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email: [email protected] website: nightshift.oxfordmusic.net Free every month. NIGHTSHIFT Issue 189 April Oxford’s Music Magazine 2011

YYYYoungoungoungoung KnivesKnivesKnivesKnivesKnives Go Pop! Out on their own and back with a brilliant new photo: Cat Stevens NIGHTSHIFT: PO Box 312, Kidlington, OX5 1ZU. Phone: 01865 372255

NEWNEWSS Nightshift: PO Box 312, Kidlington, OX5 1ZU Phone: 01865 372255 email: [email protected] Online: nightshift.oxfordmusic.net

WILCO JOHNSON AND listings for the weekend, plus ticket DEACON BLUE are the latest details, are online at names added to this year’s www.oxfordjazzfestival.co.uk Cornbury Festival bill. The pair join already-announced headliners WITNEY MUSIC FESTIVAL returns James Blunt, The Faces and for its fifth annual run this month. Status Quo on a big-name bill that The festival runs from 24th April also includes Ray Davies, Cyndi through to 2nd May, featuring a Lauper, Bellowhead, Olly Murs, selection of mostly local acts across a GRUFF RHYS AND BELLOWHEAD have been announced as headliners The Like and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. dozen venues in the town. Amongst a at this year’s . Other new names on the bill are host of acts confirmed are Johnson For the first time Truck will run over three full days, over the weekend of prog-folksters Stackridge, Ben Smith and the Cadillac Jam, 22nd-24th July at Hill Farm in Steventon. The festival will also enjoy an Montague & Pete Lawrie, Toy Phousa, Alice Messenger, Black Hats, increased capacity and the entire site has been redesigned to accommodate Hearts, Saint Jude and Jack Deer , Prohibition Smokers new stages. Bruce & The Stax. Club, Samuel Zasada and Bethany Multi-award-winning folk big band Bellowhead top the Friday night bill This year’s Cornbury Festival takes Weimers, while the Witchwood having stolen the show at last year’s Truck, while place over the weekend of 1st-3rd School Of Rock will be running music frontman Rhys heads the Saturday line-up, playing his first ever Truck and July at its new home of The Great workshops for young musicians. Visit showcasing from his new ‘Hotel Shampoo’ album. Tews Estate, near Charlbury. Tickets www.witneymusicfestival.co.uk Other acts already confirmed include electro-pop stars St Etienne; indie are on sale now, priced £160 for an for a full programme of gigs. supergroup Jonny, formed by ’s Norman Blake and adult weekend camping pass, with Gorky’s ; folk-pop troubadour Johnny Flynn; former-Czars concessions for under-18s and under- OXFORD CONTEMPORARY frontman John Grant; soul and country ensemble The Duke & The 16s and over-70s admitted free. Visit MUSIC are inviting local acts to King; local psychedelic dance faves Fixers; Blessing Force trio Trophy www.cornburyfestival.com for submit demos for this year’s OCM Wife, Jonquil and Chad Valley, plus Caitlin Rose, Marques Toliver, more details. Open Talent night. This year’s event Treefight For Sunlight, Marcus Foster, Richmond Fontaine and is being run in conjunction with the Dreaming Spires. SOWETO KINCH, NORMA Pegasus Theatre and Oxfringe. For Talking about the new-look festival, organiser Robin Bennett said, WINSTONE and BOBBY the first time there will be a separate “We’ve experimented with partial Friday opening over the last two years WELLINS headline the 2011 young musicians event. The OCM and it feels like this year is the right time to make Friday a full day. We Oxford Jazz Festival this month. takes place on Saturday 11th June at have headliners and acts on all the stages including the main stage. People Running over the Easter weekend the Pegasus, as part of a county-wide can arrive from midday Friday with music starting shortly after that. And (21st-24th April) and featuring 60 music and arts event called as we’ll all be camping for longer, this is the first year there will be acts across 30 venues, the festival Something For the Weekend, with showers at Truck! We’ve also taken the opportunity to redesign the site plans to celebrate British jazz with a the under-18s concert at 1.30 and and use some of the more attractive fields for new camping areas and a rolling series of “jazz over-18s event at 6.30. Original acts family field. neighbourhoods” across the city. of any style can submit demos as “We’re teaming up with three of the best independent labels to Thursday’s events will concentrate on MP3s or weblinks to programme the 2nd stage this year, Transgressive, Heavenly and Bella Cowley Road, Friday’s around Jericho, [email protected]. Deadline for Union. For licensing reasons we’d had to reduce the capacity of the barn Saturday’s up in Summertown and submissions is Friday 15th April. Visit over the last few years, so we’ve decided to start afresh with a much larger Sunday’s in the city centre. www.ocmevents.org for more details. marquee.” Festival co-founder Alissa Robinson Tickets for Truck are priced £99 for an adult camping ticket and £79 for explained: “We are growing to such APPLETREE STUDIOS celebrates a under-18s. Under-12s go free. They’re available from the new Truck Store an extent that each area of the city is quarter century of recording this year on Cowley Road or via See Tickets at www.seetickets.com. Visit developing its own jazz culture around with a major refit. Run by Phill Goss www.thisistruck.com for more details and line-up news. the Festival. It makes perfect sense in Ludgershall since 1986, Appletree to help this along by allocating a is one of the longest-running studios festival day to each neighbourhood so in the region. Visit 95.2fm. The dedicated local music TRUCK STORE is still keen to sell visitors and residents can enjoy www.appletreestudios.com to see show, presented by Dave Gilyeat, local bands’ releases. The new music performances that are very close to the new-look studio. plays the best new Oxford releases shop at 101 Cowley Road, co-run by each other throughout the day.” and demos and well as featuring live Truck and Rapture, opened in Soweto Kinch’s show at Oxford AS EVER, don’t forget to tune into sessions and interviews by local bands. February on the site of the old Town Hall will be the central BBC Oxford Introducing every The show is available as a podcast or Videosyncratic store. Bands can drop attraction of the festival but full Saturday evening between 6-7pm on to stream on the BBC iPlayer. CDs or vinyl into the shop.

THEA GILMORE, MAMA ROSIN and UISCEDWR are among the new set of acts to be announced for this year’s WOOD FESTIVAL. They join headliners Willy Mason and Eliza Carthy (pictured) over the weekend of 20th- 22nd May at Braziers Park, near Wallingford. This year is the fourth Wood Festival and with the eco-friendly festival having picked up a number of awards for its innovative approach to festival organisation, including a Gold Green Festival Award, tickets for this year’s event are already on the way to selling out. Other acts already confirmed include The Dreaming Spires, Treetop Flyers, Jali Fily Cissokho and The Epstein. Aside from live music on the solar-powered stages there will be the usual workshops and talks, a cycle-powered cinema and disco and family-friendly activities. Tickets, priced £95 for adults, £65 for under-18s and free for under-12s, are on sale from the Truck Store on Cowley Road as well as www.thisistruck.com a quiet word with YYYoungoungoung KnivesKnivesKnives photo: Cat Stevens

“THE USE OF THE WORD and there’s a more prominent know I am being general but we felt a to make a go of their band – back poppy makes me defensive. I know edge to some tracks. The use of pressure in a way to write darker and then called Ponyclub – and use the we are often a pop band, but `poppy’ horns and female backing vocals add more serious songs so that we would fertile soil of the local scene to grow makes it sound like we tried to make to the general feeling of exuberance be taken seriously. Some of my into a critically-acclaimed, a Keane record, or a Feeling record, on standout tracks like ‘Vision In favourite artists from pop history – internationally-loved chart act. and that suddenly we though `shit, Rags’. One , ‘Woman’, sounds Beefheart, Zappa, The Kinks – have Three years on from the success of we need to make a record that like it could be ’ disco written joyful songs and have been ‘’ and five on from actually sells a load’. We didn’t. We hit. Was there a conscious effort, we credible, so we wanted to make songs the Mercury-nominated ‘Of Animals couldn’t have done it even if we had wonder, to make a relatively more that had some genuine joy in them. & Men’, Young Knives are at a tried. First and foremost we had to poppy record? We have written some pretty cynical crossroads in their musical career. make a record that we felt happy HENRY: “It wasn’t a conscious songs in the past and it’s easy to be How to follow up two such lauded with and to feel like it had kicked us decision to make a poppy record; it grumpy old men and make jokes at and loved ? More of the same out of the rut you inevitably fall into was a conscious decision to make a other people’s expense. Although we or a sharp left turn into new when you’ve been making music joyful record. often meant the songs to be about territory? together for this long.” “On `Superabundance’ we started our own character flaws too, I think The answer, with ‘Ornaments From down the route of making darker they came across as cynical. So we The Silver Arcade’, is somewhere in YOUNG KNIVES SINGER songs. I kind of felt that at the thought it was more of a challenge between. As soon as you listen to it Henry Dartnall is talking about moment the only music people take to make a happy yet credible record, it’s obviously Young Knives: the Young Knives’ new album, seriously is `serious’ music, if you get something that celebrates life and quirky, militant post-punk snap of ‘Ornaments From The Silver me. There is a tendency to think has genuine heartfelt lyrics without opener ‘Love My Name’ and the Arcade’, the follow-up to 2008’s that anything that is in anyway being mawkish or trite, fun without blatantly Fall-like intro to ‘Superabundance’, and an album that upbeat or cheerful is stupid. Maybe being wacky or vacuous and artistic ‘Everything Falls Into Place’ hark signals a shift away from the often that’s because a lot of it is. It feels but without being deadly serious.” back to ’s earliest offerings. downbeat, occasionally folk- like credible music uses as But then there are curveballs like inflected, frequently cynical nature its bar. Don’t get me wrong, I love IT’S ALMOST A DECADE SINCE ‘Woman’, which sounds like it of the trio’s previous output. Radiohead, but I wanted to try and Henry, along with brother Thomas emerged from a New York night-club Nightshift has put it to Henry that break from that idea that credible (aka House Of Lords) and drummer sometime in the early-80s, or the ‘Ornaments…’ is Young Knives’ has to be serious music. It’s a Oliver Askew, moved to Oxford irresistibly exuberant ‘Glasshouse’, album; it’s got a real sheen about it very English thing too. I mean I from their native Ashby-de-la-Zouch which closes the album, full of childlike glee and pure pop fun. helped us to get to the essence of the touring the world; where have been BACK ON THIS SIDE OF THE The new album is less instant than songs. As a three-piece with two the best and worst places? globe, Young Knives release its predecessors, but repeated listens brothers we benefit greatly from a HENRY: “The best was Beijing. ‘Ornaments…’ on April 4th on their bring equally rich rewards. mediator, someone to focus our Stuff is thousands of years old there. own Gadzöök label and head off on a HENRY: “I think we have still kept scribbly ideas. It makes Saffron Walden look like UK tour that brings them back to what makes Young Knives, but just “In a way Nick did a very similar San Diego. The worst… I dunno. It Oxford at the end of May. How does tried to add space and pacing to our thing to Andy in terms of how he tends to be just about the hotel or Henry view the Oxford music scene music. We often used to fill in any approached our songs, but he was whatever. We went to a little now, having moved so far on from space and add more ideas than a song also very keen for us to play them while ago and got put in a hotel those early gigs? needed. We were inherently scared of all together a lot before we actually called Mr Bed. And the bed was the HENRY: “I don’t see as many bands the silences and we have tried to recorded them. Nick is so chilled as worst bed I had ever slept in and the as I want to, but that’s mainly change that. well. Nothing would get him riled, room smelt of shit. You would think because I have kids now. I’m always “We spent a lot of time touring even after 18 hours in the studio that a hotel that calls itself Mr Bed missing stuff I really want to see. I `Superabundance’, but when we when we decide that we have taken a would at least make sure its main mainly get to see the bands I want by finally stopped we realised that we wrong turn 10 hours ago. He would focus was decent beds. There are getting them to support us or on didn’t know what we were going to just laugh, press delete and say `let’s some pretty grim UK venues, but I days off in other towns. I’m really do next. Or at least we knew there get in with it then’.” don’t think I should start slagging hopeful for the recent success of had to be a really good reason to Did he have any good scandalous anywhere here.” Oxford bands. I really like Fixers but make another Young Knives record, anecdotes to tell from his past You had a track used in a sunglasses I haven’t seen them yet; when I find rather than just churning out some collaborations? campaign in China. That helped you a cheap teenager to babysit I’m more of what had gone before. We HENRY: “Nick had loads of stories survive between albums. How going to go check them out proper, really didn’t stop working and in but they weren’t scandalous. He is important are things like that to although I might have missed their hindsight maybe we should have had the kind of guy that keeps your you? `local band’ period. a few months off, but we really secrets and you rarely hear him HENRY: “We did it because it meant “It definitely helped being in wanted to push ourselves so we just speaking ill of anyone, even if you we got to go to China! So we did a Oxford. We have never really been hit the studio and started again.” know that they are notoriously few gigs while we were there. an Oxford band as such because we A significant change since difficult. He just seems to have had a Something we couldn’t have afforded aren’t from here, we just moved here ‘Superabundance’ is that Henry has specifically for the music scene. I’m become a dad twice over. How has sure our story would be very that affected him, particularly his Did you know that Bicester Village is in the different if we had stayed in Ashby.” lyrical outlook which has always had Part of the Young Knives live a sharp, sardonic bite amid the often top 10 most popular attractions in the UK experience has always been the surreal imagery. Does he feel any less amongst Chinese tourists? You do now. between-song interaction between cynical? Henry and House; is that something HENRY: “It has definitely has some it’s easy to keep fresh when they’re effect, but maybe subconscious so I great time with everyone he has to do without making the ticket on the road for long periods? can’t put my finger on it. It may worked with. He had some great price too expensive for anyone HENRY: “No, it’s not easy to stop have been something to do with the stories about working with apart from rich expats. The poverty yourself from lapsing into cheery nature of this record but I when they were all 17, gap is much bigger and we wanted to repetition. But the idea has always dunno. `Glasshouse’ was definitely making their second album and being make sure that Chinese kids could been to interact with audiences and written from a childlike point of holed up in a residential studio with afford to go. The other reason we make them feel wanted. I hate it view. I think I got bored of being loads of teenage girls camped did it is because in China, people when bands don’t speak: they may as lyrically cynical anyway, just because outside. Made me a bit jealous.” have a completely different attitude well be playing to no-one. If you’re we’ve done that and I kind of think How was it recording in LA? As a to corporate sponsorship. The best in a room full of people you’ve got it’s too easy and is a bit ugly band generally considered very gig was definitely the sponsored one to acknowledge that fact to make sometimes.” English in your sound and lyrics did because it validated the gig for people feel part of what is going on. any of the local culture rub off on Chinese kids. Did you know that Our rule of thumb is if you’ve got FOR ‘ORNAMENTS…’ YOUNG you? Any partying on Sunset Strip? Bicester Village is in the top 10 most nothing to say, say nothing, it’s just Knives went into the studio in Los HENRY: “It was hot, and there were popular attractions in the UK that we rarely have nothing to say.” Angeles with , a a lot of trendy types there. It was amongst Chinese tourists? Well you legendary producer with an great really. Mainly we worked and do now. There isn’t that cynicism WHEN YOUNG KNIVES LAST exemplary CV that includes The sometimes went swimming in the that we have in the west. I’m not a graced the cover of Nightshift back , , Arcade pool. We had already decided to big fan of doing corporate stuff, but in February 2006 Henry, Thomas Fire, , Public Image make a happy record, and it was it’s a fact of life, especially in and Oliver had just quit their jobs to Limited, and . definitely easier with a load of today’s music industry where there is concentrate on the band fulltime. What was it like to work him? What vitamin D coursing round our no money unless you are or Any regrets on that front? did he bring to the sound of the new systems. But to be honest, when you equivalent. People who don’t want HENRY: “No way. Apart from no album? How different was it to work are in a studio and the producer is gigs sponsored by mobile phone regular pay check there is nothing to with Nick than ? pretty much English, with a slight companies should stop downloading miss. I am totally unemployable now HENRY: “It was great. We had Aussie twang, and you are working music for free. And sponsorship is and proud.” talked to Nick about the last record hard, you could be anywhere in the just the tip of the iceberg. As soon as You said back then you were looking but he wasn’t available at the time so world. We did go to a couple of great companies get hold of music they forward to a life of drunkeness and when his name came up again we parties up at Nick’s house in the get power over what you hear and debauchery. Has that come to pass? jumped at it. When we are choosing hills. Very cyber goth. We definitely even how music is written. I have in HENRY: “I think that has passed. producers we always tend to choose looked a little out of place. the past had emails from publishers Getting wasted is fun for a bit, but the most enthusiastic person – if we “It was great for us not to record in saying have you got any songs that there is more to life. We still smash can afford them. So it was mutual. As the UK anyway. We had pretty much have the following words in…. and it up more than we should we are not spunking major label cash decided to try not being so English, people know what lyrics are more sometimes, but in all fairness we are we had to do the record on a really just so we don’t fall into the trap of likely to get big synchs. So do better musicians when we aren’t tight budget, but actually recording in becoming caricatures of ourselves, so musicians start to add these words drunk. We are definitely quite funny LA is cheaper than doing it in LA seemed like a pretty un-English into their songs so that they get drunk, but I prefer being a musician . We chose Nick also because choice.” more chance of scoring an advert? to being a comedian.” we knew we wanted to work with Hell yeah. Do we? It has crossed my someone who had a strong grounding OF COURSE YOUNG KNIVES’ mind, but I couldn’t crowbar the ‘Ornaments From The Silver in good songs. We came up with a lot success, since ‘Of Animals And fuckers in, so it’s back to just writing Arcade’ is released on 4th April on of the sounds and feel of the record Men’, has allowed them to enjoy stuff I care about, hoping Coke Gadzöök. Young Knives play the O2 at the demo stage but Nick just every band’s fantasy of agree.” Academy on Tuesday 24th May. Scrapbook highlights of Young Knives’ coverage in Younger Knives Nightshift over the years

PONY CLUB / OLIVER SHAW The Cellar Oliver Shaw is bitter. Not only that, but he’s determined to share his every grievance with all with us, song after wounded, depressing song. A curious blend of Lou Barlow, Noel Gallagher and the obligatory of smattering of Thom Yorke, his song writing is undeniably strong, but watching one man and his acoustic wrestle with all his demons in such a way can sometimes be a little unrewarding. Having the added security of a full band may lessen this effect in time and show his songs off a bit better. Maybe then he would cheer up a little. As long as he doesn’t get Pony Club to back him. Their mix of Pere Ubu-like post-punk, Pixies-esque rock and roll and off-beat quirkiness, in the vein of Weezer and even would never gel! Instead, they’ve got more catchy and inventive ideas than they know what to do with. The jagged ‘Walk on the Autobahn’ and ‘English Rose’ show enough talent to be taken very seriously indeed, although the bizarre Pearl Jam/Noddy Holder fusion of ‘Ten Year Bird’ and ‘Easy Peasy’, with its long monologue about shit, don’t allow us to do so for long. Brimming with fantastically contorted guitar melodies and understated driving rhythms they seem a bit wasted as (by their own description) “a comedy band” and it’s difficult to imagine all of the jokes and eccentric ideas not wearing thin after a while (see also, The Presidents of the USA). For now, though, they are both funny and clever and if they can strike the right balance theirs will be a club well worth joining. Lee Christian First front live review, as Ponyclub, January 2002

First front cover, May 2005

THE YOUNG KNIVES The Cellar There is genius at work in the Cellar tonight. Local three-piece The Young Knives - fronted by a bloke who looks like a cross between Zammo from Grange Hill and Joe Pesci - are in the middle of taking a clutch of oddly hysterical, but otherwise normal songs and choking them til they scream. Halfway through ‘Easy Peasy’, a scritchy, scratchy Pixies-ish ball of musical wobbliness, the bespectacled, besuited behemoth of a bassist launches into a spoken-word monologue that involves reproducing ’s ‘Sub-Human’ word for word in all its Topping Nightshift’s end of year Top 20 in December 2002 deadpan, nightmarish glory. And having dispensed with that, it’s back to the tacky, cheap falsetto and brutish new wave funk. There is no other band in Oxfordshire like The Young On top again in Knives, and hasn’t been for many years I don’t doubt. December 2004 Only a few months and a handful of gigs old they’re already showing signs of being one of this year’s most unusual success stories. Where others slavishly ape Jeff Buckley or bust a gut trying to out-grind Deftones, Ponyclub are mischievously battering their old Pere Ubu, Wire and TV Personalities albums into new, jagged shapes, and perhaps most significantly, making seem completely childish again. Like the way they lapse into daft Banana Splits-style “Ba ba bas” during the excellent `Walking on the Autobahn’ or the wide-eyed, tightrope-tense `English Rose’, or the way one song threatens to turn into Adam and the Ants’ `Prince Charming’ at any minute. Yes, it can be a bit maddening at times, but it’s also brilliantly fucked up. The Young Knives aren’t the finished article just yet, but already they’ve got so many songs that no two gigs are the same. Tonight there are moments when you look skyward and thank God that there are bands still prepared to invite ridicule by stretching themselves to greater levels of inventiveness. Because only by inviting ridicule for their occasional daftness can they really hit those highs. This is going to be quite a ride. Dale Kattack On the cover again in First live review as The Young February 2006 Knives, March 2002

RELEASED Sponsored by production values on ‘Midnite Vultures’. YOUNG KNIVES ‘Love My Name’ opens the album as the closest link here to the Wire/Gang Of Four-referencing `Ornaments From The previous work of the band, but quickly trashes that with its sheer oddness. Strange, synthesised sounds - Silver Arcade’ and, indeed, sound effects - make themselves known, and over the next few tracks the elements (Gadzöök) for a new phase for the band’s career are laid out. It’s been a quietly impressive career for Young ‘Woman’ has a horn section and ‘yeah yeah yeah’/ Knives so far. Over their first three albums `la la la’ female backing vocals. ‘Everything Falls (discounting the lost great ‘Nolens Volens’), Into Place’ fizzes with an A-Ha-style rush of they’ve been the local band destined for big synthetic melody. ‘Human Again’ buzzes like an things; tweed-wearing English gents pumping out out-take from the `’ album. Towards the surprise hits to a worldwide audience (reaching middle of the album, there is the tiniest threat of a number 21 in the album charts in the process); dip in both mood and quality, unfortunately - the and a band that weathered the storm of a coolly- plodding beats of ‘Sister Frideswide’ sounding too received third album (although not that coolly - it much like something this band has done many did reach number 28). What next? With times before. However, this doesn’t last: the track ‘Ornaments From The Silver Arcade’, they’re out the album not only affirms life, it affirms what an bursts into a rich, warm cacophony, before leading on their own, free of the shackles and pressures extraordinarily talented band Young Knives into a couple of more reflective, sad-sounding that can sometimes knock lesser bands off focus actually are. In the past they’ve been lazily songs. Don’t worry, though - ‘Go To Ground’, for and even out of the game altogether. Sticking to pigeonholed into musical and sartorial corners, example, is sad in the same way that Nick Drake their guns for more than a decade is itself worthy but across its eleven tracks this new set is a line was sad - not depressing, more a forlorn belief that of a theoretical manly shoulder-punch for the drawn from their post-punk-tinged earlier work things really will turn out okay in the end. band, but on the basis of these tracks their through the rest of the 1980s, taking in doses of By the end of the album, it’s almost ridiculous how metaphorical shoulder will be black and blue. new romanticism, C86 and Stock, Aitken & much a mastery of melody and spirit-lifting ability The world is a strange and often depressing place Waterman’s ‘Hit Factory’ production sheen along the band have displayed. Getting such a consistent at the moment. There are a lot of tough things the way. That’s not to say that it’s a vacuous or level of not only emotional kick but also going on, and bad events happening to good style-over-substance body of work; anything but. outstandingly catchy tunes is very, very difficult, people. What’s perhaps the strongest, greatest As much as being a ‘hit after hit after hit’-style and Young Knives pretty much make it feel like aspect of ‘Ornaments From The Silver Arcade’ is collection of melodic gems, it suggests a strong it’s no bother at all. This is a fantastic, soul- its almost relentlessly ‘up’ feel - it bursts at the sense of quality control, with echoes of Blur’s enriching album, and another step up on an seams with positivity, egalitarianism and a love of poppy experimentation on ‘Modern Life Is interesting journey for a uniquely interesting band. life in all its facets. This isn’t unappreciated, and Rubbish’ and Beck’s ‘throw everything in’ Simon Minter

and delightfully reedy, but it lends itself more to The band’s last single ‘The First Of Many SHARRON KRAUS ghostly melody than cracking out a rousing folk Dreams…’ was a brave move: a conceptual mood narrative: her allusive singing and vaguely piece based around Swiss psychiatrist Elisabeth ‘The Woody Nightshade’ evocative lyrics are more Bert Jansch than Kübler-Ross’ ‘Grief Cycle’ that stretched out (Strange Attractors Audio House) Norma Waterson. There are even hints of PJ beyond 13 minutes. `A Stutter And A Start’ finds The sleevenotes to this new CD are a paean to Harvey’s recent recordings. Musically it’s ethereal the band back in pop territory, keeping things the album format, eroded and endangered in our and unsettling too, from the keening feedback relatively lean and tight. Their spidery math- MP3 playlist era. We couldn’t agree more, but, that opens the album to the woozily plucked rock-inspired riffs provide a fragile framework for like those scientists who try to explain how strings on ‘Two Brothers’ that sound like a weary this tale of a relationship on the brink of seizure. minuscule a fraction of the universe’s lifespan traveller pushing through a dense forest: it’s like a On first listen, it all seems rather lightweight and human beings have existed in, we would expect a night at the sound of the Twin Peaks Folk Club. uninspired, but the intelligent textures the band folk singer to be unconcerned with a format that All drums on the record are reverbed and stately creates do in time become apparent. The rolling has been around for only fifty odd years, a tiny like the faded memory of percussion, the washed basslines and twitchy drum patterns evoke a sense fragment of the history of song. out toms of the title track a resigned, slow walk of unease as singer Lucas Whitworth provides a But this is definitely an LP, not a random to the gallows (roll over, Berlioz). wonderfully assured and emotional vocal. If the selection of songs, and it’s a record with a Individually these songs may not be startling, and use of a knackered car as a metaphor is a little constant, misty atmosphere. Kraus’ voice is high it’s certain that Kraus couldn’t challenge Spiers & clunky, then the smattering of ice-laden imagery Boden for the Oxford oral tradition trophy, but just about makes up for it. The bleak and The Woody Nightshade is a gorgeous, immersive unforgiving backdrop is entirely fitting. listen, that you want to start again as soon as it’s ‘The Well’ continues in downbeat fashion. It’s at finished... which is about the best definition of a its best when the tired sounding math-rock good album we can think of. influences take a backseat and the band indulge in David Murphy carefully-crafted vocal harmonies and allow the song to flow rather than lurch. The shimmering that wash across the last few moments of the song are utterly beautiful, and point to a band SPRING OFFENSIVE that are gifted at creating emotional tension. A Gunning For Tamar remix of ‘Abacus Rex’ ‘A Stutter And A Start’ wraps things up, but the aggressive lo-fi edge its been given is out of kilter with what precedes it. (Own label) In more suitable surroundings it would be With a recent support slot with The Go! Team undoubtedly be a success, but given the under their belts and glowing reviews surrounding introspective tone of the single, it feels somewhat just about everything they do, it’s fair to say that out of place. things are going well for Spring Offensive. Sam Shepherd RICHARD WALTERS THE HALF RABBITS ‘Pacing’ ‘The Optimist EP’ (Kartel) (Own label) A wise man once said, “I wouldn’t paint a rose, but As the title suggests, ‘The Optimist EP’ finds if the garden gate needed a lick of paint, so be it”. local gothsters The Half Rabbits casting off their In musical terms Richard Walters’ voice is the rose, dark-hued take on rock music and covering a a thing of such untutored, natural wonder it’s ideal selection of bright-eyed 80s disco hits. setting would be completely unaccompanied. Well obviously not. The Half Rabbits don’t do Richard’s long-awaited debut album, ‘The Animal’, optimistic, unless it’s looking forward to death or came close to fulfilling that need for almost somesuch. Something which appears to be praying nothing – only the sparsest instrumentation was on singer Michael Weatherburn’s mind a lot over allowed to encroach on his desolately autumnal the course of these four new songs, recorded with voice as he lyrically walked amid the detritus of a sometime Primal Scream and Mary Chain life and love in the process of unravelling. producer Pat Collier. Michael’s mannered, slightly Having rebooted his long-time songwriting theatrical voice and staccato delivery is such that relationship with former-Suede man Bernard Butler, front, more a sort of culture shock. The songs he could be reciting a shopping list that included ‘Pacing’ is Richard’s swift and far more fulsome themselves, particularly the album’s title track and turkey twizzlers, rhubarb and strawberry cup cakes follow-up album. It sounds like Richard’s been given a reworked ‘Elephant In The Room’ are damn and he’d make it sound like A Very Serious Thing a lick of paint. With its gated drums and electronic close to melodic perfection, so close they simply Indeed. In this case it’s gasoline he’s intoning squiggles, album opener ‘When You’re Young’ steals don’t need to be gilded thus. portentously about, possibly in some kind of Max a little of the aching humanity out of Richard’s The flipside of all this, though, is that we’ve Max-style post-apocalyptic kind of way. ‘Poor voice. Come its conclusion, via a full-on electric banged on an on for so long about Richard Me/Poor You’ deals with the fall-out from war guitar solo blow-out, it’s close to American FM deserving to be a star and this approach perhaps over a -style industrial stomp and by rock. ‘14 Days’, documenting a relationship offers his best opportunity, particularly in the the time Half Rabbits hit ‘How The West Was teetering on the edge of collapse, is similarly States where ‘Elephant In The Room’ is already a Won’, they’re under the knife and fighting for bolstered by big production and instrumentation and cult hit after its use on So You Think You Can their lives, with Michael’s chanting “The wind in feels uncharacteristically euphoric. Dance. The spectral bleakness we so adore from the east is a terrible beast”. It’s characteristically It takes until ‘Mattress Fire’ before the more him simply won’t speak to such a mass audience, foreboding stuff, but musically more polished and familiar Richard Walters re-emerges, the band nor gain mainstream radio play. People want their expansive than their recent debut album, ‘From reined in, the song frostier, almost desolate, the pop with a little polish. Hopefully ‘Pacing’ will The Horizon To The Map’. voice free to seduce and hypnotise. Similarly ‘End allow Richard’s career to blossom more fully; for Not that that is going to brighten their moods Of The World’, which is ‘Pacing”s gorgeous coda, our own personal tastes – and we’re judging harshly any; their particular musical furrow is deep and relies on little more than plucked acoustic guitar here only because of the phenomenally high dark and sheltered from sunlight. All together and cello, while elsewhere full string arrangements standards he’’ already set himself – a little pruning now: “Always look on the bright side of death / and bold percussion rule the roost. might not go amiss. Even as you draw your terminal breath…” It’s not that ‘Pacing’ is a disappointment on this Dale Kattack Dale Kattack gig guide

FRIDAY 1st and Hendrix. PROPAGANDA + TRASHY + ROOM 101: KLUB KAKOFANNEY with O2 Academy – Weekly three-clubs-in-one, with STEAMROLLER + SUPERLOOSE + APRIL indie and electro at Propaganda, kitsch pop, 80s MOIETY + HORNS OF PLENTY: The and glam at Trashy and metal and alt.rock at Wheatsheaf – Heavyweight blues-rocking from album after breakthrough single ‘My Eyes Are Room 101. Steamroller at tonight’s Klub Kak, plus sweet- Red’. Support from London’s dancehall dons DAVE MEDAY + MARK PIDGEON + natured semi-acoustic pop from Moiety and Bam Bam Sounds and the Count himself MANDY WOODY + DAVE REYNOLDS: more. spinning a selection of reggae, dancehall and hip Tiddy Hall, Ascott-Under-Wychwood – A NINE-STONE COWBOY + MOGMATIC: hop. night of acoustic Americana. The Bullingdon – Darkly humorous, FUNKY FRIDAY: The Bullingdon – Classic KUBRIS + ASTEROX: The Folly Inn observational pop from Mark Cope’s 9SC, plus funk, soul and r’n’b every Friday. LANDSCAPE: The Bullingdon – Old school bluesy rock from Mogmatic. FOUNDATION REGGAE: East Oxford dance sounds with DJs Kieran, Seth C, Loco SKYLARKIN SOUNDSYSTEM: The Community Centre – Roots and dub every and Chriss Hall. Cellar – Count Skylarkin’s monthly reggae Friday. SETURIA + THE DEAD LAY WAITING + party tonight hosts Bristol’s seven-strong WHO DO YOU LOVE?: The Duke, St. SACRISITY: The Wheatsheaf, Banbury – collective Laid Blak, set to release their debut Clement’s – Alt.rock, 60s garage, soul, new Jambox rock and metal night. wave, punk and DJ session. nd CHILL’N’CO: Magic Café (1pm) – Lounge Saturday 2 and ambient jazz and dance grooves. ESBEN & THE WITCH SATURDAY 2 nd ESBEN & THE WITCH + TEETH OF THE SUNDAY 3rd / TEETH OF THE SEA: SEA: The Jericho Tavern – Dark-hearted CARL BARAT: O2 Academy – Oh lordy, tribal pop from the spooky gothsters – see choices, choices. Where’s an eager little music The Jericho Tavern main preview fan to go on a night like this when there’s such a After the disappointment of their BG RECORDS PRESENTS: O2 Academy devastating clash between the boring one out of ramshackle showing at Truck last summer, TASTE MY EYES + HELLBENT & The Libertines who is unleashing his inner it’ll be good to see ’s Esben & The HAMMERED + MOTHER CORONA + James Blunt in one room, while the musical Witch back at the venue where they shone CRYSIS: The Wheatsheaf – Great bill of equivalent of supermarket own brand lager are last year, a free gig that aimed to get a decent local metal at tonight’s Buried In Smoke laying it on thick and grey in another? We crowd in for a then-unknown band. The promotion. Virulent metalcore types Taste My suppose hacking your own throat out with the intervening months have seen the band, Eyes make sure the growling and screaming nearest available kitchen implement is a third, along with the likes of Zola Jesus, forge a factor hits peak levels, while Mother Corona and probably preferable, option. new wave of gothic pop success. Their bring a hefty dose of sludgy thrash and Crysis PIGEON DETECTIVES: O2 Academy – debut album, ‘Violet Cries’, on Matador fuse Pantera and Lamb of God to pleasingly Hmmm... but which kitchen implement? And Records, should bring a little chill to your brutal effect. hey, why should it be our throats that get heart even as spring approaches. Formed in THOMAS TRUAX + LYDIA KAVINA: hacked out anyway? the ghostly mould of acts like Dead Can Modern Art Oxford – Another THOUSANDS: The Jericho Tavern – But Dance, Bat For Lashes and This Mortal characteristically unusual show from Pindrop stay that hand! Salvation may be at hand. For Coil, the trio exist in a twilit world of performance, tonight pairing Thomas Truax – here are Seattle duo Thousands, playing their shimmering, spidery guitars, ethereal vocals, well-known round these parts for is array of first ever UK tour, having recently signed to Victorian horror, doomed romance and bizarre, self-created instruments and richly on the recommendation of Fleet lashings of forbidding atmospherics, with poetic roots-pop – with Russian theremin Foxes. The acoustic duo share some of Foxes’ virtuoso Lydia Kavina, the grand-niece of the singer Rachel Davies’ captivating voice full hymnal pop elegance, adding elements of Simon instrument’s inventor Leon Theremin. So the of passion and portent, surrounded by the & Garfunkel, Elliot Smith and Bert Jansch, their two of them should know a thing or two about band’s gently glowering collage of sampled debut album, ‘The Sound Of Everything’, otherworldly instrumentation. As well as dialogue, chattering electronics and Batcave recorded utilising natural reverb, birdsong, guitar fuzz. Great support from Teeth Of separate sets, including songs from Truax’s new falling leaves and the sound of the wind to The Sea, last seen round here at last ‘Sonic Dreamer’ album, they’ll be performing augment its pastoral simplicity. November’s Audioscope festival with Wire, together. Theremin versus Hornicator? We like BEARD OF DESTINY + SUE & PHIL + making a suitably crazed no-wave inspired them both. Only one way to find out which is MIKE ABBOTT + RICHARD & JEREMY: best….. FIGHT! racket Donnington Community Centre – Free THE THIN LIZZY EXPERIENCE: Fat Lil’s, acoustic music session. Witney – Tribute band. ACOUSTIC & OPEN MIC SESSION: The VIXENS + SECRET RIVALS + EVO Hobgoblin, Bicester – Live sets from Dave SYLVIAN + HOOKS: The Port Mahon – McPherson and Simply Sloth, plus open Big, bold and post-punk from session. Vixens tonight, with support from boy-girl indie fuzzsters Secret Rivals and electro-pop from th Dead Jerichos offshoot Evo Sylvian. MONDAY 4 STEAMROLLER + NOT TOO SHABBY + THE MARCUS MALONE BAND: The OX4 ALL-STARS + ANNERO: The Cellar – Bullingdon – The Detroit guitarist returns to Charity gig with reformed 70s blues-rockers the Famous Monday Blues, kicking out a hard- Steamroller cranking it out in the style of Cream rocking form of blues and soul that borders on metal at times, having made his name on the UK TAMARA PARSONS-BAKER: The Port and European blues circuit in recent years. Mahon – Stark, drama-laden acoustic blues and SANDI THOM: O2 Academy – Anyone not pop from the local songstress. driven to self-immolation by last night’s Pigeon CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford Detectives shitstorm can feel free to gouge all Community Centre – Oxford’s longest- their sensory organs into mincemeat as oxygen- running open-mic club every Thursday, stealing talent vacuum Thom uncorks ‘I Wish I showcasing singers, musicians, storytellers, Was A Girl With Flowers In My poets and performance artists. Hair’ once again, demonstrating an almost OPEN MIC SESSION: The Half Moon heroic lack of musical or cultural history BLUES JAM: Jack Russell, Marston awareness. FRIDAY 8th th TUESDAY 5 DAVID RODIGAN: O2 Academy – Reggae SPIERS & BODEN: The North Wall, and dancehall tunes from the veteran Kiss FM Summertown – Multi-award-winning folk duo DJ and former-Kidlington lad. play a special low-key date after the THE ROCK OF TRAVOLTA + VERY NICE cancellation of the Oxford Folk Festival, which HARRY + ED LOFSTEDT + GENERALS & they were due to headline - see main preview MAJORS: O2 Academy – Expansive electro : O2 Academy – Following and symphonic rock from The Rock at tonight’s her placing in the BBC’s Sound Of 2001 poll, Fox Rocks show. the latter-day heads out on tour DESERT STORM + STONE AXE + TRIPPY to promote debut album, ‘’, WICKED + STUBB: The Wheatsheaf – Tuesday 5th following supports to and , as well Buried In Smoke night with psychedelic stoner- as working with and Chase & rock heavyweights Desert Storm alongside SPIERS & BODEN: Status. Washington State’s Sabbath-esque The North Wall MARCUS FOSTER + BEAR DEN: The heavyweights Stone Axe, harking back equally th Jericho Tavern – Soulful acoustic blues-rock to Free, and Cream. Ambient acoustic metallers Tuesday 12 from the London singer in a Van Morrison vein. Trippy Wicked support. JAZZ CLUB: The Bullingdon – Free weekly MACKATING: The Bullingdon – Roots and THE FUREYS & live jazz club night, tonight featuring singer dub reggae from the enduring local faves. DAVEY ARTHUR: Alison Bentley. TREVOR WILLIAMS: The Hollybush, GOOD VIBRATIONS: Café Tarifa – Weekly Osney – Oxfordshire MIND benefit from the Oxford Town Hall unplugged and semi-acoustic session. Faringdon troubadour. This year’s Oxford Folk Festival may, sadly, OPEN MIC SESSION: The Port Mahon BOSSAPHONIK: The Cellar – Latin, have been cancelled but here’s two shows to afrobeat, Balkan dance, world beats and nu-jazz keep both trad and new wave fans more than WEDNESDAY 6 th club night, featuring a live set from ’s happy, showcasing the best of the old and LIBRARY TAPES + MATT WINKWORTH + eight-strong funk brass band Horndog Brass. new guards of roots music. Spiers & Boden’s BETHANY WEIMERS: St Michael’s BON GIOVI: Fat Lil’s, Witney – Bon Jovi star has been in the ascendancy for a while Church, Cornmarket – ’s ambient tribute. now, both as a duo and with their storming soundscapists return to the scene of their last FUNKY FRIDAY: The Bullingdon folk big band, Bellowhead, who’ll be blowing Oxford show – the suitably atmospheric setting FOUNDATION REGGAE: East Oxford away all-comers on the big festival stages of St Michael’s, where they’re joined by Community Centre this summer. As a duo they’re no less inventive, literate singer and pianist Matt entertaining, mixing musical wizardry with th Winkworth and ethereal goth-folk songstress SATURDAY 9 wit and warmth and managing the difficult Bethany Weimers. BORDERVILLE + BROTHERS WELSH + task of fitting the bill on the smallest or 13 GAUGE + HEADCOUNT + THE YARNS: The Wheatsheaf – Flamboyant largest of stages. That their collective BEELZEBOZO: The Wheatsheaf – Moshka and inventive vaudevillian rocking from mantelpieces must now be groaning under goes punk and metal crazy with grindcore types Borderville, plus fluffy 80s-style jangle pop the weight of folk awards is fitting 13 Gauge going up against Killing Joke-inspired from The Yarns. testimony to their talents. punk titans Headcount. Beelzebozo bring some YOOF! with IS TROPICAL + KISMET: The If Spiers and Boden have made the past half old-school metal craziness to proceedings. Cellar – New indie sounds from Yoof!, tonight a decade their own, The Fureys & Davey ACOUSTIC LOUNGE: Fat Lil’s, Witney featuring London’s euphoric loungy electro-pop Arthur have over 30 years of experience FREE RANGE: The Cellar – Drum&bass and trio Is Tropical and local synth-popsters behind them, including, for an Irish folk dubstep club night. Kismet plus DJ sets from Rockfeedback’s Mike band, a rare UK chart hit with ‘When You H and Keyboard Choir. Were Sweet Sixteen’. Dublin brothers George THURSDAY 7 th DEFINITELY MIGHTBE + CHANGING and Eddy Furey, along with Davey Arthur SPRING OFFENSIVE + GUNNING FOR MAN: O2 Academy – An Oasis tribute act and have toured the world, playing their takes on TAMAR + DEER CHICAGO: The a Paul Weller tribute act on the same bill? With classic Irish folk songs and tonight’s show Bullingdon – Spangly math-popsters Spring this, ambassador, you really are spoiling our should include all the favourites, including Offensive launch their new EP, with support weekend. the immortal ‘Green Fields Of ’. from post-rockers Gunning For Tamar and epic REPLICA: Fat Lil’s, Witney – Party rock types Deer Chicago. covers. SUNDAY 10th THE GRACEFUL SLICKS + ULYSSES JAGGY EDGES + PHOUSA + LOST BIG COUNTRY: O2 Academy – The Scottish STORM + THE SCREAMIN JOE DOGS: The Port Mahon – Acoustic country rockers continue to play their guitars that sound JEFFERSONS: The Cellar – 60s-styled and folk-rock from local trio Jaggy Edges, plus like bagpipes, Alarm frontman Mike Peters from Graceful Slicks, plus support. replacing the late Stuart Adamson on vocals. classic blues-rocking support from Ulysses PROPAGANDA + TRASHY + ROOM 101: Storm and Screamin’ Joe Jeffersons. O2 Academy MONDAY 11th APPLE PIRATE PRESENTS: Fat Lil’s, SELECTA: The Bullingdon – Drum&bass THE CLARE FREE BAND: The Bullingdon Witney – Unsigned indie, punk and rock bands club night. – Electric blues-rock in the vein of Bonnie Raitt showcase. THE RETROS: The Centurion, Bicester from the local singer and guitarist. WEDNESDAY 13th back to Blue Cheer and Led Zep. Support from BOWLING FOR SOUP ACOUSTIC: O2 local indie rockers Von Braun. Academy – An acoustic evening with Jaret and BRICKWORK LIZARDS + LE MORTE Erik. SUBITE: The Cellar – Brickwork Lizards AS GODS + DROWN IN ENTROPY + launch their debut album, ‘Zaman’, their eclectic PROSPEKT + THE CRUSHING: The blend of hip hop, Arabic music and jazz having Wheatsheaf – A night of progressive metal, long marked them out as one of Oxford’s most with the return of Hampshire’s As Gods, with exotic live bands. support from Brighton’s prog-core outfit LEE THOMPSON’S SKA ORCHESTRA + Drown In Entropy and local starlets Prospekt. ONE-STOP EXPERIENCE + THE SKANX + PHAT SESSIONS: The Cellar – Fortnightly GLADDY WAX SOUNDSYSTEM: The open jam session with house band The Phat Regal – Madness saxophonist and Sessions Collective playing hip hop, Latin, ska, Thompson brings his own ska outfit to town, drum&bass, reggae and funk, plus resident DJ leading a night of ska, rocksteady and roots, Fu. ably supported by Jennie Bellestar’s One-Stop HIGH JINKS: The Chapel, Banbury Experience and renowned Jamaican soundsystem Gladdy Wax, playing ska, th dancehall, rocksteady and more. THURSDAY 14 SHEPHERD’S PIE: Fat Lil’s, Witney – Hard KILL CITY SAINTS + HOT HOOVES + rock covers, from AC/DC to Guns’n’Roses. ZEM: The Bullingdon – Country-rock from PROPAGANDA + TRASHY + ROOM 101: th Friday 15 KCS, with support from Hot Hooves, formed O2 Academy by former-ATL? frontman Mac and erstwhile DJ SEX MACHINE: The Bullingdon WILLIE NILE: Talulah Gosh and Heavenly guitarist Pete Momtchiloff. th The Bullingdon GILLESPIE: The Port Mahon – Live show SUNDAY 17 Hardly a household name in this country, for the local rapper. BEETROOT JAM: The Port Mahon – Live Stateside, Willie Nile (real name Robert FAULTLINE + LIGHT DIVIDED + AVENGE bands and open jam session. Noonan) is one of the most critically-lauded VULTURE ATTACK: The Hobgoblin, th cult artists of the past 30 years, going back Bicester – Jambox rock night. MONDAY 18 to the late-70s when the Buffalo-born singer CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford THE CARVIN JONES BAND: The and multi-instrumentalist made his name on Community Centre Bullingdon – Texan roadhouse blues-rock from the Greenwich Village folk scene. A 1980 OPEN MIC SESSION: The Half Moon electric guitarist and singer Jones and his band, debut album on Arista saw him compared to BLUES JAM: Jack Russell, Marston inspired by the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, everyone from Bob Dylan and Buddy Holly WORDPLAY: The Cellar – Hip hop club and John Lee Hooker. to and handpicked to tour with night. MAGNUM + GWYN ASHTON: O2 , but protracted legal problems put Academy – The reformed British hard rockers a stop on his career until the late-80s when FRIDAY 15th hit the road again, reviving their 80s heyday, he re-emerged with a new deal for Columbia WILLIE NILE: The Bullingdon – Stadium- playing songs from Top 10 albums ‘Wings Of and an album featuring guest appearances sized Americana from the New Jersey cult hero Heaven’, ‘Storyteller’s Night’ and ‘Vigilante’ as from Richard Thompson, Loudon – see main preview well as tracks from their latest ‘Visitation’ Wainwright III and Roger McGuinn. Since TAMARA PARSONS-BAKER: The album. Support from Australian-born, locally then he’s performed regularly with Bruce Wheatsheaf – Emotive and expressive acoustic based blues-rock guitarist Gwyn Ashton, Springsteen at the Boss’s biggest Stateside rocking from local singer and guitarist Tamara. kicking out a raw, rootsy electric blues and stadium shows, as well as working with FUNKY FRIDAY: The Bullingdon garage rock, inspired by Led Zep, Hendrix and Ringo Starr, Tori Amos and Elvis Costello. FOUNDATION REGGAE: East Oxford White Stripes. If critical praise hasn’t always translated Community Centre into commercial success, Nile remains highly th WE ARE ELEMENTS: The Cellar – Garage, TUESDAY 19 respected amongst his more famous peers, dubstep and house club night. JAZZ CLUB: The Bullingdon – With a live continuing to create a vibrant form of rootsy FAULTLINE + LIGHT DIVIDED + AVENGE set from The Hugh Turner Band. blue-collar rock that is partway between VULTURE ATTACK: The Wheatsheaf, GOOD VIBRATIONS: Café Tarifa Springsteen and Dylan. He’s over in the UK Banbury OPEN MIC SESSION: The Port Mahon to plug his seventh studio album, ‘The Innocent Ones’, but it’s live – and th th particularly in such intimate confines as this SATURDAY 16 WEDNESDAY 20 – that he really shines. SPIKEFEST: O2 Academy – A Viking banquet METRONOMY + CONNAN MOCKASIN + of metal pleasures – see main preview KEYBOARD CHOIR: O2 Academy – BENGAL TIGER, SHANGHAI DRAGON: Electro-a-go-go from the synthtastic GROANBOX: The Red Lion, Stratton Oxford Playhouse – A night of world fusion Metronomy – see main preview Audley – Raw, eclectic blues, Cajun and gypsy sounds as composer Tony Haynes draws on SMALL MACHINE + MOIETY + CRAYON: folk from the American-Canadian trio, drawing Indian and Bangladeshi ragas and time cycles, The Wheatsheaf – Grungy hard rocking from comparisons to Ry Cooder, Seasick Steve, combining them with traditional Chinese show Small Machine, plus airy semi-acoustic pop Gogol Bordello and Dr John. tunes and and hefty dashes of jazz from Moiety. improvisation and Latin and African rhythms. FREE RANGE: The Cellar TUESDAY 12th Among the musicians performing are sitar and THE FUREYS & DAVEY ARTHUR: Oxford dilruba player Baluji Shrivastav, player THURSDAY 21st Town Hall – Classic trad folk from the Irish Yousuf Ali Khan, singer Lucy Rahman, Chinese THE EPSTEIN + LEFT WITH PICTURES: legends – see main preview harp virtuoso Zhu Xiao Meng and UK jazz The Bullingdon – Elegantly cinematic JAZZ CLUB: The Bullingdon – Funky players Claude Deppa (trumpet) and Louise country-rock from The Epstein, launching their keyboard-led jazz from The Howard Peacock Elliot (tenor sax and ). new EP tonight. Quintet. EMPTY VESSELS + VON BRAUN: The TIM WHITEHEAD & THE SPIN TRIO: The GOOD VIBRATIONS: Café Tarifa Wheatsheaf – Great old-fashioned blues-rock Wheatsheaf – The weekly Spin jazz club OPEN MIC SESSION: The Port Mahon and proto-metal from Empty Vessels, harking welcomes tenor sax player Tim Whitehead photo: Johnny Moto OPEN MICSESSION:TheHalfMoon Community Centre CATWEAZLE CLUB:EastOxford of Davis. style soulandfolkfromsistersduoDaughters Melancholy acousticpopfromElliot,plus60s- DAVIS Mahon– +PRAXISBOLD: The Port ELLIOT VANDERHYDE +DAUGHTEROF Fat Lil’s,Witney AS WECLIMB+RUNFROMROBOTS: Remler aspartoftheOxfordjazzFestival. tribute tothelateNew York guitaristEmily DYSON: Café Tarifa DEIRDRE CARTWRIGHT &CATHY THE JEZCOOKTRIO:TheHalfMoon of thejazzfestival. Pre Building– ROGER BEAUJOLAIS:TheJacquelinedu Dining Room ELISA CALEBQUARTET: The Ashmolean Festival. along aspartofthisyear’s OxfordJazz Southampton’s thrashcrew Nottingham tech-metallers Aethara Pantera, andmelodicdeathmetallers Crysis Slayer andRush;ramped-upthrashoutfit Prospekt things; stylishlytechnicalnewcomers Bolththrower’s none-more-heavyschemeof thrash titans screaming. Also on the splenetic racket,bigonbrutalityand frontman BenHollyer,kickingouta Hendrix, whilethelatterfeatureformer-JOR touching basesasdiverseKilldozerand rock riffageisferociousbutmelodic, former’s moltenstoner should benostrangerstogigregulars:the beyond. some ofthebestmetalbandsintownand club Skeletor,isagreatshowcaseeventfor eight-band show, organised bylocalmetal them areplayingatthe Academy. Today’s local heavybandsandmoreof November hashelpedelevatethestandingof Nightshift’s metalspecialissuelast O2 Academy SPIKEFEST: Satur scene thatgoesfromstrengthtostrength. celebrate hislifeaswellalocalmetal died lastyearandfansareinvitedto popular localmetalfanMattJones,who Spikefest coincideswiththebirthdayof , inspiredbyLambofGodand day 16 . Fromoutoftowncome Desert StormDesert , findingcommongroundbetwixt Dedlok Thelocalguitaristplaysaspart th , leaningtowards –Jazzguitarduopay -blues takeonclassic and bill arehardcore Galleons Taste MyEyes Terrathorn and . Tarifa ALY TADROS &CHLOECHARLES:Café of theJazzFestival. The renownedtenorsaxophonistplaysaspart Wall,North SHIPTON: The – Summertown BOBBY WELLINSQUARTET + ALYN Wheatsheaf JUNE THEBAND+MINORCOLES:The core noiseinsupport. Of Zeuss,whileKomradoffercrunchingprog- psychedelic behemothsDesertStormandBeard frenzy attonight’s stand-off between Cellar – KOMRAD +MOTHERCORONA:The DESERT STORM+BEARDOFZEUSS with theverygreatFrank Turner. under theirownsteamafterbeingontheroad album, ‘Potential’,andenjoyingastintout tour withsongsmithChris TT, promotingnew heroes Diveheadoffonajoint-headline Postponed fromlastmonth,localpunk-pop DIVE +CHRIS TT: O2 Academy – Bullingdon THE BRAINDEADCOLLECTIVE:The CAT MATADOR +MESSAGE TO BEARS+ AERONAUTS +BRICKWORKLIZARDS A HAWK & A HACKSAW WE + rock night. BONES: TheHobgoblin,Bicester– DYING BREED+THEMARKVIOLET BLUES JAM:JackRussell,Marston Oxford – THE ROB TERRY TRIO: Modern Art guitarist. Latin andmiddle-easternsounds fromthejazz Michael’s Church,Cornmarket – THE NICHOLASMEIERGROUP: St. music. Tadros andCharlesheadline afulldayoflive Bowie tributeact. ABSOLUTE BOWIE:FatLil’s,Witney– Arms HEADINGTON HILLBILLIES:TheChester Community Centre FOUNDATION REGGAE:EastOxford FUNKY FRIDAY: The Bullingdon BEHOLDER: PhoenixPicturehouse rioters playaspartoftheOxfordJazzFestival. 1930s-style NewOrleansspeakeasyjazz Jericho TavernBAND: The – THE ORIGINAL FOOT RABBIT SPASM Colours support. Emancipation’ album.LocaljazzbigbandBig show featurestracksfromhismostrecent‘New nominated fortheMercuryPrize. Tonight’s Awards andaMOBOaswellbeing young jazztalents,winningmyriadBBCJazz Pine, KinchhasbecomeoneoftheUK’s leading Wynton MarsalisandmentoredbyCourtney obtained hisuniversitydegree.Inspiredby Soweto Kinch,returningtothecitywherehe Festival’s maineventfeaturessaxophonist BAND: Oxford Town Hall– SOWETO KINCH+BIGCOLOURS see mainpreview headlining thisPindropPerformancespecial– European andBalkan

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SA –Localindiedoublebill. (4.30pm) –Harmony-heavyCajunduo FRIDA TURDA –Exoticeastern folk from AH&AH Y 22 Y 23 The OxfordJazz nd The local The rd Flamenco, Jambox Open jam session. BLUES JAM:Fat Lil’s,Witney Malmaison ZARA MacFARLANE QUARTET: Gesing cometotheOxfordJazz Festival. Italian pianist Venier andGermanreedsplayer Grammy-nominated trioofsinger Winstone, KLAUS GESING:TheRandolph – NORMA WINSTONE,GLAUCO VENIER& DUBSTEP: TheBullingdon O2 Academy PROPAGANDA + TRASHY +ROOM101: support. Bushy, plus ethereal popfrom The Gullivers in punky indiepopfromBirmingham’s Ace – Mahon Port GULLIVERS: The ACE BUSHYSTRIPTEASE+THE Leon toKillersandGreenDay. noughties indieandrockcovers,fromKingsof FUSED: FatLil’s,Witney– Kraftwerk, TheOrbandmore. soundscapes, takinginspirationfromEno, conjure grandly-proportionedelectronic local synthorchestraTheKeyboardChoir lo-fi psychedelictakeonelectro-pop,while the oddballpopcountremainshigh,witha support, ConnanMockasin,shouldensure for electro-poprevivalism. Tonight’s main Party andKlaxons,they’releadingtheway making theirnamesupportingFoals,Bloc English Riviera’isoutthismonthandafter ‘Dance’-era Numan. A thirdalbum,‘The great mix-upofCure,Kraftwerkand fun, theirmostrecentsingle,‘She Wants’ a synchronised dancingbutremainquirkyand lightbulb t-shirtsandendearinglydaft Metronomy haveditchedthekitsch andGorillaztoLadytron, his workasaremixerforeveryonefrom Joseph Mount,possiblybetterknownfor synth-pop acttheyeverwere.Ledby although atheartstillthesamesupreme bassist, theysoundfunkierthanbefore, were. Nowplayingwithalivedrummerand knowingly ironicelectro-danceacttheyonce and accessiblepopactthantheoddball, Metronomy nowsoundlikeamoreorganic since theirlastalbum,‘NightsOut’, Having undergoneamajorline-upchange O2 Academy / KEYBOARDCHOIR: CONNAN MOCKASIN METRONOMY / W ednesday 20 SUNDA th Y 24 90sand th

(3pm) Twee The – Molten thrash-metal in the vein of Machine SATURDAY 30th Head and Anthrax from Agness Pike, and GAPPY TOOTH INDUSTRIES with THE fronted by the reliably lunatic posturing of DACOITS + KAMIKAZE TEST PILOTS + Martin Spear, plus great post-punk noise MacGILLIVRAY: The Wheatsheaf – Polished somewhere between Young Knives and PJ Harvey-styled rocking from The Dacoits at McLusky from Cellar Family. No information tonight’s Gappy Tooth club. They’re joined by on but if they’re even vaguely Afrobeat-infused funk-rockers Kamikaze Test anything like The Birthday Party, we’re there. Pilots and bleak ghost-folk songstress PROHIBITION SMOKERS CLUB + HALF MacGillivray on a characteristically eclectic bill. DECENT: Fat Lil’s Witney – Jam session SIMPLE: The Bullingdon – House and with expansive ambient pop collective PSC, electro club night. nd Friday 22 plus full sets from both bands. V8: Fat Lil’s, Witney – Hard rock covers. A HAWK AND A MUNKINPURE + STOLEN PEACE: The PROPAGANDA + TRASHY + ROOM 101: Port Mahon – Ballsy blues-rock, funk and O2 Academy HACKSAW: stadium-rock balladry from South Africa’s MAY EVE with FRESH OUT THE BOX & Munkinpure, plus heavyweight blues-rock from DJ FU: The Cellar – Hip hop, funk, reggae, The Bullingdon Derbyshire’s Stolen Peace. disco, house and techno into the early hours of A WORLD DEFINED: The Hobgoblin, Jackdaw With Crowbar; Sparrow & The May Morning. Bicester Workshop; A Hawk & A Hacksaw: what is it BLACK SKIES BURN + CIRCLE US: The CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford about those darned birds and their Wheatsheaf, Banbury – Extreme metal and community Centre fascination with dangerous tools? Not that hardcore from BSB at tonight’s Jambox metal OPEN MIC SESSION: The Half Moon there’s anything threatening about New session. BLUES JAM: Jack Russell, Marston Mexico’s A Hawk & A Hacksaw, the band

formed by former- chap th Jeremy Barnes and violinist . FRIDAY 29 Friday 29th Eclectic inventiveness is more their bag, the KATY B: O2 Academy – Already sold-out duo’s journeys into sound taking in show from the r’n’b and dubstep chart star – KATIE B: O2 Academy everything from Jewish klezmer, through see main preview Tonight’s show is already long-since sold Mexican mariachi to gypsy waltzes, onto SPOKES: O2 Academy – Euphoric strings out, which hardly surprising given young which AH&AH project their own particular and harmonies-drenched choral pop from Katie Brien from Peckham’s current status brand of bucolic Eastern European and Manchester’s Ninja Tunes-signed outfit. as the voice for hire in dubstep/r’n’b/funky Balkan folk to create something that’s both THE ROCK OF TRAVOLTA + BLEEDING circles and recent chart success. Hers is a bleak and eerie and otherworldly escapist. HEART NARRATIVE + VON BRAUN: The star that look likely to shine even brighter in Having set up their own label, LM Bullingdon – Symphonic electro-rocking from the coming months with the release of her Duplication, to release other Eastern TROT, plugging their new album, ‘Fine Lines’, debut album, ‘On A Mission’. From singing European music, they’ve also just put out which sounds like it should be the soundtrack hi-NRG covers of old Katrina & The Waves their own, fifth, album, ‘Cervantine’. The to some spectacularly violent sci-fi epic. Folk- hits under the name Kattie B, through a stint duo’s set is part of a special celebration gig tronica support from Bleeding Heart Narrative as Baby Katie on the Ministry In Sound by Pindrop Performances who excel at and dark-hued new wave pop from Von Braun label, Katie found her own feet after bringing exotic leftfield world music to in support. working with Magnetic Man and being Oxford and today’s supporting cast includes ABOVE US THE WAVES + THE DAN championed by Geenius. Top 5 solo debut local acts We Aeronauts, Brickwork Lizards, HUTCHINGS BAND + JESS & NESS: The hit ‘Katie On A Mission’ was lightweight, Message To Bears, Cat Matador and The Wheatsheaf – Melodic post-rocking from pop-friendly dubstep, but its follow-up, Braindead Collective to make for a suitably AUTW. ‘Lights Out’ benefited hugely from the more varied and esoteric cocktail. ALPHABET BACKWARDS + MINOR assertive and characterful presence of Ms COLES + WINTER OLYMPICS: The Dynamite. Perhaps it’s her BRIT School Cellar – Celebrate posh baldy fellow and posh th background that makes Katie sound a bit too MONDAY 25 commoner type’s wedding nuptials with the polished for all her soulful vocal chops, but ROB TOGNONI: The Bullingdon – Driving suitably joyous sound of sunshine electro- her perky, fresh-faced image and radio- blues-rock from the Tasmanian guitarist and his popsters Alphabet Backwards and chums. friendly take on new dance sounds has made power trio band, back at the Famous Monday DEFINITELY MIGHTBE + ADORED: Fat her a shoe-in for greater success and, Blues. Lil’s, Witney – Oasis and Stone Roses doubtless, a good few awards when the next tributes. season comes round. TUESDAY 26th ALL-DAYER: The Red Lion, Yarnton – Full JAZZ CLUB: The Bullingdon – With The free day of live music, featuring The Mighty Howard Peacock Quintet. Redox, The Pete Fryer Band, Jeremy Hughes, GOOD VIBRATIONS: Café Tarifa Moon Leopard, Jamming At Jack’s, Mark OPEN MIC SESSION: The Port Mahon Atherton, Mark Bosley, Beard Of Destiny, Jack Bourne, Maeve Bayton, Headington Hillbillies, WEDNESDAY 27th The New Moon and more. FUNKY FRIDAY: The Bullingdon PHAT SESSIONS: The Cellar FOUNDATION REGGAE: East Oxford Community Centre th THURSDAY 28 HEADINGTON HILLBILLIES: The Red AGNESS PIKE + RELEASE THE BATS + Lion, Yarnton THE CELLAR FAMILY: The Bullingdon – HQ: The Cellar – Drum&bass club night.

Nightshift listings are free. Deadline for inclusion in the gig guide is the 20th of each month - no exceptions. Call 01865 372255 (10am-6pm) or email listings to [email protected]. All listings are copyright of Nightshift and may not be reproduced without permission April Every Monday THE FAMOUS MONDAY NIGHT BLUES The best in UK, European and US blues. 8-12. 4th THE MARCUS MALONE BAND (USA) 11th THE CLARE FREE BAND (UK) 18th THE CARVIN JONES BAND (USA) 25th ROB TOGNONI (Australia)

Every Tuesday THE OXFORD JAZZ CLUB Free live jazz plus DJs playing r’n’b, funk and soul until 2am 5th ALISON BENTLEY 12th / 26th THE HOWARD PEACOCK QUINTET 19th THE HUGH TURNER BAND

Thursdays 7 th BACK&TOTHELEFT presents SPRING OFFENSIVE / GUNNING FOR TAMAR / DEER CHICAGO 14th KILL CITY SAINTS / HOT HOOVES / ZEM 21st THE EPSTEIN / LEFT WITH PICTURES 28th AGNESS PIKE / RELEASE THE BATS / THE CELLAR FAMILY

Every Friday FUNKY FRIDAY Funk, soul, boogie and R&B. 10.30pm-2.30am; £2.

Early Friday shows 1st NINE-STONE COWBOY / MOGMATIC 8th MACKATING 15th WILLIE NILE 22nd PINDROP PERFORMANCES presents A HAWK & A HACKSAW / WE AERONAUTS / BRICKWORK LIZARDS / CAT MATADOR / MESSAGE TO BEARS / THE BRAINDEAD COLLECTIVE. 4.30pm / £12adv 29th BACK&TOTHELEFT presents THE ROCK OF TRAVOLTA / BLEEDING HEART NARRATIVE / VON BRAUN Includes entry to FUNKY FRIDAY afterwards

Saturdays 2nd LANDSCAPE – old and new school dance – 10-3am; £7 9th SELECTA – drum’n’bass – 10-3am 16th DJ SEX MACHINE 23rd DUBSTEP 30th SIMPLE – house, techno – 10-4am

Join us on Facebook: Backroom @ The Bully photo: Johnny Moto LIVE

MOGWAI / The Regal The Twilight Sad’s last album was called the title of the most influential band in Britain, that title would have gleefully handed you your ‘Forget The Night Ahead’ - words which, with it would be tonight’s headliners. At around the ears back in a box, now it’s a sumptuous, - hindsight, might have been sage advice same time as the White Stripes convinced a led comfort blanket. Not that that’s a bad thing, whispered in their ear as they stepped on stage. legion of aspiring musicians that bassists were as it happens. Unexpectedly, gentler tracks The quintet are the latest in a long line of bands superfluous, were busy demonstrating ‘Auto Rock’ and ‘Hunted By A Freak’ initially to enjoy the patronage of fellow Glaswegians the value of doing away with vocals. Why hit closer to the bullseye than the likes of ‘Rano Mogwai – Fuck Buttons, Dead Meadow, Bardo cripple your band with some cretin Pano’, which doesn’t prove that thrilling once Pond, Sophia, Part Chimp forerunners caterwauling through clichés when you could each of the guitars has come in in turn, grinding Ligament, to name just a few – and for the most just let the music speak for itself? on the others like rusty cogs in heavy part struggle to justify their place in such Hard to believe it’s now fourteen years since machinery - a poor relation to older, more illustrious company. The disjunction between they made their grand entrance with ‘Young savage beasts like the unaired ‘Ratts Of The that searing and deliciously bleak second record Team’. Capital’ or ‘ Mega-Snake’. But ‘San (which recalls turn-of-the-century Idlewild In that time they’ve flirted with mainstream Pedro’ gives greater satisfaction and ‘Helicon 1’ gazing intently shoewards but which is largely popularity, soundtracked countless is sublime, a moment of class more than ignored in the setlist) and this scuzzy shambles, documentaries and closed a sun-drenched sufficient to excuse ’ heinous in which out-of-tune vocals collide with a Saturday afternoon set on Glastonbury’s knitwear. It’s swiftly followed by ‘Hardcore...’s stodgy mix, is almost as great as the huge Pyramid Stage with their 25-minute-long epic climax, ‘You’re Lionel Richie’ – a song disconnect between band and audience. version of a Jewish hymn. As you do. named, or so I heard, after the only words a But then something happens, ‘Cold Days 2008’s ‘’ underlined that hungover could muster when From The Birdhouse’ specifically, which shoves Mogwai certainly hadn’t lost their knack for he encountered the great man at an airport. vocalist James Graham up front alone to lament naming songs (‘I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead’ Occasional violinist appears to “ruined plans” before exploding into life and and ‘I Love You, I’m Going To Blow Up Your perform vocals on arguably their most suddenly everything’s different. The shy School’, anyone?); ironic, really, that conventional song to date, ‘Mexican Grand Graham, sheepish between songs and hitherto instrumentalists should have such a way with Prix’, but it’s blown away by an encore which side-on to the crowd, is now gazing straight out, words, but it did suggest a bunch of pioneers features a towering ‘’, the noise slowly fixing each of us with a stare while starting to fall into the trap of sleepwalking in eruption still heart-stopping after all these mouthing incantations rendered mysterious and their own footsteps. years, and the viciously heavy-duty riffage of unintelligible by the dense racket in which his This year’s follow-up, ‘Hardcore Will Never ‘’. bandmates are cloaking him. Unnerving and, Die, But You Will’, contributes opener ‘White The godfathers of post-rock might be growing ultimately, remarkable. Noise’, and it’s perhaps a mark of where old gracefully, but they’re not doing it quietly. If Oxfordshire’s own Radiohead have a rival for they’re now at. Whereas in the past a song with Ben Woolhead THE STRANGLERS / WILKO JOHNSON O2 Academy It’s good to see Wilko Johnson still sliding rippling style, with its nod to The Doors, edgily around a stage, just like he did in the remains pivotal to their sound, the guitar 70s with legendary Canvey Island pub as before staying sparse and low in the rockers Dr Feelgood. Still ably assisted by mix. The Blockheads’ Norman Watt-Roy on Though their long career has progressed bass, he provides proof of the enduring down some unexpected avenues and appeal of the blues. Though about to hit changes of style, tonight’s set concentrates retirement age, the effortless way he fires as expected on the early years and its sing- out riffs and lead runs serves as a lesson to along hit singles. With Burnel returning to today’s young pretenders. lead vocal on favourites like ‘Five Tonight’s packed audience is far more Minutes’, this is as authentic a Stranglers varied in age and gender than expected, in experience as you can have in 2011. But fact I’ve never seen so many women at a the night isn’t quite the triumph it could Records, CDs and punk gig. Not that The Stranglers’ music have been. Maybe it’s the night of the was particularly punky, the link lay more in week (is there some rule that says gigs like DVD Fair their uncompromising attitude and lifestyle. this have to be on a Tuesday?) or could As if to confirm this they open with ‘I Feel there be a whiff of weariness in the air? Like A Wog’, which was pretty un-PC even Certainly the lacklustre mix doesn’t help. SATURDAY 7th May in 1978, and that’s saying something. Singer Or maybe it’s just that The Stranglers’ Baz Warne does a competent job at taking longstanding preoccupation with death and 10.30am-3.30pm on Hugh Conwell’s songs, while his three the darker corners of life precludes too ROCK-POP-DANCE-GOLDEN OLDIES-INDIE- bandmates have all been knocking them much celebration. But then comes SOUL-TECHNO-HIP-HOP-JAZZ-LATIN-REGGAE- out since 1975. Drummer Jet Black is now ‘Duchess’, a concise and eloquent tale DRUM&BASS-GARAGE—R&B-DISCO-1950s- 72 but doesn’t look it; bassist Jean- about a lonely aristocrat, and we’re 2000s. Brand new back catalogue CDs £4 - £7 Jacques Burnel still exudes lean Gallic cool reminded of the time when their position and retains his light musical touch, in the pop A-League was unimpeachable. acquired from his time as a classical To close, ‘No More Heroes’ hammers the guitarist. Only Dave Greenfield appears nail in. markedly changed, looking tiny behind his The Stranglers were always unpredictable, rack of keyboards, the pudding bowl hard to read and slightly unsettling, and on haircut and long moustache replaced by an tonight’s showing little has changed. anonymous crew cut. His unmistakable Art Lagun

THE OSCILLATION / LISTING SHIPS / VILESWARM The Wheatsheaf The purpose of is to...?. You getting downright brutal. Drummer David at the back there,...to?. Balch, stripped to the waist like a mad- Okay, let me help you out. Evoke? eyed Yakudo, and bassist Stuart Fowkes Transport? Instrumentals bring the create the sort of almighty ruckus during sounds; your mind, assisted or otherwise, the numerous build-ups, that could easily brings the means of enjoyment. be marketed as a chest rattling expectorant. Vileswarm toy with these concepts. Lee Post-rock as medicine. The satisfying Riley (also of Euhedral) and renowned result is an organic Holy Fuck-type mix of local electronic experimenter David K jazz and techno groove born of out of Frampton turn their music over and look rock’s last roll. up its arse, not out of pretentiousness but The dense amniotic experience of The because they think it might be cool. They Oscillation turns your brain into a blurry explore the negative space of sound, the snow-globe of psychedelic -cum- sound around the shape of sound, and take . Tonight, touring new album you to a period in pre-time that even Brian ‘Veils’, it’s plain to see that they’ve at last Cox can’t imagine, where the hum of an found their personal space, less Stone unlit photon is wrapped round a simple Roses via The Telescopes and more a funereal, plucked refrain, and they exorcise belladonnic haze of their own making, with VENUE PHONE NUMBERS and swell it for the complete, one-track, the occasional nod towards Spaceman 3. set of twenty-two minutes, using They even have an oil slide projectionist O2Academy: 0844 477 2000 (ticketweb) electronica, bowed guitar and Gregorian with them, who sits off-stage, in the dark, The Bullingdon: 01865 244516 howls on what appears to be the handset beavering like an alchemist over glowing The Wheatsheaf: 01865 790380 of a CB rig. It’s both primordial and post- lights and racks of colourful eyedroppers, The Cellar: 01865 244761 apocalyptic. You can’t argue with that. transforming the room into a mindwarp The New Theatre: 0844 847 1585 On the strength of this their debut gig, pavilion, and by the time they are deep The Jericho Tavern: 01865 311775 Listing Ships could turn out to be one of into the pulsing ‘Future Echo’ everyone is Fat Lil’s: 01993 703385 the better ‘supergroups’ Oxford has playing I-spy with my third-eye, far, far East Oxford Community Centre: produced. Bits of Sunnyvale, Witches and away on Planet Gong, while dancing for 01865 792168 Piexo all bring to the party the tightness of world peace. The Port Mahon 01865 790970 their experience and don’t waste time in Paul Carrera Flats photo: Johnny Moto

FLATS / PHANTOM THEORY / DEAD JERICHOS The Jericho Tavern Dead Jerichos take a while to warm up tonight; they’d been up for signing boot boys back in that we can decipher. Scrawny frontman Dan it’s three songs into their set before they even 84. Devine, with his untidy explosion of hair remove their coats, Leo Rayner engulfed in his If some of Dead Jerichos’ intricacies are lost scrunched under a baseball cap and dressed in fur-lined hood as he thrashes his kit. Soon under the welter of effects, Phantom Theory skin-tight white jeans, looks like a cross though they’re cooking on gas, frontman Craig dispense with almost all subtleties from the off, between a lost Ramone and Otto from The Evans sporting a new quiff that makes him, heaving straight into a five-megaton barrage of Simpsons but fancies himself as the new Steve combined with his Fred Perry shirt, look like a gruff, agricultural riffage and proceedin to make Ignorant. His band, after an odd, sludgecore young Dave Gahan trying to sneak into a hay like being systemically opening that’s more Melvins than anything, northern soul all-nighter. These days Dead dismembered by a particularly truculent Black settle into a grindcore remake of old Crass and Jerichos’ set comes with so much reverb it Flag. Modern technology means two people can Conflict agit-punk thrash while he rails against sounds like a calamity in a cutlery factory make a lot of noise in today’s music but it bears something and nothing. Turns out he’s Alan echoing back off a Himalayan valley, and it’s a repeating – Phantom Theory make a lot of noise McGee’s long-lost son, which might explain glorious if odd collision of sounds, uptight and for a duo. They’re all battering-ram beats, some of the current hype surrounding the band. moddish but tinged with subterranean darkness. primal hardcore riffs and dual shouty vocals and It’s hugely disappointing, especially since Flats’ Back in the 80s such a combination would never if it does them an injustice to describe them as a singles so far have been decent retro-punk have been allowed: mods were too busy kicking barrage of noise, we’re enjoying it all too much noise. Really, if Conflict’s Colin Jerwood chunks out of art-school goth kids to think to care about stuff like justice. wasn’t a militant vegan, he’d eat this sorry about nicking their music back then, but this is Flats are probably screaming about justice. bunch of posers for breakfast. what 4AD’s roster might have sounded like if Then again it might be their shopping list for all Ian Chesterton

KING CHARLES smooth flight and the eternally relaxed persona of King Charles makes the affair look lazy rather than comfortable. The Jericho Tavern The most obscure songs work the best; perhaps that’s just my personal King Charles is an odd character. He’s the type that makes you think desire to see a serious King Charles offering some quality and maturity. he’ll be arty, creative, aloof, even unreliable. He possibly plays Devil’s Either way, ‘Time of Eternity’ and ‘Mr. Flick’ seem to define him in a advocate regarding the Shoreditch fashion scene. He is all hair and much-improved light. This is when folky, candied harmonies are pretty attitude, a delight for teenagers. But this trait can be dangerous because much ditched and proper rock-based beats incorporated; only then does what really matters in the end is the music performed, ladies and the act becomes more dynamic and expansive armed with such gentlemen, with or without wigs. introversion and aggression. For the rest, the guitar is flat, the drums So King Charles is ready to burn down the stage, with band in tow, of sound like tin, the odd dance-like-bears-and-crocodiles look stupid and which his sister is a member, who apparently studied at Oxford the never-ending loops of notes compressed in one bar at the end of University. And there you have it, her classmates abound like his songs are totally unnecessary. extravagant hair does but so far, after the first and second tune, this music King Charles, for all the love you put on your hair, you should do the is a mish-mash of distorted Devendra Banhart-like pop with indie same with your entire performance. A pity. strokes. Even though the melodies are decent, they don’t take off into Liane Escorza ASAF SIRKIS BAND CAITLIN ROSE The Wheatsheaf The Jericho Tavern Israeli ex-pat Asaf Sirkis is best soloing. They are all about listening Caitlin Rose has subtly snuck through a set of honky-tonk known as the long -time drummer in and responding to each other and under the radar in many respects, sounds which fuse country with Gilad Atzmon’s Orient House playing duets more often than her country-filled melodies Americana. Whether she’s singing Ensemble as well being in the soloing. receiving rather less recognition about getting drunk in ‘Bottles’, excellent Nicholas Meier Group. He For most of the first set the band than tonight’s performance therapy in ‘Learnin’ To Ride’ or has been a frequent visitor to the draw you into their sound world suggests she deserves. Whilst her lost love in ‘Shanghai Cigarettes’, Spin stage with both and has a and then gently tip you off balance. songs are somewhat downbeat, somehow she makes what should reputation among the regulars as a Just as you’re thinking the gig is even melancholy at times, their be something forlorn fairly class act. So no surprise the place is too quiet for a band with massive wry look at life combines with her uplifting, and it’s clear my thoughts nearly full and there’s a tingle of powerhouse potential, they humorous stage banter culminating are echoed by a capacity crowd anticipation in the air, especially as unleash ‘Life Itself’ which Asaf to make those present realise who are captivated by her every tonight, instead of his regular guitar- introduces as a homage to all the they’ve witnessed something move. based electronic trio, Asaf is leading motorway miles his bands clock downright special. Nevertheless my own disgruntled a mini jazz supergroup with a up. It’s fast, loud and dark with The Jericho maybe isn’t the ideal thoughts around not being able to different line-up. great organ and impossibly fast place to witness such an affair and see are echoed by Caitlin herself Regular lead guitarist Tassos drumming, a car crash about to I’m trapped with no chance of ever who rants, “How am I supposed to Spiliotopoulous is on hand but happen and deeply satisfying. catching a glimpse of Caitlin’s face. do an encore in these places? Climb alongside him is Mercury- Whether it is the buzz hanging To be blown over, in spite of this, the fucking rafters or hide behind nominated Kit Downes, forsaking over from ‘Life…’ or the interval says it all. Her voice fills the room the air conditioning unit?” but it is his piano for bass guitar duties, and beer, both band and audience seem with earthy tones, never missing a coupled with a giggle that highlights much else, on the organ, and with so much more into it in their note despite singing with sincerity her childish side. As she huddles Mark Lockheart from Polar Bear on second set and the intensity in the and strength. Her PR people like to with her band towards the back of saxophones. room climbs whether the music is suggest she follows a lineage from the stage before returning with a Both sets tonight feature Asaf as the quieter spacey likes of ‘Ida’ or Patsy Cline and maybe she does, cover of Randy Newman’s ‘Marie’, composer with the band playing the upbeat vibe of a funky New but in many ways to create that Caitlin manages to sum herself up. tunes from the trio’s album ‘Letting Orleans- and Arabic-influenced comparison, or in fact any Her lyrics are not the most Go’ and taking Asaf’s tunes into cover of a Thelonious Monk tune. comparison, does her no justice at sophisticated and the music is at different territories by strongly When Downes plays an almost all because Caitlin has a spark and times not faultless, but her emphasising the dreamy, filmic spiritual organ intro to ‘Desert virtue all of her own. unabashed attitude to both song elements and hardly picking up on Vision’ you could hear the She opens with the ethereal and performance carry her through. the early jazz-rock sound which proverbial pin drop and I love it ‘Things Change’, before running Lisa Ward features on the CD. when Lockheart conjures Arabic The band quickly establishes that sounds from his sax. Most of the they are all about an ego free group second half Asaf has his eyes shut ethic. There is very little of the and the smile of a man totally in RALPH TOWNER & PAOLO FRESU tired jazz formula of stating a the zone. The North Wall theme and then each player Colin May Tonight’s musical adventures, in cranking up the reverb to the beautiful forum of the North emphasise darker passages. WILD SWIM Wall, are all about the interplay When he’s not playing, he stares between guitar and trumpet, two across at Towner as one The Cellar instruments rarely seen in the hypnotised, waiting for his next exclusive company of one another opportunity to react. On paper it seems inappropriate to collaborator Flying Lotus, but But the achievement, of course, is have a band like Wild Swim – there’s something of Talk Talk’s without at least a pesky rhythm not in individual skill, but how it’s glitchy but predominantly serene perfectionism about the way they section getting in the way. assembled into a greater whole. electro-flavoured ambient pop – deftly link up each instrument, Initially, it’s Ralph Towner Neither succumbs to an urge to playing to an up-for-it Fresh Out while the lysergic fuzz surrounding (imagine a history professor overcook things into a hideous The Box club crowd, but as soon as tonight’s performance makes them crossed with and you’re Miles Davis-versus-Yngwie the quintet’s opening burst of sound like the house band in some in the right territory) and his guitar Malmsteen contest, leaving space scattershot beats heralds their Bladerunner-world jazz club. acrobatics that seize the attention. for the pieces to sink in and leave arrival, you can see how they fit in. There are times where Wild Swim Not only does he hold down the Much of the tremulous invention seem to lose their focus, but equally rhythm and structure of each piece, their mark over time. Guitar and and subtlety that recently found it could simply be the intricacies of but he intersperses them with trumpet weave in and out of one them winning Nightshift’s Demo of their sound getting trampled under pyrotechnic flourishes of another, each taking turns to the Month does get lost in the mix the weight of venue noises and it’s accomplishment and speed that illuminate the other by contrast and and amid the chatter of the crowd, telling they make their mark better belie his seventy years, dancing complement. Their interaction has but it allows them to ramp up their on funkier numbers nearer the end, across the fretboard with a the effortless brilliance of two game at times, the busily thrumming the closing song leaning into the dexterity just the right side of musicians perfectly in sync with clamour of guitars, electronics and shimmer and thump of big beat. ostentatious. one another – much less a duel beats providing a firm foundation A band like this will always sound Fresu, one of the biggest names between two instruments than an for Richard Sansom’s rich, powerful better without the distractions that on the Italian jazz scene, is embrace. voice, an unusual instrument in come with a live gig and you brilliantly expressive, not just as a Tonight’s show is yet another itself, veering into something that wonder where a sympathetic and player, but as a performer. triumph for Oxford might almost be some off-kilter imaginative producer might take Knotted over his seat, eyes closed, Contemporary Music, who Japanese rock opera at one point. them, but Wild Swim – all still in trumpet bowed almost to the floor, continue to fly the flag for the most Wild Swim’s rarefied take on their teens – have got more than the range of moods and tones he’s creative and groundbreaking music electro-infected pop will inevitably enough about them to warrant able to wring from his instrument is in the city. draw comparisons with Radiohead immediate investigation. remarkable – even employing his Stuart Fowkes and recent Thom Yorke Dale Kattack effects rack as an instrument, member of the audience. This would all just be escape from the modern world. They’re like a LA SHARK / A.HUMAN silly were the music not so brilliantly quirky – a steampunk Byrds on songs like ‘Number 2, / SPARKADIA sort of cosmic avant-garde funk pop, veering Infinity Mansions’, their hazy, almost lazy, towards Muse-like levels of orchestration and pastoral psychedelic jangle pop at once world The Jericho Tavern pomp in ‘Hotel Chevalier’ and 60s jangles in weary and full of longing for a time when great ‘Modern Man’, but never seemingly taking Sparkadia have played to thousands of people discoveries were still waiting to be made. There itself too seriously amongst the slap bass and in their native Australia, so tonight’s sparse are echoes of Shack on ‘Ghostchild’, but dischord. The highlight is the angular, paranoia- audience must be a bit of a shock. Luckily, they ‘Lovely Flying Machine’ is a full-on George laden ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’, a (well, he – the bequiffed Alex Burnett – and his Harrison wig-out. Their opening number dreams double A-side with A.Human’s ‘Take Me touring band) fill the room anyway with their of “retiring to the 1950s” and ‘Girl In A Home’. I haven’t had this much fun at a gig in lush, epic guitar/synth pop. ‘Talking Like I’m Headband’ mentions wearing flares for the first ages. Brilliant Falling Down Stairs’ is a Bowie-esque joy; time, but rather than coming over as hopeless Kirsten Etheridge ‘Mary’ a beautifully heartfelt crescendo; nostalgists lost in the past, The Relationships ‘China’ comes filled with great 80s evoke a time and a world before our sense of powerchords, and the cover of Kelis’ ‘Acapella’ wonder hadn’t yet been worn away. is a stadium romp. The whole thing is a INTERNATIONAL Playing their first gig together in a year, and set cinematic melodyfest, and I’ve totally fallen in for another hiatus, International Jetsetters up love with it. JETSETTERS / THE tonight’s rock quota considerably, whether it’s The crowd is still small for A.Human, but it RELATIONSHIPS / LES their showy blues numbers like ‘It’s Not About doesn’t seem like much would stop A.Human You’, or more piledriving pieces like ‘Inside having fun. There’s space to mingle, which CLOCHARDS Out’. The former – thankfully few in number – brings the engaging sequin-jacketed singer, Dave are unappealing and shrill, fit only for bleak Human, to the dancefloor for the whole gig. So The Port Mahon midweek blues jams, but the latter are great now everyone in the room is dancing – on There’s only two of Les Clochards tonight, room-devouring swirls of psychedelic noise of Dave’s orders – to the shaggy disco pop of which we guess makes them Les Petites the kind you’d hope for and expect from a band songs like the insanely catchy ‘Take Me Clochards, but in the intimate confines of The featuring two members of The Jesus & Mary Home’. Port, it works quite well, Karen Cleave’s Chain’s live line-up. Singer Fi McFall has a La Shark, however, are extraordinary – mostly playful, flighty accodion lightening Ian Nixon’s stridently otherworldly, slightly smoky voice due to the presence of flamboyant and slurred baritone. It’s wistful, after-hours stuff, not far from , best demonstrated on uninhibited singer Samuel Geronimo and you feel we should all be sitting around the slow-burning ‘My Redemption’, and if Deschamps. There are headstands, manic tables sipping Beaujolais rather than standing International Jetsetters are, as it seems, to be dancing and gradual disrobing; he gets down to around supping lager. little more than an occasional concern for all his underpants by the third song. Then come The Relationships have a similar cosiness concerned, they, like the rest of tonight’s local backflips, breakdancing and writhing around on about them but they demand your attention. music old guard, prove they’ve still got plenty the floor. And at one point, Dave Human is Because there are stories to tell here – stories of to offer the modern world. challenged to and loses a dance-off with a explorers and strange flying machines and an Dale Kattack

DOCTOR SHOTOVER: Beatley Eye Ah yes, the Fabs loved their nosh. I was their sous-chef for a while, and [modest cough] unwitting inspiration for many of their finest songs… Buy me a drink and I will tell you more, old boy… ah, thanks, very decent of you… slurp-o… Well, I gave George his first macrobiotic curry in 1966 - after which he wrote his great (and later re-titled) song I am the Wind… Within You, Without You. Never one to buck a trend, Ringo quickly penned his famous Yellow Submarine Sandwich, and then John and Paul’s I’ve Got a Filling followed two years later. (Cuh, typical! They were always the last on the bus, those two, creatively speaking). So, what do you think of that? Worth a free bevy or two, wack? Yes, ha ha, I can parlez Liverpudlian with the best of them. As can St Liam of Gallagher, I can’t help noticing, despite hailing from [looks puzzled], well, another part of the North. In fact if I didn’t know that John Winston O’Boogie Lennon was dead, I’d say listening to the Beady Eye debut that he was doing the vocals on most of these songs. Mind you, if they had any sense, Messrs Bell, Gallagher et al would do a cover of Lovely Rita with Lord Macca on lead vocals… and I’m sure Sir George Martin would be delighted to repeat his piano solo in the middle, plus tell a few of his interminable anecdotes about “the boys”… Original title? (She’s A) Lovely Eater… And what about the song which I wrote for the Fabs, more of a sketch really, while I was doing the minesweeping, ahem, clearing up after one of their dinners… Not interested…? Well, f*** you very much then! [Dr S wanders off to annoy other customers, humming, “I’m a Boo-oo-oozer”] Next Month: Please, Feed Me HARD DAY’S FRIGHT – will play for food Introducing….

Nightshift’s monthly guide to the best local bands bubbling under Wild Swim

Who are they? Wild Swim are five 18 and 19 year-olds from Oxford (Richard Sansom – vocals, synths; Carlos Posada – guitar, electronics; Jacob Lively – bass, synths; Sam Robinson – drums, percussion; Jamie Jay – guitar, synths, cello). Previously the band went under the names Parachutes and Picturehouse. In their first incarnation they ended up in the Nightshift Demo Dumper, but as Wild Swim the band won January’s Demo Of The Month. They quintet have gigged locally and in London and been interviewed on Tom Robinson’s 6Music show. A new EP is due out later this month. something akin to avant garde genius.’ It was fairly disheartening, but What do they sound like? looking back, we appreciate that the CD was fairly awful.” Wild Swim cherry pick from myriad different genres and cleverly knit the Their favourite other Oxfordshire act is: resulting disparate influences into something cohesive and their own. Their “Glass Animals: they’re brilliant on both recording and live.” hazy, glitchy sound owes something to psychedelia, house, techno, classical, If they could only keep one album in the world, it would be: 80s pop, even opera, Richard’s startlingly dramatic voice soaring over the “‘Calling Out Of Context’ by Arthur Russell. It has a wide range of genres shifting, lysergic musical textures of the band. Nightshift’s recent demo and moods which makes it a really exciting and beautiful album.” review admired their ability not to be pinned down and suggested they’d When is their next gig and what can listeners expect? make a great soundtrack to a David Lynch movie dream sequence. “No gigs lined up just now but the next EP will be coming out in April. What inspires them? Expect a slight increase in the use of electronics as well as more layering of “Radiohead; Arthur Russell; Wild Beasts; Grizzly Bear; Henrik Schwarz; the vocals. It has a distinctly different mood to our last EP and the Flying Lotus; The Roots and Four Tet.” structure of the songs is slightly more linear and progressive.” Career highlight so far: Their favourite and least favourite things about Oxford music are: “We all went on holiday together to Jamie’s house on the coast in “There are loads of brilliant bands and a great deal of enthusiasm for them. where our song ‘Happy Heat’ was recorded with just a laptop and a cheap The only problem with this is it can lead to nights that don’t always gel, microphone. All the sounds you hear on the song are organic, taken from involving bands whose sounds don’t necessarily complement the other the sea, the closing of a book, or even the scrunching of a crisp packet.” bands on the night.” And the lowlight: You might love them if you love: “Back in 2009, Nightshift put us in the Demo Dumper. We were described Four Tet; The Blue Nile; The Associates; Arthur Russell; Flying Lotus. as `some sausage-fingered bedroom hermit collapsing on the random play Hear them here: buttons of every instrument in his room and deluding himself that it’s www.soundcloud.com/wildswimmusic

Whatever happened to… those heroes nouveau-progsters Ultrasound at times. By the time of ‘Stuntman, rootsier influences had taken hold, laying the foundations for Jamie’s current band, The Family Machine. WHEN? The Daisies / Medal The Daisies were stars of the early-90s, while Medal’s time came in the latter part of the decade. After an early single, ‘Aeroplane Day’, Daisies’ sole album, ‘Kowloon House’ – named after the Chinese take-away on WHO? Walton Street that still stands today – came out in 1995 on IRS. After The Daisies and Medal, while two bands were sort of the same band in two morphing into Medal shortly after, a succession of singles, starting with different stages of its life. Formed in 1990 by a group of school-friends from ‘Ordinary’, began in 1998, while debut album ‘Drop Your Weapon’ came out Eynsham, The Daisies comprised Jamie Hyatt (vocals, guitar); Mark Willis on Polydor in 1999. Its self-released follow-up came out in 2001, by which (guitar); Dan Kemp (bass) and Simon ‘Lemmy’ Wickson (drums). They time the band were coming to a halt, although they never officially split up. quickly won a following locally playing alongside the likes of Supergrass, WHY? Death By Crimpers and others at the Jericho Tavern, gracing the cover of The Daisies are fondly remembered as effervescent starlets of that fertile local music mag Curfew and, after recording at Courtyard Studios, were taken scene than launched Radiohead and Supergrass; for their part, Medal will be under the wing of Radiohead and Supergrass manager Chris Hufford. An best remembered for being managed by Chris Hufford, signing to Polydor, album on IRS followed. Gradually frustrated at a lack of progress, the quartet touring the States with Supergrass, enjoying some serious radio play and morphed into Medal, recruiting keyboard player Richard Brinklow, signing coming tantalisingly close to emulating the other big local stars of the day to Polydor and touring with Cast, The Dandy before a combination of industry cynicism and Warhols and The Bluetones. Dan later left to be band inertia caused their demise. replaced by Ollie Wilcox for second album WHERE? ‘Stuntman’. Jamie of course is still active on the local scene, WHAT? fronting The Family Machine and running While the two bands were pretty much the Beard Museum Records; Mark still plays same group of people, with a change of bassist occasionally locally with Toulouse. Of the and the addition of Richard Brincklow on others, Simon lives in Australia; Dan is an keyboards, they were quite different bands. award-winning landscape gardener; Olli is a Medal were a sprightly, raucous punk-pop band, novelist and one of the UK’s top wakeboarders, all bubbling singalong anthems sweetly coated in while Richard lives in Brighton and still plays Stooges-inspired fuzz. After initially following a keyboards in bands. similar path, Medal’s sound became far cleaner HOW? and more epic, almost prog at times, with nods The Daisies’ ‘Kowloon House’ is apparently to The Verve and Pink Floyd on tracks like available online for one cent, if you’re feeling ‘Porno Song’ and ‘Up Here For Hours’; as their extravagant. Medal’s ‘Drop Your Weapon’ is vision moved from the toilet circuit to readily available on iTunes and Spotify, while stadiums, they developed an elegant sweep that there are a couple of tunes to listen to at saw them compared favourably to fellow-90s www.myspace.com/medalworld DEMOSDEMOS

more cohesion and a visit to the local lyric DEMO OF masterclass and they could be onto something. THE MONTH STACK OF MUSTARD & THE HAMSTERS The sort of band name that Mustard & The MONOCLE Monocle would doubtless have dumped in the An Oxfordshire-Wiltshire quartet whose past bin early on for not trying quite hard enough musical life has found them going out under to sound eccentric, Stack Of Hamsters is the the names Whoa! That’s My Tail and work of someone at Warehouse Studios, Wooden Leg, Real Foot, which tend to make which means we’re expecting some serious Mustard & The Monocle seem pretty heavy noise, but instead it’s more like a mid- conventional by comparison. The music’s 70s psychedelia-tinged roadhouse band, all big not as oddball as the band name, but it is rolling chords and bluesy hollering. They do bloody good, the first impression of a get heavier as they go on, mind, ‘Like You slightly heavy-handed, or maybe just overly Did Before’ all balls-to-the-wall bluesy metal blokey, Stornoway quickly brushed aside as of a decidedly pre-thrash ilk, while strongest they reveal themselves as hearty and slightly of the bunch is ‘Hook, Line & Sinker’, which heroic trad folksters with a bellyful of ale gets closer to the whole hairy metal hog and a couple of old punk albums tucked away roast, chugging along merrily like there’s no in their collection. ‘Skin & Bone’ is an, if tomorrow, or any passage of time since about not exactly euphoric, then at least 1981 for that matter. optimistic shanty, matey harmonies riding on the banjo and squeezebox melody, while ‘The Guards & The Guns’ is similarly rustic ROSS BENNETT and full of stomping olde-worlde folk vim, “I wrote these songs because it was the best faint echoes of Johnny Flynn and even The way to get across my thoughts and show Men They Couldn’t Hang hovering at the people the workings of my mind,” offers bar. Best of the lot, though, is ‘Heart & Ross, thankfully preferring the acoustic soul- Soul’, an upbeat and carefree slice of airy bearing approach to the Raoul Moat shoot- folk-pop with its tune half-inched from The any-fucker-who-gets-in-my-way technique. Tansads’ ‘English Rover’. You know what, it He does add, though, that “the songs are a really is starting to feel like spring. terrifying mix of everything, anything, and nothing,” which feels like some kind of existential scream into the void, but in reality translates into some not dislikable but not E 4 ECHO exactly inspirational acoustic folk-pop, songs Overall it’s another pretty rum month for like `Wait & See’, full of easy pastoral local demos, but this lot are pretty decent on whimsy in the vein of Crowded House, while balance even if they don’t always quite seem `My Bitter End’ shows he has an ear for a to know what they want to be. Demo opener decent tune. Not sure about the transatlantic ‘Wolf’ features a big, bold baritone voice accent at times and Ross does occasionally over some ramshackle, rustic indie pop, as if fall into that common pitfall of acoustic some old Las Vegas Crooner has been singer- of strumming harder and dumped into the local toilet circuit with only faster to try and express more intense a battered Scott Walker album to bring him emotions. We can’t comment on the straight up to date on musical matters and it works acoustic cover of Plain White T’s `Rhythm well to an extent; it’s a great old voice he’s Of Love’ since our doctor told us not to got, but he does to spoil the effect by belting listen to American punk-pop bands in case we 876084 out the lines “Did you see a wolf? I saw a got provoked into heading off on a Raoul wolf!” repeatedly, which just gets us to Moat-style shoot-any-fucker-who-gets-in- thinking about Tweety Pie chirping about my-way rampage. Okay he didn’t really but seeing a puddy tat cweeping up on him. we did persuade him to give us a prescription Probably not the effect he as hoping for. for a very decent bottle of Shiraz to bring our ‘Through The Looking Glass’ is less bold but blood pressure down a bit. R A D I A T E far sweeter, a cutesy twinkle of pastoral pop that reminds us of one-time local faves CONOR OWEN A NEW MONTHLY BAND NIGHT Foxes! who we think now live down in Brighton and recently supported Stornoway Conor boasts of his “unique” project of THE JERICHO TAVERN, OXFORD up at Brookes. The tune itself reminds us of driving his bright yellow camper van around The Communards’ ‘You Are My World’, various cities before Tweeting the time and band submissions : which all things considered, is no bad thing. place of a live show in the van at only a ‘White Noise’ initially promises some couple of hours notice. Nice DIY ethic but [email protected] -style railroad country rolling hardly unique. Maybe it’s just a ruse to excuse but ends up sounding half asleep round the the fact he probably wouldn’t exactly fill a No covers bands, please campfire when you really want that big ol’ proper venue with his pretty but common-or- www.radiatepromotions.com baritone to come back out, full of whisky garden acoustic strummery, any reasonable and a more fearsome sense of fun. Still, a bit critique of which is rendered near impossible by his Myspace refusing to play more than (and even that’s debatable) – but never music. the first 30 seconds of any of his songs. Or All fine and well if a great pop tune doesn’t maybe that’s another unique facet of Conor’s upset anyone but if the apparently sole show. And anyway, given each and every one reason for its existing seems to be to not of us is brought up repeatedly being told offend anyone, then it is no longer a song, it never to get into a stranger’s car or agree to a soulless abomination. Scratch Tuesday have meet up with people who’ve contacted us an entire pre-watershed bathtub full of the online, isn’t it a bit much to expect folks to things. Led by a female singer with the sort simply clamber into the back of some dodgy of semi-trained-sounding voice that might old van on the pretence of a “pop concert”? fleetingly imagine itself to be Billie Holiday Admit it Mr Owen, you’re a crazed nutjob and (or more realistically, Kiki Dee) but politely anyone fool enough to fall for your ghastly puts aside any semblance of fire, soul or raw plan will undoubtedly end up as the middle emotion in favour of wafty warbling, Scratch section of some human caterpillar in your Tuesday’s music is so bland and non- mobile laboratory somewhere off the A34. committal it’s the musical equivalent of Travelodge décor. Sparsely-laid acoustic guitars give the vocals full rein to lead but THE COURTYARD STUDIO IONEYE they lack any kind of creative compass and We reviewed this lot this time last year and everything strums and hums along with PROTOOLS HD2, MTA 980 CONSOLE 32/24/ were probably kinder than we might absolutely no discernible character. ‘Amazed’ 24, OTARI MTR90 MK2 24 TRACK TAPE otherwise be due to them all being 14 or 15 introduces some bongos into the mix, while MACHINE, 2 TRACKING ROOMS, SUPERB years old. One year on, are they older and ‘365’ really goes to town by bringing in a full CONTROL ROOM WITH GOOD SELECTION wiser? Well, if nothing else, the singer seems but honestly, John Bonham on one OF MICS & OUTBOARD GEAR, + MIDI to have manned up a bit, although we’re not of his legendary benders would be hard FACILITIES (INC LOGIC AUDIO, AKAI convinced a teenager from has pressed to kick any life into it. Outside in the S1000, OLD SKOOL ROLAND ETC.) any reason or excuse to be singing like a pub- crisp spring sunshine we can hear bees weary Yorkshireman (“Well, ‘e moost be buzzing about their seasonal business. Residential facilities included. fookin’ freeeeezin’” being a notable Strangely their innocuous droning doesn’t fill www.courtyardrecordingstudio.com example). Sounds like Ioneye reelly reelly us with the urge to rip our own guts out of PHONE PIPPA FOR DETAILS want to be Arctic Monkeys. A lot. And who our torsos just to remind us that we’re still ON 01235 845800 can blame them when you think of all them actually alive and not sat in Hell’s own platinum discs and stadium shows. We’re waiting lobby. certainly not going to piss on that particular dream. Except to perhaps mention they’ve still a little way to go yet. Is that patronising enough? Condescending pats on heads all THE DEMO round. Can we go and listen to Anaal Nathrakh now please? DUMPER THE LE VENS Jesus Christ on a shiny red bike with flashing MONKEYSHINES green lights on top, if you’re asking us to Two songs here from a group of 16 and 17 review three specific tracks on your Myspace year olds from Culham, although they’re so site, at least have the decency to stick them indistinguishable from each other it might as together, rather than hidden amid the dozen well be just the one. ‘Memories’ is or so other lumpen towers of utter blinding rudimentary to say the least: drums clatter mediocrity that pass for your “art”, why untidily, guitar twinkles, trills and jangles in don’t you? Le Vens describe themselves on obstinately trebly fashion and the singer, who their site as “alternative”. Alternative to we suspect might not be human at all but what precisely? Proper music? What’s actually an adenoidal gerbil, searches for his alternative about this? It’s as bog-standard Vix Sinex nasal spray while trying to retro pub-rock as it’s possible to get without pronounce the song’s title in as many forming a Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts tribute act different ways as possible, with variable and calling yourselves Free Beer & Fags in emphasis on each syllable, before it all some misguided attempt at remedial prole collapses to some kind of conclusion. Ditto humour. There it is, chugging along with all for ‘In With The New’, right down to the the grace and elan of a slightly tipsy Vanessa over-repetition of the title, the song itself Feltz in the pizza aisle at Asda, quoting Joy comprised of approximately 99% breathless Division, The Clash and even Desmond emoting, hormonal regret and asthmatic Dekker as inspiration but playing a form of hysteria and 1% anything resembling a proper over-egged electric blues-rock so hackneyed tune. Only the band’s tender ages prevent us it makes the idea of seem saying, Monkeyshines? Monkeyshite, more unusually alluring. `Viola’ is the band’s like. Bugger, slipped out anyway. obligatory slowie, with its obligatory guitar solo and sounds as laboured as an obese HGV driver’s heart after a double helping of pork SCRATCH TUESDAY pies and doughnuts and as constipated as said There are many things in life that should aim fat lump’s next bowel movement, the sight to be inoffensive – bereavement cards for and sound of which would doubtless be more example, or children’s party entertainers entertaining than this.

Send demos for review to: Nightshift, PO Box 312, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1ZU. Or email song links to [email protected], clearly marked Demo for review. IMPORTANT: no review without a contact address and phone number. No more than four tracks on a demo. If you can’t handle criticism, please don’t send us your demo.