email: [email protected] website: nightshift.oxfordmusic.net Free every month. NIGHTSHIFT Issue 145 August Oxford’s Music Magazine 2007 WITCHESWITCHES Oxford’s Spellbinding Pop Alchemists - interview inside plus Truck Flooded Out! The Young Knives up for Mercury Prize NIGHTSHIFT: PO Box 312, Kidlington, OX5 1ZU. Phone: 01865 372255 NEWNEWSS Nightshift: PO Box 312, Kidlington, OX5 1ZU Phone: 01865 372255 email: [email protected] TRUCK FESTIVAL was called off after the Steventon site was submerged in flood waters. As Oxfordshire suffered its heaviest rainfall in 40 years on Friday 20th July the festival site ended up under a metre of water. Organisers were forced to postpone the event after the nearby brook burst its banks. Festival founder Robin Bennett suffered a double blow after his family home in Steventon was also flooded. Robin and fellow Truck organisers moved quickly to re-arrange the festival for the weekend of 22nd / 23rd September. All tickets remain valid or refunds are available. With the whole Truck label and Truck foundation, which last year raised over £50,000 for charity, dependent on ticket money from the festival, it’s hoped people will hold on to their tickets and attend the new dates. In a heroic piece of emergency organisation, many of the festivals bands, including The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Garth and Maud Hudson, as SUPERGRASS will become the first Oxford band to headline the new Oxford well as Truck’s own Goldrush, played at Brookes University Union over two Academy when it opens in September. The band play a special one-off gig at nights in order to raise money to keep the festival going, while other acts, the Academy on Sunday 23rd September. The gig is expected to be sold out by headed by Frank Turner, performed at an all-day gig at the Port Mahon. the time Nightshift comes out. A very big Nightshift well done to everyone involved in the festival for Editors, meanwhile, became the first band to sell out a gig at the new venue. their hard work in the face of incredible adversity. Tickets for their show on Saturday 6th October sold out in less than 24 hours last month. Amongst the many gigs already booked for the Academy and its stage set up and lighting rig. From upstairs Zodiac venue in the first couple of month are: New Young Pony Club th October 15 the Turtle will host free (Thurs 20th Sept); RX Bandits (Fri 21st); Air Traffic (Mon 24th); Gallows (Tue live music six nights a week with gigs 25th); Madina Lake (Wed 26th); The Enemy (Thu 27th); This Is Menace (Mon preceding the regular club nights. 1st October); Alabama 3 (Thu 4th); Happy Mondays (Fri 5th - now sold out); Entry will be free to all gigs and open Decemberists (Sun 7th); King Creosote (Mon 8th); Jack Penate (Thu 11th); The to the general public. Promoter Cribs (Sat 13th); Foals (Mon 15th); Seth Lakeman (Tue 16th); Oceansize (Fri Gregory McCalium told Nightshift 19th); Kate Nash (Thu 25th) and Youthmovies (Sat 27th). that the gigs are almost completely Complete listings details and ticket booking are available online at booked up until December but bands www.oxford-academy.co.uk. HMV in Cornmarket Street are also selling wanting to play should contact him Academy tickets until the new box office is opened. on 07867 668 755 or check out www.myspace.com/3spiritmusic. THE YOUNG KNIVES have been THE OXFORD URBAN ARTZ shortlisted for this year’s Mercury FESTIVAL is a regular multi-arts thethe portport mmahonahon Prize. The local trio’s second album, thethe portport mmahonahon project which aims to feature the best ‘Voices Of Animals & Men’, is local urban music, dance and visual amongst twelve albums up for the arts with a series of Saturday Live Music in August prestigious award, alongside big name afternoon events kicking off on 8th st th acts such as Arctic Monkeys, Amy September at the Bayards School in 1 The Dresdens + Sicarios 16 Ezekiel + Butler Winehouse and Dizzee Rascal as well Barton. The events are organised by 2nd Dr S 17th PTM as other new talents like Bat For local musician Rob Jolliffe who works 3rd Permanent Vacation 18th Swiss Concrete presents Lashes and New Young Pony Club. for the Community Bizness project in presents On Fire + Scene Space Heroes of the People The winner will be announced on Screamers + Compute + Liechtenstein + th Barton and Wood Farm. Acts Tuesday 4 September. Good luck to confirmed so far include Nightshift 4th Quickfix Presents Alice the Knives from everyone in Oxford. favourites Zuby, Asher Dust and Mr 5th Medea + Not My Day + 19th Tiny Cities Shaodow, along with Djinn, Don JoJo, Device + more 20th The Attika Estate + The FOPP has gone into liquidation. The Inspekt A Rhyme and DeeVyne. th music retail chain, who opened a new 7 Vacuous Pop presents Don Ramos + Hello Summer + There will also be an acoustic stage th store in Oxford’s Gloucester Green 8 Oxford Improvisers Theo featuring local bands and solo artists. th st only a year ago, called in the 9 Deadbeat Cavalier + 21 Poor Girl Noise Go to www.UrbanArtz.com for more Coprolite + more 22nd Permanent Vacation receivers in early July, which resulted information and artist demos. in the closure of all of its stores 11th Dirty Boys All-dayer with presents Agripon + more Meet Me In St Louis + Look 23rd The Jones Radio around the UK. POOR GIRL NOISE release a See Proof + Envy & Other Sins 24th My Own Conspiracy Also gone this month is the Delicious compilation album of local and not so th Music store in St Aldates, which local bands that have played at their + Stornoway + 303 Did This To 26 Pindrop Performance specialised in sheet music and musical regular club nights. ‘Now We’re Out Me + Mewgatz + The Young with For Barry Ray + Traw & instruments as well as local bands’ Of The Cup, We Can Concentrate On Plan + The Blitz Cartel Dominic Lash + Divine Coils + CDs. Rising rent costs are blamed for The League’ features eleven tracks 12th Twat Daddies Beautiful Screaming Lady the closure. The closure of these two from the likes of Jonquil and Zelega 13th Gunnbunny + Superneck 27th Lee Davies + Chris stores, along with the demise of Vinyl as well as Chops, The Pluto, Riotmen 14th Swiss Concrete presents Thompson Frontier on Cowley Road, means that and Guns Or Knives. There will be Rose Melberg + Gregory 28th Twin System only HMV, Virgin and Borders remain 140 hand-made CDs, each one Webster + Robin Allender + 29th Peacemakers as outlets for CDs in Oxford. representing a particular FA Cup Final Anton Barbeau 30th Dubwiser (including replays) with CDs wrapped THE PURPLE TURTLE is set to in the winners’ ribbons. If you’re expand its live music programme in after a particular cup final, get in Book your band into play at Oxford’s best small music venue! October when the venue undergoes a touch via www.myspace.com/ refurbishment that will include a full pgnbevvies. 82 St Clements, Oxford. Tel: 01865 202067 AWITCHES Quiet Word With “MY LYRICS ARE GENERALLY a month when I wasn’t in a band, a kind of warped reflection of and apparently I was unbearable, so people, places and situations I’ve was no doubt encouraged to get a encountered and are very much move on with getting the new band routed in reality. However, I do tend off the ground. I met all the Witches towards representing these things in through friends of friends – at the a manner which is often considered time I simply wanted a four piece ambiguous and sinister. I have a very rock band, but this expanded to the dark imagination; I have hypnagogic current six-piece line-up about six hallucinations (night visions) and months later. To begin with it was recurring nightmares, combined with very strange, getting to know new a love of horror films like Ringu, people, trying to maintain The Shining, The Changeling and confidence in myself, wondering how The Omen. As a result, films like the band was going to be received. Ringu, arguably influenced by Then we had a wonderful few Japanese witch folk tales, and books months jamming at the Coldroom like Dreams In The Witch House by out in Cumnor, and during this time HP Lovecraft were influencing we wrote the `Chaos of A Friday factors behind songs like `Sleep Like Night’ EP. This cemented my belief The Witch That You Are’ and in the band, and made me feel like `Glowing Sky’.” I’d finally left eeebleee behind and could confidently move forward. SORCERESSES, THE DEVIL’S Eeebleee was much more of an child, ghosts of murdered children, electronics-based band, while ancient curses. The stuff of horror Witches use a much wider array of films and the stuff of Dave Griffiths’ instruments. Have your musical recurring nightmares. He should have tastes changed in that time or is formed a death metal band. Instead more a case of working with he formed bucolic pop troupe different people? Witches and thus set about “When I started eeebleee I was very exorcising his night visions in a keen on music by bands like Fridge, more sweetly-natured manner. Lamb and DJ Shadow and I’d Dave is explaining to Nightshift the recently purchased a phrase sampler darkness at the heart of Witches’ that brought with it a wide range of debut album, ‘Heart Of Stone’, which harmonies before being submersed in who split up just as the time seemed possibilities that differed from the is released in September.