About Hey! Manchester - alternative music promotions
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ABOUT US:
We put on folk, indie, experimental and Americana gigs in Manchester. We're independent and we strive to offer something different to Manchester gig-goers.
We’re delighted to welcome songwriting legend Mark Kozelekfor what is only his second solo appearance in Manchester during an illustrious 20-years recording career. His debut here was a sold-out performance at the Dancehouse Theatre - and this time we’ve picked out another very special venue: St Phil’s Church in Salford.
Originally a lynchpin of the sadcore movement in alternative rock with Red House Painters, Kozelek’s harrowing autobiographical lyrics gave unflinchingly detailed accounts of pain, despair and loss while the lengthy accompanying music was slow, intense, dissonant and bleak.
As time has passed, his music has become more acoustic and folk-inflected, while his lyrics now seem obsessed with memory, geography and those who died before their natural time, arguably best demonstrated on Sun Kil Moon’s Ghosts of the Great Highway.
We’re very excited to be bringing experimental Icelandic collective Múm back to Manchester.
Originally a duo, Múm (pronounced ‘moom’) have expanded and contracted in their 12-year existence. The band was formed in 1997 by original members Gunnar Örn Tynes and Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason, their first release was a split 10” with the girl-band Spúnk and saw light in the summer of 1998.
They were joined a year later by twin sisters Gyða and Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir and released two albums as quartet. Following a number of collaborative projects, the group’s celebrated debut album Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today Is OK (reissued by Morr Music in 2005) gained a wealth of glowing press and widespread praise. A remix project, Please Smile My Noise Bleed, also released on Morr in November 2001.
In 2002, after the release of Finally We Are No One and a world tour, Gyða left the band to return to her studies in Reykjavík. Shortly after, the third sister Ásthildur Valtýsdóttir joined for singing duties temporarily and Serena Tideman replaced Gyda on cello, for a single European tour. The band’s third album, Summer Make Good, a darker and foggier, nautically themed work was released in 2004.
Múm present a casually gorgeous blend of electronic atmospheres and funny old instruments like accordions, melodicas and cellos
Múm’s second album fills in the gaps between the work of fellow compatriots Bjork and Sigur Ros with amazing results
Tickets available soon from WeGotTickets.com, Ticketline.co.uk, SeeTickets.com, Piccadilly Records on Oldham Street, Ticketline Box Office in St John’s Centre, Liverpool, and on 0161 832 1111.
Born the youngest child of two blind parents, William Fitzsimmons was raised in the outskirts of the steel city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. William’s childhood home was filled with a myriad of sounds to replace what eyes could not see. The house was suffused with pianos, guitars, trombones, talking birds, classical records, family sing-alongs, bedtime stories, and the bellowing of a pipe organ, which his father built into the house. When his father’s orchestral records were not resonating through the walls, his mother would educate him on the folk stylings of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel.
William draws from those early influences of his mother’s music, and the embellished instrumentation of his father’s. He is often compared to contemporaries Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine and the late Elliott Smith, not only for his unique style and skill in writing and proclivity to deal with substantive and evocative subject matter, but also for his use of organic and colourful melodies and arrangements. His first two records were completely self-produced and his new album, The Sparrow And The Crow, is his first studio recorded work. While his lyricism deals often with darker undertones (his most recent album is said to have been written following his own divorce), a measure of hopefulness is always carefully blended in.
It’s a shame Bon Iver got in there first, at least in the UK, otherwise Fitzsimmons would be this year’s fashionable heartbreak kid
We sell ticketlessly so you don't have to pay a ridiculous handling/postage fee. Just search WeGotTickets.com for whichever band above you want tickets for.
If you want to pay in cash, however, Piccadilly Records on Oldham Street usually has a handful of tickets for each show (10% booking fee), or try Ticketline Box Office in St John’s Centre if you're based in Liverpool. You can also book on 0161 832 1111 or via Ticketline.co.uk and SeeTickets.com.
BANDS:
If you think your music is suitable for a Hey! Manchester night, send a message or leave a comment - make sure to mention any relevant influences etc. We get several gig requests a day so we can't always reply and if you play punk/hardcore/r'n'b/trance/hip hop/metal/dadrock, chances are it won't fit.
PREVIOUS SHOWS:
Jens Lekman, Bill Wells & Vinny Peculiar @ The Kings Arms, Salford
Hush the Many, Little Neemo & Nancy Cunliffe @ The Star & Garter
Richard James (Gorky’s), Viking Moses & Voice of the Seven Woods @ The Kings Arms, Salford
Dressy Bessy, Fonda 500 & Persil @ South Nightclub
Final Fantasy, Corey Dargel & At Swim Two Birds @ The Circle Club, Manchester
Espers, Edith Frost, Starless & Bible Black & Ed Cottam @ The Klondyke Club, Levenshulme
Danielson, Los Campesinos!, The Search Map & Magic Arm @ The Klondyke Club, Levenshulme
Six Organs of Admittance, Vibracathedral Orchestra,
Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love & Danny Saul @ The Klondyke Club, Levenshulme
Sodastream, Airport Girl, Gethin Pearson & The Scenery & Julian Donkey-Boy @ Kro Bar
Jason Molina, Olav Larsen & The Alabama Rodeo Allstars, From a Family of Candlemakers @ Green Room Theatre
Last Harbour, Sweet Baboo, Pagan Wanderer Lu, Crazy Man Michael @ Kro Bar
Richard James (Gorky’s), Quiet Loner, Garron Frith, Petty Thief @ Kro Bar
The Pony Collaboration, At Swim Two Birds, Tim & Sam’s Band, My Side of the Mountain @ Kro Bar
Alasdair Roberts, Elaine Palmer, Jenny McCormick @ Urbis
Marissa Nadler, Ivan Campo, Thomas Denver Jonsson @ The Phoenix
Fireworks Night, Vinny Peculiar, Amida, Bird by Snow @ Kro Bar
Maria Taylor, Boy Omega @ The Phoenix
Band of Horses, the Hellsayers, the Answering Machine @ Music Box
Of Montreal, Dufus, Video Nasties @ The Roadhouse
Vetiver, Starless & Bible Black, Paul E Hodson @ The Roadhouse
Six Organs of Admittance, Stranger Son of WB, Kailash @ The Phoenix
The Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit, Gintis @ The Phoenix
Herman Dune, Emmy the Great, The Baby Skins @ Music Box
Jeffrey Lewis, Onions, Ivan Campo @ the Roadhouse
Menomena, Oh No Ono @ the Roadhouse
Mark Kozelek (Red House Paintes/Sun Kil Moon), Neil Halstead (Mojave 3/Slowdive) @ The Dancehouse Theatre
Okkervil River, Anna Ternheim @ The Roadhouse
Pinback, The Dudley Corporation, This Town Needs Guns @ The Roadhouse
Efterklang, Peter Broderick, Esker @ The Roadhouse
Akron/Family, Phosphorescent @ The Phoenix
A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Miracle Fortress, Donovan Quinn @ Music Box
Efterklang, Nancy Elizabeth, Our Broken Garden @ The Ruby Lounge
Health, Yacht @ Charlie's Nightclub (part of Futuresonic 08)
Sounds From The Other City festival featuring David Thomas Broughton, Lost Harbour, the Bottomfeeders, Vinny Peculiar, Planet Earth, Stranger Son of WB, the Declining Winter @ The Salford Arms
Vetiver, Birds of Avalon, the Travelling Band @ Dulcimer
Darren and Jack play Hefner songs, Amida, Pierre Hall @ The Ruby Lounge
Sun Kil Moon/Mark Kozelek, Darren Hanlon @ The Roadhouse
Olafur Arnalds, Finn, Run Toto Run @ Mint Lounge
Portico Quartet, Library Tapes, The Hunter/Andreae Quartet @ Mint Lounge
Herman Dune, The Baby Skins @ The Deaf Institute
Animal Collective, Highlife @ Club Academy
Of Montreal, Casiokids @ Club Academy
Horse Feathers, Men Diamler, Animal Magic Tricks @ Dulcimer
Dirty Projectors, Polar Bear, Lucky Dragons @ Mint Lounge
Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Volcano!, The Lone Taxidermist @ Dulcimer
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Table, Petty Thief, Shrieking Violets, Judy & The Blumes @ Dulcimer
Johann Johannsson, Murcof, Denis Jones @ RNCM
Great Lake Swimmers, Sharon van Etten, Last Harbour @ Dulcimer
Svarte Greiner (Deaf Center/Miasmah/Type) explores deep into a dark, mysterious and disturbing universe. Drawing inspiration from artists such as Earth, Volcano the Bear, David Darling & Deathprod, the music is draped in Lynchian mysticism and horror film cinematics. "The music of Svarte Greiner is practically perfect. It's like that sound in our heads we've been imagining for ages but had never actually heard." - Type Records.
The Sight Below (Rafael Anton Irisarri/Miasmah/Immune) draws as much on modern genre progenitors like Brian Eno, Robin Guthrie and My Bloody Valentine as it does from the more historic traditions in neo-classicism from Erik Satie and Olivier Messiaen. His album Glider has appeared on Thom Yorke's radar in making the Radiohead's lynchpin's top ten playlist.
His debut album Navigare soon to feature on the Miasmah label, Simon Scott (former Slowdive) is set to be a household name in conceptual music. Simon is the former Slowdive drummer, co-producer of Televise, producer of Seavault, and owner of KESH Recordings label.
WEE so psyched to have put together this bill for Thursday 11th June at KRO BARR, comprising some awesome touring acts and ONE OF OUR OWN .
Jonquil - the prolific Oxford based sextet are on tour in preparation for their 4th record due in Sept – renowned for their stimulating live shows, they’re former touring partners to Adam Gnade, Youthmovies and Foals.
“A masterclass in how to purvey experimentalism without foregoing accessibility…Jonquil need to become huge" Clash Magazine
“The long, sweeping melodies that are at times achingly perfect” Drowned in Sound www.myspace.com/jonquiluk
NY Antifolk linchpin, fresh from a Primavera appearance / tour of Europe with Andre Herman Dune - - - Jeff Lewis: “One of the most amazing artists I know. Do not miss this chance to see him in the UK”. www.myspace.com/ishmarquez
Latest, vaunted project from Ex Murder of Rosa Luxembourg and Scarecrows member Andrew Jackson - - - listen - - - - - - ______>>>> www.myspace.com/houseofbrothers
SUHWEET local wunderkind plays his first live show – recommended for fans of Panda Bear / Four Tet www.myspace.com/iamleveret
NLF3's music has been described as "a kitsch This Heat" by The Wire, and compared for its rhythms to a 2009 version of the Ege Bamayasi-era of Can. The Guardian even spoke of them as "a Radiohead seduced by the idea of live improvisation". The members of NLF3 - F.lor, Mitch and Don Nino - name influences as varied as Pierre Henry, Fela Kuti, Steve Reich, Ennio Moricone, as well as Syd Barrett, Zappa, Fantomas, Aphex Twin, and Sonic Youth. Strange gurus indeed, for a music that, after all these comparisons, still sounds unique. NLF3 is the story of three music lovers – two brothers in blood and a third in spirit – united by the same passion: to make music, record it and take it all around the world. In that regard, their kinship with Battles and Animal Collective, with whom they have toured, seems perfectly natural - they all belong to the same generation of musicians and have the same desire to discover new territory, to explore new possibilities and to bring together past and future. It comes as no surprise either that the brothers F.lor and Don have lived in Germany as well as the US, and have spent some time in Nigeria where their father introduced them to the great Fela Kuti and others like the sculptor Twin Seven Seven. www.myspace.com/nlf3
Tues 12th May 2009, The Klondyke Club, Burnage Range (off Albert Road), Levenshulme, Manchester, 8pm, £4
xNoBBQx (Australia) + Hathor Duo (UK) + Trinity (UK)
BACK ON!!!
We're absolutely delighted to say that, after much hassle at the airport and having to fly back to Berlin, xNoBBQx are now able to play the scheduled show at the Klondyke Club. The dude of can-do Chris Tipton has managed to sort out work permits for the band so it's all groovy. Yes! It's gonna be a really amazing show, so please come show some love to these weary travellers who, we promise, will give you a gig to remember.
xNoBBQx Skewer 10" LP (Ltd to 300 copies) - Out May 12th
We first came across xNoBBQx (just call them No Barbeque, I guess) in Piccadilly Records last year when the Siltbreeze vinyl reissue of their first CD-r appeared on its shelves. The Siltbreeze label being a bastion of all that is great in terms of dirgy, lo-fi, transcendental unmusicality, we were thus intrigued to hear this slab. And, we have to say, it was one of the greatest shop-listening experiences of all time. Here was a duo, probably of fully grown men, bashing away at their instruments in a manner that suggested they had never really learned any 'proper' technique. We later read a review, in fact, that put it thus:
"So what exactly is the difference between an xNoBBQx recording and a couple of 14 year olds bashing instruments in the garage with record pressed down on one of their mum’s old tape recorders? Probably not a whole lot, actually, but I get the feeling that’s precisely the point. " (Cyclic Defrost)
Well, yes, that does largely seem to be the point. But it's a helluva point. The Australian duo, in spite of their unabashed simplicity, manage to create sounds that are warm as an old-fashioned blanket, each piece having the ability to induce a state of complete, dribbling mental stasis. It's disjointed, scratchy and 'difficult', yes. But it also manages to be completely absorbing. If you like your rock deconstructed to the nth degree, we highly recommend you dig this.
xNoBBQx will be touring the UK from 10th May 2009. We'll be putting them on in Manchester on 12th May (venue TBC), so keep yr eyes on this page.