ISSUE TWENTYFIVE

ISSUE
TWENTYFIVE
OCT//NOV
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THE CRIBS REVEREND AND THE MAKERS
THE GO! TEAM PIGEON DETECTIVES ELEKTRONS
EDITORS CHROMEO KATE NASH KITSUNE
BLACK LIPS ROBYN THE TING TINGS AIR CAV SIR YES SIR
THE REAL DOLLS TWISTED WHEEL ELLE S’APPELLE CONTROL
ISSUE TWENTYFIVE
Oct/Nov
features
Next
issue of
High Voltage
out 1st Dec
Introducing… Sir Yes Sir
& The Real Dolls SIX
Introducing… Air Cav
& Ting Tings SEVEN
Black Lips
& Robyn NINE
The Go Team TEN
Reverend & The Makers TWELVE
Chromeo FIFTEEN
The Cribs SIXTEEN
Elektrons EIGHTEEN
Kate Nash TWENTY
Pigeon Detectives TWENTYONE
Editors TWENTYTHREE
Kitsune Label Profile THIRTYFOUR
Regulars
Manchester news FIVE
Single reviews TWENTYFOUR
Album reviews TWENTYSIX
Live reviews TWENTYEIGHT
Control - Film Special THIRTY
New Noise THIRTYONE
Manchester Listings THIRTYTWO
For more reviews, interviews, comment
and info on all High Voltage activities log
on to www.highvoltage.org.uk
See www.highvoltagesounds.co.uk for
label info and new High Voltage releases
EDITOR - Richard Cheetham - [email protected]
ASSISTANT EDITOR - Alistair Beech - [email protected]
FEATURES EDITOR - Adrian Barrowdale – [email protected]
DESIGN - Andy Cake | Soap | www.soapforall.co.uk
CONTRIBUTORS - Alex Barbanneau, Hannah Bayfield, Mike Caulfield, Hannah Clark, Fran Donnelly, Stephen Eddie, Jade French, Ben
Godfrey, Lauren Holden, Chris Horner, Nick Leyland, Oliver Lyttelton, James Morton, Sophie Parkes, Liam Pennington, Gareth Roberts,
Jamila Scott, Benjamin Short, Simon Smallbone, Jack Titley, Megan Vaughan.
two
three
Oct/Nov
_News...
It's time to rediscover the student in you
Event of the Month
as in between the summer's festivities
The Warehouse Project
Piccadilly train station
and the Christmas lull, the next two
months are probably the busiest on the
gigger's calendar, and we've got a lot to
Meanwhile, beneath Piccadilly train station, The
17th that really has us sweating as the '20 Years
Warehouse Project have been plotting their
Since Acid House' night presents not only Vitalic
LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, Klaxons,
long-awaited return – and what a return!
and Digitalism, but also sees the triumphant
Calvin Harris and Editors all drop by to
Soulwax bring their Nite Versions and 2manyDjs
return of The Whip (with new single 'Sister
pay us a visit, and that's just in the big
guises, whilst Annie Mac showcases Bonde Do
Siam'), and a rare chance to catch The Ting
venues. On October 13th, Night & Day
Role and Chromeo. However it is the November
Tings before they're massive.
look forward to.
host an indie-pop extravaganza as Los
Campesinos! are joined by the lovely Sky
bring you Canadian cuties Pony Up! on
Electric Chair announces
final executions
3rd November. Les Savy Fav, XX Teens
After thirteen years as one of Manchester’s
the rafters with like-minded people seeking the
and Asobi Seksu are all on hand going
most-loved clubnights, The Electric Chair is due
best in house, disco, hip-hop, soul, funk, techno
into November to make up the cold
to have its switch flipped to off in January.
and everything in between.
gigging nights.
Residents and founders, Justin and Luke
Larkin and You Say Party! We Say Die!,
whilst continuing this indie love-in, HV
Unabomber recently
The final line-ups are as follows…
Now the students might be back, but so
announced that the first
September 29th: Karizma, Broke
are all of our favourite clubnights, so on
Chair of 2008 will also be
N English, Unabombers, Kelvin
top of the usual nightly decadence you
the last.
Brown
can expect plenty of special birthday
Kicking off in 1995 at The
October 27th: Morgan Geist
celebrations when Contort Yourself are a
Roadhouse, The Electric
(Metro Area), Unabombers, Kelvin
year old, Tramp! are three and Akoustik
Chair has slowly but surely
Brown, Kabal feat. Winston Hazel
Anarkhy are eight on October 26th.
become the monthly
(Funk Master General), Pipes,
Electro-heads Prostitutes & Policemen
shindig of choice amongst
Peppa Seed, Toddla T (Small
are making a move to The Zoo and you're
Manchester’s more
Arms Fiya)
gonna want to be down for Ed Banger's
discerning clubbers,
amazing SebastiAn at the end of
paying host to, among
November. Mine's a triple vodka coke,
others, Detroit techno
and I'll meet you on the dancefloor.
November 24th: Danny Krivit,
Unabombers, Kelvin Brown, Last
Rites with Paul
legend, Carl Craig, New
Hughes/Jules/586/Cosmic
York disco don, Joe
Disco/Rob D/Kev Macca/Shanky
Between 19th-22nd October, In The City
Claussell and recent MBE
continues in the sad absence of its
recipient and professional
December 29th: The Last Supper
founder Anthony Wilson. Keep an eye out
hat stand, Norman Jay.
– Very Special Line-up TBA
for our tip The Teenagers, and then join
It now takes over The Music Box on Oxford
January 26th: The Execution – Unabombers &
HV at Night & Day on the Saturday for
Road on the last Saturday in every month – until
Kelvin Brown
best of the buzzing. Just hope you've still
January 26th at least – and is always packed to
See you down the front.
got some of that student loan left…
Words: Fran Donnelly & James Morton
four
five
introducing...
“High Voltage once slagged us off,”
grins Joe, Sir Yes Sir’s
singer/guitarist. “They said we
sounded like Franz Ferdinand without
the tunes. Or was it The Strokes?
Basically, they slagged us off.”
Bassist Dan reassures us that there’s
no love lost though, “We’re actually
big fans of HV.”
“You’ve got some good bands signed
up.”
“Though I like to call High Voltage
‘HIV’.” This triggers a fit of giggles
between the two who met during a
West Side Story version of university
life. “We were in rival gangs,” says
Dan ominously.
“We kind of eyed each other from
afar and when I moved here.”
“We left our gangs and started our
own.”
A list of rules within which the band
was to operate was quickly drawn up:
“Never get a drummer.
“Try and be as close to Pavement as
possible.”
“I’m sure we had more... doobs after
practice, never during.”
their own gigs or release material.
“It’s easier to be lazy,” shrugs Joe.
“We’re not doing this to be the new
Fratellis. We do it because we like
Pavement and Pavement have
broken up. If they get back together,
we’ll stop.” SYS aren’t shy about this
major influence, something which
doesn’t always go down well with
audiences. Recently at a gig, one
woman attempted to throw an
ashtray at Joe.
“She hated it. She was like, ‘this is
fucking bullshit!’ and then we played
a Pavement cover and she went kerrazy. I think she thought we sounded
like Pavement anyway and we
covered them and she went mad.
My little sister had to step in!”
In an uncharacteristic act of
enterprise, SYS have a split single
with Air Cav due for imminent
release. “We’re the A side and
they’re like the Z side,” says Dan as
Joe’s head falls into his hands.
“Don’t!”
Dan chuckles, “No they’re nice, we
don’t want any beef. Though if there
was any beef, we’d step up.”
“Yeah we’d win for sure.”
“Not be too serious about stuff.”
“No, we don’t do beef.”
“Don’t be pussies... we break that
rule every time we lay eyes on each
other.”
Words: Benjamin Godfrey
Aside from not being pussies, SYS
seem to have closely obeyed their
self-imposed laws in the two years
since they started out. The pair
create drum tracks digitally and play
them through an MP3 player on
stage, they don’t take being in a band
too seriously and rarely bother to find
The Air Cav/Sir Yes Sir split single is
due for imminent release on Into The
Black
six
www.myspace.com/siryessiryessir
"Today," begins Rod Hotley, "I did a
bit of wallpapering. Wallpapered a
fireplace. Looks really nice, gonna
paint it soon. It's pretty domestic for
Rod Hotley."
It's always the quiet ones. But
despite the normality of their daily
routines, local hip-hop rock perverts
The Real Dolls are far from quiet.
What would you expect from a name
like theirs?
"It's a sex doll. It's a bit shady; we're
a little bit more interested into that
side of life. You don't always expect it
of someone but..."
"If you're gonna make music it might
as well be about sex," interjects
bassist Real Dave. "If sex or a tune
hasn’t got any energy then it's got
nothing. Sexiness is energy, right, so
if you can put that into a tune then
Bob's your aunty."
And if you can put it into a set of
tunes then you've got a Real Dolls
show, and it never fails to bring a
grin. Hoods up, shades on and
gyrating grooves dynamo Yoshi givin'
it some at the stage edge, they are
fully live and above anything
entertaining. They kicked off the main
stage party for many at D:Percussion
this year, but as keyboardist Ivan
notes, they find themselves a
peerless bunch round these parts;
"We occupy the strange little corner
that not many people walk over to,"
he laughs, "but the ones who do
have a good time. It's not a 'sort' of
crowd; like the music you can't box
them and that's part of the fun."
Yet things are just beginning for this
already familiar crew. An upcoming
self-released single in 'Electro
Tsunami' (about how the five-piece
will wash away the current wave of
electro acts) and promises of new,
exciting live dimensions are on the
horizon. Having a good time now
though and in no hurry to rush
things, The Real Dolls will do things
at their own pace.
When Allan Gaskin picked up the
phone in Vietnam to hear his old
school friend on the other end, he
must have wondered who had died.
Chris Nield, however, simply asked
whether or not he wanted to “play
the drums properly, seriously?”
One thing is certain, if Air Cav have
retained only a smidgen of that
ambition since 2005, very little will
halt their ascent.
"If we knew what we're trying to do
then it would become contrived,"
says Dave of the band's play-it-byear direction, but the results sound
as though they know exactly what
they're doing. Pop-happy rapping,
rocking riffs and classic beats. Happy
Mondays and Black Sabbath doing
the Beastie Boys. "It's beyond real,"
explains Rod, half-seriously.
"Expressing yourself as far as you
can whilst still having a sense of
humour. It sounds like nothing you've
ever heard before, but with lots of
bits of things you've liked."
Working alongside a caretaker
bassist, the duo fleshed out Chris’s
early songs, before they recruited
Mark Jones to join the rhythm
section on a full-time basis, and
their pièce de résistance, Sophie
Parkes, whose ethereal (and often
wild) violin has seen the band
aligned with those avant-garde
Canadians, Arcade Fire. “Being
compared to them is being
compared to something great”
concedes Chris, “but I think we
sound more like New Order. It’s a
loose connection really; they’ve got
a pretty girl on violin and we’ve got
a pretty girl on violin.” It is true,
however, that Air Cav demonstrate
a melodic eclecticism rarely seen in
such a young band, bringing some
starkly different influences to the
table, from Led Zeppelin and dark
psychedelia, to traditional, Gypsy
folk. It’s this refreshing mixture of
genres that led to support slots with
We Are Scientists and The Young
Knives, and more recently, a limited
single release on fledgling label
Into.The.Black.
Words: Fran Donnelly
www.myspace.com/therealdolls
“We’d heard of the Into.The.Black
kids putting on parties in
warehouses and we’re all for that
DIY thing. We’re more melodic
than the other bands involved, and
lighter I suppose, but they just
approached us for a loose deal.
It’s not a set-in-stone contract,
which is nice, but having a tune
released on vinyl is something
everyone in a band wants to do.”
The electrifying combination of
spiky guitars, commanding vocals
and bombastic percussion in
‘Alliance’ made it the ideal choice
for Air Cav’s debut. Chris
explains, “We all have out
favourite songs in the band, but
‘Alliance’ is like our signature tune;
it’s more of a statement.”
Since then, the ‘Cav have gigged
extensively, attracting attention
from Dave Haslam, who invited
them to play his new Paris
residency in November. “Any time
we play outside Manchester is
always a bit special, so that’s
gonna be cool, but we’re starting
to grow hairs on our chests now,
and we’re going to keep working
at it.”
High Voltage does like a hairy
chest…
Words: Megan Vaughan
www.myspace.com/aircavmusic
Back in the beginning, High Voltage
were tipped to The Ting Tings prior
to their now legendary first gig
proper at Sounds From The Other
City last May. "We thought people
might be cynical," their glamorous
Katie White recounts, "but they just
came and danced along. It was
crazy."
In the four even crazier months
since, Katie and Jules have played
festival stages and feel "ready for
anything". Anything, that is, apart
from a D:Percussion show with HV
after Jules decked his arm at
Homoelectric the night before. Now
next time you can catch them
locally will be at The Warehouse
Project no less. Have The Ting
Tings formed a local fanbase? "I'd
say yes for the simple fact that
we're from Manchester," suggests
Jules. "We started the band here,
started gigging here – it's happened
here. We're a part of things getting
better, faster."
"And you don't get much pop out of
Manchester do you?"
Maybe, but these are no Take That;
bumbling from failed bands and
living in the bohemian Islington Mill,
Katie had only been playing guitar
for two weeks prior to the band's
first live gigs. 'Great DJ' was a track
salvaged from her learning curve,
and now this see-what-happens
approach is constructing their debut
album. Last time we saw The Ting
Tings they had a set of four songs
("five" corrects Jules) so this is a
band still developing, with every
new idea reaching a wider
audience. Song-in-progress, "Impaseeya-parca-sol" (sic) is entitled so
because the two "couldn’t find any
English words to fit whilst keeping
the rhythm".
As one of the band's few fullyformed numbers, 'That's Not My
Name' was a bouncing playground
gem ecstatically received in a
bundle of sharp, hot colours. It was
clever-pop from where Talking
Heads became Tom Tom Club.
Fittingly it will be taken to the world
with shows in New York, Berlin,
London and Salford. "It's about
people interacting and that's where
the four cities launch came from,"
explains Jules. "We struck a chord
together not only in music but
artistically."
The duo still seem quite taken
aback by nosy people interrupting
their precious recording project to
ask them questions. That shouldn't
be surprising, but later that week
HV finds them plastered across two
pages of NME. A world away up in
Islington Mill, Jules and Katie
probably find it hard to keep up with
The Ting Tings, but they'd better
start paying attention, because just
about everyone else is.
Words: Fran Donnelly
www.myspace.com/thetingtings
The Ting Tings play Manchester
Academy on October 19th,
supporting Reverend and the
Makers
seven
Robyn
Not many people get a chance at a
comeback in the music industry,
and even fewer return to the top of
the charts well over a decade after
their initial success. Robyn first
appeared as Robin S, belting out
the 90's dance classic Show Me
Love. Fast forward to 2007, and
she's repeated her trick of
combining melancholy pop hooks
with dance beats on 'With Every
Heartbeat'. It's not only Robyn
who's matured though; the music
has grown up too. Swedish
producer Kleerup layers gently
undulating beeps and waves of
synthesizers underneath Robyn's
almost tearful vocal, making it
more of an eye-filler than a floor-
filler. "I think that maybe one of the
reasons it connected with so many
people", she says in a quiet
Scandinavian accent, "is that it is a
mixture of sad melody and chords
with more upbeat and happy
music. I've always liked music that
combines the two."
The song's slow burning success
has been proof that if a song is
good enough, it can take on the
big budget Goliaths. Initially the
song was Kleerup's, featuring
Robyn as his guest vocalist. It
made its way onto her selfreleased record, The Rakamonie
EP. The EP started to gain in
popularity, initially due to the
hilarious and bizarre electro-rap
number 'Konnichiwa Bitches', but it
soon became obvious that 'With
Every Heartbeat' stood head and
shoulders above everything else
on the record. It was eventually
released as a bona fida hit single,
albeit with Kleerup's name gone
from the title. "I've known Kleerup
for quite a while," explains Robyn,
"he plays drums in my live band.
He played me the song and I really
loved it. The song is sort of about
his own life too, I kind of took the
story from him."
Knife on production. "It feels good
that I have done it myself, on my
own little label" she says, "it's been
a lot of hard work though.
Tomorrow I am in London I think,
then Australia, and then I think
America..." She trails off, struggling
to remember her busy schedule.
She had to do it all herself, but
people are finally showing Robyn
the love she deserves.
Her album is set to be a huge
success, filled to the brim with the
sort of superhuman pop that only
the Swedish seem to be able to get
right. One track even features The
Next single 'Handle Me' is released
physically on 29th October, and
available a week earlier on 22nd
October digitally
Words: Alex Barbanneau
www.robyn.com
Black Lips
Just four hours later, Atlanta,
Georgia’s Black Lips are tearing up
The Roadhouse stage, using all
manner of baseless shock tactics to
throw the audience curveball after
curveball, ranging from catching your
own spit to sporting bling-bling gold
teeth. Right at this moment though,
you wouldn’t dream that these four
decidedly normal, well-spoken guys
would stoop as low as to urinate in
their own mouths or French kiss each
other on stage just to keep their
audience on their toes.
Yet here we are, with Cole
(singer/guitarist/spit-catcher), Jared
(singer/bassist/handlebar
moustache), Ian (guitar/gold fronts)
and Joe (drums/screams/flailing
arms) waxing lyrical about alcoholic
energy drinks and the state of
country music. More importantly
eight
though, there’s that new album
(Good Bad, Not Evil) to cover.
“Our album’s released on September
11th in the States”, Cole informs us,
“but we really wanted to compete
with Kanye West for a release date.
We got some country guy releasing
his album on that day though…”
“Kenny Chesney”, Jared informatively
chips in.
“It’s not even country though. The
new (country music) is kinda
hilarious. The lyrical content… it’s all
(adopts hackneyed Southern accent)
‘Were you theeere when the
toweeers feeeelll!’ They’re retarded.”
As one non-sequitur reaches its end,
Ian is willing to bring up another so
as to not let the conversation take on
too linear a manner; “We’re getting
into the spirits business”. Jared
elaborates, “Ian’s brother invented an
alcoholic energy drink… to rival Lil’
Jon’s Crunk Juice”. The band then
enthusiastically embellish on the
drink’s merits, telling us that it’s
“made from exotic Brazilian herbs”,
it’s “chemically infused” and that
“there’s science involved”. Quite.
The band are just as enthused about
the current scene developing out of
Atlanta that themselves, Deerhunter
and Mastodon seem to be
spearheading. “There’s a band called
The Selmanaires”, Jared notes, “that
are like a Kinks/Talking Heads mashup. There are bands popping up all
over right now. The Coathangers,
The Carbonas…” “It’s a really closeknit scene in Atlanta”, Cole explains,
“Even, like, Cee-Lo from Gnarls
Barkley and Andre 3000 from
OutKast, you’ll see on the street.”
What about the future of Black Lips
though? What kind of goals do the
band have for this new record? “A
billion records”, Cole beams. “We
want to outsell Kanye and 50 Cent”,
Joe quips, an ironic smirk creeping
across his face. I guess it’s a mark of
the band that they treat the important
things trivially and the trivial things
with the utmost importance, but
something tells me that the manic
stage show and borderline-unhinged
recordings are all part of some
devious world-domination plot. Be
warned when you crack open that
bottle of D-Tuned.
Words: James Morton
www.myspace.com/theblacklips
Good Bad, Not Evil is out now on
Vice
nine
GO!
There have been some changes in
camp Go! since the release of the
Mercury Music Prize nominated
Thunder, Lightning, Strike at the end of
2004, none more so than that they’re no
longer the solo venture of band-leader
Ian Parton. After he signed to Memphis
Industries and was invited to play a
festival in Sweden he was forced to put a
band together sharpish, eventually
settling (as much as The Go! Team can
be settled) with the six-piece there is
today. Joining Parton on a rotating
instrument policy are Jaime Bell, Chi
Fukami-Taylor, Kaori Tsuchida, onstage
frontwoman Ninja and guitarist/drummer
Sam Dook. We talk to Sam at the end of
the festival season from his home in
Brighton...
Sam became a member of the Team
after Ian had spotted him playing in
“noisy, detuned guitar bands” around
Brighton, when they were both doing
stuff on Pickled Egg records in Leicester.
“It wasn’t a bunch of friends hanging out
in college or whatever and forming a
band. I guess I was in the crosshairs to
be one of the members, but we weren’t
ten
close friends or anything,” he says. “It’s
been a similar sort of thing for the others,
no one really knew each other so it was
a bit of a social experiment. Everyone
comes from quite different backgrounds;
Ninja is a girl from London into her hiphop, Chi and Kaori have Japanese
backgrounds. It’s all been really
fascinating.
“We’ve been getting to know each other
over the last three years and become
close friends within the strange thing that
being in a band and travelling around is.”
What hasn’t changed is the quality and
vitality of The Go! Team’s music.
Harness that to one of the best live
shows in the world, and you’ve got a
pretty unique outfit. But now that The Go!
Team is, well, a team, how much say do
the newcomers have on the new record?
“I don’t think anyone else would claim to
have written any of the songs, but we’ve
all embellished and helped them. But
Ian’s still a bit of a Brain Wilson! He likes
to try and oversee the whole thing,” says
Sam. Not that he’s some kind of alt. pop
Stalin: “But it’s nice because he chose us
all to be part of it for our individual
characteristics, and hopefully they come
through on the second album.”
Proof… is a much more live sounding
record than Thunder.... Over in a flash,
like the Beastie Boys' Paul’s Boutique, it
requires multiple listens to fully get to
grips with all that’s going on. Mellow
instrumental ‘My World’ gives way to
‘Titanic Vandalism’s’ noise-funk blast.
Then there’s ‘Fake ID’, like Sonic Youth
covering The Pippettes, or the other way
round. It shouldn’t work; it should all be a
big mess. In fact, it is a big mess, but
everything fits.
Ninja isn’t the dominating force she is
onstage either, and of all the vocals only
a few make it out of the mêlée intact,
including those of a genuine hip-hop
legend.
“We didn’t get to meet Chuck D, we all
would have loved to!” Sam explains,
“Someone at the label asked us if there
was anyone we’d really like to work with,
and because we’ve had a bit more
exposure we thought we’d be a bit more
adventurous with who we ask. Why not,
what’ve you got to lose? And Chuck D
was top of the list.
“I got into Public Enemy at 14; it was one
of the first gigs I ever went to. I have
huge respect for everything he’s done for
rap music. We didn’t hear back for a
while, so we thought maybe we were
getting above our station! And then it all
came together. He liked our spirit, was
up for it, and did some verses.”
After working with your heroes, you’d be
forgiven for thinking they’d rest on their
laurels, but Sam assures us that’s not the
case, although he acknowledges TG!T’s
lifespan isn’t infinite.
“I know Ian wouldn’t want to do it just for
us to make a living sort of thing. He’s a
very, very for real guy, and he’d only want
to do it if the drive was there. But I think
there’s a lot of energy left The Go! Team
engine, y’know what I mean?” We do.
Don’t go changing.
Words: Stephen Eddie
www.thegoteam.co.uk
The Go! Team’s second album, ‘Proof Of
Youth’, is out now on Memphis
Industries.
eleven
Sheffield’s Reverend and The
Makers are currently taking their
politically aware rock-n-roll tales of
arcade gambling, boy-racers and
fading empires on a sell-out
nationwide tour, having been
heralded as Yorkshire’s new hopes
during support slots with their old
mates, Arctic Monkeys, who I think
you may have heard of. After seeing
debut single ‘Heavyweight Champion
Of The World’ take on the airwaves
and the masses, new release ‘You
Said You Loved Me’ is primed to do
the same; its cheeky pop chorus and
tongue-in-cheek take on modern
relationships conquering dancefloors
up and down the country. Prior to a
triumphant Manchester show, High
Voltage spoke to “the Rev” himself,
Jon McClure, who assured us he’s
much more than just a mad psycho
pirate.
HV: So, tell us about Sheffield and
how it has a part in your music…
Jon: “It has a part in my music
because I feel slightly
disenfranchised by successive
governments who have just fucked
us off. Sheffield has been one of the
places worst affected by
governments. Thatcher fucked us
up the arse then we placed
our faith in Labour and
they just went
spending all our
money on
tanks and
guns
to
kill people with, you know? So I
think it’s certainly informed my
politics in that respect, but so have a
lot of social situations. There’s a
certain kind of social realism to my
lyrics, and I suppose that way it
informs others, but I don’t feel
particularly proud of that because
then you get portrayed in a cynical
way. People take the essence of
what I and others hope to achieve by
doing them kind of lyrics and turn it
into almost a formula for quick
success.”
How do you write the tunes? Is it a
creative process between you and
the band, or do you lock yourself
away and emerge with something
fully formed?
Would you say you’re an idealist?
“Well, I was watching this TV series
where this guy, who was a French
philanthropist, used to send loads of
people off on expeditions in the early
part of the twentieth century to
photograph Mongolia and India and
original Celtic clans in Ireland;
basically communities that were
disappearing. And I think that a lot
of artists often get pushed to the wall
because they always end up in run
down spaces. Some people are into
that and they celebrate their artists
but some people just, you know,
shove them under the carpet.”
There can be a
“For the album I wrote songs
with all
different
people. Ed, in the band, I wrote
some with him. I wrote some with
Alex from the Arctic Monkeys, some
with Tim from Bromheads, some with
Tom from Milburn, some with a guy
called Alan Smythe. All different
people.”
What do you feel it brings to the
music, having that kind of variety?
“Variety, yeah. I mean, so many
bands have got one big tune, or
maybe two, and then they’ve just got
ten other versions of that tune. Like
one-trick ponies. It brings diversity
because there are no two songs I’ve
got that sound the same. You can’t
ever put it in a pigeon-hole, sonically,
lyrically, or even vocally, as there’re
different people singing. I’m
unclassifiable.”
You’ve written on your website about
a haven for artists and musicians; a
creative space where people can
come together to share inspiration.
“Stagworks, yeah.”
Is that a real place?
“Yeah it is. It’s where our
practice room is and where we
make a lot of our music. We
recorded some of the album
there and tonight we’re going to
a place called Islington Mill
after the gig, which is a similar
kind of place to the Stagworks,
but I think Manchester
Council, or Salford Council,
are perhaps more, you know,
of the mind that they might
help them guys out. In
Sheffield it’s like ‘Let’s fucking
twelve
pull it down and build flats’. It’s sad.”
danger, with Tiniwaren for
example, that bands will be
marketed simply as coming from a
place where not many people make
music. Are you concerned about
becoming part of the token Sheffield
sound?
“No. I think, in light of the Arctic
Monkeys’ success, there comes a
new way to do things that’s not so
bad. I align myself more with artists
like Cabaret Voltaire and really
brilliant, warped electronica which is
kinda what we’re doing really. “
What else are you listening to right
now?
“I’m listening to Bob Marley, always,
because that’s a constant diet. It’s
like something I have to listen to
once a day just to get my head
straight. I listen to Bob Marley. I like
The Ting Tings, and there’s a band
on our label called Shy Child who
are really good. I like The Young
Knives, I were on about them the
other day. Also, I’ve been listening
to some of my old Jesus and Mary
Chain albums; it makes me feel like
a moody northern bastard. There’s
a dance label called Kitsune actually,
and there’s an act on there called
Guns ‘N’ Bombs who are really
good. They’ve got a new tune called
‘Hyped-Up Plus Tax’ which is
monster.”
got in this country. I hold him in high
regard and I think what he does
certainly has a relation to what I do.
But more than that, I think the way
he sees the world is similar to how I
see things. Lyrics are very
important; like, you have to listen to
lyrics because they’re where the
message is. The lyrics are the news
and they can be something you
won’t hear on a news report or read
in a magazine. You have a duty as
an artist to tell the truth and report
what you see.”
Music with a mission?
“Well, the thing is, music has an
earth force and a rhythm to
it, and when you’re
dancing you become
more perceptive and
more susceptible to
other things. You’ve
opened up. It’s slightly
informed by alternative
cultures and drugs are
an informant. I’m not
trying to come across
as some sort of mad
psycho pirate but, at the
same time, I think that when
you take certain drugs you
open up. Like Aldous Huxley
said, “the doors of
perception”... It does open
you up to certain things. I
used to find it fascinating
watching dancefloors and watching
what songs they’d get the lyrics in
their heads to.”
I heard that the “Reverend” name
came about because you’ve always
been keen to give the world your
message.
“It’s like a nickname. The nickname
came before the band, you know,
but people think “ooh, he’s a bit of a
gobshite”. I’m not a mindless
gobshite; it has a point to it.”
If you were in charge of your own
religion, what would your Ten
Commandments be?
“Don’t declare war on countries
based on economic interests such
as oil. Don’t privatise things too
much; people privatise and then take
out. All you’re doing by buying a
private company is looking to extract
maximum profit and that, therefore,
leaves you little or no incentive to
invest. Don’t drink lots of beer and
beat people up, especially not things
you claim to love. What else?
Smoke weed daily, as a prescribed
course, thank you very much! Don’t
believe half of the things you read in
the newspapers and see on
television because it’s all dominated
by vested interests and, I dunno… I
sound like a right mardy fucker.
Enjoy your life! Have a good laugh,
get off your head and shag and
enjoy yourself. ‘Ave it.”
How much do you regard lyrics as
poetry? You were described in The
Word magazine recently as “John
Cooper Clarke fronting The
Specials”.
On that note, High Voltage would like
to volunteer services as a disciple…
“Am I really? Yeah, he’s a friend of
mine, John. He’s a good guy and,
lyrically, he’s probably the best we’ve
Debut album The State Of Things is
out now and they play Manchester
Academy on Friday 19th October.
Words: Megan Vaughan
www.reverendandthemakers.com
thirteen
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Anyone
who has seen
Chromeo’s live show will
attest that they certainly know
how to get the party started.
Each song is a guaranteed
floorfiller; these boys don’t
mess with ballads or slow
jams. P-Thugg works the
synths and talkbox (the
vocoder-like tube thing which
allows him to “sing” through
his keyboards), while his best
buddy Dave 1 takes care of
lead vocals and guitar licks.
Friends since high school,
they are a modern day parable
of how music can overcome
racial boundaries, their love of
Rick James overshadowing
the fact that P-Thugg is of
Palestinian heritage and Dave
1 is Jewish. To put it in their
own words, they are “crossing
the Gaza Strip of Sexxx
Jams”. Quite.
Their first album, She’s In
Control, was a melting pot of
80’s electro, slick disco and
Prince-esque funk. Songs like
'Needy Girl' became instant
indie-disco classics, and it’s
been a long wait for their fans for
their sophomore effort.
“I think with the new album”,
says P-Thugg, “it’s a whole lot
more accomplished; slicker. With
the first album, we were really
experimenting and finding our
sound. With this one, we knew
exactly what we were going for;
fourteen
Well it’s got
to be Hendrix on
guitar, maybe Phil
Collins on drums
and backing vocals,
George
Clinton…Bootsy
Collins on
bass…man this is
too hard
it was just about writing more
choruses, more middle 8’s,
making it even better than
before”. The difference is
certainly noticeable. Whereas
the first album contained a few
tracks that were little more than
funky jams, Fancy Footwork is
one of those rare albums where
every track sounds like a single.
The lyrics are funnier, the
basslines strut with more
confidence and the solos are
more outrageous than before.
'Tenderoni' and 'Bonafied Lovin’
(Tough Guys)' and the album's
title track are currently causing
mass outbreaks of dancing at a
disco
near you. Even remixes
from top electro producers
around like Surkin, Tronik Youth
and Riot in Belgium can’t match
the sheer dancefloor
effectiveness of the originals.
”We first started to make this
sort of music together after Tiga
said we should try it, because he
knew how much we were into
stuff like Zapp and Rick James”
explains P-Thugg. “At that time
me and Dave were both making
hip-hop, producing beats
together so this was more like a
fun little side project.” Their “side
project” has now propelled them
to cult stardom across the globe.
In between albums they even
got to show off their immaculate
taste in electrofunk, with two
critically acclaimed DJ mixes that
revealed their musical
inspirations. Slick grooves from
Klymaxx nestled in between
weird electro grooves by the
likes of Gino Soccio and Michael
Jonzun, the sound of man and
machine getting down together.
The mixes also demonstrate
Dave 1 and P-Thugg’s love of a
great pop hook, wheteher it’s
sung in Dave’s sultry loverman
tones or P-Thuggs robotic
talkbox.
His
talkbox has made
something of an icon of PThugg, and I ask him what made
him start to use it. Did he want to
pay tribute to Zapp frontman
Roger Troutman? Perhaps he
liked the idea of sounding like a
funky robot? Or maybe to hide
his accent under a universal
voice of music? “It’s very simple”
he explains with a chuckle, “I
can’t sing”.
With a constant string of live
dates in his diary, P-Thugg
muses about who their ultimate
backing band would be. “Hmmm”
he purrs, relishing the chance to
assemble the greatest live group
in history. “Well it’s got to be
Hendrix on guitar, maybe Phil
Collins on drums and backing
vocals, George Clinton…Bootsy
Collins on bass…man this is too
hard” he laughs. They certainly
don’t need the help of these
legends though, they’re inspiring
fancy footwork all on their own.
Words: Alex Barbanneau
www.chromeo.net
Chromeo play at the Warehouse
Project in Manchester on
November 23rd
fifteen
The Cribs
Having spent years plying their
trade as perennial indie outsiders
– obsessively adored by few,
unknown to many - 2007 has been
a whirlwind of progress for the
Cribs. Their third record ‘Men’s
Needs, Women’s Needs,
Whatever’ has been receiving
critical acclaim left right and
centre, causing Radio 1 et al to
finally prick up their ears and the
record buying public of middle
England to drop their Snow Patrol
CDs and dip into their pockets.
But as a band that have always
been anti-mainstream –
epitomised by frontman Ryan
Jarman’s well publicised
comments concerning the
mainstream attitude of indie bands
being as big a problem as global
warming – is this new-found
mass-interest really all that
welcome? High Voltage caught up
with co-frontman and bassist Gary
Jarman in Munich to find out.
HV: It’s been a hectic Summer for
you, what with the eventful
festivals etc. - have you enjoyed
it?
Gary: “The festivals have been really
good this year, I always go into them
a bit cynical, just because of the
nature of how they are, but they went
really well, so we’re pleased with
that. It has been a little bit...not
turbulent, but... what’s the word...all
this controversy about things that
Ryan might say or whatever, I don’t
know, I just got fed up of talking
about all that. It’s not that I don’t care
about that stuff, but it really wasn’t
supposed to be...(ponders)...it’s really
not anything against anyone in
particular for one thing. And now
we’re embroiled in it all. I never ever
thought I’d be in that position to be
honest with you.”
All of that stuff is essentially a
product of your recent success are you comfortable with how
things are progressing?
‘You’re (NOT) Gonna Lose Us’
“It’s definitely a double edged sword.
I mean, it would be weird to watch
bands who supported us go and do
things in the mainstream. I guess it
did get to the point where you
thought, hang on a minute, I’m
getting short changed somewhere. I
don’t know, sometimes I feel like
saying why has it taken you so long
to get on board? Is it because we’re
popular now? I guess you shouldn’t
ever take things for granted, but at
the same time we’re a band that has
always done things without all that
stuff going on. I don’t know, I guess
I’m just trying to get my head around
it at the moment. You know how it is
right? It’s all a bit weird now.”
‘Men’s Needs…’ has a more
polished feel to it than its
predecessors, was that a
conscious decision?
“It’s a strange thing because to my
ears, like if you compare it to our socalled contemporaries and the
records that they would release, I
don’t think it sounds polished. I think
sixteen
it sounds good, it sounds technically
better, but the first two records were
just so rough you know, and so raw.
But that’s the way that, in my mind, a
live band or a punk band are
supposed to sound like. I guess we
did make a conscious decision of
thinking to ourselves, you know, we’d
probably regret never having at least
tried to do things in a more thoughtful
way, or put more time into it. It were a
long process, which I always used to
think would detract from the
spontaneity of it and stuff like that,
but I would have always regretted not
spending all that time on it if, say, we
were to split up after this record and
thought to ourselves, “wow, we never
really did put a load of time into doing
anything.” So I guess it was a
conscious decision in that way, but
we still went to great lengths to make
sure it didn’t sound sterilised. That
was the thing we always wanted to
avoid, that was always the fear of
going into the big studio.”
Alex Kapranos produced the
record, what influence did he have
over the recording?
“He could talk us into doing extra
takes and putting extra influence on
there, when normally as a band our
mindset was always to do it raw and
live and not ever add anything else.
He really tried to bring that out of us.
At the end of the day, he’s done
things in such a tasteful way with his
own band, they’re still a band you
can have a lot of respect for even
though they’re in such a heady
position. He definitely helped us to
get our heads around that a little bit.”
Coming back to the issue of
success, you clearly have strong
views about what being in a band
means and how this manifests
itself in terms of attitude and
behaviour. Now that you’re
beginning to receive attention on a
large scale, how are you going to
do things differently to those that
may be seen as having ‘sold out’?
“It’s a funny situation for us to find us
in - I think we’re dealing with it in a
way that people would have
expected. But some things are a bit
frustrating, like the fact that people do
things without checking with you, you
know, and that can rub off badly on
us, we’re trying to conduct ourselves
in exactly the same way we ever
would have done. (pauses) We get a
lot more stuff put in front of us now,
which really highlights the differences
between us and people who initially
went looking for it if you know what I
mean? That’s why stuff happens like
what happened recently in the press,
you know. People think that maybe
we’re being very vitriolic about it, but
its only because we get more stuff
put in front of us now, so maybe
people would possibly try and
provoke us a little bit, because you
know, maybe we do stand out a little
bit and open ourselves up to
provocation, I don’t know. I guess
we’re just gonna try and do things
exactly the same as we always have
done.”
You’ve always been a band whose
fans fall into the ‘hardcore’
bracket, are you worried that as
you become more successful,
you’ll lose some of that
closeness?
“We were, and I have been a little bit,
but I’d like to think that those people
understand us. I don’t think we’ll lose
them... I mean obviously I think a lot
of the people that we’ll pick up in the
process won’t be the same sort of
audience, but as long as we still have
those people there, that’s what’s
important.”
There has obviously been a
resurgence in music coming out
of Yorkshire recently, is that
something that you have felt a part
of?
“This is another thing - I don’t want
us to get a reputation that we’re
actively against it, but we kind of
preceded it really. We got a record
deal in 2002, and none of that was
really going on at that point. It’s
frustrating when all of a sudden that
resurgence happened and people
lumped us into it as if we were
somehow benefiting from it, coz we
had been operating on us-own
before that. So we kind of felt a little
bit frustrated that we had to be seen
as a band that were part of a scene
whereas in reality we never was. I
guess that’s why we started saying
we’re from Wakefield you know, we
were trying to distance ourselves
from that whole Leeds movement,
and its not because we had anything
against any of it, we really didn’t, we
just felt it wasn’t really relevant to
what we were doing because we had
been doing stuff before that.”
Competition!
Win Cribs
vinyl!
We have the double set of The
Cribs ‘Moving Pictures’ 7" single
(One black vinyl + one white vinyl
including CSS remix) to
giveaway. To win, please email
your answer to the following
question to
[email protected] –
closing date October 31st
Question:
When Ryan Jarman appeared on
Never Mind the Buzzcocks in
2006, which global charity event
did he claim to have invented?
And finally, how do you envisage
the future of the band panning
out?
“Well it’s something that I’ve been
thinking about a lot recently actually,
because I’m not even that sure.
Because what’s going on right now is
either going to make us stronger, or...
make us disillusioned I guess. I think
that maybe next year, at the end of
this album campaign, me and Ryan
have both talked about doing other
things. I’m hoping that there are
some things on the last record that
maybe indicate where things are
going to go. So hopefully, we can
move on and expand on some of the
things we touched on on that record.
We feel a lot braver now for one
thing, you know, we’ve found
ourselves in this weird position and
now we feel we might do something
with it, and hopefully some good will
come out.”
Words: Gareth Roberts
www.thecribs.com
New single Don’t You Wanna Be
Relevant / Our Bovine Public is
released through Wichita on
October 29th
seventeen
It’s a time of transition for Luke Cowdrey and Justin
Crawford (aka Manchester’s very own Elektrons), as we
meet them after a rapturously-received homecoming gig
at The Mint Lounge. They’ve recently announced that the
Mancunian clubland institution they built with their own
bare hands (figuratively of course), The Electric Chair,
where the two DJ under the moniker The Unabombers,
will be coming to an end in January, but as one door
closes, another opens and with Elektrons’ album, Red
Light Don’t Stop garnering glowing notices left, right and
centre, it seems like it would be a good time for Luke and
Justin to spend more time on this venture.
To the naked eye at least it seems
that way, but the decision to end The
Chair and the emergence of
Elektrons aren’t really as interlinked
as they at first seem.
“Every year, for at least the last ten
years, we’d sort of check ourselves”,
Justin ponders. “Is it time? Are we
still enjoying it? It would be wrong to
say that we aren’t getting distracted
by Elektrons. We are. We’re putting a
lot of time and energy into it. It’s just
that before we couldn’t imagine a
future without The Electric Chair, but
now we can.”
It appears that the need in Justin and
Luke not to rest on their laurels and a
mutual distaste for rose-tinted
nostalgia helped their decision. As
Luke elaborates, “We think change is
a very fundamental thing in music.
We’ve always said bomb the past,
don’t be complacent, don’t rest on
eighteen
some kind of horrible reputation that
ends up being just a Spinal Tap kind
of thing anyway… We’re just gonna
change guise and shape and format.
We’re still gonna do parties and oneoffs like Electric Souls (parties that
Luke and Justin have put on in the
past in various off-the-beaten-track
locales).”
“We’ll get a Saturday night off once a
month now, too”, laughs Justin.
One point where the guys are happy
to have the night and the band
intersect is in the music. “We did
sometimes think when we were in
the studio”, says Justin, “Would this
work (at The Chair)?” Luke interjects,
“We think (the album) is – and this
might sound like a pompous thing to
say – an honest reflection of where
we’ve come from and me and Justin
have always talked about the
lineage… of our music. Going back
to Northern Soul, through to the Wild
Bunch and Massive Attack… Soul II
Soul. Great British sound systems
that started off as parties, then taken
into bands and collectives. It’s not like
we’ve copied that but we’ve taken
inspiration from that British vibe.”
“As DJs, we try to bring the vibe and
the atmosphere of the club into our
music, just like people like Soul II
Soul and Basement Jaxx do”, Justin
is eager to clarify. A view that’s
mirrored by Luke, “The idea at the
heart of The Chair was that some of
our favourite records might,
potentially, be records that everyone
else liked as well. For us, Elektrons is
a very natural continuity of what
we’ve been doing… for the last
thirteen years.”
Again, Luke is adamant that their
music not be a backward-looking
venture; “We wanted it to be very
bold and dynamic… We didn’t just
want to be derivative. We love house
music, gospel, disco, soul and we
wanted to take that and rekindle it
and make something new. Whether
that works or not I’m sure we’ll find
out.”
Elektrons aren’t just a duo, with
singers like Pete Simpson (“Britain’s
own Marvin Gaye”, according to
Luke) and Mpho Skeef adding some
much-needed flavour and inspiration
both live and in the studio. Whereas
others may rely on musical stunt
casting to catch the eye, Luke and
Justin wanted “quintessentially
British” vocalists on Red Light Don’t
Stop. “All those artists are coming
through and they’ve got a real
individuality” notes Luke, “There’s a
lot of attitude there and a lot of
bollocks, really.”
“We wanted to work with them
though because, essentially, they’re
really talented” says Justin,
pragmatically. “When you work with
people as talented as they are, it
makes it easy.”
Something else that has come easy
to Elektrons at this early stage is
getting number one singles in far-off
places. “We were number one in
South Africa!”, beams Justin, referring
to ‘Dirty Basement’’s out-of-leftfield
success there. “We knocked off
Rihanna!” exclaims Luke, “It’s just
one of those mad things that
happens”. Justin continues,
“Somebody in the right place ‘gets’
the track and it just goes from there.”
“We could probably do with a few
more South Africas though”, Luke
smirks. “Maybe Chile or Australia,
somewhere nice and sunny”.
Justin and Luke may be dreaming
about Elektrons affording them some
beach time, but it seems that a
change is as good as a rest for these
two, so expect them to go from
strength to strength as soon as they
bomb that past.
Words: James Morton
www.elektrons.net
Catch Justin & Luke DJ at Electric
Chair in Manchester on 27th October
nineteen
It’s barely 5.30 on a Monday
evening, The Pigeon
Detectives haven’t shown
their faces yet and already
there’s a 200-kid riot
happening downstairs at
Virgin in the Arndale. The last
time we caught the band in
Manchester, on a wet
Thursday at the Music Box
last April, barely 30 people
were out and the only pogoing that night came from
singer Matt Bowman. Even
then, the basics were on
show. Leather jacketed and
tight jeaned but without the
arrogance and ego that such
attire usually brings, the
Leeds quartet clearly knew
their way around a classic pop
song.
A year and a half on and the
Pigeon Detectives have gone
silver in the UK with their
debut album (also titled Wait
“It’s really cool
and weird and
exciting. And
weird”
Back when the Reading
and Leeds festivals were
being arranged, Kate Nash
had released one limited
single, been enthused over
by bloggers who’d seen a
gig or found her MySpace
and was rewarded with an
early-evening slot on one of
the smaller stages.
Flash forward a few months to
an overpacked tent in Leeds.
Kate’s second single has been
haunting the top ten all summer
and her debut album has
recently entered the charts at
number one. Shoulders are sat
on, legs and necks are stretched
for a glimpse of the stage and
photographers scrap at the front.
A pink neon sign is switched on
and Kate Nash and her band
step out. The crowd blow a
collective gasket and about a
thousand people call the 20 yearold’s name. The four performers
rage through a set which affords
the front row of girls dressed like
their new idol ample opportunity
to sing along in dubious cockney
accents.
A week earlier, HV called Kate
up to see how she was settling in
to her newfound stardom. “It’s
really cool and weird and
exciting. And weird,” she laughs.
“I’m really happy. There’s been
weird stuff with paparazzi, that‘s
bizarre... and uncomfortable. I’ve
escaped from two of them which
twenty
has been quite funny. They glaze
over like zombies and just wanna
get a picture of you or your bum
or whatever. My plan is to get
one of those things from the joke
shop, y’know the moustache and
nose and glasses?”
In an age of Big Brother and
Paris Hilton, it’s encouraging to
discover a celebrity who’s not
interested in being a celebrity.
“I’ve never been
brought up to
believe in that
being important
or exciting. I’m
excited by
creativity and by
people and
passion and
that other stuff
is really ugly to
me. You’ve got
to forget that
shit and
remember why
you started
doing this.”
While Kate is
reluctant to live her life in the
tabloids, her lyrics have been
interpreted as both literal and
personal, one review likened
listening to her album to reading
somebody else’s diary. “I think
the best stuff is always the raw
stuff that feels kind of nervous or
embarrassing. You have to put
yourself on the line, I think, to get
that. You make a decision to
share it publicly or not and I kind
of have, y’know? I could have
just sung songs in my bedroom.
There are a lot of true events in
there but I like writing stories so
there’s a good mix.”
At this stage, many would rest on
the material from their album
until it stopped selling but not
Kate Nash. She still writes, and
not just songs. “Prose and
monologues...just any ideas and
feelings, I write down everything.”
Kate springs to
life when
asked about
writing; “I wrote
this really weird
thing recently
about this man.
You know
when you look
at something
and think ‘God,
I hope no one
ever finds
this’? He
makes this
woman out of
different
materials, like
he makes her lips out of
strawberries and her body’s
made out of scraps of wood and
cigarette packs and her
stomach’s made of dough...” She
catches herself. “I think your
brain needs the exercise, it’s like
a muscle and you should just let
your imagination do whatever it
wants to do.”
Prose and
monologues...
just any ideas
and feelings,
I write down
everything
In reference to one of Nash’s
more direct assaults, HV
wonders whether the people in
Kate’s life are now terrified of
being called a dickhead in verse.
She cackles “no, that was just
how I felt at the time about
somebody and I think it sounds
quite funny. I’m not begrudging
that person or thinking about
them every time I sing it.”
Run-ins with the paparazzi aside,
Kate seems to be eating up her
new life as a pop idol. Her
success means she’s not only
able to do what she loves and
make a living from it but she can
also casually drop names like
Patti Smith and Billy Bragg. “He
came up to me and was like,
‘Ello, I’m Bill’ and I was like
[nervous mumble]. I was weak at
the knees. He was so cool!”
Before signing to a major label,
Kate expressed concern about
losing control of her work. How is
she getting on now? “I picked
Fiction because they really
believe in what I do and
understand it and can support
me and I can grow and develop.
There were other labels that
wouldn’t have known really what
to do with me or maybe would
not have believed in me for the
right reasons. Fiction just felt like
the right place to be and it has
been. I’m really happy.”
Words: Benjamin Godfrey
www.katenash.co.uk
Made Of Bricks is out now.
Kate’s new single ‘Mouthwash’ is
released at the beginning of
October
We were
wary of going
with a major
early
- we didn’t
want to be
disposable
best for us when the second
album comes around. We’ve
always looked at what is best
for the band.”
Serving their apprenticeships
in Leeds has given the band a
solid grounding since forming
in 2004. Like Manchester, it’s
a beacon for band
development, with an
residents Kaiser Chiefs (who
the band support at massive
arena shows this December).
Are you looking to replicate
their mainstream success?
“They’re certainly a band to
follow in terms of
achievement, although not
necessarily the music they
play or how they look” says
Jimmi. “We want to be as
successful and sell as many
records as them. We’ll just
keep doing what we do and I
think we’ll get there.”
Previously quiet thus far,
guitarist Oliver pipes up
“Calling Kaiser Chiefs
mainstream sounds like
they’ve deliberately whored
themselves out. They just do
what they do, like us. If people
like it great, if not it’s no big
deal. Girls Aloud have been
targeted to the mainstream
more than the Kaisers.”
January. So what can we
expect from album number
two? Jimmi: “Whatever comes
naturally. It’s not going to be a
drastic departure from our
sound.” Matt: “We’ve got a
couple of new songs written
and it’s definitely not going to
be Wait for me part two. We
have so much to write about
after the past 12 months.
There’s a different subject
matter this time.” Jimmi: “We
want to put out an album
every year, not every two or
three like some bands.”
Soon our time is up but before
we leave, all five members
pick out Christmas as a
moment they’re really looking
forward to, which is apt as the
band deserve all the rewards
they’re currently getting. It’s
sure to be one of hell of a
party round their place this
year.
The Pigeon Detectives
For Me) and look forward to
an already sold out show at
Manchester Academy at the
end of October. Quite a turn
around then Matt? “Yeah
definitely. The album going in
at number 3 on the week of
release was a big moment for
us. Playing Glastonbury and
going over to Japan were
highlights as well.” “Seeing
the album in the shops was a
big one” admits drummer
Jimmi.
Released on super indie
Dance To The Radio, the
success of Wait For Me may
have surprised some industry
snipers, but the band were
sure of themselves with the
backing of Whiskas and co.
“We signed because they’ve
let us do what we’ve wanted”
says Matt. “We were wary of
going with a major early - we
didn’t want to be disposable.
They (DTTR) were just as
excited about the album as
we were.” So can we expect a
long and fruitful Pigeon and
Radio relationship? Matt
breathes an instant “Yeah…”
before Jimmi cuts in sharply
“We’ll have to look at what’s
abundance of promoters and
review outlets. It’s competitive,
but you’ll never get away with
winging it through half-arsed
gigs and thinking you’re the
greatest band to walk the
earth. Respect gained through
solid gigging and rough-edged
anthems, the band look back
on their early days with fond
memories.
Jimmi explains: “Leeds has
always been good to us. It’s
where we learnt to play live
and built up our fan base,”
and Matt agrees. “It’s where
we began. You’ve got to work
it in your own town before
anywhere else.” So is it
special to go back and play
shows there? “It’s special just
to get back there at the
minute! We barely get any
time off” admits Matt.
Indeed, such
workaholic
symptoms
remind us of
elder
statesmen
of indierock and
fellow
Leeds
Are you nervous about
playing such big shows with
them (M.E.N and Earls Court
are on the agenda)? Matt
snaps: “I think it’s more
impressive that we’ve sold out
two nights at the Forum in
London and gigs at
Manchester Academy and
Doncaster Dome on our own
rather than playing Earls
Court. Bands at the same
level or further ahead than us
aren’t selling out shows like
that.”
The band interrupt their
gigging schedule by
recording in
New York
next
Words: Alistair Beech
www.myspace.com/thepigeon
detectives
Pigeon Detectives headline
Manchester Academy on 28th
October
twentyone
Top festival slots (Saturday
night at Glastonbury, prime
time at V) and new album An
End Has A Start have this year
propelled Editors into the
nation’s hearts and onto their
TV screens. Speaking before
heading out for a one off gig in
Milan and a month’s worth of
shows in the US, bassist
Russell Leetch is in good
spirits after a hectic yet
satisfying summer.
“It doesn’t get much better
than having a number one
album and playing the gigs we
have done this year, especially
Glastonbury.”
Here here.
Editors first came to our attention
in January 2005 with the stirring
post-punk moodiness of debut 7”
‘Bullets’. With the backing of
legendary 80s indie label
Kitchenware, their debut album
The Back Room went platinum in
the UK and sold a healthy
amount in notoriously hard to
break
America.
“Playing
live is
how we
formed
as a
MUSIC INDUSTRY TRAINING
band, its very important.
Performing has become a lot
more fun for us now we have two
records to pick material from.
Maybe we weren’t comfortable
playing live before, now we’re
more expressive onstage.”
The band formed whilst on the
same music technology course
at Staffordshire University, hardly
the scene of rock’n’roll history.
Bonding over a love of Elbow
and a disliking of Red Hot Chilli
Peppers (“if there’s a certain
stereotypical student, we weren’t
one of them – we weren’t into
sports” says Russell) the first
roots of Editors were formed in
groups The Pride and Snowfield.
Gigging around the Midlands,
they slowly cultivated a body of
songs that would form The Back
Room.
“At the start we wanted to sound
like Elbow, but it didn’t quite
work. Our style of music hasn’t
changed that much, there’s just
been a natural progression.”
Several hard slogs around the
UK were followed by debut trips
to Europe and America last year,
before the band reconvened to
record their
second
album with producer Garrett
‘Jacknife’ Lee (U2, Bloc Party,
The Hives and re-recorder of
‘Bullets’). Far from falling into the
‘difficult second album’ trap,
Editors found recording an
enjoyable, satisfying process;
“We were itching to get back into
the studio and write a new record
after touring so much. We didn’t
feel commercial pressure,
worrying about sales, more about
the music. We still want to write
pop music” admits Russell.
An End As A Start sees the band
progress from the scratchy postpunk of their debut to epic,
widescreen rock. It’s a big
record, but its seeds were sown
in The Back Room. “We’re happy
with both records” explains
Russell. “As a band if we make
mistakes we don’t worry too
much. Our music is art, and
when it’s done it’s done. The first
album took two and a half
weeks, and though the new one
took longer, we didn’t want to
hang around.”
With Lee at the helm, Editors
have entered the big league. “He
really wanted to do the record
with us, pretty much battered
down our door. At
first we didn’t
see eye to
eye, we
had a
week’s
trial with each other on the new
record. We recorded ‘Weight of
the World’ and ‘Bones’ with him
and once we listened back we
knew we were all on the right
track” recalls Russell.
After such a leap in records,
what will the new record sound
like? “We’re always looking to try
something new and different. We
aren’t scared to make mistakes.
Garrett doesn’t lose sight of who
he’s working with – he wants
each record to be the band’s
record, not a Garrett Lee record.
We’d love to have him work on
the next album. We push each
other creatively.”
Although the band’s itinerary until
Christmas has been eaten up by
touring, Russell seems
undaunted at the prospect,
particularly looking forward to
pushing on through America
before returning to “electric
crowds” in the UK.
At the moment, Editors look
unstoppable. The world is theirs
for the taking.
Words: Alistair Beech
www.myspace.com/editorsmusic
Editors play Manchester Apollo
on 14th October
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twentytwo
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twentythree
singles
Bumblebeez - Dr Love
(Modular)
Single of the month
With bands from Dodgy to Kula Shaker
clogging up recent gig listings and living
room carpets drenched in fresh tears
for Diana, we'll forgive Bumblebeez for
thinking we're still leaving in the nineties.
Metronomy - Radio
Ladio (Need Now Future)
One of the favourite bands of
your favourite bands,
Metronomy make the kind of
edgy, interesting pop music
that would take Britney six
months, four breakdowns and a
crack production team of
Timbaland, Pharrell and James
Ford to come anywhere close.
And it still wouldn't be as good
as 'Radio Ladio'.
It's sassy, almost sexy, and
hasn't got a lot to do with the
radio. Electro noises squelch
Popular Workshop William, It Was Really
Something (Tough Love)
Popular Workshop are an awkward
but accessible hybrid of the best of
British and American indie rock's
recent past: a cocktail of Shellac, The
Young Knives, Tim Kinsellas and the
'00s post-punk revival.
Apparently, 'William, It Was Really
Grand Volume - History /
Fire Come Soon
(Fat Northerner)
Under all other circumstances,
Grand Volume would be very easily
likable. This tightly packed
proposition of a band does not so
much flatter to deceive as confuse
with on-the-surface simplicity.
The 'History' track presents the
many repeated lyrics and snappy
The Teenagers - Starlett
Johansson (Merok)
For their new single, smutty Parisian trio
The Teenagers bring a touch of glamour
to their so-hip-it-hurts future-pop. Rather
obviously, it concerns their obsession
with screen siren Scarlett Johansson,
and is as infectious as looking for
pictures of the buxom blonde on
Google.
twentyfour
and throb like a particularly
icky hangover, and with the
girly chanting of "R-A-D-I…" it
sort of starts to sound like The
Go! Team in the final third.
Metronomy should be
everyone's favourite new band
soon.
Then there's two instrumentals,
'Are Mums Mates' and 'Hear To
Wear', which are like Shy Child
after serious cut-backs, and
who are now spending their
time playing Super Mario on
the N64 without any irony
whatsoever.
Stephen Eddie
'Radical' on the other side rocks
harder. It's jarring, sludgy and Gypsy
yaps like a small annoying dog. But
we couldn't agree more when he
says, "People say that I'm a bit too
radical/But radical's another word for
right". If they carry on like this,
popular won't be the half of it.
chords of modern-age shoegazing,
over which Tommy Sheals-Barrett's
vocals lay in a terribly ordinary
British accent. Listen again for the
accent picking up light shades of
American snarl, the guitars heavier
than first assumed, the track as a
whole weighing with a density not
initially expected.
crossovers, for the latter has a builtup composure in its composition.
Ultimately there is some awkward
sense of the out-of-place about the
thunderous confusion and rock
bombast teetering on either side of
these songs from which no grand
conclusion can be drawn.
It's a head-on collision between all that
was good about 80s pop (ie: New
Order) and The Strokes circa 20012003, while Quentin Delafon mixes
synopsises of Scarlett's films with info
ripped off her Wikipedia page (either
that, or there's a restraining order in the
post. How else would he know she was
born in 1984 and had Polish-Danish
ancestry?), and jealousy for her male
co-stars.
Kyte - Planet
(Sonic Cathedral)
Kyte are genuinely unlike most bands
we've ever heard before. OK, except
The Postal Service. But unlike I Was A
Cub Scout and others, they are not
simply sound copyists – they draw
upon TPS' maverick adventurer spirit
and emotional intensity, taking the
electronics and arrangements to even
higher, more beautiful places with the
Something' is an ode their favourite
band (William), but we can't vouch for
that – the lyrics stutter from topic to
topic almost as much as the
twanging, wiry tune. Like Morrissey
and Marr though, life, death,
"something more than dreams" and a
tricky confession are covered (we
think). "I forgot what I was before,"
Gypsy sings. Before? We're
struggling to pin them down now after
a dozen listens.
It is weaker than 'Fire Come Soon',
notwithstanding the blatant hat-tips
to much stronger electro/rock
The Australian siblings, Chris and Pia
Colonna's first single from their
forthcoming album, Prince Umberto &
The Sister Of Ill, is from the same rock
Stephen Eddie
Prinzhorn Dance School
- You Are The Space
Invader (DFA)
Tobin Prinz and Suzi Horn's
uncompromising, basic and
exacting post-punk is not for
everyone; they're the musical
equivalent of marmite, you either get
it or you don't. In a musical climate
where even the Kaiser Chiefs can
moan about averageness and
Sons and Daughters –
Gilt Complex (Domino)
Single one from forthcoming second
full-length This Gift, ‘Gilt Complex’ is
three minutes of sharp girl-boy gothpop. They’ve always had the ear for
a fantastic pop song, and this one
hits harder than their previous best
‘Dance Me In’.
Liam Pennington
Disappointingly, the B-side is not the
ultra dancefloor anthem the title might
suggest, or even as upbeat as
'Starlett…'. Instead, 'Full Flavour' steals
from New Order again, this time at their
most mellow. But we bet Hooky never
wrote anything this obsessed with the
ladies. Top class pop.
Stephen Eddie
LCD Soundsystem –
Someone Great (DFA)
LCD Soundsystem mk.II has
undoubtedly been a success; maybe
not with the same virulent punk as their
debut, but comfortable and curious
James Murphy has certainly added to
his sound. Laidback and vulnerable,
'Someone Great' has a melancholic
sense of loss made not for clubs, but
for electronic hearts.
meets hip-hop, cut and paste class as,
in fact they probably sat next to and
peered over the shoulder of, Beck
(circa Mellow Gold and Odelay).
recent production goldfingers has us
truly feeling Bumblebeez's electro-funk.
Of course this is not necessarily a bad
thing and this bouncy jaunt through hip
hop drums, jabbing bass and a
spinning piano hook is not without its
charm. Clearly James Ford (SMD,
Klaxons, Arctic Monkeys) has been
brought onboard to propel their sound
into the 21st century, yet not even his
Simon Smallbone
kind of unashamed determination that
even Bono himself might admire.
intense by adding waves of industrial
beats, and glitches and bleeps that still
manage to sound human. A
magnificent record.
What the suitably massive sounding
'Planet' is about is beyond us, but Kyte
come across as a band to which
making you feel is more important than
being a lyrical clever dick.
Stephen Eddie
On the B-side, a remix of 'Secular
Ventures' by robbed Mercury Prize
nominee Maps does the seemingly
impossible, and makes Kyte even more
mediocrity, we’d consider them
essential.
Tobin Prinz's vocal exclamation,
"you know white bread gives you
cancer" is without doubt the best
lyrical cancer reference since Snap!
& Turbo B enlightened us that, "I'm
serious as cancer when I say
rhythm is a dancer". More
importantly, The Horn's latest single
boasts a lot more than dubious
health warnings. Despite a previous
A damning portrayal of car-crash
celebrity culture, Gilt Complex
smacks The Long Blondes in the
teeth before blasting out gothicgarage sounds The Horrors would
kill for.
In singer Adele Bethel they have a
stringing, wordy frontwoman, while
guitarist David Gow plays like Nick
Zimmer if he’d been brought up on
Cut from Sound Of Silver's precursor
(and full release this month) '45:33', the
track at stake is a shimmering beauty
of Kraftwerkian pulse and push. Far
from the robust disco-punk of 'Losing
My Edge', the silvery sound longawaited proved to be found much
more in the vein of this - sleek, cold
and metallic.
release last November, the DFA's
crisp production has preserved the
track's freshness.
Bluesy guitar, hollow drums and
Tobin's CCTV paranoia are
accompanied by just enough space
in-between to generate an
atmospheric rush of rock
minimalism at its best.
Simon Smallbone
Smog and Cat Power. Bernard
Butler’s in the producer’s seat for
the album, with more retroobsessed brilliance on the cards for
the New Year.
Alistair Beech
nothing indifferent or robotic about this.
'Someone Great' is the proof of LCD's
ability to create emotive and mature
electronic music that still feels way
ahead of its time.
Fran Donnelly
With Murphy's weary deadpan and
humane touch however, there is
twentyfive
albums
Album of the month
Holy Fuck – LP
(XL)
Beirut - The Flying
Club Cup (4AD)
On The Flying Club Cup, Zach
Condon, the young man from
New Mexico who came to the
world's attention with 2006's
'Gulag Orchestra' – recorded
when he was still a teenager –
has graduated from solo
bedroom genius into a plain old
regular genius, bandleader and
arranger.
While the music has moved
away from the East, and the
Balkan tones that made him
famous, Condon has moved in
the opposite direction, residing
for the time being in Paris. And it
wouldn't be unfair to call this his
'French album'; inspired by an
old photo of hot air balloons
flying next to the Eiffel Tower
which he kept stuck to wall of
Arcade Fire's church studio
(Beirut itself has evolved into an
eight-piece AF style ensemble).
Virgo Blaktro & The Movie Disco
is riddled with watered-down
disco and pop sensitivities. In
other words, it's more
Electroclash than voyeuristically
watching Casey Spooner have a
gang bang with Ladytron. But
hey, Felix had been there, done
that and practically made the
Larry Tee shirt... and everyone
knows he has an eye for the
laydeez.
Felix da Housecat
- Virgo Blaktro &
The Movie Disco
(Different)
twentysix
This third album, however, is a
subdued affair, in fact, the latest
adherents to a blasphemous
post-rock testament in which the
instrument is no longer revered
as a sacred artefact, but rather is
utilised as a device with which to
extract noises from the human
imagination.
From the opening pair of 'Nantes'
and 'A Sunday Smile' it becomes
clear that The Flying Club Cup is
primarily a combination of French
music hall and the more
flamboyant end of New York's
anti-folk spectrum. Yet things
never tip over into cheap cabaret
or kitsch campness. Instead it
remains earthy, pretty and often
moving.
Zach Condon is a phenomenally
talented man but, more
importantly, altogether Beirut are
a great band who've made an
album that dazzles.
Stephen Eddie
When it's just Condon and a
mandolin on 'The Penalty', his
voice sounds mercurial and
mature beyond his 21 years. He
hasn't completely strayed from
the Balkans either. 'Forks And
Knives' is like the Mystery Jets
stumbling through a Hungary.
With a choir. The film score
miniature of the title track is
another highlight.
'LP', their debut... erm... LP,
begins with a rough and ready
live recording of 'Super Inuit'
which sets the tone for the next
eight tracks. Different moods and
textures are cut and pasted with
random precision, stomachchurning emotional summits and
nadirs ebb and flow. Hear, for
example, the soundclash
between the empowering
positivity of 'Lovely Allen', the
paranoid hardcore of 'The Pulse'
(which imitates the smackhead
schizophonia of Primal Scream's
1997 dub opus 'Vanishing Point'),
and the dizzying adrenaline rush
of 'Royal Gregory'.
Holy Fuck have invented mental
machine music for the neo-Eno
epoch, the binary opposite of
Scout Niblett - This
Fool Can Die Now
(Too Pure)
easy listening. They break down
the barriers between the cerebral
and the physical, beseeching
their listeners to think with their
heads and dance with their feet.
Who says intelligence isn't
kinetic? Who says the sounds of
science can't rock your body?
Bookworms and brainiacs of the
world unite, come out from your
libraries and laboratories, and
join us in the nightclubs and
discothèques. The future of
electronica is yours for the
taking!
Fran Donnelly
Les Savy Fav –
Let’s Stay Friends
(Witchita)
The preconception of a black
clad Satan worshipping heavy
metal behemoth of a band, as
suggested by Holy Fuck's
parent baiting alias, could
hardly be further removed from
reality. The Canadian duo ar
more the plush gentlemen's
club than the brothel. Quite
easily it glosses over you with
its glib beats and sexy,
vocodered mantras. Neither is
there much to reckon with
'Ready 2 Wear' and as
expected, we're a long way
from 'Silver Screen Shower
Scene'. Virgo and his Movie
Disco is less brash than Devin
Dazzle's Neon Fever and less
hormonally electric than his
seminal Kitten And Thee Glitz.
But nevertheless there's an
allure to 'Virgo Blaktro...' that
makes it hard to dismiss.
'Sweetfrosti' has a playful
keyboard zest to it, whilst
'Moviedisco' and 'Radio' both
have an ungraspable slickness
that's entirely indifferent, but
synth-honey to the ears
nonetheless. Plenty of filler
aside, 'Lookin' My Best' is the
closest it all comes to
contending with kids like
Chromeo, Midnight
Juggernauts or LO-FI-FNK.
Difficult terrain, this, worth a
good week or so of preparation
for a tough slog. Scout Niblett's
fourth full length album shows
her consummate skill for vocal
mastery and lyrical charm,
whilst slowing down the
consideration of all subjects
under the sun to a very
sluggish pace indeed. Except,
of course, at the point when
you least expect it, when
Niblett changes track without
any warning.
relief from this emotive
landslide. From the opening
Will Oldham assisted duet – he
be Bonnie "Prince" Billy – 'Do
You Wanna Be Buried With My
People', the lamentations and
expressions of grief whirling to
a saddened conclusion. Be
there manic drums or skittish
guitars, the mood remains set
to morbid.
Her incredibly stripped down
acoustic songs flicker only the
slightest glimmer of light onto
an almost absolute bleak
canvas. Turning out this way
would be no reason to criticise
were it not for the total lack of
Les Savy Fav are almost the living
definition of the term ‘cult band’.
They’re revered in certain circles for
their fearsome live reputation and
fitfully tremendous recorded output.
Let’s Stay Friends ends a six year
hiatus from the album format for the
band and comes three years after one
of the most-loved (by those who’ve
heard it) and most-criminally-ignored
singles compilations in living memory,
2004’s Inches, an album that both
helped and hindered the band in more
ways than one.
The biggest fault that Inches
highlighted for many is that LSF are a
great singles band that have always
struggled with the confines of a studio
album. The problem with Les Savy
this stuff instead of teasing with
countless interludes and
passive electropop though is
beyond us.
Benjamin Short
Yet 'Tweak' and 'Future Calls
The Dawn' both have a serious
and pleasing French house
buzz that picks the record up to
finish strongly. Why Felix
Stallings can't do an album of
This all fluctuates wildly –
although the album barely
improves with it – with the
tracks 'Your Last Chariot' and
'Elizabeth'. Suddenly a vocal
tone close to a Cobain/Amos
combination breaks over
crashing guitars, shuddering
rock stylings arch over the
ground like nightmarish
Fav – and it’s a good problem to have
– is that they have that keen an
understanding of the dynamics of the
short form that they seem to lose
scope when it comes to the bigger
picture.
Therefore, on Let’s Stay Friends, as is
the case with the rest of their albums,
you get great songs, neighboured by
samey filler. There are signs of growth
however, in songs such as the
ominous ‘Brace Yourself’ which shows
that they are learning a thing or two
about pacing. Then there’s forgettable
pop-punk numbers like ‘Scotchgard
The Credit Card’ and ‘The Year Before
The Year 2000’, which undo the
band’s good work elsewhere on the
record.
branches covered with bright
fruits. Such a mid-point
movement really surprises but
does not necessarily impress;
there is the oft-repeated advice
against changing horses midrace.
Niblett clearly has a unique
interpretation of mood and
moment whilst her
collaborations are interesting,
but all the while this album fails
to adequately position her as
either folk's alternative voice,
or rock's eccentric second
cousin.
Liam Pennington
Whilst it can only be a good thing to
have a band of Les Savy Fav’s calibre
back making albums again, you can’t
help but think that this is yet another
missed opportunity.
James Morton
twentyseven
gigs
Liverpudlian three piece, Elle
S'Appelle, fired things up on the right
foot. Infectious and upbeat, their
catchy tracks can only pave the way
to ridiculous success. Their music is
simple: keyboards, bass, drums and
soft harmonies. A lively performance
from the band.
Gig of the month
Operator Please Barfly Liverpool
9/9/07
The Twilight Sad The Phoenix
10/9/07
For an evening's Scottish
entertainment, you could do a whole
lot worse than check out the musical
musings of Glaswegian brothers Scott
and Grant, the primary members of
Frightened Rabbit. There's also a
bloke called Billy, but apparently he's
less important. What is vital to know is
that between them, they muster a
swirling intensity that silences a
modest crowd caught unawares by
the unassuming but hugely interesting
melodies fighting their way out from
the ropiest of PAs.
The fragility of the sound-system is
something that, unfortunately, The
Twilight Sad experience very quickly.
As a bass amp hurls itself to the
ground a few songs in, it becomes
clear that translating the epic, soaring
soundscapes of debut album
Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen
Dead Meadow Music Box
20/8/07
twentyeight
Following first support
(experimental duo Danny Saul
and Greg Haines) were the
brilliantly tight Sound Of
Confusion, who performed the
most ribcage-rattling of
Spacemen 3 covers, with a few
from 13th Floor Elevator too.
Despite 'Revolution' being the
only example of this four-piece
stretching beyond a pounding
garage setting, Sound Of
Confusion's guttural rock was
the ideal warm-up for
Washington DC's Dead
Meadow, in Manchester for the
last night of a UK mini-tour.
A reputation as the
quintessential "stoner rock"
band precedes Dead Meadow,
Winters to a live setting is a tough
task. The Twilight Sad have made
their name with the sweeping walls of
noise that label-mates Sigur Ros
perfected combined with the kind of
Scottish accent that even the Reid
brothers might try to soften for the
radio. It's a magical combination and
has won them a growing army of fans
and it's not hard to see why. Although
given to moments of difficulty (like
opening with the least accessible track
on the album 'And She Would Darken
the Memory'), the devastating power
of guitars set to 'haunting' and THAT
voice is undeniable.
sound like they could make you cry by
reading your own phone number is
testament to the sheer quality of their
songs and the undeniable talent of the
band.
and on their opening riff alone,
one could assume the label
resulted purely from onstage
facial expressions. Combining
heavily atmospheric, sludgy
drones with the most electrifying
of 'Star Spangled Banner' guitar
flourishes, there remained an
antique quality to this set, with
Hawkwind and Sabbath
influences brought up to date by
the stop-start song structure of
more modern alternative rock.
Such a juggernaut power behind
the melodies, and basslines that
we could still feel in our chest
the next morning, meant some
of the band's more fantastical
lyrics were perhaps drowned a
little, but the behemoth of an
Leeds miserablists iLiKETRAiNS
stride onto the Academy stage
amongst flurries of grainy projected
photographs and flashing lights, take
up their positions, and instantly transfix
the crowd with songs taken from the
Progress Reform EP. No fussy
introductions yet, this is express first
class delivery from the increasingly
well regarded post-rock five piece.
Adrian Barrowdale
'Talking With Fireworks' and 'That
Summer At Home...' are frighteningly
beautiful songs on record, transformed
into a squalling cloak of feedback and
clattering drums by the DIY-style
setting. That they manage to make it
Johnny Foreigner gave it their all,
screeching guitars versed thundering
drums and clever lyrics. If they were
as confident onstage as their music
was powerful, they'd bring down the
house. Songs such as 'Suicide Pact
Yeh!' and 'Sofacore' got the best
responses with heavier guitars but
sweeter vocals making a killer
combination.
iLiKETRAiNS Academy 3
19/9/07
With songs drawing inspiration from
murdered Prime Ministers, the railway
cuts of Dr Beeching, and failed arctic
exhibitions amongst much else, the
seriously moving iLT – as their legions
of fans, or "railcard holders" know
them – have much more intelligent
depth than the average clutch of
orchestrated bands of their ilk. There is
Oh the late summer all-dayer.
Bar, DJs, visuals, myspace
glowsticks and barbecue for a
quid. After a cheeseburger and
Corona however, we're more
interested in the top indie-dance
line-up. So it's upstairs in the
Contact theatre to a large
lecture theatre-esque room with
twenty times as many seats as
is necessary.
opening to 'Sleepy Silver Door'
was enough of a weighty groove
to outshine any poetic
psychedelia. Dead Meadow
made a glorious din.
Megan Vaughan
Friendly Fires
Whomadewho /
Friendly Fires /
Disco Drive - Grey
Skull All-Dayer Contact Theatre
22/9/07
Not entirely appropriate, but
starting us off anyway, Italian
trio Disco Drive peddle
incredibly taut and tight
drumming pair push punk-funk
that's less about choruses and
more about going off on one like
the early Rapture records. Good
stuff, but probably better in
smaller confines.
Making a good impression from the
offset, Operator Please began with
'Get What You Want', and followed on
to give us a rip roaring and massively
entertaining performance. Violins don't
usually sit well between a voice similar
to Jemina Pearl's, keyboards and
guitars, but in this case they make for
fantastic listening and an unexpected
joy during a live show.
Ending on a slower note with
'Pantomime', a track from their
forthcoming debut album, the
Australian quintet left everyone
begging for more of their intelligent
pop.
Jamila Scot
Over the next twelve months they
should be storming onto your radio,
TV and all over your internet. If
anyone doubts their credibility or
longevity, a live show is possibly the
only (and best) way to dispel and
dismiss such negative and incorrect
thoughts. Operator Please could give
any band twice their age a run for their
money.
not so much as a glance towards the
shoes either, David Martin rarely
breaking out from a committed, steely
stare. From new album Elegies to
Lessons Learnt comes 'Spencer
Percival', the haunting reconstruction
of the Westminster assassination, and
disturbingly relevant new single 'The
Deception', awash with swirling
guitars, focused and fierce. The band
deliver a tough, terse set, one which
shows their first full length album is
likely to offer more polemic passion.
crowd to ask "Any history freshers in
tonight? Good, this is your first lecture;
I hope you are taking notes."
It may be too lazy to say the band are
"just the ticket"... but they clearly are.
Liam Pennington
Tonight the band are in monochrome
shirts with ties and with such a wide
spectrum of lyrical influences, there is
no hiding from the subtle, sardonic
humour present always beneath the
surface. David looks out across the
Friendly Fires, despite recurring
technical difficulties (a theme
tonight), are brilliant and are
getting brilliant-er with every
visit to town. Newer songs like
'Paris' lean to anthemic,
surprisingly rough rock
underpinned by the dancebeats,
and alongside the unstoppable
momentum of 'On Board', their
set has got everything… even a
three-way drumming onslaught
to finish.
The line-up's running
increasingly later but
whomadewho's headlining slot
is what most have been waiting
for and they're not really
disappointed as the Danes work
out their album of spacey funk
and cover of Benny Benassi's
'Satisfaction', generally getting
the kids moving. Smiles aplenty,
but not much of a rave-up.
Lazing into the early hours, Get
Shakes can't even make it past
their opening 'Sister Self Doubt'.
Seems the equipment is as tired
as the rest of us and despite
freshers piling into town tonight,
it's not exactly busy. But fair
enough, when tonight has been
smooth it's been well-meaning.
Maybe somebody should've got
a minibus and got us all back to
the Roadhouse – it'll be nice to
get back to classic, flawlessly
fun Contort Yourself.
Fran Donnelly
twentynine
film review
NEW NOISE
‘Control’
Our new section will take in the best new music currently
picking up our ears at HV HQ. If you’re in a band of any genre
or experience email [email protected] with a link to
your music and a little bit about yourselves. If you’d prefer to
send us a CD, email for an address. We’ll be in touch!
With Anton Corbijn’s Ian
Curtis-themed ‘Control’ hitting
cinema screens this month,
we delved deeper into the
heart of the film with
acclaimed Manchester music
journalist John Robb…
HV: Control - what was it like on first
viewing for you?
JR: “Very powerful. Normally rock
films are terrible. They over do the
story. Hollywood it to death. Kill all
the rock n roll. Control is as gritty,
funny and ultimately as despairing as
the real story. The actors actually
look like the characters, which is rare,
and they have got their mannerisms
down perfectly. You really feel like
you were there, which if you were is
quite important.”
Were you involved in the film in any
way?
“I went to an initial meeting but they
were so on the case and so
determined to get the film right that
there was very little I could offer
them, they wanted to make sure that
they got the whole thing accurate
and didn’t want to offend anyone in
Manchester by making a glossy
biopic and they have certainly
succeeded in that. Control is the
benchmark by which all rock n roll
films should be made in the future.”
Which parts really got you going?
“It’s all great, there's some great
laugh out loud stuff from Rob Gretton
and Hooky, I loved the mundanity of
Ian’s civil service job and the grubby
banality of gigging that they
thirty
managed to capture and the ending
brings a tear to the eye.”
What are your thoughts on current
Manchester music?
Do you see New Order as
completely dead now?
Why do you think Joy Division’s
legacy gets “stronger by the year”?
(quoted by NME who recently
awarded the Unknown Pleasures
and Closer re-issues 10 and 9 stars
respectively)
“Headlines are a good band, I like
The Courteeners; go to a new bands
night and there’s always something
good on, the problem is very few
bands seem to come through and
change the national zeitgeist. There
have been several false alarms
where bands lauded by the hip
scene have got major deals and then
disappeared - the biggest and most
important bands were always the
outsiders, the ones who came from
outside the hip circle - perhaps these
bands don’t exist anymore or they’re
finding it harder to get through.”
“I’m sure Hooky will come back to
the fold, they have fallen out before Hooky and Barney have been on
and off friends since school. There is
still some great music to be made
between the three of them…”
“It’s a powerful myth and story and a
great band cuts through time, a band
that really means it and is really
original will always be loved, it
sometimes takes years for some
bands to get rediscovered but they
always do.”
Both records are notoriously doomy
and reflective, but Joy Division
weren’t nearly as gloomy as people.
Where did the darkness come from?
“The darkness came from Ian Curtis;
he had dark vision, which doesn’t
mean he spent all his time being
miserable! There was a lot of
darkness around in the seventies
and early eighties and JD reflected it
very well. I think its great how Hooky
provided those ultimate doomy bass
lines but could explode the myth with
his no bullshit attitude - that’s the
beauty of Manchester - it can make
high art but it can deflate its
pomposity.”
How will the passing away of Tony
Wilson affect Manchester? Do you
believe his legacy will provide
musical inspiration for decades to
come?
“On a personal level I miss seeing
him around and having mini debates
about music and pop culture in the
street, he was 24/7! We miss his
energy and enthusiasm but the
scene will carry on - there’s plenty of
other people nowadays doing stuff.
Tony was really important, crucial but
music always carries on.”
Can you tell us about your
‘Transmission’ talk on October 22nd
at the Cornerhouse? How do you
feel about pop music TV coverage
today?
“We’ll be talking about music on
television and its history, its relevant
because it’s never what we want is it!
For years it was treated as an
embarrassment, now its gone the
other way - its too hip and too
knowing. Youtube is making it almost
imposable to cover music on TV - if
you want to see something then you
just get on the net instead of waiting
for someone to filter ‘good taste’.
There’s far too many talent and
award shows. We want to get a
debate going, everyone is welcome
to join in.”
COMPETITION
“Control is the benchmark by
which all rock n roll films
should be made in the future”
HV VIEW:
Control is an extremely powerful film
and will go down as one of the best
rock pictures ever made. Its black
and white backdrop adds authenticity
and its fair share of ‘gloom’, while
Sam Riley’s performance is as good
as the reviews tell you. There is
humour and moments of genuine
sadness (Hooky and Gretton provide
the laughs; Curtis’ first epileptic fit and
the drawn out harrowing suicide
scene will make you swell up). Its got
the hair raising excitement of rock n
roll and the couldn’t-give-a-fuck cool
that Joy Division exuded. As a
companion to Michael
Winterbottom’s Manc-rock-fantasy
24 Hour Party People, its perfect.
Words: Alistair Beech
Control runs at the Cornerhouse
cinema on Oxford Street,
Manchester from 5th-25th October.
Screening times and film info at
www.cornerhouse.org
We’re giving away a copy of
Deborah Curtis’ ‘Touching From a
Distance’ book, the CD
soundtrack to Control and two
tickets to see the film at the
Cornerhouse in October to one
lucky reader.
To win, please email your answer
to the following question to
[email protected] –
closing date October 19th
Question:
Which Joy Division classic did
The Killers this year chose to
cover at Glastonbury?
Beautiful
Balloon
Cotton Town
Music Club
Elle S’appelle Jenny
e
McCormick
Twisted
Wheel
Since the late 1970s
outbreak of punk in New
York and London, musical
trends have travelled
between the USA and the
UK at the speed of sound.
Surprising then, that the
emergence of The Rapture
and LCD Soundsystem at
the turn of the century has
had seemingly little
influence on our homegrown bands. Until now,
that is. Sheffield
scenesters Beautiful
Balloon build upon the
cowbells and keyboards
punk-funk blueprint, yet
they are so much more
than a Death From Above
tribute act. In fact, they
describe themselves as
the sound of convention
falling from a high window,
and who are we to
disagree?
Forming around the
backdrop of Oldham’s
Jackson Pit music venue,
Cotton Town Music Club
are just over a year old.
Their alt-country-rock mix
(think Ryan Adams
brawling with Gram
Parsons) has already won
a strong local following,
and 2008 could see the
four piece (Greg vocals/guitar, Gary drums, Jay - bass, Chris keyboards) break out to
more widespread
recognition. With album
recording planned for the
end of this year, they might
not be far away
Elle S’appelle are a guitar
less trio from Liverpool
who deal in such instantly
infectious and memorable
indie-pop that it makes
The Wombats seem about
as easy to get into as
Camp X-ray. Andy
Donovan (bass/vocals),
Lucy Blakeley
(keyboards/vocals) and
Owen Cox (drums) have
already shared stages with
local heroes like Hot Club
de Paris, 28 Costumes
and Voo - not to mention a
support slot with NYC’s
Shy Child on the cards and look set to follow
those three into the city’s
hearts and heads. Heck, in
June they were even
picked as one of indie
guv’nor Steve Lamacq’s
favourite unsigned bands.
Whilst every softly spoken
singer wielding a guitar is
deemed a folk artist these
days, it’s refreshing to hear
one who really has folk
credentials. Jenny
McCormick revisits and
reworks traditional songs
and lovingly sets them
alongside her own original
material.
Formed a week before
their debut show in
February 2007 (yes, this
year) Twisted Wheel’s
raucous indie-punk is
drawing bigger and bigger
crowds with each passing
gig. They’re pitched
somewhere between The
Clash and Johnny Cash,
and in front man/guitarist
Johnny Brown (formerly of
The Children) they
possess a talented, pissed
off, intelligent song smith.
Hayden, David and James
are bringing their explosive
sound to the dance floors
of Shoreditch,
Huddersfield, Liverpool
and their hometown in a
foursome of forthcoming
live performances. There's
only one reason to dislike
this band, and it's only
applicable if you suffer
from a latex allergy.
Key track: Leitrum County
In November they follow
the likes of Kate Nash,
Slow Club and
Dananananaykroyd to
release their debut seveninch on Moshi Moshi’s
singles club. ’Little Flame’
sounds like a jerky Mates
Of State fronted by Karen
O minus the Issues. Go
on, familiarise yourself with
their hyperactive nursery
rhymes.
Jenny will perform at this
years In The City festival
on 20th October.
Catch them at the Dry Bar
in Manchester on 12th
October.
Web:
www.myspace.com/cottont
ownmusicclub
(AB)
Key track: Give Me Some
Feather
Key track: Little Flame
Web:
www.myspace.com/beautif
ulballoonmusic
Web:
www.myspace.com/ellesap
pelleband
(BS)
(SE)
Think northern vowels and
empathetic storytelling and
Jenny will delight both the
mainstream and the folk
elite. Her album, English
Country Garden, on her
own Square Peg Records,
has been well received
both here and abroad, and
has seen her secure slots
with some of folk’s current
favourites, Spiers and
Boden, Jackie Oates and
John Smith.
Key track: Me I Prefer The
Moon
Web:
www.jennymccormick.com
(SP)
Since February they’ve
recorded live sessions for
XFM Manchester, played
two dozen exhilarating
gigs and become THE
local band to namedrop.
New Courteeners? Nah,
the sky is the limit for
these lot.
Twisted Wheel play Dry
Bar in Manchester on 20th
October as part of In The
City.
Key track: You Stole The
Sun
Web:
www.myspace.com/thetwis
tedwheel
(AB)
Words: Alistair Beech, Stephen Eddie,
Benjamin Short, Sophie Parkes
thirtyone
listings
GIGLISTINGS
McQueen @ The Roadhouse
Miss Conduct @ Music Box
October
Thursday 11th
Monday 1st
We Start Fires @ Night & Day Café
Fish @ Academy 2
Ray Quinn @ The Apollo
Tuesday 2nd
Me Without You @ Night & Day Café
Turin Brakes @ Academy 2
Madina Lake @ Academy 3
El-P @ The Roadhouse
Ray Quinn @ The Apollo
Wednesday 3rd
Stars @ Night & Day Café
Damien Dempsey @ Academy 3
Thursday 4th
Night & Day presents Marry Another +
The Perrys @ Night & Day Café
The Rumble Strips @ Club Academy
Friday 5th
Red Sea + The News + Black Vinyl @
Night & Day Café
King Creosote @ Academy 2
This Is Menace @ Academy 3
John Foxx @ Club Academy
Lightspeed Champion @ The
Roadhouse
Cascada @ The Apollo
Soundscape @ Jabez Clegg
Saturday 6th
High Voltage presents Prinzhorn Dance
School @ Night & Day Café
Kula Shaker @ Academy 2
Ed Harcourt @ Academy 3
Brakes @ Club Academy
Maximo Park @ The Apollo
Sunday 7th
Country Club Meeting #5 feat. Bone
Box + Jake Flowers @ Night & Day
Café
Seth Lakeman @ Academy 2
The Blackout @ Academy 3
Thomas Dolby @ Club Academy
Monday 8th
OXJAM presents Black Velvet Band @
Night & Day Café
Nine Black Alps @ Academy 3
Maps @ The Roadhouse
Manu Chao @ The Apollo
Tuesday 9th
The Violets @ Night & Day Café
An Evening with The Cowboy Junkies
@ Academy 2
Oceansize @ Academy 3
Fightstar @ Club Academy
Paul Steel @ The Roadhouse
Wednesday 10th
Twilight Robin + Feldspar @ Night & Day
Café
NME Rock & Roll Riot Tour @ Academy 1
Richmond Fontaine @ Academy 3
Colin Hay @ Club Academy
thirtytwo
Stephanie Dosen @ Night & Day Café
The Maccabees @ Academy 1
The Courteeners @ Academy 2
Edgar Jones Jones & the Joneses @
Academy 3
Devil Driver @ Club Academy
Damien Rice @ M.E.N Arena
TD Lind @ Jabez Clegg
James Chance & Les Contortions @
Saki Bar
Friday 12th
Fink @ Night & Day Café
Diamanthian + The Checks @ Dry Bar
The Coral @ Academy 1
Gorilla Biscuit @ Academy 2
Mamma Freedom & The Mekkits @
Academy 3
Raging Speedhorn @ The Roadhouse
Kate Walsh @ RNCM
Dream Theatre @ The Apollo
Bobby Conn @ Jabez Clegg
Saturday 13th
Los Campesinos @ Night & Day Café
Mark Ronson @ Academy 1
Puressence @ Academy 2
Mary Gauthier @ Academy 3
Limehouse Lizzy @ Club Academy
Charlotte Hatherley @ The Roadhouse
Sunday 14th
Jim White @ Night & Day Café
Athlete @ Academy 1
Walter Trout @ Academy 3
The Departure @ The Roadhouse
The Editors @ The Apollo
Rush @ M.E.N Arena
Monday 15th
Nizlopi @ Night & Day Café
The Twang @ Academy 1
Tunng @ Academy 3
The Police @ M.E.N Arena
Tuesday 16th
Land of Talk @ Night & Day Café
Seasick Steve @ Academy 2
Broken Social Scene @ Club Academy
Metro Riots @ The Roadhouse
A Night In The City @ Music Box
The Blow @ The Phoenix
Underworld @ The Apollo
The Police @ M.E.N Arena
Wednesday 17th
Soho Dolls @ Night & Day Café
Battles @ Academy 2
3 Daft Monkeys @ Academy 3
Castanets @ Cross St Chapel
Bullets and Octane @ The Roadhouse
Ray LaMontagne @ The Apollo
Oct-Nov
Friday 19th
Sunday 28th
Tuesday 6th
Friday 16th
Wednesday 28th
Saturday
In The City 2007: The Teenagers @
Night & Day Café
The Research @ Dry Bar
Kling Klang @ Saki Bar
Reverend & the Makers @ Academy 1
Justin Currie of Del Amitri @ Academy 2
Anti Nowhere League @ Academy 3
A Boy Called Doris @ Club Academy
KT Tunstall @ The Apollo
Asobi Seksu @ Night & Day Café
The Pidgeon Detectives @ Academy 1
Hell Is For Heroes @ Academy 3
The Producers @ Club Academy
Robots in Disguise @ The Roadhouse
The Young Knives @ Night & Day Café
Two Gallants @ Academy 3
Beirut @ Club Academy
New Model Army @ Academy 2
The Addicts @ Academy 3
Damo Suzuki @ The Roadhouse
Wednesday 7th
Saturday 17th
Sum 41 @ Academy 1
Electrelane @ Academy 3
Matt Berry @ Club Academy
Electric Eel Shock @ The Roadhouse
Maroon 5 @ M.E.N Arena
Phoebe Killdeer & The Short Straws @
Night & Day Café
Calvin Harris @ Academy 1
65 Days of Static @ Academy 2
Carlis Star @ Academy 3
Deerhunter @ Saki Bar
Stereophonics @ M.E.N Arena
The Complete Stone Roses + Peter
Hook @ Academy 1
Atreyu @ Academy 2
The Jamm @ Academy 3
The Men They Couldn’t Hang @ Club
Academy
Audio Boutique @ Music Box 10pm- 4am
Call It What You Want @ 5th Avenue 10pm3am
Clint Boon’s Disco Revue @ South 9.30pm2.45am
Rock Kitchen @ K2 Lounge 9pm- 3am
Urban Legends @ 42nd Street 10pm2.30am
Smile @ Star and Garter 9pm- late
Indiependance @ The Venue
Plastic Surgery @ The Ruby Lounge
Monday 29th
Ash @ Academy 1
Black Stone Cherry @ Academy 3
Dividing The Line @ Music Box
Saturday 20th
In The City 2007: An acoustic matinee
show @ Night & Day Café
Stephen Fretwell @ Academy 2
Amy Macdonald @ Academy 3
James Taylor Quartet @ Club Academy
The Deadbeats @ Dry Bar
Gipsy Kings @ The Apollo
Tuesday 30th
Simone White @ Night & Day Café
Against Me! @ Academy 3
Shack @ Club Academy
Mark Kozelek @ The Dancehouse,
Oxford Rd
Vincent Vincent and The Villains @ The
Roadhouse
Sunday 21st
In The City 2007: Club Fandango and
Fierce Panda presents… @ Night &
Day Café
Mindless Self Indulgence @ Academy 2
Capdown @ Academy 3
Les Say Fav @ Club Academy
Palladium @ Dry Bar
Bombay Bicycle Club @ Music Box
LCD Soundsystem @ The Apollo
Monday 22nd
In The City 2007: Night & Day presents
V. Special Guest @ Night & Day Café
Shy Child @ Academy 3
Boredoms @ Club Academy
In The City : POWWO @ Aqua Bar
Tigers That Talked @ Dry Bar
Enter Shikari @ The Apollo
Tuesday 23rd
Ratt @ Academy 1
Kids In Glass Houses @ Academy 3
Misty’s Big Adventure @ The
Roadhouse
Enter Shikari @ The Apollo
Wednesday 31st
Amiina @ Academy 3
Keane curates in aid of War Child @
The Apollo
Untitled Musical Project @ Jabez Clegg
November
Friday 26th
The Wedding Present @ Academy 1
Francis Dunnery @ Academy 3
David Ford @ Club Academy
Thursday 18th
Saturday 27th
Youthmovies @ Night & Day Café
Elliot Minor @ Academy 2
Broken Family Band @ Academy 3
The Thrills @ Club Academy
Rufus Wainwright @ The Apollo
Fionn Regan @ Night & Day Café
The Cinematic Orchestra @ Academy 2
Y&T @ Academy 3
Big Country @ Club Academy
Cut Off Your Hands @ The Roadhouse
Arcade Fire @ M.E.N Arena
Friday 9th
The Hoosiers @ Night & Day Café
Dodgy @ Academy 2
Akala @ Club Academy
Groove Armada @ The Apollo
Heaven & Hell @ M.E.N Arena
Slouch + Jack Afro + The Beagles @
Night & Day Café
An Evening With Wasp @ Academy 2
Fishbone @ Academy 3
The Donnas @ Club Academy
Sanctity @ The Roadhouse
The Fray @ The Apollo
Saturday 10th
Friday 2nd
Sunday 11th
Elvis Perkins @ Night & Day Café
Wilco @ Academy 1
Peter Bjorn and John @ Academy 2
Slaughter & The Dogs @ Academy 3
Wishbone Ash @ Club Academy
Cagedbaby @ The Roadhouse
The Proclaimers @ The Apollo
The Meteors @ Night & Day Café
The Bluetones @ Academy 2
Saturday 3rd
Pony Up @ Night & Day Café
The Stranglers @ Academy 1
Whole Lotta Led @ Academy 2
Paul Barrere & Fred Tackett @ Club
Academy
Animal Collective @ New Century Hall
Beverley Knight @ The Apollo
Foo Fighters @ M.E.N Arena
Thursday 25th
Iron & Wine @ Academy 2
Flowered Up @ Club Academy
Jose Gonzalez @ RNCM
Delays @ Night & Day Café
Southside Johnny & the Ashbury Jukes
@ Academy 2
Andrew Bird @ Academy 3
Robyn @ Club Academy
Katherine Williams @ The Roadhouse
Sunburned Hand Of The Man @
Phoenix Club
Thursday 1st
Wednesday 24th
Stoney @ Night & Day Café
Cold War Kids @ Academy 1
Mr Hudson & The Library @ Academy 3
Mark Olson @ Club Academy
The Hiss @ The Roadhouse
The Get Happy Tour @ The Apollo
Gypsy Kings & Kalico Queens feat. The
Maladies of Bellafontaine @ Retro Bar
Thursday 8th
Fiery Furnaces @ Night & Day Café
Kurt Wagner (Lambchop) @ Academy 2
The Doors Alive @ Academy 3
Koopa @ Club Academy
Okkervil River @ The Roadhouse
David Gray @ The Apollo
Monday 12th
Biffy Clyro @ Academy 1
Bedouin Soundclash @ Academy 2
Blueprint to a Downfall @ Music Box
Amy Winehouse @ The Apollo
Boy Kill Boy @ Jabez Clegg
Tuesday 13th
Designer Magazine presents The Boy
Majors @ Night & Day Café
Good Shoes @ Academy 2
Jeffree Star @ Academy 3
Captain @ The Roadhouse
Will Haven @ Music Box
Amy Winehouse @ The Apollo
Sunday 4th
Country Club Meeting #6 feat. The
Mekkits + Ernie’s Rhythm Section @
Night & Day Café
Hadouken! @ Academy 1
The National @ Academy 2
Dillinger Escape Plan @ Academy 3
Jesse Malin @ Club Academy
The Charlatans @ The Ritz
Luke Pickett @ Music Box
Meatloaf @ M.E.N Arena
Monday 5th
Wednesday 14th
Alexisonfire @ Academy 1
Tokyo Dragons @ Music Box
Thursday 15th
The Duke Spirit @ Night & Day Café
Unkle @ Academy 1
Hot Hot Heat @ Academy 2
The Kissaway Trail @ The Roadhouse
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals @ The
Apollo
Sunday 18th
Jill Scott @ Academy 1
Josh Ritter @ Academy 2
Bob Hewerdine @ Academy 3
Ben Mills @ The Apollo
Alice Cooper @ M.E.N Arena
Monday 19th
Mika @ The Apollo
Tuesday 20th
Curious Generation presents Bashpelt
The New Pornographers @ Academy 3
Mika @ The Apollo
Wednesday 21st
The Cardiacs @ Academy 3
Qui @ The Roadhouse
The Black Crusade @ M.E.N Arena
Thursday 22nd
Mesh + DeVision + Adfinem @ Academy 3
Sylosis @ Music Box
Deacon Blue @ The Apollo
Babyshambles @ M.E.N Arena
Friday 23rd
Whiskycats @ Academy 1
Terrorvision @ Academy 2
The Weakerthans @ Academy 3
Caribou @ The Roadhouse
Dirty Projectors @ Kro Bar
Saturday 24th
Sons & Daughters @ Night & Day Café
Newton Faulkner @ Academy 2
Roger Chapman @ Academy 3
Pinback @ The Roadhouse
The Hives @ The Apollo
Sunday 25th
Marah @ Night & Day Café
Rilo Kiley @ Academy 2
I Am Kloot @ Academy 3
Monday 26th
St Vincent @ Night & Day Café
I Am Kloot @ Academy 3
Silverstein @ Academy 3
Klaxons @ The Apollo
Tuesday 27th
SIA @ Night & Day Café
Bring Me The Horizon @ Academy 3
Thursday 29th
Speechless with sound presents Carjack
Mallone @ Night & Day Café
Within Temptation @ Academy 1
Fu Manchu @ Academy 3
Allan Holdsworth @ Club Academy
Crowded House @ M.E.N Arena
Friday 30th
Marillion @ Academy 1
Josh Rouse @ Academy 2
The Reason @ Academy 3
Sonic Boom Six @ Club Academy
Efterklang @ The Roadhouse
The Human League @ The Apollo
Kaiser Chiefs @ M.E.N Arena
Akron/Family @ Phoenix Club
Please email your gig and club
listings for December/January 08 to
[email protected]
Next deadline is November 15th
Compiled by Mike Caulfield
CLUBLISTINGS
Oct-Nov
Monday
Revolver @ The Roadhouse 11pm- 2am
Monday @ The Ritz 10pm- 2am
Up The Racket @ Joshua Brooks 10pm2am
Tuesday
Sex With Robots @ The Roadhouse 11pmlate
Way Back When @ Po Na Na 9pm- 2am
Click Click @ Font Bar 9pm- 1am
The Alternative @ The Venue 11pm- late
Wednesday
Retro @ 42nd Street 10pm- late
Tramp @ Club North 10pm- 2am
Thursday
From Manchester With Love @ 42nd Street
10pm- 2am
Don’t Think Twice… @ Font Bar 9pm- 1am
Romp @ One Central Street @ 9.30pm3am
In The City @ The Venue 11pm- late
Friday
Friday Feeling @ 5th Avenue 10pm- 3am
Glamorous Indie Rock n’ Roll @ 42nd
Street
Popscene @ The Brickhouse 10.30pm2.30am
Relief @ Club Alter Ego 11pm- 4am
Another Planet @ South 10pm- 3am
Club Biscuit @ The Ruby Lounge 10.30pm2am
Homoelectric @ Legends 10pm- 4am
Twist and Shout @ The Venue 10pm- 3am
Guilty Pleasures @ One Central Street
10pm- 3am
Teddy Thompson @ Night & Day Café
Kate Nash @ Academy 1
Wednesday 13 @ Academy 3
thirtythree
Whether it’s the cutting edge of fashion or
the cut-throat world of pop music, French
“We might be - then we'll see where it is
bringing us.”
emphasis on nice songs and great melodies.”
“Nice melody, nice song, nice production,
fresh and funky.”
Looking at the Kitsune discography, there
seems to be a shift away from releasing
compilations, and a move towards signing
artists and releasing full-length albums.
When Kitsune first began, did you think that
the label would take off and develop into a
major concern that would represent artists on
a full-time basis? It seems to be much more
than a side-project now.
HV spoke to label boss Gildas Loaec in order
to get the low-down on five years spent
revolutionising the pop market from within...
Kitsune’s first three compilation releases
were based on different themes, almost as if
there was a conceptual framework in place
rather than a characteristic sound that linked
the artists. Has commercial pop music got
hidden depth?
“We are working with Digitalism who are
growing up slowly but surely - their live
shows are amazing and this definitely gives
us more ideas on working with more acts and
proper bands. It is good to develop bands
and bring them to a bigger audience.”
Your origins seem to go right back to the Daft
Punk releases on Soma in the 1990s. Could
you briefly outline the history of the Kitsune
record label so far?
“Do you mean that our latest projects are
less interesting? Maison compilations are
about having club music to listen at home or
home music to be listened to in the club.”
Which artists are you particularly excited at
working with at the moment? Are there any
new faces set to appear on future Kitsune
releases?
“Not so long! Some time ago - 5 years
maybe - we started Kitsune. We began work
on compilations; our first one was ‘Love’.”
Is this what you mean by quality commercial
releases?
“Definitely! Loads! Late of the Pier, Autokratz,
Kid Santogold, Pin Me Down are all set to
feature on future releases.”
Pop music and fashion are two separate
worlds, but they’re inextricably linked. Kitsune
is a fashion house and a record label. Does
being at the cutting edge of fashion give you
an advantage over other labels when it
comes to knowing what ingredients are
essential in order to make pop record
successful?
Kitsune isn’t at the epicentre of dance culture
geographically. Does this mean greater
freedom when it comes to what you choose
to release?
label Kitsune continue to mash up styles
in order to create commercial releases of
elegant quality. Home to the likes of
Digitalism, Simian Mobile Disco, Adam
Castle and Crystal Castles, amongst
others, there’s been a distinct move away
from compilation releases in order to
feature bands and artists such as guitar
pop merchants Cazals.
“The idea is the same when we are working
the both world. It’s to find the classic piece as well in clothes as for the music; some
clothes pieces or piece of music that will stay
longer than the day it is out.”
Cool has context. Are you as hip in France
as you appear to be?
thirtyfour
As we understand it, Kitsune is seen as a
development of the French house sound, in
itself derived from Chicago House. What are
the key ingredients of great pop music as
defined by Kitsune?
“I mean elegant commercial releases.”
“We are at what we consider the epicentre of
the club culture; for us, it’s just a question of
relativity; for lots of our fans we are for sure
at the centre.”
How are the artists featured on Kitsune
releases selected?
“Because we believe that is really good
music first; we thank a lot artists who agreed
initially to be part of our compilations - so
really good music first and foremost - new
talent alongside confirmed talent, with the
You have the nearest thing to an in-house
band in Cazals now. Could you tell us about
them?
“Cazals are a five piece band, doing great
pop guitar music with some electronic bits.
They've got a great personality and are great
live. One of their songs, ‘Poor Innocent Boy’,
was on our compilation ‘Kitsune Maison 3’
Since I was following them, I decided that
was time for Kitsune to bring them to Paris to
put them in the studio. We recorded the
album in 2 months and the result is really
surprising.”
Words: Michael Roberts
www.maisonkitsune.fr
thirtyfive
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