[email protected] @NightshiftMag nightshift.oxfordmusic.net Free every month NIGHTSHIFT Issue 230 September Oxford’s Music Magazine 2014 photo:Johnny Moto

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Soundsystem, Daisy Rodgers Music and Recommended by Matchbox Recordings Ltd, Poplar Jake, Undersmile, Desert Storm, Turan Audio Ltd, Nick Cope, Prospeckt, Paul Jeffries, Alvin Pindrop Performances. Roy, Pete The Temp, Evolution, Coozes, Blue Moon and many more... NIGHTSHIFT: PO Box 312, Kidlington, OX5 1ZU. Phone: 01865 372255 Count Skylarkin (centre) with fellow Disco Shed proprietor NEWS Paddy Bickerton and Channel 4 presenter Max McMurdo Nightshift: PO Box 312, Kidlington, OX5 1ZU Phone: 01865 372255 email: [email protected] Online: nightshift.oxfordmusic.net

this year should apply via the Oxford City Festival page on Facebook.

JOHN OTWAY teams up with Wild Willy Barrett for the first time in years when they perform together at the Old Fire Station on Thursday 9th October as part of a tour to THE DISCO SHED has won the Best Normal Shed prize in Channel 4’s promote Rock and Roll’s Greatest annual Shed of the Year Awards. The travelling shed-based soundsystem Failure: Otway the Movie. The run by local DJ and promoter Aidan `Count’ Skylarkin was rewarded for THE AUGUST LIST release legendary rock loon celebrated the its innovative approach to taking music to the masses – an approach that their debut album this month. `Oh 25th anniversary of his solitary Top has seen the Shed appearing at Reading and Leeds Festivals, T In The th Hinterland’ is out on Monday 29 40 Hit (`Really Free’, with Barrett, Park, Bestival, The Big Chill and Latitude as well as locally at Truck and September. The west Oxfordshire in 1977) in 2002 with the single Cornbury over the past few years. porch-folk duo will be talking `Bunsen Burner’, which reached “I expect it’ll get mounted somewhere inside the shed - nowhere too about the new album as part of number 9 in the charts and remains prominent as ‘Best Normal Shed’ seems a curious misnomer,” said Aidan next month’s Nightshift front cover only his second hit. Get your ticket after collecting his award, “in fact, we won Best Unique Shed at the 2009 feature. Kerraleigh and Martin Child to see the pair from awards, before a souvenir plaque or telly exposure was part of the deal, will launch the album with a show www.johnotway.com. and hadn’t planned to enter the competition this year. It was the TV show’s th at the Bullingdon on Thursday 9 researchers that initially got in touch and were keen to feature us, and the October, where they’ll be joined by AS EVER, don’t forget to tune into organisers came up with the solution of our entering in this category, as Co-Pilgrim and Vienna Ditto. Visit BBC Oxford Introducing every you’re not allowed to enter again after you’ve won, and sheddies are nothing their Facebook page to find out more Saturday night between 8-9pm on if not sticklers for the rules.” and hear just how great they are. 95.2fm. The dedicated local music Count Skylarkin presents his monthly Soundsystem night at the Cellar on show plays the best Oxford releases Friday 5th September, featuring a live set from rising UK reggae crew The THE BULLINGDON is now back and demos as well as featuring Sidewalk Doctors. to being called The Bullingdon. interviews and sessions with local After a few months going under the acts. The show is available to stream rebranded name of Art Bar, it reverts or download as a podcast at to its historic moniker with immediate bbc.co.uk/oxford. effect. Not that anyone ever stopped Regularly updated local music news calling it The Bully anyway. is available online at www.musicinoxford.co.uk. The site OXFORD CITY FESTIVAL returns also features interactive reviews, a for its second annual outing later photo gallery and gig guide. this year. The city-wide live music Nightshift’s online form is open to festival takes place from the 24th-29th all local music fans and musicians at November. Last year’s event took in nightshift.oxfordmusic.net the O2 Academy, Jericho Tavern, The Wheatsheaf, The Cellar, Holywell OXFORD BANDS looking for Music Room, Head of the River, members or musicians looking James Street Tavern, The Marsh for bands can advertise for free in Harrier, The Corridor and more, Nightshift. Simply email your needs featuring a wide range of local acts. in up to 30 words, to nightshift@ Oxford acts wanting to take part in oxfordmusic.net.

STORNOWAY play The Sheldonian Theatre on Thursday 17th November. The show marks the fifth anniversary of the band’s now legendary concert there when they became the first band ever to play the historic theatre. The show will be the first opportunity for fans to hear songs from Stornoway’s forthcoming third album, currently being recorded with producer Gil Norton and set for a Spring 2015 release. The local heroes will once again team up with The Oxford Millennium Orchestra, playing songs from across their career. Tickets are available exclusively through Wegottickets, priced £18, plus booking fee. STATE OF INDEPENDENCE - A celebration of local promoters Now that summer is slowly fading into the distance and the festival season has packed up its tent and wellies, it’s “I think Oxford has missed Red Seas Fire at Skeletor. photo: Chris Blizzard time to leave behind happy memories of five-quid pints and overflowing Portaloos and get back to gig-going as God intended it – hot and SKELETOR having a proper rock/alternative sweaty, crammed into tiny pub basements or back rooms, where your shoes stick to the floor, where the future festival stars are born on tiny Where? O2 Academy night like Room:101. Loads of stages and where gigs are organised and promoted with love, dedication and occasionally blood, sweat and tears, by a small army of unsung What? Metal! Mix of local and touring acts bands and fans used to hang out musical heroes. Nightshift talked to a selection of our favourite local small-time promoters, those brave souls who put on gigs once or twice When? One Saturday each month together and it was agreat place How much? £7 adv / £9 on the door a month for the love of good music, and asked them why they do it, what the best and worst things are about being a promoter, and most to meet likeminded people, so importantly, why YOU should go out there and see what they have to offer. And when you’ve finished reading, we want you to make it your I’ve been organising a similar John Smith started Skeletor four years ago. night called Bedrock which will mission to go and see at least one band you’ve never heard of this month. You will thank us for it. And these good people. play anything from cheesy rock “I wanted to push my own band forward by playing alongside bigger bands, anthems to pop-punk to metal. Tamara and friend and I wasn’t impressed with the organisation or promotion that went in to a It’s gonna take place once a GAPPY TOOTH INDUSTRIES lot of the gigs we were playing. There were so many other good metal bands month at The Bullingdon. Where? The Wheatsheaf in Oxford that I thought deserved better too, so I thought I’d give it a shot. “Bands and independent What? Eclectic fusion of local and out-of-town bands Eventually my band split up but I kept Skeletor going for the other bands and promoters need to be supported When? Usually the last Saturday of each month the scene in general because it was so successful. so they can continue doing How much? £4.50 on the door. Cheaper in advance “Once Skeletor moved to the O2 Academy it became an opportunity for what they are doing and people bands that put the effort in to play with touring acts at a well respected venue need to make sure they don’t Richard Catherall set up GTI twelve years ago with Alan with a big stage and great sound and lights. This created a great scene and take things for granted and then Betteridge. led to a lot of new bands forming; there are about 50 metal bands in Oxford complain when they come to now compared to the 15 or so when Skeletor started. Plus we’ve had the an end. Supporting a genre of “We started the night because we felt that there really wasn’t anything likes of Tesseract, Bleed From Within, Feed The Rhino, Breed 77, Bury music you like locally will help similar on the local gig calendar at the time, and because we were in a band Tomorrow, Xerath and loads more come to town. it prosper and lead to more fun and couldn’t get any gigs, so we started our own night instead of moaning “The worst thing about promoting is probably the sense of entitlement you nights out. about it all day. Nobody starts a band in the hope that they can do something get from a lot of bands who don’t understand the concept of capitalism. A that is roughly the same as everyone else – at least, nobody who isn’t shit – lot of bands don’t realise how much money and effort you put in to it and Next up: Saturday 6th September at the O2 Academy with When Our so why should promoters be different? Every decent promoter tries to put on think that it’s your job and that you are obliged to book them. Renting the Time Comes, Godsbane, Ignite the Sky, A Killer Amongst Us and Being an event that stands out from the rest. We don’t have any rules about genre, venue costs a lot and people need to be paid, so if you give a band a chance Eugene. Bedrock launches on Saturday 13th September at the we’ll mix the experimental with the mainstream, the quiet with the loud, the and lose a lot of money it’s too much of a risk to book them again. Bullingdon. beautiful with the petrifying. Oh, and also, unlike most gig organisers, we know how watches work and the times we publish aren’t works of fucking fantasy fiction. ALL TAMARA’S PARTIES PINDROP PERFORMANCES Where? Various, often unusual, venues around Oxford Where? Various venues BLACK BULLET LIVE “We’ve had various acts that have subsequently gone on to varying levels Where? O2 Academy / Wheatsheaf / Bullingdon What? Mix of live music and poetry with emphasis on female performers What? Mix of local and out of town acts of fame, but crucially when they were booked they were no better known What? Metal and heavy rock, touring and local acts When? Monthly, no set date When? One or two gigs a month than the other acts they shared a stage with. It was odd seeing Scroobius When? One or two shows per month, no set date How much? £5 How much? Varies Pip playing to a wild crowd at last year’s Truck with Dan Le Sac, and How much? £5 or thereabouts remembering how he performed for us to about 30 punters with a laptop and Tamara Parsons-Baker started running ATP nights two years ago in Seb Reynolds started putting on shows under the name PinDrop an overhead projector. Sarah Smith started promoting shows under the name Black Bullet in local chapels, cafés, pubs and even sheds. Performances ten years ago. “The best thing that happens at our events is when performers and/or Birmingham in 2012 before branching out into Oxford. customers enjoy an act they wouldn’t normally encounter: metal fans “I was sick of playing gigs where I seemed to be the only female on the bill. “I first put on a gig at the Cellar for my 19th birthday, 12 years ago; MC Lars deciding they love East European folk trios, say, or pop bands making “I started to help out our son at Uni to gain contacts for his future career; he Or going to gigs which showcased only male acts. I decided to create my own played his first ever show outside of the US that night alongside two of my friends with noise improvisers and booking future gigs together. The is now an independent booking agent with his own roster at Pioneer Music night as a platform to showcase more female talent, but without discriminating old bands, The Evenings and Dead Letters. I did a few shows at The Cellar as worst things are pretty predictable: nobody turning up, acts not turning up, Agency. We enjoyed it and have carried on ever since. We love touring against men. If I could get the balance right then this night would prove that it Wendy Carlos Presents (after the electronica legend) then came up with the venues double booking, PAs falling apart, stuff like that. Our crowds and bands, bands that have never had the isn’t hard for a promoter to add a touch of equality to their event, the talent is ‘PinDrop’ idea of hosting events at the Port Mahon that encouraged people to performers are very friendly; even the rude ones never get physical. We’ve chance to play Oxford and mix them there if you look for it. I was also fed up with being paid in crisps and beer. No sit and properly listen to the music. Sarah gives it the horns had extreme sonic violence before, but only on purpose. in with a couple of local acts. We’ve matter what you believe, a musician cannot be sustained on this diet alone. So “I book a wide range of gigs from unplugged events at the Albion Beatnik “Acts cancelleing is the most frustrating thing. It’s very hard to get people booked The Temperance Movement, my event also focuses on the artists getting paid for their performance, instead Bookstore to programming all sorts at Modern Art Oxford and have put on out to see performers they’ve not heard of, and it doesn’t get any easier Baby Godzilla, Hacktivist, Fizzy of the promoter or the venue pocketing all the door takings. At All Tamara’s classical/electronica events at Christchurch Cathedral, as well as rock/indie when promoters are forced to say, `We’re not sure who is playing the gig, Blood, Empress AD and Slam Cartel Parties the bands receive all the money made via ticket sales and via any etc. at all the classic pub venues across town. As I’m a musician as well as a because the flautist in the advertised band couldn’t work out what date amongst other. other random ideas we can come up with on the night. We had to stop George promoter I like to think I’m pretty creative in terms of how I programme acts their granny’s birthday is.’ Of course, there are also promoters who don’t “What makes it worthwhile is when (Chopping) from performing a striptease though, even though I’m sure he and encourage artists and bands to creatively respond to a brief or work with put any effort into their events, but whether they survive is in the hands of everyone leaves happy and had an would have cleaned up that night. the space that I provide. performers and customers. enjoyable evening of live music, “I’m a musician, so I like to think I know how a musician would like to be In the past I’ve promoted Patti Smith at the Holywell Music Room; “If you fear risk and the unknown, then don’t go to gigs like ours. bands have made some new fans and treated when they are invited to play a gig. I definitely know how they would Cocorosie and Silver Mt Zion, both at the Regal; Davy Graham at Jacqueline However, if you don’t relish the idea of a future where all live want to come back. Our funniest gig not like to be treated. I also add lots of personal touches to the event to interest du Pre; the first ever public performance by Anna Log and her band who entertainment is spotlessly orchestrated and market-tested, and all stages was in Birmingham when a certain and excite the audience, including a homemade mini-zine which acts as a went on to be We Aeronauts; the debut Pet Moon gig at the Bully; what I are effectively bass player was very drunk and programme for the night. Have you ever had to fold 50 mini-zines? We also believe was the second ever Stornoway gig at Port Mahon. Suitable Case glossy advertising had to be turned down in the mix manage to have an incredibly attentive audience, people come to listen to music For Treatment doing an acoustic set at the Port was amazing too. The list of spaces with a drum when playing and spent most of the and drink some beers, and it creates a lovely atmosphere for the performers. local acts that we’ve had is never ending! Davy Graham’s barely coherent riser, and chance evening telling me and any female “Oxford needs more diversity. Every year I do a little research into how ramblings about trains in Morocco was pretty weird, and having dinner with itself is eradicated that would listen that he had a cock diverse the local festivals and gigs are. Charlbury Riverside came top, lots of Patti Smith at Nando’s after her gig was possibly the highlight. Meeting an from art, then there like a giraffe. Said bass player no the other bigger festivals are really falling behind and not showcasing enough all time musical hero, Efrim from Silver Mt Zion, wasn’t a disappointment. are plenty of great longer in the band. The punters in the rock and metal genre are usually one female talent in my opinion. I played Riverside this year and afterwards a On the downside I once put Gunnbunny on at the Cellar and there was some promoters whom you big happy family so there’s never any trouble and most bands are lovely. member of the audience brought her little girl up to meet me and said `this is sort of palaver with them trying to blag in underage mates into the venue; the can support. But, We’ve only ever had one guitarist that was very rude from the start, and the first time she has ever seen a woman perform’. My first thought was relief bouncer went ballistic at me and it was a bit scary.” you know, we’re that she wasn’t crying or traumatised; my second thought was mixed with a completely ruined the night for us, but we will never book the band again. obviously the best. Luckily the punters had a good gig and were none the wiser. strange sense of wonder. Imagine being four years old and going to a festival Next up: Thursday 9th October at the Bullingdon with Co-Pilgrim, The “Small gigs are the best: hearing new bands for the first time is never seeing both talented men and women playing their hearts out; pretty inspiring August List and Vienna Ditto. Next up: Saturday stuff for a young person. boring; band members are always willing to say `hi’ after the show; the 20th September with merch is cheap and you can get that first EP signed so you can show it off Overlord, Black Next up: Friday 29th August with Rainbow Reservoir, Telegrapher, Tamara when they make the big time and tell everyone you were there first!” Juju, Francis and George Chopping, at The Wheatsheaf. Friday 24th October (venue th Pugh & the Whisky to be confirmed) with Jessy Bell, from Canada. Other acts tbc. Also a Next up: Thursday 11 September with A Trust Unclean, and Friday Singers. th Charlbury show in November and a Christmas special in December. 26 at the Bullingdon with two touring acts to be confirmed. time. When I found out the band were not only Count Skylarkin. With rum EMPTY ROOM PROMOTIONS KLUB KAKOFANNEY SKYLARKIN’ a going concern, but had never played a UK Where? The Bullingdon / St John the Evangelist / St Alban’s church Where? The Wheatsheaf gig, I made it my mission to make this happen. What? Cult Americana heroes and rising stars, mainly from the USA What? Genre-bending mix of three or four local and out-of-town live acts SOUNDSYSTEM So I convinced 550 people to take a chance on When? Once or twice a month When? First Friday of every month Where? The Cellar, plus occasional Academy a band no-one had ever seen in May 2005 and How much? From £10 - £20 depending on act How much? £5 shows. the feeling when they played was the greatest What? Party-hearty mix of ska, dancehall and euphoria that I’d ever known. Mike Trotman Phil Freizinger and Sue Smith started Klub Kakofanney 23 years rocksteady with live bands and DJs “Since then I’ve put on some of my all- Mike Trotman started putting on ago along with resident lights and artwork chap Ainan Addison, and assorted When? First Friday of every month, plus time heroes: Max Romeo, Dawn Penn, The gigs at Tingewick chums. It has long been an Oxford institution. occasional others Skatalites, Susan Cadogan, Dave Barker, the Village Hall twelve How much? £5/6 late, great Alton Ellis. Newer acts like Laid years ago before “We wanted to put on original, eclectic music, with bands that are willing to Blak, The Delegators and Dub Mafia. Orlando starting promoting share fun, music and equipment. The money we take on the door is divided Skylarkin Soundsystem is run by Aidan Higginbottom (TEED) used to accompany me in Oxford. between the bands, sound engineer, door crew and if we break even, the three Larkin, aka Count Skylarkin’. (“If you think fairly regularly on the decks in his pre-Dinosaur of us get a tenner each, or at least a drink. It’s our opportunity to give something that sounds a tad egomaniacal then you could be days. The magic of being in a room where great “When people retire back to the music that has rewarded us so much. We started by doing our own onto something.”) music is being made still blows my mind. a lot of them take gig, as back then there weren’t enough gig opportunities for local bands. “I think the most important thing Skylarkin’ up golf – the game “We try to bring a sense of inclusivity to gigs, plus a friendly atmosphere, and “I started gigging using the Skylarkin’ name brings to the local scene is rum. Oxford needs of the living dead. turning what could be a routine gig into a special event with a party/festy vibe, as soon as I moved to Oxford in 2000, but the more places that people actually like going to Being a lifelong live “Our best show was probably Tongue & Groove› – some of whom are now night really began in earnest as a weekly DJ- and that make you feel welcome once you’re music fan I stuck Knights of Mentis – selling out and playing a fantastic set as we celebrated only session in the old Brickworks basement there. That and less bad rum. Of course we’ve th to rock‘n’roll, which I find much more exciting. I have been going for 12 Klub Kakofanney’s 20 anniversary. Our worst moment was finding the Elm on a Thursday from 2002. Things started getting out of hand when DJ Derek had the odd bit of ruckus in 15 years, but I’ve still got a full set of teeth. years now having being introduced to another fan of the band The Vigilantes Tree closed suddenly, and being left with no venue four days before our gig. became a resident in 2004 and we had to upgrade to upstairs at the Zodiac. of Love. We decided to put on a gig for them in Buckingham and I have just Joal Shearing, our long-term sound man, searched the streets, and thankfully It hadn’t really occurred to me to start promoting bands until I bought what I Next up: Friday 5th September with The Sidewalk Doctors, then Friday 19th stumbled on from there. My philosophy, which is not very original, is to put found The Wheatsheaf! The hottest gig was when John Otway played the thought was an old 7” of a band called Ska Cubano around about the same September with The Nextmen (“just in time for my birthday”) on the bands I like, give both band and audience a good time and try not to first Kakofanney at The Wheatsheaf, and air conditioning wasn’t working. lose too much money! The last bit is the hardest. The ceiling was raining sweat. We all lost a bit of weight that night. The “I like to think I bring in top quality US Americana bands. It is a relatively strangest thing was a fan turning up in full drag because he was banned as THE HAVEN CLUB small, roots-based genre but seems to be coming increasingly popular. a man from the venue. Martin became ‘Martina’ and he managed to stay Where? The Bullingdon DAISY RODGERS MUSIC Where? Various venues Highlights that spring instantly to mind are, Guy Clark, Buddy Miller, the whole event. Oh, and Dave Tomlinson, previous bassist in Retrogen, The What? Touring blues and rock acts What? Mix of local and touring acts Alejandro Escovedo, Raul Malo, Dave Alvin, Tift Merritt, Dawes, Chuck Mighty Redox, and others, turning up on his wedding day with Jenny, his wife, When? One or two shows each month When? Monthly but no set date Prophet, J D McPherson, John Murry, Gretchen Peters, Tom Russell, Caitlin and all the guests, to play. And he did the repeat performance ten years on from How much? £6 - £14.Half price with NUS; 10% off for NHS staff. How much? As little as £2 in advance Rose, Hurray For The Riff Raff, Carlene Carter and Richmond Fontaine. that day, this year, to celebrate their anniversary. “The best thing that happens is always to experience the wonderful life- “Oxford needs more live original music, less tribute bands and covers, less Penny Marsh runs the Haven Club with Greg Owen, James Serjeant and Leon Stiles. Kevin `Daisy Rodgers’ started Daisy Rodgers Music affirming power of live music. I could not imagine life without it. The worst corporatism, and more individual characters running exciting, accessible in 2009 and the club celebrated its fifth anniversary this year. is when you don’t sell enough tickets, the room looks empty, you lose money venues, especially for our disabled performers and punters. It would also be “Tony Jezzard started the club just over two years ago, having started and co-run the – and it’s raining. I did get asked to supply a pack of disposable nappies on a really good if all ages could attend, as we need more inclusivity all round. Famous Monday Blues for over 20 years, and decided to start a new venture with a “I’ve got a love of new music, so being able to curate a night rider once, which I thought was a bit strange. It turned out that the band were There’s so much talent around now. Going to small local gigs is so much better different agenda. After Tony died in June 2013 there were bands already booked until the and hearing people say `I’ve never heard of X before but I touring with a baby. than television and less expensive than most activities, and you might make a end of the year and we all decided that `The show must go on,’ so we continued the club think they are amazing’ makes it all worthwhile. We work “All promoters like to feel they have an eye for spotting new talent who are new friend while hearing something you’ve never heard before. Fun!” Tony had worked so hard to establish. I stepped into the role and became `The Accidental hard to get a great balance of bands for the night – all shades destined for bigger things. Sadly when these acts do get bigger they tend to Promoter’; Greg became more involved in the general running of the club; Leon was th are included but generally nothing too shouty – and normally be scooped up by bigger booking agents and small independent promoters Next up: Friday 5 September with Balloon Ascents, Punch Drunk Monkey already doing the door and James was already helping Tony with the sound. The basic rd there is at least one band that surprises you with how amazing miss out, which is just a natural progression I suppose. There are people that Club and Children of the Sun. Klub Kak’s 23 anniversary runs over the motivation is that we are all huge live music enthusiasts and fans and whenever we feel rd th they are live. People who buy a ticket in advance can also I have put on in the past that I will try to promote again but feel they may weekend of the 3 -5 October at the Sheaf. like giving up we think of Tony and know that we have to keep on, and hope that he is choose a cover song to get played on the night by one of the have got out of reach. So my plea is for folks to come to see these acts while proud of what we have achieved. The whole point of The Haven Club is about welcoming acts. Spring Offensive nailing `Bonkers’ as their winning they are still playing relatively small venues and where you can chat to them people in, bands and audience; the ethos is to create a Haven of great music away from the cover was a personal highlight. afterwards before they disappear into huge impersonal places.” worries of everyday life. “We try to bring a unique mix of different styles of rock music: classic, psychedelic, “Our first gig had seven people turn up but we persevered, tried harder and our first birthday gig sold out. One artist Next up: Monday 8th September at St Alban’s Church, Charles Street, with modern, blues and anything else that takes our fancy, bringing acts from all over the UK, Europe and the USA. We also like to give high quality and professional local acts the brought so much kit with him that during soundcheck he filled John Fulbright. chance to play. So far we’ve had The Hoax, Mud Morganfield; Buddy Whittington; Nine the whole venue with stuff but he did manage to have room Below Zero; Chantel McGregor, Aaron Keyloack and more. for an ironing board and an iron! People always ask `Where is keyboardist in Fela Kuti’s Egypt 80 band; Orkestra Del Sol, who blew us all “The best thing about it is simply when people come along to a gig after all the hard work Daisy?’ Everyone we’ve ever met at our gigs has been super BOSSAPHONIK away with their Balkan `honk-step’, and Manteca, who recently delivered their put in and you see them really enjoying themselves. The worst time, of course, was Tony’s nice. Except maybe those that choose to chat loudly during the Where? The Cellar powerful sounds of 70s-style Latin funk, salsa and cumbia. sudden death. It’s frustrating that our posters keep mysteriously getting torn down and quiet songs in a small venue…then we do have dark thoughts. What? Jazz-dance, global grooves, where traditional sounds meet the “The best thing is feeling blessed to bring such wonderful music to my home covered up. Perhaps the funniest was during Ron Sayer’s show; he was mid-song when Oxford is a great place to see up and coming bands and artists modern day dancefloor with live bands and DJs town; the worst moment was being threatened with violence from other a man hurried through the audience and handed him a piece of paper which he read and before they make the big time but losing the Port Mahon When? Second Friday of each month promoters and getting in trouble because of unorthodox fly postering – which responded with, `I’ll take that as a compliment’. Later he showed me the note, which said, means we do miss a smallish kitted-out venue that enables How much? £7 adv / £8 on the door of course I don’t do any more! The only time I’ve felt like `you sound like Jamiroqui.’ He then produced his birth certificate and told me that Paloma more intimate or experimental gigs. People should take a committing violence myself is on some of the punters with Faith was his aunt. I realised he was on a different planet entirely. chance on small local gigs because you can be the one in the Dan Ofer (pictured) started Bossaphonik in 2004 their dodgy DJ requests! People may complain about aspects “People should take a chance on small local gigs because the vibe and atmosphere of pub in five years’ time saying you saw the latest Glastonbury of Oxford’s music scene, but I think we’ve got it pretty good an intimate venue is unbeatable, the personal touch of knowing the soundmen, audience, headliner at the Jericho Tavern. “I started the night exactly 10 years ago as I felt there here considering the size of our town. We’ve got six or seven promoters and of course, musicians – you don’t get that in a big arena! We are so lucky to was no regular night in Oxford representing the music I live music venues with most types of music represented to have such a choice of live music in Next up: Saturday 12th September at The Wheatsheaf with love: jazz-dance and global-grooves. For a time Po Na Na some extent. I know other similar sized places that have got Penny and Haven chums Oxford: a chance to see amazing Yellow Fever and Be Good, followed by “something special” represented this scene to some extent but then they became next to nothing. Any non-mainstream music scene is going bands on their way up; how many for Oxjam on Friday 10th October. franchised and moved in a more mainstream direction. I to take place in the smaller venues. There are so many high people would like to say they saw also wanted a regular outlet to DJ all the wonderful tunes I quality bands without large-scale commercial prospects who Radiohead etc before they were had accumulated. you’ll only see somewhere like The Cellar here in Oxford, famous? I find it extraordinary “Bossaphonik is the only regular base for live jazz-world and with that comes the cosy intimacy of being `right there’ that some people will only go to dance music in Oxford. The bands in this area have usually with the music. I think there really is more love for the music acts they have heard of, instead got an incredible level of musicianship whilst also providing at this level from all involved.” of experiencing the joy of hearing exhilarating dance music. I like to feel that the Bossaphonik something new.” experience is a powerful dose of musical uplift! Next up: Regular monthly club night on Friday 12th “I’ve hosted over 80 bands, but the ones that really lifted September, followed by Bossaphonik 10th anniversary Next up: Thursday 18th everyone’s spirit into the stratosphere were Lokkhi Terra on Friday 10th October with the Dele Sosimi Afrobeat September, with Marcus Malone, – a unique fusionary Bangladeshi-Cuban-Funk 10 piece; Orchestra and guests. Bossaphonik co-founder Gil Karpas and Thursday 25th with Will Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra – he used to be rhythm will guest Djing. Wilde. Sponsored by Swans, Jesu and Codeine, mournful, almost mindset. ‘FML’ (Feel My Lump) is perhaps hymnal vocals riding punishing galley-slave best described as anxiety-funk; deep sub-bass, beats and a driving bass dirge, blossom and the contrasting rhythms of percussion, wilting and cattle dying in its wake. Those acoustic guitars and what sound like steel vocals actually serve to leaven the piece, and drums interlock in a syncopated groove to give RELEASED we wonder if a more rasping voice would the song an exotic feel which is delightfully at really give `Nails’ the deathly, serrated edge odds with the narrator’s existential crisis. AGNESS PIKE THE FR3E LIONS it needs, but for now, it’s a timely reminder On the flipside ‘Tony Blair Extrordinaire’ is that summer’s on its way out and we’ve got a Ollie’s take on a protest song, and with just `Activate, Generate’ `Freedom Is A Must’ hundred years of winter to come. an acoustic guitar and plaintive strings for (Self-released) Dale Kattack decoration, his lyrics are firmly at the forefront, “You are my one desire / You set my heart (Self-released) The Fr3e Lions are a hip-hop collective made full of irony, satire and a tongue in danger of on fire”, swooned a starry-eyed Buddy Holly up of Biscuit, Major H and a beat production ripping straight though the cheek. in 1956. Nearly 60 years later, Agness Pike’s line called Lion Palm Beats, all working out of There is plenty of lush musical mischief on splendidly eccentric vocalist Martin Spear is SALVATION BILL that well known “Bronx of OX4”, Blackbird display here to entice you into Salvation declaring, “You are my one desire / You are the Leys, and this is their debut 18-track cut, which Bill’s curious world where it’s the small one on fire”. It’s not clear whether ‘Hot Like `FML (Feel My appears to be a compendium of pretty much details of modern life that make for truly epic Fire’ is a tribute or a parody, a genuine love everything they’ve ever recorded. ABANDON Lump)’ / `Tony Blair songs. song or a confession that he’s set alight to his I say appears, as it has a distinctly evolutionary Tom McKibbin beloved. Knowing Spear, it could be all of the `Nails’ feel about it, with the first half of the album Extraordinaire’ above. heavy on the profanity and light on wisdom; on (Blindsight) (Idiot King) ‘Hot Like Fire’ is the third of four new tracks the one hand continually blowing smoke up the A new single from Abandon isn’t ever going Ollie Thomas, the one man tour-de-force released weekly in August and collected ass of their own posse, and schizo-frenetically to be a sprightly two-and-a-bit-minute radio- behind Salvation Bill (and previously Ute and together on an EP. None of them come close to rapping about freedom of speech and how friendly sing-along. Brevity and good cheer are The Old Grinding Young) already has one conveying quite what it’s like to witness Agness despite the title, for instance, ‘Repetition’ isn’t “freedom is a must for every human being” not in Umair Chaudhry’s lexicon. of the most recognisable voices in Oxford Pike live – in my experience, being hectored a bilious tirade against the grinding drudgery (`Never Gunna Give Up’ and `Dialogue’) while And so `Nails’, Umair’s first release under his (something between a slur, a croon and a yelp) by a man dressed as a 70s golfer while Faith of life as a wage-slave but an enthusiastic ode on the other hand including contradictory lines Abandon guise since last year’s eponymous but he is also fast becoming one of the more No More have a nervous breakdown in the to the pleasures of the flesh. They’ve got a firm dissing other rappers for “talking bollox”, as debut album, clocks in at a monolithic nine recognisable songwriters too, which is a more background – but `Activate, Generate’ might grasp of the ridiculous; turn the pantomime well as giving a polite approval of gang rape minutes and three seconds and studiously impressive feat altogether. nevertheless whet your appetite. brutality up a notch and they might be and of “MCs being hunted like tuna”. Freedom, avoids a chorus while wearing a look of fretful Under his latest guise his music has taken on As metal bands go, Agness Pike are approaching the sublime, too. it seems, has always come with a side order of disdain across its face throughout. a more grandiose, dare we say theatrical, bent, deliberately contrary and unconventional – Ben Woolhead Hip-Ocrasy. Ostensibly a more organic, nominally acoustic which lends itself well to the narrative style But, before it all descends into a soundtrack foil to his many industrial-strength electronic in which he writes. The artwork to this latest stretching too few ides too far but initially at for the BBC’s superb new pirate radio station projects, Abandon nevertheless exist in a double A-side depicts a rather distressed-looking least `Derelict Career’ is engaging enough. comedy People Just Do Nothing, they start sombre, imposing netherworld, occupying Edgar Allan Poe, which should give you some The title of opening track, `Pathological getting their act together with hints in `My similarly downbeat territory to latter-day indication of the protagonist of ‘FML’s Darkness’, might conjure images of terrible Estate’ of the top quality they show later in teenage death-metal bands but unfurls with `My Place’, and with equal skill, the very basic, nasty intent, reminiscent of Coil’s unreleased squelchy sax and electronica back beats are soundtrack for Hellraiser. replaced by revamped soul slices of the likes `Anything Becomes Possible With Time’ of Otis Redding’s `A Change Is Gonna Come’ initially sounds like the intro to an old Gary (`The Change’) and Sam Cooke (`You Send Numan song before becoming a shifting Me’). seascape with elements of future factory The poetry too starts to sound as if it is written industrialism about it, while album highlight rather than made up in a cloud of skunk, with `Eternal Sands’, clocking in at an epic 15 tracks about paedophilia and domestic abuse minutes, with its doomy electronic drones and (`For the Kids’) and mental health problems clamouring strings, is pure horror flick build-up (`So Happy’) really hitting home. menace, an eerie, somnambulating wraith that All in all, this might follow the well trodden teases and never quite resolves its inner tension. path of acts like Taskforce and Skinnyman, but FOCI’S LEFT Such tension is broken by the random it bodes well for album number two, where I’m lightweight pianism of `Liez’, proof that Mick guessing they will still be prepared to “shit in `Derelict Career’ should stick to the lower notes on the keyboard, your sandpit”, but hopefully, while doing it, (Self-released) its lack of cohesion ammunition for those who they’ll be eyeing up even more socially aware targets to throw it at. Ambient music can be a cul-de-sac, even if, see such ambient soundscaping as an excuse to Paul Carrera at its best, a beautifully, or chillingly designed merely hit whatever note you fancy in any order cul-de-sac. But Mick Buckingham, the man and call it art. behind Foci’s Left recognises its limitations The increasing intrusion of shuffling and `Derelict Career’ is apparently a concept electronic beats by now detracts from the sense album about how artists who exist only within of doom created by the opening tracks and the the boundaries of the genre are destined to fail. likes of `Wandering in a Bright Spot’ struggle So, does he fall on his own metaphorical sword to recapture that mood and lack presence. `The with this his third album in a year? Light You Shine Prevents Me From Being Such prolific output can often be a sign of Uptight’ recalls French electro pioneer Jean Michel Jarre in part, and there are brief shadows of Vangelis’ lush soundtrack music on `Seeing the Sights’, but the introduction of vocals on the drum&bass-y closer `A Rose in the Desert Wind’ does him few favours and that early portent is what sticks longest in the memory. Victoria Waterfield MONDAY 8th – Instore show for Brighton’s atmospheric JOHN FULLBRIGHT + DANNY GEORGE gothic pop troupe, fresh from their showing WILSON: St Alban’s Church – Oklahoma’s at Supernormal and set to release their third fast-rising songsmith Fulbright comes to album, `A New Nature’. town courtesy of the reliably excellent Empty THE KITES + RUSHIL + BRIGHTWORKS Room Promotions, the young singer having + DUCHESS + LEWIS & MICHAEL: O2 won acclaim for his Grammy-nominated Academy – It’s All About the Music host a GIG GUIDE big-stage showcase of local talent, tonight debut album, `From the Ground Up’ in 2012, drawing comparisons to Townes van Zandt and featuring electro-tinged indie-folksters The st MONDAY 1 AMONGST US + BEING EUGENE: O2 Randy Newman. He’s supported by Danny & Kites, alongside acoustic rockers Rushil; afro- THE LAURA HOLLAND BAND: The Academy – Skeletor host their monthly the Champions of the World frontman Danny indie-pop crew Brightworks, and Township jive Jericho Tavern– The rising London blues SEPTEMBER meal extravaganza with a headline set from George Wilson, playing a solo set. starlets Duchess. singer updates obscure classics from the likes north London’s progressive metalcore crew PHILLIP HENRY & HANNAH MARTIN: YELLOW FEVER + BE GOOD: The The Sonics, Small Faces and early Stones from When Our Time Comes, plus support from Wheatsheaf – Daisy Rodgers’ monthly music of Ray Charles, Etta James, Little Milton and Zurich’s Royal Hangmen. Nettlebed Folk Club – The winners of this Elmore James at tonight’s Famous Monday local Nordic-inspired metallers Godsbane; year’s Best Duo at the BBC Folk Awards come night with fidgety, funky Foals-y afro-pop faves BETA BLOCKER & THE BODY CLOCK deathcore merchants Ignite the Sky; Yellow Fever Blues. + POLEDO + THE WHARVES + to Nettlebed’s regular folk night with a sparse, Banbury’s metalcore outfit A Killer Amongst almost bluesy take on traditional folk sounds. BOSSAPHONIK: The Cellar – Latin dance, CLEVEDON: The Wheatsheaf – Psychedelic Us and Abingdon’s groovecore types Being global grooves, Balkan beats and nu-jazz dance nd TUESDAY 2 fuzz-pop in a melting pot of Dinosaur Jr and Eugene. club night with a live set from Leeds/London th th Tuesday 9 OPEN MIC SESSION: James Street Tavern The Stone Roses from the excellent Beta SEPREVATION + ABHORRENT TUESDAY 9 twelve-piece Nubian Twist, fusing dub, hip hop Blocker, alongside exiled Oxonian noise- DECIMATION + COLDWAR + FOUL CATE LE BON + H HAWKLINE: O2 and afrobeat with jazz improvisation, inspired CATE LE BON: WEDNESDAY 3rd rockers Poledo, dark, harmony-heavy psych- BODY AUTOPSY + BLACK SKIES BURN: Academy – Current contender for bestest pop by King Tubby, Fela Kuti and Herbie Hancock. popsters The Wharves and morose country-folk The Wheatsheaf – Slave To The Grind host thing on the entire planet brings her dark, folksy GEORGE BARNETT + THE METHOD O2 Academy If we can draw anything positive from the crew Clevedon. another night of frenzied death, thrash and muse to town – see main preview + BLAME FATE + SAFETY IN NUBERS: th death of beloved pets, it’s that somewhere THURSDAY 4 THE MIGHTY REDOX: The Wheatsheaf grind, tonight with Bristol’s Seprevation – INTRUSION: The Cellar – Monthly goth, The Courtyard, Bicester – Herefordshire’s along the line some of them spawned the THE ROYAL HANGMEN: The Cellar – – Free gig in the downstairs bar from the previous support to Gorguts and Onslaught, industrial and ebm club night with Doktor Joy, teenage pop starlet comes to Bicester’s youth musical career of Cate Le Bon. Hailing Guitar-fuzzing, organ-grinding garage rocking enduring local swamp-blues faves. alongside London’s Abhorrent Decimation, Bookhouse and guests. arts centre, riding high on the back of 8 million from a tiny village in Carmarthenshire, straight outta the 60s cookbook concocted by CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford Leicester’s one-man death army Foul Body OPEN MIC SESSION: James Street Tavern Youtube views and counting, the one-time but now residing in the rather less tiny Community Centre – Oxford’s longest running Autopsy and local death-thrash crew Black National Young Drummer of the Year set to Los Angeles, Le Bon is one of the most th and best open mic club showcases singers, Skies Burn. th follow up his debut album, `17 Days’, with a Sunday 7 WEDNESDAY 10 singular vocal talents of recent years with musicians, poets, storytellers, performance PROPAGANDA: O2 Academy – Indie new EP this month. a haunting voice and dark lyrical edge, PETER PAN SPEED artists and more every week. dancefloor anthems every Saturday. HEADINGTON HILLBILLIES + MIKE th fixated on death for much of the time, that SIGNAL MY ESCAPE: Fat Lil’s, Witney WHAT YOU CALL IT, GARAGE?: The THURSDAY 11 ABBOTT: James Street Tavern – Bluegrass, immediately recalls Nico, but wrapped in ROCK / JD PINKUS OPEN MIC CLUB: The Half Moon Cellar – Monthly garage mash-up with LUKE SITAL-SINGH: O2 Academy – country and Americana from the local regulars. a warm, rich Welsh accent that makes her OPEN BLUES JAM: Jack Russell, Marston B-Ill, Naughty Nath, Sharky & George, Dan Emotive but uplifting acoustic soul-pop from STEAMROLLER: The Nag’s Head, unique. While her earliest songs were sung ACOUSTIC / DESERT Fitzgerald, DJ Face and hosts Macular and south London songsmith Luke Sital Singh in Abingdon – First gig of the month for the local in Welsh, she performs entirely in English th Sandman. the vein of Damien Rice, Jeff Buckley and Bon blues heavyweights, kicking it out in the vein of STORM / HATEMAIL FRIDAY 5 now, which is a shame since old songs like JOHN OTWAY & THE PETE FRYER Iver, out on a headline tour to promote his debut Hendrix and Cream. KLUB KAKOFANNEY with BALLOON `O am Gariad’ are as bleakly beautiful as BAND: Florence Park Community Centre – album, `The Fire Inside’, after the success of SECRET POLICE: Fat Lil’s, Witney - / GIRL POWER: ASCENTS + PUNCH DRUNK MONKEY music gets. After supporting Gruff Rhys on The clown prince of pop lunacy returns to town singles `Greatest Lovers’ and `Nothing Stays the Tribute to The Police. CLUB + CHILDREN OF THE SUN: The tour and playing in Neon Neon with him, The Wheatsheaf to team up with Oxford’s own enduring rock Same’. Wheatsheaf – Last month’s Nightshift cover Cate released her debut album, `Me Oh That’s one helluva heavyweight gig you eccentric, Pete Fryer. PREGNANT + LIMBO KIDS + AFTER stars Balloon Ascents top the bill at tonight’s th My’, Nightshift’s favourite album of the last got there, my friend. Eindhoven’s Peter Pan HOPE & GLORY: Oxford City FC – Ska THE THOUGHT: The Cellar – Divine SATURDAY 13 Klub Kak, meshing Radiohead’s intelligent THE DOORS ALIVE: O2 Academy – Jim few years, maintaining an air of imperious Speed Rock return to town after selling out classics and Madness hits. Schism presents California’s DIY folktronica electro-rock with Stornoway’s wanderlust folk- Morrison is resurrected by a mad scientist in grace as it messed with all manner of lo- the Sheaf last time round, their heads-down, FUSED: Fat Lil’s, Witney - Rock covers. outfit Pregnant – essentially the work of Daniel pop, and plenty more besides. They’re joined a spooky old castle. It’s alive! It’s alive! Cue, fi sounds and eclectic pop ideas, pitched no-nonsense mindless boogie taking hits DAVID MENDAY & BRAHAM LEVY + Trudeau – combining lo-fi electronica and folksy by Banbury rockers Punch Drunk Monkey Club `Riders on the Storm’. somewhere between Bobbie Gentry and from a giant bong powered by equal parts DAMIEN CLARKE: The Swan, Shipton- whimsy into something not a million miles from and polished pop outfit Children of the Sun. STROKE OF LUCK + SEA STACKS + The Velvet Underground. Since then she’s Motorhead, Judas Priest, Turbonegro, AC/ under-Wychwood – Wychwood Folk Club Panda Bear at times, while not too precious to SKYLARKIN SOUNDSYSTEM with THE FAMILY MACHINE: The Wheatsheaf – gone on to play at Glastonbury, tour support DC and ZZ Top. It comes packed full of hosts London-Oxford folk veterans Meday and attempt the odd Rick Astley cover while he’s SIDEWALK DOCTORS: The Cellar – Local indie rockers Stroke of Luck headline, The Manics and perform at last month’s hard rocking cliché but that’s more of a Levy, alongside former-Pressgang chap Damien about it. Fidgety, urgent indie noise from Limbo Party-hearty mix of reggae, dancehall and ska having previously supported Bastille and Wilderness Festival. Now she returns to strength than a weakness and you’re well Clarke. Kids and highly-textured ambient electronica courtesy of Count Skylarkin, with a live set Electric Six, while Oxford stalwarts The the stage where she supported Villagers advised to leave your brain at home for the from After the Thought in support. from rising UK reggae crew Sidewalk Doctors, Family Machine return to action. four years ago, out in a league of her own evening. A sterling support comes from th A TRUST UNCLEAN + THIS IN TURN: The with their old-time rocksteady and ska that nods PEERLESS PIRATES + RECKLESS and starting to win the wider audience she Butthole Surfers bassist JD Pinkus, playing SUNDAY 7 Wheatsheaf – Frenetic deathcore and tech-grind to the greats of Treasure Isle and Studio One PETER PAN SPEED ROCK + JD SLEEPERS + CLAIRE LEMASTER + deserves. Nightshift is very, very excited. a solo acoustic set; primal stoner blues-rock mayhem from Bicester’s A Trust Unclean, one of and back in town after backing Susan Cadogan PINKUS ACOUSTIC + DESERT STORM ETHEMIA + ONE WING LESS: The Cellar And so should you be. heroes Desert Storm, cruising in somewhere the brightest metal bands on the local scene. at the O2 last year. On the decks reggae re-edits + HATEMAIL + GIRL POWER: The – Swashbuckling indie rockabilly from recent between Clutch, Sabbath, Led Zep and CHARLIE HENRY: Warneford Chapel – The godfather JSTAR visits from Berlin for a rare Wheatsheaf – Heads-down, no-nonsense Demo of the Month winners Peerless Pirates PROPAGANDA: O2 Academy Killdozer; scuffed-up punk rock from ex- Welsh singer and multi-instrumentalist plays as UK appearance, promising a set of dancehall mindless boogie from Eindhoven’s riff-friendly at tonight’s It’s All About the Music show, EXTRA CURRICULAR: The Cellar – Bear Trap chaps Hatemail, and monstrous part of Oxford Contemporary Music’s Outreach and bassline thrillers. metallers – see main preview plus psych-tinged folk-rocking from Reckless Techno, bass and house club night. attack-dog hardcore from Girl Power, and Education programme. DON’T GO PLASTIC + THE DEUPTEES + JONATHAN PAYNE + EMMA HUNTER Sleepers. BEDROCK: The Bullingdon – Launch night keeping the spirit of Discharge and early CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford WARDENS + BLUESHIFT: The Bullingdon + PETE MOORE & CORRINE CLARK + SHOWADDYWADDY: The New for Skeletor’s new rock and metal club night. Amphetamine Reptile Records noise alive Community Centre – It’s All About the Music show with Banbury’s THE JESTERS + MARK ATHERTON & Theatre – True story: last time Nightshift STEAMROLLER: The Six Bells, and very much kicking. No softies allowed. THE MATT EDWARDS BAND + PUNCH spiky, effervescent garage-punk scrappers Don’t FRIENDS: The Wheatsheaf (2.30-7pm) – An saw Showaddywaddy live (okay, the only Kidlington DRUNK MONKEY CLUB + ALICE Go Plastic, and more. afternoon of free acoustic music in the Sheaf’s time we’ve ever seen them live) they were FREEFAL: Fat Lil’s, Witney - Rock covers. VICTORIA: The Bell, Bicester –Local DISCO MUTANTES: The Library – Disco, downstairs bar, hosted by Klub Kakofanney. supporting Einsterzende Neubaten, surviving bluesman Matt Edwards heads tonight’s boogie and house club night. MOON LEOPARD + BEARD OF DESTINY an early hail of pint glasses to near enough Strummer Room project show. th GREENISH DAY: Fat Lil’s, Witney - Tribute + SONG AND SUPPER ROOMS + HUGH blow their Teutonic drill-core chums off stage. SUNDAY 14 OPEN MIC CLUB: The Half Moon BASEMENT TORTURE KILLINGS + band. McMANNERS: Donnington Community So we’ve always had a serious amount of OPEN BLUES JAM: Jack Russell, Marston FRACTURED INSANITY + NECROSIS: Centre (6pm) – Free evening of acoustic respect for the retro rockabilly fellas from The Wheatsheaf – Gore-obsessed serial- th music hosted by Jeremy Hughes and his Moon Leicester, and anyway, `Under the Moon of SATURDAY 6 th killer-worshipping grindcore crew Basement Leopard, alongside bluesman Beard of Destiny, FRIDAY 12 Love’ is a corker, ain’t it? In fact we’ve got out WHEN OUR TIME COMES + GODSBANE Torture Killings grace tonight’s Slave To The and more. ESBEN & THE WITCH: Truck Store pastel Teddy Boy suits on already. + IGNITE THE SKY + A KILLER Grind show, with support from Belgian death- OPEN MIC SESSION: James Street Tavern Bayley. MOTHER OF GOD: The Cellar – Big beardy FRIDAY 26th folk from the London starlets on the rise, THE STRAYS + JULES PENZO: The stoner-groove rocking from Sweden’s Mother TRAPS + ORANGE VISION + CRAYON drawing comparisons to Arcade Fire and Dry th Bullingdon – One Gig Closer to Wittstock Of God, over on a headline UK tour, meshing + RUSSIAN COWBOYS + ANASTACIA The River. WEDNESDAY 17 charity show. the classic 70s rock of Led Zep and Sabbath NEVER THE BRIDE: The Jericho Tavern– SPARKY’S JAM IGHT: James Street GORBUNOVA: O2 Academy – It’s All About PROPAGANDA: O2 Academy with the heavy-duty noise of Soundgarden and The Famous Monday Blues plays host to long- Tavern – Open mic and jam night. the Music big-stage local bands showcase, with EXTRA-CURRICULAR: The Cellar Alice In Chains. time club favourites Never The Bride, with th grungy rockers Traps bowing out with their THURSDAY 18 WAM: Fat Lil’s, Witney - Ska-punk covers. THE JO HARMAN BAND: The Jericho final show. Arctic Monkeys-styled indie rockers singer Nikki Lambourn belting it out in the style MARCUS MALONE: The Bullingdon – The CHALICE + DEAR SOMEONE: The Swan, Tavern – Rising star of the European blues Orange Vision support alongside Radiohead- of Janis Joplin and Tina Turner. Detroit guitarist returns to town for a show at Shipton-under-Wychwood festival scene comes to The Famous Monday influenced crew Crayon. DERVISH: Nettlebed Folk Club – High- The Haven Club, kicking out a hard-rocking Blues, riding high on the acclaim afforded ALPHA MALE TEA PARTY: The Cellar – energy Irish folk-dance and lovelorn balladry form of blues and soul that borders on metal at st debut album `Dirt on My Tongue,’ a genuine Anyone who doesn’t like a band with a song from Cathy Jordan’s folk collective. times, having made his name on the UK and SUNDAY 21 word-of-mouth sensation in blues circles, THE MAGIC NUMBERS: O2 Academy – titled `You Eat Houmous, Of Course You European blues circuit in recent years. drawing comparison to Eva Cassidy, with her th The Stodart and Gannon siblings return to the Listen To Genesis’, is no friend of ours, and TUESDAY 30 th THE PETE FRYER BAND: The Wheatsheaf blend of soul, roots, blues and gospel, and Saturday 27 venue they launched seven years ago – see main Liverpool’s “smash-rock” trio Alpha Male Tea FRANK TURNER & THE SLEEPING – Free gig in the downstairs bar from the having supported the likes of The Cranberries, preview Party have the fizzing, fuzzing guitar noise to SOULS: Oxford Town Hall – Oxford’s adopted veteran local bluesman. M*ck H*ckn*all and Johnny Winter, Harman OXFORDOXFORD: THE LULO REINHARDT LATIN SWING back up the song titles. Not sure about the floral son closes his UK tour with a sold-out show – PUNCH DRUNK MONEY CLUB + is now approaching festival headline status. PROJECT: St. John the Evangelist – One frocks, mind. see main preview DRAWL: The Cellar – Banbury’s teenage THE OUTSIDE TRACK: Nettlebed Folk South Park of the current Gypsy Jazz guitar greats, Lulo ONE NIGHT OF QUEEN: The New South Park has been an under-used open indie rockers play tonight’s It’s All About the Club – Scottish, Canadian and Irish folk- Reinhardt is the grand nephew of jazz legend Theatre – One night and that’s your lot, y’hear. th space as far as live music goes, Radiohead’s Music showcase. dance fusion from the award-winning outfit at Tuesday 30 Django Reinhardt and nephew of gypsy violin Freddie’s not as young as he was and Brian has 2001 homecoming, a brief Carnival stint CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford tonight’s weekly Nettlebed folk session. master Shnuckenack Reinhardt, following a to go out on badger patrol as soon as the gig’s and a couple of Fox FM roadshows aside, Community Centre FRANK TURNER lineage of highly talented musicians. With over so OxfordOxford should be a welcome OPEN MIC CLUB: The Half Moon rd his Latin Swing Project he brings elements of OXJAM TAKEOVER: Castle House, & THE SLEEPING addition to the city calendar. A three- OPEN BLUES JAM: Jack Russell, Marston TUESDAY 23 flamenco, bossa nova and tango to traditional OPEN MIC SESSION: James Street Tavern Banbury – First of a two-day Oxjam event day festival involving days dedicated to world folk sounds. organised by The Strummer Room Project, SOULS: Oxford Town cinema and community activities, Saturday th tonight featuring recent Nightshift cover stars sees the music take centre stage in a FRIDAY 19 th Hall THE NEXTMEN: The Cellar – Party- WEDNESDAY 24 Balloon Ascents, alongside indie-rockers Friday huge marquee. KLAXONS are the day’s nd NEWS OF THE BAD + EPR + ADAM Frank Turner has done a lot to defy starting blend of everything from dancehall, MONDAY 22 Street, plus singer-songwriters Charlie Levy headline act, the rave-rockers bringing SHARON CORR + JOHN GAUGHAN: O2 McMILLAN + SAMUEL EDWARDS: The expectations from pretty much every angle drum&bass, dubstep and roots to hip hop, soul, and Simon Dwight. indie dancefloor anthems `Golden Skans’ Academy – The one out of The Corrs that you Wheatsheaf since he rose from the ashes of Million funk and ambient electro from Brad Baloo and THE MIGHTY REDOX: The James Street and `Gravity’s Rainbow’ to the party, while can’t tell apart from the rest tours her second WARDENS + CROON + DAVE LABAT: Dead in 2005, going against the grain of the Dom Search at tonight’s Skylarkin-hosted club Tavern their increasingly psychedelic explorations, solo album, `The Same Sun’, playing the same The Jericho Tavern grab-fame-quickly approach to build slowly night. as evidenced on riff-heavy `Surfing the song. Over and over and over again. and surely from the bottom via endless FRACTURE + OSPREY & THE OX4 th Void’ has seen them become more of a th SATURDAY 27 touring (Nightshift fondly remembers ALLSTARS + MEGAN JOSEPHY: The rock-friendly proposition. They’re joined THURSDAY 25 OXFORDOXFORD: South Park – The music Frank when he was playing support down Wheatsheaf – Grungy indie rocking from st WILL WILDE: The Bullingdon – Soulful by Peckham songstress KATY B, the voice Sunday 21 leg of the new three-day city festival, with at the Wheatsheaf back at the very start), Fracture at tonight’s It’s All About the Music blues and funk from British blues singer and of a thousand dubstep, funky and r’n’b hits, Klaxons, Katie B and Gaz Coombes among the while releasing chart-topping albums on show. harmonica player Wilde, nominated three working with Magnetic Man, Wiley, Jessie THE MAGIC names on show – see main preview indie label Xtra Mile. He’s also defied ROOTS RAMBLE: Various venues, Jericho times for Best Harmonica Player at the British Ware and Diplo, before going on to achieve CROWS REIGN + CONTEK + NEVER the stereotype of the politically-minded – Another roots-based pub crawl, this time Blues Awards, and tonight performing at the Top 5 success with her debut album, `On A NUMBERS: FOUND + MASIRO: O2 Academy – Skeletor folk-punk singer-songwriter as woolly round the hostelries of Jericho, as Swindlestock, Haven Club. Mission’ and the single `Lights Out’ with Ms metal night. Guardianista or Marxist firebrand by daring The August List and Francis Pugh and the O2 Academy SUSANNA STARLING: Warneford Chapel Dynamite as well as this year’s follow-up, OXJAM TAKEOVER: Castle House, to declare himself a libertarian (for which he Whisky Singers take fans on a musical trip into The Magic Numbers will go down in local – One-time Inflatable Buddha member and `Little Red’; local hero GAZ COOMBES, Banbury (midday) – Free full day of live music earned a whole heap of undeserved stick). country, folk, blues and Americana. Meet at the history as the first band ever to play the Queen of Clubs host, Susanna Starling brings Supergrass singer gone solo, taking his from the Strummer Room Project in aid of But then the Bahrain-born, Eton-educated Gardeners Arms in Plantation Road at 8 and Academy after it opened back in 2007. her (mostly) solo show to the none-more- trademark glam-pop into more electronic Oxjam, featuring sets from 2 Twenty 2; The Turner simply does things his way and does follow the yellow brick road. Beyond that the band, double brother-sister intimate setting of the Warneford Chapel as territories on his debut album, `Here Come Shapes; The Matt Edwards Band; Punch Drunk them very well indeed, earning his place at CHURCH OF THE HEAVY: The Bullingdon quartet Romeo and Michele Stodart and part of OCM’s education and outreach project, the Bombs’; fast-rising Aussie stadium-pop Monkey Club; Chloe Hanks; Chris Living; the top table when he played the Olympics – Rock and metal showcase with Endless Mile, Angela and Sean Gannon, have continued reinterpreting classic English folk songs and crew MANY THINGS, whose exuberant, Jim Manser; Rob Lanyon; Alice Victoria, and opening ceremony back in 2012 and selling Man Make Fire, Rusty Gs, and Black Tish. to do things at their own stately pace, this jazz and cabaret standards, accompanied expansive sound has been likened to Arcade Phoebe Rose. out each and every tour he sets out on, THE PISTOLS: Fat Lil’s, Witney - Punk month returning from another extended by upright bass and occasional human Fire and Elton John, and London soul man PROPAGANDA: O2 Academy accompanied by a trusty backing band that tribute. break with their fourth album, `Alias’, beatboxing. MICHAEL KIWANUKA, winner of the EXTRA CURRICULAR: The Cellar features Oxford scene heroes Nigel Powell, continuing to balance joyous 70s-style BILL T’RIVERS & THE WILD WEST BBC’s Sound of 2012 poll. A full day’s THE MIGHTY REDOX: The Swan, Tarrant Anderson and Ben Lloyd, which, harmony pop with elegant melancholy. Their RETIREMENT HOME + BIG TROPICS: bill also features a host of local acts like th Wantage along with his regular appearances in town, SATURDAY 20 music, with its air of almost rustic naivety The Library – Album-launch show from the BALLOON ASCENTS; PIXEL FIX; GAPPY TOOTH INDUSTRIES with HOPE & GLORY: The George, Littlemore has made him an honorary Oxonian. His at times and with a thick seam of sunshine local pastoral post-grunge indie-folk crew at DANCE A LA PLAGE; FLIGHTS OF OVERLORD + BLACK JUJU + FRANCIS HAIRFORCE 5: Fat Lil’s, Witney - Hair- debut solo release, `Campfire Punk Rock’, is running through the best of it, has always tonight’s Smash Disco gig, alongside indie- HELIOS and ROBOT SWANS. There’s PUGH & THE WHISKY SINGERS: The metal covers. a description that still suits his music well, made them firm festival favourites, but electro outfit Big Tropics. more, and hopefully it’ll become an annual Wheatsheaf – A characteristic mixed bag and following on from the success of last they’re best appreciated in more intimate, THE ELO EXPERIENCE: The New festival in the heart of Oxford. of sounds and styles from the monthly GTI th year’s `Tape Deck Heart’, he’s off round the and indoor confines, and the quartet’s Theatre – Hands-on ELO-themed science SUNDAY 28 show, tonight with local prog/groove rockers country once again, tonight’s show the last unhurried approach to record-making museum for kids. Discover what makes Mr STEAMROLLER: The Swan, Eynsham Overlord, bringing a fresh thrash-infused take date of the tour. A tour that is already long metallers Fractured Insanity. reflects their indifference to the passing of Blue Sky blue; meet the Sweet Talkin’ THE SUNDAY SESSION: Florence Park on classic 70s rock sounds, leaning towards sold out. the decades, making them a charmingly Woman. Oh yes, hold on tight, it’s a wild Community Centre (2-5pm) – Live music, Black Sabbath, Sleep and Electric Wizard at th anachronistic presence in pop. experience. family-friendly activities and more. MONDAY 15 times. They’re joined by Aylesbury’s sleazy CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford ALTAN: Nettlebed Folk Club – Gorgeous garage rockers Black Juju, worshipping at the Community Centre th Scottish-Irish ballads and traditional jigs and altar of The Stooges and Cramps, plus warm, MONDAY 29 OPEN MIC CLUB: The Half Moon reels from the leading lights of the Celtic folk intricate Americana outfit Francis Pugh & the ELIZA & THE BEAR: O2 Academy – OPEN BLUES JAM: Jack Russell, Marston music scene. Whisky Singers. Expansive, euphoric afropop-inflected indie- THE IRON KNIGHTS + SANITY LOSS: TUESDAY 16th The Cellar – Oxrox presents a night of heaviosity, with veteran rockers The Iron OPEN MIC SESSION: St Aldates Tavern – Nightshift listings are free. Deadline for inclusion is the 20th of each mont - no exceptions. Email Knights featuring drummer Larry Paterson, Open mic night in aid of Oxford Sexual Abuse listings to [email protected]. All listings are copyright Nightshift Magazine and may not who has served time with Chokehold and Blaze and Rape Crisis Centre. be reproduced without permission. All photos: Sam Shepherd theremin as a midi trigger to alter the the music doesn’t sound gimmicky; in feel as though you’ve been properly in much of the subject matter of the Palehorse speed of a vocal sample, whilst her fact it reminds us of Benjamin Britten screamed at. songs. That we end up experiencing Ealing Feeder carillon plays itself at times... perhaps these are the gulls these occasionally unpleasant tales and a robotic crow stares you out, circling out of shot in Peter Grimes. We don’t get to see Sly & The whilst sat next to a bloke that looks there’s a pier-end eeriness that is Family Drone, as they set up and behaves like Chris the homicidal LIVE unnerving; unnerving in the way a Charismatic Megafauna in the middle of the field, and are camper from Sightseers makes for an nursery rhyme is scarier than a slasher apparently formed at last year’s surrounded by a ring of spectators, edgy half hour. SUPERNORMAL flick. A fascinating, unique set, and festival. We wonder whether they’ve some of whom may have been not one likely to grace many other actually met since. Their show joining in. We have no idea where Strolling around the field between acts Braziers Park festival stages this year... unless the involves the three of them bashing the band end and the audience begin. we happen upon Sarah Angliss instruments get up and crash the bill out elementary rhythms and chanting We have no idea where soundcheck and friends playing an extremely Friday themselves, which, frankly, we’re not clumsily, and is a good few rehearsals ends and the set begins. We have wonky version of `Big New Prinz’ Supernormal might be synonymous music and go play in the mud; at ruling out. away from being convincing. Reverse no idea where egalitarian abstract on homemade instruments. It’s surely with petrifying noise and introspective others, everyone goes home or hides cheerleading, we suppose, but also noise theatre ends and taking the piss only a matter of time before they jazz abstraction, but it’s not averse to in beer tents until someone off the Saturday sadly the reverse of any good. begins. But we do enjoy it, even if appear on a stage backing Mark E telly comes onstage; at Supernormal We leave Henry Blacker and all we can really hear is one roaring Smith. a few pop thrills. Take opening act We notice in Saturday’s Guardian it seems to make very little difference, their incredibly entertaining rock guitar amp and a synthesised bass In the barn Bunty are putting in RAVIOLI ME AWAY, a charmingly Guide that Supernormal is singled and in fact the crowd watching chugs, something like a heavy Ten drum (rhythms optional). one of the sunniest and most fun inept pop confection whose first out, with the description “vaguely Brighton’s Speak Galactic Benson, to see a rare performance performances of the weekend. Their number is not a billion leagues away leftfield”. Considering our second on the Nest Stage seems larger and inside Braziers House. While punters pumped up, day-glo pop songs draw from Daphne & Celeste’s `Ooh, day begins in a stone folly in which Sunday more effervescent than an hour earlier. at many festivals are content to sit inspiration from The Happy Mondays, Wharves Stick You’, and who later touch on an old tape of accordion hits plays at Overnight the rain has been so bad Only fair, as this might well be the act playing hacky sack by their tents, or Peaches, and Le Tigre and they’re an Italio house and Bow Wow Wow random speeds, we wonder exactly that the Nest Stage has had to shut of the day, giving wonky Dinosaur swilling in the beer tent until it gets absolute joy. After a weekend of drone euphoria with the clunky abandon what their music editor gets up to of down. To their credit the organisers Jr-style tunes a sonic makeover with late enough for someone famous, and unpleasant weather conditions, of Dog Faced Hermans. A little of an evening. This piece is the work respond well, and try and keep plenty of early techno tricks, in a style it’s truly heartening to see a wave of it is perhaps inevitable and totally this fun could have enlivened The of Phantom Chips, who later everything running as best they can. It we call Slack Electro. At one point listeners stream through the door to understandable that the whole thing Jelas’ set, all angular intricacy, fill the bar with dark fuzzy noises, does mean however, that our months they get a little trendily bombastic, see a solo piano piece by MXLX. ends up in a euphoric conga line. somewhere between Cap’n Jazz and invite an audience member to of practice for the Fall-E-Oke later in recalling the likes of Cut Copy, but From our position in the doorway, we Dragging everyone back down to and Badgewearer; the sax attack is don an udder cummerbund they’ve the day have been for nothing as it is manage to pull it back for more Model can’t see a single ivory, but the sound earth are Cindytalk a band more effective, but the set lacks bite. created: when the brightly hued sadly struck from the itinerary . 500 grunge. We write a lot more in has a pleasing Philip Glass air, with than adept at creating ferocious and Down a muddy slope, that becomes cloth nipples are yanked different praise of them in our notebook, but a dash of Charlemagne Palestine’s uncomfortable soundscapes. Today increasingly treacherous as the day brands of digital skree erupt from the Starting the day off with Thought unfortunately it dissolves before we intense key-pounding. is no different as they seem intent on progresses, we seek out the Barn, a speakers. The effect is like a cross Forms’ angry Sonic Youth attack reach the end of the page. It’s only a short hop from there to delivering a series of primordial songs haven for the more refined artistic between Incapacitants and Nursie sets the day up as presumably, it activity at Supernormal (including a Barberos follow them up, and the Barn, where Seth Ayyaz is that bear an uncanny resemblance to from Blackadder, and frankly we’d means to go on, with outbursts of Saturday morning life drawing class), insanely the crowd is even bigger vibrating a bunch of contact miked Throbbing Gristle. like to see more of this madness in occasional aggression. Howie and home for some of this year’s and more supportive, despite the rain percussion. After a few minutes we’re Choirs are lovely aren’t they? the bar, which seems to generally Reeve offers something a little highlights. Rebecca Lenon’s being harder. Their triple drumkit about to walk out when we suddenly However, angelic, heavenly and consist of a few people jigging about more calming: a mix of flamenco bass piece, `Diet Terror’, might not be one avalanche is effective, but what we start hearing massed church organs spellbinding, are all words that could to classic soul tunes during the day. and political comment might sound of them, but the spectacle of someone remember most is the sight of steam singing in the drones and loops, and never be used to describe Phil Mind you, perhaps if there was much like a mixture born in the deepest hitting a floor tom repeatedly below billowing from their stockinged heads before we know it our ears are filled Minton’s Feral Choir. An Anji Cheung more of this the bar staff would revolt bowels of hell, but it’s actually a film of a dog being hoovered whilst as they pummel away. with birdsong, Satanic mills, laughing assortment of people, some over- – we’ve already noticed that the First beguiling and well performed. somebody wrapped in plastic sits policemen – either he’s an adept at enthusiastic, some looking like Aid tent is next to something called Importantly, it’s as far away from with their back to us is intriguing... Gnod’s music is seemingly sonic craftsmanship, or we have a they’d rather be dead, and some the Shed Sound area, a little gazebo endless bass solos as it is possible to although not nearly as entertaining as even more soluble than our cheap very fertile imagination. possibly actually feral, take to the from which the sound of amp hum get, and that can only be a good thing. the panicky looks towards the exit of stationery, fizzing away into a single stage and honk, howl, growl, hum and and vinyl crackle can be heard a pretty Something more ominous looms someone who is worried they might drone like a Disprin in a kettle. This being Supernormal, we expect chatter for a good 20 minutes. When it much constantly, and we assume the in the darkest corners of Anji be trapped here for another hour. Whilst their endless thumps, hums Horseloom to be a vast device works, it makes a bezerk kind of sense St John’s Ambulance boys are self- and delayed vocals sound pleasant, made out of surgical trusses that Cheung’s loops and bowed guitars. (and bears a resemblance to Mike medicating by Friday teatime. Over a paranoiac heart beat bass Despite the programme leading us to especially when a Gregorian chant recreates the sound of pack animals Patton’s `Adult Themes For Voice’), pulse is what appears to be an air- expect something resembling Can, recording is thrown over the top, dying in the Somme. It’s actually a when it doesn’t it feels like a hellish Luminous Bodies features Piper’s Son offer a sort of hobo we’re hard pressed to say it makes a man named Steve Malley, a single raid siren. It’s yet another terrifying trip through bedlam. members of Terminal Cheesecake ambience, piling roots music offcuts vast impression. acoustic guitar and some lovely, harbinger of doom, as if the pig head together in a fashion which recalls Bong, who follow them on the and Part Chimp, but what we hear mellifluous Martin Simpson-style we encountered when entering the site As a whole Supernormal supplies a Marc Ribot, which will do just fine main stage, do the same thing, but is a default `Heart of The Sun’ riff folk tunes. He’s not afraid of a little first thing in the morning wasn’t bad heady mixture of high quality and instead. make it sound about twenty times sounding like a suburban metal band Bert Jansch percussiveness to keep enough. fascinatingly idiosyncratic failures. If Misleading krautrock allusions are better, which is part of the mystery warming up in the school gym, so we the songs dramatic, and even a tiny A bit of full-on rock and roll is what’s there were no main stage highlights nothing compared to Moonbow’s of minimal noise rocking – why sneak over to see The Wharves splash of John Fahey dissonance needed and to that end we head off to come close to Evil Blizzard and programme write-up, which is it sometimes electrifying, and instead, who have plenty of Throwing to keep the senses keen, but for the to catch Taman Shud, who are Hookworms last year, the Barn Muses about their warm, simple tunes. promises choreography, set design sometimes just annoying? Although most part the pieces are played with apparently “psychedelic motorcycle feels better utilised this time, and Bunty and osmology (look it up; we did), we imagine Bong are named after Pity they wander through them so a limpid simplicity that makes this punk”. They are as it turns out, a dark it’s pleasing that the interesting whereas what we actually get is two their naughty smoking apparatus of tentatively, like Shaggy and Scooby quite possibly the set of the weekend. and thunderous rock band. However, performances are spread across the people playing dubby synthesised choice, we prefer to imagine they’re exploring a haunted mineshaft, but a Perhaps his voice, though warm and wearing wellingtons on stage is about site more evenly. Our only concern, pop. What’s wrong with just saying referring to the effect of being stuck strong melody will always win points. unhurried, is a little pedestrian, but the as far removed from “motorcycle when settling down to another doom that, eh? Especially seeing as inside Big Ben at midnight, repetitive playing is a sheer joy. punk” as is possible to get. rhythm, another guitar drone and Moonbow are actually bloody good at clangs destroying your cranium. We On the Braziers House terrace, another vocal delay unit is that the it, creating a glistening aura of woozy go for a walk in the pitch black trees violinists Benedict Taylor and There’s a lot of very heavy bands Away from motorcycles and throbbing line-up is in danger of becoming positivity that’s somewhere between behind the stage during the set which, Hakarl have teamed up with an spread across the weekend, but it’s engines, Dark Northumbrian predictable. The one simple thing that Fixers and a My Little Pony cartoon, with the Old Testament weather uncredited saxophonist for a relaxed Palehorse that perhaps impress offer a more rural feel for a just a short makes Supernormal better than any sweetened by lovely Omnichord still pounding down, feels properly improvisation, and these purely the most. On record they’re a seething while. The songs they showcase come other festival in Oxfordshire is that drizzles. Speaking of drizzles, it’s a terrifying. acoustic one-offs are the sort of thing mass of nuance and moods; at times from the north east of England and it has not yet become a brand, and pity that this, some of the summeriest we’d like to see more of at next year’s they sound a little like the finest the Scottish borders and surprisingly doesn’t seek to sell us close-minded music ever made, is interrupted by the In between the Barn offers another festival, there are so many nooks moments of Slint. Live, it’s an entirely the songs from the region are every lifestyle choices instead of adventures: outbreak of an intense downpour that highlight in the shape of Sarah and crannies on the site that could be different proposition with precisely bit as dark and uncomfortable as let’s make sure it stays like that. Don’t lasts the rest of the evening. Angliss’ automata. Sadly, some enlivened by a freeform blowout or a no room for fine detail or tonal shifts, those from the Deep South. The band give us what we want; give us what of them have got damp whilst being subtle bit of lowercase tinkling. There just a relentless barrage of hardcore itself is so large that it is almost an we’ll never forget. You can tell a lot about a festival in loaded in, and the set is a little are plenty of careering glissandi and fury and it is utterly invigorating and orchestra, and as a result, the sound is the rain: at some people ignore the compromised, but when she uses a percussive tonguing on display, but compelling. When they scream you full and offers a warmth that is absent David Murphy and Sam Shepherd

Burt Bacharach by Alice Watanabe the parapet withasetof subtle, disorienting electronicathat dabbleswith mainstream pop. bored; CATE LEBONatoo-shiny-for-this-reviewer smatteringof and comfortable – their thingadequately, althoughmuchofthebilltendstowardssafe The otherheadliners,METRONOY them withflawlessaccuracyand totalcharm. that he the mostobvioussetofcoverversions imaginable–untiloneremembers here: mostnotably intrigued. Forthosethatreachthem,therearesomemusicalheavy hitters performance, talk,orfoodtruck,withoutbeingendlesslydistracted and travel fromareatoarea,withallgoodintentionsarriveataparticular get lostbutwithoutafeelingofchaosorwastedspace.It’s difficultnotto The festivalgroundisbig;biggerthanlastyear, withscopeenoughto expectations. in manywaysonethatadequatelysatisfiesahugerangeofinterests and something thatisverylikelytobeknownasa‘lifestyle’ festival–and paradise. What theorganisers havedeftlypulledoff isthecreationof it’s afoodiegathering, afamily-friendlyeventorlate-nightrevellers’ crowds. Ithasmusic,sure,butit’s notamusicfestivalanymorethan Wilderness; it’s been verycarefullyputtogethertoappealmany It’s quiteachallengetowriteaboutthelush,plushmulti-dayevent Cornbury Park WILDERNESS FESTIVAL LIVE wrote allofthem,andthathecanorchestrate abandtodeliver MOUNT K IMBIE poketheirunshowy headsabove JOAN AS POLICEWOMAN soundingsomewhat JOAN AS BURT BACHARACH and , whooffers whatseemstobe LONDON GRAMMAR,do Simon Minter blur toglimpseinto amulti-facetedworldofwonder, it’s unmatched. perhaps thelifestyle itespousesisn’t suchabad thing. As anescapist couple ofdayslike atiny, utopianvillage.Itmaynotbeallmusic,but nail theconceptofsocialentrepreneurship – Wilderness feelsfor a forged, orhearing chosen-at-random Shakespearesonnet reading,seeingabellbeing people, stoppingtotakeinunexpected eventslikehavingapersonal, by this,butifonesurrenderstothe environment–wanderingamongst with frighteninglevelsofself-confidence.It’dbeeasytoalienated ‘Cotswold types’ who’vearrivedin Aston Martinsandwhofilltheevent Muchofthe Wilderness crowd seemsuitedspecificallytothisevent– voice andfriendly, relaxedconfidence. acoustic folkthatblendsSpanishguitarchopswithabeautifully clear CHARLIE CUNNINGHAM represent thequalityanddiversitythataboundsinlocalscene, and LIST, JULIAfound. THEAUGUST MEIJERandGRUDLEBAY amongst thetastesensations,therearesomeOxfordmusicaltreats tobe banquets fromSimonRogan, Angela HartnettandRussellNorman.In double cheeseburgers, forexample, andtheambitious‘longtable’ outstanding fishandchipsBleeckerStreetBurger’s far-too-tempting The foodmayexciterather more thanthemusic,withJSheekey’s enough weirdnesstosimultaneouslypleaseandconfusetheaudience. Dragons DenbusinessmanDougRichardeffortlessly offers twosetsofhisbrilliant,fascinating Karma To Burn photo:Giulia Biasibetti there isa raucousfoot-stomp-and- chords, butforevery densetexture woodwind instrument) anddroning (for exampleknicker-elastic asa of experimentalinstrumentation this impliestherearelongpassages Godspeed You! BlackEmperor. As have previouslyseenthemopen for hunters oftheHebridesand2)I a BBCfilmaboutthegannet sound; 1) They havesoundtracked help yougetabettersenseoftheir way possible. Two factsthatwill imagine theywould,inthebest - andtheysoundexactlyhowyou it withamoremodernperspective traditional folkandreinterpreting DROareknownforexploring they havefoundisfantastic. struggle findingmaterial,butwhat canals. They tellusthattheyhad a imbibe thefolkmusicofBritain’s the wayandhopingtoexplore boat, stoppingtoplaygigsalong from LondontoBristolbynarrow three-piece arewendingtheirway ever comeacross,theLondon Cut’ isthefirstconcepttourI’ve Orchestra’s explorationof‘The even conceptbands,butDeadRat I’ve heardofconceptalbums,and Holywell MusicRooms DEAD RAT ORCHESTRA Matthew ChapmanJones music. the definitionof contemporary music andatthe sametimeexpand of freshairtotraditionalBritish talented men;theybringabreath Dead RatOrchestrathreevery something evenmoreimpressive. audience inrapturethroughitall is it cohesivelyandholdingthe diverse music,butperforming write andarrangesongssuch It takesgreatskill,notonlyto cacophonous call-and-response. in theroomisbellowinga rock mainstay–whereeveryone ‘Poor OldHorse’ –a70’s folk- not asongofthewaterways)is of thesongsinthisstyle(though sweat onyourbrow. without ashovelinhandand gusto youalmostfeeloutofplace DRO bringthemtolifewithsuch syntax forthesakeofarhymebut are wordyandignorecommon by theownerofcompany. They the openingofcanals,tobesung cappella found ontheirjourneyareinfact Many ofthesongsbandhave fiddle number. songswrittentocelebrate The highlight a St JohntheEvangelist CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS the literal residueofagood meal instrument –while the‘bones’ – in realityan African-American slaves –thebanjo forinstanceis states, havingoriginatedamongst white communitiesofthesouthern have beenappropriatedbythe to thesongsandhowsomany obligingly explainthebackground and fellowvocalistHubbyJenkins Throughout theshow, Giddens with transcendentalresults. banjo, cello,snaredrumandfiddle staggering; thequartetdeploying sing-a-longs. The talentonshowis melancholy lamentstocommunity to raucoushoedowns;from tunes: fromacappellaspirituals in therevitalizationofoldtime CarolinaChocolateDropstrade enthusiasm. bubbling withanticipationand the majorityofasell-outaudience nonetheless eagerforre-education, his usualcomfortzone,arrives writer, operatingsomewayoutside Road placeofworship,andthis on takingthestageatthisIffley “survey ofreal American music” promises usnothinglessthana Singer RhiannonGiddens Stuart Fowkes things backevenfurther. on tonight’s evidencetheymightbebetterservedstripping To Burnhavealwaysbeenabandforwhomlessismore,and and intentevidentontheirlasttriptoOxfordasaduo.Karma drag thesongsdown,robbingthemofmuchsharpness parts. As itis,hisplodding,workadaycontributionsactually bothered aboutthrowingshapesthanplayinginterestingbass correct. We couldforgive thisifhewasn’t apparentlymore cargo shorts,sweatbandsandenormo-dreadsallpresent more nu-metalifhewaswearingaLimpBizkit T-shirt: long Tonight they’rejoinedbyabassistwhocouldn’t lookany rock Sugababes. rock parodyandareinfactdangerofbecomingthestoner second bassist)thatthey’vetranscendedSpinal Tap levelsof members now(ontotheirfourthdrummer, thirdguitaristand What’s more,they’veworkedtheirwaythroughsomany want anythingtogetinbetweenusandourRIFFS. Playboy Pallbearers’ andthenewestmaterial,butnor wouldwe There’s noprogressionbetweenoldtuneslike‘Waltz ofthe riffing intoafineartform,andattheirbestthey’reoutstanding. been doingitalongtime;seventeen yearsislongenoughtohone wedding numberifhislifedependedonit. And thebandhave wouldn’t beabletowriteaballad,folksongorjauntylittle musical proclivities,I’dbewillingtobetthat William Mecum In fact,werePaddyPowertooffer oddsonstonerrockguitarists’ Karma To Burnonlyknowhowtodoonething,andthat’s RIFF. They shouldplayhereeveryweek. room andtheirsheetsofguitarnoiseareall-encompassing. monolithic slabsofgranitejustice,thekickdrumshakes Storm haveneversoundedbetter. Through aPA thatdoestheir An eveningoftitanicriffs tonight atthe Academy, andDesert O2 Academy DESERT STORM KARMA TO BURN/ Robert Langham year formanyan Oxfordfolkie. Oxford willbethe highlightofthe modern America. Their arrivalin the Taco BellsandSubwaysof world thatexistsalongwayfrom brilliantly inconjuringupa of theevening,andtheysucceed to strikingeffect towardstheend two songsfromwhichareaired for their‘GenuineNegroJig’ LP, won aGrammyawardnoless CarolinaChocolateDropshave vocals evokinglivesofhardship. yawningly andtheGiddens’ most morose,thecelloaching its bestwhentheyareattheir is inrapturesbutthebandat Irish immigration. The audience State andamajorcentreforScots- of NorthCarolina,the Tar Heel tradition oftheCapeFearregion sung inGaelic,rootedthe and, astonishingly, anentiresong ‘Please Don’t LetMeLove You’, South, acoverofHank William’s documentary onmusicfromthe recorded foranupcomingBBC Highlightsinclude‘Train 45’ add livelyrhythm. of friedchicken–aredeployedto hand drum andtheband’s other singer his oudandthequanun. Add fiddleand underpinned by bright interplaybetween warmth andpassion. Tarik’s richvoiceis this doesn’t inhibitthemplayingwith member isamusicologyprofessor, of anacademicapproachandone band While OxfordMaqam’s websitetalks Brickwork Lizards. self styled‘Turkobilly” mash-upband, different towhat Tarik doeswithOxford’s Egyptian and Turkish repertoire,it’s very from late-19 zither-like quanun.Performingmusic close enoughtocountthem)dulcimer/ included theexotic72-string(yes,we’re with aline-upfromOxfordMaqamthat Oudplayerandsinger Tarik Bashircomes your frontroom, as itgetstohavingmusiciansround making afrontrowseatprobablyasclose acoustically, andwithoutmicrophones, with themusiciansplayingtotally Oneattractionisthattheintimatesetting, full tocapacityofsixtyforbothshows. Warnford HospitalChapel,andwhichis Contemporary Musicorganises atthetiny These aretwoofthegigsthatOxford rest oftheworld,”heaskstoachorus “Why can’t youjustcallitsoccerlikethe lurch ferociouslyinto`Kill The Poor’; benefits,” heproclaimsbeforetheband (“David Camerontoldmetocutyour the crowdwithgeniallyvitriolichumour involving theCIA,Skippreferstobait and myriadconspiracytheories,usually with tiradesagainsttheestablishment Where Biafrawouldpunctuatesongs around thestage. enthusiastic crowdashedoesskating as muchtimeamongthefrontrowof bundle ofmischiefandenergy who spends singer Ron`Skip’ Greer, atightly-wound sturdy, muscularpresence–backingup figure, anddrummerDHPeligro,stilla Klaus Flouride,ateddybearkindlyuncle looking likeagaunt Vic Reeves;bassist classic line-up–guitaristEastBayRay, tonight withtheremainderofband’s of thedisputeyousit,buthereweare Howandwhydependsonwhichside States throughoutthe1980s,cometothis? the scourge oftheChristianRightin American punkbandbar The Ramones, other viaalawyer. Howdidthegreatest band, they’reonlyallowedtotalkeach between thesingerandrestof tonight’s show. Suchistheanimosity in thevenueforentireweekbefore wrestles withtheideaofevensettingfoot idea seemssoperversethat Dead KennedyswithoutJelloBiafra? The O2 Academy DEAD KENNEDYS Warnford Chapel GILES LEWIN&DANNY CHAPMAN TARIK BASHIR&OXFORDMAQA/ th andearly-20 th Nightshift Century

from Playford’s collection of17 Europe andJewishmusic,acrosstime tour withtunesfromtheBritishIsles, cello, Gilestakesusonakindofmusical With basslinesfromDannyChapman’s fiddler GilesLewin’s allinstrumentalgig. Equallyenjoyableisex-Bellowhead Eastern coffee. musical equivalentofstrongMiddle have awonderfullyevocativeset,the Egyptian divaUmKolthoum,andyou Yara singinganextractfrom legendry Dale Kattack rock legend. afterwards. Lovelybloke. And agenuine get ourphototakenwithEastBayRay the tripinend?Damnright;weeven aim remainstrue. Are wegladmade JelloBiafraornot,DeadKennedys’ uncoils withseriousmenace. the greatestpunkanthemseverwritten bodies, theyearsfallingawayasoneof PA theroomeruptsinalakeofmoshing `Holiday InCambodia’ snakeoutofthe of London’,butastheopeningnotes snatch of Warren Zevon’s `Werewolves covers of`Viva Las Vegas’ andevena A setrichinoldclassicsfindsroomfor massed chorusofvoicesfromthecrowd. finds Skipallbutdrownedoutbythe while`CaliforniaUber Fuck Off’, Alles’ and-response introductionto`NaziPunks more statelypresence.DHleadsacall- welcome foiltotherestofband’s now the difference; hisyouthfulenergy isa could closeyoureyesandneverknow closing blastof`Chemical Warfare’, you a raging`Let’s Lynch theLandlord’ toa be Jellobuthisvoicefitsatreatandfrom songs stillsopotent.Skipdoesn’t tryto show weren’t suchgreatfunandthose Which mightbeacryingshameifthe with SkipasbothDameand Villain. bit likeapantoversionofDeadKennedys centred onthe World Cup). As suchit’s a good-natured boosduringaninterlude Colin May to spendanhour. intimate gigsan even moreexcellentway to the Artscape charitymakebothofthese The factthatthedonationsondoorgo Middle Easternchops. Maquam, todisplayhisconsiderable who isanoccasionalmemberof Oxford wedding klezmertunewhichallows Giles, catchy basslinehookandtheJewish especially likethe Welsh onewiththe No badthing,andtalkingoftuneswe tune aheadofanyfolkfiddleflashiness. the upbeatnumbersthatemphasises Hisplayinghasastatelyqualityevenin dance tunestohisowncompositions. th Century oxfordmusic.net. 30wordsmax. Musicians wanted adsarefree. Email adsto nightshift@ [email protected] equipment, rehearsals onceaweek inOxfordshire. Email melodic rock/metal band.Must have transport andown Bass Player wanted to complete lineupinheavy but more information. possible have own car. Contact Matt on07843411258 for aged 20-32.Must becommitted to weekly practices andif New Oxford basedHard-Rock bandseekingDrummer, Rock/pop/jazz/soul/reggae/indie/all othergenres THE OXFORDRECORD Flash HarrySoundSystems St ALDATES PARISH CENTRE Brand newandbackcatalogue/RareVinyl or [email protected] Allthegraphics,gates &compressors 40 PembrokeSt,St Aldates, OX11BP Accessories/memoriabillia/books. Bose Speakers,Chevin amplifiers, Saturday 18 DVD &CDFAIR Compact &potent PA systems, Please contactJamesSerjeant necessary to makenecessary your band @NightshiftMag ranging from 1.5k toranging from 5.5k 1.5k or event sounddelicious. Midas Goldmixingdesk. Musicians wanted www.usrfairs.co.uk on 079 1914 7350 10am-4pm th October Career highlight so far: T H E W H E A T S H E A F “A few weeks ago when I th INTRODUCING.... you’re Not INvIted! Thursday 4 September Nightshift’s monthly guide to the best local music bubbling under released my single `FML’ at Quarterhorse coffee shop and BETA BLOCKER & THE BODY CLOCK everyone I could have hoped to POLEDO + THE WHARVES + CLEVEDON 8pm/£5 turn up did. I felt all fuzzy inside.” th KLUB KAKOFANNEY Friday 5 September – Salvation Bill And the lowlight: “When I had a very stressful day BALLOON ASCENTS Who is he? at work, left work early, drove to PUNCH DRUNK MONKEY CLUB + CHILDREN OF THE SUN 8pm/£5 Saturday 6th September – SLAVE TO THE GRIND Salvation Bill is Ollie Thomas, best known on the local scene previously a gig in Shoreditch, missed my as the voice of Ute and The Old Grinding Young. “I knew I still wanted to set while stuck in traffic in Acton; SEPREVATION carry on playing music and that a lot of the songs I’d written had longer didn’t realise where the gig was, ABHORRENT DECIMATION + COLDWAR + FOUL BODY AUTOPSY + BLACK SKIES BURN 7:30pm/£5 and hairier legs than I’d first thought, but wasn’t sure how to take them parked miles from the venue and so th Sunday 7 September – BURIED IN SMOKE forward. I wanted to explore a basic solo acoustic sound with electronics. had to run with all my equipment It grew into a bass, guitar and drums band for a while but then returned full and was allowed to play one PETER PAN SPEEDROCK circle to just me, this time with my karaoke box in hand.” So far, whether song acoustically in front of the JD PINKUS + DESERT STORM + HATEMAIL + GIRLPOWER 5pm/£8 Adv, £10 OTD Thursday 11th September – BLACK BULLET LIVE with the full band or on his own, Salvation Bill has opened the main stage stage while the other bands where at Wilderness Festival, supported Gaz Combes at the O2, been picked by changing over.” A TRUST UNCLEAN THIS IN TURN 8pm/£5 Colin Greenwood to play with Glass Animals as part of Independent Venue His favourite other Oxfordshire Friday 12th September – DAISY RODGERS Week and been part of the DIY `Ones To Watch’ shows at The Old Blue act is: in London. Since then he’s released a single, `Dead Dog’, on a USB stick “Tricky, as most of them, like BE GOOD YELLOW FEVER + LEADER 8pm inside a dog food can, and this month releases his latest single, `FML (Feel Spring Offensive and TEED, don’t th Saturday 13 September – MD PROMOTIONS My Lump)’, on Idiot King Recordings. seem to live in Oxford anymore, What does he sound like? but I’m always a big fan of what STROKE OF LUCK With a dedication to epic storytelling and a rich vein of dark humour in his Tamara Parsons-Baker is doing: she’s got that dark narrative soul and is a SEA STACKS + FAMILY MACHINE 8pm/£5 Sunday 14th September – SLAVE TO THE GRIND songs, Ollie has drawn admiring comparisons to Nick Cave and Tom Waits, fiery live performer.” though his voice tends more toward the plaintive or strung out than gravelly If he could only keep one album it would be: BASEMENT TORTURE KILLINGS or booming, and he has an indisputable soul about his best songs, all of which “`Abbey Road’ by The Beatles. Each song seems to be in a different style. FRACTURED INSANITY (Belgium) + NECROSIS 7:30pm/£5 draw him far from the typical lovelorn acoustic singer-songwriter cliché. When is your next local gig and what can newcomers expect? Friday 19th September – IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC What inspires him? “I’m playing with Spring Offensive at the O2 in November. It’s going to be “I pick up lyrical ideas from anywhere I can: wonky sentences I my first show in months, so expect a nervous version of me!” FRACTURE overhear in the street, strange word combinations in news headlines, His favourite and least favourite things about Oxford music are: OSPREY & THE OX4 ALLSTARS + MEGAN JOSEPHY 8pm/£5 th stealing phrases from incredible poets and re hashing them so it sounds “Favourite thing is all the friends I’ve made through it. Least favourite is Saturday 20 September – GAPPY TOOTH INDUSTRIES tHe CeLLAr … like I made it up. I’m interested in the narrative thread of a story. I look the lack of great venues.” available for Private Hire OVERLORD for words and phrases I can magpie from elsewhere and then crowbar into You might love him if you love: my stories that allow splashes of colour. Musically, the biggest inspiration Nick Cave; TomWaits; Jeff Buckley; Plaid; Otis Redding; Thom Yorke. [email protected] BLACK JUJU + FRANCIS PUGH & THE WHISKY SINGERS 8pm/£4.50 I have is from watching live shows, whether it’s mind-blowingly good or Hear him here: The Wheatsheaf 129 High Street, Oxford OX1 4DF / www.facebook.com/wheatsheaf.oxford cringingly bad. www.salvationbill.co.uk

THIS MONTH IN OXFORD DR SHOTOVER: I Did It Norway Hej volks. Welcome to the East Indie-sk Club bar. Pull up a perfectly- ALL OUR YESTERDAYS MUSIC HISTORY designed pine pew, but mind the splinters, ja? Ah, you wish to buy us a this month’s gig guide like Valley of the Dolls, Buzz, untangle the wreckage. The sound of rock music on a round of drinks, my good sir? Takk, takk. Mine is a microscopic glass of 20 YEARS AGO “In a month when the phrase `a dearth of Let’s Be Frank, Swanney Lane and Silas Brew, victory roll.” We know greatness when we hear it. monstrously expensive Dansk beer, so better start re-mortgaging your any of whom might have been crazy pioneering house now. Yes, it’s true, we are celebrating all things Scandiwegian this imagination’ springs all too often to mind, this tape is a shining example of why we’d rather listen to electro-core acts who make the likes of Micachu & evening. The Management invites you to: Knock back the afore-mentioned the Shapes sound like Eric Clapton. But we doubt it. 5 YEARS AGO astronomically-priced drinks (or drinks-sk). Admire the nauseating squawks something weird, wonderful and interesting, however Richard Walters was and continues to be one of and rumblings of Stavanger’s favourite doom metal Satanists HJÖRKK. (‘So poorly recorded, than any amount of proficient but Nightshift’s favourite musical things ever, and back SICK they sold their souls twice!’)… Enjoy the wall-to-wall Wallander and dull dustbin fodder.” So ran the review of the Curfew 10 YEARS AGO in September 2009 he was back on the cover to talk Demo of the Month back in September 1994. It’s other gloomy amnesiac detectives on the big screen TV. Tuck into some In an issue dominated by an extensive review of about his long overdue debut album, `The Animal’, a principle we’ve stuck to like superglue over the pickled things that have been buried in the ground for a week and then the previous’ month’s Truck Festival, the news (“a genuinely beautiful album from a genuinely decades but in this case we were talking about a dug up. More HJÖRKK. (‘So SICK they ate their dinner twice!’). Later the in September 2004’s Nightshift was headed by the unique talent,” went our review, with no little hint demo by Shard, the solo demo by a young lady jukebox will have – for your delectation – such Nordic luminaries as Stock- imminent release of Winnebago Deal’s debut full- of excitability). Richard chatted about playing in called Sharron Kraus. Sharron Kraus who is now holm Aitken and Waterman, Julian Copenhagen, Richard Helsinki and the length album, `Dead Gone’, the follow-up to their bands from the ripe old age of 15 – from Polysoul, one of the most acclaimed underground folk artists `Plato O Plomo’ mini-album on Fierce Panda. Voidoids, Oslodive… and, of course, our old favourites, Danish Blue Oyster in the world. Back then she wasn’t even doing folk through Theremin to going out under his own Cult. (We never tire of that one. NEVER). Then we will all grow beards, ja? Elsewhere The Famous Monday Blues club was name – being temporarily managed by Radiohead music, instead a decidedly dark, jazz-inflected sort of th Even you, Paltrow. Cheersk! celebrating its 20 anniversary with a series of shows and Supergrass’ management stable and being gothic-pop that we compared to Patti Smith, Siouxsie at the Bullingdon, one of which was by UK blues act Next month: Chairmen of the Smorgasbord and even Coil. While Sharron has never been tied to signed to Warner-Chappell Music and working Never The Bride. Who are playing at the Famous with Bernard Butler and The Cranberries’ Noel a single city, back then she was living in Oxford and Monday Blues this month. Crack open the Prosecco, Hogan as well as having music music used on CSI: we still claim her as our own. Because she’s great. it must be someone’s birthday. Miami, which led to a flurry of global interest. He “Give this woman a record deal now!” we concluded. After a quiet summer, Oxford’s gig scene was also talked about his diagnosis with epilepsy that Soon after, someone did. gearing back up slowly with Jetplane Landing, at one point threatened to bring all this to an end. And further proving that Oxford isn’t all about Smog, Julian Cope and The Faint all coming to “I went through a crisis of confidence; I needed to feckless young men with guitars and a satchel of The Zodiac. So were Ocean Colour Scene and angst, this month’s front cover was graced by Twist, Embrace, but we’ve chosen to have any memory get all the indecision and anxiety out of my system one of sadly very few all-female bands this city has of that wiped from our minds. The month’s real before I could make the album,” he said. “It’s been produced over the years. Playing the sort of cool gig treat, though, came down at The Wheatsheaf so long coming it now feels like a weight off my punk-pop that made the likes of The Shop Assistants (don’t it always?) with the mighty (that’s MIGHTY shoulders.” Richard’s latest band, Liu Bei released and The Primitives so bloody ace, the quartet formed in capital letters, bold type and underlined twice) their debut single last month. to play at an International Women’s Day festival. We Part Chimp destroying sensibilities and solid stone Emiliana Torrini, Okkervil River, Tinchy think singer Helen now lives in Brighton but beyond buildings for a two-mile radius, supported in their Stryder, Marina & the Diamonds and The that they’re just one of the severalty great twinkling mission to bring the noise by Sextodecimo and The Temper Trap were the big names in town this wee pop stars that shone and burned out in Oxford Edmund Fitzgerald. The same Edmund Fitzgerald month, while a brilliant mixed bill at the O2 over the years. who were reviewed in the same issue as “Oxes Academy found My Shaodow, Baby Gravy and MEET THE HJÖRKK FAN CLUB! At least we still remember them, unlike names from meshing with The God Machine, Sonic Youth left to Desert Storm teaming up. standard funk-rock noodling by way of Van being rude; if the latter, they probably Halen on `Return of the Native’, bluesy bar think they’ll fall off the edge of the world boogie on `Sloth Rock’, slap-bass funk- if they travel further than Deddington, so metal on `Revolutions’ and ambient techno we’re pretty safe. Like Too Many Poets DEMOS shuffling on `Free Fall’, as if trying to cover before them, they’re not bad as such, just Sponsored by every musical base in an attempt to create uninspiring: happy to tread a well-worn Demo of the Month wins a free half day at an album of library music that’ll fit any path with just enough musical ability Silver Street Studios in Reading, courtesy generic stock footage, whether it be wildlife to avoid tripping over the sofa as they of Umair Chaudhry. panoramas, sports montages or closing- negotiate the route between A and B, Visit www.silverstreetstudios.co.uk/ time fallout sick-on-the-pavement scenes. pretending all those mad, crazy diversions nightshift-demo-of-the-month/ As we say, there’s fourteen whole tracks along the way don’t exist. At their best, of this stuff and we get to about number 8 on `Atlas’, they sound a tiny bit like The in awe of your poet’s heart and…. Oh fuck before all the bits of our brain that control Only Ones, which is obviously a good 01865 240250 DEMO OF it, just fuck it; we can’t do this anymore. creative thought are wiped like an old VHS thing, though the exotically-titled `Anorak’ Shut up! Shut UP! SHUT THE FUCKING tape and we’re left slumped and drooling sounds like a band trying far too hard to FUCK UP! You squalid, self-pitying heap on the sofa, forever destined to watch ITV2 sound intense and emotionally-wracked. THE MONTH of snivelling snot string. Get a grip. Get a reality shows while stuffing supermarket So, a bit good in parts, but not really nearly job. Join the army if you have to. Just. Shut. value frozen pizzas down our gullets until enough. And that, Profumo, is the scandal The. Fuck. Up. Forever. we burst like a giant balloon full of guts and of too much current indie rock. Profumo. SCOTT BOWLEY death mercifully takes us. Scandal. Did you see what we did there? The single most important piece of advice Christ, are we only on the second demo? we ever give musicians is, take your music God gives us strength. And a bottle of Jim seriously but not yourself. Someone who’s Beam. TOO MANY POETS clearly taken this nugget of wisdom to Someone must have let slip that half- THE DEMO heart is Scott Bowley who, a few years arsed funk music was the new dubstep or back, suffered a brace of particularly THE AUTUMN something, since it’s all over this month’s scathing Demo Dumpers with his band demo pile. Bit of sunshine and people go DUMPER Red Valve. In his email he tells us the dark SAINTS completely fucking mental, innit. Then mood that brought on lead him into a life “The Autumn Saints is an Anglo-American again, given that what passes for indie rock O RED LINE of drug addiction and crime and he hasn’t trio that offers a new and intriguing these days is about as cool and in demand “O Red Line is a 3 piece band from Witney. spoken to his family since but has at least sound,” runs the opening gambit of this as dung-flavoured bagel chips, we guess We have been playing together for about recognised that trying to be Thom Yorke demo’s accompanying letter, and we you have to try and spice it up any way you 2 years now and one day we might start while accompanied by a guitarist who guess that sounding like 90s rockers The can, and if the end result goes down with all listening to what each other is doing and TURAN AUDIO.co.uk Professional, independent CD mastering wanted to be Angus Young and a drummer Gin Blossoms fronted by Tex Avery’s the dignity of a fat Labrador on wet lino, so maybe together begin to understand the who wanted to be Dave Grohl probably terminally morose cartoon dog Droopy be it. We really wanted to like this lot since elusive concept that is a proper song,” says Artists mastered in the studio last month include; wasn’t the best musical move. So now he’s is pretty damn unusual, even if we doubt we caught a few minutes of a recent show the letter accompanying this demo. Except back, solo, and trying to be Thom Yorke it has too much long-term commercial we made that last bit up. Even though it’s THE DUGZ, THE BERLIN LIGHTS, BEGINNERS, THE MISSING down The Cellar and the very splendid PERSIANS, JOHN OTWAY, ENGLISH PLUS, ENTHRONED, with considerably more appealing results. appeal. But while that description is a Glenda Huish who runs Wittstock Festival absolutely completely true and actually Accompanied by a woozily disorientating THE OBSESSED, DIO, PAUL RODGERS, SUZANNE VEGA, pretty accurate reflection of the band’s was full of praise for them, but try as we being a bit too kind as we could justifiably PLASMATICS, CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, RY COODER, BOB video, his one-song offering, `You Don’t (untitled) opening number, they’re not might we can’t discern any real semblance have said “and one day we may even grow DYLAN, THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND, THE EXPLOITED, Know Me’, is a glitchy, mildly unsettling without their charms and sound like they of character about this demo, which cuts opposable thumbs so we don’t sound like a WOT GORILLA, WINTERFYLLETH, ANDREW PEARSE, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, UK SUBS, THE STRANGLERS, slice of ambient darkness, all pots’n’pans have the makings of a decent tune or two its cloth from equal parts Arctic Monkeys hippo fainting onto a giant cardboard box percussion, bass-heavy synth wobbles and deep inside them, particularly when singer TORI AMOS, JOHNNY CASH, DUSTY SPRINGFIELD, MOODY (another seemingly ubiquitous influence full of random guitar strings while its keeper BLUES. Scott’s indecipherable falsetto mumble. Britt Strickland hits a richer vocal vein on these days, about five years after it might shouts hoarsely in its general direction.” Very much like something our Thom might the second (equally untitled) second song, have been considered A Good Thing), Red Somewhere along the line one of O Red 01865 716466 [email protected] have conjured up over breakfast of a dark his quavering southern drawl bringing life Hot Chili Peppers (ditto but make that 20 Line – the bass player we’d posit – imagined winter morning. But Scott makes no bones to a track that edges into the darker realms years) and regional band competition heats. the opening track (none of them have titles, about the obvious influence and has the of Americana. Tell you what, give us twenty It’s got plenty of energy and big guitar which suggests the music itself wishes to THE COURTYARD skills to make it work on its own terms, and minutes to neck this bottle of Jim Beam sounds and a sense of epic, and even a remain anonymous) was a loping ska skank in a particularly wretched month for demos, here and we’ll be down the front dancing vague hint of something pleasingly proggy instead a stumbling drunkard of a half- RECORDING STUDIO this is a rare glimmer of starlight against the like there’s no tomorrow. Very slowly, arm about it on nominal highlight `Guilty tune. The next similarly staggers randomly bleak, black sky. in arm with Droopy. Any port in a storm, Conscience’, but every time they promise round a room full of things that good music PROTOOLS HD2, MTA 980 CONSOLE 32/24/24, OTARI right? to take it to a more glamorous level they should contain – choruses, a groove, the MTR90 MK2 24 TRACK TAPE MACHINE, 2 TRACKING slip back into a grey haze of mundanity. merest hope each band member has an iota ROOMS, SUPERB CONTROL ROOM WITH GOOD SELEC- Seriously, anyone even vaguely thinking of an idea what he’s meant to be doing – TION OF MICS & OUTBOARD GEAR + MIDI FACILITIES (Inc JAMES BLOWERS KID SLOTH of starting a rock band should be made to only very occasionally brushing against After which, what we really need to hear A couple of rules about making LOGIC AUDIO, AKAI S1000, OLD SKOOL ROLAND etc.) sit down and listen to Fucked Up for an any of them, while a third (but sadly not is a bloke scraping his fingers up and instrumental music – make it interesting, entire week before being asked if they can final) track sounds like it might be a sullen down his guitar strings with all the élan and if you can’t do that, at least make Residential facilities included. honestly say they can do better. approximation of something Nirvana once of a tree branch against a window pane in www.courtyardrecordingstudio.co.uk it brutal. Or scary. Is that three rules? toyed with. And when it’s finally, finally, a stiff breeze while attempting to capture Phone RICHARD WALSH on 01235 845800 Whatever, Kid Sloth struggle to get past over, we realise we’ve completely refilled the essence of human sadness in song. Or the first one, offering fourteen golden our bottle of Jim Beam with tears as we sob at least that section of humanity that is PROFUMO nuggets of vocal-free sonic exploration Another band with a hint of something that for the departed soul of something that was made up of lovelorn young men who fancy that seems to consider a stroll to the shop might once have been funk in the planning once rock music. “Some bands we like are themselves as the new Nick Drake but to buy milk an adventure. This despite stages, Profumo say they’re a band “from Lightning Bolt, Electric Wizard, Rapeman, only have enough cash to afford the Liam promising us they were going to sound the North East”, though they don’t specify Neurosis, etc etc. But we don’t want to Gallagher pocket book of poetry, doubtless like “a trip into a surreal film-world of whether they mean Middlesbrough or sound like any of these,” claim O Red Line. from The Works’ clearance bin. Strum and soundtrack delights,” the fibbing bastards. Brackley. If it’s the former they’re unlikely On that score at least they have succeeded mumble, strum and mumble, strumble, Opener `Mars’ is a decent start, a dirgy to bother coming down to duff us up for admirably. strumble, slip into coma while attempting noise-funk soundtrack to an imagined 70s to self harmonise before rousing yourself spy flick, somewhere between John Barry just enough to imagine that Ed fucking and Parliament. We’ve high hopes. But it’s Send demos for review to: Nightshift, PO Box 312, Kidlington, OX5 1ZU, or email links Sheeran is The Sound Of The Future and a bit like when they cram all the best bits to [email protected], clearly marked Demos. IMPORTANT: no review without mumbling some more about submarines in of a film into the trailer and you have to a contact address and phone number; no more than four tracks on a demo please. If you a cesspit approximation of soul music and sit through the considerably less cool stuff can’t handle criticism, please don’t send us your demo. And don’t fucking whine about your hoping the pretty girls will fall at your feet for an hour and a half, as they slip into review on Facebook either, else we’ll print a screenshot and make you look like a prize tit.