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Amelia’s Magazine | Naive New Beaters @ Ghost School

So it’s Friday night again and, its fair to say that I’m looking forward to a beer or two. Tonight’s main attraction, aside from the alcohol, is Ghost School at the Macbeth with Naïve New Beaters.

Having sunk a few beers we are greeted by the arrival on stage of the first band, Grand Pocket Orchestra, who, over the next 60 minutes, played a plethora of squawky, offbeat songs with equal measures of distortion and quirky melody that managed to very much divide opinion amongst my group of friends. Vocally, Paddy sounds like a cross between Steve Bays of Hot Hot Heat fame and a child having a tantrum. Not an entirely unpleasant combination by any means, as the rest of the band proceed to twang away at their instruments with varying degrees of gusto (Bronwyn, the band’s only female member makes Meg White look positively animated). At that point, my group of friends were fairly critical of GPO and agreed only with the vocal sound alike references. Personally, I quite enjoyed them. They have a laziness not dislike Pavement and something in common with Modest Mouse , although I’m not quite sure what! It’s all a bit kooky, wonky and a bit out-of tune; but upon listening to the songs recorded they seem to have the balance about right. Mid-set their singer appeared to have a bit of a hissy-fit that looked like he couldn’t quite overcome the reality that, although perhaps looking vaguely cool in a very cliché fashion, if he throws his guitar on the floor too hard, he may then actually break it and have to buy a new one. Despite this comedy Grand Pocket Orchestra a worth a listen.

By the time Naïve New Beaters arrived, the venue had really filled up and despite being more or less at the front; the obligatory tall guy appeared and stood in front of me. Between people’s heads I could see guys wearing splendid jumpers as the set began with sparklers being lit, then pierced through said jumper of the brave keyboard player. NNB proceeded to storm through their next three songs with increasing attention from the growing crowd. Finally, the evening really got going and it started to feel like a party.

NNB are an interesting band really, because it would be all too easy to write them off as yet another ‘of the moment’ electro/indie type bands who we’ll forget about in a month’s time. This may well be the case in the fickle world of music, but on Friday night at the Macbeth they really shone and everyone genuinely seemed to be having fun. All the songs are suitably upbeat and title track from the current EP, Live Good is so popular that it got played twice. So an evening of dancing commences and everyone I speak to is suitably enamoured with NNB.

I stayed on after the bands to drink some more and by this stage the Macbeth was heaving. The upstairs smoking gallery provided the perfect opportunity to get into bizarre drunken conversations with group of people that is actually pretty friendly. By this point I kinda feel like I’m at a house party – granted, I spent way more money than I would have at a house party. And despite the crowd’s attempts to prevent me from getting anywhere near the bar, Ghost School was well worth a visit and NNBS were a fitting accompaniment.

Written by Oli Frape on Monday March 10th, 2008 11:56 am

Amelia’s Magazine | Rufus Wainwright – All Days are Nights: Songs for Lulu – Album Review

The first time I encountered Rufus Wainwright was at the O2 Wireless Festival in Hyde Park five years ago after a friend had cajoled me into joining her for a spontaneous post-work “treat”. Wainwright was the supporting act for Keane (it gets better) and had been given a slot just after James Blunt (I told you).

In hindsight he seemed somewhat misplaced in the line-up with his less-than radio-friendly sound and his frankly astonishing talent. With his theatrical and flamboyant persona, issues-laden lyrics and unconventional sound, Wainwright was clearly an artist who divided audiences; you were either with him or you weren’t. I was firmly in the former category and have been ever since.

Six albums on since the launch of his career and a series of Judy Garland tribute concerts later, All Days are Nights: Songs for Lulu is Wainwright’s latest offering and his most moving work to date. The first record released since the death of his mother, folk singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle, who died from a rare form of cancer on 18 January this year, it becomes apparent after the first listen that darkness is the album’s central theme.

All Days are Nights – whose ‘Lulu’ part of the title is inspired by the havoc-wreaking character played by Louise Brooks in the 1929 German silent movie Pandora’s Box – consists of nine tracks and in true I-am-a-high-brow-artiste Wainwright-style, three adaptations of Shakespeare’s sonnets also appear on the record, which he set to music for a theatrical production in Berlin in 2009. Unlike his previous work, which combines lush orchestrations and complex string arrangements, all of the opulence has been stripped away to a bare bones effect, allowing the spotlight to fall upon a single piano, dusted with Wainwright’s sumptuous vocals. It is a brave move, leaving yourself open to scrutiny if you’ve grown accustomed to the support of a full band and backing singers (who once included Joan Wasser of Joan As Police Woman and Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons). But then again, this isn’t Brendan Flowers having a go, it’s Rufus Wainwright.

From the opening-track, ‘Who are you New York?’, where Wainwright recounts an obsessive search for an unnamed object of desire against a backdrop of the famous city, to ‘So Sad With What I Have’, a more reflective, self-pitiful piece where he opines, “How could someone so bright love someone so blue?”, his bruised, drawn-out baritone and intricate, swirling piano arrangements dominate throughout.

In ‘Martha’, the conversational lyrics inspired by Wainwright’s sister, Martha, are set to twinkling piano which becomes increasingly erratic in parts where, for the first time, we discover that even the Wainwright duo experience the same occasional frustrations we have when it comes to our siblings – “It’s your brother calling, Martha please call me back…”

‘Give Me What I Want And Give It To Me Now’ lifts the mood of the album with its jaunty deliverance, gradually swelling into a more cabaret-style sound. ‘Les feux d’artifice t’appellent’ is the closing aria from Wainwright’s debut opera, Prima Donna, which is currently showing at Sadler’s Wells in London (12-17 April) to critical acclaim. The track is a decadent and dramatic piece, with a crescendo-style ending where Wainwright taps on the piano’s sounding board and runs his hands along its strings to mimic the sound of fireworks illuminating the Paris skyline.

The closing track, ‘Zebulon’, written while Wainwright’s mother was dying of cancer, washes into lush fields of melancholy, and is perhaps the most emotive track on the album. It takes on a haunting and lingering tone, where he reminisces on the happier times of his childhood but also voices his disillusion about the harsh realities of the world.

All Days are Nights is a complex record which may not cater to everyone’s tastes, but Wainwright’s ambitious work has never been produced for mass-market uptake. Some critics have cited his musical endeavors as inaccessible and pretentious; however, in an age where most musicians are into recycling and you feel like you’ve heard pretty much everything before, his work continues to remain inspired without being derivative.

Listening to the album is a voyeuristic experience as you cannot help but sense that its manifestation was a creative outlet for Wainwright during his darkest hours. The decision to fuse minimal, yet sophisticated, piano arrangements with pure, heartfelt vocals emphasises his solitude in the lead up to his mother’s death, exposing a more vulnerable side of him – rarely has he sounded so intimate, confessional or raw.

All Days are Nights is Wainwright’s most assured, imaginative and beautiful album to date, where he has managed to produce another bewitching set of songs through his own emotional turmoil.

Written by Kat Phan on Tuesday April 13th, 2010 2:25 pm

Categories ,1929, ,album, ,All Days Are Nights, ,Antony and The Johnsons, ,Antony Hegarty, ,folk, ,Joan As Police Woman, ,Joan Wasser, ,Judy Garland, ,Kat Phan, ,Kate McGarrigle, ,Louise Brooks, ,Martha Wainwright, ,Pandora’s Box, ,review, ,Rufus Wainwright, ,Singer Songwriter, ,Songs For Lulu

Amelia’s Magazine | Junkboy: Sovereign Sky – an interview with Rich Hanscomb

Junkboy Sovereign Sky cover
Rich Hanscomb of Junkboy introduces his new album Sovereign Sky, created in collaboration with his brother Mik on the south coast of England. Since 1999 they have been quietly experimenting with multiple genres, from analogue synth soundtracks to woozy post-rock and electronica and, more recently, a song based pastoraldelica. The result is an idiosyncratic album full of strange influences and loving detail. Here he introduces the album and describes the process of producing the beautiful album artwork.

Rich. One half of Junkboy
What are the major themes of Sovereign Sky?
I don’t think Mik and I discussed themes whilst we wrote the album I guess these things just grow organically. However, when we were sequencing the tracks we noticed that most of them reference nature and/or the elements! Tipping points in seasons – summer to autumn or early spring – and all the feelings they prompt. I guess we’re coming from that kind of place. We’re in our 30s now so it’s a record that is certainly reflective – but not nostalgic – and full of hope.

How have your seaside locations influenced your music?
Immensely I should imagine. From Southend on Sea to Brighton and Hove and wherever we drift to next…that exquisite melancholy of seaside towns suffuses our music. There’s a sadness to Brighton too. You have to live here a while to experience it.

Junkboy Three orginal photo for sleeve
What is it like to work so intimately with your brother?
It’s great! My best friend, creative partner, flesh and blood. I’m very lucky to be related to such a talented and extremely modest, unpretentious man. We’re very close, a bit telepathic perhaps. We’ve only recently stopped living in the same flat together. Over thirty years in all of sharing the same roof. No wonder people think we’re a bit odd.

Priory Park-junkboy
You’ve been making records together for well over a decade: what have you learnt over this period?
I’ve learnt that genuine independent labels and independent record shops still play an important part in opening ears to exciting new music. I love browsing, sampling and buying online from record shops like Piccadilly and Normans – proof that the internet is great for music. I’ve learnt to distrust anyone who says that the album as a valid format is dead and that Spotify is good. The album is king.

What were the highlights of producing this record?
There were many – hearing our friends Will and Becca play the cello and violin parts we wrote over the songs was pretty magical. Just hearing that blend was great. This is the first Junkboy album written and – cello and violin apart – performed by Mik and I so we’re really proud of that too.

Priory Park, junkboy
Your album artwork was produced by a couple of friends of yours – what was their brief and how did they come up with the final imagery?
We worked with a really good friend of ours, Christopher Harrup, who has contributed to Junkboy sleeve designs for as long as we’ve been lucky enough to release records.We sent him a copy of the album and started a conversation in Dropbox – uploading pieces of art and album sleeves that had influenced us or that Christopher thought the album evoked. Between us we had Richard Long, Kenzo Okado, Michael Andrew, the first Sam Prekop album and a load of sixties graphic design. And pictures of the sun. Christopher starting collaborating with his partner, Claire Softley, who is an illustrator too and they managed to create something really beautiful and rooted in our formative years. Christopher and Claire sought inspiration from the suburban roads where Mik and I used to live in our old family house on Fairfax Drive, a stone’s throw from Roots Hall where we watched Southend United play. When you put your trust in an old friend’s creative process they have those kind of things to draw from. Memory and experience. It renders the sleeve design so much more meaningful. Plus it looks totally cool.

The album Sovereign Sky by Junkboy is out on Enraptured Records in November.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday September 26th, 2014 4:18 pm

Categories ,brighton, ,Christopher Harrup, ,Claire Softley, ,Enraptured Records, ,Fairfax Drive, ,interview, ,Junkboy, ,review, ,Rich Hanscomb, ,Roots Hall, ,Sovereign Sky

Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with The Witch and The Robot on the release of new album Fear of Mountains

The Witch and The Robot fear of mountains
They live in the Lake District, drug they’re neighbours with British Sea Power and they make bewitching alternative music that has been labelled psych folk but which really doesn’t fit in any box. New album Fear of Mountains has just been released on digital download and features a series of unique songs inspired by their isolated location and a fabulous mash up of influences. Meet Sam Hunt and Andrew Tomlinson of Cumbrian band The Witch and The Robot (otherwise known as TWATr) for a fabulous insight into some truly creative musical minds. We’re talking everything from Wordsworth to Alex Reid…

The Witch and The Robot Fear of Mountains head
How has living in the Lake District affected your approach to music making?
It pops up everywhere really; we are situationists through necessity rather than design. Growing up in places like the Lakes you have to create your own sense of scene, help a strange amalgam made up of half understood snippets from the radio or read in magazines. We found ourselves on a strange diet of Mo Wax/Warp/Ninjatune, New Romantica/Depeche Mode/Prince and David Bowie/90’s jingly jangly indie and Tupac; unable to appropriate a single scene we made one up ourselves. It’s hard not to reference where you live in songs, if you want to write about yourself, we are conscious of the romantics and the various other assorted lunatics, artists and rum buggers who by and large saw the Lakes as a place to escape the ‘real’ world. Wordsworth on the run from memories of the French Revolution, Josefina de Vasconcellos (who pops up a lot in our songs) on the run from London society, Kurt Swchitters on the run from the war…

The Witch and the Robot by Rachel Higham.

The place is filled with them, hotel staff who are a bit cagey about life before the Lakes, rich artists who see themselves in the mould of the before mentioned Schwitters, loads of people who find it very easy to create their own reality in this rural bubble. Josefina had a view on it that the mountains are both muse and jailer, we quote her on Fear Of Mountains ‘this place can make things seem more than they are’ it heightens emotions I suppose, to quote Lou ‘there is only one good thing about a small town that you know that you gotta get out‘ .. Fear Of Mountains Pt 1 is about getting out….

Witch and Robot by Carne Griffiths.

Are you happy with your acronym? Was it a conscious decision to use TWATr and if so why? And why the little r at the end?
When we decided to call ourselves The Witch and The Robot we were just trying to think of two creatures who would not have met before, the acronym was just a happy accident.. We’ve written a number of stories about how the two met, some of them should be on our blog but as far as the little r – TWAT is a funny word and word that is used a surprising amount in endless context, maybe it’s a Cumbrian thang…

Houdini

Love the video for Houdini, where was it shot and what inspired the treatment?
Why thank you – the video was shot at Wastwater – I think Sally Webster from Coronation Street got it voted ‘Britain’s favorite view’ on a ITV special – it’s England’s deepest lake, as deep as the North Sea and provides much of the water for the cooling process at Sellafield just down the way – I think there was a doctor who killed his wife and flew over Wastwater in light aircraft with her weighted body intending to drop her into the icy depths but missed and she ended up on the side of the mountain.. There’s also the Gnome garden, put at the depth where it starts to get dangerous for divers, Gnomes all happy surrounded by white picket fences, the police removed it, to prevent gnome tourism but it was put back up the next week. We filmed it on a very hot day with all our Star Wars figures and HeMan figures with the intention of tying them all to helium balloons, but you would be surprised at how many balloons you need to make an action figure fly.

The Witch and The Robot Fear of Mountains balloons

How do you write your songs, can you describe the process of how you work together?
We have always written together, it’s a very easy process as we’ve known each other literally all our lives, the thing about TWATr is that we are not really sure anyone else is listening, its what we as a group of friends have always done and will continue to do.

Witch and Robot by Gareth A Hopkins.

And for that matter, how did you meet and start making music?
We all grew up together, in and around Ambleside, I think music making came from the lack of anything else to do.

Hetero

Fear of Mountains is apparently the first of three concept albums in a Rock Opus. What can we expect from the others?
Like David Bowie’s 1. Outside it is our ‘A Non-Linear Gothic Drama Hyper-Cycle‘, also like 1. Outside Andrew thought it would be funny if it was the only one of the trilogy we ever did. I on the other hand have an idea about an album/graphic novel/action film/musical starring Celeb Big Brother winner and former beau of Jordan Alex Reid as a battle hardened William Wordsworth, we’ll just have to wait to see who wins out.

The Witch and The Robot Fear of Mountains

Can you describe your attraction to some of the oddball characters that feature within the music, and what exactly comes across of their personality in particular songs?
Most of the oddball characters are probably us in some way or form, so it’s probably safer just to remain hidden behind abstract lyrics, but as mentioned some real life people do tend to pop up quite a lot – the key one being Josefina de Vasconcellos, a daughter of a Brazilian diplomat, became a bit of a legend in the Lakes. She was a monumental sculptor and Blake-like visionary who specialized in figurative religious art and died at the ripe old age of 101. Religious art has never really be cool – unless you were a sculptor in renaissance, but her work was totally insane, if ever in Edinburgh have a look at The Last Chimera at The Cannongate Kirk on the Royal Mile or Escape To Light overlooking Morecambe Bay at Millom Lifeboat Station. I spent 2 years making a film about her, which in the end wasn’t that good, but was certainly an experience, as someone who struggles to believe the news let alone the presence of a God, it was a fascinating insight into what is faith…

The Witch and The Robot by Barb Royal.

The album can be bought in the Hide & Horn shop in Ambleside – has it since been stocked elsewhere or would you encourage a digital download of the album instead?
We released our first album On Safari on a proper label with distribution and the like and to be honest we’ve seen not a bean, so we thought it was time to scale back and try and do something interesting with the release – when you are in a Z-list psych-folk band I think it would make more of a difference to do something like that than let an un-bought album grow dusty on Rough Trade East’s shelves – also Pete at Hide and Horn could really do with the trade. But I have succumbed to peer pressure (Andrew) and put it on sale digitally as well, if you do get it from Hide and Horn Andrew has made you a lovely picture to go with it.

The Witch and The Robot Fear of Mountains bw

Are there any particular Lake District traditions that you feel the rest of the world should know more about, and why?
At the beginning of Fear Of Mountains pt1 we have recoded a snippet of Ambleside’s Rushbaring – for years we were told that this obviously pagan fertility rite was how they used to change the rushes on the floor of the church – but stiff like that happens everywhere – I once went to 2 or 3 Cumbrian wrestling lessons when I was 12/13 wish Id stayed on as I’d probably be world champion by now. But apart from noticeably excessive daytime drinking I think the wider world is probably better off with the Lakes traditions staying in the hills.

You can hear the whole glorious record here: I recommend you take a listen. Fear of Mountains Pt 1 is out now on digital download and at the Hide & Horn shop.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Tuesday October 4th, 2011 1:22 pm

Categories ,90’s, ,Alex Reid, ,Ambleside, ,Ambleside’s Rushbaring, ,Andrew Tomlinson, ,Barb Royal, ,Blake, ,British Sea Power, ,Carne Griffiths, ,Celeb Big Brother, ,Coronation Street, ,Cumbria, ,David Bowie, ,Depeche Mode, ,DJ Aesthetic Heartbreak, ,Escape To Light, ,Fear of Mountains, ,Fertility, ,French Revolution, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Gnome, ,HeMan, ,Hide and Horn, ,Houdini, ,ITV, ,Jordan, ,Josefina de Vasconcellos, ,Kurt Swchitters, ,Lake District, ,Millom Lifeboat Station, ,Mo Wax, ,Morecambe Bay, ,New Romantica, ,Ninjatune, ,On Safari, ,Pagan, ,prince, ,Psych Folk, ,Rachel Higham, ,Rock Opus, ,Rough Trade East, ,Sally Webster, ,Sam Hunt, ,Sellafield, ,Star Wars, ,Stuart Shingler, ,The Last Chimera, ,the witch and the robot, ,Tupac, ,TWATr, ,Warp, ,Wastwater, ,Wordsworth

Amelia’s Magazine | Family Day Out: The Broken Family Band

Okay, so the Windmill in Brixton isn’t the kind of venue you’d want to see Beyonce play (and I have it on good authority that if you did want to see her play, you wouldn’t be welcome there anyway) but a perspiring crowd saw Broken Family Band play an intimate afternoon gig there on Saturday. The Cambridge quintet have a wide host of influences, have a very strong fan base, and really enjoy playing together – combined with sounding great, you’ve got a darn good set-up. They’re also really, really nice guys, and front man Steven Adams kept the crowd pleased with his satirical anecdotes and nonchalant charm. I’m not one for quirky tactics, such as plying your audience with booze, jewellery or airline tickets, but the cake-fuelled interval and occasional free glass of wine actually suits this band’s happy-go-lucky, likeable presence. This also gave lead Adams an excuse to hurl expletives at us during the second half, which, of course, had the crowd in hysterics.

Experts in music pastiche, the BFB throw you from melancholic guitar ballads, to anthemic rock anthems, to smooth country and folk inspired rhythms. Seeing them live is a bit like riding a roller coaster that you actually want to ride. Songs like Devil in the Details and Cocktail Lounge are haunting and emotive and show the BFB as natural storytellers. Happy Days are Here Again (as the name suggests) was an uplifting, lively number and a crowd favourite. The somewhat up-tempo Love Your Man, Love Your Woman was a particular highlight for me and definitely worth a mention as it’s their new single – out now!!

They are constantly exploring new directions with their music, and the Summer brings a number of festivals and a new album amidst rising acclaim. The Broken Family Band are deservers of success and I hope that they can manage to retain their intimate charm and like-ability if and when they make it big. Look out for them at a small, sweaty venue near you – there are few better ways to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Written by Matt Bramford on Tuesday June 12th, 2007 11:35 am

Categories ,Band, ,Family Day Out, ,Folk, ,Influence, ,Live, ,The Windmill

Amelia’s Magazine | Man Like Me headline the Garage in Highbury Islington on 11th February 2010

Man Like Me illustration by Jenny Robins

Man Like Me headlined a Mean Fiddler gig at the Garage in Highbury Islington on Thursday last week. (I’m sorry but I can’t bring myself to call this venue by it’s new spangly sponsored name…. R. R. R. no I can’t. Sorry. It’s a grim energy drink, that’s all I’m gonna say.) I like Man Like Me – hence their appearance in issue 09 of Amelia’s Magazine, and their contribution to my Positive Futures USB compilation – so I went along to check them out.

Johnny Langer, singer

Arriving fresh from singing Schubert with my hands over my ears at my weekly singing lesson (apparently I have a very musical ear which means I am constantly overanalysing and adjusting the tone of my voice, fact fans) I immediately ran into someone I knew at the head of the long line snaking out of the club – I’d totally forgotten that my friend Dan is now part of Man Like Me, so some friends had come down to check him out. I’d sort of arranged to chat with singer Johnny Langer before the gig but this proved fairly impossible in the cramped dressing room which I’d say is designed for four people at a push. Man Like Me are now a ten strong live band. Go figure. Glamourous new female singer Jessie recognised me instantly, remembering that she met me through a mutual friend. Blimey it’s a small world. Looking very fabulous in a short sequinned dress, she was debating what size flower she should wear in her hair. Large, we all agreed. Large suits Man Like Me.

Jessie, singer with Man Like Me

It’s been awhile since I hung out backstage and I had quite forgotten the mania of a young band before a large gig. Amid the vodka tonic jollity they posed against the beautifully beige walls, Johnny musing over how much he enjoyed creating the tune, Oi John What’s Going On, which appeared on my Positive Futures compilation; a song that wasn’t fixated on love or getting twatted, as most of his creations tend to be. One new recruit to the band is Johnny’s dad, himself a record producer. I asked how long he’s been playing with his son. “I’ve been playing with him since he was a baby!” We chortled at how wrong this could very easily sound.

Dan, I like your glasses

My friend Dan joined the Man Like Me circus last year, bringing along his three piece brass section the JJ Horns, and embarking immediately on a seminal trip to Corsica, playground of rich Parisians. From there the next gig they went to was in glamourous Hitchin in Hertfordshire, something of which Dan is particularly proud. Donning suits and dark glasses the JJ Horns are a dapper foil to Johnny’s charity shop aesthetic.

Dan and the JJ Horns

With the band fully psyched to go I headed out into an audience of particularly young looking creatures, whereupon my friend Anna introduced me to her 14 year old nephew (she has 8 nieces and nephews, I am SO JEALOUS. I am not even an auntie yet!) It turns out that this was officially an underage gig and popping back to the bar I chuckled at the changing demographic. Youth, looking suspiciously drunk on sneaked in booze, getting sweaty up front; oldies (music industry and proud parents) loitering with clutched beers near the back.

Bulked up with layer upon layer of clothing, Johnny arrived on stage hidden behind a clutch of Lidls bags before heading straight into a typically lively Man Like Me set. To the delight of the female fans he proceeded to strip off slowly, from trenchcoat to silly jumper to t-shirt saying Deaf School to bare naked slim chest – leaving a pair of boxers and large deerstalker hat for last, stood astride a ladder, proclaiming to the audience. Such was the excitement that within seconds some irritating wench had clambered onto a pair of shoulders and was blocking our view of Johnny. Perhaps unsurprisingly this same lass was then responsible for a stage invasion of one during the final song. What a yawnsome cliche this has become.

Johnny has a delicate feral beauty that can easily command the attention of a large crowd. As a seer of contemporary life he sings of what he knows best: London Town, being a Single Dad (he really is, with a daughter just 3 years old), of Gucci and doughnuts, falafel and crap TV. Things we can surely all relate to (or hope to escape, if you’re a young lad and don’t quite fancy being a father yet) all imparted with a good dose of humour (just check out their videos for a sense of where they’re at) and a jaunty sing-along tune. The presence of the JJ Horns has brought a fatter dimension to their sound, with Dan happily bouncing along to the choreographed dance moves “I learnt them in a night” and Jessie providing an admirable foil to Johnny’s bouncy stage persona.

I last saw Man Like Me at Secret Garden Party a few years ago and I had forgotten how much fun they are live, with a good cache of tunes that move along at a cracking speed. The sweaty audience was clearly in agreement; they obviously have a sturdy fanbase who are looking forward to the release of a new album as much as I am.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Monday February 15th, 2010 3:29 pm

Categories ,garage, ,gig, ,Highbury Islington, ,JJ Horns, ,Johnny Langer, ,Live Review, ,London Town, ,Man Like Me

Amelia’s Magazine | Filthy Animals

IDIOT SON OF STELLA AND GEORGE

An eclectic mix of art work by a group of like minded people exploring expressionism through art.
Peckham Square, tadalafil page 28th of March 2- 6pm

In the Pines

Jack Strange
Limoncello 2 Hoxton St London, rx opening 27th of March 6.30 – 8.30pm, case exhibition: 26th – 28th of March 11am – 6pm and by appointment until 2nd May 2009.

Order and Disorder

Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
A look at a very unique collection of paintings and prints, several have never been publicly exhibited before.
Art first in Cork street, 24th March – 23rd April

One or Several Wolves

Priya Chohan, Coral Churchill, Annelie Fawke, Kwang-Sung Hong, Heidi Locher and Anne E Wilson.
A group of artists look at conceptual motivations within Art, using a variety of media each artist explores the relationship between concept, material and final work created.
Kingsgate Gallery, 20th March – 5th April Free

Bandits present

New installation work from Glaswegian artists littlewhitehead.
The Bun House Bandits, 96 Peckham High Street London. Preview: 15th March 2009, 4pm. Exhibition: 16th March 2009 – 29 March 2009, 11am–11pm

Being and nothing-ness

Youngmi Kim, Kiwoun Shin and Seunghyun Woo
Three Korean artists explore the notion of “being” through various multi media methods, the exhibition includes paintings, videos and sculptures.
Nolias Gallery, 60 Great Suffolk St SE1. Private view: 26thMarch at 6pm- 9pm, exhibition: 27th March- 7TH April 200 10:30Am-6pm,

We are his body

installation art work inspired by the artist’s exploration of the cross in today’s society.
Viewing at Christ Church URC 663 Barking rd Plaistow E13 9EX, 25th March 6pm

Kate Marshall: Live Painting.

This dextrous figurative painter will be doing a live drawing and painting gig at Movida, Argyll Street on April 2nd. Arrive at 9.30pm, you might get a free drinky. She’ll be starting work at 10pm. Check out the event on facebook.
I just woke up from the best nightmare I ever had, store at least I think it was a nightmare. I mean, side effects I’ve heard of mutton dressed as lamb and a wolf in sheep’s clothing, health but last night I saw a couple of ladies, dressed as a wolf and a sheep respectively, among other things.

But what was this, what had I stepped into? Well I found the best person to ask, Annie Oldfield. A lovely young lady from Leeds, dressed as a wolf! I thought it would be fun to create a one-off themed party where you can listen to music all night that`s in some way related to animals: Animal Collective (Panda Bear), Deerhunter, Modest Mouse (the list is endless), eat crackers and, of course, what themed party is complete without fancy dresses. Shark, tiger, zebra, duck, crab, swan, cat (there were lots of cats) all had turned out.

After Annie along with friend Bonnie Wan came up with the idea they went to
DJ/Promoter friend Dave Bassinder (Underachievers) and Filthy animals! was born.

Not one for getting down on the dance floor, that was no problem here, you could keep yourself occupied by making animal balloons or watching films played on a big screen, obviously starring our fantastic furry friends. Or grab a piece of paper and give origami a go, make some sort of flapping pterodactyl. Of course the term filthy suggests more than balloon modeling so a few cheap drinks and many tunes later and the dance floor got the attention it deserved, well you spend all day making a costume you gotta show it off, right?

It`s a real shame it had to end as there are no plans for further repercussions. If you read this Underachievers “BRING BACK THE ANIMALS and KEEP EM FILTHY”!

Written by Simon Lord on Tuesday March 24th, 2009 12:16 pm

Categories ,Animal Collective, ,Deerhunter, ,Filthy Animals, ,Modest Mouse, ,Music, ,Party

Amelia’s Magazine | Naive New Beaters @ Ghost School

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