Who I'd like to meet: If you would like to buy advance tickets for ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE, THEY CAME FROM THE STARS, BEEP SEALS, MENTASM at URBIS on Sat 10th Nov, please visit MUSHRUMPS BOX OFFICE and buy on-line (PayPal and all major credit cards accepted)
b>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.
Evan Parker - saxophones Stephen Grew - piano Phillip Marks - percussion
An all too rare appearance in Manchester by one of the great masters of the saxophone... Evan Parker has been at the forefront of improvised and experimental music for over forty years, with a unique and innovative approach to his instrument that has been hugely influential. A master of extended techniques like circular breathing and multiphonics, he's made over 200 albums with artists like Derek Bailey, Scott Walker, Robert Wyatt, Spring Heel Jack, Michael Nyman, Spiritualized, Cecil Taylor, John Stevens, Gavin Bryars, Brotherhood of Breath, Basil Kirchin, Peter Brotzmann, Han Bennink, Tony Oxley, Steve Lacy, Anthony Braxton, London Jazz Composers Orchestra, Globe Unity Orchestra, Stan Tracey, Chris Corsano, Jah Wobble, Sainkho Namtchylak, Vic Reeves, Thurston Moore etc etc.....
He is joined by Stephen Grew on piano and Phillip Marks on percussion who have been making their own contributions to the world of adventurous improvisation for over 20 years. Those of you who saw them at last years Manchester Jazz Festival will know just how good they are...
Vampire Blues is the duo of guitar player Jon Collin (Serfs, The Whole Voyald) and harmonium player Jon Marshall (The Hunter Gracchus, Peril Hill). They have a pretty special tape out on Blackest Rainbow. We can't recommend them highly enough.
The Fifth Band is the gobsmacking trio of Stephen Lawrie (The Telescopes), Bridget Hayden (Vibracathedral Orchestra) and Kryszt Hladowski (The Family Elan). Oof.
A Wake is the duo of Nick Mitchell and Fliss Horrocks who also play in Beach Fuzz. This will actually probably end-up being a Beach Fuzz performance - this incarnation's first inside the UK.
This beautiful super-heavyweight LP, which comes packaged in a sweet full-colour sleeve reunites the UK's premier free drummer Alex Neilson, who's played, amongst others, with Motor Ghost, Directing Hand, Trembling Bells, Tight Meat Duo, Josephine Foster, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Jandek, MV&EE, Richard Youngs, Baby Dee and Alastair Galbraith, with Nmperign member Greg Kelley, whose reinvention of the trumpet is as crucial now as Anthony Braxton's reinvention of the sax was 30 years ago. A screeching, soaring, scattergun array of noises come maniacally out of Greg's horn, unlike anything we've ever heard and, with the addition of random stabs of electronics, he successfully straddles no wave, concrete and free jazz in a way that makes those genres seem like trite pigeonholes.
Buy your copy now from www. myspace. com/goldenlabrecords
This beautiful super-heavyweight LP, which comes packaged in a sweet full-colour sleeve reunites the UK's premier free drummer Alex Neilson, who's played, amongst others, with Motor Ghost, Directing Hand, Trembling Bells, Tight Meat Duo, Josephine Foster, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Jandek, MV&EE, Richard Youngs, Baby Dee and Alastair Galbraith, with Nmperign member Greg Kelley, whose reinvention of the trumpet is as crucial now as Anthony Braxton's was 30 years ago. A screeching, soaring, scattergun array of noises come maniacally out of Greg's horn, unlike anything we've ever heard and he successfully straddles no wave, concrete and free jazz in a way that makes those genres seem like trite pigeonholes.
After recent operations with Glasvegas and being the one-man backing band of ex Libertines/Dirty Pretty Things Carl Barat, the cramped out and debauched Dennis ’lovechild of Dick Dale & Nick Cave’ Hopper Choppers returns to FNF this Tues.09th Dec ...........
und dann: THE SWAN HAS LANDED!!!!
"The Swan With Two Necks - Album of the Week." - Clash Magazine
"...if ORKB smelt any stronger or brilliance you could probably paint a white stripe on it and call it a skunk. Sniff. Big things beckon." - Artrocker
Zaimph is the solo project of Marcia Bassett, better known as half of brutal drone ambassadors Hototogisu with Matthew Bower, as a member of shifting collective GHQ, which centres around Marcia and Steve Gunn and as a former member of the amazing Double Leopards unit. The music she makes under the name Zaimph sees her strangling some gorgeous dark drones from her guitar and delivering intense, hypnotic vocal performances. A true pleasure to welcome her to Manchester.
Bridget Hayden is better known around these parts as a former member of the highly influential Vibracathedral Orchestra and as a current member of the revitalised Telescopes, who may also be playing a set tonight. A self-confessed worrier in the live setting, she channels her nervous energy into performance, delivering something altogether more harsh than her recorded output. We can't wait. Bring your welder's masks.
We'll also see an all-too-rare-these-days performance by incredible Manchester guitar duo Serfs and opening the evening will be Warrington's only genius (surely), Infinite Light, playing a sparse guitar/bells/soaring vocals set.