put into that relationship. “I think the time apart was essential and that the record would sound nothing like it does now if we hadn’t had to craft it around our other commitments,” explains Nestor. “It meant that the time we had together to write was often unpredictable in frequency and length, but it only reinforced our reasons for writing a new record as Sky Larkin even more. We’d write a song and then next play it a few weeks later during which time it would have morphed independently in each of our memories and it’s testament to our musicality as individual players and collectively as a band that the songs ultimately made any sense at all. “I think there’s a confidence in direction on Motto that we’ve never quite managed before,” he continues, speaking of the record’s newfound sense of adventure. “Recording studios can be pretty intimidating places with a real pressure to perform and hone your songs the best you can whilst your allowed time trickles steadily away, but I think we April 2014
took on board that experience from the last two records and turned it round into a sense of urgency on the new one.” That element is something distinctly audible within the record’s walls. Lyrically there’s loss and there’s melancholy, as in Loom (‘You’re always in the room, a personal ghoul’) and Treasury (‘As long as I have my memory I will keep you in a treasury’), but these are songs that help you to combat such feelings. There’s such an energy within them and they’re delivered so defiantly that it’s not a self pity and a helplessness, they’re almost a mission statement of intent to overcome. And it’s still all laced through with that steadfast DIY aesthetic that gained them their fanbase in the first place. The release of their Newsworthy single, for example, was accompanied by a newspaper the band wrote themselves. “The song itself is about the intimacy of writing as conversation,” explains Nestor of the track, “and that got us thinking about how to communicate that idea in a physical format whilst staying true to it. A newspaper obviously ties in with the theme of the song, but it is also something that we have crafted from words about a conversation not only between the song and the newspaper, but between ourselves and the reader/listener. For me it’s about combating the immaterialism, and therefore the perceived worthlessness, of digitally acquired music. You can download an MP3, listen to it and forget it in minutes, but a physical accompaniment gives the music a tangible form, or, at the very least, it gives you something to play with whilst you’re listening to the song. Either way it hopefully restores a bit of power to the communicative qualities of the music in a
culture of increasingly instant gratification and mass consumption.” So did returning as a four-piece (with the addition of These Monsters’ Sam Pryor on bass, and Man Made’s Nile Marr on guitar) alter the dynamics of what outwardly appeared to be a very close-knit partnership? “Weirdly enough, having more volume to play with meant we could each turn down a little bit,” Nestor says. “Rather than three of us powering ahead in order to fill the space, it gave us the opportunity to pull back and listen externally to the other components of the song without it collapsing, before adding only what was dynamically or melodically necessary in order to retain a balance.” Sky Larkin were last in Birmingham when they played This is Tmrw’s All Years Leaving Festival at the Hare & Hounds on a bill of similarly independent-minded musicians, and it’s a city that Nestor says “retains a special place in my heart”. “We’ve spent a lot of time on the road with Johnny Foreigner along the way, so it’s always a pleasure to return. Especially when it’s returning to something like a festival curated by the people of This is Tmrw – along with the consistently beautiful poster designs and the excellent selection of music, the food at All Years Leaving was crazy good! Birmingham is lucky to have such a great and welcoming live music community and that music community is lucky to have a city that is so receptive to it.” Sky Larkin are live at the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, on April 8, with support from Ace Bushy Striptease and Lime. 25
Ex Marks e Spot Emerging from the Dutch anarcho-punk/squat scene in 1979, The Ex have long since transcended the simple ‘punk’ tag to become one of music’s great, though largely unsung, pioneering bands. David Vincent talks to the band’s English guitarist Andy Moor about life in one of the most adventurous acts of recent decades. “We never describe our music, we leave that to others,” says guitarist Andy Moor, the former Dog Faced Herman who became a core member back in 1990. “I don’t know how to describe it. We call it ‘Ex music’. It comes from so many different sources, so many different experiences… Ethiopia, New York, London, a whole mix of stuff. “We’re not so interested in giving it a name. If you name something you limit it. We’re not one of those scenesters. Some people call us punk, but that’s obsolete. We grew out of that, but that’s really far, far away. We’re not against it, but we’re doing something new now. “A friend of mine said we were ‘strange edge’ instead of straight edge,” he laughs, dryly, referring to the hardcore subgenre. “They were joking.” It’s a career that has seen them rub shoulders with a huge array of top flight musicians and fellow experimentalists, from Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore to veteran Ethiopian saxophonist Getatchew Mekuria, by way of Steve Beresford, John Butcher, Brass Unbound, and a staggering list of other acts (Chumbawamba, Fugazi, Yo La Tengo, Shellac, Stewart Lee and so on). Such meetings and collaborations have all fed into the indefinable Ex mix. “We invite all these musicians [to play alongside us], and they play their own music. You ask Getatchew what he plays, these jazz journalists ask him about all these different jazz things, and he doesn’t know about that stuff, he just plays his music, Ethiopian music.” 26
A desire to continually move on means there’s little time for laurel-resting or nostalgia either. “We’re not riding on our history, we don’t play our old hits – we don’t have any,” Andy laughs. “But we always look forward. We play world music festivals, we play jazz festivals, we play improvisation festivals, we don’t get invited to play punk festivals. We meet very different musicians at these festivals and when we play and we’re inspired by so many of them, that keeps it alive and fresh.” The DIY ethic that informed so many bands of the late 70s and early 80s remains very much part of The Ex’s ethos. There’s no manager. No label. No roadies to lug gear. And that’s the way The Ex like it. “You can share income with a crew of people, and that can be a good thing, but it depends on the number of people you have with you,” explains Andy. “We have 100-300 people at our gigs, so we don’t need a huge operation. We like to keep it simple, just us four musicians, a sound engineer and someone who sells the CDs. That’s our team. Most record labels aren’t interested in us because of the number of records we sell. We don’t need to employ other people, we can do it ourselves, and keep an eye on things. It’s always been like that. When we sell 2,000 CDs, it’s a success for us – if a record company sells 2,000 CDs, it’s a complete failure. We don’t want to get too trapped into things, and record companies will find a thousand ways to spend your money. It’s not necessary. When bands start out, they
think they need a manager and a record label, they need to get a deal. It’s unfortunate that they start like that. There’s so much waste and weird siphoning off of money that you don’t have any control over. “For us, it’s all about enjoying playing music. You decide who you deal with, when you play, where you play, you don’t have to deal with idiots or tour for months on end, stuck in a minibus until you hate each other. We keep it at a scale that’s manageable for us. We’re not going to start preaching that to every band. There’s not a right or a wrong way, it’s just that’s what works for us.” Though Andy stresses that the band love to tour and love to travel, with a return trip to Africa looming after their UK and European dates, they prefer to restrict their live appearances to 70-80 gigs a year, in short five to 10-day bursts. As a result, their energy and enthusiasm for the music remains consistently high, home is never far away, and the often overly complex business behind making music is kept to a minimum. “You get to keep your relationships, you don’t sacrifice everything for it,” Andy says. “I think that’s why we’ve lasted so long. We’re lucky that we could do it the way we wanted as that’s not a given.”
The Ex are live at the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, on April 18, and Lamp, Leamington Spa, on April 22. Brum Notes Magazine
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April 2014
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out of the Jaws first emerged among the hype that surrounded the so-called ‘B-town’ scene from which contemporaries Swim Deep and Peace rose to prominence. But they have since quietly continued making waves of their own, with an impressively consistent songwriting output coupled with an everimproving live sound. And with a debut album on its way and their biggest ever UK tour coming up this month, Amy Sumner meets a band ready to carve out a reputation all of their own. “I’ve learned to be honest,” says Jaws main man Connor Schofield, discussing his band’s impressive progression. “We’ve had an interesting journey so far and have definitely grown in confidence.” Two years ago Jaws played their first ever show. It was a five-song affair (untitled, Cameron, Donut, Holy Cat, Brighton) at the Barfly in London, followed by a performance not much longer at the We Love All Ages festival (also featuring Heavy Waves and Swim Deep) at The Rainbow in Digbeth. Jaws would probably be the first to tell you that they weren’t very good on either occasion.
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Two years down the line and not only has their live performance improved gatefold (they’ve learned to play their instruments, the vocals are mostly in tune, and sometimes they even talk to the audience), but the songs within it rival any coming out of the plethora of new bands gaining national recognition right now. Repeatedly, their dedicated fanbase packs out these shows and ensures a raucous affair. Jaws’ debut EP, Milkshake, regularly sells out its pressings and they’ve become something of a favourite of Radio 1’s Huw Stephens. Most recently, the band have finished working on their debut album. Sat on his bed as he listens to
the Smashing Pumpkins record he’s just “got off Amazon for £1.25”, Connor talks us through the recording process and their fabulous new single, Think Too Much, Feel Too Little. “That song actually started off as a bit of a joke,” he explains. “It wasn’t going to be on the album at all. We demo’d it and thought that it would make a good B-side and then in the studio we had a YOLO moment and decided to record it properly. Initially the song just came from jamming,” he continues, “it was quite natural, I remember it just happening, like it was already a song. It’s about telling someone you like them but being rejected.”
Brum Notes Magazine
shadows The song is a blissfully funky number, still drenched in those sunkissed vibes which popularised them, but a much more polished sounding affair. On it, Connor sings ‘We get it, we get it, it’s over, I go back to being alone’ – where his talent lies is in the simple surmising of the sentiment of youth. It’s hardly poetry, but over the years the songs that have made the strongest connections with people haven’t been poetry either. Think Too Much, Feel Too Little joins Gold, Breeze and Surround You among the strongest in their repertoire. It was actually a landmark award that helped Jaws to even make their debut LP. In December last year, they were presented with the PRS For Music Foundation’s first Momentum Award, taking home £2,500 to put towards the recording and promotion of the record and actually, enabling them to do it at all. They joined the likes of Eagulls and Bo Ningen amongst other artists to receive funding enabling them to record and to travel promoting their work.
April 2014
“I think we just entered on their website,” recalls Connor. “We put a big proposal together to convince them why we were deserving of the funding. It means a lot because without the help of PRS a Jaws album just wouldn’t have happened, the money isn’t there to just do it off our own backs so it was a massive helping hand for us. “And the recording process was great,” he continues. “I can’t remember how many songs we did altogether but we tracked everything in a week, which we still can’t believe. It’s all done now and it sounds great, we’re really happy with it and can’t wait to get it out. We recorded it with [London studio] Dreamtrak, who we did the Milkshake EP with. We did all the tracking in the Jewellery Quarter and then it was mixed and mastered at Dreamtrak’s place in London. We have a release date but I can’t tell you yet,” he teases. “It’s different from our older stuff for sure, we’ve definitely thought about the songwriting more. Some of the songs are a bit darker as well.”
A certain highlight from their forthcoming tour will be their homecoming headline appearance at The Library at The Institute in Birmingham, supported by fellow local rabble-rousers Dumb and Brighton upstarts The Magic Gang. Presented by Brum Notes in association with Birmingham Promoters, it will be the band’s biggest ever headline show. Understandably, Connor and his bandmates are more than a little enthusiastic. “When the idea was put forward to us about playing a 600-capacity venue we were like ‘is this really happening?’. I think it’s the most excited we’ve ever been for a show.”
Jaws are live at The Institute, Digbeth on April 19, presented by Brum Notes Magazine and Birmingham Promoters. Support comes from Dumb and The Magic Gang. New single Think Too Much, Feel Too Little is released via Rattlepop on the same day.
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Below The Rainbow Iconic clubbing venue The Rainbow celebrates its 10 year anniversary in style this month. And who better to help head up party proceedings than one of Birmingham’s finest DJ exports of the past decade, Adam Shelton? The Below co-founder, One Records label owner and globe-trotting turntablist shares his memories, influences and more. Despite your global status in the DJ world, you’ve always retained your links with Birmingham. Has that always been important to you, or is it just that home is where the heart is? Ha ha, global status – that sounds good. I love Birmingham, it has been good to me over the years, I am proud of how the city is developing and I like to think that I have been a part of that with [underground daytime party] Below and The Rainbow, and I will always stay loyal to both. How satisfying has it been to launch your own events in your home city, are those achievements among the high points of your career? Of course, Below has been and still is amazing, we have brought a sound to the city which now 30
ripples on through other parties and venues and that’s a good feeling. I have never been bothered about taking Below outside of Birmingham, that is its home, that’s what makes it, if we take it to other cities it will just be another party with good DJs. In Birmingham we have an identity, a crowd and a real vibe. Do you think there’s anything unique about Birmingham that has influenced your own sound, or do you think the city has a ‘sound’ when it comes to dance music? Birmingham has influenced me, of course. Ok, I can look for influences elsewhere from musical genres but let’s face it, I was not going to Chicago in the late 80s, I was too young, I started off going to see DJs like Danny Rampling at The Steering Wheel, also Roger Sanchez and Masters At Work
at Miss Moneypenny’s, so my roots from Birmingham were more soulful and deep. I still love that stuff now and when listening back the amazingly high production skills of a lot of the music from then has really been lost over the years as genres have spilt, but there are still promoters in town putting on parties to cater for this and, fair play, it’s good house music. Going back to The Rainbow, celebrating its 10th anniversary seems an incredible achievement these days. How important has it been in revitalising Brum’s clubbing scene? The Rainbow has been crucial over the last 10 years in Birmingham, from the laid back hangout to the full-on rave, it’s catered for everything, bringing back some of the city’s great club brands, breaking new bands and DJs, supplying the city with somewhere to go away from the norm. I am not sure where Birmingham would be without The Rainbow to be honest. That may be a bold statement and up for debate, but I think around 2005 in the city there was not a lot happening, a lot of the so called ‘gangsters’ were getting places shut down and really giving the city a bad name. The bigger clubs were suffering and, apart from Jigsaw and Leftfoot, for me there was not a lot to go to in the city. The Rainbow stepped in and saved that, at first as a hangout for really good dub, reggae and disco nights and then followed by house and techno and live music. How important has it been in shaping your own career? The Rainbow has helped my career as a DJ massively. I’ve played alongside the biggest names in my field and also been involved with other genres and artists that I would never get to play alongside or have anything to do with. A few to name would be Egyptian Lover, 808 State and The Prodigy. It has given me the confidence to be involved with people like this and also to play at any time of the day/night in front of crowds that you really have to work hard to please. But on the flipside crowds that are a joy to play to – I always say that I am spoiled by the vibe at Below as when it’s going crazy it really is the best. What highlights could you pick out from the past 10 years? My main highlights would be the first Below warehouse parties in The Rainbow Warehouse – proper raves! Chilling out with members of James Brown’s band in The Rainbow after hours whilst they jam amongst themselves; The Prodigy was the best show I ever saw at The Rainbow and one of the best shows I have seen in general; daytime Below parties when the roof was off The Courtyard before some woman tried to spoil our fun by taking noise complaints far too seriously; and Brum Notes Magazine
having one of my all time favourites, Derrick Carter, smashing up The Courtyard. I’m sure there are many more I will want to add after this. Could you have foreseen it growing into the multi-venue monster it is today? Yes I could, Lee Mcdonald [The Rainbow owner] is a self-confessed venue obsessive, he loves the challenge of finding new spaces and making them as good as possible, so it’s no surprise that The Rainbow now has all these added spaces and the events forthcoming are monsters! Tell us about your own label, One Records, what can we expect from the summer? One Records has some cool releases coming, we have a great package from crew member John Dimas and local Nottingham producer Nail, who is a favourite of mine from his early classic records days. We have label parties coming up at the
Garden Festival in Croatia, Fabric London and Sonar festival in Barcelona. It’s also worth mentioning, especially with Record Store Day coming up in April, the amazing resurgence of vinyl in all walks of music. Being a label owner this must be music to your ears? Seeing vinyl come back the last two years is a great buzz up! I have never stopped buying it and never lost faith in it, now it’s not just DJs that are buying it, it’s collectors, people who appreciate the whole concept of putting the record on the turntable, the artwork, the sound, without having to DJ they just love the hard copy and quality it brings, this is amazing. From a label point of view we are focusing more on the vinyl now, only releasing the odd few digital releases. Running a label, this is much more of a buzz and there are exciting times ahead for new labels and record collectors.
Finally, Birmingham is a hotbed for up and coming talent, who is on your radar right now that we should be looking out for? For me, the two people in Birmingham at the moment who are already killing it but rising stars also are Samu.L and Tom Shorterz. Both great DJs, both making strong music and playing internationally. Not that they need it, but I wish them both the best of luck and keep on reppin’ for the Midlands!
The Rainbow celebrates its 10 year anniversary with a series of parties across its venues from April 19-21. Adam Shelton DJs at the Below Daytime Party in The Rainbow Pub & Courtyard on Sunday, April 20. Below also celebrates its 9th birthday, with Loco Dice, Robert Dietz, Adam Shelton and more, on Sunday, May 4.
For your chance to win tickets to The Rainbow’s 10th Birthday visit www.brumnotes.com.
April 2014
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FOR HER
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On Trend: Spring Style Picks £25
ACCESSORIZE CHERRY BLOSSOM SILK DIGITAL SQUARE SCARF
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ASOS TRAPEZE COAT WITH STEPPED HEM
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PRIMARK BURNOUT PETER PAN COLLAR BLOUSE
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ASOS SHIRT WITH PANTHER PRINT
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Brum Notes Hayer Magazine By Tajinder
STREET STYLE BIRMINGHAM
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HAIDER, 22, RETAIL ASSISTANT WEARING: TROUSERS AND SHIRT FROM RIVER ISLAND, JACKET FROM URBAN OUTFITTERS, SHOES FROM SELFRIDGES STYLE ICON: THE GROWLERS FRONTMAN BROOKS NIELSEN FAVOURITE RETAILER: COW VINTAGE.
KANE, 17, STUDENT WEARING: TROUSERS FROM FOOT ASYLUM, TOP BY ARMANI, JACKET FROM ZARA, NIKE TRAINERS STYLE ICON: DRAKE FAVOURITE RETAILER: ZARA
KARL, 24, STUDENT WEARING: BURTON TROUSERS, SHIRT BY RALPH LAUREN, JACKET AND SHOES FROM TOPMAN, HAT FROM RIVER ISLAND, RAYBAN SUNGLASSES STYLE ICON: NONE FAVOURITE RETAILER: TOPMAN
MEGAN, 19, STUDENT WEARING: HER MUM’S JACKET, TOP FROM OXFAM, RIVER ISLAND JEANS, CONVERSE TRAINERS STYLE ICON: DAISY LOWE FAVOURITE RETAILER: SHOPS AT THE CUSTARD FACTORY
RICH, 26, TEACHER WEARING: TROUSERS FROM PRIMARK, JUMPER FROM COW VINTAGE, SOUL STAR JACKET, NIKE BLAZER TRAINERS STYLE ICON: RUSSELL BRAND FAVOURITE RETAILER: COW VINTAGE AND CHARITY SHOPS
ROBYN, 17, STUDENT WEARING: COAT FROM DOROTHY PERKINS, BLOUSE FROM H&M, LEGGINGS FROM QUIZ, TRAINERS BY CONVERSE, BAG FROM RIVER ISLAND STYLE ICON: ALEXA CHUNG FAVOURITE RETAILER: TOPSHOP AND NEW LOOK
April 2014 BY ANDY HUGHES PHOTOS
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edmunds Brindleyplace, Birmingham B1 2JB 0121 633 4944
If you’re going to use the words ‘fine dining’ after your restaurant’s name, you need to ensure that you live up to it. Edmunds doesn’t. It surpasses it. A warm welcome from one of the waiters set the tone for the evening and immediately, even though this is clearly a high end establishment, you feel comfortable and at home. The music’s unobtrusive but adds atmosphere, the tables are perfectly spaced and the lighting just the right side of cosy. So far so good. A selection of homemade rolls and a delightful sweet potato and ginger foam amuse bouche (served in a teacup) hinted at the quality of what was to come. For a moment we weren’t sure whether to eat the starters or hang them on the wall. Truly a feast for the eyes with each element of the dish spaced and placed with such precision that presumably the kitchen uses geometry sets. The hand dived, pan fried Orkney scallops were cooked to absolute perfection, beautifully seared and seasoned. The dodine of duck liver
Cuisine:
French
Price:
Around £45pp for three courses
Service: Atmosphere: Food: Overall:
was decadently rich and creamy, with the sweet Griottines cherries there to refresh the palate between mouthfuls. For mains, the Somerset prime beef fillet was meat heaven: tender, juicy and flavoursome. The shredded beef croquette that accompanied it ramped up the meatiness to another level whilst the Anna potatoes provided some stylish carbs. Drizzled with a port jus and topped with parsnip crisps, it was frankly as good a dish as you could ever hope to eat. My companion was making equally orgasmic noises on the other side of the table,
tucking into a mouth watering roasted duck breast. For dessert, soufflés can be tricky blighters to get right but I defy anyone to better this hot toffee version, so light it required two people to stop it from floating away. It was served with a bitter chocolate ice cream which the waitress introduced to the soufflé by cutting a delicate cross in its surface and spooning it on where it sank gracefully from view to the bottom acting as a deliciously sinful base. I’m no Catholic but it was so naughty I felt compelled to head off to confession. I was kept behind by the complimentary petit fours (or petit six in this case) though, including melt in the mouth macaroons, mini ginger shortbreads and a blackberry jam cube that packed more of a fruity punch than a Carry On film. Fine dining? Non. This is simply sublime dining. Put a fiver on head chef Didier Philpot gaining a Michelin star pretty soon then use the winnings to treat yourself to one of the best meals you’ll ever eat. Daron Billings
bar WATCH: Pure bar & kitchen Waterloo Street, Birmingham B2 5TJ
Purity continues on its mission to spread good beer with the opening of a rather fabulous new bar (in collaboration with Simpsons and M&B) just a mere stumble away from Victoria Square. A worthy addition to Brum’s craft beer scene, it’s got around 20 or so brews right now including, as you’d expect, some of Purity’s best offerings together with a small but perfectly formed posse of pints from Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, USA and Wales. There’s grub too. Bar snacks include old favourites pork scratchings and home-roasted spiced 34
Twitter: @PureCraftBars
nuts, together with a tongue tingling chilli sausage roll that puts pretty much every other example to shame. If you’re more peckish there’s a decent range of hearty gastropub-ish offerings like slow roast belly of pork (these pigs just don’t get a break eh?) and brewer’s grain risotto for the veggies. Decor is industrial chic with neat pockets of space suitable for couples on a hot date as well as groups of beer nuts ticking a few more off their list. Bonus points for the unusual loo signage too. Ladies take care or you just might catch sight of an altogether less appetising ‘sausage roll’... DB Brum Notes Magazine
April 2014
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LIVE Franz ferdinand O2 Academy, Birmingham 21/03/14 Photo by Rob Hadley
It’s 10 years since the release of Franz Ferdinand’s eponymous debut album and five years since they last played in Birmingham. It’s also the day after lead singer Alex Kapranos’ birthday - so we’re expecting something of a celebratory affair. The four-piece step on stage in matching constructivist outfits, the style of Alexander Rodchenko (whom their artwork has always paid homage to) a constant with the accompanying graphics that form their backdrop. The band play a 23-song strong set, a perfect mix of material from their consistently impressive four album back catalogue and an incredibly tight performance. From their most recent record, 2013’s Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, they balance Evil Eye, Bullet and Fresh Strawberries perfectly with older songs, fan-favourites Michael, Dark Of The Matinee and the euphoric Take Me Out and Do You Want To. It’s a very well thought through set, a greatest hits if you like, and it’s telling that throughout the hour and 45 minutes they play for, their dedicated audience is completely involved. Alex Kapranos is now over 40 – Franz Ferdinand weren’t in the first flush of youth when they began and they certainly ain’t getting any younger. However, tonight the Glaswegians look as fresh faced as ever and their performance is full of the energy and charisma we’ve come to expect from them 36
throughout their 12-year run. Amy Sumner
Metronomy The Institute, Birmingham 21/03/14
One thing can definitely be said of Metronomy: they look good. Kitted out in matching white trousers and shoes, fitted claret jackets and navy blue shirts, Joseph Mount and Gbenga Adelekan’s bon chic bon vibe suits the band’s stylised electropop vibe down to a tee. The set-up around the artists tonight is sleek and classy too. White stage furniture, low pink and purple neon down-lights and a giant cloud backdrop gives the gig a dreamy kitsch cocktail party feel – treading a fine line somewhere between Studio 54 and Ron Burgundy’s apartment. But it works, and the sound is crisp and well balanced, perfect conditions for the two frontmen, multiinstrumentalist Oscar Cash and drummer Anna Prior. Opening with the stripped-back Monstrous, Metronomy go in soft and gentle, letting the whirling organ lines, muted drum machine beat and visual aesthetic do their thing before stepping up the pace with Month Of Sundays, followed with a charged-up ‘Love Letters’, taken from the latest album of the
same name. Mount’s banter is well-measured and cheerful, leading into The Look, one of a number of tracks from older albums that elicits a better response from a relatively reserved crowd. Quirky 70s/80s-inspired electronic instrumental number Boy Racer goes down a treat initially, losing listeners by the time it’s done. By this point, we’re wondering if the Metronomy live show is a little too polished, or whether we’re all just in a fickle mood tonight. Then Holiday drops and the gig gets a shot in the arm: we all bounce to the pounding four-to-the-floor beat and dominating future disco bassline. By this point, the lighting engineer has upped the game, Mount and Adelekan are sweating it out, the band have switched around positions and instruments a few times, and in the stalls and balconies casual interest has given way to genuine enthusiasm. The party vibe has arrived, kinda. Love Letters has been critically acclaimed and is rightfully destined to score highly in end of year lists. But it’s a grower and so perhaps needs a little time to bed in with fans, at least for most of us here tonight. Mount and co sound and look beautiful, and make consistently delightful records - with a little more energy, presence and invention on stage there’s surely a next-level live experience waiting for us all. Lyle Bignon Brum Notes Magazine
Hoopla Blue Photo by Rob Hadley
Jungle Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath 20/03/14
Masters of mystique, Jungle have had the music critics scratching their heads for almost a year, not only about the identity of the band but also its makeup. Well tonight there are seven of them. Fronted by core duo ‘T’ and ‘J’, they’re using their fair share of samples but we’ve also live instrumentation and two backing vocalists who serve to add a slice of soul to the mix. It’s a short set, 35 minutes and six songs, which is only one more than is out there in the public domain; perhaps they’re still not ready to unveil themselves completely. But what we get within those walls is smooth world music, urban groove fused with disco-era Bee Gees and a 70s synth pop over the top. The Heat and Busy Earnin’ are the show stealers and the whole thing is a rare and eclectic treat of artists presenting an alternative to the standard band set up. Onwards. Amy Sumner
Hoopla Blue The Victoria, Birmingham 22/03/14
Tonight is the celebration of the release of Hoopla Blue’s debut Mother EP. Seeing Hoopla Blue perform has become something of a treat – they pick their shows carefully. Tonight they add to their usual repertoire (Seams, Oranges, Holy Ghost, Rituals and Hummingbird), airing three new songs – Nortune, Beyond Pine and Wool Eyed Brood, a charming and stripped back duet for which guitarists and vocalists Adam Tomes and Thomas Hewson are left alone, facing each other on stage. There’s a special guest appearance from Leighton Rees who has previously joined the band on glockenspiel and is promoted to keys for a couple of songs tonight. The set is marred somewhat by a collection of ignorant people who April 2014
persist in talking over the top of what is clearly a performance that needs quiet, and this evidently phases the band. However, by the second half of the set and the mass exodus of the offenders, they’ve settled into their stride. Tonight is a celebration of the release of a beautiful piece of work – if you missed the show (and where were you?), purchasing it is the only way to make up for it. Amy Sumner
Alto Cherry Reds, Birmingham 23/03/14
Today is the launch event of Alto, a creative female collective that is the brainchild of Anna Palmer and Holly Andrews, and celebrates the female throughout the creative industries. In the downstairs bar we’re treated to a beautiful string quartet, whilst up the winding staircase there’s some beautiful pencil drawings on show from the outstanding Jenny Haruki and photographs from An Ni to name just a couple. Projected onto the wall are videos created by outstanding local artists including Anna Tonks. Throughout the day there are acoustic sets from Redditch’s Shaake and a welcome return from Stavrini Koumi. There’s also a spoken word performance from the inspirational Jodi Ann Bickley who is accompanied by the string quartet from earlier in the day. Hers is one of the standout performances of the entire event, her honest and relatable sentiment commanding complete silence from a room that couldn’t fit another in if it tried. Later there are further musical performances, before the evening ends on a high with a performance from Elephantine who play a short but suitably raucous set. They’re joined by former guitarist Kaila Whyte for Abreast and their concluding song Blame, at the heart of which sits ‘I’m a broke ass bitch, with so much to give, instead of using it, I’m content with shit.’ Coupled with everything that’s been achieved today, it’s a rallying cry for us all. Tonight there is a real buzz and a real atmosphere and a sense that this is the start of something special. Congratulations Alto for starting something to truly be admired. Amy Sumner
Nocturne II ft Katherine Priddy Cafe Ort, Balsall Heath 14/03/14
With the tiniest of disco balls decorating the stage, a bursting at the seams Cafe Ort marked Nocturne’s second live offering. Drakelow, a Fleetwood Mac-esqe six-piece, warmed up the crowd with an enjoyable set of folk-rock. Ever enchanting, The Cadbury Sisters followed, who, in case you were wondering, do have the chocolate connection with their great grandfather a founder of the village of Bournville. Chocolate aside, these sisters delivered a haunting set packed full of stunning three-part harmonies, exploring poignant themes of falling in and out of love. It’d be an understatement to label this trio as your average folk-pop outfit because they deliver so much more. A few shuffles later and silence fell across the room as on walked Katherine Priddy, dressed in her notable free-spirited bohemian style. Considering it’s still early doors for Katherine (she is yet to release a full length debut), it was lovely to see a “dedicated band of followers” amongst the crowd. Opening with an old(ish) favourite, Indigo, Katherine instantly hypnotised the room with her perfectly pitched vocal tones. Marry this with her seemingly effortless fingerpicking on the guitar and we truly have something special. Sunday Rain marked Katherine’s homage to Nick Drake and echoed the influences of Drake’s music within her own, while closing the evening with a remarkable cover of his Cello Song left even the Nick Drake purists amongst us speechless. Saima Razzaq
Katherine Priddy Photo by Wayne Fox
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album reviews
DAMON ALBARN Everyday Robots Out April 28 (Parlophone)
There’s always been something of a veneer about Damon Albarn – a consummate showman who has retained a guarded persona. As Blur frontman, the façade bordered on caricature – his Mockney hi-jinks contriving to blur certain selfconscious social parameters. That he eventually turned himself into a cartoon gave literal context to the word ‘withdrawn’. And so, after a long and eclectic career, the perennial poseur finally puts his own moniker to a solitary piece of work. It begins in familiar territory, the title track kicking
The Amazing Snakeheads Amphetamine Ballads Out April 14 (Domino)
You have to respect a band who are proud of where they’re from. And there’s no scintilla of doubt that The Amazing Snakeheads are proudly coming straight out of a post-industrial wasteland of closed shipyards, tower blocks, Special Brew and crack… Fuckin GLESGAE, ye??? At turns pub rock/proto-punk raucous in the Dead Formats or Dr Feelgood vein, at others slow, sparse and darkly introspective (imagine a Glaswegian Nick Cave covering Shane 38
things off with a Gorillaz-like fusion of classical strings and street-sounds, all soundtracking the technological lament of the album’s title. And when the jazz-soul-funk of Lonely Press Play hammers the metaphor home, we strap ourselves in for a Thom Yorke-style concept-a-thon. However, while Dan Abnormal does have an anagrammatic tendency to scramble – adopting characters like Mr Tembo, which weirdly channels UB40’s Own Song, and the Pink Floyd histrionics of Photographs – he can also reveal a tender side that transcends his conceptual endeavours. The Selfish Giant, with its space-bound mantra ‘I had a dream you were leaving’, is like an astronaut’s last words trapped forever on a forgotten wavelength; History Of A Cheating Heart holds a
McGowan songs) – Amphetamine Ballads has the feel of a concept album. A concept album about the events of a single night drinking with some highly intelligent but very angry boys from the Gorbals. By this I mean the first sequence of tracks is upbeat, extrovert drunk – equally likely to kiss you with tongues as wrap a bar stool around the back of your head; the second half increasingly melancholy drunk – equally likely to cry uncontrollably… as wrap a bar stool right around the back of your head. The result is a series of brooding, boozesoaked urban tableaux of addled sexual longing, casual violence, frustrated hope and self-loathing. And great fun it is too. Just watch it when they start hitting the shots. It’ll get messy. Ed Ling
mirror up to the trappings of nostalgia; while the album’s truest gem and final track, Heavy Seas Of Love, is a gospel-led sea shanty that reveals in its playfulness an earnest heart that exposes Damon Albarn to be the big humanitarian softie we always suspected he was. Stephen Brolan
EMBRACE Embrace Out April 28 (Cooking Vinyl)
If you’re going to return after a long stint away – as might be the case with a reconciled relationship – yours is an obligation to demonstrate change, while also retaining the essence of what made love happen in the first place. After a seven-year hiatus, back into our lives stride Embrace, who seem to have mastered the art of winning back hearts. The opening of Protection is an attention-grabber, its industrial electronics sounding like a sciencefiction Depeche Mode remixed by New Order. Brum Notes Magazine
From there, the album becomes a cathedral of heaven-bound choruses and soulful laments. Lead single Refugees reconciles like a prodigal-son version of Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy, with an ethereal chorus that transcends dimensions, while forthcoming single Follow You Home sees the McNamara brothers harmonising over an implacable melody that monopolises your heartbeat. The visceral ballad At Once forms a tide that rushes in and breaks on the shores of an undulating melody, after which, the tsunami of Self Attack Mechanism crashes in with devastating effect, obliterating many preconceptions of what Embrace as a band really are. Anchored by two of their best songs, The Devil Looks After His Own, with its lyrics ‘The winner of the rat race is still a rat’, is a relentless attack on the parameters of choruses, while the organlaced panorama of Thief On My Island makes a dramatic exit that resonates so vividly you have no choice but to return to the beginning and relive the journey. They’re back, and Embrace are truly reaching out – an absence that has truly made the heart grow fonder. Scintillating, spellbinding, a masterpiece. What more can you ask for? SB
HOWLER World of Joy Out now (Rough Trade)
Howler were tipped for massive things and hyped beyond belief in the run up to their debut album America Give Up. Then when the album came out…not an awful lot happened really. That was two years ago, and now Howler are back with World Of Joy. Developing their sound while incorporating their influences, the album is less rough than its predecessor yet – surprisingly – still quite enjoyable. The album begins with a few quiet cowbell strikes, but don’t let that deceive you: what follows is an outrageously infectious explosion of Husker Dü-tinged energy. This is the anthemic Al’s Corral, where the band add chorus to their trademark fuzzy guitars. This is a regular theme. Howler are slowly detaching themselves from their old sound, finding new ways of producing full-throttle melodic mayhem. But this experimentation does create some bad results, such as the Dylan-esque Aphorismic Wasteland Blues, which provides a gentle close to the album but fails to make much of an impression. But with tracks like Here’s the Itch… and Indictment, it’s hard to dispute the album’s overall power. It’s an album comparable to Foo Fighters’ There Is Nothing Left To Lose, the sound of a band successfully loosening their grip on their old sound and growing as musicians and individuals. Tom Roden April 2014
BAND OF SKULLS Himalayan Out March 31 (Electric Blues Recordings)
we’re fairly sure will continue to propel them along the forward-looking trajectory they’ve already embarked upon – sometimes you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Amy Sumner
DANIEL GLOVER Three albums in, and Southampton’s Band Of Skulls have leapt into a time machine to hijack the mid-70s with a bazooka-load of power chords and evocative melodies that seek to stir up the dancefloor fracas of that era. Situating themselves inside the paradox that exploded in the transition from rock to pop – the sonic copulation that gave birth to the 1980s – Band Of Skulls create a vivid, voracious melange of pop-rock nostalgia that is so unapologetic it borders on parody. That’s not to say grandiose-titled Himalayan doesn’t scale the heights it clearly aimed for – this is a colossal sound that will be dangerous to vertigo sufferers. Opening with Led Zep-meets-Shawaddywaddy concoction, Asleep At The Wheel, is as ambiguous a start as you’re going to get, the lines ‘Where we are going is anyone’s guess’ helpfully setting you up for what’s to come. Preceding single Nightmares is a lucid figment that morphs early Simple Minds with BRMC; I Feel Like Ten Men sounds like Muse hitchhiking on Route 66, while album highlight, ‘I Guess I Know You Fairly Well’ helpfully exposes the narrow gap betwixt Bon Jovi and Arctic Monkeys. Having toured with a clutch of stadium monsters (Muse, QOTSA), you can sense BoS now have a grander ambition, and are no longer content to be sherpas – the formidable rockface that is Toreador demonstrating vertiginous scope while it blasts you with riff-laden rockfalls. With Himalayan, Band Of Skulls have climbed with admirable conviction and may just have peaked at the right time. SB
The Heavy Mind Sessions Out April 21 (Lost Chord)
They’re everywhere, aren’t they? Acoustic guitar-wielding singer-songwriters, who seem to monopolise every wedding party, festival love-in and street corner going, baring their souls willy-nilly like emotional streakers with a loose g-string. In such a ubiquitous field of rampant earnestness, it takes something pretty special to stand out from this militia of melancholy. That our first encounter with Daniel Glover was a live show performed at a tribute night to Bill Hicks was an apt context in which to encounter such a talent – someone who, like the great comedian himself, really seems to mean it. The Heavy Mind Sessions is a live-recorded mini-album that delves deeper and ranges further than most manage in an entire, fully rounded album. A solitary artist, Glover’s songs nevertheless conjure orchestras and elaborate arrangements that transcend the rawness of their delivery. Opener Chase Our Dreams elicits the ghost of Jeff Buckley and aligns it with Mumford & Sons’ sporadic playfulness – a haunted house that howls with insouciant joy; the title track recalls Buckley’s rendition of Hallelujah with some additional aggression, while Wasting My Life closes the record with a heart-on-sleeve candour that matches his comedic idol’s trenchant conviction. Daniel Glover is playing from his fucking heart. SB
Escape To New York
Racing Glaciers
A Long Time Between Monsters EP Out March 29
Ahead Of you Forever EP Out now
Derbyshire quartet Escape To New York take both their name (tweaked a little) and their debut EP’s name from film producer John Carpenter associations. You might recognise the faces from their previous guise, Rugosa Nevada, but since their new beginning ETNY have headlined Y Not festival, supported Funeral For a Friend and played on the BBC Introducing stages at Reading and Leeds. Not bad going at all. Dan Burchell’s vocals are dripping Caleb Followill and that’s evident from the start on openers It’s A Battleground and We Got Some Miles To Go. In truth it’s all very Kings Of Leon with Growing Pains, their debut single released last November, smacking pretty unashamedly of Be There. That said it’s competent, catchy and
What’s not to love about grand, swirling indie music? It may not be new or ground-breaking but Racing Glaciers show it off unabashed. The five piece, from Macclesfield, specialise in post-rock instrumentation with pop melodies. Produced by the band’s own Tim Monaghan, this EP is full to bursting with twinkling piano, distorted guitar solos, thundering drums and intense crescendos leading to anthemic choruses. That’s not to say it’s full-on all the time, it has its quieter moments but they always lead to something louder and more explosive. While not feel-good, hands-in-the-air indie rock at its very best or most daring, it does offer some inspiring moments. Ben Russell 39
gigs
Racing Photo by Andy Hughes
This Is Tmrw Easter Special
PICK
Hare & Hounds, April 19
Easily winning the award for ‘the most great bands shoehorned onto one bill’, This Is Tmrw’s Easter Special is set to be a stunner. Live sets include electro pop solo project Field Harmonics, funk-tastic soul and groove act Racing, French powerpop trio Appletop, folk pop five-piece Midnight Bonfires, South London lo-fi mist trio Happyness, punk grrl-fronted Elephantine, a reunion show from Redditch’s Sunset Cinema Club and a headline showing from the ever-fantastic Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam, who debut their new member Dave Pendril Bentall at the show. Phew! There’s also DJ sets from Brum Notes faves Dutch Uncles, This Is Tmrw and Bargain Bin Soul.
Female Smell, Adore, IONS, Victor Muthers Studio, April 5
Get your wallets out because this one’s for charity! With performances from some of the West Midlands’ most exciting rock and grunge acts, including relentless noise-mongrels Female Smell, 90s grunge purveyors Adore, post-rock outfit IONS (brought to you by ex-members of Dead Sun Rising and Solway Fifth). atmospheric heavy and bass-tastic grunge five-piece Victor and secret special guests to be announced, there’s no better or more worthy way to spend your April 5. All profits to the Teenage Cancer Trust.
The Fauns
The Sunflower Lounge, April 19 Aiming to ‘provoke an emotional response from the audience with beautiful melancholic songs’ through their live performance, The Fauns have
already played support slots with the likes of The Telescopes, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Durutti Column and Savages. Now embarking on a headline tour of their own, they support the release of their sophomore album, Lights (through Invada Records last December), with a UK tour this spring.
Blood Red Shoes O2 Academy, April 24
During the writing of their third record, 2012’s In Time To Voices, drummer Steven Ansell quit the band three times and he and guitarist Laura-Mary Carter appear to have been at each other’s throats throughout. However, celebrating 10 years and four albums together since their formation (born out of a shared love of punk rock, Twin Peaks, red wine and blisteringly loud guitars), Brighton’s Blood Red Shoes tour their current eponymous record throughout Europe and America. Catch the chaos and see what makes them tick on April 24.
Brody Dalle
O2 Academy, April 26 Ex-Distillers and Spinnerette frontwoman Brody Dalle releases her debut solo record Diploid Love on April 28. If the first set she played as a solo artist in the UK (a sold out show at Hoxton’s Bar and Kitchen last February) is anything to go by, Brody Dalle 40
expect a mix of Distillers and Spinnerette material as well as previews from her forthcoming solo release. And expect them delivered with a characteristic dose of attitude.
Childhood
Hare & Hounds, April 29 Playing their first ever Birmingham headline show, South London’s Childhood are four friends united by a shared love of psychedelic music and lo-fi indie pop. Originally a duo, they’re a quirky bunch, describing themselves as a ‘hot boyband... making tunes making moves’. Drawing influence from Creation records, soul, Americana and shoegaze, they match their blissful recordings with a hypnotising live show. Catch them fresh from touring with Temples.
Kins
Bull’s Head, April 23 Beginning in Melbourne as the solo project of Thomas Savage, Kins are now a four-piece residing in Brighton who play sophisticated, guitar-led ambient pop somewhere between Alt-J and Wild Beasts. Their 2011 7-track EP, Dancing Back and Forth Covered in Whipped Cream, and last year’s debut eponymous album have both gained the band some strong critical backing – find out what all the fuss is about here. Brum Notes Magazine
club nights
Godskitchen presents Clash of the Gods
PICK
The Rainbow, April 26
The fastest ever selling Godskitchen show (with all early birds sold out in under two minutes), the clubbing legend returns to Birmingham to take over The Rainbow complex for the very first time. Featuring over 40 artists across three rooms and with six UK exclusive sets and seven GK debut performances, this event is shaping up to be a big one. Featuring appearances from Aly & Fila (pictured) in The Warehouse, Signum vs Manuel Le Saux in The Garden and Will Rees vs Rhys Thomas in The Kitchen as well as further artists across all three spaces, there are a limited number of tickets still available...but not for long so act fast.
Madame Moonshine’s Speakeasy
Spotlight & NextDoor, April 19 Instalment number two of the 1920s-themed club night which takes place under the arches in the heart of Digbeth. This time there’ll be live music from funk and swing act Collective 43, Brighton swing pop duo Kitten & The Hip and retro trio The Glamophones as well as dancers, a croupier-hosted betting corner, cocktails aplenty and food from the fabulous Digbeth Dining Club. Guaranteeing ‘a discreet experience for those with looser morals, flowing liquor and the biggest party in town’, be sure to dress to impress because the Polka Dot Fox photobooth will be there to capture it all.
The Southport Weekender Big 50 Launch Hare & Hounds, April 5
Leftfoot pay tribute to The Southport Weekender (‘a constant source of inspiration’) celebrating momentous lineups year on year and their consistently bringing some of the finest DJs and live acts to the UK. To mark their 50th event, Leftfoot’s special warm-up in Birmingham features April 2014
Greg Wilson as well as Southport resident Gavin Kendrick. Gavin has also put together a special mix to warm things up which you can check out at www.southportweekender.co.uk.
the world including Glastonbury, will play a 250 capacity room – tickets for this event are extremely limited so don’t miss your chance to get up close and personal.
10 Years of The Rainbow
Last Ever Freestyle
With a whole weekend of events across its various spaces, Sunday’s instalment focuses on the local talent that has shaped The Rainbow over the past decade. Expect storming sets from the likes of Bigger Than Barry, Exit Festival, FACE, Seedy Sonics and Shadow City amongst others for the Sunday street and Warehouse party. There will also be live illustration battles from Secret Walls, not to mention an very special after party raging until 6am. Keep an eye on therainbowvenues.co.uk for further announcements.
After five years, Freestyle comes to an end with what promises to be a jam-packed and hectic night of hits. A selection of guests who have graced the decks over the years take part in a relay-style DJ set where, two tunes at a time, they’ll take it in turns to ignite the dancefloor for one last time. For the final two hours, Sam Redmore plays his trademark selection of hip-hop, soul, funk, reggae and disco to see the night off with a bang.
The Rainbow, April 20
Phil Hartnoll (Orbital) DJ set Hare & Hounds, April 12
Launching the Circles Takes You Back series of events, Orbital’s Phil Hartnoll plays a set covering Orbital and classics from the era. Here, the electronic pioneer who has headlined stages across
Bull’s Head, April 4
Mostly Jazz Launch Party Hare & Hounds, April 20
Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival takes place in Moseley Park across the weekend of July 11 13. To get everybody suitably ready to party a full three months beforehand, its launch party is at the Hare and Hounds on April 20 with a DJ set from Jazzie B (Soul II Soul) as well as a selection of live performances. 41
arts & culture
Richard Long: Prints 1970-2013
PICK
New Art Gallery Walsall, from April 16
For over four decades, Richard Long has turned long-distance walks into jaw-dropping art, establishing himself as a prime figure of the land art movement. Long’s modus operandi is to journey across the globe’s most stunning landscapes, creating sculptures which combine the location’s natural resources with the tracks of his progress across the terrain. For the first time, this exhibition rounds up the photographic record of Long’s entire career. It includes NO FOOTPRINTS, a recent work created especially for this show, the result of a 10-day trek across the blue ice of Antarctica’s Ellsworth Mountains.
Ian Emes: Ikon Icon 1970s Ikon, from April 30
As part of the gallery’s 50th anniversary celebrations, its Tower Room plays host to Ikon Icons, a series revisiting the work of a key figure from each of the previous five decades. Representing the 70s is French Windows, the first major piece from Birmingham artist Ian Emes, a hypnotically striking animation inspired by the Pink Floyd track One Of These Days.
Michel François: Pieces Of Evidence Ikon, from April 30
The first UK retrospective of the Belgian artist, with the exhibition’s true meaning to be found in the contextual combination of its constituent parts. Prevalent amongst the sculpture, film, photography and painting on display is François’ interest in borders, with Stumbling Block II (Wall) referencing drug smuggling and the video Arpenteuse featuring an inchworm walking across a map of the world.
Tim Shaw: Black Smoke Rising Mac, from April 12
The first major solo show from the Belfast sculptor, who’s recently been elected into the hallowed 42
ranks of the Royal Academicians. Featured will be a special reworking of Shaw’s notorious Casting A Dark Democracy, which draws on the infamous 2004 photograph of an Abu Ghraib prisoner to highlight the human cost of the Iraq War.
Refugee Boy
experiences and testimonies of real-life war correspondents – including Giuliana Sgrena, who was taken hostage in Iraq – for a song cycle which lays bare the stark realities of war. After the glittering success of their previous collaboration Dalston Songs, this comes recommended.
The Rep, April 8-12
ATRESBANDES: Locus Amoenus
A West Yorkshire Playhouse production combining the poetry of Lemn Sissay and Brum’s own Benjamin Zephaniah. It follows the story of Alem, an African teenager whose parents remove him from the civil war that rages back home, leaving him to a new life in London. Alem has to come to terms with, and then attempt to transcend, his new status as a refugee, with the production managing to combine heavy emotion with lots of laughs.
Mac, April 30
Following on from their prizewinning effort at 2012’s BE Festival, Catalan three-piece outfit ATRESBANDES return to Brum for their latest production, created in residence at the Mac. Via a train derailment which claims the lives of three unwitting passengers, the company explore humankind’s longing for escape, and the everyday wonder we miss along the way.
War Correspondents
Birmingham Independent Book Fair
The Rep, April 24-26
An eye-catching collaboration between acclaimed composer Helen Chadwick and choreographer Steven Hoggett, the co-founder of physical-theatre outfit Frantic Assembly. The show draws on the
Ikon, April 12
A valuable chance to sample the wares of indie publishers from the West Midlands region and beyond – spanning both prose and poetry, and including a programme of readings and workshops. Amongst those on hand will be Flarestack Poets, whose publications are characterised by their high production and design values, as well as Warwickshire’s fantastic Nine Arches Press. Brum Notes Magazine
presents
ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIM ENT +SOWETO KINCH
Thursday 3 April BIRMINGHAM The Institute Book now: 0844 844 0444 serious.org.uk/robertglasper
April 2014
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WHAT’S ON M M M M M M C M M M M M C M M M M M M M M M M M CN CN CN CN C C M M M M M M
44
Tuesday, Apr 1 Boy George
The Institute
Birmingham
Marmozets
The Institute
Birmingham
Wednesday, Apr 2 Live Jazz
KEY TO LISTINGS: M = LIVE MUSIC CN = CLUB NIGHT C = COMEDY
M M M M
Canterbury
The Institute
Birmingham
Highgrade
The Institute
Birmingham
Walk Off The Earth
The Institute
Birmingham
Blues Club with Derek & The Checkmates The Woodentops
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
M CN 10.31 presents
The Loft
Moseley
Rainbow Warehouse
Birmingham
The Rainbow
Birmingham
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Bull’s Head
Moseley
Cafe Ort
Balsall Heath
The Institute
Birmingham
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
CN
The Glee Club
Birmingham
CN
Cafe Ort
Balsall Heath
Robert Glasper Experiment Big Deal + Ekkah
The Institute
Birmingham
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Blackbeard’s Tea Party
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Status Quo
Civic Hall
Wolverhampton
Sean Percival
The Glee Club
Birmingham
Friday, Apr 4 Sangre de Muerdago
Cafe Ort
Balsall Heath
Sylvia
Mac
Birmingham
Emblem3
O2 Academy 2
Birmingham
Steve Ajao Blues Giants Duke
Birmingham
M
Birmingham
M
Morgn Heritage
Symphony Hall Cafe Bar The Actress & Bishop The Institute
Birmingham
The Rainbow
Birmingham
M
Fallen Fires Tin Tins
The Rainbow
Birmingham
Johnny Kowalski & The Sexy Weirdos Kate Bush performed by Cloudbusting Shatter Effect
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Enzo Siragusa
Sounds Like A Teen Spirit Simone Felice + Dan Whitehouse Space Lady + Two Dogs Andrew Lawrence Thursday, Apr 3 Maths Problems
B*L*A*C ft Lisa Millett Ouse
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
The Loft
Moseley
NextDoor
Birmingham
Spotlight Suki10c
Birmingham Birmingham
The Last Ever Freestyle with Sam Redmore Lucy Porter
Bull’s Head
Moseley
The Glee Club
Birmingham
Sean Percival
The Glee Club
Birmingham
Saturday, Apr 5 Female Smell
Muthers
Birmingham
The Vibe
O2 Academy 3
Birmingham
Moschino Hoe, Versace Hottie Khiyo
Spotlight
Birmingham
Symphony Hall
Birmingham
Why? Said The Moon to Earth The Little Deaths
TALK
Birmingham
The Actress & Bishop
Birmingham
CN
CN C M M M
SKREAMIZM UK TOUR FACE x Ku:derta ft. Archie Hamilton Bruk Up with Charlie Dark & Lord Byron Leftfoot presents The Southport Weekender Big 50 Launch Party with Greg Wilson + Gavin Kendrick Killer Wave 2.0 with Joel Webster + Richard Buckley Sean Percival
The Glee Club
Birmingham
Sunday, Apr 6 Words Of Concrete
The Flapper
Birmingham
Benjamin Clementine
The Glee Club
Birmingham
Sunday Social ft Resistant Regime James Walsh (Starsailor) Sunplugged ft Luke Wylde & The Japes Manic Street Preachers
The Yardbird
Birmingham
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
The Sun at The Station Civic Hall
Kings Heath
O2 Academy
Birmingham
The Institute
Birmingham
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Bull’s Head
Moseley
Tuesday, Apr 8 Manchester Orchestra
The Glee Club
Birmingham
Boyce Avenue
The Institute
Birmingham
Scott Matthews
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Sky Larkin
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
The Wildhearts
Wulfrun Hall
Wolverhampton
Addy Van der Borgh
The Loft
Moseley
Wednesday, Apr 9 Mookoomba
Mac
Birmingham
Loop
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
The Kate Gee Band
Bull’s Head
Moseley
Thursday, Apr 10 The Few Collective
Mac
Birmingham
Memphis May Fire
O2 Academy 2
Birmingham
The Last Carnival
O2 Academy 3
Birmingham
Penetration
The Institute
Birmingham
The Correspondents
The Institute
Birmingham
Monday, Apr 7 Halestorm
M Sophie Ellis-Bexter M Paul Thomas Saunders M CN Jam Jah Reggae M M M M M C M M M M M M M M
Wolverhampton
Brum Notes Magazine
M M M M C M M M M M M M M M CN CN CN CN C M M M M
Birmingham
M M
Raglans Foreigner
Civic Hall
Wolverhampton
Wednesday, Apr 16 Within Temptation
O2 Academy
Birmingham
Go! Go! Go!
Town Hall
Birmingham
Ben Reel
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Fazeley Social
Birmingham
O2 Academy 3
Birmingham Birmingham
Red Shoes
Scruffy Murphy’s Slade Rooms
Glass Giants
The Flapper
Birmingham
Jesca Hoop
The Glee Club
Birmingham
The Heels
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Goodnight Lenin
Moseley
CN Deano Ferrino Bull’s
The Prince of Wales Bull’s Head
C
The Glee Club
Birmingham
Civic Hall
Wolverhampton
The Nightingales
Slade Rooms
Wolverhampton
Nick Doody
The Glee Club
Birmingham
Friday, Apr 11 The Bonfire Radicals
Cafe Ort
Balsall Heath
Dan Nicholls
CBSO Centre
Birmingham
Justin Timberlake
LG Arena
Birmingham
Secret Eye
The Rainbow
Birmingham
Plastic Factory
Birmingham
Brothers of Caedmon
The Sunflower Lounge The Victoria
Paradise Circus
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Hightower
The Loft
Moseley
Arcane Roots
Slade Rooms
Wolverhampton
Portal with waFF + Sable Sheep KANYINI PSY allnighter feat PSIBINDI Beat Goes Bang live with Jam Jah Soundsystem DJs Black Box with Timbre + Tom Brown Nick Doody
NextDoor
Birmingham
Suki10c
Birmingham
M M M M M
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Bull’s Head
Moseley
The Glee Club
Birmingham
Kings Heath
Birmingham
Saturday, Apr 12 Jack Wallen
Cafe Ort
Balsall Heath
Justin Timberlake
LG Arena
Birmingham
Matt Cardle
O2 Academy 2
Birmingham
Atlas
The Actress & Bishop The Flapper
Birmingham
The Sunflower Lounge Wagon & Horses Hare & Hounds
Birmingham
The Loft
Moseley
The Headhunters
M M
The Traps
Cold Ocean Lies
Steve Strange + Zero Corporatio Phil Hartnoll (Orbital)
CN CN OOOOOO Look Nick Doody C
C C
Birmingham
The Actress & Bishop Hare & Hounds
Status Quo
M
M
Mac
Lovats
Grieves
Stone Foundation
M
Maddy Prior
Birmingham
M M
M M M
M M
The Sunflower Lounge Hare & Hounds
Curb
Birmingham
Birmingham Kings Heath
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Bull’s Head
Moseley
The Glee Club
Birmingham
M M M M M M
M M M
Birmingham Birmingham
Likewise
The Actress & Bishop The Institute
Birmingham
Holocene + Cascades + Deaf Inspector + Magpies & Vagabonds Dead Sea Skulls
The Sunflower Lounge
Birmingham
The Victoria
Birmingham
Jam Tidy
Birmingham
Ghould
Wagon & Horses Hare & Hounds
The Ex
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Revolver
The Loft
Moseley
ROLLERSKATE ft. Moho + Sneaks&Peaks The Soul Hole
Boxxed
Birmingham
CN Glenn Wool C The Raymond & Mr C
Bull’s Head
Moseley
The Glee Club
Birmingham
The Glee Club
Birmingham
M M M M M
M M M M M M M CN
Black Art
The Flapper
Birmingham
Sundy Social ft Alex Moir Sunplugged ft Lionel Street Players Bohemian Jukebox Sunday Social ft Cannon Street Tom Wrigglesworth
The Yardbird
Birmingham
The Sun at The Station Bull’s Head
Kings Heath
Mac
Birmingham
Rough Works – New Material Night Monday, Apr 14 Take Offense
The Glee Club
Birmingham
M M
The Flapper
Birmingham
M M
Wulfrun Hall
Wolverhampton
Bull’s Head
Moseley
April 2014
Moseley
O2 Academy 3
Birmingham
Tuesday, Apr 15
Head Takeover The Raymond & Mr Timpkins Revue Friday, Apr 18 The Summer Set
Birmingham
O2 Academy 2
O2 Academy 2
M Deaf Havana M CN Jam Jah Reggae
Bantorious D.A.N
Detective
Sunday, Apr 13 Patti Russo
Moseley
Thursday, Apr 17 Instant Karma ft Shelly Quarmby VeXXen
Kings Heath
M M
UB40
Timpkins Revue Saturday, Apr 19 Mellow Peaches
Birmingham
Kings Heath
Cafe Ort
Balsall Heath
Farra
O2 Academy 2
Birmingham
Fight The Dice
O2 Academy 3
Birmingham
Kastella
TALK
Birmingham
Jaws + Dumb + The Magic Gang UB40
The Institute
Birmingham
The Institute
Birmingham
The Fauns
The Sunflower Lounge Hare & Hounds
Birmingham
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
The Sun at The Station The Loft
Kings Heath
The Toy Hearts This Is Tmrw Easter Special Slipped Disks ft Wax Futures Northside
Kings Heath
Moseley 45
CN Madame Moonshine’s Speakeasy Friends
NextDoor
Birmingham
CN CN Leftfoot Sessions with
Bull’s Head
Moseley
Bull’s Head
Moseley
C C M M M M M
Soul Buggin’ Gareth Berliner
Mac
Birmingham
The Raymond & Mr Timpkins Revue Sunday, Apr 20 Angie Stone
The Glee Club
Birmingham
The Drum
Aston
Arbor Lights
The Flapper
Birmingham
Legends of the Dark
The Institute
Birmingham
Sunday Social ft High Horses Sunplugged ft Call-MeUnique Stefano Esposito
The Yardbird
Birmingham
The Sun at The Station Bull’s Head
Kings Heath
The Rainbow
Birmingham
The Rainbow Venues Hare & Hounds
Birmingham
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
M CN Below CN 10 Years of The RainCN CN C
bow Holiday Launch Party with Jake Bullit DJs Mostly Jazz Funk & Soul Launch Party ft Jazzie B (Soul II Soul) Stand Up for the Heroes Monday, Apr 21 Sick Puppies
M CN Jam Jah Reggae M M M M M M M M M M C M M M M M M C M M M M M 46
Tuesday, Apr 22 Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats Soul Acoustic
The Glee Club
Moseley
Kings Heath
Birmingham
O2 Academy 3
Birmingham
Bull’s Head
Moseley
O2 Academy 2
Birmingham
The Glee Club
Birmingham
Of Mice and Men
The Institute
Birmingham
Matthew & The Atlas
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip The Temperance Movement Wednesday, Apr 23 Pentatonix
Slade Rooms
Wolverhampton
Wulfrun Hall
Wolverhampton
The Institute
Birmingham
Coves
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
The Crookes
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Kins
Bull’s Head
Moseley
Paul Muttagejja
Cafe Ort
Balsall Heath
Thursday, Apr 24 Leatherat
Brewdog
Birmingham
Blood Red Shoes
O2 Academy 2
Birmingham
Seahaven with Nai Harvest Alkaline Trio
The Flapper
Birmingham
The Institute
Birmingham
Jace Everett
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Sons of Kemet
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Tom Wrigglesworth
The Glee Club
Birmingham
M M M
The Paradimes
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Wildflowers
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
Birmingham Popfest with Wolfhounds + The Silver Factory Dolce Vita
The Loft
Moseley
CN CN Celestial with Steve
The Rainbow
Birmingham
Bull’s Head
Moseley
C
The Glee Club
Birmingham
Cafe Ort
Balsall Heath
M M M M M M M
Cafe Ort
Balsall Heath
A Promise to Forget
O2 Academy 3
Birmingham
Rufus
The Institute
Birmingham
Wretch 32
The Institute
Birmingham
Panspermia
The Rainbow
Birmingham
Saturday, Apr 26 Big Tent and the Gypsy Lantern Brody Dalle
O2 Academy 2
Birmingham
GlassBullet
O2 Academy 3
Birmingham
Lime
TALK
Birmingham
Imogen’s Kiss
The Actress & Bishop Hare & Hounds
Birmingham
The Loft
Moseley
Adam & Eve
Birmingham
Rainbow Warehouse Suki10c
Birmingham
Wagon & Horses Bull’s Head
Birmingham
Dillinja Birmingham Popfest with The Brilliant Corners + Alpaca Sports Dub Mafia & Friends
CN CN Godskitchen presents Clash of the Gods Resurrection Returns
CN CN Ibiza Trance Family CN C M M M M M M M
Friday, Apr 25 Dan Hartland
Kelley Tom Wrigglesworth
C M M
Godskitchen Warm Up Jam Hott with Ben Dunn + DJ Mylz Tom Wrigglesworth
M C
Birmingham
Moseley
The Glee Club
Birmingham
Sunday, Apr 27 One Life Left
Adam & Eve
Birmingham
Jeff Dunham
LG Arena
Birmingham
Eli Paperboy Reed
O2 Academy 2
Birmingham
Norma Jean
O2 Academy 3
Birmingham
Umberto
Wagon & Horses The Sun at The Station The Loft
Birmingham
Hare & Hounds
Kings Heath
O2 Academy 2
Birmingham
O2 Academy 3
Birmingham
Symphony Hall
Birmingham
Bull’s Head
Moseley
Tuesday, Apr 29 Clutch
O2 Academy
Birmingham
Ben Harper
Symphony Hall
Birmingham
Why? Said The Moon to Earth Childhood
The Lamp Tavern Hare & Hounds
Birmingham
Joe Lycett
Slade Rooms
Wolverhampton
The Actress & Bishop Hare & Hounds
Birmingham
Sunplugged ft Micky Greaney Birmingham Popfest with The Flatmates + The Understudies Craig Murry + Steve Day Monday, Apr 28 Patent Pending Fearless Vampire Killers Neil Finn
M CN Jam Jah Reggae M M M
Kings Heath
M
Wednesday, Apr 30 Mutineers
M
Bob Log III
Kings Heath Moseley
Kings Heath
Kings Heath
Brum Notes Magazine
April 2014
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