Brighton after dark: 24 September 2013

Bmusic

Plingy Plongey Folk Tunes
Previous articles in this column have always been of a positive nature, praising the wonders of modern music and the multitude of talented acts in Brighton. But hey, it wouldn’t be fair to offer only the bright side of the music scene; that’s not the way to give a balanced view after all. The ethos of this writer has always been that everything can be considered good if looked at from the right perspective. Of course this makes it a lot harder to pick things apart, so thank God for grumpy parents.

While watching the Reading Festival highlights the other week with the family, more acts were fast-forwarded than any in past years. A common criticism that kept on coming along was the ‘plingy-plongy’ folk songs that everyone seemed to be loving. Certainly, folk does seem to be going through something of a popular (if not intellectual) renaissance at the moment.

Without naming any names, it does seem like pop music has reached a point where it can either choose between wob-wob with a catchy chorus or acoustic sentimentality with a fair portion of whoah-ohs. Sorry to bring this much onomatopoeia to the table but that really does seem like the most accurate way to describe this phenomenon.

Not to suggest that some of these folk acts are without merit, but a lot of them do kind of feel like they are only successful as a result of having their music on every advert this side of the Lumineers (ahem). In any case, it’s not a criticism as such; these are all credible talents after all, and you would have to be a competent songwriter to make it into the charts anyway. The problem is more that there appears to be a real lack of variety in the charts nowadays. At least a decade ago you could rely on hip-hop/rock songs mixing things up a bit. Now those two genres would only make it into the charts if they adhere to the wob-wob/pling-plong formula respectively.

Music is always going to be caught in that awkward present between nostalgia and progressive. Sometimes it can even throw surprises out there, like Daft Punk going all retro on their latest album, or Arctic Monkeys finally releasing another good album.

But with the state of things as they are, one does wonder what happened to the unpredictability of music. We have become so complacent that the very idea of hearing something new is a scary prospect indeed, at least to promoters and record labels. Or perhaps living in the digital age has given so much musical output that there simply aren’t any original sounds left to use.

All I can say is that Mumford and Sons have a hell of a lot to answer for.
To be Continued…
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BAD Words : Matt Berryman

Sade Ali checks out five new club nights in Brighton!

News of a brand new club night on Brighton seafront is always bound to cause a bit of a stir between seasoned club-goers, bar-hoppers and promoters. But when you have five brand new nights bombing the streets of Brighton, well, we sure know we’re in for a treat! Dot Dot Dot promotions have arrived with fireworks. With one of the venues being Funfair you’re promised to have all the fun a fair can bring you, let’s just say they have a ball pit (yes, the kind you used to love rolling around in as a toddling whippersnapper) – that’s enough to get me there! Their new cub night, ‘Branded’, launched on 17 September, and the guys now taking over Tuesday nights at Funfair have stated the music policy as ‘songs to lose your s**t to’. Well, I best go lose my s**t! Hah!

My second stop on a Tuesday has been won over by none other than Coalition. The atmosphere is completely electric in Coalition, and why wouldn’t it be? ‘Faded’ is set to destroy the night with the best DJs, best drink deals and just pure awesomeness. There is no doubt about it being a part of my winter wonderland of club nights.

Another upcoming night I am excited about is ‘CA$HBACK’…The flyers look like a £20 note, they give away hundreds of pounds each night, and it will be taking place at The Haunt. The venue is the main screening room of an old converted cinema consisting of a large main room with a raised staging area, bar and big screen, overlooked by a mezzanine floor with balcony and upstairs bar.

The Lollipop re-launch at LIFE was awesome! All of the old regulars from Honey Club had showed up. The music was on point, DJ Larizzle absolutely killed it! The vibe was unexplainable; the vibrant club is now the weekly spot for LOLLIPOP/FLIP Fridays. Opening its arms to every culture, playing everything you would expect to hear on a sunny beach in Jamaica or Africa, LIFE has never seen such a fun loving night explode and take over the beach front! Plus you get to go head to head with the door staff in a game of Heads or Tails to determine if you win free entry or a discount! Brilliant!
Finally, look out for an exciting new venue and night – The Black Box Afterparties at The Bermuda Triangle.

Twitter @SadeAli

>Don’t miss<

CU Next Tuesday
Too far away from the weekend for your liking? Just about recovered from the weekend before? Well Tuesday is the time for a jammed pack night of R’n’B and disco hits to boost your working week.
Digital, Tues 24 September, 11pm, £4/3

Bravo Four Zero
Tired of tweeny nights dominating Brighton’s nightlife? Here is the perfect new night out for all 40-somethings who are looking for a celebration of nostalgia, the best music and fun times.
Latest Musicbar, Fri 27 September, 8pm, £10

Coconut College
A regular for The Haunt, Coconut College is that night where you get to enjoy the best of some real eclectic ’90s music from Backstreet Boys and Destiny’s Child to Snoop Dogg and Nirvana.
The Haunt, Thurs 26 September, 11pm, £3/2

Zerox
If you fancy a ’80s and ’90s night with a bit of a difference (perhaps sans cheese?) 10 Below brings you the alternative side to these decades. There’s no better way to start your weekend.
10 Below, Fri 27 September, 10pm, Free

Brighton noise

James Vella of FatCat Records gives the lowdown on this week’s best gigs
A&R can be a competitive game. FatCat’s policy – something I am proud to be part of – is best described as “anti-cheque book”. Our label won’t throw piles of cash at an artist and hope it impresses them. We offer our services to artists we admire as strict quality control, careful and organic development, mutual respect and creative freedom.

Our location generously benefits this approach: live agents will fight to have their bands play in Brighton, for the quality of the shows, the willingness of audiences, the attractiveness of the city and so on. At this point, helpfully, bands are free from the frantic clamour of London labels (and live agents, press officers, publishing firms etc) vying for their attention, and our job becomes considerably easier. More time to approach and discuss, less need to sell our interest.

So we like to offer support back to the city and its musicians. There have been at least a handful of local musicians that have caught our ear recently. We urge you to take a listen.

We learned recently that Ambassadeurs has previously worked as a chef. Given the sensitivity and dexterity with which the young electronica producer combines sonic ingredients (a pinch of dubstep here, a scoop of R’n’B there), his culinary background is hardly a surprise.
We can also recommend Hypnotized’s demo EP ‘Say It’. Followers of FatCat alumni Black Dice will eat up their colourful, rhythmic noise-jams.

Fans of Devo, Zappa and Wyld Stallyns will find something of interest in P For Persia. Their live set can be a drunken, hit-and-miss stumble, but the danger is mesmerising.

And, as usual, Brighton’s live promoters are doing sterling, crucial work. The coming week will see live shows from US psych wizards Carlton Melton (24 September, Green Door); Acid Mothers’ Temple lead man Kawabata Makoto’s Mainliner (28 September, Green Door Store); dreampop forefathers The Telescopes (28 September, Sticky Mike’s); NYC’s tellingly titled Psychic Ills (29 September, The Albert).

Twitter @BrightonNoise