Emocion Flamenco

Not my usual thing but I suspect this might be rather spectacular and dead sexy.

The Loves, The School

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain Christmas Special

Thu 6 Dec 7:30pm at Town Hall
£16

Okay, maybe £16 is a little steep but you can't really go wrong here, and thankfully there's plenty of videos on YouTube so I don't need to explain why.

Boredoms

Boredoms + Gravepaintings.
Barfly
Sat 27th October
£10
Details



I have a major soft spot for Japanese rock-type music. There's something about how they take Western styles and tropes, churn them through the Japanese cultural machine and spit them back out at us that excites me. With Melt Banana and Polysics under my belt the unlikely-named Boredoms seem a suitable choice to come next.

Here's the Capsule description of the gig:

Japan’s iconoclastic experimental music “unit”, redefine the words “fringe” and “Frontier.
They have long pushed the constraints of sanity to the edge and challenged the notions of what remains feasible within the musical form. Their experimentations with rhythm and noise produce collages of sound, color and chaos. They translate the most base human emotions into comprehensible noise; sometimes in a barrage of screams and drums and sometimes in slow languid mantras that evoke the quieter moments of life. Acknowledging no limits of taste or form, there are no boundaries, no ceiling on the possibilities of experience and expression for the Boredoms. Formed in Osaka in ‘86 with EYE Yamataka.

Don't'cha love that that makes no sense at all yet is still oddly alluring?

Wikipedia has some good hyperbole too:

"a head-on collision between…free-form Sun Ra's Arkestra and the scatological nihilism of early Butthole Surfers—fronted by the hollers and gibbers of a couple of guys who can't decide whether they'd rather be Beastie Boys or Residents. But even that doesn't really describe the sheer sense of otherness that pervades the Boredoms aesthetic."

To give you a sense of the scale at which these maniacs think they did a concert this summer in New York involving 77 drummers. It looked like this:



Click on the pic for details and a link to a 100mb mp3 of the concert. There's also a load of video on YouTube.

Oh, and here's a review of the Manchester leg of the tour from that wise man John Coulthart.

Tonight we had a great deal of the thundering cross-patterns of drum rhythms amended by some of the piercing extended crescendos found on VCN. Very loud and very powerful. There was some unusual instrumentation involved as well, including what appeared to be hand-held lightbulbs triggering samples and harmonised feedback, and also a rack of guitar necks (above) with what I assume must be open tunings given the way these were used as percussion devices.

So, are you going already?

Adam Bloom

Adam Bloom
Old Joint Stock Theatre
Wed 24th October (that's tonight!)
£10

Adam Bloom is a comedian. This is his act.

Moseley Folk winter lineup / Sonic Boom

The lovely chaps at Moseley Folk are flyering their gigs for the next couple of months.



The big draw for me, however, is the Sonic Boom gig on Friday at the Hare and Hounds with the recently enlarged Betty and the Id in support. And all for only £6.

Jello Biafra

Jello Biafra
Spoken word tour coming to the Glee Club on Tuesday 13th November.
£15.00

Biafra, as you probably know, was in the Dead Kennedys.

Stars of the Lid

Stars of the Lid
Hare and Hounds
24th November
£10 advance



Picked up a flyer for this but can't find in online. Shame as it's got a rather smashing quote from Ian Watts-Russell, founder of 4AD:

"I simply feel that they are making the most important music of the 21st century" is what he says and while that's mildly contentious it does make you want to check out their sounds and I think experiencing this ambiance in the H&H should be rather splendid.

Tickets are a tenner from Polar Bear Records on York St (around the corner from the H&H) and are limited to 100.

All change

I'm going to turn this blog in a gig listings blog. In short, I have enough other places to write about Birmingham now what with Created in Birmingham and the Custard Factory blog, not to mention my own site but I don't really have a venue for unashamedly biased promotion of gigs I think are 'triffic.

Which is what this will be. I will only push stuff I like. I will not push stuff I have no interest in. You're welcome to send me flyers but no promises. This is not going to be a comprehensive guide to Birmingham's live music scene but if you think you like the sort of things I like then it'll hopefully be a useful filter for you. And if you think I'm a twat with no taste then here's the stuff you and your turgid excuse for a brain should avoid.

All this should really be in the sidebar and I'll get that sorted soon. But from now on, gigs a go-go!

Another new building and with the name The V Building you'd suspect they were running out of inspiration in that department. You might have heard of this one already, you might not. I came across it on an ad in Gmail, which says a lot about my email these days...

Anyway, here's the picture, which made me think it was worth blogging.

"Standing at the gateway to Paradise Street and Victoria Square, within the Arena Central regeneration area, The V Building will be so much more than simply a place to live. It even demonstrates originality at external ground level, with a spectacular new collection of new landscaping and paving patterns; public art at its most intriguing. Here, illuminated, clear and frosted glass screens are used as necessary wind breaks and etched with the writings and musings of Birmingham’s literati to greet visitors on arrival. This unique ‘Poetry Garden’ provides a place to reflect and take pride in the city’s many achievements."

Okay, that's enough of that. 2013 apparently.

When I'm 64

by ohnothimagen.

Creating a panorama across the ages from the Lickey Hills. Nice!

Zoom in.

Birmingham bullring

by rob mccoll.

If I see another blog post suggesting, as if it were the epitome of wit, that in the light of the UCE rebranding Aston Uni should add the word Villa to its name I shall kill the fucking lot of you.