Venue's Autumn Guide

Below are some little blurbs I wrote for Venue's 'Season's treatings' guide (October issue). Read the guide in full here.

[MUSIC]
1 OCT INDULGE IN GHOSTPOET’S PERVERSE HIP-HOP
Ghostpoet isn’t your average rapper — he’s unassuming, experimental and nearly always attired in a cardigan and thick-rimmed glasses. His glorious, Mercury-nominated debut ‘Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam’ is an inimitable blend of dissimilar sounds: a mellow trip-hop chill and a natural jazz musicality finely glazed with barbed post-dubstep production. Rightly avoiding the constrictive abyss of synth-heavy chart-friendly hip-hop, his slightly awkward style is at once imaginative and charming. Some have crowned him the new Mike Skinner, but his resonant wordplay and stirring lyrics have more in common with early Roots Manuva.
GHOSTPOET IS AT START THE BUS, BRISTOL. FFI: 0117 930 4370, HTTP://STARTTHEBUS.TV

[EVENT]
8 OCT CELEBRATE SMALLNESS AT THE SCHUMACHER CENTENARY FESTIVAL
A two-day event exploring the work and vision of the late, leading ‘green’ ethics thinker E.F. Schumacher, author of ‘Small Is Beautiful’. Lively lectures and debate include Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MP, Radio 4 performance poet Matt Harvey, founder of climate change awareness site 350.org Bill McKibben and co-creator of the Transition Network Rob Hopkins. A concert entitled ‘Small World’ takes centre stage on Saturday evening – performers include Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu and kora player Seckou Keita. On Sunday, wise up with workshops and watch premières of thought-provoking flicks like ‘The Four Horsemen’ and ‘Future of Hope’.
THE SCHUMACHER CENTENARY FESTIVAL IS AT COLSTON HALL AND THE WATERSHED, BRISTOL. FFI: 0845 4585925, WWW.SCHUMACHER.ORG.UK

[MUSIC]
12 OCT TAKE A RIDE WITH BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB
Radio 1 A-listers and young gen darlings Bombay Bicycle Club return to Venueland following last year’s sold-out St George’s gig. Second album ‘Flaws’ had been a bold move in a fresh, stripped-back direction – gone was the infectious jangle-pop of old and in its place came mellow banjos and John Martyn covers – but on ‘A Different Kind Of Fix’ we hear them rediscover fun, throttling indie rock ’n’ roll. Expect hook-laden melodies and loads and loads of jumping up and down.
BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB IS AT O2 ACADEMY BRISTOL. FFI: 0844 477 2000, WWW.O2ACADEMYBRISTOL.CO.UK

[MUSIC]
23 OCT QUESTION EVERYTHING WITH INCISIVE RHYMERS WHY?
Best known for their smart, wry tongue-twisters, California’s foremost alt. hip-hop trio Why? return to our shores for a brief stint backed by a grand piano. Lauded by critics for his melancholic spin on rap, frontman ‘Yoni’ Wolf’s morbid lyrics aren’t for the light-hearted – sex, death and confusion are his stock in trade – but the way in which his effortless wordplay mingles with easy-going electronics makes for a daydreamy, head-nodding delight.
WHY? PLAY COLSTON HALL 2, BRISTOL. FFI: 0117 922 3686, WWW.COLSTONHALL.ORG

[MUSIC]
1 NOV SET SAIL FOR ST. VINCENT
As an ex-member of The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens’s backing band, and best buddy of Grizzly Bear and The National (whom she joined on stage at Latitude festival this year), Annie Clark has a CV overflowing with American indie rock royalty. The talented multi-instrumentalist and Twitter queen (400,000 followers – how?!) has so far released three critically adored albums under the St. Vincent alias – ‘Marry Me’, ‘Actor’ and this year’s ‘Strange Mercy’ . It’s twisted artful pop, all dark lyrics, complex arrangements, silvery horns and fluttering harmonies – expect goosebumps.
ST. VINCENT IS AT THE FLEECE. FFI: 0117 945 0996, WWW.THEFLEECE.CO.UK

[MUSIC]
19 NOV SWOON AMIDST WILD BEASTS’ BEAUTEOUS LIVE SHOW
Recently proclaimed “the most inspirational, intriguing, effortlessly enrapturing band at work [in Britain]” by the BBC, the splendour of Kendal’s flamboyant, operatic Wild Beasts has finally cracked the mainstream. Eerie third album and chef d’oeuvre ‘Smother’ has been praised as a dazzling step forward by critics and fans alike. Commanded by Hayden Thorpe’s erratic falsetto and Tom Fleming’s deep quivering croon, underpinned by tribal rhythms and an incessant bass groove, their literate musings are at different junctures funny, sexy and macabre.
WILD BEASTS IS AT ANSON ROOMS. FFI: 0117 954 5800, WWW.UBU.ORG.UK/YOUR-UNION/ANSON-ROOMS

Venue 'Big Gig' feature

 
Originally published @ Venue magazine (and online).

Zun Zun Egui are an exciting enough live prospect, but Huw Oliver’s equally intrigued by the re-emergence of the man with the colourful first name.

A reclusive pop legend making only his third showing since 2006 certainly constitutes a ‘big gig’. Green Gartside has unveiled a revamped Scritti Politti in every decade since their 1976 inception, but in super-sharp contrast to the Duran Durans and Erasures of this world, he always pops up ready with fresh ideas. Anxiety problems and a heart attack after a gig with Gang of Four resulted in stage fright for Gartside – until 2006 he hadn’t performed live for over 20 years – but now you can catch him in a rare live performance supporting Bristol psych-rockers Zun Zun Egui. What to expect? Other than the fact he has a new band in tow, we haven’t the foggiest.

Scritti’s first shock transformation came after a visit to NY in 1984: from DIY squat-hatched post-punk to glossy chart-bothering synth-pop. Stevie Wonder and Miles Davis (whose trumpeting can be heard on ‘Oh Patti’) were newly recruited admirers. In a “life-changing moment” in the late 80s he discovered Run DMC and latterly decided to make an album which spanned all of R&B, funk and reggae. At the time absorbed in self-doubt and secluded in rural Wales, his 1999 LP ‘Anomie and Bonhomie’ was a warped version of rock-rap, whilst his appearance on a Kylie album came as even more of a surprise. His Mercury-nominated 2006 album showed an unforeseen level of acoustic introspection, but in spite of all of these musical shifts, the well-read musician has always instilled the same leftist politics and philosophy into his music.

No one knows whether you’ll be able to yell along to hits like ‘Wood Beez’ and ‘Perfect Way’ or hear new material (he claims to have 100+ songs in the works), boogie on down or marvel at his soft acoustics, but we have an inkling this’ll be a rather memorable warm-up regardless of what’s planned.

As for headliners ZZE, they’re not likely to let you down. Instruments will flail, time signatures will confound and singers will squall Mauritian Creole, French, Japanese and nonsensical English. Not to mention the kaleidoscopic visuals, noodling bass-lines, hard rock riffs and twisted dance moves. Sounding a bit like Femi Kuti covering Captain Beefheart or an even more maniacal Islet, with ‘Psycho Killer’ vocals and the odd math-y Battles-esque intricacy thrown in, debut album ‘Katang’ spans psychedelia, prog, world, heavy metal and every peculiarity between. It drops in early October but this massive album release party comes to Bristol towards the end.

Ryan Adams / Marcus Foster

My reviews of  Adams' 'Ashes & Fire' and Foster's 'Nameless Path' are in October's DIY mag (pages 81 and 82). My complete review of the latter can be found here.

Dum Dum Girls interview

I spoke to Dee Dee from Dum Dum Girls @ TIFDIY in August.