Colin Williams (Guitars/synth/keyboard), Ciaran Cullen (bass guitar, synth), David Paul (drums/sequenced electronics). All tracks and instrumentals written by the band.
Influences
"....I have changed constantly all my life, usually at top speed, and it has always been with the total, permenant finality of a thing fed in to the atom smasher. My soul and my body chemistry are like that of a chameleon, a lizard with no pulse.... People praise me for this, but they are all foreigners and they know nothing. When I go to Mexico or Germany they call me "Lizard Man," and i laugh smugly...."To get along, go along." Thats what i say.
H.S.T. Woody Creek 1990
LIVE REVIEW -
GIGWISE "The perfect sound track for an alien abduction" - " Gorgeous Eno-esque keyboard minimalism"
GLASSWERK "something intellectual and educational" - " it is refreshing to hear something that doesnt really sound like anything else " MANCHESTER MUSIC "Its a learning experience for the listener, but well worth subscribing to, as Laymar may actually be just one step ahead of the game"
UNPEELED MAGAZINE "this band are chin-strokingly interesting and occasionally violent on the guitar front".
THE FUGITIVE MOTEL The live reputation that surrounds Laymar is unrivalled in the local area. Their dark soundscapes and menacing samples have built up an extremely vocal fanbase, and the Motel makes the trip out tonight on the strength of previous atmospheric performances. It’s hard to describe Laymar without saying that they communicate a disturbing vision of the apocalypse, but rest assured that while the noises they make may well be a little unnerving, they are nothing short of excellent.
Dark, wheeling synths spin in and out of brooding electronica and post-post-post-rock guitars, and during several particularly resonant moments of bowel-moving bass, the sound of a washing machine on ‘spin’ appears. Never breaking to allow applause, the forward-thinking experimentalism showcased makes all sense of time seem irrelevant, but the impulse to gently sway to the rolling, guttural power-melodies proves impossible to resist.
This band don’t play their instruments. The instruments play them, with bassist Ciaran dipping into the drumkit and sliding his fretboard across a flight case with eyes closed and the look of a possessed man. Never mind any of those twee keyboard tinklings in Close Encounters, Laymar make the kind of music to welcome alien life to.
GIGWISE Imagine taunting and berating Sigur Ros till the frustration and hostility of Masssive Attack emerged from their delicate soundscapes and you’re someway to making sense of Laymar.
MANCHESTERMUSIC.CO.UK “Manchester's finest purveyors of intense post-rock....this is something truly magnificent and beautiful and towering almost beyond description...”
GIGWISE “Imagine taunting and berating Sigur Ros till the frustration and hostility of Masssive Attack emerged from their delicate soundscapes and you’re someway to making sense of Laymar...”
ANGRY APE “a meticulous construction of layered synths over streaming guitars, punctuated by glorious programmed beats and ear splitting cymbals erupts in a monolithic apex of spine-tingling sound to tear the breath from your lungs and the words from your mouth...”
Laymar are a long standing electronically infused, instrumental rock band that have been gigging in and around Manchester for the past 6 years. Laymar consist of three members: Colin- Guitar, Piano, Synth. David- Drums, Programmed Drums, Laptop and Ciaran- Bass, Synth and Laptop.
Laymar’s debut album In Strange Lines And Distances... is released on TV Records through Shellshock/Pinnacle on June 23rd and digitally by Pinnacle on June 22nd available @ itunes, eMusic, HMV, Napster, 7Digital & all good digital retailers.
ALBUM REVIEWS OF IN STRANGE LINE AND DISTANCES -
"...Laymar were born to soundtrack the desolation of the inner city, where robot vultures gather long after mankind has wiped itself off the face of the Earth and music is no more than a memory resonating in the steel skeletons of reinforced concrete. Don't let anyone ever tell you that music should make you want to dance."
- Jenni Cole MUSIC OMH
Do not be fooled by the gentle introduction which builds gradually with consummate ease, good dreams can often turn into nightmares. The really worrying aspect is that they achieve this vision so melodically and yet ultimately so convincingly.
Put this record on and listen to it in a darkened room. Or, even better, put it on in your room and feel it darken around you.
David Brown BEARDED MAGAZINE.CO.UK
hey boys...i have two new tracks up if you fancy a peek, they are called 'flicker' and 'for 100 sleeping children'. looking for to hanging out with ciaran again and playing in the retro bar soon enough...
"...Throbbing brooding organic instrumental darkness and building drama – an amazing piece of shape shifting music and just when you think they can’t take you any higher the brilliant drama of the drums slowly kick in, brilliant brilliant brilliant!... and yes, you do need this album in there with your post rock classics... ORGAN MAGAZINE..
"...Laymar were born to soundtrack the desolation of the inner city, where robot vultures gather long after mankind has wiped itself off the face of the Earth and music is no more than a memory resonating in the steel skeletons of reinforced concrete. Don't let anyone ever tell you that music should make you want to dance." - Jenni Cole MUSIC OMH..
Do not be fooled by the gentle introduction which builds gradually with consummate ease, good dreams can often turn into nightmares. The really worrying aspect is that they achieve this vision so melodically and yet ultimately so convincingly. Put this record on and listen to it in a darkened room. Or, even better, put it on in your room and feel it darken around you. David Brown BEARDED MAGAZINE. CO. UK..
Laymar’s debut album In Strange Lines And Distances... is released on TV Records through Shellshock/Pinnacle on June 23rd and digitally by Pinnacle on June 22nd available @ iitunes, eMusic, HMV, Napster, 7Digital & all good digital retailers. ..
LIVE Laymar Tenebrous Liar & very special guests Cindytalk Monday 30th June The 12 Bar Denmark Street London WC2 http://www. 12barclub. com..
"...Throbbing brooding organic instrumental darkness and building drama – an amazing piece of shape shifting music and just when you think they can’t take you any higher the brilliant drama of the drums slowly kick in, brilliant brilliant brilliant!
This is an excellent debut album from the Manchester three piece, it took a couple of listens to really grab, the whole album is good, there’s personality here, an original take on instrumental post tock and yes, you do need this album in there with your post rock classics... ORGAN MAGAZINE..
Laymar’s debut album In Strange Lines And Distances... is released on TV Records through Shellshock/Pinnacle on June 23rd and digitally by Pinnacle on June 22nd available @ iitunes, eMusic, HMV, Napster, 7Digital & all good digital retailers. ..
Laymar Tenebrous Liar & very special guests Cindytalk Monday 30th June The 12 Bar Denmark Street London WC2 http://www. 12barclub. com..
EYES come from Chicago and make glorious music for dancing that straddles the vibes of Ariel Pink and HEALTH. The type of band people might lie about having seen first time round once they make the cover of Plan B. You know, if they felt so inclined.
Skitanja, in spite of what the poster says, are actually from Bournemouth. They make scrappy, electronic bleep party pop music with guitar.
Shiu-Yeung Hui is the Chinese member of Japanese group Maher Shalal Hash Baz. He drinks quite a lot of neat vodka then takes to the stage to perform his wonderful, fractured, miniature songs using guitar and keyboard. An exercise in patience, an audience with Shiu pays off massively.
Elapse O are a death disco unit from Oxford. Imagine swimming the butterfly through a load of broken Swans LPs. That's what they sound like. Dig.
SPECTRE FOLK (Pete Nolan of Magik Markers) + more TBC
It's extremely appropriate that Magik Markers' drummer Pete Nolan is currently in the country to play with Jandek in London (which is how this gig came about, coincidentally). Because his solo Folk Spectre record on the Woodist label demonstrates a penetrating knowledge of what makes that great Texan loner so amazing. Lo-Fi in the early 90s Shrimper label sense (yes!), the record contains a clutch of fragile, skeletal songs that inspire a depth of relaxation self-help tape manufacturers could only dream of. Of course, we're not talking 'swimming with dolphins' here. It's the constant hum - of tape hiss, mellow feedback, room boom, whatever - that sits beneath these beautiful songs that gives them their dreamlike quality. The name has been switched around to Spectre Folk but the vibrations are the same. The Folk Spectre record is something truly special and we anticipate this show to be one of the most enthralling of our 2008 calendar.
Here's what Pete's Magik Markers partner Elisa Ambrogio had to say about it all:
"Here drum-dilweed extraordinaire Pete Nolan takes on new dimensions of low-fidelity radness through the Woodsist imprint. The infamous label in charge of releasing other super-jammers such as Axolotl, Loosers and Blues Control, Woodsist put this mother out in the o 7. So many good songs, I don’t know where to start; it’s like Gene Clark in a manhole with Von LMO in Bushwick. This is another artist criminally unappreciated for his solo work, most probably due to his surly manner. Just ‘cause the man don’t hold doors for people doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to build castle bridges of strangeness into the void. LISTEN."
Blackberry shortcake Thursday June 12th at the Klondyke Bowls club! A fundraiser for Strawberry Shortcake! Featuring : First Black Precedent, A middle Sex, Gnu & A Shrew & Serpentine Pad
And Strawberry Shortcake Festival Sunday June 22 at the Klondyke Bowls Club... Featuring: Puzzle Sad Shields The Lovely Eggs Amida Le Tetsuo Sparky deathcap Peepholes Jam On Bread Plaaydoh Les Enfant Bastard Buen Chico Klaus Says Buy The Record Husbands We're Not The Cool Kids Hoe Cakes Plus food, art, films and more bands tbc (keep checking the myspace) - all for £7. 50!
Hi welcome and to a show you might be interested in…
Saturday 31 May 2008, 8pm, £10/6
Deafinitely Theatre presents:
Lipstick & Lollipops
Lipstick and Lollipops follows Isabel, a Deaf teenager who moves to London with her mother. Unsettled, Isabel rebels by escaping to a late night party. As the night unfolds, Isabel confronts the past she has been hiding from for so long.
Deafinitely Theatre is a new, radical and visual presence in theatre. Its vision is to become a leading independent company promoting innovative work by new writers and Deaf groups, in a language that can be understood by all. Lipstick & Lollipops is performed using British Sign Language and speech, and is suitable for ages 14+.
‘Deafinitely Theatre is forging a new stage language that speaks to both the deaf and hearing’ *****Time Out
Our show prices are kept low so money is not an obstacle to you and young people getting engaged in the arts. We also offer group discounts: for every ten booked one person gets in for free – this is normally you!
As I'm sure you know we also have the registered disabled and under-18 concession available at £6, and all carers get in free as a matter of policy. Please don’t hesitate to call 0161 274 0600 to book or check out our website www. contact-theatre. org if you have any extra questions.
Hope to see you soon for this boundary-pushing new show!