Author: birminghamreview

Hidden amongst the laboriously clandestine MAC music listings (honestly, do they not want us to go???)…

Mellow Peaches play at the MAC on Thursday Aug 29^th as part of the arts centre’s Summer Sessions finale – performing alongside Abie’s Miracle Tonic, on the Terrace (the old courtyard) from 7pm onwards.

A Midlands based song writing duo, armed with 12strings or more, Mellow Peaches comprises of Amit Dattani and Richard Harris.

Promulgating Blues, Roots and Country, Dattani and Harries celebrate Americana through their guitar, banjo and ukulele based portfolio; frenetic, ‘supple’ and with the occasional foot stamp. And they really like cake, apparently.

Releasing their first EP, Biscuits and Cobblers, in 2009, Mellow Peaches followed their debut release with the 11 track I’ll Go Down With This Ship in 2012 – recorded at Blue Whale Studios.

Self confessed ‘purveyors of rootsy stomps and gutsy groove’ , Mellow Peaches have been building a name on the Midland’s Folk and Roots gig circuit, garnering much peer based interest and support.

After a brief jaunt round Belgium at the end of 2012, to promote I’ll Go Down With This Ship, Mellow Peaches have also played various venues further south since the Yuletide. Now back in the B postcodes, Dattani and Harris close off their summer with a couple of well-placed end of August gigs.

Mellow Peaches perform at the MAC on Thursday 29^th – followed by a slot on the Moseley Folk Festival’s Centre Court Stage on Saturday 31^st; the former being a free affair.

Johnny Kowalski will be at MAC for a Birmingham Review.

For more on Mellow Peaches, visit http://www.mellowpeaches.co.uk

For more on music at Mac, http://www.macarts.co.uk/events/performances/music

Hailing from Brighton, DJ and producer duo – Spectrasoul, have been carving out a sound of soulful D&B and deep House beats since 2006.

Spectrasoul return to The Bull’s Head in Moseley, to close out the Bank Holiday weekend on Sunday August 25th – promoted by PROspec.

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Citing acts as diverse and distinctive as Cinematic Orchestra and J-Dilla as inspiration, Spectrasoul combine a low key yet lush melodic approach over traditional D&B and House BPMs. The result was best represented in their debut album, Delay No More, released via Shogun Audio in July 2012.

Heralded by the likes of Maya Jane Coles and Birmingham’s own Nerm (Shiva Soundsystem, BBC), which should nudge you in the comfortably correct direction, Delay No More is an accomplished debut album – featuring vocals from Terri Walker, Tamara Blessa, Echo Park and MC Fox.

Delay No More’s first single came out in April 2012, with two equally strong and different vocally led D&B tracks; ‘Light in the Dark’ featuring the soulful Terri Walker, and ‘Shackles’ featuring the Mancunian MC Fox.

Two months later, Spectrasoul released ‘Away With Me’ on EP – offering another set of soulful vocals, this time from Tamara Blessa, over stripped back deep House. Inviting a cascade of remixes, ‘Away With Me’ was an elegantly precise final introduction to Delay No More – an album which took its name from the impetus to finally finish the LP.

Spectrasoul last played at The Bull’s Head in November 2012, again promoted by PROspec. Their subsequent gig tomorrow (Aug 25^th) promises a ‘2hour set, loads of new tunes’ – with support from Mutated Forms and Roksta.

Heather Judge will be there for a Birmingham Review.

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Spectrasoul play The Bull’s Head in Moseley on Sunday August 25^th, promoted by PROspec. For info and tickets, visit http://bullsheadmoseley.co.uk/event-listings/event/?eventID=10027178

For more on Spectrasoul, including digital downloads of Delay No More and remixes, visit http://www.spectrasoulmusic.com/

For more on PROspec, visit https://www.facebook.com/prospecbirmingham  

For more on The Bull’s Head, including full gig listings, visit http://bullsheadmoseley.co.uk/

Promoting their collaborative album, Love This Giant, David Byrne & St Vincent perform at the Symphony Hall on Weds 28^th August.

Love This Giant is the first collaboration from Talking Heads founder, David Byrne, and singer songwriter St Vincent – who prior to her solo work was part of The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Steven’s touring band.

After seeing St Vincent (aka Annie Clark) perform at Manhattan’s Bowery Ballroom in 2008, soon after the release of her debut album – Marry Me, David Byrne reportedly took an interest in her work.

Then after an official introduction at a charity concert for Dark Was the Night, Red Hot Organisation’s 20^th compilation to raise funds and awareness to tackle HIV/AIDS, the duo began working on ideas for collaboration.

Three years later, David Byrne & St Vincent released Love This Giant – a 12 track album co-written by both artists (with the lines from Walt Whitman included in ‘The Forrest Awakes’). Love This Giant was released through 4AD, the same label that released Dark Was the Night, on May 28^th 2013.

Self described as ‘an album that’s brash and quite literally brassy’, Love This Giant cites an additional 49 musicians on the finished recording – the vast majority of whom contribute through a varied brass ensemble.

Having been touring September 15^th 2012, starting in Minneapolis (North America), David Byrne & St Vincent come to Birmingham half way through their European leg.

Finishing in Rome (Italy) on September 11^th 2013, Love This Giant will have been toured through North America, Canada, Australia and Europe.

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David Byrne & St Vincent perform at the Symphony Hall on August 28^th, promoting their collaborative album Love This Giant. Matthew Osborne will be there for a Birmingham Review.

For more on Love This Giant, visit http://lovethisgiant.com

For more on David Byrne, visit http://journal.davidbyrne.com/

For more on St Vincent, visit http://www.ilovestvincent.com/

For further information on the Town Hall and Symphony Hall, including full event listings, visit http://www.thsh.co.uk/

Words by Matthew Osborne / Pics by Jonathan Morgan

For a variety of reasons (including a stressful day at the office followed instantly by a four year old’s birthday party) I was looking forward to a few beers on Friday night, and having my rib-cage rattled by supersonic bass lines.

The beer was easy to come by, the Hare and Hounds has a reputation as a seller of ales after all, but I had to wait through a fairly tame DJ set for anything approaching a vibration in my bones.

No fear, I thought, as I knew that the Alternative Dubstep Orchestra (ADO) would be performing soon. As show time approached, the room – which had remained fairly empty whilst the DJ played, began quickly filling up.

When the many ADO members, too plentiful to count accurately with beer inside you, took to the stage, I manoeuvred myself into a dancing position. They started with an instrumental number which kept on threatening to drop in a devastating way, but it ended before it could; the tune acting more as an introduction to proceedings.

But when vocalist Mish Maybe arrived the ambience changed; she and the violinist performed a beautiful and wordless duet. This was the opening to their new single, ‘Power’. It quickly developed from haunting ambience to menacing intensity as the band expertly wove angular guitar parts with vertiginous bass drops and electronic wizardry.

However my rib cage was still very much intact, I noticed after a quick pat down. Song after song ADO played all the right cards to get my feet stomping and my hips telling the truth (my attempt at dancing) yet there was always something missing.

I ran through a mental checklist; drums, tight as a ducks rear entrance; horns, splendid and bright; guitar, sparkling; bass…. great bass lines. But there lay the key, I thought. The Hare and Hounds was perhaps not built to withstand devastating bass attacks, but it felt as though someone had turned the lower frequencies off. 

For much of the night it felt like ADO were dropping it like it was warm, but I don’t think this was entirely their fault. For the whole set I admired their musicianship and inventiveness; ADO reminded me sometimes of Portishead, with Maybe’s vocals possessing that injured quality Beth Gibbons made her trademark. At other times the felt like a more invigorating Massive Attack.

Towards the end of the set I fidgeted around the room and eventually found a sweet spot near the sound desk. Finally, from there, I was able to get a bass sound that slapped me about a bit. My bones still retained all of their calcium, but it was enough to scratch a bothering itch.

Alternative Dubstep Orchestra are an act that needs festival size stages, or rigs big enough to do their sound justice. And when I played the 12” vinyl of ‘Power’ on my home stereo, with the bass turned up full, I immediately got what had been missing at the Hare and Hounds.

For more on Alternative Dubstep Orchestra, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AlternativeDubstepOrchestra

For further gigs at the Hare and Hounds, visit http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/