email: [email protected] website: nightshift.oxfordmusic.net Free every month. NIGHTSHIFT Issue 191 June Oxford’s Music Magazine 2011

Meet Oxford’s electro-crazed masked avengers!

COLOUREDSCOLOUREDS

Plus: Introducing The Cellar Family B So glObal remembered

Local music news, reviews and previews and five pages of Oxford gigs. WIN CORNBURY FESTIVAL TICKETS!

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

COWLEY ROAD CARNIVAL However, we hope everyone will will be a South Park-only event understand that it is the right one this year after the organisers were to make in the financial unable to secure enough funding to circumstances.” cover the cost of staging the event For more info on Fiesta and on Cowley Road itself. Carnival, visit Carnival In South Park will go www.cowleyroadcarnival.co.uk ahead over the weekend of the 2nd- rd YOUNG KNIVES are among the latest set of acts to be confirmed for 3 July, with the Saturday night BBC OXFORD INTRODUCING Truck Festival. The local trio, who are currently on tour to promote event a fundraising fiesta headlined moves to a new day and time from th their new album, ‘Ornaments From The Silver Arcade’, and recently by Roots Manuva. this month. From May 29 the played an intimate set at Truck Store on Cowley Road as part of Carnival chairman John Hole dedicated local music show will go National Record Store Day, will join Gruff Rhys on the main stage on explained the decision to make this out on a Sunday at 9pm, moving the Saturday night. year’s carnival a more low-key from its traditional Saturday 6pm Other new acts confirmed include Liam Finn, Pete & The Pirates, affair: “A key consideration when slot. Electric Soft Parade, The ODC Drumline with Coloureds, Durrty planning an event such as this, Presenter Dave Gilyeat said, “I’ll Goodz, Rhosyn, Wild Swim and Solid Gold Dragons. especially when public funding is miss the Saturday evening slot but This year’s Truck Festival takes place over the weekend of 22nd-24th scarce, is how it can generate I was increasingly being told that July at Hill Farm in Steventon. income in order to cover costs. East people weren’t able to listen live as Bellowhead, Graham Coxon, Phil Selway, St Etienne, The Go! Team Oxford no longer attracts they were already out on the town and Roddy Woomble are among the highlights of this year’s line-up. regeneration funding, and the grants going to gigs. More and more Tickets for Truck, including day tickets, are on sale now, online from and sponsorship funds we have people are listening on demand via www.seetickets.com, and from the Truck Store and other outlets around received mostly apply to the either the website or podcast, Oxfordshire. Visit www.thisistruck.com for more details. events in South Park and cannot be which is brilliant, but hopefully transferred to the Road. Sunday nights will mean more “Therefore, staging the event on listeners can tune in live. They can the New Orleans-style hot jazz takes place at The Pegasus Theatre Cowley Road itself relies on catch us when they get back from outfit play the Bourbon Street on Saturday 11th June. Acts picked financial support from the evening song!” Stage on the Friday and Sunday as to perform this year are Listing businesses that will benefit from Having just celebrated its sixth well as the Snakepit Stage on the Ships, Branch Immersion, Stuart the event. Our ambition has always anniversary, BBC Oxford Saturday. They also appear at The Chalmers, Untitled and Praxis been to hold the Carnival on Introducing features the best new Isle of Wight’s Bestival over the Bold. Cowley Road, and we are local releases and demos, as well as weekend of 24th-25th September. Previous OCM Open star immensely grateful to all those who featuring interviews and live Duotone, meanwhile, plays a have contributed so far. However, sessions with Oxford acts. You can A SILENT FILM, Spring concert at the Warneford Chapel on we have not received support to listen to it live on 95.2fm, or Offensive, Charly Coombes and Tuesday 14th June as part of the scale that we had hoped and download the podcast at The New Breed and Alphabet OCM’s outreach and education planned for, resulting in a major www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts. Backwards are all featured on the programme. Visit shortfall in funding the costs of the soundtrack to First Touch Soccer, a www.ocmevents.org for more road closure. STORNOWAY’s rise and rise new game for iPod, iPod Touch and details and ticket booking. “This adverse position has led us continues this month as they play iPad. Charly Coombes contributes to make the extremely difficult the main stage at Glastonbury. The three songs: ‘Panic Between The BLACK HATS have launched a decision to hold Carnival only in local heroes open the main stage on Sheets’, ‘God Knows’ and ‘Dress competition to design the artwork South Park this year, where all of the Saturday (25th June), headlined To Kill’, while Spring Offensive for their next single, due for release the weekend’s events and activities by Coldplay and Elbow. The band offer ‘A Let Down’, Alphabet in the autumn. will be staged. also play at the Isle of Wight Backwards ‘Blink Of An Eye’ and The prize includes your artwork “This is a decision which we have Festival on June 11th and the Hop A Silent Film, ‘You Will Leave A being used for the release plus free not taken lightly, and we know that Farm Festival in Kent on July 1st. Mark’. entry for you and a friend to any or many people in the Oxford The Original Rabbit Foot all of the band’s autumn gigs; free community will be bitterly Spasm Band are another Oxford OXFORD CONTEMPORARY merchandise and more. Full details, disappointed, as we are ourselves. act set for Glastonbury this month; MUSIC’s annual Open Concert plus previews of a couple of the new tracks can be found at www.blackhatsmusic.co.uk. A GUY CALLED GERALD is the star attraction of this year’s Out To Graze Festival. Organised jointly by local club nights Bassmentality, FOR UP TO DATE ONLINE Slide and Simple, Out To Graze is set to feature over fifty live acts and th th LOCAL MUSIC NEWS don’t DJs over the weekend of 8 -10 July at Fir Tree Country Park. Joining forget to visit the Nightshift the house pioneer are Soul 2 Soul’s Jazzy B, Totally Enormous Extinct forum at Dinosaurs, Scratch Perverts’ Prime Cuts, Hipbone Slim & The nightshift.oxfordmusic.net or Kneetremblers, The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band, Lee Mortimer, www.musicinoxford.com, which Colin Dale, Backbeat Sound System, DJ Derek, The Drop, Onlyjoe, We also features regularly updated Are Dubist and Count Skylarkin. The festival also features theatre, art interactive reviews, live sessions, installations and a special Out To Graze Olympics. For more info and free downloads, interviews and a ticket details visit www.outtograze.com. local gig guide. WIN CORNBURY FESTIVAL TICKETS! Now firmly established as one of Riverside Stage, Cornbury’s line-up the cornerstones of Oxfordshire’s is eclectic but accessible, while summer festival season, away from the music, there are a CORNBURY FESTIVAL enters a host of activities, including Bhangra new era this year. Not only is it and Bollywood dance classes, expanding to three days, it’s also circus skills, poetry and craft moving to a new home. activities.

This year’s Cornbury Festival Tickets for Cornbury are on sale takes place over the weekend of the now, priced £160 for an adult 1st-3rd JULY at the GREAT TEW weekend camping pass, with ESTATE, near Charlbury, a concessions for under-18s and suitably idyllic setting for what under-16s and over-70s admitted must be among the most civilised free. Visit the festival website at festivals in the UK. www.cornburyfestival.com for full line-up and ticket details. Appealing to a family audience, Cornbury’s line-up this year is a Nightshift has a pair of weekend mix of big name stars, cult heroes camping tickets to give away. To and up and coming pop acts. win them, simply tell us In the first category are the weekend’s headline acts – James WHO IS THE CURRENT Blunt, The Faces and Status SINGER WITH THE FACES? Quo, alongside living legend Ray Davies (pictured) and 80s hitmaker Answers on a postcard (no email Cyndi Lauper. Joinging these acts entries please) to: Cornbury are the likes of rising rockabilly Competition, Nightshift Magazine, queen Imelda May; X-Factor PO Box 312, Kidlington, OX5 1ZU. runner-up Olly Murs; disco diva Johnson. Award-winning folk big around at the moment. Sophie Ellis-Bextor; folk-rock band Bellowhead should, as ever, Please include address and a faves The Saw Doctors and steal the show, confirming their With three stages of live music, daytime telephone number. Deadline British r’n’b pioneer Wilco reputation as the best live band including a host of local acts on the for entries is the 18th June. Truck advert COLOUREDSa quiet word with

“ELEVATOR MUSIC FOR THE dancefloor. Tsunami Appeal. Alongside Coloureds anyone else could be so taken by their descent to Hell”. “A closing-time Coloureds’ handful of live shows to are fellow local electro stalwarts like music. punch-up involving a pissed-up date have been similarly visceral with Space Heroes Of The People, The We wonder first how much of an Cyberman.” “Ha ha ha!” the duo donning sinister masks to Evenings, Keyboard Choir, Sikorski intention it was for Coloureds to Critical appraisal of Coloureds tends provide a more theatrical spectacle and Tiger Mendoza. emulate the attitude they had towards to involve either extreme than two blokes pressing buttons ‘We Do Not Have A Dinosaur’ metal in Xmas Lights? phraseology or utter bafflement. onstage might otherwise be. Like proves that while Oxford’s electronic MOONEY: “I don’t think it was The above quotes are all direct Holy Fuck, Coloureds prove that music scene is a pretty marginal affair intentional to fuck around responses to the local electronic duo’s electronic music can be as much fun compared to its indie, metal and folk specifically with techno and disco; we early demos, the last being 6Music DJ live as any rock band. scenes, what it lacks in quantity it started by wanting to make noise. It Tom Robinson’s on-air reaction. makes up for in quality. just so happens that’s what we’re THIS MONTH COLOUREDS Coloureds in particular are making listening to and it’s filtered into what COLOUREDS ARE MATT release their latest CD, ‘The Tom new fans at quite a rate. Following on we’re making now.” Mooney and Nick Brewer. The pair Hanks EP’, which finds them at their from their appearance at Blessing NICK: “This project certainly began were previously members of Xmas most accessible yet while retaining Force’s weekend warehouse party with a plan to include a lot of Lights, a technical, electro-metal the ability to wreak aural carnage on earlier in the year Nick and Matt will nastiness and weird timings and that band for whom extremity and a whim: a disjointed, propulsive be performing on the Blessing Force- first EP we put out is testament to awkwardness seemed like primary fusion of Aphex Twin-style electronic curated stage at Truck Festival in July this.” reasons for existence. experimentation, 90s rave and disco. where they are teaming up with the MOONEY: “Initially Nick and I were When Xmas Lights split two years The pair have also contributed an ODC Drumline. over-complicating things, so for the ago Matt and Nick decided to marry exclusive track, ‘Tennis’, to a new time being we’re trying to learn to that extremeness and awkwardness to compilation of local electronic acts, HAVING INTERVIEWED MATT keep it simple; we just want to make their shared love of techno and disco; ‘We Do Not Have A Dinosaur’; the and Nick previously with Xmas noise funky.” the result was thrilling and album has been compiled and released Lights we know they’re not ones to NICK: “We’re really keen to make disconcerting, a frenzied, tangled by local electro clubs The take themselves particularly seriously, the whole thing a lot more dancey. maelstrom of analogue synths, Psychotechnic League and The even while making music that should So we’ve set out to adapt Coloureds circuit-bent toy instruments and Modernist Disco and is being sold in be taken very seriously. Equally the to be exactly that, while keeping a lot furious beats. Murder on the aid of the Red Cross Japanese pair forever seem surprised that of those raucous sounds that we’d brought to the act in the beginning.” Jackson and his computer band has most of our stuff in the live set, Pet Moon’s material very early on, What do old fans of Xmas Lights such a wealth of ideas, and the best tweaking the loops, and adding more and they get better each time I see tend to think of Coloureds? hair cut I can think of, but the B- to them to make the set more them live. Apart from that, I’ve MOONEY: “Oh blimey, I don’t Suite by Krazy Baldhead is the tits. inviting to a club crowd. So it’s really recently been enjoying King of Cats; think I’ve never met any fans of He has no hair any more.” something we’ve started to take into Max is brilliant, and the Cooling Xmas Lights other than my mates, NICK: “I’ve always been a big fan of effect as we produce new material Pearls record. That has real charm although most of them were scared Disco, currently really enjoying that now. We still try and keep that sense too.” off by the shouting.” early 80s Hi-NRG stuff, people like of chaos, but it’s controlled and forms You’re featured on the new local NICK: “I don’t really know of any Patrick Cowley and Sylvester.” a key part of the rhythm.” electro scene compilation too. either, except for those who are just MOONEY: “I can understand being Then again, ‘Wanna Come Back To MOONEY: “Oxford’s live electronic close friends and so follow any junk compared to Holy Fuck in regards to My Room And Listen To Some music scene is not the best catered in which we partake.” the presentation of our music, but not SebastiAn?’ (featuring Tim Collis for, but there are certainly some MOONEY: “Some of my friends like in regards to similarity of sound.” from This Town Needs Guns and a individuals trying to make a Coloureds, although some are scared A notable feature of Coloureds’ live pun on one of that band’s old song difference, like Audioscope. That’s off by the masks.” set is the garish rubber masks the pair titles) is pretty mad deranged chaos” not to say Oxford’s audiences aren’t NICK: “So if some of our close don onstage, something that has NICK: “We’re chummy with Tim clued in, we’ve been really well friends liked Xmas Lights and the become an integral part of their and got him in to the studio to play received by people so really there is same ones like Coloureds, by that image. Was that initially an attempt guitar for a few hours. After which we nothing much to complain about. reasoning we can conclude that fans to counteract the idea that electronic went through and chose certain Mark Wilden from The Evenings has of Xmas Lights are fans of Coloureds. music can appear a bit static live? phrases – as well as all those random been really supportive since he first QED.” Given an unlimited budget, what noises a guitar will spit out saw us, as has Jimmy Evil at the Those critical responses so far would a Coloureds gig involve? unprovoked – then arranged them Cellar – he wanted to put us on way suggest Coloureds are doing before we even had a live set up, something right. It’s unusual for a which is really nice.” band to provoke such extreme critical “The masks are about NICK: “We’d just finished this new phraseology. Do the duo view that as EP, when we were asked if we wanted a triumph and do they think people theatricality, not anonymity” to lend one of our tracks to the genuinely struggle to describe compilation. We were both really up Coloureds’ sound? NICK: “Yeah we reserve the masks with some of our stuff to create this for a challenge, and thought we’d put MOONEY: “Ha ha! Anyone taking for the live show and photo shoots track. The title was nicked from one something new together especially the time to listen to our crap is a and avoid wearing them for jogging, of TTNG’s tracks, replacing `Belle for it. We love setting ourselves the triumph, let alone someone willing to and shopping. It’s about theatricality, And Sebastian’ with French electro task of writing and producing a track print something about it. We used to not anonymity. Hopefully it looks producer SebastiAn, of whom we are in a short period of time, it doesn’t struggle to explain what we did, in the rather fun, seeing a couple of strange fans. Clever, eh?” give you chance to get bored of it!” main part because we didn’t really characters fiddling behind some MOONEY: “With the title MATT: “Hard to choose a favourite, know what we were doing, but I think electronics, rather than just me and referencing SebastiAn it makes sense that whole compilation is great, but at the moment we’ve got a goal and Matt. We also make sure we put them this track was a bit of a beast. It all we do both love The Evenings and aim and that makes it easier for us, I on after the set has begun, and fell into place nicely as some of the Space Heroes For The People.” don’t know about you guys.” remove them before we have left the toys we’d put Tim’s guitar through NICK: “I like the wordy quotes we stage, so as to include the had produced some vicious stuff.” SO ANYWAY, “A CLOSING-TIME get, they make for interesting things metamorphosis as part of the act.” NICK: “I do like the juxtaposition of punch-up involving a pissed-up to pop up on websites or stick in MOONEY: “Masks are great for the Tim’s beautiful guitar abruptly Cyberman.” It’s as good a description press packs. I’d rather people had to audience too; no-one wants to see my interrupted by our own harsh sounds.” of Coloureds’ music as you’ll get, but be inventive with their descriptions over-bite while I’m mounting a midi which characters, factual or fictional, of us, than be able to some us up in a controller. Richard D James once COLOUREDS PLAYED AT THE would Coloureds themselves have few regular words.” superimposed his own face onto Blessing Force weekender earlier this involved in their fantasy closing-time individual members of the crowd and year and are playing the Blessing punch-up and who would win? WHEREAS WITH XMAS LIGHTS projected that live image on to a huge Force stage at Truck in July; how MOONEY: “MacReady from The Nick and Matt found an incendiary screen behind him. That was cool, but much of a help has that kind of Thing versus Ash from Evil Dead. meeting point between everything I’ve got no idea… maybe something involvement been to them? Physically I think Ash would have the from Dillinger Escape Plan to Brian to do with computer games and NICK: “Yeah, we’re doing a special edge: a chainsaw for a hand, a sawn- Eno and Earth to Trans Am, with replication reality; the replication of set at this years Truck with the ODC off shotgun, great abs etc. but Mac’s Coloureds they openly profess their a live show inside Civilisation V. In Drumline boys. So yeah, a modified ability to drink whiskey would mean shared love of disco and techno; fact I’d probably just buy Civilisation Coloureds set, with four drummers, a he’d keep his head cool under the which acts in particular inspired them again with the money and sack the guitarist, and more.” pressure of last orders and therefore and do they feel any particular show off.” MOONEY: “Nick and I realised that probably go the distance. They’d affinity with acts like Holy Fuck with NICK: “I’d just stack every note of Graeme (ODC and former- both be naked of course.” what they’re doing with electronic the cash in a massive wall behind us, Youthmovies drummer) had similar NICK: “Linda Bellingham’s Oxo music and how they present it? and laugh manically at the crowd ideas on simplicity and taking pride in family versus Kris Marshall and his NICK: “My friends at college had about how rich we are.” doing something simple very well. It’s BT family. I hate those drawn-out introduced me to a lot of techno, really nice that they put us on. We’ve series of adverts that last for years mainly from central and eastern COLOUREDS’ NEW EP SOUNDS known some of them for a number of following a particular collective of Europe, producers and DJs such as less chaotic, more leaning towards years, playing on stages in our older people devoted to the product, and all Marco Bailey, Valentino Kanzyani, classic disco and early techno; do outfits when we were younger and their crazy shenanigans through the and Adam Beyer. It was their shows they detect a particular direction shinier.” decades. A couple rounds of fisticuffs that gave me insight into how it their sound is taking? NICK: “There are some excellent between the two families would functioned live. Shortly after that we MOONEY: “Nowadays, I think we’re acts amongst them; ODC Drumline of rekindle my interest.” were setting up our own techno nights working with musical form which course and Andrew Mears’ Pet Moon in Oxford.” means there are more rules to bounce project is bloody great. It goes `Tom Hanks EP’ is on sale online on MOONEY: “Richard D James is a big off, but you’re right insofar it means without saying that Chad Valley is June 1st. `We Do Not Have A influence and not just for his music our stuff is less chaotic. It all seems superb. But I really, really enjoyed Dinosaur’ is out now. Coloureds play but for his lovely long hair. Richie quite a natural progression to me, you Neon Pulse at the BF show; he at Out To Graze Festival over the Hawtin is incredible. I watched him in fumble around and fuck things up managed to stretch out Fleetwood weekend of 8th-10th July and at Barcelona and was blown away by his until you’ve learnt enough to know Mac’s ‘Everywhere’ to about ten Truck Festival over the weekend of whole live set-up; it’s really organic what you’re doing.” minutes, lovely stuff!” 22nd-24th July. Visit www.coloureds- and fresh. He’s also got lovely hair. NICK: “We were already adapting MOONEY: “I was keenly awaiting music.com for tracks and live dates. RELEASED Sponsored by VARIOUS ARTISTS MR SHAODOW feat. ‘We Do Not Have A GHETTS Dinosaur’ ‘Get Stronger’ (Download) (Own label) People doing things for charity; we like that. No longer resident in Oxford, rapper Mr People doing bleepy things; we like that. So, let’s ShaOdow stays in touch with the city where he be honest, we’re well disposed towards this Japan honed his craft but is increasingly making a tsunami fundraising LP from promoters The mark on his native London’s grime scene, Psychotechnic League and The Modernist Disco, something apparent from this collaboration featuring various flavours of Oxfordshire with former NASTY Crew freestyler and Kano electronica. As is the way with these things, the associate Ghetts. record feels more like a grab bag than a carefully Stylistically he’s moved on some from his early cohered entity, but anybody with a passing pithy observational raps and here seems even to interest in digital dance music should find have left behind crowd-pumping good-time something to make the fiver tag acceptable, not straightforward acid house with samples about, anthems like ‘R.U Stoopid?’, moving into least the efforts from the curators of the project: err, acid house; it’s almost criminally unoriginal, darker territory. ‘Get Stronger’ feels cluttered We Are Ugly (But We Have The Music) offers a but if like us, you find any vestige of critical on first listen, ShaOdow’s trademark bullish simple little chugger that sounds like it could have opinion evaporating in the face of a 303, you’ll rapid-fire delivery tumbling over the squelch been made by a schoolchild on their Amiga (not agree it’s bloody brilliant. Tiger Mendoza and and twist of the backing track, the main hook necessarily a bad thing), while Space Heroes Of Cez can also hold their heads high. slightly reminiscent of Onyx’s 93 hit ‘Slam’, The People’s `Kosmoceratops’ is an insistent But we end with the best. Coloureds have made but the AK remix is far stronger, bolstered by spiral of buzzing synths that’s like being a track called ‘Tennis’, which is logical, because some serious bass synths for a more spacious, harangued by Jean-Michel Jarre at a political rally. listening to its relentless chopped vocal electro-heavy take on the track, lyrics given far There’s a fair variety of styles on offer, from fragments feels like spending four minutes as the more space to be heard while the groove hits Left Outer Join’s crusty trance that brings back ball in a game of Pong. It also sounds like it’s harder and deeper, underpinned by a militant king Rizla memories of Astralasia, to icy going to break into Orbital’s ‘Chime’, which is marching snare beat. Virtual flipside ‘Stay Biosphere tones from The Keyboard Choir, and obviously fantastic. Away’ is far closer to ShaOdow’s earlier rap, Sikorski’s chest-thumping synth rock (which we Perhaps not a perfect LP, but one well worth minimalist electro providing the space for his don’t really like, because it sounds like Big getting hold of. Unless you’re one of those free-flowing, machine gun delivery, but now Country doing Eurovision, but it makes a people who thinks that electronic isn’t real bolstered by cleverer, heavier production. change). ‘Winter Sounds 4’ by King Of Beggars music, in which case just go stick your head in a Dale Kattack isn’t the arctic techno we were expecting, but bucket of elephant dung. I bet even the bucket is rather a portentous grid of synthesised harp with plastic. Can’t even get a proper tin bucket a bleak vocal direct from early OMD, and it’s nowadays. Poor you. Yes, yes, we know: hell in PROSPEKT rather great. Meanwhile, The Manacles Of Acid a handcart. live up to their name by producing David Murphy ‘Prospekt EP’ (Own label) Talk to pretty much anyone in a local metal band THE ANYDAYS and they’ll extolling the virtues of Prospekt’s Lee ‘Move!’ Luland, easily one of the most technically gifted young guitarists in the county. Technically gifted (208 Records) can sometimes be bywords for wanky old show- If The Anydays’ debut album, ‘Sound’, Anydays need to expand their horizons if off, but thankfully not here, where, combined introduced a band merrily locked into a mid-60s they’re to progress, but saying that they also with the soaring falsetto vocals of Matt pop bubble, this follow-up indicates they’re in prove that they have a knack for taking a song Winchester, Luland and his band craft exquisitely no hurry to find the key any time soon. From its that initially feels weak and letting it grow. subtle yet brutal hardcore-cum-symphonic metal, outset ‘Move’ offers a jauntily fuzzed-up Perhaps it’s more the lack of range that seems where drummer Blake Richardson’s creative time approximation of The Beatles in their pre- to limit the band – a couple more of their more signatures never detract from the onward psychedelia prime, tinged with The Kinks’ airy garagey numbers littered through the album momentum of deceptively elaborate tracks like wistfulness and occasional peeks over the wall would have given it more substance. ‘Dissident Priests’. Luland gives himself free rein into Syd Barrett’s neighbouring garden to see After the initial spring in its step, later to go where his fingers fancy but still he manages what strange herbs he’s growing in the borders. highlights of ‘Move!’ are the airily nostalgic to knock out some seriously brutal riffs, darker, The Anydays’ strength lies in keeping everything ‘London Sun’ – a not very subtle nod to uglier passages providing contrast to the as simple as possible – eleven songs here are ‘Waterloo Sunset’ – and the marching, playful elaborate solos. packed into just over half an hour; a reminder of album closer ‘I Can See You’, where they Highlight of this debut EP is the eight-minute an era before CDs bloated albums to endurance- perhaps hint they might hop over that wall to ‘Shroud’ where the band really go stratospheric, testing lengths. ‘Tambourine’ is sweetly naïve and join Syd in some psychedelic indulgence. Winchester outing his inner Geddy Lee as Luland alongside ‘She’s Not The One’, a strong start. By There’s a cheeky steal of Suzie Quatro’s ‘Can adds weight in a Tool-meets-Opeth fashion. contrast ‘When Did the Goodtimes Go?’ sounds The Can’ in ‘Shoot It All Down’, but that’s as What’s refreshing is the lack of self- forced, like one of those Beatles tribute acts far from the 60s as The Anydays get. They’ve consciousness or irony about Prospekt’s hacking it out at wedding parties, forced grins found their groove and are happy to ride it. approach – they pay homage to myriad metal hiding the emptiness in their souls. They just need to be careful it doesn’t lead clichés while simultaneously keeping it fresh: There are more of these moments here than on them up a dead end come album number three. party music for Viking feasts in Valhalla. ‘Sound’, perhaps an indication that The Dale Kattack Ian Chesterton Love it or loathe it, chances are there won’t be a THE WINCHELL RIOTS PIGGASM / PARTIKLE more extreme album released in Oxford or some ‘Figure 8s EP’ ACCELERATOR / distance beyond this year; so if you’re searching for a gift for the person who has everything, how (Andrew The Great) DEAF REALIST about a whopping great musical brain When seminal music critic Simon Reynolds haemorrhage. In a bag. coined the phrase “cathedrals of sound”, The ‘3-Way Harsh Noise Split’ Dale Kattack Winchell Riots were probably still in nappies, (Eyeless) but it could easily have been for them the term was created. The ornate grandeur of the band’s David K Frampton’s Eyeless label has been the sound sits comfortably with the way that launching pad for much of Oxford’s most GUNNING FOR TAMAR much-mocked description plays on the extreme noise output but this new three-way ‘Deaf Cow Motel’ dichotomy and confluence of power and split offering between Piggasm, Frampton’s delicacy, intricacy and epic intent. So many own Partikle Accelerator and Deaf Realist (Lee (Walnut Tree) bands attempt that fragile balance; so few Riley of Euhedral and Vileswarm) might just Alongside the likes of This Town Needs Guns achieve it with such easy grace. take the biscuit. and Spring Offensive, Gunning For Tamar seem Comparisons to Sigur Ros and Snow Patrol The idea of sheer noise as music might send most to epitomise what’s sort of become the Oxford might seem almost clichéd when applied to The sensible folk scuttling for the comfort of Radio 2 indie sound – partway between math-rock and Winchell Riots – and Snow Patrol’s massive but at its best it’s as exhilarating as chomping on a the melodic side of post-hardcore – following a commercial success in recent years means ghost chilli, a primal high that tests your pain trail blazed previously by Dive Dive and they’re not a band too many other acts want levels. At the right volume Piggasm’s violently Youthmovies. While Gunning For Tamar do fall their credibility dented by being likened to – but corrosive blend of white noise and electronic back on that slightly tricksy time signature Phil McMinn and co. undeniably span the two distortion could rupture buildings and kill entire thing, though, they never let technicality – marrying Sigur Ros’s glacial, cinematic herds of cattle, but it’s also infused with enough override a tune and that’s what stands out most soundscaping, all twinkling guitars and soaring subtlety and variety to make it not just endurable on this new EP, stand-out track ‘Running With glissando to Snow Patrol’s melancholic but but close to joyful. Scissors’ mixing indie spangle with rousing widescreen sense of melody. Nowhere is that Less so the shrill, drill-through-tooth-enamel Biffy Clyro-like riffage, balancing the urge to be more apparent than on ‘Undertows’ here where scree of Partikle Accelerator’s piece, where the clever with a free-flowing adherence to melody. Phil’s yearning falsetto makes way for a feeling of being the subject of a sinister CIA ‘God Made Colours’ is prettier, more elegant crystalline barrage of guitar noise at its climax. disorientation exercise quickly becomes all too and contemplative but fails to deliver on its For how much longer The Winchell Riots will overbearing. Which is doubtless the intent. initial promise, taking too long to ponder where remain largely ignored by the wider world is The Deaf Realist track, though, rumbles and it wants to go before simply giving up having anyone’s guess but, as with last year’s ‘Red skulks close to some of Coil’s most outré moment, gone nowhere in particular. ‘Bonfires’, though Square’ EP, ‘Figure 8s’ carries an air of almost dark and disconcerting, a poisonous black cloud of on a similar tack, holds the attention far more effortless perfection about it. They’re already something simply vile that seeps through the firmly, with a lightness of touch, almost a folky big enough for the wider world. cracks however hard you try to shut it out, the feel, that belies its solid, underlying guitar noise. Victoria Waterfield droning death of sunlight at the end of the world. Ian Chesterton gig guide

WEDNESDAY 1st SATURDAY 4th THE KILLS: O2 Academy – Sparse, dark- CASH: O2 Academy – Tribute to country hearted garage rocking from the cult duo on the music god Johnny Cash. JUNE GREG(O)RIAN + MOTHER CORONA + verge of commercial breakthrough – see main preview KOMRAD + DIESEL KING: The Wheatsheaf THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION: The Jericho AURAL CANDY + DAVE & THE DRAGON + – Buried In Smoke metal night with London’s Tavern – New Zealand’s longstanding cult faves SCELFIE: The Hollybush, Osney – Local acts doom merchants Greg(o)rian supported by local look set to make the break into European every Wednesday at the Hollybush’s new acoustic psychedelic stoner rock crew Mother Corona, territory with their acclaimed fourth album, session. proggy math-metallers Komrad and southern- ‘Buffalo’, a spacious, dreamy form of psychedelic friend metallers Diesel King. pop that sits easily alongside The Byrds and Fleet THURSDAY 2 nd LEE ‘SCRATCH’ PERRY: The Regal – The Foxes. FUTURES + LOWER THAN ATLANTIS + legendary reggae producer and madcap performer FREE RANGE: The Cellar – Drum&bass and PEGASUS BRIDGE: O2 Academy – Bucks- brings the dub – see main preview dubstep club night. based, Mercury-signed rockers, mixing lightweight KAIROS QUARTET: The North Wall, pop-punk with sunshiney indie rock, on tour to Summertown – Freewheeling, melodic jazz promote debut album, ‘The Holiday’. Watford’s improv from the acclaimed quartet, led by tenor st Wednesday 1 melodic post-hardcore outfit Lower Than Atlantis and soprano saxophonist Adam Waldmann, support, plugging new album, ‘World Record’. managing to bridge the gap between crossover THE KILLS: THE SPIN JAZZ CLUB: The Wheatsheaf – success and serious jazz credentials, O2 Academy Long-running weekly jazz club hosts a special incorporating heavy grooves and elements of birthday bash. world music into their complex but accessible The Kills have always been cool, almost JAMES KHUT + KUBRIS: The Port Mahon – sound and set to release their second album, painfully so, but slowly and surely the duo – New local acts at the weekly Live & Loud ‘Statement Of Intent’. Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince – have promotion. FUSED: Fat Lil’s, Witney – Nineties and become both cool and popular. Not something CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford Noughties pop and rock covers. you’d have expected when they arrived on the Community Centre – Oxford’s oldest and best BOXFORD: The Cellar – Truck warm-up from scene a decade ago pursuing an almost anti- open mic club continues to showcase local singers, the Fresh Out The Box crew, playing a goodly careerist path, refusing interviews and creating musicians, poets, storytellers and performance mix of house, disco, bass and beats. a tense, minimalist form of dark-hued garage artists. BRACE FOR IMPACT: The Centurion, rock that seemed set to forever be a cult LOCAL BANDS SHOWCASE: Fat Lil’s, Bicester – Rock covers. concern. Since their critically-lauded debut, Witney PROPAGANDA + TRASHY + ROOM 101: O2 ‘Keep On Your Mean Side’, showing off the GENTLEMEN OF DISTORTION + CIRCLE Academy – Weekly three-clubs-in-one pair’s shared love for The Velvet US + RIOT HOUSE: The Hobgoblin, Bicester extravaganza, with indie and electro at Underground, Captain Beefheart, Suicide and – Rock and metal at tonight’s Jambox promotion. Propaganda; glam, 80s and kitsch pop at Trashy Patti Smith, The Kills have remained very OPEN MIC SESSION: The Half Moon and metal, hardcore and alt.rock at Room 101. much in the darker shadows of pop’s BLUES JAM: Jack Russell, Marston SON OF PRISM: The Bullingdon – Vintage underworld, but increasingly their music has house and techno from the local club night vets. ended up in unexpected place, including the rd NIKKI LOY: The Talbot Inn, Eynsham soundtracks to shows like House, 90210 and FRIDAY 3 The Mighty Boosh. At the same time Hince’s APOLLO: Oxford Playhouse – Icebreaker and SUNDAY 5th BJ Cole perform Brian Eno’s pioneering 1983 relationship with Kate Moss and Mosshart’s SUPERLOOSE + BEARD OF DESTINY + dalliances with Primal Scream, Placebo and ambient piece ‘Apollo’ with accompanying visuals of the early Apollo space missions; MOON LEOPARD + STRANGE VINTAGE: most recently The Dead Weather, have served Donnington Community Centre – Free to increase their profile and widen their sticking close to Eno’s original vision of music to properly complement the strangeness of the first acoustic session. appeal. ‘Midnight Boom”s more melodic bent HUSTLE & CUSS + CHARLIE GANNON + all added to the band’s rise and new album moon landings. KLUB KAKOFANNEY with SCREAMIN’ JOE STEVE COOPER + AURORA YOUNG: The ‘Blood Pressures’, with its bigger grooves, Hobgoblin, Bicester – Jambox acoustic night heavier beats and nods to The Rolling Stones JEFFERSONS + BIG SOCIETY + THE KAFFIRS: The Wheatsheaf – Bluesy stoner and open mic session. and even Patsy Cline, looks set to be their SUNDAY ROAST: The Cellar – Chilled-out biggest seller to date. And yet, at their heart, rock from Screamin’ Joe Jeffersons at this month’s reliably eclectic Klub Kak. mix of rock’n’roll, swing and folk, with live they’re still very much a blacker shade of bands. blues, something no amount of tabloid PURPLE ZEPPELIN: Fat Lil’s, Witney – Tribute to Deep Purple and Led Zep. attention can detract from. th FUNKY FRIDAY: The Bullingdon – Classic MONDAY 6 funk, soul and r’n’b every Friday. WALLIS BIRD + MIDAS FALL + SANDRA SKYLARKIN SOUNDSYSTEM: The Cellar – MacBETH + JON OAKLEY: O2 Academy – Count Skylarkin and Indecision present their Traditional folk, blues and funk with a twist from monthly dose of reggae, dancehall and hip hop, Irish singer and guitarist Wallis Bird, whose tonight featuring a live set of bass-heavy hip hop unusual playing style – including playing a right- from Banana Klan chap Jimmy Screech. handed guitar upside down – came about after FOUNDATION REGGAE: East Oxford losing the fingers of her left hand in a lawnmower Community Centre – Weekly roots and dub accident, before having them sewn back on. Often session. compared to Janis Joplin, Ani deFranco and Fiona WHO DO YOU LOVE?: The Duke, St Apple, she’s supported Gabrielle and Billy Bragg Clement’s – Alt.rock, 60s garage, soul, new on tour, while releasing her debut album on Island wave, punk and electropop DJ session. Records. PETE BROWN & PHIL RYAN WITH THE SPIN JAZZ CLUB: The Wheatsheaf – PSOULCHEDELIA: The Bullingdon – A rare With guests The Martin Pickett Quintet, chance to catch British blues veteran Pete Brown featuring Steve Waterman. at the Famous Monday Blues tonight, where he’s SURFACE FESTIVAL: The Bullingdon – joined by former-Man keyboardist Phil Ryan. Unsigned bands showcase. After sharing a stage with fellow beat poets BAD SIGN + ILLUSION: The Hobgoblin, William Burroughs and Alan Ginsberg in the 60s, Bicester – Anthemic trad metal from Bad Sign Brown went on to write lyrics for Cream, headlining tonight’s Jambox gig. including ‘The White Room’ and ‘I Feel Free’, CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford before teaming up with r’n’b pioneer Graham Community Centre Bond and later producing Mick Jagger and Jeff HELLFIRE CLUB NIGHT: Fat Lil’s, Witney Beck amongst others. Alongside Ryan and OPEN MIC SESSION: The Half Moon Psoulchedelia, they mix gospel, rock and BLUES JAM: Jack Russell, Marston psychedelia into their electric blues. WORDPLAY: The Cellar – Hip hop club night.

TUESDAY 7 th FRIDAY 10th JAZZ CLUB: The Bullingdon – Free weekly YO LA TENGO: O2 Academy – The cult New live jazz club, tonight featuring groove-heavy Jersey trio spin the wheel and see what comes keyboard-led ensemble The Howard Peacock next – see main preview Quintet. CHRIS TT + LISTING SHIPS + TAMARA & GOOD VIBRATIONS: Café Tarifa – Weekly THE MARTYRS: The Wheatsheaf – acoustic and semi-acoustic session. Alternately whimsical and bitingly satirical Saturday 4th OPEN MIC SESSION: The Port Mahon songsmithery from enduring indie-folk troubadour BEAT KITCHEN: The Cellar – Old-skool hip Chris TT, equally at home playing it personal and LEE ‘SCRATCH’ hop. political, now signed to Xtra Mile for whom he released last year’s ‘Love Is Not A Rescue’. Great PERRY: The Regal th WEDNESDAY 8 support from instrumental krautrockers Listing Bob Marley; Junior Murvin; King Tubby; Sir JON ALLEN + JOSH BRAY: The Jericho Ships and powerfully emotive songstress Tamara Coxsone; The Heptones; Max Romeo; The Tavern – Authentically rootsy folk-rock in the Parsons-Baker and her new band. Congos. A list of Jamaica’s all-time musical vein of Bob Dylan, Nick Drake and Cat Stevens I’M NOT P!NK: Fat Lil’s, Witney – She’s not greats and all of them at some point produced from the London-based singer-songwriter, who but she’s doing a tribute to her all the same. by the living legend that is Lee ‘Scratch’ has shared stages with Mark Knopfler, Emmylou LES CLOCHARDS + HOT HOOVES: Perry, mostly back in the 1960s and 70s at his Harris and KT Tunstall in recent times. Chester Arms – French café pop with a classic home-built Black Ark studio where he helped ALPHABET BACKWARDS + DANIEL G rock’n’roll twist from Les Clochards, plus super- develop reggae and practically invented dub HARMANN + SPRING OFFENSIVE fuzzed rocking partway between Eddy & The while pioneering sampling among other studio ACOUSTIC: The Wheatsheaf – Joyous, big- Hotrods and Guided By Voices from Hot Hooves. techniques. Now 75 years old, Perry’s hearted electro-indie pop from Alphabet OXFORD HARMONY + THE MUSES + NIKKI importance in the history of Jamaican music Backwards, plus an unplugged set from mathsy LOY: The Holywell Music Room – Close- is irrefutable. Which is why, these days, people rockers Spring Offensive. harmony choir Oxford Harmony play as part of still tend to indulge his – ahem – JAZZ MORTON: The Port Mahon Oxfringe, alongside local songstress Nikki Loy. eccentricities. Basically if someone behaved PHAT SESSIONS: The Cellar – Open jam CARAVAN OF WHORES + EYE FOR AN EYE on public transport like Perry tends to on session with the in-house band, playing a mix of + KIELAND RIDGE: The Wheatsheaf, stage they’d be carted off in a straight jacket. hip hop, Latin, ska, drum&bass, funk ands reggae. Banbury – Jambox metal night with Whether his lunatic persona is genuine or a heavyweight stoner-rock outfit Caravan Of contrived stage act is open to debate, but it THURSDAY 9 th Whores headlining. means that, like other eccentric performers, SURFACE FESTIVAL: The Bullingdon what you get at any gig can range from the WINE, WOMEN & SONG: The Jacqueline FUNKY FRIDAY: The Bullingdon sharpest dub grooves known to man, or some du Pre Building – Nashville heroines Matraca BOSSAPHONIK: The Cellar – Latin dance, nutter gibbering wildly for his own amusement. Berg, Gretchen Peters and Suzy Boggus team up Balkan beats, world breaks and nu-jazz club night What’s never in doubt is that Perry’s live band for a night of classic country fun – see main with a live set from 13-strong Brighton collective is spot-on in a set littered with classics like preview Kalakuta Millionaires, fusing Fela Kuti-inspired ‘War In A Babylon’, amid more obscure cuts brass lines, Latin percussion, Afro-psych organ and jams, so whatever lyrical detours the main and James Brown-style funk riffs. man takes, the music remains high quality. FOUNDATION REGGAE: East Oxford Community Centre

th SATURDAY 11 Oxfringe Festival, with support from bluesy indie TINDERBOX FESTIVAL: The Old Wharf, rockers Very Nice Harry. Cropredy (12.30-10.30) – Confrontational jazz- OCM OPEN: Pegasus Theatre – Oxford metal improvisers Red Square bring the noise to Contemporary Music’s annual showcase of new, sleepy Cropredy with an army of experimental unsigned local talent tonight features blues, folk chums – see main preview and klezmer outfit Branch Immersion; glitchy WINCHELL RIOTS + RICHARD WALTERS + electronic experimentation marrying dance music THE FAMILY MACHINE: O2 Academy – to dissonance from Stuart Chalmers; classic hip Glacially epic indie rocking from the local hop and jazz riffs from Untitled; squalling jazz- favourites, launching their new ‘Figure 8s’ EP, infused rock from Praxis Bold and thunderous mixing the intricate ambience of Sigur Ros with krautrock from Listing Ships. the pop-friendly grandeur of Snow Patrol. Great SYNTRONIX: Fat Lil’s, Witney – 80s synth- support from songsmith Richard Walters and pop hits. Get in there! lachrymose indie rockers The Family Machine. JERICHO STREET FAIR: Jericho (12-9pm) – BLACK HATS + SKETCHES + VERY NICE Three stages of live music at today’s street fair, HARRY: The Jericho Tavern – Exuberantly including sets from gypsy dance collective bullish new wave rocking from Black Hats, Inflatable Buddha, Chris Podmore, Talc Daemons, inspired by The Who and The Jam as well as Borderville, Wireless, Mundane Sands and The Young Knives and tonight playing as part of Scott Gordon band. GOODWIN SANDS + TAMARA PARSONS- CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford BAKER: The Honeypot – Alternately earthy Community Centre and ethereal indie-folk from Dutch quartet OPEN MIC SESSION: The Half Moon Goodwin Sands, playing as part of Oxfringe BLUES JAM: Jack Russell, Marston Festival, with support from local singer- PHOUSA: The Duke’s Cut songwriter Tamara. BEAT KITCHEN: The Cellar – Old-skool hip hop. TUESDAY 14th th JUMPING SHIPS + CATS & CATS & CATS + FRIDAY 17 NAIROBI: The Wheatsheaf – Brighton’s WOLF GANG: O2 Academy – Ambitiously Jumping Ships bring a poppier take on Biffy anthemic and shiny stadium-pop from one-man- th Clyro-style rock with their strung-out but band Max McElligott, whose epic piano-heavy Thursday 9 melodic noise, now signed to Alcopop, having tunes draw on influences as diverse as David WINE, WOMEN & supported Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly! and Bowie, David Byrne, The Beach Boys, La Roux Bombay Bicycle Club. They’re joined by and Grizzly Bear. He’s out on tour to promote his SONG: The Jacqueline London’s Cats & Cats & Cats, whose fiery debut album, ‘Suego Faults’, after supporting awkwardness belies a sweetly melodic edge mixing Editors, Florence & The Machine and The Naked du Pre Building mathsy pop and epic folk. Jangly local indie types & Famous. Nairobi open the show. INFLATABLE BUDDHA + MUSTARD & THE Empty Room Promotions have really made JAZZ CLUB: The Bullingdon – Free live jazz MONOCLE: The Wheatsheaf – Great local their mark in the past few months, bringing club with The Hugh Turner Band in concert. double pairing of gypsy dance-cum-slam poetry some of Americana’s unsung heroes to Oxford NIKKI LOY + PRITA + COBY GRANT: Baby crazies Inflatable Buddha and folkie recent from across the Pond. Following on from Simple Nightshift Demo of the Month winners Mustard recent shows by Willie Nile and Mary DUOTONE: Warneford Chapel – Barney & The Monocle. Gauthier, tonight’s show brings together a trio Morse-Brown combines cello, loops and HYPERMUSED: Fat Lil’s, Witney – Muse of Nashville’s most respected singer- percussion in his contemporary classical electro tribute. songwriters: Matraca Berg, Gretchen Peters and project, part of OCM’s outreach and education COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN + THE Suzy Boggus. Hardly household names in the programme. UNFORGIVEN: The Chester Arms – Old-time UK, but three women with peerless pedigree in GOOD VIBRATIONS: Café Tarifa country from CFOM. country music, boasting some 30 albums OPEN MIC SESSION: The Port Mahon WE ARE ELEMENTS: The Cellar – Dubstep, between them and a fair few major league hits. INTRUSION: The Cellar – Monthly goth, garage, hip hop, funk and house from Angus Berg enjoyed hits with the likes of ‘Baby Walk industrial, body music and 80s club night. Cowan, Typo, J Blocks and Man Of Science. On” and ‘The Things You Left Undone’, as FUNKY FRIDAY: The Bullingdon well as writing songs for Randy Travis, Marie th FOUNDATION REGGAE: East Oxford Osmond and Reba MaEntire and in 2008 WEDNESDAY 15 Community Centre became one of the youngest ever inductees of LISTEN TO THIS: Oxford Playhouse – The the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame. Playhouse launches a new series of concerts th Peters’ songwriting credits are even more exploring experimental contemporary music, SATURDAY 18 impressive, including songs for Neil Diamond, tonight’s ‘The Music Of What Happens’ curated RIVERSIDE FESTIVAL: Charlbury – First day Etta James and Bryan Adams, as well as an by composer Jennifer Walshe and performed by of the annual free festival. The Rock Of Travolta American Country Music Association Song Of the Apartment House ensemble, taking in ideas as headline, plus Charly Coombes, Borderville, The Year award for 1995’s ‘Independence diverse as a clarinet battling mechanical toys, a Desert Storm, Dirty Royals and more – see main Day’. Perhaps the most successful of the three musical interpretation of a New York rain shower, preview is Boggus, who, after making her name playing a cello’s journey into space and the use of THE FUN LOVIN’ CRIMINALS: O2 at Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park, computer algorithms to create melodic song Academy – Return to town for Huey Morgan enjoyed platinum album success on Capitol cycles. and chums after last year’s show at the same Records in the 80s before going independent. ACOUSTIC LOUNGE: Fat Lil’s, Witney – venue, still documenting New York life sixteen Together the trio cover all the classic country Open mic session. years on from their biggest UK hit, ‘Scooby bases, and the title of the evening gives you an DIRECTORS OF SPACE + MAMMOTH & Snacks. From hip hop, funk and rock, to lounge, idea of what to expect from three women with THE DRUM + BECCA NEALE: The there’s an endearingly gleeful satire entrenched plenty to sing about and a mighty back Hollybush, Osney – Acoustic session. in their crime and drug narratives and Huey’s catalogue to pick from. FREE RANGE: The Cellar – Drum&bass and innate star quality always makes the band worth a dubstep. visit. SPRING OFFENSIVE + PHANTOM THEORY THE MIGHTY REDOX + KNIGHTS OF THURSDAY 16th + DEER CHICAGO + CAT MATADOR + MENTIS: The Chester Arms – Swamp blues and MESSAGE TO BEARS: O2 Academy – The festival funk from The Mighty Redox, plus old- MR BIG UK: The Bullingdon – Oxford’s first ever chart stars return to action, 34 years after second of the Academy’s new monthly Upstairs time country folk from Knights of Mentis. local band showcases keeps the quality count high, PROPAGANDA + TRASHY + ROOM 101: O2 getting to Number 4 with ‘Romeo’, back with a with esoteric math-rock-cum-prog-pop outfit Academy new album, ‘Bitter Streets’. Spring Offensive making with the rinky dink OUT TO GRAZE WARM-UP: The Cellar – CHARLY COOMBES & THE NEW BREED + guitar trilling and funked-up grooves. Scuba Roots play live, plus sets from Get Yer THE RECLINERS + STEM: The Port Mahon – Guitar’n’drums duo Phantom Theory make a Geek On, Drunken Uncle Bungle, Random Selecta Rock’n’soul in the vein of Little Feat from thunderous hardcore-tinged heavy rock racked in and Sultan. Charly Coombes and co. plus support from classic support, alongside indie rock newcomers Deer SELECTA: The Bullingdon – Drum&bass night. guitar pop act The Recliners, inspired by The Beatles, Kinks and Oasis. Chicago, dark-minded ambient popstrels Cat THE SPIN JAZZ CLUB: The Wheatsheaf – Matador and string-heavy folk-pop mini orchestra Message To Bears. th With alto saxophonist Tommaso Storace. SUNDAY 12 NEON VIOLETS: The Cellar – Psychedelic TELLISON + GUNNING FOR TAMAR: The SPINKI’S SECOND SUNDAY JAM: Fat Lil’s, blues. Jericho Tavern – Classic emo-inspired indie pop Witney – Open jam session. Every second NEVER MEANS MAYBE: Fat Lil’s, Witney – in the vein of Get Up Kids from the returning Sunday. Run by Spinki. Screamo and post-hardcore. Tellison – see main preview PROGRAM INITIATIVE + SKY SANCTUARY: EMPIRE SAFARI + THE SCHOLARS + th MONDAY 13 The Hobgoblin, Bicester – Ambient, CRAYON + TREV WILLIAMS: The RHYTHM ZOO: The Bullingdon – Smooth, progressive instrumental rock from Wheatsheaf – Daisy Rodgers gig night in aid of soulful jazz and blues from the Cheshire-based Southampton’s Program Initiative at tonight’s the Oxford Dyslexia Association, featuring ska- newcomers. Jambox rock and metal night. tinged indie rockers Empire Safari; shiny stadium- sized electro-rockers The Scholars; lightweight SUNDAY 19th guitar popsters Crayon and emotive singer- RIVERSIDE FESTIVAL: Charlbury – Second songwriter Trev Williams. day of the free festival. Today’s line-up includes MY PIANO IS MY ROCKETSHOP: St Les Clochards, Every Hippie’s Dream, Michael at the Northwall – Singer and pianist Prohibition Smokers Club, Steamroller, Karen Kay weaves a series of stories together Headington Hillbillies and Alphabet Backwards – with music as part of Oxfringe. see main preview M@SH ENSEMBLE: Modern Art Oxford – DESERT STORM + CRYSIS: The Improvised contemporary classical and jazz from Wheatsheaf – Monster-class stoner-metal from the University ensemble. local heavyweight champs Desert Storm, plus HAIRFORCE 5: Fat Lil’s, Witney – 80s hair hardcore thrash from Crysis. metal covers. TIM BAGSHAW: The Hobgoblin, Bicester – PROPAGANDA + TRASHY + ROOM 101: O2 Acoustic session and open mic night. th Academy BEETROOT JAM: The Port Mahon – Live Saturday 11 FRESH OUT THE BOX: The Cellar – Disco, bands, followed by open jam session. breaks and beats from the FOTB Allstars. TINDERBOX DRUM&BASS NIGHT: The Bullingdon MONDAY 20th FESTIVAL: The Old AYNSLEY LISTER: The Bullingdon – Heavy- Friday 10th duty blues-rock from the acclaimed British Wharf, Cropredy guitarist, equally at home playing it raw and North Oxfordshire free jazz-cum-experimental YO LA TENGO: acoustic, or pumping it up Hendrix-style on the metal collective Red Square have a history electric. of upsetting civilised society, ever since they O2 Academy drowned out a Cliff Richard gig in Southend It was once said that describing New Jersey’s TUESDAY 21st back in the 1970s with their confrontational Yo La Tengo as ‘eclectic’ was like saying JAZZ CLUB: The Bullingdon – Jazz Club blend of polyrhythms, squalling sax and atonal Nirvana were ‘a bit upset’. In a career regulars The Howard Peacock Quintet play live. clarinet. Today they bring the noise to sleepy spanning 27 years the trio – formed by GOOD VIBRATIONS: Café Tarifa Cropredy, home to Fairport’s annual folk hoe- married couple Ira Kaplan, a virtuoso noise OPEN MIC SESSION: The Port Mahon down and as unlikely setting for a day of guitarist, and drummer Georgia Hubley – have experimental leftfield noise as you’re likely to released a dozen studio albums that nd find. Amongst the acts joining our hosts for encompass folk, punk, noise, shoegaze, WEDNESDAY 22 the day down by the canal will be Snorkel psychedelia and electronica. They’ve SECRET RIVALS + PEERLESS PIRATES + (pictured), mixing free jazz, krautrock, funk sometimes been lumped in with post-rock, KING OF CATS: The Wheatsheaf – Indie pop and ambient music into an off-kilter mixture though their adherence to the idea of a great night down the Sheaf with fuzzy boy-girl outfit that’s occasionally reminiscent of This Heat; tune is too strong for that, despite a Secret Rivals kicking it out in the vein of Los rhythmic dissonant noise contortionists propensity for going off on elongated Campesinos! and Help, She Can’t Swim, while Temperatures; Bitten By A Monkey, whose feedback frenzies. Against this is their ability Peerless Pirates return from an extended hiatus to description of themselves as “alternative for hushed, almost hymnal beauty. While revisit their admirable Smiths fixation. Clever, experimental folk” doesn’t really do them they started life as contemporaries of Sonic theatrical singer-songwriter King Of Cats remains justice as much as the phrase “a bit mad”; wild Youth and Husker Du, they’ve as much in a singularly unusual acoustic concern. `awkwardstra’ Bolide and Brighton’s common with Mazzy Star at times. Career GAVIN OSBORN: The Jam Factory – First of experimental jazz collective Safehouse. highlights so far include 1997’s superb ‘I Can a two-night stint as part of Oxfringe for the West Oxford Improvisers are also on hand to add Hear The Heart Beat As One’ and the Country singer-songwriter with a neat line in some virtuoso experimentation and brilliantly-titled ‘I Am Not Afraid Of You bittersweet story-songs. exploration and the whole event should be a And I Will Beat Your Ass’. The band also great lesson in challenging musical norms. If it have an encyclopaedic collection of cover THURSDAY 23rd were set in the centre of Oxford a good crowd versions, from classics to obscure gems, to ALPHABET BACKWARDS + THE HALF would be guaranteed, but it’s to be hoped fans pick from and tonight’s show is part of their RABBITS + BLACK HATS: Fat Lil’s, Witney will make the journey to the top of the county ongoing Freewheelin’ Yo La Tengo tour – Big-hearted electro-pop fun from Alphabet for something decidedly different and whereby the spin of a wheel gets to pick the Backwards at tonight’s Back & To The Left dissident. next song. Following this is a seperate promotion. Support from gothic new wave `straight’ YLT set, which will doubtless prove rockers Half Rabbits and angular power-pop trio as unpredictable. Such is their flexibility and Black Hats. CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford inventiveness, they, like so many established COLOUR CHANGE FOR CAMOUFLAGE + Community Centre brand names, might come with the legend, SHOOT FOR THE KING: The Port Mahon – OPEN MIC SESSION: The Half Moon Defying Categorisation Since 1984. A band of Hip hop-tinged bluesy pop from Colour Change at BLUES JAM: Jack Russell, Marston rare and enduring magic. tonight’s Live & Loud show. GAVIN OSBORN: The Jam Factory SKELETOR PRESENTS: The Bullingdon – Metal and hardcore night. th THE SPIN JAZZ CLUB: The Wheatsheaf – FRIDAY 24 Saxophonist Gilad Atzman guests. BRAINDEAD COLLECTIVE + DALLAS ULYSSES STORM + TAMARA & THE DON’T: The Wheatsheaf – Improvised MARTYRS + HOT HOOVES: The Cellar – psychedelia, drone-rock and more from the Primal hardcore blues rocking from Ulysses nebulous Braindead Collective, plus contemplative Storm, with support from dark-hearted blues-folk indie pop from Dallas Don’t. siren Tamara and punky power-poppers Hot PURPLE RAIN: Fat Lil’s, Witney – Tribute to Hooves. Prince. PROHIBITION SMOKERS JAM: Fat Lil’s, THE MIGHTY REDOX: The Swan, Wantage Witney – Blues, jazz, hip hop, rock, gothic folk JAGGY EDGES: The Port Mahon – Intimate and more from the nebulous collective that is acoustic pop from the Witney duo. PSC, formed around Smilex frontman Lee FUNKY FRIDAY: The Bullingdon Christian, plus an open jam session with the band. FOUNDATION REGGAE: East Oxford THE LONGEST DAY + THE MARK: The Community Centre Hobgoblin, Bicester – Jambox rock and metal LOST DOGS + THE SHAPES: The Port night. Mahon MARTYRS: The Wheatsheaf – Mark Lockheart guests. Characteristically eclectic bill at tonight’s GTI, DRAWINGS + CUBA CUBA + GUNNING featuring intricate synth-pop types Player2 FOR TAMAR + UTE: The Cellar – Scrawling, leaning towards the Foals and Youthmovies bolshy power-rocking from Southampton’s scheme of things, plus Afropop-tinged funk- Drawings at tonight’ Pure, Concentrated Evil rockers Kamikaze Testpilots and visceral, poetic show. Support from sprightly Cardiff popstrels and dark-hearted pop types Tamara & The Cuba Cuba, leaning towards the Bloc Party and Martyrs. Friendly Fires side of things. Local mathsy THE ZIGGURAT BUILDERS: The North Wall, rockers Gunning For Tamar and eclectic indie Summertown – Oxford Contemporary Music types Ute support. presents a collaboration between a cappella trio THE CRUSHING + KILL THE Voice, cellist Tara Franks and young Ód player CONVERSATION + EMPIRE DIVIDED: The Saturday 18th Khyam Allami, performing an improvised piece Hobgoblin, Bicester – Theatrical collision of inspired by Iraqi Assyrian poet Sargon Boulus. thrash and trad British metal from The Crushing TELLISON / GUNNING SUPERNAUGHT: Fat Lil’s, Witney – Classic at tonight’s Jambox rock night. metal covers. CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford FOR TAMAR: The DEAD JERICHOS + THE CELLAR FAMILY: Community Centre The Stocks, Crown & Thistle, Abingdon – OPEN MIC SESSION: The Half Moon Jericho Tavern Great double bill at this month’s Skittle Alley BLUES JAM: Jack Russell, Marston Although they’ve been around since 2003 and bands night with reverb-drenched Cure-inspired have just released their second album, new wave pop from Dead Jerichos, plus furious, London’s Tellison have remained below the angular post-hardcore from The Cellar Family. Saturday 18th – Sunday 19th critical radar for the most part: those that PROPAGANDA + TRASHY + ROOM 101: O2 have sat up and taken notice of the band tend Academy RIVERSIDE to describe them along the lines of “best kept THE PETE FRYER BAND: The Dolphin, secret”. Some of this might be down to the Wallingford FESTIVAL: Charlbury years the quartet took off from regular gigging Charlbury’s annual free festival returns once after the release of their debut album, SUNDAY 26th again with a characteristically inclusive line-up `Contact! Contact!’ to go to university, but of acts that caters for both discerning local gig that done they look set to return with more RYAN ADAMS: The New Theatre – The goers and a family audience. commitment. A tour support to Get Cape, alt.country titan returns to live performance after Saturday’s line-up is topped by symphonic Wear Cape, Fly! doubtless helped raise their a health-related lay-off in 2009, the former- electro-rockers The Rock Of Travolta profile but new album `The Wages Of Fear’ Whiskeytown man having suffered hearing (pictured), who’ll be joined by a string and finds them sounding far more confident and problems. As such tonight’s show is an acoustic brass section to augment their cohesive, an intelligent collection of affair – Adams disbanded his Cardinals backing band characteristically elaborate live show. Joining deceptively catchy indie songs that recall the – which means there’s probably little chance of them on the main stage are Chary Coombes early emo sounds of Get Up Kids or Jimmy hearing songs from his recent ‘Orion’ metal album. and the New Breed, Borderville, The Eatworld, but bolstered by some occasionally LORD AV MERCY: The Port Mahon – New Dirty Royals, The Anydays, Black Hats militant indie funk and Foals-like guitar roots, dub and dancehall night on the last Sunday and Mundane Sands, providing a bill that trilling. There’s something sweetly laddish of each month. takes in soul, glam-rock, 60s garage-pop, new about them but given the right breaks they MONTHLY BLUES JAM: Fat Lil’s, Witney wave rocking and folk-rock. Over on the sound like a band who could break through big (3pm) – Free open jam session. second stage there’s blues from 3rd Degree time. Great support on tonight’s leg of their th Leburn, technical metal from Komrad, UK tour from local maths-tinged MONDAY 27 stoner-rock from Desert Storm, ghostly heavyweights Gunning For Tamar, adding OLI BROWN: The Bullingdon – Return to alt.folk from Samuel Zasada, threatrical some Biffy Clyro-like welly to their clever the Famous Monday Blues from Norfolk’s rising folk-pop from Tamara & The Martyrs and post-rock etchings. singer and guitarist, signed to Ruf Records and wistful acoustic pop from Welcome To paying due respect at the altars of Eric Clapton Peepworld. and Stevie Ray Vaughan. SATURDAY 25th Sunday’s line-up is, if anything, even more of a mixed bag, with Les Clochards’ JUJU & BEN LITTLE FISH + MATT TUESDAY 28th WINKWORTH + SAMUEL ZASADA: The francophile café-pop alongside the reformed Jericho Tavern – Little Fish singer-guitarist Juju JAZZ CLUB: The Bullingdon – With the Steamroller’s heavy-duty blues rocking and and Hammond player Ben play a semi-acoustic Hugh Turner Band. Prohibition Smokers Club’s electric jazz- set together, showcasing songs from their GOOD VIBRATIONS: Café Tarifa folk-hip-hop-funk alongside Manacles of hopefully imminent second album. Support comes OPEN MIC SESSION: The Port Mahon Acid’s hardcore acid house. Elsewhere there’s from witty showtune songsmith Matt Winkworth rustic Americana from Headington th and hushed, ethereal dark-folk outfit Samuel WEDNESDAY 29 Hillbillies, joyous summery synth-pop from Zasada. NIGEL BROWN & THE ULTRAMARINES + Alphabet Backwards, riff-heavy post-rock GAPPY TOOTH INDUSTRIES with PLAYER2 LOST DOGS + PHOUSA: The Hollybush, from Gunning For Tamar and molten + KAMIKAZE TEST PILOT + TAMARA & THE Osney – Jazzy acoustic pop in the vein of Mark proto-metal from Empty Vessels. Knopfler and Moody Blues from Nigel All this and more and it’s free; how much Brown and chums at the Hollybush’s better can you get? Full details and line-up are weekly acoustic session. online at riversidefestival.charlbury.com.

THURSDAY 30th EVAROSE + ATLAS & I: O2 Academy – Grungy pop from the all- girl newcomers. THE CELLAR FAMILY: The Port Mahon – Frenzied, angular hardcore pop venom in the vein of McLusky and Fugazi from this month’s Introducing starlets. THE SPIN JAZZ CLUB: The Wheatsheaf – Tenor saxophonist JUNE Every Monday THE FAMOUS MONDAY NIGHT BLUES The best in UK, European and US blues. 8-12. 6th PETE BROWN & PHIL RYAN with PSOULCHEDELIA (UK) 13th RHYTHM ZOO (UK) 20th AYNSLEY LISTER (UK) 27th OLI BROWN (UK) July 4th LARRY MILLER (UK)

Every Tuesday THE OXFORD JAZZ CLUB Free live jazz plus DJs playing r’n’b, funk and soul until 2am 7th / 21st THE HOWARD PEACOCK QUINTET 14th / 28th THE HUGH TURNER BAND

Thursdays 9th SURFACE FESTIVAL 16th MR BIG UK – album launch show 23rd SKELETOR PRESENTS

Every Friday FUNKY FRIDAY Funk, soul, boogie and R&B. 11pm-2.30am; £3.

Early Friday shows 10th SURFACE FESTIVAL

Saturdays 4th SON OF PRISM – techno 11th SELECTA – drum’n’bass 18th DRUM’N’BASS 25th TBC

Join us on Facebook: Backroom @ The Bully photo: Liane Escorza LIVE

ANNA CALVI / GROUPLOVE / THE HISTORY OF APPLE PIE O2 Academy Opening tonight’s Oxford leg of the latest NME Radar Tour are The History of Apple Pie – a five-piece band from London – who are rough around the edges, like freshers at high school but who carry their melodies and attitude with aplomb. Performing a repertoire of drone beats, the darkness in the bass and the riveting guitars draw a contrasting picture against Stephanie Min’s sweet vocals, causing a thrumming effect, the musical equivalent of the contrasting sweet and sour tang of a lollipop. LA’s Grouplove, however, eradicate any sourness from their repertoire and top their set up with marigold and salt water taffy. Lead singer Christian Zucconi rises like a wave in or guitar arrangements that shine stage, the ambience is overtaken by her full and rich earthy voice, and their ‘Come On Eileen’-meets- through like the rays of sun in a hot a heavy weight of expectation. with the help of extremely talented Polyphonic Spree-meets-The Californian morning and yield their Without uttering a word, the multi-percussionists around her on Fratellis (good Lord!)-meets-Arcade otherwise undefined sound into an introductory guitar solo leaves the duty to wrap it all in Fire ensemble, filling the cavities of interesting avenue. Unfortunately audience in an awed stupor before a unconventional clamour. ‘Jezebel’ is silence with his powerful and wide- and, regardless of the vocalist’s thundering drumbeat breaks in for shyly pushed to the encore, but ranging vocals. The rest of the band acrobatics, these ingenious moments ‘No More Words’. Despite a short being strident and howling, it is a follow him, twisting, dancing, rarely match the average feel-good set and a disappointing absence of thunderous way of saying smiling and stealing the spotlight times of their tracks. full guitar play, due to an arm injury, goodbye. occasionally with subtle bass Yet when Anna Calvi steps onto the Calvi captivates her audience though Liane Escorza

THE NAKED & FAMOUS WARPAINT O2 Academy O2 Academy It says everything about how far The and lurch into a serrated blast of synth Perhaps the most striking thing anywhere, so at almost six minutes, Naked & Famous have come that and guitar squall, it momentarily stuns about Warpaint’s rapid breakthrough it outstays its welcome. tonight’s gig was originally booked every last jabbering cretin in the room is that it’s apparently still considered Therein lie the two issues with for February at the Jericho Tavern into silence. remarkable in the mainstream music Warpaint – they stick assiduously to but tonight they’ve sold out the Unsurprisingly it’s the big radio- media that an all-female band not one sound, which is to say mid- downstairs of the Academy. friendly numbers like ‘Punching In A only exists, but is, y’know, quite paced, cavernous, with everything That’s the power of great pop Dream’ that get the loudest good. Depressingly, this means you drenched in reverb and delay, music, though. The radio has been ovations, jagged shapes resolving can construct your own Warpaint meaning the melodies have to work alive with their euphoric electro-pop into euphoric sing-alongs, tunes article entirely out of the ‘sisters are that much harder to make these past couple of months, notably cresting on bubbling, almost Numan- doing it for themselves’ clichés of themselves known. Furthermore, bulldozing anthem-in-waiting ‘Young esque synth lines, but they’re equally other reviewers, should you wish to given a seventy-five minute headline Blood’, perfect festival fodder and effective when Alisa Yayalith comes avoid discussing the music. set and a limited catalogue from compensation for anyone who on all witchy and Bjork-ish on the Which is a shame, because Warpaint which to draw, the band channel bought MGMT’s last album only to more awkwardly-proportioned have a lush, ethereal sound that their inner King Crimson with a get lost in its proggy self-indulgence. numbers where guitar squalls and veers close to proper 80s goth, series of drawn-out, quasi-prog jams Already a major pop phenomenon electronic drones replace the airy steering just the right side of those around their songs that make this in their native New Zealand, the effervescence. other Sisters. In small doses, they’re show feel more like an endurance five-strong gang of Kiwi college Occasionally they dip too low, and an intriguing outfit, in places test than a celebration of an mates are set to go global, and if in the absence of easy hooks we get sounding like a more straightforward arresting opening statement to the their current stratospheric levels of untidy clamour, but there’s always ‘God’s Money’-era Gang Gang world. Songs last for six or seven coolness means there’s the usual another pop gem round the corner, Dance, sing-song vocals drifting over minutes where three would be fine, quota of there-for-the-sake-of-it and when they inevitably close the reverby guitar lines, all underpinned and over the course of such a long yakking yahoos who spend the night with ‘Young Blood’, all by some elastic, propulsive basslines. set, the self-imposed limitations of entire set talking pointless shit to untamed “Yeah yeah yeahs!” you ‘Undertow’ is a haunting and their sound clash with the freedom their pointless mates, it can’t detract know The Naked & Famous are set insidiously catchy single, but at its they’ve allowed themselves in from the band’s jubilant choruses and to be the sound of this summer; of heart it’s essentially one chorus and arrangement, soporific where it may gleefully polyphonic psychedelia. that there’s no doubt. a series of echoey, rambling guitar otherwise have ended up triumphant. And when they turn on a sixpence Dale Kattack passages that don’t really go Stuart Fowkes THE OXFORD JAZZ FESTIVAL Various Venues With over 50 gigs and events, 20-plus venues voice with the other instruments bringing in and happening across four days of the Easter additional tones and only occasionally weekend when student numbers are low, you soloing. Downes is a gifted pianist and he have to admire the risk taking and and the band provide ensemble playing of organisational skill of those who have put the the highest quality. Their tribute to delta Jazz Festival on. bluesman Skip James shows the band’s full It provides a welcome opportunity to hear range, starting out as a sparse, slow burning some of the younger players who having such blues and building to a full-bodied New a healthy impact on the British jazz scene Orleans-influenced marching tune. It’s a less and beyond. Soweto Kinch, Oxford history challenging than usual but still hugely graduate, alto saxophonist, rapper and enjoyable gig. freestyle artist and his group slice through the Of the slightly older generation, guitarist infamous echo in the Town Hall with Soweto Nicholas Meier’s gig is a bit of an epic. It’s able to project his likeable personality to the based on his concept album, ‘Journey’, Records, CDs and furthest corners of the big space. His alto which his group plays without a break for playing is superb, sometimes all raw energy, almost an hour. Pretentious maybe, but as I DVD Fair sometimes lyrical but always emotional and like the Middle Eastern influence on the you can hear enough of the words to know music, and Pat Bettison’s harmonica playing that they’re sharp, clever and funny. The sparkles, I’m utterly absorbed, even if there SATURDAY 23rd July whole set is from his ‘The New are some around me who aren’t and become Emancipation’ album, which Soweto has said restless. 10.30am-3.30pm is “fairly barbed”, so there’s radical social Singer Norma Winstone, bass clarinettist ROCK-POP-DANCE-GOLDEN OLDIES-INDIE- comment from start to finish. It’s a surprise and soprano saxophonist Klaus Geising SOUL-TECHNO-HIP-HOP-JAZZ-LATIN-REGGAE- how well this goes down with the older than and pianist Glauco Venier are the big DRUM&BASS-GARAGE—R&B-DISCO-1950s- expected but lively crowd, particularly set closing gig at a packed Randolph. They have 2000s. Brand new back catalogue CDs £4 - £7 highlight ‘Love of Money’. been working on their mainly slow-tempo Fringe Magnetic, a band new to me, offer a minimalist ethereal chamber jazz for ten different take on where jazz is going. They years now, though it’s only in the last two are a ten-piece, including a cello and a violin that recognition and rave reviews have and with current hot properties Jasper Hoiby come their way. Winstone, who has been on on bass and Ivo Neave on piano. The band the scene since the 60s, has said she has sound is like a contemporary classical found a home again. This shows in how orchestra but with the lead taken mostly easily and confidently three expressive lines either by their clarinettist or the trumpet of flow, separated and converged with Geising leader and composer, Rory Simmons. They and Venier’s additional voices rather than twist his music in unexpected, attention- accompanists. It’s highly-refined, minimalist grabbing ways; you’re never certain what’s music but with heart from the warm tone of coming next. I love singer Elizabeth the bass clarinet to the sound of Winstone’s Nygaard’s voice, lyrical with a fragile edge, voice as she loses herself in singing the plus there’s the deep growl of Andrew pictures and the stories created by her own Plummer’s vocal interjections – Captain lyrics. Beefheart lives! They’re easily my favourite I’d have loved a couple of more high-risk band of the weekend. hardcore free improv gigs on the Mercury-nominated Kit Downes brings his programme, but undoubtedly this is the longstanding trio, augmented by cello, tenor strongest year by some distance in the Jazz and bass clarinet for a teatime gig in the Festival’s three year life. R A D I A T E Randolph. The trio is still the dominant Colin May A NEW MONTHLY BAND NIGHT THE JERICHO TAVERN, OXFORD JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW band submissions : The Jericho Tavern [email protected] Dubliner James Vincent McMorrow emerged onto the music scene at the end of last year with his promising album ‘Early in the Morning’. He gained immediate comparisons to Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and it’s not hard to see why, given they both share a rather distinctive voice (as No covers bands, please well as similar facial hair.). He has also been likened to fellow Irishman Damien Rice. www.radiatepromotions.com Associations aside, James is a great act in his own right, and tonight’s sold-out show, in front of an expectant crowd, shows that word is spreading. Despite the fact he is recovering from a cold (which admittedly does stop him reaching all the high notes) McMorrow’s voice is as stunning live as it is on record and for just one man and a guitar he has a great stage presence; he’s full of amusing anecdotes and interacts naturally with the audience. Set highlights tonight include ‘We Don’t Eat’ and ‘This Old Dark Machine’, two of the strongest songs on the album, which really come into their own live, while ‘If I Had A Boat’ is simply gorgeous, drawing the night’s loudest ovation. At the end of his set, McMorrow explains that he doesn’t do proper encores, so just carries on playing. One of his final songs is a cover – he doesn’t tell us what it’s going to be, but explains it is one of the most beautiful songs he’s ever heard, and launches into a stunning rendition of Anthony & The Johnsons’ ‘Hope There’s Someone’; the song suits his voice wonderfully, and he gives it his own haunting take,and although it’s a shame it’s cut slightly short, it’s a fitting end to a beautiful, touching show. Emily Bruce MARY GAUTHIER & TANIA ELIZABETH

photo: Jo Cox The Jacqueline Du Pre Building I have a confession. A few years duel line up, changing the guitar- ago Mary Gauthier was highlighted driven album version, into a more as someone I’d enjoy. upbeat calypso-style rendition. Unfortunately for my long Tania’s solo of ‘Reel Du Pendu’ on suffering father, I placed her in the her customised 5-string violin gives “If I ever get around to it pile” and light to tonight’s double billing and thought little more of it and in as Mary nods and smiles to the doing so dismissed the likes of ‘I rear of the stage, it’s clear she’s Drink’ and ‘Mercy’ which, when aware that Tania has transformed aired live at the Jacqueline Du Pre the set. tonight, highlight the magnitude of From the more bluesy ‘Snakebite’ my error. Mary you see, is to the self-reflective ‘Drag Queens charismatic and humorous, able to In Limousines’, the pair work tell stories of Hobo Kings and through Mary’s back catalogue, Karla Faye Tucker, fused in packing variation and poignancy amongst songs with personal into the set. anecdotes. ‘Goodbye’ is much more akin to its “It’s a paradox really, how singing reworking on her most recent the blues can make you happy but album, ‘The Foundling’, than the it works,” she confesses mid set, earlier version, while ‘Can’t Find and judging by the reaction in the The Way’ is made even more spine- room the same can be said for chilling, with Tania’s vocals added listening too. Combined with Tania to the chorus. Suffice to say Mary Elizabeth on stomp boards, violin once again confirms my passion for and (the somewhat peculiar) goats folk and its story-telling charm, toenails around her ankle, they meaning that tonight only serves to create harmonies more often only validate just how much I’ve been heard with a large band. The missing by not embracing my audience request for ‘Christmas In father’s advice. Paradise’ highlights the need for the Lisa Ward

keyboards recreate classic organ sounds, the racked with desparing emotion, she sings with a CULTS / KISMET bass playing is fluid and funky and the guitars neatly clipped accent, occasionally reminiscent The Jericho Tavern just prominent enough for it all to work. of Sally Timms. At her most dramatic her songs ‘Go Outside’ is instantly memorable and clear carry a similar starkness and sense of turmoil to A listen to local boys Kismet’s track on contender for a single, but its catchiness is Jacques Brel, but the punchy, blues-cum- Musicinoxford suggests gentle dance tunes with almost annoying and may sit at odds with the rockabilly set closer suggests she may be after a touch of James Blake but their second gig increasing seriousness of the modern pop Imelda May’s crown. tonight turns out as a very different affair. The consciousness. They seem proud that the LP is Alabama sisters Laura and Lydia Rogers have all guitars are turned up and a kind of meandering only 35 minutes long, a bit of a gamble when the onstage chemistry you’d hope from siblings post-rock tentatively emerges. Announcing that some singles run for longer, but they’re clearly seemingly raised to sing together. Laura is the they can’t decide whether to string everything on the crest of some kind of wave. They could chatty one, constantly teasing the more studious together into one long piece or break it up into emerge as a perfect festival band but no great Lydia, but while the pair’s close harmony singing segments, choosing the latter path tonight troublers of the charts (think Go! Team) but in issensational, when Laura leaves the stage Lydia suggests a bad call. Where Mogwai or Godspeed these unpredictable times any outcome is reveals hers is the stronger, more enthralling voice. take their time building their epic tapestries of equally likely. Steeped in the timeless bluegrass and country sound, here everything seems a little rushed and Art Lagun balladry that Oh Brother, Where Art Thou re- insubstantial. popularised, Secret Sisters litter their set with Cults are being hailed as a New York band but covers of The Everly Brothers, Hank Williams are actually from San Diego, a city they firmly SECRET SISTERS / (an excellent ‘Your Cheating Heart’) and Willy label as ‘boring’. In the country for a week but Nelson, but also more unexpected take on tied up with press stuff this is only their second TAMARA & Johnny Flynn’s ‘The Water’, professing their show, and our first impression is long hair and love for the singer while revealing they know jumble sale clothes, like The Strokes before their THE MARTYRS nothing about him. But their own material also sales started falling. Musically catchy and fun stands out, particularly the quite lovely with a 60s vibe strongly redolent of Phil O2 Academy ‘Tennessee Me’. Spector and his girl groups, the mix here is a Having lost half her band a week previously, the Irrepressibly girly and as homely as apple pie, careful recreation of their recorded output with last thing Tamara Parsons-Baker needs tonight is Secret Sisters are a bit too cutesy at times, but constant use of reverb. a five-minute technical nightmare that delays the then a cover of Mark Knopfler’s ‘Why Worry?’ Guitarist Brian Oblivion and singer Madeline start of her set. It makes for an oddly timorous is gorgeously melancholic, the audience stood in Follin have only been making music together for start for a singer whose voice is naturally rapt silence. How these two sisters, from all the a little over a year, but early songs posted predisposed to drama. Soon enough, though, she scores of musical families treading similar ground online created a swift buzz, and late last year and her remaining compadrés (bassist Humphrey in their native state, ended up being the ones Lily Allen signed them to her In The Name Of Astley and drummer Tommy Longfellow, both recording with Todd Rundgren and flying over imprint. The resulting album is imminent and previously of sludge-metal titans Sextodecimo) for a European tour is anyone’s guess, but if luck timely, expect an outpouring of reviews are in fullish flow, Tamara’s voice seemingly played any part, it’s luck well deserved and describing it as ‘sun-drenched’. Madeline has an possessed of a will of its own as it cracks and they’re unlikely to remain a secret for much engaging voice and the band, two of whom only soars and sometimes emerges as a tigerish growl. longer. recently in place, are proficient and tight. The She casts an elegant figure and when she’s not Dale Kattack MATT SAGE / DUOTONE LET’S BUY HAPPINESS The Pegasus Theatre The Cellar As founder of the Catweazle Club Morse-Brown and his able Oxford City was one of only ten are lost on a band who were only Matt Sage is one of the most percussionist James Garrett. The areas in the UK that voted yes in just born at the time. instrumental figures in Oxford’s pair’s songs are constructed in the AV referendum; I know this Tonight we are treated to ‘Works folk scene. A performer who front of the transfixed audience already but someone at the bar is Better’ from 2009’s debut ‘Hot believes in the magic of music and courtesy of Morse-Brown’s deft questioning why it was the case, Ashes’ EP, but both tracks from its healing power, it’s fair to say use of loop pedals and Garrett’s and why if it was the case are there the astonishing ‘Six Wolves’ single that his approach occasionally rudimentary methods of keeping only ten people stood in the Cellar which marked day zero for me late borders on the New Age, so the the beat. It’s the perfect collision of tonight? I don’t know the answer last year – I literally dived at the availability of organic cakes and the technological and the organic. to either question but both are DAB display when I first heard it - drinks at the bar should not be By sampling a raft of guitar loops, equally depressing. In a time of and tonight the title track is equally particularly surprising. Tonight’s dropping in an occasional cello economic decline and UK music as spellbinding. Meanwhile current set, however, is not as rustic as motif and topping it all off by drudgery Tyneside’s Let’s Buy Ghost Arc single ‘Fast Fast’ might be expected; indeed there’s a building up a choir of multi-layered Happiness provide a joyful, bounces at us flirtingly from the distinctly rocky edge to his band’s backing vocals, he creates uplifting burst of energy filled with start of its tribal drum and bass approach. Early on Matt’s working immersive and utterly emotive shimmering sunshine and equally rhythms and is over before you his way around the edges of The music. The only problem with this shimmering guitars; a sense of know it. The rest of the set is Beatles’ ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ approach is that it sometimes feels hope. composed of five newer titles with predictably pleasing results as if the song structures have been Much has been made of Sarah hopefully destined for the long and as the set develops there are compromised in order to Hall’s superb haunting vocal and its awaited debut album or next EP, drawn-out jams that, for better or accommodate the building process proximity to the Cocteau Twins, and all are as strong as the band’s worse, recall the excesses of Paul in a live setting. Clever it may well Sugarcubes and Sundays (all fair earlier canon. Weller’s ‘Wild Wood’ era. be, but sometimes the wait for the but don’t expect the accompanying I find it easy to declare that I have Sage’s lyrics might seem clunky at payoff becomes slightly irritating, mysterious nature from a found my newest favourite band, times and his guitars drift particularly when the novelty of sometimes loud Northern lass), but someone that I want to shout about constantly out of tune, but his Duotone’s craft wears off after the in the press this appears to have from the rooftops. They don’t backing band more than makes up first few songs. That said, when eclipsed a more than capable come along that often, but every for such hitches. The slightly the band attempt ‘Turn The Pages musical accompaniment. Let’s Buy now and then a life-affirming act peculiar soft shoe shuffle he Over’, a song that eschews the Happiness build layer upon layer passes by that sweeps you up on indulges in as he makes his way trickery found in the rest of the set, of beautiful effects-laden guitar, their journey; Let’s Buy Happiness through his set and his Chris Rea- they’re not entirely convincing – then prop it all up with a driving are one such act. Fight apathy and like vocal also helps to divert the but it does at least prove they’re bass and confident drum backing. be careful how you use your attention just enough. not entirely reliant on the theatre of In times gone by you could have vote…next time be proud to be Duotone is the musical outlet for technology for their songs. defined them as being shoegazers there too. renowned local cellist Barney Sam Shepherd but all such genre reference points Mark Taylor DOCTOR SHOTOVER Fiesta Subscription Yes, yes, we’re all very excited here about this year’s Cowley Road Carnival, aka Fiesta in the Park. When I was a lad Fiesta was a very popular publication indeed to inspect behind the school bicycle shed, heh heh… WHAT? Not that sort of Fiesta? Shame, shame. Ah, news just in – the famous hip-hop driving instructor “Mirror Signal” Roots Manuva is headlining the event. Yes, Balcombe, very funny – perhaps it IS a Ford Fiesta. Meanwhile the, ahem, “party” will be occurring in South Park on July 2nd , but the Cowley Road itself will not be involved in the official merriment this year, due to the cuts imposed by the vile and snivelling Tory-Crat Coalition. Booo, Ham and Clegg out, out, OUT! So-o-o, we here at the East Indies Club are celebrating the event in our own inimitable manner - by having a re-naming ceremony for the most famous road on the Oxford musical map, just for the day. Suggestions have been popping in through the Club Secretary’s door all week…. the Satanists are militating for Aleister Crowley Road… and the Runaways fanclub want Kim Fowley Road. Feelings are running high! But that is mainly because the Joint Action Faction have been attempting to bribe the electorate with some rather poky home-grown. Their favoured Spooneristic option is of course Rolley Crowd. (Sorry, I don’t make this stuff up, you know – I am just reporting REAL LIFE! Oh, buy us another drink and shut the Fiesta booking agent Aleister Fiesta UP!) Crowley: “If anyone mentions Next month: Most Boring Cowley Strip or Cowley-fornia again, Tories Competition I shall SCREAM!” Cornbury Introducing….

Nightshift’s monthly guide to the best local bands bubbling under The Cellar Family Who are they? East Oxford-based three-piece The Cellar Family are Jamie Harris (guitar, vocals); Sam Good (bass) and Nick Reading (drums), who met at art college in Winchester. Early gigs saw them move from a melodic pop sound to their current, visceral blend of angular post-punk and hardcore, spattered with lyrical references to serial killers and sociopaths. Last September they moved together to Oxford. They have played alongside UK Subs, The Vibrators and 1990’s, recording a succession of demos, one of which was Nightshift’s Demo Of The Month last year. They transport all their equipment to gigs and topless student perpetually rowing on a rowing machine, prior to having our rehearsals in a dilapidated shopping trolley called Old Mary and declare that first interview in which we were asked: ‘if you were a sandwich, what their technical knowledge and professionalism isn’t up to that of other bands, sandwich would you be?’.” but is made up for in a strong work ethic. Wary of being lumped in with a Their favourite other Oxfordshire act is: scene or sound they point to their origins in Winchester where no music scene “Agness Pike: they are genuinely regardless of any trend or popular sound, existed. A new seven-song EP has just been recorded. and they don’t try and fit into any useless sub genre; not that they’d be able to What do they sound like? anyway. Their music is extremely atmospheric and loud, with a demented, Feverishly angular, a clanging mess of obstinacy and industrial funk and the poetry reading front-man over the top of it. What’s not to like?” sound of various body parts of McLusky, Fugazi and At The Drive-In thrown If they could only keep one album in the world, it would be: into a blender are amongst the excited descriptions thrown at them in “After hours of deliberation, we honestly can’t answer that question.” Nightshift’s recent live review. They were also hailed as what Young Knives When is their next gig and what can newcomers expect? might have sounded like had they dumped the surrealism and humour in “25th June at the Stocks Bar in Abingdon and the 30th at the Port Mahon. favour of a chronic speed addiction around the time of ‘Walking On The Expect something different from your average young band, an explosive, Autobahn. High praise indeed. energetic punk gig that is refreshing and exciting.” What inspires them? Their favourite and least favourite things about Oxford music are: “Mundane full time work; homogenous daytime TV; image-obsessed indie “Because of its musical heritage and perfect size, it is an ideal location for a bands; Newcastle Brown Ale; the cat with the human face.” young band to meet others and flourish playing live. Unfortunately it is Career highlight so far: dominated by only a handful of seemingly cliquey genres of music.” “We haven’t really got a career yet, but recording and playing the new EP You might love them if you love: and our very first gig are up there.” McLusky; Fugazi; At The Drive-In; Pere Ubu; Screaming Blue Messiahs. And the lowlight: Hear them here: “Playing to four people at an open air gig in Southampton next to a www.myspace.com/thecellarfamily

Whatever happened to… those heroes WHEN? B So glObal released two albums: their eponymous 1993 debut and 1995’s ‘The World Is Covered In Windows’, the latter on Chillum Records. They featured on the cover of local music mag Curfew, supported Banco De Gaia and played at the seminal Whirly Gig. After writing material for Trouble On B So glObal Vinyl signing Shaan O’Carrol, they were working on a third album, featuring poet Rich Hamel and singer Bobbie Watson of psych-folk legends Comus WHO? when Chillum went belly up. In those pre-internet days this left the pair B So glObal were saxophonist, synth player and percussionist Jon Seagroatt with no way of promoting their material and the project was shelved and guitarist, bassist and keyboard player Ian Staples, who first worked indefinitely. together in pioneering Southend-based improv-jazz trio Red Square in the WHY? 1970s. Subsequently they played in The Duffs before forming B So glObal in Both albums have dated incredibly well, retaining a small but devoted fanbase 1991. The duo’s musical origins can be traced and are both still available from Discogs. Ian back to Staples’ long-running interest in what and Jon were, and remain, among the most he termed “floating soundscapes”, a genre that fun and fascinating interviewees we’ve had later became known as ambient. From the 70s the pleasure of meeting, full of anecdotes onward he made numerous multi-track about their devotion to testing even the most recordings, primarily of electric guitars, hostile audiences to breaking point. employing a variety of innovative playing Something they’ve never tired of attempting. techniques. These experiments gave him the WHERE? idea of writing music for art installations In the past couple of years Jon and Ian have alongside Jon. returned to playing with Red Square and WHAT? released a retrospective album, ‘Thirty The pair’s somnambulating soundtracks, Three’, in 2008, plus an album of new incorporating elements of jazz, electronic material, ‘UnReason’ this year. This month music, sparse percussion and drones would sit they host Tinderbox Festival, a day of easily alongside Eno’s early ambient works. experimental music in their home village of Jon himself describes the duo’s sound as “Non, Cropredy. Ian is also a widely-exhibited or even anti-narrative filmic soundfields, painter and works as a singer-songwriter under combining electronica with `real’ the name Visitor. Jon now plays in Comus, instruments such as sax, bass, slide guitar, who recently reformed after a 30 year ‘rest’, vibes, bass clarinet and Hammond.” Their and also plays in the bands Drift, Circuit and darker pieces are similar in mood to Dead Can Waiting For Ray. Dance’s most spacious pieces, while the HOW? spectral drone of tracks like `It’s A Pond, There is a legacy site at www.myspace.com/ With Fish In It’ are closer to Sonic Boom’s bsoglobal. Red Square’s music is available at Spectrum project. www.myspace.com/redsquarealbum. DEMOSDEMOS

reminiscent of Jason Pierce, before DEMO OF dissipating in the ether when it might perhaps do better to go stratospheric. THE MONTH ‘Jalapenos’ is a full-on Velvets-style scuzz jam, guitars sizzling at its edges before it lurches untidily into what sounds like a CHIMA ANYA bunch of pissed footie fans invading their Chima’s last demo got royally dumped as local blues jam. Just as you’re wondering he lyrically demonstrated a side to him why they’d go and mess it all up like that, unbecoming of his status as a doctor. Glad they switch back to type as if nothing to say this new offering more than redresses untoward had ever occurred. There’s similar the balance. It’s not without its frustrating doubts about the vocals on ‘Fire’, but side though: as ever Chima seems incapable Graceful Slicks’ astonishingly authentic of self editing and a whole chunk of these adherence to the sound and style of those 17 tracks could be easily ditched. By the psych-rock pioneers lifts them out of the time he gets to the second half of the CD mire and you can almost feel the warmth of a he’s lost – reduced to infuriating thousand oil wheel projections swirling over childishness, throwaway skits and album your mind’s eye. Man. snippets (including a minute or so of what could be a very moving reflection on what it means to be a doctor dealing with life or HALF NAKED death situations every day, ‘Paid For’; even Kicking in like it’s going to be a rerun of worse it’s immediately followed by the Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’, Half Naked’s kick- inane ‘I Love Rap’). By then, though, he’s and-rush demo rapidly lapses into trashy, done the job. Opener ‘Clocks Pt 2’ is an almost proggy punk-pop, hammering energetic electronic scour and swirl over merrily and a bit too tinnily along like a low- which he rages against those who’d put him rent At The Drive-In, but thankfully down. It carries a solid punch he’s managing to avoid the chief pitfall of these sometimes lacked for all his fluid delivery. kinds of things – of sounding like spoilt ‘Hello!’ is more optimistic and empowering, American brats with adenoid problems. again with inventive electro backing and Which is a good. Because they’re from what sounds like The Silence from Doctor Didcot, not Dallas. ‘Forget/Forgive’ quickly Who on backing vocals. ‘Power’ finds builds up a reasonable level of rage and Chima coming on like a latter-day Michael clatter along the tracks like a runaway Franti as he takes on celebrity obsession, Thomas The Tank Engine with a pissed-up managing to rhyme “a-list” with “anus” as driver at the plate. ‘Stamp’ is equally messy he samples King Crimson and what sounds and, vocally at least, not particularly like a Zulu chorus. The one skit that does convincing, but we kind of like them because amuse is a phone-in on American radio they’re carried along by vim and vigour alone about the difference between Brit rappers and given how many bands (*casts baleful being doctors and Americans being felons eye further down the page*) seriously sound (hey, what about Dr Dre? He’s a real medic, like they couldn’t give a toss, vim and vigour ain’t he?) before he goes on to tackle just are more special attributes than you might that issue with humour on ‘I’m Ill’. ‘Ask imagine. Yourself’ is more airy and adds some light to proceedings and even if you switch off THE WALKING DOTS (probably advisable) halfway through, Chima’s proved beyond doubt he’s got both Formed on a farm in Shropshire and the rapping skills and back-up power to describing themselves as indie folk, The overcome any previous doubts to his Walking Dots, now based in east Oxford, are as pleasant and inoffensive as all that makes 876084 abilities. them sound. And that’s kind of their problem. They’re amiable but anonymous, at their best, a genial trot through lightweight THE GRACEFUL indie strumming, the musical equivalent of a well-made but slightly tasteless sponge cake, SLICKS harming no-one, inoffensive to the point of Another act whose previous demo offering irritating. ‘Dust & Water’ is neither here nor was a huge disappointment – a generic indie there, lacking drive or purposes, the singer ramble where previously they’d promised gently wafting the line “I’ve lost all faith in psychedelic wonders galore – but, like myself” in a manner that suggests his heart Chima, come back to prove us wrong. and soul went out the window at the same Unashamedly 60s retro, The Graceful Slicks time. ‘Run & Hide’, at six minutes and worship at the altar of The Velvet counting, should at least be a full-scale prog- Underground and scuzzy narcotic garage metal concept piece involving a chorus about rockers like The Electric Prunes and 13th Vikings fighting with aliens, but is insipidly Floor Elevators, ‘Bul Bul Tarang’ is a softly wistful, while ‘Alice’, with inspirational incandescent mantra, drifting under half- lines like “Alice, don’t drink your tea / Alice, whispered, almost devotional vocals, sing with me” is insufferably pleased with itself, a whimsy too far. We hate to day it guitarist who seems to spend almost every but The Walking Dots sound so bloody nice minute trying some random solo on for size, we want to punch them unconscious before lost in his own world where he is king and they wreak any more havoc on our cynical everyone bows down before his axe-wielding psyches. majesty instead of buggering of to play a completely different tune altogether. Not sure about calling a metal song ‘Cry At The SIMON BATTEN Moon’ either: come on, Ozzy barked at the Then again, here’s proof you can be soft- Moon, crying at it just makes you sound centred and likeable and still cut it musically. like a right bunch of pantywaists, and in Located in the sleepy village of Chesterton, Metal Land there’s just no room for that Simon Batten quotes Bob Dylan and Van kind of thing. Morrison as primary influences, which has us immediately reaching for the office shotgun, but he’s sneaked Scott Walker in THE MOTHERLOAD there too, so we stay our trigger finger for Burning in the belly of every great musical now. The truth is, initially at least, closer to genius is the raging fire of creativity, one that THE COURTYARD STUDIO Fleet Foxes’ dreamy Americana (minus compels them to excel, to push boundaries those gorgeous harmonies obviously), Simon and kick down walls. And there are PROTOOLS HD2, MTA 980 CONSOLE 32/24/ possessed of a warm, welcoming voice with musicians for whom the phrase, “Will this 24, OTARI MTR90 MK2 24 TRACK TAPE a hint of an American accent (forgivable in do?” seems to be foremost in their minds. MACHINE, 2 TRACKING ROOMS, SUPERB this case). Songs like ‘Death Of A Ghost’ are The Motherload sound like a band for whom CONTROL ROOM WITH GOOD SELECTION dreamy and wistful, his default setting being proficiency and authenticity appear to be OF MICS & OUTBOARD GEAR, + MIDI ‘Lovelorn’, while his guitar parts are, for the more important than crazed invention or FACILITIES (INC LOGIC AUDIO, AKAI most part, unfussy, allowing his voice to anything resembling soul. If we were being S1000, OLD SKOOL ROLAND ETC.) take centre stage. ‘The Wanderers’ starts off particularly generous we’d say they sound Residential facilities included. sounding like a meeting point of bluegrass like a tune-free meeting point between Oasis and traditional English folk but vocally and Queens of the Stone-Age, but if we’re www.courtyardrecordingstudio.com Simon takes it closer to his old blues roots being brutally honest `Dirty Devil’ is little PHONE PIPPA FOR DETAILS and is probably less appealing for that. more than the discarded body parts of ON 01235 845800 Occasionally it’s all maybe a bit too airy to assorted landfill indie bands from about five make much of an impact but it’s mostly years ago. At least that number gives it some easy and inviting. What we need to do now welly, albeit in a hopelessly generic fashion; is get Simon to marry Elizabeth Berg from `The Whet Lettuce’ (no, we’re not making The Like, so they can form a duo called this up) is all chug and bluster, desperate to Batten-Berg. That’d be rather sweet. Not to be funky but born without a funky bone in say a bit marzipany. its jelly-like body. HELLCOME The band’s website has them called THE DEMO Hellcomeportugal, which we misread as Hell Comes To Portugal. Which is a bit worrying, DUMPER because we’d thought about going on holiday there next year and the last thing you want when you’re supping drinks YELLOW FEVER round the pool is some bloody great demon At least The Motherload sound like they seeping sulphurous fumes all over your might put up a bit of a fight come fancy cocktail umbrella. Turns out they’re judgement day. Yellow Fever sound like called Hellcome and they’re from Portugal, they’d simply hide in the corner and blub which is a bit exotic by our standards, since for mum. ‘Premature’ rambles along, the odd incursion from Wiltshire is about as uncertain whether to jangle or funk it up a worldly as the demo pages usually get. Still, bit and settles for an untidy middle ground they’re a metal band and since it’s The Law until the wet weekend of a vocalist that we have to review a metal demo every stumbles in. “Oh these are dark days / month, they’re at least helping with quotas, Can’t keep on living this way,” he moans like any good EU partner should. Sadly with all the emotional intensity of Ian they’re not as scary as the name suggests, Curtis’ great aunt’s next-door-neighbour’s dealing in pretty by rote riffage and pet fucking budgie. ‘Fiend’, meanwhile, is growling, their best song, ‘Supernova’, nothing like as evil as its title would have punctuated by laser gun synth blips, while you believe. A three-legged kitten could Senhor Ogre gets ugly and hoarse with kick its arse as it stutters and mutters its extreme prejudice. It’s not bad, all things way to Anonymity Central via Dreary considered and we’d rather listen to a bit of Drizzle Street. Only ‘Dead Intent’ hints rough and ragged gothic thrash than some of there may be life here, albeit of the shouty the simpering shite and onions we get sent kind and as the singer extols us to “Put a but half the time they sound like they’re gun to my head / And send me down to the trying to play two songs simultaneously. bottom of the bottom,” we’re only too This is almost entirely down to the lead happy to oblige.

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.