Brighton after dark: 23 July 2013

Bmusic
Triumph at The Brighton Music Awards
Bmusic’s lucky pair of presenters Eddy String and Cathy Sear showcase the best of this year’s music, action, gossip and fun at The 2013 Brighton Music Awards aka The BMAs, straight from The Latest Musicbar in the hub of Brighton. Including live performances from Kenelis, Jacko Hooper and Black Bonds to name but a few, interviews with the artists, winners and local celebs, and of course exclusive coverage of all the awards themselves, created by none other than the one and only Cassette Lord, one could say this is an artistic composite of the wealth of Brightonian musical talent!

Built from vision to shine the spotlight on and promote artists in the local area, The Brighton Music Awards were founded and created by David Courtney and Paul Becks back in 2010 to give local musicians both a platform and a voice. We’re sure you will agree that Brighton, with its ever expanding musical population and diversity, has again proved its rich selection of original talent.

The BMAs have captured the attention of music industry professionals and celebs alike including Saffron from Republica, Simon Price and Pauline Carroll, organiser of the NME Awards, all of whom had the pleasure of presenting awards at the ceremony.

Brighton is considered to be a ‘mini London’ by the sea, a place where talent can be cultivated and nurtured. With this in mind, The BMAs are sure to be an inaugural event for many years – with the successful collaboration of the creators, promoters Latest TV and of course Bmusic!

Watch the Brighton Music Awards online by heading to our YouTube or catch it and more at www.facebook.com/BmusicTV
Words: Nicola Sear

Sadi Ali finds clubbing in Crawley IS made easy

In the last two weeks I have been travelling to Crawley on my Friday nights to work for JJ’Whispers. Although I have such a good time and it has been wonderful meeting new people and seeing new clubs, it is nothing like Brighton. I think it may be because I have never experienced anything other than Brighton’s nightlife.

I would recommend spending a night out in Crawley as it is nice to have a change every now and then. But the clubs close at around 3’oclock, so when you return to Brighton I would then advise you to head down to the TUBE
(on the beach). They are open till around 6am and pretty much everyone will end up there at the end of the night. In the next few weeks there will be a new minibus service that will transport people from Crawley to Brighton
and back and vice versa so that people from both areas can experience different clubs and atmospheres. Keep reading each week to find out more info, or tweet me to find out dates.

In the past few weeks I have also been hunting for some of Brighton’s best club photos… Here are a few of my favourites!

Cliche
Welcome the arrival of a new night at Smack with Cliche. Devoted to playing you the best commercial house and R’n’B. Expand your horizons and try something new.
Smack, Sat 27 July, 10pm, £7/5

Release The Bats
Tired of the same old cheesy ’80s nights? Give yourself over to the dark side at Caroline of Brunswick and enjoy the best goth and alternative tunes the ’80s had to offer.
Caroline of Brunswick, Sat 27 July, 9pm, £2

M Generation
I want my MTV! Thursday nights are all about indulging in the biggest mix of songs that grace the great MTV channel with their presence. If you have heard it there, you’ll hear it here.
Belushi’s Below, Thu 25 July, 10pm, £3/2/1

Tranquility
If life is stressing you out and it’s only Wednesday, head down to Volks for some uber chilled dubstep. The perfect night away from the busy town life.
Volks, Weds 24 July, 7pm, Free

Brighton Noise

Andy Hinton on this week’s best gigs
A week which begun with me thoroughly enjoying what will no doubt go down as the sweatiest gig of the year. The mighty Pharcyde played their classic Bizarre Ride II album to a Concorde 2 packed to the rafters. It has probably not gone unnoticed in my column that I am a bit of a hip-hop head and it was pleasing to see not just oldies like myself who remember when their masterpiece came out but plenty of youngsters too dancing and jumping about like loons from the off. We’ve got a review and some great pictures up on the site.

After my rant the other week this was one gig where talking would not have been noticed but the band who started off the whole discussion, the marvellous Dark Dark Dark are at The Blind Tiger on Tuesday. This alt/folk, Americana band from Minneapolis are very special indeed. A group of immaculate musicians lead by the clear as crystal voice of Nona Marie and featuring one of the best (and most subtle drummers) I’ve ever seen. They are a band who have very much a cult following but everyone who I dragged along to their gig last year was instantly converted to the cause.

On Wednesday at The Green Door Store is Thomas Truax. An inventor of weird and wonderful instruments such as The Hornicator, The Mary Poppins and the Cadillac Beatspinner Wheel. Intrigued? He’s summed up by Alex Flynn as “the musically eccentric love child of David Lynch and Captain Beefheart who has been taught guitar by Ray Davies and been babysat by MacGyver”. Check out Alex’s preview on the site. I’ve never seen the guy but after hearing great things about his performance at The Hope last year I’m going to try to make it along to this one.

The other big gig of the week (yep, things are starting to tail off for the summer) is Youth Lagoon at the Concorde 2 on Friday. Initially a bedroom project by American Trevor Powers, his first album, The Year Of Hibernation felt like a personal montage devoted to lost youth He’s now got a full band and his second album, Wondrous Bughouse, expands upon the epic but keeps that sense of the personal intact. For fans of Deerhunter, Animal Collective, as I said in my preview “This is psychedelic music that sounds completely modern and now”.
More info at www.brightonnoise.co.uk