Issue 52 / February 2015

FREE
Issue 52
February 2015
All We Are by Dave Edwards
All We Are
Esa Shields
The Lost Brothers
Kate Tempest

2015 HIGHLIGHTS
THE UNTHANKS
Sunday 1 March 7.30pm
–
RUMOURS OF
FLEETWOOD MAC
Thursday 5 March 7.30pm
–
‘A CURIOUS LIFE’
& LEVELLERS -
(acoustic)
Friday 6 March 7.30pm
–
DR JOHN
and the Nite Trippers
Monday 9 March 7.30pm
ONE MAN
BREAKING BAD
performed by Miles Allen
Tuesday 24 March 7.30pm
–
CALEXICO
Friday 1 May 8pm
–
DYLAN MORAN
Saturday 2 May 8pm
–
THE FULL
ENGLISH
Tuesday 5 May 7.30pm
REGINALD
D HUNTER
Sunday 10 May 8pm
–
STEWART
LEE
Tuesday 2 June 8pm
Wednesday 3 June 8pm
–
ELVIS
COSTELLO -
DETOUR
Monday 15 June 8pm
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Box Office 0151 709 3789
liverpoolphil.com
Image The Unthanks

Bido Lito! February 2015 3
Bido Lito!
Issue Fifty Two / February 2015
bidolito.co.uk
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Editor
Christopher Torpey - chris@bidolito.co.uk
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Craig G Pennington - info@bidolito.co.uk
LIBERTÉ, ÉGALITÉ, RESPONSABILITÉ
Editorial
Rob Watling
Over the past few weeks since the terrible atrocities in Paris, in which the lives of seventeen people were taken, many of us have been moved by the
outpouring of sentiment shown by the millions across France who turned out in force to honour the victims who fell at the offices of Charlie Hebdo,
and in the supermarket in Porte de Vincennes. This show of solidarity was shared by the hundreds who marched through Liverpool in unity with their
French cousins, and the countless millions across the globe who showed their support via the #JesuisCharlie hashtag.
In all of the polemic that has followed these attacks, the idea of freedom of speech has been widely interrogated, and occasionally used as a shield
to excuse some particularly vile commentary. But what a surprisingly large amount of the comment has shown is a lack of understanding of what
freedom of speech actually means – its implications, limitations and obligations.
It might seem an obvious thing to point out, but our basic human rights of freedom of thought, opinion and expression are some of the strongest
pillars of our society. They allow us all to hold an opinion, no matter how much it conflicts with the next person's, and to receive and impart these
ideas. Fundamentally, this is a very powerful notion, and just because we are so used to it doesn't mean we should gloss over it or be apologetic for it.
As an independent publication which operates with the liberty afforded us by the joint freedoms of speech and expression, we have the right to
be as opinionated as we like: about any band or gig or person or, indeed, anything we bloody well want. Equally, and even as a moderately small
publication, we have to be keenly aware of the impact of those opinions. Mass media has a responsibility, because of its platform, to not just uphold
the values of free speech, but also to be truthful and, where possible, fair. Of course the media has been used to nefarious ends before, but the
democratisation of comment, especially via social media, has provided a bulwark against the spread of propagandist material. This was something
that was observed acutely during the Arab Spring.
Not all boundaries are clearly defined, though. Cartoonists – particularly satirical cartoonists – deal in exaggeration and caricature, and see the
boundaries of correctness as elastic, to be stretched. They're cruel and cutting and amusing, turning things on their head or looking at situations
in challenging, direct ways. In France, a secular country, religion is fair game for satirists, as are ALL power systems. Say what you like about Charlie
Hebdo’s editorial policy, but don’t deny that they’ve not been democratic in ridiculing the more extreme forms of the world’s religious and political
views. No one was exempt: to do otherwise would have been hypocritical. It may be shocking to us because it's not our culture, but from another
viewpoint in another set of societal circumstance it is fairly normal. This doesn’t mean that we’re forbidden from taking offence from something said
by a politician in Finland or published in a school textbook in the Philippines – far from it. But we should balance our response to any inflammatory
remarks with cultural context. Maajid Nawaz , Liberal Democrat candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn and co-founder of counter-extremism think tank
Quilliam, puts it neatly: "You have every right to be offended, you do not have the right to not be offended".
Freedom of expression is not freedom from consequence – and, indeed, murder is not an acceptable consequence for anything. We need to make
sure that the laws that govern freedom of speech are robust enough to allow us to flourish, while also punishing those who confuse mockery with
race hate, satire with defamation, preaching with inciting violence. There are no rules that govern the boundaries of taste and decency, and this is
where we, as people who want to live in a fair society, need to communicate with care. Rules are there for people, not ideas. Everyone should be
responsible for their own ideas.
Christopher Torpey / @BidoLito
Editor
Reviews Editor
Sam Turner - live@bidolito.co.uk
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Christopher Torpey, Craig G Pennington, Richard
Lewis, Paddy Hughes, Sam Turner, Conor
McDonnell, Jack Graysmark, Dave Tate, Alastair
Dunn, Rob Syme, Glyn Akroyd, Joshua Potts,
Christopher Carr, Chris Hughes.
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All rights reserved.
bidolito.co.uk

4
Bido Lito! February 2015
ALL
WE
ARE
bidolito.co.uk

Bido Lito! February 2015 5
Words: Christopher Torpey / @CATorp
Photography: Becky Hawley and Dave Edwards (front cover)
As that great triumverate De La Soul once said, three is the magic
number. Admittedly it’s not spectacularly profound as an aphorism,
but it’s particularly apt when applied to Liverpool’s favourite
multinational combination, ALL WE ARE – a trio of musicians who
are on the cusp of widespread and much deserved acclaim. The
hive mind of Rich O’Flynn, Guro Gikling and Luis Santos (Percussion,
Bass and Guitar respectively) is responsible for every aspect of the
irresistible world of All We Are, which just got even more irresistible
with the release of their debut, self-titled album. In the record’s
eleven taut and sinewy tracks, Rich, Guro and Luis have created a
microcosm of their infectious world, thus crafting a piece of work
that will be utterly compelling to music fans with even the beigest
of tastes.
The first time our paths crossed with All We Are was in 2012,
around the release of their very first EP. Back then they were a folk
band who specialised in “creeping psychedelia”, at least, according
to our definition. The All We Are that exists today is a massive
progression from those embryonic moments, a refined and
ultimately more confident entity. As evolved as All We Are version
2.0 is – and it unquestionably is, because you could never mistake
them for a folk band now – an echo of the expansive, otherworldly
atmosphere that has always been an All We Are trademark still
cloaks their debut record, now fed through the “psychedelic
boogie” FX pedal of the band’s new aesthetic.
When discussing this evolution with Rich, Guro and Luis in a
shadowy corner of their rehearsal room, they are clearly able to
identify the point where it all changed for them. “I think we kind
of see Utmost Good as a defining point, because it was when we
‘found our sound’, if you like. Most of the stuff we’d done up to
then sort of fell by the wayside,” explains Rich as he warms himself
in front of an electric fire. Utmost Good – their gloriously gloopy
and catchy tune from midway through 2013 – is their line in the
sand. All bar one of the songs on All We Are is made up of post-
Utmost Good material, and it’s something that Guro thinks is more
representative of the band’s true essence. “I think we spent a lot
of time before Utmost Good figuring out how to play together,”
she says, “and to find the route we were going to take. It felt like
when we hit on Utmost Good we’d found our sound. So from there
we kind of knew what we were up to.” “I definitely think it shaped
what we did from then on,” Rich adds in agreement.
The track was a trigger for them in many ways, and opened the
door to a label deal: since signing with Domino imprint Double Six
at the beginning of 2014, the trio have been busy piecing together a
record that holds true to their distinctive vibe. The album’s sensual
movement kicks in straight from the off with Ebb/Flow. Built around
a fat and cloudy bass riff, Ebb/Flow is a perfect introduction to the
atmosphere the band feel defines them so precisely, complete
with swirls and burps of space noises that twinkle underneath its
killer groove.
Elsewhere, the album’s three singles see them push all of the
boundaries that their fluid genre-chopping allows. Feel Safe has a
funky, lithe disco feel, while Keep Me Alive teases you along with its
gorgeous melody and Guro and Rich’s cooing vocals. There has been
some talk of a Bee Gees element in the All We Are sound, which feels
a little lazy given their own description of their sound as “Bee Gees
on Diazepam”. That said, it is hard to look past the double-header of
Honey and I Wear You at the centre of the record as their unashamed
Barry, Robin and Maurice moment, full of falsetto harmonies and
nimble guitar work. “There are a fair amount of similarities between
us and The Bee Gees,” Guro says half-jokingly, though the smile on
her face suggests it may be even more playful than that. “They went
through a lot of different periods before they found the sound that
was them. I guess in some ways we are like siblings as well, even
though we’re not brothers…!”
As a sublime counterpoint to all this, the wistful Something
About You shows off their ability to build the layers up from
seemingly nowhere, eventually blooming into a gorgeously dense
whole. And then there’s Utmost Good, languorous and warm,
which keeps a sort of link between the familiar and new worlds
of All We Are. Though everything else on the album was recorded
in their month-long stint at producer Dan Carey’s home studio in
London, the original recording of Utmost Good, done with Joe Wills,
remains, albeit with an updated mix. “We just wanted to give it a
bit of freshness, and to bring it in line with the whole album,” Rich
explains. “We really wanted that production to be on it, though; it’s
quite special to us.”
Given his past record in capturing the perfect mood of a record
(with The Kills, CSS and Django Django to name just a few), Dan Carey
seemed like a perfect fit for All We Are, and it’s clear that the band
enjoyed every bit of their time recording with him. “Personally, it
opened up things as far as groove is concerned,” confirms Rich. “The
nuances of groove, and little things. He’s just the king of vibe!” The
band credit Carey for accentuating and bottling the atmosphere they
had created in their own practice room, and he did so by using all
manner of tricks in the live room. Introducing strobes and a smoke
machine during the recording process may seem like gimmicks
but they helped the band get in the right mood to discover the
intangible energy for which they were looking. This even stretched
to the compulsory wearing of sunglasses for the tracking of I Wear
You, from which engineer Alexis Smith wasn’t exempt. “That’s just
Dan Carey in a nutshell!” laughs Guro, which Luis expands on: “He’s
quite open-minded about what happens in the studio. If anything
goes wrong it’s just ‘the vibe’, you know. Everything is very organic,
even when you have something static like a loop drum machine.
And everything is being fed in to this huge spring on the ceiling of
the studio that captures sound as well. He uses that in the mix, so
the whole thing is ever-changing. And it feels alive, you know. It’s
not like there’s a repeated sound in there – every single sound, even
if it’s delayed or looped, is slightly different.”
Throughout the interview all three of them make repeated
gestures towards the area in the middle of the room where their kit
is arranged, referencing it like a mute fourth member of the band.
“I think the atmosphere that we create starts here in this room with
just the three of us. I think a lot of it is the connection between the
three of us as people and friends that comes out,” explains Guro, to
which Rich adds, “This is the home; this is the real deal.”
Supporting Warpaint on their UK tour in 2014, and watching from
the wings as the LA troupe recreated their own sultry vibe in a live
context, left a lasting impression on the trio. Not only did it show
them that it was possible to achieve onstage what they’d created
alone in their room, but it also encouraged them to be a bit more
fearless when approaching new stuff. It’s telling that their onstage
setup now mirrors their practice room setup, with the three of
them facing each other in a triangle, almost zoning everything else
out. “A big part of it is that we have this All We Are world that we
live and breathe all the time,” Guro asserts. “I think when we go on
stage we want people to be invited in to that.”
As many folk in their adopted home will attest to, the world of
All We Are is something that is virtually impossible not to get taken
in by. It’s a world borne out of the intense chemistry that exists
between these three close friends, which Rich quite neatly sums
up: “In some ways the connection that exists between the three
of us is the basis of what the band’s about.” All We Are’s style feels
uniquely suited to them and, excitingly, is fluent enough to morph
across different genres. In many ways the release of their debut
record is a new beginning for them, like a butterfly emerging from
its chrysalis. All hail the power of three.
All We Are is out on 5th February on Double Six.
soundcloud.com/thisisallweare
bidolito.co.uk

6
Bido Lito! February 2015
Words: Paddy Hughes / @paddyhughes89
Photography: India Cranks
Since
she
first
performed poetry
as a sixteen-year-old in
a dingy hip hop store on Carnaby
Street, KATE TEMPEST has not only taken the underground art
scene by storm, but has achieved the kind of crossover success
that only comes around once in a generation. Over the last
fifteen years she has written plays and poetry collections, toured
with her band, Sound Of Rum, supported Benjamin Zephaniah
and Scroobius Pip, and has even started writing a novel. In 2014
she finally became a household name when her debut album
Everybody Down was nominated for The Mercury Prize. Ahead of
her upcoming gig at The Kazimier (18th February), Tempest kindly
took some time out from a writing retreat to speak to Liverpool’s
own slam poetry prince, Paddy Hughes, about her fantastically
diverse career.
Bido Lito!: Hello Kate. You’re involved in music, poetry and
literature but what came first?
Kate Tempest: It was music that was my first way into being
creative. I just fell into the other things after a few years of writing
lyrics and being in bands and mucking around with lyrics. As for
the poetry thing… that was kind of an accident. I just wrote lyrics
that I already had to beats and music, and performed them at
poetry gigs. Now poetry for me is a very separate thing to my
music, but at the beginning it was all the same because I just
had lyrics.
BL!: For a lot of musicians in Liverpool, the city, for better or for
worse, becomes an early focal point when writing. Did that apply
to you growing up in London?
KT: When you grow up in a city like Liverpool or London, it’s
such an intense environment because it’s so full of people… so
many people and so much influence to hold in your head at one
time. When you’re a kid and you experience a darker side to your
city it leaves its mark; but so do the other parts, like the access
you have to creativity through community recording centres. For
me, your city gives you so much oxygen. I love London; it’s such
a big part of who I am. Like, if I’d grown up in the countryside I
would be a completely different artist.
bidolito.co.uk
BL!: When did it become apparent
that you were going to make a living
from music and writing? Is that what
you always wanted to be or did you
have different aspirations when you
were a lot younger?
KT: I actually wanted to be a vet when I
was really little because I loved animals, but I
can’t really imagine anything worse now. I wanted
to be a writer when I was ten. I loved reading and
telling stories… I never made a decision because it was
everything that I was living for already. So I just went for it. I
wanted to write and make music and now I’m pinching myself.
BL!: How did you find the transition from recording spokenword
to recording music, and how have your fans reacted to the
switch?
KT: There have been some funny moments at gigs where I have
looked out from the stage which has two drummers and a full
synth set up and I’ve seen people who have obviously come to
hear poetry, and at first it is a strange feeling… but I’m always
glad they’ve come and have followed my work. A gig is just about
the journey that you all go on together and when you achieve
that journey it is very exciting.
But, yeah, it is a very different thing and they both demand
very different things. When I know I’m onstage with the band I
feel a lot more relaxed and for me that is the most natural state
to be in. The band feels a lot more inclusive and chilled out. It’s
just more fun.
BL!: With freedom of speech being discussed in every pub and
coffee shop, how important do you feel it is to have a liberal,
thriving arts culture in the city that you live in?
KT: It’s extremely important. Art is important in keeping people
sane. So much happens politically and globally that it’s often
hard to understand what to think, but you might hear a song that
may be unrelated but brings you into context with how you feel
about the world and the time you’re living in. That is why art is so
important. I feel that we have moved beyond politics; it doesn’t
exist. Finance runs things but music gives us the meaning,
something that’s real. A purpose.
BL!: When you’re not busy writing who, or what, do you listen to?
KT: I listen to loads of different people. Poetry-wise I’m blessed
to count Scroobius Pip, Polar Bear, George The Poet and Hollie
McNish as peers and friends. Other poets I admire are Robin
Robinson and Carol Ann Duffy … the proper monoliths of writing.
Music-wise…. Mica Levi, who composed the film score for Under
The Skin, is fantastic. Young Fathers – who are also on my label,
Big Dada – are brilliant. Also, Jam Baxter has just released an
album called And Then We Ate Them Whole, which you should
really check out.
BL!:
So how do you and the band create your music?
KT: I work with a producer called Dan Carey. We make all of the
music together. Dan is brilliant… we just get together and spend
hours and hours in a strange world and come out the other side
with music. That’s the only way I can put it!
BL!:
It must have felt strange then when your debut solo record
was nominated for The Mercury Prize…!
KT: It felt amazing; I mean it’s massive. I have been trying to get
into the music industry for about twelve years, so to have got that
nomination it just felt like a clichéd ‘dream come true’.
But when you make a piece of work it doesn’t really matter
what others think as long as you like it. In the past I’ve made
work that I wasn’t really happy with because I cared too much
about the reaction, but with this record I was just excited because
I am so proud of it. It’s the beginning of a whole new chapter in
my career. I’m thrilled to bits because this is everything I have
ever wanted to do.
BL!: Do you have any advice to Liverpool’s performers and
writers?
KT: In terms of writing you need to remember that you love
writing and to enjoy what you have written. Performing well is
about putting yourself in a natural state. If you can enter into this
real space between your intention and your work and not undersay
things and not over-say things, you’ll be fine. Put yourself into
that space and mean it. There was a poet called Rilke who used
to get artists writing to him and asking him for advice and he said
that you don’t need advice. He said that what you have produced
is your work, your art and your life. You don’t need anybody else
to tell you when it’s finished or ready.
BL!: What are you working on at the moment?
KT: Well I’m working on a novel, which I’m really excited about.
It’s a whole new world and I don’t know what people are going
to think about it, but I’ve wanted to write a novel all my life and
now I have the story. It is a hard thing to do, though. That will be
out in 2016. I’m also in the studio making another album and I’m
touring all of 2015 with the band. I’m just pushing myself and
appreciating every opportunity – and, as always, trying to be a
better writer.
Kate Tempest plays The Kazimier on 18th February, and her
debut album Everybody Down is out now on Big Dada.
katetempest.co.uk

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8
Bido Lito! February 2015
Sci-Fi Torch Songs
With ESA SHIELDS
Words: Richard Lewis
Photography: Keith Ainsworth / arkimages.co.uk
Devonshire Road, Toxteth, L8, is one of Liverpool’s lesserknown
thoroughfares when it comes to musical connections,
rather unfairly as it turns out. The road’s capacious Victorian
mansions provided lodgings for some of the city’s most famed
mavericks in the early 1980s, with Number 20 serving as the
de facto Echo & The Bunnymen HQ through drummer Pete de
Freitas’ presence alongside Teardrop Explodes leader Julian
Cope, and Wild Swans main man Paul Simpson. Legend would
have it that the building’s living conditions surpassed even those
depicted in iconic 1980s vom-com The Young Ones for squalor,
Thatcher-era desperation and all-round craziness. The house
was also home to an American import described only as “The
Adolescent (Crazy Guest)” by Cope in his classic autobiography
Head On. Now we know her as Courtney Love.
Fast-forward to the present day and Devonshire Road is
still providing a home for oddball musical types, as it is the
current residence of one-man underground pop consortium ESA
SHIELDS. “I’m going to Berlin tomorrow and I found out three
days ago that they’re putting me on in Hamburg too, supporting
[cult electro doyen] Felix Kubin,” Shields explains as we meet up
in his front room-cum-studio, surrounded by a record collection
that looks to be the entire stock of Rough Trade East, West and
all points in-between. “A mate of mine is lending me another
one of these tonight cos I can’t delete anything off here,” the
singer states, nodding at the behemoth of an Akai 12-track digital
recorder that nestles in the corner of the room. “I wanna have
a seamless backing track so I don’t have gaps looking through
other discs as I’m playing.”
Ovum Caper, Esa Shields’ sparkling debut LP issued in
September 2014 by vinyl-only German label Gagarin Records
(hence the trip over), assimilates a bewildering array of genres,
and finds its resultant off-kilter pop songs successfully bridging
the gap between skewed and melodic. “I’m very glad it’s been
released; it’s a relief, really,” Shields says of the seven-years-inthe-making
LP, as he lights the first in an endless succession
of Marlboros. “It’s nice to hear people talking about it, which I
thought would never happen. There were gigs where there was
literally no audience for years.”
Performed almost in its entirety by Shields, the album’s
wayward keyboard textures, obscure guitar tunings and
androgynous vocals lodge in the brain deliciously over repeated
listens. The backlit Lost Time evokes an obscure sixties girl
group, while the doomy synth lines and folk-inspired vocal
melody of Woods And Gullies suggest a mash up of a John
Carpenter soundtrack and Fairport Convention. The whimsical
acid folk of Shelley Duvall and the gorgeous Casio keyboardled
pop bijou of Monde Capricorn, meanwhile, provide the
album’s considerable highlights, on an LP where, no matter
bidolito.co.uk
how discordant proceedings get across the eleven tracks, a pop
sensibility always shines through.
Formerly a member of superlative alt. rock unit SeaWitches,
and featured on a Super Numeri-curated compilation in 2005,
Esa Shields has long been a part of the city’s rich and varied
underground scene. A memorable appearance at Korova
supporting Ladytron in 2006 saw him eating an apple onstage,
a move some interpreted by some as a piece of performance
art. “That was just out of nerves!” the singer grins as he
remembers the incident. “You were able to smoke then, too;
I really miss that,” he says, lamenting the death of the stressbusting
onstage ciggie.
On the subject of live work, while a band is being recruited to
bring his songs to the stage later in the year, Shields’ tracks have
up to now almost always been performed solo, juxtaposing live
vocals with backing tracks supplied by a 4-track recorder. He cites
a gig by US pop provocateur Ariel Pink at The Kazimier in 2012 –
which saw the singer playing behind a screen up on the venue’s
balcony – as an example of the direction he hopes his own
shows will take. “I’m a not massive fan of him [Ariel Pink], but
him playing behind a screen, I loved
that. That’s the sort of stuff
I come up with but never do. I always leave it far too late and
just end up… singing,” he shrugs. “I’d like to make shows more
interesting, definitely, rather than me just standing there, still.”
For a long time hampered by stage fright, it seems as though
Shields has gradually got to grips with his stagecraft over time
as his fears of performing have eased. “I’ve got more faith with
the music now,” he nods.
While Ovum Caper’s pink artwork, which features various kinky
illustrations, is certainly eye-catching, for a brief time the LP was
going to be issued in a format that would have made Björk’s
multimedia extravaganzas look prosaic. “Initially I wanted it to
come with a set of little cards. Y’know, those ones that open
up and play a tune,” Shields says. “There would have been a
version of a song in each one of them. It would have been far
too expensive, though that’s still an open-ended idea, mind!”
Shields' internet presence, aside from the recent additions
of SoundCloud and Bandcamp pages, is generally scarce and
literally non-existent in the case of social media. “I suppose I
should but I quite like not being on any sites like Facebook,”
the singer mumbles, ruminating on the ever-increasing number
of sites musicians supposedly “have” to be signed up to in the
present day. “I’ll be emailing more regularly since I’ve got an
email address now, though,” he announces brightly.
Drawn extensively from Eastern European cinema and the BBC
Radiophonic Workshop, in addition to seemingly every category
of music ever conceived, much of Shields’ Library of Congressproportioned
record collection has been sourced from the
‘Soundtracks and Compilations’ section
in Probe. Recent acquisitions include
discs by Krzysztof Komeda, who scored
a clutch of Roman Polanski classics, plus
legendary composer Bernard Hermann’s
score for Brian De Palma shocker Sisters.
“Ideally that’s the direction I’d like to go
in,” Shields nods when asked if he would
ever branch out into soundtracks for films
and television. “It’d be great to do one for an
action film and totally fuck it up!” he laughs.
Alongside solo work, an impressive amount
of plate-spinning by the vocalist and multiinstrumentalist
is currently taking place with
various collaborative ventures. Immersive
sound and visual experience Lost Minutes, with
Legends Of Flight, returns to the Unity Theatre in
February following a successful run in October.
A friend’s band called The Inksets, meanwhile, is
in its fledgling stages. “I’m really looking forward
to that,” he enthuses of the project. “We’ve been
wanting to get that off the ground for ages. We
did a couple of songs in the summer but it’s been
slow since then cos of my album. They had this song
before I joined, then I put my two penny worth in on
guitar,” he explains as he plays me a demo version of
the track, a slab of propulsive robotic pop.
Amidst ongoing activity around Ovum Caper, the
follow-up is already taking shape, with a release pencilled
in for later this year. “I’ve got most of it recorded, with two
songs to go. I’ve got most of the vocals done; then I’ll
get it mixed and hopefully get it issued. It’s gonna
be totally miscellaneous this one, it’s shaping up
that way,” Shields says of the set, which certainly
looks set to retain his debut LP’s eclecticism.
“It’s more or less the same sort of principle. I’m
not thinking about it until I’ve got twelve songs
that sit comfortably with each other.”
And with that we bid farewell, as the
preparations for the trip to Germany are wrapped
up. If Ovum Caper announced the belated
arrival of a genuine one-off talent, then Shields’
subsequent journey into the unexplored
realms of outsider pop looks set to be just as
compelling.
Ovum Caper
is out now on Gagarin Records.
esashields.bandcamp.com

Bido Lito! February 2015 9
bidolito.co.uk

10
Bido Lito! February 2015
Illustration: Scott Duffey / scottduffey.co.uk
Think back to the last song you heard and try and weigh up
how much you actually connected with it. You heard, but did you
listen? Did you hear the sounds, process their meaning, and react
to them? Did you just use your ears to listen? The act, even art, of
listening is far more involved than our sense of hearing, and it’s a
skill which is as profound to our way of communicating as being
able to articulate.
Currently running at The Bluecoat, LISTENING is a
groundbreaking exhibition – the latest Hayward Touring Curatorial
Open exhibition – which examines the crossover between the
visual and the sonic, with many of the selected artists working
in the fields of both contemporary music and art. Featuring a
variety of media, from drawings and sculpture to prints and video,
and with works ranging dramatically in duration from less than
a second to six hours, Listening is an orchestration of works that
curator Sam Belinfante claims “interrogates the act of listening
itself, rather than merely its aural objects”.
From the almost inaudible sound of a dying star to the
stretched, dissected and reassembled noise of a clap of thunder,
our notion of what makes up the sound we hear is laid bare. A
new work by Turner Prize-winner Laure Prouvost choreographs a
dialogue between lights and objects in the exhibition, while the
insulated anechoic chamber of Haroon Mirza – winner of the Nam
June Paik Art Center Prize 2014 – silences the outside world to
allow us to listen profoundly to the sound of our own bodies.
The exhibition will also include Liverpool-based artist Imogen
Stidworthy’s rarely-seen work, The Whisper Heard, which
centres on the spoken word in relation to different notions of
meaning and communication. In the piece, sounds and images
are configured into three acoustic zones, focused and reflected
within the adapted space by loudspeakers and a parabolic dish.
The sounds come from two people who deal with language in
very different ways: a man suffering from aphasia, a condition
following a stroke which affects the language faculty of the brain;
and a three-year-old boy who is in the process of learning to speak.
Both participants respond to the narration of a chapter from Jules
Verne’s Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, a passage which sees
the character Otto Lidenbrock losing all sense of relation to the
bidolito.co.uk
outside world and his trust in his senses. As neither participant
is able to read, their relationship with these narrated words is
primarily oral.
To get more of a feel for these ideas of interpreting spoken and
written words, we spoke to Imogen, the 2008 Liverpool Art Prize
winner, on what listening actually means...
Bido Lito!: What does your piece, The Whisper Heard, aim to
highlight?
Imogen Stidworthy: It challenges the meaning of language.
In the installation, the voice of the little boy pronounces but he
doesn’t understand; the man understands but doesn’t pronounce.
The child is still learning to speak and the man has a condition
called aphasia, damage to the language cortex of the brain, which
means that the synaptical links that help him connect thoughts
with words are sometimes lost.
When words aren’t working ‘properly’ we have to feel around
them to find other forms of meaning. We may have to detach from
language in order even to sense and register other forms. How
can we let go of language when we’re up to our necks in it? In
the installation, the spoken word is pulled apart into interrelated
zones: what you could call body language, thinking space, facial
expression, vocal resonance, the narrative thread of a story
unfolding, written text – all these elements are configured as a
spatial, sonic ‘machine’.
BL!:
We’re interested in the nature of meaning within the
piece – is comprehension of the spoken text necessary in
understanding the message?
IS: If you don’t comprehend a spoken text you start to listen
differently. Meaning is not only semantic, I’m interested in the
sound of the voice, the hesitations, the elisions, the embodiment
of thought, or of response, and the space of relation between
two bodies and subjectivities engaging in dialogue. What is it
that is passing between us and giving us the experience we call
communication?
BL!:
Have you made any changes to the piece since you first
exhibited it?
IS: The work was developed for an exhibition at Matt's Gallery
in London in 2003; after that, I showed it in Bergen, Tel Aviv,
Seoul and Linz. Every space was different and every time the
arrangement of the elements had to be adapted to the space. The
elements are assembled like a kit set up temporarily for a test or a
treatment to happen. This can be wheeled into any space, though
the key is in the relationship between the parts. There are some
sonic effects – reflections and lines of focused sound – that have
to be set up, and there’s a synaesthetic dimension which happens
when all these relationships are working together.
BL!: Why have you included imagery (in the form of video) in a
piece that is ostensibly about challenging our methods of hearing?
IS: With The Whisper Heard I wanted to focus on processes
of what we think of as ‘understanding’. Listening and hearing
involve different forms of attention – one is more searching than
the other – but listening and hearing both set us up with very
different expectations for what we might understand from visual
images. The work operates within that tension between the sonic
and the visual, and it needs both.
BL!: As we are bombarded by mainly visual information from
every angle, do you think our ability to listen is being lost?
IS: How we listen and what we listen to is affected by many
things. The visual image is one factor within a much larger
set of conditions shaped by our social, technological, cultural
and political environment. Our capacity to listen is not being
diminished, though of course it is changing. A lot of attention is
given to visual culture as a way of understanding broader cultural
shifts; historically, much less attention has been given to our
listening culture, for reasons which continue to be discussed and
written about. Visiting the exhibition Listening involves many
different modes of listening and hearing; perhaps it helps us
to focus on some of those changes as we experience them in
ourselves.
The Listening exhibition is on at The Bluecoat now, running
until 29th March. Our Editor, Christopher Torpey, is also giving a
short guest tour of the exhibition on 28th March, explaining his
interpretation of some of the pieces involved.
thebluecoat.org.uk

Presented by
Liverpool
International
Festival Of
Psychedelia
& Effenaar
5-6 June 2015
2015mg 5-6 June 2015
A throbbing
laboratory of
bands, Djs,
visual happenings
and kaleidoscopic
experiments
Trouble in Mind Stage
June 2015
Morgan Delt / Doug Tuttle
Jacco Gardner
The Soft Moon
The Cult of Dom Keller
Pow! / Black Bombaim
Teeth of the Sea / Pauw
Plus many more to
be announced!
Tickets and more information
www.eindhovenpsychlab.com

12
Bido Lito! February 2015
bidolito.co.uk

LOST AND FOUND
Bido Lito! February 2015 13
The Liverpool of The Lost Brothers
Words: Sam Turner / @SamTurner1984
Illustration: Chris Coll / facebook.com/HauntedBoyStuff
“On the last night of recording our new album, Oisin and I took
a late-night stroll around some of the old places. Walking past
Elevator Studios, we stopped and stood outside. This is where I
recorded my first record with The Basement, under the production
of Ian Broudie. Around the corner was the rehearsal rooms – a
massive building with fifty-odd rooms, all filled with bands playing
into the night. We stood outside and looked up at our old rooms,
mine with The Basement and Oisin's with The 747s.
I spent so many hours, days, weeks, months and years up in that
room. I even lived up there in a period of desperate hopelessness.
We stood listening to the beautiful racket of a hundred songs
falling onto the street until someone exited the building, leaving
the door ajar and we ran inside. The place still smelled the same
– a mixture of urine, metal and weed. Knowing the perils of the
dreaded lift, we opted to take the stairs to the fifth floor.
Back when we practised there, those stairwells echoed with
the sounds of The Coral, The Zutons, The Bandits, The Stands, The
Little Flames, The Cubical, etc. Now they sing with a new song.
We knocked on the door of our old praccy room until someone
answered and kindly let us in. The room still looked the same,
only the humans were different. Our dust was still there, our pen
scribblings still on the walls, and I looked in the corner to see the
old piano that could never be tuned.
The piano came from the cellar of the building. Paul Speed (the
owner) told us that if we wanted it we could have it. Too big and
heavy to put in the lift, we somehow dragged it up six flights of
stairs. We took it in shifts. It took two days. When we finally got
it in the room we noticed it was impossible to tune, and it sat in
the corner, unused for the five years we were there. And there it is
still. Untouched. In its place. In its home. In a corner. Covered in
cobwebs and dust. Along with our ghosts.”
Mark McCausland
Liverpool clearly has a special place in the hearts of THE LOST
BROTHERS. The two Irishmen, Oisin Leech and Mark McCausland,
now based north of Dublin, formed on Merseyside around 2007
after cutting their teeth in an assortment of bands: Mark’s band
The Basement were briefly attached to Deltasonic, which put them
in touch with some of Liverpool music’s noughties luminaries,
while Oisin’s 747s recorded a version of Baby I’m Yours with Arctic
Monkeys after releasing their underappreciated record, Zampano.
Those were the tail end of some golden years for music in the
city: national and international music press were taking notice of
The Bandwagon night at the Zanzibar, The Coral had ushered in a
Scousedelic renaissance, and Liverpool bopped again
Despite moving away, the Losties – as they’ve affectionately
become known – have travelled extensively, playing and
recording in cities across the globe. Last year saw their return
to Liverpool to record their fourth album, New Songs Of Dawn
And Dust, at Parr Street Studios, with production responsibilities
going to another restless product of those kaleidoscopic times,
Bill Ryder-Jones. “We are fascinated by Bill’s work as a solo
artist. His two albums are stunning; I really respect what he
is doing and the sounds he is getting,” Oisin tells me while
having some well-earned downtime in Ireland between
touring. “So we wanted to bring these songs – travelogues that
we had written on the road – to Bill, and he brought things out
of the songs that we didn’t even know were there and added
his magic dust.”
“One of our favourite Liverpool rituals was to go to the
Marlborough pub beside The Jacaranda on a Monday night. It
was a tiny corner old man’s pub with red velvet carpet and winecoloured
cushioned lounge couches. Every Monday there was
an old-time New Orleans jazz band that played their hearts out.
These guys were very elderly and were literally playing for their
lives. The energy was amazing. Pints were £1.40 so it meant I could
buy the entire pub a beer and still have change for the jukebox
when the band was done. The jukebox had Fred Neil records on it.
I found those Monday nights very inspiring.”
Oisin Leech
As well as jazz, folk and beat luminaries of the last 60 years,
the sounds of heartbreak, hard work and lives of romantic
recklessness can be heard in all of the duo’s long players. But Oisin
sees the characteristic sadness in the Losties’ tunes differently: “I
don’t see them as sad songs; all my favourite songs – whether
they’re Randy Newman, Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan songs, as
well as the inherent sadness in Irish folk music – really warm my
soul. I think a really sad song punches through everything and
restores your faith to bring you out the other end.”
“Another fine Liverpool ritual was to call down to Jongo's Guitar
Shop on Aigburth Road. We would come back to Liverpool after
a long tour and just sit off in Jongo's shop and talk about music.
Jongo has gypsy blood in him and he lives and breathes good
music. He once helped produce a demo of a song I wrote called
Rainkiss. We recorded it round at the now-legendary Honza's
house. Honza... there's another character who was very good to
us in the early days. If Keith Richards and Tom Waits had a baby
wizard it would be Honza.”
Oisin Leech
The Lost Brothers are musicians who, true to their name, live in
their songs as well as the sonic aesthetics of various decades. As
such, they have spent their career wandering the world working
with some of music’s most admired names. “This nomadic lifestyle
started without us even noticing. We weren’t living anywhere
and were constantly on the road,” says Oisin as he ponders their
rootless existence. “I suppose wherever our record collections are
we call home.”
Portland (“a great music city”) was the band’s first stop after
leaving Liverpool in 2008. There they recorded their first album
with Mike Coykendall (M Ward, Bright Eyes) and Adam Selzer
(The Decembrists). In between staying in a haunted pub and
hanging out at the biggest independent bookshop in the world,
they recorded Trails Of The Lonely with the help of pedal steel
specialist Paul Brainard. A support slot with Richard Hawley then
led the boys to Sheffield where they recorded So Long, John Fante
with the bequiffed crooner’s band and producer Colin Elliott in
2010. Oisin and Mark were back Stateside in 2011 in Nashville,
where they recorded the sublime The Passing Of The Night with
the help of Brendan Benson as well as members of the Old Crow
Medicine Show and The Cardinals.
You can hear a sense of place in these albums that cuts to the
essence of the setting: Bird In A Cage marvellously recreates the
atmosphere of a honky tonk, and Only By Light Of The Moon is
expertly inflected with Sheffield’s 60s-indebted forlorn romance.
Oisin finds that it is impossible to avoid the inspiration which
comes with experiencing new places and people: “When you’re
on the road, whether you like it or not you’re being inspired by
everything you see and the people you meet. This new album was
really inspired by the characters we met, trying to get through life
and trying to survive.”
“I used to get the train out to Formby and take a long sea walk
in the mornings. Then on the way back to town I’d try to write a
song on the train. I would pop up to see Carl in Hairy Records, chat
about Van Morrison, and finish off the day listening to Edgar Jones
DJing at La'go. If the night got extended we would all go to the
Kif near Parr Street. That was a kind of commune/art warehouse
where late-night jams would happen. The next day one could walk
off the blues along the Mersey and call into the Beatles shop. All
in all it was a great time back then, but Liverpool has a great new
vibe about it again at the moment. It's a buzzing city right now.
Exciting times."
Oisin Leech
New Song Of Dawn And Dust adds to this new vibe partly
thanks to Hotel Loneliness, the track penned by another Coral
cohort, Nick Power. It’s a tune typical of the Losties’ melodic
anguish and bridges the classic songwriting qualities of both
bands. “Nick is a huge fan of So Long, John Fante and he and Bill
really encouraged us,” says Oisin of the latest collaboration. “Out
of the blue he sent us Hotel Loneliness three or four years ago
and said ‘I would love to hear the Losties sing this song’. He kind
of became our song pen pal, then we all worked together on that
song. It was great to see Bill and Nick together.”
The boys are now looking forward to playing the next
instalment of Liverpool Acoustic Festival, which takes place at the
Unity Theatre in March. “We haven’t actually played [as the Lost
Brothers] that often in Liverpool and any excuse we have to come,
we’ll be over cos we love it,” says Oisin, “Whenever we step off the
train at Lime Street we feel a gust of energy behind us, and we’ll
walk up Bold Street and everything’s feeling groovy. In the back
of our minds Liverpool’s our home.”
While there are bands in Liverpool who may be ploughing more
innovative musical furrows as they learn their trades in the city’s
venerable educational institutions, it would be difficult to find a
band who live and breathe the musical tradition which hangs in
the air of the oldest pubs and practice rooms in Liverpool as much
as The Lost Brothers. For that, they will always be welcome here.
The Lost Brothers play Liverpool Acoustic Festival at the Unity
Theatre on 21st March, in a special showcase hosted by Bido Lito!
which also features a DJ set from Nick Power.
New Songs Of Dawn And Dust
is out now on Lojinx Records.
thelostbrothersband.com
bidolito.co.uk

14
Bido Lito! February 2015
TWO STEPPE ROCK
Broken Men and
While they were away, Natalie and Broken Men’s drummer/vocalist,
Henry Pulp, kept a tour diary. They’ve combined some of their memories
Natalie McCool
with photos from the tour, to shed some light on what it’s like touring
a rock’n’roll show in Putin’s backyard.
tour diary
Following a chance encounter with
“We were signing autographs and getting pictures with people, so it
Rolling Stone Russia that led to an
was a million miles away from what we’re used to. They made us feel
interview and a late-night, pissed-up
like royalty.”
–
Henry Pulp
Photography: GLORYBOX / glory-box.com
jaunt to The Mayflower, BROKEN MEN were offered the kind of chance
that doesn’t come around often: a tour of Russia, playing several dates
“They are so into their live music and it was a pleasure to play in front
in the underground rock clubs of Moscow and St Petersburg. So, with
of such engaged audiences. One girl in Moscow who saw us by chance
their passports in hand and a burning desire to go and play to some
said she searched all day the next day to find out who we all were,
new and wholly unknown crowds, Broken Men joined forces with
and then when she finally got the info she came to the gig the next
NATALIE MCCOOL and set off to tour the land responsible for slamming
night. It was amazing! Another girl said I made her cry – in a good way!”
Pussy Riot in jail and bringing TaTu to Eurovision.
– Natalie McCool
Natalie
McCool: Russia
is huge but we only saw a tiny portion of it: St Petersburg is
more European, Moscow was amazing but very imposing. All the
buildings are huge and it just goes on and on. There is much less
music over there – compared to here – but I think that makes the
people love it more.
Henry Pulp: The crowds are a lot more attentive, a
lot more appreciative. They even came to the soundcheck.
In the UK it’s like uncool to tell someone how much you
enjoyed the show. Over there they act as if you have just
given them a bucket of gold.
Head to bidolito.co.uk now to read more tour memories
from Henry Pulp and Natalie McCool, plus see a full photo
gallery containing all of the photos from the tour.
brokenmen.co.uk
nataliemccool.co.uk
bidolito.co.uk

Bido Lito! February 2015 15
Henry Pulp:
Our main big travelling stints were on night trains between
Moscow and St Petersburg, but it felt like a scene from the movies so
it didn’t get tedious. We’ve come back from that trip stronger than ever;
everyone’s that little bit more switched on because we’ve had a taste of
something every musician longs for, some form of international break.
Natalie McCool: While we were waiting in Moscow for
the night train, an older couple started talking to me; they looked
tough as old boots. I was terrified at first but after having some
goulash I calmed down a bit. We didn't really understand each other
and there was a lot of pointing and eyebrow twitching going on,
but just looking at them, for me, they epitomised Russia. They had
clearly been through a lot.
Henry Pulp: Being forced to spend so much time together
in close proximity takes a band to a whole new level. The bond that
grows is immeasurable, especially for a band of our size. You feel
like you’re part of the The Gramercy Riffs; you feel uniformed. A total
connection is built as soon as you step off the plane.
Natalie McCool: The last night at Krizis Zhanra in Moscow
was actually amazing; it was like Bumper circa 2006. We were headbanging
to Jet on the dancefloor; I started a conga line with a guy in
a huge white fur jacket... you get the idea. Also, I was getting ready
backstage and the DJ started playing From Nowhere by Dan Croll – a little
taste of home there!
bidolito.co.uk

16
Bido Lito! February 2015
Lenses
Passport
Memory Cards
Laptop
WHO ARE YA?
People Who Make Live Music Happen
Tales from the photo pit
with Conor McDonnell
Ear Plugs
Camera
If you’ve been to a gig at any point in the last ten years (and we
bloody hope you have), the chances are you’ll have seen dozens,
if not hundreds, of amateur photographers thrusting their mobile
phones in the air to get a picture, or even ‘enjoying’ the show
being played out on their minute blue-lit screens. Meanwhile, the
real people who are busy capturing those all-important “wow”
moments on camera are the quiet and sturdy photographers,
doing their best to remain unnoticed. If they’re not crouched in the
lion’s den that is the photo pit, they’re braving the crushes at the
front of the crowd to get that one shot that sums up the show – the
one shot that will be shared on social media the following day by
those people who were wafting their camera phones in the air.
For the latest in our 'Who Are Ya?' series looking at the
people who make live music happen, we speak to Merseyside
photographer CONOR MCDONNELL about the way the people
behind the lens view a concert. Having graduated from the
homely delights of The Zanzibar and The Shipping Forecast, Conor
is now a much in demand photographer who regularly does live
and tour photography for Ellie Goulding, Rita Ora and James
Morrison. Before jetting off for a one-night shoot in Las Vegas
with Calvin Harris, Conor – the man behind the most liked photo
ever on Instagram – spoke to us about the often underappreciated
role of the gig photographer.
I always keep my gear packed as my job often has lots of lastminute
calls. It’s always packed with fully charged batteries and
clean cards (plus plenty of spares), ready to go. My general gear
that I take mostly to every job consists of two camera bodies, an
assortment of lenses (there are four in the bag), two flash guns
and hard drives. Earplugs are a definite essential for this job, too.
I also currently pop in a Polaroid camera for fun.
Every job I do these days is for the artist, so I always get to
photograph and film the whole show. Back in the day when I
started shooting live music and I wasn’t working for artists but for
magazines and websites, it was almost always ‘first three songs’.
There’s lots of pressure, as you have no control over anything at
all: you can’t control the lighting, or where the artist will be. It’s
bidolito.co.uk
tricky. You have to learn to anticipate the moment – there’s no
point in chasing it, it’s already happened. I remember a few times
in the past where I’ve been shooting artists and, when leaving at
the start of the fourth song, the lighting became incredible or the
artist started to jump around and climb about on stage, and I’ve
thought, “Ahh, I wish I could shoot that, it looks amazing”. But you
just gotta work with what you have!
There are no general rules on pit etiquette between
photographers. It’s not like when you do it, there’s a list of stuff
you have to abide by. I wish there was, as some people have no
idea how to behave in the pit. When I started I was sixteen years
old so I was quite young. I was always getting pushed out of the
way by older photographers who thought that because they have
been doing it for years they are better and have a priority over
me. I’ve had several elbows to the head, been dragged back, etc.
There’s no need to be like that, no matter who you are.
The best condition for shooting a live show is lots of energy,
be it from the performer or the crowd. Energy is always fun to
capture. It always looks awesome, too. Good lighting definitely
helps but it isn’t a necessity. I like to make myself work hard when
shooting. Obviously great lighting makes it easier but if there’s
no energy even the greatest lighting rig in the world can look like
the most boring concert in the world. My favourite place I’ve ever
photographed was Red Rocks in Denver, Colorado, a legendary
venue, which was so much fun. I got free rein over the whole
concert there whilst on tour in America with Ellie Goulding.
When on tour or when I work with artists I always explore the
venue before the gig, quite often during soundcheck. This way
I can find vantage points and the quickest route to and from
these points. Figuring this out during the actual concert is wasted
time. A lot of the time you just have to find these places yourself:
sometimes you can ask security how to get to certain points but
more often than not I just do it. It’s easier to ask for forgiveness
than permission.
On tour, my lens cap always stays off, and editing is done late
into the night. The majority, if not all, of the time my photos are
expected on a superfast turnaround. I try to get my photos to the
artist the same night so that they can post them on social media.
As a live photographer, my role is to document the occasion for
the artist, so that when the photos go live you look at them
and they make you wish you were there because it looked so
awesome.
I’m always finding new places to take shots from. Though
it varies from venue to venue, you can often find me on stage
hidden behind amps or band members getting the shot. One of
the strangest places I got into was at the O2 in Dublin [now the
3Arena], where I managed to get in the roof of the arena directly
above the stage and crowd. It made for an interesting angle.
It definitely helps being a music fan for shooting live music.
It helps me anticipate what could potentially happen on stage.
Live music photography is all about anticipation: like I said earlier,
there’s no point in chasing something that has already happened
as it’s gone forever. It helps to anticipate if there’s going to be
a drop in the music or a breakdown as, more often than not,
something will happen during those moments.
I don’t mind it when fans post my photos online, though a lot
of photographers I know do. It really frustrates them and they
spend so much time chasing [the people concerned] getting
them to take [the photos] down. The way I see it, I’m shooting
for the fans too and I’d rather spend time working than chasing
teenagers online asking them to take down a photo. If they enjoy
it then I see it as my job there is done. It bothers me when people
make money out of it though, like people putting my photos on
fake merch, or selling prints. That’s a different story. That is theft.
To be a good live photographer takes a combination of natural
talent and an acquired technique. I think you can be taught
photography to a certain degree, but I think you have to have a
natural eye for it, and that is something that can’t be taught.
conormcdonnell.co.uk
Head to bidolito.co.uk now to see a gallery of Conor’s
favourite live shots. And, if you’re interested in being part of
our live photography team at Bido Lito!, drop us a line on
submissions@bidolito.co.uk.

1 HESKETH ST
AIGBURTH, LIVERPOOL
L17 8XJ
020 7232 0008

18
Bido Lito! February 2015
FEBRUARY IN BRIEF
SILENT SLEEP ON A MERRY SUNDANCE
SILENT SLEEP ON A MERRY SUNDANCE
Liverpool’s meandering globetrotting purveyors of soul-searching melancholia, SILENT SLEEP, dropped a brand-new LP before Bido Lito! even hit the
presses on this first edition of 2015. Stay The Night. Stay The Morning, Too is the follow up to the group’s 2013 debut and features guest appearances by
Dan Croll, The Wombats’ Tord Knudsen and Vidar Nordheim of Wave Machines. The band head out for a string of dates across the UK and Europe, before a
second appearance at the Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City, and a vinyl cut of the LP lands in March.
Stay The Night. Stay The Morning, Too is available digitally now
Edited by Jack Graysmark
JULIAN COPE
It is difficult to overstate the vision of musician, musicologist and all round mastermind JULIAN COPE. With thirty years in the music business which
began with post-punk project The Teardrop Explodes, his extensive portfolio features over twenty solo albums, countless collaborations and now the latest
chapter in the epic saga of his career; his debut novel One Three One, subtitled ‘A Time-Shifting Gnostic Hooligan Road Novel.’ If there’s one thing his solo
show at the Epstein won’t be short on, it’s variety.
The Epstein Theatre / 5th February
THE STAVES
With a name like that, you can bet there’s going to be an emphasis on vocals in this folk rock trio, but what grabs you is just how bold their harmonies
are, thriving off one another. Three years after their debut, Dead Born And Grown, THE STAVES return with If I Was, but to simply describe it as a follow-up
would not do it justice, especially with Bon Iver mastermind Justin Vernon at the production helm. Catch them up close and personal to experience the
new album in all its glory.
Arts Club / 10th February
FACT GROUP THERAPY
FACT have announced their latest major exhibition, GROUP THERAPY: Mental Distress In A Digital Age. This is a show originating from FACT’s extensive work within
mental health over the past two decades and one which proposes that art and the creative use of digital devices can challenge dated ideas about mental illness, helping
to reduce stigma and encourage open discussion about our personal wellbeing. The exhibition features Madlove by The Vacuum Cleaner, responding to the artist’s own
experience of psychiatric hospitals as punishing rather than loving environments, and also includes a collaboratively designed asylum. Visit fact.co.uk
for full listings.
FACT / 5th March onwards
RAE MORRIS
With a barrage of singer-songwriters vying for our attention, the 'laying your heart on the line' strategy can come across as clichéd, if not cynical. But
this is just the honest, humble ethos to which RAE MORRIS firmly clings. After a run of successful singles and a guest spot on Bombay Bicycle Club’s
Mercury Prize-nominated fourth album, So Long, See You Tomorrow, Morris returns to Liverpool with a show at The Kazimier to support her debut album,
Unguarded. Now with a solid backbone, Morris looks set to grab the New Year by the reins.
The Kazimier / 1st February
HAWK EYES
How do you improve colossal, savage riffs in a compact environment? Throw pizza into the mix. The DIY ethos of Maguire’s Pizza Bar fits perfectly as the
host for two of Britain’s finest up and coming hard rock bands. Ahead of the release of their third effort, Everything Is Fine, Leeds-based HAWK EYES join
forces with the vicious oozings of GOD DAMN. This can only result in a blistering bedlam of noise, but if you like your sounds heavy then it’ll be a little
slice of heaven.
Maguire’s / 12th February
THE WAR ON DRUGS
Rescheduling from their original November date has only whetted our appetites further for THE WAR ON DRUGS’ Liverpool showcase. If you’ve somehow
missed the acclaim from all corners for Adam Granduciel and co’s third album, Lost In The Dream, then you’re in for a treat: Granduciel’s intimate musings,
elevated by the wayward Springsteen-esque melodies, have been cited as one of the finest albums to emerge in 2014. With a wealth of earlier material
on which to draw, The War On Drugs should give the O2 Academy an unrivalled atmosphere.
O2 Academy / 16th February
bidolito.co.uk

Bido Lito! February 2015 19
RICHARD DAWSON
Contemplation never was so sinister as with folk musician RICHARD DAWSON. His latest release, Nothing Important, features only four tracks,
with two of them clocking in at over sixteen minutes. Yet the deeply unsettling nature of Dawson’s lingering notes from his nylon string guitar
ensure you remain absorbed, uncertain of his next move. The sheer scale of his music’s ambition keeps him from coming across as arrogant, as
the frankness in his storytelling holds strong. This session in the Hold should be absorbing at least.
The Shipping Forecast / 18th February
LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL
The third Liverpool International Jazz Festival kicks off this month, looking set to build on two previous fantastic editions. The event’s customary dynamic
programme is this year topped by Mercury Prize nominees GOGO PENGUIN (pictured) who, along with THE JAMES TAYLOR QUARTET, headline two Kazimier
shows, expanding the festival’s footprint away from its Capstone Theatre base. Jazz rock super-trio TROYKA and DENNIS ROLLINS’ VELOCITY TRIO also
feature as part of a line-up focussing on cutting edge jazz, creativity and innovation in music making. hope.ac.uk/lijf
Various Venues / 26th February - 1st March
ORLA GARTLAND
One hundred hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute; sift through that and you can discover genuine talent, thanks to the power of this platform in
giving youngsters an audience. ORLA GARTLAND’s quirky guitar pop has now transformed from popular covers to her own releases, marking her second EP, Lonely
People, with a performance at the Arts Club. It’s a heck of a leap forward from bedroom covers but, given her reputation for animated performances, she was never
destined to remain solitary behind the camera.
Arts Club / 18th February
TOKIMONSTA
Having put to bed the last edition of their mystical season of themed events, everisland are already charging forward with a new agenda: bringing
the cream of the international crop to the Mersey. Los Angeles’ TOKIMONSTA deals in glitch hop, a startling sound that warps percussion, vinyl and live
instruments. It’s a tightrope that balances progressive with heritage, and it’s an incredible deviation from her humble beginnings as a classical piano pupil.
In fact, it’s an excellent example of thinking outside the box.
Camp and Furnace / 19th February
LOLA COLT
It’s rare a record that seamlessly captures the full power of the live experience. However, so captivating is the psychedelic rock of LOLA COLT that their
spellbinding debut, Away In The Water, comes close. Released on Fuzz Club Records, a label that prides itself on championing raw and experimental
sounds, the band’s penchant for brooding, expansive melodies carries an enormous amount of force in the live setting, dedicated to making each set
unique to that moment. It demands your participation, if only to get lost in the haze.
The Magnet / 20th February
THE SUNDOWNERS
The kaleidoscopic alt-rock musings of THE SUNDOWNERS were captured in Parr Street studios for their self-titled debut, produced by an impressive team
of James Skelly, Ian Skelly and Richard Turvey. The influences of what they were listening to at the time – Tame Impala, Fleetwood Mac and The Velvet
Underground to name a few – are evident, but the five-piece channel the diverse range into their own Wirral-stamped brand, which is packed full of
gorgeous harmonies. After twelve months of singles and relentless touring, their live performance is sure to be tight for this LP launch show.
The Kazimier / 20th February
FIESTA BOMBARDA
Never relenting in its ambition and with an ever-growing demand to meet, the carnival has its eyes set on a majestic prize: Fiesta Bombarda is kicking
off its 2015 programme with a visit to St. George’s Hall. The vast space is sure to elevate the trademark lush sounds, while the grand architecture will be
transformed by gleaming visuals to create the ultimate party atmosphere. MUNGO’S HI FI headline, with THE FIRE BENEATH THE SEA also on the roster
along with more very special guests still to be announced.
St. George’s Hall / 21st February
THRESHOLD FESTIVAL
The grassroots music and culture extravaganza that is THRESHOLD FESTIVAL continue the build-up to their fifth instalment with some tantalising announcements,
including headliners NUBIYAN TWIST – a twelve-piece outfit who fuse groove-driven music from around the world with soundsystem culture and jazz-inspired
improvisation. Clean Bandit’s ELIZA SHADDAD (pictured) also joins the 2015 throng alongside a unique collaboration, with NATALIE McCOOL joining electronic
duo DROHNE and the ethereal SILENT CITIES at a secret location for a veritable love triangle of musicianship. Check out thresholdfestival.co.uk
for all the latest.
Baltic Triangle / 27th-29th March
bidolito.co.uk

20
Bido Lito! February 2015
Reviews
Dogshow (Antonio Franco / antonionfranco.net)
DOGSHOW
Jacques Malchance
The Invisible Wind Factory
In a city where the Krazyhouse proclaims
itself as the ‘biggest alternative venue’, it
is perhaps understandable that the threat
of losing The Kazimier was felt with such
acute dismay amongst Liverpool's creative
community. Coming only months after the
closure of MelloMello – itself a victim of the
increasing rents in the area – it felt for many
like another symptom of a city that, for all its
creative spirit and endeavour, could no longer
shield its cultural hubs against the influence of
a commercially minded property market. That a
venue with such popularity and regard as The
Kazimier could – despite its integral place in
the Liverpool music scene – even be under the
threat of closure exemplifies just how difficult
it is to run a creative business in the heart of
the city. In amongst all the doom and gloom,
however, what many people seemed to forget is
that the creative spirit that defines these places
transcends bricks and mortar. To paraphrase Jeff
Goldblum's iconic words, creativity finds a way.
Tonight, that ‘way’ manifests itself as The
Invisible Wind Factory. A space devised by a
group known as The Vision Commission, The
Invisible Wind Factory is billed as an assembly
line of light and sound set in the heart of
Liverpool's docklands, away from the prying
eyes of property developers. Trudging down
the dock road into the wind and rain, signs of
life slowly start disappearing – buildings turn
into warehouses, warehouses into even bigger
warehouses – and it is only the queue outside,
buzzing with anticipation, which indicates that
we've found the place. The space is cavernous.
Cold and industrial, it has echoes of some
underground Kreuzberg nightspot.
Upon entering the Wind Factory revellers
are greeted by a strange yet welcome sight:
keyboardist JACQUES MALCHANCE, elevated
above the throng, exhibiting his own brand
of krautrock-esque soundscapes like some
deranged hotel lobby pianist. It is perhaps
indicative of the atmosphere at this muchanticipated
opening that a crazed-looking
man playing cosmic keyboards on a platform
can serve as background music but, given the
spectacularly odd nature of the night, it merely
serves as opener.
As a concept, the space explores the idea of
culture as a manufacturable, albeit intangible,
product. Much like Motown, drawing influence
from the assembly line production of Detroit's
motor city, The Vision Commission draw influence
from Liverpool's industrial past. Utilising the
space to combine disparate artistic endeavours
– music, lights, sculpture – on a scale impractical
elsewhere in the city, the possibilities opened
up by the space are evidenced by the headline
act DOGSHOW, to mind-boggling effect.
Taking to the custom-built stage, suspended
by a winch and flanked by an army of lightemitting
accomplices, the punk techno twopiece
defy explanation. The show looks like
something straight out of Glastonbury's Arcadia,
a fusion of wrought metal, energy and anarchy.
The collision of lights and music, all centred
on the stage suspended twenty feet above
the ground, are all beyond impressive. This is
something special. More than anything this
night offers reassurance that no matter where
it moves to, or gets pushed out of, Liverpool's
creative spirit will always have a home. If only
all of them are as unique as this one.
THE VOYEURS
Harvest Sun @ The Shipping Forecast
Dave Tate
Touring on the back of their new album,
Rhubarb Rhubarb, released on Heavenly
Records, NME darlings THE VOYEURS roll
into town on this nippy evening to warm
the basement here at the Shipping Forecast.
Looking impossibly and annoyingly cool, the
London-based five-piece swagger through a set
with peaks and troughs a-plenty.
The hype train has long been stationed at
Voyeur central but has clearly not accompanied
them tonight, and it appears that the band are
to perform to a room full of photographers.
Given their highly stylised appearance (think
The Horrors) this is a prospect I imagine the
group will not find at all daunting, and their
bidolito.co.uk

Ceremony Concerts Present
Rae Morris
+ Fryars
The Kazimier, Liverpool
Sunday 1 st February 2015
Richard Dawson
+ Pete Smyth (Mugstar) + Dave Owen
The Shipping Forecast, Liverpool
Wednesday 18 th February
JP Cooper
+ Amique + Sophia Ben Yousef
The Magnet, Liverpool
Sunday 22 nd February
Gretchen Peters
The Epstein Theatre, Liverpool
Sunday 29 th March 2015
Blue Rose Code
+ Only child + Yarbo
Leaf, Liverpool
Wednesday 15 th April 2015
Hue & Cry
O2 Academy, Liverpool
Sunday 19 th April 2015
Lau
The Epstein Theatre, Liverpool
Saturday 16 th May 2015
Peggy Seeger
+ Neill MacColl & Calum MacColl
The Epstein Theatre, Liverpool
Saturday 13 th June 2015
TicketQuarter / See Tickets / WeGotTickets / Gigantic

01
04
06
07
11
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18
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22
26
FEBRUARY CLUB
---------------------------------
RAE MORRIS £11
Womenfolk Tour 2015
KATHRYN WILLIAMS, MAZ
O’CONNOR, GEORGIA RUTH £10
ABANDON SILENCE 5:3 w/ FCL
(SAN SODA & RED D) £14
SPEAKEASY feat. THE DUB PISTOLS
£13
THE WAVE PICTURES £9
ITCHY FEET £8
KATE TEMPEST £12.50
THE SUNDOWNERS £8
BLOSSOMS w/THE VRYLL SOCIETY £7
LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL JAZZ
FESTIVAL - GOGO PENGUIN £11
performance does little to refute this thought.
Sounding a bit like a more studio-polished
Television, their songs are packed with disjointed
guitar riffs and minimalist percussion. Indeed,
front man Charlie Boyer's lyrics show more than
a splattering of Tom Verlaine's seedy, twilight
ramblings. In no place is this more evident than
on catchy single Stunners, a song apparently
penned about a notorious transvestite strip club
in the east end.
Undoubtedly, the songs are entertaining
and interesting, having clearly been cultivated
by a collective theatrical/art-school mind-set.
However, whilst creating an image and aesthetic
for a musical project is a well-tested formula,
as the set rumbles on it becomes hard not to
adopt a jaded attitude to the overly affected
expressions and movements on-stage. Yes, Lou
Reed wore a turtleneck and yes, it was cool.
But he also wrote some of the best albums in
popular music. It is becoming clear why the NME
has taken such a liking to them.
Music-world-weariness aside, there are some
genuinely good songs on display, and second
single England Sings Rhubarb Rhubarb is
probably the highlight. Essentially a microcosm
of what this band are about, it encapsulates
the raw musical elements and buried pop
sensibilities that have been present throughout
the show. With a synthesised string section just
below the jagged riffs and popping bass lines,
the track has a gloomy, cabaret quality that
would not sound out of place in aforementioned
transvestite strip club.
While the rest of the members are content
to examine their shoes, Boyer makes for an
engaging front man. Clearly this is his band but
it must be taken into consideration that their
name used to be Charlie Boyer and The Voyeurs,
and was shortened to its current length for their
latest release, signalling a shift perhaps in the
songwriting dynamic.
All in all it has been a fairly forgettable
gig, overshadowed by affectation. Image and
branding in music is of course not always a
negative, and some of the greatest and most
inventive acts have embraced it wholeheartedly
and successfully. It is, however, a trope that
some fall into a little too deeply and eagerly,
drawing attention away from their music when
it is supposed to do exactly the opposite. A quick
glance at The Voyeurs' list of upcoming shows
suggests that they have a bright immediate
future. Tonight's performance just makes you
wonder for what aspect of their appeal the
audiences will be applauding.
Alastair Dunn
RØDHÅD
Mr Paul – Lauren Lo Sung
Waxxx @ Camp And Furnace
Having made his name as an after-hours
specialist in the confines of Berlin’s legendary
Berghain, RØDHÅD can now count himself as a
member of the techno big league. Though he
has been part of the fabric in his home city’s
nightlife scene since the turn of the millennium,
it was not until 2012, with the launch of his
own label, that the rest of the world began to
take notice. Dystopian Records has released
tracks from newcomers like Alex Do and an
established name in Recondite but, importantly,
has been the key imprint for Rødhåd himself,
whose brand of tough, hypnotising techno has
seen his productions garner significant praise
and support from his fellow DJs.
Last year, Rødhåd debuted in Resident
Advisor’s respected Top 100 DJs list at #38,
above the likes of Jeff Mills and Levon Vincent.
In this year’s poll, the results of which were
released on the eve of his Liverpool debut,
he sits at #9, testament to the way in which
his deep, atmospheric sets have hypnotised
people across the continent. Known to play for
up to ten hours on home turf, the man himself
has insisted on playing for at least three hours
for Waxxx tonight, in their new home, the
reincarnated HAUS, now situated upstairs at
Camp And Furnace.
As we enter, Waxxx resident DJ MR PAUL has
just launched into his warm-up set. Showcasing
a diverse selection of tracks from across the
techno spectrum, he effortlessly swings from
the groove of Alan Fitzpatrick’s Skekis to the
frantic assault of Surgeon’s Magneze.
Rødhåd’s set over the next three hours makes
it clear why he is such a universally respected DJ.
Relying less on big hitters, the focus is drawn
to his flawless, machine-like mixing and the
ease with which he creates and modulates the
atmosphere in the rave.
Though not as frantic as a set from UK acts
such as Surgeon or Dave Clarke, his sound is
tougher than many of his fellow Berghaindwellers
such as Ben Klock or Marcel Dettmann,
but, while the kick drums hit hard, Rødhåd is
known for crafting and playing techno built
around hypnotic, looping melodies. Tonight he
rolls them out with a clear mastery of his art,
on a number of occasions mixing three tracks
at once. Forget Tiësto, Castles In The Sky and
Kevin & Perry, this is real trance music, drawing
you in, lulling you, allowing a sudden change
in dynamic to hit you all the harder when he
decides it is time to move things in a different
direction.
Moments that stand out as clear highlights
are notable in that they involve tracks released
through his own label, Dystopian; ø[phase]’s
remix of Rødhåd’s own Haumea, with its
juddering halt halfway through, is a perfect
example of the kind of dynamic switch-up
mentioned above but, ten minutes before the
end, it is the menacing tones of Recondite’s
EC10 that really spills drinks. Throughout the
night, despite the atmospherically cold and dark
sounds he pushes, the red-haired giant grins
from ear to ear. Seemingly lost in the music

Reviews
Bido Lito! February 2015 23
as if he were one of the crowd, tonight those
assembled can count themselves lucky he’s the
one behind the decks.
Rob Syme / @rsx1989
THE CRAIG CHARLES
FUNK AND SOUL SHOW
Chibuku @ The Shipping Forecast
Perhaps better known by some as “that bloke
from Robot Wars” or, even more likely, “that
Scouser from Red Dwarf”, to the enlightened
Craig Charles is now, and has been for some
time, better known for his reinvention as “THE
bloke for funk and soul”. Thanks to his weekly
BBC 6Music slot and his quasi-legendary club
night, his name has turned into a byword for a
good night out. Indeed, amongst certain friends
of mine THE CRAIG CHARLES FUNK AND SOUL
SHOW has become something of an inescapable
tradition. Even for those who prefer their beats
mechanised and their vibes decidedly darker,
there's something undeniable about the joy
Charles manages to bring to dancefloors that
keeps bringing them back. Maybe it's his
well-documented (just have a quick YouTube)
enthusiasm behind the decks, maybe it's his
encyclopaedic knowledge of the genre or
maybe it's just his knack for pulling out just the
right song at the right moment. Whatever the
case is, it's not often an opportunity gets passed
up to see him perform.
Despite Charles being a frequent fixture on
the club circuit in Liverpool and Manchester, the
popularity of his night is unwavering and they
usually sell out well in advance – many is the
time I've been left ruing my slow trigger finger.
Fortunately tonight, armed with my reviewer’s
credentials, I've managed to wangle a spot
aboard the funk and soul express.
The Shipping Forecast is packed to the rafters
by the time we arrive but, thanks to the space
offered by both floors, never feels overcrowded.
Allowing the occasional breather when things
get a bit too hot on the dancefloor is much
appreciated, unlike many of the sold-out nights
in the underground stage. This being Boxing
Day, the atmosphere is decidedly festive from
the get-go but that certainly doesn't stop Charles
trying to turn it up a notch or two. Armed with
his collection of well-known favourites, rare
edits and remixes, the dancefloor is in the thrall
of his bass-heavy set. Mixing things up between
the more familiar – Marvin Gaye, Jackson 5 –
while throwing in a few more obscure choices
means there's enough to keep everyone happy,
from the ardent fan to the casual listener. It
may not be DJ Harvey, dropping obscure psychdisco
from Japan, but Charles has a way of
wringing something new out of even the most
overplayed classics, making them sound fresh
and enjoyable to even the most cynical of ears,
keeping people coming back year on year. If he
keeps up his enthusiasm, I certainly know I'll be
back for more.
JEAN JEAN
Chasing Traits - We Could be
Astronauts - Singapore Strategy
Dave Tate
Monster Sound Collective @ Maguire’s Pizza Bar
Mathcore fans rejoice! Toxteth-born
promoters Monster Sound Collective aim to
promote alternative, experimental and hungry
new sounds in Liverpool, and their regular
night Chaos goes a long way to achieving this.
The group are fast earning recognition from a
new legion of fans of anything from metal to
mathcore, prog to post-hardcore. There could be
no better place for this gig than the basementparty-esque
confines of the backroom in
Maguire’s Pizza Bar. With a line-up that boasts
artists from across Europe, what new noises are
we about to be treated to?
First up are SINGAPORE STRATEGY, fresh from
a twelve month hiatus. These guys can be
regarded as one of the very finest of their genre
in Liverpool, and many in the crowd are here
to see what changes have come about since
their break. It has to firstly be said that they are
much, much tighter than a band should be after
such a long absence from the live scene. They
manage to expertly switch between blasting
Maybeshewill and Colour post-rock riffs with
the belting math-core beats we’d expect on the
night, and delicate, glittering moments of echoarpeggio
guitar bliss. Emilio Pinchi’s admirable
ability to play bass with one hand and keyboard
with the other gives their sound a depth that
couldn’t necessarily be expected from a threepiece.
Drummer Nathan Price deserves special
praise as one of the best live drummers we’ve
seen in a good while- and he clearly enjoys
every moment of the set as he drips with sweat
by the end.
Next on are the Leicester, Leeds and Liverpoolbased
quartet WE COULD BE ASTRONAUTS.
Immediate comparisons to Blackened Sky
and Vertigo Of Bliss-era Biffy Clyro are obvious,
with tightly-tearing guitar and shrieking vocals
combining to give the unique and solid style
they describe themselves as having. Slightly
more embryonic and a little less fully-formed
than the previous act, these guys nonetheless
deliver a powerful and enjoyable dose of
alternative post-prog that keeps the crowd lively
and the heads banging.
Final support comes from CHASING TRAITS,
who take to the stage to much anticipation.
Arguably a more recognisable name than

24
Bido Lito! February 2015
Reviews
John Grant (Keith Ainsworth / arkimages.co.uk)
the previous acts due to the success of their
debut EP, Enigma, their sound is distinctly
ambient, addictively melodic and swimming in
dreamscape reverb. Luke Scrivens' vocals have a
distant echo, whilst James Taylor’s smooth bass
collides and swirls with well-placed xylophone
chimes and powerful half-time beats. Born from
the ever-expanding alternative Stoke scene, the
band’s Liverpool debut leaves a lasting effect on
an audience torn between melancholy sadness
and pumped-up excitement in equal measure.
The Northern-France based JEAN JEAN
immediately burst into the riff-heavy and
crescendo-laden sound that has rightly led to
acclaim from Musical Mathematics and many new
fans across Europe. This is their first UK tour, and
it becomes immediately apparent that, although
entirely instrumental, their songs have deep
passion and meaning behind them. The absence
of vocals lets their instruments do the talking.
Emotions are evoked according to the title and
theme of each song, a bizarre and unusual feeling,
but Jean Jean achieve it with their instruments as
a painter does with his brush. Crunching guitar
and fuzzy bass dances with bubbly keyboard
hooks and euphoric moments of synthesised
bliss. Inspired by And So I Watch You From Afar,
and reminiscent of something between Converge
and Dona Confuse, this show displays much
promise from a band who are doing more than
their fair share to firmly put the alternative-rock
scene back on the UK musical map.
Chris Hughes
JOHN GRANT AND THE
ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA
Philharmonic Hall
Say what you want about JOHN GRANT (he’s
probably said worse), but the man does not
lack ambition. After disbanding The Czars, the
Canadian worked as a backing musician with
Midlake and Flaming Lips before launching
into a critically lauded solo career producing
inventive and candid baroque pop with synthdriven
confessionals to rival 80s Cohen or
any contemporaries. The latest gauntlet that
the restless songwriter has thrown down for
himself is to amplify his sterling back catalogue
with a full orchestra.
Liverpool has always welcomed Grant with
open arms, from an intimate gig at Static
Gallery, to a sell-out show at the Arts Club in
2013, and he receives an equally warm reception
tonight at the newly refurbished Philharmonic
Hall. Backed by Gateshead’s Royal Northern
Sinfonia, Grant’s challenge tonight involves rearranging
some of his old favourites as well as
showcasing four songs prepared especially for
this evening’s occasion.
The first few songs slightly struggle in a tug of
war between the intimate and the epic. Grant’s
frank lyrics delivered in his trademark baritone
are at times swallowed by the Sinfonia’s soaring
sound, although the synth solo on Pretend To
Care and the brass parts of It’s Easier promise
much.
Everything soon falls into place for Marz. This
early set highlight excels thanks to a key change
to display Grant’s impressive range but some
glitches with the lights still prove distracting.
However, we see the event’s raison d’être in the
deeply personal moments being enlarged to the
universal via building, elevated arrangements.
The bar is raised further with the dramatic,
stringed intro to the title track from 2013’s
stellar album, Pale Green Ghosts. The song
really benefits from the theatrical bombasticity
of the setting and from here Grant’s legend
is further established. New tracks No More
Tangles and Geraldine are more than worthy of
the ambitious set-up but it is the atmospheric
Black Blizzard which proves to be the pick of the
bunch, perfectly utilising the climactic ascents
of the Sinfonia and keyboard wizardry of Chris
Pemberton.
Predictably, GMF gets one of the best
receptions of the night and deservedly so. A song
of rare self-belief rather than flagellation from a
man who has clearly got some committed fans,
two of whom travelled from the States for this
evening’s show and gifted Grant a Sigourney
Weaver doll. Encores Queen Of Denmark
and
the wonderfully poetic Glacier end the night on
a high; a near-two hour set without intermission
is engaging throughout and forces one to
excitedly wonder what Grant is capable of next.
Sam Turner / @samturner1984
MYTHOPOEIA II
The Kazimier
Deciding what to do on New Year’s Eve is
often a contentious issue: going out, staying
in, midnight kisses and resolutions... all that
nonsense equals too many decisions to make,
right? Wrong, because like an upmarket musical
travel agent, STEALING SHEEP have made those
hard decisions easy for you and it comes in the
form of Mythopoeia II, the second instalment
of the group’s wonderfully creative psychedelic
club night. The theme this year is Galaxies
and Tapestries and, as people start to filter
into The Kazimier, it is still pretty hard to really
understand what that truly entails. Fairy lights
are draped around heads, glitter hangs in the air
like morning fog and face paint drips into sweat
as the night and music begin.
What’s brilliant about The Kazimier is its scope
for variety. With its nooks and crannies aplenty it
is perfect for an event like this. Before midnight
the small stages inside and outside the venue
awaken. ENGINE DJs bring the Garden’s Rat
Alley to life and Leeds-based afrobeat outfit
AZORES pave the way for a fantastic evening
in the club’s main space. Without time for us to
catch a breath and with only just enough time
to get another pint in, the party hosts Stealing
Sheep take to the stage blasting through their
new album. Their music is perfectly placed in
the surreal, colourful and vibrant surroundings
bidolito.co.uk

26 Bido Lito! February 2015
Reviews
and the tracks they play are tighter and much
more mature than anything heard from them
previously. The crowd check their watches as the
set leads into the main event.
Mythopoeia is a creation of fictional
mythology and tonight in The Kazimier we
are truly engrossed and submerged into
the narrative of the evening. Planets hover
overhead and painted bodies dance across
the stage as music blasts out into the sea of
limbs. The Mythopoeia show takes us by the
hand and guides us through time and space
before seamlessly moving into an obligatory
countdown as the night and the year evolve
into something very special. Whilst hugs and
kisses die down, the music continues to thrive
with Liverpool’s very own BARBEROS providing
a wall of sound that truly welcomes The
Kazimier into 2015.
Tonight’s festivities show that Liverpool needs
The Kazimier. With rumblings of the venues
closure staying firmly in 2014, Stealing Sheep
and The Kazimier have moved forward, providing
an evening of sheer psychedelic delight. As the
houselights come up at four in the morning,
smudged faces smile and lipsticked mouths
holler out for more. Stealing Sheep and friends
have created a legendary narrative that will
live on. This evening is living proof that there is
nowhere better in Liverpool to welcome in the
New Year.
Paddy Hughes / @paddyhughes89
MELLOWTONE 10
Leaf
It doesn’t seem possible that Mellowtone
have been “quietly creating a stir” for all of a
decade now, but Dave McTague and the tightknit,
dedicated team that form the nucleus of
Mellowtone have been doing just that with
their moveable feast of events promoting the
more laid-back, acoustic side of the city’s music
scene.
To mark the occasion they have assembled
a line-up of Mellowtone luminaries tonight
for a celebratory performance that goes hand
in hand with the Mellowtone 10 compilation
album. The first half of the show is designed to
showcase as many of these artists as possible,
with each playing a two-song set. This on-off,
on-off scenario works really well in a party
atmosphere, allowing the partygoers a chance
to enjoy some fabulous live music whilst not
being restrained from revelry for too long.
The live acts themselves are suitably varied,
from the more traditional singer/songwriter
storytelling of DAVE O’GRADY, whose rich vocal
soars over a punchy acoustic rhythm, through
the southern rock/gospel-infused stomp of
KAYA, beautifully backed by Jazamin Sinclair and
Jodie Schofield, to the sublime vocal and guitar
playing of NICK ELLIS, whose second song,
St. David’s Day, provides the highlight of the
Dave O'Grady (Glyn Akroyd)
evening. The song gradually rises to a crescendo,
fading and soaring along the way, the vocal and
guitar drenched in echo and reverb, which lends
a depth and texture that carries the song above
and beyond the traditional, propelling it into
the realms of a psych soundscape. Ellis ends
the song on his knees, adding a final flourish
of guitar effects as the sound fades, but this is a
towering performance.
SILENT SLEEP round off the first half and
appear a little distracted by the level of
background noise in the room, Chris McIntosh
introducing their second song as “the quietest
song we’ve ever written, so please listen”. I
can’t say the level of noise drops any, but they
appear unperturbed and the song they deliver,
Everything I Own, is shot through with lovely
Fleet Foxes harmonies, strong melody and
nimble fretwork.
The room buzzes with conversation and
laughter, even during a brief technical delay,
before Mellowtone ‘supergroup’ THE PRELUDE/
ATLANTIC MASSEY hit the stage running, with the
Pogues-like A Drunken Death followed by the
song Butchers Son, which is a thinly disguised
version of Steve Earles Copperhead Road, but
none the worse for it.
After jokingly haranguing Mellowtone for
always putting them on on a Wednesday
night (not good for drinking, apparently!) they
quieten things down with a few Irish-inflected
ballads, which sees one young couple indulging
in a “last chance at the disco” clinch on the
dancefloor. The interplay between guitarists
Garvan Cosgrove, Charlie Mullan and Aidan
McTeer is exquisitely balanced and is beautifully
embellished by Marian Bonner’s fiddle-playing
and passages of delicate mandolin. The set
builds back up to a rousing, raucous finale that
has the crowd clapping and singing along.
Beaten Tracks carry the party on into the night,
dance moves breaking out all over the room.
Don’t let the name fool you – a Mellowtone
party isn’t THAT mellow.
Perhaps the legacy of Mellowtone’s first ten
years can best be summed up by Paul Straws,
whose beautifully performed song, You’ve
Always Got A Home, contains the repeated
refrain “you’re always wanted here”.
BILL RYDER-JONES
Saint Saviour
Glyn Akroyd
Harvest Sun @ The Kazimier
I definitely know what I want for next
Christmas now: a flat-pack orchestra. Preferably
one I can fold out for parties serving
champagne over spritzer, then seal back up
bidolito.co.uk

M E L L O W T O N E
F E B R U A R Y L I S T I N G S
Sunday 1 st at the Kazimier
RAE MORRIS
plus special guest support - FRYARS
RS
A collaboration with Ceremony Concerts & Harvest Sun,
14+ gig, Doors 8pm, £11adv.
Friday 6 th at the Scandinavian Church
RED SAILS (release party)
NICK ELLIS
JOHN CANNING YATES (EX ELLA GURU)
DJ BERNIE CONNOR (THE SOUND OF MUSIC)
Plus visuals & stage design by LAURA LOMAX & KIERAN MAGUIRE
Doors 8pm, Limited £7adv tickets available, £10 on the door.
Bring your own drinks.
Wednesday 18 th at the Shipping Forecast
Mellowtone & Ceremony Concerts present
RICHARD DAWSON
PETE SMYTH (MUGSTAR)
DAVE OWEN
plus BEATEN TRACKS DJS
Doors 8pm, £8adv
Sunday 22 nd at the Magnet
Mellowtone & Ceremony Concerts present
JP COOPER
AMIQUE
SOPHIA BEN YOUSEF
plus BEATEN TRACKS DJS
Doors 8pm, £7adv
@mellowtoneclub mellowtoneclub w mellowtone.info
advance tickets on sale at skiddle.com and seetickets.com
BOOK NOW: 0161 832 1111
www.manchesteracdemy.net www.gigantic.com
facebook.com/manchesteracademy
@MancAcademy
King Creosote Tuesday 27th January
Gus G (Firewind/Ozzy Osbourne) Saturday 21st February
Hardcore Superstar Saturday 14th March
Orphan Boy Saturday 14th March (at The Ruby Lounge)
Tragedy All Metal Tribute to The Bee Gees
Sunday 15th March
Gun Friday 27th March
Laibach Friday 3rd April
Evil Blizzard Saturday 18th April (at The Ruby Lounge)
Sleaford Mods Friday 15th May
Sugarhill Gang + Grandmaster Flash
Saturday 8th August
For full listings check out: www.manchesteracademy.net
Oxford Road, Manchester
M13 9PR • Tel: 0161 275 2930
BidoLito.148x117.MASTER.indd 1 15/01/2015 10:26

28
Bido Lito! February 2015
Reviews
before the hosts suss I’m from Newcastle
and check/destroy my forged invitation. SAINT
SAVIOUR knows the perks of pocket-sized class,
and it’s kind of cute to see her four-piece string
section pluck away on the balcony above her,
as dignified as crows on a telephone wire. She
must’ve shifted her entourage around every
stage on this tour (of which tonight is the grand
finale) differently, packing her Late Quartet, the
backing singers, and Mr BILL RYDER-JONES
himself into the crannies of smaller venues.
The joint headliners collaborated recently
on Saviour’s In The Seams, and BR-J gives
fine, amiable support to a set of measured
stereoscopy. Our leading lady is impressive
but hamstrung by atmosphere, gliding just
below rote melodies, maybe stiff with emotion.
She holds her young band together without
dominating them, though there’s a sense
she’s conforming too much to the stateliness
of her music. She stands up for Devotion after
showing some self-deprecation in Sad Kid¸
which lampoons NME cover photos. The former
track is her best so far until she unleashes a
scream at the end of Just You and affrights the
stately crawl she’s been keeping up.
Bill Ryder-Jones isn’t in a hurry either. “A
bad wind blows in my heart” he sings again
and again, resignedly, in his opening number,
hood disclosing a sliver of his incredibly boyish
face. It’s a languid opening complimented by
the swathe of family members and Coral fans
that’ve turned out tonight. As he fends off
his rowdy audience with the air of someone
who knows just how popular he is, the gig
becomes a love-in, a spectacle of appreciation
for one of the men oiling the city’s musical
gears. This kind of familiarity could be no fun
at all – exposure isn’t exactly something BR-J is
lacking these days. But the hour really picks up
as a homecoming and an ode to his ongoing
passion for all things Liverpool. He indulges a
request for Lemon Tree, teases his dad for not
coming to a show since he last played with
Arctic Monkeys, and premiers a new song about
Catharine Street, fitting in a fifteen-minute,
acoustic detour to boot. By The Moonlight
draws attention to how his delivery hangs off
chords like an afterthought, a quietly tragic
song that finds a perfect mate in Seabird. One
of his lyrics asks whether we’ll be there to catch
him if the band plays too fast; this must be a
joke, since even Keane are more pyrotechnic,
though nowhere near as honest or interesting.
And that’s how the minutes pass: a parade of
asides and effacement, deflecting the residual
feelings for a bygone pack of teens into the
trembling light of the future; a heart-warming
salute to Bill Ryder-Jones’ impact on the simple
pleasures of good music.
Josh Potts / @joshpjpotts
Bill Ryder-Jones (Glyn Akroyd)
THE SILVER APPLES
Strange Collective – Whyte Horses – Sankofa
EVOL @ The Kazimier
SANKOFA arrive on stage to kick-start this
evening’s trip through psychedelia’s various
phases. Not the most outlandish outfit,
considering what’s to come, but still definitely
a strong start. Their aesthetic is direct (with no
disrespect intended) and could be interpreted
as slightly innocuous. This is powerful, but safe,
rock music. Nevertheless, their set is delivered
by a band of enthused young chaps who each
have a wealth of talent. A solid start to the
proceedings.
Next up come STRANGE COLLECTIVE with their
energetic onslaught of grunge-infused head
music. The bandmates have a live chemistry that
verges on the telepathic as they plough through
a slew of relentlessly catchy and accessible
tracks. This is an exhilarating set with all the zeal
of warring soldiers; the crowd is truly captured.
The live six-limbed beast that is WHYTE
HORSES displays itself across the stage as the
third act of the night. This is the traditional
quartet: drums, guitar, bass and guitar/vocals,
with the addition of two female backing
vocalists and percussion players. Whyte Horses
are very definable indeed; their sound neatly
fits within the categorisations of dream pop
and psychedelia, which unfortunately proves
their undoing. Everything about this group fits
this persona: the decorative stage adornments
of floral patterns and colourful stage wear, the
tripped-out mesh of visuals above the stage, the
melancholic and over-all simplistic, tame songs –
all contributing factors to what makes the band
resemble, almost too closely, a dropout project
from the 1960s. They receive a warm reception
from the crowd and play a strong set of songs
but the problem - for me at least - is that the very
heart of psychedelic music is supposedly pinned
upon lateral wanderings and breaking through
accepted musical boundaries. Whyte Horses,
unfortunately, aren’t breaking any boundaries.
They’re playing out a fitting stereotype of 60s
dissident hippies.
Finally, we have SILVER APPLES. Simeon Coxe,
looking like an extra from a Clint Eastwood
western, strolls onto the stage and helms his
monstrous, stacked collection of synthesisers
and drum machines. From the outset, the
performance is unyielding: a cacophony of
feedback and fevered beats certainly makes for a
unique spat of tracks. Silver Apples are notorious
for having been one of the first groups, in the
1960s, to fuse minimalistic electronic music
with accepted rock trends. It’s now gone forty
years since their inception and they still sound
unlike anything anyone has heard before. Misty
Mountain is the first in the set and throughout
the performance we are treated to a glut of true
strangeness, with songs such as Oscillations,
The Silver Apples (Glyn Akroyd)
bidolito.co.uk

I DESIGN
BIDO LITO!
// LUKE-AVERY.COM
// INFO@LUKE-AVERY.COM
// 07729 308307
JEFFERSON
STARSHIP
THU
29th JAN
8:00pm
CURTIS
STIGERS
TUE
10th FEB
7:30pm
MOTHERSHIP
A TRIBUTE TO
LED ZEPPELIN
SAT
21st FEB
8:00pm
JOE
MCELDERRY
THE EVOLUTION
TOUR 2015
SAT
14th MAR
7:30pm
NATHAN
CARTER
TUE
17th MAR
7:30pm
IAN
MCCULLOCH
THU
19th MAR
8:00pm
FOCUS
SUN
22nd MAR
8:00pm
JOHN
RENBOURN
& WIZZ JONES
SAT
28th MAR
8:00pm
MARC
ALMOND
IN CONCERT
THU
16th APR
7:30pm
CURVED AIR
2015
FRI
17th APR
8:00pm

30
Bido Lito! February 2015
Reviews
You & I and Ruby still bending the minds of all
in attendance. Any fans of krautrock artists such
as Neu or Harmonia should already be familiar
with Silver Apples, them being considered
progenitors of the genre. Perhaps the younger
members of the audience do not know quite
how to react to some of the music, but each
and every crowd member cannot help but be
mesmerised. This is true psychedelia: beautiful,
strange and captivating.
bidolito.co.uk
PETER GABRIEL
Jennie Abrahamson
Christopher Carr
Echo Arena
Open entering the cavernous Echo Arena, as
someone who only has a cursory knowledge
of PETER GABRIEL’s classics, I am filled with
niggling, stadium-rock forebodings. This does
not seem a likely venue for a road to Damascus
experience.
The Arena is pretty much full and there is a
gentle but unmistakable buzz of anticipation
generated by the predominantly middle-aged
audience. My misgivings are not eased by a
pre-show announcement: “This concert will be
recorded from the soundboard; you can buy a
copy at www...” etc, etc.
Support act JENNIE ABRAHAMSON and Linnea
Olsson perform songs of Nordic mysticism: tales
of horses, lakes and snowfall. The combination
of glockenspiel, cello and their airy, fragile voices
provides the perfect musical setting for such
musings.
Abrahamson and Olsson remain to provide
backing vocals and Gabriel outlines the concert
format: an acoustic hor’s d’ouvre, a main course
of new and familiar material, and, for dessert, his
most commercially successful album, So, in its
entirety.
A gentle piano, bass and cello opens What
Lies Ahead, and Gabriel’s voice is immediately
both familiar and somehow comforting. This is
a man who has been quietly producing cuttingedge
recordings, video and live spectacle
for over four decades, not to mention his
championing of music from around the globe
via Real World Records and WOMAD, and his
dedicated contribution to humanitarian causes.
Even to a self-confessed doubter his place in
contemporary musical legend cannot be denied.
And he is in fine voice, effortlessly sounding as
he did on those aforementioned eighties hits.
The lights in the house stay up during the
first few numbers, which, without that twilight
anonymity that aids the bonding of individual
and performer, gives a slightly odd, exposed feel
to the proceedings. However, it quickly becomes
obvious that we are in the presence of some very
fine musicians indeed and, fittingly for such a
musical polymath, the acoustic section is varied:
Come Talk To Me features David Sanctious’
swirling accordion, Shock The Monkey highlights
David Rhodes’ acoustic riff, and, during the pianoled
Family Snapshot, Gabriel’s plaintive tone
perfectly articulates the song’s raw emotion.
The house lights go down for the main
crowd on their feet. Don’t Give Up, the muchanticipated
Gabriel/Kate Bush tearjerker, sees
course, only stark white light penetrating
the darkness. Lights are mounted on several
Jennie Abrahamson take centre stage to deliver
hammer-headed booms, each one operated
a poignant and sensitive interpretation of the
by two technicians who push them around the
Bush vocal. Gabriel provides a nod to earlier
stage. The band’s utilitarian, black jumpsuits
theatricality, temporarily exiting the stage,
and the manual operation of the lighting
suitcase in hand. The crowd are on their feet
evoke an Orwellian dystopia as filmed by Fritz
giving Abrahamson wild, “you nailed it”, acclaim.
Lang, and Gabriel tackles issues of control,
As with the main course, the So section
authority, and alienation in songs such as
continues to deliver a pleasingly varied set of
Secret World, Darkness and No Self Control. If
this all sounds very serious, Gabriel exhibits a
dry wit. “This song is about God, sex and drugs,”
he announces, prompting huge applause. “I’m
of the hit.
So kicks off the dessert with the pounding
Red Rain, the stage drenched in red light and
drummer Manu Katche making full use of his kit
Peter Gabriel (Mike Sheerin / michaelsheerin.photoshelter.com)
musical styles and emotional content, not just
between songs but within them. Mercy Street
sees Gabriel perform the entire song lying on
his back, the encircling lighting booms gently
glad to see there are fans of all three in the
lowered above him as a haunting, ethereal vocal
house.” The song in question, Why Don’t You
sweeps over the crowd. Big Time delivers a funky
Show Yourself, again uses piano and cello
guitar sing-along before the lighting booms
over a sparse bassline, with Gabriel’s spoken
stand erect, like gallows, as the doom-laden riff
vocal contrasting perfectly with Abrahamson
of We Do What We’re Told threatens the rafters.
and Olsson’s exquisite backing. There is also OK, this is very well performed rock music, and
a playful visual element to the proceedings
it is in an arena, but there is something about
with Gabriel, Rhodes and bassist Tony Levin
this performance that elevates it above its own
spinning into a perfectly choreographed dance
levels of technical excellence, an intelligence
routine, like a prog Temptations, during Secret
and humanity that shine through in the lyrics of
World, and Gabriel skipping down Salisbury
Gabriel’s songs and in his alternately plaintive
Hill like a five-year-old during a joyful version
and angry delivery.
He ends a short encore with Biko, a song
which tonight transcends its original focus on an
individual to become a universal tribute to the
oppressed and has the audience chanting along,
to drive the song along. The next two songs are fists raised in solidarity. “As always,” concludes
amongst Gabriel’s best known. Sledgehammer Gabriel, “what happens next is up to you”, and
is delivered to rapturous applause and packs he walks off stage. A tour de force.
a slinky bassline from Tony Levin that has the
Glyn Akroyd

JULIAN COPE
THU 5TH FEB
RED AND BLUE LEGENDS
FRI 6TH FEB
SIMON AMSTELL
12TH-13TH FEB
MARTINI LOUNGE
SAT SSSSA SAAAAAT AAAT T 14TH FEB
RUMER
FRI 20TH FEB
GRETCHEN PETERS
SUN 29TH MAR
DREAMING OF KATE
THU 17TH APR
KATHERINE
RYYYYAN
RYYY RYAN
YYYAN
THU 8TH MAY
MAAAAAY
AAAY AYYYY
SHANKLEYS SHANKLY’S DREAM CAME TRUE
FRI 15TH MAY
MAAAAAY
AAAY AYYYY
LAU
SAT SSSSA SAAAAAT AAAT T 16TH MAY
AAAY AYYYY AAAAY
MERSEY BEATLES
SAT 23RD MAY
CARA DILLON
THU 21ST 26TH MAY
NOV
08448884411
85 5 Hanover Street L1 3DZ
WWW.EPSTEINLIVERPOOL.CO.UK
@EpsteinTheatre
facebook.com/EpsteinTheatre
facebook.cooooom/EpsteinTheatre
om/EpsteinTheatre

YOUSEF PRESENTS...
31.01.15
LAURENT GARNIER (4HR SET)
YOUSEF
APOLLONIA (DYED SOUNDOROM, DAN GHENACIA, SHONKY)
LAURA JONES / LEWIS BOARDMAN
SCOTT LEWIS / DAVID GLASS
SATURDAY 24TH JANUARY
RESIDENTS PARTY
SG LEWIS
HOLLY LESTER
JOHN McANDREW
ANDREW HILL
VENUE: ARTS CLUB, 90 SEEL ST, LIVERPOOL. CHIBUKU INFO: 0151 706 8045, INFO@CHIBUKU.COM.
TICKETS ONLINE: WWW.TICKETARENA.CO.UK, SKIDDLE.COM, RESIDENTADVISOR.NET, TICKET STORES: 3B RECORDS (NUS) 0151 353 7027 THE FONT (MT PLEASANT), RESURECTION (BOLD ST)