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SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY 09 - #2
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:: GNOD
:: Banjo Or Freakout
:: A Middle Sex
:: (unknown electronic artist) :: The Lexie Mountain Boys :: Gordon Tinnitus :: Chops ::
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03 May 2009 / Various Venues / Salford
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By Cath Aubergine
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It could have gone either way. Early SFTOCs were basically an all-day session of Manchester's most popular live club nights reloated to a handful of Salford boozers - Blowout, High Voltage et al showcasing the best of their recent line-ups. And they could so easily have kept it like that, dragging in a few bigger names alongside the city's great unsigned, upping capacity to accommodate the pop kids. Instead they decided to concentrate on the more underground side of things - which is how we came to be sitting in the Black Lion at half three on a Sunday afternoon listening to beautifully cinematic electronica.
(Editor's note: We've since learnt that Digitonal had to pull out of SFTOC, so who we were watching at 3.30pm we have no idea. If anyone can enlighten us, please do - CA.)
The line-up here comes courtesy of Terrorist, and the opening soundtrack from a man poring unassumingly over a laptop to unleash a stream of synthetic brilliance. There are flashes of traditional, Kraut-inspired electro reminiscent of very early 808 State and the stuff Alpinestars used to half-inch off Kraftwerk; there are Maps-like techno dreams, there are retro acid squelches mutating into sweeping little symphonies and widescreen scattered beats like 65daysofstatic let loose on a Morricone trip. Apparently there are still people who don't trust music made from silicon chips, but then they're probably also the sort of people unlikely to go to a club called Terrorist. Good. With a full day's line-up of such including the exceptionally named Gordon Tinnitus I'm tempted to stay here all day, but that's not really the spirit of SFTOC, is it?
From the wholly synthetic to the wholly organic, but no less intriguing, THE LEXIE MOUNTAIN BOYS are from Baltimore, Maryland. Now like most British people my knowledge of said city comprises what I've learnt from watching The Wire, but it seems there are indeed white people there who aren't disenfranchised dockers (although one of them is wearing a hard hat and fluoro safety vest), and some of them like to wear false beards and chant spooky acapella mantras. Incorporating elements of Middle Eastern mysticism, campfire rounds and atonal folk (alongside anything else that fits) the five Boys - who are actually all women - explore the versatility of the human voice, creating weird and wonderful sonic pictures without often resorting to actual words. Close your eyes and you're thinking somewhere out there is a psychological thriller missing its soundtrack; open them and you're somewhere between muci and performance art. Unfortunately half way through the spell breaks. Not sure if it's the gradual Spinal-Tap-esque collapse of the backdrop, the standing on one leg or the increasing outbreaks of giggles but suddenly it all goes a bit Students Just Back From Their First Glastonbury and we have to escape in case someone starts fire-juggling in a jester hat.
Next door at the United Reformed Church, A MIDDLE SEX are laying out their collection of cables, miniature bongos and detuned guitars. Best known for their 15-minute sets of abstract brain-melt at Wotgodforgot, today they're playing along to Hitchcock's "The Lodger". There are various ways to approach this sort of thing: Laymar often use "Battleship Potemkin" effectively as appropriately unsettling illumination, whilst British Sea Power's initially semi-improvised music to "Man Of Aran" grew into a full alternative soundtrack which sees a formal DVD release later this month. This venture falls somewhere in between; it's an accompaniment more than a soundtrack, and sees A Middle Sex at their most musically conventional - by which I mean there's no atonal ear-shredding feedback, just plenty of mostly electronic tension building. As the caped stranger arrives at the boarding-house for the first time, a paintbrush scraped along a guitar sets nerves on edge, then as he lulls his landlady into a (false?) sense of security we hear the trio at their most melodic to date, all chiming chords drenched in shoegazey echo and heartbeat rhythms. Accompanied by the venue's enterprising wine-and-cake-for-£2.50 deal (an anomaly of licensing meaning this is legal but the wine alone wouldn't be) it's an hour of rather lovely tranquility, the sensibilities of Hitchcock's era meaning most of the blood happens offscreen. Several murders later, as a baying mob from the pub round on the wrongly accused lodger (yeah, plus ca change) jungle drums and slices of distortion well up like their grabbing hands. Justice prevails, of course, and the soundscape shifts towards calmer shapes. If we thought AMS were good before, this afternoon has revealed whole new dimensions. A stunning performance.
Tempted by Young British Artists at the Rovers, but it looks rammed - not that this is a disappointment, far from it; here at MM we've been banging on about them for a while, and with an imminent single release securing their spot in the Manchester's Next Big Thing list we're delighted for them - and anyway, how can I not go and watch a bloke who calls himself GORDON TINNITUS? Back to the Black Lion then. Formerly a resident, back in his native Belfast, at nights called things like Schizophrenia, Relapse and Grunt Productions, I'm actually expecting something a whole lot nastier than the golden-age-of-Warp progressive techno he dishes out, although his love of floor-trembling bass frequencies coupled with heavy use of skittering synthetic hi-hat sounds mean Trade Descriptions won't have any issue with him, whilst audiologists might.
They've moved the stage in The King's Arms again. I'm sure they do this every couple of years just to do my head in. Two of Leeds-based trio CHOPS don't appear to be on it anyway, although getting there a bit late for them means I can't see much without perching precariously on a stool. At least one of them seems to be performing from the front ranks of the pretty impressive crowd, anyway. They're like a harder Holy Fuck or Damo Suzuki gone big-beat, shaking the whole building before erupting into near-anthemic tunes.
BANJO OR FREAKOUT operate in a vaguely similar area of electro-post-rock genre-bending - think Fuck Buttons tribal krautrock with a bit of New Order in the (admittedly only occasional vocal tunes) or some fantasy collaboration between Kevin Shields and the Chemical Brothers at their most psychedelic. It's seriously heavy on the percussion, sometimes with both of them - mainman Alessio Natalizia and his mysterious collaborator Strato - going full pelt at a pair of floor toms; it's oddly hypnotic and yes, you can actually dance to it. People do. Their last five minutes of thunderous pile-up is so euphoric people take a while to blink when it's over - definitely a freakout. Sadly schedule slippage here means we only walk in on GNOD s accompaniment to the already quite troubling "The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda" as it's reaching some sort of spaced-out climax; both members of Blood Moon - who aren't even playing today - are sitting on the floor adding extra percussion and everyone in the room seems to be in some sort of trance. At which point the review baton is handed to other members of Team MM; I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. That a selection of such exceptionally curated leftfield music even exists is a cause for celebration; that it's managed to sell out (tickets) without "selling out" (to commercialism) is nothing short of a triumph.
http://www.myspace.com/digitonal
http://www.myspace.com/mountainlex
http://www.myspace.com/gordontinnitus
http://www.myspace.com/mightychops
http://www.myspace.com/banjoorfreakout
http://www.myspace.com/gnodgnod
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Resources:
Sounds From The Other City
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Orphan Boy..
The Graveyard Shift..
Golden Glow..
DILE..
Sad Day For Puppets..
Arcade Fire..
Who Shot Who?..
Bare In The Woods..
Tweak Bird..
Fuzzy Lights..
BLACKLISTERS..
Beats & Pieces Big Band..
The Smiles & Frowns..
Islands Lost At Sea..
Backahyard..
Human Fly..
The Lines..
The Scottish Enlightenment..
Caspa..
Luke Hirst..
The Strange Death Of Liberal England..
Heat Vs Light..
Crass..
Oceansize..
Faithless..
Feeder..
Sky Larkin..
Darker My Love..
The Slow Readers Club..
Birthrite..
Tom Edney & The People Pleasers..
The Bottletop Millionaires..
The Nearlys..
Orphan Boy..
The Lightstreams..
We Are Willow..
Daniel J Nixon..
Mount Fabric..
Kyte..
Extradition Order..
BackPageFirst..
Orphans..
Beat The Radar..
Stu Morrison..
Laboratory Noise..
The Mysterons..
Les Cox Sportifs..
Black Cab Casino..
Charlotte Gainsbourg..
The Chemical Brothers..
Feeder..
The Xcerts..
The Gaslight Anthem..
Orbital..
Sound Of Guns..
Twin Atlantic..
Rush..
Wildbirds & Peacedrums..
The Wave Pictures..
Delays..
The Pipettes..
The Tamborines..
Archie Bronson Outfit..
Above Them..
Oasis..
Anathema..
Being 747..
Holy Fuck..
Everything Everything..
Alex Hulme ..
Fuzzy Lights..
Anna Kashfi..
Beads..
Bugs In Ember..
The Commune Of Rochefourchat..
The Missing Link..
Lotte Mullan..
Joe Galen..
The Real Dolls..
Cotheria..
Jaca..
Merchandise..
Faithless..
Charlotte Gainsbourg..
The Paddingtons..
Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip..
The Gaslight Anthem..
Lethal Bizzle..
The Drums..
Young Rebel Set ..
Sub Focus..
Stornoway..
Pendulum..
Kill The Captains..
The New Pornographers..
The National..
Tunng..
Delays..
Slow Club..
Fuck Buttons..
Charlie Barnes..
Hurts..
Borland..
Various Artists..
Team Ghost..
Various Artists..
Luke Hirst..
Dead Confederate..
Lost From Atlas..
Ensnared..
The Exhibition..
Castrovalva..
Kyte..
Quack Quack..
The Lodger..
Clubsmith..
Carrie Flower..
Run Toto Run..
I Am Three..
Glass..
The Safires..
SupaJamma..
Exit Calm..
Love Is All..
Paul Weller..
Mr Fogg..
Sparrow And The Workshop..
Mr Fogg..
Codeine Velvet Club..
Biffy Clyro..
Being 747..
Black Sabbath..
Glass..
Lifescreen..
City Reign..
High Roller..
Transmission 13..
Exit State..
Obsessive Compulsive..
Ayatana..
Danny Mahon..
May 68..
Nowhere Again..
Daniel Burt..
Black River..
The Rising Hours ..
The Alfa Binding Theory..
PLANK!..
Islands Lost At Sea..
Freedom Of The City..
Casual Riot ..
Straight Lines..
Plan B..
The National..
The Loves..
Crazy Arm..
Sound Of Guns..
Kill The Captains..
Tunng..
The Hidden Cameras..
Duke Special..
Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip..
My Luminaries..
The Miserable Rich..
The High Wire..
Cymbals Eat Guitars..
Islands Lost At Sea..
Xtra..
The Hicks..
The Nearlys..
The Lucid Dream..
From The Kites Of San Quentin ..
Deadtapes..
Young British Artists..
Tim And Sam's Tim And The Sam Band With Tim And Sam..
The Heartbreaks..
Eight Legs..
The Paraffins..
Trouble Books..
Knievel Genius..
Still Flyin..
You MeAtSix..
Wolfmother..
Placebo..
The Hush Now..
Plasticines..
Hammer No More the Fingers..
French For Cartridge..
Straight Lines..
Various Artists..
The Who..
Los Campesinos!..
Shearwater..
Efterklang..
Oh No Ono..
Charlie Winston..
TeenagersInTokyo..
Sir Yes Sir..
Inego..
The Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra..
Last Harbour..
LoneLady..
The Ambersons (The Magnificent Ambersons)..
Richie Syrett..
Tidy Hooker..
Benjamin Shaw..
Plasticines..
Eight Legs..
Husky Rescue..
The Irrepressibles..
Vampire Weekend..
Marble Valley..
You MeAtSix..
Ian Dury..
First Aid Kit..
Yeti Lane..
Standard Fare..
Lets Go To War..
Is Tropical..
Sub Focus..
The Hush Now..
Thomas Dybdahl..
Simian Mobile Disco..
Biffy Clyro..
Charlotte Gainsbourg..
Maps..
LoneLady..
Anna Kashfi..
The Chameleons..
Gary Fulton..
StateDancer..
Delphic..
Airship..
Jo Rose..
Hurts..
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NOW WAVE AUTUMN GIG FRENZY...
SAVE LIVE MUSIC AT SAKI: PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION...
ROADHOUSE SEPTEMBER LISTINGS...
IN THE CITY 2010 - JUST A FEW WEEKS OFF NOW......
PERFORMING LIVE...
COURTEENERS AND KLOOT END OF YEAR BASH...
ALL DAY TOAST...
BAND ON THE WALL'S ECLECTIC AUTUMN...
ANOTHER THING TO DO THIS WEEKEND THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE GETTING RAINED ON...
OXJAM'S BIG WEEKEND...
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FESTIVALS 2010: CONSTELLATIONS...
EASY AS ABC...
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE...
ROCK AND RESPITE...
RUBY LOUNGE - FULL AUGUST LISTINGS...
RED DEER RETURN TO FUEL ...
REBELLION FEST HITS BLACKPOOL THIS WEEKEND (5th-8th AUG)...
GET BACK TO BACK ON THE 21st AUGUST ...
BDB AT RNCM...
CATHEDRAL SOUNDS...
RETURN OF THE MAC...
BIRTHDAY JAM...
A-MAZE-ING LINE-UP AT THIS WEEK'S UNDERACHIEVERS...
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS...
WAREHOUSE PROJECT 2010 SEASON STARTS HERE!...
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INDIE SURVIVORS RETURN WITH 11TH ALBUM...
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FESTIVALS 2010: KENDAL CALLING STAGE LINE-UPS AND RECOMMENDATIONS...
WOTGODFORGOT SUMMER SEASON...
MIDSUMMER BLOWOUT ** updated with latest line-up additions **...
GIG OF THE WEEK: A VERY NOISY THURSDAY NIGHT...
POSTCARDS FROM MANCHESTER 2010 - ON SALE NOW...
LET'S GET FRANK SIDEBOTTOM TO NUMBER ONE...
DIRECT TRAINS...
MANC ELECTRO LEGENDS RETURN WITH LIVE DATES, SINGLE & LP ...
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SKANKIN' SATURDAY NIGHT ** VENUE CHANGE **...
YOUR WEEK AT SAKI...
SIZE MATTERS...
PLAN YOUR (NEAR) FUTURE...
FESTIVALS 2010 - KENDAL CALLING: NOW WITH ADDED BEER FESTIVAL!...
A BIT OF EVERYTHING...
LOST AND FOUND / SAME TEENS - RUBY PLANS (2/7)...
FRANK'S FANTASTIC SEND-OFF...
SUMMER CRAP FOR GIGS? NOT AT RUBY LOUNGE IT ISN'T......
FILL UP WITH LIVE MUSIC AT FUEL...
FEELING GOOD...
TOP FLOOR...
ON THE RADAR...
GIVE FRANK THE SEND-OFF HE DESERVES...
ARCADE FIRE BACK FROM THE SUBURBS...
RE-ENABLED...
ARTY PARTY...
R.I.P. FRANK: A MANCHESTER LEGEND ...
SAKI 'S THREE EVENT SALVO THIS WEEK ...
WITHOUT THIS MUSIC WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT...
WE'RE ALL WAVING FLAGS...
NEW PAINTINGS!...
SOUND BALL CONTROL...
FESTIVALS 2010: THE IMPLODING ACOUSTIC INEVITABLE...
FESTIVALS 2010: FELL FOOT SOUND...
30TH DAY (OF JUNE)...
OCTOBER HURTS...
ATTIC GETS THE ATOM...
MOCO GOGO...
MAHON'S SCHALLPLATTENMUSIK - LIMITED 59 COPY EP ...
2007 MERCURY WINNERS KLAXONS COME TO RUBY LOUNGE...
FOUR BANDS IN A BOAT...
LET'S KILL MUSIC!...
FESTIVALS 2010: LOADS OF NEW BANDS ADDED TO KENDAL CALLING LINE-UP...
RUBY LOUNGE - FULL JUNE LIVE MUSIC LISTINGS...
FESTIVALS 2010: TRIP (ANGLESEY)...
GET F**KED ON TUESDAY...
DOT TO DOT STAGE TIMES RELEASED...
NEW COUNTERPOINT...
PURE GLASS...
HIGH CULTURE...
RUNNING TO THE TOP...
ROB'S WISH...
BOOM TIME AGAIN...
WOTGODFORGOT WEEK OF WONDERS...
FESTIVALS 2010: KENDAL CALLING...
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER...
ROCK'N'ROLL BIRTHDAY...
MAKE A BIG NOISE AND HELP HOMELESS PEOPLE...
MEAT UP FOR NORDOFF-ROBBINS...
SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY 2010 - FULL LISTINGS, TIMES AND OUR RECOMMENDATIONS...
DARKNESS AT THE MILL...
BEST OF BRITISH / MOHO A-GO-GO...
RUBY LOUNGE - LOADS OF STUFF TO DO IN MAY...
MORE DOTS!...
INSECTS AND MAMMALS AT SAKI...
AIRSHIP LANDS IN MAY...
SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY: MORE STUFF!...
STILL MISSED...
SFTOC 2010: CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS...
SUNDAY'S HELPING OF WEIRD...
ELECTRONICALLY FREE...
GLOWING DEBUT...
TAKE A TRIP BACK IN TIME...
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL RECORD STORE - RECORD STORE DAY !...
FREE WHEEL PLUS DOT TO DOT APPEARANCE...
RE-ENABLED...
MOTORPSYCHEDELIA...
POP ART...
HIGH VOLTAGE THREE PIN PLUG...
MM ON FACEBOOK: KNOW EVERYTHING AS SOON AS WE DO!...
SUNDAY SCENEWIPE...
ON THE RADAR ** updated **...
BANK HOLIDAY DOWN THE PIT...
ANOTHER BIRTHDAY BASH WITH BANDS...
LIFE STREAM LAUNCHES...
FRESH MEAT...
FOLK AT THE 8TH DAY ON THE 8TH DAY...
IN THE CITY 2010 DATES ANNOUNCED...
EASTER WEEKEND LIVE MUSIC ROUND-UP...
FAT OUT AT FUEL...
FAC ME, IT'S A CAT-ALOGUE EXCLUSIVE...
PLANK YOU VERY MUCH!...
JOINING THE DOTS...
DINGO TIME AGAIN...
WITH A LITTLE HELP...
FUTURESONIC IS NOW FUTUREEVERYTHING...
SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY UPDATE...
FIVE YEARS OF DANCING...
FESTIVALS 2010: LIVERPOOL SOUND CITY...
MAY BALL...
BECOME THE MUSIC INDUSTRY...
GETTING GIDDY...
FESTIVALS 2010: PARKLIFE (A LOCAL ONE!)...
FESTIVALS 2010: 2000 TREES...
FESTIVALS 2010: LIVE AT LEEDS...
TAMESIDE HEROES TURN OUT FOR CHRISTIES...
FESTIVALS 2010: DOT TO DOT COMES TO MANCHESTER...
FESTIVALS 2010: LATITUDE ANNOUNCES FIRST ACTS...
WOTGODFORGOT - LATEST NEWS...
HERE IT COMES ** New Dates Added 15/3 **...
POP ART: NOW SHOWING!...
PURELY ACOUSTIC...
SEVEN YEAR HIGH...
CHARLATANS SOME FRIENDLY LIVE SET TOUR ...
FRAY FLIES LIKE A FALCON - NEW SINGLE AND TOUR FOR THE COURTEENERS ...
SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY 2010 - FIRST ACTS ANNOUNCED AND TICKET DETAILS...
RUBY LOUNGE LISTINGS FOR MARCH AND BEYOND...
TIM TIME!...
RUNNING ROUND THE COUNTRY...
SOUNDHOUSE RELAUNCH ! - BOLTON VENUE FIRMLY BACK ON THE MAP...
BABY BOOMERS...
KID BRITISH HIT FAC251 plus ALBUM AND WORLD CUP NEWS...
MODERN ENGLISH IS HERE...
DINGO RETRO...
WINTER / SPRING JAZZ AT BAND ON THE WALL...
WOTGODFORGOT SPRING OFFENSIVE...
WOTGODFORGOT SPRING OFFENSIVE - SECOND WAVE...
THIS SHOULD SCARE THE ORANGE PEOPLE...
J C CLARKE HASN'T BEEN KNIGHTED - HE SHOULD BE, BUT FOR NOW HERE'S SOME TOUR INFO...
MUSEUM SEEKS JOY DIVISION ARTEFACTS...
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