Mono & Holy Ground Orchestra @ Koko
Blurring the boundary between art-metal and neo-classical, Japanese post-rockers MONO, hailing from Tokyo, have long established themselves as the leading voice of epic majestic noise. Their instrumental compositions are powerful, sweeping studies in the limits of the musical spectrum; from rumbling subsonic lows to dizzying harmonic highs. This June, for the first time ever, One Inch Badge and Tidal Shift are bringing this unique spectacle to Europe, entitled “MONO and The Holy Ground Orchestra”. MONO and The Holy Ground Orchestra performance is incredibly special as MONO will only perform in this capacity once every few years.
07 Jun 2011
Brainlove Festival 2011
28 May Brixton Windmill | 22 Blenheim Gardens SW2 5BZ tickets
The annual Brainlove Festival at Brixton Windmill is a selection box of weird and wonderful music from all corners of the underground, this year with Snipe as a media partner. The headliners are impassioned Scottish three-piece Meursault; from Manchester come the psychedelic guitar swirls of Patterns. From Leeds come indie-pop quartet Bear Driver and Brainlove Records’ breakthrough artist Napoleon IIIrd, who’ll play his entire Christiania album with a full band and live visuals by Broken Pixel. Norwich lo-fi star Mat Riviere will play a special set with cellist Oliver Barrett, and Pagan Wanderer Lu will preview what’s to come on his next album for the first time. Special guests are Bastardgeist from Chicago, and Kreatiivmootor & Multiphonic Rodent, who come all the way from Estonia to show off their wildly creative works. And there’s much more besides… an unmissable day for the sonically curious.
13 May 2011
Mountain Goats
25 May KoKo | 1A Camden High Street NW1 7JE
Veteran American songwriter, cult musical hero, former psychological nurse and lo-fi pioneer John Darnielle brings his long-running Mountain Goats to Koko this May 25th in support of his new long player “All Eternals Deck”. Praised as “America’s best non-hip hop lyricist” in the New Yorker, Darnielle is famous for his literary, introverted and sometimes revelatory lyrics, with each Mountain Goats song feeling like a collectable curio in itself. From loneliness, desperation and heartbreak to triumphal existential abandon, Mountain Goats runs the gamut of experiences and emotions – this show won’t disappoint.
12 May 2011
Beat Connection, White Heat
24 May | Madam JoJos | 8-10 Brewer Street W1F 0SE
Beat Connection are a balearic pop duo from Seattle. Their debut EP “Surf Noir” sounds like an imagined beach party half-heard through a hazy mist of watery reverb, seagull song, laughter and lapping waves. Forthcoming single “In The Water” is all pulsing bass and a 4×4 beat, persuasive vocals and shimmering surf guitar. “Silver Screen” is an inviting pop number that sprouts from a processed pipe melody into a dreamy mini hit. They’re also the first signing to the Tender Age label, run by this month’s Snipe diarist Toby Bull, and amongst a flurry of London dates this headline date at Madame Jo Jo’s will show them off best.
12 May 2011
Planningtorock
16 May Electrowerkz | 7 Torrens Street EC1V 1NQ
Berlin-based, Bolton-born Janine Rostron, aka Planningtorock, has a followed a zig-zagging but ever-rising trajectory over the last few years. Starting out with an operatic electro 12” on her own Rostron Records label, she has since worked with Chicks On Speed, The Knife and Kevin Blechdom; her second album “W” will be released on May 17th via trailblazing NYC label DFA Records. Live, Rostron is a shamanic presence, using costume, dance, and her operatic, pulsing take on electronic music to whip up a sensuous audio-visual storm. Don’t miss this rare UK show.
11 May 2011
Chad Valley
11 May | Scala | 275 Pentonville Road N1 9NL
Oxford-based Hugo Manuel is a busy fella – when he’s not fronting Jonquil, he’s cooking up perfectly catchy electronic psychedelia as Chad Valley. The seven tracks on his forthcoming “Equatorial Ultravox” EP are never dull for a moment with new sounds coming at you from all directions; processed piano is adorned with synth squiggles, and harmonic ringing sings under vocodered male-female vocal interchanges. There’s a lot here to love – it’s like an upbeat Boards Of Canada. How it works live we’re curious to see, and Manuel takes Chad Valley to the big Scala stage on May 11th in support of Twin Shadow.
11 May 2011
11 May 2011
Canadian Blast Hits London This Spring
Canadian Blast is an organisation dedicated to showcasing Canadian artists and representing Canadian music at conferences and festivals all round the world. They’re getting particularly busy in London over the next few months.
On July 1st, there’s a free Canada Day event in Trafalgar Square, featuring free perfomances from Canadian legends Blue Rodeo, Polaris Prize winners Karkwa, Grammy award winner Alex Cuba and a host of others, showcasing the diverse range of music Canada has to offer. On July 2nd, a special Canadian Blast Show takes place at the Barbican with performances from The Hidden Cameras, Woodpigeon and Devon Sproule, with a screening of the film “Ivory Tower’ and a whole day of free shows and events in the Barbican foyer.
But before all that assorted goodness, they’ll be presenting three shows upstairs at the ‘Relentless’ Garage on Highbury Corner this May. We’ve put together a Snipe MPfree special for you with the guys at Canadian Blast, including downloadable tracks by many of the bands performing. So, have a listen, and get involved!
May 10th: Hey Rosetta!, Brasstronaut, Said The Whale (SOLD OUT)
May 11th: Hey Rosetta!, Winter Gloves, Bonjay, Modern Superstitions
May 17th: In-Flight Safety, Carmen Townesend, David Myles, Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers
Hey Rosetta
Hailing from St. John’s in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Hey Rosetta! have been building into one of Canada’s brightest hopes, performing around the country, with energetic shows that have earnt them a devoted following. Their latest album, Seeds, follows up from the Polaris Prize Shortlisted “Into Your Lungs”, fusing a thunderous guitars and rhythm section with epic strings and frontman Tim Baker’s empasioned vocals. Theirs is an epic sound that unfolds track after track, ever moving forwards for new sounds and ideas, neve content to sit on their laurels.
Hey Rosetta!-Yer Spring by Canadian Blast
Modern Superstitions
Hailing out of Toronto, Modern Superstitions a trio of childhood pals specializing in an original vision that blends pop, rock, punk and Motown. Modern Superstitions’ teenage members – leather-lunged singer Nyssa, guitarist Matthew and bass player Harry – offer a refreshing directness – not overwrought soul-bearing, but rather a short, sharp blast of rock’n’ roll fun.
Modern Superstitions – Mercy Line by snipelondon
Bonjay
Alanna Stuart and Ian “Pho” Swain make up Bonjay, a Toronto based duo mashing up dancehall and electro with plenty of hooks to spare. The Duo grew out of Ottawa’s “Disorganised” parties, but have developed a grimey yet souldful sound that has seen them in demand as remixers too. Their recent mini-album Broughtupsy (Trinidadian slang for “Good Manners” appeals to all-from the dancehall fans, electro kids and the indie fans can all find something to latch on to. Lyrically going beyond standard dancehall forms and covering a broad range of subject matter allows the band to tell their story in a unique and inclusive way.Stuart’s gospel trained vocals play out over Swain’s intricately produced and heavy hitting beats and synths, fusing and creating a set of insanely catchy songs to get the body moving and heart racing.
Bonjay – Want a Gang by snipelondon
Said The Whale
Said The Whale formed in 2007 as a collaboration between Vancouver songwriters Ben Worcester and Tyler Bancroft, The band released their sophomore album “Islands Disappear” in late 2009 on Hidden Pony Records (Hannah Georgas, Imaginary Cities) in Canada. A hard touring band, they have crossed Canada a number of times, supporting the likes of Mother Mother, Plants and Animals and Devo amongst others. In July last year the band took it upon themselves to embark on a touring review show of their native British Columbia by bike- with one vehicle to carry the larger gear. The ‘Malhat Revue’ took place over ten days, with the band covering 500km between shows. Camilo (The Magician), was dubbed the “song of the summer” by Grant Lawrence of CBC Radio 3 (Canada’s version of 6Music, with an entirely Canadian independent playlist), and was the most-played Canadian song at Modern Rock Radio in Canada for 2010. It may very well have the same effect in the UK in 2011.
Said The Whale – Camilo (The Magician) by snipelondon
Braids
Formed by a group of friends in Calgary, Alberta, Braids have taken their time to come to put together their debut album Native Speaker. Recorded following a re-location to Montreal, the wait for the release was clearly worth it- they have delivered an expansive, textured and intimate sounding release that has draws the listener in to its soundworld.
Minimal loops swirl and intertwine, while ideas are expanded, looped and developed over time. Backwards guitars and drones underpin lullaby like vocals, which go from wordless coo to spirited yelp in an explosion of life in seconds, full of energy and exuberance but never out of control.
Braids – Plath Heart by snipelondon
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09 May 2011
Nguuni Lovers Lovers
New Moshi Moshi imprint Dream Beach, run by Eddy Frankel of Thee Fair Ohs and specialising in non-Western music, releases it’s first single next week – a pair of uplifting, high-energy tracks from Kenyans Ngunni Lovers Lovers. Stream both tracks below, and order the certain-to-be-a-collector’s-item 7” here.
04 May 2011
Ana Lola Roman - Jigsaw
Minimal electro with touches of acid-house piano and vocals eerily reminiscent of Karin Dreijer Andersson (The Knife/Fever Ray); Ana Lola Roman is a sound designer, choreographer, singer/songwriter working out of Brooklyn and Berlin. Jigsaw/Klutch is released June 20th.
04 May 2011
Snipe Highlights
Some popular articles from past years
- Nice map of London's fruit trees shows you where to pick free food
- Nice Interactive timeline lets you follow Londoners' historic fight against racism
- An interview with Desiree Akhavan
- Peter Bayley has worked for 50 years as a cinema projectionist in East Finchley
- 9 poems about London: one for each of your moods
- Hope and despair in Woolwich town centre
- Could red kites be London's next big nature success story?
- Number of people using Thames cable car plunges
- Diary of the shy Londoner
- The five spookiest abandoned London hospitals
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