BR Content Archives - Page 158 of 191 -

July 19, 2014July 19, 2014

PREVIEW: Simmer Down Festival ’14 @ Handsworth Park, Sun 20th July

Simmer Down Festival returns to Handsworth park tomorrow (Sun 20^th July), running from 12:30-7:30pm. Admission to the festival site, as well as access to all the acts performing, is free and open to ages.

‘Birmingham’s biggest FREE international reggae festival’ comes back to Handsworth Park, the site it has held for five consecutive terms, for what event organisers hope will be ‘even bigger and better’ than previous incarnations. But with last year’s event reporting over 8,000 in attendance, Simmer Down Festival has not done badly thus far.

Headlining Simmer Down Festival ’14 are Steel Pulse, the big name draw of the event – playing their first Handsworth gig in over 30 years. Main support comes from Apache Indian and Musical Youth, performing as respectable seconds to the Steel Pulse ‘homecoming’, with over ten further acts – including Kezia Soul and Jam Tidy – featured on the one day roster.

Steel Pulse need no introduction at a Birmingham festival, a statement that is both cliché and true, but the significance of them returning to play a gig in Handsworth is paramount; performing at Simmer Down Festival ’14 between gigs in Belgium and Nantucket, it can’t have been a logistical doddle to add it to their schedule. And no other promoter, festival or otherwise, has confirmed Steel Pulse in the namesake of their debut album for over three decades.

So whilst we mull over what brought them back to Handsworth, here’s a little reminder of why we’re glad it did. Clink on the link/image below:

Handsworth Revolution – Steel Pulse, Montreux Jazz Festival (1979)

..and you can just imagine the Handsworth park crowd after the opening line gets sung.

But the firm success story of Simmer Down Festival is the event itself; with respectable numbers, line ups and operational track record, this homegrown festival is a feather in Birmingham’s multicultural cap. An achievement that can often appear in text, if not reality.

Promoted by The Drum, with this year’s event tying into the arts centre’s 20^th anniversary, Simmer Down Festival’14 is sponsored by Birmingham Mind and Time to Change – two organisations working on mental health issues.

As established operators within public sector event funding, The Drum has kept Simmer Down Festival as a free event – which is remarkable on all sides of the experience.

Picking up the old site, momentum, and to some degree legacy of the original Handsworth Carnival (now called Birmingham Carnival) Simmer Down Festival is bringing Birmingham the annual celebration of ‘diversity’ (a word so diluted it now stands as merely political rhetoric) that the halls of moderate power so dearly desire – but don’t want to organise themselves. Plus Simmer Down Festival does it well, annually, and on large scale. And as other box ticking celebrations of culture rise, fall or fall over completely, Simmer Down Festival seems to be growing – with each year attendance and awareness coming from wider pockets in the city.

So in short, if you’ve ever complained about Birmingham not doing enough on it’s own doorstep, especially to celebrate the city’s Reggae, you might want to check out Simmer Down Festival. Likewise if you just want a big phat party. For free. Win, win.

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Simmer Down Festival ’14 is held at Handsworth Park on Sunday 20^th July, from 12:30-7:30pm. Entry is free and open to all ages.

For more on Simmer Down Festival, including directions and line ups, visit http://simmerdownfestival.wordpress.com/

For more from The Drum, visit http://www.the-drum.org.uk/

July 18, 2014July 18, 2014

BPREVIEW: Boyhood

Director: Richard Linklater
Writing Credits: Richard Linklater
Cast: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawle, Lorelei Linklater

UK rating: 15 certificate
UK release date: 11^th July

Boyhood opens at the Electric Cinema tonight (Fri 18^th July) with daily screenings until Thurs 24^th July.

Richard Linklater’s bold production follows, in real time, the growth of Mason Jnr (Coltrane) as he goes from 1^st grade (that’s primary school to us) to college – negotiating his parent’s divorce, the onslaught of puberty and all the challenges of family and adolescence.

Starting as the 6 year old protagonist prepares for a new life in Houston, along with his recently separated mother Olivia (Arquette) and his sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater), Boyhood watches the world from Mason Jnr’s perspective. As times elapses we are reintroduced at pivotal moments, some larger than others, as the four central characters plot point their way through a 12 year story and the minutia of actual life. Mason Snr (Hawke) drifts in, out and in again, as the family’s formative years are delivered in both sporadic and bite sized chunks.

Not known for a sentimental approach to storytelling, please ignore School of Rock, Linklater reportedly avoids the obvious John Hughes moments – letting Boyhood cement its narrative in an unarguably physical reality. The posters on the wall, the changing soundtracks, the subtle encroach of a 12 year story – witnessed all at once during a 166min sitting.

Reviewing Boyhood’s showcase at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year, for Vulture.com, Kyle Buchannan states ‘Boyhood isn’t the film you’re expecting. It’s intimate and elusive, and the landmarks that usually turn up in most other coming-of-age stories are all but absent here.’

Eric Kohn reporting for IndieWire, again from the Sundance Film Festival, calls Boyhood ‘an entirely fluid work that puts the process of maturity under the microscope and analyyzes its nuamces with remarkable detail.’

Alongside further reviews mirroring the sentiments above and fueling whispers of academy recognition, with the admirable deliveries of his previous productions in the bank, it looks like Linklater has indeed done something to be proud of with Boyhood. Or at least, something worth seeing – if for no other reason than to celebrate the remarkable commitment from IFC Films, the Boyhood financiers. But as Chuck D was so eager to warn us…

To watch the official Boyhood trailer, click here or on the link/image below:

Boyhood – official trailer

On a staggered release across the globe, Boyhood has been out in UK & Ireland cinemas since July 11^th and in US & Canadian cinemas from today (July 18^th) – with most of the world catching up by the end of September.

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Boyhood opens at the Electric Cinema tonight (Fri 18^th July) with daily screenings until Thurs 24^th July. For more from the Electric Cinema, including show times, directions and full listings, visit https://www.theelectric.co.uk

For more on Boyhood, visit http://boyhoodmovie.tumblr.com/

July 18, 2014July 18, 2014

BPREVIEW: Hot Club De Swing July Ball @ Hare & Hounds, Fri 18th July

Hot Club De Swing returns to the Hare & Hounds for its July Ball, tonight – Fri 18th July. Doors open at 9pm with admission charged at £7 advance, £10 on the door .

Playing, nay, championing Electro Swing in Birmingham, Hot Club De Swing is the monthly manifestation of the Swingamajig Festival. Or the Swingamajig Festival is the annual manifestation of Hot Club De Swing. Let’s not quibble.

Either way, on the Hot Club De Swing July Ball bill will be ‘some of the best acts’ from the last Swingamaig in the shape of Jenova Collective – a seven piece ensemble who have been ‘through the looking glass in search of their sound,’ which includes Electro Swing, DnB Swing (anyone..?), Giltch Hop and general festive/fruitiness.

Jenova Collective also released their debut EP, Champagne Machine, in Feb on Ragtime Records – a local label that is doing more to promote Electro Swing than… well, any other local label. For more from Ragtime Records visit http://www.ragtime-records.com/

And whilst you had me at the Carroll reference, for something a bit more tangible from Jenova Collective, click on the link or image below:

Jenova Collective @ Electro Swing Revolution, Berlin, 30.5.14

Also playing at the Hot Club De Swing July Ball, for it is July and they’re havin’ a ball, will be DJ sets from C@ in the H@ (say what you see) and Tom ESC – the Electro Swing Circus guitarist.

All in all a fine excuse to don your glad rags, dust off the monocle and spit polish shine those dandy fine shoes. And if you need more, check out the below intro from the Queens & Kings of the Swingers themselves:

Hot Club De Swing – official trailer

**For previous Birmingham Reviews of Hot Club De Swing, read:

Althea Paterson @ Hot Club De Swing, Fri 21^st Mar ’14

Althea Patterson @ Hot Club De Swing Xmas Spectacular, Fri 20^th Dec ’13

Katherine Priddy @ Hot Club De Swing Festival Tea Party, Fri 21^st Jun ’13

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Hot Club De Swing July Ball comes to the Hare and Hounds (Kings Heath) tonight – Friday 18^th July. Doors open at 9pm with admission charged at £7 advance, £10 on the door. For tickets and info, visit: http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/event-listings/event/?eventID=10031904

For more form Hot Club De Swing, visit https://www.facebook.com/hotclubdeswing

For more on Jenova Collective, visit https://www.facebook.com/JenovaCo

For more about the Hare & Hounds, including contact details and further listings, visit http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/

July 12, 2014July 12, 2014

BPREVIEW: Sunjay Brayne + Bethan and the Morgans @ Ort Café, Sat 12th July

Rounding off one of the more sensible musical weekends in the city, Sunjay Braye plays at Ort Cafe tonight – with support from Bethan and the Morgans. Doors open at 8:30pm, with admission charged at £5.

A younger man with an older sound, Sunjay Brayne is a solo singer/songwriter – delivering confident vocals behind a Bluesy Folk guitar. With perhaps a touch of Country.

But learning the guitar when most of us were tackling the Etch A Sketch, precocity is no stranger to the 20year old Derby man – who was nominated for the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award 2012, missing out to the traditional Irish five piece, Ioscaid.

Reminiscent of his own declared influences, Buddy Holly and Don McLean, Sunjay Brayne is cited as an exemplary guitarist, with Steve Tilson saying “…I’m going to have to connect jump leads to your fingers.” Although I’m not sure it that’s to harness Brayne’s ‘power’ or in some churlish act of jealousy; either way, that’s not a bad endorsement coming from Steve Tilson.

Currently working on album No3, following Seems So Real (2011) and One Night Only (2013) – the latter a live album recorded on one nig… you get the picture, Sunjay Brayne is showcasing new material over a pretty mammoth 40 dates headline tour. But the man seems sturdy enough, before the year is out Brayne will have clocked up over 100 gigs across the UK; if there’s a Club or Festival with Folk in the title, chances are Sunjay Brayne will play there at some point.

But tonight it’s Ort Café’s turn, with a little taster from Sunjay Brayne performing ‘Sitting on Top of the World’ – click here or on the image below:

For more from Sunjay Brayne, visit http://www.sunjaybrayne.com/

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Staying in the Folk/Country tone, support comes from Bethan and the Morgans – a West Midlands based ensemble and self cited ‘brave sound from the Black County’.

A combination of Americana melodies, the occasional Bluegrass footstomp, and a vocal lead that’s not a million miles away from the Volunteer State’s diminutive first lady, Bethan and the Morgans have a Country flavor that tastes of more than one territory.

Confident and sassy, their sound has graced several stages across the West Midlands. Appearing on a few familiar festival bills too, Bethan and the Morgans recently supported Jasper in the Company of Others at the Severn Sounds Festival in Worcester, over the last May Bank Holiday.

And with their eponymous EP nearly a year old, Bethan and the Morgans are now ‘working towards’ their debut album. We’ve been told to ‘watch this space’. So in the meantime here’s the official video for ‘Go Away’, taken from Bethan and the Morgans‘ four track release last august – click here or on the image below:

For more on Bethan and the Morgans, visit www.facebook.com/BethanAndTheMorgans

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Sunjay Brayne plays at Ort Café tonight, with support from Bethan and the Morgans. Doors open at 8:30pm, with admission charged at £5.

For more info visit http://ortcafe.co.uk/sunjay-brayne-bethan-and-the-morgans/

For more on Ort Café, including directions and full event listings, visit http://ortcafe.co.uk/

July 11, 2014July 11, 2014

BPREVIEW: Hannah Brown + Affiejam @ Ort Café, Fri 11th July

Playing at Ort Café tonight are Hannah Brown + AffieJam – two girl & guitar singer/songwriters with early established local records.

Doors open at 8:30pm, with admission charged at £3.

Hannah Brown is actually from Nottingham, but is ‘currently residing in Birmingham’, studies in the city, and has supported Ruby Turner – so ticks enough boxes for civic appropriation.

On the cusp of her debut album, the simply titled Refuge, Hannah Brown has a portfolio of six sting laments and acoustic heartbreak.

Refuge is cited as an album that ‘speaks of pain, joy, peace and realisation’, with Brown stating her debut album is “a moment in time along the endless path of personal self discovery ex-pressed within music.” So a cheeky Beyoncé cover is probably off the table.

To listen to ‘Refuge from the Rain’ – Hannah Brown’s first single from Refuge, click here or on the image below:

For more from Hannah Brown, visit http://www.accessallmusic.com/news-releases/hannah-brown/

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Alima ‘AffieJam’ first came to Birmingham Review’s attention after appearing on the bill for Call Me Unique’s Urban Gypsy EP launch in January.

Performing behind a piano or guitar, and stacked to the finger tips with soul, AffieJam’s honey vocals cover simple acoustic melodies – kicking her seemingly effortless musical footprint off stage.

Often appearing as a solo artist or with simple percussion, AffieJam is a relative regular at some of the more respectable grass root showcases in the city.

But with no releases (yet) to push her name up to the all important CAPITAL LETTER TOP SLOT, this a cycle of support slots could become a comfortable constriction; AffieJam is one of those artists Birmingham Review would like to see (and hear) more from, which apparently we might in August.

But there is an official AffieJam music video – to stop, look & listen, click here or on the image below:

For more from AffieJam, visit https://soundcloud.com/affiejam

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Hannah Brown + AffieJam play at Ort Café, in Balsall Heath tonight – click here for more details. Doors open at 8:30pm, with admission charged at £3.

For more from Ort Café, including directions and full event listings, visit http://ortcafe.co.uk/