Sunday 22 December 2013

Top 10 Local Talents You Need To See In 2014

So a rare departure from the usual gig review for this post just to mention some superb local acts that we Bristolians should be checking out in 2014

In no particular order then.....

1. Gaz Brookfield

Fresh from the release of his third and best album yet 'In The Company Of Thieves', the Bristol via Swindon folk/rock singer/songwriter regularly clocks up a mighty 200+ gigs a year including no fewer than 3 appearances at this year's Glastonbury Festival.  With his superb tales of life on the road as a 'DIY' musician and unrelenting ability to unite and convert audiences, 2014 could be the year we see the grounded singer take the UK by storm.


www.gazbrookfield.com

Best Track:
'Diet Of Banality'


2. Lonely Tourist

Paul Tierney aka The Lonely Tourist is a Glaswegian singer/songwriter residing in Bristol and a regular on the city circuit.  With the imminent release of his third solo album, it promises to be another great year for the self-effacing guitarist who is capable of combining catchy choruses and stunning lyrics that continue to win him new friends.


http://lonelytourist.bandcamp.com/

Best Track:
'Ballad Of Paul Tierney'


3. Coasts

Mixing tropical pop with some killer indie/rock anthems is Bath/Bristol quartet Coasts.  2013 saw Chris Caines' group release a couple of impressive EP's and the completion of their first UK tour culminating in a triumphant gig at The Louisiana.  With tunes already being featured on TV, a growing fanbase and an ear for a rousing killer hook; these guys are destined for mainstream attention.


www.coastsband.com

Best Track:
'Oceans'


4. Oxygen Thief

Barry Dolan is the multi-talented guitarist/singer metal influenced Oxygen Thief.  Having spent the most part of 2013 producing some mind-blowing performances individually he was recently signed to Xtra Mile after taking to the road and studio with a full band behind him for latest album; 'Accidents Do Not Happen, They Are Caused'. In a live arena he has the energy, power and ability to push any guitar you put into his hands to its absolute limit; a must see.


http://www.oxygenthiefmusic.com/

Best Track:
'Terry Nutkins Salute'


5. Flamenco Thief

One time Postie from Bath, Craig Sutton aka Flamenco Thief has just finished a monster tour of Europe with his trusty Boss rc300 loop pedal and is back out on the road again in 2014.  Layering flamenco rhythms, percussive knuckle-rapping and some crazy finger-picking worthy of mention alongside Rodrigo y Gabriela, he has been mesmerising Bristol and Bath venues for some time now.  Check him out live, you seriously won't believe what he can do.


http://theflamencothief.com/

Best Track:
'Mad Cow Stomp'



6. Poor Old Dogs

Bristol's favourite folk band Poor Old Dogs always make for a great night with their hilarious tales of immoral estate agents, flasher milkmen and nuisance neighbours.  Expect frantic hoe-downs, furious mandolin and a whole load of fun in any live setting.  Their second EP 'Milkman' was a highlight in what was a great year for the fantastic cider-swilling quintet.


http://poorolddogs.co.uk/

Best Track:
'Milkman'



7. Chris Webb

Chris is another of Bristol's best young acoustic acts who is returning to his role as curator for the Bank Tavern's fantastic Wednesday night slots.  With an unusual strumming/picking technique, soulful vocals and some top folk fuelled tunes about everyday life, Chris continues to charm audiences around the city and more recently mainland Europe.



https://soundcloud.com/chriswebbbristol

Best Track:
'Lost Boy'


8. Magnus Puto

Magnus Puto are breathing fresh life into ska music in the UK and after a string of well-received EP's will surely continue to gain admirers.  From Bristol, the quintet are heading back on the road to follow up on last year's BBC Introducing slot at Glastonbury and supporting the likes of Plan B, Fat Boy Slim, The Beat and Reel Big Fish amongst others. Mixing hip-hop, indie, reggae and ska, they're able to get any crowd jumping.


http://www.themagnusputo.com/

Best Track:
'Make Your Mind Up'



9. Sam Eason / Descendants Of Gentleman

Likeable Bath based singer/songwriter Sam Eason is a regular on the Bristol support circuit and with new band Descendants Of Gentleman up and running it promises to be an exciting year for fans of the bearded ginger maestro.  Sam has two fantastic EP's as a solo artist mixing folk and pop with a great knack for producing some infectious choruses and heartfelt odes to love and life.


http://www.sameason.co.uk/

Best Track:
'Turn On Your Heels'


10. Yes Rebels

Bobby Anderson and his Bristol based band are an incendiary rock outfit well known across the city for their powerful delivery of scuzzy pop-punk/grunge.  After the superb 'Mixtapes' EP and a string of energetic festival appearances the enigmatic Anderson knows how to work a crowd.  Influenced by Queens Of The Stone Age and with a heritage in soul music (son of soul legend Carleen Anderson), expect these guys to play a blinder wherever they turn up.


https://www.facebook.com/yesrebels

Best Track:
'Out Of The Gun'


There's so many more across Bristol that deserve a mention but if your new years resolution (like mine last year) is to get out and see more bands then get your tickets sorted for these top talents ASAP!

Kindly published by Bristol24-7.com:
http://www.bristol247.com/2013/12/31/top-10-bristol-musiciansbands-to-watch-in-2014-2013/


Monday 16 December 2013

Peace - Anson Rooms, Thursday 12th December

Questions in my mind ahead of this one that I'm struggling to answer; for a band with so much exposure/whipped up hype (mostly from career makers and breakers NME) how come they can't sell out the Anson Rooms on a Thursday night?  Are we all wearing rose-tinted specs?  Are they actually any good? Is Bristol still apathetic to indie? It's a head scratcher alright after this incendiary 50 minute performance proves to those who were there that the Worcester quartet are one of the few shining lights in British rock.


Throwing together elements of psychedelia, baggy and Brit-pop; the group nominated for countless ‘Sound of 2013’ polls arrive in Bristol on what must surely be their last tour of recorded live debut album ‘In Love’.  Whilst they’re often compared to other trendy hipster types Foals, Maccabbees and Vampire Weekend the group is actually fronted by a chap with a decent level of rock’n’roll charisma.  Oft bizarrely-dressed Harry Koisser cuts a Jagger-esque figure on-stage adorned in a hatched two-tone shirt last seen wall-papering a yuppie flat in 1987.  It’s been a far from peaceful year for the group The Guardian has hailed as the ‘future of indie’ with a whole heap of festival slots, an opening slot on the NME Awards Tour and perhaps some disproportionate gushing from the long-standing magazine.  


After opener ‘Waste Of Paint’ throws it’s shifty indie-disco Happy Monday’s weight around, its fair to suggest we’re not hearing anything new but of course we’re in 2013 not 1989 and there’s a whole new generation of indie kids yearning for their own Hacienda experience.  ‘Follow Baby’ invokes some crowd-surfing whilst other Koisser brother Samuel (bass) lays down a grungy groove to be layered over by a cacophony of wonky guitar brought into line by a smooth falsetto harmony.  Organised chaos during the funky breaks on ‘Drain’ which sees some wild bubbling tropical guitar licks alongside some impressively stretching yet tight vocals.  “If you’re not happy wearing denim, you’re a devil in disguise” is the call on ‘Float On Forever’ – a definite anthem that sounds like Gaz Coombes has replaced Damon Albarn in Blur circa ‘The Great Escape.’  


The equally catchy ‘Lovesick’ ought to be a monster hit with a chorus that would have cleaned up in ’95 as would ‘Toxic’ which despite yet more of Doug Castle’s aggro wonky guitar can’t hide it’s pop sensibilities.  There’s little time for banter as the band rattle off nearly all of the debut and a couple of EP tracks including a delightfully ear-splitting and visually blinding ‘1998’.  No cute choruses here, just an adrenalin packed wall of sound, breathless and devastating (think ‘Blow Out’ from Radiohead’s ‘Pablo Honey’).  They leave to a deservedly loud ovation in what was short, sweet and just superb from start to finish.  Will the NME turn on them as they often do post-debut album?  Maybe.  Or maybe these are the first strides towards the top from a band happy to describe themselves as creating ‘music to grind, roll and smoke / music to fuck you in the heart.’

Kindly published by www.bristol24-7.com
http://www.bristol247.com/2013/12/18/review-peace-at-anson-rooms-bristol-40666/

Setlist:

1. Waste Of Paint
2. Follow Baby
3. Higher Than The Sun
4. Drain
5. Float On Forever
6. Lovesick
7. Money
8. Toxic
9. Wraith
10. 1998
11. California Daze
12. Bloodshake

Best track: Click on link below
Peace - 'Lovesick'

Buy album here:

Tuesday 10 December 2013

The Moulettes - Thekla, Friday 6th December

Blood-curdling bassoon, bouncing double bass, scintillating strings and vocal harmonies to die for; welcome to the fairytale alt-folk universe inhabited by Glastonbury formed sextet The Moulettes. 


In a galaxy far far away from the mainstream watery folk bandwagon that the dark lord Barlow has recently hitched a ride upon there is a band creating ethereal, exhilarating and carefully mastered folk/rock opuses via a vast assembly of instruments that sonically stretch the boundaries between folk, rock and (curiously) prog.  Headed up by the beautiful English rose vocals, cello and guitar of Hannah Miller, the band bring their quirky and inventive sounds to a fervent Thekla crowd of students, Radio 2 folk purists and curious newbies.  The ‘Farewell To The Bear’ tour comes after a heavy gigging schedule in support of last year’s second album ‘The Bears Revenge’ which delighted with its Balkan gypsy rhythms (from Miller’s time tutoring music in Bosnia) and addictive yet unusual tempo changes. 


The hurtling staccato punk of opener ‘Horses For Hearses’ is followed by the upbeat serenity of ‘Sing Unto Me’ which has a Fairport Convention feel but with a sophisticated texture, fire-cracking drums and some stunning three part harmonies.  There’s some confident banter between songs as Miller and Ruth Skipper (Bassoon, Vocals and Autoharp) playfully tease each other, both adorned in spectacular milk maid / Bavarian Dirndl costumes.  Skipper’s bassoon is a potent weapon throughout the set and particularly on ‘Unlock The Doors’ as funky orchestral folk is interrupted by images of twilight adventures in the forest with hobbits being chased by trolls across the shire.  It’s an instrument that many of tonight’s crowd may not have considered as a substitute for a big guitar solo but it works a treat bringing regular grins and whoops.  Furthermore, Jim Mortimore’s double bass is so striking that it negates the need for overly intrusive percussion; that said, there’s some very handy breaks from drummer Ollie Austin and together they provide the perfect foil for the group’s daring experimentations. 


Mid-way through the set and the celestial ‘Songbird’ has a timeless charm that sees the Miller/Skipper vocal dream team alongside Anisa Arslanagic on sumptuous violin for a track that warms like mulled cider.  ‘Devil Of Mine’ is tonight’s highlight and sounds like Kate Bush in a rock band with a hip-hop style vocal, not least on rock’s most unlikely winning lyric; “He moved towards us his cravat was exquisite.”  Throw in some violent cello and it’s a pretty good summation of the eccentricity and off-beat magic of the band, it certainly has the audience gripped.  Penultimate murder-ballad ‘Bloodshed In The Woodshed’ is an enthralling ride with lyrics that Morrissey would be proud of and shows that it’s worth remembering that above all the bewitching, complex musicianship; these guys can rock.  At times breathtaking, at times potty, from the outbreaks of Irish jigs to 1920’s swing jazz, it’s never a dull moment and certainly anything but pretentious.  Forthcoming album with working title ‘Constellations’ has contributions from prog legend and ‘God of Hellfire’ Arthur Brown amongst others.  And after tonight’s superb performance its hard to not look forward with anticipation to what on earth that will sound like.  

Kindly published by Bristol24-7: http://www.bristol247.com/2013/12/10/review-moulettes-thekla-bristol-81428/

Best track: Click on link below
Moulettes - 'Unlock The Doors'

Setlist TBC

Buy albums here: