Brighton after dark: 8 October 2013

Bmusic

Damp but not out…

On the weekend of 14–15 September a Bmusic crew journeyed to a field out in the sticks near Hailsham to discover Over The Moon Festival and culminate an exciting summer of local festival coverage that has included The Great Escape, Meadowlands, Paddle Round The Pier and Shakedown. Over The Moon is in only its second year of existence but formerly went under the indicative title, Out Of The Ordinary, and from what we experienced that mantra is still very much evident at what is both a festival for the open minded, and a place for opening minds.

Activities included acrobats, comedy, healing spaces with everything from massage to gong bath therapy, a seminar tent, children’s parades, a bass-booming Reggae tent boasting the first three ended ping-pong table I’ve ever seen and I haven’t even got started on the two and a half days of eclectic music and DJs on offer. Larger names included The Freestylers, The Hackney Colliery Band, AKDK with tons of Brighton based artists such as Transformer, Buffo’s Wake, Wide Eyed Order and 2013 Brighton Music Award nominees, Kitten & The Hip.

Quick mention goes to an excellent young rapper we discovered on an open mic stage and is worth checking out: facebook.com/M.PowerHipHop
The famously haphazard British weather did its best to progressively dampen proceedings on Sunday but the show went on and Bmusic owe special thanks to Over The Moon for inviting us to host three specially selected festival acts to be filmed on The Castle Stage; the first two being Brighton music scene mainstays; Common Tongues, Jouis, with the last act, Charlie Brown, a talented singer songwriter tipped for big things in 2014. Footage from the sessions will be going up on our Youtube channel exclusively in the near future.

Bmusic wants to continue to grow and cover more of our local music scene for broadcast on Latest TV next year, but we need more enthusiastic individuals to help us make that happen.

If you think you can contribute please come to an open meeting. Check out our Facebook or Twitter for details.
Words: David Elphick

Sade Ali parties through Freshers’ flu at Audio

With the sniffles and a cough I am all bunged up with Freshers’ flu! But that still doesn’t stop me going out and having a good time. Freshers is the one time of the year I can act like a careless student without having to be one. You can even get away with wearing the same outfit twice in one week! During Freshers week, Brighton turns into the ultimate party city; nearly every bar, pub and club is full to the brim with people every night. The only annoying thing is that I have found my favourite nights already and now need to find some space to explore other club nights. I do have one evening in mind that I am looking forward to though. At Above Audio on 16 October there are a few bands playing that I’m excited to go and see.

Faux Flux, 9.15pm: Faux Flux is the electronic/indie project from Brighton, driven by producer and songwriter Alex Ensoll, who was then joined by drummer Demelza Mather in early 2013. With musical elements of electro, indie, and pop mixed into the fusion, the band’s sound has been likened to artists such as MGMT, Hot Chip and Radiohead whilst maintaining a unique and personal flavour.

Foreign Skin, 8.30pm: Brighton based Foreign Skin, an audio/visual, self styled producer of ambient, chill out, hip-hop and electronic music. Foreign Skin has a very distinctive sound that infuses chopped up and manipulated vocals, accompanied by lush melodic synth lines and beautiful visuals.

Momotaro, 10pm: Momotaro are an electronic band based in Brighton. Their sound is eclectic, with dubbed out vocals, memorable melodies, tasty beats and soulful words. Think The XX meets Us Baby Bear Bones. Absolute musical goodness. The music will start at 8.30pm, but they open from 4pm, so there’s plenty of time to go and get all liquored up beforehand. Also, it’s free entry and drink deals galore!

Find out a bit more about the bands through the websites below:
www.momotaroband.com
www.facebook.com/momotaroband
www.soundcloud.com/momotaroband
www.fauxflux.net
www.facebook.com/fauxflux
www.soundcloud.com/fauxflux
www.facebook.com/ForeignSkin
www.soundcloud.com/foreignskinmusic

Follow @SadeAli

>Don’t Miss<

It’s My Party
There is nothing better than a bit of mid-week partying to break up the monotony of your working pattern. Even better than that, imagine a club night with the added bonus of pop-up cabaret performers?
Funfair, Wed 9 Oct, 10pm, £3/Free

West Pier Dance Society
The kind people at 10 Below wish to give everyone in town a chance to party with them by introducing a new club night that will take on a different genre each month. Join them this Friday for some good old garage.
10 Below, Fri 11 Oct, 10pm, £3

Flip
Will you pay to get in or will you be one of the lucky ones? Let your entrance fee be decided by the flip of a coin at the door to this popular hip-hop and bashment night, setting you up for a weekend of fun.
Life, Fri 11 Oct, 11pm, £3/Free

Clinic+
The doctor is in, and he is dishing out some awesome house music this Saturday at Clinic+. This night is confident enough to diagnose that you will be dancing happily into the early hours of Sunday morning.
Digital, Sat 12 Oct, 11pm, £7/5

Brighton Noise

Alastair Reid on this week’s best gigs

Too much good music this week, so we best get started: Tuesday should see you looking out for Manchester’s all-girl four piece PINS at The Hope, all moody new wave as if “The Shangri-La’s have kidnapped Ian Curtis” according to our own Twigwunderkid. If that doesn’t sound like your thing then Small Black’s smooth synth pop will be wooing the crowds at Sticky Mike’s with melancholic nostalgia for a night lost to the memory. Sunrise music to carry you home.

Wednesday gives an uncomfortable split between two of the country’s rising duos, Drenge at The Green Door Store and IYES at Prince Albert. Drenge first pricked the ears of the mainstream when making a surprising and unwelcome appearance in MP Tom Watson’s open letter of resignation. Getting recommended by a politician would be the death knell for most bands but this is Drenge and Tom Watson has written for Vice music site Noisey, so we’ll let him off.

Brothers Eoin and Rory Loveless, barely out of their teens, spin a reckless, ruthless and yes (groan) loveless whirlwind of blues-focused noise rock that blew Deap Vally off the stage back in March and are fully deserving of the hype that surrounds their angsty, visceral rock ‘n’ roll. This is music born of two brothers with nothing else to do but shout at each other through instruments in the garage, and the world is loving them for it.

IYES, on the other hand, are a more considered affair. Slotting neatly in beside CHVRCHES and HAIM in art pop circles, the producer/vocalist duo make intelligent and infectious anthems out of little more than keyboards and their own voices, but the talent they hold is obvious. Taking a measured approach to reap maximum reward, this is their first headline show with barely a single out but we recommend getting your tickets early if you want a look in. Given that The Albert and Green Door are metres apart, we’ll be going to both.

Things quieten down until the weekend when Saturday gives another tough choice of local excellence: Speak Galactic headline Fitzherberts with support from Soft Arrows, whose second album of soft focus fuzz came out last week, while the third Physics House Party is due to pack out Sticky Mike’s. These nights put on by Physics House Band are becoming legendary in their ability to get the best local bands to a share a stage for their highly technical prog wig-out sessions and are well worth a look. Before long they’ll be gone.

Follow @BrightonNoise