Saturday 22 December 2007

Dirty Bingo anyone?

SO its friday night in London town and venue that serves alcohol is pumping. HSAH finds herself wandering through angel in think fog to find Clockworks - a venue that doesn't look like it normally hosts gigs - for Dirty Bingo's christmas party and in particualr to catch Little Death (as previously mentioned on HSAH)

So the merriment brings with a few glasses of few and the DJs playing great indie hits! Little Death hit the stage at about ten (no one is really counting the minutes here) and the audience are confronted by a pan Alantic band that now have ther roots in London who look like they've stepped out of the nineties.

Their set lasted for about half a hour and Little Death fused sounds from their obvious inspirations - pavement / sonic youth - but they also managed to create an epic sound on some tracks like Broken Hill.

With the indie market becoming saturated by barstadised verison of The Libertines it is refreshing to find a band that take a new approach to music. More importantly there seems to be a number of bands out there like Little Death, who may not be the biggest commercial hit but they help retain HSAH hope for the music industry.

Now time for tea.

Interesting Finds


Whilst wandering through Fopp HSAH picked up a copy of Neutral Milk Hotel's album In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, which has been reissued through Domino records. Admittedly I picked it up due to liking the artwork and didn't know much about the band but have subsequently found out that this album originally came out in 1998 by this Amercian four piece. This album is a gem of gravily vocals, noisy feedback and surreal lyrics that are occasionally about World War Two. For example one track is called Holland 1945 that tells the story of a girl buried alive.


Another Album that HSAH loves is Les Savy Fav new album Lets Stay Friends. Les Savy Fav's sound filters between the soft melancholy of The Flaming Lips to the raw sounds of Pavement. They also have an innately disco feel to them which is transparent on a number of tracks including Kiss Kiss is Getting Better that makes them feel like their contemporaries like The Hives or Modest Mouse.

Vice Tour

So uber cool magazine, Vice, have decided to go on tour with support from topshop and its shaping up to be pretty good.

Here is some press release jargon:
"Another year, another package tour? Nope. Not another package tour. The Vice Live Tour, presented by Topshop, will be the first tour of the year to bring together what will be three of the most talked about bands of 2008 and present them for FREE across 4 dates with special guests and DJ's and acts at every stop. Each show will be the biggest party your city will see all year with some the most exciting talent the next 12 months will offer, including two bands tipped in the NME's top 10 acts to watch in 2008."

These new, exciting bands are: Black Kids, Friendly Fire (can you really call this band new?) and ipso facto (can you call this band exciting?).

Go to http://www.vicelivetour.com/ to register and get a free ticket!

Thursday 20 December 2007

Friday night is alright!

If anyone is looking for something to do on Friday then get down to Dirty Bingo at Clockwork, Angel, to see Little Death and Untitled Music Project. I believe Little death are on first so get down their early.

Wednesday 19 December 2007

PiX party

The uber cool magazine, PiX was celebrating in a truly festive style on Tuesday night with a party at the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen. HSAH had the honour of attending this invite only party and also had the joy of queuing with all trendies in the freezing cold. You know your in Shoreditch when you see a girl with crazy flashing earrings, a dude with bright red, asymmetrical hair (yes that was Patrick Wolf) and lots of pouting in front of mirrors. All this, of course adds to the ambiance of the night.

Taking to the stage for this night of festivities were Ipso Facto, Ox Eagle Lion Man and The Myserty Jets. Ipso facto's set was frightful dull and they are definitely one of those bands who have more style over substance. Next one was ox eagle lion man and after seeing them at the rock feed back night HSAH was really hoping for more than she got. Again they were just dull and their songs weren't put together that well. Thank god for Mystery Jets who pulled off a brilliant performance. Firstly the venue really suited them, it was just the right size to feel imtimate and to feel the engery off of band and their fans in the audience. They also seemed to play more of their hits then when they played at BE so when they did play a new song you didn't mind. They ended their set, as ever, with Zoo time which if you havent heard before is like a tribal, chanting track that definitely leave the audience on a high.

Monday 17 December 2007

The List...Part 1

With the end of the Year approaching that only means one thing - Lists. Lists always appear around the end of the year and they range for your shopping list to top 100 best moments of the year. This is my list which may appear in parts (depending on how well my memory serves me) and it will showcase my favourite tracks of this year. Now with the introduction finished lets move on to the first track...

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - ALL MY FRIENDS
Whta can you say about this track? It's just amazing!

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE - SICK SICK SICK
This track immediately caught my attention for sounding like an DFA 1979 track. With its thumping base lines that return QOTSA back to their rocker roots.

JENS LEKMAN - THE OPPOSITE OF HALLELUJAH
This is a beautiful, cheery song that always puts me in a happy mood. It also makes me bob my head from side to side - a sign of a sure winner.

FIEST - 1, 2, 3, 4
This lady has had busy year and this song really demonstrates her playful side. It's great!

Wednesday 12 December 2007

Munch Munch

White heat has long been known as the establishment of fine alternative music and has showcased some of the most exciting bands around. For example Death From Above 79 played at white heat when it used to host its nights at a venue just off of regents street. My 18 year old heart screamed with excitement each time they announced new lines. Now, in my tender age of 22, I rarely go there, mainly, because it is on a Tuesday.

Therefore stepping into the madame JoJo, felt a bit like stepping back in time and this was all in aid of seeing Munch Munch.

Munch Munch hail from Bristol and are an experiment indie outfit that have recently gained single of the week on Drowned In Sound. Well done to them! Their sound infuses Architecture in Helsinki with Bearsuit to create sound that sounds like four songs in one. What stood out to HSAH was the amazing drumming and the multiple change overs that happened throughout their set, which gave their performance a load of personality. HSAH thinks it fair to say that it would be wise to keep an eye out for Munch Munch in the future.

Monday 10 December 2007

Pan I Am

Sunday morning quickly turns into Sunday evening and with darkness brings Blue Flowers through the combined acts of poetry, spoken word and music.

Blue flowers, you maybe wondering, is a new night to grace London. Its normal home is Chiswick but for this special event the Lyric theatre played host to an array of unique talents including Patrick wolf, Rumble strips and Johnny Flynn. The main aim of Sunday's entertainment was to welcome back, to the fore Ed Larkin (once of Larkin Love) and his new band the Pan I Am.

Once entering the lyric theatre one was greeted by an in door market and short films. When invited to be seated (yes, this was a seated gig...my favourite type of gig) the night was opened by the Blue Flowers main man who mapped out proceeding and invited the first speaker on stage. He was a handsome chap but framed sentences that HSAH didn't quite understand. HSAH fears they may have been strung together for affect rather than to make sense.

After this Johnny Flynn graced the stage and did a short but sweet set that included his first single tickle me pink. Johnny Flynn was equally as talent without his band and with more hair than some of the bigger names on tonight's bill. Another undiscovered gem that emerged from Sunday nights proceeding was Polar bear - a Brummie MC - whose gritty lines made everyone chuckle.

The First half closed with Charlie from Rumble Strips, whose voice sounds as good live as it does on CD and with this HSAH went to get another glass of Chenin Blanc.

The second half opened with the slightly surreal, wellington wearing Patrick Wolf (HSAH didn't realise thatHammersmith was so muddy!) who again did a short set but managed to steal the lime light with his almost celebrity indie status and panache for unusual clothes. This left Ed Larkin to end Blue Flowers and expectations were high.

Kicking off with a mighty crescendo of guitars, the Pan I Am certainly seemed to be a lot more metal than Larkin Love were. However as the set wore on Pan I Am's set became more palatable and with greater input of the violinist, Ed's new band seemed to return to The Pogues infuse racket that we were once familiar with. This is not to say that Pan I am were not good. HSAH actually prefer Pan I Am as the set progressed. My particular fave was track three (sorry to be vague they didn't share the names of their songs).

This just left the long tube journey home.

Wednesday 5 December 2007

The Bookhouse Boys

6 Music keep playing the Bookhouse Boys' new single, tonight, which is amazing and sounds like it would prefectly sit on the Pulp Fiction sound track. Maybe The Cramps have influenced them?! Who knows but they definitely get my vote!

Tuesday 4 December 2007

The Joys of the Weekend.


With the weekend over it can only mean one thing and that is the HSAH round up of all the fun things that she managed to get to. Friday night was a bit of a wipe out but Saturday brought with it the Mystery Jets.


After many DJ appearance at BE, Mystery Jets finally pulled out all the stops and gave the crowd a unique performance. Not always the most exciting of bands live they wowed the crowds with an array of new and old tunes. Alas Anges being one of my favourite, which cam at the end of the set! Support came from Holy Hail and Friendly Fires. Sadly HSAH got there too late to check out Holy Hail but Friendly Fires, with an extra member, were brilliant. Their electro clad tracks sat well with the overall feel of BE with its panache for all things electro. The night was top off with DJ sets from BE's David H and Adventure Close to Home.


Sunday night heralds another night of pubage fun! This time entertainment came from Sunday Best - the musical identity behind Bestival - at the amersham arms, New Cross. In a typically Bestival style, the night provided a mixture of the weird and wonderful from great music to slightly odd bestival carry overs. The man in the pirate outfit must have been hot in this fake dreds!


A delightful set came from Sportsday Megaphone who has previously released material through rough trade and is definitely one to watch out for.