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November 12, 2015November 17, 2015

INTERVIEW: Mr Switch

**Mr Switch (Mr, DJ Switch… think Hip Hop not House) will be performing at Scratch Club on Saturday 14^th November, hosted by The Dark Horse in Moseley. At the time of writing, Scratch Club were promoting a donations-on-door policy; for more direct gig info, click here.

First debuting back in 2006 with a simple mission statement that stands true today: bringing that beat back (to paraphrase the great Flava Flav), cutting, scratching and all things Hip Hop to Birmingham, Scratch Club has found a new base of operations at The Dark Horse in Moseley.

Having hosted heroes of Hip Hop in the past, such as the aforementioned Flava and Public Enemy, as well as DJ QBERT and The Scratch Perverts, Scratch Club is now hosting Birmingham’s own Mr Switch – five times (and current) World DMC Mixing Champion. I mean, why look to foreign shores when we have the world champ in our own back garden? Remember, Brummies, what this city has to offer the rest of the UK, let alone world. It isn’t all UB40 and hobbits y’know.

All it needs now support, and the love that Birmingham has given nights dedicated to this still thriving counterculture. A culture that started off at block parties in the tougher neighbourhoods of New York, before dominating the mainstream media as one of the 20th century’s most vibrant and explosive socio-economic movements.

Birmingham Review caught up with Mr Switch and talk to him about the past, the present and future plans for our champ.

Birmingham Review (BR): What’s been happening in the world of Mr Switch since winning your 5th World Championship last year?

Mr Switch (MS): Well, I suppose one of the biggest things I have been involved in is a BBC project going out to all schools in the country called 10 Pieces. The BBC has taken ’10 pieces’ of Classical music and asked schools to create something original and creative with it. It could be a dance piece, poetry, art. Anything really, and it will be released on DVD with the 1hr programme also appearing on the BBC at some point in the near future.

The ‘pieces’ are available at the moment on the BBC website. This came, in some small part, from me doing the Concerto for Turntable and Orchestra about 7 years ago now, and led to me being the first DJ to play at the BBC Proms back in 2011.

Last year I was lucky enough to play the closing set at Shambala, set to fireworks, which took some co-ordination in regards to the live sequencing alongside Two Tigers, in charge of fireworks. I’ve also toured a few countries such as Finland, and in the New Year I’m ready to do a countrywide tour too.

BR: You sound like a very busy man. Getting back to the here and now. What can people expect from Scratch Club this Saturday?

MS: If you’ve been before, when we were at The Yardbird (now shut due to the development of Paradise Circus) then you know what to expect; there will be a good mixture of Hip Hop and freestyle battles. And open mic sessions, which have given us some of the greatest moments of glory and fun too. It’s a friendly crowd and, all will feel welcome at The Dark Horse, and we’ve got some of my favourite MCs, such as MC MR FX, playing as well as some of the best DJs around.

BR: And you’ve roped in some friends too – Dead Pixels is teaming up on the night. Were you a gamer growing up?

MS: Not so much. With the money I got, it was a choice between music or games. Guess which one I chose?

BR: I’m not that great myself. Maybe we can battle it out on Mario Karts on the night?

MS: Yep. I would imagine that people may hear the odd reference or two thrown into my set that are more than a nod to old school gaming and gamers. Expect some 8-bit action on the night as well as plenty of new bits added to my set too.

BR: Sounds good to me. Before I let you go, is there a chance of this becoming a regular night at The Dark Horse?

MS: Well, we have a good relationship with the owners and I’ve played here myself in my band, Boom Operators, so here’s hoping.

Mr/DJ Switch plays at Scratch Club on Saturday 14^th November – alongside DJs Automaton, The Doctor, DJ Spats, Deviant, Nick Morgan + live graffiti from That Bloke Wilson and Liskbot.For direct event info, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/905352259542816/

For more on Mr/DJ Switch, visit http://dj-mr-switch.com/

For more from The Dark Horse, visit http://www.darkhorsemoseley.co.uk/

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N.B. If you want to know more about the BBC/Mr Switch project 10 Pieces, visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0647v1v

Educators should click on the ‘10 Pieces Primary’ or ‘10 Pieces Secondary’ links for further information on how their school can get involved.

November 12, 2015November 17, 2015

BREVIEW: C Duncan @ The Sunflower Lounge 05.11.15

Words by Helen Knott / Pics courtesy of Fat Cat Records

The Mercury Music Award has a reputation for being a bit of a career killer. Past winners, including Talvin Singh, Badly Drawn Boy, Ms Dynamite and Gomez haven’t exactly gone on to set the world alight. Damon Albarn was so concerned about the award’s supposed curse he requested that Gorillaz’s 2002 nomination be withdrawn altogether.

Still, a mention in this year’s shortlist for his debut album Architect doesn’t seem to have done C Duncan’s career much harm so far, if a busy Sunflower Lounge is anything to go by.

Christopher Duncan, tonight backed by a live band of bass, keys and drums, is a classically trained composer who recorded Architect on his own, in his bedroom. Apart from a few glitchy dance beats not really present in its live realisation, the album certainly doesn’t sound like it has been recorded in a bedroom – the songs are obsessively meticulous and have a warm autumnal glow.

Duncan’s classical background is apparent throughout his music, perhaps most notably in his thoughtful arrangements, with returning motifs played across all instruments and vocals, and in the way he plays electric guitar with more of a Classical than a Rock style. Duncan’s guitar playing is particularly interesting – he plays a lot of the notes using only two fingers. In fact, he plays guitar like someone who has a ton of innate musical ability but has never actually seen anyone else play one before.

Singles ‘For’ and ‘Say’ are Duncan’s most catchy and immediate songs, capturing a similar whimsical beauty as bands like Fleet Foxes, Yeasayer and Grizzly Bear. Debut single, ‘For’, conjures up a wistful postcard of the British seaside, with pretty picked guitar chords interspersed with offbeat drum patterns that keep things interesting. In ‘Say’ the backing vocals, so effective throughout the set, are particularly beautiful, swelling in the chorus like a choral piece.

It doesn’t always work. When C Duncan moves into more cheerful subject matters things get rather cloying. ‘He Believes in Miracles’ (“Someone came and stole my heart – I don’t want it back”) and ‘Garden’ feature saccharine Beach Boy backing vocals and lyrics that err just too far on the side of twee. The slow and hypnotic ‘Novices’ gets things back on safer ground, the chorus shimmering with a celestial brilliance.

At his first headline gig in Birmingham, Duncan has the wide-eyed enthusiasm of someone who can’t quite yet believe that audiences are actually turning up to his shows – he thanks the crowd for being there so many times that he starts to get heckled by his own band.

But he’ll soon get used to it. He has all the talent and flair to develop into a fascinating artist. And I for one will be hoping that on Friday 20 November, C Duncan does not win the Mercury Music Award.

For more on C Duncan, visit http://c-duncan.co.uk/

For more from Fat Cat Records, visit http://www.fat-cat.co.uk/

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For more from The Sunflower Lounge, visit http://thesunflowerlounge.com/

For more from Birmingham Promoters, visit http://birminghampromoters.com/

November 11, 2015February 22, 2017

BPREVIEW: The Clothes Show Live ’15 @ NEC 04-8.12.15

Words by Sasha Holt / Pics courtesy of NEC Group

Well hello fashionistas, it’s Sasha – your sartorial slave here. You’ve caught me in the act of indulging a guilty pleasure. Yes I’m alone in my room, on my bed, where I do it best, and l I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m tingling, salivating and trembling with excitement as I write this post.

With barely a month to go the countdown to The Clothes Show Live ‘15 has started in earnest. So I’m poised to shop, people spot and get hot and sweaty in the sartorial mêlée that The Clothes Show Live always ends up being. Yes there might be hundreds of screaming teens and wannabes hoping to be spotted as the next supermodel, but I’ll fight through the trash to the core of this must-attend-event to find the beating heart; the true fashion obsessives.

One of the most exciting parts for me at The Clothes Show Live events is trying to accidentally bump into one of my fashion idols. This year on my fashion stalker radar are Alice Levine, Caryn Franklin, that cheeky blonde troll Jamie Laing, and Hilary Alexander who will be heading up the team in Olympus Pen Style studio.

I just hope I don’t come across that orange, intellectually challenged fashion fraud Joey Essex. I don’t want to catch his kind of stupid. But more important than the A to Z listers is splashing some cash on my must-visit-labels; the sexy Mink Pink will be on my boutique list this year, and Lemon Lunar too.

Visiting the Bazaar could also be a chance for me to stock up on accessories and unique buys I didn’t necessarily know I needed, but which will soon become wardrobe essentials. Note to self, I must head over to the Designer area before spoiling myself and going broke at Muubaa.

I ’m also looking forward to checking out the hair and beauty areas at The Clothes Show Live ’15, to get some pamper time in and maybe pick up some tips on how to control my crazy hair and makeup addiction. Although the pièce de résistance will surely be comparing myself to the skinny giraffes on the catwalk – wishing I had at least half of their height.

So am I excited to go once more into the fashion breach my friends? Oh yes, I’m armed and ready to do battle for you my fashion followers. So I’m sure this won’t be my last tasty teaser for you before the big day at The Clothes Show Live ’15.

They are calling this year’s event ‘Britain’s Fashion Festival‘ but to me it’s more of a pilgrimage to Britain’s fashion mecca.

The Clothes Show Live ’15 comes to the NEC Birmingham from 4^th – 8^th December. For full programme details visit http://www.clothesshow.com/

Tickets for The Clothes Show Live ’15 are on sale now, available through Ticket Factory. For online tickets sales & info, visit https://www.theticketfactory.com/cslb/online/

For more from the Ticket Factory, visit https://www.theticketfactory.com/

November 10, 2015November 17, 2015

BPREVIEW: Julia Holter @ The Glee Club 11.11.15

Words by Ed King / Pics courtesy of Domino Records

On Wednesday 11^th November, Julia Holter performs at The Glee Club (Birmingham) with support from Søren Juul.

Doors are open from 7pm to 7:45pm, with no late admittance. Tickets are priced at £13 – as presented by Birmingham Promoters. For direct gig info and online sales, click here.

Hot on the heels of her fourth studio album, Have You in My Wilderness, Julia Holter is in the UK for one week only – packing in six dates from Glasgow to Brighton, before heading over to mainland Europe. Then Asia. Then Australia.

Julia Holter’s second release through Domino Records, Have You in My Wilderness, has been snowballing descriptions including ‘personal’, ‘opaque’, ‘intense’ and ‘engagingly serpentine’. Or my own personal favourite, ‘Holter strikes the nexus between complex lyrical musings and approachable, timeless songwriting.’ Throw a stone.

But the biting reality of Holter’s latest LP – and perhaps the influence of Domino, her label since the mid 2013 release of Loud City Song – is, potentially, a broader appeal. The vocals and melodies that have been in, on, over, or behind Holter’s portfolio prior to this LP are nudged further forward, with the new ten song offering presenting more radio friendly moments than across previous track listings.

It’s warm, creative and cosy, as opposed to the hard bench of quiet Avant Guarde that has excited Holter‘s pundits so much before. More like falling asleep comfortably drunk in a new jumper. My orotund two cents.

But, as I hear the stamped of Supersonic attendees rushing in to correct me, you’d probably better stop, look & listen for yourself. The danger of commissioning any new tailor is a bare ass and laughter.

‘Feel You’ by Julia Holter (opening track from Have You In My Wilderness)

Julia Holter comes to The Glee Club (B’ham) on Wednesday 11^th November, with support from Søren Juul. For direct gig info & online ticket sales, visit https://birminghampromoters.ticketabc.com/events/julia-holter-2/

For more on Julia Holter, visit http://www.juliashammasholter.com/

For more from Domino Records, visit http://www.dominorecordco.com/

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For more from The Glee Club venues, including all music and comedy listings, visit https://www.glee.co.uk/

For more form Birmingham Promoters, visit http://birminghampromoters.com/

November 9, 2015November 17, 2015

BREVIEW: The Staves @ O2 Institute 01.11.15

Words & pics by Ed King

It’s an odd moment, when you realise, quite clearly, what has changed and what has always stayed the same. My hair, for example, will always be a mess (‘like a scarecrow on crack’ is my de facto description) a February sun will never shine in England and supermarkets will always be awful.

But as I stand in the O2 (another change) Institute’s main room – not the downstairs ‘Library’, but the big balcony crested centre hall – I can see the inescapable face of success. The Staves are back in Birmingham, playing to a Sunday evening audience that you can count with three zeros. They are slick. They are strong. They look polished and tired. They are standing in front of a floor to ceiling back drop with their name up in lights. The awkward in jokes and Frank Spencer framed photograph seem like a long time ago.

Opening with the somewhat bleakly titled ‘Hopeless’, the Staveley-Triptych introduce themselves with a clean a capella and one of the ‘deluxe’ additions to If I Was. A big sound carefully mastered, the room settles into a tacit hush as the sister’s close part harmony fills the O2 Institute’s cavernous main arena (I was once told the scaffolding costs alone, when renovating the main hall, ran into excess of £40k).

Then the considered finger picked strings of ‘Steady’ float through the speakers, before the cheeky confidence and twisted steel of ‘Black & White’ wrap up tonight’s immediate three part reminder of The Staves’ sophomore album. I had wondered why we were still getting the If I Was tour, with The Staves having showcased their follow up LP in The Temple room about a year ago, but it’s clear. This is the stage show that has been taken them all round the world, this is the band behind The Staves, and this is the sound that has earned them the right to a room of this size. Which they fill. Confidently. On a Sunday. In Birmingham. Christ on a bike…

‘Winter Trees’ brings us back a simpler taste from The Staves’ debut, before the absurdly gripping ‘Blood I Bled’ thunders around the open hall. The shift in production between album #1 and album #2 has been, in part, one of the more exciting reasons to watch The Staves evolve – with the women at the centre maintaining a strong identity, whilst mopping up the spoils of successful collaboration. If I Was is brilliant, not Vernon’s, distinctly The Staves’, and as I watch their full swing stage show delivery I am reminded of how impressive these three sisters can be live.

“…great to be back in Birmingham, we literally always have a good gig here. Thank you for coming back.” And I think they mean it too, which is more an indictment of Birmingham’s notorious ticket sales than of on the road white lie. Plus, apparently, “Lenny Henry is a fan…” so there’s some serious Brummie/by-proxy endorsement.

Bar one beautiful cover, a mellifluous manipulation of Bombay Bicycle Club’s eastern tinged ‘Feel’, the set continues to jump from album to album – with the Dead & Born & Grown supporting cast getting an If I Was makeover. Even Emily seems to have adopted a bass drum, queue synonyms for sonorous, with the full band version of ‘Mexico’ something genuinely quite special.

But the evening’s highlight, for me, comes from the keyboard, as Jessica takes over the ivory (plastic) for a beautifully uplifting delivery of ‘Sadness Don’t Own Me.’ Having spent most of my teenage years in Tori Amos exile I don’t find melancholy too difficult a pill to chew up and swallow. But there is something so raw, so honest, about this album track that as Jessica squeezes the hand of her on stage eldest, whilst moving back to her guitar mic, I can’t help but feel both honored and intrusive.

But in true Staveley-Taylor irreverent wit the air is cut into familiar slices as Emily notices a noose lying behind her sister – with the oddly placed motif of death being so disturbing and pertinent, there is no way out but humour. Then a confident stride though ‘Make it Holy’, my personal favourite from If I Was, paves the way for an almost threatening ‘Damn it All’ denouement. There is a distant, polite, even scared silence, before the O2 Institute erupts in foot stamping approval. The couple in front of me stop and embrace.

The encore gets started with a campfire a capella (cited on the set list as ‘Tired As Fuck’) which builds into a back line boosted, electric guitar rock out. Then it’s the supremely well crafted ‘Teeth White’ to finally close the show, giving The Staves another chance to show off their droll beauty and the heavier end of their spectrum. Between the last two songs and the occasional on stage foot stamp tonight, I think I can see album three emerging. Rock, rock on.

We’re done. The Staves have left the building. FIRE EXIT signs and obnoxious house lights illuminate a quickly vacating crowd, who courteously slide through a sea of plastic glasses and circling security and into a well oiled merch stand.

I stand back, like at the end of a long haul flight, and wait for the aisles to clear. I am, again, surprised and impressed by The Staves; I thought tonight was going to be Round Two of If I Was in The Temple, another chance to see the same as before, but instead walked into a significant main room success. The production, the sound, the on stage ensemble, this is some serious stuff from The Staves and their relentless tour machine.

But me being wrong is no real surprise, so I wait for the room by writing review notes and self-deformations of character in my notebook. Production. Backdrop. Purple. Rugs. Drums. Gordon is a moron.

And as for The Staves, I expect they’ll be back in this city one day – where we can clamber together again and do the whole thing over with album three. Perhaps, again, at the O2 Institute. Perhaps, again, on a Sunday. But wherever, whenever, and with the confidence of a gracious looser, I expect the room will be full.

For more on The Staves, visit http://www.thestaves.com/

For more from the O2 Institute, including full event listings and online tickets sales, visit http://o2institutebirmingham.co.uk/

For more from Birmingham Promoters, visit http://birminghampromoters.com/