Tommy Sissons EP Review - Etchings

Award-winning spoken word poet Tommy Sissons has teamed up with a handful of Brighton's busiest performers to create his latest EP, Etchings, which was released at the end of September 2014 on QM Records. Featuring with striking black and white artwork created by local photographer Lauren Joy Kennett, the cover captures the essence of Tommy and his music simply but articulately, demonstrating visually what his lyrics display aurally; working class culture in the south.

With smooth guitars from the guys of Normanton Street, drums from former-Maccabees drummer and St. Longplayer producer Robert Dylan Thomas, bass from Time For T's Joshua Robert Nicholson Taylor and soaring saxophone melodies from the talented Nick Webb, Tommy has just the right backdrop to showcase his lyrical and vocal abilities with this smooth and well produced EP which has a real Brighton feeling to it, from the seaside soundscapes of seagulls in 'Early Wakers' to the lyrical content throughout. 

Here is my track by track breakdown of Etchings. I hope you enjoy the EP. It available to download for just £2 on bandcamp here. You can stream the tracks to listen to in the player below.

1. Early Wakers

Starting with sounds of waves crashing down and distant seagulls, the driving bass opens the track like an alarm clock, before the vocals wake up and come in. The sheer quality of the lyrics is displayed within the first few of lines of the opening track, spoken at an unhurried pace over a continental sounding lazy-morning saxophone and gentle guitars and bass:

"Rise here with the early wakers
The break of sun-pacers
The fry-up creators
And the desperate for caffeine hot coffee makers
Rise with the homeless
Leave home for your purpose"

2. Fish and Chip Paper Headlines

Definitely displaying the influence of Normanton Street in this track, the slow funk-soul groove of drums, bass and guitar provides the backdrop to this track which looks at the expression "Today's news is tomorrow's chip shop paper" in a new context to ask if people think that this is justification for wrongdoings, evil deeds and anything they please, and the cost of this philosophy on society.

3. My Son

My son is a heart-warming track of a dad (or possibly an unrelated older male figure) giving advice to his boy, using his life experience to tell him how things can be, but telling him to pay heed to his words and not his actions: 

"But pay no attention to me my son
I'm set in my ways
My partisan alignment is to apathy
Make no mention of me my son
Do not waste your days"

4. We Are Young

An upbeat track which juxtaposes funk sounds with unapologetically heavyweight youth cultural observations and criticisms. If you are young, you will totally get this and wonder how things went from Pokemon cards and The Simpsons to questionable habits with questionable company in questionable locations. It's because you are young.

5. Possibilities

With more of a hip-hop vibe, this track ditches the common lyrical themes of the genre in lieu of a warming list of things that Tommy would like to do if he had the time, from the simple "cherish awkward conversations with my barber" to the more adventurous "makeshift a boat from twigs and rope and sail the seven seas". Possibilities is a masterclass of imagination, comprehensively sincere and utterly moving.
Check out the live video of the track for Clockwork Owl below.

6. If You're Gonna

This track is another well thought-out lyrical work, seeking not to justify character flaws and unattractive personality traits, but advising you of the blind spots that they may leave you with, suggesting ways to make them more bearable to yourself, and those around you. 
"If you speak make sure it's worth listening to."

7. Etchings 

A track about making important life decisions, going against the grain, leaving an imprint on society for future generations through etchings, finding your place in society and finding yourself. So pretty much a track about everything that matters, told in a free-flowing storytelling narrative of Tommy Sissons, against the ambient sounds of his band, as the instrumental coda fades out the EP, until the next one begins.

https://www.facebook.com/TommySissonsOfficial
@TommySissons

Kate Daisy Grant - Portrait - Album Review

Friday 5th September at The Old Market in Hove marks the album launch for Kate Daisy Grant's 'Portrait' AND a preview of new material from Nick Pynn's forthcoming album 'Waterproof'. A pair of multi-instrumentalists playing together ensures that there will be a great display of musical wonder, especially when Daisy lists her instruments including toy-piano, autoharp, dulcitone, cello, toy bells and teapot. Kate's award-winning songwriting is described as "haunting howl-ballads, twisted lullabies and joy-toy-pop", a combination that I've certainly never heard of before and am intrigued by as I am sure you all are! As the winner of the Best Music Act Award of the Brighton Fringe and Festival in 2013, and a host of rave reviews from across the country, I am looking forward to seeing what this evening has in store!

Here is my track by track breakdown of the new album 'Portrait'. 

Full of delicate vocals with dancing melodies, lots of piano and a grand parade of auxiliary instruments, Portrait takes you on a musical sight-seeing tour from the circus bazaar opener through to the understated finale.

1. Six Feet Under
If like me, you were expecting a macabre and solemn tale from the title then you couldn't be more wrong. It sounds like the circus has come to town to throw a underground party in a crypt. With the old-time feel piano part and the sweeping violin giving a gypsy jazz vibe, the song combines a wide range of sounds in a slightly chaotic way, yet still managed to have a catchy chorus in the mix!
  
2. Doubt
Vocally this track has wisps of Imogen Heap with flavours of Regina Spektor on the piano and in the voice too. Far more stripped back than the first track, but steadily building with percussion and a strong cello part, the vocals elegantly prance through the lower and upper registers of the spectrum. There's some really nice lyrics in this track too: 
"It's only a landing light, and thought the moon had altered its course"

3. Little Bird
The use of toy piano sounds quite dream-like, or kind of children's tv show theme-like, both evoking happy emotions. The song itself is a slalom of musical tonality, underpinned once again with the warm bass notes of the cello. Check out the official video for the track below and see what comes to mind!

4. Resurrection
Bat For Lashes meeting Muse and getting the blues, this song is passionate and sounds kind of bitter yet oddly uplifting. The prominent vocal opening the track is almost a cappella, bar various percussion and sparsely distributed samples, until the piano provides a more rigid structure, sitting underneath the rest of the song. Listen to the track on her soundcloud below.   


5. Fight The Night
This song would fit in well in a musical I think. It has a sort of "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables feeling. I can imagine somebody belting this out on X-Factor in a few years time. It's delicate yet sure-footed, like a mountain goat.

6. Boy Who Cries for The World
Another quite theatrical song, underpinned with a warm chorus of brass. Lyrically it reminds me of Guy Garvey (Elbow) which is certainly a very good thing indeed! The 

7. Stillpoint
Lovely song, lovely lyrics, lovely stuff!
"You were the stillpoint of it all, a heavy kind of light, always looking down
Portraits, maps and bones, tracing paper layers
If you want to paint me, paint me alone
If you want me make me, make me from stone." 

8. Rise
An uplifting song (both in spirit and pitch), Rise is a get up and get out there kind of song:  "You'd better find a life before living takes the life out of you". 
Have a little listen to the track below. 


9. Nothing to Fear
Another stripped back piano ballad with a difference: Nothing to Fear swells up around the 3 minute into a warm mesh of wooshing vocals and fiddly instrumental parts. 

10. Silent Night
Initially unsure if this was going to be a cover of the Christmas song, I can reveal ***SPOILER ALERT*** that it isn't! Although, fragments of the initial melody do have some resemblance, but the song is far less cyclic than the Christmas favourite, developing the melody throughout until its gentle fade out into the distance as the album winds down 

http://www.katedaisygrant.com/

@katedaisygrant

Luke Sital-Singh - The Fire Inside - Album Review

After seeing Luke Sital-Singh perform for the first time last month at Latitude Festival I did a little digging and found three pieces of good news: Firstly he was coming to Brighton to perform in September; secondly he had just released a collection of cover songs that he recorded from his favourite films (including great tracks by The Shins, Simon and Garfunkel and the like); and finally his debut out was due for release soon (OUT NOW).

For those of you in Brighton, or elsewhere that he is playing in his UK tour, I would strongly urge you to have a listen to his music and if it's your cup of tea then get on down to a show near you! It's really important to support emerging artists at the early stages of their career and to support your local music scene too. The venues aren't massive and the ticket prices aren't in the hundreds so why not have a great night out for around a tenner! For the Brightonians amongst you, as well as Karima Francis who is supporting for the whole tour, we have local minstrel Jacko Hooper, whose debut EP 'For You' was released last month and is rather fantastic. Check out my review of it here of have a listen below.

Here is my track by track breakdown of his debut album, 'The Fire Inside', which is available to buy now on itunes for just £6.99.

1. Nothing Stays The Same - Opening with an "ooh" reminiscent of Ben Howard's 'The Wolves' without fear of imitation. With a simple melody and uplifting chorus (which when played live at Latitude was with the backing of London Contemporary Voices) the first track has the passion of Frank Turner and astute relatable lyrics which show that his view of the world is a keen one:

 "Let your guard down

Get your heart pounded

We all bleed

We all breathe

And nothing stays the same"

2. Greatest Lovers - The chorus effect on the guitar at the start sounds slightly 80s/90s, like a Chris Isaak or The Smiths intro. In a music scene filled with introspective shoegazing self-deprecating acoustic folk, it is very refreshing to have an uplifting track, even moreso one that sounds like an uptempo Damien Rice track (in fact I can imagine him doing a down-beat version which would be equally great).

  

3. Bottled Up Tight - This song is a bit of a dark horse. It starts simply with a finger-picked guitar accompaniment and a soft vocal, remaining under the radar even in the first chorus: 

"I feel a fire, 

I see a flame set me alight,

Bring me desire bottled up tight" 

Then the drums and piano kick in and the song builds and builds for the last few minutes, moreso than your average construction site manages in a week.

4. 21st Century Heartbeat - A social commentary, unrestricted by location or social class, simply looking at the crazy world that we live in at the present, wherever we are on earth! 

5. Lilywhite - A touching piano ballad in the style of Billy Joel (more my parent's generation) or Fyfe Dangerfield, which once again builds and swells as it progresses organically. 

6. Nearly Morning - This track is like an un-Americanized version of a Secondhand Serenade track, with less sap and better lyrics. Once again the vocal layering in the backing sounds great - a good tip for any aspiring songwriters out there is to befriend a fantastic choir so you can replicate this live! The a cappella bit at the end could probably be drawn out a little longer, but maybe that's for the live shows!

7. I Have Been A Fire - Sparse to the point of almost a cappella, the vocals dominate this track like a Jeff Buckley song, with an almost Bon Jovi like rise in the chorus and when the distorted guitar enters after the second time around. Powerful stuff!

8. Everything Is Making You - Definitely getting a Starsailor vibe from this track, with maybe a bit of Travis thrown into the mix. Acoustic led with throaty vocals, underpinned by the percussion and backing vocals, this song will definitely come to life when played live.

9. Fail For You - Starting with a chorus of voices over a Buckley-esque reverbed clean electric guitar, the lush harmonies and emotive lyrics are sure to draw a few tears for those of a gentle disposition, in a post-breakup lull or who have seen too many charity adverts that day. In all seriousness, it is a beautiful track. Watch the official video below. 

"I bought you the sky and the oceans too

Why the look in your eye

The only thing I couldn't do

Is fail for you, fail for you"

10. We Don't Belong - Juxtaposing the softest track on the album so far with this upbeat almost-boogie piano led track, the album is never stagnant, jumping all over the place but not in a random uncontrolled way as many do. I can definitely see this song in a future Zach Braff film. Check out my review of the soundtrack to his current release "Wish I Was Here" here.

11. Cornerstone -Like a philosopher in the audience of Question Time, Luke's words definitely carry more weight than perhaps taken in at first listen, questioning himself as well as the others around him in this song: "Every life needs a cornerstone, and are you mine?"

12. Benediction - Closing the album on a somber note, in the vein of 'Fail For You', with this piano and vocal track, like a stripped back version of The Fray or a David Gray track. You can feel the album physically unwind, like when you take a hot bath after a long day at work. 

The album is a time-matured collection of his works so far, not rushed and not compromised. The production is excellent and the variety is impressive. The backing vocal arrangements are brilliant so kudos to whoever did those! Luke's songwriting is mature and charismatic without shouting for attention, and his vocal abilities should not be overlooked in this stunning paragon debut album. The future looks to be very bright for Luke from where I am looking.

http://lukesitalsingh.com/

@lukesitalsingh  

New Writing South Good Blog Guide

I am really pleased to announce that I have been included in the New Writing South's Good Blog Guide. Check out some of the other blogs by great local writers on https://www.newwritingsouth.com.

Busy In Bodffordd and Bangor

Just a quick update as to my whereabouts this week. I have returned to my university city of Bangor for the week to do some recording with my good friend Will Roberts in Bodffordd, of some very old material: I mean songs from up to 8-9 years ago, re-recorded, arranged and mastered into a brand new album/EP.

Day One: Worked out the track list and laid down the vocals and guitar for some of the tracks. In the evening I hosted the Open Mic at The Belle Vue in Bangor, my regular haunt from my uni days. The place was packed from start to finish and I saw some great new acts perform as well as some familiar favourites, who had all developed a lot since I'd last seen them perform.

Day Two: Finished off the guitar, piano and vocal tracks for all of the songs. Started a rough drum track for the first song, the wind, and I'm excited for how it's sounding! Here is me hard at work:

Tomorrow, we'll be working on some of the arrangements after stopping by at Treffos School on Anglesey in the morning to give a talk on music journalism to the year 6 class.
More to follow tomorrow. :)

June Jams - Six new tracks that you NEED to hear this weekend!

With the World Cup under way and already giving us some surprise results, the only thing that is for sure is that there is a lot of quality new music being made which needs more attention given to it.

Here is my pick of 6 fresh tracks from local and/or unsigned acts to ease you into the weekend:

St. LongPlayer - 'Spread Your Love (Salad Days)' Soundcloud

The new musical endeavour from the former Maccabees drummer Robert Dylan Thomas, teaming up with Ned Archibong and Nicholson Davids from Normanton Street for this new production project. With sharp vocals, tight production and a Sealife Centre backdrop, what more could you want? Debut EP 'OFTM' Out on 10th July.

Sammi Elston - 'I'll Be Your Darling' @sammielston

Liverpool-based singer-songwriter Sammi Elston combines her carefully-crafted songs with guitar, bass and drums in this catchy pop-rock number. This new recording of I'll Be Your Darling with full band was released on iTunes on 1st June 2014 and can be downloaded here.

Jetglo - 'Like A Scratch' @Jetglo_Official

Brighton indie rock band Jetglo are currently mixing their debut album for imminent release. Here is a recently uploaded track of one of the album tracks. With strong dancable rhythms and clear vocal hooks, particularly in the chorus, this is a feel-good hit in the making. 

Sarah Meek - 'Take Over' Soundcloud

Northern jazz singer based in Bangor, North Wales, Sarah Meek is one of the talents emerging from the local music scene. With the help of friends and local musicians, Sarah recently recorded her debut album, 'Beginnings' as a university project, which she was awarded a First for. Check out the first track to be uploaded, with hopefully more of the album to follow soon. Sarah is definitely one to watch in the very near future.  

Jack Rennie & The Nightmares - 'Trapped'  Facebook

What do you get if you cross Stafford brother-sister duo 'The Taskers' with a Jack-of-all-instruments? Jack Rennie & The Nightmares formed recently and quickly recorded a six track mini-album to celebrate. The album is free to download here. Check out 'Trapped' below  for some sleazy lo-fi vibes. They're coming for your heart!

Phoria - 'Undone' @phoria

With an overwhelming online fanbase, live shows including a string quartet and impressive visuals and UK tour and EP launch (16th June in London at St Pancras Old Church, 21st June in Brighton at the Haunt), Phoria are sure to not stay under the radar much longer. This track has accumulated over 125,000 plays in the first couple of weeks alone. Ambient, well produced and with ghostly vocals atop dark piano and drums, it is chilled out but in a slightly sinister way. Check it out and see what you think.

For more local music picks, what's on guides, reviews, interviews and latest releases, follow my blog or catch me on @tomsayeruk on twitter or facebook.com/tomsayeruk.

Brighton What's On Guide - 13th - 19th June 2014

Check out my What's On Guide in the Brighton and Hove Independent today on page 19, digital copy below.

The Noise Next Door Review - Brighton Komedia - 12th June 2014

With Komedia's Krater Comedy Club dominating the weekend's quota for comedy with consistently high standard stand-up, it must be a real challenge for any other comedy act to meet the audience's expectations. The flip side of this is that Brighton's comedy attending audiences know how to laugh and how to have a good time. This is particularly important in improvised comedy which relies heavily on audience participation such as The Noise Next Door.

The show was by no means your average compilation of stand-up acts, with a quintet of performers, joined by two special guests, on stage and all participating for the majority of the night. Imagine 'Mock The Week' but all the contestants working together to create a coherent two hour show rather than throwing in one-liners to get "points" for their team. By working together, The Noise Next Door are a truly formidable force of creative comedy at the peak of excellence.

The show was divided into three different types of sketch: musical numbers based entirely on audience generated material, physical situational comedy (again generated from audience material) and guest comedians performing stand-up slots before getting involved with the other sketches. These elements were mixed together well like ingredients of a cocktail, shaken up and served over ice with fruit on top to garnish.

The night opened with a hilarious improvised song about a new 70mph speed limit being enforced in Brighton by Mario, by penalty of spanking if caught not complying. With clever rhymes, funny voices and crazy actions it was a great start to the night, swiftly followed by a manic search for a solution to the problem of Tom being stuck to a football by tiramisu.

The first of the two guests was Canadian potty mouth Paul Myrehaug, whose anecdotes about being thrown in a drunk tank for unintentionally assaulting a police officer with a meatball sub and unicorn fantasies were a little out there, but generally received reasonably well. I thought his use of all five microphones to move across the stage was a nice touch however his contributions to the improv later on showed that he was not as practiced as the others in that area of comedy.

After a very skilled piece of physical comedy and mime where Tom (another Tom) and Matt were portraying all the props required in a search for a magic lamp, located in a home for dementia sufferers located on Machu Picchu, the second guest stand-up was Romesh Ranganathan. He talked about Indian culture, veganism and parenting in a side-splitting set, which was followed by a brutal interpretation of what Father's Day would be like with his family, with the guys from TNND playing him, his wife and his two children, a cross-dressing 4-year-old and a feral 2-year-old, with Romesh sat on the side of the stage, squeaking a dog toy if they were accurate and tooting a horn if not. This was followed by the unexpected welcoming to the stage of his actual family, the children seeming happy and his wife taking it all in good spirits.

After an interval the show continued with much of the same, with the second half starting off by acting out several headlines that were written down by the audience during the break. The highlight of this for me was the three-way comedy carousel that was linking together three different sketches together via the topic of STD's; A Loose Women show, a reggae song and a film that was Pretty Woman meets Thriller. The juxtaposition of these sketches worked very well and as with the rest of the show, was very well received.

The finale of the show was a boy band song based on the life on an audience member who was brought to sit up on stage to hear her beautiful ballad. The vodka-loving, marmalade-hating Marketing student who had aspirations to go to Thailand was mildly grilled, with criticisms of her "mickey-mouse degree", the length of her denim shorts and an arsenal or semi-crude sexual puns (not unlike any other boy band song though!). After the initial look of "Get me out of here!!!" she seemed to enjoy it towards the end, before quietly shuffling back to her seat, probably with a thing or two to say to her friends who nominated her to go up.

By far the most impressive part of the show is the speed of which they manage to generate new and genuinely funny material, adapt to unexpected situations verbally and physically and perform in several different accents (some of which were better than others but for me the only thing funnier than somebody putting on a good accent is somebody trying and not quite getting it, so in my eyes that worked to their favour!).

The show is a regular at Komedia, however they will be going up to perform daily at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival so will not be back until after the summer. For fans of comedy, stand-up or sitcoms, the show will be sure to tickle your funnybone from start to finish and the best part is that with improvised comedy, every night is a different performance! Check them out when you can! For more information or to buy a DVD, visit their website below.

http://www.thenoisenextdoor.co.uk/
@NoiseNextDoor

9Bach Album Review - Tincian - 10th June 2014

I saw 9Bach playing at +Komedia Brighton last week, I was blown away by their performance - see my review here. Here is my track by track rundown of their album Tincian which was released on 12th May 2014. As the titles are in all Welsh, as all of the tracks are (excluding Asteri Mou which is in Greek), I have written the translations in parentheses afterwards. The album is fantastically folky and wonderfully Welsh and is well worth a listen! Below is an album sampler where you can hear snippets of each track.

1. Lliwau (Colours)

Sparse and chilled out with a gentle drum groove, psychadelic 70's guitar lines and an exposed vocal, Lliwau is actually a song comparing colours to the beauty of childbirth. The chorus translates to "Pretty you are like colours" just in case you wondered what you were singing along to, as it has a very catchy melody.

2. Llwynog (Fox)

Lisa Jên (lead singer of 9Bach) spoke passionately when introducing this song, declaring it a song for the underdog fox who managed to escape from the farmer, his shotgun and his dog. It can't help but bring to mind Wes Anderson's 2009 film "Fantastic Mr. Fox" with George Clooney voicing the eponymous fox. So imagine this is a song about George Clooney being hunted in the Welsh countryside if you like. 

3. Pebyll

Pebyll is a ruin located in Llanddewi, a small village in mid-Wales. The song was written after Lisa discovered it whilst walking her dog. Laced with silky elvish-sounding vocals, this track is smoother than James Bond at a cocktail party.

4. Plentyn (Child)

Starting off with breathy three-part vocal harmony, this song tells an unsettling fictional story based on a real life event of a child that is stolen away from its mother at a very young age. The additional percussive rhythms and slide guitar create a rich texture for this tragic story.

5. Wedi Torri (It's broken)

From one dark song to the next, Wedi Torri is about witnessing somebody that you love in a broken state, and the effect that it has on you as you try to desperately piece them together, often at the cost of yourself.

6. Pa Le (Which place?)

Spacious with eerie backing vocals, this traditional song is about the search for a loved one years after they were last seen. Complete with a harp breakdown section which is very pretty.

7. Ffarwél (Farewell)

An unsurprisingly somber track based on a poem from a book of locally gathered songs in Bethesda. The poem is about a quarry reflecting on the times that he used to enjoy with his friends, many of whom had since passed. The chorus of male voices adds an epic filmy sound as well as additional emotional depth to the track. 

8. Llwybrau (Pathways)

A haunting piano opens the track, with a serene, piercing and catchy vocal melody garnishing it sweetly, building up slowly as the rest of the instruments come in and worldless vocal harmonies take over. 

9. Babi'r Eirlys (Snowdrop Baby)

Full of vocal harmonies, this beautiful track is completely a capella, with reverb-laden voices layering up a rich and sleek texture. 
  
10. Asteri Mou (My Star)

Sung in Greek, Lisa's third language Asteri Mou has guitar slides, a delicate melody and a nice piano hook which is imitated by the harp. Whilst building towards the end, it is a quite subdued end to the album, winding down rather than going out with a bang, but with this type of music, that is what you want.

www.9bach.com
www.facebook.com/9bachmusic
www.twitter.com/9bach

Brighton EP/LP Launches in June 2014

With so much music going on in Brighton, it can be hard to keep track of everything. Here is a list of CD/EP/ launch nights this June to keep you afloat.

Sat 7th June - Wild Rivers - Sticky Mike's - All The Lights LP

Who: Clark Maides and Josh Renton
Genre: Indie Pop
Info: OUT NOW, Wild Rivers' 11 track debut album is available for just £3.
Contact: www.facebook.com/wildrivers

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Fri 13th June - Via Tirana - GDS - Full Moon EP

Who?: One man and a guitar, amps and lots of effects.
Genre: Electronic, noise
Info: The EP was recorded with experienced producer James Gasson at Brickhouse Sudio.
Contact: www.facebook.com/viatirana

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Sat 14th June - Half Crown - The Haunt - £7 entry - Everything Goes LP

Who?: A diverse and charismatic group with an infectious energy that spreads across the whole band.

Genre: Blues, Folk, Hip-Hop, Reggae 

Info: The band recently won the Best Unsigned Band of 2013 Award from S&M

Contact: www.facebook.com/officialhalfcrown

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Mon 16th June - Fools Empire - GDS - This Is Not For You!

Who?: Led by Chelsie Tyrell's vocals and piano, this Brighton 5-piece create ambient soundscapes of beauty and wonder.
Genre: Electonica, Pop
Info: Surprisingly this is Fools Empire's debut EP!
Contact: www.facebook.com/foolsempire

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Mon 16th June - Jack Evans - Sticky Mike's - £3 entry - Stripped Back EP

Who?: A young Brighton-born singer-songwriter
Genre: Acoustic, singer-songwriter
Info: Jack will be playing all the songs from the EP at the gig, plus there is support from Ella Croucher, Giorgia-May, Robbie Skitmore & the Spanish Harlem Incident
and yourgardenday
Contact: www.facebook.com/JackEAEvansMusic

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Tue 17th June - O'Chapman - GDS - £6 entry - Relapser EP

Who?: A curly haired London
Genre: Folk, shoegaze, slowcore, dream pop and lo-fi rock.
Info: "You're just a sad sack." - Simon Cowell
Contact: www.facebook.com/ochapmanmusic

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Wed 18th June - Last Days of Rome - Hope - £4 inc EP

Who?: Recently renamed from Blind Eye Fury
Genre: Metal
Info: This is their first show with the new name and they have an EP for you, which you'll get for free if you attend the launch night at The Hope.
Contact: www.facebook.com/lastdaysofromeuk

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Sat 21st June - Phoria - The Haunt - £7 entry - Display EP

Who?: '....super-smart and endearingly pieced together from a breathtaking blend of whisper-like vocals and euphoric electronics .' - NME
Genre: Alternative, Ambient, Electronic
Info: The first track off the EP has already accumulated over 100k views in under 2 weeks!
Contact: www.facebook.com/phoriamusic

For more Brighton-based gig info, listings, reviews, CD reviews and interviews, subscribe to my blog or follow me on twitter @tomsayeruk.

If you are a local band and have a new release that you would like me to review contact me on tom@tomsayer.co.uk

Twelfth Day - The Devil Makes Three - Album Review

After seeing their captivating performance supporting 9Bach at Brighton Komedia - see my review - I was given an exclusive copy of their album, out for release tomorrow - Monday 9th June. Read my track by track guide to The Devil Makes Three below.

 1. Noise Show - Opening with two gentle breathy vocals in harmony, before the harp and plucked violin repeating figures accompany the verse. As the track progresses, the dynamic fiddle part plays in contrary rhythm to the harp creating a contrapuntal mesh which the voices force their way through, depicting the title of the track well.

2. Magic Circle With an angular melody and slightly mystical lyrics, this track has a clear flavour of Björk to it, particularly with the pagan connotations. Once again the trio of voices, violin and harp create an interesting texture however at times the instruments outgun the vocals.

3. Me and My Friend A delicate harp and smooth sweeping violin tell an upbeat Hobbitesque tale of friendship in the first instrumental track of the album, with influences of minimalism and traditional folk.

4. Young Sir By far the most Scottish of the tracks so far, Young Sir tells the story of “a lass who was bonny but poor” who crossed the border to England in search of work, and meets a young gentleman with whom she becomes enamoured. An uplifting ballad with a catchy chorus couplet.

5. A City You Can See Out Of Written about Edinburgh, where the ladies now reside, this melodically endowed song has a lovely harmony throughout and personifies the city in a sincerely heartfelt way.

6. Swimming Safe The second instrumental on the album, this track cleverly shares the melody between the instruments in a sleepy daze.

7. Shapeshifter The galloping harp leads a lyrical pursuit of light, time and magic.

8. The Devil Makes Three A new musical setting to the traditional folk song, sang in the film ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’ by three sirens. This version lacks the sinister undertones of the song but adds a sense of urgency with the dramatic speed up in the middle, leading into a folky fiddle-led middle section.

9. The Beach Serene, folksy and with shades playfulness, this instrumental track would work wonders in a film if the right Director’s hands, in particular the muted harp part in the middle which could underpin a montage or chase scene with ease.

10. Dusking Winding down with a gentle track, the voices in this song blend well acting as another instrument in this tapestry of sound.

https://twelfthday.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/twelfthday
https://www.twitter.com/twelfthday

I will be uploading my review of 9Bach's album Tincian tomorrow.

For more reviews, interviews and features subscribe to my blog or follow me on twitter @tomsayeruk

Interview with Jon Gomm

Check out my interview with guitar legend Jon Gomm before his gig at Sticky Mike's Frog Bar last night, where he talks about crowdsourcing, his banjo pegs, his jazz education and much more.


He was a very lovely chap, even with his poor habit of feeding chips to the seagull on the seafront. His gig in the evening was a brilliant showcase of his guitar and vocal abilities, including a lesson for how to play drums on guitar and an insight into his background, playing in the working men's clubs of Blackpool  ("The city Brighton could have been" he quipped in response to a heckler) to particularly unreceptive audiences of "confused Glaswegian pensioners on holiday" prompting him to bring out one of his trademark showpieces, his instrumental arrangement of Chaka Khan's 'Ain't Nobody'. 
For the rest of his tour dates and more information go to www.jongomm.com or @jongomm

Keep up to date by following my blog on whattomwrites.blogspot.com or @tomsayeruk

Time for T Interview in Brogue Magazine

Check out my interview with Time for T in the latest issue of Brogue Magazine: it's the opening feature! :D

http://issuu.com/broguemagazine/docs/the_final_one_brogue_three_publishe

Very excited! Thanks to Spirit De La Mare!

My interview with guitar legend Jon Gomm will be up soon! For more updates follow me on @tomsayerukwww.twitter.com/tomsayeruk

Tom Hickox Interview - 29th May 2014

After catching the end of a very soothing soundcheck at The Hope in Brighton, I met up with Tom Hickox in a pub around the corner to talk his music, merchandise and alternative career paths.

Did your parents’ background in classical music have any effect on your album? Are there any particular records that you remember being played as a child?

Not specifically, no. I think that when you grow up everything will have an influence on you, but any classical influences on my album were not consciously made. I was not looking to make anything classical, but with my background I guess you could say it’s an innate training, the music is in my blood. I’m really grateful to have had that kind of upbringing.

In terms of songwriting and orchestration, do you see these as separate things or do they happen simultaneously?

I definitely keep the songwriting separate. I like to focus on the key elements: the lyrics, melody and harmony first, to get the core of the song down. Then I’ll think about the right ensemble to play it. I do the majority of the orchestration and arranging myself but I think that it is important not to get ahead of yourself: if you don’t give the song strong foundations then it can never stand tall.

A lot of comparisons are made between your voice and that of Leonard Cohen. How do you feel about that? I personally think you more resemble Guy Garvey (Elbow) and Matt Berninger (The National). Are you a fan of either of those?

I’m a big fan of Leonard Cohen. He has definitely been an influence to me. You can tell within a millisecond if a song is his and that is such a great thing. I think for artists it is so hard to find your voice, both in the abstract and sonic senses but I am thrilled to be compared to such great company. I really like Elbow and The National. They write beautifully crafted music and have a lot to say. Recently one of my songs was played on Guy Garvey’s radio show and he was very complimentary about it. It is so humbling and surreal to have someone who you really admire become aware of your work and become an advocate for it.

In terms of the album artwork, it appears that you are having a conversation with yourself. Was that your intention?

The main thing that I wanted the cover to convey was that I was not just speaking from my point of view on the album; I was inhabiting other people’s voices and telling their stories.  I think that it is important to get the right look for a record, taking care and effort to package it in the best way possible. If the cover is symbiotic with the meaning of the record then it really speaks to the people and transmits well.

You have quite an interesting array of merchandise, including signed lyric handkerchiefs and pocket mirrors? Are you aiming yourself at the middle-class or is it more a style thing?

Not at all. I think I’m not the sort of musician whose supporters would want a t-shirt of. I just don’t think that it suits my style of music. The lyric handkerchief is something I really like because I think it hasn’t ever been done before. And the idea behind the pocket mirror is owner is looking back on themselves through it. Also, from a boring practical point of view, both are light items which are easy to travel around with when on tour. They seem to be selling really well though. We only have about 10 handkerchiefs left (prior to the gig).

How has the tour been going so far? Do you enjoy playing all across the country?

It’s been fantastic. I am always surprised by how different the crowds are in different cities. The venues vary each night too. Some of the shows were sell outs which is great. Others were pretty close to capacity and a couple were a little more chilled but we’ve had a great reception so far. We’re finishing the tour with a full band show in London in a few days. It’s always nice to end with a home show. I could walk home afterwards if I didn’t have my keyboard!

Besides music, do you have any other big interests/hobbies?

I’m interested in art and culture; films, books, pictures, anything that I can get ideas from for songs really. I also spend far too much time watching football on TV, but that’s not been much use for writing a song just yet!

And finally, if you couldn’t make music, what would your dream job be?

I’d be up front with Suarez, banging in the goals! That has always been a dream of mine since I was little, to be a striker for Liverpool. I enjoyed football from a young age but was never particularly sporty. But I am so happy to be able to do what I love by making music. If I can keep making more records with more amazing musicians, writing and recording music that I really believe in and playing it to crowds who really appreciate it, then I will be very happy indeed.

His stunning debut album War Peace and Diplomacy is out now.

www.tomhickox.com

@tomhickox

Madison Violet Interview in Brighton on their UK Tour - Prince Albert - 19th May 2014

I caught up with Canadian singer-songwriters Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac, a.k.a Madison Violet, before their Americana Music Series gig at the PrinceAlbert, the Brighton of their recent UK tour, to talk to them about their upcoming record, beautiful venues and floral preferences.

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Firstly, I wanted to ask you about the Canada folk scene. There seems to be a lot of Canadian songwriters crossing over to the UK at the moment (notably Lindi Ortega and Basia Bulat in the last few months). Is this a new thing?

I think there’s always been a pretty much non-stop export of local artists from Canada coming over to the UK. In places like Toronto there are a lot of international touring artists coming to play, so the music scene there really thrives. Plus there are people like Bob Harris (BBC Radio 2) whose show really gives the folk/Americana/roots music a platform to be heard from. If there’s a market for it then people will come over and play the international shows.

What is the main difference between the audiences in Canada and America?

Well we don’t really play in America much, so the audiences in Canada are a lot bigger! (They both laugh!) We had some trouble a few years back trying to get into the US, which seems really silly because you can drive it in a day. The Border Patrol between Canada and the US is really strict and it can be hard to get work permits to cross, even to play a tour. It’s much easier to come to Europe so we’ve just avoided the hassle. Of course, with the new record when it comes out, there’s no reason that we’d avoid America. It would be kind of hard to miss out because it’s such a big place!

What have you been up to since your last studio album ‘The Good in Goodbye’ back in 2011?

We recorded a live CD/DVD called ‘Come as You Are’ which we released in 2013. It was a filmed during a show from our European Tour back in 2011, featuring 20 tracks played live in concert. We recorded it in a beautiful church called Kulturkirche in Cologne. After that we spent about 6 months on the new record, which we’ve taken 4 tracks from for this exclusive ‘Madison Violet EP’ for the UK tour.

Speaking of the new album, do you have any details for us about it yet? Title? Release date?

The title is tbc but it should be out in the fall in Canada and the US and sometime just after in the UK and Europe. The record has 10 tracks and has a lot more of an electronic influence. It’s got a kind of vintage-modern sound, with a lot of layered vocals, even more tenor guitar and more keyboards. Where we recorded there were piles of keyboards, like old JUNO’s that we used on the record. The previous albums we only had a short time in the studio, but this one we spent about 11 weeks getting it right, with a new producer Tino Zolfo, who used to be in the band soulDecision which were pretty big in America. We kind of felt like we were at our crossroads with our music and we were looking for something new to do and Tino really helped us to change what we were doing and the energy behind the record.

It seems that in the UK at the moment, there are a lot more solo and acoustic acts getting noticed. Have you picked up on a change in musical climate?

To be honest, we’ve never been any good at following trends and if that’s the way things are going then we’re going in the other direction. The new record is a lot more of a band record rather than a stripped back folk sounding one like the previous albums. In North America people seem to love bands like The Shins and Mumford & Sons. There are still people like Jake Bugg who are coming through, but the general scene is a lot more band-dominated, particularly in North America. It’s all the swinging of a pendulum though. I’m sure it will change again soon.

What is the most beautiful venue that you’ve played at?

Probably Massey Hall in Toronto, or some of the old theatres in Quebec. Well they’re not old like things are over here, more like built in the 1960’s! Those and the Kulturkirche in Cologne where we recorded the live album.

And finally, as you are named Madison Violet, what are your favourite types of flowers?

Tulips really brighten up the room and we love sunflowers and daisies.   

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For a review of Madison Violet's 4-track self-titled EP, and my What's On guide for the next week, check out my blog on thebestofBrighton here. Don't forget, for all updates to subscribe to my blog, or follow me on twitter @tomsayeruk.