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February 25, 2016

BREVIEW: Fat White Family @ O2 Institute 20.02.16

Words by Helen Knott / Pics by Ed King

If you believe the band’s PR machine, Fat White Family are the “shot in the arm that independent rock has been ailing after.”

They’ve certainly gained plenty of notoriety since emerging from a South London squat back in 2012, but will they live up to their own hype at the O2 Institute, on the first night of an eleven date UK tour?

They do a pretty good job, for the first half an hour at least. An onslaught of songs in quick succession at the start of the set builds an early sense of momentum. Lead singer, Lias Saoudi, prowls around, topless, predatory, his hand occasionally creeping down his trousers. He’s a great front man, obnoxious to the point of almost being disgusting; commanding total attention from the excitable audience.

A particular crowd favourite is ‘Satisfied’, the second track of the band’s most recent album, Songs for Our Mothers. Typical of the album as a whole, ‘Satisfied’ has somewhat crass lyrics, at one point comparing a blowjob to life in a concentration camp. The words are lost live though, and you’re left with a sleazy foot stomper with a killer chorus. It’s probably for the best.

Mid-set the pace slows a little and the momentum peters out; the best thing about lumbering, dull ‘Goodbye Goebbels’ is its name, whilst ‘Wild American Prairie’ is a straightforward, sluggish blues dirge.

This points my main problem with Fat White Family – their lyrics are interesting, their politics are interesting, their wild antics are interesting, but the music itself isn’t really all that interesting. They write some good riffs and some catchy songs but it can often descend into arguable Fall and Clash rip offs.

There are exceptions. Songs like ‘Whitest Boy on the Beach’, the opening track from their latest album, suggest that Fat White Family could develop into a more musically interesting proposition. The guitar line grooves along, with the breathy vocals gradually submerged by melodic synths before re-emerging with greater force; it’s almost like disco music.

So, Fat White Family – a shot in the arm for independent music? Yes, probably, they really are a spectacle of a live band. But are they independent music’s new lifeblood? That remains to be seen.

For more on Fat White Family, visit https://fatwhitefamily.bandcamp.com

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For more from the O2 Institute, visit http://o2institutebirmingham.co.uk/

For more events from SJM Concerts, visit http://www.gigsandtours.com/

February 16, 2016

BPREVIEW: Fat White Family @ O2 Institute 20.02.16

Words by Helen Knott

On Saturday 20 February, Fat White Family perform at the O2 Institute in Digbeth – as presented by SJM Concerts.

Doors open at 6pm, with tickets priced at £12 (advance). For direct gig info & online ticket sales, click here.

Fat White Family’s gig at the O2 Institute in Birmingham is the first of an eleven date UK tour – in support of their second album, Songs for Our Mothers, which was released on 22 January through Fat Possum/Without Consent.

Formed in a South London squat back in 2012, Fat White Family have gained notoriety as one of the most raw and wild bands on the live scene. Onstage arguments and nudity, riding a donkey into a venue, pig’s heads in the crowd… it’s all the stuff of legend.

But while they haven’t quite managed to capture the energy of their live shows in either their latest album, or their 2013 debut Champagne Holocaust, there is more going on with Fat White Family than just wanton debauchery. Incorporating lo-fi, psych and post-punk styles, Songs for Our Mothers doesn’t shy away from the difficult subjects. In fact, it covers themes of fascism, serial killers and racism in a manner that revels in crossing the boundaries of good taste.

So are Fat White Family “members of an emergent underclass of literate but degenerate squatters” (Paul Lester – The Guardian) with something important to say about modern Britain? Or are they merely “raw-assed rabble rock as dark, deviant and disgusting as the ’70s” (Mark Beaumont – NME).

Either way, if Elton John is referencing them to show he’s still relevant (and he is) it’s probably not long before they cross over into the wider public’s consciousness. So catch Fat White Family before they go supernova. Or, just as likely, before they self-combust.

Released in December 2015, ‘Whitest Boy on the Beach’ was the first taster from Songs for Our Mothers. Check it out – click on the image/link below:

‘Whitest Boy on the Beach’ by Fat White Family

Fat White Family perform at the O2 Institute on Saturday 20 February, as presented by SJM Concerts. For direct gig info & online tickets, visit http://o2institutebirmingham.co.uk/listings/upcoming-events/29011/fat-white-family/

For more on Fat White Family, visit https://fatwhitefamily.bandcamp.com

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For more from the O2 Institute, visit http://o2institutebirmingham.co.uk/

For more events from SJM Concerts, visit http://www.gigsandtours.com/

February 16, 2016

THE GALLERY: Gabrielle Aplin @ O2 Institute 14.02.16

Words by Ed King / Pics by Harry Mills

On Sunday 14^th February, Gabrielle Aplin brought her Light Up the Dark UK Tour to the O2 Institute, with support from Hannah Grace + Lewis Watson – as presented by Birmingham Promoters.

Harry Mills was there to shoot a Birmingham Review for THE GALLERY. To check out the Full Flickr of Pics, click here or on the relevant links.

Gabrielle Aplin rose to the surface off the back of her YouTube audience. But having learnt her way around a label whilst studying at Bath College, contributing to their in- house BA1 Records, Aplin swiftly set up her own imprint – Never Fade Records, releasing her five track debut Acoustic EP in 2010.

Since then Gabrielle Aplin has released all her material through Never Fade, alongside a (still current) deal with Parlophone from 2013 onwards. Never Fade now also represents a wider roster of artists, including Bite the Buffalo, Saint Raymond (who further signed to Asylum) and Hannah Grace.

So the girl’s got talent, tenacity and her own label; Gabrielle Aplin is an arguably healthier benchmark for the X Factor generation. She’s also now two albums into her career, having crossed the musical River Styx with Light Up the Dark in September 2015. And her sound seems to be confidently evolving – with the ballad based six string laments of her debut LP, English Rain, being given a comfortable back seat to her sophomore’s punchier, full band approach.

And it is that album/approach which Ms Aplin brought to a Birmingham stage, namely the O2 Institute, on 14^th February. And whilst it was only Ed King, tip toes, warm Red Stripe and a rollerball pen giving Gabrielle Aplin’s last gig in the city a Birmingham Review, this time around we’ve gone all-out-images.

Check out Harry Mill’s Birmingham Review of Gabrielle Aplin @ O2 Institute 14.02.16 – as featured in THE GALLERY. There are some sample shots from the gig below, but for the Full Flickr of Pics click here or on the relevant links.

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Gabrielle Aplin @ O2 Institute 14.02.16 / By Harry Mills – Birmingham Review

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Lewis Watson – supporting Gabrielle Aplin @ O2 Institute 14.02.16 / By Harry Mills – Birmingham Review

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Hannah Grace – supporting Gabrielle Aplin @ O2 Institute 14.02.16 / By Harry Mills – Birmingham Review

For more on Gabrielle Aplin, visit http://gabrielleaplin.co.uk/

For more on Never Fade Records, visit http://neverfaderecords.com/

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For more from the O2 Institute, visit http://o2institutebirmingham.co.uk/

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

February 13, 2016February 13, 2016

BPREVIEW: Gabrielle Aplin @ O2 Institute 14.02.16

Words by Ed King

On Sunday 14^th February, Gabrielle Aplin brings her Light Up the Dark UK Tour to the O2 Institute – with support from home grown label mate, Hannah Grace + Warner’s new prodigal son, Lewis Watson.

Doors open at 7:30pm with tickets priced at £16.50 – as presented by Birmingham Promoters.

N.B Gabrielle Aplin has retained her record label, Never Fade Records, since her debut self release in 2010. The label has also been developing a wider roster of artists since 2013, including Hannah Grace and Saint Raymond – who both appear on Aplin’s 2016 Light Up the Dark UK Tour. For more on Never Fade Records, click here.

Gabrielle Alpin caught the crest of a YouTube tidal wave back in 2010 – you know, the way people could before certain ‘decisions to protect the artist’ were made by the online broadcaster. Just think… where would Jay Z or Chris Martin be without such a courageous artistic line in the sand.

But Ms Aplin was much more than just an ego on a small screen, having explored two ends of the Pop/Folk production spectrum with her first two self-released EPs, Aplin’s Home EP (Jan 2011) was a solid and self effacing 5 track declaration. Cue some well deserved online sales, supporting national airplay and knock knock… Parlophone signed Gabrielle Aplin, releasing her debut single with the major, ‘Please Don’t Say You Love Me’, in Feb 2012. Aplin‘s debut album, English Rain, was released in December the same year.

Birmingham Review eventually got to see Gabrielle Aplin about a year after the Parlophone machine started whirring, watching her take over the Institute’s main room on a Monday. Not an easy room on the crappiest of weekdays. Read Ed King’s Birmingham Review of Gabrielle Aplin @ Birmingham Institute 14.03.13 here. I think my favourite line is ‘….makes me imagine Mumford & Sons on meth.’

Now the Wiltshire born, Bath schooled (on and off a record label) singer/songwriter is back in Birmingham, and back at the Institute. And having been sans snapper the last time Gabrielle Aplin came to town, this time Harry Mills will be throwing DSLRs around the Digbeth venue – shooting a Birmingham Review to go into THE GALLERY. So if a picture tells a thousand words, you might be up late.

Gabrielle Aplin released her sophomore album, Light Up the Dark, in September 2015. Stop, look & listen to the album’s lead single/title track below:

‘Light Up the Dark’ by Gabrielle Aplin

Gabrielle Aplin comes to the O2 Institute (B’ham) on Sunday 14^th February – with support from Hannah Grace and Lewis Watson. For direct gig info & online sales, visit http://birminghampromoters.com/2016/02/02/gabrielle-aplin-lewis-watson-hannah-grace-in-bham/

For more on Gabrielle Aplin, visit http://gabrielleaplin.co.uk/

For more on Never Fade Records, visit http://neverfaderecords.com/

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For more from the O2 Institute, visit http://o2institutebirmingham.co.uk/

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

February 8, 2016

BPREVIEW: Howl feat. Joe Cook, Lydia Scarlett, Afrah Yafai @ The Dark Horse 10.02.16

Words by Ed King

On Wednesday 10^th February, Howl opens at The Dark Horse in Moseley – presenting spoken word & performed poetry/prose from Joe Cook, Lydia Scarlett, Afrah Yafai + open mics slots to be announced on the day. Doors open at 7:30pm with entry charged at £3 – for direct event info, click here.

Howl is a Sansho event, co-promoted & presented by Leon Priestnall.

Beginning at the Sun at the Station at the beginning of 2015, Howl has carved a solid little curve into the back of Birmingham’s spoken word and performed poetry/pose scene. Named after the Ginsberg poem, which has been both heralded and contested as a poem written for performance, Howl (the event…) had a solid first year at the Kings Heath watering hole.

Previously run for free but well worth some money (it’s now three English Pound Sterling to get through the door), Howl is the familiar set up of more established writers/performers alongside the potential gems and car crashes of an open mic roster. Curated and presented by local poet Leon Priestnall, the night is now moving over to The Dark Horse in Moseley, taking over the second Wednesday of each month at the B13 venue.

Birmingham Review attended Howl at The Sun at the Station undercover and saw a markedly more balanced night than other events of the same ilk. But that may have been the cider. It can always be the cider. Still, it lodged in our ‘good night out’ cerebral cache, that terrifying abyss, and we’re hoping there will be more of the same at it’s new Moseley home. Here’s a little intro to who’s on in Round One at The Dark Horse:

Joe Cook / Seemingly all things to all men, ‘Joe Cook is a spoken word Artist, lyricist, musician and political activist based in Birmingham.’ Sounds exhausting. But the boy can certainly deliver, and has been the front end of many worthwhile endevours in Birmingham – honing many of his wily ways through Beatfreaks and Apple & Snakes. Witty, insightful and confident… let’s just hope he’s a terrible dancer. For a bit more on Joe Cook (and Howl), visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6sd_6KhL6U

Lydia Scarlett / A singer, storyteller and ‘quirky songstress’, Lydia Scarlett has just released her debut album – the appropriately titled, Just Lydia. Out from October 2015, on the potentially inappropriately titled Paddywack Records (unless it’s a reference to cow ligaments?), the 12 track (kind of, sort of) debut is a versatile mix of acoustic and Folk, with narrative firmly at the front. For more on Lydia Scarlett, visit http://www.lydiascarlett.com/

Afrah Yafai / The dark horse at The Dark Horse, to us anyway, we don’t know much about Afrah Yafai – and our customary Google search didn’t do much to help. But in the words of Howl’s own Facebook page: ‘Afrah’s performances are sincere and her writing will have you clicking for days.’ Sounds good, apart from the last three words. I may bring my HAPPY TO BE HERE CYMBALS.

Howl feat. Joe Cook, Lydia Scarlett, Afrah Yafai comes to The Dark Horse on Wednesday 10^th February, launching the event’s new a monthly run at the Moseley venue. For direct event info, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1723728741196063/

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