Brighton after dark: 18th June 2013
Bmusic
I guess that’s love/I can’t pretend/I can’t pretend
If you’ve had half an eye or an ear or a nose on the comings and goings of the popular hit parade over the last six months, you’ll recognise those lyrics as being the work of one Mr Tom Peter Odell. The piano-bruising songwriter surfaced somewhere around the end of 2012, and from the moment his Songs From Another Love EP dropped he’s been that guy walking around with a big neon sign flashing ‘THIS GUY’ above his head.
Signed to Lily Rose Cooper’s Columbia imprint In The Name Of, it was immediately clear that his songs of heartbreak and half-requited love had that special ingredient of being masses-friendly and not completely awful.
Our suspicions about his chart-bothering potential were confirmed when he won the Critics’ Choice Award at the Brits (previous winners: Florence, Adele, Jessie, Emeli and Ellie – single names all that’s necessary). It’s the music industry equivalent of a gold star.
What does this have to do with anything? That’s what you’re saying, we know. Well, first of all, young Tom’s first album, Long Way Down, is out on Monday. Secondly, and much more importantly, he was a student at BIMM, graduating in 2010. He also spent a long time on Brighton’s open mic circuit, describing it in an interview with the (gulp) Daily Mail as “full of humiliation”.
We’re bringing this up as a little heads up for all the guitar fiends and bedroom twiddlers out there, because we know for a lot of people on that circuit it seems like you’re bouncing on a trampoline under a glass ceiling, one that doesn’t ever seem like cracking. Let Tom be a lesson to you: it’s not that far away.
Come see what we’ve been up to in and around Brighton: www.facebook.com/BmusicTV
Words: David Hillier
Sade Ali shAres more tales of her clubbing antics
This week I’m going to share some more of what me and my pals get up to on a night out! Recently it was Nikita’s birthday. We started the weekend off in HedKandi on Friday. It was a special event because the Afrobeats artist Mr Silva performed. There was just one slightly awkward moment when the club went silent waiting for the DJ to get back on his set and Nikita decided to stand in the DJ booth, put her hands in the air and scream “f*** the free world!” (as seen on 8 Mile). Yes, the whole club did stop and stare right at us! Embarrassed! After five bottles of champers, I’m inclined to say we were all wasted! You know you’ve had too much to drink when you’re the last person in the club dancing in the middle of the dance floor and there’s no music playing! Oops!
Once I was rescued by everyone outside we all decided it would be a good idea to go to the after party (what we call the dungeon). I’m pretty sure it was a brilliant after party but unfortunately I fell asleep upstairs! Oops again! The next day, Saturday, which was Nikita’s actual birthday, we made her go on a treasure hunt (as I mentioned a few weeks back, she likes to think she’s a pirate). The treasure hunt eventually led her back to the same after party where all her friends were waiting. We drank, we danced, we made fools out of ourselves yet again, and I’m pretty sure Natalie got half naked at one point thinking she was a size 8 (“piff ting” as she calls it!).
Towards the end of the night Natalie decided to take on the roll of Rambo and kick someone out of the party who wasn’t invited and stated it’s not a birthday without a fight! Don’t worry though, Natalie made it home without any bruises. The night ended on a happy note but an awful hangover, but with Natalie’s hair extensions still intact. (I must say, Bellaboos hair extensions are a brilliant look for a night out!)
In next week’s issue I will share my tips and tricks about what to wear clubbing, make-up, hair and accessories!
>DON’T MISS<
KISS
Who said the weekend is over? Dance your Monday night away under the Brighton arches as Shooshh bring you a blend of your favourite R’n’B and party music as part of one of the biggest city student nights.
Shooshh, Monday 24 June, 10pm, £4/2
Treehouse Disco
Prepare for a great collection of some rare disco, funk and soul tunes especially for you to bop your socks off to. Get down for a mid-week party and if your boss asks on Thursday morning, just blame it on the boogie.
Funfair, Wednesday 19 June, 10pm, £4/3
Riff Til Yer Stiff
Get your thrash on with some seriously riff-tastic tunes to keep you going all night long. The best of heavy metal, grunge, punk and more designed for you to rock out with your… well you know the rest.
Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar, Thursday 20 June, 8pm, Free
Oceana Wednesday
This mid-week event is a legendary night for many Brightonians, with Oceana boasting that variety is the spice of life with not one but seven rooms to choose from. Girls, grab your heels, and boys, let that man cleavage shine.
Oceana, Wednesday 19 June, 9pm, £5
Brighton Noise
Andy Hinton on this week’s best gigs
A week of two things of note (in my musical universe). Obsessive listening to the new Laura Marling album; yeah yeah, everyone is banging on about how accomplished it is for someone so young but they are correct. Dylan was the same age when he wrote ‘Like A Rolling Stone’; big comparison indeed but this girl’s special.
Second thing is the announcement of what could be the two best gigs of the year. Okay, they are ages away but both send a tiny shiver of excitement up my spine: Deerhunter on 19 October and Kurt Vile and The Violators on 17 December. They’re worth mentioning as they are brilliant bands and they will both sell out. Anyway, enough blathering; this week’s eclectic musical mix?
Wednesday sees an digital/analogue clash with influential German electronic producer Ulrich Schnauss bringing his “beautiful textural music with an epic blissed out quality” to the Green Door Store. Over at Komedia the funky as hell Londoner’s Melt Yourself Down are doing their thang (it’s definitely ‘thang’ in their case, just take a listen to one of their slightly unhinged singles).
At The Green Door Store on Thursday is one of the founder members of Animal Collective’s latest project, Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks. Avey has been one of the leading lights of the collective so, as Sarah Rayner says, expect “a dizzyingly diverse fusion, a fully immersive listening experience”.
Ron Sexsmith “is the owner of a genuinely amazing voice, one as smooth as the path of the oil in a Castrol GTX advert” says Tim Smillie, and he’s playing in the beautiful St George’s Church on Friday. A cult singer songwriter, feted by such luminaries as Ray Davies and Elvis Costello, this will be special.
Unusually for a Saturday there’s loads going on so you don’t just have to sit in the pub or go to a West Street pick-up joint (as if you would).
Cult (yep, definitely cult this lot) US band Deerhoof are at The Haunt. There’s a great local line-up at West Hill Hall with wonderful indie-popsters Milk and Biscuits, supported by more Noise favourites TRAAMS and Speak Galactic.
And last but definitely not least (my tip of the week); cross the fuzzy The Vivian Girls with the lo-fi Woods (two great New York bands) and you get the mightily addictive fuzzy lo-fi noise-pop of The Babies at The Green Door Store.
More info at www.brightonnoise.co.uk
