On Saturday 16 April, Speech Fewapy Records are putting some bands on in record shops as part of National Record Store Day.
Swordfish Records, Temple Street, Birmingham – 1pm (Click here for map)
Ali Forbes (Malpas)/The Traps/Tom Peel/Victories At Sea
Polar Bear Records, York Road, Kings Heath – 3pm (Click here for map)
The Traps/Vinny and The Curse/John Presley/Black Heart Generator
More info on Speech Fewapy’s site.
On 26 March, Home of Metal are hosting their forth and final open day at The Public, “Think Antiques Roadshow for metal fans”.
Metal fans of all ages are being invited to share their memorabilia and stories with the digital archive , further cementing West Midlands as the birthplace of Metal.
Home of Metal celebrates the music that was created in the West Midlands, its legacy and influence across the world and how the social history of the region was a fundamental ingredient in providing the backdrop against which Heavy Metal was created, defined and reshaped over the past decades.
They’ll have activities going on throughout the day, hosted by Kerrang! Radio DJ Johnny Doom who’ll be talking to former ‘Raw Power’ presenter, Ozzfest compere and all round Metal expert Krusher (he’s the jolly looking chap below).
Artist duo Juneau Project, will also be on hand with family activities including creating your own D.I.Y guitar, plus rock photographer Steve Gerrard will be dishing out advice during his photography masterclass.
The masterclass is limited to 15 places – to guarantee a spot on the day, call The Public on 0121 533 7161.
SOUNDkitchen launches with an Opening Banquet tomorrow (17 February), at the Hare & Hounds, as the first in a series of monthly events bringing new and experimental sounds to Birmingham.
The night will bring together emerging Birmingham based composers with established organisations Modulate and Mama Feel Good! along with guest performers from Bristol, Leicester and London. Their aim is to provide professional development with an open environment for sound artists to experiment, collaborate and build networks.
Thursday’s set menu looks to be a tasty affair, with all of this to look forward to;
…incidental DJing from Two Left Ears; a theremin and wii mote performance from Eric Bumstead; live laptop performance by Norah Lorway; Audio-visuals from Martin Clarke (oem records); soundscapes from Simon Whetham; Experimental audio trio performance from Modulate; and an afrobeat and electronica DJ set from Bobbaliní Hot (Mama Feel Good!)
SOUNDkitchen will be serving from 8pm-1am, at £6 entry. For more info and the full menu, visit the SOUNDkitchen website.
From an interview with Earth (who’ve played Supersonic) on Pitchfork. Talking about Black Sabbath:
Pitchfork: Have you ever had any kind of personal interaction with any of the Sabbath people?
Dylan Carlson, Earth: No. Sabbath is from Birmingham, England and Tony Iommi supposedly came to a festival we played there once, but I didn’t actually see him. The two women who put on that festival are always trying to get the Birmingham City Council to recognize that it’s the city of heavy metal and put up a plaque or a statue to acknowledge it.
Pitchfork: That’s not a bad idea.
This here tweet from the Leeds-based East Street Arts has put some flesh on the bones of a rumour I heard a few months back:
@artistsmakers fingers crossed by end of month should have carling academy Brum, ex club/venue, ex cinema. As they say watch this space!
Watch that space indeed. Oh, and thanks to Julia for spotting that tweet.
Speaking of the old Academy, how are they doing at their new place? Comparing the listings of upcoming shows at the Record Shop Institute in Digbeth and the Phone Company Academy on Bristol Street, it looks to me like the former is getting the bigger names in at the moment, while the latter has a surprising number of tribute acts and bands living on past glories turning up in the next few months. Is that about right or am I off the mark?
Statement from Warp.net:
It is with great sadness we announce that Trish Keenan from Broadcast passed away at 9am this morning in hospital. She died from complications with pneumonia after battling the illness for two weeks in intensive care.
Our thoughts go out to James, Martin, her friends and her family and we request that the public respect their wishes for privacy at this time.
This is an untimely tragic loss and we will miss Trish dearly – a unique voice, an extraordinary talent and a beautiful human being. Rest in Peace.
Links:
Thanks to Mark Murphy and Pete Ashton for flagging those up.
Not Charlie Windsor, although he was meant to be in Birmingham today to unveil a statue (snow stopped play).
This is the Prince of Wales pub in Moseley, which I’ve just discovered has a blog. The owners use it to talk about upcoming events but also to rail against what they see as the negative effect or regeneration/gentrification in the area.
The latest cause for concern apparently came up at an acoustic folk night on Tuesday evening:
a few weeks ago Crosby Lend Lease, the developer of the proposed flats next door, came to the Tuesday night folk session. One of their employees pretended to want to record some of the folk session for radio, so the musicans and my staff agreed. This person then used noise level recording equipment to record the sound levels in the pub. This information can now be used against us.
Read the blog post for more info.
Birmingham promoters, Leftfoot, will be bringing their 10th anniversary year to a close with a string of live soul gigs, starting tonight with NYC disco pioneers Metro Area, followed by veteran producer and DJ Bonobo and Motown superstars Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.
Since launching at The Medicine Bar back in 2000 Leftfoot have played a huge role on Birmingham’s soul scene, Adam Regan, explains the ethos behind the music;
We started out promoting under the name Leftfoot because it seemed to represent the leftfield music we were in to.
I’ve always booked artists I’m passionate about. By making sure our production and hospitality values for live shows stay high, both those on stage and those in the audience share an amazing live experience.
Join in the celebrations at the following shows:
3 December – Metro Area
The Bull’s Head from 9pm – 2am
Tickets: £5 on the door
12 December – Bonobo
HMV Institute from 7pm
Tickets: £15 adv, order online or call 0844 248 5037
17 December – Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
The Library, HMV Institute Birmingham from 7pm
Tickets: £18.50 adv, order online or call 0844 248 5037
Jahmai ‘Jam Fu’ Jones blogs at The Inner Sanctum, dances with Smash Bro’z and MDK and is involved in Down By Law (a night at The Victoria.
He’s also one of the dancers who jumped on stage with KRS-One at the HMV Institute recently:
Speaking of Down By Law, they’re running the second room at Mama Feel Good’s Christmas Get Down at that new place called PST on Saturday 11 December. Facebook event here.
Speaking of musical Christmas bashes, I’ve just spotted the line-up for the Brum Notes/Speech Fewapy Christmas do on the Victoria’s website:
FRI 17th BRUM NOTES & SPEECH FEWAPY RECORDS CHRISTMAS PARTY – The Traps, Calories, Cajole Cajole, Tom Peel, Greg Bird, plus DJ sets from Malpas, Tantrums, Victories at Sea, Speech Fewapy and This is Tomorrow – 7.30pm, FREE
On Facebook: BRUM NOTES
Codify is a free event taking place at Grand Union on Friday 10 December, presented by My Imaginary Friend.
Musicians and artists based in Birmingham will be putting on this special performance, featuring live adjusted sound and video, guitar, bass, drums, trumpet, sax & ableton.
Doors open at 7.30pm, and the performance starts at 8pm.
Congrats to all involved in The Pilot Project. I missed the launch the other day but it’s looking good. Robin Valk would appreciate any feedback you might have. The best way to do that would be to leave a comment on his blog.
After headlining the second stage at Moseley Folk Festival back in September, Goodnight Lenin are back in their hometown once again, for this special gig in St. Pauls Church on 4 December.
With support from Boat to Row, what better way to warm up a chilly night than with a nice bit of folky music.
Doors open at 7.30pm, tickets are £5 in advance online / £6 on the door.
Birmingham Early Music Festival: The Poet Sings is taking place from 29 October – 18 November, with a string of musical events happening at various venues.
Friday 29 October, 7.30 pm at St Augustine’s Church, Edgbaston
White Raven: Songs of Love and Death
Associated Event – Admission Free
Friday 5 November, 1.10 pm at The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
duo Trobairitz: Faye Newton soprano, Hazel Brookes vielle
Thursday 11 November, 7.30 pm at Birmingham & Midland Institute
John Potter & Ariel Abramovich: A Musicall Banquet
Sunday 14 November, 3 pm at The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Le Basile: Finding Chaucer’s Voice
Wednesday 17 November, 7.30 pm at The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Susanne Rydén and Mark Tatlow: The Way of Angels
Tickets cost £12 / Concessions £6 / Students £3 and can be bought online, in person at The Barber Institute, or by calling them on 0121 414 7333
Folk for free is a new monthly event to be held in the Symphony Hall foyer by Moseley Folk starting today at 5.30pm. As the name suggests, it’s free, and welcomes passers by to drop at any time throughout the performance which runs until 7pm.
The first bit of folky treats will come from Boat to Row, who appeared on the Bohemian Jukebox Stage at Moseley Folk Festival last month, with their ‘romantic acoustic sound that is brimming with delicate honesty’.
Playing from next month onwards is as follows;
18 November: Contact. This acoustic duo team sparse acoustic guitar with rhythmic bass lines and melodic vocals.
16 December: Friends of the Stars. Emerging from the ashes of John Peel favourites, The Toques, Friends of the Stars mix looping guitar spirals with country ballads.
20 January: Rob Fellows. “A multi-instrumentalist, Rob Fellows’ brand of acoustic mash-ups and collaborations offers something a little different to the traditional singer/songwriter.”
From Suspect Packages:
reppin’ Birmingham’s Eat Good Records,Try My Angle & Mud Fam crews, a fresh mixtape showcasing the one like RTillery/RTKal, entitled ‘The Pre-fix’
(Via @homeofpolar)
