hare&hounds Archives - Page 4 of 4 -

August 1, 2016August 1, 2016

BPREVIEW: Carina Round @ Hare and Hounds 04.07.16

Words by Ed King

On Thursday 4^th August, Carina Round brings her Deranged to Divine tour to the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath) with support from She Makes War. Doors open at 7:30pm with tickets priced at £10 (adv) – for direct gig, info click here.

Carina Round will be in Birmingham for the second gig in her eight date UK tour, which begins at The Globe in Cardiff on 3^rd August and ends at The Green Door Store in Brighton on 11^th August – as presented by Glasswerk. For direct info on the full Deranged to Divine tour, click here.

The first time I saw/heard Carina Round was at a pub on Bennett’s Hill, standing on a small wooden stage singing a capella. Her not me. The room was full, busy and not paying attention to anything without alcohol in it. Carina was shyer on stage back then and stood almost awkwardly, just a girl behind a guitar, being supremely ignored. But once she started to sing… something cut through the crowd. It was one of those moments.

Carina Round released The First Blood Mystery (Tori Amos metaphors eat your heart out) in 2001, produced in the rock stalwart studios of her Wolverhampton home town. Angry, perhaps; a distorted guitar, fingernails down the blackboard affair. A brave album, one that makes more sense to me retrospectively, this seven track debut admittedly rested in my CD collection waiting for ‘that song’ to pull me back in. A band was formed, a band was toured, and The Disconnection followed a year later – stabbing the clandestine power of any folk pretenses straight through the heart.

More professional and personal releases followed, before a thief in the sky took Carina Round to LA – ushering in a litany of high profile support slots and peer reviews. The ebbs and flows of industry interest followed, whilst that mega-stardom so many of us thought was a given stayed just beyond her fingertips (although her later osmosis into Puscifier – as co-lead vocals, guitar and banjitar?? – has brought more stadium crowd support). But Carina Round remained; a working musician. Uncompromising. Valid. Something fluid and exciting, even when you’re watching from the sidelines.

Slow Motion Addict came out in 2007, bringing with it a more subdued sound (kinda, sorta), a 12 episode narrative, and the chance to see what Carina Round would look like with a beard. Nails and blackboards got replaced by oil spills, echoes and the joy of twisted metals. Then Things You Should Know EP followed in May 2009, and amongst other gems brought the world ‘Backseat’ – a surprise success that almost never saw daylight, but which gave me this audience member another one of those moments at the Hare & Hounds in June 2011.

The awesome Tigermending was released in May 2012, a simply superb album, and now we’re back in the present – with Carina Round‘s Deranged to Divine tour presenting a ‘self curated collection’ of her solo work, coming to the Hare & Hounds on August 4^th. With She Make War as the noteworthy support; what a wonderful world this could be.

And whilst there are many, many, many videos worth watching from Carina Round’s back catalogue (seriously, visit YouTube and ring fence an afternoon) this dance across the heart strings is quite a beautiful place to start.

‘You and Me’ – Carina Round

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For more on Carina Round, visit www.carinaround.com

For more from the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath), visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

July 27, 2016

BREVIEW: Moon Duo @ Hare & Hounds 22.07.16

Words by Helen Knott / Pics by Michelle Martin (Visual Voice)

What do ABBA, The White Stripes, Sonic Youth, Arcade Fire and Moon Duo have in common? Married band members.

It’s understandable that there are so many bands that contain couples really – the sharing of common interests is a solid basis for a relationship. And there’s always going to come that evening when you’ve exhausted all the good stuff on Netflix, one of you turns to the other and says: “Fancy a jam?” I’m sure that’s what happened with ABBA.

Moon Duo began life as a Wooden Shjips side project led by Shjips guitarist and singer Ripley Johnson and his synth-playing wife Sanae Yamada. The early Moon Duo sound is very similar to Wooden Shjips, but the band has progressively moved closer to the pop end of the psych-rock spectrum, replacing the drum machine of their early days with drummer John Jeffrey along the way.

On the record, Jeffrey has made very little impact to the band’s sound – he plays like a drum machine. I was hoping that in this live setting having an actual human drummer would give the band more expression and power, but I’m disappointed. There are no significant changes of tempo, rhythm or dynamics in songs, or even between songs. May as well have kept the drum machine.

This points to the problem with Moon Duo – it’s all rather samey and one note, even when taking into account that psych is inherently repetitive. Songs are given more space live than on the record, which is generally a good thing, and the geometric visuals create the ideal atmosphere for zoning out.

But even with the odd poppier track thrown in from 2015’s Shadow of the Sun, such as early set highlight ‘Free the Skull’, the formula is all too predictable: synth intro, girl/boy vocals, moderately cool guitar solo, more vocals, more synth, end.

And I’m not expecting them to be jumping around the stage but there is an underlying air that they are phoning this performance in. The only audience interaction is when Ridley sounds mildly irked with us that the gig finishes early so that we can have a disco afterwards. He can’t even be bothered to sound properly annoyed.

The audience is energetic and keen to have a good time, but we get very little back in return, apart from a begrudging encore that makes our supposedly beloved disco three minutes late.

It’s not bad. It’s just a bit safe and predictable. Probably a lot like being married.

For more on Moon Duo, visit www.facebook.com/moonduoofficial

For more from the Hare & Hounds, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

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For more from This is Tmrw, visit www.thisistmrw.co.uk

For more from Lunar Festival, visit www.lunarfestival.co.uk

July 21, 2016

BPREVIEW: Moon Duo @ Hare & Hounds 22.07.16

Words by Helen Knott

On Friday 22 July, Moon Duo performs at the Hare and Hounds in King’s Heath – as presented by This is Tmrw and Lunar Festival. Doors open at 7pm, with a 10pm curfew.

Tickets are priced at £10 (advance). For direct gig info & online ticket sales click here.

Moon Duo’s gig at the Hare and Hounds is the first of a four-date UK tour in support of their third album Shadow of the Sun, released last year through Sacred Bones Records.

Moon Duo first emerged as a Wooden Shjips side project, led by the band’s guitarist and singer Ripley Johnson. During breaks between Wooden Shjips records and tours Johnson would team up with his synth-playing wife Sanae Yamada to create music not-too-far removed from the mother shjip. The first Moon Duo album Mazes, released in 2011, features long, mysterious fuzzes with extended, noodling guitar solos that could easily have appeared amidst the psych drone of Wooden Shjips’ Back to Land or West.

In recent years, however, Wooden Shjips have been active only sporadically (though a four date UK tour is booked in for the autumn) and Moon Duo has moved out of the Shjips’ shadow. The music has developed alongside this, with last year’s album Shadow of the Sun featuring a more refined and poppy sound.

It’s still fuzzy, repetitive psych rock (indeed, it could be argued that it’s a little too repetitive on occasion) but it’s also much more focused. The addition of drummer John Jeffrey to the full time line-up provides an added dynamism that should be particularly effective live.

For Johnson the point of psychedelic music is “getting you outside of your normal space and transporting you away from it.” It’s up to you to decide if Moon Duo achieves that at the Hare and Hounds tomorrow night. They will be amply supported in their task by Birmingham’s post punkers Victories at Sea – well worth turning up early for.

Check out the video for ‘Animal’, the first single from Shadow of the Sun. It features professional skater Richie Jackson skating on everything but a skateboard:

‘Animal’ – Moon Duo

For more on Moon Duo, visit www.facebook.com/moonduoofficial

For more from the Hare and Hounds, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

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For more from This is Tmrw, visit www.thisistmrw.co.uk

For more from Lunar Festival, visit www.lunarfestival.co.uk

July 1, 2016July 1, 2016

BPREVIEW: Yogiyo Happy Chicken BBQ & Kitchen Takeover @ Hare & Hounds – across July

Words & pics by Ed King

2016 is the year of the monkey, according to some hemispheres. But July at the Hare & Hounds is all about the ‘Happy Chicken’ – as Yogiyo launch their ‘brand new street food concept’ at the venue’s weekly Blues Club events. And with oxymorons and terrible segues withstanding…

To be held in the Hare & Hounds’ stables, Yogiyo’s Happy Chicken BBQ will be running between 2pm – 8pm on Saturday 2^nd, 9^th & 23^rd July – bringing a sizzling selection of Korean grub, all prepared with the Peter Jones endorsed sauces at their centre.

With a hearty enough meal-for-one priced at around £5.50 to £7.50, the aforementioned morsels will include:

Korean fried Chicken wings
Galbi pulled chicken with corn nachos
Smashed avocado and Gochujang salsa
Double cooked Korean Chicken in buttermilk
Kimchi slaw
Sweet potato fries

Other dishes will be prepped, tried and grilled across the month – with the press release confidently predicting the ‘most delicious Korean Chicken dishes alongside some familiar favourites’.

And whilst I’m slightly obsessed with the Smashed avocado and Gochujang salsa (although this could be down to the double entendre) chicken is very much at the heart of the menu. Why it’s so cheery about this, I couldn’t precisely tell you; although ‘vegetarian, vegan and Gluten free options will also be available.’

I went to the first pop up kitchen from the Korean saucier back in February this year, snapping up some tasty morsels in the H&H’s green room/toilet/photography studio upstairs. And thank you Will Varley for opening a window.

My two word review is as follows: hell yeah. The suffix ‘more please’ featured in the unabridged account.

So the idea of this flaming away on a BBQ, on a Saturday afternoon, with Dylan Gibbon’s record collection in the back ground, seems like an excellent idea to me – especially with Chris Hughes running the kitchen and preparing the menu.

The Yogiyo sauces are one of those home grown successes, big enough the have clout but still personal enough to feel special, and Hughes has been a key figure in much of Birmingham’s developing cuisine culture; his fingerprints can be found on many of our city’s more appealing pies, including Edible Eastside, The Kitchen School, Wilderness (née Nomad) alongside the recent Kaye Winwood Projects – Diabolical Roses and After Dark.

And if the flame grilled is not so much your style, there are two more sit down affairs coming from the Hughes/Yogiyo kitchen on Thurs 7^th & Thurs 21^st July, with the following menu priced at £25per head:

Spicy grilled squid or spiced tofu(v) with twigim tempura & dipping sauces
Marinated beef or slow cooked Galbi Aubergine (v) with steamed rice, a selection of vegetables, fried egg & Yogiyo Gochujang
White chocolate and ginger mousse, sesame biscuit & green tea parfait

No jokes here; just get me some cutlery. And a possibly second serving of the white chocolate & ginger mousse.

Yogiyo’s Happy Chicken BBQ will be held at the Hare & Hounds on Saturday 2^nd, 9^th & 23^rd July, with mains priced at around £5.50 to £7.50. For direct information, click here.

Yogiyo’s Kitchen Takeovers will be held at the Hare & Hounds on Thurs 7^th & Thurs 21^st July, priced at £25 (advance). For direct information, click here.

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For more on Yogiyo, visit www.yogiyo.co

For more from the Hare & Hounds, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

May 11, 2016

BPREVIEW: The Middle Feast @ Hare & Hounds 12.05

Words & Festival No6 pic by Ed King / Lead image courtesy of The Middle Feast

Starting out with a successful debut at Festival No6 last year, The Middle Feast is a relatively new addition to Birmingham’s burgeoning ‘street food’ and event catering community. But think bigger, think better. This is some seriously yummy stuff.

Taking over the Hare & Hounds on Thursday 12^th May, Lucy Rhodes brings her ‘Middle Eastern inspired kebabs & mezze’ onto the tables tops of Kings Heath for a sumptuous sit down affair. Pitched at £25 a head you get an absurdly rich three-and-a-bit course meal, with a veggie or meat option depending on your blood lust.

And it’s hard to cherry pick (…no pun) something from the menu to wet your whistle – although since reading ‘Clementine & ricotta fritters, pistachio – dark chocolate crunch, orange blossom syrup’ it’s been hard to think about much else.

But don’t get distracted by desserts, or even pre-desserts; from the tongue twisting ‘Barbecued saffron-lemon chicken, sumac roasted cauliflower purée, preserved lemon salsa & toasted hazelnuts’ to the simply elegant ‘Hickory smoked yoghurt’ there’s almost too much to handle here. I kid you not; check this mamma jamma menu out:

STARTER
Barbecued saffron-lemon chicken, sumac roasted cauliflower purée, preserved lemon salsa & toasted hazelnuts
Saffron artichoke, sumac roasted cauliflower purée, preserved lemon salsa & toasted hazelnuts (V)

MAIN
Very slow cooked lamb belly with Lebanese spiced honey glaze
Goats cheese & burnt aubergine kibbeh (V)
Halloumi fries
Chargrilled flatbread
Parsley & dill tabouleh
Spiced carrot salad
Honeyed nuts & seeds
HOT harissa
Hickory smoked yoghurt
Pickles

PRE-DESSERT
Espresso panna cotta, raw cacao, arak cocktail with rose water & pomegranate granita

DESSERT
Clementine & ricotta fritters, pistachio – dark chocolate crunch, orange blossom syrup

…the words you’re looking for rhyme with ‘rolly duck’. And, arguably, ‘what are we doing tomorrow night..?’

An Evening with The Middle Feast comes to the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath on Thursday 12^th May. For direct info & online booking, visit http://hareandhoundskingsheath.skiddletickets.com/event.php?id=12691153

For more on The Middle Feast, visit https://feastfeastfeast.co.uk/

For more from the Hare & Hounds, visit http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/