Broken Sound Music

These are my favourite shoes in the whole world. They belong to Anika, of Anika In London, and they have seen an insane amount of amazing gigs. Well gigged shoes=a pair or ears you can definitely trust. Anika puts on incredible shows, makes brilliant drawings, music videos, takes photos, and lots of other awesome stuff. Check it all out here. Last night I was at her show at The Black Heart in Camden, and a damn fine night it was too. Joe Innes was on absolute top form, and Kat Burns of Forest City Lovers played a stunning solo set – so much darker than when with her band, and absolutely beautiful. Her voice is totally perfect, and her guitar looping goodness was a gorgeous touch.

Headlining, was a band who’s name seems to be cropping up more and more of late, and rightly so – Ghost Bees. Twin sisters Sari and Romy Lightman are on to something very special. There are occasional reminders of Joanna Newsom, a perfect merging of contemporary and more traditional folk, incredible arrangements, and some really amazing lyrics and harmonies. Their debut album Tasseomancy is an absolute triumph, it’s out through Youth Club Records – you should definitely check it out. Tonight they’re at The Luminaire, supporting the brilliant Timber Timbre. See you there.

- Chris

Last Wednesday was spent on The Tamesis Dock for the latest installment of God Don’t Like It/Moonshine Jamboree’s brilliant summer shows (every Wednesday in case you were wondering – go go go). I was there to catch Liz Green, who was absolutely stunning as always. An awesome surprise though came from Laura Hocking. This was my first time catching her and she was phenomenally good- her band are brilliant players, and her lyrics and voice are really something else. To see what I mean check out the acapella of Loves Of A Girl Wrestler on her myspace page. Nice to see she’ll be playing with another favourite of ours, Lulu And The Lampshades at 93 Feet East on 11th June. Definitely worth getting down to.

- Chris

We haven’t blogged about Rachael Dadd for ages have we? Definitely not. Here’s a gorgeous new song ‘The Wind And The Mountain’, filmed by Bradley Steenkamp at her recent Union Chapel show. Such an incredible voice…

- Chris

I am INSANELY excited that Forest Fire are getting ready to return to the UK for some amazing shows with another favourite band of mine, Phosphorescent. Forest Fire haven’t been back here since Rough Trade put their phenomenal debut album Survival in their “Top 10 Best Albums of the Year”, these shows are going to be something very special indeed. Our European brothers & sisters needn’t feel left out, they’re heading your way too! Full dates are on our events page, European shows begin on 19th May, and they’ll be in the UK from 2nd-5th June, finishing in Amsterdam on 6th June. Below is a little reminder of some of the praise that was given to that glorious album (which incidentally you can buy right here along with a free re-worked EP)…

…and there’s an awesome new video for Fortune Teller. Amazing.

- Chris

The Mariner’s Children are without a doubt one of the best things to have ever happened ever. I’d dread to think how many times we’ve caught them live now, and they just keep getting better. We’ve watched them grow from a lineup of just 3 (which I might add was still INCREDIBLE) to an epic collective of seven awesome players all doing their bit to create something undeniably unique and genuinely heartfelt. Ben’s voice still absolutely kills me every time, and his lyrics are nothing short of phenomenal (“Your breath pirouettes through the cold and the wet, rising up like a ghost in the morning”).

So, they’re currently involved in The Green Poll to open up The Green Man Festival. This would be nothing short of ‘the balls’. They need votes to do it though, so get clicking here. You can re-vote every 24 hours, and your vote could win you a weekend ticket to the festival, and my eternal love. Spread the word.

- Chris

Last Tuesday saw a trip to Camden’s Black Heart to catch Nashville’s newest export, Caitlin Rose. At only 22 she’s doing some truly incredible things. Her debut EP ‘Dead Flowers’ came out not-so-long-ago through Names Records (who can do literally no wrong – see also Alela Diane, She Keeps Bees… and everything else they’ve put out). It’s a gorgeous EP, a really great mix of vintage sounds and some occasionally more modern subject matter. AND it’s got a biog on the back of the vinyl. Why doesn’t anyone do that anymore? Love it. Anyway, the show was stunning, and all the more so because she was joined by her bassist Jordan Caress (playing guitar for this show). Her voice is so well matched next to Caitlin, perfect. You really can’t fault Caitlin’s voice or songwriting – I’m admittedly not a huge fan of most of that Nashville country sound (cue beatdown), but she totally makes it her own. Miss Rose also swears quite a lot between songs, was on both beer and wine during her set, and seems to be quite a vocal fan of smoking. Collectively this makes her pretty much ‘the most awesome girl in the world’ in my book. Here’s one of my favourite songs of the night, Docket…

- Chris

Sunday night was spent at a For Folks Sake-curated Allotment at The Slaughtered Lamb, and it was completely brilliant. A really strong lineup including Dear Winesburg, who I was catching for the first time. They completely silenced the room with their percussive shanty-esque folky goodness. Mad props go to Emma Kraemer for her ever-amazing violin work, always something special to hear her play. Three massive cheers too for For Folks Sake, two incredible people doing really incredible things. Here’s Dark Water pt 3&4 courtesy of Tuckshop Radio…

- Chris