Indie Music Blog

Alessi’s Ark at Hard Rock Calling festival, London Hyde Park (27th June 2009)

admin — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:02:30 +0000

I first found out about Alessi’s Ark through Adam and Joe’s 6Music show and their repeated plays of the magical single ‘Over The Hill‘. I missed the opportunity to catch Alessi live in Manchester back in May, so I was happy to spot her on the line-up for Hard Rock Calling in London’s Hyde Park (alongside Neil Young, Fleet Foxes, Seasick Steve, Magic Numbers, Johnny Flynn, Priscilla Ahn, The Pretenders). Whilst the other artists were scheduled for the ‘Main’ and ‘Pepsi Max’ stages, Alessi’s Ark played on the much more intimate Bandstand stage.

Alessi and her band played 8 tunes and I videoed 7 of them for you:

Alessi’s Ark – Hard Rock Calling setlist:
1. The Robot
2. Over The Hill
3. The Dog
4. Dancing Feet
5. Asteroids Collide [not videoed]
6. The Horse
7. Neighbour’s Birds
8. Glendora

I’m particularly fond of the beautiful lyrics to ‘Dancing Feet’, and the whig-out jam towards the end of ‘Glendora’ :)

The video was shot on a handheld camera (Panasonic Lumix TZ7) – apparently in HD (1280×720), although the quality isn’t that great…

Alessi’s Ark – The Robot (live at Hyde Park 27th June 2009) [1/8] 3m07 YouTube

View the rest of the videos after the jump:

Alessi’s Ark – Over The Hill (live at Hyde Park 27th June 2009) [2/8] 3m24 YouTube

Alessi’s Ark – The Dog (live at Hyde Park 27th June 2009) [3/8] 2m42 YouTube

Alessi’s Ark – Dancing Feet (live at Hyde Park 27th June 2009) [4/8] 2m52 YouTube

5. Asteroids Collide [not videoed]

Alessi’s Ark – The Horse (live at Hyde Park 27th June 2009) [6/8] 2m02 YouTube

Alessi’s Ark – Neighbour’s Birds (live at Hyde Park 27th June 2009) [7/8] 0m51 YouTube

Alessi’s Ark – Glendora (live at Hyde Park 27th June 2009) [8/8] 4m15 YouTube

Alessi’s Ark links:

Official Alessi’s Ark MySpace
alessisark.com
Anika in London (I managed to find the name of the tune ‘Dancing Feet’ thanks to Anika’s lovely blog). Search her blog for Alessi’s Ark for photos and reviews (and Flickr)

Buy the Alessi’s Ark album Notes From The Treehouse from Amazon.co.uk.

Buy on CD | Buy on mp3

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Watch Air Cav live on Channel M

admin — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:27:31 +0000

Air Cav played a gig at the Manchester Night & Day a few weeks ago (Saturday 10th May 2008), and the Channel M cameras were there to record the show. The gig was broadcast on the channel over the Bank Holiday weekend (Mon 26th May @ 10pm) – but if you missed it you can check it out below:

The songs aired were:

‘A Call to Arms’
‘Friendly Fire’
‘Alliance’
‘Branches’
‘Embers’

You can catch Air Cav live at the Wychwood Festival in Gloucestershire on Friday 30th May, and at Manchester Fuel on Saturday June 7th

The band release their new single ‘Embers/Picking at the Bones’ on 7th July 2008 and plan to hold a party to celebrate the release of the record on Saturday 5th July

Air Cav Links:
- Air Cav Official Site
- Air Cav MySpace

Tim and Sam band music used on new Co-operative Bank advert

admin — Sat, 24 May 2008 10:15:14 +0000

The very wonderful Manchester-based The Tim and Sam band (and their tune ‘Put Your Slippers On’) have been used by the Co-operative bank in an advert to “celebrate the Co-Op’s 15th anniversary of their unique customer-led Ethical Policy”

IndieMusicBlog were lucky enough to catch the band (billed as Tim And Sam’s Tim And Sam Band With Tim And Sam) live last month at Blowout in Chorlton, and we’re definitely new converts.

We’ve been obsessed with San Diego’s The Album Leaf for the best part of a year, so we were delighted to discover a homegrown band that plucked similar heartstrings

The band are currently recording their debut album, and have a few Manchester dates coming up in the next month – check their MySpace for details

You can watch the advert on Youtube or check it out below:

Tim And Sam Band – Put Your Slippers On

The 2-minute animated feature has been created by matteblackfilms / Aaran Brady

If you like the sound of that, then you can also watch/listen to the beautiful ‘Join The Dots’ on Youtube or listen to 5 songs on the Tim And Sam Band’s MySpace

Tim And Sam Band – Join The Dots

Autokat, Carlis Star and Whiskycats play Manchester235 casino tonight

admin — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:10:32 +0000

Manchester bands Autokat, Carlis Star and Whiskycats are playing tonight (Monday 28th April 2008) at the Manchester235 casino as part of the Manic Monday broadcast live on 96.2FM The Revolution

To gain entry to the casino you have to bring along Photo ID…..it’s £5 entry on the night but if you email Jacquie at The Revolution before or early on Monday you can get on the FREE guestlist. The doors open tonight at 19:30pm, but if you can’t make it then you can still listen to the show online

Meanwhile, Autokat are playing again later this week (Friday 2nd May 2008) at Blowout at the Chorlton Irish Club in Manchester. Also on the bill are Delphic, Mutineers and Autokat’s new drummer Mike Joyce (ex-The Smiths) will be DJing alongside the Blowout residents. Doors at 9.30pm

Manchester In The City 2006 – still recovering…

admin — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 01:27:55 +0000

So this year’s Manchester In The City has been and gone – how was it for you? A fixture pile-up in the days before ITC even started (on Friday last week), meant that I went to gigs five out six nights in the row… and have been paying for it all this week. I took photos at most of the shows I went to, but only on my smaller digital camera – I didn’t trust myself getting pissed whilst trying to look after expensive equipment!

In the days leading up to ITC I saw:-

Tuesday 24th Oct
In between catching bits of West Ham’s humilation at the hands of Chesterfield in the Carling Cup (and to make matters worse, the uni bar wasn’t showing the game so it meant nipping to a deserted Jabez Clegg between bands — I wish I hadn’t bothered lol), and Rusholme’s Eid celebrations holding up traffic for miles (meaning I had to walk to the venue), I saw The Young Knives at the Manchester Academy 3. In truth the only reason I bought a ticket was to see the excellent support band The Grates.

Apparently The Grates got all their stuff knicked (laptops etc) from their dressing room before the show, so you’d have forgiven them if they turned out a half-hearted show… but what we got was a real party atmosphere and a bouncing bundle of fun, in the form of frontwoman Patience Hodgson. I absolutely loved their set, and it left The Young Knives with an impossible act to follow.

Wednesday 25th Oct
After way too many Krombachers in Big Hands the night before I had to force myself to leave the house the next evening to see Phoenix play the Manchester Academy 2. When the Swedish support band (who’s name fails me at the minute) took to the stage, there was barely 10 people in the room, but by the end of their set the room had begun to fill. Phoenix played the Academy 3 only a few months back, and that was a spectacular show (probably one of my favourites of 2006). They definitely managed to handle the upgrade to the larger capacity Academy 2 last Wednesday. Take a listen to Phoenix’s album ‘Live! Thirty Days Ago‘ if you want to experience the magic of a Phoenix show

Friday 27th Oct
After spending my Thursday night at home, In The City finally kicked off on Friday night… well officially I think it started on the Sunday night (and ran thru to Tuesday), but most of the Manchester club nights were making a weekend of it, with triple-headers running Friday to Sunday for Friends Of Mine and Akoustik Anarkhy. I took the easy option and just stuck mainly with these two nights over the weekend.

I spent Friday at Friends Of Mine – although, as with much of the ITC weekend, my memories are very vague… I seem to recall seeing The VCs play (the flyer reads that Cohesion, Captain Kidd and The Detour also played, so maybe I saw them too… oh and Liam Frost and Johnny+Oli from Keith DJ-ed). I need to check my camera as I probably have photos of most of them

Saturday 28th Oct
Forcing myself out once again proved a challenge, and I think I stumbled into Friends Of Mine again on Saturday night. Whereas Friday night at FOM had been a more chilled affair, on Saturday the place (Joshua Brooks) was packed to the rafters. I managed to miss Sam Pridell (from Sam & Me) and Tim Hill’s (ex-The Exports) sets, but caught The S-Tones, Pierre Hall & the Lead Balloons and Liam Fray’s new band The Courteeners. It was a rowdy old affair and once again memories fail me — I only took a few photos of the Lead Balloons, so no help in piecing together the night from my camera (usually comes in handy for this – lol!)

Sunday 29th Oct
By now I’d become accustomed to waking up hungover, but a must-win West Ham match vs. Blackburn on Sunday afternoon gave me the perfect excuse to kick some ‘hair of the dog’ action into play. I didn’t realise Akoustik Anarkhy kicked off at 3pm on Sunday, so once again I missed Sam Pridell’s set (doh!), but by the time I arrived around 7/8pm?-ish It’s A Buffalo were just starting their set and I was well and truly hammered. I think I must have played the Buffalo’s tune ‘Divorce Song’ about 5 times before leaving the house — it’s such an ace little number (check it out on their MySpace). Following It’s A Buffalo were aA house band Loose Canon. During their 6-month absence from the circuit, the Canon have written some cracking new tunes. The guitar-work by Raymond Ray on ‘Hail Mary’ is ethereal and just magical (and they’ve just put it up on their MySpace). Final act of the night were St. Helens superstars The Loungs, who know how get a party bouncing.

Following on from aA, I somehow ended up at Big Hands, and Lee Gorton’s Up At The Red Bricks night – which saw a debut (?) gig from The Beep Seals. A truly wonderful end to a very messy evening.

I have photos and videos from most of the past week, although I’m not sure I’ll be able to get round to sticking it all up. I’ll do my best but it’ll take a while to find any fit for public consumption… lol :)

Despite In The City going on til Tuesday night, I’m afraid to say I’d had enough partying by Sunday night. I took Monday and Tuesday off.

MySpace – The Courteeners
MySpace – The Loungs
MySpace – Loose Canon
MySpace – It’s A Buffalo
MySpace – Raymond Ray
MySpace – Lee Gorton
MySpace – The Red Thread
MySpace – Pierre Hall & the Lead Balloons
MySpace – Sam and Me
MySpace – The Beep Seals

Midlake photos at Manchester Academy 3 (1st Nov 06)

admin — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 00:23:48 +0000

It’s rare that I anticipate or think about a gig months in advance, but for this week’s incredible double header of Midlake and Sufjan Stevens I’ve been counting down the days since I bought my tickets way back in August…

Tonight saw the mighty Midlake play the Manchester Academy 3 (Sufjan plays tomorrow downstairs at the Academy 2). I’ve hammered Midlake’s album – The Trials Of Van Occupanther – to death this year. It’s a definite contender for my album of the year, and one that gets better with each listen. Lush orchestral arrangements and a real pathos about it… it feels like a classic album from the 70s/80s… Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, (with a bit of Flaming Lips and Grandaddy thrown into the mix)

And talking of the mix, this is perhaps where tonight’s gig was a slight letdown… Before I’d even stepped foot into the venue I’d already given this show 10/10 in my head. I guess it was always going to be hard to reproduce the album live onstage with just 5 band members. The vocals at time seemed buried under the bass heavy sound, and the absense of a live violinist or trombonist, for me, meant the difference between this being a classic show and just a great gig. I’ve probably give it around 7.5/10 but I’d love to see them again

Here’s a couple of wonky photos from the audience:

20061101 Midlake – Manchester Academy 3

Loose Canon photos at Manchester Gardens Hotel (18th Oct 06)

admin — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 05:38:24 +0000

Loose Canon played Akoustik Anarkhy last night at the Manchester Gardens Hotel. I figured things would be starting around 9pm, so I got there about 8:50pm only to find I’d missed the whole of It’s A Buffalo’s set and half of the Canon. Ah well… at least I managed to get a few snaps:

More photos after the jump…

The full set can be found on Flickr

Related Links:
- Loose Canon MySpace
- www.loosecanon.co.uk (redirects to their MySpace)
- Akoustik Anarkhy

Cansei de Ser Sexy photos at Manchester Roadhouse (5th Sept 06)

admin — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 00:31:26 +0000

WOW! Cansei de Ser Sexy were off the scale tonight. What a fucking rickydiculously amazing show! Do not miss this band on their current UK tour. A few quick pics below…

Click to view the full set of CSS photos at hobbsy.com

^ thanks to the lead singer Lovefoxxx for posing for this shot after the show!

20060905 Cansei de Ser Sexy – Manchester Roadhouse

Metric photos at Manchester Life Cafe (30th Aug 06)

admin — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 23:54:51 +0000

Last week, as well as watching Broken Social Scene (see photos here), I also saw sometime BSS-member Emily Haines aka Metric at the Manchester Life Cafe:

(^ thanks to the girl who let me take a photo of her setlist!)

More photos after the jump….

Update1:- whilst browsing Emily Haines’ MySpace I randomly found Waq’s profile. I don’t know him but he’s in a few of my photos above, and had a much better spot than me for this show. He’s posted a blog entry about the Metric gig along with photos and YouTube videos. Nice work!

If anyone knows the guy with the Canon 300d/350d (?) down the front, also in the photos I took above, then please drop me a mail. I was pretty disappointed with how my photos came out on this show, so I’d be interested to see some better shots if they’re online anywhere!?

Update2:- There’s some photos of Metric’s Birmingham and Manchester shows on the band’s official forum, posted by SoulPhoenix

Update3:- Check out more photos and a review of the Metric Manchester Life Cafe show over on Giants of Prehistory Promotions MySpace

Update4:- Found even more Manchester Life Cafe photos of Metric posted by gregholland30 on Photobucket

Update5:- lol… this has to be the most photographed gig ever! well… not quite, but here’s another set of Life Cafe photos on Flickr of Metric, these ones have been posted by actel

Broken Social Scene photos at Sheffield Leadmill (1st Sept 06)

admin — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 20:34:20 +0000

I took a roadtrip to Sheffield on Friday night with a group of friends to see Broken Social Scene at the Leadmill. This gig has gotta rank as one of my favourite gigs of all time… flawless from start to finish. Here’s my photos from the night:

More photos after the jump…

View the full Broken Social Scene @ Sheffield Leadmill set on Flickr here