I am looking for people of a left-field and inquiring bent, willing to write and contribute a track to a local(ish) themed compilation album. So far I have half a dozen bands on board, including our own fair Rob Che and Thom Smith, and I want YOU to be the next person to get on the DIY party wagon. The task is to write (or adapt an existing) track of between, lets say 1-5 minutes, of no set subject matter and no particular genre. The only restriction is there can be no use of instruments at all, just voice and percussion. The main idea should be songs stripped to the basics, but looping and sampling is fine as long as it’s confined to voice sounds, and anything else can be debated with my expert panel if you’ve got a good reason for wanting to use it.

I’m going to try and offer recording facilities if needed and we can work out a mutual time. I have access to a digital recorder and a space which should hopefully cover most things and can maybe swing for something better if you’re planning to bring a choir, funds and time permitting obviously.

Maybe you’ve never written a song before, or never sung in a band, I DON’T CARE! The only things I’m asking of you are an open mind and a willingness to back your shit up and record something that maybe is out of your comfort zone. I know these projects have always been done for charity and this will end up costing me money, but I’m willing to take the hit to say I saw the idea through to the end even if the only person who buys a copy is my mother.

Any offers of support, advice, time or facilities will be greatly appreciated however, especially the advice part because I really did not think this through when I first suggested it. Also recomendations for other bands who might be up for it. The longer I think about this post the more worried I will get so I’m just going to hit go now, if you need anything else I can be contacted on soapfragile[at]aol.com or through this thread.

ORIGINAL THREAD IS HERE →

This is one of those times, the users on the board have been pitching in with their hot picks from this years musical offerings.

From the compiled list, uber-user MonkeyButler has compiled a Spotify playlist of almost all of the lauded artists. Click HERE to take a look and subscribe. 

We’d love to hear your suggestions too – Click here to head on over to the Forum.

On seeing the three album tracks, each weighing in at over 10 minutes and simply titled I, II and III, it did very little to alleviate the mystery and suggested that I was in for a progressive, uncompromising and challenging ride.

A progressive, uncompromising and challenging ride.

After just over a minute of eerie electronic ambience, you are set upon by a huge, growling riff that steadily builds into a ferocious and precise passage of stabbing, angular rifferama, suggesting what may lie ahead and creating a tangible air of threat.

Across the remainder of this largely instrumental journey, brutal, snarling riffs and heavy grooves explicitly punctuate an undulating and unsettling landscape of drones and ambient textures, attacking and then retreating, occasionally blending with expansive, melodic fret workouts.

…an extremely potent and engaging weapon.

In addition to clocking in at an astonishingly ‘un-prog’ 37 minutes, this mix of light and shade, of ambient open space and restrained bludgeon, melody and groove makes for an extremely potent weapon.

Sit back and enjoy the ride… and wear a helmet.

The record is available on a “name your price” basis. Although this means you can download for free we urge you to make a contribution to the making of this record.
May your conscience be your guide.

Words by Ricky Elderkin.

Ricky Elderkin is head honcho at rickyelderkindesign.com and also creates beautiful and thought provoking football atire at GoalSoul.

‘Never Never’ is the first release from Bear Driver’s forthcoming as-yet-untitled debut album.

Taking influence from bands such as Sparklehorse, The Flaming Lips and Yo La Tengo, Bear Driver write loved-up, fuzzed-up pop.

After making their debut at this year’s SXSW and a chance encounter with Yo La tengo the band returned to the UK to record their debut album.

Self-produced by the band, the album was recorded live in three days in an old swimming pool in east London, favoured by Nick Cave and Graham Coxon, then mixed in a flat in Ealing on a home-made computer.

“We wanted to record live so we went up to the Lake District to work on all the new songs before we recorded them. When we got to the studio in London we just played through them all really fast and then listened back to see what we’d got. Most of them ended up being just one take. We found some cool old keyboards there too, a dusty old Wurlitzer piano that we used on ‘Never Never’, and a bright red Farfisa organ. We took the tracks home and spent a week mixing them, trying to keep as much of the live sound as possible, all the hiss and noise that you get from old mics and amps, and before we knew it we had our album”

www.beardriver.com

Never never is available now to download from the band’s Soundcloud page.

Bear Driver – Never Never by Bear Driver

Thankfully though it appears that both venues will be back before Christmas.

The Hallcross of years gone by had a great reputation for live local music but in recent years, through bad management and lazy bookings, had fallen into tribute act territory*. Under new management and the careful watchful eye of Simon Saynor (Sine FM and a big supporter of local music) we’re looking forward to seeing The Hallcross back on the map. The opening date is set as Fri Dec 2nd with White Valentine and Quillerdrive playing live.

The second venue is arguably the most successful venue Doncaster has ever produced with many successful bands taking in the sights and sounds of the traditional pub on their journey around the toilet circuit (meant in the nicest possible way of course). I truly hope this venue makes it through the next management take over, it deserves to be saved. A provisional date of 26th November has been set for the reopening… details to follow.

Fingers crossed for both venues.

*Look, I like a good cover as much as the next man but not every night hey?

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

93MillionMilesFromtheSun (93MMFTS) are two hugely likeable men from Doncaster and they have recorded an album of songs that sound very much like one Kevin Shields spent £250,000 and had 18 different engineers craft.

You want orchestral guitars? You want feedback drenched lyrics of loss and loneliness, all buried in a beautiful mess of feedback? Well good, because that’s what you’re going to get. And plenty of it. If you have ever felt the need to enter a Sonic Cathedral; come and pray with the 93MMFTS.

This, their second CD, has some real highlights of the genre and it is most definitely a genre. It’s the musical equivalent of a well thumbed Agatha Christie novel, but what better way to revel in the death of the music industry, than to gaze at your shoes and coo sweet nothings into each other’s ears. This is my own personal plan for 2012.

“The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool.”
Lester Bangs, some point in the 1970’s

The Psychogeography of “Northern Sky”

What could be more uncool than coming from Doncaster?

A rather strange but rather fine thing about 93MMFTS is the lack of place in their music. This record could have been created anywhere in the world. In fact if they were from Brooklyn via Gothenburg, then this would no doubt sell far more copies than it will.

This lack of geography is probably what stops the people of Doncaster from acknowledging them as their own. Do many Doncaster bands of their stature even get to release a second album, never mind have obsessive fans all over Europe, have offers of West Coast tours, or have a Brazilian fan with the band logo tattooed on his arm? 93MMFTS are the perfect example of the “long tail” phenomenon. I imagine two or three people could adore them in every town in the world. 93MMFTS have the unenviable task of linking up those people.

Anyway where was I, the record sounds magnificent. The personnel involved, Nick (Voice, Guitar, Drones, Noise) and Rob (Bass, Drones and Noise), both well past their prime physically, have managed to record a beautiful, peaceful, yet, alarmingly noisy album.

The standout track is “Time Lasts Forever”, which sounds like it could have been on an early Ride EP and if that sounds like faint praise, I can assure you it’s not meant to be. The crooning, “I want you back, and I want you so bad”, sounds like the saddest and tenderest of love songs. Who knew that they had it in them? And all from the mean streets of South Yorkshire.

Other notable tracks are “Before You Leave”, a particularly lovely tune with a bass line like a rambunctious sexy plaything. “All you’ve left behind” is an attempt to channel the death rattle of the Jesus and Mary Chain as they are slowly licked to death by kittens.

The last track, “Sonic Assault” is factually correct. It is a “Shoegazing” cliché but this is most definitely the wall of noise that My Bloody Valentine did so well during “You Made me Realise”. It’s a terrific way to end a special hour in the company of 93MMFTS.

“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.”
Ayn Rand

Enlightened Self Interest and Postscript

So, what next for 93MMFTS? Ten years ago, they could have had a mediocre career of two four track EPs, a Peel session, a fairly well received debut album, a well attended support tour and a sparsely attended headline tour before imploding in acrimony and record label debt without even breaking sweat.

As far as I can tell, two options artistically stand ahead:

1: Embrace dance floor culture – see the electrifyingly awesome Factory Floor. If this album needs anything it’s a bit of a kick up the arse with the drums.

2: Revel in the new gold dream of the 1980’s – see The Horrors. “Time Lasts Forever” could be “Still Life”. Yes it’s that good.

And two business options: Gamble or Stick.

1. Scrape together some cash – Hire a PR. Let the world know about 93MMFTS.

2. Plod along as they are and treat this as a hobby. Release the music and play the odd gig, now and again.

They could always find a sugar daddy to fund the PR for their next release – And on that note, a special message to 93MMFTS:

“Hello boys from 93MMFTS, my name is Bryan Crane and I’m about to be made redundant. Come and sit on Papa’s knee…. “

In the mean time, go and buy this rather wonderful album.

The album Northern Sky is out now on In At the Eye Records.
www.93millionmilesfromthesun.co.uk

Words and pictures by Bryan Crane (bryancrane@yahoo.co.uk)

“What surprises me after seeing them live is that Nick has a lovely voice, but why does every song sound like there is a vacuum cleaner on in the background?”
Eleanor Skillington, the voice of youth. October 2011

Click image for full size poster.

As many of you know Music Yorkshire have been building the Yorkshire @ SXSW project for 5 years now. Initially with CDs, advice, support and then from 2009 onwards establishing the successful Yorkshire Showcase at the British Music Embassy venue.

A few weeks back, the briefing event was held in Leeds with UKT&I, SXSW, MIDEM and Great Escape reps was rammed with 200 delegates. Rest assured Music Yorkshire are hard at it trying to ensure there is enough support and funding in place for 2012. Check their website regularly to see how they are getting on.

In the meantime Yorkshire bands need to apply for an official SXSW Showcase – Deadline 4th November.
Music Yorkshire Website

Moon Room TV

Jon Kelly from our good friends and local music champions The Moon Room Club has shared this great

“To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening.” R.E.M.

In their own words: The guys share their thoughts on why now.

Michael: “I hope our fans realize this wasn’t an easy decision; but all things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way.”

Mike: Working through our music and memories from over three decades was a hell of a journey. We realized that these songs seemed to draw a natural line under the last 31 years of our working together.”

Peter: ”Mike, Michael, Bill, Bertis, and I walk away as great friends. I know I will be seeing them in the future, just as I know I will be seeing everyone who has followed us and supported us through the years. Even if it’s only in the vinyl aisle of your local record store, or standing at the back of the club: watching a group of 19 year olds trying to change the world.”

Watch the videos for “Stand”, “Imitation of Life”, and a performance of “Losing My Religion” from R.E.M.’s 1991 MTV Unplugged session.

Source: Pitchfork

Designed to support existing and aspiring music industry pros, the Managing a Music Business Enterprise (MMBE) is a new qualification designed to deliver the skills / knowledge essential to run a sustainable music business, and is the first qualification of its kind.

MMBE has been mapped to National Standards for the music industry, with course materials being reviewed by music trade bodies such as AIM, UK Music, Music Managers Forum UK and the Music Publishers Association. Feargal Sharkey, Chief Executive of UK Music said, “this innovative qualification will help new music businesses establish themselves and contribute to the growth of the UK music industry. The fact they will come out with an investment ready business plan as well as a qualification makes this a ‘real world’ business training programme”.

Steve Mundin, Senior Manager at Higher Rhythm added, “through this latest partnership between Generator, Gateshead College and Higher Rhythm, the region’s aspiring music industry professionals will reap the benefits of working with organisations with real industry know how. Higher Rhythm and Generator have worked in successful partnership previously, most notably delivering Plugged In Yorkshire, the Yorkshire region’s music industry support network. The MMBE builds on this experience to create additional, unique support, which will ultimately assist Yorkshire’s aspiring music industry pros to build successful careers”

The first MMBE course starts in October in Leeds, being held at the newly developed Munro House Arts Centre on Duke Street. Discounts for early enrolees and subsidised places for people registered unemployed are also now available

For details or to book your place visit www.generator.org.uk/mmbe

In fear of Olive

Rumour has it that In Fear of Olive have bagged the UK tour support with none other than Howard Devoto’s legendary post-punk band Magazine.

Official In Fear of Olive website

Expected dates:

Nov 1 : Bath Komedia
Nov 2 : Cambridge Junction
Nov 3 : Hatfield Forum
Nov 4 : Manchester Academy 1
Nov 5 : Glasgow ABC
Nov 7 : Newcastle Academy
Nov 8 : Birmingham Institute
Nov 9 : Sheffield Plug
Nov 10 : London Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Although not musically related, iFoo should make the perfect aperitif for Magazine and commercially, this tour couldn’t be better placed. Although a young band, iFoo’s mature sound gracefully side steps the fluorescent tomfoolery of Radio One and lands sure-footed in Radio Two territory where Americana inspired songwriting and Country music reach an appreciative audience. This is far from a bad thing.

With a new member and new gigs they have lost none of their sandpaper sound and acerbic tongue…

To celebrate their return to form a new track Frankenchild is available to listen and download through their reverb nation page… Check it.