Brothers Rasputin // The 150 Friends Club - The Finsbury - 13/6/13

Sporting a pork-pie hat and precision moustache, Brothers Rasputin’s hyperactive frontman left his memorably psychotic mark on the Finsbury’s front-of-house last Thursday. Often employing a vocal upper-register that bordered on a squeal, any conventional pop prose was interspersed with morally questionable hooks like ‘I’m gonna make your fuckin’ nose bleed’. This bipolar Bee-Gee ensnared members of the audience as he swang from lover (pointing and gyrating in one woman’s direction) to fighter (leaping off stage mid-song to scream in another’s face). It was, of course, extremely funny, although his coiled unpredictability held the crowd in a certain uneasy flux. None of it would have worked if the band couldn’t hold their own, but Brothers Rasputin are as slick a funk-rock trio as you could wish for - sharing some space and feel with the likes of Cake - their sound fleshed out not by horns and percussion but by our man’s judicious use of a loop pedal on both his versatile voice and guitar. Ticking the box for genuine comedic and musical entertainment in one ain’t easy, but Brothers Rasputin pull it off. Go see – just be a little careful where you stand.

150 Friends Club also appeared to be having plenty of fun, and were certainly exploring some rarely chartered territory. Their stunning dexterity facilitated a fusion of original time signatures, key changes and rhythmic patterns. Accents and stresses were placed where least expected, sometimes losing the listener amid a forest of musical smarts, only to deliver them, blinking, back to a comfortably familiar refrain by song’s end. A mid-set lull established that the lyrical plot-lines were as clever-clever as the rest of the band’s contributions, but it was during the more dynamic tunes that you could really  appreciate how good the quartet were, driven by a belter of a drummer and peaking on the bouncing jazz-rock-prog of ‘Hoonanaparka’. A little self-indulgent, perhaps? Sure, but the group’s obvious enjoyment of their craft was infectious and they went down a storm.

Listen: Ajimal - This Human Joy

Clearly one of the best voices I've heard this year!

'This Human Joy' is a hopeful song about finding peace in the beauty of small and simple things, when often it's easy to slip into feeling frustrated or irritated by the world, routine and to stop taking chances and risks. It's about accepting the fact that we can't always know where we're going or what will happen to us and embracing those mysteries.

What the press say

"Setting a new benchmark for sensitive pop in 2013" THE LINE OF BEST FIT

“Soporific, pianistic folk…displaying a charmingly earnest approach.” THE FLY

“Touches of Bon Iver and Jeff Buckley ring true, however Ajimal sculpts an illimitable soundscape that is entirely his own.” CRACK IN THE ROAD

“An unearthly, eerie and incredibly beautiful set of sounds that will capture the imagination of a much wider listening public before long.” DROWNED IN SOUND

“Remarkably beautiful.” FLYING WITH ANNA

Animal Noise - June 28th / The Finsbury

Check out the video of this crazy bunch called Animal Noise who we have confirmed for our 'Lost in the Manor Club Night' on June 28th. They call their music "Tribal sex mess"

Full bill for the 28th June // Felix Hagen & The Family (Live), Animal Noise (Live), The Lad The Others (Live), Bon Bonnie (DJ)

Watch: Childhood - Solemn Skies + UK Tour

New Single from Childhood  ‘Solemn Skies’ b/w ‘Semester’ Out 10th June + UK Tour Announced

Following the release of their critically acclaimed debut single ‘Blue Velvet’ last November, London four-piece Childhood will release their new double a-side single ‘Solemn Skies’ / ‘Semester’ digitally and on 10-inch vinyl on 10th June 2013 on House Anxiety/Marathon Artists. The two tracks were produced by Rory Attwell, formerly of Test Icicles. The release will include a remix of ‘Solemn Skies’ by ex-Spacemen 3 man Sonic Boom, who says of the band: 'Childhood’s psych-piercing volcanic fury is the sort of thing you come across only once in a summer of balmy blue moons.'

Childhood formed at Nottingham University in early 2011, originally as a two-piece making bedroom demos. The founders Ben Romans-Hopcraft (vocals/guitar) and Leo Dobsen (guitar) initially came together over a shared love for psychedelic and guitar music, later bringing in Daniel Salamons on bass and Johnny Williams on drums.

Tracklisting: A: Solemn Skies AA: Semester B: Solemn Skies (Sonic Boom Remix)

In support of the release Childhood will be playing the following UK dates:

Sat 06 July – Academy, Liverpool Fri 12 July – 2000 Trees Festival Sat 20 July – Benicàssim Festival Fri 16 July – Secret Garden Party Sat 10 Aug – Visions Festival Fri 16 Aug – Beacons Festival

The Guardian: ‘Undeniably exciting and relevant’ NME: ‘Some of the finest slices of lo-fi indie pop and god-given guitar lines you’ll hear all year’ The Fly: ‘Deep, lush kaleidoscopic guitar pop that might just melt your heart’

Introducing: Landshapes

It’s taken some time for Landshapes to find their feet in the music they make.

As their previous incarnation Lulu and the Lampshades, they’re probably best known for the viral cup song You’re Gonna Miss Me - over 3 million hits on youtube and counting - but in the ensuing period they’ve undergone a considerable musical metamorphosis.

They have learnt and grown together, four distinctive personalities jostling and pulling, each with their own set of influences and sensibilities - an unlikely alchemy which comes together and makes sense. Broad brushstrokes, big sounds and mournful melodies forged a new soundscape, so that when a typo accidentally billed them as ‘Landshapes’ it seemed an appropriate description for an altogether new sound, and an altogether new band.

Landshapes is the sound of four people in a dingy practice room, building on accidents, listening over and reworking obsessively until every band member is satisfied. An unconventional and serendipitous a process it might be, but it’s crucial to Landshapes overall sound.

Their debut album Rambutan - the name chosen “not so much after the fruit but for the sound the word makes” and produced by Ash Workman is a distillation of songs old and new, re-worked and fine tuned with a deft precision.

In Limbo with it’s stunning video clip proves a triumphant opening salvo. “It’s always felt like a fighting song both musically and lyrically” says Luisa Gerstein. With images of Bolivia’s Cholita female wrestlers proving a major stimulus whilst recording, Luisa sought them out, travelling to La Paz and teaming up with director Ian ?. The resulting film is a dignified response to a “Latin American society where being both indigenous and a woman is a double sub-class” - a celebration of these extraordinary women both in and out of the wrestling ring.

Their unorthodox approach to songwriting is writ large across the ten tracks. Impasse “the oldest song on the record was a tinkery ukulele thing” that became something “bigger and better with the band”; Threads “a lot of ideas that came together in the practice room, has the feel of different parts interjecting like a conversation” and Racehorses “a truculent song” that was to become one of their favourites after Heloise and Jemma developed a new bass and guitar part. Demons acts as a marker of their evolution - “recorded as Lulu And The Lampshades, it felt closer to the sound we were developing and tracks that change in the way it sounds and how we worked together as a band.”

Forthcoming single Insomniacs Club “is cursed” according to the band. “Anyone who gets involved with it gets insomnia. The guy making the video hasn’t slept for days, true story.”

Landshapes take on another dimension in a live setting. With drummer Dan the only constant, multi instrumentalists Luisa, Heloise and Jemma shift seamlessly from one song to the next swapping instruments and vocals with a fluid dexterity.

Check out their track In Limbo

The Bedlamytes and The Black Ink, The Finsbury 31/5/13

Lost in the Manor Presents Such is the refreshingly diverse nature of the Finsbury clientele, that the crowd on the final Friday of May included a fully kitted-out softball team, fresh from an evening swinging the bat in nearby Finsbury Park. Not that such overt Americana had any noticeable impact on The Black Ink, whose white-shirt-black-tie Brit-beat shtick disguised a psychedelic rock band of greater depth. Three of the five members strummed six-strings but never overwhelmed, adopting a share-and-share-alike approach to their playing that was complementary rather than intrusive; flourishes such as the sparkling slide riff on ‘Tangerine’ gave the song its singular hook. Tight and accomplished, The Black Ink were at their best when belting out pop-flecked uptempo stompers, energised by a vibrant rhythm section. Oh, and it has to be said, the anchorman, sorry, the lead singer, was a dead ringer for Will Ferrell. No jazz flute tonight, though, sadly.

Headliners The Bedlamytes may have been more rudimentary musically, but they boasted an immediate focal point in singer Jasmine, whose keyboard swells and runs elevated sometimes functional tunes to a more intriguing level. Her strong vocal resemblance to Siouxsie Sioux completed the quartet’s alternative-eighties vibe, one where the occasional driving riff and catchy dynamic crescendo stood out rather than any infectious track as a whole. Still, another night at The Finsbury, another set of ascending London bands for no cover charge. All in all, another Home Run, as they may have been shouting on the sports pitches nearby.