Sanguinearts Network Journal

Ok, there will be other reviews coming at some point honest, but for now just some self promotion again!

SPIRAL ARCHITECTS - FAWCETT INN open mic

I’m just listening to the latest performance to have gone up on www.somefoolwitha.com/fawcett from the 6th Feb and we sounded at the time and on reflection somehow heavier compared to normal. Not that it’s a bad thing for the recording is probably my favourite from lately, and I’m liking the big crash begining.

As we’ve performed every Wednesday since the begining of the year in our ever spiralling line up I’m getting slightly forgetful on what date what happened so I shall just pick out a couple of nights/events... and where could be more fitting a place than that of the 9th January, our first performance of 2008. We were an eight piece on this occasion, with our now “official” line up of Ross on drums, Paul on bass, Johnny on guitar/fx, Dan K vocals, myself on theremin/pedals and both our horn players being available (Nick and Mitz) being joined by Anji on female vocals... considering there had been a few weeks pass due to the festive season this one went pretty well me thinks, feel free to listen on the site it weighs in at 20mins.

The following week we started proceedings with our version of Master Builder, the one “cover” that we perform, and its getting nice and tight although maybe we should be keeping it later in the set. Crowds have been varied, with some nights clashing with football keeping people away and some nights being hectic with people even dancing and putting heads into speakers in order to enjoy (if thats the right term!) our Spiral doings.
13th Feb isn’t up on the site yet but I for one am looking forward to hearing it for we were a nine piece and it was definitely good fun at least. The line up mentioned above were joined by a bongo player who’s name I forget but he is also in Cool Banana (a band whom you can also find on www.somefoolwitha.com/fawcett and whom Nick has been playing horns in for a long ole time). I know there was a lot going on with this line up, but from my positioning it strangely didn’t seem too chaotic, we even got the big noisey ending weighed off as well as the subtle and randomness of our regular Spirally sounds.

Well, as it’s only my opinions of it all please feel free to let me know your thoughts and feelings if any of you are unlucky enough to listen to the recording s or indeed make it along to the open Mic or as I have found out today our GIG on the 22nd March at Havana bar, although I don’t know the full details behind this event as yet but I’m sure I will do more self promoting nearer the time!

Apologies for the long blog, I wasn't meaning to waste as much of your reading time as I have so with that said and done I will leave you with the knowledge that last weeks performance was a bit of a messy affair, and although the proof is in the recordings, it shows we can all have an off day if we put our minds to it... although other performances were great with Pier Pressure, Rock n Roll Lorry and Owen amongst others all putting in great sets so check them out when available too.

Spiral Lolly spiralling off. Best Regards, mr.teeth

Ok, I know last post I said various things would be coming up but I felt compelled to ensure I got over my excitement of the Black Francis gig by writing this review first… so here it is:

Black Francis (aka Frank Black) – Wedgewood Rooms 14th Feb

Well, what can I say… it was a weird set but was a great night. I feel it necessary to hold the real gem of the evening until the end of the review, so please read on.

With a selected bunch of friends and work colleagues it was off to a near sold out Wedge to see the Pixies front man/rhythm guitarist on tour in his current three piece band. I’m sure the crowd would have been overflowing onto the streets had it not been for the day of affection that was upon us, and so those entertaining loved ones in other means missed a great show with openers Bobbie Peru kicking off the festivities. Bobbie Peru were also a three piece, providing old school rock n roll influenced garage punk rock with shouts and solos worthy of a headline act themselves… check them out.

Frank Black took the stage, wearing his shades and talking about the first half of the show being jazz with the second half being the opera (?) playing his solo material for the first half from memory pulling heavily from “Svn Fngrs” along with the beautiful folk song with the line “put the needle in my arm, and I’ll be dead and gone” - a song originally covered by the Pixies for their acoustic show at the Newport Folk Festival.

There were far too many dicks in the crowd talking incredibly loudly about when they saw him however many years ago, and how fat he was and such like, you know as if we were expected to give a damn! …these were probably the same people expecting the second part of the gig (ie the “opera”!) to involve a number of Pixies classics, which it didn’t, what we were however treated to was a stunning performance of the whole of Black Francis’ new album Bluefinger - which to be fair unlike some of his other solo albums does in itself sound very much like the Pixies, and it is a fantastic album to fall instantly in love with (it was Valentines day after all).

So with that all done and dusted there was no encore, the lights went up and we went home… encores are so contrived these days and as such I get more excited when there isn’t one. What Frank Black has been doing though is a series of pre-cores, low key acoustic street performances at pre-arranged locations a few hours ahead of doors opening. So with little hunting around on the internet to find the venue a couple of us were luckily enough to make it outside the One Eyed Dog pub for 5pm. This was just in time to see him don his guitar and play a set containing three or four from his solo career along with Pixies tracks Holiday, Cactus and ending on Nimrods Son. Apparently 1,000 people turned up at the Dublin pre-core gig which is cool but it was amazing to witness this so close up and personal (around 30 people were watching on, blocking the pavement to various passers bys disgust!) and to then go into the pub for a beer and hang out with the man who we’d see on stage a couple hours later was just a perfect way to end a hard day working in the office.

http://bobbieperu.tripod.com

www.blackfrancis.net

www.wedgewood-rooms.co.uk

I drfited through the Peter Doig show at Tate Britain today - I liked it very much and will go back. Also Tate Modern has a Duchamp Man Ray Picabia show opening on Thursday so that's probably worth seeing www.tate.org.uk

Forward diary date: open studios on Telegraph Hill SE14/SE4 visit www.thehill.org.uk/festival/Open%20Studios%20Flyer%202.pdf for more info.

New Litro out now, featuring 'Venice ... City of Secrets' by Trevor Ray and 'Part of the Process' by Karina Mellinger www.litro.co.uk

Make sure you get the Jim Bob album 'A Humpty Dumpty Thing', as it's marvellous: all the great storytelling we've come to love him for, but also some great tunes. I personally found it hard not to break into a run when listening to 'Battling the Bottle..', which sounds a lot better without the YouTube video which was circulated a while back. The CD comes in a hardback cover with a short story inside about a dystopian near future where the arts have been nationalised into a kind of compulsory jury service. www.jim-bob.co.uk

Shame I didn't get round to telling you all about the King of Spain gig at the George Tavern (Save the George Tavern!) yesterday. Thursday is their poetry night, Saturday experimental music from SkumShot Productions and on Sunday French Electronic folk from Double U.
www.myspace.com/thegeorgetavern

Massive Atttack have been confirmed as this year's Meltdown curators at the Southbank Centre. They are looking a bit long in the tooth, but then aren't we all... www.southbankcentre.co.uk

More new albums this year: Portishead; Breeders; REM - could be good; Goldfrapp - out next week; Billy Bragg. 

Well, it’s been a busy ole time lately and so many things I intended reviewing/previewing so Spiral Architects update, Wooden Shjips album review, Sons and Daughters live, Bob Dylan film review are all to come… or maybe not…. but for the time being:

KORN – Brixton – 25th January.

Having missed the first support, those up next were Flyleaf and they seemed rather cool, although Brixton’s sound was unusually a little off at times. I think Flyleaf would have gone down better in a small venue but all credit to their stage presence, with no amp/monitor/drum kit too high for the bass player to jump off, and jump off he did. Vocals reminded me of Aimee Echo (Human Waste Project and the Start) which is a good thing and I will keep an eye out for them in the future.

So onto the headliners, a band who seemed to have evolved from their early debut of stripped down raw guitar/bass/drum/vocal approach to a more composed and produced outfit with an array of samples, keyboards, effects etc which is all cool stuff but it’s actually been the MTV unplugged that I’ve found most hard to put down these days… tonight however was definitely electric.

With the band going from a five piece to a four piece a few years back and then for the last album no longer having their own drummer, it was (or rather wasn’t) a bit of a joke when we heard guitarist Munky had left the tour leaving Korn as officially bass and vocals, so it was a big surprise to see the stage filled with an 8 piece band who to be fair were damn good.

Pulling from albums across the years, I was pleased and rather excited to hear old tracks such as Fagot, Shoots and Ladders (complete with bagpipes) and ADIDAS stand out as classics alongside latter day songs such as I’m Coming Undone and also stuff off the more melodic latest album all sounding awesome too. The additional musicians/backing singers etc in the end gave it all a bigger depth and unlike my concerns prior to going it didn’t seem to matter one bit that it was less than half of the line up that I myself know Korn to be.

www.flyleafmusic.com
www.korn.com

30 Seconds to Mars – Southampton Guildhall – 4th February

My mate had asked if I wanted to go some time back and I said yes although not having a clue who they were. We got tickets, he leant me the albums and I thought mmm…. It will probably be alright live…. Oh how wrong I could be.

Firstly, just to confirm I did have a cool night, support I thought were really good although I don’t like the name (Lost Alone) and I did buy their CD which unfortunately I’ve only listened to the once. They were a three piece with loads of energy and charisma, kind of Therapy? like riffs with more shouty / screamy vocals and I liked them. The CD is ok, probably wouldn’t have bought it if I saw them on MTV, but live they were out to impress and even if no-one else cared they won me over for sure and it’s always good to discover a new band.

Then after much waiting around, being surrounded by an apparently sold out (didn’t look it) crowd of more diversity than I expected… we weren’t the oldest people there, although some of the older folk may have been parental units for the youngsters… a great intro with cool lighting and shadowed images, the curtain dropped and it was time for Jared Leto’s ego to take the stage.

For those of you who don’t know, 30 Seconds from Mars is Hollywood actor Jared Leto’s band he formed with his brother (who was a damn good drummer and apart from the intro was the definite highlight for me). Jared Leto is an actor who all the girls fancy, which is fair enough, but on that basis it appears he can go on a sell out tour, with talent being secondary to looks you may as well go see a Robbie Williams tribute act.

They did go down well though, just not with me personally. Bands like to have sing-a-longs and hand claps, but is it really necessary to have crowd participation in EVERY song and sometimes more than once? …and the shouts of “go mental for me Southampton”, is all well and good if only you had a song heavy enough to go mental to. I love all types of music, but it’s just when a band acts like they’re something they’re not that it’s difficult to appreciate where you’re supposed to “go mental”… or maybe I’m just old… either way, it wasn’t long until they were gone and it was time to fall asleep on the journey home.

www.lostalone.com
www.thirtysecondstomars.com

The latest evening of short films curated by (a dog barks) on 21 Feb at the every popular and stylish Roxy bar and screen in Borough. www.adogbarks.co.uk | www.roxybarandscreen.com

I've been having flashbacks from reading Simon Reynold's Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture. Not that I ever went to any raves - far too young for that... and growing up in a nice town on the south coast I wasn't exposed to all that was going on in the major cities; or more accurately in the fields around them. My first introduction to electronic music (apart from the radio) was 2 x 7"s amongst a bunch that were given to us by a girl in her teens. She lived somewhere around Portsmouth and my parents were buying some fitted bedroom furniture for my sister off her parents. I remember they had poodles everywhere. Most of the singles are consigned to history (or the bin), but two remain in my possession: the reissued 'The Model' by Kraftwerk, and Art of Noise's 'Closer to the Edit', which I knew from a Tony Hart TV show.

But reading about tracks like Pump up the Volume, Inner Cuty's Big Fun, S Express, KLF, Altern8, Prodigy, SL2, Bomb the Bass, Mantronix etc, takes me back to being not quite a teenager but finding an amazing new life in music through a cassette walkman. I got a few of the Deep Heat compiltions. I loved the the complete artwork of the images, the writings, the merchandise; not realising the real deal was 12"s with white labels in handwritten slip covers: gold dust for cate diggers. Friends had tape copies of more serious compilations like Hit the Decks. So I missed rave, but as a student I went to a few superclubs like Fabric, Brixton Mass etc, and caught the tail end of the Drum'n'bass boom, going to nights like Movement at Bar Rumba.

I'm also getting flashbacks from listening to Kaffe Matthews' CD Ann, CD Bea, and CD Cécile. You can get these three albums for a budget price now (www.annetteworks.com). They are her live improvised electronic sound works from the late 90s. I recall seeing her play about a decade ago at the Spitz, on a night I think was called Electronicage, and might have been organised by Peter Cusack (unless I'm mixing it up with something else). We were there with some art school bods, we'd seen Richard D James there one time, but this week some old dear with a bicycle wheel had been boring us to tears, or was it that dire nonsense from Alchemia? Duncan won her CD in the raffle - dear oh dear. Anyway, Kaffe come on sampling the applause from the crowd (something Matty Windup tried to replicate when Sameric played at the Klinker in Dalston a few years ago). From then on we were captivated. And I can't believe its taken me 10 years to buy the albums, as they are marvellously beautiful pieces. I hope to stump up a bit more and by the more recent works soon. Kaffe has also created works for the Serpentine Pavillion - the only bit the Wire seemed to rate - and has been touring the world of late, like a real rock star.

Just opened in the Hayward Gallery there is a show of the Russian avant-garde photographer Alexander Rodchenko (to 27 April). Slightly dubious though, about the Laughing in a Foreign Language show also on there, based around humour (to 13 April). www.southbankcentre.co.uk

The Estorick Collection in Islington is celebrating 10 years of displaying Italian Modernist Art with an exhibition of their collection: A Decade of Discovery, on until 6 April and featuring Modigliani, Boccioni, Morandi, Russolo and more. www.estorickcollection.com

bing bang bong is an exhibition of 4 Irish Artists, whose work they describe as 'playful' and 'obsessive'. That'll be the autistic kid in the back then... but if you're up the Brick Lane end of things take a look before the 13th of Feb. www.oisinbyrne.com  www.teamyes.wordpress.com

We're excited about the current exhibition at the Milton Keynes Gallery of Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers, even if we won't get around to seeing it. It's on until the end of March so you never know. Please note, they're closed for Easter.
www.mk-g.org

The Korean Cultural Institute has a show of Fluxus/new media artist Nam June Paik and his contemporaries, until 7 March 

...same as it ever was is a show of painting from Chelsea College, at the Arts Gallery, (University of..) Davies St W1; until 22 Feb www.arts.ac.uk

The Deutsche Borse Photography Prize is on show now at the Photographer's Gallery until 6 April www.photonet.org.uk

Alfredo Jaar: Politics of the Image is at the South London Gallery until 6 April www.southlondongallery.org

Willie Doherty short films at Matt's Gallery until 16 March www.mattsgallery.org

A film by Cornelia Parker is part of the latest Whitechapel Laboratory, featuring Noam Chomsky, until 30 March www.whitechapel.org

From next Thursday the ICA has a show called Double Agent - artists who use others as a medium (nothing to do with espionage). Features: Phil Collins and Pawel Althamer amongst others. until 6 April.
ICA films: 'Casablanca', 'La Belle et la Bete' (dir. Jean Cocteau), a preview of Harmony Korine's latest 'Mister Lonely'; Daft Punk's 'Electroma'
ICa music: Sebastien Tellier (aka Mr Oizo) 21 Feb, To Rococco Rot 20 Feb, St David's Day Welsh music celebration with Gruff Rhys and many more 1 March.
www.ica.org.uk

Jim Bob (from Carter) has a new album about called 'A Humpty Dumpty Thing', which the press seem pretty pleased with. I'll tell you what I think when mine arrives. NB: its slightly cheaper to buy it from Cherry Red Records (www.cherryred.co.uk) than direct from www.carterusm.co.uk. Also at Cherry Red you'll find Einsturzende Neubaten, Cabaret Voltaire, Prolapse and curious tributes to all kinds of artists such as Nine Inch Nails, New Order, Tool and Radiohead.

We'd like to give a shout out to King of Spain, a good new band. gigwise.com described them as a 'British Decemberists' with 'a wierd mix of indie rock and sea shanties'
www.myspace.com/kingofspainmusic

Friday 22 Feb beatboxer Shlomo and DJ Yoda bring together everything from pop ans rap to nursery rhymes and TV themes, Queen Elizabeth Hall £15
Eels play the following Monday at the Royal Festival Hall, from £22.50
www.southbankcentre.co.uk

Goldsmiths Electronic Music Studios Concert Series III, 8 Feb
10 year anniversary of the death of Russian composer Alfred Schnittke, recital and talk (13 March)
also talks: 'New Labour and the Music Industries: From Britpop to Brown' (19 Feb); 'From Rock against Racism to Live8: Musicians, Music and Mobilisation' (4 March) www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/events

Diamanda Galas at Queen Elizabeth Hall 18 & 20 March, Van Der Graaf Generator 3 April; Get your tickets for Ether at the Southbank Centre in April: Goldfrapp 18 April, Current 93, OM, Baby Dee and Marc Almond 21 April, Pere Ubu 25 April

WHY? aka Yoni Wolf from the hip hop Anticon collective cLOUDEAD has released a new album called Alopecia on Tomlab records www.myspace.com/whyanticon 
Check out his cover of The Cure's Close to Me:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/forkcast/48045-why-close-to-me-cure-cover-mp3stream

For any of you cyclists out there, check out the madness of bad cycle paths (now the subject of a book: www.warringtoncyclecampaign.co.uk click on facility of the month.

Contemporary designer Spinifex has a new website and new products to show you: www.spinifex.co.uk