No Hands September 2012

NO HANDS ZINE #21

PHOTO: ‘City Park opening overshadowed by Odeon in wraps’ by @godspeedjon77

PICK ME I’M FREE

WWW.NOHANDSBRADFORD.CO.UK Design & Layout — www.bjthebear.com

MIXTAPE Ben Holden notes some tunes of interest old & new (ish).

Remember Mix Tapes ? I suppose it would be Mix CDs now, or a Spotify Playlist .. whatever, they were ace. We’re trying to recreate that moment of glee (not the TV thing) when a friend / girlfriend / boyfriend handed you a C90 with hand written sleeve, footnotes and little drawings.. how (old) romantic.. <sigh>

NIRVANA

SHELLAC

RADIO FRIENDLY UNIT SHIFTER

PRAYER TO GOD

Nirvana (as for many people my age) were the reason I first started a band. Bleach is the best album for me, but this is well beef.

ELLIOT SMITH MISS MISERY Instantly bought every album after being dumbfounded with this song.

THE SMITHS PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES Whilst being massively inspirational, Johnny Marr and his tiny hands makes me seethe.. But I’m not bitter, I love The Smiths.

Also, I once stole the ending guitar line for an A Level exam thing; I got an A.

REM FALL ON ME Early REM is the best REM and this is a little gem.

Pounding and swearing, razor Albini guitars and no bullshit. Had to endure them TWICE at an ATP Festival, oh it was awful.

MOGWAI RANO PANO Can’t help but air guitar and cringe with excitement when the drums come in.

BEACH HOUSE MYTH Became obsessed with this on first listen and the Jools Holland version of it more so, get it YouTube’d.

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS GRAND CANYON Just buy ‘69 Love Songs’ you will not regret it.

CARDIACS DIRTY BOY Bonkers.

HOT SNAKES NO HANDS Always reminds me of Summer, full of energy .. also what we named our little night after.

RICHARD HAWLEY LEAVE YOUR BODY BEHIND YOU Hawley just talks complete sense and makes ace music. His latest offering’s a bit more psychedelic with loadsa guitar solos, which is a good thing... obviously.

AC/DC ROCK 'N' ROLL DAMNATION Ever feeling un-inspired or slow, stick a bit o’DC on really loud .. sort you right out!

LIFE WITHOUT BUILDINGS THE LEANOVER Hypnotising lush Fender Jaguar guitaring and some weird shouty girl, got me hooked.

THE WEDDING PRESENT INTERSTATE 5 Always a fan of relentless repetition and this never gets dull, wicked video too.

RECORDED Leon Carroll gets giddy about ‘Sweater Girls Were Here’ by Sweater Girls

I’ve been waiting for this one. You know that feeling when you hear a band’s first couple of singles and you just need something more substantial, something to really get your teeth into? Well Sweater Girls are one of those bands.

The first I heard of them was on a split 3”CD on Cloudberry Records in 2010 (Cloudberry 509) where I incidentally first heard Cassolette, Seapony and Evans The Death. Seriously its one of the best EPs I’ve ever bought. Anyway, Sweater Girls Were Here starts with a punchy fuzzy slice of Shangri-Las pop. ‘Infatuation Street’ exhilarates with its buzzy guitars and motown stomp drums during the chorus before singer Diana Meehan goes all Mary Weiss on us with a bewitching talky bit. It’s a perfect album opener which leaves you begging for more of the same. Next up is ‘Fred’, an ode to the literal boy or girl of your dreams, Diana realising halfway through that this particular crush was just a figment of her land of make believe.

Sigh.

At times the sound evokes the tenderness of Strawberry Switchblade, especially the sense of melancholy on 'Fast Forward Time' which kicks off Side 2.

Elsewhere it suggests the punkiness of All Girl Summer Fun Band or the beautiful jangle of Language of Flowers and Aberdeen, while ‘Sticks and Stones’, for this listener at least, brings to mind early 90s northern English fare like The High had they formed in California with a girl singer. Some of these songs have been out in one guise or another before, and in particular previous releases ‘Pretty When You Smile’ and ‘Sweater Weather’ get more refined jangly makeovers here without losing any of the originals energy and vim.

Sweater Girls make the kind of straightforward pop that seems easy to make but really isn’t. The melodies cut deep, the lyrics speak to that part of you that will always be a teenager, no matter how old you get (yeah we all feel like that if we‘d only admit it, my granny once told me she still felt 16 in her head, and I know EXACTLY what she meant).

Sweater Girls write laments of unrequited and seriously requited love and lust and every song here is a gem, no filler. If you’re not moved by this you are truly made of stone.

Sweater Girls Were Here is available from Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records now!

RECORDED Andy Abbott reviews Gerrard Bell-Fife. 7 Songs, self-released CDR Available from his gigs or contact via www.gerrardbell-fife.bandcamp.com Bradford Uni’s Social and International Studies school has long been a magnet for inspiring and creative types that end up making a vital contribution to the fabric of the city. Carrying on this tradition in fine form is Nottingham’s Gerrard Bell-Fife who we are fortunate to have found his way here.

Gerrard is a singer songwriter who plays a rich-sounding nylon-stringed acoustic guitar that perfectly compliments his strong-yet-understated baritone voice.

Gerrard’s vocals are beyond striking and what you miss out on with this recording is the astonishing impact of the disparity between his youthful, unassuming stage manner and the maturity of what emerges from his mouth. Where does it come from?

Here, though, the music has to stand alone without qualification, and it manages to do so admirably. Fans of 90s and 00’s lo-fi Americana folk like

Smog, Black Heart Procession, The National, Will Oldham and company will find themselves in dark heaven with these seven songs. There’re echoes of Joy Division and Billy Corgan’s more tender moments too. Songs of heartbreak and tales of trying to find your way through the world in difficult and confusing times are delivered with a poetic lyricism that manages to be touching and familiar without falling into cliché or sentimentality.

The tunes themselves are instantly memorable - (anti-) anthems, even - and the record has a coherence that makes each song feel like a chapter in a book, making it compulsive listening. Take some time out of your day to enter Gerrard’s (devil) world via this homerecording and be sure you catch him at one of his many appearances in low-key venues of Bradford. Chances are in years to come you’ll be boasting that you cottoned on to him when you did.

LIVE JAIPUR KAWA BRASS BAND with THE FAMILY ELAN of BRADFORD @ Delius Arts & Cultural Centre, Bradford Friday 21st September 2012 WORDS: Estelle Cooper East Meets West showcase of the Jaipur Kawa Brass Band, of Rajasthan and Bradford’s own the Family Elan at the Delius Arts & Cultural Centre as part of ‘Welcome to Independent Bradford’.

The Centre is a hidden gem of a space in the heart of the City, situated in the Grade II – listed German Church on Great Horton Road opposite Bradford College, it’s a small, intimate and unconventional venue, complete with glittering and colourful stained glass windows

PHOTO: Jaipur Kawa Brass Band

which provided the perfect backdrop for the jewelled tones and sequins of the Rajasthani band members costumes.

The Family Elan set the pace with their opening of folk infused psychedelia moving onto a collaborative set with the Jaipur Kawa Brass Band, which drew on North Indian heritage songs and Bollywood hits.

A memorable gig which got the audience standing on their seats, clapping along to the tempo of these amazing bands as they reached a combined jubilant crescendo, complete with sword juggling, circus skills and traditional gypsy dance.

www.thefamilyelan.com www.myspace.com/jaipurkawabrassband www.artworkscreative.org.uk/our-venue

SCRAP BOOK

Doodles and scribblings by awesome Bradford Illustrator Jo Billingsley

Check out http://upflung.tumblr.com/

BRADFORD INSTAGRAM

PHOTOS: @godspeedjon77

1

Town (City) Hall, Centenary Square

2

The Needle' Rick Faulkner, sculpture, Manor Row 'Fibres' Ian Randall, sculpture, Forster Square station Ivegate. #ironic #zeitgeist

3 4

1

4

2

3

+

+

BANDS

@ NO HANDS FRIDAY 28 SEPT 2012 THE POLISH CLUB, EDMUND STREET, BRADFORD

Upstairs from 8.30pm LIVE MUSIC An Extra Special night of home-grown and self-organised rock music from across the globe. Introducing the lesser-heard voices from established cities to show that great music can emerge from the most unlikely of places.

THE BISMARCK (USA)

POIL (FRANCE)

On Stage 11.00pm

On Stage 10.15pm

The Bismarck from Seattle USA will be performing their self-describedly ‘unfashionable’ brand of indie rock. http://thebismarck. bandcamp.com/

Zappa/Magma influenced outer-limits rockers Poil from Lyon in France http://poil.bandcamp.com/

DOLPHINS (BRADFORD) a.P.A.t.T (LIVERPOOL) On Stage 9.30pm Bradford’s own strippeddown riffers Dolphins will launch their self-released album on vinyl. http://dolphinsmusic.bandcamp.com/

On Stage 8.30pm Liverpool’s prog weirdos a.P.A.t.T blend genres and bend minds. http://itsapatt.blogspot .co.uk/

NEXT TIME Friday 26 October 2012 ILLUSORY CENTRE + MORE BANDS + DJS N THAT Finding dreamy blends of notes that swerve in and out of each other, fueled by emotive passion & soul. http://illusorycentre. bandcamp.com/

No Hands is a collective passionate about making something good happen in Bradford each month for as free as possible. It is not-forprofit and soully intends to provide a cosy and safe hub for bands, DJs and good people to have a good time.

4 Bands Upstairs for £5 from 8.30pm ***FREE DOWNSTAIRS FROM 8pm DJs SPINNING MANY WONDERS ON VINYL, IPODS, PHONES & LAPTOPS! with DANCING & SILLINESS & a CHEAP BAR til 2am***