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27 The Star,Thursday, February 9, 2012 www.thestar.co.uk TIMEOUT n Boy Friend Egyptian Wrinkle (Hell, Yes) BEST friends of 15 years Sarah Brown and Christa Palazzolo deliver a debut that will either depress the lungs out of you, inspire or soothe. Be- neath the angelic, echoey voices and dreamy, sparse, sometimes soupy melodies lie bruised lyrics born of dented souls.Tragically lovely valium for the ears. n Hyperpotamus Delta (Pias/Believe Digital) GREAT name, but what is this mystical beast? H is a Lon- don-based multi-vocal solo artist who honed his sound in the un- derground stations of hometown Madrid. Delta is his second album of instru- ment-free songs powered only by looped human voice. Clever, niche, but an acquired taste. LISTENINGPOST same page musically and know instinctively what each song needs – and we had the legendary Alan Smyth at the wheel. “We had more time in the studio so we could play around with different tech- niques and try out various things until we had it just right, things like getting exactly the right drum sound for different songs – we’ve never had time to do that before.” Nat Johnson & The Fig- ureheads launch the record at the Memorial Hall on Wednesday. Content: Nat Johnson please JUST done with record- ing his album, Rotherham singer/songwriter Jay Mya, pictured, completes a busy line-up of acts giving their talents for a variety show in aid of SAFE@LAST chil- dren’s charity at the Civic Theatre tomorrow. He joins a cast of more than 100 performers, includ- ing Steve Smith the showbiz lawyer, jazz/pop singer Lauren Housley,West End musical regular Phil Cole and rock act Diesel Vanilla. Comic compere Wayne Biggin also hosts cabaret artist Dave Knight, Zubaidah belly dancers and various young people’s dance and theatre groups, starring alongside adult acts. “It’s important to raise funds for SAFE@LAST in these days when money is scarce and we all feel the pinch,” says organiser Christine Ayres. “A fabulous show is a great way to help while having a good time - all proceeds will help SAFE@LAST reach some of the most vulnerable chil- dren in our area.” Charity has a good Jay MUSICNOTES TWO days of live music, comedy and poetry aimed at giving the commercial side of Valentines Day a wide berth gets underway on Saturday afternoon when Sheffield’s Rude Shipyard revives ‘Cupid In Nooses.’ Cakes not murdered roses feature alongside an extensive line-up from 2pm that includes two bands from Sweden sharing space with mellow favourites Little Robots, pictured, and Little Glitches and livelier pros- pects The Hot Soles, Double No No, Black Gold Of The Sun and the Payroll Union. See The Star’s Gig Guide (Page 30) for line-ups. House Of Trees and Valde- mar Have are the Scand- invaian brace on a bill that includes a poetry section hosted by Sheffield’s Word Life Poetry with money raised via donations assist- ing Sheffield Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers. The Friday aspect of the festival has been cancelled. Anti-Valentine weekend AMERICANA returns to The Greystones tonight when among the ‘WagonWheel Presents…’ guests is this man... As Quiet Loner, song- writer Matt Hill, pictured, won the 2004 Americana UK Album of theYear for his debut Secret Ruler Of The World, going on to play with the likes of Lambchop and Neko Case. As well as songs about love, loss, infidelity, suicide, attempted murder, capital punishment, the database state, terrorism, religion, war, fallen angels and the redemptive power of coun- try music, Hill is a raconteur and delivers a show that is emotional, often funny, usu- ally political and occasion- ally angry. His songs have a dis- tinctly British lyrical bite, as illustrated by most recent album Spectrology, re- corded deep in the English countryside during the last ‘big freeze’. Expect individual sets from him, Dan Raza and Greg Harrisburg and some collaborations as the trio continue a joint UK tour. Hill climber is not alone wheels to live... your life. “But that doesn’t happen any more because people don’t spend money on records. Well, they do but they’re so cheap, I buy more expensive apps. It’s gone to such a low value it’s mean- ingless because it costs more to make them. “We wanted to slow people down to the extent they were helping create a record. Even if they didn’t at the end press ‘send to basket’ and buy the process was drawing them in to what we’d been creating. I don’t want to sound like a ponce, but it is art and that aspect has been lost. “We wanted to get that back, to involve people. The way they used to was by get- ting on a bus into town and going to a shop, handing over 15 quid, getting on the bus, going home, listening to it, headphones in the bedroom. That was an experience. That’s been lost because it’s just a click. “So after two years of what people thought was absence one day we said ‘here’s 20 songs, choose your favourite 10’. It was exciting, I didn’t sleep the night before; I was hoping it would as exciting for them. “We had loads of people having a go on the website and although that didn’t translate into millions of sales it was brilliant and for months after I was check- ing the website, seeing the Tweets, looking at people’s artwork and track listings. It was more exciting than weekly sales figures.” And let’s face it, the album was cheaper than a ticket to Elland Road – and you might actually want to relive the event. While Ricky admits he is less of a Leeds fan than the rest of the band – he struggles when set quizzes by Japanese fans – he laughs at the anal- ogy. “You’ve just got to take each day at a time and enjoy it, and remember to enjoy it,” he concludes ahead of unveil- ing newer songs on Monday. “A lot of people in music, especially bands, have kind of forgotten it’s the thing they wanted to do since they could talk. “It’s not very cool to look like you’re enjoying yourself. It never has been. All the coolest people look like they really don’t want to be there, but if you didn’t want to be there you wouldn’t be there.” Kaiser Chiefs play 02 Academy on Monday. Sold out Music is art: The Kaiser Chiefs with Ricky Wilson, second right. PICTURE: DANNY NORTH
