Christmas
It’s impossible to explain just how infectious Christmas’ guitarist Patrick Scott-Walsh’s laugh is on paper. From the beginning to the end of this drunken, rowdy interview, his wails of laughter kept setting off his bandmates, and everyone else nearby, into fits. (More …)
Connan Mockasin
Blonde mop-topped, Warhol-esque New Zealander Connan Hosford is most notably known as the man behind quartet/sextet, depending on the show, Connan Mockasin. He’s a classically trained jazz pianist whose music is often described as psychedelic, (think Beatles psychedelia rather than Hendrix), a term with which he doesn’t necessarily agree. His second album Please Turn Me into the Snat (Phantasy, 2010) is a mix of blues, folk, soul, art-pop and moments of Bowie. There are whimsical instruments in the mix – synths, harpsichords, and drony guitars, as well as odd noises and vocal samples. Although he doesn’t touch anything stronger than booze, Connan’s music would certainly be a welcome companion on a trippy day out. The real strength of the music is melody and pure ethereal dreaminess. Sometimes feeling disjointed, sometimes gliding smoothly, listening to songs such as “Megumi Milkyway Above”, “Forever Dolphin Love”, “It’s Choad My Dear” and “Unicorn in Uniform”, fully confirms that Connan is floating somewhere in the stratosphere above us. (More …)
Slow Club
I first came across Sheffield’s Slow Club, a.k.a. Becky Taylor and Charles Watson, nearly three years ago. It was a fateful day, as I was dragged across Bestival wearing a white shell suit and in a “festival-day-three” haze by a friend to the Radio 1 New Music tent to check out this ‘Tilly And The Wall-like duo, who play chairs, bottles of water and extremely good, folky music.’ Unfortunately, I spoiled the atmosphere when Becky asked the crowd to say something nice to the person standing next to them, by shouting out a particularly disgusting statement that my friend and I had seen emblazoned across a girl’s T-shirt earlier that day. (More …)
Pulled Apart By Horses
The last time I hung out with Leeds-based, very loud rock ‘n’ roll quartet Pulled Apart By Horses, they were sitting in The Lexington pub in North London, killing time between soundcheck and stage time. They were about to play their first London headline show, and had just been nominated for a Critics Choice Award for their performances at last summer’s festivals. They’d also just got back from supporting the mighty Dinosaur Jr. in Germany and had both the indie and the metal press chasing them left, right and center. (More …)
