Birmingham Archives - Page 24 of 25 -

January 19, 2016

BPREVIEW: Daughter @ O2 Institute 20.01.16

Words by Ed King / Pic by Francesca Jane Allen – courtesy of 4AD

On Wednesday 20^th January, Daughter perform at the O2 Institute in Birmingham – with support from 4AD label mate, Pixx.

Doors open at 7pm, with tickets charged at £17.50 – as promoted by Kilimanjaro Live. For direct gig & online ticket sales, click here

Comprised of Elena Tonra (vocals/guitar), Igor Haefeli (guitar) and Remi Aguilella (percussion), Daughter are back in Birmingham for the fifth date on their 12 date UK tour – before 10 dates in mainland Europe and an extensive North American circuit.

Daughter are touring their second studio album, Not to Disappear, which was released through 4AD on Thursday 15^th January. The eagerly awaited sophomore (by us, at least) is the follow up to Daughter’s widely celebrated (by us…) debut LP, If You Leave – which introduced the London based three piece back in March 2013.

To read a Birmingham Review of Daughter’s new album, Not to Disappear, click here

Recorded at Nicholas Vernhes’s Rare Book Room Studios in Brooklyn, Not to Disappear was a collaborative production between the French born/New York based producer and Daughter’s own guitarist, Igor Haefeli.

Alongside 4AD, Nicholas Vernhes has worked with labels including Kitsuné, One Little Indian and Bella Union; he has produced albums for Speedy Ortiz, The War on Drugs and Animal Collective. On their debut LP, Haefeli worked with Rodaidh McDonald – the Scottish engineer/producer known for his work with The XX and Savages.

On the supporting press release for Not to Disappear, issued by 4AD, Elena Tonra says: “Nicolas (Vernhes) was wonderful. We’d been living in London, and demoing and writing here – we’re perfectionists, pulling in different directions – so it was really beneficial to go somewhere else to record it, just for a change of scene. Working with Nicolas was a real injection of energy.”

“I’m a control freak, so it’s hard to let go,” adds Haefeli, “but I found a lot in common with him, as much in our positive sides as in our faults. He brought a quality of recording that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. And he’s just a fun person to be around.” Sounds like Christmas.

But all the ingredients of proof are eventually tasted, with the first two helpings from Not to Disappear served with rich and dark video productions. Released in September 2015, ‘Doing the Right Thing’ unfolds a heartbreaking narrative about the love and loss behind dementia. Whilst ‘Numbers’, released in November 2015, literally walks us through the isolated human endevour.

Or it’s a subtle warning to Chris de Burgh… have a stop, look, listen below:

‘Numbers’ by Daughter

Daughter playing at the O2 Institute on Wednesday 20^th January – with support from Pixx. For direct gig info, visit http://go.shr.lc/1n3i1xI

Not to Disappear is released via 4AD from Friday 15^th January. For more on Daughter, including online purchase points, visit http://www.4ad.com/artists/daughter

Visit the official Daughter website at http://ohdaughter.com/

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For more from 4AD, visit http://www.4ad.com/

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

January 18, 2016

RELEASE: “Heroes” (David Bowie) by SHATTER EFFECT

Words by Ed King

Following the announcement of David Bowie’s death (on Monday 11^th January for those of you living in a shoe box) the UK… nay world, has been gripped in a seemingly unstoppable explosion of nostalgia and celebration.

Major radio stations have pulled out every piece of interview they can, the national tour operators are hastily pitching A-list memorials, publishing houses are sifting though photo galleries and back catalouges, with most other animals in the media circus finding some Brixton-boy-done-good stool to perch on.

And whilst I’ll admit I am not a David Bowie superfan (I have no lightning flash tattoos or rare German imprints hidden away), seeing the posthumous manifestation of his footprints has been something quite special. Plus I dare you to watch the ‘Lazarus’ video now without a visceral pain.

I heard ‘the news’ as Birmingham Review was on its way to Wales with SHATTER EFFECT, to write a feature about a new music video the Midlands based electro/rockers were filming. And I knew the band were big fans of David Bowie, with Rebecca Davies (lead vocals/keys) and Robin Davies (vocals/guitar) having referenced him as an inspiration many times in interviews before.

Turning up to meet them early in the am, with a van full of kit, a folder full of Google Maps and a heavy cloud hanging over us was a depressing as you’d imagine. You know that moment when there really is nothing to say… yeah. Now drive to North Wales.

But during the day, SHATTER EFFECT worked out how they wanted to say goodbye to the Thin White Duke – with a personal cover of “Heroes”, the title track from Bowie‘s 1977 seminal album.

And you know what, it’s also ‘something quite special’. Have a stop, look, listen below:

“Heroes” (David Bowie) by SHATTER EFFECT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V1Z0Av4ZlE

The following is a full statement from SHATTER EFFECT:

‘The news of David Bowie’s death generated great sadness, but also compelled many inspirational moments – from the impromptu memorial outside the Brixton Academy to the countless individual tributes of love and respect. He was an artist who compelled many to stand up and follow their passions.

“Heroes” is an inspiring song, from a man who showed a constrained world how to live more freely. As a band we couldn’t think of a better way to say thank you, and goodbye, to David Bowie.’

Originally recorded in Berlin, with producers Brian Eno and Tony Visconti, David Bowie released “Heroes” in September 1977. The lead single and title track from his twelfth studio album, “Heroes” was recorded within 500 yards of the Berlin Wall – with members of the Red Guard reportedly spying on the studio whilst the LP was recorded.

The central album in Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy, and the only LP to be recorded entirely in Germany, “Heroes” was cited as a reflection of the divided city and a call for freedom from oppression. The title, “Heroes”, is hat tip to the 1975 release ‘Hero’ by the krautrock band Neu! – formed after Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother left Kraftwerk in 1971.

David Bowie’s subsequent concert outside the Reichstag in 1987 sparked violent riots on the Wall’s east side, with the East Berliner’s not allowed to attend the event. Performing in both English and German, the 1987 Concert for Berlin is often cited as adding significant momentum to the worldwide call for the Berlin Wall to be brought down.

Rebecca Davies, SHATTER EFFECT’s lead singer & keyboard player, says: “On Monday we lost one of our heroes. David Bowie’s death came as a great shock to the band. We have been influenced by his work for many years and he will continue to inspire us for many more to come. ”

To stream “Heroes” by SHATTER EFFECT direct from the band’s YouTube channel, alongside other SHATTER EFFCT videos, click here

For more on SHATTER EFFECT, visit http://www.shattereffect.com/

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For the official David Bowie website, visit http://www.davidbowie.com/

January 15, 2016January 15, 2016

RELEASE: Not to Disappear – Daughter

Words by Ed King / Pics courtesy of 4AD – ‘The World is Spinning Around’ (album artwork) by Sarah Shaw, lead photograph by Francesca Jane Allen

I love my iPhone. Its ‘old’ enough to create nostalgia, pity and scorn, but has been appreciated company on many long journeys. Even though the buttons don’t fully work, I can’t access the Internet anymore and I receive calls on separate handset, I still love my iPhone.

Plus it has all my walking around music on it, so it generally never leaves my side. And as I gleefully upload Daughter’s new album, Not to Disappear, I am itching to stick my earphones back in and take that cabin fever walk-round-the-park that every self employed person relies upon to stay sane.

It’s been three years since Daughter’s debut album was released, the superb If I Leave, creating a triptych soundtrack (along with Lucy Rose and Benjamin Francis Leftwich) that simply owned my life for a while. I am Christmas Day childish about sinking my teeth into their sophomore. And as I march through the opening track, ‘New Ways’, I am immediately on identifiable ground; soft echoes, mournful guitar, and Elena Tonra’s lone cry – firm, distant and lost. Ah, to be home…

Then as ‘Numbers’ rolls in, track No#2, I start to pick out the counterpoints. There is noticeable volume on this album already (think dimensions not sound) with the familiar motifs surrounded by a fallout cloud that only flirted through If I Leave. And honestly, I’m not initially sure. It feels heavy and distracting, but I can imagine its weight effectively crossing the rooms of a more capacious tour circuit.

‘Doing the Right Thing’ gives a gentle hat tip to track three from its predecessor, but doesn’t quite compete. After all, what could. Before a subtle tease into the waves of distorted metal brings the most ball grabbing moment of this album yet; take a pinch of Pixies, a dash of Mogwai, mix it in the same bowl you blended the Drive soundtrack together in, and you have ‘How’ – a formidable introduction to Daughter Round 2.

The rest of Not to Disappear continues its hopscotch between producers past/present and walls/whispers of sound, with the front seat reserved for Torna’s noticeably visceral lyrics – exploring pertinent human stories, from the loss of dementia to sexual isolation.

This is a clear evolution with Not to Disappear, as a seemingly more unguarded pen captures some exquisitely dark explosions; “…how I wanted you to promise we would only make love, but my mouth felt like I was choking on broken glass, so I just slept it off…” In fact the whole of that song; pick a line. And I dare you to watch the video for the album’s lead single, ‘Doing the Right Thing’, without something in your eye.

Overall, there is a little bleeding of one track into another – with the weight behind some of Not to Disappear’s more deserving punches being felt more when landed on their own. There is no ‘Youth’ on this album. But where the prodigal Daughter album arguably waned, in its faster paces such as ‘Human’, Not to Disappear not only excels but sets a formidable precedent for anything left in this band’s arsenal.

‘No Care’ (track No#7 and the home of the cited lyric above) is the finest moment in Daughter’s two album portfolio, in my overplayed opinion. And I say that with equal judgment and love.

But let’s face it; if you’ve heard If I Leave (and you’ve read this review up to here) then you’re going to hear its follow up, regardless. Three years is a long enough time to wait. And despite their claustrophobic and safe starting points, some moments of change can make everything just a little better.

Then by some wonderful combination of serendipity and a manufacturer’s warranty, after a couple of circuits my iPhone gets stuck on ‘All Songs’ – amalgamating both Daughter albums into one sonorous sandwich. So whilst there’s still a break in the clouds I might as well walk round the park once more. I work hard enough; I’ll go back after this track, or maybe the next. Perhaps in half an hour. After all this is research…

I really could get an upgrade, something all singing-all-dancing-bright-shiny-and-new, something that would make the world around me happier; but everything has its time and place. And I still love my iPhone.

‘Doing the Right Thing’ – Daughter

Not to Disappear is released via 4AD from Friday 15^th January. For more on Daughter, including online purchase points, visit http://www.4ad.com/artists/daughter

Daughter playing at the O2 Institute on Wednesday 20^th January – with support from Pixx. For direct gig info, visit http://go.shr.lc/1n3i1xI

Visit the official Daughter website at http://ohdaughter.com/

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For more from 4AD, visit http://www.4ad.com/

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

December 28, 2015December 30, 2015

BREVIEW: Maxïmo Park @ O2 Institute 18.12.15

Words by Helen Knott / Pics by Ed Taylor (Digital Flow)

The first time I saw Maxïmo Park live was in 2005, in the small upstairs room of a Sheffield pub. There were about 15 of us in the crowd. Through the course of that gig I think that we all realised this band couldn’t fail to make it.

The songs were too good and lead singer Paul Smith too beguiling – a lassic indie poet cast from the same mold as Sheffield’s own Jarvis Cocker. Ten years and five albums later, Maxïmo Park are touring to mark the 10^th anniversary of their debut album, A Certain Trigger – playing the O2 Institute‘s 1500 capacity main room.

And outside the numbers not too much has changed since Sheffield in 2005; Smith is still the same edgy, intense Romantic, spitting out lyrics in his unmistakable Geordie accent. It’s just now he has amplified his persona for a much bigger stage. The awkward bookishness of the early days is gone, replaced with the posturing and leaping of a rock star.

The first half of tonight’s Institute show is a selection of singles and rarities from throughout the band’s career. Singles such as ‘Our Velocity’ and ‘Girls Who Play Guitar’ have an excitable, beered up, Friday night crowd enthusiastically singing along.

And if it’s a little laddish, this is a particularly neurotic brand of modern laddishness: “If everyone became so sensitive / Perhaps I wouldn’t be so sensitive”. Besides, there’s something quite delightful about a roomful of people yelling along to lines like, “I am young and I am lost / You react to my riposte”. ‘Wonderwall’ this isn’t.

After a short break, Maxïmo Park return for a track-by-track performance of A Certain Trigger. The album stands the test of time pretty well, a fine example of mid-00’s indie pop to file alongside Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs and Arctic Monkeys.

I have mixed feelings about the merits of playing the record in its entirety, however. Unlike Pink Floyd performing Dark Side of the Moon or Radiohead doing OK Computer, there’s not much to be gained from hearing this type of album – which is basically a collection of singles with some filler album tracks – from start to finish.

Still, playing the album in full does showcase some of its hidden gems; songs normally overlooked in favour of hits ‘Going Missing, Apply Some Pressure’ and ‘The Coast is Always Changing’. A case in point is ‘I Want you to Stay’, the record’s melancholic fifth single. It begins as a restrained love song, with twitching guitars developing in counterpoint to the wistful vocals (“Nothing works around here/ Where cranes collect the sky”), building in complexity and urgency before reaching its chaotic conclusion. It sums up the best of Maxïmo Park: while their songs tend to be familiar tales of love and loss, Smith’s diction and delivery is always idiosyncratic enough to avoid cliché.

As much as I was impressed by Maxïmo Park’s songs and charisma that night in Sheffield ten years ago, my overriding memory is of the band’s warmth – they were delighted that we had turned up to see them play.

Now there are 1,500 rather than 15 people in the crowd, but Maxïmo Park still have that ability to make each audience member feel valued, special and part of something exciting.

It’s a great feeling, for this reporter at least. And it’s one of the many reasons I believe Maxïmo Park continue to be so cherished by their fans over a decade after their debut – be in a small room in Sheffield or a big room in Birmingham.

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For more on Maxïmo Park, http://maximopark.com/

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

For more from Gigs & Tours, visit http://www.gigsandtours.com/

December 22, 2015

INTERVIEW / THE GALLERY: The Hungry Ghosts

Pics from Rob Hadley (Indie Images) & Harry Mills / Video by Ed Taylor (Digital Flow)

**The Hungry Ghosts play at The Sunflower Lounge on Wednesday 23^rd December – with Amber Riot, Lizards + Cinema. Doors open at 7:30pm with tickets at £3 (advance), for direct gig info click here**

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“They’re a Rock band, a real f*cking Rock band,” – Larry Love (Alabama 3)

The Hungry Ghosts have been on the Birmingham Review Radar (notebook with lists in it) since we caught them supporting Follakzoid at The Sunflower Lounge back in June. Raw, energetic and like being severed by polished steel; after a few short, sharp songs, we were in. And in the months that followed…

The Hungry Ghosts look like a Rock band, act like a Rock band, and sound like the bastard child of Swervedriver and a White/Morrison/Reed/Cohen hybrid mutant baby. When you watch them live you feel like smashing things with a smile on your face; Birmingham’s musical ovaries should be proud, and perhaps a little louder about this band.

And having only formed in the salad days of 2013, The Hungry Ghosts been dutifully grafting away on the (very respectable) support circuit for a while now – picking up praises such as these and a more few feet in the room at every appearance.

But now is time to record and release. With their debut single, ‘Love Songs’, already out in the world, The Hungry Ghosts are busily working on their fledgling EP – the appropriately titled, Blood Red Songs. This should be squeezed out early in the New Year, with a UK tour to promote it.

Birmingham Review caught up with Joe Joseph, Billy Ollis and Jodie Lawrence from The Hungry Ghosts – grabbing them for a quick interview just before their recent support slot with Alabama 3 at The Oobleck.

(N.B. the quote above comes from A3’s frontman/founder, Larry Love, who kept screaming it off stage throughout their set)

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The Hungry Ghosts talk to Birmingham Review @ The Oobleck

(Recorded & produced by Ed Taylor – Digital Flow)

And if A Talkie isn’t enough for you, Rob Hadley and Harry Mills covered The Hungry Ghosts gig for THE GALLERY – check out the links below to see each snapper at work:

THE GALLERY: The Hungry Ghosts – supporting Alabama 3 @ The Oobleck 04.12.15

Rob Hadley (Indie Images) has been covering The Hungry Ghosts for a while, with a close connection to the band and stalwart declarations of support. Indeed, Team Hadley are the reason we know about them at Birmingham Review in the first place. And come rain, shine, sporadic venues across the midlands or a day’s squelch round a field, Rob Hadley will be wedged against a speaker stack taking pics of the four piece.

Check out Rob Hadley’s shots from their Alabama 3 support gig – click here or on the image to your left

Tearing down the M6 at speeds usually reserved for a guilty Hamilton (…give it a while) Harry Mills popped his Birmingham Review cherry shooting The Hungry Ghosts for us – grabbing some extra gig shots from this big day out at The Oobleck. A Sunday baptism of blood red fire. But we’re probably stapling Harry to one of The Hungry Ghosts across 2016, so there should be less last minute travelling when we cover them in the New Year. We’re all heart and service station coffee.

In the meantime, have a look at Harry operating under his own free will – click here or on the image to your left

For more from The Hungry Ghosts, visit http://thehungryghosts.co.uk/

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