email: [email protected] website: nightshift.oxfordmusic.net Free every month. NIGHTSHIFT Issue 136 November Oxford’s Music Magazine 2006

FOALS Welcome to their art rock disco - interview inside

Plus - News, reviews and six pages of local gigs Foals photo by Sam Shepherd

NIGHTSHIFT: PO Box 312, Kidlington, OX5 1ZU. Phone: 01865 372255

NEWNEWSS Nightshift: PO Box 312, Kidlington, OX5 1ZU Phone: 01865 372255 email: [email protected]

HELLO AND WELCOME to November’s Nightshift. After last month’s bumper issue, we thought this month would be a doddle, but what with assorted internet problems, cancelled gigs and a near miss with floodwater it’s a wonder it’s here at all. Suffice to say, the sooner humanity abandons modern technology and returns to potato printing and carrier pigeons the sooner we shall start feeling at home in the world. Preferably a world where it never rains and singers never lose their voices. Is that really too much to ask? Last month’s feature on the closure of regional venues has provoked quite a reaction and it’s good to hear from people who are making the effort to start promoting live music around the county. Hopefully music fans out there will support them as much as they can. Vashti Bunyan makes a rare visit to Oxford Have a great gigging month - six pages of gigs this month; surely there’s something in there for on Saturday 9th December, when she headlines everyone. a gig at the Zodiac. In the 1960s the enigmatic Ronan Munro folk singer was part of the Oxford music and arts scene along with Jennifer Lewis and Angela Strange, from whom she borrowed her THE YOUNG KNIVES re-release ‘The GET CAPE, WEAR CAPE, FLY returns to first guitar. The Zodiac show will see the trio th Decision’ on October 30 on Transgressive Oxford in the New year after selling out the reunited for the first time since that decade. Records. The song was originally released as Zodiac in October. The one-man electro-folk Vashti, backed by a full band, will be part of a split-EP with Smilex back in 2004 and star plays at Brookes University Union on performing songs from her two albums, th was voted song of the year by Nightshift Saturday 27 January. Ticket are on sale now, separated by 35 years. Now a staple of TV ads writers. It was re-released by Transgressive last priced £9, from the Union box office – 01865 after years of being regarded as a lost cult year and is taken from the band’s hit album, 484750. artist, Vashti is joined on the night by local ‘Voices Of Animals And Men’. The Young favourites Goldrush (in collaboration with Knives played two sold-out gigs at the Zodiac THE HALF RABBITS, Trademark and Youth local electronic musician Pedro), The Epstein in October as part of their UK tour, the first Movie Soundtrack Strategies are all included on and KTB. Tickets are on sale now, priced £7 local band to sell out two nights at the venue in a new compilation album in aid of The Medical from the Zodiac box office on 01865 420042. a month since Radiohead in 1995. Foundation For The Victims Of Torture this month. ‘Fifty Minutes’, released on Exercise FURTHER TO LAST MONTH’S feature on 1Records, features 50 tracks, including VENUE PHONE NUMBERS the loss of live music venues around Oxfordshire, contributions from Piney Gir, Jeremy The Zodiac: 01865 420042 Didcot Labour Club are hosting a regular blues Warmsley, Grand Mal and Emmy The Great. It The Bullingdon: 01865 244516 night, The Red Hot Blues Club, on the third is available online now at www.exercise1.net/ The Wheatsheaf: 01865 721156 Friday of each month. This month’s gig features 50minutes, priced £8. The X: 01865 776431 The Tomcats. Any blues acts looking for a gig The Cellar: 01865 244761 can contact Annie Birchall on 01235 210840 or AS EVER, keep tuning into The Download by email at [email protected] every week on BBC Radio Oxford 95.2fm. The The New Theatre: 0870 606 3500 Meanwhile live music is set to take off at weekly local music show, broadcast every Black Horse: 01865 373154 Witney’s Palace Nightclub after the recent Saturday at 6pm and available to listen to all Nettlebed Folk Club: 01628 636620 closure of the Pit venue. Witney rockers week online at bbc.co.uk/oxford features an The Port Mahon: 01865 202067 Greenacre play an acoustic show at the Palace on hour of local releases, interviews with touring Delicious Music: 07876 184623 Thursday 23rd November with support from bands, a gig and club guide and a local demo Point Promotions: 07711 628021 Vestibule and Laura Lost. vote. The Victoria: 01865 554047 Brookes: 01865 484750 HUNDRED REASONS and White Rose Movement have both re-scheduled gigs in TheMusic Market: 01865 248388 Oxford, while planned local dates by Plan B (pictured), Imogen Heap and Toyah have all been cancelled with no new dates announced. Emo rockers Hundred Reasons were forced to call off their UK tour when singer Colin Doran developed nodes on his vocal chords and was advised to stop singing for three months. The band return to the Zodiac on Thursday 18th January and all tickets remain valid. Synth-pop act White Rose Movement play the Zodiac on Monday 27th November after postponing their September date due to illness. Meanwhile Imogen cancelled two of her UK tour dates, including her show at the New Theatre, after she lost her voice. No reason has been given for the cancellation of dates by rapper Plan B at Brookes University Union or the Hitmakers Tour featuring Toyah, ABC and Howard Jones at the New Theatre. No Oxford date is included in Plan B’s rescheduled tour in February. A Quiet Word With FOALS HIPPIES AND SOCIAL At the end of October Foals were worker types never tire of invited to join Transgressive reminding us we should be nice to Record’s North England Roadshow, young bands and encourage their playing alongside The Young most hapless musical endeavours. Knives and Mystery Jets. Because at least they’re trying and Nightshift talked to Yannis as the not out smashing up bus shelters, band prepared to head off on tour. drinking WKD and wearing – gasp – hooded tops. Well to hell with FOALS’ SOUND HAS changed that airy-fairy lefty do-gooding. We quite radically in the last few wouldn’t encourage cute ickle months. puppies to crap on the pavement, “One member leaving and another so why should we clap and smile joining allows boundaries to be when teenagers do the musical lifted in what is a simple and equivalent to our precious ears? natural progression. There seems to Especially when there are young be a silent distrust of accessibility bands like Foals around who are or anything dance orientated within capable of making musicians twice certain ‘scenes’, like you’ve killed their age look like Neanderthal someone when you mention techno novices. and pop. For us it has been really good creatively to get away from THE HIPPIES AND SOCIAL this elitist back-slapping where worker types would probably hate you are automatically embraced Foals anyway, however benevolent because you have the ‘right’ they tried to seem. Because you’d affiliations... we like what we like, need the wrong sort of drugs to cool or not. We’ve expanded and dance at their disco. The one where mixed up our reference points to the funk comes at you from half a the point where we hope never to dozen different directions and the be lumbered with a certain tag and rhythms have you tripping over stagnate. We all like dance music, your feet even as you take to the from minimal techno to electro, and dancefloor. Foals want to make you the new Foals is primarily a dance. But they go about it in response to those influences, not strange, awkward ways. Inevitably just musically but ideologically – a you give up trying to move with dance aesthetic underlies any kind of grace or dignity and everything now. It’s so rewarding Photo by Sam Shepherd simply stare boggle-eyed at the to see kids dig the music and dance frantic techno-funk-rock lurching to it.” out of its cocoon in front of you. finding kinship with the likes of (apparently invited to join “as a The Edmund Fitzgerald was very Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies, joke that he still hasn’t got”). highly rated in Oxford, what FOUR YEARS AGO with whom they released a split Jimmy’s arrival was the spur for a prompted the band to split and Nightshift stood, in a state of slight single on Vacuous Pop Records. radical change of musical tactics. what lessons learned there have awe, at the Zodiac, watching a The Edmund Fitzgerald quickly The music suddenly veered into far carried through to Foals? bunch of young teenagers going earned themselves a reputation as funkier territory. The groove “We were really young when we under the band name of Elizabeth one of the most exciting and became king, complex poly- played in The Ed Fitz. We never rescuing post-rock and grunge from innovative guitar bands in Oxford rhythms battling with furious funk really looked at it beyond having the abyss with a set of and beyond. Yannis’ restless basslines and uptight treble-heavy fun, so its demise was inevitable malevolently melodic noise that creativity, however, was always guitar play. In Yannis’ words, when other pressures mounted. recalled the best bits of Sonic seeking new directions and the “Losing sleep over time signatures The music was getting more tech Youth and The God Machine. band folded. gave way to losing sleep at techno and more self-indulgent, and there Elizabeth were fronted by singer Foals were born when Yannis and nights, talking about how to create wasn’t very much else we could do and guitarist Yannis Philippakis, Jack teamed up with Youthmovies’ something really alien with guitars with it. As fun as it was, the issue then aged 15, and featuring Jack guitarist Andrew Mears, plus and Korgs”. Last month’s of actually communicating Bevan on drums. friends Walter and Jimmy, formerly Nightshift review of Foals’ something to an audience was Soon after being tipped as one of of local band Face Meets Grill. A Wheatsheaf gig found a band who barely addressed, but now we’re the bands to watch in 2003, single, ‘Try This On Your Piano’ played like “a counselling group for addressing it. We’ve carried across Elizabeth mutated into The was released in April of this year musicians unable to find anyone a focus on precision and a belief in Edmund Fitzgerald, taking a slight on Try Harder, soon after which able to keep up with them”, five the importance of discipline and but significant change in musical Andrew left the band to be virtuoso performers locked in musicianship, but we’ve also tried direction into angular math-rock, replaced by Edwin on guitar battle. to temper musical egos through compromise. It’s more about group on? Is there musical conflict within the satisfaction in the end result, one that is band? sparser and yet more considered, rather “Practising can build up creative tension, than self-applauding displays of ego.” sure, and it can be a restless struggle, but Foals’ declared intention is to create the when we play live it’s more cathartic, like future of pop music. The music you make a fight that has been waiting to happen. is often deceptively simple and certainly We spend a lot of time together, often just danceable. Can you envisage Foals sitting and waiting around, so the live breaking through into the commercial show acts as a release – and it’s where we mainstream making people change their feel most at home. We really like playing perceptions of what pop music is? parties where we get to hang out with “Yeah, that was a joke! We were just everyone; it makes it all worthwhile.” trying to rile certain egos. We have, shall we say, an antagonistic relationship with SINCE THE LINE-UP CHANGE, ‘pop’ – we’re interested in where it can go things have moved fast for Foals. Word-of- from here. Hot Chip are a great example of mouth recommendations have found their a band who have managed to take the good gigs increasingly busy and now record things from pop and meld it with companies are getting interested. The band something really different. In essence, we are currently talking to a major label. like the idea of music having a functional Unsurprising considering it’s at an early quality, where there is a balance between stage, Yannis isn’t too forthcoming with the compulsion to dance and some sort of details of any possible deal. When we put intellectual engagement, which goes a bit the question to him his only answer is, deeper. What happens commercially is “You can’t prove that! That’s a goddamn anyone’s guess; our focus is just to have a lie! Who’s the shnook?” good time and be the best that we can be. Ah, we couldn’t possibly say! Suffice to Obviously we’d love to change the say it’s the proverbial ‘source close to the public’s preconceptions, but it’s not what band’. Doubtless the truth will out in the we’re about.” not too distant future, possibly even as Foals sail off into the sunset aboard Mr THERE’S NO DOUBT THAT FOALS’ Sony’s luxury yacht, while discovering an new musical direction has made them a as-yet uncharted post-hardcore sea shanty more accesible prospect. Previously the edge to their musical sword. beauty was in the detail - it was easier to admire the band’s musicianship than lose OXFORD HAS LONG BEEN A yourself in the music itself. Much of the fertile breeding ground for bands of a more complexity remains intact but is now esoteric nature like Foals. How have they underpinned by a desire to make The found the local scene especially having, Kids dance - albeit in a less than quite literally, grown up in it. ROCK-POP-DANCE-GOLDEN OLDIES-INDIE- straightforward fashion. Composer Steve “Certain scenes are really cliquey, but SOUL-TECHNO-HIP-HOP-JAZZ-LATIN-REGGAE- Reich appears to be a major influence on Oxford is warm and welcoming, DRUM&BASS-GARAGE—R&B-DISCO-1950s- the band, particularly rhythmically, but particularly with magazines like yourself 2000s. Brand new back catalogue CDs £4 - £7 also bands like The Pop Group and supporting young bands like us. Youth each. Brand new chart CDs £5 - £10 each Shriekback. How important is rhythm and Movies, The Young Knives, And No Star the way that Foals use and manipulate it? and Twat Trot Tra La La are all bands we “We all love Steve Reich, but his like and know well.” aspiration of making intelligent music If you could dispel any misconceptions beautiful is more important to us than his about Foals that you’ve encountered, what actual technique. We want to make would it be? beautiful dance music where you can hear “That it’s difficult. That it’s ‘math’. That and feel the connections between the it’s ‘new rave’. That we’re in pain. That 5K instruments. Our influences are more like Edwin knows how to play keyboards. 32 Q And Not U, the DFA, and stuff on That because we are geeks we don’t know labels like Kitsune and Kompakt, how to dance. That only Campari is good alongside our tour mix tapes: Haddaway, enough. That our only friends are girls. Nelly Furtado, Devo etc. Fundamentally That we have kids and run marathons for we want to make kids dance, so the fun. That Walter is actually someone else rhythm has got to be strong in that who killed Walter along time ago and is respect, but we also want to satisfy wearing his face. That there is another ourselves and people listening at home.” Jimmy. That Yannis is the Caucasian heir Has rock music reached a creative dead- to Prince. That Jack is a Beaker. That we end, or can it be saved? are afrobeat…. THE ANY DAYS “Rock is pretty much impossible to Thing is, with Foals, you never know define now; it’s so fragmented. If some whether one, some or all of those things aspects of it are tired, other aspects are are actually true. Musically and personally CD single `MONDAY MORNING’ fresh and exciting. Invariably people who enigmatic, impossible to pigeonhole but at Polar Bear Records, Cowley Road say it’s dead are looking in the wrong full to the brim with potential; potential place. There’s no way we’d contribute to that is now, hopefully being realised. As any sort of statements like that. The real Arctic Monkeys might have said: bet www.theanydays.com challenge is how bands will move forward they’ll look good on the dancefloor. rather than simply regress into pastiche.” www.myspace.com/theanydays Live there’s a tangible air of restlessness Check out www.myspace.com/foals for (check websites for local gig dates) about the band. Is that what spurs you gig dates and news. Sponsored RELEASED by

country twang – Jonathan Chalstrey’s HIERONYMUS quavering guitar on album opener ‘Sad’ calls to ‘Save The Day’ mind Chris Isaac – or drift into more ghostly territory, as on the Twin Peaks-styled (Cold Chapel) ‘Forgive’. They’re not prone to showing their Storm clouds gather and the office stereo teeth much, nor sinking into melancholy, trembles in the face of the oncoming march of preferring a winning smile, as on the gentle- Satan’s rock and roll foot soldiers. Sorry, got a natured ‘Sarah’s Song’. ‘Mount Olympus’, bit carried away there for a moment. I get a bit meanwhile, is close to a direct steal from edgy around nice stuff. Hieronymus are nice – Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’. we’d just forgotten as much since it’s been There’s a tendency towards being too languid at about twelvety-hundred years since they last times, though: ‘Windy In The Cellar’ is as close released an album. Still, never mind, they’re as they get to upbeat and towards the end of the always welcome round here for a cup of tea and album they’re sleepwalking into jazz lounge a slice of Madeira cake, what with lovely territory (‘Bloody Heart’) or worse, The Corrs manners like they’ve got. (‘Don’t Ever Change’). Given the understated ‘Save The Day’ is the follow-up to 2002’s stylishness of ‘Save The Day’, Hieronymus ‘Alone In This Tree’ and shows a band who sugar-like over the band’s sweet, languid pop, never resort to showboating, allowing the songs have, almost incredibly, managed to mellow possessed with MOR spirit but with a sleek to state their case simply. Mostly they do just even more with age. Singer Katherine melodic bent that stops it cowering like a that; perhaps sometimes they could do so a bit Hieronymus has a dreamy, limpid voice, not shrinking violet into the wallpaper. At their best more forcibly. unlike Karen Carpenter, that sprinkles itself, Hieronymus gild their pretty pop with a Dale Kattack

down the stairs. But to this day I’ve been OXFORD extremely wary of anything bearing the title HARRY ANGEL IMPROVISING Improvised. Still, Oxford Improvisers have gone ‘You Are Your Own from strength to strength over the past couple ORCHESTRA of years, inviting assorted international Disease’ luminaries to town as well as promoting regular (Own label) ‘Accession - A Piece improv nights. More sweet’n’scouring gothic fizzbomb rock This album was recorded by the Oxford from Harry Angel, the follow-up to last year’s Of Europe’ Improvising Orchestra – a 19-strong collective, excellent ‘Death Valley Of The Dolls’ single. including renowned pianist and composer Pat (Oxford Improvisers) Three songs here follow a set formula of Thomas as well as Dubwiser’s Malcolm Atkins, Some years ago when I was living in a shared careering grunge guitars topped off by singer who composed the music – at the Jacqueline du house my so-called best friend in the next room Chris Beard’s fantastically false American Pre Building last November, the original 95- would regularly wake me in the mornings accent and bassist Hayley Phillips’ occasional minute performance here whittled down to 35 playing his improvised jazz albums, which he Kim Gordon-like interjections. kept in a box on the landing. After months of minutes. The best thing about Harry Angel is how they torment my cat slunk out of the room and Divided into seven separate pieces, each always sound like they’re in an amphetamine- heroically pushed the entire box of cassettes displays mastery of tone, texture and technique fuelled rush to get to the end of every song so and with an emphasis on space: busy piano they can sit quietly in the corner grinding their flourishes make way for spooked strings, teeth and watching, bug-eyed, for aliens or CIA barely-there woodwind chirps and abstract agents while the melodies can only hang on for electronic hums and buzzes. Contemporary dear life, their knuckles whitening as everything classical music is an alien world to me, I’ll heads towards an inevitable fireball of grunge confess; peasant that I am I like a good tune, or distortion and feedback. However hard they try a groove, something solid to hold onto. I always they just can’t slow it down, even relatively. get the impression with improv virtuosos that When they attempt it, as on ‘Last Riot’, you’re they sit around and cackle secretively about always waiting for the froth to come pouring plebs who don’t understand, like wicked French out again, and they never disappoint. waiters laughing at hapless English tourists’ If there’s any small disappointment to be had attempts to decipher a complex menu. it’s that Harry Angel, like so many bands, never So there you have it: I’m a thicko and a peasant quite achieve the molten ferocity of their live and I’m going to go and listen to my Lily Allen sound on CD. Still, Butch Vig don’t come album now. Nothing too difficult there to cheap; time to start saving those pennies for comprehend. next time. Dale Kattack Ian Chesterton

Selected Oxford releases are now available on the ground floor HMV Oxford supports local music Open Sundays 11-5pm & late Thursdays till 7pm. 10% student discount every day DELICIOUS MUSIC Live InNovember Saturdays @ The Music Market Delicious Music Entertainment in association with Up’n’Coming Entertainment presents 04 FULL METAL WAISTCOAT + support 11 `i’ Mag launch party with CAMINUS + THE DIVINITY SCHOOL + JOE SATRIANI TRIBUTE (with Pawel Kuterba) 18 THE DRUG SQUAD + HOLIDAY IN VIETNAM + WEDNESDAY’S CHILD + LES CLOCHARDS November 25 Closed - private party Sundays @ Market Tavern Every Monday Weekly Electric Open Mic Jam / 8pm Free! THE FAMOUS MONDAY NIGHT BLUES The best in UK, European and US blues. 8-12. £6 Tuesdays @ Pizza Express, Cornmarket 6th THE JOHN O’LEARY BAND (UK) LIVE JAZZ & MORE – Downstairs in Bar Milano / 8pm / 13th THE BLUE BISHOPS (UK) Free Entry 20th THE AYNSLEY LISTER BAND (UK) 07 EDDIE THOMPSON th 14 BARNABAS 27 THE DERRIN NAUENDORF BAND (Aus) 21 LOS HOMBRES 28 CICILY LATTICE Every Tuesday

Tuesday 21 - Live Psychedelic Wigout with THE OXFORD JAZZ CLUB with THE TOM ROBERT & THE ROBOTICS (from Germany) + GREY QUINTET UPSTREAM PROVIDERS @ The Market Tavern Free live jazz plus DJs playing r’n’b, funk and soul until 2am

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Every Friday thethe portport mmahonahon BACKROOM BOOGIE Live Music in November Funk, soul and R&B. 9-2am Free B4 10pm; £4 after. 1st Swiss Concrete presents 15th Her Name is Calla Saturdays Neimo + Pop Klub Arsenal + 16th The Yarns + support 4th SIMPLE Funky House with Rennie Pilgrim. 9-3am Where I’m Calling From + Julius 17th Oxford Folk Club 11th SELECTASOUND presents 2nd Port Mayhem with 18th Los Campesinos + Stornoway + Sean & Julia Popular Workshop + Baby CYBERSCRIBES / THEO / REBECCA Lally + Laima Bite Gravy + Through Snowy MOSLEY / REDFORD + DJs rd 3 Oxford Folk Club Static 18th OX4 – Drum’n’bass club night. 9-3am 4th Kill Kenada + Caretaker + 19th The Reverse + La Frange th Twat Trot Tra La + Ape Has Killed Ape! + Ash 25 90s NIGHT 9-3am 5th Twat Daddies Verjee 6th ISAN + Tomcats in Tokyo 20th The End Game + Sundays th 7 Amandine (Fat Cat Showdown City th Records) + The Low Lows + 24th Oxford Folk Club 5 LIVE STAND-UP COMEDY These Monsters 26th Pindrop Performance with DAN EVANS and CHRIS NEILL th 8 Oxford Improvisers presents Thomas Traux + plus compere SILKY. 8-11pm; £7 (£6 students) present Son et Lumiere National School + Peter th 9th Divine Coils + Shaggy Buckly Hill (5.30pm – followed 19 TEMPLE / HI-FLYER (live bands) Parasols + guests by Improv Club) 26th RUBBER DUCK / support (live bands) 10th Oxford Folk Club 28th Swiss Concrete presents th 11 Prohibition Smokers Balor Knights + Plans and Coming Up Club + Georgina Wonder Apologies + Rotary Ten + City th 12th Jonquil + Fuck Buttons Lights just Burn Sat 27 January + Theo 29th Johnny’s Sexual Kitchen HOMESPUN featuring DAVE ROTHERY 13th Jazz Groove 30th Oe Fiscter + Rubber (Beautiful South) and 14th Quadrophobe Duck SAM BROWN Tickets on sale now from The Bully - £11. Book your band into play at Oxford’s best small music venue! 82 St Clements, Oxford. Tel: 01865 202067 gig guide Sponsored by

WEDNESDAY 1st KT&KY: The Music Market – Local bands night NEIMO + POP KLUB ARSENAL + WHERE I’M NOVEMBER with grunge rockers Hangman’s Joe headlining. CALLING FROM + JULIUS: The Port Mahon THE DUGOUT: The Cellar – Soul, jazz and rare – Swiss Concrete’s first gig of the month brings two THURSDAY 2 nd groove with a DJ set from Fingathing. of Paris’ upcoming pop starlets to the cosy LES CLOCHARDS: The Flowing Well, PHOTOPHONIC EXPERIMENT: The Zodiac Sunningwell confines of the Port. Neimo mix up Strokes-y new (upstairs) – Multi-media experimental soundclash wave influences with punk and synth-pop, while BACKROOM BOOGIE: The Bullingdon – see main preview SATURDAY 4th Pop Klub Arsenal opt for a more Smiths-inspired MY ALAMO: The Zodiac (downstairs) – Hotly- style of indie rocking. Wispy local indie popstrels tipped young Midlands-based rockers in a Foo THE GUILLEMOTS: Brookes University WICF provide support along with Julius. Fighters / QOTSA vein, currently recording their Union – Warped, ethereal jazz-tinged pop – see FOLK SESSION: The X, Cowley – Weekly trad debut album with Joe Gibbs who has produced main preview folk session. Funeral For A Friend and Jane’s Addiction. TAPES’N’TAPES: The Zodiac – Excellent, off- OPEN MIC SESSION: The Marlborough SABOTAGE: The Zodiac – Weekly rock club kilter countrified indie rocking from Minneapolis’ House – All-comers night with £50 prize. night playing the latest metal, hardcore and Tapes’n’Tapes, coming in somewhere between HIT & RUN: The Cellar – Hip hop and alternative sounds. Talking Heads, Violent Femmes and Pixies and now drum&bass club night. PORT MAYHEM with STORNOWAY + SEAN signed to XL, alongside White Stripes. & JULIA LALLY + LAIMA BITE: The Port REDOX + OPAQUE: The X – Swamp rock and Mahon – Delicate Belle & Sebastian-influenced festival funk from Redox. nd Thursday 2 jangle pop from Stornaway, Uilleann pipe music ANDY ABRAHAM: The New Theatre – X- from Sean and Julia, plus gorgeously melancholic Factor runner-up to Shane Ward. Imagine, being THE PHOTOPHONIC folk-pop from Laima. not as good as Shane Ward. How can he sleep at EXPERIMENT: OXFORD UNIVERSITY JAZZ NIGHT: The night? Music Market KILL KENADA + CARETAKER + TWAT TROT The Zodiac OBI GOT LUDO + WAIT FOR CONISTON + TRA LA: The Port Mahon – Menacing melodic MOLECK: The Cellar – Metallic hardcore and hardcore from Bognor’s Kill Kenada with support Oxford Contemporary Music host a post-rock from Newcastle’s Obu Got Ludo, mixing from arty hardcore stalwarts Caretaker and local musically challenging meeting of disparate it up somewhere between Battles and At The experimental rockers Twat Trot Tra La. minds in the form of the Photophonic Drive-In, plus jazzy math-rock from Wait For PHYAL + DIRTY SCI-FI + NUMBERNINE + Experiment tour. The show brings together Coniston and post-rock experimentalism from HYBRID4M: The Wheatsheaf – Grinning Spider Pram, Blissbody and Project Dark. Pram Moleck. club night with punk-metallers Phyal headlining, have long been one of the most unusual and OPEN MIC SESSION: The Half Moon plus Doors-y rockers Dirty Sci-Fi. original bands in the UK, Domino Record CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford SIMPLE: The Bullingdon – Funky house with stalwarts, for whom they have released Community Centre Rennie Pilgrim. SKITTLE ALLEY ACOUSTIC NIGHT with LES seven albums of exotic leftfield pop, rd FRIDAY 3 CLOCHARDS: King’s Head & Bell, blending astro-jazz, loungecore, sci-fi HARRY ANGEL + BORDERVILLE + Abingdon soundtracks and Victoriana with lysergic, ANDNOSTAR: The Zodiac (downstairs) – DESTA*NATION: The Cellar – Reggae, roots childlike lyrics. Blissbody is the work of Fizzbomb gothic grunge-pop from Harry Angel, and jungle night featuring a live set from local Mark Anderson, responsible for the plus intricate rock of a more theatrical bent from reggae favourites Mackating. acclaimed Power Plant installation at Borderville and instrumental post-rocking from FULL METAL WAISTCOAT: The Music Oxford’s Botanic gardens last year. His array AndNoStar. Market – Delicious Music local bands night. of lights, video and occasional pyrotechnics LAB4: The Zodiac (upstairs) – Local hard house JUDY’S FARM: Somerset House, Marston complement invented instruments, like the duo’s final Oxford gig – see main preview Road Million Volt Spark-o-phone, which are KLUB KAKOFANNEY with BARRY & THE FALLEN ANGELS: The Chester Arms – linked to natural phenomenon such as fire, BEACHCOMBERS + KANED CITIZEN + Country rock. plant life and lightning. Kirsten Reynolds’ HOLIDAY IN VIETNAM + REVEREND SUNDAY 5th Project Dark, meanwhile, utilises scores of MOONSHINE + FILM NOIR: The X – Klub Kakofanney mark their first club night at the WITCHES + SHADY BAND: The Port Mahon custom-sculptured 7” singles, made from newly-refurbished X with a bumper bill featuring – extravagant countrified indie rock with a glitchy hair, glass or circular saws amongst other Witney punk wackoes Barry & The electro soul from Witches, taking in influences things and was a big favourite of John Peel. Beachcombers, melodic soft rocking from Kaned from Calexico and Sparklehorse to Nought and Together their combines experimental leaning Citizen and Smiths-inspired indie types Film Noir. The Velvet Underground. should make for one of the most bizarre and OXFORD FOLK CLUB: The Port Mahon DAVID ESSEX: The New Theatre – Enduring innovative gigs of the year. SEXTODECIMO + SONS OF THUNDER + pop idol, once a teen pin-up, now more of an BEARD OF ZEUSS + JECANO: The object of gentle desire for ladies of a certain age, Wheatsheaf – A night of ultra-heavy noise. but with a decent catalogue of top hits behind him, Headliners Sextodecimo create a dense black hole including the timeless ‘Silver Dream Machine’. He of ultra-hardcore stoner metal and are possibly recorded with St Etienne last year so there’s still the most extreme local live band. Stoner- life in the old boy yet. metallers Beard Of Zeuss join the supporting cast. DOGS: The Zodiac – Absolutely wretched south ACOUSTIC NIGHT: The Victoria, Jericho London indie shambling from a band who seem to HANGMAN’S JOE + THE UNMASKED + emotive analogue lullabies and hushed electronic new band The Plaudits and downbeat pop beats. troubadour Mark Bosley. CRAOBH RUA: Nettlebed Folk Club – GUILLERMO + DAVID CRONENBERG’S Traditional Irish balladry and jigs and reels. WIFE + FOXES!: The Cellar – Alt.rock triple TUESDAY 7th bill. BENJAMIN PROSSER & VICTORIA YEULET: JAZZ CLUB with THE TOM GREY QUINTET: QI Club – Old time blues, country, folk, gospel The Bullingdon – Free live jazz from resident and rockabilly from the sometime TV band and guests at the Bully’s ever-popular weekly Personalities singer. club night. GRINNING SPIDER PRESENTS: The X, AMADINE + THE LOW LOWS + THESE Cowley – Local bands club night. MONSTERS: The Port Mahon – Timorous indie OXFORD UNIVERSITY JAZZ NIGHT: The rd pop from Sweden’s Fat Cat-signed hopefuls. New Friday 3 Music Market Yorkers The Low Lows provide hazy lo-fi support OPEN MIC SESSION: The Half Moon LAB 4: The Zodiac with a nod or two to Galaxie 500, while Leeds’ CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford These Monsters bring the sparse, sax-led post- And so it’s goodbye from them. After twelve Community Centre years together local trance and hard house rock. duo Lab 4 are calling it a day and bowing out SHUSH OPEN MIC SESSION: The X, Cowley with a series of gigs building up to the end of DELICIOUS MUSIC JAZZ NIGHT with EDDIE Saturday 4th THOMPSON: Bar Milano, Pizza Express the year. Tonight will be their final Oxford ACOUSTIC OPEN MIC SESSION: The show, at a venue that Les and Adam have GUILLEMOTS: Hobgoblin, Bicester – All-comers music night packed out many times. They’re no with a free pint for all performers. Brookes University strangers to much larger arenas however, WEDNESDAY 8 th regularly filling Brixton Academy or Union performing to 15,000 ravers in Australia or PAUL CARRACK: The New Theatre – Veteran Modern pop music is no place for wilful Japan. In fact, after Radiohead and singer and keyboard player who’s been a member of Squeeze (replacing Jools Holland), Mike & The eccentricity, improvisation or Supergrass, Lab 4 are probably Oxford’s Mechanics and (briefly) Roxy Music. adventurousness, but that doesn’t seem to most successful musical export, releasing SON ET LUMIERE: The Port Mahon – Oxford have hurt Guillemots any, having achieved a half a dozen studio albums as well as Improvisers present a night of music and visuals top 20 album and a Mercury Prize numerous live recordings and countless 12” with Bruno Guastalla and Paul Meldey. nomination since their last visit to Oxford. singles. Troubles with new album, ‘None Of FOLK SESSION: The X, Cowley The album, ‘Through The Windowpane’, is Us Are Saints’, including legal problems over EPOK: The Cellar – Live drum&bass. an expansive set-piece, melodically simple a cover version, pre-empted the decision to OPEN MIC SESSION: The Marlborough but orchestral and intricately arranged and split, but the band will at least be able to go House giving full reign to frontman Fyfe out on a high. Local fans will be familiar with th THURSDAY 9 Dangerfield’s reedy but epic voice and the band’s high-energy blend of electro- THE FEELING: Brookes University Union – dreamy, kaleidoscopic lyrics. In as much as trance and ultra-heavy house, positioning the The creeping musical mildew that is The Feeling Guillemots resemble any other band they’re duo close to the likes of Messiah and Banco returns to haunt our fair city once again, perhaps closest to Glaswegian mavericks The Blue De Gaia, although harder-edged industrial offering a reminder to those sentient beings out Nile, possessing a similar sense of casually- acts like Ministry are equally close at times. there who haven’t helped make this gig a sell-out constructed perfection, production technique Newcomers may be surprised to discover a already that 70s MOR rock was A Bad Thing first and musical virtuosity never intruding too side of Oxford music that they never knew time round and perhaps shouldn’t be repeated. much on the songs in hand. That Guillemots existed. Such has been Lab 4’s global success EVER. Drive-Time mulch for Daily Mail readers managed to recruit drummer Greig Stewart it’s been easy to forget that it all started out who think Athlete are too outré. Seriously, this lot into their ranks is testament to their musical above a tea shop in Abingson. make Keane sound like The Birthday Party. If you are one of those people who’ve bought a ticket superiority – the former Suitable Case For already, burn it. Burn it now. You will feel cleansed. Treatment and Camp Blackfoot sticksman is have traded in ripping off the Strokes for a new one of the most accomplished and maverick line in ripping off Razorlight. Does their musical JEREMY WARMSLEY: The Zodiac – percussionists around. Flying in the face of ambition know no bounds? Introspective but lush folk-pop from the London- Kooks-style indie mediocrity, Guillemots TWAT DADDIES: The Port Mahon – Shambolic based Anglo-French singer-songwriter, last seen at local rockers. the Zodiac supporting Regina Spektor in February. prove you can have style and content; their ELECTRIC JAM: The X, Cowley – All-comers With a tendency towards unpredictable upwardly mobile career trajectory suggests jam session with in-house band The X Men. performance, either solo or with a band, using there are even enough folks out there to ELECTRIC OPEN JAM: The Music Market either traditional acoustic instruments or relying make such things commercially successful. th on laptop and toy instruments. MONDAY 6 ALABAMA 3 ACOUSTIC: The Zodiac – THE JOHN O’LEARY BAND: The Bullingdon Unplugged session from Brixton’s Deep South acid – Blues harpist and vocalist with over 40 years gospel crew. experience behind him, initially inspired by Alexis OKEANOS: Modern Art, Oxford (5.45pm) – Korner’s harpist Cyril Davies, before discovering Oxford Contemporary Music presents a warm-up Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf and John Lee gig from the seven-piece ensemble, mixing up Hooker and now playing everything from blues and traditional Japanese folk music and interpretations boogie to swing and rock’n’roll. of contemporary compositions, utilising Japanese THE OTHERS: The Zodiac – Former London koto and sho alongside western strings and fashionista faves and one-time holders of the not woodwind, ahead of their full performance at the particularly coveted title of The New Libertines, Jacqueline du Pre Building on Saturday 18th. despite actually being quite good, return with their SABOTAGE: The Zodiac new album as well as choice indie rock nuggets like DIVINE COILS + SHAGGY PARASOLS: The ‘Stan Bowles’ and ‘This Is For The Poor’, with Port Mahon – Ambient drones and dissonant frontman Dominic Masters documenting the thrill soundscapes from experimentalists Divine Coils. of being on the dole and the like. HEADCOUNT + MARY BENDY TOY + THE ISAN + TOMCATS IN TOKYO: The Port PLAUDITS + MARK BOSLEY: The Hobgoblin, Mahon – Minimalist electronic melodies and Bicester – Top-notch local bands night up in sound manipulation from ISAN at tonight’s Bicester tonight as punk-metal titans Headcount Vacuous Pop promotion, joined by French kindred headline with support from weirdo industrial spirits Tomcats in Tokyo, creating reflective, grungers Mary Bendy Toy, plus Jeremy Leggett’s lead the British soul, r’n’b and gospel line with a MONDAY 13th string of hit singles and albums to her credit as well BLUE BISHOPS: The Bullingdon – Hard- as about fifty million awards and nominations to rocking blues in the style of Jimmy Hendrix, her name. Oh and she’s a Christian Aid ambassador Muddy Waters and Peter Green from the European too as well as a spokesperson for the Terence festival favourites, recently joined by former- Higgins Trust. Pretty decent Aretha Franklin and Argent and Zombies bassist Jim Rodford. Sam Cooke-inspired soul music too, lest that side JAZZ GROOVE: The Port Mahon of her armoury is in any danger of being CHRIS WHILE & JULIE MATTHEWS: overshadowed. Nettlebed Folk Club – Longstanding leading BABY GRAVY + FAMILY MACHINE: The lights of the UK folk and roots scene. Wheatsheaf – Ace local teen popstrels mixing up th th TUESDAY 14 Sunday 12 lo-fi punk with lopsided jazz noise, plus hangdog country-tinged rocking from Family Machine. LUKE HAINES + COWBOY X: The Zodiac – MOTÖRHEAD: SHAKERVILLE: The Music Market English gentleman poet and musical maverick OXFORD FOLK CLUB: The Port Mahon returns with his new solo album – see main preview The New Theatre ACOUSTIC NIGHT: The Victoria, Jericho JAZZ CLUB with THE TOM GREY QUINTET: Almost exactly a year to the day on from BACKROOM BOOGIE: The Bullingdon The Bullingdon their last, triumphant visit to the New THE PETE FRYER BAND: Magdalen Arms Theatre, Motörhead return to wreak more th SATURDAY 11 Tuesday 14th sonic mayhem, legendary frontman Lemmy SELECTASOUND presents CYBERSCRIBES unarguably the coolest 60-year-old on the + THEO + REBECCA MOSLEY + REDFORD: LUKE HAINES: planet, a picture of gaunt rock and roll The Bullingdon – First of a hopefully regular indestructibility personified, unbowed by series of live promotions from Selectasound The Zodiac the decades of substance abuse and gruelling Studios, tonight featuring Electro-acoustic band Luke Haines is a man who has rarely rock workload that he’s endured. In an age Cyberscribes, mixing up Western pop and African compromised his art for commercial gain. when so-called rock stars are more likely to music, fronted by Kenyan vocalist Phoebe Minah. From the critically-lauded but actually be spotted patronising art galleries or Support comes from Theo, playing live drums over rather crap Auteurs, to the more lysergic guitar loops, plus excellent folk-pop songstress finishing the Times crossword than being Baader Meinhof to the divine and inspired Rebecca Mosley. fished unconscious out of swimming pools Black Box Recorder, he’s reflected a very SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND: The Zodiac – in the early hours, isn’t it reassuring that English take on pop and soul. Long before Lemmy is still flying the flag for proper Upwardly mobile Leeds rockers, mixing frantically funky post-punk noise with squally funk rock in Pete Doherty came on the scene, Haines hedonistic behaviour? Motörhead wrote the drew inspiration from ideas of Arcadian blueprint for full-throttle heavy metal with that place where The Killers and Radio 4 meet The Music. idyll, while rubbing up cynical vitriol against ‘Overkill’ and ‘Ace Of Spades’, while ‘No BOOT-LED ZEPPELIN: The Zodiac – Led Zep romantic naivety in his lyrics. Like so many Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith’ remains one of the tribute. single-minded musical mavericks he greatest live rock albums of all time. New BUENA VISTA SOCIALIST CLUB + RAMI: sometimes missed the target (particularly album ‘Kiss Of Death’ proves that Lemmy The X, Cowley – Benefit gig for the Colombian with The Auteurs who were one of the most isn’t going to mellow out any time soon, still Solidarity Campaign. deathly dull live acts we’ve ever had the belting it out in his trademark growl about PROHIBITION SMOKERS CLUB + misfortune to witness) but, as with Black war, booze and more war. After twice GEORGINA WONDER: The Port Mahon – Box Recorder, when he got it right it worked collapsing on stage last year, it was reported Sleazy acoustic blues rock from PSC, the band like a dream. In his time Haines has been that Lemmy was reducing his alcohol intake. made up of members of Smilex, Baby Gravy, Verbal nominated twice for the Mercury Prize, What this actually amounted to was him Kink and The Walk Off. appeared on Top Of The Pops, and been mixing his traditional Jack Daniel’s with a CAMINUS + THE DIVINITY SCHOOL + produced by Steve Albini and Richard X, PAWEL KUTERBA: The Music Market – dash of coke. “If we moved in next door, while always remaining a strangely wraith- Delicious Music local bands night, launching new your lawn would die”, said Lemmy once in like presence on the fringes of popular an attempt to explain the Motörhead local mag ‘i’. CONVERGENCE QUARTET with HARRIS music. More recently he’s been involved in phenomenon. Don’t you just wish he was award-winning film scores and now returns your dad? EISENSTADT & TAYLOR HO BYNUM + VERYAN WESTON PIANO TRIO: Jacqueline with a new solo album, ‘Off My Rocker At du Pre Music Building – A rare chance to see The Art School Bop’, from which the FRIDAY 10th two of the United States’ top young jazz majority of tonight’s set will doubtless be drawn. SCOTT MATTHEWS: The Zodiac (upstairs) – improvisers in action, alongside local improv Return to the Zodiac for the Wolverhampton- luminaries. Trumpeter Taylor and drummer Harris based singer-songwriter after September’s sold-out team up with Oxford’s finest, with support from show at the downstairs venue, armed with an leading UK jazz drummer Veryan Weston. intimate mix of rock, soul and funk, drawing STORNOWAY + COTTON BLONDE + BEAR inspiration from Led Zep, Jeff Buckley, Nick IN THE AIR: The Wheatsheaf – Jangly folk-pop Drake and Robert Johnson. from Stornoway. THE ALIENS: The Zodiac (downstairs) – Former ANOTHER LOST LEADER + THE SHAKES + A Beta Band chaps John McLean and Robin Jones SILENT FILM + ZERO POINT FIELD: The team up with oddball singer Lone Pigeon to Jericho Tavern – Local bands night with star- continue their journey into 60s acid-frazzled bound melodic rockers A Silent Film amongst psychedelia, wobbly electronica and convoluted others. th devotional dancefloor pop SUNDAY 12 GAMMY LEG PRODUCTIONS presents MOTORHEAD: The New Theatre – Lemmy & SCRIPT + SMALLTEASERS + DAN MORGAN: co. return for more metal magnificence – see main The Exeter Hall, Cowley – Eclectic indie, new preview wave and 60s-influenced pop from Script at JONQUIL + FUCK BUTTONS + THEO: The tonight’s inaugural night from the Gappy Tooth Port Mahon – Cinematic musical Industries crew. Support from bouncy indie experimentation from the rather ace Jonquil, plus popsters Smallteasers and country-tinged balladeer support. Dan Morgan. ELECTRIC OPEN JAM: The Music Market BEVERLEY KNIGHT: The New Theatre – Bev – SAM POPE + ELISE DARCHIS: The X, that’s Bev Knight MBE to you, serf – continues to Cowley QUADROPHOBE + LAIMA BITE: The Port THE GREEN ONIONS: The Music Market – Mahon – Funky rock from Wantage’s UK Blues Brothers tribute band. Quadrophobe, plus heartstring-tugging gothic folk- OXFORD FOLK CLUB: The Port Mahon pop from Laima. ACOUSTIC NIGHT: The Victoria, Jericho SHUSH OPEN MIC SESSION: The X, Cowley TOMCATS: Didcot Labour Club – Live blues. DELICIOUS MUSIC JAZZ NIGHT with BACKROOM BOOGIE: The Bullingdon BARNABAS: Bar Milano, Pizza Express HQ: The Cellar – Drum&bass club night with INTRUSION: The Cellar – Goth and industrial Alix Perez and Sabre. club night. SMILEX + 20/20 VISION + ANN OF RAIN + OPEN MIC NIGHT: Mangos CARP NOCTEM: The Courtyard, Bicester – WEDNESDAY 15th All-action glam-rock loons Smilex headline an SOLVEIG SLETTAHJELL + ILMILIEKKI: under-18s rock night at Bicester’s Courtyard Youth Holywell Music Room – Norwegian singer Centre. Thursday 16th th Solveig demonstrates her sparse, experimental jazz SATURDAY 18 style, while young Finnish jazz collective Ilmiliekki YOUTH MOVIES + BLOOD RED SHOES + SCHMOOF: The Cellar support. ADAM GNADE: The Zodiac – Local post-rock While electronic music continues to expand SHAKIN’ STEVENS: The New Theatre – The heroes return to town after their recent national and progress to ever more esoteric lands, it’s 80s hitmaker and Welsh Elvis impersonator tour – see main preview worth remembering that the best synth-pop returns after last year’s gig at the same venue, OKEANOS: Jacqueline du Pre Building – was – and remains – both simple and a bit rock’n’rolling along to hits like ‘Green Door’ and Seven-piece ensemble, mixing up traditional silly. Two words which apply very ‘This Ol’ House’. Japanese folk music and interpretations of definitely to London duo Schmoof, singer FOLK SESSION: The X, Cowley contemporary compositions, utilising Japanese Sarah and keyboard player Lloyd. The HER NAME IS CALLA: The Port Mahon – koto and sho alongside western strings and former cavorts around the stage in PVC and Broody Radiohead-inspired indie rocking from woodwind. stilettos like an Amazonian member of Legs Leicester’s HNIC. PAPER TIGER + GRUDEL BAY RIOTS + & Co. while the latter does all the cool OPEN MIC SESSION: Marlborough House NORTHWOOD: The Wheatsheaf – Heavy THURSDAY 16th rock mixed bill. bleepy electro-disco stuff and plays a LOS CAMPESINOS + POPULAR synth-guitar without the slightest hint of THE KEYBOARD CHOIR + RECEIVER + irony. After building a small cult following TYLER: The Zodiac – One of Oxford’s most WORKSHOP + BABY GRAVY + THROUGH SNOWY STATIC: The Port Mahon – Indie on the back of a kitsch cover of ‘Sweet Child innovative and unusual acts, The Keyboard Choir O’ Mine (featured on an old Snakebite City create exotic synthesized soundscapes, taking in rocking in a Pavement and Mogwai-inspired vein compilation) the pair launched their own drones, glitchy electronica and gothic portent. A from Cardiff’s Los Campesinos, with support from monthly synth-pop night, Warm Electro, in genuinely superlative spectacle. discordant, demented hardcore merchants Popular 100 BULLETS BACK + SCHMOOF + Workshop and kooky lo-fi jazz-pop youngsters London. After a low-key debut album a ALUMINIUM BABE: The Cellar – Electro-pop Baby Gravy. couple of years back, ‘Bedroom Disco’ night – see main preview THE G’s + SILVERSIGHT + NATION: The X, Schmoof release a new single, ‘Chocolate STATUS QUO: The New Theatre – Ver Quo’s Cowley – Local bands night with glam-pop Boyfriend’ this month, dealing with every annual two-date residence comes round again, the hopefuls Nation. girl’s dilemma – boyfriend or chocolate? biggest-selling singles band of all time in the UK, THE DRUG SQUAD + WEDNESDAY’S CHILD Heck, why not both in one! In the tradition still going strong after 40 years on the road. + HOLIDAY IN VIETNAM + LES of bands like Vicious Pink, Erasure and DECIBEL: Modern Art, Oxford (5.45pm) – CLOCHARDS: The Music Market – Delicious Silicon Teens, Schmoof write and perform Music local bands night with headliners The Drug Musical and visual collective led by composer Ed with tongues only slightly in cheek; the Squad providing party-friendly ska-punk noise. Bennett, performing experimental compositions result is kooky, fun and utterly irresistible. THUNDER: The New Theatre – Bluesy rocking using electronics, video and traditional instruments. Joining them on tonight’s electro-pop bill are SABOTAGE: The Zodiac and ballads from the 70s-styled soft rockers, taking musical coals to Newcastle as their Free and Bad local synth-rockers 100 Bullets Back, plus THE YARNS: The Port Mahon 80-styled popsters Aluminium Babe. TRUE RUMOUR: The X, Cowley – 80s-styled Company-influenced pomp threatens to make it soulful pop. big Stateside. OXFORD UNIVERSITY JAZZ NIGHT: The OX4: The Bullingdon – Drum&bass club night. because after the critical raving that heralded their Music Market SLIDE: Brookes University Union – The arrival, subsequent albums have received a rather OPEN MIC SESSION: The Half Moon monthly house club night moves up Headington more lukewarm reception. Perhaps too it’s the fact CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford Hill for a one-off spectacular. that they’ve been largely absent from the UK th Community Centre SUNDAY 19 scene for a while, concentrating on making it in FRIDAY 17th THE REVERSE + LA FRANGE + APE HAS the States where they now reside. New album ‘How KILLED APE + ASH VERGEE: The Port Mahon We Operate’ aims to re-state their claim to the UK DISCHARGE: The Zodiac (downstairs) – Gods – Another mixed Swiss Concrete promotion, indie throne, although their blend of rustic of thrash bring the original noise – see main tonight featuring London’s gently melancholic Americanised rock and fuzzy stoner pop is preview indie types The Reverse, drawing on Bright Eyes probably more at home on the other side of the FRESH OUT OF THE BOX: The Zodiac and Bob Dylan for inspiration. Brighton’s angular, pond. (upstairs) – House, breaks and beats club night THE END GAME + SHOWDOWN CITY: The featuring Toob and Hyper. grungey new wavers La Frange support, alongside Ape Has Killed Ape, the new musical outing for Port Mahon FORK + SHIRLEY + EMERALD SKY + THE former-Meanwhile, Back In Communist Russia duo PETER KNIGHT, TOM LEARY & KEVIN RELATIONSHIPS: The X, Cowley – Launch gig Emily and Tim, mixing sensuous poetry and sparse DEMPSEY: Nettlebed Folk Club for Fork’s new EP in a prog-punk stylee. Support monologues with minimalist electronic st from cheery Beatles-esque rockers Shirley, Led TUESDAY 21 soundscapes. Zep-style rocking from Emerald Sky and cool GOOD SHOES + XEROX TEENS + THE downbeat psychedelic pop from The Relationships. TEMPLE + HI-FLYER: The Bullingdon – Local MULES: The Zodiac – Jerky, jangly new wave bands night. TIRED IRIE + CHINESE FINGERTRAP + AND indie rocking out of London Town, thankfully ELECTRIC OPEN JAM: The Music Market THEY WILL RIOT + QUILLER eschewing Libertines-styled crappiness in favour of ELECTRIC JAM: The X, Cowley MEMORANDUM: The Wheatsheaf – more Jam and Buzzcocks-inspired noise. Local th Leicester’s Tired Irie – signed to Youthmovies’ Try MONDAY 20 polka-punk starlets The Mules support. Harder label – explore the darker side of new wave THE AYNSLEY LISTER BAND: The JAZZ CLUB with THE TOM GREY QUINTET: and math-rock, while exuberant local hardcore Bullingdon – Acclaimed young English blues The Bullingdon battlers Chinese Fingertrap make a welcome return guitarist in a Hendrix style. ROBERT & THE ROBOTICS + THE after a year out of action. GOMEZ: Brookes University Union – Seems UPSTREAM PROVIDERS: The Music Market STATUS QUO: The New Theatre – Second an age since debut album ‘Bring It On’ won the – Psychedelic rock from touring German band night in residence for the legendary boogie boys. Mercury Prize, but it was only 1998. Perhaps it’s Robert & The Robotics. Jazz Festival (where she played with Jason Yarde), revival. Promoting new album ‘Out Of Tree’, Marcina has also collaborated with acts as diverse Lloyd is now joined by former Raincoat Gina as Hugh Masakela and the English National Opera; Birch as well as one-time Pram drummer Darren tonight’s intimate show, courtesy of Oxford Garrett, mixing up repetitive grooves and garage Contemporary Music, displays her solo skills. punk with his trademark lyrical hectoring. One- BROMHEADS JACKET + OXFAM time Vindaloo Records protégé Ted Chippington GLAMOUR MODELS: The Zodiac – After tour reawakens to add some light-hearted relief to supporting Sheffield neighbours Arctic Monkeys, proceedings while London synth-popsters Eskimo Bromheads Jacket are destined to be one of next Disco join the fun. year’s big hits, especially with debut album, ‘Dits For The Commuter Belt’ due out soon and early th singles, including the ace ‘A Trip To The Golden Saturday 18 Arches’, already fetching £100 on ebay. Inspired, YOUTHMOVIE Friday 17th according to the band, by The Melvins and Steve Albini, their sound is closer to Sham 69 and John SOUNDTRACK DISCHARGE: Cooper Clarke – frantic, scratchy punk with a lyrical attention to the humdrum details of life. STRATEGIES: The Zodiac SABOTAGE: The Zodiac Hard to believe that a bunch of shouty THE ANYDAYS: The X, Cowley – 60s-inspired The Zodiac bastards from Stoke On Trent are one of the rockers. Like Lab 4 who bow out at the Zodiac this COPY HAHO: The Port Mahon – Scottish most influential bands on the planet but month, Youthmovies are another local act alt.rockers in a Sonic Youth-meets-Blonde Redhead there you go – you could argue the toss with who have spent more time breaking their Discharge but they’d probably kill you and vein. MISSING PIECES + BIRDS OF WALES + backs to achieve genuine success than trying eat you for your troubles. From their CHANTELLE PIKE: The Cellar to cultivate a hometown reputation. The last Pistols-inspired origins in 1977, Tez, Bones, CHRIS McMATH: QI Club – Quirky, melodic two years have seen them touring Rainy and Rat (proper names? How un- pop from the Patrick Moore’s Glass Eye relentlessly around the UK, often missing punk rock is that?) cranked up the distortion frontman. out Oxford completely in favour of more far pedals, upped the tempo and near enough OXFORD UNIVERSITY JAZZ NIGHT: The afield towns and cities. Tonight sees them invented that which we now called hardcore Music Market back at the Zodiac though and ready to and thrash. You can hear their legacy in GREENACRE (ACOUSTIC) + VESTIBULE + release a new single, with a full album Metallica, Anthrax, At The Gates, Sepultura LAURA LOST: The Palace Nightclub, Witney recorded and set for release early next year. and Soulfly (all of whom have covered – Live music returns to Witney with local emo Pioneering a complex, cinematic brand of Discharge tracks at some point) and they faves Greenacre playing an acoustic show with mostly instrumental rock, inspired by the were one of the few bands to make the early support from Pixies-influenced rockers Laura likes of Do Make Say Think, Shellac and crossover between punk and metal. The Lost‘ Sweep The Leg Johnny, tracks come with classic line-up of the band featured Kevin OPEN MIC SESSION: The Half Moon built-in bi-polar disorders that can veer from ‘Cal’ Morris on vocals, his guttural barking CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford DC hardcore to arty, oceanic pop at the Community Centre and screaming, coupled with bleak, blink of an eye, or turn on a few well-placed th minimalist lyrics being the acme of anarcho- FRIDAY 24 handclaps. On the one-hand they are a punk protest. Couple that with the DAMO SUZUKI: The Wheatsheaf – The thinking-person’s band, appealing to curious bludgeoning guitar noise and the monotone, former-Can man returns – see main preview musos and maths students, but equally politically uncompromising artwork of GAPPY TOOTH INDUSTRIES with THE they’re a visceral live experience, full of classic releases like ‘Realities of War’ and RELATIONSHIPS + WILSON + REBECCA dynamic energy and endless invention. In ‘Why?’ and it’s no wonder they inspired a MOSLEY: The Zodiac – Sweetly melancholic the process they’ve paved the way for like- suburban English psychedelic blues from The whole new wave of punk across the globe, minded local acts like Foals and AndNoStar. Relationships at tonight’s GTI, plus support from from South America to Japan and With The Young Knives now established in Scandanavia. Now back to their original line- local pop vets Wilson and ethereally gothic folk- pop from Rebecca Mosley. the UK’s indie rock hierarchy and Fell City up, it’s a chance for The Kids to see where it MILE HIGH YOUNG TEAM: The X, Cowley – Girl sure to follow, Youthmovies’ time has all began, while older listeners can revel in Return to live action for the expansive pop outfit, surely come. some particularly virulent nostalgia. And mixing up pure pop with folk and bluegrass-tinged then go and set fire to McDonald’s. rock. BRAINTAX: The Cellar – Excellent Yorkshire- based rapper, the man behind Low Life Records for SHUSH OPEN MIC SESSION: The X, Cowley the past 14 years, out on tour to promote new DELICIOUS MUSIC JAZZ NIGHT with LOS album, ‘Panorama’, an apt title for a politically- HOMBRES: Bar Milano, Pizza Express – charged run through subjects ranging from the Iraq Latin jazz guitar duo. war to racism and the legacy of Thatcherism, nd WEDNESDAY 22 loaded with samples of speeches from everyone THE COLINS OF PARADISE + BEAVER FUEL from George Galloway to the wicked witch Maggie + BETHANY WEIMERS: The Wheatsheaf – herself. Taking in influences from middle eastern Sweet, spacey jazz-pop from Banbury’s Colins of music as well as rock and American hip hop, it’s as Paradise, plus lo-fi indie fuzz from Beaver Fuel. good a slice of Brit-hop as you’ll find this year. FOLK SESSION: The X, Cowley OXFORD FOLK CLUB: The Port Mahon ABORT, RETRY, FAIL?: The Cellar – Electro- ACOUSTIC NIGHT: The Victoria, Jericho pop, no-wave and disco club night with live bands BACKROOM BOOGIE: The Bullingdon and DJs. REDOX: Magdalen Arms OPEN MIC SESSION: The Marlborough SATURDAY 25th House THE NIGHTINGALES + REV TED rd THURSDAY 23 CHIPPINGTON + ESKIMO DISCO + DEAD MARCINA ARNOLD: Modern Art, Oxford SPIES + POPPY & THE JEZZABELLES: The X, (5.45pm) – Anglo-Scottish-South African singer, Cowley – Twenty years after being the Thatcher- pianist and guitarist who covers all bases from jazz, baiting darlings of the UK pop underground, Robert reggae and folk to hip hop, blues and classical. A big Lloyd resurrects The Nightingales, misshapen hit at both the Edinburgh Festival and Cheltenham Beefheart and Fall-influenced stars of the 80s indie MINUS THE BEAR + THIS ET AL + A SILENT Thomas Truax brings his collection of strange FILM: The Zodiac – The Seattle rockers formed musical instruments back to town after last by producer Matt Bayles make their first visit to month’s sold-out show at the same venue, Oxford, plying a refreshing twist on melodic emo headlining this month’s Pindrop Performance, and math-rock, mixing wistful lyrical romanticism with equally idiosyncratic support from organ-and- with wacky song titles and a sound that drums duo National School and acerbic singer- encompasses prog, abstract punk and art-rock songwriter Peter Buckley Hill. along the way. RUBBER DUCK: The Bullingdon SILVERSIGHT + THE IDEA + THE PLAUDITS: ELECTRIC OPEN JAM: The Music Market The Wheatsheaf – Local bands night. MONDAY 27th WITCHES + LIND OPTICAL + TIM WHITE ROSE MOVEMENT + DIRTY SCI-FI: BENJAMIN: Magdalen College Auditorium – The Zodiac – Re-arranged from last month after First of a new series of club nights bridging the gap the singer lost his voice. Superlative electro- between pop and modern classical music. Local rocking from London’s robotic collective, taking electro-country rockers Witches headline, while on Depeche Mode, Joy Division and Duran Duran new young composer Tim Benjamin opens the along the way. show. Esoteric soundcrafters Lind Optical provide THE DERRIN NAUENDORF BAND: The the cross-over point, mixing up Beatles-y psych- Bullingdon – Australian guitarist who migrated to pop with electronics and instrumental soundtracks. England to make his living, ending up living and THE SUMMITS + LIFE & SOUL + THE touring around Europe in an old post office van, INFLATABLES: Romanway Sports & Social producing and selling albums without the aid of a Club record label. Inspired as much by the 60s British ROLLERCOASTER Vs CHICKS WITH folk revival as the likes of Bob Dylan, Tom Waits DECKS: The Cellar – New wave, indie, 80s, riot and Steve Earle. New album ‘The Rattling Wheel’ th grrl and more. is out now. Friday 24 90s NIGHT: The Bullingdon JOHN SPIERS & JON BODEN: Nettlebed th SUNDAY 26 Folk Club – Award-winning local duo, take time DAMO SUZUKI: KITCHEN MOTORS: The Zodiac (upstairs) – A out from their Bellowhead big band project for label-cum-think tank out of Reykjavik that their more traditional folk outing. The Wheatsheaf specialises in instigating musical collaborations TUESDAY 28th Legendary former-Can frontman Damo returns to town after his last brilliantly between artists from different backgrounds. BALOR KNIGHTS + PLANS & APOLOGIES + enigmatic showing in January. Damo’s Tonight’s show features performances from ROTARY TEN: The Port Mahon – Spazz-rock in improvised shows, wherein he is joined by Slowblow, Johan Joannson, Skuli Sverrisson and an At The Drive-In / Graham Coxon vein from Kira Kira, supplemented by an elaborate light and Sheffield’s Balor Knights, plus spiky lo-fi alt.rock a different set of musicians at each gig (or visuals show, musically bringing together jazz, from Derby’s Plans & Apologies and Smiths- sound carriers as he calls them), are the sort improv, classical, indie, electronic experimentation meets-Icicle Works melodic indie from Rotary of affairs that make even the least musical and techno utilising contemporary, archaic and Ten. onlooker want to go out and start a band. futuristic instrumentation. Fans of The Kooks will RODRIGO Y GABRIELLA: Brookes Last time out Damo was joined by James doubtless poo themselves in confusion. University Union – Mexican-born and bred, now Sedwards from Nought, Loz Colbert from BRICKWORK LIZARDS + PARIS MOTEL + Dublin-resident Latin guitar duo, taking a neat twist Ride and Dive Dive’s Nigel Powell amongst CONSCRIPTS: The Zodiac (downstairs) – on their traditional jazz and folk sound with forays other local luminaries. The band this time Eclectic world soul, funk and folk collective into heavy metal, including covers of Led Zep and features Suitable Case For Treatment and continue to charm their way to the top of the local Metallica. Ivy’s Itch guitarist Jimmy Hetherington, pop pile. JAZZ CLUB with THE TOM GREY QUINTET: Fell City Girl drummer James Pamphlion, PINDROP PERFORMANCE with THOMAS The Bullingdon TRUAX + NATIONAL SCHOOL + PETER Jonquil’s Hugo Manuel on keyboards and SHUSH OPEN MIC SESSION: The X, Cowley The Rock Of Travolta’s Matt Spooner on BUCKLEY HILL: The Port Mahon (5pm) – DELICIOUS MUSIC JAZZ NIGHT with Hillbilly, anti-folk singer-cum-mad inventor bass, and it’ll be fascinating to see how such CICILY LATTICE: Bar Milano, Pizza Express a diverse group of players interacts with the OPEN MIC NIGHT: Mangos singer whose freeform cycle of chants – th WEDNESDAY 29 akin to Captain Beefheart jamming it up FOLK SESSION: The X, Cowley with a sect of Gregorian monks – is a JOHNNY’S SEXUAL KITCHEN: The Port fantastically otherworldly spectacle. It’s Mahon beyond doubt that Damo Suzuki is one of OPEN MIC SESSION: The Marlborough the most inspirational musicians of the last House 40 years and that he remains a maverick th THURSDAY 30 oddball entity after all this time is some EASY STAR ALL*STARS: The Zodiac – A achievement. tribute band with a difference tonight as New York reggae collective Easy Star All*Stars, based THE MONROE TRANSFER + MESAPLEX + around a core of director Michael Goldwasser, LITTLE COSMONAUT: The Cellar – Intricate producer Victor Axelrod, plus Eric Smith and Lem experimental noise and post-rock from The Oppenheimer, perform two sets, one from each Monroe Transfer, plus electro-rocking from of their albums so far: ‘Dub Side Of The Moon’ Mesaplex. and its recent follow-up, ‘Radiodread’. Yes, it’s a OPEN MIC SESSION: The Half Moon reggae reinterpretation of Pink Floyd’s classic CATWEAZLE CLUB: East Oxford ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ and Radiohead’s Community Centre magnum opus, ‘OK Computer’. Includes free OXFORD UNIVERSITY JAZZ NIGHT: The entry to DJ Derek’s ska, reggae and soul session Music Market afterwards. SCRIPT + REDFORD + JOFF WINKS BAND + SABOTAGE: The Zodiac ZERO POINT FIELD: The Jericho Tavern – OE FISCTER + RUBBER DUCK: The Port Local bands night including eclectic indie rockers Mahon – Lo-fi jazz-tinged singer-songwriter. Script and songsmith Joff Winks.

Nightshift listings are free. Deadline for inclusion in the gig guide is the 20th of each month - no exceptions. Call 01865 372255 (10am-6pm) or email listings to [email protected]. photo: Richard Hounslow LIVE

SETH LAKEMAN The Zodiac It’s too easy to hate Seth Lakeman: powerful, emotive singer and an talented and good looking? Where’s incredible fiddle player, with a the justice in that? Even as the style of playing closer to Roy leading lights of the English folk Williamson or even John Cale revival continue to pull in bigger than, say, Dave Swarbrick, and bigger crowds, Seth threatens emphasising its droning, to become the movement’s first psychedelic capabilities. Nowhere genuine poster boy. more so than on tonight’s set Like Pentangle in the 60s and The highlight, ‘Kitty Jay’, title track of Pogues in the 80s, Seth Lakeman his second, Mercury-nominated, brings such a freshness and attitude album and a song that’s as to traditional folk music that it’s hypnotic and ghostly as its hard to believe what you’re hearing subject matter. is essentially music that’s hundreds Backed by his minimalist but of years old. The subject matter of energetic band, Lakeman plays songs like ‘Lady Of The Sea’, most of new album, ‘Freedom ‘King And Country’ and ‘Setting Fields’, a contender for album of Of The Sun’ is exactly the same as the year, performers and packed it was in 17th Century – the English crowd both as fervent as for any Civil War, ghosts and maidens. But rock gig, an hour-long set crammed this is 21st Century music with a with more potential hits than most rocket up its backside. Despite his pop acts would manage in a protestations that his voice is lifetime. Seth Lakeman is a star size; next time round he’ll be month. Better start clearing some buggered (leading to a purely very much in the ascendancy. He’s packing out the New Theatre, just wall space now. instrumental encore) Lakeman is a already outgrowing venues this like cohort Kate Ruby earlier this Dale Kattack

FELL CITY GIRL / THE ROCK OF BUGZ IN THE ATTIC / TRAVOLTA CONFIDENTIAL COLLECTIVE The Zodiac The Zodiac In another time and another place playing to a sold-out Zodiac Local crew Confidential Collective managing to all squeeze on stage. As Freddie Mercury and Brian May tonight, come with a wracked reveal the mellower, more well as their own compositions we grew up in thrall to Godspeed You emotional core, courtesy of Phil thoughtful side of their liquid funk also get versions of remixes they’ve Black Emperor! and The Rock Of McMinn’s soaring voice and sound, and warm things up done for other people, such as 4 Travolta were born. Six years after intimate lyrics, the band exuding a perfectly tonight. A superb brass Hero’s ‘Hold it Down’. This is their inception, temporary split strangely uplifting sense of section, complex grooves and something I’ve never seen anyone and line-up reshuffle, they’re still melancholy. Joe Gibbs’ delicate proper song structures show us that try before and gives the gig a ablaze with symphonic rock and Cocteau Twins-style guitar twinkle the broad church of drum&bass is as cabaret-style air of unpredictability. roll glory. A tumultuous blend of provides a base for songs to head healthy as ever. Anyone who hasn’t The recent resurgence of 80s- easy grace and nonchalant skywards, half of tonight’s set caught their full show yet should sounding beats and synth sounds is malevolence, they’ve got Flying already sounding like a Greatest make amends as soon as possible. curious, to say the least. Until Vs, synchronised handclaps, the Hits tour: from the gorgeously Bugz in the Attic have been recently the accepted wisdom has most hardcore cello playing in hymnal ‘You Are The Dead Kids’, knocking around for a decade and been that the whole decade is best Christendom and a studious pin- through new single ‘February just released their first long-player, consigned to the dustbin of history, tight sense of mayhem about them. Snow’ (currently being championed ‘Back in the Doghouse’, after music-wise. It seems that twenty Cellist and keyboard player Jenny by Jonathan Ross on Radio 2) to hundreds of singles and remixes. years is the point at which the now gives the band a focus they ‘Weaker Light’, with the chorus, Pioneers of the West London history books get a re-write; note maybe once lacked, leading the line tonight sung entirely by the Broken Beat sound, they mix the goth revival as a case in point. with harsh electronic stabs or audience – that’s the sort of thing elements of disco, drum&bass, soul Bugz in the Attic score by using wildhearted string flourishes, while that real rock stars are made from. and hip-hop, with strong vocals, technological advances to create a the grainy films of the band that Between songs Phil is shy and live percussion and a distinct nod sound very much their own, form the backdrop portray a pale, awkwardly at odds with the towards 80s electro-funk. No-one acknowledging their influences but sexy, knowing pastiche of The confident swagger of the music, like could miss the George Clinton not worshipping at the altar. The Velvet Underground. Every time he can’t quite figure out how he got influence, not just in the music but new single, a cover of Yarborough we see The Rock Of Travolta we to this point. Musically though also the way they’ve helped build and Peoples’ ‘Don’t Stop the want to scream their name from the Fell City Girl are already up in the their own empire of collaborators, Music’, is a fine example. They rooftops and grab passing strangers stratosphere. Now they just need from Tokyo to Detroit. Clearly used also manage to be a dance act with a to make them understand. This the rest of the world to catch up to playing much larger venues, they very human face, and we need more band ROCKS! Period. with them. It will. nevertheless throw themselves into of that. No less expansive, Fell City Girl, Dale Kattack their full live show, only just Art Lagun MESAPLEX / DARK PHASE / THE TELESCOPES ROCKET FALLS The Wheatsheaf I love The Telescopes: like it or KK Null et al. For all the synths, The Wheatsheaf not, their post-Creation output effects units and gadgets at An unexpectedly gripping start to imagination, Dark Phase are as has always provoked a reaction. Lawrie’s disposal, it’s a one-trick, the night with synth rockers boring as old bossy English Their pieces stitched together single-tone morass of mid-range Rocket Falls, a relatively young coppers. from samples of bread-makers screeching – and if that sounds up band who push austerely plain From the cold and undeniably and other household appliances your street, you were probably phrases to huge atmospheric pretentious industrial slab that have always been underpinned by one of the three people left after boundaries, all set to the was Meanwhile, Back In an emotional depth and sense of the audience, support bands, projection of a 1920s Soviet Communist Russia comes scale that makes me go weak at soundman and doorman fled for Russia film in the background. ‘In Mesaplex, the “Depeche Mode of the knees. their lives. The Heart of the Sea’, a five- Cowley Road”, according to the And with early reviews There’s no progression, peaks minute two-chord epic, is a singer/guitarist. I’d say a fuzz-free suggesting that their latest mini- and troughs, or development in supremely morose effort which 65 Days of Static with the rock/ album is their best yet, hopes are the music. Just a forty minute echoes elements of Godspeed! and electro phrases set to pounding, high heading into tonight’s show. VU-meter-in-the-red, Fisher Price Redjetson. The effect is slowly hard-edged beats - but everyone’s Unfortunately, things go awry My-First-Delay-Pedal teen angst intoxicating, the singer laidback a winner. Mesaplex are superbly from the very moment they session. enough to grab a pint midway tight and hold your attention up to arrive: amongst (admittedly In twenty years together, the through the set, leaving many too a point, but, as with 65 Days, unsubstantiated) rumours of band rarely put a foot wrong, absorbed in the echo-laden guitars everything is as if on a slightly intra-band tension, only mainman which makes this evening’s to even notice. altering loop, constantly reaching Stephen Lawrie makes an aberration all the more As with Rocket Falls, I like my all too familiar peaks throughout. appearance tonight. And launches upsetting. Here’s hoping they music to be a journey where each With a big muff bass and washy straight into a forty-minute solo rediscover their form (and their part of the song is savoured and keys, the music is enjoyable set of feedback that’s about as other members) before this fine anticipated. The gloomy electro- enough and pushes the envelope much fun as sticking your head old mess does some pop Dark Phase could have made to a point. But alas, Mesaplex lack inside a jet engine. irremediable damage to their use of this notion but instead the substance of a band Make no mistake – this is no reputation. stand on the sidelines of performing truly memorable worthwhile exploration into I still love The Telescopes. But a nondescript poseur-rock and are music, instead succeed only in tonality, nor is it brutishly Stephen Lawrie solo set? That near bloody awful. Carrying each replicating a tongue-in-cheek confrontational enough to work jet engine is starting to look more step of a song with tedious Krafwerk to mock-epic grandeur. as the kind of punch-in-the-face and more appealing. predictability and loose Pascal Ansell onslaught favoured by Merzbow, Stuart Fowkes PAOLO NUTINI The Zodiac Two songs into his set, Paolo this year it’s a superb flurry of Nutini stands swaying centre poster-boys with the voices of stage, hooked forward like a hardened blues singers: James question mark, arms hugging Morrison, Ray LaMontagne and himself as if he were wearing a Paolo, each covering the photo: Richard Hounslow straight jacket. Below him a demographic bases of gruff vocal capacity hall of mostly women maturity allied with laddish charm, and girls are singing to him, in teasing to be devoured. heart warming unison, the Bob The air is thick with hyped-up Marley-like refrains from female screams and pheromones, ‘Rewind’ coaxing him, almost, to and the 19-year-old Scot finally unfurl like a flower, from the shy succumbs, opening out to give cocoon he’s built around himself them his best, with the Al Green with his songs. in his phrasing of ‘Million Faces’ With an American documentary and the Curtis Stigers-tinged ‘Last crew filming his every move from request’. His naive learning curve the wings in Super 16, and the still shows with the incongruous glow of a hundred camera phones inclusion of Loving Spoonful’s held aloft and taking pictures, ‘Daydream’ and Gnarls Barkley’s iconically replacing the cigarette ‘Crazy’, both meant for more lighters of the past, you have to effete voices, when his own work, marvel how the modern fast-track from the album ‘These Streets’, is of Radio 2 exposure, internet sales more than a match for these and YouTube can, seemingly poppy upstarts from yore and overnight, deposit such normally now. intimate performers outside the So is Paolo a star? Well, he is right door of their own potential, on the now: two encores and all the girls unforgiving deserts of the wide- he can handle point to it. The stage tour. Last year it was the difficult second album starts here. rump of girl singer-songwriters, Paul Carrera

THE YOUNG KNIVES THE EPSTEIN / THE DRUG SQUAD / The Zodiac EMERALD SKY / ANTON BARBEAU The last Oxford band to sell out jukebox pop, but it’s interesting to The X two nights at the Zodiac were hear the Young Knives restlessly So it’s not all bad news on the live properly. Now fronted by former- Radiohead. Admittedly they did it seeking out new sounds, music venue front: tonight marks Underbelly and Mindsurfer growler in consecutive nights but the fact particularly the acid folk edge that the re-opening of The X (as it shall James Greene, the band actually that the Knives are able to bookend is increasingly creeping into the now be known), once a downbeat seem to have written a couple of their latest UK tour with two gigs new songs. At times they’ve got but brilliant pub venue, now new songs. If Anton was the here shows how far they’ve come as much in common with bands lavishly remodelled into a lush, nervous groom, The Drug Squad are from the days of dropping crazy like Circulus as they have with shiny brilliant pub venue. With a big the lairy uncles who make the kids Throbbing Gristle covers into their XTC, although that feeling of stage and new PA and stuff. While laugh and encourage everyone else in set in front of a few dozen early searching for a lost or mythical assorted marketing scum are turning the vicinity to drink more than is converts at the Cellar. sense of Englishness is common to great little venues into smiley, sensible. Half the set sounds like That statement alone might bear themselves as well as those bands. soulless eateries, X landlady Al has Madness. That’s got to be good. out claims from some quarters that Alongside the prevalent rustic stuck her neck out and pledged the After hearing the first half of their the band have lost some of their imagery – morris dancers, the pub’s future to music. Three cheers set with our backs turned it’s a quirky edge since they scampered Whittlesea Straw Bear, etc. – The for her then, even if tonight she is surprise to discover that Emerald into the mainstream, but it’s Young Knives now seem like the too busy scurrying around making Sky are an all-girl trio, mainly certainly more to do with the way musical equivalent of David sure everything that is meant to be because the singer sounds like the band have honed themselves Lynch’s surreal suburban exposés attached to walls actually is Robert Plant and the whole thing into a professional gigging outfit filtered through an Alan Bennett attached to walls to hear us. sounds, sometimes brilliantly, like over time. Almost constant touring novel, the band’s grammar school As such tonight is more of a Led Zeppelin. The Epstein have has polished screwball anthems like chic only accentuating the feeling. celebration party than a gig and it’s come on more than most local bands ‘The Decision’, but it remains, at While tracks like ‘Another not surprising that the bands take a in the last year. Where once was an heart, one of the most misshapen Hollow Line’ tonight can sound bit of a back seat. Adopted easy Eagles tribute, now is a band hits of the year, a world away from like works in progress, ‘Here American son Anton Barbeau with a clutch of masterful, hackneyed gruel like Jet, while Comes The Rumour Mill’ and doesn’t fare too well faced with a understatedly powerful pop Henry and House’s onstage ‘Weekends And Bleak Days’ rouse packed, talkative crowd, coming anthems to their name, notably the sparring remains as enigmatically the static but appreciative crowd across like a nervous groom trying keening ‘Leave a Light On’. Perhaps daft as before. and remind you exactly why The to make a speech to a room of not a party band as such but a band The hysterical falsettos and jazz- Young Knives have come this far: drunken in-laws, but since he’s been that have certainly benefited from the flecked post-punk headrush great pop songs are great pop praised heavily in these pages X’s patronage before its refit, and melodies are what draws in the songs, whatever clothes you dress before we’ll let it go. Instead The exactly the sort of band who will crowds of course, Pixies-style them up in. Drug Squad project themselves continue to flourish in its new guise. mania roughing up Blur’s knowing Victoria Waterfield enough to supplement the party John Leeson PATRICK WOLF The Zodiac Before they have so much as begun their first song, Patrick Wolf and his band carve an arresting impression. With his co-conspirators – comprising a cellist, a violinist and a soprano singer who instructs the laptop – dressed in funereal Victoriana, Wolf’s glittering club kid holographics sound a mischievously jarring off- note. It’s a striking spectacle, both serious and gamesome, that provides the cue for a set of sonic alchemy in which chalk and cheese are but two ingredients amongst a whole apothecary’s worth of stuff. In addition to vocals, Wolf plays an array of instruments, swapping violin for ukulele for kantele in an impressive display of musical chameleonship. Best of all are the broodingly lush piano parts, at times reminiscent of Nick Cave, upon which he floats his yearning tales of loss and absence. To this add the snicker-snack of electronic beats which champ like novelty false teeth around oceanic swells of strings and you have a sound that far outdoes the transcendent. This is music for the witching observing his own effects as he struts and frets customary dubbing of folktronica. hour, haunted by nameless longing and and twists his hair, his vocals too flirting with The standard of the set never wanes as it reels lengthening shadows. There’s a kind of supra- theatre as they drop to a stage-whisper. No from the aerial shimmer of songs such as ‘The naturality about it that arises in no small part doubt a little cheesy, this, but the awareness of Stars’, which evokes its namesakes perfectly, to from the lyrics, whose windswept, unworldly it in no way detracts from his ability to beguile. numbers informed by a more dance sensibility. imagery conjures an emotional landscape Indeed, when the band return for an encore, ‘Teignmouth’, one of the highlights, twines an vividly bleak. teenagers swarm to join Wolf on stage as though achingly beautiful soprano part around As a performer, Wolf commands great he were the Pied Piper of Hamlin, ensorcelled stridulating beats whilst the vocal line glides and presence, occupying the stage and the songs by one of the most spellbinding performances tumbles over the top. The effect is at once with equally intense fervour. There is a stagy Oxford has seen this year. inward-looking and expansive, gloomy and self-consciousness to him: you can sense him Emily Gray strong, edgy pop niche for themselves. Taking in elements of late-70s and early-80s guitar pop their stake seems firmly ensconced in new wave ground. Of course if you happen to be 16 it’s probably all new to you and sounding oh-so amazing. However if you DID happen to be Photo: Richard Hounslow around when Blondie, The Passions, Bow Wow Wow, Missing Persons, The Darling Buds and Siouxsie were blowing you away with what were later to be iconic classics, it might be difficult for you to put The Long Blondes on any great pedestal. The rolling toms, pounding bass and Kate’s cutting vocals (frequently hinting at Lene Lovich) often overpower anything clever the guitars may be trying to do. The songs all groove and Kate herself can’t stop dancing, but one can’t help but yearn for a bit more space to complement their catchy melodies. THE LONG BLONDES The penultimate song tonight is the highlight for me. A bubbling synth The Zodiac line (certainly the first one I’ve The Long Blondes don’t assimilate audience are squished against the French underground resistance) or heard tonight) with Kate lamenting, the characteristics of their name. stage with their brightly coloured can the music stand on its own? “Didn’t take more than five days to Lead singer Kate Jackson is a sassy berets askew, pencil skirts and Well there’s no doubt with songs disown her” with much more space, short-bobbed brunette who skinny stripey scarves - it all like current single ‘Weekend and a more produced and polished definitely steals the limelight of makes sense when the band bound Without Makeup’ and soon to be feel. A glimpse of the future, or just this Sheffield five piece. The barely on stage. But is it all about the released ‘Once And Never Again’ an anomaly? Only time will tell. post-pubescent girlies in the band’s “look” (60s mod meets 40s that Kate and co. are carving a Katy Jerome

SECKOU KEITA QUARTET SIKTH / DEAD MAN IN RENO / Zodiac ARCHITECTS British-based Senegalese kora probably unique. The undefinable player Seckou Keita takes to the sound has lots of notes and The Zodiac stage dressed from top to toe in embellishments from kora and Walking straight into the start of spare. But down the back here, you white. Very fitting as this striking- violin laid over rock-solid rhythms Architects’ set, the initial bombast can’t help wonder if the sound tech looking centuries-old traditional from bass and African percussion, seems to be oh-so terribly exciting, isn’t chanting the mantra ‘they West African instrument, a cross which hold everything together but what quickly becomes must sound as terrible as possible’ between harp and lute, is said to when the cascade of notes apparent is that this is merely an over and over, as all the high-end have curative powers. threatens to become too much. onslaught of plagiarism. They dynamics, where Sikth make their From the outset it is clear the Jazz is an influence but this is appear to have wholeheartedly mark, are comprehensively quartet want the night to have the mainly ensemble playing and not nicked most of Metallica and Lamb neutered. Never mind, here comes momentum of a gig rather than just the jazz quartet format of each Of God’s riffs and taken them for a Mr Whitey-in-dreads to wail about be a concert. As a percussionist instrument taking turns at solos. nice pleasant stroll in Boringville. It someone wunning over his widdle with Baka Beyond, Seckou knows But the one solo from the brilliant rocks, it rolls, it roars….it sucks. bwunny wabbit or something, how to make this happen, and Davide Mantovani’s upright base Marginally less rubbish are while the second vocalist thrusts from the third number energy is a highlight and more interplay Alabama quintet Dead Man In his own head face-first into the starts to flow between the band between him and Seckou’s kora Reno (nice imagery guys, thanks) festering toilet bowl of nu-metal. It and the modestly sized crowd. would have been good. Also, I and this is mainly due to the is actually surprising that this takes From then to the end a warm missed the mysterious sound of phenomenal drumming skills of a whole two songs to achieve. feeling of shared enjoyment the riti, the West African fiddle, George Edmondson, who releases What’s not surprising though, is suffuses the room. Many of us are which features on the band’s CD claymore-like explosions at every that they lamentably keep the dancing, absorbed in the rhythms tracks. turn. Props also go out to vocalist memory of that hopefully long- without understanding a word of It is said that kora players can be Justin Sansom for both his mad-as- forgotten and ridiculous genre of Seckou’s sweet Mandinka vocals, possessed by djinns, similar to a-cut-snake delivery, equal parts music alive for a whole set. And Seckou is steeped in the kora blues players’ pacts with the Max Cavalera bellow and Chino while you could hardly argue with tradition of southern Senegal but is devil. Seckou Keita seems too nice Moreno screech, and the donning the technical chicanery on display not hidebound by it and much of to have any of the djinn in him. of a Mastodon t-shirt (whose new (if it were discernible), they are the material is original. The line-up Maybe that is why his quartet, album is excellent, by the way). clearly several battalions short of of the quartet, an upright bass and while thoroughly enjoyable But it is clear who the crowd are the fire-breathing hellsquad I was violin, joining African percussion entertaining and engaging, miss a really here to see tonight and when expecting. The UK’s premiere metal and kora and for one number the touch the devil. the lisp-inducing Sikth take to the band? God, don’t make me Sikth. first-ever double-necked kora, is Colin May stage, the masses go predictably Matt Bayliss THOMAS TRUAX Rehearsal Rooms Port Mahon Recording db The Port Mahon is something of a It’s a room above a pub. How great, then, promoter’s dream – find an empty slot in that a performance by a weirdo American Photography their relentlessly busy schedule, and it’s with a collection of Heath Robinson-style Decibel Studios yours for free. There are sometimes home-made instruments can fill such a Artwork complaints that there are just too many room to the point that the audience spills Chalgrove Oxfordshire gigs in Oxford for even the most down the stairs in an enthusiastic, Video Transfer 01460 221541 enthusiastic punter to get to – and whether entranced throng. Great for those that got 07774 228440 you think that there are or not, you can’t into the room – and that unfortunately Filming/Editing www.decibelstudios.co.uk argue with the utopian dream of such didn’t include me. But such is the lot of email: [email protected] minimal running costs. your roving (but lazy) correspondent, who PA/Lighting Hire For every successful, packed-out night at didn’t arrive early enough. So why am I the Port there seem to be at least a couple writing this? Why are you not reading of grim, nearly empty ones, but for a town about the music that occurred this that’s hardly bereft of venues it’s great to evening? Because it’s important for you to have one that can act as a testing ground know, if you didn’t already, that good for interesting sounds, ideas and things happen regularly in this venue, and experiments. How the bands performing in this town. Cherish the Port. Other feel is another matter – it often seems by towns would kill for this kind of chance that a gig at the Port is a busy one performance space. – but then again, it’s not the Zodiac. Simon Minter

SMILEX/BILLY ENGLAND The Wheatsheaf As The Wheatsheaf braces itself to submit exception. Lee Smilex is on top form as to the whims of new owners, Billy he self-flagellates and mock fellates his England’s bullish drummer Liam Smith way around the venue whilst his band picks up on the feeling and begins to confine themselves to the stage. Tonight’s pound the audience into submission. As set is full of new material that proves his kit starts to disintegrate around him, Smilex have come a long way over the last seemingly seeking solace by simply few years. There are changes in pace, wilting under the blows, the rest of the moody intros and song writing that band wrestle perfectly formed hardcore shows considerably more muscle than punk from their instruments. Elements of frontman Lee’s scrawny frame. In various US rock acts are present, not least between avoiding flying debris hurled by Husker Dü, and Hot Snakes, but the vocal the feverish vocalist, it is plain to see that harmonies of Ben Capper and Smith draw the band now have a bunch of songs that on the likes of The La’s and, almost are every bit as deranged and entertaining unbelievably, The Beatles at times. Things as Lee’s psychotic-dwarf-in-a-padded- falter mid-set when they slow the pace, cell act. That the best of these is the but they soon return to what they do best: rampant punk blast of ‘Flimsy Fickle THE MUSIC MARKET thrashing songs and the audience to within Fashion (Fuck Off and Die)’ is purely Upstairs @ The Market Tavern 8 Market St, off Cornmarket St an inch of their lives. incidental; Smilex now have a show that Tel: 01865 248388 Email: [email protected] Audience thrashing is something Smilex impresses on all levels. are also adept at and tonight is no Sam Shepherd November Fri 3rd HANGMAN’S JOE + The Unmasked + KT and KY 8pm, £3 Entry Sat 4th DMR + Up’n’Coming Entertainment presents live local bands night with FULL METAL WAISTCOAT + support. 8.30pm, £3 Entry Fri 10th SHAKERVILLE + support 9pm, £4 Entry Sat 11th DMR I Magazine Launch Party with CAMINUS + The Divinity School + Joe Satriani Tribute 9PM, £4 Entry Fri 17th THE GREEN ONIONS: The UK Blues Brothers 8.30pm, £6 Entry (Tickets available @ £5 from ukbluesbrothers.com) Sat 18th DMR + Up’n’Coming Entertainment presents: THE DRUG SQUAD + Wednesday’s Child + Holiday In Vietnam + Les Clochards 9pm, £4 Tue 21st ROBERT & THE ROBOTICS + Cicily Lattice + The Upstream Providers 8pm, £4 Entry Fri 24th LIVE BANDS NIGHT: Line-up TBC

DELICIOUS MUSIC OPEN MIC NIGHT Every Sunday 8pm, FREE ENTRY

OXFORD UNIVERSITY JAZZ SOCIETY Every Thursday 8pm, FREE ENTRY Smilex photo by Sam Shepherd Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly photo by Richard Hounslow GET CAPE. WEAR CAPE. FLY The Zodiac Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly (full stops preferred) is 20-year-old Sam Duckworth, whose three-year touring machine rumbles into Oxford again tonight, following the release of his debut album, ‘The Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager’. Tonight Sam and his guitar are joined by cornet and drums, and a laptop kicks in with basslines, strings and beats. Words like nu-folk and folktronica have been used to attempt to describe the overall effect. To me, though, the lyrics stand out ahead of any instrumentation. Sam covers personal experiences (like his love-hate relationship with his hometown, Southend, in ‘Lighthouse Keeper’) and issues he feels strongly about; ‘Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly’ decries the corporate exploitation of poor workers, and ‘Glass Houses’ introduces Sam’s affiliation with the Love Music Hate Racism campaign. The music isn’t dull in comparison, though; the instruments weave and layer, the melodies are catchy and the rhythms diverse. ‘Call Me Ishmael” (apparently written after a party in Headington) is all funky and syncopated, while ‘I-Spy’ starts like ‘Wonderwall’ but ends up as a respectably modern folk-emo hybrid. Sam’s songwriting comes across as genuine and honest; the Fair Trade merchandise suggests his political/protest songs aren’t just for effect. He neglects to mention that he’s now on a major label (Atlantic) but does mentions his Oxford friends and thanks them for to cover `Abracadabra’ - but all the ingredients dedicate a song to BSM Records, who put his their support, saying that’s more important to are there for him to develop into a well-loved, stuff out three years ago “when nobody else him than record sales. He does have limitations - established act of importance to both cared”. He’s an engaging character; he thanks he doesn’t have enough songs for an encore, so impressionable teenagers and the music industry. the audience for selling out the gig, and invites the support acts Keith and Darts on stage Kirsten Etheridge

BIG JOAN / SUNNYVALE NOISE THE MIGHTY ROARS / SUB-ELEMENT / MONDO CADA ALLY CRAIG The Cellar The X Mondo Cada’s brand of hardcore when he gets tinnitus from too In keeping with this being John Peel prospect altogether, and very much grunge is so straight down the line much future war. Sonic violence Day (well Part 2 anyway, the X a ‘Peel band’, seeing as they give they could get a job painting road isn’t a term we use lightly, but in having given the great man an extra not two hoots for musical fashion. markings, but that’s where the thrill this case it’s wholly appropriate. day of celebration) things run late, Theirs is the simplicity and rock lies with them: heads down, no Big Joan’s name suggests a macho the line up gets switched around and and roll spirit of the Ramones, with nonsense, just bowing to the great lesbian strip show but the Bristol the sound seems a bit wonky at a glam rock brashness thrown in. god Muhoney, at least until they no-wave revivalists perhaps aren’t times. But once the music gets going The sense of wanting to put on really open up for the final number, as confrontational as even that, these things are all overcome. show and give the audience a doomladen psychedelic squall of introducing themselves with a Ally Craig is his usual charming something to look at as well as pure evil akin to Dinosaur Jr’s bashed out dustbin, before settling self, hitting us with a barrage of folk listen to manifests itself in singer wondrous ‘Don’t’. into a bass-driven dirge that’s with attitude. This is what sets him Lara’s starry leotard and pink Rampaging along a far more lacking in real spontaneity. Singer apart from a lot of local singer- boots, Martin’s Flying V and, err… convoluted path come Sunnyvale, Annette delivers her words down songwriters; he’s got the edge that drummer David’s wife-beater vest tonight playing as a duo but still a crackling telephone line while the they are looking for. The most and tendency to clamber all over breaching dull, worthy indie rock’s band get ugly in the company of memorable moments of his set are the drums. Of the songs, current solid defences with vicious Sonic Youth and PiL, but it all one of the new numbers in which he single ‘Whale’ is ridiculously electronic glitches, hammerlock feels like an old trick that’s been performs vocals gymnastics and hits infectious; ‘Bag It Up’ even gets grooves and sheet-metal guitar done better before (notably by some great high notes, and the Ivor the cynics next to me moshing noise. They’re like the musical Liars). It’s engaging at times but Cutler cover that closes his set. Ally (while sitting down!), and the prog- equivalent of running across an you end up wondering how makes ‘Squeeze Bees’ a highly punk epic, called something like unstable glacier whilst wearing something intended to be so emotional thing, especially so given ‘Back, Crack, Sack’ had to be seen stilettos and being pursued by menacing can sound so the amount of sessions Cutler did to be believed. All in all, a fitting hungry Siberian tigers. Or, the comfortable. for Peel. tribute to Peel. sound that The Terminator hears Victoria Waterfield The Mighty Roars are a different Russell Barker Dr SHOTOVER Gets Loved Up Hey yeah baby, nice one, sorted... Wow, this New Rave is WICKED [doof doof doof doof]... sorry, man, can’t hear you, I’ve got Vicks VapoRub in my ears... Huh? Wha...? Oh my GOD, what a terrible dream. I dreamed I was in a field (but without my shotgun), surrounded by spotty herberts dancing about like demented orang utans. (Did you know that the plural of “orang utan” in Malay is “orang orang utan”? Just thought you’d be interested... Oh, suit yourself). Yes, it’s a sad day for civilisation when the late very unlamented fiendish din known as Rave returns... imaginatively entitled “New Rave”. And the clothes, they’re *just* as exciting this time round... yes, basically, a bunch of schoolkids wearing their PE kit... oh horrors, it’s as if they’re permanently ON games (or “on” something)... at least Sports Goth had a little style to it... Bring back Cabaret Voltaire, say I. Ker-IST, won’t *someone* get me a drink? If New Rave gets to East Oxford, I shall make it my personal crusade to mobilise all right-thinking types to destroy it utterly - firebomb the bass, as it were. We call it Aceeeiid - Hydrochloric Aceeeiid. And now it’s on your Corner Cowley / Marsh Road turntable. 01865 776431 Oh dear. What a shame. Next November month: Dr S starts his Every Tuesday – Shush Open Mic – Come Sing / Play / Xmas Cabaret Voltaire: Meet the New Rave, Listen. 8pm FREE; All Welcome shopping. same as the Old Rave Every Wednesday – Folk Session – Come Sing / Play / Listen. 8pm FREE; All Welcome

Thu 2nd TBC Fri 3rd Klub Kakofanney presents: Barry & The Beachcombers / Kaned Citizen / Holiday In Vietnam / Reverend Moonshine / Film Noir. 8pm. £4 Sat 4th Redox / Opaque / support. 8.30pm Sun 5th Electric Jam – All Welcome – Come jam with The X Men. 8pm. FREE ENTRY Thu 9th Grinning Spider presents: Bands TBC 8.30pm. £4 Fri 10th Gammy Leg Productions presents: Script / Smallteasers / Dan Morgan. 8.30pm. £4 Sat 11th Buena Vista Socialist / Rami / James Bell / support (benefit for Columbia Solidarity Campaign) 8.30pm. £4 Sun 12th TBC Thu 16th True Rumour / support. 8.30pm Fri 17th Grinning Spider presents: Fork (CD launch) / Shirley / Emerald Sky / The Relationships. 8.30pm. £4 Sat 18th The G’s / Silversight / Nation. 8.30pm. £4 Sun 19th Electric Jam – All Welcome – Come jam with The X Men. 8pm. FREE ENTRY Thu 23rd The Anydays / support Fri 24th Mile High Young Team / support. 8.30pm. £4

Sat 25th Live @ The X presents a London / Birmingam Indie / Punk Night with The Nightingales / The Rev Ted Chippington / Eskimo Disco / Dead Spies / Poppy & The Jezzabelles. 8pm. £5

Sun 26th TBC Thu 30th TBC DEMOSDEMOSDEMOS Please read the conditions below before submitting a demo!

Truck Festival regulars A Scholar & A DEMO OF Physician. Coy, girly robo-pop, full of ace bubbling synths and kitchen sink THE MONTH melodrama. Like a girl-fronted Pet Shop Boys crossed with a Cockney Dubstar, ELLA CANAVAN Gaptooth are simultaneously deadpan and spiky, recounting the humdrum with a Having one of the most impenetrable cutesy yobbishness that could be long-lost websites we’ve come across does tend to girl-pop duo Shampoo being taken in hand bear out local duo Ella Canavan’s by Ladytron. `Plans and Friends and description of themselves as an art-rock Records’ is bolstered by some serious band, but really they’re far darker and digital squelches and probably best of the enthralling than even that description lot here though the luxuriant synth swirl of would suggest. Bobby Nicherelt’s wracked ‘Same Ghost Every Night’ pushes it hard. vocals are spread-eagled forlornly over sparse songs played out on harshly-scraped violin, flute, piano and sullenly-strummed SUSPICION OF acoustic guitar, each infused with murderous intent and a harrowing atmosphere that AFFRAY makes the likes of Smog and Will Oldham More quality sounds, this time from the sound like the Chuckle Brothers by band formerly known as Near Life comparison. Nick Cave’s ‘Murder Ballads’ Experience. This demo comes marked as would be the closest cousin to this dark-folk rough and unmixed, but who needs polish walk in the woods, particularly the funereal when you’ve got frontman Peter Bougourd “How Knots Is Made’ with multi- roaring like an Uruk-hai with a sore throat instrumentalist Joanne Lee joining Bobby on and guitars either chugging along in vocals in a style that recalls Cave’s duets unrefined thrash style or doing widdly Iron with Polly Harvey and Kylie Minogue. It’s Maiden bits. As with the likes of Shadows pretty desolate stuff, but executed in Fall, Suspicion Of Affray owe as much to magnificent understated fashion. And this the likes of Judas Priest as they do various from two people who claim their main American thrash and hardcore giants, but influences are Bruce Springsteen and Neil there’s always plenty going on, from the Young. God help us if they ever catch on to powerful blast beats to the chop’n’change Michael Gira’s gothic misanthropy. dynamics, suggesting Dillinger Escape Plan are closer cousins. Great music for fighting to, if we were the fighting kind. MARK CROZER In a particularly strong month for local THIRTY TWO demos, three or four here could have Featuring former members of one-time local claimed top spot and local troubadour metal favourites Centre Negative, Thirty Mark Crozer is perhaps the closest Two (which on our local take-away’s menu contender. This two-song CD is part is a king prawn bhuna) get quickly down to “Hello trees, hello flowers” hippy 60s business. Their business being, for the dream pop, part melancholy 80s alt-rock most part, breakneck, barking thrash-core noise exploration, `Never Slows Down’ a that pulls few punches and makes no swooning, lazy-day psychedelic pop concessions to commerciality or melody. dream, `How Far Away Are You’, a more Instead it tumbles down several mountains ethereal affair, showcasing Mark’s languid and steep flights of stairs in its eagerness to croon, only slightly tinged by its title shout in your ear very loudly indeed, a bit which reminds us of that bit in Phoenix like Whirlwind Heat arguing boisterously Nights with the dwarf Bolton Wanderers with The Locust at times. Utterly mindless fans. Somehow in the space of ten minutes but most enjoyable. By the third track Mark manages to touch base with Jeff they’ve either run out of energy or decided Buckley, Robert Pollard, My Bloody to take a more considered and convoluted Valentine, The Jesus and Mary Chain, path down the mountainside, aiming for Puressence, The Smiths, Radiohead and Mogwai Central, all of which adds some Edwyn Collins. All of which would make depth and intricacy to their armoury but for a pretty splendid record collection. ain’t quite as headbangingly fun. GAPTOOTH SKY BABIES Another unassuming gem, this time the Initially this demo promises plenty, with work of former Truck Records studio its effusive, old-fashioned power rocking in engineer Hannah Wright, backed up by a Wildhearts vein; guitars go chug-a-chug, manly backing vocals go “Wo-ah, wo-ah” and lyrics about girls and staying up all MICKEY FINN night and it all seems to be heading for a Named after an illicit sleeping potion, good old JD-and-punch-up session down Mickey Finn could doubtless send any the local rock fleapit. You can almost see music fan off to the land of nod. Not that the testosterone seeping out of the stereo. they’re so bad or anything, more that But then the beast is suddenly tamed and they’re so innocuous they could walk into we’re plodding along in vile 80s MOR MI5’s headquarters and waltz out with a territory with the ghosts of Hall & Oates stack of top secret documents and box of looking gleefully on. What kind of bloody individual ketchup sachets from the canteen effing crap is that all about, eh? They pick while chanting “Allah is great!” and no-one themselves up pretty sharpish for the final would notice. The funky blues energy of number but by then they’ve spoiled the the demo’s opener is quickly sapped by the party and we can’t help but think of the pedestrian vocal delivery and after that monstrosity that Motley Crue became they’re on cruise control, through hacked- after they lost their punk rock edge and all out indie rock jangles to happy-go-lucky THE COURTYARD STUDIO control of their bowels. Sunday lunchtime pub-rock, finally coming to rest with a nonchalant blues-rock jam. PROTOOLS HD2, MTA 980 CONSOLE 32/24/ And we defy anyone, including close 24, OTARI MTR90 MK2 24 TRACK TAPE MULTI-COLOURED relatives of the band, to remember a single MACHINE, 2 TRACKING ROOMS, SUPERB GREEN thing about any of them the moment CONTROL ROOM WITH GOOD SELECTION they’re over. OF MICS & OUTBOARD GEAR, + MIDI Proffering a seven-track demo, Multi- FACILITIES (INC LOGIC AUDIO, AKAI Coloured Green would have been wise to S1000, OLD SKOOL ROLAND ETC.) exercise some editorial control over MACH SCHAU themselves and ditched the excess baggage, Does anyone remember that thing called Residential facilities included. serving as it does only to expose their punk rock? Iconoclastic music of fury, www.courtyardrecordingstudio.com limitations. At there best they do a neat desperation and guile? Perhaps we’re just PHONE PIPPA FOR DETAILS line in pretty authentic MC5 rip-offs – too idealistic and we should lower our ON 01235 845800 rough and ready garage rock with a standards and let this pass. It describes tendency towards jazz rambling just as itself as punk rock and it’s got noisy guitars they’re building up a head of steam – or in it. It sounds a bit like The Jam at times. taking on Led Zep’s powerhouse blues Maybe it really is punk rock. Okay, it’s riffage. Elsewhere though they simply ape decent enough in a coffee table thrash kind White Stripes’ stripped-down blues-punk, of way, but the sound of revolution and or try to mimic Hendrix’s masterful statues tumbling? Probably not. fretplay. Often you can see what they’re trying to do but they’re too clumsy in the execution. Still, we’d easily forgive all that if they hadn’t gone and inexplicably turned THE DEMO into the Chili Peppers for the final number. What in tarnation were you thinking, DUMPER fellas? FREDERICK MORRIS AND “R’n’b, soul and urban singer and lyricist” Frederick tells us that, yes, he would sign a WHEAT record deal, “But only for the right More period-sounding pieces, this time company” and that his “goal is to be world from blues duo Steve Morris and Peter famous with my lyrics and vibe”, although Wheat, exploring the roots of Delta and we suspect his only real chance of such Chicago blues, mostly opting for the global fame is to wire himself with stripped-down, acoustic feel of the former, explosives and detonate himself on top of the rough-hewn vocals and earthy harp Buckingham Palace, because this mumbling, playing lending them a pretty authentic feel nondescript heap of soulless self-pity ain’t for the most part. When they stray from gonna do jack for him. Despite his attempts that path and try and rock it up a bit at being a sexy Barry White-style laydeez they’re less convincing, coming across too man (“Hey baby,” he begins), it’s more like much like any other pub-based blues act. listening to a karaoke Craig David as We’re not sure if all the songs here are performed by a semi-comatose refugee covers (certainly ‘Sweet Home Chicago’ is) from the chronic delusional ward. Or as we’re too young to remember anything maybe Luther Vandross being suffocated before 1979, but should they ever remake under several high-tog duvets. Wallowing Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? featuring pathetically in a fug of hopefully three convicts escaping from Bullingdon unrequited lust, Frederick whines and wails prison to go on the run in deepest rural like a cat in a bag, waiting to drown, and Oxfordshire, Morris and Wheat can almost we’re only too happy to add a couple more certainly provide the soundtrack. bricks to the bag.

Send demos for review to: Nightshift, PO Box 312, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1ZU. IMPORTANT: no review without a contact address and phone number (no email or mobile- only). No more than four tracks on a demo. If you can’t handle criticism, please don’t send us your demo. Nightshift accepts no responsibility for deflated egos.