Music Excess

7/31/2019 Music Excess

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m u s ic e x c e s s

a t l a s t w in sthe acoustic duo whowill change everything

news reviews live and fresh music

w h y l iv e r po o l ?music students speak!

inculding hot//light//fiesta

“ead uic”

r o b r iv ie r e st a l k s m u s ic

Liv e a t l e ed sv s so u n d c it y

which urban festwill you choose?

t h e m a c c a be e s l iv edoes the ne album live up?





Atlas Twins

The Drums

Orange Room

Raw City

Rob Rivieres

Sheerwater

Spector

Chelcee

Loved ones

The science of the Lamps

David’s Lyre

Liberty Vessels

Cast

Tanlines

We are Augustines

GrimesMichael Kiwanuka

Blood Red Shoes

Estelle

The Shins

Nneka

Miike Snow

Odd Future

Kindness

Rufus Hok

Annie Mac

Kankouran

Ninetails

Laura J Martin

Esco Williams

Natalie McCool

The Sterlings

The Farm

Mick Jones

Hot// Light//Fiesta

The Beatles

news

#NP hot right now 2save your local bands 3creamfields line up 3justice tonight tour 4the GIT award revealed 6

lal or lsc-you decide 7featuresorange room 10why Liverpool? 12

atals twins 20rob rivieres 22

album reviews 24

Live excess 28

new bands in live ex-

cess 30

gig listings 32

new music excess 36

CONTENTSyMu sic ex c ess

e



Now Playing our favouritenew songs this month chosenby Sallie Gregsonhear all the songs on ourwebsite www.musicexcess.com

i’m always wary of remixes but here Disclousre haveonly taken a brilliant song and increased everything thatmakes it such an outstanding pop song. The 80’s powerpop vocals, the syths and the fact that there is not a partof this song that dosn’t make me shiver with excitment.

Jessie Ware - Running

(Disclosure remix)

Spector - Chevy Thunderfear not indie is back! Well maybe, at least Spector are trying.This is the third single from the band and they just keep get-ting better, the reason they bring indie back is the love of themusic they put out along with the sheer amount of musicknowledge these guys have between them.

Zola Jesus -In your nature(David Lynch remix)another remix, don’t worry it’s not going to become a habitbut who can resist David Lynch? Not Zola Jesus and us either,he took a haunting track and filled out the spaces giveing it

just enough to bring it back to life.

Plan B - Ill Manors

billed as one of the best protest songs ever Plan B hitsout at the government and the british middle classes inthis exceptional return to rap. He demonstrates the rea-son we were drawn to his angst intially here as he echosthe cries of millions. ‘We're poor round here’roars thechorus in clearly the most honest and heartfelt song of the year.

Marina and the diamonds-Homewrecker

MIA - Bad GirlsMIA is back andready to upstage all the other megas-tars out there, i’m talking to you here Madonna, andwithout a doubt she manages it with ‘Bad Girls’. A hookthat catchy and unique hasn’t been heard since thequeen of pop herself was in her prime.

ever eleaborate Marina is back giving us clues to the

way her new album is going to sound this free down-load. available free from tmarinaandthediamonds.comthis over shadows everything the pop starlet has previ-ously put out, even more cheeky, more honest andmore pop brilliance than anything from her fisrt album‘The Family Jewels’.

b#NP



Li v e r p o o l Bu s k e r s u n d e r

t h r e a t f r o m t h e c o u n c i l

s a l l i e g r e g s o n in v e s t i g a t e s

ast year it was

announced that Liverpool citycouncil wanted to introduce an act

which would force buskers to pay toplay in the city centre. This meant mu-sicians would have to purchase both alicense to play and public liability in-surance as well, they also would belimited to when and where they canplay and for how long.

The controversial plans have causedoutrage in the local music scene,many acts have accused the council of betraying the city’s rich musical her-itage. ‘Pay to play stands in the way of really good music’ protests Rufus Hok

one of the city’s most establishedstreet performers ‘I learnt how to playfrom an early age, busking in thestreets of Liverpool’ he says that if younger musicians aren’t given a fairchance then they might stop makingmusic all together.

A council spokesman described thecurrent arrangement as a “free for all”and said the proposals came in re-sponse to requests for better regula-tion from the public, city shopkeepersand even other buskers the LiverpoolDaily Post Reported in November lastyear.

This is not the only injustice bandsface, Rufus explains that venues thatput on bands expect them to pay afee towards playing and not givethem any compensation for travel etc.So a group of local bands are startingto do something about this ‘We’reputting on event s to raise awareness

of the fact that bands have to pay toplay. I’ve been doing this for ages andwe’ve all come together and decidedwe’ve had enough. There are a lot of young bands out there who feel likegiving up because of these greedypromoters.’

Anything that will keep the localscene alive and healthy is surely agoodthing sokeep checkingfacebook,com/liverpoolbands formore information on events and postyour own ideas that could help revive

the music community in Liverpool. Tryand go to as many of the events aspossible, get put there and supportyour local bands!

Ne w s Pa g e sthe monthly round up of Liverpool music news

ow dance music isn’t exactly what

we’re selling here but Creamfieldshave announced the main acts

playing at the iconic dance festival on theaugust bank holiday weekend this yearand they have got a seriously impressiveset of acts playing. Just a few of thoseworth mentioning are pretty much thewhole Annie Mac presents stage on Sat-urday 26th which frankly is reasonenough to go with the hottest DJ’saround all playing that stage you wouldbe mad to miss it, highlights include Erolalkan, Major Lazer, Crookers, Melé and of course the wonderful Annie Mac herself.

The rest of the festival look like this Fri-day 24th and dance legend Kissy Sell Outis the main attraction on that day. ThenSaturday has Avicii, Sebastian Ingrossoon the south stage, then David Guettaand Example are dance festival exclusiveson the North stage. BBC radio 1xtra alsohave a satge with an unbeatable line upwith Skrillex, Skream feat sgt pokes,Benga feat. Youngman, Andy c (mc gq),Caspa, Flux pavilion, Friction feat dyna-mite mc and Mistajam. Other main at-tractions on Saturday include Pete Tong,Benny Benassi And Eric Prydz. Sundayhas some epic acts lined up including,Deadmau5, Calvin Harris, Zane Lowe,Tiësto, Paul Van Dyke, Laidback Luke,Groove Armada, Fake Blood, Jaguar Skillsand Sub Focus Live. So keep checkingwww.creamfields.com for more informa-tion and all theticket details, if you fancy tryingsomething newbecause, lets faceit all the other fes-tival line-ups are

looking a littledismal this year.

An n ie m a c a t

c r e a m f ie l d smore djs announcedfor epic dance fest

l

n

Rufus Hok busking onChurchStreet in town



There are two original members,Matt Bower (guitar and vocals) andJames Reis (drums) then I joined toshare the singing and guitar and wegot Andy Cleary on Bass fromZoomorphic who used to be basedin L.A

Our first official gig was 18th Feb inthe Zanzibar, so we’ve been goingabout a year now and s

Our early stuff sounded like theEnemy or The Jam but we are at-tempting to sound a bit moremelodic and grown up. We are try-ing to add some slower acoustictype songs, to break up the drivingriff type songs of the old set.

I like writing slightly more craftedsongs, whereas Matt likes to blast

out ones people will dance to.

2011 was spent on a break. The lat-ter part of the year was spent talk-ing about getting the band togetherand forming some ideas for songs.After Christmas, we really startedwork on the set and we came backin February.

3rd march @ Another Place, Water-loo for Liverpool Bands Night.7th April @ The Zanzibar supportingThe Sums

12th May @ The Lomax T2F night.

5 m i n sw i t h .. .Jonny fromthe Sterlings

J u s t i c e t o n i g h t t o u rthe farm frotnman Peter Hooton talks usthrough the importance of this tour

he Justice Tonight tour was puttogether by The Clash and BigAudio Dynamite's Mick Jones,

along with Pete Wylie, The Farm andothers, after the success of the Sep-tember 11′ Olympia show which wasdedicated to getting justice for the 96Liverpool FC fans who lost their livesat Hillsborough, as well as the Don’t

Buy The Sun Campaign.Starting out on December 1st, in

Cardiff then moved on to Manchester,Sheffield, London, Liverpool and Glas-gow the shows featured many specialguests, most notably the reunitedStone Rose took the stage for theManchester show. Primal Scream, DonLetts, John Power, Billy Bragg are justsome of the acts who have takentime out to support thisgreat cause.

The Liverpool show atMountford Hall, was always

going to be the most resonantdate in the mini UK Justicetour, even given the shockStone Roses appearance inManchester. “Everyone was onstage for the grand finale of All To-gether Now and every single person inthat crowd sang along to every singleword – musicians and audience unitedin song to make our voices heard. Itwas a proud moment” Peter Hooton of the Farm told ME.

Peter says his group are so muchpart of this story, some of the bandmembers were at Hillsborough thatfateful day and the stories come out of the official incompetence and plane

prejudice against the fans. This is rockn roll as folk music, the songs playedthat night relate to people’s lives andreally mean something, these showshave made a real difference.

Every gig should have a reason andthese shows are about getting Justicefor the families, survivors and sup-porters of the 96 people who died at

Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsboroughfootball ground on 15th April 1989.The HJC has operated in the face of great adversity for years and has hadto utilise new technology to promotethe campaign in the face of a hostilemedia. It is the view of the HJC thatthe Hillsborough Disaster and subse-quent cover up is a failure of justice.

Hooton also talked to us aboutthe release of The End, a collectionof the legendary fanzines issuesfrom 25 years ago which meant somuch to the people who would

religiously read every time itcame out. James Brown of theSabotage Times said of The End“ It commented on Liverpool it-self, the nightlife, the pubs, the

politics, the history, the trends, thefootball and particularly those thatwent to football. Here it took a mas-sive step away from the music fanzinesand pretty much created a templatefor the many football fanzines thatwould begin to crop up shortly after-wards.” So if you are looking for agreat read then definitely check thatout, hear more from Peter on our blogat http://salliegregson.blogspot.co.uk/

T

Peter Hooton and Mick Joneson stage in Liverpool

Ne w s Pa g e s



here is proof that community

projects work, at least for MarkDawson (vocals/guitar) and JackBeaucall (keyboard) because that’swhere it all started 12 months ago forSheerwater. Originally just the twoguys having a good time playingshows around the North West, theyhave become something much biggerand more exciting with the addition of Gui Chipchase (bass) and Stig (drums).‘In the beginning we were just inter-ested in helping the youth centre witha music project but after we becamesuch good mates we thought we might

as well try our own thing’ says Mark.Things have moved steadily on for

this Merseyside four piece as theyspent most of last year gigging in localvenues building up a devoted follow-ing, including local radio DJ Ian D Hallwho says Sheerwater were one of his‘finds of the year’ after he saw themplay live and booked them for his pop-ular local new bands show.

Talking about how they write musicMark says that he writes on his own,then jack ‘sprinkles his magic’ over thebasic tracks until they are happy with

the song. Crowd favourite ’Til the suncomes out’ was written in a day marksays the lyrics ‘just came out of nowhere’ and he played what he hadto Jack, the most musically talent band

member say the rest of the guys, who

worked his magic and there they had ita track which combines their love forearly blues, rock 'n' soul music and amore modern rock beat with the bandstrademark upbeat music with spirit,without trying to sound pretentious.

Recently they have been immersed inrecording their debut album at Liver-pool’s Sandhills Studio ‘the place has afantastic live room and working withProducer Al Groves (Ian Broudie, TheCoral, The Zutons, Elvis Costello, De-troit Social Club,) is a treat.’ They areworking hard to get an album out and

the finished article should be releasedonline in September, the date is still tobe confirmed.

The band all agreed that one of thehighlights of last year for them wasplaying a headline show at StaticGallery ‘great venue, great crowd thatnight’ said Jack and they will bearound playing more shows in the fu-ture with a mini tour covering Glas-gow, Midlands, Liverpool and Londonin late summer so keep checking theirwebsite(sheerwatermusic.wordpress.com) for

those dates. Also "Till the Sun ComesOut" will be available to download onMay 19th.

a l l t o g e t h e r n o wc o m m u n i t y p r o j e c t s a t w o r k

#w h a t a r e

y o u s a y in g

Kanye West(@kanyewest)Followers: 2.8 millionBest Tweet:“Boyfriends are likerush hour traffic...

ALWAYS IN THE FUCKING WAY!”

Keith Richards(@officialKeef)Followers: 8,300Best Tweet: “Rock'n roll'sgreatest weapon is hu-mour. If it ain't fun, it'snothing. - KR

Mike Skinner(@skinnermike)Followers: 108,900Best Tweet: “I standby my word though.If you want half your

money back for the trainwreck of a first half of that show, I willgladly refund!”

Janelle Monae(@JanelleMonae)Followers 170,100Best Tweet: “Music in-dustry is morphing intosomething even morespecial and I'm

soooooooooooo happy about it.

The Gossip(@thegossipband)Followers: 10,800Best Tweet: “We just

shot the video for Heavy Cross.Loads of glitter cannons andgreased up men.”

Dum Dum Girls(@dumdumgirls)Followers: 6,300Best Tweet: “Need ashower, a joint, anda way to teleport.”

Keep pouting Mark and we’llgive you more space next time

T



t h e Ge t

in t o t h isAw a r d sr e t u r nw it h a

b a n g


he crème del a crème of Liver-pool’s music scene will turn outen masse to celebrate the GIT

Award on April 27th Created by Echo journalist Peter Guy, who writes thegreat music blog Get into this, the eventhas been branded as “the Scouse Mer-cury prize”, and distinguishes the bestnew music on Merseyside.

Since its launch and up until the clos-ing date at the end of February 2012,the GIT Award received more than 380entries. The shortlist was decided by a

judging panel comprising top namesfrom Liverpool Football Club, NME, Vice

Magazine, The Quietus and TheGuardian alongside the cornerstones of the region's music scene – Getintothis,Bido Lito Magazine, Waxxx and EVOL.

Judge Matt Wilkinson, NME radar edi-tor, said: “I’m really excited to be on thepanel for the GIT Award. Liverpool andits surrounding areas are offering upsome of the most exciting and diversemusic around at present. I can't wait toget stuck into the shortlist and find awinner.”

The ceremony at Leaf, in Bold Street,will be hosted by journalist and Gold-

blade musician John Robb and filmedexclusively by Mocha and Liverpool FCTV. Ten of the 12 nominees will performat the ceremony, with exclusive newmusic and videos accompanying them.

GIT Award founder and chair of judges, Peter Guy, said: “The first GITAward shortlist highlights the wealth of new musical talent within Merseyside.The artists are ambitious and inventive,emotional and passionate, funny andprofound. They evoke a sense of timeand place, providing a wonderful snap-shot of Merseyside’s varied sonic land-

scape proving why Liverpool is still thecentre of the music universe.”The winner will be revealed on the

Th e

sh o r t l is tBang On

Ex-Easter

Island Head

Forest Swords

Loved Ones

Miss Stylie

Mugstar

Outfit

Ninetails

Bill Ryder-

Jones

Stealing Sheep

The Tea StreetBand

Esco Williams

night and get their hands on the GITAward, designed by artist Sam Venables,and the incredible prize which includesrecording time at Liverpool’s Sandhills

Studio and a showcase at this year’s Liv-erpool Sound City and Liverpool MusicWeek. The winners will also play a gig atVice Magazine’s London bar The OldBlue Last, as well as having a promoshot by Virgin Media Shorts filmmakerof the Year nominee Ian Gamester to bescreened at FACT, the city’s art housecinema and creative technologies centre.of The Royal Standard studio, in Liver-pool, plus recording sessions and ashowcase at this year’s Liverpool SoundCity and Liverpool Music Week.

Dave Pichilingi, CEO Liverpool Sound

City, said: “Sound City has always cham-pioned the vast pool of talent from Liv-erpool, and having worked withGetintothis since our formation in 2007,the GIT Award represents the perfectshowcase to celebrate new music.”

Kevin McManus, former NME journal-ist and director at Liverpool Vision, said:"We’re really happy to support the GITAward. Liverpool has a worldwide repu-tation for its creativity and continuing toproduce some of the UK’s best musicand most innovative music businesses.The GIT Award gives new talent an im-

portant platform and provides well de-served recognition for new actsbreaking through."

t




Fed up of summers like this?

ith no Glastonbury this year,Leeds and Reading ticket pricesgoing sky high and to be hon-

est V is never very good at all is it? Wehave come up with a brilliant and defi-nitely less muddy alternative to quenchyour new music thirsts that won’t breakthe bank.

Urban music celebrations are all therage and they still have all the featurestrue music fans love going to festivalsfor such as discovering new, unsignedacts or just seeing bands you love ei-ther for the first or fifth time but which

one will you go to? The Camden Crawlin London and Manchester’s In the Cityweekender have long been establishedinner-city festivals that draw largecrowds and will guarantee punters agood time whilst listening to some

great fresh, exciting music.But two newer city-based weekendlong events have revealed their fullline-ups this week both shine as two of the strongest bills we’ve seen so far thisyear. It is a brilliant time for Britishmusic, Live At Leeds and LiverpoolSound City equally demonstrate thiswith acts such as Jake Bugg, Ghostpoetand The Hearbreaks playing at bothevents. Also the other events they puton such as seminars and art exhibitionsare wonderful ideas as they bring muchmore to the weekend than just music.

We’ve put together a load of reasonswhy you should consider these two fes-tivals rather than tradition music festi-vals so now all you have to do is decideor better still why not try both!

looking for something cheaper, nearer and

cleaner? Then city festivals might be yourthing, but which one to choose? Sallie Greg-son investigates which urban Festival is best.

W



ive At Leeds is a metropolitanmusic festival held annuallyacross a variety of venues in

Leeds on the first bank holiday week-

end of May. The ethos has always beento celebrate the best in upcoming localbands alongside more established na-tional acts. Over the past six years,they’ve had the likes of Mumford &Sons, Ed Sheeran, The Maccabees,Hurts, Bombay Bicycle Club and PulledApart By Horses grace the stages allacross the city.

The Unconference kick-starts theweekend on Friday 4th May with itsunique take on the music industryseminar. Expect practical advice on en-tering the industry side of the music

world from a host of experienced pro-fessionals, all eager to guide you onyour path to musical fulfilment with arange of discussion seminars andworkshops. Check out the website formore details, but even if you don’t goto this event videos will be posted on-line so you can still get these tips fromindustry experts. King Charles will beopening the festival with a special per-formance at The Cockpit from 7pm,tickets are available from lunatickets.Also on Friday, there is also a separateticketed event for Alkaline Trio at LeedsMet.

The main event, on Saturday 5thMay, hosts over 100 bands playingacross a range of venues around Leeds;all of which are accessible via the pur-chase of a special Live at Leeds festivalwrist-band priced at £20! Bands con-firmed for this year ’s wristbandedevent include The Enemy, Marina &The Diamonds, Ladyhawke, The Sub-ways and Los Campesinos! Check outthe ‘Saturday Line-Up’ tab for the fullline-up. Also on Saturday, there is also

a separate ticketed event for Exampleat Leeds Millennium Square.The acts to see for this weekend are

Lianne La Havas, brilliant singer withgreat energy, Jake Bugg, crazy bluesy

genius lyricist. Also We Are Augustineswill most likely bring the venue downand bril-liant local band This ManyBoyfriends who have a new album out

soon which was produced by Yorkshirelegend Ryan Jarman.

The Live At Leeds Hangover begins atthe Brudenell Social Club on the Sun-day with performances by Dan Sartain,Matadors, The McGowans and TheReacharounds from 5.30pm. Entry isfree to anyone with a LAL2012 Satur-day wristband. It’s a chance for you tohang out with the people you met atthe gigs and recover because the afterparty at The Cockpit goes on until 3 inthe morning, you’ll probably needsome time to recuperate before start-

ing again.On Monday 7th May, the Live At

Leeds 5-a-side football tournament re-turns to Goals on Kirkstall Road. Ahuge success last year, the tournamentfeatures a host of bands that haveplayed the Festival battling it out to becrowned football champions! Checkout the ‘Football Tournament’ tab formore details. And if you’re not a sportsfan, check out DJ fresh live who’ll beplaying later in the evening at LeedsUniversity. The Live At Leeds Hangoveralso continues at the Brudenell SocialClub with performances by Male Bond-ing, Young Magic, Au Palais, Azores,Double Muscle in the evening. Entry isfree to anyone with a LAL2012 wrist-band.

LAL is way cheaper but you only getone day of bands and it could be atight squeeze trying to see all the actsat all the different venues, you’ll prob-ably have to skip out on some and missthe first couple of songs of others. Butthe whole event has more of a festivalvibe to it, it’s more light-hearted, with

the emphasis on having a good timerather than defining themselves as aserious place to discuss the future of music.

l

Jake Bugg will be at LAL



ound city is Liverpool’s very ownshowcase event put on by DavePichilingi, who teaches at LIPA

and runs Robot Records a local record

label. Dave has recruited some of thecity’s hottest club night and live musicpromoters to spot new talent. “We haveRevo, who runs EVOL, and DarrenRoper, who runs Wingwalker, and be-tween them they have booked somegreat acts for us over the last fewyears.”

The name first appeared in Austin, in2007 as a showcase event at SXSW of the best of the UK’s Northwest acts.Then, in 2008 during the Capital of Cul-ture year, came the first Sound Cityproper, in our home town of Liverpool.This year’s festival starts on 17th mayuntil 19th and promises to be one of the finest yet with acts like ProfessorGreen, Temper Trap, James Vincent Mc-Morrow headlining. And other greatbands like Mystery Jets, despite losing aband member are soon releasing theirfourth studio album which so farsounds like their best yet. SheffieldersSlow Club will be bringing their indiepop to Liverpool, newish band ThemePark who have a unique sound and Alt-J who have caused a stir in the indie-

media promise to be just a few of thehighlights.Now, in 2012, they are a hugely re-

spected 3 day international music,media and technology conference andlive arts and music festival. The festivalis focused on the zeitgeist and lookingforward, intent on bringing the bestnew music, film, art and more from allover the world to Liverpool. While theprimary convention focus is on bring-ing together a vast array of creative anddigital industries business professionals,artists, music, film and art fans to enjoy

today’s best new music and chart thefuture course of the music, digital andcreative industries.

“We want, one day, for Sound City tobe Europe’s South by South West. Wewant it to set Liverpool at a destinationfor the music business. We have it all

here: the heritage, the people, and thetalent. We just need to bring it all to-gether under one banner” says Dave.

The focus of the whole festival is on21st century pop/tech culture and pres-ents it alongside the newest, most for-ward thinking ways of doing business,creating a forum for people to talk,think, learn and grow. It is advertised asbeing the place to hear foremostthinkers in the music world on whatthey think on art and commerce, cre-ativity and commerciality, performanceand production, music and money, allfrom one of the most hedonistic citieson earth.

You can still get 3 day wristbandsavailable at an early bird price of £45 orget the festival walk up price £60 on17th May, single day wristbands areavailable at £25. Also 14+ wristbandsare still available at £15 for a limitedamount check 14+ line up poster formore details, or just look on the web-site. Delegate passes, which give accessto ALL the live music events during thefestival, also give access to the

Screenadelica art and screen printingexhibition and also international par-ties. This also gives access to our 2 dayinternational music conference andExpo, are available at an Early Bird Priceof £150 or £200 on the day.

Compared to LAL there are way morebands playing but it is a bit more ex-pensive, but you get three days of themost exciting new music you’ll see allyear, with a focus on art and design thisfestival promises to give you somethingnew. If you love music, you’ll love thisevent.

s

Slow Club areplaying Sound City



We l c o m e t o t h e

Or a n g e Ro o m ...

Lee Peers: We are a Liverpool based rock band thatstarted in Australia a few years ago. I sing, my brother,Phil plays guitar Tim plays bass and Shannon hits thedrums.

L: We draw influences from a broad range of sources.From 60’s pop music to more recent stuff Shannon: We all listen to different things. While Leelistens to a bit of hip hop, Tim likes blues and I enjoy abit of mash up. I think all four of us are brought to-gether by the 60’s sound, brit pop and all that.L: When we write songs, it’s like we take bits from dif-ferent types of music and make it our own.

L: I’d like to do something huge, like play to 10 millionpeople, but I think the smaller festivals are importanttoo. You could interact with the crowd a lot more andI think it’s important for our band to take the long

hard road rather than become an overnight pop sen-sation and fizzling out quickly.S: I think because of the tradition of Isle of Wight Fes-tival throughout the years it would have to be upthere. A few of us went to last year’s festival and I justcouldn’t believe the size of it. Whether it is playing at

midday or midnight, it is something I would love to bea part of.

S: I don’t know about collaborating with anyone, butthere are a few drummers I’d love to share studio timewith. It would be something else to work alongsideKeith Moon but I don’t know how much we would ac-tually get done.L: I think at our level it would be suicide for OrangeRoom to collaborate with anyone. We don’t want tobe remembered as “that band that did that song withthat guy”. But maybe once we’ve been heard doingour own thing, who knows.

the band putting the colour backin the Liverpool music scene

Orange room are: (from left)Shannon, Tim, Phil and Lee.



S: I think it was the most impor-tant year for the band so far.L: It was the end of a chapter inthe Orange Room story, and thebeginning of an exciting new one.We all decided to pack up and re-

locate from Melbourne to Liver-pool, the musical centre of theuniverse!S: We achieved a lot though. Ourlast shows in Australia were ab-solutely massive and something Idon’t think we will forget anytime soon. Our first gigs in Liver-pool were in November andwe’ve already played some reallygreat shows. The crowd really getinto our music here.

L: We played the Shipping Fore-cast in December that was a goodone. The Zanzibar was a greatshow too

L: To be honest, most the stuff that seems to get noticed thesedays doesn’t deserve to. There

are so many great unsignedbands out there that can’t get alook in because people are toointerested in listening to karaokecompetition winners. It pisses meoff S: I expected that these TVsinging contests wouldn’t be aspopular in the UK as they are inAustralia but they seem morepopular, making it even harderfor bands like us to get recog-

nised. But we have played withsome fantastic local artists. Themusic is there, it just needs to beheard.

L: We wanted to keep people upto date with what’s going on. Butwe wanted to make it entertain-ing as well.S: I thought it was important to

keep fans from Australia still inthe loop. But it’s a great tool toshare our music with the world.

Lee: Free music, gig dates andsome other goodies, it’s free oniPhone and Android

L: Being heard!S: Summer, I miss the warmweather!Any plans to record anything?S: We just did a brief session withRob Whitely (Wombats, Hot Clubde Paris)at Whitewood Studios.

We wanted to work with Rob be-cause some of the stuff he hasworked on really impressed usand we’re happy with what we

got down.L: We record all the time butmainly for us to hear how thesongs are sounding, what needschanging, etc. There are a lot of songs you’ll only ever hear live.

L: We’re playing the Cavern a cou-ple of times, the Shipping Fore-cast. We’re going to London andManchester too. It’s all on theapp.

Orange room have travelled a

long way to bring their music toyou, so get out there and catchthem live, you will not regret it.

The guys had to have a sitdown after all that posing



w h a t br in g s

m u s ic s t u d e n t st o Liv e r po o l ?







Th e u n iv e r s it ie she Liverpool Institute for Perform-ing Arts opened in 1996 by SirPaul McCartney and Mark Feath-

erstone-Witty. Today LIPA is an acknowl-edged part of the UK’s higher educationprovision for the performing arts, recog-nised and ranked alongside institutionsa lot older. LIPA provides education andtraining for the main skills needed forputting on a show (performers andthose who make performance possible),uniquely blending specialist and genericskills.

LIPA offers degree courses in Acting,

Community Drama, Dance, Music The-atre and Entertainment Management,Music, Sound Technology, Theatre andPerformance Design and Theatre andPerformance Technology. They also runfull-time one year Foundation Certifi-cates in Performing Arts (Acting); Per-forming Arts (Dance); Performing Arts(Singing); and Popular Music and SoundTechnology.

This institution is highly sought afterworldwide due to the music royalty con-nection and the success of perviousgraduates.

he Institute of Popular Music(IPM) was established in 1988 asthe first academic centre in the

world created specifically for the studyof popular music, and it has been a driv-ing force for the development of popu-lar music scholarship nationally andinternationally. In 2003 it joined forceswith the Department of Music to form anew School of Music at the University of Liverpool, and it attracts students andscholars from around the world.

Marie Williams who did a BA HONS in

Music/Popular Music at LUSM says shedecided to study here because "I choseLiverpool because it was more progres-sive than other departments. I liked thecrossover modules, that allowed me tostudy popular and classical music."

They offer all of the modules youwould associate with programmes inClassical or Popular Music, you can alsoput together a programme that includesother topics, such as World Music, FilmMusic and the Music Industry.

iverpool John Moore Universityoffers a BA in Popular Music Stud-ies which involves an in-depth

analysis of the production, distributionand consumption of popular music. Thecourse is more theoretical compared tothe others but it does offer some practi-cal elements and third year students areable to complete a work placementwithin the Merseyside music industry.

George Ware studied Popular Music atLJMU and says "The other places I was

looking at were too technical and I wasinterested in the academic side.”

This mix of styles will provide studentswith a broader range of skills and com-petencies than those found on purelyacademic or purely vocational degrees.Transferable skills such as IT literacy,they will able to self-generate research,and present it both verbally and in writ-ing are all taught to give

he Music Department is housed inHope’s brand new city-centre per-formance centre and there are

many exceptional facilities. The Univer-sity is the Higher Education partner of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Or-chestra, and members of the Orchestrateach, perform and advise students atboth undergraduate and postgraduatelevel.

The musicology courses span four

centuries, with music from Monteverdito Madonna; all composition studentshave their work played by members of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Or-

chestra (RLPO); performance studentsgive recitals, take part in open micnights, and get the opportunity to playin city centre venues; acousmatic stu-dent composers’ work is featured in theannual Cornerstone Festival, and manyexciting events are laid on at The Cre-ative Campus, including the award-win-ning series of concerts by Ensemble10:10.

This course tends to focus on orches-

tral compositions and is not as flexibleas the others but is taught by esteemedmusicians.

LIPASir Pa u l ’s

in s t it u t e is

w o r l d

r e n o w n e d

h o p e“m u sic f r o m

Mo n t e v e r d i

t o Ma d o n n a ”

Lj m ua n

a c a d e m ic

a ppr o a c h t o

m u s i c

l u s m“t h e m o s t

v e r s a t il e

c o u r se s in

t h e c o u n t r y ”

T

T

T

l





Th e

n i g h t l i f e

lison is a 21 year old music BAHons undergraduate at LiverpoolUniversity School of Music, she

moved here from Leeds. It’s not justthe nightlife or the course that broughther here, she enjoys the host of muse-ums. “There’s so much heritage herewhich I think brings a really diversegroup of people. Since I started uni

here I’ve met so many amazing peoplesome who love music as much as meand some who I have other things incommon with. There are countless of different things to do whether you areafter a wild night out or maybe youwant to see a film at the brilliant cin-ema FACT or even visit the many won-derful museums, like the Tate.”

teve is training to become a soundengineer at the exclusive Liverpoolinstitute of performing arts. “To be

fair, compared to most universities, LIPAis tiny but it’s great ‘cause we all knoweach other and it’s really easy to makefriends. The city is great for work experi-ence as well as there are so many iconicstudios and so much music history. The

nightlife is great, better than any cityI’ve ever been to, there is such a varietyof things to do. There’s loads of indienights but if you fancy something elsethere’s Popworld, or med, every studenthas to go the med on a Wednesday, alsothere’s places like Heebies and the Razzwhere I’ve never had a bad night.”

oving to Liverpool from LondonLaura is doing a combined hon-ours degree at Liverpool Hope,she studies music and educa-

tion. The degree is what took her to

here but it’s the people and the cultureshe is staying here for. "There wasmore flexibility at Hope and I've beenable to develop some jazz playing. Thedegree is brilliant because of the diver-

sity of music you come across. Liver-pool is renowned for its culture andmusic. It's an easy link home to Londonbut far enough to experience a newcity. I got stuck in to the student-run

choir and it's a good way to meet peo-ple from other departments."

Al iso n j a m e s

f in a l y e a r a t l u sm

s t u d y in g po pu l a r m u s ic

s t e v e w h il t o n

f in a l y e a r a t l ipas t u d yin g s o u n d t e c h n o l o g y

La u r a m c k in l e y

se c o n d y e a r a t h o p e

s t u d y in g m u s ic

a

m

s





h o t //l i g h t //f ie s t a

ne of the best student bandsaround Liverpool right now areHot//light//fiesta, a four piece

hailing from all over the country,some local and some further away butthat is irrelevant because they all metat Liverpool university’s school of music. After moving to Merseyside,the home of original music, they dis-

covered each other’s talents and madethe bold move towards really trying tomake something of this band and not

just letting it fall to the wayside.They have a sound similar to Foals,

The Maccabees or maybe even Bom-bay Bicycle Club on a good day butthey also have influences ranging fromYou Me At Six to Vampire Weekend.All those influences come together tomake records like ‘All our Fathers’which has hints of emo inspirations inlead singer and lyricist Neale Davies’svoice and a heavier rock sound than

most of their other tracks. The mid-tempo beating drums of Chris Chad-wick keep the rhythm going and TimBrennik’s low rumbling bass gives theheavier sound. But the real talent of this band lies with Aled Evan’s brilliantguitar work, he uses the instrument totwist the track into something else,something more impressive than justyour average college rock band.

The guys say they couldn’t imaginenot being in this band, with eachother, in Liverpool “this city is where

we each wanted to come and find anew musical direction. It’s a greatplace to feel inspired, from the docks,to the city buildings and even further

afield, there is so much more drink inhere.” Neale speaks affectionately of his bands hometown. “It does feel likehome, we know so many peoplethrough playing at as many venuesthat will have us. The people who puton bands at Bumper are great; they’realways putting on new bands. It’s get-ting a lot harder to find promoters

who are willing to go out on a limb fornew bands in other cities but in Liver-pool I think people are always willingto give you a first chance.”

The other three members agree thatthe renowned cheerful scouse spirit“people go mad at the shows, even if they don’t have a clue who we are”Tim chimes in. “I think it might havesomething to do with the cheap priceof drinks! But you never know maybethey like the tunes” he modestlylaughs.

“one of the reasons I chose Liverpool

uni was the music connection, the his-tory and what all that means to youwhen you’re just starting to get prop-erly into music. I learnt to play guitarin my room listening to my parentsold Beatles vinyls, so yeah this placereally means something to me.” Addsluminary guitarist Aled.

It’s not often a band this young havethis much raw talent butHot//light//fiesta have just that inbucket loads, we hope they keep theband going after university because it

would be such a shame to waste it all.

http://hotlightfiesta.bandcamp.com/

“

“Th e r e is s o

m u c h mo r e

d r in k in h e r e ”

-Ne a l e

“t h e r e a s o n s

I c h o seLiv er po o l u n i

w a s t h e mu s ic

c o n n e c t i o n ”

-ALED

O

l o c a l s t u d en t ba n d t e l l s a l l ie Gr e g so n

w h y it w a s a l w a y s l iv e r po o l f o r t h e m



A tlas T winsaving only formed in Octo-ber last year Atlas twinshave already developedtheir sound into something

so professional and polished thatit’s hard to write them off as justanother boy/girl acoustic duo.David Jones (guitar, percussion and

vocals) and Lianne Turner (vocalsand percussion) are scarily skilledfor two nineteen year olds still incollege and despite courseworkdeadlines etc. still manage to filltheir whole soundcloud page withdelicate melodies and tender vo-cals.

Starting out under the name of 'The Fruit and Barley Mob' whenthey were a lot younger Lianne ex-plains that it was fate that broughtthem back together ‘we used toplay in the same bands when wewere still in school. Then we werereunited at Telford’s warehouse inChester, which is this great local gigvenue. It’s got a restaurant and anart gallery upstairs it’s full of somany amazingly creative people.We played in this one group called'The Fruit and Barley Mob, it wasgreat fun but they weren’t reallygoing in the right kind of musicaldirection that I wanted to pursue.So when Dave played me some of the riffs he’d been working on I felt

instantly inspired to write. Then we just started gigging and it’s reallypicked up from there, it’s pretty ex-citing.’

There is definitely an air of excite-ment at their shows, despite onlybeing a duo they certainly have apresence on stage. This undoubt-edly comes from Lianne’s mes-merising vocals that send shiversacross the room at the ShippingForecast on a wet and windy Thurs-day in January. She stops people intheir tracks, it’s not the smoothest

voice ever, you can hear the bumpsand lumps but there is a beautiful,expressive power to it that holds

H



your attention and forces you tofocus on her impassioned words.

Dave describes their sound as ‘or-ganic and unfettered, I think there'sa dark undercurrent but it’s quite

mellow also. I think all in all it's avery honest sound, and it is a re-flection of how we feel. Our soundis influenced by growing up, life,love and loss all played with a rawsense of emotion. We hope, Iguess’ he says sounding exactly asa teenage musician should, withtrepidation over people hearing hissongs.

The acoustic male/female duohas been done before and AtlasTwins aren’t exactly a new idea oranything and neither is the whole

natural, just being ourselves shtickbut they are in no way boring oraverage. Both themselves and theirartwork appear quite twee butDave reckons it is deliberate ‘I don'tthink our style is consciously con-trived, we just wanted an honestand unfettered appearance.’ Thereis nothing wrong with just beingyourselves if there is something atleast that makes them stand outfrom the multiple acoustic acts,which their music clearly does.

Always writing they say that al-though they only formed in lateOctober they have written over 100songs (!) and used up so much of their soundcloud page they wereasking on their Facebook page if anyone had an invite to a premiumsoundcloud page. ‘I guess that’show we get our music out, we’vehad loads of positive feedback andloads of likes. I know we’ve got along way to go but we’re enjoyingit and just seeing how everythinggoes really. I do want us to go far

but at the end of the day it’s justme and Dave having a good time,we enjoy hanging out, makingmusic together.’ Says Lianne.

The gigs they have done so farhave been pretty impressive, theytook part in the battle of the bandsfor Liverpool sound city at thepicket. Although they didn’t winthey have had some great localpress and been given the opportu-nities to play venues all over Liver-pool and Cheshire. Things aredefiantly on the rise for this quirky

duo ‘we’re writing new material, re-leasing our EP which we’ve nearly

finished recording, travelling andgigging. Hopefully we will havesome adventures!’

Daniel Thomas at IndependentMusic News wrote that they have a

unique connection and urges peo-ple to give these guys a chance ‘theAnswer is clear. Listen to this bandintently. Every guitar stroke differ-entiates in meaning. You feel everywhisper and weep from the vocalsand appreciate the talent prevailed.’High praise indeed which they’vebeen getting from all over theplace, including Adam Walton atthe BBC who declared them ‘ace’after booking them for his radioshow. Explaining Atlas Twins to hislisteners he described the duo as ‘a

boy playing a Spanish guitar ratherwonderfully; and a girl singing witha voice that'd melt a glacier, thenre-freeze it into some awe-inducing

palace of crystals.’ It’s obvious thelyrics Dave and Lianne write mean alot to those who have been luckyenough to track them down andhear just a few of the many tracks

they have put out.We seriously hope more of this

continues for the band who deserveall this praise they just need topresent themselves with more am-bition and they might get the atten-tion they be worthy of. Hear themat www.facebook.com/atlastwinsand check out their latest shows.



Continuing the natural theme isnearly as perfect melodies,landscapes. Here Lianne’s voiceis let loose and you really get asense she could belt out Adele-style songs but obviouslyprefers to stick to swooningacoustic numbers. Her voice islike another instrument entirely,bringing so much depth to thetrack.

Only recently put online thisnew track shows how they havelearnt from playing more gigsand writing together. Dave’sguitar work is getting strongerand Lianne’s confidence in hervoice is clearly growing. But thelyrics are where they need tokeep working as, although it isbeautiful, there is a lot of an-

noying repetition here.

With floating intricate guitarpicking that is akin to a harpplayer’s elaborate work, Dave’sslow, soft backing accompaniesLianne’s xx style vocal deliveryperfectly. The imagery createdby lyrics such as ‘tie me to atree/let me grow within’ makethis song feel all the more natu-ral and basic as they simple yetdelicate guitar. Definitely therebest song because of the serenefeeling it gives the listener.

Atlas Twins 4

best tracks - reviewed

1 - Wind and high water

2 - melodies, landscapes

3 - burden to the nest

4 - amourous

‘I’m a restless beautiful girl’Lianne repeats in this short butsweet mantra for young girlsand boys growing up feelinglike they want to escape fromthe drudgery of what awaitsthem in adult life. They use the

naturalistic element of theacoustic style to highlight thebeauty of both their music andnature itself..



Lianne was fed up of Dave showing off



“I yiis a poed t uii”









he second offering from Swedish trio Miike Snow is pretty much thesame as their first, annoying pop from people who are supposed to begood at making great pop songs (two of the band wrote songs for

Britney). It is almost as if they are trying to re-create the surprising andquestionable success of their first album although there are some high-lights hidden amongst the dull, out dated over produced sounds. Such asthe ever-welcome Lykke Li pops up with a haunting vocal on the epicallydistorted ‘Black Tin Box’, which merges twiddly synthesisers with Nine InchNails-esque percussion, while the baroque keyboards which suddenly lurchinto Pretender offer a moment of scarf-waving impishness. But then to endwe are left with headache educing ‘No Starry World’ shows that they arestill interested in plugging the same dull pop to us.

neka Lucia Egbuna is a Nigerian-German hip hop/soul singer and song-writer and we are ashamed to say that we hadn’t heard of her until this as-tonishing third album smacked us clean across the face. But boy are we

glad it did, opening new genres to explore which is what, as music fans, we arelooking for. In music environments saturated with same female singers she istruly different and appears so much stronger because of it. Set against a 21st-century mixture of pop, afrobeat and RnB, you sense that nobody could havemade this record but Nneka it is intensely personal, deep and beautifully exe-cuted. Such a powerful voice but can command it to be quiet when it needs tobe but she lets it lose on loud and powerful highlight ‘Shining Star’. There is no

real weak point here she makes political statement whilst producing some of theyears underappreciated pop and keeping true to her soul and afrobeat roots.

orget all the controversy surrounding the L.A gang Odd FutureWolf Gang Kill Them All and you’ve actually got some great raprecords. If you can forget the disturbing and frankly terrible

video for single ‘NY (Ned Flander)’ this is what Tyler the Creator isgood at, provoking thoughts with his lyrics. ‘Ya know’ (feat the inter-

net) is a glimpse of where rap might be going in the future, usingmore subtle dubstep beats rather than shoving them in becausethat’s what’s hot right now. Of course ‘White’ (feat Frank Ocean) isgood because honestly everything sounds better with his voice. Butare OF losing sight of what made them stand out in the first place?Their talent seems to be over shadowed by the need to shock.

o d d f u t u r eTh e OF TAPE VOL 2

n n e k aso u l is h e a v y

m iik e sn o wh a ppy t o y o u

F

T

n



h the Shins, couldn’t really get more indie if they tried after fiveyears they are back, and this is what they bring us? Not exactlywhat we were expecting, it is a little dull there is no major change

although this album has a more slick and polished sound than theband's previous efforts, with a much greater emphasis on electronic in-strumentation. Their prowess as musicians remains unquestionable,they can all play and ‘No way Down’ contains some charming lyricssuch as ‘lost in an oscillating face/where a tiny few catch all of the rays’but the album as a whole feels a little predictable. ‘Simple Song’ couldbe one of Belle and Sebastian’s hits and in ‘40 Mark Strasse’ James Mer-cer lets out his inner Elvis Costello and while all this is great it doesn’t

bring anything new to their sound.

n Time to voices is Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter, better knownas Blood red shoes third studio album is their best yet, they appear tohave developed and ‘grown-up’. Lead single "Cold" opens with Ansell's

thudding claustrophobic drum beat before the song explodes with a sim-ple riff and Carter's ominous, melodic howl. "Cold, cold, ha-ha-heart," she

gasps on the closest thing the song has to a chorus and there's little indica-tion if it's an impassioned plea or dripping with venom. It's the onstagebreakup with none of the subtlety. Buried in the noise are moments of sheer beauty; such as the moment that the breathy, doll-like vocal that be-gins "Silence and the Drones" crescendos into something else entirely.

in't slowing down, I only know speed," raps Estelle on All of Me's secondtrack. Not when it comes to getting this album out – the Londoner'sthird LP has on the verge of release since 2010. In that time, its first twotrailer singles – the David Guetta-produced Freak and the rather classier

Fall in Love – have both been nixed from the tracklisting. If this suggests a lack of confidence in All of Me's commercial potential, that's not entirely without found-ing. After opening with a pair of bragging rap tracks, All of Me settles into amore subdued groove. At its core are a clutch of sleek, shimmering neo-soulsongs reminiscent of early Erykah Badu and Mary J. Blige. The lack of standouthits here is disappointing, but All of Me's Achilles heel is its conversational inter-ludes. They're not just dated and gratuitous, but also a knock-off from anotherrecord. By the time Estelle name-checks "The Miseducation" on the album'spenultimate track, the damage has been done. It's already clear that All of Meisn't in the same league as Lauryn Hill's genre classic.

e s t e l l ea l l o f me

Bl o o d r e d sh o e sin t im e t o v o ic e s

t h e sh in spo r t o f mo r r o w

a

“a

i



know they are obviously touring this new album butseriously? No ‘About your Dress’?! It’s their best song,well it isn’t anymore but it’s the one I was certain theywould play last. Not even a massive sing-a-long to

‘Latchmere’ I adore the new album it is truly amazing andsuch a step forward for them. It can’t be a proper Mac-cabees set without one of those songs. How ridiculous tothink that they could leave a room packed with actual Mac-cabees fans. Judging by the way the room kicked off and

everyone knew every word they were proper fans, wantingmore even after the encore.

Despite all this though they were amazing, new album‘Into the Wild’ sounds as atmospheric live as it does listen-ing to it on your own, in the dark or walking down thestreet on a sunny day with headphones in. It is a prettyamazing album, new single ‘Feel to Follow’ sounds etherealin the shadowy venue filled to the brim, the swirling guitarsand Orlando’s, not so weak anymore, warble has definitely‘grown-up’ but still retains the preciousness that we all firstfell in love with him for. ‘Glimmer’ and the first single off this album ‘Pelican’ receive huge welcomes from a crowdwho have clearly devoured this LP as much as they have theprevious two.

It’s evident that the Maccabees are enjoying themselvesonstage tonight, the reactions to the new tracks are whatthey must have been hoping for here in Liverpool despite

receiving mixed reviews from the critics. With some sayingthat they are playing it safe or simply emulating Arcade Fire(Pitchfork and the Guardian), some declaring it album of theyear so far (NME) as well as others saying it was ‘Bold andambitious’ (DiS) I would very much have to agree with thelatter two observations and purlease Arcade Fire? No onehas ever had this much fun at an Arcade Fire gig, seriouslyever.

The older songs do get an airing later in the set, ‘No Kind

Words’ still sounds stunning and ‘Love You Better’ repre-senting the second album, showing that it has aged welland links both album one and three together beautifully.‘Precious Time’ was one of the songs that lifted the Mac-cabees above all the ‘indie landfill’ they got compared toback in 2007 when they first released ‘Colour It In’ tonightin the O2 the crowd show the band how much this classicsong means to them, not in a nostalgic sort of way butmore just how much this band mean to their fans becauseof the wonderful, heart-wrenchingly meaningful music theymake.

Although some people may not think they have moved onor developed their indie-pop sound to something more sig-nificant and beautiful, The Maccabees music makes peoplewant to dance and sing and really, what’s more significantand beautiful than that?

Liv e Ex c e s s

Th e m a c c a be e st h e o 2 a c a d e m y12.03.2012

how have they

changed sincethey were ourfirst love?

Orlando Weeks justchecking the setlist there

I



he Liverpool O2 academy is the first stop on the UK leg of the tour for their second album, Portamento,the Drums are nearing the conclusion of what seems

like a never ending tour and yet they still have energy andlove of their songs to put on a brilliant performance.Opener ‘What You Were’ written for the new album after

guitarist Adam Kessler left the band in September 2010,gets the crowd going. The lyrics themselves are heartbro-ken and full of regret, the Joy Division influences can beheard in Connor Hanwick’s guitar and the new line-upchange of Jacob Graham on synthesizers better suits thebands dynamic. ‘Money’ from the new album also bringswith it a new bass line that Pierce has mentioned is inspiredby The Wake, whose jazz style bass parts add an extra tex-ture to the Drums sounds.Songs from the previous album go down well with the fanstonight ‘I Need Fun In My Life’ and ‘Lets Go Surfing’ sound

just as good when played live with the new tracks as theydid on the lasttour. Following

the typical themeof Drums songs ‘INeed a Doctor’ isprobably theepitome of thesense of slightmental problemsthat underpinmost of theirlyrics. Movingthe set deeperinto the newersongs Jonny de-clares ‘Book of Revelations’ getsa better reactionin the UK, it

would be hard for any city in the UK to beat the reaction inthe crowd tonight, every single person near the front knowsmost of the words to every single track, even the new onessuch as ‘Days’ and ‘How it Ended’ which is an epic nearly setcloser. But of course they had to close this impressive returnto the UK with fan favourite ‘Down by the Water’ which

sounds even better now the band has had time to developand mature.So they’ve done all their hits now, so they must be finishedright? Wrong. After a lot of chanting from the eager Liver-pool crowd they come back and give us more. They quicklyrun through a couple of new tracks such as ‘If he likes it lethim do it’ and ‘Future’ which are probably not the bestsongs on Portamento but we asked for more and theykindly gave us what they had. Tonight’s proceedings areconcluded with‘Searching forHeaven’ which didend things onslightly strange

note, maybe theyshould have justleft the crowdwanting morerather than overload us with thenew songs. De-spite the odd fi-nale the drumshave developedtheir sound evenmore; with thisdifferent line upthey have createdsome really greatnew songs andprogressed the

Th e

d r u m st h e o 2 a c a d e m y

26.02.2012

“Wt h a f r o n tm a n l ik e

J o n n y Pie r c e

it w o u l d be

h a r d t o pu t o n

a d u l l

p e r f o r m a n c e ”

He’s behind you!The Drums love a bit of panto

T

Jonny: what a fringe!



Spe c t o rt h e k a z im ie r22.02.2012

London 5 pieceprove that they arenot just superstarsin DalstonFor someone so associated with the

Dalston ‘hipster’ scene you would expectFred Macpherson, lead singer of tonight’sheadline act Spector, to be cold, preten-tious and unfriendly towards the peoplein Liverpool who have come to witnesswhat the BBC are calling ‘the sound of

2012’. But tonight he was charming andwitty, if a little shocked at the excitementof the crowd at only their second gig inLiverpool. Kicking off with first single‘What You Wanted’ to a crowd who al-ready know most of the words the 80’spop synths adding an interesting ele-ment to their distinctive indie sound. Thepersona of the group which had beenportrayed on blogs and in interviews wasthat it was pretty much a solo projectwith the Fred as the main act but on-stage at the Kaizimer tonight they provethat they are a band at heart although

it’s obvious Fred is an entertaining front-man. He has been in and out of musicprojects for some years now, previous in-carnations have included a mentionablestint as very indie pop school kids ‘LesIncompétents’, think GoodShoes whenthey were 14, and the dark, prog-rock,post-punk, very strange Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man. Obviously Fred is determined and skilled asa musician but it just hasn’t ever worked out for him, Spectorseem out to change all that. His appearance and demeanourmay seem contrived but this evening performance shows it’shis natural showmanship which draws the crowd closer. Theband exude a non-‘LAD’ culture, they seemed very uncom-

fortable on Soccer AM last year but they seem much morebothered about having a good time definitely something thiscrowd can relate to.New songs such as ‘Friday night’ and ‘20nothing’ highlight the bands ability to make genuinely goodindie-pop songs that can relate to an audience who havenever heard these tracks before. With only ten songs on theset list it’s the couple of tracks that have been circulating onyou-tube we are all eager to hear as the band launch into re-cent single ‘Chevy Thunder’ with passion, the electrifyingchorus has so much shout-along-ability, not in a bad way ei-ther I must add (“oh they’re just another vaccines/strokes/ insert popular indie bad here”) what makes Spector standout are their sheer talent and expertise beyond their years.On album track ‘Celestine’ Thomas Shickle holds an eerie,rumbling bass line until the synth-filled chorus beginssounding a little Kaiser Chiefs-esque with the woah, woah,woahs but more rooted in 80’s pop than early 2000’s indie.

All dressed in smart suits, with Fred occasionally stopping tocomb his slicked back hair and unbutton his jacket, Spectorare the quintessential indie band of 2012 yet manage toseem worlds away from that ‘scene’ despite being intrinsi-cally linked to it because they can back it all up with properlygreat songs. Final song Never Fade Away, hand claps obvi-

ously, was made to close indie gigs, simple as. The build-upis all dark lyrics and the thundering drums by Danny Blandywhich add to the melancholic sound of the Guitars per-formed by Christopher Burman and Jed Cullen. There is asense of something great here tonight, we are sure thatSpector are on their way up.

Liv e Ex c e s sN EW BAN DS I N

Fred Macpherson fromSpector: definitely a greatfrontman in the making





Gig Lis t in g s

Thursday 1st MarchShrag

Mello Mello

The Real People

Liverpool Barfly

Friday 2nd MarchEyes Set to Kill +

Shadows Chasing Ghosts

O2 Academy Liverpool

The Australian Pink Floyd Show

Liverpool Echo Arena

The Zico Chain

Liverpool Barfly

Saturday 3rd MarchGabrielle Aplin +

Girlschool

Liverpool Barfly

Public Overload


Monday 5th MarchStranglers


King Charles

Liverpool Barfly

Tuesday 6th MarchApples

Liverpool Barfly

Wednesday 7th MarchGraeme Clark

Liverpool Barfly

Page 44


all the latest local gigs

asfghjkltyuimb

Shrag at mello mello

Eyes Set To Kill at

O2 Academy for a mosh

King Charles at

Liverpool Barfly

is a must see



Ma r c h

Thursday 8th MarchGretchen Peters

Liverpool Barfly

Friday 9th MarchManifesto


Phantom Limb

Mello Mello

Saturday 10th MarchAcoustic and Unplugged +

Kassidy +

Nero +


Rebecca Ferguson

Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Sunday 11th MarchThe Jayhawks +

Rise To Remain +

Heaven Shall Burn +

Malefice +

Adept +


InMeLiverpool Barfly

Monday 12th MarchThe Maccabees


Tuesday 13th MarchRise To Remain +

Heaven Shall Burn

Liverpool Barfly

mcvyeruhbdbsacbl

Gretchen Peters at

Liverpool Barfly

The Maccabees are touring new

album Given to the Wild see

tham at the O2 Academy

Rise To Remain at

Liverpool Barfly



Gig Lis t in g s

Wednesday 14th MarchYashin

Liverpool Barfly

Roddy Woomble

Zanzibar Club

Thursday 15th MarchBlack Stone Cherry +

Suffocation


Limehouse Lizzy

Liverpool Barfly

Friday 16th MarchNazareth +

Tonic


Jake Morley

Liverpool Barfly

Diagrams

The Magnet

Saturday 17th MarchWild Beasts


The Frank & Walters

Zanzibar Club

Sunday 18th MarchThe Bohemians


Monday19th MarchIan Siegal

Liverpool Barfly

Tuesday 20th MarchThe Bootleg Beatles +

Ken Blevins

St Georges Hall

all the latest local gigs

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Yashin live in

Liverpool at the Barfly

Jake Morley and his guitarwill

be at the Liverpool Barfly

Catch the amazing Wild Beasts

at O2 Academy

Ian Siegal



Ma r c h

Wednesday 21st MarchMax Raptor +

HildaMay


Thursday 22nd MarchGraeme Clark +

Dean Johnson


Saturday 24th MarchThe Waterboys


Wiley

The Magnet

You Me At Six +

Mayday Parade +

Kids in Glass Houses +

The Skints +

Liverpool University

Sunday 25th MarchCharlie Simpson


Tuesday 27th MarchLos Campesinos!


Curtis Stigers


Four Tops +

Temptations

Liverpool Echo Arena

Saturday 31st MarchCast

Liverpool University

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Kids in Glass Houses at

Liverpool university

Wiley plays an intimate show

at Magnet on the 24th

You Me At Six

the brilliant Los Campesinos!

are at the O2 Academy - go see

them!



Me et Ra w Cit y

aw City got together just under ayear ago it was three of them atfirst Craig Ebbrell Phil Moore and

Dave Keenan building the foundationsthen guitarist ‘T-Bone’ got on board toadd some beef to the sound, and nowthis is, Raw City.

Your name ‘Raw City’ sounds prettyaggressive would you say it’s a reflec-tion of your rocky style?

Yeah I'd say its reflective, just like oursound it's rough and ready and straightto the point, we basically turn up, turnon and have it.

Who are your influences?We are influenced by different thingsand not just stuff that's music based, of cause there's bands that get us goingand different genres that inspire us butalso we're influenced by people’s emo-tions and opinions and we try to chan-nel these through our music in themost blatant possible way.

How was last year?

2011 was good for us, we spent half theyear writing a bunch of songs and get-ting them tight and then we spent the

other half playing as many shows as wecould whilst recording our debutAlbum. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind tobe honest but something we have allreally enjoyed. Highlights have to beplaying the first couple of shows andseeing people react in such a positivemanner.

You got signed last year and releasedan album how did that go?

Yeah putting out our Album on Lost atSea Records was great, it gave therecord weight and it’s nice to knowsomeone believed in us enough to letthe Album have a home. It can bestressful recording and there's a lot of time where you are sitting arounddoing nothing while people recordparts and during this we just aboutmanaged not to rip each other’s headsoff. One of the main factors for puttingout a record so soon was down to thefact that we have known lots of bandsover the years that have made some

great music, played some amazingshows and for one reason or anotherhave split up, and the only evidence

they have to prove they made thisgreat music is more often than not arough 2 track demo or whatever, whichmost of the time aren't even their bestsongs, we don't want that, not thatwe're saying we are going to break upanytime soon, we just wanted to write12 or so songs, then gig them, thenrecord them all, and move on, that waythe songs are there forever and be-

cause we want to document what wehave done and our progression.

What are you looking to achieve in2012?We are going to keep the momentumand keep pushing forward, I hope wecan evolve as a band and put thisacross in the new songs we plan towrite over the next few months, and of cause we aim to keep playing lots of great shows. We have applied to playsome festivals this year and some ourlooking like done deals which we areexcited about and we plan to travel fur-

ther afield this year and get down toLondon and show them how we do itup North, Raw City style.

“w e ba s ic a l l y t u r n u p, t u r n o n a n d h a v e it ”

Ra w Cit y a r e sh o w in g Liv er po o l a g o o d t im eSa l l ie g r e g so n spo k e t O Sin g e r Da v e k EENAN

n e w Mu s i c e x c e s sall the best new artists you have to hear

R

Raw City know how tohave a good time



reated by NorwegianSinger/Songwriter Kaya, Sci-ence of the Lamps have a

unique, slightly bizarre but strangelyintriguing appeal to them. The gigs areset up more like a burlesque show thana music concert in a good way notseedy or cheesy but entertaining andfun. Along with bassist Paul Reay andDrummer Greta Core Kaya unleashesher “poetry, film scores, Norwegian

Folk Music, rock, industrial sounds, na-ture, wine, flamenco, slam poetry, soul,folk, rhytm’n’blues, drum’n’bass, musicboxes, metal, goth and whiskey” influ-enced music. Sometimes they are

joined onstage by backing band TheUsherettes who are Mersey Wiley, JanRoss and Emily Jackson who bring evenmore glamour and brilliant harmoniesto create something more than youraverage gig. A very image focusedband their Facebook even has tips ongig hairstyles and projections areplayed throughout the room whenthey play. Without a recording contractnow they are working on releasing

some of their material but needs sup-port so try and see them live it is notto be missed, truly a spectacle.www.facebook.com/thescienceofthe-lamps

oved Ones is the brainchild of NikGlover (pictured) who was previ-ously in critically acclaimed band

Seal Cub Clubbing Club and RichardHurst. Their mesmerising mellow popsound has been compared to the Na-

tional and Wild Beast two very accurateand complimentary but deserved evalu-ations. Despite having only released onetrack so far they have been nominatedfor the GIT award (see news pages formore details on this) as the pure qualityof ‘Are you Hiding in out Hell’ out doesmost other local bands output by miles.

The lyrics are deeply personal, more sothan anything Glover has ever writtenbefore and his vocals have improvedsounding gravelly and hoarse yet deli-cate and expressive. Loved ones have arare chemistry with Hurst’s melodies

complementing Glover’s subtle yet pow-erful harmonies. They are releasing theirdebut record The Merry Monarch them-selves later this year and we reckon theywill surely give us an album full of haunting, beautiful, melodic songs wor-thy of their talents.www.facebook.com/WeAreLovedOnes

Ch e l c e e -Liv e r po o l ’s v e r y o w n po p

pr in c e s s in t h e ma k in g

LOVED ONES-po w er f u l m e d l o d ie s a n d

so u f u l so n g s

THE SCIENC E OF THE LAMPS -St r a n g e y e t c o m pe l l in g

e u r o po p

ffortlessly confident, she's brim-

ming with charisma, whichshows in the way she pours herheart out through her sentimentalsongs that focus on her struggle of growing older and the daunting task of becoming older. She is a breath of fresh air in an era where the majorityof popstars rarely write their own ma-terial and when they do it’s the samekind of stuff about relationships andgoing out to the clubs. I mean imagineif the next huge pop star came fromLiverpool and sung about things her

fans relate to like growing up, arguing

with your mum and not being ‘girly’enough. And there is no shortage of fans even now she has adoring follow-ers who tattoo her lyrics on their arm!Videos of her online show her to beyour average teenager with the ambi-tion of Lady Gaga but determined toachieve her dream in a completely nat-ural way.With lots of local airplay andsupport she recently signed to SonyRCA we have high hopes for Chelcee.www.chelceemusic.com/

e

L

C

“Buy my music” Chelcee has taken tousing extreme marketing methods

Nik Glover of Loved Ones

Kaya, Paul and Greta: all caged up



n e w Mu s i c e x c e s sall the best new artists you have to hear

lready singed to the inno-vative Manchester indie

label SuperstarDestroyerRecords, with a Debut EP, GhostRide the Whip, released last Octo-ber Ninetails aren’t exactly undis-covered but they are relativelynew to music excess and so de-serving of this space. Their soundis made up of a complicated com-bination of prog, math rock, elec-tronica and obscure pop, theirsongs writhe their way into the lis-tener’s brain deliciously. It’s clearto hear influences like Foals, Bom-bay Bicycle Club and Klaxons all

coming through as well as moreobscure references such asYeasayer and Animal Collective.

The intricate bassline and franticguitars in ‘Social Guesswork’ holdthe attention of the audience sointently, it shows how this quartet,featuring Ed Black (vocals & gui-tar), Jordan Balaber (vocals & gui-tar), Philip Morris (bass & lyrics)and Jake King (drums), have gotthe command of their instrumentsat such young ages. They writeperfect indie pop songs and al-though that’s been done beforethey, like any good band bringsomething new; immense ability

and knowledge of so much moremusic.

Ninetails put out their ownmonthly podcasts shedding lighton their influences which is wherewe discovered that they do nottend to agree at all, with favouritegenres ranging from; '90s USindie, UK grime, downtempo indieand avant-garde compositions all

affecting the music. Obviously thisis where they get their extensivecollective knowledge of musicthat shines through in the songs.

If our recommendation isn’tenough you should know that theaforementioned EP sold out in lessthan two weeks thanks solely toword-of-mouth buzz, pretty im-pressive that. Also they recentlysupported Errors and caught theattention of BBC 6Music’s GideonCoe, and will soon be supportingDiagrams and Yeti Lane on theirtours, surely that is enough to getyou interested in this exception-ally gifted foursome.

n INETAILSTa l e n t e d yo u n g t h in g s

we did all thewriting nowall you haveto do is listento our playlist

on...

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ipdwplyzxvb

nmafj

hi

Featuring:Raw city

Kankouran

Ninetails

Chelcee

Silence of the

lamps

Loved ones

Laura J. Martin

Esco Williams

Natalie McCool

Plus more that

we didn’t have

time to write

about.

intricatebassline,frantic

guitars

a

“I need more 2p’s!” Ninetailsspend all their pocket moneyat the amusements



Ka n k o u r a nPo ss ibl y t h e n e w t e e n s a v io u r sThis freshly formed five piece consist

of Tarek Musa (Bass & Vocals), PeterDarlington (Guitar & vocals), Joe Wills(guitar), Fabian Prynn (drums) and RobLewis (Organ). Despite not yet playinga proper show together they have al-ready drummed up a lot of interestfrom labels and the bloggers aftertheir excellent first single ‘Rivers’ wasused in the most recent Skins promo.The track is outstanding, it has all thenervousness of a teenager yet the everso grow up way of expressing yourfeelings eloquently perfect to sound-track the teen drama of Skins, featur-ing vocals from Irish LIPA graduateEvelyn Burke ‘Rivers’ is an indie classicin the making.Having all played in bands with each

other previously, including the terriblynamed Dire Wolfe and even worse TheBodyboarders, they decided to get

back in a band with each other andsettled on the name of a West Africanwitch doctor but for these guys it’s allabout the music rathr than a heavyfocus on the name or image. Kank-ouran have finally got their minds seton making this band work, but obvi-ously while having fun “otherwise itwouldn’t work would it?” Says unoffi-cial leader Tarek Musa the easy goingleader of the band “we just want to gowith what feels natural, and if thatsounds like fun then let’s just play likethat.” The guys sound like they are ex-

cited about being in a band with eachother, doing what they love the most:making music.

This is clear from the tagline theyposted on their Facebook ‘Heaven is

when

you know yourself’ which GuitaristDarlington thought up after 3 weeksin New York “it’s quite difficult toknow yourself a lot of the time andwhen you do it feels great; you can

just accept who you are. There’s a lotof pressure on people to have to docertain things. I’m happy just doingwhat I do, playing guitar and writingsongs with my friends. And I thinkthat’s knowing yourself, when you can

just accept that and get on with it.”Kankouran have a long way to go if they are hoping to re-create the bril-

liance of ‘Rivers’ but they will be hav-ing a good time trying, definitely aband worth waiting for.Have a listen at: kankouran.band-camp.com

pretty much has it allsorted Stephen Fry says she’s good.Enough said we can pack up and gohome now. No but seriously her vo-cals rival Florence and the Machine’s,the passion in her voice makes everyword resonate around your head.

Hailing from Widnes she has recentlybegun collaborating with celebratedproducer Steve Levine (The BeachBoys, Culture Club) who has alsosigned her to his Hubris record label.http://www.nataliemccool.co.uk

a singer/songwriter who

describes himself as a "Soul PoweredNerd" but we would call him honestand cute in a cheeky way that makeshim so endearing you might forgetabout the music. But if you can tearyourself away from his pictures listento ‘Dreamin’ and his live carpark ses-sion version of ‘Hi Score’ and you’llunquestionably fall in love with hisrich, smooth R’n’B vocals as well.http://www.facebook.com/escow-illiams

is a Maghull-bred tal-ented singer/songwriter who also playsthe flute, keyboard and mandolin, veryimpressive indeed. She combines along-running passion for hip-hop withher folks-y sound and has been touringup and down the country for a whilenow. Her debut album, The HangmanTree, is out soon on Static Caravan

records and promises to showcase herabilities.http://www.laurajmartin.com/

“it’s quite

difficult to

know yourself

a lot of the

time and when

you do it

feels

great”peter

Darlington-

Kankouran

o NESTOWATCH



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