PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2010 *FREE*

NAPOLEON IIIRD - BAD HORROR FILMS - MANCHESTER SCENEWIPE IN AMERICA SPILLERS RECORDS GUIDE TO CARDIFF - MANCHESTER BLOG AWARDS

02 03

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2010WELCOME LETTERS FROM INDEPENDENT CARDIFF

WEL

CO

ME

pullyourselftogetherzine.co.uk

Design: teacakedesign.com

LETT

ERS FR

OM

IN

DEPEN

DEN

T C

AR

DIFF

SO WHAT’S IN ISSUE 14?P3 - With a new shiny shop to live in, we’ve asked Spillers Records’ Ashli Todd to give us a rundown of what’s going on in the Welsh capital.

P4 - PYT have been plotting a North American expedition for a while, but the boys from MCR Scenewipe beat us to it! They’ve been scouring Seattle and Portland for the best in local music, and have provided us with a tour diary of sorts.

P6 - Napoleon IIIrd headlined the first gig Pull Yourself Together put on, and we are delighted to have him coming back to play as part of the Brainlove Tour. We had a natter with him about his new album, Denmark, and playing with toys.

P8 - Manchester is full of great blogs at the moment. Check out some of our favourites ahead of the Manchester Blog Awards

P12 - Nik Vestberg of Records Make Great Pets is back, this time to give you some spooky viewing advice in the run-up to Hallowe’en!

For anyone who is new to Manchester, welcome to the city! We both arrived as students here the best par t of a decade ago, and still haven’t found a reason to leave. October is the best time to find your feet, as this place turns into festival central. Check out The Manchester Weekender, AND Festival, Manchester Food and Drink Festival, Manchester Comedy Festival and Manchester Literature Festival. Then of course it is In The City over 13th-15th October - check out our website for a full preview and details of our showcase at Common.

Our artwork this issue comes from Moose & Yeti, aka Aaron Darvenzia. We love Aaron’s simple comic book style, which makes really sparing use of colour to great effect. He’s got a great line in sinister looking cats, rabbits and zombies - perfect for us! Check out more of his work on mooseandyeti.com

As the last moments of the festival season fade away, it’s probably time to admit it: Autumn is here again. End of the Road provided a fitting end to the summer (as always), with a wonderful line-up, pretty good weather, and, of course, the ever-welcome Somerset Cider Bus. PYT highlights included Allo Darlin’, Elliot Brood, Brakes, comedy from Robin Ince, and an outstanding set from Edwyn Collins - we’ll be back next year for sure! There’s no time to kick back and relax though, as everyone knows that the end of September marks the start of gigging silly season, featuring tours galore along with showcases from In The City and Swn. As we type PYT are gearing up for Postcards From Manchester, and are very excited about putting on our first ever Deaf Institute show.

ON THE PYT STEREOHer Name Is Calla

Edwyn Collins Sweet Baboo

Blood Oranges Former Bullies

*NEW WEBSITE*

*NEW WEBSITE*

Boring me : I’ve never had the pleasure of living anywhere other than Cardiff (and its surrounding environs). When it came to Uni choices I stayed put to study Art so I could carry on with my part time job at Spillers Records, the family business where I’d been working for pocket money since I was 13 (hello, child protection?!). That early privilege of being immersed in an environment of living, breathing and enthusing about music had me hooked and ties to Spillers have kept me firmly rooted to Cardiff. That said, I’ve travelled to enough places on gig missions to know we’ve got it good here in the ‘Diff.

Early days of gig going age 13/14 seemed to revolve around Cardiff Uni (Mansun, Placebo, Beck) and Newport Centre where fond memories include feeling a bit giddy chatting to Manda Rin out of Bis who were supporting Ash there shortly after their Top of the Pops appearance. Aside from those ‘conventional’ sorts of venues I was dragged along (by cooler, older friends in the know) to more obscure gigs in Tommy’s Bar (at the Art college) and to Grassroots (a community project centre). These were much more intimate venues which had added appeal and intensity owing to a lack of proper stage, ropey PA and in the case of Grassroots, vegan cake!

Though at times it seems like touring American bands can forget that anything exists in the UK West of the English border I’m constantly torn by the choice available in this wee City and right now there’s plenty of venues and promoters that are relentlessly trying to tempt. The greatest thing is being able to cram a lot in to a night out here in the ‘Diff, especially since I cycle everywhere here (easy ‘cos it’s so flat!). When it comes to favorite venues, well – Clwb Ifor Bach comes up trumps and they really do themselves (and us, the gig

fiends) a favour by being so accommodating to DIY promoters in the City. Having earned my gig stripes several times over I’m always really excited to go somewhere that’s not on the usual circuit. Euros Childs playing in a local Labour club hall (complete with Phoenix Nights stage set up) and Broadcast in our local Arts Centre cinema (Chapter Arts Centre) really demonstrate by comparison how soulless some of these generic, purpose built gig venues can be.

We’ve just relocated Spillers to it’s 3rd home in 116 years which was exhausting. We love our new shop, (which comes complete with ample natural daylight: Beautiful Big Windows!) and our neighbours (fellow independent businesses like the scrumptious Crumbs veggie café next door). Plus, we’re just off Bakers Row next to Metros (an old skool rock/metal club) so there’s the added benefit of convincing me I’m out on the town when I’ve got the windows open in the office while pulling a late one as is often the case right now!

Since opening we’ve been inundated with a new batch of quality DIY / self distributed releases. Built In The Ruins Of A Monday Morning by Alex Dingley, (the maker of my favourite album bar none in 2007) has seen him progress from ‘maker of charming bedroom studio recordings’ to ‘fully fledged genius‘, with the help of Charlie Francis’ production skills. Radio 6 Session regular Sweet Baboo brought us his 3rd album and off the back of a rammed launch at Clwb it’s been flying out the door. Rhodri Viney (Right Hand Left Hand / Teflon Monkey / Vito / known in this scenario as Ratatosk) takes the prize for ‘most intricately and lovingly packaged’ release, C’est La Vie Critique, and the tunes match the standard set by its appearance! I’m pleased to say it was at one point out selling Iron Maiden’s latest album*.

(*Accuracies of this statement have not been officially verified)

Ashli Todd works at Spillers Records, which can now be found at 31 Morgan Arcade, Cardiff, or online at spillersrecords.co.uk

04 05

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2010THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING INDIE: MCR SCENEWIPE THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING INDIE: MCR SCENEWIPE

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING INDIE

If you’ve been even a semi-regular gig-goer in Manchester over the past year or so, you’re likely to have come across Sam and Toby from MCR Scenewipe. They’ll be the ones whisking bands away from the venue between sets to play in any nook and cranny available, filming the results and cataloguing them on their website. PYT first came across them when, after Sweet Baboo had become a last-minute addition to one of our line-ups at Fuel, he was promptly taken downstairs to perform some songs in the kitchen. It may be minuscule, but it makes for a lovely little film. Having recently celebrated their 100th video with a fine night of musical entertainment at the Deaf Institute, the Scenewipe boys were lucky enough to head over to the American Northwest, in search of more great music to sink their teeth into. This is an account of their travels and the bands they met along the way.

The Northwest American music scene has always meant a lot to us. Like so many people, we grew up listening to everything Subpop Records had to offer. And nothing has changed. Cities like Seattle and Portland are still producing incredible bands at a rate of knots. That’s why when we were planning a trip to find another music city to film some un-plugged sessions in, we chose our life-long musical Mecca…Seattle, WA!

We landed in Seattle pretty late. Our flight had been a mission; the highlight being a ridiculous two-hour interrogation where we had to justify our audio/visual equipment to three militant Philadelphia cops.

We had managed to set up a session with Florida’s Surfer Blood, whose album, Astro Coast, we had both been loving for some time. They didn’t have acoustic guitars with them, so we made our way to a local guitar store and used their generous 30 day refund policy to buy two guitars with the view to return them the next day, a plan which thankfully worked. Surfer Blood were playing the Bumbershoot Festival after party at Hard Rock Seattle so we made our way down after their sound check. We were taken up a load of stairs and out onto the VIP roof garden. The band teamed our acoustic guitars with some percussion in the form of plates and cutlery to give us an incredible performance of ‘Floating Vibes’. Our time in Seattle was already living up to all our hopes for the trip.

The next day, after taking the ‘Seattle Dead Guy Tour’ we met up with Jesy Fortino, A.K.A. Subpop’s Tiny Vipers. She picked us up in her car and drove us to her apartment on Capitol Hill, an area of Seattle that is home to the best bars and venues in the city. Jesy performed two mesmerising songs in her studio/living room and then took us to Grand Archives’ bar the Redwood for some pokey pints.

After stumbling back to our hostel, we somehow ended up in the company of a middle-aged lady who said she would show us

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ‘SCENE’ BY MCR SCENEWIPE

somewhere to eat. Twenty minutes later we were sat having dinner with the lady, only now she was exposed as an ex-butcher/prostitute with a Stanley knife! We were shitting it big time. Thankfully we made our excuses and got out alive. Happy times.

We were beginning to feel at home in Seattle. The parallels with Manchester were rife;people were friendly but hardened, the music wasloose and genuine, and swap a Mancunian can of White Lightning for a Seattle crack pipe and you have a very similar kind of transient gentleman.

The second leg of our trip would take us 3 hours south to Portland, Oregon. If Seattle was like Manchester, Portland was like Paris. Everywhere we looked we could see venues, bars and coffee shops, packed with young hipsters who looked so cool they made our ‘scenesters’ look like poster models for C&A. We had arrived in town just in time for North West Music Fest, a huge festival that was playing host to The Decemberists, Menomena and The National to name just a few.

We lined up three sessions with local bands, the first of which was local solo ar tist Sean Flinn, whose manager, Hoyt, picked us up from our hotel, and whisked us off to ‘The Bluffs’; a beautiful park which overlooked the whole of downtown Por tland, where Sean performed two beautiful folk tunes in the sunshine. To help us achieve our busy schedule, Hoyt was kind enough to take us across town to meet with our next appointment, Lo-Fi indie band, And And And. We met Nathan from the band and manager Berg in the shell of a derelict warehouse and were treated to two fantastic songs played on a beaten up old acoustic.

Next, we made our way to the Portland Art Museum to meet Old Light, a band that highlight the prominent folk scene in Portland. Old Light’s performance was the perfect end to the day, as they gathered around our boom mic like a barbershop quartet to finish their catchy number, ‘Dirty Future’.

Before flying back to Manchester we returned to Seattle for a couple more days. We arrived at the station and headed straight for Capitol Hill to film local band The Head and The Heart, who unbeknown to us at the time, are on the brink of great things; opening for Vampire Weekend at Seattle’s most prestigious venue, The Paramount, and a tour support slot with the UK’s Stornoway. We met the band outside their apartment block

and were taken up on their roof where they had a load of friends and a very nice Seattle journalist waiting for us, not to mention the most beautiful view of Seattle we had seen. They performed 3 incredible songs against the backdrop of the Space Needle; it was a truly magical moment for us and everyone who was there.

The west coast American music scene went above and beyond what we were hoping for. There is a true sense of community there; bands support each other and work hard to earn that support. There is no pretentiousness there; it’s a proud, hard working city that music flows from for all the right reasons.

The most important thing we have learned during our time on the Pacific Coast, is that Manchester has all the makings of this kind of community, we have the same incredible musicians, great passion, a supportive network and just like Seattle has left the days of Soundgarden and Nirvana behind it, Manchester is shedding its ‘Madchester’ skin and is once again becoming a place for innovation and great indie music.Our three-part film documenting our time in America shall be online next month at manchesterscenewipe.co.uk

manchesterscenewipe.co.uk

tiny vipersss - and and and music - surfer bloodsean flinn music - the old light - the feral children

the head and the heart - stereosons

The bands we filmed with: myspace.com/

06

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2010IN WHICH PYT INTERROGATE NAPOLEON IIIRD

IN W

HIC

H P

YT IN

TERR

OG

ATE

NA

POLE

ON

III

RD

- Hi James, how are you doing? How has the Great British Summer treated you? I’m good thank you although to be honest I’ve not seen much summer, I’ve spent most of it in dark studios finishing off my record and doing remixes.

- You’ve been away for a while, has this mostly been to work on the follow up to In Debt To?I spent ages straight after In Debt To gigging and didn’t really work on much music until the middle of 2008. There were a load of ideas that I’d had floating around since before In Debt To that I wanted to put to rest, those ideas became Hideki Yukawa, the mini album that was released at the beginning of 2009. Once all these songs were out the way I felt I could start on something new and spent all of 2009 in my little studio trying to write the next album. I didn’t get out much and I learnt, at the end of last year that if you don’t get out much you don’t have much to write about. I ended up deleting what I had and starting again on the music that was to become Christiania at the beginning of this year.

- How long have you been plotting Christiania? Are you excited that it’s finally nearing release?I can’t wait for this thing to come out. There were points when I thought that it that I’d have to give up music totally, I began to think that I couldn’t do it anymore. It was quite a relief to finally finish it to be honest and I can’t wait to see it in a shop.

- From what we’ve heard, it really sounds like you’ve progressed from In Debt To, with Christiania feeling like every song fits together really well with the next. Did you follow any kind of different writing or recording process this time around? I had to buy a new studio set up a while back, my old computer finally died.

Back in 2007 PYT were treated to rather a nice surprise at our first End of the Road festival, a surprise that involved a reel to reel tape machine, a man with a fondness for impassioned shouting, and what turned out a collection of songs we couldn’t quite shift from our heads. This was Napoleon IIIrd, an artist we had first heard on Dance_To_The_Radio compilation, and he swiftly became one of our new favourite bands - so much so that he headlined the first PYT live show in 2008. Now Napoleon (or James, if you’d prefer) is about to release his new album Christiania, so we tracked him down to find out how it’s all been going.

It just stopped one day and wouldn’t play music anymore, so that changed things. It also helped that I deleted the thing and started again, it meant that all the music was written and recorded in a very condensed, intense period so very much had a sound and themes that run through it.

- How has this album been recorded? Is it just you in your own space or have you been working with anyone else? Like all of my music, I write and record it at home, the main difference this time though is I took it down to London to mix it at Dreamtrak, Oli Horton’s studio. We spent a week getting it to sound right, Katie and Nestor from Sky Larkin and Seb (Keyboard Choir and The Braindead Collective) came in to play some parts and the whole record came to life really. It was great to have other people around and their input, James Kenosha (producer of the Grammatics, Pulled Apart By Horses and Dinosaur Pile-up’s records) popped in on the final day and ending up staying and helping with the final mixes and tweaks. It was a really nice way to work.

- This may sound odd, but Christiania sounds really visual to us, it has so much texture and depth. Is that something you were trying to achieve? Certainly. When I write and record I close my eyes and visualise the sound. I see it as like a cityscape with the treble way above you like the sky and the bass the rumblings from underground.

- For those who haven’t heard the album yet, how would you describe it to them? Well buy-able. Er... But really, it’s like a swirling mass of beats, arpeggiators, half shouted yelps and sung harmonies with a Casio droning in the back ground. It has some songs too.

- Obviously the title of the album and the track Leaving Copenhagen owe more than a little to Denmark, and the Fristaden Christiania. Have you got a particular relationship with the country? I have been once, briefly. Leaving Copenhagen is about the evening I spent there. Christiania seemed to be a good analogy for the themes covered on the record, its like a mythical land to me, a magical place that I know very little about. A place that sets out to challenge, not only the city that immediately surrounds it, but the whole western, capitalist belief system. That’s kind of exciting.

- We’re very excited to be putting on the Manchester leg of the Brainlove Records tour, are you looking forward to touring with your label mates? I really can’t wait. I love the energy that touring with a group of people creates, you kind of build an impenetrable bubble around you and no one from the outside world can stop you. I like that feeling.

- It seems like every time we see you live there’s a slightly different set-up going on (from the full band show we saw at End of the Road in 2007 to numerous different solo performances with different ranges of instruments/things that aren’t necessarily instruments), what can we expect from you this time round? Due to the sound of the record I’m doing a much more electronic set now. I even use a laptop. It opens up many possibilities, I can react to the audience rather than being tied to a fixed set list like I used to be when I ran everything from the reel to reel. Obviously that (the reel to reel) is going to come along with me too, I’d miss lugging that heavy bastard around. [NB - last time we put Napoleon IIIrd on some of his equipment starting picking up football commentary - hopefully we won’t get that this time around!]

- How important is working with an independent label to you? Brainlove seem like they are really supportive of all their artists, does that make a difference? I would not be able to do what I do if I tried to do it on a major label. In fact I’m pretty much certain that there isn’t a major label on the planet that would go anywhere near me. I have total artistic freedom, if I wanted to make a Digitised Hardcore Soca record then Brainlove would support me, as long as it was a good record. Obviously.

- Some people might be a bit surprised to find that someone who is making such progressive and weird-out music is based in the rural surrounds of Holmfirth - better known for pensioners riding down hills in wheelbarrows. Does your location play a part in your sound? We can remember you being lumped in with the Leeds/DTTR scene around 05/06 - do you still identify with the city? I always write about things I see, feel and experience so lyrically yes there is an influence, but not musically. I wanted to make a record that sounded like it came out from nowhere so obviously I had to look well outside this valley for influences. Like when I lived in Leeds, I never wanted to sound like I came from Leeds, although Leeds never really became known for specific sound. I still go to Leeds a lot and see everyone, that is when they are not all touring the world and supporting Muse and shit like that.

- What does the rest of the year hold for Boney 3 then? Anything other than the Brainlove Tour?I’m going to continue to gig this record and am making plans for Europe early next year. But mainly waiting to see what happens really, I’m excited about this record and I think big things could happen.

- Going back a wee bit, how was playing Iceland Airwaves last year? We ask mainly as it is our long term goal to PYT out there too! I love Iceland and I’d love to live there. Airwaves is basically the biggest music industry get together and party on the planet. GO THERE YOU’LL BLOODY LOVE IT.

- And finally, what is on the N3 stereo at the moment? Anything new and exciting? I’ve been listening to loads of different stuff. Lots of radio actually, I discovered Dandelion Radio a while back, they play anything, it’s great! Album wise though, I really loving I see the sign by Sam Amidon right now, it’s just beautiful and the new Of Montreal record sounds massive and has potentially the best ending to a record ever.

napoleoniiird.com / myspace.com/napoleoniiirdChristiania is released on 9th November on Brainlove Records, and is available to pre-order from brainloverecords.com now, where you can also download the single The Unknown Unknown for free. Napoleon IIIrd plays The Kings Arms on Friday 8th October for PYT as part of the Brainlove Tour

I really can’t wait. I love the energy that touring w

ith a group of people creates, you kind of build an im

penetrable bubble around you and no one from the outside w

orld can stop you.

07

IN WHICH PYT INTERROGATE NAPOLEON IIIRD

08

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2010INTERNET FOREVER? IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN PYT PLEASE GET IN TOUCH - HELLO@PULLYOURSELFTOGETHERZINE.CO.UK

INT

ERN

ET F

OR

EVER

? O

R W

HY

MA

NC

HES

TER

HA

S TH

E BE

ST B

LOG

S IN

TH

E W

ORL

D R

IGH

T N

OW

.

3-DAY SWN FESTIVAL STROLLER WRISTBAND £45ADV • THURSDAY SWN FESTIVALSTROLLER WRISTBAND £10ADV • FRIDAY SWN FESTIVAL STROLLER WRISTBAND £15ADVSATURDAY SWN FESTIVAL STROLLER WRISTBAND £25ADV

SADWRN.COM(NO BOOKING FEE)CARDIFFBOXOFFICE.COM

SEETICKETS.COMTICKETLINEUK.COMCHAPTER.ORGWEGOTTICKETS.COM

OR IN PERSON AT SPILLERS RECORDS

3 DAYS 16 STAGES +150 BANDS&DJS

21-23 OCT 2010 • CAERDYDD

SWANS • CLINIC • PAUL HEATONPERFUME GENIUS • MEIC STEVENSTOM GRAY (gomez) • MELYSKIDS IN GLASS HOUSES (acoustic set)

EGYPTIAN HIP HOP • TRUCKERS OF HUSK • RACEHORSES • PEGGY SUE • TREMBLING BELLS • LET’S WRESTLE • BEACH FOSSILS ISLET • HAPPY BIRTHDAY • GWILYM GOLD • SIBRYDION • SWEET BABOO • PETE LAWRIE • COCKNBULLKID • THE EX • JAMES BLACKSHAW • COLORAMA • BRYN FON • WILDER • CATE LE BON

AND MANY MANY MORE!

pre-order now for a special christiania packwww.brainloverecords.com /christiania

NAPOLEON iiirdCHRISTIANIATHE NEW AlBUM nov 8th

on tour with Mat RIviere,Pagan Wanderer Lu& Stairs To Korea:

SeptemberSeptember27 10 Feet Tall Cardiff28 CAMP London29 Knowhere Bar Norwich30 The Well Leeds

October01 Firebug Leicester02 twisted Pepper Dublin02 twisted Pepper Dublin05 Stereo, York08 The Kings Arms salford09 The Attic Bristol13 Hare & Hounds, Birmingham14 In The City @ Night & Day Cafe

Manchester is well known these days for being a hive of internet activity. We’ve got the third most active Twitter community in Europe, just behind London and Paris and a whole host of bloggers and social media types constantly working on new ways to communicate online. This month sees the Manchester Blog Awards at The Deaf Institute on the 20th October. Here at PYT we are massive fans of the creativity that is going on around the city, and we’d like to tell you about some of our favourite blogs...

Ribbons & LeavesThere may be an overabundance of ‘retro’ stylings on the internet (yep, we’re thinking of all those hipstamatic photos from iPhones), but Ribbons and Leaves, the efforts of former PYT contributor Benjamin Thomas, is the real deal. A fan of both the satisfaction that comes from type-written prose and the opportunities afforded by the internet, Benjamin has decided to combine them both in this well-written, thoughtful blog predominantly dedicated to the best in new music. Latest posts include a monthly rundown of some of the top tracks of 2010.ribbonsampersandleaves.blogspot.com

The Pigeon PostHave you got ears? Do you like music? You’ll probably love The Pigeon Post then. Matthew Britton is probably the most on the ball music blogger in the city. We like to think we are pretty good on new music, but Pigeon Post talks about bands we haven’t even seen the name of yet, let alone heard them. Oh, and he is also a terrific writer, making you want to listen to the bands too. thepigeonpost.wordpress.com

Manchester Daily PhotoDoes what it says on the tin. Photos of the city, on a daily basis. This is a great way to experience Manchester through someone else’s eyes; an opportunity to see parts of town you might not normally see, or look at things in a way you may not have done before.manchesterdailyphoto.com

The ManchizzleThis is the blog of blogs. Kate Feld collects together all of the best new writing in the city, then packages it into helpful burst of information so that you know what you should be reading. It sounds like a simple idea, but the care and attention shown by Kate in putting this together, and the encouragement she gives to all the bloggers she writes about, is exactly why there is such a strong online community in Manchester. manchizzle.com

Flesh and BoneOne time PYT inhabitants, Flesh and Bone are absolute heroes. One is a skeleton, the other a sack of flabby skin. From the pen of David Bailey (who also runs the terrific Good Grief! zine shop in Afflecks Palace) these two get up to all manner of crazy shit. They’re like every hipster you’ve never met, but collecting used Pepperami sheaths. fleshandbonespot.blogspot.com

Lost In ManchesterI love this kind of writing. Snatched glimpses of parts of the city that most people would just walk past or not take any note of. Pub history. A Milestone in Didsbury. That shop selling filing cabinets on Withy Grove. This was one of the inspirations behind my own blog, in a town so small. doorsintothepast.blogspot.com

My Shitty 20sOne of the most personal and genuinely emotional blogs around. The real life tale of a mother in her twenties, and life with her young son. I’m not a parent, and can’t even begin to think what that will be like, yet I find this blog captivating. The seemingly mundane daily occurrences are transformed in to beautiful vignettes, which is why this blog won two Manchester Blog Awards last year.myshittytwenties.wordpress.com

10

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2010THE LISTINGS

11THE LISTINGS OCT-NOV 2010

PYT @ Common - Wednesday 13th October, Wednesday 27th October, Wednesday 10th November, Wednesday 24th November PYT will be playing the best indiepop around every second and fourth Wednesday night at Common on Edge Street in the Northern Quarter. Expect great music, guest fanzines and a chance to catch up with friends. Oh, and the great new artwork in Common by Chris Drury.

PYT Presents - Brainlove Tour featuring Napoleon IIIrd, Pagan Wanderer Lu, Stairs To Korea and Mat Riviere - Kings Arms, Friday 8th October Brainlove Records is one of our favourite labels around, so we are delighted to be hosting the Manchester (well Salford actually!) leg of their tour. You’ve already read about Napoleon IIIrd in this zine, and there is an interview with Pagan Wanderer Lu on the PYT website. This will be a night of electronic-pop-weirdness. Ace.

EVENT OF THE ISSUE

Manchester Food & Drink Festival 1st-11th October Festivals festivals festivals. If there is one thing that Manchester knows how to do these days, it is put on a bloody good festival. The Food & Drink Festival is now well established as a celebration of all that is good to consume in this city, and further afield. Highlights this year will be the Chilli Eating Competition (Dan is limbering up already for this), Chocolate Lovers Fair, boat trip with Robert Owen Brown and the announcement of the Award Winners - here’s hoping it is third time lucky for Common!

Shrag + Standard Fare - Kraak, Friday 1st October Mashed Potato presents two of the best indiepop acts around - albeit those at the noisier end of the genre. Both put in fantastic performances at Indietracks, and both have released ace albums this year, in the form of Standard Fare’s self-titled debut and Shrag’s Life! Death! Prizes! - both of which display these bands at their joyous, raucous, occasionally shambolic best. Expect a suitably high energy show from them at Kraak. Oh, and it’d be rude not to mention that PYT will be spinning some records after the bands finish...

Papergirl Manchester - Soup Kitchen, 1st - 21st October Making its UK debut, Papergirl brings together hundreds of artists for an innovative exhibition and art engagement project. Having crowd sourced work from around 700 different artists, Papergirl will hit the streets of Manchester on one day in October to distribute rolls of art to random passers-by, in the style of American paperboys. There is also an exhibition at Soup Kitchen for to see more of the work submitted.

British Sea Power perform Man of Aran - St Phillips Church, Sunday 3rd October As part of Salford’s Unconvention Festival, you’ll be able to witness the real treat that is British Sea Power’s soundtrack to Man of Aran, a 1934 ‘documentary’ of life on these Scottish islands. Having seen this live accompaniment at Green Man last year, we can confirm that it is a truly moving experience, with BSP’s well-considered orchestration complementing a film that is by turns heartwarming and harrowing. Guaranteed to sound perfect in St Phils.

The Twilight Sad + Errors - Deaf Institute, Wednesday 6th OctoberAt last, an Errors show that team PYT can actually make it to! Having seen them at End Of The Road they’re still on top form, and with The Twilight Sad playing as well you’ve got two of our favourite bands of recent years. They may have differing sounds, but these two bands play with an intensity that makes for a gripping live performance.

A Town Called Panic - Cornerhouse, from 15th October The first of two great films coming up at Cornerhouse. A Town Called Panic ticks all of PYT’s surreal animation boxes. Produced by Hammer & Tongs, the guys behind the Coffee & TV video and Son of Rambow, and directed by Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, this film presents the tale of Cowboy, Indian and Horse. Who are all plastic toys. At one point the horse takes piano lessons. Brilliant.

Metropolis - Cornerhouse, from 25th October Put simply, this film changed cinema. I would struggle to list many more influential pieces of work; Fritz Lang’s 1927 masterpiece set standards for what could be achieved on the screen. Around 20 minutes of lost footage was unearthed recently, and is included in this brand new print. Cornerhouse are also holding a post-screening discussion on the impact of this cinematic classic.

I Like Trains - Ruby Lounge, Tuesday 26th October Look at that, three separate words, in the correct case - I Like Trains are changing. The band are currently working on their second LP proper, He Who Saw The Deep, which has been funded by their fans. The massive atmosphere of their earlier records remains, but lyrical matter has shifted slightly away from the eulogies of historic demise towards, erm, normal songs. It is still safe to expect pessimism, disappointment, and a live show filled with brooding emotion.

Underachievers Please Die Harder - Venue TBA, Saturday 31st OctoberIf there is one clubnight in this city we trust to throw a Halloween party, it’s Underachievers. Having adopted their Die Harder moniker this time last year, they felt it was too good to not use again. Confirmed acts include Beat The Radar and Glasgow’s Mitchell Museum (who we have been waiting to see for ages!) and one very special, and very spooky special guest, this will be frightfully good fun. Did you see that, frightfully? Because it’s Halloween right?

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Deaf Institute, Friday 5th NovemberThis is the last chance to see Casiotone in Manchester. Owen Ashworth has decided to retire CFTPA after 13 years, bringing to a close one of the most interesting lofi electronic acts of recent years. Etiquette is still one of our most played albums, and to see Casiotone one last time is not a chance to be missed.

Same Teens presents See You Next Tuesday - Odder, every TuesdaySame Teens have become something of an institution in very little time. Having spent the summer running around playing at every festival under the sun, they are now settling down into this regular night at Odder on Oxford Road. Expect pretty much every musical style, from brand spanking new electro to chunks of Northern Soul.

Edwyn Collins - Deaf Institute, Wednesday 10th NovemberPossibly our festival highlight of the year, Edwyn Collins put on an outstanding performance at End Of The Road. New album Losing Sleep features a host of collaborators including friends old (Roddy Frame) and new (The Drums), with the title track in particular sounding as good as anything Collins has produced in his 30 year plus career - a career that makes for a fantastic set list.

Esben and the Witch + Gallops - Deaf Institute, Thursday 11th NovemberFinishing off a trio of must-see shows at The Deaf Institute (we didn’t have room to mention Veronica Falls’ show on Tuesday 9th) are Brighton’s Esben and the Witch. Recently signed to Matador, this trio produce a powerful live show guaranteed to make hairs stand on end and shivers run down the spine. A stage adorned with maps, skulls and taxidermy, a singer whose voice is forever on the verge of breaking into a powerful wail, and driving rhythms to pull it all together into a mesmerising whole. Not to be missed.

Kieran Hebden presents... - Warehouse Project, Saturday 20th NovemberShamefully, PYT have not yet attended the Warehouse Project, but this one looks too good to miss. Four Tet man Kieran Hebden has brought together the kind of line-up that will be a treat whatever your usual musical leanings. For starters, Hebden is joined by Caribou, whose show is guaranteed to get you dancing (with any luck he’ll even throw in the odd Manitoba track). Check the WHP website for the full (ie long) list of the night’s contributors.

The National - Academy 1, Saturday 27th NovemberAs 2010 draws to a close, there is no debate about the fact that High Violet by The National will be riding high in end of year polls. The band continue to improve all the time, with tracks like Bloodbuzz Ohio, Anyone’s Ghost & England being up there with some of the best material the Cincinnati-cum-Brooklyn band have produced. Matt Berninger is one of the most mesmerising front men around, combining his tender barritone vocals with wrought, tense, emotional performace.

In The CityNorthern Quarter, 13th-15th OctoberRelocating to a new home this year, the industry showcase cum city festival will be taking place at a whole host of venues around the Northern Quarter, so it’s out with Walkabout and Chicago Rock, and in with some of the best venues in town. Whilst we can’t list all the bands we’re excited about (you’ll have to head to inthecity.co.uk for that), it’d be wrong not to mention some that we can’t get enough of at the moment, including Sheffield’s Standard Fare, who have made one of the pop albums of the year, and LA’s Kisses, whose blissful hook-laden electronica sounds like it would be far more at home in France or Sweden than the USA. PYT will be hosting a little ITC showcase of our own, so head to Common on Wednesday 13th October where we’ll be hosting Advances in Mathematics, Patterns and This Many Boyfriends between 6pm and 9pm, before our usual DJ slot continues until midnight.

Festival wristbands cost just £29 for the three days, and are available from the ITC website.

THE LISTINGS

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHERIT’S A HORRORSHOW!

12

There’s no point kidding ourselves. Summer is now officially over. For the next six months or so it’s just going to be dark, cold and wet. And what better way to deal with this miserable part of the year than to lock yourself up at home, crawl under a blanket with a giant bowl of popcorn, turn the lights off and watch a horror film.

Personally, I prefer films from the 70s and 80s – the true golden age of the American indie horror. Drive-in cinemas all over the US were thriving and there was a huge demand for low-budget, quickly made films that would pull in the punters. Sex and violence was a guaranteed winning combination and young filmmakers did all they could to out-sleaze and out-shock each other. With no rules to play by, this of course gave rise to a lot of awful films that are best forgotten, but amongst all the crap you can also find some of the most exciting, genuinely creative, weirdest films ever made….and the scariest as well.

The four films here might not be as realistic in their gruesomeness as modern fare such as Hostel and Saw, but what they lack in that department, they sure as hell make up for in weirdness and charm…except for Maniac, which isn’t very charming at all, just creepy.

It’s a Horrorshow!

I Drink Your Blood (USA 1970, Directed by David E. Durston) An absolute cracker of a film! A gang of Satanists arrives in a small town and starts wreaking havoc. When a nice old man tries calm them down, they spike his drink with acid. His grandson sees him having a bad trip and decides to take revenge on the Satanists. How? By injecting their food with rabies-infected blood! The Satanists go crazy, killing and/or infecting everyone and all hell breaks loose. It’s just brilliant. Not actually scary at all, but it’s gory and a lot of fun. The perfect movie to kick off your Halloween party.

Let’s Scare Jessica To Death (USA 1971, Directed by John D. Hancock)With a title like this, Let’s Scare Jessica To Death really shouldn’t be any good. Or scary for that matter. Surprisingly, it manages to be both. Jessica is released from a mental hospital and moves to the countryside with her husband and his friend. Soon Jessica starts seeing things. Is she going crazy again? What’s in the lake? Or in the attic? One thing’s for sure…she’s going to get scared! A vampire film without vampires and definitely worth a look if you can find a copy.

Messiah Of Evil (USA 1973, Directed by Willard Huyck)Now this is a weird one. Do not watch this film if you’re going to pick holes in the plot. So what if it doesn’t make any sense at all? Just watch it for what it is – a weird, scary, inventive and beautiful mess of a film. Arletti is traveling to a seaside town in search of her bohemian artist father, who has told her to stay away. And you know what? She really should’ve listened to him. The town is full of zombies! And not your usual slow-walking, braindead ones either. Oh no. These ones lead pretty normal lives. They drive cars and even go to the cinema! Genius!

Maniac (USA 1980, Directed by William Lustig)In the early 80s the slasher movie was a well-trodden path and plot-wise there’s nothing new here. Frank had a domineering mother and now she’s dead he likes to stalk and kill beautiful girls. He collects their scalps and puts them on mannequins in his flat. Nice! This could have easily been just another stalk-and-slash film, but thanks to the mega-creepy performance from Joe Spinell as Frank, it rises well above other films in the genre. And with gut-wrenching special effects, cour tesy of gore-maestro Tom Savini, this is seriously intense and uncomfor table viewing. Sleazy!Nik Vestberg, Records Make Great Pets recordsmakegreatpets.blogspot.com