We know and love Birmingham for it’s hotbed of musical talent. For too long the second city has, unfairly, had it’s wealth of output overlooked, noted for the kind of indie thumpers that soundtrack Snobs. We recognise and are excited by the increasingly experimental fusions that frequent our city, from the alternative improvisational jazz nights of Fizzle, to the bi-monthly left-field sets of Club Integral Midlands Branch, and the raucous offerings of DIE DAS DER. We have TWO brummie belters playing for us at our Dec 8th show at Centrala, Youth Man and Matters, with the eclectic groupings of Ideas of Noise treating us to some improv sets throughout the night too. Get to know them and the other names you should be keeping an eye out for around the city and beyond.
>>>TICKETS FOR DEC 8TH SHOW with HEY COLOSSUS/ YOUTH MAN/ MATTERS/ YAMA WARASHI <<<<
Destructive Brummie sex punk.
Youth Man are the band you will wish you saw in years to come. Their live show is a shrieking, thrilling wrecking-ball of human bodies, flailing limbs and chaos. Brace yourself for an intense live performance matched by comic genius onstage banter.
Watch them below work our Supersonic third stage this summer.
“Their brand of punk leans heavily towards the weirdos (not the Weirdos) of early California hardcore, in which bands like Fear weren’t too afraid (or too unskilled) to throw in an odd time signature.”– Rolling Stone Magazine
Matters are the guitar + synth + drums instrumental trio, whose push and pull of the three different personalities on stage take their live performances in magical, unpredictable directions. Matters utilise their instruments to create expansive music, blending krautrock, psychedelic, post rock and techno into a rich and powerful sound.
‘This is something quite epic..another winner from Static Caravan Records’ – Steve Lamacq – BBC 6 Music
Those who attended Supersonic festival this year may well have caught the incredible musical offerings of curated by Ideas of Noise fest. Produced by Andrew Woodhead and Sarah Farmer, IoN is an exciting new festival of experimental sound which started in August this year, with a focus on connecting experimental audiences and performers of different genres across the West Midlands. On Dec 8th they’ll be presenting SPACETIMEBAND (Sarah Farmer / Andrew Woodhead / Richard Scott / Aaron Diaz / Joe Wright); laser Interferometry, ripples in spacetime, black holes colliding, signal in noise; SPACETIMEBAND explores General Relativity and other cosmological curiosities through sound.
+ OTHER NAMES TO LOOK OUT FOR…
ON SATURDAY 24th THIS WEEK – TEARING UP MUTHERS – IRON FIST OF THE SUN // HAQ 123 // SQUALOR FAN // RAINBOW GRAVE
Personal obsessions, codes of behaviour observed by a misanthropic mind. Bitter and cold. Nihilistic and scornful. Elitist and Pure. Birmingham Nihilism!
Zac (10) on drums, Millie (9) on vocals and Dave (old enough to know better) on bass make up HAQ123. A power trio from Birmingham, brought up on the sounds of Sabbath and super charged by Haribo. These guys are the future, and proving so throughout the city.
Squalor Fan are the 3 points of an odd triangle. Think reverb drenched fuzz bass, heavy precision drumming and twisted sampled electronics. A brand brand new trio with no music online yet but being very well received with their first few live shows:
“Their sound is lumbering and abrasive, melting into fizzy euphoria…Unrelenting and taught, Squalour Fan deliver a carefully constructed racket.” Counteract review
With James Commander on drums, Nathan Warner on bass, John Doom on guitar and Nic Bullen guitar/vocals, Rainbow Grave make Low Rent Caveman Hate Music. Listen for yourself…
Dorcha are a genre fluid 5-piece band of synths, strings, electronics and heavy beats. A dynamic, versatile group with a refusenik attitude, Dorcha obsess over transporting listeners to a pool of shifting, nearly gothic, barely pop, experimental songwriting.
KALI LOUISE
Kali Louise, local DJ of the avant-garde and creator of Brum Radio show ‘Melody and Concrete’ is a taste-maker to get listening to.
also broadcasting out of Birmingham on NTS Radio…
Put together by Sarah and Matt, arrhythmia is a monthly exploration of interesting new audio and abnormal rhythms. Expect irregular, dark or heavy – but not always.
Mothwasp is a baritone/drums duo who employ field recordings, circuit bent SK-1s, tapes, 16mm scratch films and modified 35mm slide projectors the pair forge heavy abstract improvised soundtrack experiments.
A collaborative project formed by artist Sean O’Keeffe and musician Simon Bailey, exploring ideas around live and improvised audio-visual performance. They make, appropriate and combine a range of AV source material, such as digital video from classic genres like science fiction and cinema fantastique, using it as a conceit and starting point from which to create interpolations and fictive juxtapositions.
