Down the RabBit Hole
Issue 6 1st December
contents Editor’s Note: This month we are jam packed with interviews, reviews and our gig guide and because it’s our December issue we’ve decided to slip in a Christmas drinking game for you all. There’s plenty of new music for you to check out and we hope you enjoy the local artists that appear in this E-Mag. Mad Alice Records would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays since we will not be releasing our next issue until next year! We hope you are looking forward to seeing what treats we have in store for you with next issue and the developments that we have planned for next year. For now, though, enjoy this issue and it would be great if we received some feedback from you guys on what you thought of it. We will see you all next year and have a Merry Christmas! Happy Reading, Rachel Colley, Editor.
Interviews:
Part Time Miserables - 4 The Black Lagoons - 10
Album Reviews: Scooterbabe - 14 Julia Ruzicka - 15
Film Review:
Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them - 24
Top 5:
December’s Top 5 - 3
Christmas Drinking Game: Rules - 16
Interactive Advent Calendar: Advent Calendar - 8
Production Article: Mixing Effects - 18
Artist in review:
Gobbinjr - 20 Slow Hollows - 20 American Wrestlers - 22 ...And the Hangnails - 22
Gig Guide:
December’s Gigs - 28
Top 5 of the month Pokémon Sun and Moon
Childish Gambino
With many changes to how the game works, you would expect the game to feel completely different, yet it flows the same, but with a new and breathtaking feel throughout. With so much going on you would expect to get drowned in too much gameplay, but everything comes at a well paced speed and doesn’t force you to do anything.
Although Childish Gambino’s rapping career has at points been rocky, experimental, and even little weird (“girl why you lying? Girl why you Mufasa?) it seem that with his new track “Me and Your Mama” he has finally found his niche and perfected his style. The gently swaying beats that crash into organ shaking drums when the beat drops and a brand new vocal style from Childish Gambino all combine to make a track that you feel with your soul and won’t be able to stop listening to until the rest of the album drops.
Kings of Con Richard Speight Jr. and Robert Benedict, from the show Supernatural, star in their own comedy sit com Kings of Con. Even though the episodes are only ten minutes long the actors are able to pack in a load of laughs along with a few special cameos. If you want something crazy and witty then this show is definitely one to check Arrival Arrival is a science fiction film directed by Sicario’s Denis Villeneuve. It tells the story of when 12 alien spaceships land at various points across the planet, Forest Whitaker assembles Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner to talk to the aliens, and global communications break down in a crisis yet again. It’s not often that we get such a bold attempt at new science fiction that pays off this well, and for that reason alone this film is definitely one to see. Even if the spaceships do look like giant eggs.
Robbie Williams Robbie Williams has tried a fair few genres during his career. Including some uncomfortable rap in ‘tripping’. His new album, ‘The Heavy Entertainment Show’, is massive news for fans like myself who grew up surrounded by Robbie’s music. The tracks on this album are darker, much like the movement Fall Out Boy made from upbeat pop-punk to edgier and heavier tracks in ‘My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark’. My favourite track is ‘Party Like a Russian’, which underlies Sergie Prokofiev’s ‘Dance of The Knights’ (Perhaps more commonly known as The Apprentice™ theme song. There are fun tracks too, like ‘Motherf*****’ which details a child’s family background of ‘nutter’s.
part time miserables Can you give us a brief history of the band?
You recently toured North America, what was it like?
Well, it started out with me (Dank) coming out of a band at the same time Gaff did. We were on the same course at college and so we were both aware we had a similar music taste so we started jamming, him as a drummer and me on guitar and vocals. We needed something else though, and we also knew the talented Henry from our course and so we got him in on drums and moved Gaff up onto lead guitar. Most of the songs originally came from Gaff…
It really was mind blowing! The gigs were rammed, played with some wicked bands and we don’t think it could have gone better! Had an absolute scream doing it. You’ve got some gigs planned for London and Fulford Arms but have you got any more planned in the near future? We’ve got a gig at Yorks Fulford Arms on the 14th of December, we’ve got Manchester Rebellion Club on the 27th of January and also the 16th of April at Fibbers York.
You describe yourselves as ‘indie/rock’. What are your inspirations?
followed by a series of our unreleased live tracks.
We’d personally say we’re a massive mix of genres; post punk, grunge, shoegaze but mostly indie? It just so happens that the way we write falls into that category I suppose… aggression and passion in music is a key point to us so I guess that rules out folk?
If you could play a different genre other than indie what would it be and why?
You’ve released four songs; are there any plans on releasing more material? We’ve actually just released ‘Hate State’ as our latest single and that will shortly be
This is where we all vary slightly, see Dank is big on his Ska music outside of the indie rock, Gaff would more like you go down the road of pure shoegaze/dream pop and Henry would be down for Metal!
part time miserables ‘Don’t Mind’ and ‘Everyday’ sound as if they are real crowd pleasers. What other songs are crowd pleasers when they are played live? Those two definitely seem to get people moving! I reckon our other tracks that we’ve been complimented on are definitely ‘Hate State’ and ‘Glue’… however, we’ve recently written some heavy tunes you’ll have to wait for. How did you come about to develop your sound? We just take every new song as it comes.
We don’t put too much thought into what genre we fall into or anything like that, it’s just a case of whether all our parts fit together and with Henry being the best drummer on the scene right now and Gaff writing some of the most incredible riffs and then Dank’s rhythm guitar and vocals just on top of it, it comes out bang on! Has music been part of your life for a long time? Dank: For us, playing our tunes to people is what we’re planning to do till we physically can’t! Its been like that since any of us first picked
up a guitar, sat at the drums or penned some lyrics. What other countries would you like to go on tour in and why? The next port of call is a full on UK tour… Europe after that on so forth. Always really wanted to go to Australia too. If each band member could learn a different instrument, which would it be and why? Dank: Straight up, saxophone! This is mainly due to my love for the weird
combination of the X-ray Spex and the ‘funhouse’ album by The Stooges Gaff: I’d definitely be straight on vocals and to be honest, there could be a possibility in that happening! Henry: Gotta be bagpipes, or an accordion! Apart from gigs and possible new music are there any big plans for the band in the near future and can you share any of these plans with our readers? Well, we can definitely tell you that 2017 is going to be a massive year, you’ll have to stay tuned, mind.
Interactive Advent CAlendar
the black lagoons
Can you tell us a brief history of the band? For just over a year now we’ve been gigging with the music we now play and have loved doing this so far. You recently played Yor Fest 2016. How was the experience and was this your first year at the festival? We were first on at the festival in 2015 and were invited to play again this year. We enjoyed playing again, it’s just a shame the festival doesn’t get as much support, as it should from locals. Got a nice awkward band photo for them before we played though. Did you check out any of the other acts at the festival? Which ones were your highlights and why? We did get to see a few acts including Naked Six, we’ve played a couple gigs with them before and have enjoyed that so was good to see their set. Since you’re from York which venues have you got the fondest memories of playing in and why? Fulford Arms. We love the Fulford Arms. You’ve just recently produced your new EP ‘Are You Standing Uncomfortably’? How was this experience for the band and did you have to face any challenges while recording this EP? We just sort of wrote the songs, went to The White Rooms, and recorded them. Pleased with the result. What influences did you have while recording this EP and why? The same influences as we’ve always had like The Amazing Snakeheads, Black Sabbath, Spice Girls etc. And to answer why, probably just because we like them.
What artists would you love to play with live and why? We like to play with friends in York bands but we would also love to play with bands that we like that are a bit more realistic to have the chance to play with, and not say we’re gonna support The Beatles or anyone. The songs ‘The Creature’ and ‘Call For Your Snake’ sound like crowd pleasing songs. What other songs do you believe are crowd pleasers from your EP and why? Probably the only other two songs on the EP. How would you describe your sound to people who’ve never heard you before? We would probably describe it as spooked garage surf to heavy psychedelic sludge. Were there any songs that you enjoyed recording more than others on the new EP? I don’t think any of them were funner to record than others because we recorded them all in the same way. It was entertaining watching Chalky the Yorkie (the guy who does the introduction on the CD version of the EP), doing his evil laugh and coming up with some very interesting ideas. What other places outside of York would you be interested in playing in and why? We played Hull a while ago and that was really good because people seem to really love coming out to gigs there and it had a great atmosphere there so would like to play there again. Have the band got any future plans that they can share with us? As a band we’d just like to keep writing and playing music and playing nice gigs with nice people, hopefully keep playing more gigs outside of York. Maybe some shiny new releases in the shiny future…
the black lagoons
Scooterbabe Scooterbabe are a 4 piece band from Georgia, USA who describe their sound as “noise pop kinda” but I feel they fit closer to the indie pop subgenre. ‘The sorrow you’ve been tooting around’ is their first full length album after a handful of EPs and singles, released last month on bandcamp. It features mainly slow acoustic songs about various anxieties and depressions sung in the deep and assured vocals of JJ Posway, who creates a somewhat calming atmosphere with his singing. The first track ‘Starless Background’ features the stand out lyric of the whole album “you could learn from the ego death, you pretentious fuck”. This is a great acoustic song, and possible the stand out track of the whole album which unfortunately means the album is setting a high bar that it never quite achieves again. This is not to say the rest of the album isn’t great; it is. But it’s great in more of the “this is a great collection of sad songs to listen to when I’m sad I should add this to my late night crying playlist immediately” sense of the word. Whitedwarf/ Late October features the line “I’m a dead planet being torn apart” and Kneel To See Me is a song about the damage we cause to people when we lean on them too much during times of depression, something we should all be aware of so that we don’t drag people into a
pit we can’t escape from ourselves. ‘Our Last Game of Chess’ is a slightly different song, that stands out in the middle of the album. Rather than vaguely exploring depression, it explains that at 23 the narrator has “met [his] limit twice”. This explores the relatable concept of running out of steam all the time. It closes with a verse that is sung in one unending line, somewhat like a spoken word poem set to music, which is definitely an interesting idea because who doesn’t like spoken poetry? Overall, I’d rate this album at a 7/10. It is a little incohesive at times, but where it isn’t it really works.
julia ruzicka ‘This Becomes Us’ is the debut album from bassist Julia Ruzicka. Each song was composed by her for bass guitar, featuring Ian Wilson on guitar and Jack Egglestone on Drums. Vocalists featured on the ten tracks are from bands that Ruzicka has established connections with. Each wrote their own vocal melodies and lyrics to create naturalism with the compositions. The track ‘Painter Man Is Coming’ features Black Francis from Pixies. The bass rhythms from Ruzicka are incredible, establishing a dark and angsty piece which is topped off by Francis’ husky, whispered vocals during a build up to a loud chorus. ‘At The End of Everyday’ features Kristian Bell from The Wytches. The vocals are screamed, and Ruzicka establishes a stormy atmosphere with moody basslines. ‘Simple Too’ features Rosie Arnold from Fever Fever. Arnold’s vocals are strong and fall closely to the likes of Courtney Barnett. The track is humorous in places and you can tell Arnold puts her own twist on Ruzicka’s piece. ‘The Picture of DeLorean Gray’ is jam packed with back to the future references, featuring vocals from Damien Sayell from The St. Pierre Snake Invasion. He shouts ‘Well don’t just stand there, take the picture’ and ‘we’re going back to the future’. Finally, the instrumental track ‘This Horse Needs Peace’ highlights Ruzicka’s
independent skill. The track is reminiscent of Massive Attack, building up steadily before descending into lo-fi, fuzzy white noise. Overall, I’d give ‘This Becomes Us’ 7/10. Ruzicka’s style is impressive, but the album does vary from track to track due to the sheer number of different collaborators. I am interested to see what Ruzicka creates in the future, and will certainly be keeping my eye out to see more of her.
Christmas Drinking game So the Christmas songs are everywhere, and you fancy a drink. Why not make it strategic?
RULES: 1. You hear the phrase ‘Merry Christmas’ DRINK 2. You hear festive jingle bells (Do not listen to jingle bell rock) DRINK 3. A friend insists on playing a pessimistic anti-Christmas-joy tune DRINK 4. Any time Michael Buble graces your eardrums SHOT 5. Every time a duet makes a damn gorgeous harmony DRINK 6. You hear the word ‘mistletoe’ and thank god no one uses this tradition in real life DRINK 7. Whenever a note makes your ears hurt (careful with your Mariah Carey) DOWN YOUR ENTIRE DRINK
production: mixing effects Leading on from last months article about mixing tools and how to use them, I thought this month we would talk about other more creative tools that can be found on most mixing programmes. I’ll be talking about tools such as panning and automation, as well as effects such as echo, delay and phasing. Panning is a tool used for placing sounds in the sound-scape, as it allows sounds to be placed in the centre of the sound-scape, to the left or to the right of it and everywhere in between, this can be good for making it sound like they’re there with you, or can be used creatively to make people wonder
where sounds are coming from, make sounds feel more alien or to help sounds fit in with the overall sound of the song. Automation and panning work in harmony when used creatively, as automation allows you to change dynamics of a single track in the mix to change the dynamic of the whole track, automation is really effective and allows track to sound like they’re moving through the sound-scape, or getting louder/ quieter. Moving onto effects now and these are used mainly for creative purposes as they can help deliver the message they want to portray, or they can be used for making the
song sound really interesting and giving that extra element. Echo can be used really effectively as it allows tracks to repeat and fade out parts of the tracks, such as the last note of a song, or it can even be used creatively to layer up notes. Delay is quite similar to this as it allows similar effects to happen, but there is multiple different types of delay including slap-back (mainly found in Rock N’ Roll music). All of the different types can help make songs sound authentic, or make give them extra layers of creativity and depth.
Phaser and Flanger effects are mainly used on instruments such as guitar, but are used on other things sometimes, these effects work similar to a tape that’s slightly out and makes the track make a wah like sound over the top, its also known as being out of phase and the main difference between phaser and flanger is the speed it happens at.
artist in review
A look at some artists we think you should give a second spin! Gobbinjr Gobbinjr’s music consists of melodic, gentle alternative tracks. I was immediately drawn to the album by its title, ‘vom night’, reminding me of every night out I’ve ever had. The album cover is plastered with gorgeous illustrations. The tracks are the perfect mix of upbeat harmonies and cynical lyrics. The last track, ‘Firefly’ asks us ‘what do you think of leaving earth and everyone we know?’ – and with Trumps presidency a mere few months away, I think it’s a brilliant idea. Click Here for our review Slow Hollows By far Slow Hollows is one of my new favourite bands I discovered this year and part of it was down to the review on our page describing the feel of the album. The album is a relaxed album from start to finish and really does help calm you, as described by our writer Maia, “you’re lying on your bed at 3 AM watching the shadows of headlights drift across the ceiling.” For a band that describes themselves as Post Punk, this album really came as a surprise to me, with jazzy sounds, trumpets and an overall chill vibe. To me, the EP seems to build over time as well, with it being only a few instruments at the beginning played very relaxed and slow, and building into the rest of the album, slowly adding more instruments and a slightly faster feel. Click Here for our review
artist in review
American Wrestlers American Wrestlers are a 4 piece indie pop band from Missouri, USA. They record a mixture of pop and rock songs in the indie variety, and have recently released their newest album ‘Goodbye Terrible Youth’. This features a collection of indie pop/rock blends that is sure to please any indie pop and rock fans. It even has one 80s inspired song, just like all albums of the past few years. The vocals are subdued and the instrumentals fluctuate between loud and quiet. Unfortunately at times the lyrics are difficult to hear but that’s fine in the indie world. Anything goes in the indie world. All praise to the indie world. Click Here for our review ...And the Hangnails ...And The Hangnails and are two piece punk band from York and London with three albums (Rut, No Time For Naysayers and Bare) and a single (Fear Only Fear) out so far. Their high energy songs combined with the lead singer, surprisingly tuneful voice make for a sound that sets them apart from bands like Slaves and G.L.O.S.S and their newest album “Rut” is definitely one to look for on Spotify and their Bandcamp. Overall, …And The Hangnails are a fun, dancey, punk band and a must for your iPod. Click Here for our review
fantastic beasts and where to find them Like most people my age I am a huge fan of Harry Potter. I grew up glued to those books, I had so many nights reading by torchlight under my duvet desperately trying to finish just one more chapter before exhaustion got me or my parents caught me up past my bedtime and I’m sure that a lot of you, no matter what age you are, can relate to that feeling. That excitement, that just-one-more-pagebefore-I-do-something-else feeling that Harry Potter has brought to us all at some point. So as you can imagine I FLIPPED OUT when I heard they were going to adapt more books. Finally, a chance to go back to the world where I spent so much of my
childhood, sure ok it won’t be Hogwarts but it’ll still be the wizarding world there’ll be magic and Quidditch and butterbeer and ghosts and Dumbledore!! However, that excitement began to fade as we heard more and more about the film and when I finally sat down in the cinema I wasn’t really holding out much hope and I left honestly not knowing how I felt. What I really wanted from Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them was a slapstick treasure hunt around New York city as Newt Scamander and the various others he picked up along the way tried to get back all the magical creatures that had been set
loose and the parts of the film that were essentially that were amazing! The more we saw of Newt around his animals, the more his character really came out. We saw him trying to quietly sneak around a bank to recover a lost Niffler and doing a mating dance on a frozen lake in central park to try and get Erumpent back into his suitcase and as we realised the lengths that Newt would go to make sure his animals were safe the easier it became to love him. Loving most of the other characters came super easily too, like Jacob the unfortunate muggle who accidentally picked up a
suitcase full of magical creatures instead of his own which was filled with sample cakes from the bakery he wanted to open. Jacob, played by Dan Fogler, managed to provide both genuine comedy relief and heartbreaking moments which is pretty rare for a character to be able to do both as well as he did. Porpentina Goldstein and her sister Queenie were pretty amazing too with Tina’s determination to succeed and Queenie’s caring nature making them both genuinely likeable and relatable female characters. However, like all films, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them did have it’s weak
fantastic beasts and where to find them spots. This might just be a personal issue but I for one have had enough of the dark side the wizarding world. We covered all that in that last few Harry Potter films and by now I’m just exhausted with the new ‘darkest wizard to walk the face of the earth’ and even without Grindelwald (and Johnny ‘Wife Beater’ Depp) the plot of Fantastic Beasts get really dark. Avoiding spoilers as much as I can, the plot focuses on a creature called an Obscurus which is created when a child tries to suppress their magical potential which then causes it to burst out of them, forming a destructive force and killing its child host. A pretty dark plot line, especially for a kids film. There
were other parts of it that didn’t seem all that appropriate for a kids film either, like the introduction of Queenie Goldstein. We first meet her when she comes strutting out of her bedroom in just her underwear and when Tina tells her to cover up she merely grabs a dressing gown and that’s all she wears. She’s also continually sexualised throughout her first scene and to a lesser extent the rest the film. Now Queenie’s quite a flirtatious character but just because a character enjoys a good flirt doesn’t mean that we need continual references to the fact that other characters are thinking about having sex with her, especially not in a kids film. There was also
the fact that they white washed the hell out of the whole film. There were a grand total of three POC characters that had speaking line in the whole film and there was basically no background characters that weren’t white either. In New York. The most racially diverse city in the world. They can’t even pull the ‘historical accuracy’ BS because if they were actually being historically accurate then they would have had characters of all ethnicities because people have always been flooding into New York like nobody’s business. Although, I have to say, it was damn good to hear a black woman being addressed as “Madame President”.
On the whole, I think I liked Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. The acting was amazing, the aesthetic was PERFECT, and it did genuinely have moments that brought back a little bit of the wonder that the original series had. I can’t speak for the next four films in the franchise but this one was good and it didn’t feel like a set up for the rest of the series, which was what I was expecting. So despite its flaws, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them is definitely worth a watch.
gig guide: 1st December, Emmy the Great, CYTA, O Karmina, Fibbers, York, 7.30pm 2nd December, Billy Liar, Freddy Fudd Pucker, Tim Loud, Andy Thomas + X-Ray Cast, Santiago Club, Leeds, 7pm – 10pm 2nd December, Dead Man Walking W/ Kirk Brandon, Jake Burns (Stiff Little Fingers) & Segs & Ruffy (The Ruts), Fibbers, York, 7.30pm 3rd December, Life Over Death Fest Vol. 1, The 1 in 12 Club, Bradford, 3pm
14th December, KMJ Promotions Presents Christmas Extravaganza II, The Basement, York, 8pm 16th December, King No-One, Fibbers, York, 7pm 17th December, Croakditch, FWF, Cool Jerks, The 7ups, Andrew Cream, Retro Bar, Harrogate, 8pm 17th December, Colour of Noise, Lowdrive, Black Vines, Corporation, Sheffield, 7pm
3rd December, Open Mic Night, The Basement, York, Free, 7.30pm
17th December, The Bastard Sons, River City Ransom, Cavorts, Mercury Killed Newton, Fibbers, York, 7.30pm
4th December, Sinnerboy: A tribute to Rory Gallagher, The New Roscoe, Leeds, 8pm
19th December, Sundance Plays Hendrix, The Basement, York, 8pm
5th December, Up Close and Personal With Al Goodwin, The Basement, York, 8pm
21st December, Discomister Winter Solstice Party, Tom Shillito, Elena Whiteley, The Basement, York, 8pm
6th December, Curb, PEACH, Possum, Lending Room., Leeds, 7.45pm – 11pm 9th December, A Cosy Christmas: Libby Redman, The Basement, York, 8pm 9th December, Permission to Tap, Minster Conspiracy, Fibbers, York, 7.30pm 10th December, The Karpets, Tan Hall Inn, Swaledale, 7.30pm 10th December, A Night at The Manhattan, Manhattan Snooker Club, Harrogate, 7pm 10th December, Up Close and Seasonal Winter Tour Lindisfarne, The Trades, Rotherham, 6pm 13th December, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Fibbers, York, 7.30pm
22nd December, Borderline, The Undercard, Slugs Drugs and Harmony, The Basement, York, 8pm 22nd December, Faux Pas, Glass Mountain, Mall Rats, Fibbers, York, 7.30pm 23rd December, Mr Green’s Onion Club Presents The Haggis Horns, The Basement, York, 8pm 23rd December, Annual Boss Caine Festive Fundraiser w/Boss Caine, The Howl & The Hum, Naked 6, Bull & Guest DJs, Fibbers, York, 7pm 31st December, Reach Takeover, Canal Mills, Leeds, 9pm 31st December, The 3 Yorkshireteers, The Cappers Bar, Featherstone, 7pm