POSTINGS

BAND OF THE DAY #455 – The Blackout

With a ten year, four-album career under their belts, The Blackout are the band who started off life by supporting Lostprophets on their Liberation Transmission Tour, along with Dopamine, Covergirl, Kids in Glass Houses, The Guns and Men, Women & Children, to name but a few. Pretty impressive for six young lads from the quiet Welsh valleys.
Their loud, chunky sound is created by adrenaline fuelled drumming, layers of guitar distortion and post-punk vocals dripping in angst; their infectious and high-octane tunes bursting through every eardrum within a five-mile radius. ‘Start the Party’ is their latest offering, and it does exactly what it does on the tin. Catch the rockers at our All Ages Show on Friday 17th May.

BAND OF THE DAY #454 – Everything Everything

Everything Everything are the quirky popsters who like to don labcoats. The labcoats are apt too, considering that the four-piece are the ultimate experimenters of music; fusing together the best of art-pop and prog-rock. Even more apt, they even sound a little like indie veterans We Are Scientists: basslines and beats to make boffins boogie, falsetto harmonies, odd time-signatures, “herky-jerky” rhythms and a melody that sounds like two or three songs going on at once, also reminiscent of The Futureheads. Not to forget a series of dense, elliptical lyrics that cover such chart-worthy summer fun-time subjects as digital image manipulation and reincarnation. As you do.

“We’re basically trying to get us much as is humanly possible into the three-four minute pop song,” they say of the furious, frenetic noise they make, “without it sounding gratuitous or forced, trying to cram as many magic moments into a tight space.” No matter what your musical taste, there’s something in Everything Everything to hold your attention.

BAND OF THE DAY #453 – Title Fight

The overwhelming success of Title Fight over the past couple of years has been nothing short of extraordinary. It’s well deserved too, considering they’ve been at it since the age of 13. The masters of persistence have found themselves supporting acts such as New Found Glory, Bayside and Comeback Kid in the space of two years, with two albums and a European tour under their belt for good measure.

As a quartet of 13-year-olds listening to both Blink-182 and Gorilla Biscuits, Title Fight combined all the music they enjoyed into one tidal wave of hardcore authenticity. The Pennsylvania four-piece now boast a wealth of high-octane hardcore music full of punky guitar, screaming vocals and melodic interludes that bridges the gap between order and some kind of symmetry. Get your adrenaline rush at our All Ages show on Thursday 16th May.

BAND OF THE DAY #452 – Three Trapped Tigers

Three Trapped Tigers are actually three liberated musicians reincarnating the prog-math rock genre left behind by the likes of Battles and Hot Chip by replacing computers with humans, rendering a backing track redundant and adding a humanized dimension to a robotic genre, Dubbing them as the UK’s answer to Aphex Twin.

With its frantic pace and numerous time-signature shifts, its lattice of rhythms and meshing together of parts from seemingly wholly different songs, the band’s sound is more Pythagorean than simple numeracy, sending you into a warp drive of experimental noise-rock. Sheer energy and raw power are guaranteed with every track. Catch the musical mathematicians at our All Ages Show on 18th May.

BAND OF THE DAY #451 – The Midnight Beast

The Midnight Beast is the rib-splittingly funny London three-piece, waiting to explode their satirical pop all over their 47 million YouTube viewers. The Beast is made up of three not-very-beasty-and-actually-quite-handsome lads: Stefan Abingdon, Dru Wakely and Ashley Horne. The Brit School alumni fuse boy-band parody with the madness of their own real-life experiences; off the wall, in your face, from their very own London flat.
Their parody of Ke$ha’s Tik Tok blew up online back in December 2009. Since then they’ve had a shed load of YouTube views as well as two sold-out tours - and all as an unsigned band. Strangers to convention, The Midnight Beast wrote and produced their debut album in its entirety in Stefan parents’ house, and released it on their own label. Catch the boys headlining our All Ages Matinee show on Saturday 18th May.

BAND OF THE DAY #450 – Billy Bragg

Finding inspiration in the righteous anger of punk rock and the socially conscious folk tradition of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, Billy Bragg was the leading figure of the anti-folk movement of the ’80s. From dressing up like a Roman legionary advocating tactical voting to keep the Tories out, to actively campaigning for the Labour party, this 50-something is the godfather of political pop.
His music is a combination of poetry and political comment, with a dash of romance and a sprinkling of love. His collaborations with many other musicians, including Johnny Marr of The Smiths, protest folk singer Leon Rosselson, R.E.M., have left him as a both a commercial success and a cult figure for generations old and new, deeming him as a true British institution and our headliner for The Great Escape 2013.

Creative Scotland present: Showcasing Scotland at The Great Escape 2013

Showcasing Scotland returns to The Great Escape this year with yet another awe-inspiring line-up comprising some of Scotland’s finest homegrown talent. Back for their third year at The Great Escape, Creative Scotland’s exciting showcase will be split over the Thursday and Friday of the festival. Performances from the mesmerising virtuoso-vocalist Laura St Jude, girl-duo garage-rockers Honeyblood and the electrically charged and high intensity Holy Esque will kick off Showcasing Scotland on the Thursday, leaving beardy power-poppers Fatherson, folk-electro wizards Washington Irving , Edinburgh’s biggest hip-hop export Young Fathers and the proportionately epic Alarm Bells to wrap up the Friday for what is already guaranteed to be a rather fantastic showcase.

Both shows will be taking place at the Dome Studio Theatre, with Thursday 16th May’s show from 1pm to 4pm and Friday 17th May’s show from 12:30pm - 4:30pm.

Already got a TGE ticket? Head on down to this one! Still haven’t got a ticket? Get one whilst you still can! Then take heed of my former advice. We’ll leave you with the words of Washington Irving if mine still haven’t quite swayed you… “Great Escape is one we’ve wanted to do for ages. We played in Brighton for the first time in February with Frightened Rabbit and it was one of our favourite shows of the tour so can’t wait to get back there!” …Neither can we Washington…

BAND OF THE DAY #449 – IYES

IYES treat us to pop melodies, indie rhythms and electro-beats spreading songs sweet with dreamy atmospheres and romantic melancholy. Josh Christopher & Melis Soyaslanova are the Brighton-based duo who bring these saccharine sounds to our ears.

The music is futuristic alt-pop for soul-searchers and dreamers to chill-out to. Reminiscent of The XX and Snow Patrol, this pair are on trend with their set up and genre but IYES have a unique sound in ethereal and euphoric songs that lift and liberate, attracting you like a butterfly to a flower.

The band have today released a demo for a new track called ‘Daddy’ that you can listen to HERE.

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BAND OF THE DAY #448 – J.C.Satàn

Originating from Bordeaux, J.C.Satàn are finest French garage with a prog-rock edge, a healthy contrast to the soul-healing sun that southern France is famed for. They channel the balance of light and dark, beautiful and moody with a perfection so natural to the French, to create a sound that is superbly sublime.

J.C.Satàn serves you a huge dollop of pure garage rock, thick and stodgy, just as it should be. Amidst catchy guitar riffs and drum beats easy to dance to but deep enough to get lost in, the vocals harmonise with their music, in amongst the music. The lyrics are poetic, scenic and romantic, evoking very much of a boho, art-house vibe akin to bands like The Horrors and Pink Floyd, suited to the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World soundtrack.

They site themselves as Garage/Pop/Religious and while the first is obvious; the second features in some songs; and the third genre is more of an enigma. By religious, they are romantic riddlers referencing love, hate, war, nature, flesh, sky, desert, the sun and the moon, life and death.

J.C.Satàn are Arthur, Paula, Dorian, Ali & Romain. They do what they do so naturally and so well, creating a garage sound that is poetic and inspired with bite and attitude. They are savage garage, or more appropriately garage sauvage!


BAND OF THE DAY #447 – Oyama

Oyama are the Japanese-named Reykjavik fivesome that have been storming through the European music scene since their inception in April 2012. A new band, maybe, but their sound is nothing less than mature. This five-piece have single-handedly brought the 90s shoe-gaze era into the 21st century; with influences drawn from Sonic Youth, Pixies and My Bloody Valentine, their music is self-described as “sleepy melodies wrapped in puffy clouds of noise and angsty peach fuzz.” Their compelling songs are built on multi-layered guitars that shimmer and roar, and sweetly discordant vocal harmonies that echo around the mind long after the song is over. After playing every night of Iceland Airways festival in 2012, it’s safe to say that they are one of 2013’s most promising acts.

BAND OF THE DAY #446 – Drenge

Drenge aka the Loveless brothers burst with garage blues stabbed with punk.

Eoin’s vocals are raw and powerful, a heavy layer covering fun, fast and colourful heavy blues rock guitar and Rory’s drums. With racing rhythms and harmonic vocals, Drenge are the perfect sound for all occasions: Whilst Dogmeat is basement grunge, deep, dark and brooding; Bloodsports is perfect for your summer road trip with the engine roaring down the open freeway, wind whipping and shades on.

Following The White Stripes/The Black Keys duo model, Eoin (vocals, guitar) and Rory (drums) embrace a punky-indie sound solely theirs. Having supported the Cribs in February of this year Drenge are certainly going places, currently touring the UK and set for some summer festivals.

BAND OF THE DAY #445 – Phantom

Singer/songwriter Hanna Toivonen and sound designer/producer Tommu Koskinen create perfectly balanced soundscapes as the Finnish alternative-electro duo, Phantom . Tranquil and inviting, they act like a mood-altering substance without the comedown. Their music is otherworldly, it washes over you like a warm wave one minute and then takes you high through grey-blue skies the next. Harmonised with soulful melodies atop layers of smooth electro acoustic-pop beats, these ethereal and atmospheric sounds are the heart and soul of Phantom.

Technically, they are sound artists, innovative and modern in their approach to music. Phantom are more than your average alternative electronic duo, they are sky-flying soul atop beautiful chill-out.




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