NARC. #194 May 2023

THE EARLY PURPLE

GIRLI DEGNA STONE

A MAN CALLED ADAM THE LATE SHOWS

The North East Emerging Artist Award

by Penny Chivas by Payal Ramchandani

PREVIEWS

4 HIGHLIGHTS

Some of the best events in May, plus find out what’s on narcmagazine.com

6 MAY PREVIEWS

Live shows from Magic Castles, The St Pierre Snake Invasion, Comfort, Amy May Ellis, Novelty Island, CLT DRP, Ruth Lyon and Eliza Hull, Saul Adamczewski, Haru Nemuri, David Brewis, Komparrison, Chewy She’s Moth Popera, Hector Gannet, Songs From Northern Britain alldayer and the Marrapalooza weekender, among many more. There’s also exhibitions from Fiona Crisp at NGCA and Sunderland Museum, Larry Achiampong at BALTIC and Contemporary British Painting at NCA; theatre shows including Lord of the Flies, Happy Place and I, Daniel Blake at Northern Stage, To Be A Young Man at Live Theatre, What Is Love? at ARC, and a Season of Survival at Laurel’s; plus comedy courtesy of John Kearns and Alasdair Beckett-King at The Stand and Richard Hardisty at Gala Theatre, along with much more! INTERVIEWS

28

THE EARLY PURPLE

Ahead

Saxon talks to Cameron Wright about finding atmosphere in details, inspiration in nature, and the importance of legacy

Time is a luxury I can rarely afford. It comes as standard when you run your own business, particularly in the creative industries where everything is stretched so thinly. So to have been able to take some time off earlier this year was sheer decadence, and interim editor David Saunders kept you amply and expertly entertained, which I’m very grateful to him for.

Long-term Constant Readers will be well aware of my itchy feet affliction, and quite often my desire to spark out on an adventure isn’t just motivated by needing time off, but by the need to get some perspective and get inside my own head for a bit. Time away also serves to remind me how great being home can be, and in particular how amazing our cultural and natural landscapes are. So, I’m buzzing to be back and excited to see what the rest of the year may bring!

On that note, web editor whizz David did such a cracking job while I was away that he’ll be taking a more active role in magazine content too. We’ve got grand plans to expand both our print and digital offerings over the coming months; together – and supported by the ever-fantastic team of writers and photographers, who put so much love and passion into their work – we’ll be harnessing our combined knowledge of the North East scene to shine a light on cultural riches and bring untold stories to the forefront of what we do here at NARC. As with most grand plans, all it takes is a little time.

Editor Claire Dupree info@narcmedia.com

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David Saunders

narcmagazineonline@gmail.com

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Cover Image

Amelia Read

Live Photography

Rhiannon Banks / Iam Burn / Carl Chambers

Contributors

Liv Aldridge / Chris Allan / Jake Anderson / Tom Astley / Caleb Carter / Jonathan Coll / Laura Doyle / Lee Fisher / Nat Greener / Lee Hammond / James Hattersley / Jon Horner / Emily Ingram / Amy McGarahan / Jay Moussa-Mann / Robert Nichols / Evie Nicholson / Michael O’Neill / Ikenna Offor / Adam Paxton / Niamh Poppleton / Kate Relton / Damian Robinson / Elodie A Roy / Mera Royle / Los Ruis / Dominic Stephenson / Leigh Venus / Robin Webb / Ali Welford / Cameron Wright / Matt Young

32 A MAN CALLED ADAM

33 LILY BROOKE

44 LIVE REVIEWS

Reports from the front row of Pharcyde, Archipelago, Bulbils, Lisa O’Neill, Unthank:Smith, Me Lost Me, Alison Cotton, Dutch Uncles, Gaz Coombes, Fran Lebowitz and more

48 TRACKS

Reviews of local singles and EPs from Finn Forster, Heather Ferrier, Bosko Green, JRM, Wax Heart Sodality, Chris Mardula, Twayn, Shallow, Philip Alexander, Tired Trace, Slowlight Quartet and

51 ALBUMS

Featuring Alison Goldfrapp, Temps, Sparks, Westerman, Shit Present, Memorials, Dave Lombardo, Olivia Jean, Guvna B, Henge, May Days In Barcelona, Joni Void, Shirley Collins, SBTRKT and more

54 MIXTAPE

Thomas Wales from Baccanalia Events’ Cabaret Club reveals some of his favourite tunes ahead of the Bishop Auckland Street Food Market

Next Issue Out 31st May

of his debut EP release this month, songwriter Matt

PREVIEWS

MAY’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE RAUCOUS CABARET, JAZZY FILM SCREENINGS, THOUGHT-PROVOKING EXHIBITIONS AND PLENTY OF MUSICAL DELIGHTS

MUSIC FRI 12

PENSACOLA MIST

Having only made their live debut in November to a sell-out crowd at the Cumberland Arms, local synth poppers Pensacola Mist are intent on making their mark, and come to the Cluny 2 stage with a full-on customised light show which adds thrilling drama to their nostalgic brand of dark-edged modern pop.

The Cluny 2, Newcastle

www.pensacolamist.bandcamp.com

FILM FRI 12

MUSIC

MUSIC

TAKING THE DOG FOR A WALK

This intriguing documentary film by Luxembourg filmmaker Antoine Prum surveys the British improvised music scene, mapping the movers and shakers of a scene which emerged in the 1960s, right up to the talented players of today, while investigating an alternative jazz movement which refuses to be pigeonholed.

Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle www.starandshadow.org.uk

ART & LIT

SAT 6 THE TIGER LILLIES

Expect the unexpected from this genre-defying group whose show is part cabaret part musical genius. The band’s hypnotic live shows are replete with dark and deviant theatrics, shot through with an innate musicality which draws as much from riotous punk as it does 1920s vaudeville. Expect a career-spanning set guaranteed to delight fans old and new.

ARC, Stockton

www.tigerlillies.com

MUSIC SUN 7

BANK HOLIDAY BIG ONE

This special show over the Bank Holiday weekend is part of the venue’s celebration of their 25th anniversary. As always with their ‘big one’ shows, they aim to showcase the very best of Hartlepool’s up and coming talent, so expect sets from The Warrens, Burn The Valley, Detweiler, High Tide, Charlotte Grayson and the Shame Areas.

The Studio, Hartlepool www.facebook.com/thestudiohartlepool

TUES 9 FREEKIND.

Austrian duo Freekind. have a philosophy we can more than get behind: be free, be kind. Croatian pianist and vocalist Sara Ester Gredelj and Slovenian drummer Nina Korošak-Sercic’s music carries messages of hope and love, all wrapped up in soulful R&B and jazz which draws influence from the likes of PJ Morton, Common and YEBBA Bobiks, Newcastle www.freekindmusic.com

MUSIC THURS 11/SAT 13

IONA LANE

Leeds-based Iona Lane studied music under the guidance of folk luminaries like Nancy Kerr, Jim Moray and Stuart McCallum, so no wonder her transcendent sound is rich in storytelling and mythology. Accompanied by intricate guitar and the hypnotic tones of a shruti box (similar to a harmonium), her sound is contemplative and captivating. Cobalt Studios, Newcastle (Thursday 11th) / Claypath Deli, Durham (Saturday 13th) www.ionalane.com

FRI 12

SOLID MATTER

Drawing together work by three artists, Effie Burns, Katy Cole and Jill Tate, Solid Matter considers how we relate to being in the world; work includes tangible miniature sculptures, intricate seed packets and monochromatic paintings and prints. Runs until 24th June.

Gallagher & Turner, Newcastle www.gallagherandturner.com

Effie Burns, Gilded Mushroom Image by Ceri Oakes

MUSIC

MUSIC SAT 20 GET HIP!

Renowned for their legendary parties and choice performances from interesting and fun artists, promoters Get Hip!’s shows offer up everything from 60s soul and R&B to Latin, garage and psych sounds. Their May event features psychedelic pop trio The Type Five and North East punk surf masters The Milk Lizards.

The Green Room, Stockton www.facebook.com/gethipteesside

SAT 13 SHAMBOLICS

No strangers to rollicking indie bands, the good folk at KU promise a show to remember as they bring indie pop four-piece Shambolics to their stage. Signed to Alan McGee’s Creation23 label, the band’s Britpop style mixed with 80s grooves and catchy killer hooks makes them an enjoyable prospect.

KU, Stockton www.shambolicsmusic.co.uk

FILM SUN 14

THE WILD CAT WITH LIVE BAND

The world premiere of an exciting new jazz suite written by acclaimed virtuoso saxophonist Graeme Wilson to accompany this rarely seen cult gem of Expressionist-era German silent film from 1921. Paul Edis, Paul Susans and Steve Hanley create a playful improvisation which perfectly captures the spirit of the original film, which is still considered to be a classic of the German silent era. Forum Cinema, Hexham www.forumhexham.com

ART & LIT

TUES 16

DEGREES OF SEPARATION

Teesside University’s Fine Art BA (Hons) degree show features a variety of work including installations of noisy, visual and playful art by a group of women which explores how when fractions are put aside we are all alike. Artists include Leah Brydon Roberts, Niamh Hawes, Emily Maclean Unthank, Katrina Bate, Molly Oliver, Alishia Beadle and Laura Kelbrick. Runs until 19th May. Waterhouse Building, Teesside University, Middlesbrough www.tees.ac.uk

NARC. E-ZINE

The place to be for multimedia diversions, including videos, playlists, sound clips and more

ART & LIT WED 24

REFRACTED PANORAMA

Marking the collaboration between BALTIC and Northumbria University, graduating artists from the BA and MFA programmes suggest ways of seeing through and beyond the horizon of the human; expect views from elsewhere, broken sightlines, experiences that move across time and space from embodied knowledges that alter our ways of being. Runs until Sunday 28th May. Gallery North, Northumbria University, Newcastle www.bxnu.institute

MUSIC

NARC. TV

Our magazine-style programme features performances and interviews with North East artists, filmed in venues across the region

+ ALSO THIS MONTH…

RHYTHMS

We find out about the new venue, recording and rehearsal space opening in Middlesbrough

#SAVESIDE

The Newcastle-based photo and film gallery are asking for donations to enable it to reopen

WED 31 FLASHER

Described as a “thrilling and energised response to feelings of malaise” the Washington DC rockers layer urgent guitars and excitable atmospherics to produce a sound that spans shoegaze, rock and punk, with melodic sparkle and a vibrant edge. Pop Recs Ltd., Sunderland www.flasher.band

CONNECT WITH US

Image by Will Matsuda

MUSIC DAVID BREWIS: THE SOFT STRUGGLES @ THE CUSTOMS HOUSE

Words: Niamh Poppleton

On Saturday 6th May, Field Music’s David Brewis will present a live rendition of his new album, The Soft Struggles, accompanied by a

ten-piece orchestral band at the Customs House in South Shields.

With jazz undertones and acoustic instrumentals, The Soft Struggles is David Brewis’ first solo album created outside of Field Music, and has been compared to Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks and Colin Blunstone’s One Year.

Through a change to his songwriting approach, David has created a heartfelt album that tells a story to the keen listener. Overall, The Soft Struggles is a commentary on humanity, our relationships and the importance of community.

Yet the album’s core focus is its discussion of growth: ageing and self-growth throughout the course of life, as we learn to overcome the trials and tribulations of each day. Alongside the stunning lyrics, the album is aided by atmospheric strings that tenderly pluck away at the listener’s heartstrings, and serve to showcase a special talent indeed.

David Brewis presents The Soft Struggles at The Customs House, South Shields on Saturday 6th May.

www.daylightsavingrecords.bandcamp.com

STAGE WHAT IS LOVE? @ ARC

Words: Kate Relton

Taking us on a journey through storytelling, music and dance, What Is Love? explores the human condition of love at ARC in Stockton on Thursday 11th May.

A preview performance written and directed by North East actor, writer, director and theatre-maker Umar Butt, What Is Love? is a show about connection, drawing on the thoughts and experiences of the audience as well as the performers. Through conversation, personal stories, music and dance, Umar Butt and Alberto Dumba explore the forms love can take, its meaning,

and the science behind it. The show also questions the impact of culture, heritage and religion on our expectations and experience of love. Tickets are available to prebook on a Pay What You Decide basis.

What Is Love? Is performed at ARC, Stockton on Thursday 11th May.

www.arconline.co.uk

Image by Rachel Pony Cassells

MUSIC AMY MAY ELLIS @ THE CUMBERLAND ARMS

Words: Cameron Wright

The latest offering from promoters Wandering Oak, who continue on their mission to deliver interesting, innovative and engaging live music across the North East, is a show featuring the beautifully delicate acoustic stylings of Amy May Ellis.

With a slew of singles and EPs under her belt, Amy May Ellis has been building up a reputation for her pristine, gentle folk tracks that are all encompassing and transporting, and succeed in relocating the listener to the countryside. Stripped down to the bone, her music soundtracks falling raindrops, open meadows and the babbling brooks of  the countryside, focusing on the tranquillity and mystique of nature.

Drenched in the majesty and folklore of the wilderness, there’s something definitively human about Amy May Ellis’ songs, the stories they tell and the worlds they build. Her melodic, lilting voice guides you through gorgeous

pastures and her picked strings hold your hand at every turn.

Effortlessly radiant and introspective, there’s a shining light at the heart of her melodies. Bringing her music to The Cumberland Arms on Tuesday 30th May, the Yorkshire artist should be on the radar of anyone looking for passionate emerging folk stars.

Amy May Ellis plays The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle on Tuesday 30th May. www.amymayellis.com

MUSIC THE LUBBER FIEND FIRST BIRTHDAY

Words: Lee Fisher

At last month’s Lubber Fiend benefit, P7GS front man Matt Baty explained from the stage that the Fiend is the venue Newcastle has desperately needed for years. And he’s right. Run along the most ethical/community lines – inclusive, eclectic and available – it’s a blessing, something we should cherish and support. Everyone knows it wasn’t easy to get up and running – jumping through council

hoops, scrabbling for money – and Lord knows, it’s still a struggle. But the Fiend celebrates its first anniversary this month and that’s a big deal.

After finishing April with Semi-Precious Fest, they kick off May with a week of gigs and parties. From Mexican space rock with El Universo (Tuesday 2nd), industrial electronics from Enxin/Onyx (Wednesday 3rd – Fiend mainstay Bish supporting at that one in his Basic House guise) to heavy psych with Ecstatic Vision (Thursday 4th), and a busy closing weekend: on Friday 5th, Yank hardcore outfit Bib will tear the Fiend a new one with a strong local support, while later that night eclectic/iconic Yugoslavian DJ Vladimir Ivkovic will head a bill also including Pink Keith and Gumukki. Saturday 6th is even busier: there’s the regular Makers Market in the afternoon then a gig from Penelope Trappes, Helm and Agnes Haus and finally a Slacks Radio Residents Party with Opal Tapes DJs. All that and a gig from electronics composer Bridget Ferrill to close things out on Sunday 7th. All good reasons to support your local fiend!

www.thelubberfiend.com

Amy May Ellis by Alice Farrington

MUSIC

shows; get a taste for the band’s thundering rock tunes via their 2019 EP, A Thousand Masks, which flaunts all the best bits of their sound, from the shredding riffs of Suicide to the catchy hooks of the drum-heavy Maybe I’d

The gig will also feature two other fantastic rock outfits, Pretty Velvet and Kulpa. Pretty Velvet are also pretty fresh to the North East scene, only having made their voices heard at the start of the year, but they’ve hit the ground running, having released their debut

single Gunmetal Hearts in April. Kulpa have a few singles under their belt, with the band’s already unique alt. rock style being praised on platforms like BBC Introducing. Their latest banger, Bloodshot, features anthemic choruses and big riffs that’ll properly prepare you for the energetic night ahead.

Gwailo, Pretty Velvet and Kulpa play Independent, Sunderland on Saturday 27th May.

www.facebook.com/gwailouk

Suede by Dean Chalkley

Image by Ricardo de la Rico

STAGE CLEAN AT 17 @ NORTHERN STAGE

Words: Amy McGarahan

Award-winning actress Katie O’Brien brings her autobiographical one-woman show Clean At 17 to Northern Stage on Friday 12th May. The show tells a humorous, self-reflective,

taboo-defying story of O’Brien’s road to addiction recovery which began at the ripe age of 17. Addressing addiction must be extremely difficult at any age, but especially in your teenage-hood, and Clean At 17 shows how Katie O’Brien stopped drinking before it was legal for her to have even started. Taking audiences through the ups and downs of her 23-year sobriety and process of recovery, from 12-step programmes to

self-exploration, the show is comedic, sincere, and has interactive elements, so be prepared to immerse yourself in O’Brien’s journey. Creator of feminist performance group The Muffia, O’Brien found her feet in political, socially engaged comedy and theatre, and Clean At 17 is the latest addition to her roster of comedic stage performance.

Clean At 17 is performed at Northern Stage, Newcastle on Friday 12th May.

www.northernstage.co.uk

STAGE I, DANIEL BLAKE @ NORTHERN STAGE

Words: Emily Ingram

When I, Daniel Blake first hit our screens in 2016, its gut-wrenching story offered a stark reflection of a country that couldn’t possibly get any worse. But, of course, it has: with 14.5 million people in the UK now living in poverty, it feels more important than ever that Ken Loach’s original vision is re-imagined for these unprecedented times.

This is exactly what director Dave Johns plans to do with his stage adaptation, which will be arriving at Northern Stage from Thursday 25th May-Saturday 10th June. “I wanted to update the story for 2023… exploring more of single mum Katie’s journey and the family unit she forms with Daniel.” Explains Dave. “I wanted to show the kindness, compassion, humour, and hope that can help us through the toughest of times.”

The production will feature David Nellist – star of West End productions of The Pitmen Painters and Billy Elliot – in the titular role, with Bryony Corrigan supporting as Katie.

Ross Millard of the Futureheads will also be providing an original soundtrack, having been moved immeasurably after seeing the film at Tyneside Cinema back in 2016. With real passion evident in every corner of this production, I, Daniel Blake promises to be as iconic and urgent as the original.

I, Daniel Blake is at Northern Stage, Newcastle from Thursday 25th May-Saturday 10th June. www.northernstage.co.uk

MUSIC MARRAPALOOZA @ VARIOUS VENUES

Words: Claire Dupree

Marrapalooza is the latest multi-venue shindig to emerge post-pandemic to satiate all your live music needs and, while we’re all for a drunken extravagant party (thanks Urban Dictionary), we’re more excited about the opportunity to see so many amazing live acts across a two day period.

Taking place on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th May in Ouseburn Valley venues including The Cluny, The Cumberland Arms, Little Buildings and Star & Shadow Cinema, the aim

of Marrapalooza is to introduce audiences to new DIY artists from across the UK as well as pay homage to some of our region’s most successful acts.

The brainchild of promoters Portions For Foxes, Flat Four Records, Conviction Records and Little Buildings, the weekend’s roster is so good it looks like a clash-checker nightmare waiting to happen. Of particular note for fans of angst-driven indie punk will be a headline set from Durham faves Martha, who top the bill at The Cluny on Friday 19th alongside an as yet announced support line-up. Performing at venues on the Saturday from 1pm will be hard-hitting fuzz rockers Pit Pony, Edinburgh-based indie rocker and regular face in the region Withered Hand, quirky noise makers The Wave Pictures, Sheffield’s witty popsters Trust Fund, anti-folk artists Crywank, Sunderland’s oddball rock outfit SLUG, alt. lo-fi duo Mouses, power pop punks bigfatbig, folk punk trio Toodles & The Hectic Pity, riffy guitar band Feeble Strength, indie punks Good Grief and many more.

Marrapalooza takes place at various venues in the Ouseburn Valley, Newcastle on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th May.

www.instagram.com/p4foxes

I, Daniel Blake, image by Helen Murray

MUSIC CHEWY SHE’S MOTH POPERA @ COBALT STUDIOS

Words: Jonathan Coll

Electro disco project Chewy She was born shortly after French vocalist and creator Garance Louis was visited by David Lynch in a dream, before performing in one of his clubs a short while later. It’s a suitably unusual origin story for one of the more exciting and ethereal performances out there right now, which seeks to blend a punk attitude with electro, bass and disco grooves, with a unique slice of chaos added in for good measure.

Chewy She will find a comfortable home at Newcastle’s Cobalt Studios on Friday 26th May, where they will present The Moth Popera tour; a series of immersive live shows which incorporate theatre, comedy, fashion and art. The tour follows the release of their debut EP Run After Boyz, which was an ode to freedom, sex positivity, spirituality and feminism, and will include a multi-disciplinary performance from the band who collaborate with costume makers Ellie Oldfield and Emily Rees-Hayne, director Paulina Lenoir and choreographer Patricia Langa to incorporate electrifying musicianship, performers and backing dancers all served up with a heap of irony and theatrics. In short, it’ll be like nothing else you’ve ever seen – don’t miss out.

Chewy She’s Moth Popera is at Cobalt Studios, Newcastle on Friday 26th May www.chewyshe.com

FILM THE NORTHERN FILM FESTIVAL @

ARC

Words: Liv Aldridge

On Thursday 25th May The Northern Film Festival will collaborate with ARC for a screening of the five showcase film pieces from BA (Hons) students of Film, TV & Theatre Production at The Northern School of Art. From interrogating loneliness in The Intricate Innards Of A Human Being (Kyle Flynn and Erin Johnson) to marrying the possibilities of speed dating with bloodshed in Making Your Acquaintance (Ella Patience), and a thrilling kidnapping ride through the British countryside in Indication (Alys Laurence and Leo Bradley), the festival programme features unusual thematic concoctions. There is also something for those with a classic taste, with 519(Kieran Erdis and Eve Colpitts) featuring an inquest in the aftermath of murder. The audience will also witness a play on perspective and the ontology of cinematography in As Far As The Eye Can See (Sarah Webber), where the audience will see through the lens of someone in the aftermath of an abusive relationship.

The event provides a great opportunity to encounter a range of new ideas in film, and will be followed by discussion with the creative team about their processes.

The Northern Film Festival takes place at ARC, Stockton on Thursday 25th May. www.arconline.co.uk

MUSIC SAUL ADAMCZEWSKI @ THE CLUNY 2

Words: Jonathan Coll

Peckham’s Fat White Family have been a fixture of the British indie scene for over a decade, having released three critically acclaimed albums and earning a reputation as one of the country’s most thrilling live acts. Now the band’s frontperson Saul Adamczewski is looking to further this musical legacy by embarking on a solo project, and is going on tour following the release of the future cult classic Adventures In Limbo. The album, which is out now, was recorded back in 2019. This was following a period of heavy introspection for the band, who have since been incredibly open about their battles with addiction and the pitfalls of success in the music industry. Thankfully, each member of the band is now thriving, and the multi-talented guitarist, songwriter and producer will be bringing his new live show to Newcastle’s Cluny 2 on Monday 8th May.

Saul’s influences have often come from his fierce interest in abrasive music and extreme culture; recent project Two Patheticists Can’t Be Wrong! is suitably experimental for a figure who has often been described as a tortured genius, with the recent Patheticist Manifesto being a bizarre, otherworldy soundscape of static, spoken word and brutality.

Saul Adamczewski performs at The Cluny 2, Newcastle on Monday 8th May.

www.instagram.com/saul.adamczewski

Chewy She by Noemie Reijnen

MUSIC COMFORT @ THE CUMBERLAND ARMS

Words: Cameron Wright

What’s Bad Enough is the debut album from Comfort, the Glaswegian siblings who have been making waves with their fusion of electro and punk.

Loud, assertive and euphoric, Comfort make sounds that engage them; the brother and sister have clearly held two fingers up to any

rhetoric, and this is extremely tangible in their songs, with each track swelling up into an extraordinary and proud ‘fuck you’. At its heart, the music is constantly trying to break the mould, as oscillating synth patterns fly over jaunty drum beats and spoken word passages are battered over this disjointed, dissonant wall of sound. Where defiance is rooted within the music, the lyrics are equally commanding, yet the focus here is on acceptance. The duo are vocal members of the LGBTQ+ community, with their music taking a staunch stance on the side of love, acceptance and understanding. Never shying away from addressing the politics, phobias

and hate that marginalised communities experience, Comfort are all about openness and fighting back against stigma or intolerance.

Capturing the heart of a new generation, Comfort are headlining a bill of queer acts at The Cumberland Arms on Sunday 28th May, with sets also coming from Fashion Tips, M-G Dysfunction and Sorority Grrrls.

Comfort release What’s Bad Enough on 5th May via Fatcat Records. They play The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle on Sunday 28th May with Fashion Tips, M-G Dysfunction and Sorority Grrrls.

www.linktr.ee/comfortglasgow

MUSIC HARU NEMURI @ COBALT STUDIOS

Words: Laura Doyle

Back in the dark ages before the internet, an artist had to reach a certain level of notoriety to be in with a real shot at becoming a global phenomenon. But this isn’t the dark ages before the internet: and for all the less-nice things it’s done, you can’t deny the opportunities that creative folks across the globe can now access thanks to the wonderful world wide web.

Haru Nemuri definitely didn’t envisage international fame when she first started putting out her idiosyncratic punk rock stylings, instead anticipating a decidedly more inter-Japanese reach. The thing about good music, though, is that you can’t keep it bound by geographical, cultural, or language barriers. Incorporating influences from both sides of the Atlantic, be it J-rock or the punk and nu-metal movements of the 2000s, Haru Nemuri makes music that is as universally comprehensible as

it is critically acclaimed. Whether it’s the fury-fueled feminist anthem Anger Anger (ft. Jaguar Jonez) or the melodic metal of Never Let You Go, she embodies a controlled energy that is at once emotive and empowering. Bringing her captivating and contemplative show to Cobalt Studios on Thursday 25th May, Haru Nemuri is not a performance to be missed.

Haru Nemuri and Mayshe-Mayshe play Cobalt Studios, Newcastle on Thursday 25th May. www.harunemuri.love

STAGE SEASON OF SURVIVAL @ LAUREL’S THEATRE

Words: Michael O’Neill

Tucked away in the heart of Whitley Bay’s town centre, multi-purpose venue Laurel’s houses a 75-seater fringe theatre which is proving to be a dynamic and enthralling addition to a town which has spent the last few years going from strength to strength.

The venue is playing host to a unique season of

plays and productions centered around an enthralling and challenging theme: survival. Co-founder and artistic director Jamie Eastlake explains: “This season is a celebration of survival. Of how to survive day to day [and] in our region, from the local social club to the survival of our species and the planet. It’s about artists striving, venues surviving, stories thriving.”

The season begins with Chris Singleton’s deft exploration of loss and divorce How To Be A Better Human: Grief, Loss and Spoken Word (Thursday 4th-Friday 5th May); a one off performance of The Halls of Ridiculous from comedians Chris Lumb and Phil Allan-Smith (Saturday 13th May) and rounded off with a premiere run of Miles Kinsey’s It’s All In Your Head (Tuesday 16th-Saturday 27th May) which uses, of all things, the villainous Tweedy family of Chicken Run infamy as a springboard to explore marital toxicity, and whether cruelty is learned or inherited.

All this, plus much more besides, makes the venue more than worth seeking out.

www.laurelswhitley.co.uk

Haru Nemuri

MUSIC

ST PIERRE SNAKE INVASION @ BOBIKS

THE

Words: Matt Young

Welcome one and all to The St Pierre Snake Invasion, the ferocious Bristol five-piece eager to demolish Bobiks on Saturday 6th May. Not literally of course, but hey who knows? The unflinching command of the band on stage and their uncompromising heavy sound might shake the walls to dust!

Their performances always hold the promises of delivering a truly memorable show that will leave you wanting more. Frontman Damien Sayell’s screaming vocal presence, mixing satire and social commentary, is backed up by the band’s truly exciting energy. TSPSI’s reputation proceeds them and in the relatively intimate Bobiks setting things could get very sweaty indeed when they launch into songs like the chaotic Braindead and the dark intensity of Casanovacaine, they’ll have you by the throat.

As if the headliners weren’t a mouth-watering enough prospect (we know they are) things start cooking far sooner with supports coming from Brighton’s El Moono, who are known for their sludge-heavy soundscapes and catchy melodies, and Newcastle’s own Shower of Teeth launching their own frenetic screamo, fret bothering and skin pummelling manifesto. Expect an evening of dynamic, explosive energy.

The St Pierre Snake Invasion, El Moono and Shower of Teeth play Bobiks, Newcastle on Saturday 6th May www.tspsi.bandcamp.com

MUSIC KOMPARRISON @ MIDDLESBROUGH TOWN HALL

Words: Jay Moussa-Mann

Before they take over the summer festival circuit across the UK this year, fiery pop quintet Komparrison are to perform at Middlesbrough Town Hall on Thursday 18th May in a brand new series of performances in partnership with BBC Introducing.

Having enjoyed plaudits across the board for their 2022 released debut EP, You Say She’s Satisfied, Komparrison will bring their feel-good observational songs of life as a working class woman in the North East, alongside brat-pop duo ZELA and retro funk band Moon Wax.  Music management Quiet Crown and independent promoter The Kids Are Solid Gold will work with BBC Music Introducing on Radio Tees and Middlesbrough Town Hall for a series of showcase gigs, with a different regional promoter co-promoting each one. May’s amazing line-up will be followed by more local talent in September, with Notion and Shin Gigs co-promoting Middlesbrough pop artist Finn Forster.

Quiet Crown’s Henry Carden says: “We’re going to be working closely with other local music industry folks like Press On Vinyl and FairSound, as well as some of our favourite music photographers and videographers shooting each gig. We’re very much of the school of thought that if we pool resources and all join forces, we can make more of an impact for the artists involved.”

Komparrison, ZELA and Moon Wax play Middlesbrough Town Hall on Thursday 18th May. www.linktr.ee/komparrison

COMEDY JOHN KEARNS @ THE STAND

Words: Cameron Wright

Winning either Best Edinburgh Newcomer award or the Fosters Edinburgh Comedy Award at the notorious comedy festival is a badge of honour that thousands of comics a year strive towards, yet only one performer has won both and he did so back to back, in consecutive years. That comedian is John Kearns. Garnering a reputation amongst comics, John’s stage persona has been shaking up the system for a decade now. Launching his name into the public eye, the comedian recently completed a hilariously hapless run on Taskmaster, where his shambolic attempts and self-deprecating charm endeared him to the nation.

Due to this well deserved summit in notoriety, Kearns’ latest tour has been extended further. Having already played to a sold out Newcastle crowd, Kearns is returning to The Stand on Sunday 14th May. The Varnishing Days may be a shock to those who learnt of Kearns through Taskmaster or his co-hosting role on Comedy Central’s Guessable?, not least due to his attire. Arriving onstage with a dishevelled wig, false teeth and exaggerated spectacles, the comic is quick to establish his stage persona as a separate character, a vessel for exploring the philosophical and the infantile in equal measure.

With an air of poetry, the stage persona waxes lyrical and gets lost in the mythology of art, age and identity. Balancing the humour with a sense of poignancy and tragedy, John Kearns is one of the greatest comedians you are yet to hear of, and an exceptional watch.

John Kearns performs at The Stand, Newcastle on Sunday 14th May.  www.johnkearnscomedy.co.uk

The St Pierre Snake Invasion by Ania Shrimpton

MUSIC RUTH LYON & ELIZA HULL @ SAGE GATESHEAD

Words: Niamh Poppleton

Having connected over a shared experience of being disabled artists working in the music industry, Ruth Lyon and Eliza Hull are performing an intimate ‘Access All Areas’ event at Sage Gateshead on Thursday 25th May as part of their overall UK tour.  Though the two women have a combined goal of celebrating and supporting disabled artists, they each diverge into separate musical genres. Australian musician and author Eliza Hull’s contemporary songs are inspired by her life experiences; Eliza has been writing songs and performing gigs since the age of 14, and through a calm, relaxing atmosphere and heartfelt lyrics her songs have an almost cathartic effect upon the listener. Newcastle

singer-songwriter Ruth Lyon, however, has been inspired by Regina Spektor, Fiona Apple and Aldous Harding, and brings soothing, melodic, chamber pop/anti-folk songs to the stage. Her songs discuss the weighty topics of insecurity, self-doubt and the arduousness of coping with people’s expectations, allowing the listener to thoroughly relate to her songs.  The event is part of Sage Gateshead’s From The Glasshouse series of shows, meaning tickets are priced ‘pay what you decide’. Ruth Lyon and Eliza Hull perform at Sage Gateshead on Thursday 25th May. www.sagegateshead.com

MUSIC CLT DRP @ ZEROX

Words: Jake Anderson

One of the best examples of why genre barriers are becoming obsolete is the hard-hitting CLT DRP (and yes, that is pronounced ‘clit drip’). Self-described as

“electro-punk renegades”, the group have created a style that is uniquely theirs, with their sound blending in elements of punk, electronica and pop.

This smorgasbord of sounds is shown perfectly on the band’s single Aftermath. Opening with a spoken word introduction over some techno horror synths, it then incorporates angelic sounds until the song comes to its thundering culmination as lead vocalist Annie Dorrett screams over the roaring instrumentation. However, TORX might be more up the street for punk fans, with the single’s shouting vocals over a biting guitar riff leaning heavier into their punk roots. The band will bring their high energy sound to Zerox on Saturday 6th May as part of their EU and UK tour. Also performing will be electro-punk juggernaut Straight Girl, who guarantees to cause chaos during their live performance thanks to bass-driven assaults and grin inducing dance-fuelled merriment.

CLT DRP and Straight Girl play Zerox, Newcastle on Saturday 6th May.

www.cltdrp.bandcamp.com

Eliza Hull

STAGE LORD OF THE FLIES @ NORTHERN STAGE

Words: Jon Horner

An exciting new production of Lord of the Flies is coming to Northern Stage from Wednesday 3rd-Saturday 6th May. Director Amy Leach (Macbeth, Oliver Twist) and her creative team are set to bring William Golding’s 1954

classic story into the 21st Century, reflecting the world we live in now while remaining faithful to his fascinating, thought-provoking central premise of a group of boys shipwrecked and trying to survive and achieve rescue on an island with no adults. The story seems almost topical in a fractured modern world of populist politics, as its central themes of tribalism and fear begetting aggression gain weight daily. In a fascinating twist, the set will be black and white with the colour red introduced gradually as the island paradise descends into a savage hellscape.

Leach has expressed her excitement at the “unmissable opportunity for us to all come together and explore what it means to be human and what we are capable of in challenging times.” A diverse, dynamic company of actors have been cast in order to enable younger audiences to “see themselves, their struggles and their strength reflected back at them from the stage.”

Lord of the Flies is performed at Northern Stage from Wednesday 3rd-Saturday 6th May. www.northernstage.co.uk

WHO

o l o f J u n g i a n P s y c h o t h e r a p y a n d P s y c h o s o c a l P r a c t i c e w a s

f o u n d e d i n 2 0 2 2 i n o r d e r t o b r o a d e n t h e a v a l a b i l i t y a n d a c c e s s t o J u n g i a n t r a i n i n g i n

t h e U K T h e S c h o o l a i m s t o h e l p i n d i v i d u a l s q u a l i f y a s t h e r a p i s t s a n d o f f e r t r a n i n g t o q u a l i f i e d t h e r a p i s t s a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l s t o h e l p t h e m u n d e r s t a n d , a p p r e c a t e a n d a p p l y t h e J u n g i a n p r i n c i p l e s t o t h e i r w o r k a n d t h e i r o w n s e l f d e v e l o p m e n t i n a w a y t h a t w a s n o t p r e v i o u s l y a v a i l a b l e

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N O R T H E A S T L O C A T I O N T r a i n i n g t a k e s p l a c e o n e w e e k e n d e v e r y m o n t h s o c a n y o u c a n t r a i n w i t h o u t h a v i n g t o c h a n g e y o u r c a r e e r p l a n s i n o r d e r t o a l l o w y o u t o s t u d y

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T h e c o u r s e i s s t r u c t u r e d t o m a k e t h e t r a i n i n g a v a i l a b l e t o t h o s e w h o m a y h a v e p r e v i o u s l y t h o u g h t t h a t t h s w a s n o t a n o p t i o n t h a t w o u l d b e f e a s i b l e f o r t h e m

Image by Anthony Robling

MUSIC UT @ DISGRACELAND/ THE LUBBER FIEND

Words: Lee Fisher

For those of us who were into the atonal, forward-thinking, often punishing end of things in the eighties, Blast First releases were invariably essential – releasing or licensing

everyone from Butthole Surfers to Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr to Big Black. And, of course, there was Ut: already scene veterans by the time they started putting out records on Blast First in the mid-80s, the trio –  Nina Canal, Jacqui Ham, and Sally Young – appeared during the insanely fertile No Wave era in New York and by 1981 were based in London in time for the post-punk boom here. Their fertile blend of free jazz, noise, improvisation and radical politics was to some extent at odds with the often quite macho

noise scene and their handful of albums – In Gut’s House, in particular – were remarkable. They finally split in 1989 and aside from a handful of reunion gigs have been dormant since. Until now. With their entire back catalogue being made available again after a long time, the trio will be playing three UK dates, including shows at Middlesbrough’s Disgraceland on Friday 26th and Newcastle’s Lubber Fiend on Saturday 27th May.

www.utmusic.net

MUSIC NOVELTY ISLAND @ THE CUMBERLAND ARMS

Words: Jonathan Coll

Novelty Island is the creation of Liverpoolbased singer and songwriter Tom McConnell, who earned rave reviews for the stunning debut album How Are You Coping With This Century. Tom brings the project to The Cumberland Arms for the Newcastle leg of their 2023 tour on Saturday 13th May, which will also feature tracks from their brand new record Wallsend Weekend Television. The success of their debut album would lead Novelty Island to perform at Glastonbury, support local heroes The Pale White and embark on a UK tour of their own. Having been heavily influenced by the sounds native to his home city, the debut album was a suitably fantastic blend of surreal pop, melody, harmony vocals and wry humour. The follow-up is altogether more adventurous, though it was initially planned to be the first record they released, and takes the form of a conceptual TV channel. GoGo is an excellent

slice of indie rock, whereas Sea Miner is dripping with synth pop joy. This all augers incredibly well for the forthcoming live shows, and being able to see such a talented outfit in a venue as intimate as The Cumberland Arms is not an opportunity to miss, particularly when the support includes winsome outsider popsters Dog Years and spoken word electro artist Faithful Johannes.

Novelty Island, Dog Years and Faithful Johannes play The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle on Saturday 13th May www.novelty-island.com

ART & LIT NEWCASTLE POETRY FESTIVAL @ NORTHERN STAGE

Words: Kate Relton

The seventh annual Newcastle Poetry Festival comes to Northern Stage from Thursday 11th-Saturday 13th May. Exploring the theme of community, the festival brings together writers, readers and publishers from across the world while showcasing talent from the

North.

Featuring readings, panel discussions, workshops and school events, the festival plays host to poets, filmmakers, professors and playwrights including Jamie Hale, Ahren Warner and Carol Ann Duffy.

Highlights of the weekend include the T S Eliot showcase featuring two poets shortlisted for the T S Eliot prize; Born Lippy, the North East’s leading spoken word open mic night; a celebration of contemporary voices in 100 Queer Poems with Mary Jean Chan; and a performance of poems by Carol Ann Duffy and Imtiaz Dharker accompanied by musician John Sampson.

The festival also includes the Northern Poetry Symposium 2023, which will unite the poetry community for a day of discussion, celebration and performance. A range of practical workshops will offer a chance to dig deeper into writing about people, exploring form and structure, and the history of the ghost poem, alongside much more indeed. Check the website for full listings.

Newcastle Poetry Festival runs from Thursday 11th-Saturday 13th May at Northern Stage, Newcastle.

www.newcastlepoetryfestival.co.uk

Novelty Island by Jack Hope

MUSIC GENERATOR’S FIRST NOTES SHOWCASE @ THE CUMBERLAND ARMS

Words: Tom Astley

Sunday 14th May sees live music on the terrace outside The Cumberland Arms from Generator’s roster of First Notes young musicians, who will perform brand new music. With free admission, live music from 2.30pm until 8pm, DJs and food trucks (not to mention the Cumberland’s usual array of refreshments), the gig promises an early start to the festival season.

All that would be enough to make it a grand afternoon out, but the music makes it a ‘must not miss’. The musicians are all artists on the Youth Music funded First Notes programme at Generator, and this gig will offer a laid back platform to introduce new compositions. Highlights of a packed running order include Maius Mollis, whose new track Feel It Hard has a fragile sincerity in the lyrics over a just-contained backbeat and electric guitar,

when it comes to the live performance Maius Mollis strips back her folk-inflected songs to just guitar and voice, giving them a whispered power to fill any space; talented songwriter

Cosial offers confessional bedroom pop with grunge inflections; Tia Leoni provides some smooth RnB; up-and-coming singer-songwriter Rivkala fuses soul and disco; ukulele-driven pop musician Borrelle; alongside brand new artists Jenali, Claire and Purle.

The eclectic mix of artists not only makes for an excellent line-up, but also showcases the exciting, diverse music being made in the region.  Generator’s First Notes Showcase takes place at The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle on Sunday 14th May. www.generator.org.uk

COMEDY

ALASDAIR BECKETTKING @ THE STAND

Words: Cameron Wright

I first became acquainted with Alasdair Beckett-King through his extensive collection of YouTube sketches, each ranging from 30 seconds to two minutes tops. The short bursts

of comedy are overflowing with personality, parodying various genres of comedy, cinema and TV. What captured my eye was the level of nuance and detail in his sketches, and how specific the observations in each parody were. Others may be more familiar with the comic through his appearances on the final few series of Mock the Week, where he displayed a brilliant speed and penchant for wordplay, as well as the absurd.

Bringing all his comedy prowess, as well as his signature ginger locks, to The Stand on Tuesday 16th May, the tour will demonstrate Beckett-King’s knack for twisting astute observations into the whimsical and aloof, but also his passion for multimedia. The Interdimensional ABK explores a series of timelines, fighting to make ours the best. Focused on happiness and overcoming misery, the comic leaps into the obscure and the random with ease, plucking out hilarious anecdotes, aided by his equally stylised illustrations.

Expect a night of idiosyncratic animations, hilarious storytelling and fantastic comedy.  Alasdair Beckett-King performs at The Stand, Newcastle on Tuesday 16th May.

www.abeckettking.com

Rivkala

ART & LIT

LARRY ACHIAMPONG: WAYFINDER @ BALTIC

Words: Caleb Carter

Reformulating patterns of Britain from the vantage of somewhere within its very coughing mosaic, Wayfinder madlibs the collective unconscious to excavate the relation between who speaks history and who controls it. Docking at Gateshead’s BALTIC just as Hew Locke’s Procession packs its bags, Larry

Achiampong also challenges the othering of displacement by relocating its nomadic multitudes, but unlike his peer, he prospects the shores of digital art, alongside his debut feature film audio work and a ‘games room’. Speaking with Turner Contemporary (who commissioned the titular centre film), Achiampong cited his urge to “think about the things that aren’t being said or that should be said.” So continues the work of this artist-cum-archaeologist, whose career has been an odyssey enchanted with the jewels of testimony.

Wayfinder illuminates the junkyard almanac of history whilst confronting its colonial

encryptions, darning the weave of an isle whose divisions are intrinsically geographical to observe that when a country closes its borders, a historian closes its text, or an artist closes its frame, they then become relics. With the kind of cultural acquisition in the migrant experience, and like Zelda traversing a bitrate ruinscape, Wayfinder accrues these artefacts like powers that might unlock previously foggy corners of maps.

Larry Achiampong: Wayfinder is at BALTIC, Gateshead from Saturday 20th May–Sunday 29th October.

www.baltic.art

Larry Achiampong, WayFinder2022. Feature-length single-channel 4K film with stereo sound. Commissioned by Turner Contemporary with MK Gallery and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art © Larry Achiampong. All rights reserved, DACS/Artimage 2022. Courtesy the artist and Copperfield, London

ART & LIT FIONA CRISP: WEIGHTING TIME @ SUNDERLAND MUSEUM & WINTER GARDENS & NGCA

Words: Liv Aldridge

Artist and photographer Fiona Crisp’s two-part survey exhibition Weighting Time opened at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens last month, and continues at NGCA from Saturday 6th May.

Fiona Crisp has held residencies in historically and geographically significant places such as The British School in Rome and the Vinstra Region in Norway, and her work often echoes something specific to place. The survey exhibition offers a diverse, well-researched array of photographic and film work and includes a large-scale public artwork that is made for Sunderland’s Mowbray Park. The Sunderland Museum show revolves around Crisp’s engagement with framing a ‘view’whether that be visual, political or philosophical. As is typical with Crisp’s work, preoccupations with the thresholds between public and private, light and dark, come to the fore.

Whilst the NGCA show is centred around Crisp’s work made in the other-world of underground and enclosed spaces including mines, theatres, laboratories and catacombs, and also includes a film installation set under the North Sea, offering a multi-media exploration of how the camera moves between spaces, from the formation of

galaxies to the Big Bang.

Fiona Crisp’s Weighting Time is at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens until Saturday 3rd June, and at NGCA from Saturday 6th May until Sunday 3rd September.

www.fionacrisp.com

MUSIC ULRIKA SPACEK @ ZEROX

Words: Jonathan Coll

Ulrika Spacek made their long-awaited return to the touring circuit in November 2022, with the alt. rock outfit having been on hiatus since 2018. They had previously enjoyed critical acclaim for each of their two full length albums, The Album Paranoia and Modern English Decoration, and their live performances had drawn praise too, for both Rhys Edwards’ gentle vocals and the band’s hypnotic solos. The good news is that as well as their forthcoming tour, which drops in to Zerox on Tuesday 23rd May, the band have brand new album, Compact Trauma, to show off.

Ulrika Spacek themselves were originally formed back in 2014 but the band’s roots date all the way back to 2002, when Rhys Edwards, Joseph Stone and Ben White formed The Enigma Project. Following a period of flux with the name and composition of the band, they began to make a name for themselves with a blend of abstract rock and hazy vocals. Their new album is an impressive return, and one which directly addresses their prolonged absence. Opening track The Sheer Drop speaks to the pressures of the music industry itself, while serving as a timely reminder of

what makes them such a vital band on the DIY circuit.

Ulrika Spacek play Zerox, Newcastle on Tuesday 23rd May.

www.ulrikaspacek.com

MUSIC HECTOR GANNET @ SAGE GATESHEAD

Words: Jon Horner

Fans of Hector Gannet’s gorgeous debut album, Big Harcar, may or may not know that some of the music from that album came from pieces they wrote to accompany archive footage relating to the industry and culture of the North East coast for a film with North East Film Archive (NEFA) and the British Film Institute (BFI). Performances of the film and live soundtrack sold out arts venues across the country, and now Hector Gannet have been granted exclusive licence by NEFA for a one-off performance of the soundtrack to the film at a fittingly grand venue, Sage Gateshead’s Hall 2, taking place on Saturday 6th May.

Aaron Duff, lead singer and songwriter with Hector Gannet said: “This is amazing news. We performed the live soundtrack a few years back in small venues which was great, but to perform with the film on a huge screen in a world-renowned and purpose built venue like the Sage is massively exciting, me and the full band really can’t wait to do this.”  They will also perform songs from their excellent new album The Land Belongs To Us. Hector Gannet perform at Sage Gateshead on Saturday 6th May.

www.hectorgannet.com

Ulrika Spacek by Eddie Whelan

COMEDY RICHARD HARDISTY @ GALA THEATRE

Words: Liv Aldridge

After great success at Edinburgh Fringe in 2022, rising star Richard Hardisty is touring his show Silly Boy, and will be making a stop at Gala Durham on Friday 19th May.

This soul-wrenchingly raw show chronicles an unusual life and experiences of mental illness such as anorexia and bipolar disorder as well as drug addiction. What seems common in reviews and audience responses is the way in which the show (despite covering dark territory) provokes swathes of laughter in the audience. Hardisty has already got two sell-out performances of Silly Boy in New York and London under his belt, and counts peers like Simon Amstell and Richard Gadd as fans. His work radiates the promise of authenticity, nerve and paradox and Hardisty’s show has not only been praised for its quality as comedy, but for its educational value: he was

even invited to perform in front of 150 therapists at an NHS conference. If you want to witness how all these elements come together in a one-man show, get your tickets asap.

Richard Hardisty performs at Gala Theatre, Durham on Friday 19th May. www.richhardisty.com

MUSIC HOUSE OF ALL @ THE CLUNY

Words: Laura Doyle

If any of the faces in House of All look familiar, it’s because they should. Mancunian punk outfit The Fall may effectively be no more since the passing of founding member Mark E. Smith, but one benefit of an almost revolving door of band members means there’s plenty of choice when it comes to ambitious reunion projects.

You can now find co-founding member (and original vocalist) Martin Bramah joining forces

with fellow Fall alumni: House of All’s line-up consists of longest serving bassist Steve Hanley alongside drummer and brother Paul, fellow ex-Fall-drummer Simon Wolstencroft, and last but not least The Fall’s final guitarist Pete Greenway. With a membership which stretches the entire lifespan of their previous collective, House of All definitely has a well-rounded skill set to draw from. And wouldn’t you know it – they already have a self-titled album out marking their efforts as a team.

With relentless chords and philosophies wrapped up in Bramah’s purring Mancunian drawl, House of All claims to take its space amongst its predecessor’s finest. While this unlikely fivesome may not have shared a stage as The Fall, fate has given them all this chance to come together to make sweet music on their own terms: witness it live at The Cluny in Newcastle on Monday 22nd May. House of All play The Cluny, Newcastle on Monday 22nd May.

www.houseofall.bandcamp.com

Richard Hardisty

MUSIC MAGIC CASTLES @ THE COMMON ROOM

Words: Matt Young

American neo-psychedelic rockers Magic Castles make a pretty rare appearance in the UK this month when they arrive to mesmerize the crowd at The Common Room on Monday 8th May with their blissed-out blend of psychedelic rock and dreamy soundscapes. Drawing inspiration from the 60s psychedelic era, 80s indie, 90s shoegaze and beyond, they create a unique sonic experience with a sound that is comfortably familiar and yet completely their own.

Showcasing music from their critically acclaimed albums Sky Sounds and Starflower, along with their 2021 release Sun Reign, the Minneapolis-based band has an uncanny knack of creating cohesive audio landscapes that are immersive and transportive. Led by main songwriter Jason Edmonds whose vocals, often buried beneath layers of reverb and distortion, add to the sandstorm of

swirling guitars and hypnotic rhythms give it a lush, ethereal feel.

Existing fans and newcomers, whether into dream pop, ambient pop, swooning harmonies and wall of sound guitars washing over them, will love the immersive nostalgia Magic Castles evoke. If you’re into Slowdive, Galaxie500, Sonic Boom, Panda Bear or Beach House you’ll appreciate the many touchstone references here, but then equally embrace Magic Castles on their own terms and get lost in their music.

Magic Castle play The Common Room, Newcastle on Monday 8th May www.linktr.ee/themagiccastles

MUSIC LOST IN THE WOODS 10TH ANNIVERSARY @ THE STUDIO

Words: Jake Anderson

10 years is a long time in the music industry, and for any promoter to stick at it –

Magic Castles

particularly after such a tough few years – is surely a mark of tenacity and passion for the cause. Promoters of psychedelic wonders, Lost In The Woods reach this very milestone on Friday 5th May, and they’ll be celebrating in style with a pretty great show at The Studio in Hartlepool.

The night will be headlined by much-loved local space-disco duo Warm Digits, whose sound weaves elements of post-punk, Krautrock vibes and considerable heft in the synths-meets-beats department.

Also on the bill is Black Helium, a psychedelic rock band from London who promise to captivate their audience with fuzzy and occult sounds; Newcastle outfit TV Death, who are known for their grungy and noisy rock and roll; and rounding off the line-up is Frog Dylan, Merseyside-based newcomers who wear their Velvet Underground influence with pride, as they strike that balance of heartbreaking songwriting and brash rock.

Lost In The Woods celebrate their 10th anniversary at The Studio, Hartlepool on Friday 5th May.

www.facebook.com/inthefreakyforest

STAGE HAPPY PLACE @ NORTHERN STAGE

Words: Jon Horner

After a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2022, Forget About The Dog bring their signature trademark of outrageous comedy, puppetry, physical theatre and live music to Northern Stage on Friday 26th May. Happy Place is a comedic show commenting on society’s perception of what it means to be

happy in a world where technology continues to evolve. It has been described as a Black-Mirror-meets-Monty-Python-meetsJumanji adventure, exploring happiness, friendship and the role technology plays in our world. In a near dystopian future, corporations have commodified happiness into virtual reality booths called Happy Places, costing just the price of a coffee for limitless experiences. Follow four strangers on an extraordinary journey as they find themselves locked inside their own Happy Place. As reality and fantasy start to merge, this unlikely quartet will have to traverse mountains, fight their demons and navigate customer services

if they are to stop their happiness turning into a nightmare.

Hexham raised company member Jordan Larkin said: “This is our fourth show as a company and it’s certainly our biggest yet. Creating this show has been a vessel for discovery for us all and alongside it being an imaginative, engaging and humorous production we also deeply believe in the message and meaning within it.”

Happy Place comes to Northern Stage, Newcastle on Friday 26th May.

www.northernstage.co.uk

stockton

Image by Matthew McHale

MUSIC SONGS FROM NORTHERN BRITAIN @ THE GEORGIAN

ART & LIT FLUXUS FIELDS @ THE CLUNY

MUSIC DEAD KENNEDYS @ THE BOILER SHOP

THEATRE

/ THE GREEN ROOM

Words: Jake Anderson

Tees Music Alliance and The Kids Are Solid Gold have joined forces once again for the ninth iteration of Songs From Northern Britain, which will take over The Georgian Theatre venue and bar as well as neighbouring Green Room on Saturday 13th May. Since its inception the mini festival has prominently featured some of the most talented acts from the North of the UK. Headlining this year will be Edinburgh’s Swim School, who’ll be playing tunes from their upcoming sophomore EP. The three-piece group are familiar faces on Teesside, with the band having enjoyed a rave reception for their noise and dream pop concoctions at Stockton Calling last year. Another Scots act on the line-up are Glaswegian punk outfit Humour, whose visceral sound has already made a strong impression. Closer to home, Teesside’s own Sarah Johnsone also performs; a quickly rising star in the North East’s indie pop scene, Sarah’s knack with hook-filled melodies and impressive vocals make her a real joy to watch live. Also on the bill are alt. rockers The Joy Hotel, the escapist pop of Rudi Zygadlo, the powerful folk rock of Hector Gannet, soulful Americana artist Ren Lawton, melancholic songwriter Michael Timmons and legendary Tyneside gothic rock legends Ghost//Signals.  Songs From Northern Britain takes place at The Georgian Theatre & The Green Room on Saturday 13th May.

www.georgiantheatre.co.uk

Words: Los Ruis

The art gallery in Newcastle venue The Cluny is positioned in between the main bar and the toilets which feels fitting for Fluxus Fields, an exhibition inspired by the late 1960’s Fluxus artists and their attitude.

In that moment between making the piss and taking the piss, or as you are en route to create your own loose but robust movement, you can enjoy new artworks inspired by Fluxus.

Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets who during the 1960s and 1970s engaged in experimental art performances that focused on the ideas and the process of creating, rather than being obsessed with the final product, and who most importantly of all, never took themselves or the art world too seriously.

The exhibition will showcase new works and site specific art that invites the proletariat to engage with art without feeling intimidated or self-conscious, and the elite to loosen the fuck up, stop overthinking and actually permit an emotional rather than cerebral response.

When you have finished with the art and you actually make it to the bogs, remember that ultimately Duchamp and his readymades are responsible for all this irreverence and sign your shitter or urinal R. Mutt before you leave. Fluxus Fields exhibition is at The Cluny, Newcastle from Friday 19th May-Friday 30th June.

www.instagram.com/fluxus_fields

Words: Matt Young

Legendary controversial, satirical, but first and foremost punk-defining rock band Dead Kennedys are set to ignite the stage at Newcastle’s Boiler Shop on Friday 12th May. Unfortunately this time it’ll be without Jello Biaffa or sadly departed D.H. Peligro, but founders East Bay Ray and Klaus Flouride are on hand to blitz the place with new band members.

For the uninitiated, Dead Kennedys are known for their politically charged lyrics, blistering guitar riffs and energetic live performances which carved out the American punk rock scene since their formation in the late 1970s. Transport yourself back to the golden era of punk rock, if you will; moshing and bellowing along to songs like Holiday in Cambodia, Too Drunk to Fuck and California Uber Alles. If only the same issue weren’t still a current nightmare for the world – crisis, corruption, political deceit – the Dead Kennedys have railed against it all, and it’s as relevant today as it was when they last released any new music back in 1986 on Bedtime For Democracy. Not that new material matters a great deal, honestly – you come for the attitude and the hits. The band’s rebellious spirit still renders the critical, virile sounds of their youth, despite the passing years.

The Dead Kennedys play The Boiler Shop, Newcastle on Friday 12th May

www.deadkennedys.com

Humour

MUSIC AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR @ NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ UNION

Words: Kate Relton

Fresh from a sell-out run in Ireland, instrumental rockers And So I Watch You From Afar bring their raw energy and power to Newcastle University’s Student Union on Wednesday 24th May. Touring relentlessly for nearly two decades, the Irish four-piece have gained a cult following around the world, and have become known for their experimental and euphoric sound which refuses to be pigeonholed in any genre or style.

After the success of their homecoming show in Belfast last year, their appearance at Newcastle University Student’s Union is just one of a packed schedule of dates, taking in cities across Europe and the UK. An overwhelming riot for the senses, And So I Watched You From Afar’s live shows are renowned for delivering thrilling escapism and joy.

And So I Watch You From Afar perform at Newcastle University Students’ Union on Wednesday 24th May www.asiwyfa.com

ART & LIT X – CONTEMPORARY BRITISH PAINTING @ NEWCASTLE CONTEMPORARY ART

Words: Claire Dupree

The painting art form covers such a broad spectrum of mediums and disciplines that to put all work in the same category almost seems reductive. A new exhibition at Newcastle Contemporary Art seeks to demonstrate some of these many and varied approaches to the art form, and brings together the work of over 80 artists in a vibrant exhibition which is ambitious in its scope.

Running at the Newcastle gallery from Saturday 20th May to Saturday 17th June, X –

Contemporary British Painting explores everything from photorealism to gestural abstraction, tiny intimate studies to big

bombastic works, and paintings that come off the wall and make you question what you’re looking at.

Included in the exhibition are several award-winning artists including Narbi Price (who also curated the exhibition), John Moores Painting Prize winners Paula MacArthur, Nicholas Middleton and Mandy Payne, Venice Biennale exhibitor Phil Illingworth, and British Academy awardee James Quin alongside prizewinners and nominees of the Turner Prize and members of the Contemporary British Painting collective, an artist-led group which seeks to promote current trends and artists through group exhibitions and supportive activities. Other names of note include George Shaw, Andrew Grassie, HUSH, Biggs & Collings, Gordon Dalton, Abigail Hampsey, Laura Lancaster, Rachel Lancaster, Ellen Ranson and Paul Smith.

The launch event, which coincides with The Late Shows, will also include DJ sets from Opal Tapes founder Bishop, and Maximo Park frontman Paul Smith.

X – Contemporary British Painting is at Newcastle Contemporary Art from Saturday 20th May-Saturday 17th June. www.visitnca.com

Abigail Hampsey, An Allegory of Life and Time, Oil on Canvas with Mixed Media, Bronza and Plastic, 170x160cm, 2022

INTERVIEWS

THE EARLY PURPLE

AHEAD OF HIS DEBUT EP RELEASE THIS MONTH, SONGWRITER MATT SAXON TALKS TO CAMERON WRIGHT ABOUT FINDING ATMOSPHERE IN DETAILS, INSPIRATION IN NATURE, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF LEGACY IMAGE BY AMELIA READ

“We’re still a young band,” starts Matt Saxon, the mind behind The Early Purple. “I’ve got some class musicians behind me, we’ve got some of the lads from Lanterns On The Lake and Dru Michael from Sam Fender’s band; it’s ended up being a mini ‘who’s who’ of the Newcastle music scene!” No stranger himself, Saxon has been involved in Newcastle’s illustrious music scene for almost a decade, as a member of indie rock giants Little Comets and the live incarnation of John Edgar’s atmospheric folk project The Dawdler, the latter of which ignited his long-running work relationship with

producer Will Thorneycroft. The duo have reunited for The Early Purple, which shows Saxon taking to the stage and commanding the attention for himself, albeit with it a little help from his friends and fellow local luminaries. As a solo writing project, The Early Purple is an uncompromising vision, created with the intention of “being something I can be proud of in 10 years time” as the songwriter elaborates: “I’ve not been the leader of a project in a long time. Be it as a drummer or the keyboardist, I’ve tended to be in the background, helping out. The Early Purple gives me an

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opportunity to fully embody a project and produce something from my heart. I want this to be my legacy, I don’t want to cut corners or make people happy, I want this to be something for me.”

The result is frankly beautiful, as is evidenced on The Early Purple’s debut EP, Summer Hide, released this month. Stripped back, sparse instrumentation and light harmonies flutter across tracks like Big Mistake or the stunning Giant, yet nothing ever distracts from the intimacy and warmth of the hushed vocals and plucked guitar. Citing Neil Young’s Harvest as an obvious source of inspiration, Saxon places an emphasis on minimising the trickery or technique used on capturing the sounds. “I get told off for saying it time and time again, but from the get go what I wanted was a really organic sound. I get told off for that because people don’t always understand what I’m saying. I want to use the rooms, those acoustics and those spaces, I want to hear the gaps, the creaks, the breaths. I want everything to add to the sound, naturally.”

Saxon reflects on buying Grizzly Bear’s 2006 record, Yellow House. He giddily details the story behind the recording process, in which the record was predominantly captured in an old, rustic house that belonged to the frontman’s mother.

Waxing lyrical about the peeling wallpaper, the wooden floorboards and niche, dated decorations, Saxon is steadfast in

thinking that each of the house’s idiosyncrasies play an integral role to the final sound of the record. This ethos has been adopted beautifully on The Early Purple’s EP, where each of the five tracks bubble with personality. Having recorded the songs in the house they were written in, it’s immediately evident that using the building as a character and a colour to shade the record is important to the writer.

Touching on musical influence, Saxon talks about his most recent excursion to Sage Gateshead to see the pristine musical stylings of Big Thief. “That was a special night. There may have been some technical issues or sound problems at the show but I got a lot from how they dealt with that. The show contained a lot of silence, which they used beautifully as a tool. It added an emotional weight, they were so true to themselves throughout it all. They were so comfortable being quiet and still, breathing. It was so human. Moments like that add so much to a performance, especially in a venue like that. I’ll confess that I have two goals for The Early Purple – one is to play Sage Gateshead, the other is to get on the front cover of NARC. magazine. Halfway there!”

Talking in detail about the live prospects of the project, Saxon explains that The Early Purple are placing an emphasis on interesting venues that mean something to them. “It may be because we’re not a punk band or a rock band, our sound is more soft and melodic than that, but we’d always rather go for interesting venues. Our upcoming gig at Wylam Brewery on Thursday 4th May is a perfect example; I want the room to add a flavour. I guess with indie and folk music, it’s rooted in the heart of its environment, it’s a product of its location. Utilising those spaces is important.”

Touching briefly on folk music and its origins, the conversation turns to analysing the North and the songwriter’s relationship with it. The songs on the EP tell stories of family, friends and the world they inhabit, and Summer Hide is a record undeniably inspired by Northumberland. “When I was younger I found Newcastle too claustrophobic, I had to escape,” he confesses. “Something happened over lockdown though; I started walking more, noticing nature, birdwatching. I became completely enamoured with nature.” The peace and tranquillity Saxon found in these calming walks is palpable across cuts like the title track, where you can feel the solace of nature.

If organic, natural sounds is the intention of The Early Purple, then Saxon has delivered beautifully, both as a musical project and as a reflection of the artist creating it. A natural, humanist depiction of its songwriter gushes from each moment of the record as Saxon’s personal trials, emotions and triumphs are depicted with a sincerity that is majestically echoed by the simple, affecting instrumentation. Without theatrics or grandeur, the straightforward, earnest tracks of Summer Hide are as poignant, affecting and philosophical as The Early Purple could have ever intended.

The Early Purple release Summer Hide EP on 4th May. The band perform at Wylam Brewery, Newcastle on the same evening.

www.theearlypurple.com

I WANT THIS TO BE MY LEGACY, I DON’T WANT TO CUT CORNERS OR MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY, I WANT THIS TO BE SOMETHING FOR ME

THE LATE SHOWS

MERA ROYLE CHERRY-PICKS SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS YEAR’S CULTURE CRAWL

An unbridled experience of creativity is booming into venues across Newcastle and Gateshead on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th May. The Late Shows is a collection of events which showcase the fantastic local talents in the North East as well as inviting new and courageous attendees to learn and take part in their own creations. The one-off activities are all free to attend, with the aim of promoting and celebrating the huge variety of culture in the region.

The activities on Friday 19th centre around the Ouseburn Valley, and offer some intriguing insights into historical locations as well as cultural ones.

One highlight includes what promises to be an astonishing free tour of the Victoria Tunnel, the preserved 19th Century waggon-way under Newcastle. It holds many thrilling historic tales, from the 1800s right through to the Second World War. For art-fans, attendees can observe Ouseburn-based painter Jim Edwards at work on his latest project, in which he focuses on bringing to picture stunning North East locations, from historic Durham to the bucolic scenery of the Tyne Valley. An evening trip to the Biscuit Factory is also recommended, where a celebration of local art is to take place with live folk music from Miggins Fiddle, poetry from Harry Gallagher and pop-up

scenes from local plays courtesy of People’s Theatre. The night will also feature the painting of a large mural by Dan Cimmermann, which attendees are encouraged to take part in, as well as pop-up appearances from top Northern authors. Also on an arty tip, at Shieldfield Art Works explore the meaning of friendship through art, painting, illustration and discussion in their A Voyage Through Friendship exhibition; fine artist Amy Pearson exhibits her work inspired by women, fashion, nature and animals at quirky shopping hub Flea Circus; explore connections between print-making and art at Northern Print; or get a glimpse into the working lives of artists who make 36 Lime Street their home, and buy affordable art and original work.

For something a little more raucous, head down to Cobalt Studios to discover a speakeasy-esque pop-up print room, complete with DJ’s and live music, where you can speak your mind on paper and help cover the front of the building with important collective messages. Or join The Cumberland Arms as they takeover The Toffee Factory for a spirited ceilidh, alongside food, workshops and a host of other delights. The fun continues in Newcastle and Gateshead on Saturday 20th. Our top tips include Gateshead Central Library’s colourful

Image by Colin Davison

and creative drop-in workshop with floral artists, including Pui Lee. Take part by crafting your very own funky flower brooch and find inspiration from 60s fashions. Check out the latest addition to Gateshead’s cultural scene, Orbis Community, where a variety of creative businesses throw open their doors –chief among them is Vane Gallery and their Desire Lines group exhibition, plus Gingerino’s Pizzas provide sustenance. Over the water, D6: Culture In Transit’s hub in Charlotte Square bring a host of international artists from Ukraine, Turkey, Cyprus and Jordan to explore the social and environmental threads between our region and the rest of the world; Dance City offer up live performances and dance film screenings; get a rare glimpse into the Jacobean splendour of Bessie Surtees House on the Quayside and tour some of the private rooms; duck into the newly opened Farrell Centre to explore architecture and urban design; enjoy mindful illustrating at Laing Art Gallery, inspired by the monks of Lindisfarne; or go wild through the corridors of Great North Museum: Hancock on a Myth Quest which draws on the museum’s amazing artefacts to provide a fantasy adventure.

Plus, there’s live music at Alphabetti Theatre; the Mosaic Tap host a drop-in monoprinting workshop alongside their craft ales; at Newcastle Arts Centre check out a collection of drawing machines and learn how to make your own, then pop next door

to The Black Swan Venue Bar and catch a film screening from the Young Women’s Film Academy, enjoy Latin band Bellavana and pour out into the bustling courtyard to find food from local pop-up North East Beef. Also of note is the return of Newcastle Castle’s mediaeval tavern experience, which offers a mediaeval ale (or a soft drink) in the authentic surroundings of the cellar of the Castle Keep.

One of the most unique features over the weekend can be found at Sensation Studios at The Hub in Kelburn House, where attendees can experience an immersive exhibition of glowing silk paintings by learning disabled and autistic artists. Covid screens have been repurposed into lightboxes that illuminate images inspired by the objects, activities, people and places that the artists describe as the light of their lives.

For all creatively curious souls, the Late Shows are the perfect chance to cram in as many experiences as possible. Attendees are also encouraged to collect a neon yellow metal button badge at venues – to be worn at the return of the Late Shows in 2024! The Late Shows takes place at venues across Newcastle and Gateshead on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th May. For full listings, visit their website.

www.thelateshows.org.uk

T-B, L-R: D6 Culture in Transit Artwork by Zariq Rosita Hanif during her residency, Victoria Tunnel

FOR ALL CREATIVELY CURIOUS SOULS, THE LATE SHOWS ARE THE PERFECT CHANCE TO CRAM IN AS MANY EXPERIENCES AS POSSIBLE

A MAN CALLED ADAM

DAMIAN ROBINSON TALKS TO THE ELECTRONIC DUO ABOUT THEIR NEW ALBUM WHICH IS ROOTED IN THE LANDSCAPES, STORIES AND PEOPLE OF TEESSIDE

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Returning with their first album in four years, it’s worth noting that the new record by electronica duo A Man Called Adam is more than just a return to the studio; it’s a return to where it all began – Teesside. The duo have enjoyed a stellar career in the electronic music scene since the late 80’s, and enjoyed a resurgence in 2019 with their acclaimed album Farmarama, featuring on massive festival bills and dancefloor classic collections alike.

Their new album, The Girl With A Hole In Her Heart, is a dreamy love letter which channels memories of Teesside across a number of warm, varied, dancefloor moods; celebrating the spirit of the North whilst highlighting the struggles of regeneration and underfunding.

“Making this album was a really interesting process,” confirms co-founder Sally Rodgers, “I grew up in Teesside, and relocated back here during the pandemic, so for me this was a chance to reflect on the importance of the region and its history.”  Started remotely, the album came together gradually and through a therapeutic process. “I was based in Paris at various stages of lockdown,” confirms co-founder Steve Jones, “and leaving the house was incredibly restricted. When I was able to leave I began creating small patterns on a friend’s piano which gradually built into loops and ideas I sent to Sally. We started working on those ideas together more as a way of keeping in contact during a difficult time than with a particular album in mind.”

Providing narratives to the compositional ideas, Rodgers began

to find patterns in her work. “At the start the ideas had quite a melancholic, introverted, feel to them and I think that helped me to unlock some of the memories and feelings I had about growing up in Teesside, and about my love for the region and its people.”

Developed over time, the album moved from its original, emotive piano form into a Balearic dance-sounding dance record; though the themes remained the same. “The more we worked on the record, and the more dancey it became, the more we wanted it to remain focused on Teesside.” confirms Rodgers.  As it’s so rooted in the North, the duo were keen to manage their project with as much North Eastern culture and support as possible. “We’ve started to work with local organisations and artists who have helped in a number of ways, like supporting the design of the cover art, and working on some really cool vinyl for the launch. We really want to contribute and support the local North Eastern arts community and with so much great work happening we all have a part to play.”

A summer production about Teesside entitled PEOPLE

POWERED: Stories from The River Tees, which sees the duo collaborate with MIMA and The National Portrait Gallery, provides even deeper links for A Man Called Adam to build more work focused on the region and its history. With a new album and new projects on the horizon, there’s so much for the duo to look forward to, including the works of other artists. “We’re excited for the record, and for the production, but we’re even more excited by the art and artists we’re seeing and meeting from the region. We try to be optimistic and there’s a lot to look forward to.”

A Man Called Adam release The Girl With A Hole In Her Heart on 26th May.

www.linktr.ee/amca_hq

THE MORE WE WORKED ON THE RECORD, AND THE MORE DANCEY IT BECAME, THE MORE WE WANTED IT TO REMAIN FOCUSED ON TEESSIDE

LILY BROOKE

Talented contemporary pop songwriter Lily Brooke gears up to release her debut EP, Hypomaniac, this month. Lily’s masterful songwriting delivers catchy pop melodies with undertones which deal with hard-hitting subjects, including the mental health crisis in the UK and worldwide.

“I’d say my songs surround conversational topics and stem from real experiences, so the stories and relatability is really important to me,” says Lily. “I tend to use darker themes and instrumentation that put the music in the alternative category, taking inspiration from alt. pop legends like Melanie Martinez, Billie Eilish and MARINA.”

Lily is no stranger to pop legends, and she’s shared the stage with artists as varied as The Futureheads, UB40 and Atomic Kitten. In keeping with the artists of her generation, social media is where she excels in finding fans, and she’s amassed over 26k Twitter followers and a TikTok following of 31k. One video in particular is extremely compelling, as her mum reacts to the recent release of her single, The Doctor, in the car. “I was actually a bit nervous showing my mum the song,” Lily recalls. “But her reaction was just lush. One of the lines in The Doctor is “all my friends think I’m no good” and it’s about believing people have negative opinions when in reality it’s just your own negative thoughts. But she went into protective mother mode – she took it literally and wanted the names of these so called ‘friends’. Hilarious! She says ‘but, why are we in

the car?’... She called out every musician TikToker who has ever filmed a car reaction video, including myself. I didn’t even have a good answer for her!”

Beyond the catchy hooks, it is hard to miss the lyrics. Blackjack, a single released back in March, stands out with the words: “Young, fun and under 21 / Blackjack full blown panic, panic attack-jack / no there’s no going back”

“When I was leaving university and still pursuing music I was told ‘ah you better chase it quick, it’s all downhill after the age of 21’ – crazy! There’s so much pressure to have everything figured out by the time you’re 21 and it’s just not realistic. So that’s when I wrote Blackjack, using the card game as a metaphor for going ‘bust’ at 21.”

The music videos that accompany Lily’s songs are highly professional and extremely powerful. Lily produced the most recent video for Blackjack working with director Lewis Janos Pashleyo to create a very particular feel. “It was a very small production and Lewis had some extremely ambitious ideas. We discussed the story behind the song and he came up with the idea to host a sort of ‘twisted birthday party.”

Another hard-hitting video accompanies the EP’s lead track, Scream, which speaks about gender inequality in the music business. “My outfit in the music video is actually inspired by Marlene Dietrich who was known for her diverse portrayals of women, which was something we wanted to evoke. It was a big decision for me to keep the word ‘bitch’ in the song, as it instantly made the EP explicit, but I think it was important to keep in… I think the small shock factor shows how women have been mistreated and really sold a dream that is harmful.”

Lily Brooke releases Hypomaniac on 12th May.

www.linktr.ee/lilybrookemusic

JAY MOUSSA-MANN TALKS TO THE CONTEMPORARY MUSIC MAKER ABOUT HER DEBUT EP

THERE’S SO MUCH PRESSURE TO HAVE EVERYTHING FIGURED OUT BY THE TIME YOU’RE 21 AND IT’S JUST NOT REALISTIC

GIRLI

QUEER SPACES AND EVENTS ARE AMAZING, BUT QUEER ARTISTS ALSO NEED TO BE GIVEN MORE PLATFORMS IN NON-QUEER SPECIFIC FESTIVAL LINE-UPS TOO. REPRESENTATION MATTERS

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A DIY record label and four LGBTQ+ artists walk into an arts venue and community hub… It’s only DTV Fest hosted by Pop Recs! Local legends bigfatbig, The Timewasters and DJ Samara Laboriel join queer dance duo NIMMO for a packed bill of the LGBTQ+ music scene’s most exciting stars. Rounding out the evening is Daemon T.V’s headliner, pop/rock/everythingincluding-the-kitchen-sink princess and walking middle finger to the status quo, girli.

With a career defined far more by her peaks than her troughs, the North London singer-songwriter and creator of “painfully relatable pop music for young people feeling lost, and trying to figure their shit out” recently emerged from a year-long hiatus with a brand new EP on the horizon, why am i like this??

“The pandemic actually gave me a chance to figure some shit out about myself. It was a bit of a rebirth.” Part of that process gave rise to this release, “a mix of songs written across a couple years; a couple of the songs are demos that had gathered dust,” all which feed back to the eponymous question on girli’s lips.

“[This EP is] me desperately asking for answers and feeling lost as fuck in life. All of the songs are about figuring out different parts of my identity and relationships to other people – why I fuck up relationships, why my mental health sucks, figuring out young love, and navigating lame people sucking my energy.”  girli eschews labels of any kind, be it in her personal or professional life. But as a member of the queer community, the opportunity to participate in this inclusive event is one she relishes. “...that’s the best thing about this show. Queer line-ups

and spaces make me feel so safe and happy.” Inclusive spaces aren’t a new concept, but their importance cannot be understated in a society where not everyone gets the space they need. “It’s so important to have events that create a space for LGBTQ+ people to express themselves, and experience LGBTQ+ art and creativity in a safe space.” They’re also a gateway to better social inclusion overall, as once LGBTQ+ creators are given access to an audience, they can better establish themselves and their brand for wider, mainstream consumption. “Queer spaces and events are amazing, but queer artists also need to be given more platforms in non-queer specific festival line-ups too. Representation matters.”

As an artist who has trodden both the mainstream and the underground music scenes, girli is ideally situated as an ambassador for the next generation of LGBTQ+ music. She may be “done with EPs for now” once why am i like this?? has hit your eardrums, but she’s only just getting started on this next chapter of her creative life.

As for DTV Fest, with a pay-what-you-can model and a guaranteed safe space for anyone of any gender or sexual identity, this event promises to be as inclusive as possible for all attendees from all walks of life.

girli releases why am i like this?? on 12th May. She joins NIMMO, bigfatbig, The Timewasters and DJ Samara Laboriel at Pop Recs Ltd., Sunderland on Saturday 27th May. www.girlimusic.com

LAURA DOYLE CHATS WITH THE MULTIFACETED ARTIST ABOUT REPRESENTATION AND IDENTITY AHEAD OF DAEMON T.V’S INCLUSIVE SHOWCASE GIG

Image by Fiona Garden

NORTH EAST EMERGING ARTIST AWARD

EMILY INGRAM CHATS WITH CURATOR MATTHEW JARRATT ABOUT THE ARTS AWARD WHICH SEEKS TO OFFER A SPRINGBOARD FOR SOME OF THE REGION’S MOST PROMISING PRACTITIONERS

At first glance, Seaton Delaval Hall’s grand Georgian architecture and sweeping grounds make it seem more like a relic of the past than a hub of contemporary art. It seems odd that this sombre manor house could be the home of the North East Emerging Artist Award: but for seasoned curator Matthew Jarratt, it is the ideal setting.

“Previously, I helped to set up a prize for emerging sculptors at Cheeseburn Sculpture Gardens in Northumberland.” Explains Matthew. “After that closed, I received funding to do something similar in a new venue. Seaton Delaval Hall has a unique reputation, not just as a National Trust property, but as a place with a rich history of theatre patronage and a team that is always keen to host contemporary art.”

The house has proved to be a bountiful source of inspiration for local artists. Now in its second year, the award is a springboard for some of the region’s most promising practitioners: entrants are tasked with pulling together a detailed proposal for a piece or performance inspired by the house, its former inhabitants and its heritage. The resulting projects span a huge range of topics and disciplines, as showcased perfectly by the upcoming exhibition of last year’s winners, which launches in various areas across the estate on Wednesday 17th May.

The show is set to feature a trio of works, including a razor-sharp commentary on decolonisation and ‘taking up space’ from Chantal Herbert and collaborator Dami Fawehinmi; a whimsical (and interactive!) celebration of Seaton Delaval’s

WE WANT TO GIVE EMERGING ARTISTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP THEIR IDEAS, AS WELL AS THE SUPPORT THEY NEED TO PUT THESE IDEAS INTO PRACTICE

architecture by Edmond Salter; and a visceral performance piece that will see dancer Maria Isidora hurtle through centuries of history and memory at the manor.

Before immersing yourself in last year’s winners though, Matthew encourages visitors to have their say on this year’s entrants. Until Sunday 14th May, visitors to Seaton Delaval Hall can take a trip to the preposterously ornate stables to view the eight shortlisted proposals and vote for their favourite. “There are three people, including myself, on the judging panel, but the visitors are like a fourth judge!” Matthew says. “Public engagement is really important: we wouldn’t choose a winner that the visitors hadn’t really loved.”

Looking at this year’s shortlist, the choice won’t be an easy one. Some of the pieces, like Richard Eyers’ Everyone and Jacob Goff’s Many Hands, are inspired by the hall as we know it today: a gorgeous heritage site powered by a legion of dedicated volunteers. Other projects, like The Keelmans Strike 1719 by Anabelle Blackett, delve into the rich (and sometimes dark) history of the Delaval family and their impact on the community around them. For the nature lovers among us, there is even a proposal that draws focus on the house’s most fascinating occupants – the bats that have roosted in the roof of Seaton Delaval Hall since it was destroyed by a fire in 1822.  Whether they are selected or not, the opportunities presented by the award mean that these eight artists are certain to go far – for curator Matthew, that’s what it’s all about. “Projects like this are really important for artists at the start of their career.” He says. “What we want is to give emerging artists the opportunity to develop their ideas, as well as the support they need to put these ideas into practice.”

The North East Emerging Artist Award is at Seaton Delaval Hall from Wednesday 17th May-Sunday 11th June.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/seaton-delaval-hall

Chantal Herbert and Dami Fawehinmi

HOZOMEEN

Multi-instrumentalist Graham Thompson prepares to release his latest solo project under the moniker of Hozomeen this month. Having been a fixture on the region’s music scene for over 25 years, and known for his work with hardcore trio Ballpeen as well as a slew of other bands including Grace, Gullich and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaind, his new album The Void is a heavy and experimental slab of sound.

Compared to the rest of his discography, The Void leans more into noise rock than hard rock, as Thompson cleverly experiments and pushes the limitations of the genre, while playing every instrument and building on the lessons he learnt from his previous work. “I knew I could do an album by myself.” He says. “It’s challenging and very time consuming, but I really like the whole process, and I like that I can be in charge of it all.”

Although he does admit that working on a project by yourself can become daunting. “Having played music for so many years, I had a good idea of how to approach this album and achieve the sounds I was looking for; knowing the right guitars to use, which songs I’d like the drums to have more room than others, where to mix the instruments...I’m pleased with how it all sits together and that I had this blank canvas to try new things.”  The Void is fantastically engaging listen; the listener is overwhelmed with blunt and aggressive instrumentation, with

drumbeats that could invigorate anyone to battle and riffs that will tear through your speakers, on top of more alternative instrumentation woven throughout.

An example of this is the use of guitar feedback throughout the LP, most notable on Call The Hogs. “It was a conscious effort to include feedback as I wanted certain parts of songs, or whole songs, to be a bit jarring or uncomfortable. I used different guitars with different pick ups to achieve different types of feedback, I have one guitar in particular that is really cheap and as a result the cheap pickups squeal quite nicely.”

Thompson is most proud of this effect on Manifestation in Grief: “It ended up sounding like a synthesiser, but it’s actually a series of single notes on the guitar feeding back to make it sustain that I then fashioned into chords when mixing. To me the feedback doesn’t sound like guitars at all and I’m really pleased with how it came out, the song almost sounds a bit John Carpenter-esque and I had no idea how it would sound until it was finished.”

Thompson found the biggest challenge he faced in producing the album himself related to lyricism. “I have a notebook where I jot down ideas, but the well is fairly dry. With this album there were songs I felt needed vocals. For One Kilohertz I had an idea of where to place the vocals, how I wanted them to sound and had a few lines of lyrics, but that was it. So, when it came time to do the vocals, I literally had to pull something together on the spot. I usually work better when I’m under the pressure of time and it’s a good example of this.”

Hozomeen releases The Void via SuperFi Records on 5th May. www.hozomeenisthevoid.bandcamp.com

Image by Dan Shannon

JAKE ANDERSON TALKS TO MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST GRAHAM THOMPSON ABOUT HIS AMBITIOUS SOLO RECORD

IT WAS A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO INCLUDE FEEDBACK AS I WANTED CERTAIN PARTS OF SONGS TO BE A BIT JARRING OR UNCOMFORTABLE

DEGNA STONE

KATE RELTON TALKS TO THE POET ABOUT THEIR NEW PRODUCTION WHICH PONDERS THE THEORY OF TRUTH

How many lies have you told today? Were they life-changing deceptions or harmless white lies? Who decides which one is which?

These are among the questions posed in poet Degna Stone’s latest work The Lies, which is performed at Alphabetti Theatre this month. Focussing on the relationship between a parent and child, Stone challenges audiences to consider the way we weave lies into our everyday life, and what happens when we must confront the truth.

“We see lies as a necessary way to navigate the world,” says Stone. “There’s a comfort in it – we all agree that certain things are true. With this piece, I wanted to look at what happens when we have to let go of the lies. How does that pan out in our political systems? What lies will we tolerate about the way our society operates?”

No stranger to tackling the darker complexities of life in their work, Stone says they’re aware of just how far-reaching and heavy the subject of truth can be. “I’m currently doing a PhD and part of that is looking more closely at the legacies of empire, and engaging with those subjects honestly can’t really be done without going into the idea that there’s more than one theory of truth. So, truth isn’t just something that is true. It all gets very muddy!”

I WANTED TO LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE HAVE TO LET GO OF THE LIES. HOW DOES THAT PAN OUT IN OUR POLITICAL SYSTEMS? WHAT LIES WILL WE TOLERATE ABOUT THE WAY OUR SOCIETY OPERATES?

The Lies gets to the heart of family relationships, where white lies are commonplace and even expected. “I’m still trying to reconcile the whole tooth fairy thing and how long it went on in my family. It’s so difficult when you have that moment, that opportunity to tell the truth but you don’t know how. These moments are probably much smaller in your child’s mind than they are in yours, but you build it up into something that’s going to cause irreparable damage!”

So, should we have a blanket ban on make believe? Stone says not. “There’s an idea that lies are a way of protecting or shielding people, and as parents we can’t tell children everything so we use magical beings like the tooth fairy and Father Christmas to make things more comfortable. We dress up these lies as the magic of childhood, but maybe we need to explore ways of bringing that magic and wonder without relying on myths, and instead take steps to create a world we don’t have to shield our children from.”

And listening to them talk, it’s clear that creating pieces like The Lies is Stone’s way of taking those steps. With an obvious passion for community and connection, their belief in the power we all have to affect change could instil hope in the bleakest cynic. “In our lives, we feel quite powerless politically. We can’t trust politicians; we can’t trust big business; but if we take it back to a personal level we do have power. We may not be able to make huge changes in the way that systems operate, but we can choose how we interact with them.

“It’s about finding the small things in your own life that will have a positive impact on your family, and your community.”

The Lies takes place at Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle from Tuesday 23rd May-Saturday 10th June.

www.degnastone.co.uk

Image by Sarah Metcalf

THE WOVEN PROJECT

ASTLEY TALKS TO THE EAST DURHAM DUO ABOUT THEIR NEW EP WHICH HAS GIVEN THEM A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

Timing is everything in music. In finding that elusive groove, a song that becomes an encapsulation of a moment, just for a moment. The Woven Project’s stunning new EP, Let Beautiful In, makes art out of the fact that those moments are not always linear, and that the life of a song – let alone an eclectic musical collective – can be a kaleidoscope of moments that move backwards and forwards.

But as the Woven Project’s central duo, Brian Barnes and Brian Batey, noted, Let Beautiful In may not have happened at all: “We played a couple of gigs after lockdown, and we just didn’t enjoy them. For one there were technical things went wrong, and also no one turned up… So we were thinking of giving up, shelving things again. We spoke to the label, and they suggested we go and record some of our songs. We didn’t even have an idea of putting the EP together, but it went so well that we decided to bring in some musicians that we respect. So we planted the seeds, but it’s an amalgamation of a lot of artists.”

That amalgamation has given new life to a roster of diverse and emotive songs, crafting a sound that evokes Elbow at their most cinematic. At the heart of the EP is the spectral 44; written over a decade ago, the song gradually builds drone notes over a simple piano riff, the vocal lines melding, the song sounds as though it is pulling in and out of focus as vocal adlibs over the subtle timbral changes of the riff. “44 was a song we always

loved, but in the band we were playing with at the time it didn’t really work. It was a song we always wanted to get back to.” Though the song was made in a different time, it has remained central to the Woven Project’s sense of themselves. “That song was a way for us to get back playing again…it sort of tuned us in together again. So although it’s an 11 years old song in the writing, in giving it to new musicians, it’s brand new.”

This isn’t playing an old song in a new context, it’s making a new piece of music through the dialogue between past and present. The EP is reflective; echoes of other times, other places, resonate throughout it. Maybe it would be easy to hear this EP as ‘nostalgic’, a retrospective of a lost (or never heard) oeuvre, an imagined history, looking backwards, perpetually. But that isn’t the case. With the addition of new musicians, a generousness of the central duo to give over ownership of musical material to their collaborating artists, there is a vibrancy and a sense of the present in their work. As the duo remark of their creative process: “When we’re working with new musicians, I’m a big one for the energy of the people that you bring into your circle if you want to be creative. It feels like the EP is the start of something. We got offered some gigs we always wanted to play. It’s like a reboot of the Woven Project.”

The Woven Project – as a temporarily crystallised ‘band’ – will be performing at festivals and gigs over the summer, but always have an eye on the sanctuary of the studio, and the aim is to record further tracks as a collective.

The Woven Project release the Let Beautiful In EP on 26th May. www.linktr.ee/thewovenproject

Image by Howy White

TOM

IT FEELS LIKE THE EP IS THE START OF SOMETHING. IT’S LIKE A REBOOT OF THE WOVEN PROJECT

ALI WELFORD CHATS WITH THE FERAL NOISE NEWCOMERS ABOUT THEIR DEBUT EP

FASHION TIPS MUSIC

Many bands take an age to find their groove – so imagine the thrill of happening upon a synergy that’s not only instantaneous, but akin to an ill-advised exotic pet being sprung from captivity.

“We’d originally planned on something much quieter, but once Jordan [Sayer, guitar] joined we had one practice and decided ‘nah, let’s do noise!’” reveals Liam Slack (bass), co-founder of the region’s most feral and clamorous newcomers, Fashion Tips.

“Then Esmé [Louise Newman, vocals/synth] came in and I think we wrote all four songs on the EP in two sessions.” This electrifying spontaneity runs through every seam of Fucking Hell, a debut which sizzles with fervent intent, tangling untamed and eminently danceable rhythms in a fraught, propulsive no wave squall.

“I can’t make pretty sounds,” deadpans Jordan, explaining in part the abrupt shift in sonic trajectory. “I’m primarily only interested in making horrible noise on the guitar, so for my part that’s all I do.” For other members, however, Fashion Tips represents a notable change of tune. “I’d been playing cha-cha, bachata and salsa beforehand,” exclaims newest recruit Jerzy Rodriguez (drums): “this is new territory for me!”

This isn’t to say the quartet is formed from disparate parts. On the contrary, Fucking Hell’s wicked, spasmic verve and irrepressible force of momentum could only have yielded from a group united by more than the sense purpose synonymous with fresh outfits. “Everything about this band is about anxiety and neurosis,” Esmé explains. “I think it’s fair to say we’re a fairly neuro-atypical group, and that factors not only into the nature of how we sound – the messy scrambled instruments; the guitars which rarely sound like guitars – but also in the way we write and perform.”

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For Esmé, this disquiet was compounded by the shift from her contemporaneous black metal duo Penance Stare – yet as she reveals, the fresh mode of Fashion Tips proved liberating in equal measure: “This is a very vulnerable record from my point of view – from a lyrical perspective; using my voice in different ways; being physically freer without playing guitar; being aware of my body onstage and that it’s being viewed by others… It’s also scary knowing people can actually understand what I’m saying, but there’s a certain power in that too. These songs are very diaristic – they’re about real situations and real people in my inner world. It’s a very queer record, but hopefully universal enough so that people don’t have to fit into any particular anorak to understand it.”

“We’re also lucky to have worked with some very talented people,” Jordan acknowledges, “we wouldn’t have been able to make something this polished ourselves.” Indeed, having been self-recorded at Liam’s house in Burnhope, the EP truly came to life in the hands of audio engineer Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe (frontman of Leeds bands Thank and Beige Palace). Initially soft-launched at the tail end of 2022, Fucking Hell receives a physical cassette release this month courtesy of Panurus Productions, whose head honcho James Watts also provided its oozing technicolour artwork.

“There’s no finished stamp on anything,” Jordan insists. “The songs are still evolving all the time, and we want to have a good time with them.” Are there any rules at all in Fashion Tips? “We just do bangers!” Liam states. “That’s our only policy.”

Fashion Tips’ debut EP Fucking Hell is released on Sunday 28th May via Panurus Productions. The band play a launch show at The Cumberland Arms that evening. www.facebook.com/fashiontipsband

WE’RE A FAIRLY NEURO-ATYPICAL GROUP, AND THAT FACTORS NOT ONLY INTO THE NATURE OF HOW WE SOUND BUT ALSO IN THE WAY WE WRITE AND PERFORM

BILLIE MARTEN

AMY MCGARAHAN DISCOVERS THE YORKSHIRE-BORN SONGWRITER HAS RETURNED TO HER FOLK ROOTS ON HER LATEST ALBUM

MUSIC

Alternative folk pop singer-songwriter Billie Marten has an incredible 10 years’ experience of working in the music industry and signed to a record label at the age of 15. In that time, the Yorkshire-born musician has released three successful albums, with her fourth, Drop Cherries, being the newest insight into Billie’s life.

Reflecting on her career, and assessing her current record, Billie notes that she now follows her instinct, and that the new album expresses natural and authentic emotions; she reminisces on the emotions she felt when writing Drop Cherries’ predecessor: “With Flora Fauna, I think I did a lot of convincing myself that I knew myself and had my own independence but it sort of came out in this semi-anxious/angry way and now it feels like everything’s kind of settled down in my mind. Drop Cherries was very much written from a place of love, happiness and fulfilment.”

Released in April, Billie’s fourth album provides insight into the ups and downs of a relationship. “Drop Cherries is, in its simplest form, an album of love…different forms of love, and getting to grips with one’s own sense of independence.”

The name Drop Cherries comes from a heart-to-heart at the pub between Billie and her friend: “We were talking about extreme relationships and he was describing one of his long-term relationships, describing an image of stamping red cherries onto a cream carpet as a symbol of what they were trying to achieve.” These extreme emotions are prominent throughout the album; latest single I Can’t Get My Head

Around You has a catchy pop hook situated within a dreamy folk arrangement, and describes the confusion and anxieties that come with falling in love with someone, while Willow depicts the ways in which self-sabotage can affect long-distance relationships, utilising finger-picked double bass and a hazy clarinet solo.

Having strayed from her roots in folk music on her previous album, Billie Marten finds her way back to the tradition for the confident, sweet-sounding folk that is Drop Cherries. “I’d say this was more of a regression in terms of sound, I think that this was the album that I’d always wanted to make. I’ve tried a few different things out, and now, with this being the fourth one, it feels the most like me.” Billie admits she’s used her previous albums to “get out feelings of melancholia, sadness, and deep, personal introspection. I think [Drop Cherries] was very much an easier experience, writing-wise, as I was talking about somebody else for a change. I found it really inspiring.”

Despite the emotional themes of the album, Billie speaks of the writing and recording process in an extremely positive light. “Even when I touched on some darker subjects on the album, it felt light. I tried to make every song equally as positive, or if they’re not positive in the beginning, they’ll end on more of a righteous note. It was such a joy to write, and I’d like to do that again.”

Approaching her upcoming UK and North American tour, Billie looks forward to showing the audience an organic sound, with the help of her band: “We’ve got sax, violin, keys, extra guitars and, you know, fun little treats!”

Billie Marten plays The Cluny, Newcastle on Tuesday 23rd May. Drop Cherries is out now.

www.billiemarten.com

Image by Katie Silvester

DROP CHERRIES WAS VERY MUCH WRITTEN FROM A PLACE OF LOVE, HAPPINESS AND FULFILMENT

CRAIG SCOTT KNIGHT

MATT YOUNG TALKS TO THE STOCKTON-BASED NEO-POP ARTIST ABOUT HIS INTRICATE WORK AHEAD OF AN EXHIBITION AT PINEAPPLE BLACK THIS MONTH

This month Middlesbrough’s Pineapple Black Gallery will be exhibiting a selection of artists’ work from across the region who use the streets as their canvas and inspiration, including graffiti, paste-ups, tagging and street artists. One of the artists taking part is Stockton-based Craig Scott Knight, whose distinctive neo-pop art pieces have seen him exhibit alongside Banksy, Pure Evil, Dalek and Zero Gradient to name a few. Craig’s journey to this current point has been a slow burn. Hailing from the Indiana, USA he came to the UK as a child and went on to study Fine Art at Hull College gaining his BA(Hons) and added to that a PGCE in Fine Art from St Martins, Lancaster soon after. Life as an artist beckoned, but as he admits it wasn’t quite so easy. “I was into showing my work and did a few shows but there was a part of me that became a little disgruntled with the exhibitions, people who would like the work but there was a disconnect between the sales and their response.” He adds, “I think America was much more open to the sort of pop art I was creating, whereas English audiences weren’t, and I needed a steady job, so I took a job teaching.” What followed was a very successful teaching career. As Craig moved up the education system hierarchy quickly, he found himself sought out by schools seeking to fix their failing art departments and he became the go-to person, turning schools and colleges around.

After feeling the pull of creativity once again, he began his reintroduction to the art scene with smaller canvas works and drawings that captured the neo-pop art style he loved and began showing locally in the North East. The vibrancy of this work held fresh appeal, and before long gained the attentions of gallerists and dealers who exhibit and distribute his pieces internationally. Showing work at Off The Wall in Texas and larger canvases in the touring show Burner – featuring the aforementioned ‘big names’ in street art – alongside regional gallery outings is a rewarding balance.

No longer so eclectic but still set slightly apart from other ‘street artists’ in that he mainly creates gallery work on canvas, Craig Scott Knight now has places to showcase his painting. They draw from graphic novels and comics, characters and icons from pop art become remixed and recontextualised. Elaborating on this Craig adds: “I think I’m slightly different in my art with a more psychological approach. I like the work to have depth. For people to realise there are links to be made. Messages, meaning and stories held in the simplest things. To make connections. A sort of juxtaposing of things that comes about as I’m making the work; it’s not planned out, they evolve.”

The Pineapple Black show promises to be an exciting ‘takeover’ type of event, with all sorts of street and graffiti artists on display. Pay especially close attention to those large collage-like canvases of Craig’s as there’s much more to see if you look deeper!

Craig Scott Knight’s work features in an exhibition at Pineapple Black from Friday 19th May until mid-June.

www.instagram.com/craigknight_artist

I LIKE THE WORK TO HAVE DEPTH. FOR PEOPLE TO REALISE THERE ARE LINKS TO BE MADE. MESSAGES, MEANING AND STORIES HELD IN THE SIMPLEST THINGS

Culturally Loaded

LISTINGS

THE BEST OF THE REST… EVEN MORE ALTERNATIVE MUSIC, THEATRE, COMEDY, ART AND FILM TAKING PLACE THROUGHOUT THE NORTH EAST THIS MONTH

TUESDAY 2ND MAY

KATHRYN TICKELL & THE DARKENING

Northumbrian folk // The Witham, Barnard Castle

NEW HOME

The launch of New Home, a children’s picture book collectively written and illustrated by refugees and asylum seekers living in the North East // Newcastle City Library

ROMEO STODART

The Magic Numbers songwriter embarks on a solo tour // The Cluny 2, Newcastle

THURSDAY 4TH MAY

BARRENCE WHITFIELD & THE SAVAGES

Iconic rock and R&B artist // The Cluny, Newcastle

ECSTATIC VISION

Psych rockers, supported by Black Helium // The Lubber Fiend, Newcastle

GEORGIE BUCHANAN

Gorgeous and sophisticated folk, with support from MOMO // Cobalt Studios, Newcastle

SLACK HAND

Hull-based indie band, supported by Succour, Raising Romulus and Mr Bigfoot // NE Volume Music Bar, Stockton

FRIDAY 5TH MAY

BEACH RIOT

Fuzz rock, supported by Lazy Queen // Bobiks, Newcastle

GROWTH RINGS

Storyteller Malcolm Green and musician Josh Green join to present Growth Rings, which aims to cast a spell on the audience, taking them deep into their relationship with the land in both time and space. These stories are told through an interweaving of words and music, song and silence // Chillingham Arms, Newcastle

JAMES LEONARD HEWITSON

Prolific Hartlepool-based slac er popster celebrates the release of his new single, Fill My Head With Sugar, supported by PrettyUgly // The Owl, Hartlepool

THE COLLECTORS

Indie rock outfit, with support from Provenance and Barking Poets // NE Volume Music Bar, Stockton

THE MOCK TUDORS

Addictive garage punk, supported by Sydney Herds and Jim E Brown // The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle

SATURDAY 6TH MAY

BABATUNDE ALÉSHÉ

The award-winning star of I’m A Celebrity… and Celebrity Gogglebox talks family and fatherhood on his debut comedy tour // Tyne Theatre & Opera House, Newcastle

CATHERINE YOUNG

The comedian presents her new show focusing on every day life and Northern working-class experiences // Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle

DOCKSUNS

Indie rockers, supported by Lee Ford and Balado // Independent, Sunderland

FEATURED //

God Save The King

The Queen’s Screech are punk band with less than warm feelings towards the monarchy, who aim to poke a bit of fun and jollity into a dark world with a set of rollicking punk tunes, and perhaps some punk karaoke and fancy dress as they sail down the river in Durham – board at 7pm sharp! // Prince Bishop River Cruise, Elvet Bridge, Durham

HILARITY BITES COMEDY CLUB

Featuring Andy White, The Halls of the Ridiculous and Lee Kyle // The Forum Music Centre, Darlington

JUBILEE

Take a trip back in time with Derek Jarman when a punk’s a punk a revolutionary explosion of anti-establishment anarchism // Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle

SWEARS

Teesside’s alt. rockers return with anthemic new single Bare Bones. Watch them in all their live glory at what promises to be a corker of a show // The Social Room, Stockton

WERBENIUK

Much-loved enigmatic Teesside rockers, supported by Ben Hopkinson and Redropes // NE Volume Music Bar, Stockton

SUNDAY 7TH MAY

ARXX

Infectious alt. rock // Bobiks, Newcastle

PHIL WANG

The comedian chats race, nipples and everything else that’s been going on in his Philly little life // Tyne Theatre & Opera House, Newcastle

TUESDAY 9TH MAY

JOHN COOPER CLARKE

The always unique people’s poet // Middlesbrough Town Hall

MASOOD BOOMGAARD

The comedian presents his alter ego, comedic alternative life coach and de-motivational speaker, Self-help Singh // The Stand, Newcastle

WEDNESDAY 10TH MAY

THE MARY WALLOPERS

Contemporary Irish folk band // Wylam Brewery, Newcastle

THURSDAY 11TH MAY

ANOTHER PLACE: ANOTHER SPACE

Varied exhibition of work created by artists in response to the emergence of lockdown // Arts Centre Washington

BIG|BRAVE

Heavy and ferocious experimental metal, support from Aicher // The Lubber Fiend, Newcastle

JAMIE LENMAN

Alt. rock artist // The Cluny 2, Newcastle

MARIE MARX & MCCORMICK

The respected local songwriters join forces // NE Volume Music Bar, Stockton

FRIDAY 12TH MAY

FEATURED //

Greg Griffin

The Proud Mary legend presents tracks from his new solo album, Automatic, which is full of heartfelt rock and roll and ballads, and ruminations on lost love and friendship drawing on classic rock with a wry and honest folky feel // KU, Stockton

MEMORIALS

Veering from psychedelic noise to free jazz freakouts and tape loops and drones // Pop Recs Ltd, Sunderland

STABLES

Heartfelt indie folk // The Globe, Newcastle

WHITENOISE.

Up and coming indie rock, supported by Undertow and Beatnik // NE Volume Music Bar, Stockton

SATURDAY 13TH MAY

EWAN BROWN ANARCHIST BOOK FAIR

Inspired by the life and politics of the local activist, expect activities, stalls, radical history, poster making and live music in the evening from Jonathan Wells-Lee, Slalom D and Los Coyote Men // Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle

HOME SCHOOL

Radically rethinking the gallery as a living space, inviting guests to share ideas and experiences of the home, Home School will blur public and private space, sharing learning from everyday life, featuring artwork by Alessandra Mondin, Lindsay Duncanson & Marek Gabrysch, Sarah Jenkins and Sara Qaed. Runs until 17th June // The NewBridge Project, Newcastle

GOLD PANDA

Electronic producer and songwriter, with support from Glue System and Frankie Francis // Pop Recs Ltd., Sunderland

TYNESIDE VEGAN & MUSIC FESTIVAL

Family-friendly vegan festival with live music and over 50 stalls // Northumbria University Students’ Union, Newcastle

VITTORIO ANGELONE: TRANSLATIONS

The Irish-Italian comedian tackles being Irish in England, identity and sad comedy shows. Also at Middlesbrough Town Hall on 24th May // The Stand, Newcastle

YOUNG PROPERTY DEVELOPERS

Charming acoustic folk punk, with support from revered local songwriter Nev Clay // The Ship Isis, Sunderland

SUNDAY 14TH MAY

DAVID GRAY FLEXTET

Northern jazz powerhouse, with support from jazz rock upstarts Sleep Suppressor // The Central Bar, Gateshead

PAUL MOSLEY & JACK HARRIS

Talented and poetic songwriters, plus support from Peter Hall and Charlotte Grayson // The Owl, Hartlepool

MONDAY 15TH MAY

DUNES

The stoner rockers top off their UK tour alongside Fatso Jetson and High Desert Queen // Trillians, Newcastle

UNSANE

Noise rock heavyweights, with support from Geist and All My Ghosts // Anarchy Brewery, Newcastle

TUESDAY 16TH MAY

LEWIS BUXTON: BOY!

An evening of poetry and spoken word // The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle

NELL GWYNN

A bawdy and witty celebration of an unlikely heroine causing gleeful havoc in a traditionally male world. Runs until 20th May // People’s Theatre, Newcastle

THURSDAY 18TH MAY

T L K

Ethereal producer and vocalist, supported by songwriter and violin-looper boci // Cobalt Studios, Newcastle

OLIVER PINDER

Singer-songwriter and musical troubadour // Mosaic Tap, Newcastle

FRIDAY 19TH MAY

EAT YOUR HEART OUT

Aussie rockers // Head of Steam, Newcastle

MARK SIMMONS

Witty master of the one-liner // ARC, Stockton

M(H)AOL

Outspoken noisy punks // Bobiks, Newcastle

SHOE CAKE COMEDY CLUB

Featuring The Discount Comedy Checkout and more // The Georgian Theatre, Stockton

SINGLE BLACK OLIVE

Surfy pop, supported by garage rockers The Ravaged // The Engine Room, North Shields

TAPPED

A heart-warming comedy that explores the importance of connection, fulfilment and (lack of) hope // Northern Stage, Newcastle

THE PRIMITIVES

Indie rock icons // Pop Recs Ltd., Sunderland

SATURDAY 20TH MAY

GAZ COOMBES

Talented songwriter performs tracks from his recent album, Turn The Car Around // The Fire Station, Sunderland

KAPIL SESHASAYEE

Art rock artist who fuses Indian classical styles with R&B and rock vibes, supported by Badger and The Last Path (fka Bad Amputee) // Bobiks, Newcastle

SLIM CHANCE

Celebrating the life and musical vision of musician Ronnie Lane, who left The Faces in 1973, the band’s remaining musicians offer faithful representations of an incredible rock ‘n’ roll songbook // The Cluny, Newcastle

THE VOYD

Fast-paced melodic indie band // Independent, Sunderland

SUNDAY 21ST MAY

FEATURED // BCUC

A hedonistic trance of Afro psychedelia, funk and punk featuring frenetic rhythms and a hypnotic stage show. Unmissable! // Cobalt Studios, Newcastle

CLAIRE HAMILL

Celebrated local songwriter, supported by Benjamin Amos // Toft House, Middlesbrough Little Theatre

NOEL MILLER

Expect biting one-liners and topical social commentary in the comedian’s new show, charmingly titled: Everything Is F#&ked // Tyne Theatre & Opera House, Newcastle

OPUS KINK

Funky jazzy punk with a twist // Zerox, Newcastle

THE CHATS

Australian pub-punk shed-rockers // NX Newcastle

TUESDAY 23RD MAY

PERSONAL TRAINER

High energy indie // The Cluny 2, Newcastle

WE NEED NEW NAMES

A defiant coming-of-age story full of exuberance, humour and humanity. Runs until 25th May // Northern Stage, Newcastle

WEDNESDAY 24TH MAY

COME

Fusion of blues, post-punk and indie rock // The Cluny, Newcastle

PSYCHIC GRAVEYARD

Noise rock pioneers // The Lubber Fiend, Newcastle

THURSDAY 25TH MAY

BEST IN SHOW

Classic mockumentary comedy that goes behind-the-scenes at the highly competitive, cut-throat world of dog shows from the POV of the eccentric dog owners // Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle

LATE ‘N’ LIVE

The music quiz with a difference features live performances from local musicians who play along with every question // As You Like It, Newcastle

FRIDAY 26TH MAY

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS

Combining post-punk, noise rock, shoegaze and psychedelia // Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle

CATCH 22 COMEDY CLUB

Featuring Liam Pickford, Catherine Young, MC Dave Twentyman and more // ARC, Stockton

NANOBOTS

Electro organic rock, supported by The Symptoms // The Engine Room, North Shields

STANLEYS

Jangly indie band // Head of Steam, Newcastle

THE DREAM MACHINE

Enigmatic psychedelia // Independent, Sunderland

THE OUTTAKES

Alt. rock pop band from Newcastle celebrate the release of their debut single, with support from The Vennels and The Timewasters // The Globe, Newcastle

SATURDAY 27TH MAY

ARBORIST

Uplifting and beautiful folk // The Engine Room, North Shields

FEATURED //

Essence of Nature

Tracing radically different approaches to landscape painting, from PreRaphaelites to British Impressionists, and including work by William Holman Hunt, John Ruskin, William Dyce, Anna Blunden, Ethel Walker, Isa Jobling and more. Runs until 14th October // Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle

THE INKLINGS

Alt. rock, plus support from The Amazing Spacefrogs, Gutter Folk and including an art exhibition from Mark Cartwright // NE Volume Music Bar, Stockton

TIFF STEVENSON

The Mock the Week regular invites you to spend an hour with her self-diagnosed ‘sexy brain’ // The Stand, Newcastle

WEDNESDAY 31ST MAY

PERFECTPARACHUTEPICTURE

Alt. rock from Sheffield // Bobiks, Newcastle

REVIEWS

ME LOST ME, CEITIDH MAC, HEATHER FERRIER @ BOBIKS, NEWCASTLE (08.04.23)

Words: Lee Fisher

Tonight was a Jazz North East gathering of three of the most interesting folk (or folk adjacent) artists operating in the city right now. Heather Ferrier was new to me and playing without her band, so we got a set of sparkling accordion tunes played solo with real energy and joy, a mixture of originals and trad folk tunes. Lovely stuff.

Ceitidh Mac was just back from a lengthy tour of Italy and on excellent form, accompanied this evening by Will Hammond on electronics and vibes, and gave us a typically excellent set. Mac’s voice is a thing of wonder – rich and soulful and capable of expressing joy and pain in very affecting ways – and her playing of both her parlour guitar and her cello is lyrical and often unconventional.

Me Lost Me was in her trio incarnation tonight, with Faye MacCalman and John Pope from Archipelago on reeds and bass respectively, and this line-up seems to give her space to be even more expansive and creative than in her solo sets. We got a few tracks from her forthcoming album – Eye Witness was especially impressive – and a blinding 13th Century a capella tune called Mirie It Is While Sumer Ilast that was properly spine-tingling and should settle the folk/not folk argument. All round a splendid evening, thoughtfully curated and beautifully played.

MARY LATTIMORE @ STAR & SHADOW CINEMA, NEWCASTLE (16.04.23)

Words: Lee Fisher

It’s still rare enough (for me at least) to see a full-sized harp played live that I’m immediately impressed by the instrument’s grandeur and the musician’s ability to grapple with this shiny beast. Often though, the results can be a tad prissy or overdone. No such problems with Mary Lattimore, who tonight turned the Star & Shadow into something like the inside of a musical box, a mirror ball slowly dappling the walls as she played.

With her right hand plucking at the higher strings and her left alternately playing the lower strings or manipulating an FX unit

balanced on her knee, Lattimore reduced a busy venue to absolute adoring silence with a spellbinding set. She was diffident and charming, giving us brief explanations of the songs – Joan Didion, Wawa gas stations, astronauts and the like providing her inspiration – and was casually awesome in her playing. Her music occupies a delicious space between experiment and melody, especially on songs like Scott Kelly, Returned To Earth – that really did capture the feeling of an astronaut’s re-entry and splashdown – and On The Day You Saw The Dead Whale, perhaps loveliest of all, a gorgeous melody like a Debussy lullaby being washed away with some subtle but powerful FX. This was a special one.

ALISON COTTON, FAYE MACCALMAN, DAWN TERRY @ THE LUBBER FIEND, NEWCASTLE (14.04.23)

Words: Lee Fisher

I arrived halfway through Dawn Terry’s performance of I Will Be Your Shield… but they could have been playing it for hours. Stars could be born and die and that deep yearning accordion and vocal could cycle on eternally. They finished with a new track, potentially called Feed Me Drugs & Fuck Me In The Woods, which is slightly faster and Coiladjacent and pretty fucking great.

Faye MacCalman – surely the hardest working musician in Newcastle? – was up next with a really lovely solo set that shows she’s always moving forward. Tracks were built from sax or clarinet loops so she could duet with herself or sing to us about period pains or how weird couples are or about a space-fish that offers certainty. Just delightful. I’d waited a long time to see Alison Cotton live and it was worth it. As smoke drifted across the stage and Alison – bathed in purple light –stroked some chimes or struck her singing bowl, it was easy to feel transported. Her use of viola and mostly wordless vocalising, supported by subtle drones, is at once calming and intensely melancholy. There’s a lot of yearning and loss in a Cotton set, and a lot of gentle innovation (singing through a violin pick-up for example). We got Syd Barrett and Dorothy Carter covers and a truly magic(k)al hour spent somewhere outside our normal lives.

Mary Lattimore by Rhiannon Banks

DUTCH UNCLES, NOPRISM, FAITHFUL JOHANNES @ POP RECS LTD., SUNDERLAND (15.04.23)

Words: Lee Hammond

Tonight is Dutch Uncles’ first show in five years, and with new album True Entertainment enjoying significant plaudits, expectations are suitably high. Faithful Johannes kicks off proceedings in his own inimitable style with his political spoken word meets electronic beats, and he sets a high bar early on. He’s quickly followed by Noprism, who provide a flashback to the mid-noughties with a set akin to the likes of The Sunshine Underground and The Music.

Dutch Uncles appear to be in a rather jovial mood, particularly for a band who’ve not played for a while. Opening the set with the title track of their new album True Entertainment, they immediately bring the party atmosphere to Pop Recs. This is followed by a slew of the best of their back catalogue, including Oh Yeah, Dressage and Cadenza. However, it’s True Entertainment that really shines through tonight, with Poppin’, Damascenes and Tropigala (2 to 5) all making an appearance, the latter being a particular highlight. Their knack for incessant grooves runs through this set. This is a real return to form for Dutch Uncles, with an exceptional new album coupled with a back catalogue of sure-fire winners, you cannot fault them. As they close out with a brilliant rendition of Big Balloon they only succeed in leaving everyone wanting more!

PANIC SHACK, BIGFATBIG @ THE CLUNY 2, NEWCASTLE (07.04.23)

Words: Damian Robinson

It’s a terrific start to this evening’s sold out show by popular local angsty popsters, bigfatbig. Dominating the stage with great songs and even better banter, the band comfortably own The Cluny 2’s stage, delivering a solid show which includes highlights from their debut EP which sound even better live than on wax. Filled with a blend of guitar-driven pop/ punk/emo, and with some solid new material on show, bigfatbig demonstrate serious promise and are certainly ones to catch on their forthcoming shows.

A quick handover to Cardiff heroes Panic Shack is helpful in maintaining

the evening’s energy and momentum; with the band’s selection of introductory songs setting an early collection of highlights and creating a real buzz in the crowd. A combination of L7-esque guitar-driven, punky/indie pop sensibilities (as on Jiu Jits You and Meal Deal) mixed with some sharp pop moments (in particular on Baby and Mannequin Man) showcase both serious songwriting and performance skills. With a mixture of band dance moves, fits of laughter, and a relentless cover of Electric Six’s Gay Bar, Panic Shack put on a seriously good show made up of fine musicianship, interesting perspectives, and a huge bunch of positive energy.

LISA O’NEILL, SEAMUS FOGARTY @ SAGE GATESHEAD (25.03.23)

Words: Lee Fisher

I saw a lot of friends milling around the foyer of the Sage after the Lisa O’Neill gig, red of eye and slightly quavering of voice. There were hugs and talk of what we’d just seen as “one of those gigs, y’know?”. Someone said, “I didn’t cry through the whole gig, but I didn’t not cry through the whole gig either.” (Okay, that was me.)

Seamus Fogarty confused me a little – he was charming company and told a good tale but his songs didn’t really connect until his last, where he employed some sparing electronics and things got interesting. But then he was gone…

Lisa O’Neill’s new All Of This Is Chance album has been played absurdly often at my house and my hopes were high (field reports from earlier in the tour added to the anticipation). But nothing prepared me for this. Seriously. O’Neill is a fascinating performer, very much caught up in her own landscape of stories and almost pagan beliefs and unexpected high kicks, looking for all the world like Carson McCullers and absolutely compelling throughout. We got the whole album, mostly performed with an excellent band playing hammered dulcimer, double bass and harmonium (rescued from a convent – everything has stories).

O’Neill’s voice is a thing of absolute wonder of course, and the songs are even more powerful live. There was an encore of All The Tired Horses that was spellbinding, and then it was all over save for the standing ovation. Music is magic.

Dutch Uncles by Iam Burn

A CONVERSATION WITH FRAN LEBOWITZ @ TYNE THEATRE & OPERA HOUSE, NEWCASTLE (17.04.23)

Words: Cameron Wright

A Conversation with Fran Lebowitz saw  Matthew Stadlen asked the New York author questions for half an hour, before vacating the stage and leaving Lebowitz at the mercy of the Geordie audience.

Fran Lebowitz is a fascinating person. Boasting only two novels in her almost 50 year career, the icon has become known for her scathing social commentary, acerbic and articulate wit and her subversive lifestyle. From a strict upbringing to moving to New York in the early 70s, being surrounded by icons like Charlie Mingus, Andy Warhol, David Bowie and Duke Ellington, to most recently starring in a Martin Scorsese documentary dissecting the hubbub of the city, Lebowitz has lived a life filled with events and opinions and tonight was an exciting opportunity to learn, listen and laugh.

Despite this, Stalden’s questions were pretty trifling and mundane, probing for new takes on Donald Trump, Joe Biden and George Bush. His questions seemed underprepared, banal and unprovoking, yet Lebowitz  launched into her astute and wry observations regardless.  As the evening rolled on, the audience took over as interviewer, with the opportunity to ask the beloved curmudgeon anything. With nothing to promote except herself, the night lacked an agenda and the myriad of uninspired questions saw the writer shoehorning her cutting routines into conversation.

An unforgettable character, stuck in a  slightly forgettable format, the night confirmed that this 70 year old is still as pristine a comic mind as ever, yet only managed to scratch the surface of her life, her stories and her opinions.

UNTHANK:SMITH, ALEX REX @ WYLAM BREWERY, NEWCASTLE (02.04.23)

Words: Robert Nichols

The pairing of folk goddess Rachel Unthank and extrovert rock frontman Paul Smith is as unusual as the domed roof of Wylam Brewery, but oh how magnificently it all works.

First meeting at an African Express show, the duo have celebrated their love of North Eastern folk heritage on their tremendous album Nowhere And Everywhere.

The psych folk rock duo Alex Rex kick off the night, augmented by Faye

MacCalman on woodwind. After a lively and engaging set of prickly words to accompany prickly tunes they return in ones, twos and threes to back-up Unthank:Smith.

Album and set opener, Captain Bover, a Keeler’s song, exposes the two voices and shows just how well they work together, Rachel Unthank’s voice is a warm fleece to Paul Smith’s strident baritone. Paul is the storyteller introducing songs researched from folk or written from the archives; from Palm Sunday and the anniversary of the death of Stocktonian Robert Kay, to a mutual love of the great, late songwriter Graeme Miles, explored in Horumarye, the sound of the wind whipping around the moors, we are told. On Rachel’s debut composition Seven Tears her harmonium and rich voice are every bit as mysterious as the selkie seal creature she celebrates.

A fabulous gig ends in a rousing encore finale of Richard and Linda Thompson’s I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight. A wonderful show.

PHARCYDE, FRANKIE JOBLING @ BOILER SHOP, NEWCASTLE (22.03.23)

Words: Cameron Wright

A juggernaut of 90s hip-hop, Pharcyde are beyond an institution; they are a bona fide staple of rap culture, who deliver something smooth, witty and poignant, alongside a youth mentality and a mindset that battles hate with humour, love and hope.

On their first venture to Newcastle, it was anyone’s guess how the three remaining members would fare against a Geordie crowd. Local lass Frankie Jobling had done a beautiful job using her sultry, slick vocals to relax and engage the crowd, leaving them eager for a night of refined grooves and suave flows.

Slimkid3, Fatlip and Imani themselves seemed spellbound by the crowd’s avid and rapturous response as hit after hit was churned out from the groups catalogue. With tracks like Oh Shit being delivered with an urgency and energy that far surpasses that of the record, there was an unexpected fire that burnt furiously as the trio darted across the Boiler Shop stage. Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde was a groundbreaking debut that reinvigorated the genre and even now, nearly 30 years later,  when tracks like Passing Me By and Otha Fish are performed live, it’s a special experience.

With a legacy that speaks for itself, this was an essential night for any hip-hop fanatic.

Unthank, Smith by Rhiannon Banks

ARCHIPELAGO, BULBILS @ COBALT STUDIOS, NEWCASTLE (24.03.23)

Words: Lee Fisher

Magical things happen in Cobalt, there’s just something about the place. Like finally getting to see Bulbils, the lockdown comfort blanket/ album-a-day project of Richard Dawson and Sally Pilkington that outlasted The Awfulness and is now up to release 70-something on Bandcamp. They sit facing each other across a table strewn with electronics and it’s almost like you’re watching them in their house, creating these gorgeous soundworlds that are delicate and playful, tipping their hat at krautrock and indie pop and minimalism and a surprising amount of The Cure’s Seventeen Seconds (or maybe that’s just me). Their music feels like a conversation or a game of ping pong. It’s beautiful.

And then – probably for the only time, I’d imagine – we get The Archipelago : Bulbils Big Band, where Sally and Richard are joined by Archipelago for a thrilling run through of Flags Of Xanadu, a track recorded for Actual Legend Nev Clay’s sixtieth birthday. The five of them jam around the infectious central riff for 15 glorious minutes and it’s like some sort of happening, like Popol Vuh playing with Soft Machine, and the whole audience is properly entranced and Mr Clay grins all over his lovely face.

A lot of bands would struggle to follow that sort of caper but there are no such concerns for Archipelago, who are an absolute delight. There’s something so exploratory and inquisitive – but never self-absorbed or noodly – about their take on jazz. Songs can start from hand claps or tentative, questing drum patterns or looped sax riffs. You feel there’s always something held in reserve: Christian is poised and seemingly effortless, using rim shots and cymbal patterns where other more maximalist drummers might opt for flamboyant fills. John is always doing just enough, summoning sounds from his guitar that are pure voodoo. And Faye is a joy to watch, working up loops and motifs, singing and vocalising and adding keyboards until it’s all one lovely rush of sounds rising above the rhythms. The Archipelago sound is a unique one, touched by a broad range of influences but creating something entirely new. Over the course of a wonderful set you get hints of all the other bands they could be if they went in one direction or another. I’m happy they’re Archipelago.

ICEAGE, TV DEATH @ THE CLUNY, NEWCASTLE (27.03.23)

Words: Dominic Stephenson

TV Death impressed opening for YABBA just a few weeks ago, and felt like an even more complimentary asset here. Gouging riffs crashed into each other and meaty percussion provided the vertebrae, while incendiary howls took centre stage. The local quartet collide garage and

post-punk niceties with psychobilly and bluesy undertones, and while I’ve finally put my finger on who they remind me of (The Hives), the combustible maelstrom they wrapped up with is all their own. Iceage had been on the post-punk bucket list for years so it was always going to be an occasion when they finally made it to The Cluny. The Danish five-piece have undergone a remarkable transformation, from the gristly punk on debut album New Brigade, to the soothsaying anthems of Seek Shelter. The ingredients of this metamorphosis were on display here, opening with Beyondless-era Hurrah. High & Hurt is the perfect battle of their sounds, old and new; part Madchester, part obliterating noise rock, all excellence. However, The Holding Hand is the clearest emblem of their voyage into melodic grace. Opening with its draculian orchestration, this stunning track is a glazed wall of pure grandeur that was simply captivating. Rattling guitars of The Libertines-esque The Lord’s Favorite followed, before closing with the pop-gothic Catch It. The only downside was a tepid audience, which, with a band that feeds off the crowd’s energy, may have contributed to the abrupt finish. Capable of rollicking punk and epic shoegaze, the Danes’ ever-evolving sound will remain a pivotal influence on contemporaries for years to come.

GAZ COOMBES @ THE BOILER SHOP, NEWCASTLE (18.04.23)

Words: Leigh Venus

When the Britpop meteor struck the Earth back in the nineties, the glorious debris from this seismic event careened into space, orbiting us still. Gaz Coombes, of seminal Oxford rockers Supergrass, is one of those glimmering celestial objects still shining down, his latest album Turn The Car Around a critical grandslam and the backbone of an emotional blast of a gig at the Boiler Shop.

Backed by a talented band, and running through the whole of his new record interspersed with a few old favourites from Matador and World’s Strongest Man, Gaz Coombes was on top form, with the new songs somehow immediately familiar, like warm forgotten memories. Witty and with a penchant for often highly emotive storytelling between tunes, he defied his new and overly-hot trousers to deliver a fantastic bumper set. Salamander shone with fantastic saxophone work, we learned that the bouncy bop of Long Live The Strange was the result of embracing both killer riffs and togetherness at a post-covid gig, while The Girl Who Fell To Earth hit us in right the feels as a paean to Coombes’ autistic daughter and his journey seeing the world through her eyes.

Tales of forgotten boxing heroes, paranoia-infused breakfast with traffic cops and a solo turn on Matador ensued before the whole thing culminated in a dazzling explosion of maracas and Mellotron.

Gaz Coombes by Carl Chambers

TRACKS

REVIEWS OF SINGLES AND EPS BY NORTH EAST ARTISTS. WANT YOUR MUSIC FEATURED? EMAIL NARCMEDIA@GMAIL.COM

(PLEASE TRY TO GET IN TOUCH 8-6 WEEKS AHEAD OF THE MONTH OF RELEASE)

HEATHER FERRIER ENGINE FOR THE SOUND EP

Words: Matt Young

The Morse Code-like siren call that begins Lacuna, the opening track on accordionist Heather Ferrier’s Engine For Sound EP, is an alert aimed at grabbing attention. What follows becomes a melting pot of influences and contemporary folk arrangements that playfully complement each other. This new trio featuring Heather, Alasdair Paul (guitar) and Adam Stapleford (drums), crosses genres and melodies. The joyful swoon of Apple and slower lilt of The Break introduce a bucolic air, an easy sense of peace, luxuriating in the gentler pace before dissipating in their crescendos. The EP is augmented with fiddle and viola (Niles Krieger) and double bass (Sam Quintana) and the nine-minute title track further highlights the uninhibited pleasure of playing with friends and riffing on themes that explore music’s hidden corners.

Released: 26.05.23

www.heatherferriermusic.com

SLOWLIGHT QUARTET FIRMAMENT

Words: Nat Greener

A clever composition that encompasses dreamy aesthetics, Firmament is the third single from Slowlight Quartet following a seven year hiatus and many successes. Appearing like an indie pop production at first, the twist becomes clear when a gradual build up embodies a modernised and smooth jazz performance.

With influences ranging from Snarky Puppy, Brad Mheldau, Vels Trio, Radiohead and Laura Mvula, this track is a showcase of a bigger body of work by the Newcastle-based outfit. Looping sax, hefty bass and unique vocals are all staples to Slowlight Quartet’s contemporary sound, coming together to create a mesmerising experience for listeners. Firmament appreciates the complexity that comes with curating a jazz piece that is new in flavour.

Released: 26.05.23

www.facebook.com/theslowlightquartet

WAX HEART SODALITY FUNNY GAMES

Words: Kate Relton

The mystery and theatrical drama that surrounds garage rock band Wax Heart Sodality is alive and kicking in every beat of their latest track Funny Games. Drawing you into a visceral and raw sound world, the combination of heavy guitars, relentless driving beat, and a distorted vocal line drifting in from a distance makes Funny Games a wild fever dream of a ride.

While you can hear flashes of musical influence from across the British rock hall of fame – from Muse to The Cure – the world Wax Heart Sodality inhabits is disconcertingly tricky to pin down. Funny Games is a perfect example: infectious and furiously dynamic, but with something dark and unsettling underneath.

Released: 12.05.23

www.facebook.com/waxheartsodality

PHILIP ALEXANDER BORDERLINE

Words: Niamh Poppleton

Inspired by his own struggles with mental health and his diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, South Shields-based musician Phillip Alexander has returned to music with his new piano solo: Borderline. A dreamy air transports the listener to somewhere else entirely, as Phillip gently guides them by the hand, through the world of the unknown. The fast pace of the harmonies illustrates how a person can feel as though they are spiralling out of control entirely due to mental health struggles. Yet, this mesmerising, contemporary classical melody is the definition of tranquillity. Though a change from Phillip’s usual melancholy style, Borderline is, without a doubt, a stunning piece of music, perfectly depicting declining mental health through wordless wonder.

Released: 18.05.23

www.philipalexander.bandcamp.com

Image by Austin Tweddle

CHRIS MARDULA LAST TRAIN TO NOWHERE

Words: Kate Relton

There’s an inescapable feeling of yearning running through singersongwriter Chris Mardula’s latest release, Last Train To Nowhere. The repeating motif of the guitar solo, the lyrics crying out “to find something more”, and musical influences reminiscent of guitar heroes like Gary Moore contribute to this track feeling like an indulgent wallow in longing and nostalgia.

Making full use of the potential for weeping guitar solos, the track really comes into its own on the chorus, where the harmonies and instrumentation are richer and more expansive. The feeling of disillusionment and being cast adrift is driven home a little heavy-handedly as the track goes round in circles, but stops short of predictability with a startingly abrupt end.

Released: 26.05.23

www.facebook.com/chrimardulamusic

FINN FORSTER CAN’T BACK DOWN

Words: Matt Young

Finn Forster plots his way around a very familiar theme of betrayal, jealousy and revenge of thought, in this chiming country-influenced narrative. Citing a songwriter like Chris Stapelton as an influence you can gauge the intended tone. Forster’s acoustic guitar strums and scurries as his lyrics expound on the envy at hand, vocals sometimes scuffed with the throaty rasp of the well-worn and wise protagonist.

This is a soulful and more subdued take on the embittered cowboy story. Removed of any bombast or bluster there’s room for regret in the tale and there’s a much more relatable humanity in there as a result. Can’t Back Down is solid, but it does showcase Forster’s deft ability in crafting and delivering his songs.

Released: 26.05.23

www.finnforstermusic.com

TIRED TRACE BRINK OF NEARLY FULL

Words: Niamh Poppleton

North East artist Tired Trace, otherwise known as Jake Anderson, has mixed trip-hop and synth pop vibes to create an unusual EP. Alongside a gloomy atmosphere and trance-like ambience this, unlike his previous musical ventures, contains spoken elements. Each track explores its own narrative, ranging across numerous topics including fear of intimacy, nihilism and relationships. Introducing the EP is a ‘radio show’ discussion of his prior work suggesting it to be “dreadful”; this opening track is a vulnerable display of self-criticism, exploring the worldwide pandemic of artists doubting themselves. Across the six tracks there are three collaborations with other artists (Yes Plant, Cameron Scott and Alana Wan) which each bring their own creative energy, culminating in a unique listening experience.

Released: 05.05.23

www.tiredtrace.bandcamp.com

TWAYN YOUR STUPID SHOW

Words: Tom Astley

Twayn twins Hannah and Grace have brought a slice of lovesick doo wop-inflected pop to their new single. There’s something of David Lynch’s aesthetic here, in a song that sounds like it could be played on the stage at The Roadhouse in Twin Peaks.

The song is steeped in a haunted Americana, with a I-vi-IV-V chord progression in 6/8, almost whispered close harmony vocals that sound a little like the Everley Brothers (… but sisters… obviously). There’s even some reverb drenched strings, and it’s all played out over a slightly warped synth foundation that adds to the eeriness. Importantly, sitting underneath all these well-observed aesthetic touches is a quality song that is innovative but immediately familiar on first listen.

Released: 28.04.23

www.twayn.co.uk

SHALLOW DON’T CARE

Words: Tom Astley

Shallow wear their influences on their sleeve in a song straight out of the 90s grunge pantheon. In their three-piece rock aesthetic Shallow echo Nirvana in their quiet-loud-quiet structure, the discordant drawls of the electric guitar non-solo, the apathetic lyrics, in the whack-at-full-tilt drums, the Rat distortion guitar and hammered bass, and they’ve put together a track on the heavier end of the genre’s spectrum that fizzles with angst. So Shallow have firmly put their grunge influences front and centre. But I don’t care. It’s a breath of fresh air to hear an unapologetically heavy rock band turn it up to 11. Catch them playing at Tyne & Queer on 25th May at Little Buildings with Onlooker. Wear your best plaid shirt.

Released: 04.05.23

www.linktr.ee/weareshallow

PORCELAIN HEARSAY

Words: Nat Greener

Reminiscent of Britpop and the classic 90s sound, Porcelain are establishing their space with latest release Hearsay. A perfectly chill melody with a strong guitar presence, the track is subtle in its ballad-like nature, but you can hear undertones of rock influences.

Curating an emotive presence with stripped back lyrics and raw instrumentals, this ambitious outfit from Newcastle hope to make music that impacts audiences through authentic lyricism. Porcelain are fresh on the scene and utilise rhythm guitars that accompany an introspectively easy listening sound. With a presence that proves intriguing, it’s not hard to imagine Porcelain on a festival line-up, with a live show familiarity found within the indie band revival.

Released: 12.05.23

www.linktr.ee/porcelainband

JRM DAZED EP

Words: Adam Paxton

The North East hip-hop scene is arguably as good as it’s ever been, and JRM’s Dazed EP is a shining example of the talent that’s out there. With the stated ambition of being a true representation of North East rap, it has to be said that this project absolutely achieves its goals. Embracing Geordie slang throughout every track, it never manages to feel forced.  The two particular strong points of this release are JRM’s masterful flow and the production. The flow is punchy and rhythmic, and manages not to succumb to the boring staccato that has become standard in mainstream hip-hop in recent years. The beats are extremely polished and offer a perfect canvas for JRM and his collaborators, which include Kv$hnoodle, Reali-T and Just-B, to stretch their legs.

Released: 05.05.23

www.instagram.com/jrm__34

BOSKO GREEN SCENES FROM A DYSTOPIAN PRESENT

Words: Adam Paxton

The perverse silver lining to any time of governmental corruption and incompetence is the response of musicians. With Bosko Green’s new release, it’s hard to dispute that all of the pre-requisites of great oppositional music are present. Opener State of Decay is suitably anguished and anthemic, with a lovely melody and progression to go with it. 1933 may be too literal or histrionic for some, but that is the danger of political music; you can’t, nor do you wish to, please everyone. Hummingbird strays from pure politics for a moment of beautiful elegy, while A Truly Noble Gas will get stuck in your head for days – it’s stupidly catchy for a song with such vitriolic content. Well worth listening to for anyone in a profound state of dissatisfaction with the world at present (which is likely all of us).

Released: 01.05.23

www.boskogreen.bandcamp.com

TALKS

TRUE CRIME

LIVE MUSIC

GHOST TOURS

THEATRE

MEDIEVAL

DANCE

COMEDY PERFORMANCES AND MORE!

ALBUMS

MAY DAYS IN BARCELONA ALL THE SPRING PROMISED US (PLASTIC PALACE)

Words: Jake Anderson

Opening with sweeping cinematic strings on The North Sea (Part 1), Derbyshire musician Simon James Clowes gently guides us into his debut solo project under the moniker of May Days In Barcelona.

4.5 / 5

ALISON GOLDFRAPP THE LOVE INVENTION (SKINT)

Words: Matt Young

Following Goldfrapp’s last album, 2017’s group release Silver Eye, the duo – and Alison in particular – have been absent from the limelight. So, dropping The Love Invention feels like a very distinct, new musical chapter. It also represents a further shift in Alison Goldfrapp’s already impressive musical evolution.

What’s the best collective noun for hypnotic songs? A bliss? That seems most accurate. This is a beautifully curated set of synth pop, disco and house-saturated tunes, from the sweaty persistence and lurid neon glow of opening track Never Stop all the way through to the soporific comedown of SLoFLo. The album takes its own sweet time, clocking in at 76 minutes, and uses the club experience, a night out, as its main conceit, with Alison providing her own personal playlist. The kaleidoscopic sampling of Goldfrapp’s own credentials is steeped in the influences of 70s-90s nostalgia and fantasy club life. Augmented by Alison’s glossy backing and sensual breathy vocals as they intimately twist among the twinkling synths and bassline heartbeats. The Beat Divine, along with half a dozen other tunes, is co-written with Richard X. Mixing the off kilter, early digital sounds he made his name with while cementing Alison’s songwriting and arranging as a great pop writer, which means they are all potential singles. Collaborative remixes with Claptone (Digging Deeper), Paul Woolford (Fever) and Röyksopp (Impossible) on the extended release add even more vibrant colour to an already exotic palette.

Mid-album, the twinkling gems that are The Beat Divine and Fever evoke the slinky sway and repetitive motorik beats of Moroder, evolving into more acid house sounds so that by the time we’ve reached the eager digital prowl of Gatto Gelato with Alison’s swooning vocal claiming, “I can make you feel it”, you’re fully seduced. So Hard So Hot is another standout song that propels you into an ephemeral world of intoxicating, anthemic euphoria; contorted dance moves, perfectly unselfconscious.

We didn’t really need any proof, it was never in doubt, but The Love Invention shows that Alison Goldfrapp’s willingness to experiment is undimmed and she remains the undisputed queen of the dancefloor.

Released: 12.05.23

www.goldfrapp.com

ALSO OUT THIS MONTH

Water From Your Eyes – Everyone’s Crushed (Matador, 26.05) // Black Spiders – Can’t Die, Won’t Die (Spinefarm, 12.05) // Overmono – Good Lies (XL Recordings, 12.05) // LA Priest – Fase Luna (Domino, 05.05) // Esben & The Witch – Hold Sacred (Nostromo Records, 12.05) // Dan Croll – Fools (Communion Records, 19.05) // Arlo Parks – My Soft Machine (Transgressive Records, 26.05) // Sad Boys Club – Lullabies From The Lightning Tree (Modern Sky, 05.05) // SQÜRL – Silver Haze (Sacred Bones Records, 05.05) // Softee – Natural (City Slang, 12.05) // BC Camplight – The Last Rotation of Earth (Bella Union, 12.05) // Iguana Death Cult – Echo Palace (Innovative Leisure, 12.05) // The Used – Toxic Positivity (Hassle Records, 19.05) // Tanlines – The Big Mess (Merge Records, 19.05) // Hannah Jadagu – Aperture (Sub Pop, 19.05) // Therapy? - Hard Cold Fire (Marshall Records, 05.05) // Sir Chloe – I Am The Dog (Atlantic Records, 19.05) // waveform* – Antarctica (Run For Cover Records, 12.05) // Ky – Power Is The Pharmacy (Constellation, 12.05) // Salami Rose Joe Louis – Akousmatikou (Brainfeeder, 19.05)

The album explores deeply personal themes excellently, through both its lyricism and melancholic textures. Composed of two very different styles, the album bounces between vast and expansive instrumentation on tracks like Foxes and Last Flash of Colour, to songs that align themselves closer to alternative country or indie rock – such as Keep Yourself Healthy and Alison. Both styles feel cut from the same cloth, and slot perfectly together, giving the album a great sense of momentum and creating a quite powerful listening experience.

Released: 01.05.23

www.maydaysinbarcelona.bandcamp.com

4 / 5

GUVNA B THE VILLAGE IS ON FIRE (ALLO MATE RECORDS)

Words: Ikenna Offor

“The colour of my skin is what inspired this anthology”, Isaac Borquaye – better known as Guvna B – candidly reveals on Bridgeland Road, which opens his tenth LP. A stalwart of the UK rap scene for well over a decade, the two-time MOBO winner has consistently never shied away from hard truths, championing marginalised communities through his multifaceted lyricism. Inspired by a self-endured racial aggravation, The Village Is On Fire finds Borquaye unflinchingly grappling with the aftermath of unprovoked violence, generously doling out relatable musings on marriage and fatherhood, and benignly extolling the virtues of self-actualisation. Altogether, it’s an affectingly evocative and intuitively cohesive set, steeped in hard-won tenets – earnestly asserted yet never preachy – and, most impressively, never devolves into bathos.

Released: 26.05.23

www.guvnab.com

Image by Mat Maitland

OLIVIA JEAN RAVING GHOST (THIRD MAN RECORDS)

Words: Lee Hammond

Whilst album titles are often not to be taken too literally, Raving Ghost is befitting of the overall sound of the album. From the off, the title track could be seen as goth garage, with hefty riffs coupled with an underlying layer of darkness. This doesn’t abate throughout the record, though there are some lighter moments, particularly in the form of a cover of Enya’s Orinoco Flow and the excitable and aptly-titled Fun. The record mainly airs towards a darker feel, with Ditch, Fate and The Spider being shining examples of this. The latter is much heavier with a real shift towards a slower tempo, it feels more deliberate and packs a bigger punch. An excellent garage rock album.

Released: 05.05.23

www.oliviajeanmusic.com

SPARKS THE GIRL IS CRYING IN HER LATTE (ISLAND RECORDS)

Words: Chris Allan

With most bands’ 25th album release you could rightly be trepidatious of a slow and easy walk down memory lane, but Sparks aren’t like most bands.

Kicking off with the electronic buzz of lead single The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte, this record is a genre-hopping mission statement from a band sounding more vital than ever. Back on Island Records and feeling bolstered by Edgar Wright’s recent rock-doc, the brothers deliver an album that effortlessly moves from humour to heart, with dancefloor-filling art pop sensibilities to engrossing musical experimentation, all packed with the quirks and charm fans have come to expect and love.

As if there was ever any doubt, the Russel and Ronaissance is real.

Released: 26.05.23

www.allsparks.com

MANDY, INDIANA I’VE SEEN A WAY (FIRE TALK)

Words: Robin Webb

The Manchester four-piece let loose a crackling debut, assuredly possessed of a horde of styles encompassing nihilistic electro, techno and ‘out there’ blistering avant-garde strident noise, all recorded in unexpected settings like malls and caves. And with a French lead vocalist, what’s not to like?

Opening track Love Theme (4K VHS) bumps along with classic arpeggiated lines but is a bit of an outlier, as the rest of the album pushes some serious experimental boundaries. Iron Maiden wields a piercing guitar with metallic reverberation building to an ecstatic crescendo; Peach Fuzz fizzes with a vibrant, pulsing techno heartbeat and the release is closed out by the pagan-like militarist Sensitivity Training. It’s a strikingly strong first release, keep an eye on these.

Released: 19.05.23

www.mandyindiana.bandcamp.com

JONI VOID EVERYDAY IS THE SONG (CONSTELLATION)

Words: Elodie A. Roy

For many years now, French producer Joni Void (aka Johnny Ripper) has been concerned with the erasure of the self, the slow dislocation of the psyche, the relationship between the individual and the crowd.

His third album for Constellation takes his adoptive city of Montreal as its subject matter. It operates a graceful disintegration and re-composition of the streets – through hundreds of tape samples. There are raw, strident sounds – many of them filtered and unidentifiable –occasionally morphing into melodies. Layer upon layer, Void creates a crowded yet ghostly soundscape, obliterated by white noise and high pitches. He buries the city as much as he reveals it. We know he will never get to the core of it, but the point is elsewhere. EITS is a document of disappearance.

Released: 26.05.23

www.jonivoid.bandcamp.com

WESTERMAN AN INBUILT FAULT (PARTISAN RECORDS)

Words: Michael O’Neill

Following on from his magnificent debut Your Hero Is Not Dead, An Inbuilt Fault finds Athens-based Westerman further proving his worth as one of the finest songwriters of the century so far.

The bright, metallic soundworld of Your Hero… is replaced with a more atmospheric and organic sound, with Big Thief’s sonic architect James Krivchenia’s input proving to be an ideal foil for a suite of sublime songs which are packed to the rafters with rich, vivid imagery, a bold step beyond the stiff rhythms and cold synthscapes that previously defined Westerman’s output. The result is a complete feast for the ears, with songs packed full of rich sonics, stacked vocal harmonies, and sheer power. It’s an incredible experience.

Released: 05.05.23

www.westerman.world

DAVE LOMBARDO RITES OF PERCUSSION (IPECAC RECORDINGS)

Words: Los Ruis

Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo’s Rites of Percussion is 13 tracks and 35 minutes of drums, drums, percussion, and more drums. Alright, there’s a smattering of piano, a few bursts of atmospheric modular synths and the odd string pad, but mainly this is a celebration of hitting, shaking, banging, hammering and bashing flawlessly recorded drums in two very different acoustic spaces by a drummer who isn’t afraid of ditching the click-track and embracing dynamics.

Standout tracks for me are the anxiety inducing and intentionally cinematic Blood Let, the claustrophobic amphetamine twitches of Interfearium, which would perfectly soundtrack some of David Cronenberg’s more unpleasant cinematic output, and the epic finale of Animismo, which demonstrates Lombardo’s ability to move from thrash metal intensity down to jazz and bebop swing.

Released: 05.05.23

www.linktr.ee/davelombardo

SHIT PRESENT WHAT STILL GETS ME (SPECIALIST SUBJECT RECORDS)

Words: James Hattersley

It’s a difficult balancing act between exposing emotional fragility and drowning in rambunctious guitars. However, What Still Gets Me, the debut album by emo power pop trio Shit Present, triumphs and reflects a sense of catharsis that many records struggle to encapsulate sincerely. Pushing aside any self-intimidation and doubt, the band delivers an album as poignant as it is ferocious. From coming to terms with mental illnesses in Cram The Page to exploring distrusting nature of your own psyche in Unravelling – this inner exploration isn’t asking for your help but screaming that vulnerability is fucking okay.

Uncompromising vocals, thrashing ramshackle riffs and determined rhythms; Shit Present have braved bad weather and released an exquisitely exciting listen that might get you through it too. Released: 05.05.23 www.shitpresent.com

HENGE ALPHA TEST 4 (COSMIC DROSS)

Words: Matt Young

Since landing on Earth seven years ago to share their cosmic dross with us humans, we’ve experienced the squelching synths and prog melodies of Zpor, Goo, Grok and Nom on two previous releases. Alpha Test 4 marks the third collection of stimulating extra-terrestrial sounds, including the electro banger Get A Wriggle On, which warns us about our planet’s imminent climate crisis.

There are melody-melting odes to malfunctioning robots (Self Repair Protocol), trippy tunes about discovery (Wanderlust and Altered State) and a loving tribute to the one of the universe’s hardiest creatures (Tardigrades). Some may dismiss this as silly space rock, but as Henge’s own research shows, as they’ve fine-tuned their mangled sounds and optimised their alien frequencies, the Sapien brain can effectively access more pleasure with each new release. This Sapien brain concurs.

Released: 26.05.23

www.hengemusic.com

SHIRLEY COLLINS ARCHANGEL HILL (DOMINO RECORDINGS)

Words: Lee Fisher

The return of Shirley Collins after decades of silence (as unexpected as it was magical –seeing her rapturous reception at Supersonic Festival was a beautiful thing), Archangel Hill is her third album since her reappearance and while it has some wonderful moments it perhaps doesn’t have the same impact as Lodestar or Heart’s Ease did.

This is partly because at 87 years old her voice is quite faltering now, although it still has a purity to it, and a desire to service the songs. Perhaps also the arrangements and song choices are a little obvious (for example, this is her third recording of Hares On The Mountain, and it’s not the best). But tracks like Lost In The Wood and Oakham Poachers still have a beautiful simplicity.

Released: 26.05.23

www.shirleycollins.co.uk

TEMPS

PARTY GATOR PURGATORY (BELLA UNION)

Words: Laura Doyle

Not sure what to expect from chaotic neutral comedian James Acaster’s newfound music production venture? Same – and this is after listening to Party Gator Purgatory for a few rounds. What started out as a mockumentary pilot funded by none other than Louis Theroux turned, thanks to lockdown (that ol’ chestnut), into international musical project Temps organised by Acaster and featuring artists from across the globe – all filtered through one man, a computer and a childhood toy alligator the size of a human.

Nary a genre goes unrepresented, with influences blended to create something overall akin to a lo-fi soft rock opera. It makes as much and as little sense as you’d expect, yet this transitory labour of love is just that: quite lovely.

Released: 19.05.23

www.tempsmusic.bandcamp.com

MEMORIALS

MUSIC FOR FILM: TRAPS & WOMEN AGAINST THE BOMB (THE STATE51 CONSPIRACY)

Words: Evie Nicholson

It’s the kind of supergroup you’d dream about. Electrelane frontwoman and multiinstrumentalist Verity Susman and Wire guitarist, experimental electric organ player Matthew Simms, who together form psychedelic free jazz outfit, Memorials.

Despite being two different soundtracks, Music for Film is the best new record I’ve listened to for a while. The album takes you beyond the imagined boundaries of music – surpassing space, forgetting time – then plants you back down again. Verity’s timeless ethereal vocals are typically intoxicating on the likes of Dark Green, whilst Will’s drumming slips into a motorik beat that gives the tracks the drive of a new age Krautrock song. It’s all topped off with tape loops and drones, Verity somehow managing to play the saxophone and keyboard at the same time. It’s totally sublime.

Released: 12.05.23

www.memorialsmusic.bandcamp.com

SBTRKT THE RAT ROAD (AWAL)

Words: Jonathan Coll

SBTRKT, more than anyone, came to epitomise the sound of the near future that dominated the electronic scene for much of the 2010s. Alongside the likes of Jon Hopkins, George Fitzgerald and Four Tet, his was a sound that cut across the divide between dancefloors and ambient listening. The Rat Road is SBTRKT’s first album in seven years, and represents a slight departure from that original sound. The new album is comprised of 22 tracks, with serving as brief interludes alongside the more substantial productions. D Double E, featuring the man himself, is the best of those snippets, whereas No Intention represents the high point of the longer tracks. It’s a welcome return for both SBTRKT and long-time collaborator Sampha, who features on the beautiful Limitless.

Released: 05.05.23

www.linktr.ee/sbtrkt

MIXTAPE

WORDS: THOMAS WALES

The Cabaret Club has launched in Bishop Auckland and follows the Street Food Market on the last Friday of every month. It’s the best night out you’ll have in the town; starting at 4pm, the open-air market dishes out the flavours of traders from across the region with live music and activities for the kids too. From 9pm, enjoy alternative cabaret sensations performing the best hour of their work upstairs in Mrs M, followed by live jazz until late. Join us on Friday 26th May with cabaret and burlesque performer Nana Funk. www.baccanalia.co.uk

LUNCHMONEY LEWIS BILLS

This one’s a proper bop and abstractly relates to what we’re trying to do with the Street Food Market. Purse strings are tight for everyone at the minute so open access events are imperative to social survival right now. You can feed your family (or self!) without paying restaurant prices and the live music is free so you can even call it a cheap date. And as if by magic, it falls on payday. Imagine that.

EMELI SANDÉ & THE BRYAN FERRY ORCHESTRA CRAZY IN LOVE

A Beyoncé classic but Sandé does it all the justice it deserves, made jazzy by the orchestra for Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. The entire Great Gatsby album is a great place for an accessible introduction to jazz, with pop twists from chart topping artists. For local jazz vibes, it’s easy: The Cabaret Club in Bishop Auckland is the place to be.

SAM FENDER SEVENTEEN GOING UNDER

We book a bunch of local musicians to perform at the Street Food Market (none of them are Sam Fender, don’t get too excited) and it gives it that ‘beer garden in the summer’ feel – sunglasses on, holding a pint. They’re all talented vocalists and perform an array of songs, but you’ll inevitably hear this one or something by Gerry Cinnamon. Nowt wrong with that.

NANA FUNK

TITANIUM (NANA’S VERSION)

Nana Funk is a musical comedy and burlesque performer. She’s with us on Friday 26th May at The Cabaret Club. She sings original, improvised and parody songs and shows that being awesome transcends age. Her version of Sia’s Titanium is a hoot - “my hips are tiiii-taaaannnn-iiiii-uuummm”.

THE SCISSOR SISTERS LET’S HAVE A KIKI

The intro on this song sounds like the voicemails I’m left from sassy drag queens, so brings to mind June’s cabaret sensation, Snow White Trash. Uncoincidentally, SWT supported Jake Shears on stage at Brighton Pride with their incredible saxophone skills. They’ll be joining her at The Cabaret Club, too (the saxophone skills, not Jake).

BEYONCÉ BREAK MY SOUL

This was my number one top song on Spotify 2022 (and every other white gay’s) and it’s perfect for July’s cabaret performer, James Barr. Just like the song, he’s campy, fun and a moodlifter, so come along if you like queer comedy. James presents Hits Radio Breakfast with Fleur East and is one half of podcast sensation, A Gay And A NonGay (not telling which you half though).

EMELI SANDÉ EXTRAORDINARY BEING

My business, Baccanalia, produces cultural events and festivals. We took the name from the Roman celebrations that honoured Bacchus, the god of a good time. Our events incite ecstasy and make you feel decadent and mint. We don’t live to work, we work to live, and that’s what life’s about. Listen to Emeli and imagine it’s us, singing the song about you.

LADY GAGA

RAIN ON ME (WITH ARIANA GRANDE)

Producing outdoor events in the North East is hard. It rains a lot. And if people don’t come you lose a ton of money. But the good folk of Bishop Auckland live and breathe crap weather so they turn out anyway, rain or shine. Ta.

SIGRID HOME TO YOU (THIS CHRISTMAS)

I’d be remiss not to mention my favourite Christmas song since Baccanalia produces Bishop Auckland’s Christmas Town. In 2022 we had an ice rink, grotto, markets, live shows, workshops, giant snowglobes, a bandstand stage and more festivity than you can shake a yule log at. For 2023, we’ve graduated to giant tipi-bars, we’ve yet to announce the 2023 programme but dates are 24-26 November. Get it in your diary!

Father

Kelis

Postmodern Jukebox

Emma Rawicz

Spiers & Boden Kris Drever Band

La Planète Sauvage with Stealing Sheep and The Radiophonic Workshop