Issue 17 / November 2011

Issue 17 

November 2011 

Lucky Beaches 

Stignoise 

Battles 

Dead Cities 

Liverpool Music 

Week 

Lucky Beaches by Luke Avery 

www.bidolito.co.uk 

FREE

Editorial 

I’d like to try and pass the blame for this editorial being late onto the 

two-year-old labradoodle that Bido Lito! Towers managed to acquire from 

my jet-set mother this week, but that would be a little unfair (though 

having to take regular breaks from proofing to wrestle a zebra from his 

mouth doesn’t help). It was more down to having a little bit too much of 

a good time; as weekends go, that was a good un. Tranmere managed 

to convincingly outwit a challenging Oldham side in the Merseyside/ 

Manchester clash of the weekend, with Everton loanee Jose Baxter 

providing an accomplished performance tucked in just behind Enoch 

Showumni (blues will be glad to hear that he’s coming on nicely, once he 

learns to put his foot in he’ll be a half decent player). The victory was made 

even sweeter by the fact that after the game I spent the evening with The 

Northern Boy, an Oldham fan, at The Warehouse Project (unfortunately a 

dicky starter motor meant he missed the game...and saved his blushes). 

The trip over to Store Street was to take in The Warehouse Project bill 

curated by The Horrors, and this show confirmed to me that the band have 

truly established themselves musically as one of the key pillars of their 

generation. The show provided an awe-inspiring spectacle, with the group 

blossoming in the stark, post-industrial settings. It felt like watching a 

show on the set of Metropolis (save the £3.80 can of Bud) and suited The 

Horrors’ synthesizer-aided psychedelic kinetic-anti-groove gorgeously. We 

await their upcoming sold out Kazimier show with tangible excitement. 

That sold out show marks the start of this year’s Liverpool Music 

Week festivities. Turn to page eighteen for a full run down of all 

this year’s shows, including a scintillating run of free gigs at MOJO 

and the Contemporary Urban Centre Closing Party, the latter of which 

looks set to be one of the standout nights of the year. 

It would be impossible to open this month’s magazine without mention 

of the proposed cuts to BBC Radio Merseyside. The latest chapter in The Big 

Society comes in the form of breaking down local BBC radio stations, ours 

which has the largest listener figures outside London. True, the proposals 

have been ill-advisedly conceived by BBC management (you think they’d 

have learned after the BBC 6Music debacle), but come as a result of freezes/ 

cuts imposed by the government. A homogenized evening radio output 

has been proposed across England, sounding the end of radio institutions 

such as Roger Hill’s PMS, Kenny Johnson’s Sounds Country and the Geoff 

Speed and Stan Ambrose presented Folkscene. We will have a full feature 

on the potential impact of the proposals next month, but surely a local 

radio station without local, specialist broadcasting is doomed? Is that not 

the whole point? Please go to facebook and search Save Radio Merseyside 

to find ways in which you can show your support. 

Craig G Pennington 

Editor 

Features 

We 

Will 

Not 

Shy 

Away 

From 

Pop 

Music 

6 LUCKY B ***** 

S 

10 STIGNOISE 

12 STADT MOER RECORDS 

14 DRESSED FOR BATTLE 

16 

18 

22 

Words: Mick Chrysalid 

Layout: jrgalliford.tumblr.com 

BERNIE CONNOR has not only worshipped at the altar of music but he has now transmogrified 

into a disciple who spreads the good word. His recent communications have led him to create The 

Sound of Music, his two-year-running podcast as well as playing his records at various select nights 

around town. Not unlike other obsessives, he can chat about music, because he has made sense of a 

world that others dip their toe into, skimming the surface. Bernie dived right in at the deep end and 

still hasn’t come up for air. He’s still searching for pearls amongst the effluence and waste that crowd 

our musical consciousness. I sit in his living room surrounded by music mementos, albums, icons, 

obscurities and I’m offered a choice of Earl Grey or builders’ brew. We quickly discuss the iCloud and 

the potential that it may or may not have. He never thought he’d become so technologically literate, 

but we agree that the future has a way of dragging you along, whilst offering up its limitations and 

advancements. 

This is a long way from going to the Co-op in Speke, where his mother used to take him, to 

buy singles. One early memory that has burned into his psyche was buying Paperback Writer before 

he’d even started school in the sixties. “There wasn’t a ‘my’ collection or a ‘your’ collection, there was 

a family record collection.” The youngest of six, this seems to have set the tone for the man Bernie 

has become. It is clear he isn’t one for exclusivity. Music to Bernie, even though sometimes inevitably 

private, has always been a communal thing. This again was hammered home whilst in secondary 

school when he spotted a record shop on a trip into town that it then took an age for him to re-find. 

This was Probe in the 70s, where again the people behind the counter welcomed him as a young 

scamp and his education continued apace. “Eventually I ended up working there and received what 

I can only call a Masters degree in music. I cannot overstate the importance Geoff Davies played in 

the development of Liverpool’s music as a whole.” He remembers the band Deaf School and their 

rehearsals where he could go in and listen as a young teenager. “The band, although adults, treated 

us with respect, talked to us as equals and that left an impression on me.” 

His lifelong dissertation continued when he ended up living in London, New York and San Francisco 

for different periods in the 80s, taking in all the colours of music’s palette that those particular places 

have to offer. Upon returning to the UK, he embraced acid house, “I never became a DJ in that sense 

because even though I liked the music I could never play just one type all night, that’s just not me.” I 

can see why. The word ‘eclectic’ is often overused in articles and features describing people’s tastes. 

Bernie’s vision of music has a widescreen vista that takes in what seems like an ever-growing list of 

acts ranging from Karen Dalton, Donald Height, Cornelius, Stetsasonic to Psychic TV, Cat’s Eyes and 

The Modern Lovers. And they’re just a few samples that have recently been on his show, the highly 

mixed genre podcast, The Sound of Music. “When people say that they don’t like reggae, have they 

listened to every single reggae record? If you’d have told me years ago that I would be conversant in 

forms of Jazz of the likes of Cecil Taylor or the Art Ensemble of Chicago I would have found it difficult 

to believe. Now I get it.” 

Of course this wasn’t his first foray into putting himself at the forefront of a diverse show. He 

worked on the Janice Long-backed and now deceased Crash FM in the 90s where again he got to 

play it his way. Unfortunately it couldn’t last and Crash mutated into what is now known as Juice 

FM. After spending some time away from the airwaves his evangelical zeal forced him back. We are 

all better off for it, well, those who have got onto his podcast anyway. “It gets to the point where 

I wonder if I don’t play some of these records, who else will.” On paper this may sound bombastic 

but it never comes out of his mouth like that. It’s with a fervent respect and maybe even worry, that 

certain songs have become vastly overlooked. He still loves talking about these gems. He never 

joined a band. “I’ve seen some good people become miserable in bands. This passion was enough 

for me”. It is in reading the sleeves, digging out info, connecting the musical dots and lyrical puzzles, 

where the magic lies for Bernie. 

I could stay and listen all day about a wealth of subjects ranging from King Tubby’s recording 

studio in his kitchen to when Pete Burns’ appearance alone frightened the shit out of people in St 

John’s market in the Seventies. Alas, the chat’s over but he allows me to leave only after bestowing 

me with musical gifts to listen to. I’ll also look forward to his show with smiley anticipation from now 

on. I’ll come again, Bernie. Make mine a builder’s brew. 

20 

WE WILL NOT SHY AWAY 

FROM POP MUSIC 

bernieworld.podomatic.com 

LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK 

DEAD CITIES 

THE PHANTOM OF THE LAZE 

Regulars 

4 NEWS 30 

RANTS/COMMENT 

28 PREVIEWS/SHORTS 32 REVIEWS 

Bido Lito! November 2011 3 

Bido Lito! 

Issue Seventeen - November 2011 

bidolito.co.uk 

Bido Lito! 

Static Gallery, 23 Roscoe Lane 

Liverpool, L1 9JD 

info@bidolito.co.uk 

Editor 

Craig G Pennington - info@bidolito.co.uk 

Assistant & Reviews Editor 

Christopher Torpey - reviews@bidolito.co.uk 

Photo Editor 

Jennifer Pellegrini - photos@bidolito.co.uk 

Designer 

Luke Avery - info@earthstudios.net 

Words 

Craig G Pennington, Christopher Torpey, Helen 

Weatherhead, P. Lee, Jonny Davis, David Lynch, 

Pete Charles, Nik Glover, Mick Chrysalid, John 

Still, Joseph Viney, Richard Lewis, The Glass 

Pasty, The Brink, Samuel Garlick, Clarry M, Helen 

Loftus, Phil Gwyn, Simon Finnerty, Tom Jefferson, 

Dan Owens, Ellie Witt. 

Photography, Illustration and Layout 

Jennifer Pellegrini, Luke Avery, Robin Clewley, 

Matt Thomas, David Howarth, Keith Ainsworth, 

Darren Aston, Mike Brits, Ameé Christian, 

Jamie Galliford, Henry O’Hara. 

Proofreading 

Debra Williams - debra@wordsanddeeds.co.uk 

Adverts 

To advertise in Bido Lito! please contact Another 

Media: bidolito@anothermedia.org 0151 708 2841

News 

Edited by Helen Weatherhead - news@bidolito.co.uk 

Edited by Helen Weatherhead - news@bidolito.co.uk 

St Lucia Rocs 

Vocalist, producer, multi-instrumentalist and internet sensation ST LUCIA is set to release 

his debut mini-album on 14th November. The album, which comes out on HeavyRoc Records, 

is inspired by old family photos and cine film, as well as the exotic environments that have 

shaped his musical journey, from his roots in South Africa, through Liverpool, to his current base 

in Brooklyn, USA. soundcloud/st-lucia 

Live Connections 

In a bid to help promote new and unsigned talent, Live Nation Entertainment has launched their 

brand new scheme LIVE CONNECTION, working with We7, AMG and Ticketmaster among others. 

Offering a unique opportunity to Merseyside acts, Live Connection will seek out promising local artists 

and work with them to produce and film three live and recorded tracks, feeding the results through a 

select steering committee of industry-only experts. Let’s get connected. live-connection.co.uk 

The End Starts Again 

COMPETITION! 

In celebration of its 30th anniversary, all twenty issues of cult fanzine THE END have been 

collected and bound together in a new volume, published by Sabotage Times and available to 

order online from 29th October. The End served as a document of Liverpool’s music, football 

and political unrest, and became a prototype for witty and satirical terrace fanzines. “Lend’s yer 

End” will now become a saying of the past. sabotagetimes.com 

Canadian Music Festival Seeks Local Blues Act 

New Brunswick Battle of the Bands is looking for an unsigned blues act to play at the 

Canadian Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival next September. Local musicians are encouraged to 

upload their original blues material music videos to the ‘Battle of the Blues’ website between 

15th October and 15th December, for the chance to perform at the festival in 2012 and win £1000 

prize money. tourismnewbrunswick.co.uk 

Cavern Full Of Records 

You can visit the venue, take the tour, drink at the bar, and now you can buy their music. 

CAVERN RECORDS have released a special compilation album, Cavern Records Presents…, to 

mark the launch of their label in Liverpool. Featuring sixteen of their favourite artists around at 

the moment, the album features Liverpool acts Natalie McCool, The Sand Band and Luke Fenlon 

among others. Keep your eyes open for it now. cavernrecords.co.uk 

Bido Lito! have teamed up with LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK this month to offer 

one lucky reader the chance to win a pair of tickets to the Liverpool Music 

Week closing party at the CUC on 11th November. So, if you’re a fan of The 

Young Knives (pictured), Dutch Uncles, Ghostpoet or any other of the twenty 

plus exciting acts on the bill, answer this simple question for us: 

In which year did Liverpool Music Week begin? 

a) 2008 b) 2003 c) 2000 

Clear your diaries for a night at the CUC, and send your answer to competition@bidolito.co.uk. The closing date is 

9th November 2011. The right answers will be placed into a big pink hat, the winner picked at random and then 

notified by e-mail. 

Bido Lito! Dansette 

Our pick of this month’s wax 

wonders... 

Swimming 

Ecstatics International 

TUMMY TOUCH 

RECORDS 

Nottingham-born genre botherers 

SWIMMING may seem like a wideeyed 

mash-up of neon dream-pop, 

out of control trips and surging 

shoegaze guitars… because they are. 

Like Klaxons, only good and with 

more cardigans, these chaps are 

destined for the sonic stratosphere. 

Zola Jesus 

Conatus 

SACRED BONES 

RECORDS 

Translating as ‘an inclination to 

continue to exist and enhance 

oneself’, Conatus suggests ZOLA 

JESUS will be around for a while 

yet. Conatus takes the Stridulum 

II’s framework of glassy vocals and 

doom-drenched synths and pushes 

them in an altogether more pop 

direction. The Goth Gaga is back. 

Salem Rages 

Our Halloween 

CASKET/FULL TILT 

WORLD RECORDS 

As All Hallow’s Eve approaches, it’s not 

only the costumes of those prowling 

the streets that get a bit creepy. These 

local noisemakers are about to drop 

this breakneck assault on all things 

ghoulish on flexi disc 7”, with all the 

fury of a moonlit graveyard stomp. 

Baxter Dury 

Happy Soup 

ROUGH TRADE 

RECORDS 

With more than a touch of his old 

man, Baxter Dury takes on the role 

of a slightly seedy street bard on his 

latest record. Happy Soup‘s scratchy 

tales of former beaus are shot 

through with Dury’s unmistakeable 

drawls and charming insouciance. 

Chip off the old Blockhead. 

www.bidolito.co.uk

EMMY THE GREAT 

LIVERPOOL GUILD OF STUDENTS, STANLEY THEATRE 

FRIDAY 7TH OCTOBER £12.50 ADV 

PURESSENCE 


SATURDAY 8TH OCTOBER £9.50 ADV 

DAMIEN DEMPSEY 

& AMSTERDAM 

0 2 ACADEMY, LIVERPOOL 

SATURDAY 15TH OCTOBER £16.00 ADV 

JULIAN COPE 


THURS 27TH OCTOBER £17.50 ADV 

THE SMITHS INDEED 


FRI 28TH OCTOBER £13.50 ADV 

Tickets available from hmvtickets.com and ticketweb.co.uk 

The Music Consortium would like to announce 

that it has taken over Hairy Records on Bold St 

with immediate effect… 

Regular customers will initially only notice small changes to the retail space on 

the ground floor. We are currently refurbishing the first and second floors. Once 

complete we will close for a short period before our grand launch. Watch this space 

for details. In the meantime we will start selling tickets for all Music Consortium 

shows plus those of other promoters and venues in the city from the beginning 

of October. In addition to the shows above we will be selling tickets for The 

Maccabees, Scroobius Pip, British Sea Power, Tom Vek, Kitty, Daisy & 

Lewis, Sound of Guns, Battles, Zola Jesus and many more. 

Like us on Facebook 

to get the latest news 

and photos from all our gigs. 

www.themusicconsortium.com


Lucky B ***** s 

Words: P. Lee 

Photography: Luke Avery 

Portraits shot @ Binary Cell Studios 

Luck is a strange thing. In music, luck is often used to 

excuse a musician’s own artistic failings, and is also seen 

as some sort of divine force which has or has not given 

a musician the break which they deserve. But was John 

Lennon lucky to write Instant Karma? No. Was Ian McCulloch 

lucky to write The Killing Moon? No. We make our own luck. 

So was nineteen year old Luke Muscatelli lucky when he got 

the chance to move to the good old USA to play bass in Pop 

Levi’s band? No. It simply serves to show that somebody this 

creative will get their chances, regardless of luck. Talent is, 

more often than not, rewarded. 

The past is the past, and the present is the present. After 

returning to the UK at the beginning of this year, having 

recorded two critically acclaimed albums, produced two 

documentaries/road films and basically living out the 

most enviable of stateside adventures, Luke set about 

releasing his own music, completely self-produced, under 

his nickname LUCKY BEACHES. “I left Liverpool and travelled 

the world with only my iPod. Everyone else had MacBooks 

and then, about halfway though my time over there, 

when I got my own, GarageBand and iMovie just blew me 

away.” Arriving back in town with not only the ambition to 

go it alone, but now also the tools, he set about writing 

and recording the five track Lucky Beaches EP which has 

set many tongues a-wagging in the city this year. T. Rex 

stomper, Circles (In My Mind), and cosmic jangle, I’ll Let Go 

Now (Honey, True), are clear indicators of the sonic road 

that Lucky Beaches intends to tread. I challenge anybody 

to find a better song this year than EP opener, Jenny Mo, 

his glorious tribute to his new wife, which is fit to burst 

with Lennon-referencing charm. This release was closely 

followed by the sublime single, Group Hallucination. Lucky 

Beaches could have settled and rested on his laurels from 

his American experience; instead it seems it has left him 

fired-up and passionate, ready to create something of his 

own, and better equipped to actually do so. 

Luke takes control of all elements of his output. You 

can’t help but feel this approach is in no small part fuelled 

by his past experiences within the music industry, in that 

to depend on labels and others has risks. “Just as quickly 

as the whole thing started in LA, the money dried up and it 

was over.” Liverpool welcomes ya’ back, man. His DIY ethos 

runs throughout his whole body of work, setting up Girl 

Records as his overall platform to release music from each 

of his many incarnations. Although Lucky Beaches is Luke’s 

most prolific act, outfits such as High School Massacre and 

The Myst show a depth to his talent which is rarely seen. 

Check out the promo to High School Massacre single, It’s 

Real, and tell us that we’re wrong. The way in which he 

approaches the relationship between music and video 

shares many traits with that of the underground music 

press’s current squeeze, Lana Del Rey. Both aspects of the 

release (the audio and the visual) are planned and shot 

by the artists themselves, resulting in a full listening and 

viewing package from their perspective. 

All promotional work from the Girl Records stable is Luke’s 

creation, along with the wealth of films he creates which 

are not related to specific songs, but which regardless sit 

very neatly into his overall package. “I spent hours cutting 

tapes and editing my first films,” says Luke, citing the lost 

Bob Dylan masterpiece, Eat The Document, as his greatest 

filmmaking influence, a point which is clearly illustrated by 

www.bidolito.co.uk

the two acclaimed Pop Levi road movies which he 

made whilst travelling the world with the band. 

“I love DA Pennebaker, who did the Dylan and 

Ziggy Stardust films. These are the types of films 

which really inspire me.” It was the fact that 

Eat The Document was edited by Dylan himself 

which really strikes a chord: “Whatever you do, 

whether that be film, music, writing or art, the 

thing which matters most is that it is genuine to 

the person who is creating it. It needs to be true. 

The best films come from filming things that are 

not planned and just filming what happens in 

front of you. Then try and make it look good 

afterwards by just using simple techniques.” 

This theory and work ethic permeates all aspects 

of his work, even with regards to how he writes 

and creates his music. 

Literature is another source of constant 

inspiration and outlet for Luke’s creativity and 

talent. He is currently putting the finishing 

touches to his first book, Sterling Silver Gets 

Rich. Half autobiographical, half novel, in 

much the same way as one of its main literary 

influences, On The Road (Kerouac’s experience 

of his journey rather than the actual factual 

journey itself), it reads like Hunter S Thomson 

for the modern palette. Bob Dylan’s Tarantula 

also garners special praise during our chat and, 

when reading through typewritten copies of 

Luke’s drafts, it’s easy to see that its influence is 

profound. You cannot also help being reminded 

of Lennon’s A Spaniard In The Works and In His 

Own Write, and not solely for what is written 

on the pages but more the context of the piece, 

taking into account the author’s relationship to 

both music and literature. 

It’s via the Lucky Beaches blog (luckybeaches. 

com) that Luke reaches his public, with prolific 

updates giving an insight into his world. Using 

music, film and literature he is constantly letting 

us into his way of thinking, and doing so in a very 

unique way. You can’t help feeling that this type 

of interaction, along with the level and scale of 

his output has rarely been seen in this city. 

So, the world of Lucky Beaches. It’s madcap, 

its sometimes weird, it’s lunacy, but overall it’s 

really different and really f*****g good. Lucky? No. 

But we are lucky to have him, because real luck 

is knowing what you’ve got when you’ve got it. 

Lucky Beaches EP 

and recent single 

Group 

Hallucination are out now. The full debut LP is 

due this year. 

luckybeaches.com 

Go to bidolito.co.uk now for an exclusive 

Obscenic Session with LUCKY BEACHES on Bido TV

10 

Bido Lito! November 2011 

Stignoise 

A Derelict European Adventure 

www.bidolito.co.uk


Words: Pete Charles 

Photography: Jennifer Pellegrini 

As Britain drags its soggy carcass out of the quicksand of recession with David Cameron riding bareback, his 

scourge of hypocrisy roasting our fragile posterior (THWACK! Oi, you lot, pay off your debts! SMAK! Oi, students, 

here’s another pile of debt!), it’s little wonder Jacobia Florek, founding member of Liverpool’s masters of chaos 

STIGNOISE, wants out. 

“Liverpool is full of amazing people doing amazing things, but it’s also full of older people, who should 

know better, ripping off kids.” He’s referring specifically to pay-to-play promoters and venues looking to cash 

in on mediocrity. “I can’t wait to get out of Liverpool. It’s important to escape your environment once in a 

while.” 

Next Thursday marks the start of a two-week European tour which will coincide with the release of the 

seventh collection of musical oddities the band has committed to record. They speak of the more hospitable 

climes of the continent in a way that makes you wonder why more British bands don’t ply their trade abroad. 

Drummer Joel says, “Nine times out of ten the crowd will be going mental, buying the records and trying to 

kiss you at the end of the night. I think people have more respect for promoters and their tastes over there.” 

Having existed in various guises since the late 90s, Stignoise have seen a few things. Jacobia (Jake) has 

watched the city’s music scene blossom, expand and then flounder in the resulting quagmire of blandness. 

So how can bands thrive in a culture which is dictated not by the bands or fans, but by “some dickhead 

in charge trying to make money off the bar?” Jake says the answer lies in the city’s abundance of disused 

premises and the dedication of those willing to devote their lives to transforming them into places of creativity. 

Wolstenholme Creative Space, where our interview is conducted, is one such place; it has become a second 

home for bands, artists and independent promoters who would see its values remain in the hands of those 

who run it. 

Another is the old TUC building on Hardman Street, which enjoyed a fleeting existence as Don’t Drop The 

Dumbells, with Stig at the helm putting on gigs. Joel suggests that the enigmatic nature of the venue meant 

that the shows virtually promoted themselves. “It was a really interesting experiment in word-of-mouth. We 

must have put about ten posters up for each show, five of which were in the venue itself.” Perhaps sensing its 

untimely demise, Jake took the liberty of documenting the venue’s existence on camera in a series of episodes 

which have been published on Stignoise’s website. 

In 2009, the band “gained entry” to the defunct Odeon cinema at the bottom of Park Road and shot a 

series of sessions by artists including a.P.A.t.T and Sidney Bailey’s No Good Punchin’ Clowns. In Europe, derelict 

buildings are in abundance, the authorities turn a blind eye, and the demand for bands vastly outweighs the 

supply. Kids will travel huge distances to attend shows and it’s no coincidence that Stignoise often end up 

playing venues similar to Dumbells - art spaces, industrial estates, warehouses - when they are on the road. 

Furthermore, the band are in agreement that European promoters and gig-goers are more in tune with what 

the band is trying to do than their British counterparts. 

Stignoise’s live show is a visceral assault of drums, distortion and twisted trumpet melodies defying all 

song-writing convention. Have they ever even tried to write a pop song? “They’re all pop songs!” Jake exclaims 

to his band’s amusement. “If you played the main riff on a Casio keyboard and had someone with a proper 

set of lungs doing the vocal line, it’d be mid 90s Pavement but played by five guys who’ve been messing 

themselves up for far too long. So when we go on tour, people are not like ‘your music’s amazing’, they’re 

like...” 

“...what the hell have you done to that pop song?” Bassist George hits the nail squarely on the head. 

The relative chaos of their live shows is not as staged as it may look and the band say they genuinely hate 

it when their gear breaks. Newest recruit Trippy bemoans the throwaway mentality of some bands who think 

an amp is useless because it stops working one day: “That sort of attitude is crap. People should just fix their 

own shit.” 

Jake has a similar take on equipment: “The bass sound, which is the best bass sound of any Liverpool band 

from the last 20 years, is coming through a cab that my step-dad built in the 80s!” 

So Stig are off to their safe European home this month, but they’ve left us with some food for thought. Next 

time you walk past a derelict building, stop, look at it and imagine what it’s like inside. Then imagine it as 

another Tesco or five-star hotel. Then round up a bunch of mates and go and do something about it. 

stignoise.info 

www.bidolito.co.uk

Don’t Wait. Do. 

play-rec-pause with stadt moers records 

Words: David Lynch 

Graphics: Stadt Moers Records 

“There’s just something nice about having something physical that you’re 

never going to be able to get rid of unless we all turn into robots.” That, ladies 

and gentlemen, is the philosophy behind one of Liverpool’s most innovative 

independent record labels: STADT MOERS RECORDS. However, this is a label not 

just concerned with simply preventing their creations falling into the hands of a 

machine-led overthrow - it’s also about the music (maaaaaaan). 

Stadt Moers Records was formed by local artist Richard Proffitt who, after 

sensibly deciding to name the label after a Whiston park and discard all thoughts 

of ‘Dogpiss Records’, looked to collate some of Merseyside’s best aural weirdness 

for release. A musician himself and a lo-fi and sound collage enthusiast, these 

records were, of course, never going to be easy-listening rock albums or 

harmonious pop. Being an artist, Richard also needed to make his releases stand 

out aesthetically and plumped for a much-maligned format for his records: the 

cassette tape. 

This particular idea does have a manufactured edge to it but that’s perhaps 

what makes it so brilliant. They want you to know this is a Stadt Moers Record, a 

statement of artistic endeavour and not just ten three-minute ditties downloaded 

from iTunes. “I like the idea of this forgotten media, forgotten object,” Richard told 

me. “It has to exist as a physical item; being all recorded on computer and then 

put on a tape, like going backwards.” 

There are also several other advantages to using the format as, given the nature 

of the work found on the tapes, it is often necessary to appreciate each track as a 

grower. Therefore, the singling out of favourites should not be an option. “Tape is 

the least skippable format; I like that. Even with vinyl you can skip the grooves and 

find the track you want but with tape it’s mind-melting to fast forward through it.” 

That’s one way of attacking the modern human’s waning attention span. 

These 

tapes 

feature a fantastical 

mix of white-noise 

right through to antifolk 

and are typified 

by their most-recent 

launch 

Ancient 

Fires. That record 

is the combination 

of various artists’ 

exploration 

of 

sound and is, 

characteristically for 

the label, incredibly 

diverse. Surprisingly 

though, this does 

little to damage 

coherence: 

Stadt- 

Moers 

Records 

have a clear eye 

for avoiding jarring 

blends and this is because, and not in spite of, their wide-ranging tastes. Richard 

continued: “It’s such an eclectic mix, everyone’s got eclectic tastes, but there’s 

a link. There’s a meeting point with all of us, an appreciation of what everyone 

brings.” 

The greatest thing about Stadt Moers though is not their clear aesthetic 

aspiration, their great taste in contributing musicians or even their impressive 

range of T-shirts; it is their method of financing releases. Each artist is asked to 

pay a (negligible) fee to secure their place on the record and cover the costs of 

the release itself. There are no profits to be made and yet each artist can benefit 

hugely from having a stylish and instantly recognisable example of their material. 

It’s this kind of community-led artistic release that could really catch on in these 

times of austerity. 

“I don’t see why other people can’t do this. At the end of the day it’s not that 

much money per person, you probably spend more money on alcohol in a week. 

There’s interesting stuff that can be done if people pull together, especially in 

these financial times when nothing physical ever seems viable.” Inspiring words 

indeed, Liverpool. The DIY route may be one forced upon us given the current 

culture of cuts in artistic areas but it could also be a good fit – something to get 

music out there and remove the reluctant lips of artists from the arses of the allpowerful 

gatekeepers. Fuck ‘em, promote yourself. 

It is Richard’s co-conspirator and collaborator, Mike Carney, who perhaps says it 

best with a rallying cry for the music scene to get off its arse and stop waiting for 

its big break. “You don’t need to wait for permission to do things. The tools are out 

there for people to publish.” This utterance sums up what the inspiration of Stadt 

Moers is all about for me. Don’t wait. Do. 

stadtmoersrecords.bandcamp.com

14 


Words: John Still 

Illustration: Amée Christian 

It’s nice to be surprised. Often enough in this line of work it’s simple enough to gauge the response one will receive 

to a given question, or at least have an idea of how it will be fielded. It probably should have been fairly obvious that 

if any band would buck this trend, it would be New York-natives BATTLES, who have built a career on being that little bit 

different. From their first release EP C/ B EP on Warp, which saw them heralded as the leading lights of the New-Prog 

generation, the band have been in a constant state of evolution, altering and tweaking their sound across each release, 

while maintaining their own distinctive motifs. Their breakthrough came in 2007 in the form of Mirrored, a planet-sized, 

shiny disco-ball of a record, orbiting jazz, metal, prog, noise and electro. The record yielded singles Atlas and Tonto, and 

saw the band reach a new audience, making friends and influencing people across the globe. Tracks Atlas and Race:In 

were used in campaigns for car manufacturers, and Battles found themselves in the spotlight. Ian Williams (guitar/keys) 

says of their new-found fame, “We never really feel famous; we don’t feel like we’ve become a massive band. We just 

appreciate the chance to play to people across the world who like what we do.” 

Then came something of a disappearance. All went quiet on the Battles front, rumours circulated of the writing process 

throwing up some difficulties. Then came the news that founder member Tyondai Braxton had left, but that the three 

remaining members were in the process of completing a record. Despite the difficulties, 2011 has finally seen the release 

of Gloss Drop, returning Battles to the public eye. It’s in the discussion of the new record that some of the surprises 

referred to earlier arise. Surely it must be difficult to complete an album when losing a member half-way through? Ian 

elaborates: “Well, a lot was made about us losing our ‘frontman’, which was more of a mainstream press construct 

anyway because we were always more of collaborative, we never felt that anyone was more in the spotlight. We just went 

back to being a three-piece. To be honest, it was becoming pretty difficult in the writing sessions. It probably tells you all 

you need to know if I say that we hadn’t finished a track in two years with Tyondai and when he left we finished a record 

in four months.” So, none of the platitudes expected when this sort of question is tendered. A refreshingly honest answer 

to an admittedly pointed line of questioning. “It’s not that it’s not a shame that he left, but in the end it may have been 

the only way Battles could have continued.” 

Continued they have, and despite a return to their previous instrumental tendencies, Gloss Drop has brought with it 

some guest vocalists, including Mathias Aguayo and Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead. Latest single My Machine features 

electro legend Gary Numan. “We met Gary briefly; he said he liked our stuff, said it was weird. It’s a funny thing to be told 

you’re weird by Gary Numan! His track was the last thing to arrive on the day we sent the record off. After, the high didn’t 

come from us finishing the record, it was like ‘wow, Gary Numan finally sent us his track’! There was some relief when it 

was done; I like to quote the Grateful Dead ‘What a long, strange journey it’s been’.” 

For Battles, the long, strange journey continues, and the Gloss Drop tour brings them to Liverpool on 18th November. 

After a summer on the festival trail, Ian is glad to be getting back to their own shows, “We’ve mostly been playing festivals 

this summer in Europe and the UK. We’ve had some pretty bad performances. Wireless was totally whack. All the electrics 

went off and we had to stop.” Hopefully the welcoming arms of the Kazimier will prove a more pleasurable experience 

for the band, with Battles’ previous Liverpool show still talked about in hushed tones. “I liked Liverpool last time we were 

there; I just walked around a lot. It’s a good walking city.” Support comes in the form of noise-laden dubstep soundscapery 

from Warp label-mates BABE RAINBOW, and Ezra Bang and the Hot Machine solo-project THUNDERBIRD GERARD, making 

for an eclectic evening of sound exploration, melodic invention and dancefloor confusion. 

Battles play The Kazimier on 18th November 

bttls.com 

www.bidolito.co.uk

Words: Mick Chrysalid 

Layout: Jamie Galliford 

BERNIE CONNOR has not only worshipped at the altar of music but he has now transmogrified into 

a disciple who spreads the good word. His recent communications have led him to create The Sound 

Of Music, We 

his two-year-running podcast as well as playing his records at various select nights around 

town. Not unlike other obsessives, he can chat about music, because he has made sense of a world 

that others dip their toe into, skimming the surface. Bernie dived right in at the deep end and still hasn’t 

come up for air. He’s still searching for pearls amongst the effluence and waste that crowd our musical 

consciousness. I sit in his living room surrounded by music mementos, albums, icons, obscurities and 

I’m offered a choice of Earl Grey or builders’ brew. We quickly discuss the iCloud and the potential that it 

may Will 

or may not have. He never thought he’d become so technologically literate, but we agree that the 

future has a way of dragging you along, whilst offering up its limitations and advancements. 

This is a long way from going to the Co-op in Speke, where his mother used to take him, to buy 

singles. One early memory that has burned into his psyche was buying Paperback Writer before he’d 

even started school in the sixties. “There wasn’t a ‘my’ collection or a ‘your’ collection, there was a family 

record collection.” The youngest of six, this seems to have set the tone for the man Bernie has become. 

It is Not 

clear he isn’t one for exclusivity. Music to Bernie, even though sometimes inevitably private, has 

always been a communal thing. This again was hammered home whilst in secondary school when he 

spotted a record shop on a trip into town that it then took an age for him to re-find. This was Probe 

in the 70s, where again the people behind the counter welcomed him as a young scamp and his 

education continued apace. “Eventually I ended up working there and received what I can only call a 

Masters degree in music. I cannot overstate the importance Geoff Davies played in the development of 

Shy 

Liverpool’s music as a whole.” He remembers the band Deaf School and their rehearsals where he could 

go in and listen as a young teenager. “The band, although adults, treated us with respect, talked to us 

as equals and that left an impression on me.” 

His lifelong dissertation continued when he ended up living in London, New York and San Francisco 

for different periods in the 80s, taking in all the colours of music’s palette that those particular places 

have to offer. Upon returning to the UK, he embraced acid house: “I never became a DJ in that sense 

Away 

because even though I liked the music I could never play just one type all night, that’s just not me.” I 

can see why. The word ‘eclectic’ is often overused in articles and features describing people’s tastes. 

Bernie’s vision of music has a widescreen vista that takes in what seems like an ever-growing list of 

acts ranging from Karen Dalton, Donald Height, Cornelius, Stetsasonic to Psychic TV, Cat’s Eyes and The 

Modern Lovers. And they’re just a few samples that have recently been on his show, the highly mixed 

genre podcast, The Sound Of Music. “When people say that they don’t like reggae, have they listened 

From 

to every single reggae record? If you’d have told me years ago that I would be conversant in forms of 

Jazz of the likes of Cecil Taylor or the Art Ensemble of Chicago I would have found it difficult to believe. 

Now I get it.” 

Of course this wasn’t his first foray into putting himself at the forefront of a diverse show. He worked 

on the Janice Long-backed and now deceased Crash FM in the 90s where again he got to play it his way. 

Unfortunately it couldn’t last and Crash mutated into what is now known as Juice FM. After spending 

Pop 

some time away from the airwaves his evangelical zeal forced him back. We are all better off for it, 

well, those who have got onto his podcast anyway. “It gets to the point where I wonder if I don’t play 

some of these records, who else will.” On paper this may sound bombastic but it never comes out of 

his mouth like that. It’s with a fervent respect and maybe even worry, that certain songs have become 

vastly overlooked. He still loves talking about these gems. He never joined a band. “I’ve seen some 

good Music 

people become miserable in bands. This passion was enough for me”. It is in reading the sleeves, 

digging out info, connecting the musical dots and lyrical puzzles, where the magic lies for Bernie. 

I could stay and listen all day about a wealth of subjects ranging from King Tubby’s recording studio 

in his kitchen to when Pete Burns’ appearance alone frightened the shit out of people in St John’s 

market in the seventies. Alas, the chat’s over but he allows me to leave only after bestowing me with 

musical gifts to listen to. I’ll also look forward to his show with smiley anticipation from now on. I’ll 

come again, Bernie. Make mine a builder’s brew. 

bernieworld.podomatic.com 

Go to bidolito.co.uk now to hear BERNIE CONNOR’s summer 2011 Space (Ibiza) set exclusively 

on the Bido Stereo

LiverpooL 

MusicWeek 

Big Deal 

Words: Joseph Viney 

In an age where the music festival bubble is at 

bursting point, it’s nice to see some consistency. 

Now in its ninth year, this month’s Liverpool Music 

Week (LMW) looks set to be one of the stand-out 

events of the city’s musical calendar. 

In its short lifespan, LMW has evolved from 

2003’s inaugural single venue venture into the UK’s 

largest indoor winter festival, and this year brings… 

count ‘em…300 bands for the city’s insatiable music 

fans to devour. With past appearances from the 

likes of KASABIAN, CHEMICAL BROTHERS and THE 

SPECIALS under their ever-widening belt, 2011’s 


showcase is bursting at the seams with talent. 

LMW’s organisers have set this year’s bar high 

enough to make an Olympic pole-vaulter hesitate 

and the fun begins on 20th October. THE HORRORS 

make their long-awaited return to a sold-out 

launch show at The Kazimier. “Sold out?!” we hear 

you cry. Fear not, valued citizen, because there is 

enough on offer to make even the most hardened 

cynic’s cheek glisten with tears of joy. 

Mojo is the willing recipient of a mix of brand 

new talent and established acts. Scheduled every 

night from 28th October to 10th November, the 

resulting bills are crammed with goodness. As 

if that wasn’t enough, Mojo’s run of shows are 

entirely FREE. Nada. Zero. Zilch-o-rama. Mike 

Deane, LMW director, is justifiably pleased with 

how things are looking. LMW, he says, “Will be an 

unprecedented experience; one absolutely not to 

miss.” It’s hard to argue that point. A lot of venues, 

shows and festivals purport to offer the everelusive 

‘something for everyone’ brand, but LMW 

will make believers of us yet. 

Relative veterans THE DUKE SPIRIT and THE 

YOUNG KNIVES keep their wheels turning on the 

28th and 29th respectively with a blistering onetwo 

punch of shows to kick things off. These longserving 

groups will be paving the way for others 

to stake their claim for the hearts and minds of


Liverpool’s 

music 

community. FOREIGN 

BEGGARS 

(2nd 

November) and DELS 

(3rd November) fly the 

flag for fuzzy, grimy 

hip-hop. 

BENJAMIN 

FRANCIS LEFTWICH (1st 

November) and BIG 

DEAL (4th November) 

will be on-hand to 

soothe 

listeners 

with their own sultry, 

resonant 

folk-like 

numbers. Be sure 

to bring a lighter to 

Beth Jeans Houghton 

wave and a tissue 

with which to dab at 

the eyes. Fresh from the critical acclaim surrounding debut long-player Happy Soup, 

BAXTER DURY, (yep, son of king blocked’) brings his lean, bass driven pop to LMW (5th 

November). Not a million miles away from his old man’s aesthetic, but giving it a fresh, 

revitalised perspective, Bido Lito! will certainly be an intrigued spectator at this one. 

Those of you who like your music loud like bombs will do well to catch the intricate and 

messy THREE TRAPPED TIGERS (9th November) as they combine their appearance with 

an album launch. This is but a mere selection of the live shows taking place at MOJO 

during the festival. Check out your LMW 2011 pull-out for the full listings. 

Representing a sizeable coup at this year’s LMW, and one of which the organisation is 

most proud, is the appearance of SEUN KUTI at The Kazimier on 3rd November. Backed by 

the legendary afro-beat group EGYPT 80, the LIPA-schooled and MOBO 2011-nominated 

Kuti will unleash his scorching rhythms and funk energy. With Egypt 80 being a 16- 

strong collective, their show will be one of The Kazimier’s most musically and logistically 

ambitious yet. Endorsed by Brian Eno, who believes they create the “biggest, wildest, 

livest music on the planet”, 

Kuti and Egypt 80 will 

bring diversity to a festival 

that has already brought 

international acts such as 

SEU JORGE and K’NAAN to 

the city. LMW associate and 

Obscenic promoter Joe Wills 

has said we should expect 

“one of the most vibrant and 

uplifting shows of the year.” 

And indeed the same can 

be said about the festival 

as a whole: as LMW hurtles 

towards its tenth year, we are 

once again looking forward 

to a dynamic feast of new 

sounds from across the UK 

and beyond. Get ready for 

the longest, and noisiest, 

week of your life. 

Duke Spirit 

liverpoolmusicweek.co.uk 

Ghostpoet 

LMW cuc TAkeover 

LMW hits a tremendous and almost unassailable peak on 11th 

November at Liverpool’s Contemporary Urban Centre, and promises 

to be a night to remember. The normally labyrinthine venue will be 

transformed into a wildly expansive performance area, displaying 

a dazzling and dizzying range of acts for your consideration. 

Unfortunately, such a highly combustible event cannot be 

maintained by free entry, but with tickets at a mere £10 the roll-call 

of bands should prove to be more than value for your money. 

Fresh from his Mercury Prize nomination, the hypnotic GHOSTPOET 

will be on hand to riff, rap and reload to an expectant audience. 

New York filth-merchants CEREBRAL BALLZY, scribes of such lovely 

ditties as Puke Song, will be around to dispense the wisdom of 

being young, dumb and full of, well, something or other at least. 

D/R/U/G/S, the ambient yet upbeat moniker of Callum Wright, has 

the propensity to lull his audience into either a come-down or comeup, 

perhaps both. With more bands on offer than you can shake a 

musically-inclined stick at, those in attendance can catch VASCO DA 

GAMA, a.P.A.t.T, BETH JEANS HOUGHTON, and many, many more. 

There are also homecoming shows for three of Liverpool’s finest: 

all-girl trio STEALING SHEEP, the quirky and excellent HOT CLUB 

DE PARIS and OUTFIT, who return to the city that birthed them for 

the first time since being praised as one of the Top 25 Acts You 

Need To Hear by NME. Whether the magazine’s unadulterated seal 

of approval proves a blessing or a curse will be put to the most 

stringent of tests in front of a baying mob of home supporters. 

Other events on offer at the CUC’s closing party include cinema 

screenings, theatre performances and Ableton Live workshops for 

the techies amongst you. LMW warns us to ‘expect the unexpected’ 

at this thrill-packed night, and it’s difficult to suppress a surge of 

child-like excitement in anticipation of the wonders to come. 

STOP PRESS - Bido Lito! are pleased to announce that we will 

be hosting a room at the CUC. EAGULLS, WARM BRAINS, THE LOUD, 

LUCKY BEACHES and EL TORO will be helped along by Bido Lito! DJs. 

A line-up and a half we’re sure you’ll agree! 

www.bidolito.co.uk

20 


Dead Cities 

Words: Jonny Davis 

Photography: Robin Clewley 

DEAD CITIES mix a blend of Americana, folk and a hint of country to create 

sparse, well-paced acoustic songs in keeping with the image evoked by their 

chosen moniker. Veterans of the Liverpool music scene, Oli, Martin and Ryan are 

seasoned musicians able to switch instruments as they see fit and in doing so 

create a presence greater than the sum of its parts. The ability to swap between 

ukelele, mandolin and glockenspiel as well as more traditional instruments 

gives their live performances another dimension and helps spread the focus, 

allowing the audience to absorb all the sounds on offer. 

Not eager to unnaturally force new material, Dead Cities have taken three 

years to get a collection of songs together and record their debut album, This 

Killer Wave. Taking in the styles of Led Zeppelin, The Modern Lovers, Neil Young 

and Violent Femmes, their music offers a subtle touch of eclecticism that is 

often difficult to portray through such bare arrangements. Add to the mix 

Ryan’s “serious blues collection on vinyl” and the latest PJ Harvey and Wild 

Beasts records and you have a melting pot of history going into their music, 

leaving a semi-conscious diversity in their sound. Whereas some bands may be 

steadfast in the purity of their vision, Dead Cities take a more organic approach 

to writing. Multi-instrumentalist Martin states, “There was no big plan; we just 

recorded when we had a batch of songs together.” Over a number of years, this 

open-door policy to song-writing has enabled the band to gradually evaluate 

their sound step-by-step. This led to an appreciation for sonic minimalism and 

contemplative, downbeat lyrics: “We just wanted to keep it very simple and 

stripped back. I tend to be drawn to music that’s quite melancholy.” With song 

titles like Saddest Star, Dead Cities aren’t afraid of bringing heavy-hearted lyrics 

and funereal moods to the fore while offering occasional glimmers of hope, all 

hanging on the simplest of melodies. 

The name Dead Cities has become more loaded with character over the 

years. Originally the title of a break-up song, it has taken on extra meaning 

with the hotchpotch urban decay and gradual renovation of the city. This in 

turn resonates with residents of Liverpool, and its relevance is not lost on the 

band: “I used to drive past Edge Hill everyday on my way to practice – rubble 

everywhere.” This sense of acquired depth is bolstered further by asking artist 

Amée Christian to provide the album art. Her detailed line drawing of an old 

man complete with resplendent facial hair offers ambiguity and intrigue. Is this 

rugged man a long-lost sailor of the old city or a rough sleeper ravished by the 

harsh winters? The sparsity of detail is a welcome bedfellow to the softness 

of the music. Dead Cities confess to having a mixed relationship with the city. 

Martin believes the city’s close-knit music community is a double-edged sword: 

“It’s small enough for everyone to know everyone, so you can draw on a lot of 

friends to bounce ideas off, but on the other hand you could argue that people 

are in each other’s pockets a bit which could maybe lead to some conformity.” 

Whilst they appreciate that Liverpool is “a great place to make music and be 

creative,” an awareness of the risk of regional introversion or worse, insularity, 

is perhaps key to their individualism. Dead Cities take nuggets of influence from 

local musicians but importantly they also take a step back every once in a while 

to avoid derivation. This along with their technical proficiency with their motley 

collection of instruments has enabled the band to craft a sound that is not 

intrinsically aligned to Liverpool yet borrows selectively from its heritage. They 

have developed a mutual understanding of what works for them. 

In carving out their own niche, Dead Cities are utilising the contradiction of 

sadness and joy, despondency and hope. The juxtaposition of sweet Americana 

and the darkness of negative space proves to be a tantalising mixture allowing 

for simple songcraft and spatial texture to rest side by side. As the cold nights 

draw in, Dead Cities have timed the release of their album perfectly to coincide 

with the crisp darkness of winter. The LP promises to be a fitting soundtrack to 

use for looking to the stars whilst the ice cracks underfoot. 

Dead Cities launch This Killer Wave on 26th November at St. Bride’s Church 

deadcities.co.uk 

Go to bidolito.co.uk now for an exclusive Leckie Lunar Session with 

DEAD CITIES on Bido TV 

www.bidolito.co.uk

What’s on 

at Liverpool 

Philharmonic 

James 

Friday 28 & Saturday 29 

October 7.30pm 

John Mayall 

Thursday 3 November 7.30pm 

From £23 

Toumani Diabate 

Thursday 3 November 7.30pm £20 

St Georges Hall Concert Room 

Jimmy Carr 

Saturday 12 November 8pm 

From £20 

Zappa Plays Zappa 

Monday 21 November 8pm 

From £10 

SOLD OUT 

Extra Date 

Anoushka 

Shankar 

Saturday 26 November 7.30pm 

From £20 

Lee Nelson’s 

Well New Tour 

Friday 25 November 8pm 

From £22.50 

JUST ANNOUNCED 

Nick Lowe 

Saturday 25 February 

ry 

7.30pm 

From £21.50 

Stewart Lee 

Saturday 3March 8pm 

From £19.50 

Joan Baez 

Friday 2 March 7.30pm 

From £35 

Christy Moore 

Saturday 7 April 7.30pm 

From £30 

Doug Stanhope 

Monday 16 April 8pm 

From £20 

Ian Anderson 

Wednesday 18 April 7.30pm 

£25.50 

Box Office fi 

0151 709 3789 liverpoolphil.com

THE PHANTOM OF THE LAZE 

“We are serious about music. We aren’t serious about anything 

else. But we aren’t really serious about music either.” 

Words: Nik Glover 

Photography: Matt Thomas 

THE LAZE relax in the mixing room of the 

Hurst Locker, multi-instrumentalist Rich’s own 

personal studio in their hometown of West Kirby. 

We’re archiving the interview through a studio 

microphone. It’s a fitting way to document the end 

of a development process that has lasted, in one 

way or another, for over a year. 

Twelve months ago the band premiered their live 

soundtrack to the 1925 silent film version of The 

Phantom of the Opera at Liverpool’s Picturehouse 

cinema, in the arts hub of FACT. The sold out, onenight-only 

performance led to interest in a physical 

release of their score. Dave, Rich, Rob, Joe, Phil, 

Gareth and the absent Jouse have finally finished 

studio recording. On 31st October of this year, they 

will repeat the feat, once again at FACT. 

“We chose Phantom for its mixture of horror 

and romance,” says Dave. “I admired Lon Chaney’s 

physical acting; he even did his own make-up. He 

was fully grotesque yet vulnerable, so versatile. 

We had wanted to soundtrack a silent film for a 

long time. We used to talk about maybe doing a 

Buster Keaton short, doing a comedy soundtrack; 

in fact elements of that are in Phantom, too.” 

“One of the things that appealed to us,” says Rob, 

“is that within the film there are lots of different 

atmospheres. We like to play about with genres and 

atmospheres, rather than doing something that’s 

just dark throughout. We wanted to include the 

music we would be making anyway, rather than alter 

ourselves… we want it to sound like The Laze.” 

When the soundtrack is released, it will be the 

group’s fourth long-player. Beginning with the earsplitting 

funk of Keeping The Dream Alive, through 

Curse Of The Laze (which captured the songs 

that formed their set throughout their legendary 

Valhalla club night), the band’s last release was 

2010’s Spacetime Fabric Conditioner, a Sci-Fi 

concept album. They’ve been remixed by Steve 

Moore, Forest Swords, Brontt Industries Kapital; 

and given a fair chunk of Wirral’s current crop of 

left field musicians their first gig experience, and 

much of their inspiration. 

Thus, they came to the Phantom. 

The band intone the name of the project as if it 

were an albatross, or the white whale. It’s clearly 

taken over a large part of their headspace for a 

considerable time. Where did they start? Everyone 

in the band has their own opinion. Dave acts as 

spokesman: “It took us three months to write, 

once we had the final edit of the film. We had 

ideas for single scenes prior to that, but it didn’t 

come together until the run-up to the performance 

last year. We’ve been working on other material 

but Phantom has strangled everything else. Once 

these dates are done, it’s finished.” 

The film itself has had a notoriously complicated 

history of re-edits and re-scoring. The group were 

careful not to study any version too closely. 

Rob: “Rick Wakeman did a version in 1990; the 

original cinema release has a soundtrack edited 

from a Schubert symphony. In a sense we’ve made 

ours self-referencing.” 

Rich: “It’s leit-motif based. Like a Richard 

Strauss tone-poem. Even the dance section in the 

middle uses a motif from elsewhere. Rob wrote a 

Sarabande, like a Baroque dance suite - basically 

the mediaeval equivalent of Justice. But in 6/4.” 

The Phantom will materialise in Hackney’s brand 

new Picturehouse on 1st November, before a mad 

rush up the motorway to grace the independent 

cinema chain’s superb Newcastle venue on the 

following night. The group have previously taken 

Phantom ‘out’ on occasion, for two sold-out 

performances in The New Continental in Preston. 

In truth, Horror and Science Fiction have ruled the 

band’s live act for some time. 

“We took reference from lots of things, but 

there’s one soundtrack that ruled all: Dune. It has 

a motif which exists in almost every horror film. 

We played gigs in-between recording Phantom, 

covering music by Goblin, Carlo Maria Cordio, John 

Carpenter, newer stuff like Mr Oizo and Gaspard 

Auge’s Rubber. We screened Grindhouse classic 

‘Pieces’ at the Kazimier last year, and played a 

set of Horror and Sci-Fi. We will be doing another 

set like this at Abertoir, a horror film festival in 

Aberystwyth on 11th November. Film soundtracks 

have probably been the greatest influence on the 

way we make music ever since we began doing it. 

In a sense, Phantom is the logical result of that.” 

The Laze perform their live soundtrack to The 

Phantom Of The Opera at Liverpool’s Picturehouse 

at FACT on 31st October. 

facebook.com/thelaze

28 


Previews/Shorts 

Edited by Richard Lewis - middle8@bidolito.co.uk 

TOM VEK 

Hugely influential, beat-rock practitioner TOM VEK arrives in the city for a show 

at The Masque. Recent album Leisure Seizure marked his return to music after a 

five year absence, following his highly praised debut We Have Sound. The new LP 

easily reconnected him with the here and now and tickets are sure to move fast. 

The Masque – 11th November – Tickets from ticketweb.co.uk 

URCHIN SESSION NO.1 

DOGSHOW and LOVED ONES are the joint headliners of a Warehouse gig 

put together by the good people at Meshuggy. Held at Warehouse 59 Jordan 

St (site of the recent LP launch from The Loud), proceedings will continue 

into the small hours. HOT LIGHT FIESTA, ALL WE ARE, THE SUNDOWNERS and 

RHODES also feature on an exemplary bill. 

Warehouse 59 Jordan Street – 28th October – Tickets OTD 

GHOSTFACE KILLAH 

Terminal Convention 

In March this year, the first edition of Terminal Convention was held at the 

Decommissioned International Airport Terminal in Cork, Ireland. Static Gallery 

will host the Liverpool leg of the event, along with partner art spaces/clubs 

in Seoul, Frankfurt and New York. The organisers’ idea is that the events will 

happen in each city at designated times and will be streamed live back to the 

Static Gallery audience and live on the internet. 

Kicking off on Friday 4th November, a 32.02hr series of events will open 

Terminal Convention. Liverpool bands CLINIC and OUTFIT will be presenting 

specially commissioned pieces on the opening night, with Clinic sticking around 

to play a DJ set informed by the contexts of the exhibition. BAND ACTIVITY DJs 

(Stadt Moers Records) will also be at the decks. Saturday 5th November sees 

the Premiere of Mike Hannon’s Terminal Convention film, as well as popprovocateur 

BILL DRUMMOND who will be accounting for his BAKE CAKE piece 

which he will be carrying out over the 32.02hr event. HIVE COLLECTIVE (DJ/VJ set) 

will bring audiovisual delights to the evening, alongside a live performance 

from VINDICATRIX and records/visuals by THE BLACK MARIAH. Intrigued? Well, 

you’ll just have to go and see for yourself. 

4th/5th November – Static Gallery – visit statictrading.com for more details 

Following the hugely successful gig last year by his WU TANG CLAN cohort 

GZA at The Kazimier, GHOSTFACE KILLAH has got in on the act, playing a show 

at the same venue. Praised as ‘rap’s finest storyteller’, the tour flags up his 

recent collaboration LP with MF Doom Swift and Changeable. 

The Kazimier - 10th November - Tickets from seetickets.com 

WIRE 

Post-punk legends WIRE head out on tour to plug last year’s Red Barked Tree 

album. One of the few bands of their era still making bewildering music, their 

angular melodic tension will doubtless be in stunning form live. Excellent support 

comes courtesy of superlative Beefheartian prog-pop ensemble LOVECRAFT. 

O2 Academy – 25th November – Tickets from ticketweb.co.uk 

BILLY BRAGG 

Since taking over the running of the Left Field at Glastonbury Festival in 2010, Billy 

Bragg has made an effort to showcase young artists mixing pop and politics. This 

two night residency, with AKALA and SOUND OF RUM, comes with a low ticket price, 

aiming to connect a new generation to the power of music with something to say. 

The Picket – 25th/26th November – Tickets from Liverpool Philharmonic 

International Guitar Festival 

The oldest and largest annual guitar festival this year includes, Rolling Stones 

legend BILL WYMAN’S RHYTHM KINGS, folk group BELLOWHEAD, Roxy Music 

linchpin PHIL MANZANERA, classical guitarist XUEEI YANG, Mercury Prize nominated 

pianist GWILYM SIMCOCK and Welsh psych-pop wonders COLOURAMA. 

As well as the performances, the series of workshops at this year’s festival 

cater for every talent whether you’re a master of the fretboard or strumming 

your first chords. Workshops include masterclasses from American blues legend 

CATFISH KEITH and bluesman WOODY MANN, as well as two guitar maintenance 

sessions run by instrument specialists KGB. 

Additionally, industry experts will run seminars on Doing it Yourself in the 

Music Industry and Making Money from Your Music as part of Six String Saturday, 

a day of free music. In addition to showcasing some amazing world class artists, 

the festival also spotlights the vibrant musical youth within Wirral in a special 

concert featuring the Wirral Schools Jazz Orchestra and guitar virtuosi, ESMOND 

SELWYN. The festival takes place in venues across Wirral with concerts at The 

Floral Pavilion, Pacific Road Arts Centre, the 12th Century Birkenhead Priory and 

the Mersey Ferry Terminal at Woodside. 

4th-30th November - bestguitarfest.com - Tickets from Floral Pavilion Box Office 

www.bidolito.co.uk

30 Bido Lito! November 2011 

Rants/Comment 

The Glass Pasty 

Post-it Notes from the Cultural Abyss 

Post-it Notes from the Cultural Abyss 

“Open the Pod Bay Doors Hal!” 

soundscapes in which us peasants 

can purchase our Frey Bentos’ and 

Autumnal Greetings Readers! This 

pickled eggs. There seems to be four 

month amidst the falling leaves of 

songs on a loop at the moment and 

popular culture I pick out the best 

one of them is very reminiscent of the 

acorns and attempt to inject a little 

Homoerotic Warehouse classic – The 

bit of spontaneity into the ever 

Power of Love. However gentle pleb, 

plodding conveyer belt of filth that 

there is a twist, it is stripped of vocals 

represents most of our daily lives. 

and seem more primitive and urban 

than the original, almost as if there 

Shopping Blots at the Observation 

is an extra track of bin bashing Blue 

Station 

Peter percussionistas STOMP hiding 

Regular readers/pervs will realise 

somewhere between the disinfectant 

that I am a big fan of Home and 

and the Pop up Pirate Playmats. It 

Bargain, not only is it my main source of 

feels like it was recorded for Robot 

emotional nourishment but I am also 

Wars or Laser Quest but couldn’t 

a extremely fond of their motto “high 

quite make the sanitation grade. 

quantity of low quality for fuck all”. 

Nauseating and you leave feeling like 

They also have some rather spiritually 

your name is Drone 5068. 

sapping and mentally challenging 

I ask you, do shoppers at Waitrose 

Nik Glover 

The process of Mastering musical 

record company executive who 

recordings has a fascinating history. 

passed an unmastered recording of 

The first automated musical 

a Cistercian choral work for release, 

instruments were developed in 9th 

Century Baghdad by the Banu Musa 

resulting in the massacre of some 

1500 Languedoc music enthusiasts 

brothers. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages 

who had queued overnight to 

and the triumph of the Christian faith 

that the idea of Mastering music was 

developed. The unattributed ‘Codex St. 

Etienne’ contains the earliest mention 

of the practice: the liner-notes to 

the first edition include a thank you 

purchase the sheet music on its first 

day of release. Henry II of England 

is rumoured to have ordered a 

copy himself - thankfully delivery 

was delayed by an outbreak of scrofula 

at Calais. 

to ‘The Most Diligente (sic) Magister 

The Master is not universally 

Peter of Cloves for his Masterment 

of This Pias Work’. It is not recorded 

whether Magister Peter was paid for 

this privilege. 

By the 13th Century the Masters’ 

dominance was total; the persecution 

of the Cathars of Northern Europe has 

been attributed to an over-zealous 

worshipped - as long as they have 

practiced their Art, and however 

impressive the results, there have 

always 

been musicians willing to 

revolt against their statutes. 

Ben Franklin’s invention of the 

Armonica in 1761 may be the first 

recorded example of an experimental 

have to put up with such Orwellian 

mind control? Probably Pasty, I 

hear you answer, but it’s in the 

form of Dappy 

and 

Tynchy Stryder’s 

Spaceship. Right you are reader! 

Cogs and Machines 

A recent injury meant I was 

back in the gym briefly, the land of 

treadmills, sted heads and non stop 

MTV, back where it all began! It was 

Fireflies back then that compounded 

my worst fears about modern music 

and this time I couldn’t help but 

notice quite how bad things have 

become. Try rowing at speed when 

some tattooed humungous moron 

is singing along to Maroon 5’s 

stench anthem Moves Like Jagger; 

its enough to make you pledge 

allegiance to a regime of perpetual 

comfort eating and retching. 

musician trying to get around the cost 

of Mastering his work; by perfecting 

the production of glass soundproducing 

vessels, Franklin hoped 

his debut release (the ‘Channelin’ 

Lightnin’’ EP) would not require the 

double-emboldening process that 

was required by law before a piece of 

sheet music could be mass printed. 

The British government’s enforcement 

of the Stamp Act overrided this 

innovation; as we know, Franklin 

would enjoy the last laugh. 

So, how does one ‘make’ a Master? 

You may as well ask, how does 

one write a hit? Or how does one 

tune a trumpet? Perhaps a better way 

to phrase it would be, ‘Where is a 

Master made?’ 

Herman Hesse’s 1943 tome The 

Glass Bead Game describes in minute 

detail the training of a Master; from 

birth in a secluded Bavarian townstead, 

through enrolment at the St Albinus 

Hifidelitous college, to the completion 

The Impetuousness of Yoof! 

Freshers, stay out of my way! It may 

seem kooky living on your own and 

attending Vod Bull and Jägerbomb 

related events but to the wider 

public it is of absolutely no interest. 

A bus full of disgruntled nine to 

fivers couldn’t care less about which 

guy Veronica snogged or how many 

turned up for this morning’s lecture 

on STDs. The aisles of Asda are a 

depressing place at the best of times 

but hearing about a new washing up 

rota system and Steve’s krazy Tuna 

Pasta just makes consumers reach 

for the Codeine and Razors. Tread 

carefully but please do enjoy your 

time in Liverpool and help revive our 

flagging economy! 

Adios. 

of his first great Masterwork (Ziggy 

Ellman’s ‘20 Hoppin’ Greats’). Hesse’s 

Master is ever intuitive, ever selfquestioning 

and humble, stripping 

away layer and layer of bass rumble 

to sharpen every peak of dynamic. At 

one point our hero asks ‘How long 

have I been learning?’ at this point, the 

reader joyfully intones the response: 

at long last, Master, long enough. 

What we must remember about 

the art of Mastering is that it is 

never finite; knowledge in the field 

builds incrementally, like precedent 

in Common Law. Musicians may sniff 

at the process as being ‘just making 

stuff louder’, but this overlooks the 

centuries of evolution of the process. 

These days you can get your album 

mastered for as little as £12,000: a 

small price to pay for a step which 

may force the nose of your demoalbum-CD-sampler 

ahead and into that 

crucial first place. 

www.bidolito.co.uk

Guest Column 

Damien Kelly, Community Engagement Manager, The Brink 

Damien Kelly, Community Engagement Manager, The Brink 

Reading this article, there 

is a good chance you may 

be echoing the sentiments 

of Morrissey’s lyrical (some 

would argue) genius: “I 

was happy in the haze of a 

drunken hour, but heaven 

knows I’m miserable now.” 

Never before has alcohol 

become so ingrained with 

social culture. Given the 

regeneration of our fair city, 

there are more bars now than ever before, enticing tourists and locals 

alike to paint the town all the colours of the rainbow. 

Which is fine. Don’t get us wrong, there is a place for alcohol in society 

as there has been for thousands of years. None of us here will brow 

beat you into never opening a can of Red Stripe again or suggest doing 

anything to dampen your spirits. But what if you don’t want to drink but 

get out of the house? Or what if you want to perform to a crowd of people 

who will respond to every chord and every lyric played to them. What is 

the alternative in Liverpool... well funnily enough, it’s on Parr Street and 

we’re called The Brink. 

The Brink is Liverpool’s first dry bar. ‘A dry bar in Liverpool?’ 

we hear 

you ask. Oh yes, the city that has become one of the most stylish and 

popular places in the UK, and we have added to the cultural landscape 

serving non-alcoholic drinks, food that will blow you away and a music 

venue to rival any other in Liverpool. ‘Seriously, are you mad’ 

we hear 

you ask? Not really. There is an underground movement amongst many 

people these days who don’t want to drink. At the same time, there is a 

whole community of people who are in recovery, who want to go out of 

an evening, listen to some live music, have some great food whilst not 

being asked if they want to see the wine list. 

So who’s playing at The Brink? Well Nick Ellis performs an acoustic set 

every Saturday night, Miles Carrington takes the stage on a Friday and we 

have an open mic night on Thursdays. We’ve also got Chris Difford from 

Squeeze playing in December and loads more planned between now 

and then. 

The draw for artists playing at venues like The Brink, we think, has lots 

to do with non-alcohol culture. We are adamant that in an environment 

where the senses are heightened naturally; whether it is by the 

atmosphere, the warmth emanating from the surroundings and from 

the people around you, music in a sober environment offers something 

different. There’s has something exciting about it. Dare we say there’s 

something pure about it? For a live performer, there is no better reflection 

of your music than from people who are totally and completely engaged 

by what you have created, captivated by sounds that touch the fabric of 

their sober soul. It sounds like a strange concept we admit, but it’s one we 

believe in wholeheartedly. Cheers! 

thebrinkliverpool.com

32 


Reviews 

Misty in Roots (Darren Aston) 

MISTY IN ROOTS 

Oyé Touring & Trading @ The Picket 

Peering through the metal slats of 

The Picket’s musical palisade, it’s plain 

to see that tonight is one of promise: 

the smoking yard is already frothing 

with skinheads, wizened Rastafarians, 

and the sensuous overflow of some 

mind-blowing Caribbean cooking. The 

Picket itself seems to be watching the 

sand drop for this night in particular, 

and the recent October heat-wave’s 

sun has never fallen so sweetly on 

the pavement of the aptly named 

Jamaica Street. With MISTY IN ROOTS 

riding Liverpool’s recent wave of 

top reggae acts performing in the 

city in the past two months (Toots 

And The Maytals and Jimmy Cliff 

among others), it’s easy to see why 

this band in particular were a John 

Peel favourite. 

With the unfortunate surprise of 

no support acts, the troop of loyal 

reggae fans are keen to see the 

band’s sound check, which becomes 

a minor spectacle in itself. Needing 

no introduction, Misty In Roots’s 

brass section lead the band on and 

launch straight in to the set with 

True Rastaman, and with guitarist 

Kaziwayi’s rolling-train treble flicks 

kicking at the back of your legs, it’s 

hard not to get moving. By the end of 

their follow-up tune, the massive Jah 

See, Jah Know, the ghost of youth is 

fully unleashed as vocalist Poko starts 

to warm up, with a stage presence that 

shows not much has slipped since 

their last album, Roots Controller, 

released way back in 2002. 

Cover Up – reminiscent of the 

Specials classic Ghost Town – unites 

the mixed bag that constitutes the 

audience, a retrospectively poignant 

moment when considering much 

of the ethos and social context 

that surround this band. Cover Up’s 

reference to “Stephen Lawrence, 

black male cut down in south 

London,” is one of many beautiful 

cynicisms that revolve around Misty 

In Roots; a sweetly cutting epitaph 

that summates solid musical genius 

and passion for one’s heritage...isn’t 

that what reggae music is all about? 

Proclaiming that “this music is 

like magic, black magic,” Misty In 

Roots are quick to sow the seed of 

where true reggae lies. On The Road 

Again and Musi-O-Tunya continue 

the rumbling-train feel of the night, 

throwing up all the calypso and 

Caribbean beats that get in your belly 

and tickle your smile from the inside 

out. Poko, though clearly eligible 

for his free bus pass, is able to belt 

out some real high end notes, while 

making even ole Sir Brucey Forsyth’s 

dancing look like a stumbling drunk in 

the local. This is a top British band in 

every sense, a band whose powerful 

lyrics and passionate beats finally 

culminate in their step-down song 

Ghetto Of The City, a broken-hearted 

and pragmatic summer anthem that 

still stands tall in today’s music game. 

It is a testament of what lies beneath 

those grey-bearded men on stage: a 

pulse of reggae that hasn’t waned in 

over 40 years, a pulse that still beats 

strongly today. 

Simon Finnerty 

RUINS ALONE 

Barberos 

I Am Your Barber/Postmusic/Samizdat 

@ Wolsenholme Creative Space 

As a finale to their latest art 

project, the Unintention Exhibition, 

Wolstenholme Creative Space 

becomes a sanctuary of oddness 

www.bidolito.co.uk

34 


Reviews 

for the night. After shuffling around 

various limbs of the exhibition, the 

audience congregates to witness the 

visual thrill that is BARBEROS in their 

last show of the year before recording 

new sounds. 

With a backdrop of TVs and 

vivid visual projections, the white 

lycra sporting threesome’s visual 

aesthetics are as intense as their 

sound. This sound being a fast paced, 

riotous, driving clash summoned by 

two drummers facing each other, and 

a cacophony of electronic keyboard 

synth noise. This dystopian raucous 

rush of percussive energy backed 

by electro, acid jabs is seriously 

pummelling to the ears, and 

presumably fully intentional. Due 

to the brilliantly named Colin And 

Cindy’s Estonian Washing, I’m unsure 

whether to take them seriously 

or comically, so I settle for a little 

of each. 

The ever intriguing Yoshida Tatsuya 

(Drums, Everything Else) formed 

his band Ruins in 1985, and after 

exhausting four bassists, the pioneer 

of Japanese avant-garde went solo in 

2004, as RUINS ALONE. A man who 

‘compulsively photographs stones,’ 

and obsesses over French operatic 

prog act Magma is welcomed as part 

of his European tour. 

This one man whirlwind commands 

his own sound entirely, triggering 

samples on a laptop to his right, 

mic on his left, while maintaining 

the ability to drum ferociously. Only 

a brief monitor adjusting debacle 

pauses the creative flow of Yoshida’s 

jittering limbs. Repetitive chants and 

vocal hollers add depth to complex, 

unfathomable rhythms and punkminded 

experimentalism. After each 

song, his Björk-like “thank you” gives 

way immediately to the next; clapping 

is abruptly halted each time, as if to 

avoid interruption of the gripping 

onslaught. He slips into a medley of 

recognisable melodies: Für Elise, Pink 

Floyd, almost too quick to pinpoint, 

before careering into the next one. 

Yoshida seems to leave the 

audience in the present, attempting 

to keep up, while he drives continually 

ahead into his next assault, too fastpaced 

and disjointed to allow for 

contemplation. 

Yoshida presents experimental 

prog smashed into high energy punk 

gibberish at speed, pushing multiple 

boundaries. His own physical workout 

prompts an extreme mental workout 

in his listeners. I hope I’m not the only 

one leaving slightly disorientated, 

insides burning and ears ringing. 

Clarry M 

THREE TRAPPED 

TIGERS 

Binary Toad 

Wingwalker @ The Shipping Forecast 

Apple Corp know exactly what 

they’re doing, don’t they? The late 

Steve Jobs’s ubiquitous logo provides 

the focal point as tour support BINARY 

TOAD warms up in what is essentially 

a very dark, sweaty sardine tin. The 

phrase ‘one-man band’ evokes a 

much less tacky and visually arresting 

image these days. Sure, the ability to 

find all the virtual knobs and dials 

on a MacBook is technically just as 

impressive as being able to play a 

cowbell with your big toe, but with so 

much programming software at one’s 

disposal, where is the enjoyment in 

going along to watch an artist who, 

if you were stone deaf, could just be 

doing his dissertation in the dark? For 

half an hour. 

Despite being enslaved by 

technology themselves, THREE 

TRAPPED TIGERS are all too aware 

that even as iConcerts begin to 

take a stranglehold on the touring 

circuit, the unpredictability of a live 

experience must be preserved. This is 

exemplified in spades by bespectacled 

drummer Adam Betts’ mind-boggling 

percussion arrangement. Betts sits 

caged in what can only be described 

as a fort of acoustic drums and silicon 

gadgetry which, to most quadrupeds, 

Full range of audio services; 

recording, production, mixing, 

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Reviews Bido Lito! November 2011 35 

would seem like the Everest of setups. 

He flutters around the kit with 

precision, power and style, activating 

triggers here, grabbing cymbals 

there, and somehow maintaining 

breathtakingly sharp form throughout 

a 50-minute set. 

Whacking a ‘post-rock’ sticker on 

their sound would be lazy at best, 

insulting at worst. Three Trapped 

Three Trapped Tigers (David Howarth) 

Tigers take us on a labyrinthine 

odyssey through electronic music 

which pilfers the best beats from drum 

and bass, the charged atmosphere 

of trance and technical metal guitar 

solos which challenge the very tenets 

of mathematics. 

The band are gracious enough 

to interrupt an otherwise seamless 

show to acknowledge familiar faces 

from their Sound City performance 

back in May. After a populist, but 

no less requisite jibe about underenthused 

Manchester audiences, they 

plough back in with Reset, which has 

girls shaking their hips while their 

significant others stand dumbfounded 

at such musical wizardry and probably 

wondering what they’re going to do 

with themselves after they quit playing 

music out of respect for this lot. 

Their genre-hopping noise rock is 

so persistently multi-faceted that it 

starts to become a massive drain on 

the senses. If you start listening too 

hard, you can pick out samba drums, 

distorted heavy rock guitar licks, 

ambient melodies, and computer 

game effects, sometimes all in the 

same song. By rights, it should not 

work on any level. It’s a battle cry to a 

generation brought up within a culture 

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36 


Reviews 

of instant gratification, as if to say, 

“What’s that, you want everything? All 

the time? At maximum volume? Well 

here it is, but don’t come crying to me 

if it melts your face off.” 

Pete Charles 

FOREST SWORDS 

Ex-Easter Island Head 

Spectres of Spectacle @ Static Gallery 

Even upon the announcement of 

the Spectres of Spectacle hybrid of 

art and music for Abandon Normal 

Devices Festival, it was beyond clear 

that, if nothing else, it would be a 

unique evening. Few gigs are warmed 

up by a solitary woman carrying a vase 

“with her voice emanating from it” 

around Liverpool. For five hours. And 

even fewer are funded by the London 

2012 Cultural Programme, which is 

partly funded by the government. 

Ultimately, the evening was going to 

prove that, if nothing else, we still live 

in a society where tax payers’ money 

is put towards the funding of avantgarde 

art. Against the background 

of cuts and protests, it seemed a 

glorious anomaly. 

And that is not an inaccurate way to 

sum up the entire evening: completely 

anomalous, an emphatic celebration 

of real extroversion and creativity. 

This direction was clear from the 

outset, as visitors were welcomed 

by a droning loop created by EX- 

EASTER ISLAND HEAD and piped 

into the room via four strategically 

placed guitar amps. If nothing else, it 

was a confirmation of their radically 

unconventional approach not just to 

music’s composition, but also to its 

performance and consumption. 

Given that the night was an 

exploration of the left field, it 

seemed almost inevitable that 

FOREST SWORDS should be involved, 

having been met with the most 

rapturous critical response of any 

experimental Liverpool artist in recent 

years with his debut LP, Dagger Paths. 

Specifically for the night, he had 

composed a three track piece entitled 

Ground Rhythms, which had been 

inspired by the histories of three now 

defunct Liverpool landmarks, aided 

by Mercy’s overlap programm, and 

which aimed to explore the nature of 

self-destruction and the depressingly 

lazy modern consumption of music. 

And if that sounds like far too lofty 

an ambition to anybody, they clearly 

haven’t been lucky enough to hear 

Dagger Paths. 

In conjunction with Samizdat’s 

Andrew Ellis, Forest Swords had then 

cut Ground Rhythms onto fragile 

X-ray film, which would disintegrate 

as it was played, meaning that these 

tracks could only be played once. 

Given the ambition and the artists 

involved, anticipation of something 

truly great was high. It would be fair 

to say that it is exactly because of 

this excessive expectation that the 

first five sparse and reticent minutes 

of Ground Rhythms were received 

with not much more than a nervous 

approval. 

Yet, as time progressed, it seemed 

that that was exactly the intention. 

Understated rhythms and moody 

textures dominated as Ground 

Rhythms became gradually less 

self-conscious and opened into an 

atmospheric epic of Forest-Swordian 

proportions. As Ellis himself stated, 

the piece attempted to “reject the 

increasingly passive consumption 

of music,” and in that sense it was a 

Ground Rhythms (Keith Ainsworth) 

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complete success, with most ears in 

the room wringing each second of 

music with intense concentration. And 

just as most minds had concluded 

that Ground Rhythms had been an 

interesting but underwhelming idea, 

the nature of self-destruction was 

mirrored with a brief release of tribal 

brilliance, before fading to nothing. 

With the whole piece in context, it 

all seemed to make perfect sense. 

Yet if you weren’t there, you’ll never 

know, which seems to be exactly the 

point, a poignant reminder of the 

worth of music; as with everything, 

never fully understood or appreciated 

until it is gone. 

Phil Gwyn 

METRONOMY 

Django Django – FOE 

Wingwalker @ The Kazimier 

With the audience sat around the 

stage, arms folded and expressions 

vacant, one would be forgiven for 

assuming that FOE were about to 

recount tales of yesteryear, weaving 

twee symphonies around their sagas. 

Instead they berate them with ugly, 

blunt music about society’s ills and 

inner demons. With a sound best 

described as bemusing, their indie 

pop vocals are twisted into unsettling 

forms through haunting synths and 

macabre samples. If they haven’t 

yet been diagnosed with ADHD, then 

now is the time to visit a doctor, as 

industrial-pop stunners, such as Tyrant 

Song, harmonise screaming distorted 

guitars with ethereal keyboards to 

great effect. Unfortunately, their lack 

of any distinctive identity proves to be 

their downfall, characterised by the 

audience’s wandering attention. 

DJANGO DJANGO present an 

interesting prospect: psychedelicgarage-surf 

folded in a semiminimalist 

ethos. Their songs skew 

all conventions and sense of place, 

urging the audience into a sort of 

hypnotic state. They achieve the 

sensation of both the strange and 

the familiar by using conventional 

instruments in intelligent and exotic 

ways. However, their adventurous 

tendencies can get monotonous and, 

with the promise of METRONOMY 

looming ever closer, the crowd’s bated 

anticipation is evident, and Django 

Django’s brain-twisting compositions 

are left almost forgotten. 

Joseph Mount’s endearing tones 

will charm you into such a lull that 

you will spurn all consciousness 

and become absorbed by his every 

syllable. The question is, how well 

will it translate into a live experience? 

All credit goes to Metronomy for 

passing on the temptation to gorge 

the audience with their most popular 

electro-pop spectacles straight away. 

The double barrel of We Broke Free 

and Love Underlined were an odd 

couple of choices to begin with, ones 

to which the crowd were unsure how 

to react; occasional flurries of dancing 

followed by brief spells of rigorous 

head-nodding. Then came the catalyst: 

You Could Easily Have Me, with its 

rock-rave crossover appeal, spurred 

the audience into a frenzy. 

Whether it’s the crowd-surfing, the 

guttural screeching or the gallons 

of beer now embedded in all of my 

clothes, this whole gig feels like it 

shouldn’t be happening, a blip in the 

otherwise serene world of Metronomy. 

Tonight should be about picturesque 

landscapes and endless beaches, not 

about exhilaratingly screaming lyrics 

at the top of your voice. As soon as 

the first few off-colour notes from The 

Bay are uttered however, it all made 

makes sense: rather like their songs, 

this set was about growing into itself. 

By reserving the best in their canon 

until now, Metronomy cause the 

crowd to respond with a proverbial 

sigh of relief that was represented by 

a literal yell of gratification. 

RIOT JAZZ 

Samuel Garlick 

Speakeasy @ The Kazimier 

It’s official: swing is in. And as usual 

The Kazimier has its expert finger 

right on the pulse, keeping Liverpool’s 

alternative pendulum swinging in

Reviews Bido Lito! November 2011 39 

the right direction. The latest type 

one that, once experienced, makes all 

of music to go through the cultural 

the sense in the world. Hot 8 Brass 

reincarnator (is that a word?) is swing 

Band are pioneering it over in the 

and brass; an unlikely resurgence, but 

States, and now Manchester’s RIOT 

Start 4.48pm Fri 4th - End 00.50am Sun 6th (32hrs 2min) 

Friday 4 November 

CLINIC + OUTFIT (New Commissions) 

+ CLINIC DJs + BAND ACTIVITY 

(Stadt- Moers Records) Plus Special Guests 

Saturday 5 November 

BILL DRUMMOND (The 17/Bake Cake) 

HIVE (DJ/VJ set) + VINDICATRIX 

(MORDANT MUSIC) (Live) + NOT ABEL 

(THE BLACK MARIAH/BRINKS HELM)(DJ/VJ 

J 

set) Plus Special Guests 

+ Premiere of Mike Hannon’s Film: 

TERMINAL CONVENTION 

Sunday 6 November 

Terminal 

Convention 

Liverpool, 4-26 November 2011 

STATIC GALLERY 

Free Entry 

Opening Weekend: 

Art Store + Exhibition continues 

www.statictrading.com 

Static, 23 Roscoe Lane, Liverpool, L1 9JD 

Metronomy (David Howarth) 

JAZZ are blaring it through pursed lips 

on English shores. 

Riot Jazz come to Liverpool off the 

back of the festival circuit which has 

taken them out of their Manchester 

home to Kendal Calling, Soundwave, 

Bestival and beyond. It is clear 

that their long summer of gigging 

has already paid dividends as The 

Kazimier’s dancefloor is packed, 

the crowd worked up into a furore. 

There are plenty of 1920s speakeasy 

stylings, with prospective Kings Of 

The Swing working their sharp suits 

all over the dance floor while flapper 

girls swing neon poi round on stage. 

The DJs spin a mix of hip-shaking 

tunes to get revellers into the swing 

of things, from Mr Scruff to a remix of 

Louis Prima’s Jungle Book hit, I Wanna 

Be Like You. 

When at just after midnight Riot 

Jazz eventually take to the stage 

the crowd goes wild, and from the 

first trumpet blare of The Human 

League’s Don’t You Want Me the floor 

is a sea of unstoppable limb flinging 

and swinging. They quickly work 

through some of their more well 

renowned cover versions, including 

a storming version of Chemical 

Brothers’ Saturate. The group are

40 



Reviews 

accompanied by MC Chucky, who is 

a highlight, paying tribute to the 

a great medium between band and 

enormous tuba-like instrument and 

crowd, not that this crowd needs any 

the man who wields it to provide 

extra encouragement. An excellent 

the bass-stomp at the core of all Riot 

MC in his own right, Chucky keeps the 

Jazz songs. If the band had played 

receptive audience moving with calls 

all night, there is no doubt that the 

for them to show their jazz hands, 

crowd would have danced until 

and a rap game in which he winds 

they dropped, but they graciously 

random words shouted out from the 

finish with a cacophonous cover of 

crowd into an improvised rap. 

A-Ha’s Take On Me. The whole gig is 

But it’s when the band play their 

a euphoric and uplifting experience, 

own soulful blend or funk and jazz on 

and I dare anyone who sees Riot Jazz 

tracks such as Soundwave and Smart 

not have the time of their lives. 

Price Gin that we see how they are 

Thomas Jefferson 

not only great fun to watch and dance 

to, but that they have real talent. To 

Chucky’s credit too he appears to 

have genuine love for the music and, 

This Is Two – Dirty Vagrants 

unlike some MCs, knows when to 

– Stereo Virgins 

take a step back and enjoy it. 

Mean Fiddler @ The Shipping Forecast 

Having taken a break to “get a bit 

more pissed,” Riot Jazz return at 2am 

LAFARO are beyond hotly-tipped 

to find that the crowd has lost none 

at the moment. Those in the know 

of its enthusiasm. As the crowd get 

proffer a nod and a wink if and when 

closer to the stage for the second 

their name is mentioned. However, 

set, it is clear to see how much fun 

both they and the band are having. 

The anthemic Sousamaphone 

is 

LAFARO 

if you want to build a good house 

you’re going to need some strong 

foundations and this bill was a mix of 

pleasure and disappointment. 

STEREO VIRGINS took to the stage 

first and made you wonder just why 

they are so low on the bill. Their 

sound has now veered from faintly 

generic Sonic Youth-esque scratches 

towards a deeper, darker sound that 

brings to mind Kyuss, or a faster Black 

Sabbath. Scientists are yet to state 

whether music that makes you want 

to fight is good or bad for a person’s 

disposition, but right here and now… 

it felt good, maaaan. Top marks for a 

band with a lot more to come. 

DIRTY VAGRANTS, on the other 

hand, presented little else but 

disappointment. There are some 

good tunes threatening to break 

out, but they are hampered totally 

by vocals that remind you of Anthony 

Keidis with a sore throat, unnecessary 

faux-white rapping and all. The band’s 

Facebook page sees them nominated 

as the “go-to act for when rock comes 

to Liverpool” but right now that’s little 

else but a dream. 

THIS IS TWO nestled neatly in the 

middle ground between the two 

preceding support acts. Presenting 

solid tunes and evident love of the 

craft, they are another group who need 

more time and fine-tuning before they 

are ready for a bigger stage. 

As for LaFaro, well…there must be 

something odd in the water in Norn 

Iron. The country that has brought us 

groups of the calibre of Adebisi Shank 

and And So I Watch You From Afar 

has struck oil once more. LaFaro are 

a whirling dervish of noise, menace, 

more noise and more menace. Forget 

music that makes you want to fight, 

this is the kind of music that makes 

you think “why the fuck am I not in a 

band?” Devastatingly heavy guitars are 

married to mazy percussion and vocals 

that sneer, cajole and console all at 

once. They are utterly tremendous 

and surely destined to move onwards 

and upwards in this grimy world. 

Catch them while they’re hot and in 

small venues. You know you’re always 

looking for the chance to say “I was 

there when…” Well, this is it. Grab hold 

of that chance and don’t let go. 

Joseph Viney 

GWILYM 

SIMCOCK TRIO 

The Capstone Theatre 

There are few musicians who can 

mesmerise an audience like GWILYM 

SIMCOCK. Tonight, fresh from his 

recent Mercury Prize nomination, the 

jazz pianist and his trio showed their 

technical brilliance and clever ear for 

harmony. Throughout a varied set 

they captivated the audience from 

the minute they strolled on stage. 

Simcock crafted a musically mellow 

atmosphere that was so reminiscent 

of an old-school jazz club. There were 

no support acts, no unnecessary 

speaking in between pieces, no 

glaring visuals to avert focus from 

the sound. None of these extras were 

needed; the music alone deserved 

all of the audience’s attention. It 

was unnoticeable that, as Simcock 

mentioned in one of his rare talking 

points, the three musicians had not 

played together as a trio for three or 

four years (the drummer tonight was a 

stand-in for the trio’s usual drummer, 

James Maddren). The line-up and the 

arrangements chosen allowed for all 

three musicians to showcase their 

individual talents in outstanding 

solos, as well as an impressive 

ensemble performance. 

The set began with one of Simcock’s 

own compositions, proving that his 

musical talent stretches much further 

than his celebrated performance 

technique. Throughout the night an 

animated Simcock could be seen 

mouthing unheard scat vocals above 

his piano playing. An equally energetic 

Yuri Golubev (Bass) showed some 

impressive leaping and concrete 

support for Simcock’s solos, which 

were contrasted by beautiful flowing 

melodies where he took the lead. 

The trio’s stand-in drummer (whose 

name we unfortunately missed) also 

displayed his technical ability, using 

brushes as opposed to drumsticks, 

whilst appearing amazingly laid 

back in comparison with his lively 

companions. Golubev later showed

November 2011 

Venues throughout Wirral 

BILL WYMAN’S RHYTHM KINGS . BELLOWHEAD 

MIDGE URE . JUAN MARTIN - FLAMENCO DANCE ENSEMBLE 

MARTIN SIMPSON . CLIVE CARROLL . KIT HOLMES TRIO + many more acts! 

Contact the Box Office on 0151 666 0000 or visit www.bestguitarfest.com 

SUPPORTED BY

42 


Reviews 

Male bonding (David Howarth) 

off his own compositional talents in 

a performance of his piece, translated 

as Simple Metaphor, a stylistic change 

in its upbeat tempo. 

As well as Simcock’s own 

outstanding compositions, the 

triumvirate paid homage to several 

other musicians throughout a 

carefully chosen set list. The first 

such track was John Taylor’s Between 

Moons, prompting the first rapidfire 

drum solo of the night, which 

received rousing applause from the 

audience. Allan Holdsworth’s Fred 

and, during the second half, Buster 

Williams’ Christina were also given 

the Simcock treatment, the latter 

rendition bringing to life “a piece 

which is barely heard anymore.” As 

a musician and composer, Gwilym 

Simcock is always ready to praise 

his predecessors and the influential 

artists who have made an impact on 

his own work, and tonight referenced 

Kenny Willer (in Kenny’s Way) and 

Samuel Barber. Barber’s dedication 

- Barber Blues - demonstrated 

Simcock’s classical streak with an 

uplifting performance quite unlike 

the relaxed start to the night. 

For the encore, the trio reverted to 

the smooth, mellow jazz sounds with 

which they began. Having taken the 

audience through several musical 

styles and showcased the technical 

talents of the three members as 

soloists, the performance succeeded 

in doing what all jazz performances 

should: it uplifted the audience. 

Helen Loftus 

www.bidolito.co.uk

MALE BONDING 

The History Of Apple 

Pie – Organ Freeman 

Evol @ The Shipping Forecast 

ORGAN FREEMAN are very much 

what you would call a ‘party band’. 

Their performance utilises audience 

participation, which of course makes 

them the perfect warm-up act as 

they break the ice and get everybody 

involved. Gloriously camp, Organ 

Freeman play to a backing track of 

catchy chart hits. There is no pretence 

of cool and no song is too kitsch or 

sentimental to be appropriated into 

their set and as they pogo deliriously 

in their underpants it is safe to say 

they know how to have a lot of fun. 

THE HISTORY OF APPLE PIE are a 

refreshing surprise after first hearing 

their name as they have a lot more 

to offer as a five-piece rock band 

than the fey title suggests. Taking 

the overdriven noise of Bush Tetras 

and the dreamy harmonies of My 

Bloody Valentine, THOAP make full 

use of effects pedals to lift cutesy 

shoegaze into something sonically 

rich and room-filling. While the vocals 

could do with tweaking somewhat, 

the band in full swing provide a 

depth of texture rarely successfully 

achieved by bands of their tender 

years. Perhaps modelling his stage 

presence on Jonny Greenwood, 

guitarist Jerome Watson isn’t afraid to 

bend a string or two and smack the 

guitar around in an attempt to coax 

harmony amidst dissonance. Even 

though they offer nothing essentially 

new to this vintage style, they are very 

proficient in pastiche, and the will to 

explore their instruments so fervently 

surely holds them in good stead for 

the future. 

MALE BONDING are signed to 

Sub Pop and their music harks back 

to a time when the label had a 

trademark sound. Like their labelmates 

No Age, Male Bonding like to 

make a good deal of fuzzy lo-fi noise 

but unfortunately unlike No Age 

they are limited by a distinct lack of 

musical variety. Their songs invariably 

begin with an interesting hook be 

it rhythmic or based on a simple 

three-chord progression, however, 

these are the highlights and the 

next few minutes tend to drift away 

into nothingness. With a host of new 

artists looking to early 90s American 

alt rock, there is always a buzz 

around bands such as Male Bonding. 

Whereas the likes of Abe Vigoda and 

Mazes use the genre as a basis on 

which to develop catchy pop songs, 

Male Bonding don’t quite have the 

quality underneath the distortion to 

warrant such a retrogressive approach 

to music. Perhaps they should look to 

tour supports The History Of Apple Pie 

for an example of how to successfully 

embrace nostalgia. 

Jonny Davis 

PINE HILL HAINTS 

Serious Sam Barrett 

Wolstenholme Creative Space 

Last month’s Above The Beaten 

Track festival was concrete proof 

that Liverpool’s roots music scene is 

thriving, and tonight’s gig at WCS turns 

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label curated by Ralph Alfonso 

out to be a hoe-down to remember. 

12-string guitar-toting SERIOUS 

SAM BARRETT takes the floor amid a 

chorus of semi-drunken hollers and 

hoots. It soon becomes clear that 

token warm-up acoustic artist this 

AIN’T. Sam is among friends here, 

his heart-on-the-sleeve folk music 

having earned him a fiercely partisan 

fan base. Tender ballads about being 

on the road, his home town of Leeds 

and girls that got away have the 

punters in thrall. A clever lyricist, his 

word play mildly evokes that of punk 

rock troubadour Frank Turner: 

“She’s the kind of girl that I’d like 

to sing to, she’s the kind of trouble I’d 

like to get into.” Whoops of approval 

from the onlookers punctuate the 

lyrics of set highlight Lay A White 

Rose and there’s a real atmosphere 

of camaraderie about the whole 

performance. 

He leaves the floor (‘stage’ is 

almost a dirty word in folk music) 

with a doff of the cap to next act PINE 

HILL HAINTS, a troupe of musicians 

from Alabama with whom Sam has 

recorded a split 7” (something tells 

us we haven’t seen the last of him 

tonight). Pine Hill Haints play a blend 

of traditional country and galloping 

rockabilly - which they have termed 

‘ghost music’ - on a decidedly unusual 

set of instruments (we’re wondering 

specifically how exactly you explain 

‘washtub bass’ to a customs official). 

There are ‘redneck rock’ clichés all 

over this act and at first it’s difficult 

to tell whether or not Pine Hill Haints 

are a tongue-in-cheek, but no less 

affectionate, homage to American 

roots music. A quick chat with Sam 

Barrett in the wings sets the record 

straight: “Mate, you should see where 

Jamie (guitarist) lives! He doesn’t 

even get his rubbish collected. His 

Dad’s a preacher. Doesn’t get more 

real than that!” Touché. 

With Sam Barrett now back in the 

fold at Pine Hill Haints’ request, it’s 

shaping up to be a good evening, 

but disaster seems to have struck 

as the room is suddenly plunged 

into total darkness. The momentary 

confusion abates as it transpires that 

this is a pre-meditated part of the 

act and Haints go on to play half a 

song by gaslight. OK, we’re fibbing, 

it’s a maglite, but as friends grope 

blindly for each other and sing the 

remaining chorus, the desired effect 

is achieved. 

Haints pick up from where Kings 

of Leon left off (after the complete 

abomination that was Sex on Fire, 

that is), with beat era tales of harddrinking 

and grafting a living. It’s 

heart-warming to know that with 

music in such a rapid state of flux, 

the folk genre will continue as long 

as there are stories to tell. 

LILLIPUT 

Post Romantics – Ian 

Dunn – Tone Puppets 

Pete Charles 

The Lovely Job @ The Zanzibar 

The intimate confines of The 

Zanzibar were once again illuminated 

by a mixture of bands, artists and a 

noisy audience for the latest Lovely 

Job showcase. 

IAN DUNN, a Liverpool singersongwriter, 

added a flavour of 

variation to the predominantly indie 

band orientation of the night. With 

his dreamy and melancholic lyrics, 

matched to a floaty and unassuming 

voice, his songs seemed somewhat 

out of place on the dank, unpolished 

stage. Dunn’s guitar skills are 

something in themselves to be 

marvelled at, and credit must be 

given to him for perseverance as the 

incessant chatter which continued 

throughout his set was enough to 

infuriate even the most laid-back 

of characters. Enough to leave you 

wanting more, however. 

Local boys POST ROMANTICS were 

contenders for the most frantic 

performance, bringing some wild 

drumming, raging vocals and fearless 

guitar strumming. Although there 

were points during their set where 

one song unknowingly slipped into 

another, many-layered tracks such 

as the catchy Time Ticks By, 

Keep 

Swimming and Ready To Fall kept the 

audience thoroughly engaged. 

THE TONE PUPPETS followed Post 

Romantics, and certainly changed 

the tone of the evening. What had 

been - in most parts - a relaxed 

experience became a rather turbulent 

and frenzied affair when these Lovely 

Job residents took up the baton. With 

fizzing Pixies-esque guitars they 

certainly kept the crowd entertained, 

and set up proceedings what was 

to come. 

Sunderland’s LILLIPUT managed 

to keep the audience on their toes, 

allowing not a koment for distraction 

as they shifted between instruments 

from the harmonica to the tambourine. 

Their sound ranged from pop to rock, 

indie to folk, with songs such as 

Breathe and Little Wanderer boasting 

soft, peaceful beginnings, which 

then merged into kicks of strong and 

punchy interludes. Overall the night 

beheld a diverse mixture of styles 

and approaches, which is always 

refreshing. This is a great platform 

for emerging artists and bands and 

one which will continue to attract 

returning and new revellers in their 

droves, in the hope of hearing more 

intriguing and exciting new music. 

Ellie Witt 

WILLIAM TYLER 

Hiss Golden Messenger – Cavalier 

Song – Simon Knighton 

Harvest Sun @ Leaf 

Beneath a ceiling of twinkling 

disco balls, and bathed in the 

dancing light from the table candles, 

SIMON KNIGHTON is the first to take 

to Leaf’s stage, negotiating a lamp, 

a changing screen and a manikin on 

the way before settling in with the 

classy décor. 

Knighton and his band immediately 

set about delivering some very 

charming folk-inspired songs, yet still 

incorporating plenty of different genre 

aspects. Twisted and manipulated 

through his husky Kelly Jones-esque 

vocal, blues, ska, Irish folk, rock’n’roll 

and classic pop are melded together, 

and Knighton performs each song

September 

Milapfest presents Music for the Mind and Soul: 

Tarang 

13:00 Saturday 24 September Free 

Gwilym Simcock Trio 

19:30 Thursday 29 September £15 

October 

Olivia Moore’s Unfurl 

19:30 Tuesday 04 October £10 

Liverpool Irish Festival and 

The Capstone Theatre presents 

Tommy Smith’s KARMA 

The World Premiere of 

Gerry Diver’s The Speech Project 

19:30 Saturday 08 October £15 

19:30 Thursday 20 October £15 

Roger Eno and Dom Theobold / 

Joanna MacGregor’s Mozart 

For All Mankind (Screening) 

Piano Concerto Series 


19:30 Sunday 23 October £10 (£8)* 

Ceremony Concerts and Penguin 

Fraser Fifield and Graeme Stephen 

Café presents Arthur Jeffes – 


Sundog 

19:30 Thursday 13 October £16.50 

The Solid Air Band: 

Robert Mitchell 3io 

19:30 Wednesday 19 October £12.50 

The Songs of John Martyn 

20:00 Saturday 29 October £10 

Milapfest presents 

Music for the Mind and Soul 

13:00 Sunday 30 October Free 

November 

Liverpool’s innovative 

performance venue 

The Cornerstone Festival 

Oysterband and June Tabor 

19:30 Thursday 03 November 

presents Kathryn Tickell: 

Northumbrian Voices 

£17.50 

19:30 Friday 25 November £15 

Blazin’ Fiddles 

Milapfest presents 

19:30 Wednesday 09 November 

Music for the Mind and Soul 

£17.50 

13:00 Saturday 26 November Free 

Piano Music from the 

The Cornerstone Festival 

Ambient Century: 

presents Joanna MacGregor’s 

Dianne O’Hara 

Beethoven Piano Sonata Series 

19:30 Thursday 10 November £10 

19:30 Friday 02 December £10 (£8)* 

Portico Quartet 

19:30 Sunday 13 November £17.50 

The Man with the Luggage 

(by Lizzie Nunnery) 

19:30 Tuesday 06 December £12 (£7)* 

Milapfest and The 

19:30 Wednesday 07 December £12 (£7)* 

Cornerstone Festival 

presents Nirmanika 

19:30 Saturday 19 November £10 

50 Songs: 

The Music of Ian McNabb 

20:00 Friday 09 December £15 

time being 

– Harold Budd / 

(Evening1) 

The Necks (double bill) 

20:00 Saturday 10 December £15 

19:30 Monday 21 November £15 

(Evening2) 

www.thecapstonetheatre.com e-mail: creative@hope.ac.uk 

Box Office: Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Hope Street, Liverpool L1 9BP. Tel: 0151 709 3789 

Venue Address: The Capstone Theatre, 17 Shaw Street, Liverpool L3 8QB. Tel: 0151 291 3578

46 


Reviews 

William Tyler (Mike Brits) 

with the confidence and prowess of a 

headliner. Easy listening for even the 

most sceptic of ears. 

With barely no introduction, 

CAVALIER SONG then take to the 

stage, the two-piece remaining seated 

throughout their mix of avant-garde 

and experimental ambient noise. 

Banter is kept to a minimum, for it is 

a profound sense of atmosphere that 

is essential to their performance. The 

audience becomes almost hypnotised 

by the heavily-effected yet minimal 

lead guitar swoons swirling around 

the room, an effect that allows soft 

vocal phrases to be attacked with 

heavy distortion. Tailored Alteration’s 

slowly spoken lyrics (“I had to kill 

something, cut it open, watch myself 

from above...”) add another layer of 

excitement and almost Cobain-like 

intrigue to their set. At times awkward 

but always engaging, Cavalier Song 

are the hopelessly likeable bi-polar 

black sheep of the line-up. 

The room then plunges in to 

darkness save for the dozen or so 

candles on the tables, for the arrival 

of the one man HISS GOLDEN 

MESSENGER. Again, no introduction 

is offered as MC Taylor begins straight 

off, singing unaided by an instrument. 

His remedial voice soothes the room 

after the intoxicating noise of the 

previous act, and the relaxed and 

warm atmosphere soon returns 

for him to begin to entrance his 

audience. With a voice that is delicate 

and tender, and picking through 

songs from mini-album Bad Debt 

with maturity and warmth, HGM is 

something to behold. 

Another musical twist is in 

store for the night in the shape of 

headliner WILLIAM TYLER, of multiinstrumentalist 

Lamchop and Silver 

Jews fame. Solo guitarists often get 

bad press but Tyler proves that he is 

a cut above the rest. He does not aim 

to riff the socks off you, nor does he 

feel the need to demonstrate how 

loud he can play. With him the silence 

between notes is just as important as 

the note being played. As he glides 

through Missionary Ridge, it is easy 

to forget that there are no vocals in 

Tyler’s music because he makes his 

guitar sing beautiful melodies, often 

two or three at a time. His debut 

album Behold The Spirit takes you 

on an individual journey through an 

uncharted landscape of exquisite 

beauty: dynamics are essential once 

again as Tyler manages to express 

himself through a variety of techniques 

on his electric and acoustic guitars, 

and tonight he demonstrates just 

how emotional a sound played with 

the right tone can be. 

It is impressive and reassuring to 

hear just how much control music 

can have over people’s feelings. 

Tonight has been witness to a variety 

of emotions, and an education in the 

mastery of them. More please. 

Dan Owens

Issue 17 / November 2011

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