Issue No. 14 November 2010 . FREE
The Definitive Guide To Music In Cardiff
OK
Jonathan
Powell
We//Are//Animal & John Rea LIVE & CLUB LISTINGS . MUSIC NEWS . REVIEWS . FEATURED BANDS . INTERVIEWS
UB40 11 November Marc Almond 15 November
Freddie Kempf 17 November
Michael Bolton 21 November
LĂşnasa 16 November
02 The MMP November 2010
November: Cover Artist
Andy Fung Andy Fung’s paintings are rooted in free form subconcious drawing. They grow organically in pencil, then paint, whether site specific, on walls or on canvas. The work refers to graffiti, sci-fi illustration and 60’s psychedelia. Andy has shown internationally and has made a number of transient wall pieces all over Britain. As well as writing and performing with bands Cymbient, and No Thee No Ess, he drums for Richard James and Cate Le Bon. Contact: e - andyjfung@yahoo.com www.andyfung.co.uk www.myspace.com/cymbient www.myspace.com/notheenoess
6-7
Jonathan Powell
10 OK
8 We//Are//Animal
12 John Rea
4-5 Music News
24 Kaptin
16-18 Live Reviews
20-23 CD Reviews
26-44 Gig Previews & Listings
24 Ruffstylz
46 J. M. Strange
Editors: Aimée-Jade Hayes; Rowan Liggett; Simon Read. Contributors: Bill Bellamy; Pippa Bennett; Beckie Jordan; Kaptin; Jake May; Matt Pasternakiewicz; James Payne; Ruffstylz; J.M. Strange; Sion Trefor; Cinzia Yates.
Welcome to year 2 of MMP, Yes. Celebrations of our 1st birthday went on throughout September and October and we owe Millionaires By Morning, as well as our friends at Associated Minds, Starving Artists and Richer Sounds, a big high-five for helping us have such a tremendous birthday. More on which you can find on page 14, later on. But enough nostalgic reminiscence. Time to look forward. And with our space-age new website guiding the way, the future suddenly seems very accessible. We encourage, nay, demand that you log on to www.themmp.tv and begin a wonderful exploratory adventure into uncharted seas of additional, extraneous material we couldn’t squeeze into the magazine for one reason or another. Plus, all listings, mag reviews and features, news and, of course, our Download Society are there for your delectation. This month you will find features on local light, and recent Daily Mirror curiosity, Jonathan Powell. Beyond that, we wantonly excavate the impressive mines of indie-pop scamps OK and blistering psych-rockers We//Are//Animal. We may be wearied by a year of hard graft. But we stand before you naked and prepared for more. This fine city and its equally fine cultural producers merit unrelenting attention. Fear not. We shall provide. Lisps of llama love, The MMP x
Demos/CDs To: The Miniature Music Press Ltd. Kings Road Art Studios,183a Kings Road,Cardiff,CF11 9DF General: info@themmp.tv Advertising: ads@themmp.tv Listings: listings@themmp.tv
Staff Photographer: Paul Roberts Printed by: Sharper Print
www.themmmp.tv www.myspace.com/themmp / www.twitter.com/themmp
The MMP November 2010 03
Music News
UNDERTONE OPENS DOORS TO LIVE
Pulse Quickening Pop Whenever a new venue pops its head over the parapet, the MMP always approaches almost over-eagerly to practice its investigative journalism. With Undertone, there’s plenty of cause for live music lovers to be pant-dampeningly euphoric. With the promise of events every single night of the week, and a 130 capacity Undertone looks set for some top quality intimate nights underground. November sees the likes of Gregory And The Hawk, Les Shelleys, Diamond Rings and the intriguing sounding Festival Of The Senses all lined up – can’t wait to see how the programme develops.
WELSH AT
WOMEX!!!!
The Welsh Music Foundation sure know how to build links with the international community. The relationship with thee SXSW festival means that Wales always has a strong cast of players there. And at the end of October this was further consolidated, alongside Wales Art International, with three Welsh folk acts playing in Womex Festival in Copenhagen. Known as the world’s biggest ethnic, traditional, alternative world, local and minority language music gathering, it was further enhanced by our representatives: Mabon, 9Bach and Calan. Well done for representing us, folk starlets. 04 The MMP November 2010
In the last year or two Cardiff’s Churchwill Way has gone from a relatively lonely road to a cheeky, loud and proud, late night mecca. Now one of its thriving new clubs is welcoming some mainstream glitter to the weekend and fans of Simon Cowell’s fame rocket, The X Factor, will be delighted. Every Saturday from November 6th Pulse will be hosting the latest contestant to be ejected from the world conquering telly show. Although not the same as ‘ironically’ watching it at home it should be, at the very least, funny as hell and occasionally, surprisingly, moving...
Mini News.. Lego Fort Siege Ended
A 22 year old man who constructed a small fort made from lego who pulled off the walls in Cardiff Arts Institute has been named as James Payne. Apparently suffering from a huge energy drink rush it took several staff several hours to talk him peacefully out of his admittedly impressive construction.
Roath Lake Reveals Lost City Onlookers were stunned last week when the water level in Roath lake dropped so low that remains of an unknown citadel were, for a brief time, exposed. Reports have been coming in of ‘huge gothic spirals and creepy murals expanding outwards like tentacles.’ Scientists suspect the tantalising glimpse was the result of everyone in Roath having a bath at the same time. J.M Strange to open Café Bizarre Resident MMP mentalist J.M Strange has put a deposit down on an unknown location and intends to create the first establishment that encourages customers to heckle the staff. ‘No one should have to wait quietly for their food for God’s sake’, he screamed, while hurling lit matches at a terrified barmaid. J.M Strange to open Café Bizarre
TAINT
TO SPLIT
What We’ve Been
Listening To C. W. STONEKING JUNGLE BLUES
Sounding like it could have been written at any point over the last two hundred years this slinky blues number could equally have slotted neatly into any of Tom Waits odder albums. Just astounding from this Melbourne based retro-troubadour. www.myspace.com/cwstoneking
OLOF ARNALDS
INNUNDIR SKINNI What the hell is going on in Iceland? Their production line of off-kilter and ambient sound -scapes now offers up a cross between Vashti Bunyan and Joanna Newsom singing beautiful folk ballads lost in a cotton wool ether. www.myspace.com/olofarnalds
Long-running metal outfit Taint have decided to call it a day. After several releases, and 14 years that have seen them share stages with Stampin’ Ground, Cathedral, Clutch and Converge, Taint have decided to bow out in order to move onto new phases in their lives. Should you have not seen their final Cardiff show as part of the Oxjam Takeover in October, you still have one more chance to see them, so make sure to catch their last ever show at Swansea’s Sin City on the 18th December, for what will be a emotional sendoff for one of the mainstays in the UK metal scene. www.myspace.com/taintuk
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE There has been a spate of great live announcements coming through in recent weeks. SWN can take some massive credit for booking the incredible retro-folkblues talents of C.W. Stoneking for February. Devendra Banhart has been added to the bill of the already excellent sounding Arcade Fire gig in the Arena on the 9th December. Elbow are also set to come down in March 2011 to C.I.A. It seems 2011 is looking pretty lipsmackingly good already, and that’s before all of the less pre-planned stuff starts filtering through.
FRANCESCA’S WORD SALAD
SOMETHING’S MISSING This may well have fallen beautifully from the tall tree of twee, but it’s resolutely affecting and really rather wonderful. Taking the kooky lyricisms of the Spektors and Newsoms of this world and applying them in her own unique way. www.myspace.com/francescaswordsalad
BAD RELIGION THE DISSENT OF MAN Amongst a sea of 80’s bands who insist on embarrassing themselves well past their point of relevance in musical culture, Bad Religion defy the odds by creating a fresh record that is fuelled with purpose and punk rock ethic, even after 30 years of being a band. Score. www.badreligion.com
THE MOONS
TORN BETWEEN TWO Immersing itself in the British beat music of the sixties with smooth keys, perfectly imagined melodies and defiant Modernisation of the retro sound, this is dreamy, floaty but, ultimately, very rockin’ stuff. www.myspace.com/themoonsofficial
The MMP November 2010 05
Jonathan Powell We at the MMP have been kicking the streets of this town for a fair few epochs. In that time, we’ve been proud to watch the steady growth and growth of one Mr. Jonathan Powell. A key figure in the city’s acoustic scene over all of these years, Powell has always cut a chiselled figure capable of producing masterful pop songs with an emotional edge. His inevitable rise began in earnest with last year’s epic Forgive This Day LP and has threatened to supernova in recent months given the celebrity mag coverage of he and Charlotte Church’s working, and non-working, relationship. With new material on the way, as well as his writing skills emerging on Church’s forthcoming album, the MMP saw fit to catch up to see how his fish are flapping. How in the name of diablo are you? Yeah. I’m not too bad. Busy. Stressed out and hungover as a bear. But coping. You seem to be capable of playing almost every instrument in the world – how the hell did this happen? I’m a jack of all trades in terms of instrumentation. And consequently a master of none. I can turn my hand to anything that’s string-based including pianos and mandolins and whatever. But then i’d never claim to be a guitarist, you know. Especially because recently i’ve been working with some incredible musicians and it becomes really obvious when you do that, that you’re not as good as you thought you were. They’re session musicians who can replicate the record live with supreme accuracy. What have you learnt from the experience of putting an album out there? It was very much a learning curve for both gethin (john – producer) and i. I was really precious about the material and we really slaved over it because we wanted it exactly right. The irony of which is that you come back to it a month later and go ‘we didn’t get this right, or this right’ and if i was to re-record it, i would do it entirely differently. But there’s no point in looking retrospectively, you just move on. The new album has a totally differ06 The MMP November 2010
ent process, we’re working to a far tighter schedule, doing it mostly live and it’s reaped its rewards. How are you reflecting on the second lp at this stage? I’m feeling like i’m still in it at the moment. We have some tweaks to make and it’s very much an open project. It’s entirely possible that i’ll freak out and decide i don’t want a standard rock song, i want a euphonium track instead. The album’s called the flight & other stories and the first track is the flight. It’s an 8-minute narrative, a kind of bonnie & clyde story. It’s ambitious and i hope it works. The hard thing is sustaining the interest of the listener because there’s a lot of lyrics. It’s packed full of hooks, though, big chamber-pop being splattered about, hopefully in the right places. What's the idea behind the flight & other stories? Forgive this day was the best of what i’d written up to that point. I’ve since written a lot more. I’ve written some of charlotte’s album as well as my own stuff in the space of a year. So i think the writing is more advanced. The overall idea of the album is ten narratives. I wanted to set it out like a book of short stories. As is my want, they’re in vastly differing styles but i think the album holds itself together well. That’s in spite of there being tracks titled brave captain mallard alongside a song called puppets (laughs). Brave captain mallard is
about a militant duck. It spawned from a new scientist article about a plane that landed safely after some ducks flew into its engine. The article was half-applauding the pilot and half-applauding the physics. But i thought, what about the ducks? So, it’s a revenge song. Puppets is about two puppets who’ve been left in a cupboard for years and so it’s from the perspective of one who never gets taken out and used. And he starts to warm to the idea of sacrificing the other puppet to get out of the cupboard. In terms of production, gethin and i have learnt a lot having worked on sion russell jones album and tom lewis’ material too. We’ve also produced a couple of tracks on charlotte’s album and we soaked up a lot of the skills by just being around people responsible for a pop production. You learn not to be so stringent about what you thought was the way to do it. Tell us more about the recording process for Charlotte's lp… We did the lp in kenseltown studios with martin terefe. The process was brilliant because it was all done live. Me on guitar, sacha skarbek on keys, this amazing scandinavian dude called claes bjorklund who’s just incredible on bass. You’ve got a nashville string quartet, robbie williams’ drummer. And everyone’s just jamming a line. And when you have that many musicians in the room, the bleed you get on all of the microphones is awesome. You get a real room sound.
Are you anxious to see the reception to Ms. Church's release? I’m far more interested in reviews than she is. It’s my writing being reviewed. I’m really proud of it, i think it’s some of my best work. But, you know, i want to see stars (laughs). How are you handling all of the by-proxy fame associated with the charlotte church spotlight? It’s really bemusing. Mainly because most of it’s not true. The way these magazines work is to walk the very fine tightrope of being libellous. They’re so close to being libellous but not close enough to make it worth you suing them. Before i started working with charlotte, i had no interest in these magazines. It’s really bizarre. Part of me is worried that other people will see it as me baiting celebrity, or that i’m not interested in my integrity. But the reason charlotte asked me to write for her album was because she liked my first album and she wanted that style of writing on her own. I honestly don’t believe i’ve sold out in anyway. It is weird, though, when you look on the internet and see these comments pages and people
are really angry about it all. Initially, when it first started happening and i was getting photographed outside of my house, and my mum was being approached, i did have a bit of a meltdown. It’s strange too because i’ve got some kind of renown but for the wrong reasons. Not for the music. Still, they seem to like me at the moment. You also run local label Still Small Voice – how are you finding that? I think we went into running a label without knowing what the hell we were doing, not even knowing what a record label does. Fundamentally, we’re a production company who do self-releases. We’re working it out as we go and finding our way. We’re lucky enough to have the experience of working on charlotte’s album as a model. You learn a lot quite quickly. Beyond that, we’ve got a great little stable with sion russell jones, plus we’re recording tom lewis’ ep and we’re in talks with the ped & joe show. The plans are to get the studio better kitted out, get some income from the releases and move into working on it solidly rather than doing it
all alongside part-time jobs. We’re also thinking of taking on more artists and focussing primarily on eps as you can record those in a week as opposed to months for an album. And there’s still so many people out there in cardiff’s well of talent that i really, really respect and i’d love to work with. Any other plans for the future? Well, we’re launching the album in January both in London and Cardiff, but before that there’s a show in the millennium centre on the 29th November too. But generally it’s all about the album and tuning the band up for the live shows. SMR www.jonathanpowellmusic.com
The MMP November 2010 07
We//Are//Animal
Formed in the bucolic recesses of North Wales almost a year ago, We//Are// Animal have leapt to widespread recognition in the time it takes many to book a rehearsal. Since December 2009, Owain Ginsberg, Dion and Cynyr Hamer, Sion Edwards and Liam Simpson have accumulated accolades from the likes of the BBC and NME, as well as releasing two singles and an album, Idolise, out now on Cargo Records. In the advent of their first birthday, the MMP lights a candle on this well-deserved cake and celebrates the mastery in the mechanics behind this exceptional outfit. For the uninitiated, We//Are//Animal combine the warm, crunchy textures of Eagles Of Death Metal, rigid deep grooves of The Beta Band and the melodic prowess of early Blur - all bound with that characteristic gritty flair that always seems to stem from the North. Recording sessions in slate quarries, abandoned buildings and deep woodland has proven to be fertile breeding ground for this sound, refined and filtered through outstanding production values. Whilst the band attribute their DIY approach to a lack of money, the approach itself is certainly not lacking. The music achieves a distinctive gloss through the raw volatility of its conception. Tracks like Hunting// and Sometime//Someday radiate a mix of echoic flamboyance and reckless swagger, offsetting hol08 The MMP November 2010
low, metallic synths against the harsh grates of the guitars. The drums are phenomenally explosive throughout, sounding like the drumsticks were substituted for a pair of machetes. This month’s download track, Black Magic, opens with a wiry, linear groove, joined swiftly by a jagged guitar line and relentless cowbell throb. The vocals are contorted throughout the verses, swaying, swelling and contracting in the mix. The texture completely inflates for the choruses in a Death In Vegas / Kasabian-like ascent, with Ginsberg bellowing ‘It’s black magic, It’s black magic, You can’t see it cause you’re blind’. To the casual observer, these gents look like most indie bands, sporting suave, seemingly make-
shift gruffness. But assuming this aesthetic translates in musical terms is as ill advised as sensoractivated soap dispensers. For starters, there is nothing makeshift about this band. Underneath the feral rawness informing their name is a profound musical sentience and intelligence that will carry We//Are//Animal from strength to strength. I wouldn’t be so bold as to say the music is the voice of our generation, but it’s certainly a voice our generation should listen to. Words: Sion Trefor Photo: Mitchell’s Pixels FREE DOWNLOAD See Pg 22
The MMP November 2010 09
OK
What with the continuing economic gloom, the predictably depressing weather and the ongoing threat of a neo-conservative holy war sweeping the globe, most folk could be forgiven for feeling slightly down. For one group, however, life is just peachy. Welcome, boys and girls, to the unrelentingly upbeat world of OK.
recorded at London’s famous Mayfair studios. Overseen by Arctic Monkeys and Wombats producer James Lewis, it’s crammed to the gills with sweeping, fast paced musings on life, girls, booze and the joys of laughing like valium filled hyenas. Several BBC sessions further added to the buzz and the key word seems to be ambition. Bucketloads of it.
Their current line up was formed in the cold winter months of 2009. The architects were Joe Paine and Adam Barrah, two men with an apparent love of whooping at gigs and writing cheeky riffs that make most others seem lazy by comparison. Once they added the eloquent guitarist Ollie Miles to their ranks and scooped up drummer Dave Powell from the glowing embers of the Inner City Pirates they were all set to boogie.
Their live shows became riotous affairs with frisky, youthful vitality. It’s their love of the ridiculously catchy, sing-along-even-if-you-don’t-knowthe-words types of tune that has made a name for the band in this old town. They delight in entertaining their dedicated crowd and an OK gig has become something of communion it seems. It’s great fun watching a band heckle an audience!
Their debut album, Under The Weather But Over the Moon, was
Another pleasant side to these self confessed popsters is the respect
010 The MMP November 2010
they show for other local bands on the circuit. They don’t hide their admiration for their peers and that’s as rare as it is heart warming. The fact that for the last year and half of their existence they’ve been managing themselves gives them further credit. They should be seen as fine examples of the do-it-yourself mentality that is becoming more and more feasible as technology evolves. There is, however, no substitute for hard work, determination and a love of going mental onstage. These boys have got it. Their appearance at SWN festival has undoubtedly cemented their status as local boys done good. And quite rightly so, because they bloomin’ well have… Words: Rowan Liggett www.myspace.com/thatbandok
FREE DOWNLOAD See Pg 22
John Rea He studied composition with Alun Hoddinott, CBE . He interviewed Philip Glass in New York and Pierre Boulez in Paris. He composed contemporary dance, recreating Austrian Victorian asylums. He worked with orchestras and turntables and has worked on Mel C’s album, arranged for Florence And The Machine and now has his own studio, The Machinerooms, in Cardiff. So how did Welsh musical maestro, John Rea, get to where he is today? The MMP went to go find out. What did you do after your mmus at cardiff? I was really naive. I turned up to my first meeting with a producer in London with a pile of manuscript under my arm. When he said ‘where’s your demo tape?’ I didn’t have a clue what he meant! Where I got my chops was working with Dave Stewart’s label Anxious Records. The producer worked with the Clash and there was an amazing mix of people. I was almost paralysed with fear in the first session. Holding my own in that sort of environment was quite a learning experience. But I still kept contacts with Cardiff, a short film here, a bit of theatre there, still composing. Is it different writing for Film / TV than doing more traditional composition? Television is very much the world of pastiche because you’re realising other people’s ideas for them. If you’re lucky you forge relationships with people who give you freedom. Television can be quite restrictive but very lucrative because you do things very quickly, but it can be enjoyable when the creativity and the money can come together. It is a necessary evil, but there is an enjoyment in scoring to picture. How did Machinerooms come about? I enjoy the Brian Eno concept of the studio being an instrument in its own right. My formative experiences were in the studio with the freedom to get something perfect. It was the classical mindset in a way, making sure that what is in your head is realised on tape. The enjoyment is in the opportunity to experiment. Other musicians come through Machinerooms as a recording facility, so any potential collaborator could wander through. You can’t work in pure extraction all the time. How have you ended up with ITV Wales? I worked at home for years. To have a place like this keeps you in touch with other musicians. When I’m working for 012 The MMP November 2010
film it also allows me to produce what I do in here to a professional level. I wanted to run it commercially with Nick Palmer, my engineer, and its great to see the bands coming through. Plus it’s a mid-life crisis in studio form as opposed to a Porsche 911! And there are some BAFTAs hanging around… TAFTAs, the Welsh BAFTAs. Working to picture I’ve been very fortunate with the people I’ve met. One was for a contemporary dance project about a company of ablebodied dancers and people with learning difficulties. We created this original work through documentary where I created a live performance piece and then scored the documentary. The second was a project called the Big Picture about visual culture in Wales. The music was more edgy, with a budget to use a small orchestra. I think the originality of the works reflected the originality of the thinking behind the programmes themselves. What effect has the TAFTA had on your career? It brings validity to the work, because you’re voted in by your peers. The winning is neither here nor there, getting to the short list is the more interesting part because it means everyone in the industry is giving their nod of approval to what you do, though it is always nice to win! It does make people aware of you and hopefully it means the phone starts ringing. Any words of wisdom for up-and-coming composers or musicians? Its keeping faith in your ideas I think. Hang on in there and find your voice. Don’t underestimate any opportunity that comes your way and the courage of your convictions to knock on the door. Interview and words: Cinzia Yates Photo: Paul Roberts
“The MMP is a three headed beast with dozens of hearts all forming the little monster you hold in your hands.” In case you missed the fanfare it was our 1st anniversary last month. That’s right, people. The MMP has been blowing into the Cardiff trumpet for a whole year now. You might expect a sense of pride and achievement to come with such a deed. It’s not how you might expect things to be, though. The endless helicopter rides become lonely journeys in an empty, barren sky. The non-stop partying really grates after you find yourself fishing another waiter out of the pool. The stream of gifts and foreign business trips are just shallow highlights in a monotonous avalanche of meaningless praise. Becoming a member of the social elite is utterly overrated and not recommended at all. So we gave it all up. We decided to get back to the essence of running a music magazine. No more easy options. We had to let the child labour go. The MMP is a three-headed beast with dozens of hearts all forming the little monster you hold in your hands. On our way to this exact moment in time we’ve met so many hardworking, decent, music loving folk. We’re surprised there are no plans to make a film starring Kevin Costner about it all. 014 The MMP November 2010
Seriously, you’d be amazed. In these glorious days the streets are packed with eccentric beauty and unexpected talent. In every form you can imagine there is someone, somewhere, dreaming up something only they could think of. And here’s the thing. The chances of these creative types being capable of promoting themselves properly is very slim indeed. They’re just too damn strange. So we all need to listen. We need to appreciate what’s around us and share what we find. We’re in this together, damn it. Anyway, back to the birthday party. Truth be told we can’t recall a huge amount of what happened. Some of the blank spots are undoubtedly alcohol related but most of them stem from a years’ worth of early mornings, late nights and a black sea of coffee and tar. What we do remember is that everyone played like demons that night and we’d very much like to thank everyone who came along. It was thumping! Associated Minds and Starving Artists served up a feast of live hip hop, hoards of you lovely readers filled up the venue and who can forget surely the most drunken raffle in the history of the sport. We offer
heartfelt thanks to our Golden Ticket sponsors who included St David’s Hall, Clwb Ifor Bach, Ten Feet Tall, Gwdihw, The Globe and Buffalo. A special shout goes out to our new friends at Richer Sounds who provided a kick ass iPod dock worth a pretty penny plus some lollies and mugs which were quite unexpected but, never the less, much appreciated. Thanks also to Cardiff Arts Institute for the use of the lovely space too. We look forward to returning there this month with Dr. Meaker in tow to offer a drum ‘n’ bass, soul slamblast for all of you lovely folk. Having moved Michael Eavis to say they were not only “brilliant” but also “fantastic”, it’s clear they emote in a heavily positive way. Having hosted them before this is quite simply bound to be a bathtub of beautiful trinkets. So, a year old…. By the time you pick this up we’ll have produced 140,000 issues of the MMP. Thank you, good people of Cardiff. It’s your victory to share because it’s your music that fills these pages. The MMP xxx
MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS + SPECIAL GUESTS FRI 12TH NOV THE COAL EXCHANGE SOLD OUT This is a 14+ show / Under 16’S accompanied by an adult
ABE VIGODA HUMAN HAIR EFFORT THU 18TH NOV BUFFALO BAR £6 adv
THE WOMBATS TUE 25TH JAN 2011 SOLUS, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS UNION £13adv This is a 14+ show
CW STONEKING BROWNBIRD RUDY RELIC MON 7TH FEB 2011 THE GLOBE
£6 adv
TUES 22ND FEB 2011 THE GLOBE £10 adv promoters of great new music in Cardiff
SWNFEST.COM follow us on twitter@swnfestival
TICKETS FOR SWN SHOWS AVAILABLE FROM THESE OUTLETS: Cardiffboxoffice.com Seetickets.com Wegottickets.com ticketlineuk.com Spillers Records and through the venue websites (please try all outlets as some outlets may be sold out) all shows 7.30pm start unless stated
£10 adv
JONNY JOHNNY FOREIGNER (EUROS STAGECOACH CHILDS + NORMAN LOS CAMPESINOS! BLAKE OF TEENAGE DJS FANCLUB) MON 22ND NOV BUFFALO BAR
EFTERKLANG
www.swnfest.com
TUE 8TH FEB 2011 CLWB IFOR BACH
£10adv
The MMP November 2010 015
Live Reviews
OXJAM Takeover
In Chapters
Womanby Street, 3rd October
Chapter, 6th October
Cardiff’s intra-city Oxjam Takeover festival is in its second year. One wristband enables an enthusiastically transient audience to hop between six venues as they please. The MMP buzzed round Womanby Street to witness some of best and sonically diverse acts our City has to offer.
Spearheaded musically by former Gorky Richard James and literately by Laugharne Festival organizer John Williams, the thematic In Chapters nights have thus far tackled concepts such as trains, beaches, birds and cafés. Tonight saw the regulars and guests wrestle with roads.
Rowan and Sanders opened proceedings on the Peches Mignon / MMP stage, charming festival-goers with rousing, thoughtful, acoustica proceeded by the brass infused carnival beats of New Exhibition Of Noise who drew a sizable crowd sustained by Under The Driftwood Tree’s brand of laid back bohemia. In Revolution, Bethan Elfyn presented a stripped down lesson in song craft from Houdini Dax, whilst Associated Minds and Starving Artists drew fervent lovers of hip-hop and modern beat to see Afro Cluster bring smooth home-grown sounds back to the city. Taint’s last Cardiff show as local metallic royalty was reliably raucous preceded by ready-made touch bearers Shaped By Fate. Whilst back in Dempseys, eccentric noisey indie synthesisers Bensh performed a typically intelligent set. This reviewer’s night concluded with Word Virus Essay’s characteristically atmospheric live electronica and a sweat-box cacophony of soul from The Method. Raising over £2000 for charity and illustrating the unrivalled strength of our neighbourhood’s residents the Oxjam takeover was once again a success and the good work does not end here. There are various other opportunities to get involved with organised events all around Cardiff. See the website for details. MP (Photo by: Christophe Berthelot) www.oxjam.co.uk 016 The MMP November 2010
Interspersing spoken narratives and poems with outstanding musical interludes, the overall effect was of erudite enlightenment. The metaphorical deployment of the topic was most obvious in Holly Muller’s story relaying the awkwardness of teenage sexual awakenings when far from home. Moving and humorous, it very much embodied the spirit of the evening. Richard James and the house band brought forth two fine contributions of their own, opening the evening with characteristic aplomb. Indeed, the musical contributions were revelatory. Rhodri Viney performed a pristine slab of achingly introspective melancholy, sonically recreating the experience of driving across the country for the sake of love. Jemma Roper’s Velvet Underground-esque electric offering provided a considerable shift away from the subdued ambience into relative freak-out territory, but it worked incredibly well. And Eugene Capper’s technically intricate tradfolk track, basking in warm banjo, emotively surmised the uncertainty of the open road. Aside from that, each story and poem delivered, particularly when accompanied by the experimental shuffle of the backing band. From Rhys Thomas’ tale of the road of bones in Stalin’s Russia, through to the beat-jazz poetry of Peter Finch and John Williams’ own rambling, road-based life story– the quality was exceptionally high. The next one of these is in December with a Christmas theme. If you’re after intelligent, literate and mentally engaging entertainment, I’d recommend buying a ticket. SMR www.chapter.org
RECORD DISCOUNTS ON BLOCK BOOKINGS
PRACTICE DRUM KIT, PA & AMPS INCLUDED
Live Reviews
BBC National Orchestra
Funhouse
BBC Hoddinott Hall, 13th October
The Claude, 9th October
On 13th October 2010, the BBC’s rehearsal and recording venue, Hoddinott Hall, witnessed the first of two composer portraits as an opening to the new season of concerts. The featured composer was Michael Jarrell, whose spectral composition style was well-served both by the fine orchestra and the excellent acoustics.
Ska has reached the level of the holy since its birth. It’s been the soundtrack to post colonial pain, Thatcher hating, general civil unrest and some serious pork pie hat wearing. With all this in mind, the MMP found itself in the Claude pub in Roath waiting for local 8 piece ska merchants Funhouse to take to the stage.
The first piece, rather pretentiously named ‘un long fracas somptueux de rapide céleste’ (‘a long, sumptuous din of celestial rapids’) was a concerto for percussion played with virtuoso aplomb by the gifted Florent Jodelet. The sheer range of instruments used by him was bewildering - the assembly he used taking two men over 10 minutes to remove! Despite Jodelet’s undoubted musicality, however, the piece came across as a series of moments and textures without structure or substance. Next was a solo violin performance of ‘Prisme’, a reworking by Jarrell of a piece he composed originally for violin and orchestra called ‘prisme/incidences’. The orchestra’s leader, Lesley Hatfield, attacked the piece with gusto, but could not disguise the fact that it was devoid of form, theme or beauty. The final, purely orchestral piece, ‘le ciel, tout à l’heure encore si limpide, soudain se trouble horriblement’ (‘the sky, recently clear, suddenly becomes horribly murky’), was as impressive in its range of ear-catching sounds as it was uncompromising in its refusal to resolve its persistent atonality. Overall, this concert gave an impression of the orchestra as a caged beast, capable of startling and beautiful sounds, but yearning to be set free with a melody to soar above the textures. DRB www.bbc.co.uk/now 018 The MMP November 2010
When they do they waste precious little time in getting down to business. In fact they deploy a shockand-awe approach. A huge wave of brass envelops the gathered throng, keys tinkle, the bass throbs like an angry anaconda stuffed into a sofa. Although it seems unfair to single out an individual in a group this willing to help one another, it has to be said that Ian Elmer can blow merry hell into a tenor sax. Collectively they look like a group of diamond thieves, bank robbers or possibly even musicians. Prior to the show the MMP learned that they’ve written 40 or so of their own numbers. Such is their skill, it became impossible to distinguish their own material from the choice covers they dropped into the set. The good people of Roath and beyond became a frenzied mass of knee-jerking happiness. Any band that value entertaining an audience as much as these boys deserve special credit. They engage their crowd with a larger than life approach to instrument wielding and their enthusiasm is contagious. As the pace of the evening increases men and women in shades begin strutting up and down the front of the stage without a care in the world. Brilliant. This reviewer was lucky enough to see both Madness and The Specials earlier in the summer and Funhouse genuinely match them in terms of sheer fun. It seems a genre of music that nourishes life itself, like it was a direct line to the part of the brain that just wants to smile. RJL www.myspace.com/funhousecardiff
Releases
CAPTAIN ACCIDENT Pick up The Microphone
3.9
High expectations stalk Pick Up The Microphone. Already a well-respected figure on the circuit, Adam Parsons, a.k.a Captain Accident’s brand of reggae-and-related has received a categorically warm reception on most fronts. Fortunately, the album sustains enough musical legitimacy and depth to avoid the scorn of purists, as well as tempting fresh ears to the genre. Bob Marley is a patent cornerstone, but there are palpable traces of Dennis Brown, The Paragons and even The Ethiopians in the instrumentation, revealing Accident’s sharp learning and aptitude for the music. Generally, the sounds are spot on, though a frequently under-emphasized bass leaves a regrettable void in the mix, with an occasionally disproportionate blatancy in the offbeat guitar stabs. However, standout tracks like Rippin’ Apart The Pieces, Another Evening and 20 Pence betray a massive flair for vocal writing, with addictive hooks that’ll echo in your inner hearing for weeks. ST www.myspace.com/captainaccident
WHITE NOISE SOUND White Noise Sound
4.8
Tipped as the greatest of the latest to emerge from our wonderful country, Swansea’s White Noise Sound have operated below the radar for a while, refining their exceptional breed of psych-noise. Rarely have I been as thrilled to experience music like this. The self-titled album executes hypnotic ambient washes, warm synth interludes and blaring wall-of-sound drive with blistering mastery. Sunset and Blood pound away like the booming lovechild of Joy Division and The Jesus And Mary Chain, whilst the absolutely dazzling synth work on Blood (Reprise) and Fires In The Still Sea pools influence from the likes of Cluster and Tangerine Dream at their best. With the addition of sparse, gifted lyricism and accomplished string / woodwind cadenzas, White Noise Sound have created tunes and textures tantamount to sheer brilliance. For all psych-addicts and synth junkies, this’ll be the one of the best fixes you’ll get this year. ST www.myspace.com/whitenoisesound
THE MOLES The Future Sounds of Ashton
4.1
The Moles have the telepathic ability to beam psychedelic music into receptive individuals frontal lobe. This music was made by utilising this brainbeam. Or so says The Moles’ Myspace blurb. No prizes for guessing that the band are disciples of the type of psychedelia that was en vogue forty years ago. As a genre it has largely rescinded into the mists of time but when it’s played with the conviction displayed here it comes over as a perfectly valid soundtrack for our strange ConDem times. Lyricist and lead singer Brin Davies never takes himself too seriously and can switch between sounding like Syd Barrett one minute and Viv Stanshall of Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band in the turn of a stanza. There is a retro freshness to this album which manages to be both weird and familiar at the same time, and with titles like Neptune’s Beard and Brain Garden to whet your appetite you’d be a fool not to break open your afghan coat and tie-dyed kaftan and give The Moles a fair hearing. BB www.myspace.com/themolesuk
ZEPHER Zepher EP
3.6 Drawing influences from rock ‘n’ roll greats such as Aerosmith, Bon Jovi and Guns ‘N’ Roses, relatively new Cardiff four-piece Zepher offer up an energetic, lively and confident first E.P. Brand New Day is a killer riffed out number, with upbeat vocals and buoyant harmonies. Too Hot To Handle has a harder, more bluesy feel, and Things Are Gonna Change continues the riff-based coolness and toe-tapping grooves. Produced by Marc Dowding (Lady Sovereign, The Binary Kids) this EP is a punchy, self- assured introduction to the band. Whilst their overall sound is an eclectic mix of days-gone-by rock and a homage to their favourite bands, Zepher seem to have a knack of making it their own and giving it a refreshed, youthful and lively spin. A hit with the crowds at live performances and a solid fan base to boot, Zepher are certainly a band to watch for the future. BJ www.myspace.com/zepheruk
BRIAN HUMPHREYS Holy Water
4.2
Music and production is a tool through which a landscape is open for interpretation. Holy Water is a semi-autobiographical document for Humphrey’s worldly experiences and knowledge in which lonesome illustrative lyrics hark back to classical Americana, this album is adorned with nostalgic collage artwork in which Bazooka Bubblegum wrappers, Top Cat, vintage Scooters and Roy of the Rovers iconography are used to document the life and times of Brian Humphreys. Despite this Holy Water avoids alienating, hyperbolic introspection, the title track is accomplished lonesome and wistful acoustica reminiscent of John Fogerty and dusty, small town American suitcase and guitar folk whilst Fleet’s subtle instrumentation acts as a sturdy canapé for Humphrey’s sleepy croon. Ultimately, Holy Water’s weakness is reflected in its strength and while Humphreys wantonly draws upon his influences in a passionate and tasteful manner the music can sound somewhat timeworn and pastiche in places, though lacking in originality Holy Water is a highly entertaining and rewarding listen. MP www.myspace.com/brianhumphreysmusic
INFERNO Welcome To The Lion’s Den
3.7
Holyhead’s very own hardcore rockers Inferno bring some white knuckle rock ‘n’ roll to their debut album. The album kicks off with The Lion’s Den; a mad, bad and crazy heavy rock track, which drags you kicking and screaming into their musical lair. Veni Vidi Veci, their catchy first single, is full of lyrical dexterity and tough harmonies. Clairvoyant is a bass heavy, introverted track, and along with The Hand Is Quicker Than The Eye and Breaking The Pact, Inferno take a deeper, more reflective approach and offer up tales of regret and despair with a glimmer of hope. Having been labelled the Welsh Queens Of The Stone Age, it’s hard not to dismiss Inferno as just another over produced metal band, but it is clear this Welsh power trio are nothing of the sort; producing powerful, no- frills and no-nonsense rock, with raw guts and energy rarely found in today’s market. BJ www.myspace.com/infernorockband
020 The MMP November 2010
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC & HIS THREE FUNKY BEANS Anachronarchaic
Releases 2.7
At 13 tracks and 50 minutes of music, it’s difficult to ascertain whether this tongue-twistingly titled CD is an extended demo or a rushed release. Starting with jangly, sometimes staccato, guitars reminiscent of The Smiths but tracing a funk line loosely followed by early Chilli Peppers, Anachronarchaic does throw up some moments of rock quality. Body Of Water shows off Alun Williams’ ripping vocals very well, like a 70s stadium band pomping up Wembley. Calorie showcases a slightly tenderer mood and suggests at greater diversity and broader capabilities. Yet for every great track there is at least one that could have been cut through tighter quality control. Wake Up, It’s Saturday, for instance, dances dangerously within sub-par Maroon 5 territory and the swamp-rock of Blatantly, while entertaining riff-wise seems over-complicated lyrically compared to the rawness of its backing. Overall, this is a rather sprawling release but one that occasionally hints at something genuinely excellent. SMR www.myspace.com/captainfantasticandhisthreefunkybeans
SEAGULL KINEVIL To Insanity & Beyond
3.7
So. Where do I begin? I think everything you need to know about this album can be summed up by the appearance of a cover version of Ram Jam’s Black Betty, but with the lyrics ‘whoah, black lemons, banana man!’ With such an amazing band name and a CD cover that looks like something from an American spiritualist revival I’m not sure what else I should have expected. Something tells me that Seagull Kinevil listened to Ummagumma, Black Sabbath, Splodgenessabounds, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and were then inspired by The Darkness to start their own act. It is all rather well done, and the band are evidently very talented and skilled musicians. However, as a collection of songs it doesn’t necessarily hang together as an album. Such an eclectic mix of styles certainly keeps it entertaining, but I can imagine this band would make more sense live than on CD. CAY www.myspace.com/valleum
CAKEHOLE PRESLEY Look After Your Chihuahua
4.0
Anyone who’s been in Cardiff for any prolonged length of time, and has a vague interest in music, has some form of relationship with Cakehole Presley. And to start things honestly, the MMP collectively loves them. With I Wish, the album opener, they have created as perfect a mining of the process of guilt as we have ever heard, transforming it into a country-folk anthem along the way. Their diverse approach takes them to Police doing Gram Parsons (Small Potatoes), through the cinematic Kula Shaker-esque Back Inside before taking a scenic picnic outside of Blonde On Blonde-era Dylan (Gotta Know Your Name). Weirdly, Cakehole Presley’s impeccable live reputation may serve to their detriment as listening to these tracks without the familiar, joyful sweaty mist seemed like a slightly unsatisfying echo – Skippin’ Clouds particularly. Nevertheless, even a vaguely unsatisfying Cakehole Presley can trump most of the young upstarts throwing their Goddamn weight around. SMR www.myspace.com/cakeholepresley
COLORAMA Box
4.8 When the MMP puts its ear to the rumbling ground of the city, Colorama consistently emerge as a band for whom great things are expected. Last year’s Magic Lantern Show was an extraordinary piece of folk-pop and with Box, Carwyn Ellis, has surpassed his own high standards. Box opens the album proper dancing mysteriously between lyrical nostalgia and subtle melodicism. This unsurpassable songcraft continues as the foundation for what is an astounding record. The Welsh tracks, Mynydd Hud and particularly Pan Ddaw’r Nos, are notable for the effortless, poetic manner in which Ellis deploys his native tongue. And the Ray Davies-esque Apocalypse Blues or late Beatlesinfused Candy Street are classic, timeless numbers jittering with a perfect reflection of pop history. This is a rare LP of authentic, global quality that draws on all manner of influences to present something of unreserved poise. If it’s not a breakthrough, the MMP will chew off its nipples. Go. Buy. Now. SMR www.myspace.com/coloramasound
DETACHED None The Wiser
4.2 I didn’t know what to expect from the cover of this latest brief offering from Detached. The well-designed and executed cover design implies some sort of Japanese fantasy drama involving a bison and a crocodile. What I didn’t expect on this cold and wet October evening was a little slice of energising summer blasting out of my speakers. None The Wiser is six tracks of high-octane nu-punk two-tone loveliness. One of the only real criticisms I could have of it is that it is relentless and exhausting. But, a good bit of skanking keeps you going! The performances are tight and well executed, although the mix could do with bringing the vocals forward a little. Teeth Rattling Boneshaker was my personal favourite, and I couldn’t stay in my seat. Rid Of It’s opening guitar riff was a little disappointing for a final track – a little pedestrian – but otherwise a great EP. CAY www.myspace.com/detachedska
THEY WALK AMONG US Monkey In A Chicken Pen
3.3
They Walk Among Us may have shifted to a three-piece but not at the detriment of the noise. Saying that, while there are all of the components of rock here, they are definitely tuned to the cleaner end of the spectrum. At points, the comparison to Everything Must Go-era Manics is so tangible, you feel it standing before you, screaming in your face, particularly so on Full Stop and Hate Mail. But, ultimately, its advanced pop melodicism that firmly underpins everything – so, while What If has abundant riffed up ampage, underneath there’s the sense Paul McCartney a consultant. Richard Proctor’s growling baritone is a driving force and there are engaging incorporations of synths into many tracks – the epic My Name Is God and Stones, Sinner and the excellent I Push You Pull. Yet, in spite of these promising moments, there’s something almost too squeakily clean about Monkey In A Chicken Pen, when not flowing in throttle. SMR www.myspace.com/theywalkamongus
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SONIC BOOM SIX Rude Awakening
4.2 Sonic Boom Six seem to dip their musical fingers into many pies with everything they do, resulting in an album that literally has it all, at least in terms of punk and ska anyway. Effortlessly flirting between reggae, ska-punk, hip hop, and flat out punk rock, their musical catchiness is reinforced by irresistible vocal styles reminiscent of the Transplants, churning out lyrics that stick in your head for days after. Musically speaking, this is the hyper-diverse cousin of UK ska-punk icons King Prawn. If anything was to detract from this record, it would be the fact that it covers almost too much ground, making for a fairly disjointed affair that can fluctuate between musical styles with no prior warning within seconds. Put that fact aside however, and what you have is a record that has done astounding job mixing so many musical elements. Definitely one to recommend. JP www.myspace.com/sonicboomsix
DEWI GRIFFITHS Why Dewi Quit The Call Centre
PORTALS Know Your Flags
4.4
This release from guitarist Dewi Griffiths comprises 9 songs of exquisite technicality, impassioned playing and genuine beauty. The stomping Zombie Pirates begins the affair with Griffiths’ growing aggression becoming paramount as the track climaxes. Kevin’s Room is more plaintive and reflective with greater space given to the tremulous classical guitar. At points, the guitarwork is so fantastic you would be mistaken for thinking Sun Kil Moon were being chucked out from your iTunes by accident. Or Bert Jansch. Llywelyn particularly starts with an intro so complex it makes the mind boggle and maintains the same pace throughout. Some of the songs are rather long. This isn’t a complaint as such, as Griffiths dedicates a great deal of craft towards shades and tones so as to provide scope for mood development. Nevertheless, those wishing for a more involved listening experience would find the 7 minutes of Totem quite tiring. Overall, though, this is beautiful work. SMR
3.2 This new project from South Walian electro manipulator Rob Morgan (aka Lifting Gear Engineer) is like a time capsule sent from the future so as to soothe the progress towards the inevitable robot takeover. Proclaiming to be robot-rock and with all the bleeps, beats and synths to back it up, there are some genuine moments of technological emotion seeping through. Though charting a path not too dissimilar to Daft Punk and Air, the overall effect comes across as a great deal more dreamlike and psychedelic than many of their contemporaries – particularly on opener Onwards. The theme and vibe of the EP is certainly consistent but could perhaps benefit from greater variation with Curtain Times and Know Your Flags both being excellent tracks, but both also sounding rather similar to one another. Overall, though, if this is what the androids are digging in 2337, then who are we at the MMP to argue with that? Interesting stuff. SMR www.myspace.com/portalsuk
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022 The MMP November 2010
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Single Reviews HEY! TONIGHT Don’t Let It Get To You
JJ SNEED Gobaith / Hope
With Hey! Tonight cancelling all gigs until late December, fans of the valleys combo could be forgiven for feeling some slight unease for their future. Hopefully the band will be as good as their word and come back stronger and with a new set list to set pulses racing. Until then we must content ourselves with this single. New frontman Alun Reynolds’ strident vocals give a grungy edge to proceedings and the band’s frenetic take on the post-punk rock sound is never less than convincing. If you like your music loud, sinewy and sweaty keep your fingers crossed that Hey! Tonight re-emerge as the fully formed band that they promise to be on this airing. BB www.myspace.com/heytonightuk
HAIL! THE PLANES Brother, I’m Sinking
BENSH Doubt
Though billed as a 2-track album it would seem unfair to treat it with an extended review as opposed to a double single. That said, Hail! The Planes deserve tomes to be written about them. Their wickedly enchanting postfolk, when featured in the MMP some months ago, caused us to exclaim to the world their unending brilliance. This follow-up to Tree Creeper & Other Songs proves again why we got so excited. Spirit Of Eden Talk Talk-style minimalism collapses into bruising Dirty Three or Tortoise style instrumentality. Endlessly ambient and ever so assured, they are, without doubt, one of THE bands to wax lyrical about in Cardiff. SMR hailtheplanes.bandcamp.com
Download Society One thing that has become increasingly obvious running the MMP website is that our spirit of inclusivity was compromised by many of the population’s struggle to spell the word miniature. We heard your feedback and now we present to you our freshly re-launched online environment - www.themmp.tv - the new Soundcloud interface means that being a privileged part of our Download Society has never been more simple. Sign up and get the best tracks from our featured artists and occasional extraneous giveaways. This month we have the songwriting virtuosity of Jonathan Powell, the pop-indie stylings of OK and the mighty fine psych-rock of We//Are//Animal all offering their services for your aural entertainment.
Ambient trance isn’t really this reviewer’s thing. Saying that, JJ Sneed’s take on the washed-out synth and strong bass / beats aspect of dance is undoubtedly effective. So much so, it’s hard not to be moved into motion as the drums come back in at around 2 minutes in. The structure, form and drive of the tune are immediately pressed to the listener which leaves one in no little doubt as to what one is meant to be doing. Big fish, little fish, put it in a box. Listening to it in your living room on an October night, though, is far from the beaches of Ibiza. For what it is, though, this is sterling stuff and well worth a listen. SMR www.myspace.com/jjsneedmusic
Our review of Bensh’s Clues in last month’s MMP expressed vast euphoria at the skewed pop songwriting and continental imagination. It’s no surprise, then, that we also love this single, the first track from said release. Bensh have the capability to make melancholy and uncertainty transform into something rather beautifully upbeat. Sprayed mandolin riffs, impressive percussive pounding, electro-squelch-synths clinch together to form an unmitigated success of a track. Perhaps the finest element of is Benjamin-Zsolt Zombori’s European vocal that treads the line between wide-eyed naivety and an assured authenticity. These guys are the real deal and are proving it with every release. SMR www.myspace.com/benshmusic
www.themmp.tv
This Month’s Free Tracks:
1. JONATHON POWELL - PUPPETS 2. WE//ARE//ANIMAL - BLACK MAGIC 3. OK - PERFECT WORLD
The MMP November 2010 023
Kaptin’s Column
So it seems that last month was the best in a while for attendance to shows that veered off from the usual brand of blandness. Could it be that the latest influx of students are actually relatively clued up or more open minded than some of their predecessors? Or is it possible that the city’s resident music adventurers spent their summer in festivals and have now returned to take their fill from the fine pick of events that have been on offer recently. All of which I might hasten to add, I told you nothing about. Maybe I should keep schtum about the other upcoming goodies being readied for Cardiff this Month, such as Bassnectar (Clwb Ifor Bach), Cooly G, Shortstuff (Cardiff Arts Inst) and James Blake (Buffalo), all of which I would probably have to class as unmissable outings.
Well, whatever has caused this shift, it is most welcome. Now if only some of you acts out there could be just as accommodating I’d be happy. Don’t get me wrong on this, I love hunting down tunes and certainly don’t expect everything to come to me, but sometimes I have to admit that, when I’m drowning in the amount of incredible new releases that have flooded my eardrums from outside of Wales over the past month (Rustie, Mount Kimbie, Raffertie, Hostage, Gaslamp Killer, Dam Mantle, Lazer Sword, etc. I could honestly go on for days on simply naming the acts alone), sometimes it would be nice for some of you guys to shove your releases in my face from time to time (even better if you can actually make them amazing first). You can find me on Facebook (Kaptin Cai), on Twitter (@kaptinisdead), even on the old email (kaptin@cardiffartsinstitute.org), admittedly all three is sometimes best, or of course you can generally find me nodding my bearded head at the nights I talk about here. With that in mind there have been some great tracks flung my way from right under my nose, these include STD, a fantastic addition (or is that return?) to the city, with a great Future Garage / Post Dubstep style plus my compadre Monky, who undoubtedly remains the king of this flavour and honestly keeps on getting even more outrageously better by the second. His track, ‘Train Wreck’ has been signed to Heavy Artillery, whilst his estranged partner in crime Stagga has had 3 tunes signed to Starkey’s Slit Jockey label, big news indeed. Elsewhere Diddy has many amazing Future Garage tracks ready to unleash, Ital Lion has been going from strength to strength, CRST have been in bed with Herve for some Cheap Thrills action and Ming has returned to Young NRG for another dose of dirt. All this plus the next generation are rising fast and you should definitely be keeping an eye out for Astroid Boys + Dell, Rollo and Esoterra Dubstep, Exotope, Melo and LDG. More about all of them next month I’m sure but until then…
Cardiff Rising Hip Hop Hooray Ho Hay Ho Hay Ho etc Yeah. So. I don’t wanna put too much emphasis on battles because not everyone’s interested in that but I stay watching the best ones and if you find originality and talent anywhere you should talk about it right? A hungry and focused spitter called Stowaway has been stowed away, stroking the page, honing his rage at opponents for days and you should watch Stowaway vs Pendragon on youtube. He’s that level above the average fuck your mum, fuck your sister, I fucked your girl battle rapper and Pendragon’s heavy too so it’s a good match up - some fresh blood in the field of lyrical emcees, which is what I wanna see. I think this is an era of intelligence so that’s what I look for most in artists, as long as they’re good. Whatever that is. Associated Minds organised a video shout for the new Dubbledge & Metabeats track I See You this month, which meant a big squad of us got to stand around on City Road feeling cool. The track is a tight breakdown of the codes police used for racial profiling and Edge’s intelligence (there’s that word again) mixed with Metabeats’ soul is a combination that could work for a whole album if they wanted to. To prove that a little, listen to the other track they did that we’ve just released called The Making Of A Slave. It’s intelligent. You can get it as a FREE download at dubbledge.bandcamp.com. That’s what’s up. And the other thing that’s whassup is the Ryan Andrews video for Genik Riddim by Skamma & Joe Blow, produced by Stagga, which I talked bout a few issues back. This tune is too raw and the video will be a mix of style and pole dancers. That’s all I’m saying for now, talk done. Peace and RIP to Eyedea
bigLOVE, Kaptin
........ .... www.myspace.com/ruffstylz .... www.twitter.com/ruffstylz
.... Twitter: @kaptinisdead / www.chromekids.com Photo by: Paul Roberts
Photo by: Dan Green
024 The MMP November 2010
thedairycardiff.com The Dairy was created to showcase the exceptional work and products of high end designers and suppliers showcasing them to prospective buyers in a designed, working environment. We provide a platform for talented designers and artists to exhibit and sell their work. We hold catalogues and portfolios to enable our creative central sales individual to supply potential clientele with any further information if required. We buy and sell antique furniture or sell pieces for you for a commission basis. If on the off chance you can’t find what you are looking for, please ask for assistance and we can source it for you. 200 Kings Rd Pontcanna Cardiff CF11 9DF T.029 2023 3887 enquiries@thedairycardiff.com
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Club Listings
10 Feet Tall Regulars Every Monday - Late Night Live, 8pm, £TBC * Live music upstairs with new music and party tunes in the bar Every Tuesday - Insider Sound, 10pm, £4 / £3 * Old funk meets modern hip-hop-mashups and dancefloor fillers, oh hell yeah Every Wednesday - Zouklambada!, 8:30pm, £6 * Weekly dance class followed by.. Every Wednesday - Boom Boom Boutique, 10pm, FREE * Bass-blowing, booty-shakin’ party beats and cocktail deals too Every Thursday - On The Rocks, 10pm, FREE * Classic rock and alternative mash-ups with party riffs and guitar anthems too Every Friday - Hustle, 6pm, FREE b4 10 * Classic funk, soul, future jazz, roots, Motown and disco Every Saturday - Me And You Club, 8pm, FREE b4 10 * Good-time indie weekend floor fillers courtesy of legend Mike TV Every Sunday - 10 Feet Tall Sunday Social, 8pm, FREE * Alternative party mash-ups from DJs Greg Ramshackle and Steve French Specials 1st November - Panel 9 from Outer Space, 8:30pm, £3 * Top notch comedy night from those crazy Panel 9 cats 22nd November - Doctor Who - The Quiz of Rassilon, 7:30pm, £2 * Doctor Who themed quiz night 27th November - Vintage Pretty Fair, 12pm, FREE * Afternoon market of vintage clothing, jewellery and accessories 29th November - Bright Club, 8pm, £TBC * Brand new comedy night brought to us by Cardiff University
411 Regulars
Mix of classic R&B and soul Every Saturday - So Funked, 9pm, FREE before midnight * Mix of smooth grooves and hip hop Specials 2nd November - Pukka Up in association with Pacha, 9pm, £TBC * The Ibiza experience bought to 411 by the UK’s top House promoter 11th November - Funny Business, 9pm, £TBC * Three of the UK’s hottest young comedians perform live on stage 13th November - J Holiday, 9pm, £TBC * US R&B superstar J Holiday performs
roasts, exhilarating quizzes, newspaper collages, board games and some kickin’ DJs
Every Tuesday - Buffalo Live, 8pm, Upstairs: Prices vary. Downstairs: FREE * Showcase of the best promoters, DJs and bands along with visuals, giveaways and drink offers
Specials
Every Wednesday - Blender, 8pm, Upstairs: Prices vary. Downstairs: FREE * Unique mash up of music, pop culture and fashion Every Thursday - Sugardrop, 8pm, Upstairs: Prices vary. Downstairs: FREE * New live music, jump-up beats, VJs, breaks and all manner of marvellous things
26th November - Lemar, 9pm, £TBC * See Clubs of the Month
Every Friday - Bumper, 8pm, Upstairs: Prices vary, Downstairs: FREE * Electro and party anthems
ClubOfTheMonth
Every Saturday - Beatbox Ballroom, 8pm, Upstairs: Prices vary. Downstairs: FREE * Weekly mix of soul and hip hop
LEMAR
411 has pulled off a bit of a coup with this one. The Fame Academy star turned serious British soul sensation is shuttling on down to the club to give an exclusive rendition of his hits. He may be a tad cheesy. But who doesn’t love cheese? 411 26th November
Bar Icon Regulars Every Monday - You’re The DJ, 12am-12pm, FREE * Free to play jukebox all day Every Wednesday - Midweek Mayhem, 6pm, FREE * Dirtcheap offers on drinks all night Every Friday - Weekend Warmup., 6pm, FREE * Chart, pop and dance music, with drink offers aplenty Every Saturday - The BIG nite-out, 6pm, FREE * Mix of offers and music to get you ready for Saturday night Every Sunday - Sunday Nite Chill-out, 6pm, FREE * Openjukebox night for you to wind down the weekend to
Every Tuesday - So Freaky, 9pm, FREE before midnight * R&B, Funky house and dance classics
Buffalo
Every Friday - So Seductive, 9pm, FREE before midnight *
Every Monday - Buffalo Live, 8pm, Upstairs: Prices vary.
026 The MMP November 2010
Downstairs: FREE. * Jen Long and guest DJs play a selection of new music
Regulars
Every Sunday - House Party, 8pm, Upstairs: Prices vary, Downstairs: FREE * Guest DJs and promoters every week to give a variety of the latest new music Specials 1st November - Movember, ALL MONTH, FREE * Buffalo, 10FT and Undertone extend to you a challenge to see how long you can grow your moustache in the name of The Prostate Cancer Charity 1st to 7th November - National Sausage Week, FREE * The noble sausage is celebrated by, well, eating it one expects
Café Jazz Regulars Every Saturday - 9pm, £TBC * Resident DJs play a selection of the finest jazz
Cardiff Arts Institute Regulars Every Tuesday - Come Dancing / Life Drawing Tuesdays, 7pm, £5 / £4 * Weekly CAI dancing event - lindy hop, swing, hip-hop and tango are all to be encountered - £4. Alongside it runs a weekly life drawing session for local artists - £5 donation Every Sunday - The Sunday Project, 12pm, FREE * Sunday
12th November - Future Fridays Presents Shortstuff, 9pm, £4 - FREE * A leading light in the ‘post’ dubstep world takes his fine tunes to CAI Friday 26th November - Future Fridays & City Bass Present Cooly G, 9pm, £4 / £3 after 11pm, £2 / FREE b4 * One of the fastest rising female UK house producers pays us a visit to show off her magnificent dubs
Cardiff Student’s Union Regulars Every Monday - Fun Factory @ Cardiff Student’s Union, 9pm, £4 - FREE * See Clubs of the Month
ClubOfTheMonth
FUN FACTORY
Based in Solus, this rampagingly raucous alternative night is renowned for its boozy vibe and good-time atmosphere. Fantastic DJs play alongside live bands in other rooms. Cheap drink offers too, though this is a student only place. Solus Every Monday Every Tuesday - FAIL!, 10pm, £4-£3 * Awesomely named clubnight featuring a range from techno to dubstep Every Wednesday - The Lash - 10pm, £3.50 - £3 * Weekly clubnight that has a different theme every week Every Friday - Boombox 10pm, £1.50 * All things pop, from wonky-pop to synth and electro-pop Every Saturday - ComePlay - 10pm, £4.50 - £4 * Club classics and chart music in the Union’s busiest night Specials 16th November - C-Y-N-T Presents... Rusko, 10pm, £7 * C-Y-N-T host a special DJ set from Dubstep producer Rusko in Solus
REHEARSAL SPACE*
4 Hour Session £25
Includes: Drum Kit // Bass Amp // Guitar Amp PA // Mics & Stands *newly renovated
POSTER PRINTING
RECORDING STUDIO
Graphic Design Service please call to discuss
£80 Per Day Includes full day recording session, with additional day’s mixing at no extra cost!
Special Offer
3 Track EP/Demo Recorded & Mixed & 50 x Promo CDs Only £180
Full Colour Printing 100 x A4 £30 100 X A3 £45
CD DUPLICATION
CD Duplication with
Full Colour On-body Print
50 x On Spindle £49 100 x On Spindle £89 Other packaging availble please call to discuss
Kings Road Art Studios, 183a Kings Road, Cardiff, CF11 9DF Email: studio@seemonkeydomonkey.com Tel: 07972720360 / 07780 574873
www.seemonkeydomonkey.com
The MMP November 2010 027
Club Listings
Cougar Lounge Regulars Every Wednesday - 9pm, £TBC * DJ Raheem plays the latest R&B Every Thursday - 9pm, £TBC * DJs CT & Hilly from Radio Cardiff play the best urban music Every Friday - 10pm, £TBC * Featuring house-DJ DJ Tubs of Radio Cardiff fame spinning out all of the hites Every Saturday 9pm, £TBC * Resident DJ Paddy (Radio Cardiff) plays his selection of classic hits and well-known wonders
Club X Regulars Every Friday - 10pm, FREE before 10, £10 After * Pop, funky house, trance and everything in between Every Saturday - 10pm, FREE before 10, £5 After * Chart music, R&B, electro and pretty much all borders between there and here
Every Saturday - Vinyl Vendettas / Dirty Pop / Mr Potter’s Proper Disco, 10pm, £5 * Three floors of indie, soul, Motown, pop, and loads, loads more
and new
Specials
Every Tuesday - 10pm, FREE * DJ Jay plays a variety of cheese, party anthems and big hits
5th November - Aperture, 10:30pm, £7 / £5 * Return to form from one of the longerrunning bass-heavy club nights that are littered across Cardiff 12th November - C-Y-N-T Afterparty, 10pm, £5 * Electronic clubnight powerhouse returns for a Friday special 19th November - Aperture, 10:30pm, £7 / £5 * More bass than you can shake a stick at 26th November - Neuropol, 10:30pm, £7-£5 * Neuropol gets their turn to bring the bass to Clwb on Fridays
The Crockerton Regulars Every Monday - Sunday, 9pm, FREE * DJs playing all the dancefloor classics and latest hits through to 2am
Dempsey’s
Clwb Ifor Bach
Regulars
Regulars
Every Saturday - Twisted By Design, 9pm - 2am. £TBC * One of Wales’ finest alternative nights upstairs in Dempsey’s and the spawn of many of today’s highly regarded indie icons such as Los Campesinos!
Every Tuesday - Just Dance 10:30pm, £3 * Weekly mix of pop, rock, R&B and more Every Wednesday - Listen up! 9:30pm, £3 * 3 floors of Indie, electro, cheese and disco Every Thursday - C-Y-N-T, 10.30pm, £4 * Without doubt, Wales’ biggest midweek rave Every Friday - ?? - 10.30pm, £4.50 - £3.50. * See Clubs of the Month
ClubOfTheMonth
??
Clwb’s flagship indie clubnight continues to flourish with it’s mammoth three floors of non-stop humdinger tuneage. Always rammed and sweaty and full of that wonderfully sticky booze floor vibe that only a proper night out can truly have. Clwb Ifor Bach Every Friday 028 The MMP November 2010
Exit Club
Flares Regulars
Every Wednesday - Put On Your Party Pants, 9pm, FREE * See Clubs of the Month
ClubOfTheMonth
PUT ON YOUR PARTY PANTS
There was once a time where you could get neon pants with the word “Party Pants” written across the bum. If you bought a pair, now would be your time to shine, as there is a night that not only asks, but demands you to put on said party pants, ideally so you can embrace the retro-party theme of the night even further. Flares Every Wednesday Every Thursday - Cocktail Night, 10pm, FREE * 70’s music all night long in by far the most creatively named club in Cardiff Every Friday - 9pm, FREE * Dr INC plays all the retro classics to kickstart the weekend Every Saturday - 9pm, FREE * Resident DJ playing the best retro all night long
Regulars Every Monday - Monday Madness, 10pm, FREE * DJ Andy plays all the latest chart tunes Every Wednesday - Club & Dance, 10pm, FREE * DJ plays the very best club & dance, as well as his own remixes Every Thursday - Classix Chart, 10pm, FREE * DJ Andy plays a selection of exclusive remixes and chart hits Every Friday - Dance Zone, 10pm, FREE * DJ Al plays all your favourite club and dance tunes Every Saturday - Sonic Saturdays, 10pm, FREE * Guest DJs play all the chart hits and dance classics Every Sunday - Sunday Sanctuary - 10pm, FREE * DJ plays the best dance classics all
The Flora Regulars Every Friday and Saturday - 8pm, FREE * Live bands followed by DJ sets until 1am
Glam Regulars Every Wednesday - Uptight. 10pm. £3. * Weekly R&B night on a Wednesday for the good people at Glam Every Saturday - Vanity. 9pm. £5. * Two floors of R&B, dancefloor anthems and funky house in Glam
The Great Western Regulars Every Thursday - Saturday. 9pm. FREE. * In-house DJs playing a mix of party classics through the night
Gwdihw Specials 5th November - Péchés Mignons presents ‘Electro-Pop Discothèque’, 8pm, £2 * Live DJ-sets from Love Parry III and more soaked in synths and electropop 6th November - Loose Joints, 8pm, FREE * This legendary, four-decade old institution takes its disco, hip-hop and house specialities to the funky Gwdihw 9th November - The LOLs - Open Mic Comedy Night, 8pm, FREE * Comedy themed open mic sure to raise a smile at the very least and potentially some very stimulating awkwardness as someone dies on stage 12th November - Round The Houses w/ Sarah Sweeney & Jake “The Sax”, 8pm, £2 * Eclectic sets a-go-go as this increasingly polished night whips up its usual storm 13th November - Funkadelic, 8pm, FREE * See Clubs of the Month
ClubOfTheMonth
FUNKADELIC
The word “funk” is used far too liberally in clubs these days. Funkadelic, however, is true to the name, as it churns out enough Northern soul and Disco classics to make you think “hold on, did it just get a bit funky in here?” Gwdihw 13th November 14th November - Gwdihw Night Market, 6pm, FREE * Unique night market featuring various stalls and a beer garden 27th November - Mise en Bouche, 8pm, £3 * DJ sets from the Gwdihw crew plus TM Juke is in the house too in what should be a bloody bewildering night of live and club tunes
JAZZ @ DEMPSEY’S November Listings Dempsey’s Irish Bar (Upstairs) Castle Street Cardiff Tues 2nd November CF10 1BS The Capital City Jazz Orchestra
9pm Start Entrance £5 / £4 Tel: 02920 496802 www.jazzatdempseys.org
Tues 9th November
Mon 22nd November
Trish Clowes
RWCMD Big Band
Highly talented and respected saxophonist
Massive welcome back to this dynamic big band
Weds 10th November
Tues 23rd November
Dave Moreau Group
World Service Project
Tues 16th November
Weds 24th November
UK, Northern Ireland and USA quartet
Synergy
Edgy, experimental quintet
Avant Guarde
Phenomenal trio of RWCMD students playing originals
Luke Starkey & co bring new pieces to Dempsey’s
Weds 3rd November
Weds 17th November
Tues 30th November
The Trust Trio
Mike Moreno Quartet
Always good fun with these Dempsey’s regulars
Magic trio with a night of fabulous, original tunes
Fresh from headlining London jazz festival
Joe Webb Trio
Huge, emerging talent on piano joined by bass and drums
Club Listings
King’s Cross
FREE * DJ sets every night after the evening’s live bands
Regulars
Every Tuesday - Salsa Classes, 7pm, FREE * Dance classes surrounded by an army of live musicians
Every Sunday - Rachel’s Songs Of Praise, 9pm, FREE * Karaoke night with happy hour all night long from 5pm Every Monday - Quiz Night, 8pm, FREE * Weekly quiz with tunes and happy hour from 5-8pm Every Tuesday - Karaoke With Rachel, 9pm, FREE * Free karaoke sessions with your host Rachel Every Wednesday - Dr. Beverly Ballcrusher’s Gameshow, 5pm, FREE * The brilliant ballcrusher hosts her weekly game show with Bar 150 to aid inebriation Every Thursday - Therapeutic Thursdays, 5pm, FREE * The superbly named Fanny Dazzle hosts this cabaret on Mill Lane
MBargo Regulars Every Thursday - Fat Penguin 9pm, FREE * Cheap night with lots of drink offers
Metros Regulars Every Tuesday - Metropolis, 9pm, £TBC * New night going playing Indie, Electro, Trance, Dubstep and Drum & Bass and loads more Every Wednesday - Cheapskates, 9pm, £6 * Infamous and well-loved student night
Every Friday - Cwm Camping, 5pm, FREE * Party tunes with DJ J-A-Y and happy hour from 5-8pm
Every Friday - 9pm, £4 * The place to go on every Friday for rock, punk, ska and everything in between
Every Saturday - KXS, 5pm, FREE * DJ Lee Briant spearheads the party on Mill Lane
Every Saturday - 9pm, £4 * A mix of all your alternative favourites, ranging from Indie to pop-punk, as well as all the party classics
Koko Gorilaz Regulars Every Saturday - 9pm, FREE * Guest C-Y-N-T DJs every week on Saturday, on the dot - this generally leads to one hell of a top quality raving night out - oh yeah
Lava Lounge Regulars Every Wednesday - Sub Social, 9pm, FREE * Club night aimed at the various uni societies Every Thursday - Ladies Night, 8pm, FREE * Club night specifically for the ladies Every Friday - Fever Friday, 8pm, FREE * Mix of 90s dance, cheese and classics Every Saturday - 8pm, FREE * Mix of commerical, chart and 80’s/90’s classics Every Sunday - 8pm, FREE * DJ’s Rhys and George host a night dedicated to the hardworking barstaff of Cardiff
Live Lounge
Milgi’s Regulars Every Friday & Saturday 9pm, FREE * DJ sets playing a heady and really rather well thought mix of world and dance music every weekend in the lovely Milgi
Millennium Music Hall / Code Regulars Every Tuesday - Fundamental, 10pm, £2 * Student night featuring themed parties, foam and cheap drinks Every Friday - Deal Or No Deal, 10pm, £3 * Club night loaded with offers, with music ranging from R&B to dance Every Saturday - Jumpin’ Jaks Reunion, 10pm, £3 * Relive the days of Jumpin Jaks with a mix of pop, chart and dance music, with free shots promo’s aplenty Specials
Regulars
6th & 20th November - Bogiez, 10pm, £4 * See Clubs of the Month
Every Monday - Friday - 11pm,
13th November - New Breed
030 The MMP November 2010
Cru & More, 10pm, £12 * Massive showcase - the first in Wales for these drum ‘n’ bass, junglists
ClubOfTheMonth
BOGIEZ
One of the longest running alternative clubs in Cardiff, Bogiez has upgraded from its humble beginnings at the Point, to being one of the biggest alternative nights in town. Whilst keeping mostly to the classics of Rock and Metal, expect the odd curveball to be thrown your way once in a while, as this place has been known to play Carcass and Deicide with no given warning.
Millennium Music Hall 6th & 20th November
20th November - C-Y-N-T, 10pm, £14.99 * Special C-YN-T showcase featuring Fake Blood, Congorock, Redlight and L-vis 1990
Minskys
ClubOfTheMonth
FANNY DAZZLE
Cabaret may not be everyone’s idea of a good time but the Minskys nights, infamous for hen-dos and general controlled chaos, are well worth checking out regardless. Make sure you go along with a spirit of self-deprecation in case of meeting the barbed tongue of Ms. Dazzle otherwise revel in the drunken mist and laugh at the jokes. Minskys 26th November
Mocka Lounge Regulars Every Monday - Hangover Cure, 9pm, FREE * Selfexplanatory Monday night chillout session
Specials
Every Tuesday - Relax and Unwind, 9pm, FREE * Midweek tunes to loosen up to
5th November - Tina Sparkle, 9:30pm, £3 * Cabaret performance from the temptress Tina Sparkle
Every Wednesday - Cocktail Heaven, 9pm, FREE * Night of cocktail friendly offers and music galore
6th November - Pixie Perez and CC Quin, 9:30pm, £3 * Cabaret duo from the resident fabulous ones
Every Thursday - 9pm, FREE * Chilled house and disco from Djs Styles and Bmore
12th November - Pixie Perez, 9:30pm, £3 * Pixie flies solo for her cabaret performance tonight 13th November - Dr Bev Ballcrusher & Jolene Dover, 9:30pm, £3 * Jolene Dover returns with the most ludicrously named duet ever 19th November - Dr Bev Ballcrusher, 9:30pm, £3 * Dr Bev stands alone in tonight’s cabaret performance 20th November - Fanny Dazzle & Tina Sparkle, 9:30pm, £3 * Cabaret night full of dazzle and sparkle....literally 26th November - The Fanny Dazzle Christmas Show, 9:30pm, £3 * See Clubs of the Month 27th November - Pixie Perez & Tina Sparkle’s Christmas Show, 9:30pm, £3 * More premature Christmas joy from the resident cabaret performers
Every Friday - 9pm, FREE * DJ sets following live Jazz performances Every Saturday - 9pm, FREE * Sets from DJ Styles and Sinky, plus special guests and live performances Every Sunday - 9pm, FREE * Industry VIP night with DJ Chris Evans
Owain Glyndwr Regulars Every Monday - Salsa Classes, 8pm, FREE * Brush up on your salsa with these weekly classes Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the Month - Comedy at Tair Pluen, 8pm, £3 * Fortnightly comedy night Every Saturday - 9pm, FREE * DJ Yas plays all the party classics until 1am
Owain Glyndwr Great Food 2 Main Meals For £7.95
FREE VENUE HIRE
Student Deals
Christmas
Absolutely
Perfect for birthdays, meetings or your own Live Music night!
Buy Our Student Card For Only £2 & Get: Drinks From:
Buffets From:
3-Course Meals From:
£6.95 £14.95
Meals From:
We’ll make your Christmas party truly memorable
£1.75 £1.99
Whats On At The Owain? Monday - Salsa Classes (Starting 27th September).
Wednesday - Comedy Night In
The Tair Pluen
at Drinks Deals
Month.) £3 Entry And Gre (1st And 3rd Wednesday Of The
ht (With The Harrisons)
Every Thursday Is Open Mic Nig
From 8pm Till Close.
Selected Pints And Bottles £1.75
Live Music Fridays (For Full Listings
Pop Become A Fan On Facebook Or
-in)
e.
2 Cocktails For £5 - 5pm Till Clos
Every Saturday Dj Yas (Playing Part
y Classics Until 1am)
From e Holly) Selected Pints And Bottles
Sunday Acoustic Night (With Jolli
£1.75.
FOR BOOKINGS AND ENQUIRIES: Contact David or Alessio Owain Glyndwr, 10 St. Johns St., Cardiff, CF10 1GL Tel: 02920 221980 E-mail: Theowainglyndwr.cardiff@townandcitypub.com The MMP November 2010 031
Club Listings
Promised Land Specials 20th November - Café A Go Go. 9pm - 4am. £4. * This frankly smashing monthly shindig up in Promised Land is renowned for its good time highs and terrific Mod and Northern Soul disc spinnery
Pulse Special Events 6th November - X Factor Bill FYD, 8pm, £TBC * See Clubs of the Month
ClubOfTheMonth
X FACTOR BILL
Every Saturday in November, Pulse is bringing down a fresh new X Factor contestant off the chopping block. It may well be an acquired taste but there are few who aren’t secretly intrigued by the show, even if they hate it. And Cowell’s victims deserve our sympathy and respect. Let’s show love to these shattered egos. God bless their trying hearts.
Pulse Every Saturday
13th November - X Factor Bill Diva Fever, 8pm, £TBC * Diva Fever are the next to come to Cardiff following X Factor running upness 20th November - X Factor Bill, 8pm, £TBC * Next round of the X Factor feast in Pulse 27th November - X Factor Bill, 8pm, £TBC * Another week, another X Factor evictee comes to Pulse
Pure Specials
throughout the weekend Every Sunday, 8pm, FREE. * End the weekend with more retro goodness
Revolution Regulars Every Wednesdays - Shotgun Rules, 9pm, £3 * Student night featuring offers all through the night
Varsity (City Centre)
Every Sunday - 9pm, FREE * A mix of live music and Latin beats played throughout the night
Rococo Regulars Every Wednesday - I Love Wednesday, 9pm, FREE * R&B and House night with DJ’s Raheem, Sinky, Monique, Scarface and Paz
Regulars Every Friday - 9pm, FREE * Weekly DJ set from DJ Giggabite on Greyfriars Road Every Saturday - 9pm, FREE * Weekly DJ set from DJ Extreme here in the town’s version of Varsity
Varsity (Roath) Regulars
Every Thursday - Pink, 10pm, £TBC * DJ Warren takes to the decks for a night littered with drinks promotions
Every Thursday - Karaoke Night, 8pm, FREE * Weekly karaoke fixture to expel those singing demons
Every Friday and Saturday - 10pm, £TBC * DJ Soul Sessions plays the best Dubstep, Electro and Funky House
Every Friday - 8pm. FREE. * Live DJ sets every week here in the Roath branch of Varsity
Salt Bar
Every Saturday. 9pm. FREE. * DJ set from resident DJ Dan every Saturday
Regulars Every Friday - 8pm, FREE * Chart music and funky house from 8pm onwards Every Saturday - 8pm, FREE * A mix of cheesy pop and chart hits from 8pm onwards down in this massive bar down in Cardiff Bay - sounds lovely
Every Friday - Flawless - 10pm, FREE * Weekly residence from DJ Raheem in the elegant madness of SodaBar
032 The MMP November 2010
Everyday - Private Karaoke, 6pm, £2.50 * Private karaoke booths suitable to get the evening started
Every Saturday - 9pm, £3 before 11pm, £5 after * Two floors of music, ranging from chart music to Electro and House
Reflex
Every Friday - Saturday. 7pm. FREE. * Nonstop 80’s classics
Regulars
Every Saturday - 10pm, £TBC * Kiss 101 host a night of house anthems and dance classics
SodaBar
Every Tuesday - Thursday, 8pm, FREE * Mid-week flashback to the days where big hair and ridiculous fashion reigned supreme
Tiger Tiger
Every Friday - 9pm, £3 * Guest DJs and drinks offers all through the night
6th, 20th and 27th November, 10pm, £4. * Long-running rock club playing everything from classic rock to hair metal
Regulars
hardworking barfolk of Cardiff - let’s praise their endeavours in getting us served and keeping us all extremely happy
Regulars
Every Saturday - 10pm, FREE * Weekly residence from DJ Jay Vivet Every Sunday - Sodabar Sunday Industry Night, 10pm, £2 / FREE * Industry night for the
WOW Bar Regulars Every Wednesday - Rewind, 8pm, FREE * DJ Krys plays the best in 80’s and 90’s music Every Thursday - Connextions, 8pm, FREE * Amber Dextrous plays a selection of camp, retro and chart pop, with the theme being Traffic Light Party Every Friday - The Wow Showgirls. 8pm. FREE. * Weekly House show with sets from DJ Kitty and MC Marcia Every Saturday - Ice. 8pm. FREE. * DJs Krys and N18El T play a mix of chart hits Every Sunday - The Cuckoo Club. 6pm. FREE. * Cabaret performances and special guest
Y Fuwch Goch Specials 4th November - Music Quiz, 8:30pm, £1 * Monthly music quiz in Clwb’s sister venue 5th November - DJ Dan Promatics, 9pm, FREE * Special guest DJ slots every Friday and Saturday - this time it’s Dan Promatics 6th November - DJ Meic Parry, 9pm, FREE * Meic Parry does a turn DJing in the Red Cow with all the pumping hits 12th November - DJ Tom Winf, 9pm, FREE * Winf takes charge of the wheels for the Friday night 13th November - DJ Elidir Plant Duw, 9pm, FREE * Elidir of Plant Duw takes the turntables on for a wide array of moderns and classics 19th November - DJ Daffyd Cowbois, 9pm, FREE * Daffyd Cowbois plays his set at the Red Cow 20th November - DJ Sioned Clwyd, 9pm, FREE * Special guest DJs every Friday and Saturday in Y Fuwch Goch 26th November - DJ Dewi Foulkes, 9pm, FREE * Dewi Foulkes is in charge of the DJ booth this evening 27th November - DJ Hefin Jos, 9pm, FREE * Jos plays tracks to drive the Saturday crowds crazy
Bar Yupi Regulars Every Thursday - Discount Night, 8pm, FREE * Night of music and heavily discounted drinks Every Friday - Socialize, 9pm, £TBC * Mix of club classics and old-school anthems until 3am Every Saturday - Funked Out, 9pm, £TBC * Night of electro and funky house until 3am Every Sunday - 9pm, FREE * DJ Jamie H plays a selection of chart, funky house and electro
EVENT NOT LISTED? GET IN TOUCH ON LISTINGS@THEMMP.TV
Live Listings
Monday 1st Godhead Number @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Two sets on the trot from this fine acoustic duo Cancerbats @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £9 / £8 * See Gigs of the Month
GigOfTheMonth
CANCER BATS
Heavily influenced by Black Flag and Refused, Canadian hardcore band Cancer Bats know how to put on one hell of a rockin’ show. Go forth, full in the knowledge you are about to be brutally inspired. Clwb 1st November Honey Fungus @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Acoustic folk-pop in the evening Live Lounge session Contagious @ Pen & Wig, 7:30pm, FREE * Weekly open mic night Suzanne Vega @ St. David’s Hall, 7:30pm, £25 * One of the outstanding templates of modern literary female singer-songwriting, Vega brings her sometimes incredible back catalogue to Cardiff
FREE * Robo-sputnik musical terrorists undercover as a pianoguitar duo - nice disguise guys Lunchtime Concert - Leon McCawley @ St. David’s Hall, 1pm, £6.50 / £5.50 * One of England’s finest young pianists plays works from Chopin, Barber, Brahms and Handel Cardiff University Music Department @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 1pm, FREE * The University’s talented musicians take to the Millennium Centre foyer Robert Cross @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * Weekly afternoon residency for Mr. Cross and his acoustic Stacey Blythe & Philippa Reeves @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * Otherworldly Welsh folk on the Glanfa stage Foxy Shazam @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £8 / £7 * Unsuspecting indie-misfits ooze soul from every orifice Tiger Please @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £6 / £5 * Tiger Please return to celebrate a year since releasing their acclaimed album They Don’t Change Under Moonlight An Evening With Charlie Landsborough @ St. David’s Hall, 7:30pm, £17.50 / £15.50 * Landsborough is a wellestablished Irish singer-songwriter playing a pleasant blend of folk, country and blues
Ukulele Nights @ Gwdihw, 8pm, FREE * Spectacular fretboard tomfoolery at the start of every month
Nyth @ Gwdihw, 8pm, £3 * Evening Chorus, The Guitar Sound Of Young Scotland and Twll Daear bring together the components of this marvellous showcase
Cardiff’s Got Talent @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * MMP’s Liggett straddles into town like a bemused sheriff to host this weekly open mic talent show
Festival Of The Senses @ Undertone, 8pm, £TBC * The live acts aren’t confirmed at press but this new venue is getting us excited with its potential
The Strange Death of Liberal England @ Buffalo, 8pm, £6 / £5 * Experimental folk goodness, with support from Rachel’s Last Dance
MEN @ Buffalo, 8pm, £7 / £6 * Featuring Le Tigre’s JD Samson, with a DJ battle between DJ’s Hells Bent and Steve French
Welsh Folk Sessions @ Beverley Hotel, 8:30pm, FREE * Traditional Welsh music served up this week in Pontcanna’s Beverley Hotel
Kymo @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * Weekly residency from this gentle acoustic duo
Poet’s Corner Open Mic @ Poet’s Corner, 9pm, FREE * Fast-growing open mic on City Road with Huwie Price doing the gregarious hosting Open Mic @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Free and weekly open mic night in big O’Neills Honey Fungus @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Late night live session from the acoustic pair
Tuesday 2nd Sion & Sion @ Live Lounge, 12pm,
034 The MMP November 2010
The Capital City Jazz Orchestra @ Dempsey’s, 9pm, £5 / £4 * These Dempsey’s regulars always light a jazz firecracker, never a dull moment Kickback Open Mic @ The Old Library, 9pm, FREE * Normally a jam-packed affair organised by the Cardiff Uni Live Music Society Smokin’ Aces @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Weekly residency for the rock covers of Smokin’ Aces Open Mic Night @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * O’neills present their long-running open
mic night Ron King’s Meridian Jazz Band @ Cafe Jazz, 9pm, £4 / £3.50 * The Preservation Jazz Society keep the old flames alive with this fine trad-jazz band Face Value @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Late night covers, and drinking, session at Live Lounge
Wednesday 3rd Tony Morley @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * First gig of the month for Morley at Live Lounge, if he sticks to reputation he will strike again quickly Haydn’s Final Word @ St Andrew’s and St Teilo’s Church, 1:15pm, £3.50 * The RWCMD’s brand new Chamber Orchestra plays Haydn’s most renowned work Tony Morley Duo @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * And sure enough, Morley is back with one of his henchmen to perform musical miracles of resilience Ian Michael Thomas @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * Piano entertainment from this rather talented Carmarthenborn star Robert Cross Duo @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Mr. Cross and friend take acoustic duets to new, dizzying heights Coco Montoya @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £13 / £10 * Ex-Bluesbreaker guitarist and Californian blues performer Rowan’s Open Mic @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * The spindly, flamehaired troubadour invites one and all to hear his gibberish and play themselves Open Mic w/ Singing Huw @ Nos Da, 8:30pm, FREE * Open mic with the charming Huw as host, free drinks for performers The Trust Trio @ Dempsey’s, 9pm, £5 / £4 * Comprising Dan Messore, Aidan Thorne and Mark O’Connor, this trio play startlingly good originals Tom Lewis @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * Tom Lewis brings his eclectic selection to Wednesday nights No Sweat @ Cardiff Arts Institute, 9pm, FREE * Free and wholesome weekly showcase of quality local talents Colum Regan @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Ongoing solo acoustic weekly residency for the polished Irishman Gareth Hall & Friends @ Café Jazz, 9pm, FREE * Piano-led renditions of the American Songbook and Latin American classics
TBC @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Unknown mystery as to who will fill the slot, chances are it will be rock covers
Thursday 4th Sion & Sion @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * There are few things more sweet and ethereally beautiful than the sight of two Sions making restless musical love Live Music Now! - Dimitris Dekavallas @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 1pm, FREE * Live Music Now presents this guitar virtuoso well worth a watch Tony Morley Trio @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * Well, I’ll be damned, it’s Tony Morley and friends - fancy seeing you here! Hunted @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £5 * Desperately underlooked Welsh metal act celebrate the release of their new album Welcome The Dead in style Honey Fungus @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Evening slot of acoustic folk-pop Kazushi Ono Conducts Strauss @ Millennium Centre, 7pm, £8 / £6 * Kazushi Ono conducts Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration, as well as works by Tremlinsky and Wagner Alexisonfire @ Cardiff University Solus, 7pm, £14 * Dallas Green and co. tread the line between post-hardcore frenzy and supersmooth vocals that will stroke your ears like a feather duster Kryophere @ Buffalo, 7:30pm, £1 * Technical metal outfit, celebrating the launch of their album Hiareth Mabon @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £15 / £10 * Exciting and original Celtic Welsh band Battle Of The Bands @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * The competition continues to hot up in Vulcan Lounge’s weekly BoB Ruby Samba @ Ffresh, Millennium Centre, 8pm, FREE * The diners of Ffresh are treated to the luscious charms of Ruby Samba’s soulful vocal Owain Glyndwr Open Mic @ Owain Glyndwr, 8pm, FREE * Excellently run open mic hosted by Ben & Stuart Harrison The Silver Jack Band @ Promised Land, 8pm, £TBC * Live tuneage up in the charming upstairs of Proms The Gramercy Riffs @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * Formerly The Royston Boys, now The Gramercy Riffs - still pumping out that upbeat country-rock stomp Jazz Revhw w/ Fred Snow & Top Shelf Jazz @ Gwdihw, 8pm, £3
Open 7 days a week Restaurant: Indian, Mexican and Pub Grub
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Live Listings * The filthy mouthed exponents of louche jazz standards fill in the monthly slot in Gwdihw Smoking Aces @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * Smoking Aces set to challenge Tony Morley for most performances a band can have in a year Goose @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Live covers from Colum Regan’s band Henry Lowther w/ The John Gibbon Trio @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £7 / £5 * See Gigs of the Month
GigOfTheMonth
HENRY LOWTHER
w/ JOHN GIBBON TRIO Henry Lowther is so experienced a trumpeter in so many different avenues that his CV burgeons like a flower slowly opening. As well as his seemingly infinite pure jazz collaborations including John Mayall and Bob Downes, he also played with Buzzcocks, Talk Talk and Charlie Watts’ band. And then later international orchestras. That’s a hell of an impressive life. With the impeccable John Gibbon Trio backing him up, this promises to be something of a natural jazz explosion. Cafe Jazz 4th November The Loud Hailers @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Three-piece indie rockers in the late night session at Live Lounge
Friday 5th Tony Morley @ Live Lounge, 12pm & 4:30pm, FREE * Morley stands alone like a victorious warrior from the music wars - brave, unabashed and undeterred
/ £8 * Tribute to U2 The Sweet Spots @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * Cardiff’s premier soul act take their glowing set to the Vulcan Lounge Peches Mignon Presents ElectroPop Discotheque w/ Love Parry III @ Gwdihw, 8pm, £2 * Equally as fitting in the club listings section due to the Peches Mignons masterclass in offbeat floor-filling classics but Love Parry III’s live set is worth the admission fee alone The Kenny Driscoll Band @ The Claude, 8pm, FREE * Kenny Driscoll (and his band) spreads his wings and plays the Claude Benn Willis @ Promised Land, 8pm, £TBC * Local singer-songwriter and exceptional musician Willis plays his set to the Proms crowd Leighton Jones @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * The bear-throated, hairy monster of soul takes his vocal cords out for a trot Diwali Festival Of Lights @ Tony’s Kitchen Bar & Gallery. 8pm. FREE * Free food, live music, card games and a heap of fireworks The Institute 1st Birthday Weekender - High Societies @ Cardiff Arts Institute, 9pm, £TBC * Traffic teams up with One Mission and The Reggae Society to pull together a mighty fine start to a long birthday weekend for CAI happy birthday folks The Tony Breen Band & Guests @ Blue Dragon Hotel, 9pm, FREE * Country, blues, jazz all blended together by the Tony Breen band 2 Tickets 2 the Gun Show @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * Local band establish themselves as a regular to the live music scene in Cardiff Ted Crook and the Blues Highway @ The Royal Oak, 9pm, FREE * Ted takes you on a road trip of the Blues variety Graffiti @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Live rock covers up in the big O’Neills music room
Live Music Friday @ Owain Glyndwr, 5pm, FREE * Live music throughout the evening to settle into the weekend vibe
The Lazy Mojo Band / The Loud Hailers @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Top notch covers in the late night session
Cor Curiad Merched y Cwm @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * Ty Cerdd bring the wonderful Cor Curiad Merched y Cwm to the Glanfa stage
Burnt Curtains @ Café Jazz, 10pm, £4 * The Blues Dragon sessions allow the fabulously named Burnt Curtains to bring the bumps
Godhead Number @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Acoustic duets with guitars and vocals
Saturday 6th
Mike Borgia & The Problems @ Buffalo, 7pm, £4 / £3 * Americana outfit, with support from Cardiff’s own Huwie Price
Crimes Against Folk @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * The warm-up to the Wales vs. Australia match comes from the folk-baiting Crimes Against Folk
US4U2 @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £10
Usk Youth Brass Band @ Glanfa
036 The MMP November 2010
Stage, Millennium Centre, 1pm, FREE * Ty Cerdd bring the youth brass band of Usk down for a show The Gramercy Riffs @ Cardiff Central Library, 1pm, FREE * Weekly lunchtime events in the library this time featuring the newly monikered Royston Boys - country-folk for your pleasure Four Play / Live Wire / The Loud Hailers + More @ Live Lounge, 6pm, FREE * A whole host of acts celebrate or commiserate in sympathetic accordance with the rugby results - also on the bill are Spokes, Daisy B and Honey Fungus Wales Festival Of Remembrance @ St. David’s Hall, 7pm, £25 £10 * The 30th Annual Wales Festival of Remembrance with the Regimental Band of the Royal Welsh and more Whistling Biscuits @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £5 * Cardiff showcase, with support from Wille & the Bandits, Hiproute and Alex Sedgmond Duo The Good Stuff @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * We searched for these chaps but to no avail, one can infer from their name that they are either overly confident or good Cordydd Sings Whitaker @ Millennium Centre, 8pm, £15 / £10 * One of Wales’ best choirs sings the choral music of Eric Whitaker The Journeymen @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * Eclectic covers set from these North Star regulars Diamond Rings @ Undertone, 8pm, £6 / £5 * See Gigs of the Month
GigOfTheMonth
DIAMOND RINGS
Marking the official launch of Undertone as a live venue, this night would be special enough without a Canadian laptop pop / grunge cross between Adam Ant and The Postal Service. That Diamond Rings are here makes it all the more worthy an event to go and be part of. Undertone 6th November Graffiti @ The Claude, 8pm, FREE * Occasional Live Lounge performers perform in The Claude Tamco @ Chapter, 8pm, £10 / £8 / £6 * Emerging from Bristol and with diverse influences, Tamco pull all of this together under the umbrella of 50s and 60s jazz Thoby Davis @ Pen & Wig, 9pm, FREE * Davis, well-known loop
master, takes his pedals to the Pen & Wig for an evening of unadulterated wickedness The Institute 1st Birthday Weekender w/ Mr B - The Gentleman Rhymer & Dutty Moonshine @ Cardiff Arts Institute, 9pm, £TBC * See Gigs of the Month
GigOfTheMonth
THE INSTITUTE 1ST BIRTHDAY
The In Full Swing residency continues to impress and here commemorates one entire year in the life of Cardiff Arts Institute. Congratulations to CAI as it embarks on a second year of crazed fun and culture. Tonight, the rather excellent Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer, takes to the stage for a swing-fuelled assault on your senses - comical, danceable and brimming with brilliance. Support comes from the equally well equipped electroswing nomads - Dutty Moonshine Cardiff Arts 6th November Smokin’ Aces @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * Smokin’ Aces achieve live music omniscience Jester @ O’Neills (St. Marys), 9pm, FREE * Saturday night brings a whole set of covers in big O’Neills
Sunday 7th Tony Morley @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Trying to unlock the real meaning of pi through a wicked, expansive knowledge of guitar chords, it’s Mr. Tony Morley The Institute 1st Birthday Weekender - Sunday Project Special @ Cardiff Arts Institute, 12pm, £TBC * CAI’s new Sunday Project launches with some lovely music from the calming Josephine and Ruby Samba later in the evening Methera String Quartet @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 1pm, FREE * Accomplished quartet of strings at lunchtime down in the WMC Living The Dream @ St. David’s Hall, 2pm, £10 / £8 * Lloyd Daniels of X Factor is the major pull for this showcase also starring numerous local dance troupes Thoby Davis @ North Star, 2pm, FREE * The lothario of the loop takes up the reins for the North Star’s Sunday session Froy Aagre @ Glanfa Stage,
Millennium Centre, 3pm, FREE * Norwegian saxophonist takes to the WMC foyer stage Godhead Number @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * The acoustic duo return to the afternoon slot of Live Lounge Attack! Attack! @ Cardiff University Solus, 7pm, £7 * Following in the footsteps of the Blackout and other valleys bands, Attack! Attack! play the closest they will get to a hometown show on this tour Koko Gorilaz Battle of the Bands @ Koko Gorilaz, 7pm, FREE * First heat of the battle of the bands contest, featuring The Dalaizers, Fault Line and Motive Colum Regan @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * The Irish troubadour takes up his musical machine gun in Live Lounge They Walk Among Us @ Buffalo, 7:30pm, £4 * South-Wales indie Rock, with Support from The MeMeMes, Appleberry and Will Clarke Journal Of Plastik Present Evening Chorus @ The Gate, 7:30pm, £4 * Our friends at JoP bring us the timbral folk qualities of Evening Chorus LMS Acoustic Attic @ 10 Feet Tall, 7:30pm, £TBC * Showcase of acoustic talent from the Cardiff Uni Live Music Society Sunday Acoustic Night @ Owain Glyndwr, 8pm, FREE * Acoustic evening with Jollie Holly hosting
Moult @ The Pot, 7:30pm, £5 * The folks behind the cosy The Pot on Crwys Road are stepping boldly into the live music realm with the fantastic pull of singer-songwriter Pete Roe Contagious @ Pen & Wig, 7:30pm, FREE * Weekly open mic night in Pen & Wig
Less Than Jake @ Millennium Music Hall, 7pm, £15 * The kings of ska-punk return to Cardiff, and with Zebrahead as support, standing still will be frowned upon greatly
Rockin’ The Suburbs @ The Globe, 7:30pm, FREE * Local band showcase
Town @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £5 * A night of spikey mod-infected pop, as well as an EP launch
The Divine Comedy: An evening with Neil Hannon @ The Gate, 7:30pm, £17 * See Gigs of the Month
Deaf Havana @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £9 / £7.50 * UK-rock act crossbreed post-hardcore with southern-rock sentiment.
GigOfTheMonth
The Electric Strawbs @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £17 / £14 * Iconic folk-rock stalwarts
THE DIVINE COMEDY
The Divine Comedy frontman plays an intimate career retrospective, tracing the pomp of his early recordings and travelling through to his more indie-orientated and introspective later material. He may even play My Lovely Horse and the Father Ted song. An undoubted highlight of the month especially in the beamed and lush space of The Gate. The Gate 8th November
S & M @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Charming Sunday residency for this very accomplished acoustic duo
Cardiff’s Got Talent @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * MMP’s Liggett twists the light fandango before breaking it
D’Taba & Guests @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £3 * Samba and Latin themed jazz every Sunday at this hub of the city’s jazz exploits
Welsh Folk Sessions @ Cayo Arms, 8:30pm, FREE * Pontcanna’s Cayo Arms is treated to a session of traditional Welsh folk
Guns 2 Roses @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Axl Rose is not a hard man to mimic, but saying that his voice can’t be all that easy - good luck, fella!
Poet’s Corner Open Mic @ Poet’s Corner, 9pm, FREE * Huwie Price hosts this weekly open mic on City Road
Monday 8th Godhead Number @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Another two-sets spread over a long Live Lounge afternoon A Plastic Rose @ Buffalo, 7pm, £4 / £3 * A diverse style they label “nu-wave-disco-grunge-oldskool-emo” Honey Fungus @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Sweet duets of the acoustic variety in the evening slot Fighting with Wire @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £8 / £6 * Irish-rockers compress their stadium-filling sound into Clwb Pete Roe / Evening Chorus / Ivan
Robert Cross @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * Weekly acoustic afternoon slot for Senor Cross
Open Mic @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Free open mic night in big O’Neills every week
Kymo @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * Weekly residency from this gentle acoustic duo
Imogen Heap @ Coal Exchange, 7pm, 7:30pm, £17.50 * Grammy Award-winning solo artist makes a long-awaited return to Cardiff Failsafe @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7:30pm, £7 / £6 * Melodic rock act, you may know them from that episode of the Inbetweeners Nick Harper @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £10 / £8 * Singersongwriter and virtuosic acoustic guitarist (and son of Roy Harper) Acoustic Ladyland @ Buffalo, 8pm, £8 / £7 * Farewell tour from the alternative jazz enthusiasts Voices Of Partition @ Chapter, 8pm, £10 / £8 / £6 * Evening of music and spoken word based around the partition of British India and the birth of Pakistan and India
Trish Clowes @ Dempsey’s, 9pm, £5 / £4 * Well-respected jazz saxophonist accompanied by guitar, bass and drums
Rowan’s Open Mic @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * One part love machine, one part fiddlesome child - MMP’s Liggett hosts
Smokin’ Aces @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Weekly residency for the Aces in big O’Neills
Open Mic w/ Singing Huw @ Nos Da, 8:30pm, FREE * This Riverside hostel puts on this weekly open mic with Singing Huw on host duties
Top Shelf Jazz @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £4 / £3.50 * The filthy-tongued jazz troubadour Arthur Foxaque takes his merry band off on a trek through a revived past Open Mic Night @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * O’Neills present their long-running open mic night Kickback Open Mic @ The Old Library, 9pm, FREE * Open mic in the centre of town with a reputation for large crowds Goose @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Colum Regan’s cover band take to the Live Lounge stage
Wednesday 10th Tony Morley @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * A plectrum falls from Morley’s hand, it doesn’t matter - immediately one reappears in his grasp
Tuesday 9th
RWCMD @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 1pm, FREE * The Royal Welsh College takes its remarkable talents down to the WMC for a show
Cardiff University Music Department @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 1pm, FREE * The University’s music department takes the short walk to the Bay
Robert Cross Duo @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Mr. Cross and co. showcase their acoustic talents
John Q Public @ Buffalo, 8pm, £TBC * Loyal to South Wales punk rock, John Q Public make a comeback having gone through some lineup changes
Honey Fungus @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Second gig of the day in Live Lounge for these obviously very keen folk-acoustic pairing
Sion & Sion @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * With inter-song banter relating to animal testing and the reputation of Barrymore - these are an opinionated pair of Sions
he has lost something, he has, however, gained a friend
Bach for Brass @ St Andrew’s and St Teilo’s Church, 1:15pm, £3.50 * The works of J.S. Bach, transcribed for a symphonic brass ensemble Tony Morley Duo @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * Morley returns with a look in his eye as though
Colum Regan @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Ongoing solo acoustic weekly residency for the always impressive Colum Regan No Sweat @ Cardiff Arts Institute, 9pm, FREE * Another charming beanbag showcase to get your Cardiff loving arms around Jazz Attic @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £2 * Over 16 years this night has grown and evolved into the handsome jazz open mic that it has now become - an institution Dave Moreau Group @ Dempsey’s, 9pm, £5 / £4 * Local saxophonist returns to Dempsey’s still sounding remarkable Tom Lewis @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * Tom Lewis brings his eclectic selection to Wednesday nights Face Value @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Super rock covers in the late night sesh
Thursday 11th Sion & Sion @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * With a songbook more expansive than the ambitions of Phileas Fogg, please be upstanding for this fine pair of Sions Ysgol Penglais @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 1pm, FREE
The MMP November 2010 037
Live Listings * Ty Cerdd take this school for a performance on the WMC’s Glanfa Stage Tony Morley Trio @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * Morley’s Machiavellian masterplan of complete Cardiff-wide musical supremacy is coming to fruition Cor Creigiau @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * Evening show on the Glanfa Stage in WMC foyer Godhead Number @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Acoustic offerings from this duo Chase & Status @ Cardiff University Great Hall, 7pm, £14 * Live performance from the duo that can do no wrong as of late UB40 - Signing Off 30th Anniversary Tour @ St. David’s Hall, 7:30pm, £35 * To celebrate 30 years since their seminal debut, the Brummy reggae veterans are playing it in its entirety Party Portfolio @ Undertone, 8pm, £TBC * Party night in the 10 Feet Tall basement Owain Glyndwr Open Mic @ Owain Glyndwr, 8pm, FREE * The spirit of the open mic is alive and well at this excellent evening out Battle Of The Bands @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * The competition continues to hot up in Vulcan Lounge’s weekly BoB This Is The Kit @ Buffalo, 8pm, £4 * Support from The Liftmen and Eugene Capper The Lay-Lows @ Promised Land, 8pm, £TBC * These spiky youngsters take their impressive range of influences and tunes to Promised Land Under The Driftwood Tree (Acoustic) @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * The UTDWT boys (and girl) take to the North Star and make sweet, sweet hay Chris Hidgkins Quartet @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £7 / £6 * A return to Café Jazz for this swinging trumpeter playing original tunes from each of his albums Smokin’ Aces @ O’neills, Trinity Street, 9pm, FREE * Smokin’ Aces set to challenge Tony Morley for most performances a band can have in a year The Big What? Band @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Commitments style soul covers in the late sesh at O’Neills The Big What? Band @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * And playing at Live Lounge simultaneously? There must be some mistake - or two of them
038 The MMP November 2010
Friday 12th Tony Morley @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * More like an unsleeping android than a human in his approach to gigging Trumpets Of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra @ St Andrew’s and St Teilo’s Church, 1pm, £6 / £5 * Recital and open discussion for the horn section of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Tony Morley @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * With a crooked grin and an unfurling of acoustic wizardry, Morley cuts a fine looking figure on the Live Lounge stage Live Music Friday @ Owain Glyndwr, 5pm, FREE * Post-work live music in Owain Glyndwr through to close Neath Male Voice Choir @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * This impressively lunged male voice choir entertain the WMC wanderers Tony Morley Trio @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Unbelievably, Morley is back for his third spin around the stage...this time he’s accumulated a couple of buddies BBC National Orchestra Of Wales @ St. David’s Hall, 7pm, £25 £10 * Sibelius’s 2nd Symphony is conducted by Francois-Xavier Roth who will try and drip out every last ounce of optimism and serenity Marina And The Diamonds @ Coal Exchange, 7pm, £TBC * New wave-pop starlet struts her stuff in front of a sold-out crowd Wiley @ Millennium Music Hall, 7pm, £12 * One of the founders of Roll Deep, Wiley stops off to school the people of Cardiff in the art of Grime Ellie Goulding @ Cardiff University Great Hall, 7pm, £TBC * Flavour of the month sets out to prove that accusation wrong LCD Soundsystem @ Cardiff International Arena, 7pm, £24.50 * See Gigs of the Month Man Of The Hour @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £5 / £4 * Energetic pop-punk from Merthyr The Moles - Album Launch Party @ Buffalo, 7pm, £4 * Bristol based indie psychballs celebrate the launch of their snazzy new album Time To Breathe @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £12 * Pink Floyd tribute with full light and sound production The Journeymen @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * With covers traversing generations and genres, the Vulcan Lounge welcomes The Journeymen
Thoby Davis & Alex Sedgmond Duo @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * Interesting collaboration from the loop monkey and the bearded Padwan - who knows what will unfurl? Out And Running @ The Claude, 8pm, FREE * Out and Running contradict themselves once again by performing on the spot in an indoor environment
GigOfTheMonth
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM The fantastical dance music leviathan sets forth to wow the people of Cardiff. Though naysayers may say the new album is a step backwards, it still sounds mighty bloody fine from where we’re standing. The night is made all the more fantastic by the fact that the incredible geek-electro-intellectual savants that are Hot Chip are coming along for the ride. Frankly, this will be unendingly effervescing in its own awesomeness. C.I.A 12th November Goose @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Live rock covers up at big O’Neills Smokin’ Aces @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * Is it a bird? is it a plane? No, it’s Smokin’ Aces The Tony Breen Band & Guests @ Blue Dragon Hotel, 9pm, FREE * Country, blues, jazz all blended together by the Tony Breen band Super Natural @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Late night session of covers in Live Lounge Blues Central @ Café Jazz, 10pm, £4 * Blues-rock in these weekly Friday sessions in Café Jazz
Saturday 13th Crimes Against Folk @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Crimes Against Folk get the temperature rising prior to the rugby kicking off Sion Russell Jones @ Cardiff Central Library, 1pm, FREE * The ever-impressive Russell Jones, fresh from launching his album in The Globe, plays the library session Levitation - All Day Mini Festival @ Tony’s Kitchen Bar And Gallery, 2pm, £5 * See Gigs of the Month 49 Giraffes / Colum Regan / Smokin’ Aces / SixOneSeven @ Live Lounge, 6pm, FREE *
Post-match live music bonanza featuring four fine Live Lounge regulars
GigOfTheMonth
LEVITATION MINI-FEST
The thought of an indoor mini-festival in the oncoming cold is a rather welcoming one. Featuring the likes of Huwie Price, Alex Sedgmond Duo, Landslides, Sharks Don’t Sleep, The Witches Drum and Sawtooth as well as live electro from Slamfish and d ‘n’ b from Oscillicraft, it seems this will be bubbling over with wonderful things.
Tony’s Kitchen Bar & Gallery
13th November
Karoshi 4 @ Buffalo, 7pm, £4 / £3 * Alternative electronic madness that is catchy like a disco-flu Sweet Fontaine @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £TBC * Local favourites release their new album Jane McDonald @ St. David’s Hall, 7:30pm, £27.50 - £19.50 * McDonald takes her everywoman show and fine throat out to St. David’s for a night of all round entertainment Leighton Jones @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * The soulful growl of Mr. Jones is a merry thing to while away an evening with Navigators @ The Claude, 8pm, FREE * Navigating their way from the PA system to your ears
GigOfTheMonth
MILK KAN
These nights in Pen & Wig always seem to be well-populated and, as well as, offering a vital forum for local acts, they occasionally pull in some incredible touring talent. Tonight is one such instance - this acoustic duo hail from London and take an anti-folk approach to lyricism but have an upbeat hip-hop element that sets them apart. Having played innumerate festivals and having done a stint in New York, these are experienced live performers who will offer up nothing but a whirlwind of wonder Pen & Wig 13th November
Mills & Boon @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * Friday night live sessions up at the North Star Ba-Ba-Ba-Boom Presents RSVP & Little Fish @ Cardiff Arts Institute, 9pm, £4 - FREE * The incredible Ba-Ba-Boom crew bring forth more miracles with live bhangra from RSVP - a 7-piece incorporating dhol drums and Arabic jazz - sounds mental but ace Milk Kan @ Pen & Wig, 9pm, FREE * See Gigs of the Month Scruff @ The Royal Oak, 9pm, FREE * Not to be mistaken for the more official Mr Scruff Vegas @ O’Neills (St. Marys), 9pm, FREE * Saturday night brings a covers band to big O’Neills, this time it’s Vegas
Remembrance Sunday Sunday Acoustic Night @ Owain Glyndwr, 8pm, FREE * Jollie Holly hosts this weekly acoustic show
Lunchtime Concert - The Bingham String Quartet @ St. David’s Hall, 1pm, £6.50 / £5.50 * The quartet play works from Sallinen and Schumann
D’Taba & Guests @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £3. * Samba and Latin themed jazz every Sunday
Robert Cross @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * Weekly afternoon residency for Mr. Cross
S & M @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Accomplished acousticism from this well-gigged pairing
Big Mac’s Wholly Soul Band @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * Soul act playing on the WMC foyer stage
Modfathers @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Paul Weller has his back catalogue explored by this tribute act
Milgi’s Storytelling @ Milgi’s, 8pm, FREE * The storytelling chaps take to the Milgi yurt once more often with live musical accompaniment
Monday 15th
Sunday 14th
Godhead Number @ Live Lounge, 12pm & 4:30pm, FREE * Two more sets from the highly committed acoustic duo
Tony Morley @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Living out a realtime, lifelong musical in which he is the star - it’s Tony Morley
Honey Fungus @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Acoustic folkpoppers take up the first of their two sets
The Hillman Quartet @ North Star, 2pm, FREE * Super classical quartet playing all of the oldies the very oldies
Contagious @ Pen & Wig, 7:30pm, FREE * Weekly open mic night up in the Pen & Wig
Urban Folk @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 3pm, FREE * The Glanfa Stage plays host to this, um, urban folk show Godhead Number @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * The Sunday afternoon Live Loungers are treated to this acoustic pair Kids in Glass Houses @ Cardiff University Great Hall, 7pm, £TBC * Having supported every highprofile welsh band known to man, Kids in Glass Houses prove have a go at headlining a show Gwdihw Night Market @ Gwdihw, 7pm, FREE * Night market with a blazing myriad of stalls, food, drink, live music and DJs sounds bloody fantastic The Armed Man, A Mass For Peace @ St. David’s Hall, 7pm, £29.50 - £15 * A 10th anniversary performance of this special choral work, alongside others composed by Karl Jenkins, all the more poignant for it being Remembrance Sunday Colum Regan @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * The Irishman is back before the weekly tribute act starts Seagull Kinevil @ Buffalo, 7pm, £4 / £3 * Possibly the best name for an artist since Cakehole Presley Mostly Autumn @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £15 / £14 * Band heavily influenced by Pink Floyd, Genesis and folk music The Siren Sisters @ Pretence, 8pm, FREE * The honey-voiced Siren Sisters commemorate
Rockin’ The Suburbs @ The Globe, 7:30pm, FREE * Showcase of local talent Marc Almond @ St. David’s Hall, 7:30pm, £22.50 * British icon and former Soft Cell leader comes to Cardiff with the firm intent of playing only the hits and the singles Cardiff’s Got Talent @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * MMP’s Liggett straddles into town like a bemused sheriff to host this weekly open mic talent show Welsh Folk Sessions @ Cayo Arms, 8:30pm, FREE * Lovingly crafted and wholesomely traditional Welsh folk tunes in the Cayo Open Mic @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Free and weekly open mic night in big O’Neills Poet’s Corner Open Mic @ Poet’s Corner, 9pm, FREE * Open mic in Roath with Huwie Price taking charge
Roots Unearthed - Lunasa @ St. David’s Hall, 8pm, £13 / £12 * All-star Ireland quintet playing traditional Celtic roots and redefining Irish music along the way Kymo @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * Weekly residency from this gentle acoustic duo Miniscule Hey @ Buffalo, 8pm, £4 * Minimalist, French, and slightly absurd New Orleans Hula @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £4 / £3.50 * Classic traditional jazz from the New Orleans roots Open Mic Night @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * O’Neills present their long-running open mic night Synergy @ Dempsey’s, 9pm, £5 / £4 * Phenomenal trio of RWCMD students featuring drums, bass and piano - originals inspired by European and American traditions Kickback Open Mic @ The Old Library, 9pm, FREE * Busy and bustling open mic in the centre of town Smokin’ Aces @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Weekly residency for the rock covers of Smokin’ Aces Face Value @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Late night covers up in Live Lounge
Wednesday 17th
Honey Fungus @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * And Honey Fungus are back again for more acousticism
Tony Morley @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Morley’s unquenching thirst for gigs finds him back on the Live Lounge stage
Tuesday 16th
RWCMD @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 1pm, FREE * The wonderfully gifted lot at RWCMD put forth a small subsection of their populace to impress us
Sion & Sion @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Controlling both light and time through sonic variations, it’s the all-powerful Sion & Sion Cardiff University Music Department @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 1pm, FREE * The University’s musicians play the Millennium Centre foyer
Tony Morley Duo @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * And once more he returns to fuel his gigging fire with accomplice in tow Robert Cross Duo @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Mr. Cross and friend play their acoustic duets
Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg @ St. David’s Hall, 7:30pm, £32 - £10 * Long-existent orchestra initially founded by Mozart’s widow - they play Schubert, Beethoven and Mozart today Rowan’s Open Mic @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * Chuttering away like a disgruntled chimp, it’s Liggett Spokes @ Buffalo, 8pm, £4 * Supported by another pluralised noun, Violas Open Mic w/ Singing Huw @ Nos Da, 8:30pm, FREE * On the banks of the Taff, this lovely hostel is a fine place for an open mic Tom Lewis @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * Tom Lewis brings his eclectic selection to Wednesday nights No Sweat @ Cardiff Arts Institute, 9pm, FREE * Weekly showcase of quiet bombast - sometimes bands and sometimes acoustic but always a very lovely experience Cathy Davies Quintet @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £4 / £3 * Boundarycrossing quintet tracing a path between JJ Cale, Gershwin and Cy Coleman Mike Moreno Quartet @ Dempsey’s, 9pm, £5 / £4 * See Gigs of the Month
GigOfTheMonth
MIKE MORENO QUARTET
The jazz sessions at Dempsey’s offer an unwaveringly fond glance over the swelling talents that the city has to offer. But often they also bring outside players in who are of international standards. The Mike Moreno Quartet are one such group. Comprising players from USA, Estonia and Luxembourg this is a crack team of jazz mercenaries fresh from headlining the London Jazz Festival. Real fresh and real contemporary, original stuff on offer here. Dempsey’s 13th November
Colum Regan @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Regan’s residency of top notch acoustic solo work continues in O’Neills The Loud Hailers @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Indie-rock in the late night session
Thursday 18th Sion & Sion @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * One Sion looks left, the
The MMP November 2010 039
Live Listings other looks right - they are always looking at you, but don’t be creeped out...they’re really nice
10pm, FREE * The late night session welcomes back Little Giants for another show
Tony Morley Trio @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * Who’s that you say? Well, it’s Tony Morley again and he has company
Friday 19th
Roosvelt @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * These Springsteen acolytes play their rattling rock to the WMC audience Monster Magnet @ Millennium Music Hall, 7pm, £TBC * Like slightly overweight stoner-rock? This show should give you your fix for such things Godhead Number @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Acoustic pleasantries from this lovely duo Squeeze / The Lightning Seeds @ St. David’s Hall, 7:30pm, £33.50 * Legendary 70s new wavers come back with the two key-founders intact, should be proper good Abe Vigoda @ Buffalo, 7:30pm, £7 / £6 * Slightly bizzare Croatian electronic, with support from Human Hair Chris Farlowe & The Norman Beaker Band @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £15 * Rhythm and blues singer performs his hits Handbags And Gladrags and Out Of Time Battle Of The Bands @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * The competition continues to hot up in Vulcan Lounge’s weekly BoB Under The Driftwood Tree (Acoustic) @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * The UTDWT boys (and girl) take to the North Star and make sweet, sweet hay The Eruption Button Presents... MJ Hibbett & The Validators + Support @ Gwdihw, 8pm, £5 * Fresh from Edinburgh Fringe, this rock musical combines outstandingly imaginative lyrical content along with some darn fine tunes Jonquil + Support @ Cardiff Arts Institute, 8pm, £TBC * Oxford six-piece largely held responsible for the city’s surge in musical prospects - tropical tinged pop Owain Glyndwr Open Mic @ Owain Glyndwr, 8pm, FREE * Excellently run open mic hosted by Ben & Stuart Harrison Smokin’ Aces @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * Smokin’ Aces back again in little O’Neills Free Beer @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Wishfully thought out band name here for these rock coverists Little Fish @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £6 / £4 * Cardiff Jazz Society bring these rather marvellous players to lighten up a dull, most likely cold, Thursday Little Giants @ Live Lounge,
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Pre-School Music @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 12pm, FREE * Pre-school music sessions across the WMC Tony Morley / Robert Cross / Crimes Against Folk @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * A triple bill involving usual suspect Morley, Robert Cross and the traditional pre-rugby troupe, Crimes Against Folk Live Music Friday @ Owain Glyndwr, 5pm, FREE * Refreshing live music to kickstart the weekend Cor Meibion Cwm Rhondda @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * Ty Cerdd present this Rhondda based group Anberlin @ Millennium Music Hall, 7pm, £10 * Alternative-rock darlings set to win the people of Cardiff with their new album Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place Echo Lounge @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £5 / £4 * Exciting electronic outfit that sounds like a modern day Depeche Mode Absolute Bowie @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £13 / £10 * David Bowie tribute act Jim Noir @ Buffalo, 7:30pm, £7 / £6 * Electronic (and slightly wonky) pop, supported by Lucas Renney La Noche Espanola w/ Vamos @ Gwdihw, 8pm, £2 * Mediterranean themed extravaganza featuring international quintet Vamos - ska, rumba, folk and roots all delivered at whiplashing tempo The Sweet Spots @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * Classic, smooth soul the way it should be done - hell yeah, we love The Sweet Spots Rachel K Collier @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * Melodic singersongwriter with a clean, pop vocal Blue Traffic @ The Royal Oak, 9pm, FREE * Live music, and not a single depressed car in site The Tony Breen Band & Guests @ Blue Dragon Hotel, 9pm, FREE * Country, blues, jazz all blended together by the Tony Breen band The Big What? Band @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Soul covers at St. Marys O’Neills Crimes Against Folk @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * Live music regulars return, guilty as charged Future Fridays & Associated Minds Present Sonny Jim @
Cardiff Arts Institute, 9pm, £4 / £3 after 11pm, £2 / FREE after * The endlessly creative hip-hoppers behind Associated Minds bring down the incredible Plan B and The Streets tour-mate Sonny Jim The Johnny Ned Band @ Café Jazz, 10pm, £5 * Another feather in the cap for the weekly Blues Dragon sessions with these excellent blues-rockers The Loud Hailers / Live Wire @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Two tremendous live favourites on post-rugby entertainment duty
Saturday 20th Sion & Sion @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Having learnt how to imitate a woodchuck with incandescent precision, Sion 1 now performs it for extremely brief moments during every set Sinfonia Newydd (Chamber Series) @ Cardiff Central Library, 1pm, FREE * Classical ensemble take to the library to entertain the lunchtime cerebrals Smokin’ Aces Duo @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * The Aces take up arms of a musical variety for the afternoon slot Emily Wright & Jon Hyde @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * This jazz pairing lighten up the Glanfa Stage Oui Messy @ Buffalo, 7pm, £3-£4 * Big sounding post-punk from Cardiff BeSpoke @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Classic covers sets from these evening sessions Necro @ Millennium Music Hall, 7pm, £12.50 * Ultraviolent rapper introduces his Death-rap to the unsuspecting people of Cardiff Cyrion @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £6 * Top-class electronic stuff from North Wales Soul Destroyers and Tattsyrup @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £TBC * Big sounding soul, funk and Jazz band Newsoundwales Present Paper Aeroplanes / Ffred Jones / Jessica Lee Morgan @ St John’s Church, 7:30pm, £7.50 * See Gigs of the Month Community Chorus Winter Concert @ The Gate, 7:30pm, £5 * The Gate’s very own choir performs Vivaldi’s Gloria, as well as other seasonal pieces Gala Concert Of Massed Ladies Choirs @ St. David’s Hall, 7:30pm, £17 - £10 * Several hundreds crisp clean voices come together for this gala concert Eugene Capper @ The Pot, 7:30pm, £TBC * The experimental multi-instrumentalist and collaborator with Richard James
and Evening Chorus takes to the intimate space of The Pot Bragod @ Pulse Wholefoods, 7:30pm, £12 / £10 * Legendary band renowned for charting later popular and ritual music, as well as modern compositions, through mediaeval experiments Smokin’ Aces @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * The rockin’ powerhose that is Smokin’ Aces take their set to the North Star Candela Presents Milk Biscuits @ Gwdihw, 8pm, £2 * Three-piece creating sounds spanning bebop, acid funk, ska, dubstep and jungle with only the most modest of tools - impressive indeed The Word Virus Essay & N.E.O.N. @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * Word Virus Essay and New Exhibition Of Noise combine for a night of dubstep, hip-hop The Switch @ The Claude, 8pm, FREE * Evening performance from a band with no off-button Undercover Hippy @ Pen & Wig, 9pm, FREE * The Undercover Hippy takes his quietly euphoric set to the Pen & Wig CAI Saturdays Present Derwyddon Dr Gonzo @ Cardiff Arts Institute, 9pm, £4 / £3 after 11pm, £2 / FREE b4 * Simply fantastic funk-ska 10-piece who are capable of summoning sweat from the crowd at will, festival and Welsh language favourites
GigOfTheMonth
PAPER AEROPLANES
Nominated in the Cardiff “Bloggies”, Newsoundwales is a music news operation that is breaking out into the promotions game. Clearly they know how to put on a show taking on board the immense Paper Aeroplanes, the inimitable Ffred Jones and the excellent Jessica Lee Morgan - all singer-songwriters and all very much up-andcoming. St John’s Church 20th November
Goose @ O’Neills (St. Marys), 9pm, FREE * Live pop and rock covers in big O’Neills Supersaurus / The Loud Hailers @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Two acts in the Saturday night extravaganza of Live Lounge
Sunday 21st Cardiff Coffee Concerts @ National Museum, Cardiff, 11:30am, £8
!"#$%&$r )*+* –
!"# %&r(" )(*r www.vulcanlounge.com (FREE ENTRY TO GIGS) Monday 1st – Open Mic Tuesday 2nd – Quiz Kelly's Quiz Night Thursday 4th – Battle of the Bands
Entries to setholiver@gmail.com (video made by TAGLIA TELLY & EP for winning band)
Friday 5th – The Sweet Spots Saturday 6th – the good stuff Sunday 7th – Movie Night
Monday 8th – Open Mic Tuesday 9th – Quiz Kelly's Quiz Night Thursday 11th – Battle of the bands Friday 12th – The Journeymen Saturday 13th – Leighton Jones Sunday 14th – Movie Night Monday 15th – Open Mic Tuesday 16th – Quiz Kelly's Quiz Night Thursday 18th – Battle of the bands Friday 19th – The Sweet Spots Saturday 20th – The Word Virus Essay & N.E.O.N Sunday 21st – Movie Night Monday 22nd – Open Mic Tuesday 23rd – Quiz Kelly's Quiz Night Thursday 25th – Battle of the bands Friday 26th – The Sweet Spots Saturday 27th – Leighton Jones Sunday 28th – 7-9pm Movie Night & 9pm Tristan Marley Group Monday 29th – Open Mic Tuesday 30th – Quiz Kelly's Quiz Night
www.thenorthstarcardiff.com (FREE ENTRY TO GIGS) Monday 1st – Quiz Night Tuesday 2nd – Kymo Wednesday 3rd – Rowan's Open Mic Thursday 4th – The Gramercy riffs Friday 5th – Salvation Saturday 6th – The Journeymen Sunday 7th – Thoby Davis Monday 8th – Quiz Night Tuesday 9th – Kymo Wednesday 10th – Rowan's Open Mic Thursday 11th – UTDWT acoustic set Friday 12th – Thoby Davis & Alex Sedgmond Duo Saturday 13th - Mills & Boon Sunday 14th – The Hillman Quartet Monday 15th - Quiz Night Tuesday 16th - Kymo Wednesday 17th – Rowan's Open Mic Thursday 18th – UTDWT acoustic set Friday 19th – Rachel K Collier Saturday 20th – Smokin Aces Sunday 21st – Thoby Davis Monday 22nd – Quiz Night Tuesday 23rd – Kymo Wednesday 24th – Rowan's Open Mic Thursday 25th – UTDWT acoustic set Friday 26th – The Siren Sisters & Band Saturday 27th – The Journeymen Sunday 28th – Thoby Davis Monday 29th – Quiz Night Tuesday 30th – Kymo
w w w . c h a m e l e o n g r o u p c a r d i The f fMMP . cNovember o m 2010 041
Live Listings / £6 * Edinburgh String Quartet play Haydn and Borodin - tickets from St. David’s Hall Tony Morley @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Slowly pulling together all of the components for his global takeover, Morley bides his time playing in Live Lounge Thoby Davis @ North Star, 2pm, FREE * The man-who-can-soundlike-many is back and this time he’s loopier than ever Bragod @ Pulse Wholefoods, 4pm, £12 / £10 * Another helping of the mediaeval experimenters - should be enchanting on a Sunday afternoon Godhead Number @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * Gentle acousticism from this pair Peel Your Own Spuds @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * Celtic folk group in the WMC foyer The Greenhornes @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £13 / £11 * Jack White-approved rock and rollers return after a 5-year hiatus Gabrielle Aplin @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £7 / £5 * Self-taught piano and guitar sensation aims to prove why, at the youthful age of 17, she is one of the most in demand online sensations The Wolfe-tones @ Millennium Music Hall, 7pm, £15 * Irishballadeers return to Cardiff for a one-off performance Colum Regan @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Regan’s breezy covers entertain the evening Live Lounge set Koko Gorilaz Battle of the Bands @ Koko Gorilaz, 7pm, FREE * Opening heat of the contest continues, with Friends with Cars and Zepher performing Gregory And The Hawk / Les Shelleys / Jo Whitby + Support @ Undertone, 7:30pm, £8 / £7 * The pseudonym of Meredith Godreau from New York, her intricate melodies are unmissable Phillip Henry @ 10 Feet Tall, 7:30pm, £4 / £3 * Acoustic goodness with support from Jon Fazal Haight Ashbury @ Buffalo, 7:30pm, £5 / £4 * Psychedelic folk stylings Michael Bolton / Mica Paris @ St. David’s Hall, 7:30pm, £39.50 * The MMP can still remember being surprised when Bolton cut his hair, he’s remained cropped ever since and now brings his soft rock balladry to Cardiff - what a story Gwdihw’s Birthday @ Gwdihw, 8pm, FREE w/ invite * Customers of Gwdihw are asked to fill in a form to access this exclusive little shindig in which The Reinvention Of Mr. Babatola, Afro Cluster, The
042 The MMP November 2010
Method and Them Lovely Boys will be the eye candy Sunday Acoustic Night @ Owain Glyndwr, 8pm, FREE * Sunday and acoustic go well together here Jollie Holly exploits this in the city centre pub D’Taba & Guests @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £3. * Samba and Latin themed jazz every Sunday S & M @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * S & M on a Sunday is a weekly event - acoustic duo playing a finite but massive range of covers Sunday Jazz: Chapter Four @ Chapter, 9pm, FREE * A whole evening of acoustic jazz from this rather dapper quartet Secret Police @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Another Sunday, another wittily titled tributes act - this time it’s Sting & Co being mined
Monday 22nd Godhead Number @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Two sets in a row with a small breather between, one would hope, for this acoustic duo Gallows @ Millennium Music Hall, 7pm, £13 * Since Grey Britain came out in 2009, it has been nothing but success for Gallows - they return to Cardiff as furious and hardcore as ever Honey Fungus @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Part 1 in Honey Fungus’ temporary takeover of Live Lounge The Bluetones @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £17 / £15 * 90’s Britpop survivalists play a career retrospective Johnny Foreigner @ Buffalo, 7pm, £6 * Indie-tinged pop with a slice of post-punk in there for good measure. Guest DJ set from Los Campesinos! Rockin’ The Suburbs @ The Globe, 7:30pm, FREE * Showcase of talent from around the area Contagious @ Pen & Wig, 7:30pm, FREE * Weekly open mic night Far Out @ Gwdihw, 8pm, £2 * Creative monthly charity event featuring live performances, DJs and some craft - this month Burlesque troupe Peaches & Cream do the entertaining Cardiff’s Got Talent @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * MMP’s Liggett seduces the crowd with his goofy grin Welsh Folk Sessions @ Cayo Arms, 8:30pm, FREE * Another traditional Welsh folk session hosted by Meurig Williams
Poet’s Corner Open Mic @ Poet’s Corner, 9pm, FREE * Increasingly well attended new open mic on City Road Open Mic @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Weekly open mic in the O’Neills music room RWCMD Big Band @ Dempsey’s, 9pm, £5 / £4 * Directed by Alex Douglas this talented group play big band like they did in the old days, but better Honey Fungus @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Part 2 in Honey Fungus’ takeover of Live Lounge
Tuesday 23rd Sion & Sion @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Like dancing flowers, but human...or so they want us to think Cardiff University Music Department @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 1pm, FREE * The talented folks at the University Music Department show their wares Robert Cross @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * Residency for the ever-consistent Robert Cross A470’s Big Band @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * Ty Cerdd present this big band from the valleys The Wedding Present @ The Globe, 7pm, £17 / £14 * The Wedding Present come to Cardiff to play their “Bizarro” album in full, as well as their other greatest hits Sarah Blasko @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £9 / £8 * See Gigs of the Month
GigOfTheMonth
SARAH BLASKO
This multi-award winning Aussie songstress recently made Blighty her home and is now frequently bringing her impassioned, feminine and sultry songs to a new audience. Definitely in vogue, trend-wise, and with enough depth in her songs to command even the keenest listener’s attention. Clwb 23rd November
Zeus @ Buffalo, 7:30pm, £5 / £4 * Not to be mistaken with the Greek God of the same name, this is a far more Indie-rock and roll affair Royal Welsh College Of Music And Drama @ St. David’s Hall, 7:30pm, £10 * Conducted by
David Jones with Leonid Gorokhov on cello, Dvorak and Rachmaninov are charted The Spires / I Remember Tapes + Support @ Undertone, 8pm, £TBC * The Spires create a pleasant, refined noise somewhere between Joy Division, The Cure and Bloc Party Kymo @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * Weekly residency from this gentle acoustic duo Open Mic Night @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * O’Neills present their long-running open mic night Kickback Open Mic @ The Old Library, 9pm, FREE * Entertaining open mic in The Old Library on The Hayes Phill Wall’s Jazz Cardinals @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £4 / £3.50 * Traditional styles of the 20s and 30s charted here by another top notch trad-jazz outfit World Service Project @ Dempsey’s, 9pm, £5 / £4 * Recently formed quintet built around pianist and composer Dave Morecroft - edgy, experimental stuff Smokin’ Aces @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Residency for the rockin’ Smokin’ Aces Goose @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Super and varied covers in the late night session
Wednesday 24th Tony Morley @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Another gig for Morley, God bless him Brandenburg Concerto No 3 @ RWCMD, 1:15pm, £TBC * Brand new music and interactive soundworlds from students and staff in the Contemporary Music Department Tony Morley Duo @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * Morley is back, refreshed after a couple of hours off and renewed by the company of his musical friend Darren Parry @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * Cardiff Airport supported performance from this dashing pop songsmith Robert Cross Duo @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Cross and company show off their impressive technique Lunar Sax Quartet @ RWCMD, 7pm, £6 / £5 * Performance featuring works from some of Wales’ foremost composers And So I Watched You From Afar @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £8.50 / £6.50 * Ludicrously long-named, yet also rather catchy instrumental rock
The Ultimate Eagles @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £18 / £15 * Eagles tribute band, featuring members of the Illegal Eagles
Spiridion @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £6 / £5 * Rock band that successfully shows the heavier side of what South Wales has to offer
Mish Mash @ Buffalo, 8pm, £TBC * Local band/club showcase from the people of Mish Mash
Black Breath @ Buffalo, 7pm, £7 / £5 * Hideously underrated Metal/Hardcore hybrid, with support from Shaped By Fate, another hideously underrated Metal/ Hardcore hybrid
Llandaff Musical Society @ Millennium Centre, 8pm, £12 / £8 * Llandaff Musical Society return to the Millennium for two nights, performing the HMS Pinafore Rowan’s Open Mic @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * The friendly face of the MMP hosts this open mic Open Mic w/ Singing Huw @ Nos Da, 8:30pm, FREE * Free drink for performers, as well as a sense of accomplishment, in this weekly open mic No Sweat @ Cardiff Arts Institute, 9pm, FREE * Weekly chilled out showcase with a steady stream of talented Cardiffians rolling over the stage Jazz Attic @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £2 * Another jam session, those arriving early enough, and wanting to, can play with the house trio Tom Lewis @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * Tom Lewis brings his eclectic selection to Wednesday nights Colum Regan @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Solo acoustic residency for Mr. Regan Avante Guarde @ Dempsey’s, 9pm, £5 / £4 * Luke Starkey and other RWCMD graduates and musicians bring together new pieces for a performance at Dempsey’s Face Value @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Rock and pop covers up in Live Lounge
Thursday 25th Sion & Sion @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Two Sions in perfect alignment, the pyramids don’t even bear comparison RWCMD @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 1pm, FREE * The RWCMD take a select bunch of their talents down to Glanfa Tony Morley Trio @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * The ever-reliable Morley takes his buddies out on the road Sian Cameron @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * Mezzo soprano greets those in the Millennium Centre foyer Godhead Number @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * This duo serve up a revitalising set of acoustica Tek-One @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £7 / £6 * Eccentric electro/ dubstep act comprised of sounds salvaged from broken instruments and damaged toys
WASP @ Millennium Music Hall, 7pm, £17 * Blackie Lawless stands the test of time by bringing his pioneering shock-rock show to the capital A-Ha @ Cardiff International Arena, 7pm, £55 - £28.50 * 80s superstars return for a farewell tour Dr Feelgood @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £14-£17 * One of Britain’s finest rhythm and blues bands Zoo Pop Presents...Pagan Wanderer Lu / Stokes, William / Violas @ Gwdihw, 8pm, £3 * See Gigs of the Month
GigOfTheMonth
PAGAN WANDERER LU STOKES, WILLIAM VIOLAS
Zoo Pop bring some fine bubbling talent before the Gwdihw masses - headliner Pagan Wanderer Lu can be brutal, he can be outrageously noisy but he is never anything less than intelligent. Stokes, William are former MMP featurees and one of the most darned fine folk acts you’re likely to hear on any circuit. And then, to round it off, you’ve got a special acoustic set from the intricately-riffed calculus-rock of Violas. Gwdihw 25th November
Y Beudy @ Y Fuwch Goch, 8pm, £TBC * Band night in the fantastic Red Cow opposite Clwb Battle Of The Bands @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * The competition continues to hot up in Vulcan Lounge’s weekly BoB Llandaff Musical Society @ Millennium Centre, 8pm, £12 - £8 * Llandaff Musical Society return to the Millennium for two nights, performing the HMS Pinafore
Owain Glyndwr, 8pm, FREE * Ben & Stuart Harrison host this weekly affair in the city centre
7pm, FREE * Acoustic duo play their gentle, softly entertaining stuff
MMP Presents... @ Cardiff Arts Institute, 8pm, £4 / £3 * See Gigs of the Month
Vegas @ The Claude, 7pm, FREE * Never been to Vegas? Go to this show, and you can you can ambiguously claim you’ve seen Vegas
GigOfTheMonth
DR. MEAKER
Our tireless quest to bring quality live music into the city to compliment it’s already very well-rounded and fertile scene continues with pace. This month we are bringing down Bristolian drum ‘n’ bass, soul-funk live megaton nukes Dr. Meaker - we’ve had them once before and they shattered our senses with their brilliance. Now, they are back and badder than ever. Hell yeah. Cardiff Arts 25th November
The Undecided @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * The Undecided take up the responsibility of entertaining the Thursday night drinkers Will Butterworth Trio @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £7 / £5 * A Cardiff Jazz Society presentation with this spectacular trio bringing forth the jazzy goods for you to feast on Smokin’ Aces @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * Smokin’ Aces set to challenge Tony Morley for most performances a band can have in a year. Super Natural @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * The rock covers of Super Natural echo in the Live Lounge arena
Friday 26th Tony Morley @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Fair play to Morley, few men could perform this often without imploding Roy Howat @ RWCMD, 1pm, £6 / £5 * Roy Howat focuses on the works of Chopin as part of the Analysis for Performers Symposium Tony Morley @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * Once more into the breach, dear Morley Live Music Friday @ Owain Glyndwr, 5pm, FREE * Live music to beckon the weekend in like a mythical siren
Under The Driftwood Tree (Acoustic) @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * The UTDWT boys (and girl) strut their bloomin’ stuff
Chepstow Choral Society @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * The choral society from lovely Chepstow pay us Cardiffians a visit
Owain Glyndwr Open Mic @
Godhead Number @ Live Lounge,
Thirty Seconds To Mars @ Cardiff International Arena, 7pm, £22 * Over the top emo stars set out to brainwash the teenage population of Cardiff UK Pink Floyd Experience @ Coal Exchange, 7pm, £15 * Another top-tribute to Pink Floyd BBC National Chorus of Wales @ Millennium Centre, 7pm, £8 / £6 * A short series of concerts focusing on the music of contemporary composers such as Stravinsky and Britten 9Bach @ Buffalo, 7pm, £TBC * Psychedelic folk stylings Lets Zep @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £12 / £10 * Led Zeppelin tribute band The Siren Sisters & Band @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * Sweetly throated feminine vocals up at North Star Nouvelles Affaires Presents Miss Maud’s Folly / Gaudy Orde @ Gwdihw, 8pm, £2 * Bewitching Eastern melodies and sultry, sultry songsmithery from the lovely Miss Maud’s Folly with the enticing sounding skiffle-vaudeville of Gaudy Order supporting The Sweet Spots @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * More free helpings of top class soul just like how it was way back when... sumptuous and sultry 2 Tickets 2 the Gun Show @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * Unfortunately, Ron Burgundy cannot make tonight’s Gun show Helter Skelter @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Rock covers in the bigger of the two O’Neills The Tony Breen Band & Guests @ Blue Dragon Hotel, 9pm, FREE * Country, blues, jazz all blended together by the Tony Breen band Larger Than Average @ The Royal Oak, 9pm, FREE * The Royal Oak puts on some weight for tonight’s live music session Goose @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Regan’s cover troupe take their remarkable set to the Lounge The King Lewis Band @ Café Jazz, 10pm, £4 * Weekly residency from the peeps at Blues Dragon with The King Lewis Band bringing the goods
The MMP November 2010 043
Live Listings
Saturday 27th Tony Morley / Crimes Against Folk @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Morley and Crimes Against Folk build up to Wales vs. New Zealand The Gramercy Riffs @ Cardiff Central Library, 1pm, FREE * The upbeat country-folk of Gramercy Riffs play the lunchtime library slot RWCMD JMAS @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 1:30pm, FREE * The Junior Music and Access Studies students take to the Glanfa Stage of WMC Crash And Berney @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * Funk-pop in the Millennium Centre Honey Fungus / Kenny Driscoll Band / Graffiti / The Loud Hailers @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Four Live Lounge regulars take their fine sets back for the post-rugby drinking atmosphere The Bright Young People @ Buffalo, 7pm, £4 / £3 * North Wales based Alternative rock with a slightly grungey feel Paul Weller @ Cardiff International Arena, 7pm, £35 * A night with the Modfather himself. Support from The Bees John Cooper Clarke @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £18 / £15 * One of England’s most important poets/ performers Code Canu - The Finale @ St. David’s Hall, 7:30pm, £10 / £5 * Television filming of the final of this S4C series - four newly formed regional choirs compete for the final prize Leighton Jones @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * More soul in Vulcan Lounge this time with Cardiff’s Leighton Jones The Journeymen @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * The cover-miners take their diverse set of pop-rock tributes to North Star Mise En Bouche w/ TM Juke / Omega 66 @ Gwdihw, 8pm, £3 * TM Juke’s reputation is unblemished, his hook-laden experimental soul-funk-hip-hop-jazz hybrids are incredible - with Omega 66 providing funk guns in support this will be one hell of a night Benn Willis @ Promised Land, 8pm, £TBC * Willis struts his stuff as part of the Paul Weller aftershow - Steve Craddock will apparently be in attendance... Gigolos @ The Claude, 8pm, FREE * The Claude plays pimp for tonights performance from Gigolos The Secret Carnival Presents Smerins Anti-Social Club @ Cardiff Arts Institute, 9pm, £4 / £3 after 11pm, £2 / FREE b4 * Legendary festival band
044 The MMP November 2010
resplendent with horns, beats and bass creating an utterly infectious funk-ska experience The Big What? Band @ O’Neills (St. Marys), 9pm, FREE * More soulful style covers from this Commitments-esque act Smokin’ Aces @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * Another date in the Aces ongoing residency Little Giants @ The Royal Oak, 9pm, FREE * Smaller than your average giant, it’s Little Giants
Sunday 28th Tony Morley @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Morley’s long month of gigging is drawing to a close, although he’s probably already mentally preparing for next month Godhead Number @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * Live Lounge welcomes back this excellent acoustic duo Ruthie Henshall @ St. David’s Hall, 7pm, £35 - £15 * Olivier Award winning West End star takes on the classics in a oldfashioned Hollywood style show Colum Regan @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * The Irishman takes his set across to Live Lounge Koko Gorilaz Battle of the Bands @ Koko Gorilaz, 7pm, FREE * The contest continues, acts tbc Kyshera @ Buffalo, 7:30pm, £4 * Alternative rock that is reminiscent of 2nd album Lostprophets Mojo Jim & Friends @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £4 * Sunday Blues Rock club featuring the best local performers Sunday Acoustic Night @ Owain Glyndwr, 8pm, FREE * Charming night of acoustica Thoby Davis @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * More loops than the Red Arrows, it’s Monsieur Davis of Pedal D’Taba & Guests @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £3. * Samba and Latin themed jazz every Sunday S & M @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * This acoustic pair pull out the stops to entertain the lazy Sunday crowds Abba Revival @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * ABBA have their hits taken on a stroll around the Live Lounge dancefloor
Monday 29th Godhead Number @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Another doubleheader for Godhead Number as two more sets are conquered Jonathan Powell @ Glanfa Stage,
Millennium Centre, 6pm, FREE * The MMP feature star plays a free show of his pop songwriting in the Millennium Centre Honey Fungus @ Live Lounge, 7pm, FREE * Acoustic folk-pop fun and frolics in Live Lounge - the first of two sets Meatloaf @ Cardiff International Arena, 7pm, £48 * Over-the-top Rock ‘n’ Roll ballads from the only man capable of pulling it off Supergene @ Buffalo, 7pm, FREE * Evening long celebration of their latest album, with support from OK and others Contagious @ Pen & Wig, 7:30pm, FREE * Weekly open mic night Rockin’ The Suburbs @ The Globe, 7:30pm, FREE * Showcase of bands from around the area Cardiff’s Got Talent @ Vulcan Lounge, 8pm, FREE * MMP’s Liggett straddles into town like a bemused sheriff to host this weekly open mic talent show Welsh Folk Sessions @ Cayo Arms, 8:30pm, FREE * The Cayo welcomes some traditional Welsh music to soothe the Monday blues Poet’s Corner Open Mic @ Poet’s Corner, 9pm, FREE * The Poet’s Corner boozer gives Huwie Price an open mic Open Mic @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Open mic set in the bigger O’Neills music room Honey Fungus @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Late night live acoustica from this regular Live Lounge duo
Tuesday 30th Sion & Sion @ Live Lounge, 12pm, FREE * Having not quite trained their genetically engineered twins to replace them, Sion & Sion take up the lunchtime Live Lounge set again Lunchtime Concert Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral Choir @ St. David’s Hall, 1pm, £6.50 / £5.50 * Traditional music from choristers and choral scholars from this central Cardiffian cathedral Cardiff University Music Department @ Glanfa Stage, Millennium Centre, 1pm, FREE * The University’s talented musicians take to the Millennium Centre foyer Robert Cross @ Live Lounge, 4:30pm, FREE * Residency for Mr. Cross every Tuesday Bobby Conn and The Burglars @ Clwb Ifor Bach, 7pm, £8-£10 * American indie rock from the decadent pop chameleon Tasmin Little @ St. David’s Hall, 7:30pm, £16 / £14 * One of the
leading violinists in the world plays solo violin recitals from Bach, Bartok, Ysaye and Patterson Marseilles @ The Globe, 7:30pm, £13 / £8 * Rehoused Barfly show featuring Neil Buchanan from Art Attack Napalm Death @ Millennium Music Hall, 7:30pm, £15 * See Gigs of the Month
GigOfTheMonth
NAPALM DEATH
Having sold out the Barfly a year ago, the undisputed godfathers of Grind return to Cardiff once more to blast your face off, and possibly break your neck in the process. With DeathMetal heavyweights Immolation making a rare appearance on this tour, as well as further support from Macabre and Waking the Cadaver, this show is a must for anyone who’s been starved of extreme music in Cardiff, miss this show at your own peril. Millennium Music Hall
30th November
The Rejected Collective @ Buffalo, 8pm, £TBC * Welsh hip hop, with support from Donated Humour and Propanity Kymo @ North Star, 8pm, FREE * Weekly residency from this gentle acoustic duo Smokin’ Aces @ O’Neills (St Marys), 9pm, FREE * Weekly residency for the rock covers of Smokin’ Aces Kickback Open Mic @ The Old Library, 9pm, FREE * Fun and fanciful, and generally well attended, city centre open mic TBC @ Café Jazz, 9pm, £4 / £3.50 * The Preservation Jazz Society presents this weekly night in Cafe Jazz Open Mic Night @ O’Neills (Trinity Street), 9pm, FREE * O’neills present their long-running open mic night Joe Webb Trio @ Dempsey’s, 9pm, £5 / £4 * Hugely talented pianist is accompanied by bass and drums to play mostly original material Face Value @ Live Lounge, 10pm, FREE * Late night session from Face Value
ER B EM V NO
MIDDAY
AFTERNOON / EVENING
NIGHT
1st
Godhead Number
4:30pm Godhead Number // 7:00pm Honey Fungus
10pm Honey Fungus
2nd
Sion & Sion
4:30pm Robert Cross // 7:00pm Salsa Classes
10pm Face Value
3rd
Tony Morley
4:30pm Tony Morley Duo // 7:00pm Robert Cross Duo
10pm TBC
4th
Sion & Sion
4:30pm Tony Morley Trio // 7:00pm Honey Fungus
10pm Loudhailers
5th
Sion & Sion
4:30pm Tony Morley // 7:00pm Godhead Number
10pm Lazy Mojo Band //11pm Loudhailers
6th
Crimes Against Folk Wales vs. Australia plus Four Play // Live Wire // Loudhailers // Spokes // Daisy B & More
7th
Tony Morley
4:30pm Godhead Number // 7:00pm Colum Regan
10pm Tribute Sunday - Guns 2 Roses
8th
Godhead Number
4:30pm Godhead Number // 7:00pm Honey Fungus
10pm Honey Fungus
9th
Sion & Sion
4:30pm Robert Cross // 7:00pm Salsa Classes
10pm Goose
10th Tony Morley
4:30pm Tony Morley Duo // 7:00pm Robert Cross Duo
10pm Face Value
11th Sion & Sion
4:30pm Tony Morley Trio // 7:00pm Godhead Number
10pm The Big What? Band
12th Tony Morley
4:30pm Tony Morley // 7:00pm Tony Morley Trio
10pm Supernatural
13th Crimes Against Folk Wales vs.South Africa plus 49 Giraffes // Colum Regan // Smokin’ Aces // SixOneSeven 14th Tony Morley
4:30pm Godhead Number // 7:00pm Colum Regan
10pm Tribute Sunday - Modfathers
15th Godhead Number
4:30pm Godhead Number // 7:00pm Honey Fungus
10pm Honey Fungus
16th Sion & Sion
4:30pm Robert Cross // 7:00pm Salsa Classes
10pm Face Value
17th Tony Morley
4:30pm Tony Morley Duo // 7:00pm Robert Cross Duo
10pm Loudhailers
18th Sion & Sion
4:30pm Tony Morley Trio // 7:00pm Godhead Number
10pm Little Giants
19th Tony Morley
4.30pm Robert Cross // Crimes against Folk // 7:00pm Wales vs. Fiji 9:30pm Loudhailers // 11pm Livewire
20th Sion & Sion
4:30pm Smoking Aces Duo // 7:00pm Bespoke
10pm Supersaurus // 11pm Loudhailers
4:30pm Godhead Number // 7:00pm Colum Regan
10pm Tribute Sunday - Secret Police
22nd Godhead Number
4:30pm Godhead Number // 7:00pm Honey Fungus
10pm Honey Fungus
23rd Sion & Sion
4:30pm Robert Cross // 7:00pm Salsa Classes
10pm Goose
24th Honey Fungus
4:30pm Tony Morley Duo// Robert Cross Duo
10pm Face Value
25th Sion & Sion
4:30pm Tony Morley Trio // 7:00pm Godhead Number
10pm Supernatural
26th Tony Morley
4:30pm Tony Morley// 7:00pm Godhead Number
10pm Goose
27th Tony Morley
Wales vs. New Zealand plus Crimes Against Folk // Honey Fungus // Kenny Driscoll Band // Graffiti // Loudhailers
28th Tony Morley
4:30pm Godhead Number // 7:00pm Colum Regan
10pm Tribute Sunday - Abba Revival
29th Godhead Number
4:30pm Godhead Number // 7:00pm Honey Fungus
10pm Honey Fungus
30th Sion & Sion
4:30pm Robert Cross // 7:00pm Salsa Classes
10pm Face Value
21st
Tony Morley
See our full The advert page 47 MMP November 2010 045
“The Smithsonian years…. or how I learned to stop worrying and love that weird, undulating mass in the corner of the room” The following is an extract from the long thought lost (but recently discovered) journals of J.M Strange. Dated as being “Somewhere between 1605 and 1998.…me and time don’t generally agree on things like accuracy” and entitled “The Smithsonian years….or how I learned to stop worrying and love that weird, undulating mass in the corner of the room”. My father had a saying he was very fond of… “Son, never take a knife to an underground komodo dragon wrestling match, they can smell the blade and it pisses them off in ways you’ll never know…. also, never trust anyone cockeyed” Though, he’d also daily inject staggering amounts of uranium, in a bid to achieve what he described as “super blood power…things”…. which, ignoring a brief period where he could smell the future, ultimately just made his heart explode with the force of a contained ten megaton bomb…so really, he said and did a lot of retarded shit that I never paid much attention too. That being said, it was in the summer of DATE REMOVED TO PROTECT THE TIME SPACE CONTINUUM 046 The MMP November 2010
where that advice finally echoed with earth shattering relevance in a way that no other advice given to me during my lifetime (not even from that bizarre post-apocalyptic future version of myself…who really, should have learnt a thing or two) has ever come close too. As I stared long and hard into the deep-set, dead, merciless cocked eyes that had until recently belonged to everyone’s favourite taxidermy obsessed musician Jack White, now becoming more reptilian with each second as his true form unfurled itself from within its human shell. I couldn’t help but hear my father’s booming smoke-strained laughter wafting up from whatever level of hell he was currently drunk off his ass in. “Fuck nuggets” I sighed to no one in particular. I’d taken to bringing a knife to interviews as a precaution ever since I got blindsided by that fat motherfucker Meat Loaf back when he was singing about dashboards and on enough cocaine to make a bear’s face fall off. However, I’d rather foolishly not read the stipulations given to me
regarding this interview… Do not discuss Jack and Megs relationship beyond the idea that they are siblings Do not stare at Jack’s left foot. Do not bring a knife to the interview, it will awaken the age old lizard god residing in Jack’s torso. So….my own fault I guess. Jack let out an earth shattering scream as the seams of his skin split apart revelling a tough, shiny scaled hide underneath….and he was brandishing row after row of dagger like teeth strapped to a gaping maw hung below those black…so…very, very cocked eyes. I was starting to sweat a little. “So, how’s things going in here…” Calmly spoke his agent as she walking into the room, trailing of as she noticed what was happening…
“…Aww crap…HEY, FRANKIE!!!…GET THE AMULATE OF THE KOL’GARTH WOULD YOU…JACK’S DOING THAT….THING AGAIN” She yelled over her shoulder to, well, Frankie presumably. “Should I just leave?” I asked, as calmly as I could, though looking back I just screamed it at the top of my lungs… “Nah, he’ll be back to normal soon enough” She reassured me…in a this-shit-happens-all-thetime kind of voice. Suddenly Jack’s hand… scratch that, claw was round my neck. There was a dull burning sensation from where his flesh touched mine, and my eyes started bleeding immediately….around this time I blacked out… Funny how that was the start to a beautiful friendship. THE VIEWS OF J.M. STRANGE DO NOT IN ANY WAY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE MMP.
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The MMP November 2010 047
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