Brighton after dark: 17 December 2013
Bmusic
A record is for life, not just for Xmas
Whether you are a Christmas lover or full-time Scrooge brother, you cannot fail to know that we are now fully mired in the Yuletide season.
There’s just over a week to go, and it’s around this time that you can accept which present-buying camp you fall into. If you’re a Planner, you’ll have them mostly wrapped up (maybe not literally, though come the weekend they will be). You’ll have probably bought your first back in late November. You’ll have just a few little things to get now, ‘nick-nacks’, and you’ll be wondering whether you need to buy another small box of those stick-on bows to make the presents look pretty.
Alternatively, and you can probably guess which camp we’re in, you’ll now be experiencing gentle panic about the fact that you’re seven shopping days away from working out ingenious ways to wrap hugs and happy thoughts.
It is here that we’d like to instigate a quick reality check, implore you to put the mug of mulled wine down for a second, and point you in the direction of Brighton’s music shops.
Despite losing a Rounder back in 2012, we are still very lucky down here to have a community of vibrant, independent, record stores. They are both a godsend for people for whom music is a focal point, an addiction we’d happily trumpet the benefits of. Similarly, for the last-minute merchant who wants to bestow a gift with no best-before date, they are manna from the man himself. So whether you’re thinking jazz for your dad from Borderline, the latest Southend D’n’B from Dance 2 for your shaver raver sister, or wondering which Beatles albums Resident will stock so you can instigate Step One of the great pop education with your 12-year-old brother, you’ve got your presents covered on our streets, Lanes and Laine. And you won’t even have to box that cuddle…
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Words: David Hillier
Pic: David Elphick
Sade Ali shares a festive recipe to warm up winter
This Christmas Brighton is looking better than ever ‘After Dark’. The Royal Pavilion with its stunning ice rink and bar, the Lanes look lovely and festive with all the lights, the Clock Tower with its massive draping bed of lights, and even Preston Street has Christmas lights in the shape of chillies. Christmas time is my favourite time to be in Brighton, the evenings are so different to the rest of the year; you can just feel the Christmas season is upon us. So, as the decorations are up and the Christmas parties are starting to begin I thought I would share one of my favourite Christmas party drinks with you all. Christmas parties are a time when everyone gets together, goes out for drinks and normally end up quite drunk. But, rather than spending your whole night drinking vodka mixers, start the night off with this…
Sade’s Christmas Punch!
This festive cocktail of red wine and rum will keep everyone warm this Christmas!
Ingredients:
• 3 bottles of red wine
• 4 tbsp granulated sugar (White or Brown)
• 3 cloves
• A pinch of nutmeg
• 1 – 1½ cinnamon sticks
• 300 ml rum (Dark rum works better than white)
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 3 oranges, zested and juiced
Method
1. Put the red wine, sugar, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, rum, lemon and orange zest into a large, stainless steel saucepan.
2. Warm it gently until it just reaches simmering point, then add the orange and lemon juice.
3. Continue cooking for a couple of minutes, then leave to cool slightly and serve in tall tumblers.
Add a thin slice of orange to the drinks for décor and there you have the perfect Christmas party drink. Serves 15.
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>Don’t MIss<
Frockabilly New Year’s Eve Special
An ‘Under The Sea’ special from the queer-run, straight-friendly vintage club night will feature saucy sirens and jiving jellyfish, and a vinyl soundtrack from the ’50s and ’60s rock ’n’ roll.
Marlborough Little Theatre,
Tues 31 Dec, 7pm, Free
Supercharged NYE
A hugely impressive line-up of DJs across different bass music styles will be hitting Concorde 2, including Shy FX & Stamina MC, Dismantle, Brookes Brothers, Kove and more. Voted one of the top 50 club nights in the world, this will sell quickly so snap up a ticket soon to ensure you’ll have a New Year’s Eve to remember!
Concorde 2, Tues 31 Dec,
10pm, £30
Happy Brew Year
Imaginatively titled night from the popular new pub, perfect for large parties interested in different ales. DJs Medium Rare and mp45 will be playing great tunes and it’s bound to be a busy, spirited evening.
North Laine Pub, Tues 31 Dec,
8pm, Free
Skream
The famous dustup artist will be ringing in the New Year until sunrise at Digital, so you can expect deep bass, a loud crowd and a fantastic atmosphere at the exuberant seaside club.
Digital, Wed 1 Jan, 3.30am, £15
Brighton noise
Alastair Reid on this week’s gigs
It’s that time of year… No I don’t mean Christmas, we’ve still got a week, it’s that time of year when the world’s music journalists turn up late for work with a crushing hangover to deliver their end of year lists. At Brighton Noise we have a few in mind and I’m personally not ready to pen mine until I’m at least three Christmas parties deep, so as a precursor here are some of the bands you should have heard from the best Brighton has to offer. In no particular order: Vincent Vocoder Voice, TRAAMS, GAPS, Dog In The Snow, The Lunchtime Sardine Club, Phoria, Chalk, A Lily, Cousin, Bermuda Ern, Hypnotized, The Wytches, Tigercub, Foreign Skin, Luo, Physics House Band, REDS. There are many, many more bands that deserve everyone’s attention around town so keep an eye out for the collective lists of our writers and if you have a few of your own favourites we’re running a readers’ poll on the site. Submit your favourites, tell your friends and look out for the winners before the year is out.
Right, down to business and the best music falls midweek. Tuesday’s pick goes to Kurt Vile at Concorde 2. Vile came to prominence in Pitchfork favourites The War On Drugs back in 2005 but has been knocking out solo albums since 2008 and his personal work has come to eclipse that of his former bandmates. Like Bob Dylan born stoned in 1980, Vile has always had a lo-fi, slapdash charm and meandering psychedelia that should not distract from his undoubted skill as a songwriter. These days the £12.50 entry fee is a steal for the Concorde so if you can bear the walk along the seafront you’ll be in for a good night.
Fat Cat Records hold their Christmas party on Wednesday at Green Door Store, headlined by eccentric Mancunians Mazes and with the south-coast krautrockian squall of TRAAMS and Glaswegian punks PAWS in support. Fat Cat have become somewhat of a home for local legends in picking the best of local and national talent and giving it a helping boost into prominence.
In fact, they were also the first to bring Börk and Sigur Rós to the UK, before being gazumped by One Little Indian, so have an eye for talent like a Liverpudlian record store owner, and will be showcasing the best of the current roster as they see out the year.
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