Destroy Cowboy

Destroy Cowboy, Grandscope, This Machine is Off, The Dogfight Revolution in a Kamikaze 444 Club gig at the Rainbow on December 7th.

HMHB

The mighty Half Man Half Biscuit are playing the Robin 2 on Monday December 3rd.

I am sorely tempted by this. Anyone up for a jaunt to Bilston?

Booking Office: 01902 401211
The Leisure Factory, 20-22 Mount Pleasant, Bilston Wolverhampton WV14 7LJ.

via La Stirrer

Capsule Xmas party

If I wasn't on the other side of the planet I'd be at this.

Capsule Xmas party



Facebook event

Scrooge

Robot Professor Myspace
Facebook event page

London Rollergirls vs the Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames

London Rollergirls vs the Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames
Saturday December 8th
Kings Heath
More info

Efterklang

Efterklang and Peter Broderick
Thursday, 22nd November
Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath
£8 (adv - maybe more on door)
Details - Facebook.



Ooh, this looks rather good. Here's some cut-n-pasted text.

10-piece Danish ensemble Efterklang, a band whose name translates literally to "after-noise" but more loosely to "reverberation" or "remembrance." All of these translations are in ohttp://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifne way or another appropriate descriptors for the wondrous music created by the group, which settles beautifully into an open area somewhere between the elegant minimalist orchestrations of Max Richter, the electronically-enhanced chamber music of Rachel's albums like Systems/Layers, and the more contemplative moments of Godspeed! You Black Emperor.

The most obvious characteristic that separates Efterklang from these other artists is their extensive use of vocals to augment their spacious orchestral sound. The band are signed to the British The Leaf Label.

Among our key contributors is Karim Ghahwagi a filmmaker who has made a vast number of collage films for our live shows and a video for Swarming.

And here's a video for their song Mirador.

Falling and Laughing

I've been taking a wee sabbatical from gigs this last week to recharge my batteries but this flyer came though on the email and I couldn't resist posting it. Not because it's going to be a good gig - I have no idea on that front - but because it shamelessly rips off Bone.

[Hang On! I saw Falling and Laughing when they supported Bearsuit and they were a lot of fun. So I may well go along.]



I was actually thinking the other day about how flyers used to use panels from comics with shameless abandon back in the mid 90s. Brian Bolland's Joker was a frequent fave, implying the club night in question would send you into a state of homicidal glee, if that's what you were after. But of late, not so much. It's all typography these days.

Curates Egg: Gallon Drunk

Gallon Drunk / The Courtesy Group/ Nightingales
Hare and Hounds
November 8th
£8 / £10



Another of Al Hutchin's wonderfully brave attempts to push the good shit onto the population of Birmingham sees Gallon Drunk playing in the Hare and Hounds. For some reason, probably blunt ignorance, I'd got them down in my mind as a grunge act but Wikipedia says more interesting things.

Their sound is characterised by what has been called 'swamp rock' and is noted for its dark subject matter. The lead vocalist is James Johnston who is also a member of Nick Cave's Bad Seeds, he has played and toured with the Bad Seeds since 1993's Let Love In Album and contributed organ (a trademark element of the Gallon Drunk sound) to the Lyre of Orpheus/Abbatoir Blues album and tour (2004). [...] The band share a variety of influences, from punk to jazz and the novels of Derek Raymond (I Was Dora Suarez). The band continue to record and tour, the latest release being the Rotten Mile album on Fred records.

Sounds perfect! And even if they weren't playing I'd urge you to go along to see Al's Courtesy Group who are a sight to behold. One of Birmingham's gems and no mistake.

Update: Just found out Nightingales are supporting also. How unmissable is this gig? Very unmissable.

Session at The Spotted Dog this Thursday November 8th

An email from Mr John Mostyn reads as follows.

A session? Yep, it's not a gig.

What's a session? Well it's a bunch of people sitting around playing and singing.

Playing and singing what? At this particular session tunes you know and love from the 50's to the 70's.

Who is sessioning then? It's a sort of acoustic 'Brent Ford and the Nylons' with maybe a few friends.

Who the heck are they? Well they were one of the top bands in town in the late 70's

Who was in that? Vo Fletcher, Jim Bates, Dick Nelson and John Mostyn

Getting on a bit? Yep but still frisky! and now joined by William Murphy who is the baby of the group.

So why are they suddenly doing this? Well Dick is leaving to live in Sussex and we thought it would be a good chance to play some of the tunes that we have enjoyed playing over the last erm... while and wish him Bon Voyage!

Anyone else playing? Maybe, the only rule is that you have to play songs that people know. Playing guests are welcome as is everyone, especially people who like to sing along.

No drums then? Nope, this is chilled, I will have my egg shaker and tambourine though! and if Jim Nylon comes he might do us a tambourine solo as he's very good.

So what tunes can we expect? Anything from Chuck Berry to The Grateful Dead with lots in between.

So it's not a gig then? Nope it's a session.

Cost anything? Nope.

Where is it again? It's at the nicest pub in town - The Spotted Dog, Alcester St, Digbeth:

Very cool landlord and team and real ale.

This Thursday.

Be there and be square.

Pass it on.

Reggae Brumfest

Reggae Brumfest
Rainbow Warehouse, Digbeth
November 17th, 8pm - 6am
£8/£10

Spotted this on the wall in the Rainbow Warehouse. Looks pretty neat.

Asobi Seksu

Asobi Seksu
Barfly
November 23rd, 7.30pm
£7.00 adv
Details



Saw a poster for this in the Barfly and leapt the leap of joy. I came across Asobi Seksu about three years ago on 3hive and have been waiting for them to play the UK ever since. So here they are! Better be good.

Music is a nice mixup of things. Japanese American singer with a New York band who owe a debt to My Bloody Valentine and UK churning guitar bands of that ilk. Or something. Here's a video.



And here's another one, mashing their song "I'm happy but you don't like me" with the Japanese monster movie Gamera - a giant fire-breathing turtle.



The last minute of that song is the perfect combination of J-pop and Shoegazer, imho.

Support is from Scanners who sound pretty okay. They're from that London so give them a nice welcome.

Acid Mothers Temple

Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.
Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath
Friday, 9th November
£7.00

Details at Capsule



More Japanese weirdness, and that's probably all you need to know. Support is from post-rockers Einstellung who are rather good indeed.