Sonic Youth, Television, Pavement, Polytechnic, Bob Dylan, CAN, Velvet Underground, Stereolab, Tortoise, Aerial M, Blur, Mogwai, The Longcut, Wilco, GYBE, Pixies, The Kinks, Super Furries, The Fall, REM, Wire, Spiritualized, Bert Jansch, Talking Heads, The Buzzcocks, Yo La Tengo, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Nirvana, Low, Love
Sounds Like
"As a self-produced and self-written record, 'The Nightjars' is quite an achievement and provides a showcase that many bands would die for. I’m left wondering what a big-budget recording process could achieve for this band. It could be mind-blowing." - Shakenstir
"A melodic machine practically capable of mapping the route to the Holy Grail of tunes" - Artrocker
"This mini album is so tightly packed with potential, it's a wonder the case manages to close' - Rock Feedback
'The crew of some sleek musical U-Boat' - CocOen
"The record as a whole has a speeding and breaking golden glow" - Neil Burrell
Towards Light - Mini Album
Released: 11/07
Label: Reveal Records
NEW 12-TRACK ALBUM 'THE NIGHTJARS' AVAILABLE TO MAIL-ORDER ON CD
1 You in a Fine Light
2 Valentine
3 Recognition in a Crowd
4 Defeated
5 Out of Love
6 Logic Has No Part in It
7 We Fall
8 Crash This Car
9 Machines Down
10 In Parallel
11 Now You're Gone
12 Into The Sun
A particularly brilliant example of Manchester's untapped talent - 5/5 City Life
*RECOMMENDED* the Mancunian rock band that people need to know about... perfect industrial jingling hard-core guitar pop – brilliant - 4/5 Manchester Music
As a self-produced and self-written record this is quite an achievement, and provides a showcase that many bands would die for. I’m left wondering what a big-budget recording process could achieve for this band. I think it could be mind-blowing - 4/5 Shakenstir
Press for 'Towards Light'
Lianne Steinberg, Big Issue - 4/5
"Don't misunderstand The Nightjars.....this band are in fact brainy kids with big record collections who can take the best from what they hear and weave their spiky influences though satisfyingly knotty pop songs.....whip-smart tracks such as 'You Set Me Reeling' and 'MDMA' are evidence that they're an audible cut above." NME - 7/10
"This electrifying debut, seemingly out of nowhere, is a living, breathing reminder of what alternative guitar music can and should be" CD Times - 9/10
"An assured, pigeonhole-denying guitar-pop debut. Produced with clarity and skill by veteran sonic wizard Kramer, 'Towards Light' is the sound of yet another potentially great Northern band finding their feet and stepping out into what could well be a glorious dawn. Very good indeed." Tim Peacock, Whisperin' and Hollerin' - 8/10
The Nightjars Biog
'The Nightjars' charts the next stage in the development of this highly-regarded Manchester band. Having forged a reputation as an explosive live act, The Nightjars documented their early, high-tempo set on 'Towards Light' (Reveal Records). Since then, they have taken to their studio to write and produce a more varied, reflective and layered record.
Not that they’ve lost the urge to noise out – The Nightjars wouldn’t be The Nightjars otherwise - but the band were determined to vary their approach.
"Doing the early Nightjars stuff was exciting and we were flattered to be compared to groups like Sonic Youth and Husker Du, but that's never been the only type of song we wanted to write", says bassist and singer Ollie Wright. "Also, 'Towards Light' was the sound of the band playing together live, whereas with 'The Nightjars', we were able to spend a lot more time overdubbing, experimenting with different layers and trying different recording techniques.”
The band’s relationship with Low / Galaxie 500 producer Kramer continues. The former Butthole Surfers / Bongwater musician, who produced 'Towards Light', mastered this LP. “We were glad of his experience when it came to the mastering. He tidied up the loose ends, brought the record together and gave us some sound advice about the process”, says Ollie.
But the bulk of the work was done by the group, who produced themselves for the first time. Drummer Seamus O’Kane used handclaps, bodhran, shaker, bones and tambourine to build percussive momentum, whilst Phil Arnold (guitar / vocals) and Ollie worked painstakingly to create a melodic blend of electric and acoustic guitars, keyboard instruments and backing vocal textures.
Tickets SELLING FAST! £7 adv avaliable from (more on the door): wegottickets.com seetickets.com Ticketline Picadilly Records
Grouper (US) has her latest – Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill – of three albums on Type Records. She has also been involved in collaborative releases, contributing a track to Xiu Xiu’s Remixed & Covered and four tracks to a split release with Inca Ore. Her other contemporaries are Belong, Growing, Tim Hecker, Windy & Carl and Atlas Sound.
Jasper TX (Sweden), with a hefty back-catalogue of releases on labels such as Miasmah, and collaborations with buddy Machinefabriek, is an essential domestic appliance in the household of conceptual music. He is comparable to artists Fennesz, Sigur Ros, Múm and Tape.
Intricate and atmospheric songsmith, Danny Saul (UK) performs with different combinations of musicians, making each gig a unique event. His forthcoming release is "Harsh, Final", and he also performs with Greg Haines as Liondialer.
Fieldhead (UK) music delights in tape hiss, bleak landscapes and decaying analogue loops. He is also a member of The Declining Winter and Glissando. His debut album, "They Shook Hands for Hours" is released soon on Home Assembly.
Whoa, didn't realize the comment; should've gotten back to you guys sooner! Thanks a lot for the Velvet Underground comparison. Not many people ever said that to us, frankly. (: Love your songs, a nifty blend of indie rock and guitar pop, and I also like the vocal characteristic, which goes real well with the mix (I am personally real big on 80s-90s alternative, so yeah..). And very nice artwork by the way, rather reminds me of some illustration off Lewis Carroll books, which is neat. Well, we're glad for the acquaintance, too, and greetings from the other side of the globe!
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.
Machinefabriek is amongst the finest experimental/electronic artists of today. His ultra-prolific back catalogue showcases his ability to perfect classical ambience, organic drone soundscapes, electronic minimalism and cathartic noise. He is hailed as one of the most interesting new experimental musicians by the Wire magazine.
Xela is the shady, underworld atmospheres and improv horrors of John Twells, owner of Type Records. "Xela has always been able to pre-empt the shifting tides of electronic music and deliver a statement that's definitively of its time” (Boomkat).
His debut album Navigare soon to feature on the Miasmah label, Simon Scott 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.
Just ordered my copy of the album and can't wait to hear it all from what I've heard on MySpace (Towards Light is one of my all time favourites and always makes me happy). Also are there any plans to play on Marc Riley's show again.
I have a page on Bebo that is dedicated to alternative/indie music old and new, but couldn't find any video for The Nightjars. that don't relate to the bird Please could you let me know if there's going to be one.
The link to the page is www.bebo.com/deadpopstars or just search indie and it's the only one that doesn't focus on the mainstream stuff they try to call indie these days.
