THE XX Komedia Mon 1st
Look up the word hype in the dictionary and it now says “see The XX”, so generous is the buzz that followed this band around over the last year. They topped many magazine and blog ‘Best Of’ lists for 2009, following their self-titled release in August. We had previously caught them at Loop festival and have to admit they looked a little lost on the Dome’s larger stage, a fact they’ll have to remedy if they continue their ascendancy, but at least Komedia will be suitably more intimate. (TR)
DIZZEE RASCAL Brighton Centre Tues 2nd
Has Dizzee sold out? If an alien were to sit down at SOURCE HQ this afternoon and listen to his Mercury-winning debut ‘Boy In Da Corner ‘- all stabbing beats and rhymes with shanking tales to match – back-to-back with the chart-topping 18-30 Ibiza hip hop of his most recent effort, ‘Tongue N Cheek’, puzzled looks would surely follow and not just because of the crashed spaceship in Queen’s Gardens. However, ET’s first observation would surely be “Who’s this wanker Calvin Harris?” (BG)
VELO Jam Weds 3rd
Following their successful launch party, one of Brighton’s best barometers of new music, The Recommender blog, showcases its next suggestion. This time around it’s Velo, rising stars in the London music scene, with their polished synth pop. Brighton band :Kinema: will prove ideal support with their equally glossy workout. In addition Eleni Mettyear’s photobooth returns, ready to capture all you exhibitionists. Lastly, don’t forget to grab your free, exclusive mixtape, handed out at the end of each night. (MB)
MIKA Brighton Centre Weds 3rd
“Let him go off and club with every supermodel in London and rest on the cool laurels that he has laid for himself like prickly thorns.” Not the words of Jesus in the Really New Testament but fresh from Mika’s mouth. He, understandably, took great offence at Alan “I discovered Oasis” McGee’s recent suggestion that the infernally bright and chipper star “should have been shot at birth”. Harsh words, admittedly. But wrong? No worse than digging-up the Gallagher brothers, surely. (BG)
TUBELORD Freebutt Weds 3rd
Kingston-based Tubelord are often to be found as a support or headline act in The Freebutt, but we have no compunction about thoroughly endorsing them every time they do. As part of One Inch Badge’s line-up, they promote an ethic of Brighton-centered musical brilliance as well as an amazing mash of melodic, hook-filled rock and arse-kicking guitar riffs. Put on your skinniest jeans and have a good old knees-up. (NH)
LITTLE DRAGON Coalition Wed 3rd
Now, Sweden churns out its fair share of melodic pop bands, however Little Dragon are clearly a new breed, successfully reviving the soulful-rhythmic-electronic sound circa 2006. Despite the name conjuring images of fierce mythological creatures, Little Dragon are polite, somewhat spiritual, wholesome, vegan Swedes (sans clichés) and clean…until they start performing. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to catch them live, you’ll know to expect dirty funk, wild cowbells and a tight, wild sweat pit of smiles (sauna not required). (DE)
THE RED STRIPE AWARDS Freebutt Thurs 4th
An amazing evening of local and underground talent, featuring Atlases, The Lullabies, Hold Your Horse Is and Left Hand Red. Hold Your Horse Is and Left Hand Red are already well known for their frantic progressional rock. An excellent choice to go and rock out to, or sit at the back looking discerning for, considering it’s all for free. (NH)
BLOOD RED SHOES Komedia Fri 5th
After getting bored by the seaside Blood Red Shoes return to their hometown of Brighton to play their brilliantly noisy, can’t-sit-still songs. Previous SOURCE cover stars, Laura and Steven are back to tour the release of their second album ‘Fire Like This’. Expect heavy guitars and boy/girl vocals that are intertwined like cuddling pandas. ‘I’m so bored I can’t stand still’ sings Steven. Remember the second half of that for what will be a good Friday night. (MD)
BLOOD RED SHOES Komedia Fri 5th (SECOND OPINION)
One of the warmest moments of last year’s Breeders-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties festival was seeing both Blood Red Shoes and Foals making it onto the bill. As well as a swelling of Brighton pride, it was heartening that all those formative years spent peddling ‘Cat On Form’ and ‘The Edmund Fitzgerald’ singles to inebriated ATP punters had come to apt fruition. Anyway, Blood Red Shoes are back in town, promoting their new, rather shiny garage pop album ‘Fire Like This’ at Brighton’s most eagerly-awaited comeback show this month (sorry, Doll & The Kicks). (SH)
BLAKFISH Freebutt Sat 6th
Quirky, angular, wilfully awkward Brummies, Blakfish, follow up their European dates supporting Biffy Clyro by heading straight out around the country again with Eastbourne’s quirky, angular, wilfully awkward (you get the idea) James Cleaver Quintet – they’re not a quintet, and none of them are called James Cleaver, if that helps. For their part, Blakfish may not be heading for the mainstream crossover of their Biffy buddies, but any band capable of creating ‘Ringo Starr, 2nd Best Drummer In The Beatles’ and ‘Jeremy Kyle Is A Marked Man’ is destined for a whole lotta love. (SH)
MEMORY TAPES Freebutt Tues 9th
With his debut album ‘Seek Magic’, New Jersey-based Dayve Hawk, former frontman of Philadelphia-based Hail Social, finally got serious. Merging previous aliases Memory Cassette and Weird Tapes into one dazzling whole, the album’s centrepiece, ‘Bicycle’, is amongst 2009’s most emphatic and brilliant singles, the kind of melancholic yet hands-in-the-air electro-pop exultation New Order used to make before they changed their name to Bad Lieutenant and still couldn’t get arrested. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, then. (BG)
THE STRANGLERS Dome Tues 9th
There’s been a recent Facebook campaign to earn them a charting record for the fifth decade in succession, with their planned release, ‘Retro Rockets’. Whether they make it or not, it’s certainly testament to their status as a national treasure. They began in the early punk scene of the 70s and to be fair most of their better hits, such as ‘Peaches’, ‘Golden Brown’ and ‘No More Heroes’, came during their earlier years, but the admission price is surely worth it for the expected sing-along. (TR)
GRIZZLY BEAR Corn Exchange Thurs 11th
Over recent years there’s been a nimiety of bands that produce a type of atmospheric indie that’s synonymous with this New York four piece. This sub-genre peaked when Fleet Foxes bowled over 2008’s SXSW Festival, but it’s a sound that has a lasting appeal both sides of the Atlantic. Grizzly Bear, who arrive in Brighton with this sold out show, were doing it successfully well before the others entered the scene and with their third studio album, ‘Vikatimest’, they produced one of the best albums of 2009. (TR)
GRIZZLY BEAR Corn Exchange Thurs 11th (SECOND OPINION)
Two of American music’s finest ‘alternative’ guitar bands for the price of one this evening. Headlining are Brooklyn’s near peerless Grizzly Bear, who, with 2009’s lush and swooning ‘Veckatimest’, proved that not all guitar bands on Warp have to be Maximo Park. Opening up are Beach House, who look to steal this year’s plaudits for themselves with the equally hymnal dream-pop of knockout new album ‘Teen Dream’. SOURCE is unsure who will come out on top tonight. You, probably, if you’re going. (BG)
MUMFORD AND SONS Corn Exchange Fri 12th
The skyrocketing popularity of these folk rockers is clearly shown in their rapid upward movement through the venues of Brighton, and they’re now comfortably filling The Corn Exchange as part of a very sold out UK tour which is then launching them across Europe and presumably on to total world domination. It’s difficult to say whether the Corn Exchange is a bit staid a venue for a band which inevitably inspires whirling and jigging from the crowd, but whatever happens is guaranteed to be utterly enchanting. (NH)
DAVID BOWIE TRIBUTE NIGHT Komedia Fri 12th
Is this is close as any of us is will get to The Thin White Duke in 2010? Save for a smart namecheck on Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s debut, little has been heard of our most prized rock legend since being hit in the eye by a lollipop at a gig (bad) and suffering a heart attack (really bad) in 2004. “I know when to go out, I know when to stay in,” Bowie once observed. He should go out more please, love SOURCE. (BG)
WHY? Komedia Sun 14th
Ohio indie folk trio Why? reach the UK after their latest release, ‘Eskimo Snow’, their fourth and most softly brooding work in the prolific year and a half they’ve existed. We’re ecstatically excited to finally experience their razor-sharp lyricism, beautiful timing, unusual time signatures, expressive fluctuating keyboard melodies and contemplative, bitter-sweet life attitude live on stage. The person fighting their way to the front and singing violently along to ‘The Hollows’ will be us, but I imagine we’ll be one of many. (NH)
SPECTRUM Freebutt Tues 16th
You have been warned – things are about to get trippy at The Freebutt as former Spaceman 3 man Pete Kember (aka Sonic Boom) makes a welcome return under his Spectrum moniker for an evening of mind expanding and acid drenched psych. With a new album ‘On The Wings Of Mercury’ set for release later in the year, expect to hear new material plus a hefty dose of back catalogue classics from one of the countries true sonic mavericks. (IC)
SPECTRUM Freebutt Tues 16th (SECOND OPINION)
Pete Kember (aka Sonic Boom) re-convened his poppier, post-Spacemen 3 group Spectrum a couple of years back, after an eternity spent pursuing ever more abstract avenues with his Experimental Audio Research project. Fresh from producing MGMT’s new LP, and with a punishing cover of The Red Crayola’s ‘War Sucks’ under his belt, Sonic’s latest Spectrum line-up have been playing some gorgeous, hypnotic gigs recently. Spectrum’s Freebutt gig last year was plagued by sound problems, fingers crossed they’ve been fixed this time. (SH)
FOUR TET Concorde 2 Weds 17th
A stupendous month in music for Brighton is topped by one-man ecstasy dance hero Kieran Hebdon. He comes armed with terrific new album ‘There Is Love In You’, a near perfect rainbow distillation of his hypnotic sonic glitterdust. Live shows are an exhibition in tech dexterity, sometimes hard, sometimes soft, usually staggering. We suggest you also check out ‘Moth’, the recent limited edition 12″ with dubstep kingpin Burial, which proved an unmissable meeting of two of our greatest 21st century electronic minds. (BG)
AUTECHRE Pavilion Theatre Thurs 18th
When the Dome box office announced this rare appearance by the secretive Manc pair, the flow of excitable messageboard chatter took even seasoned IDM posters by surprise. Rob Brown and Sean Booth’s limelight-eschewing personas, coupled with their run of uncompromising noughties albums, have made Autechre Warp’s most celebrated cult artists. Amongst those helping shake the foundations tonight are Rob Hall – one of Booth and Brown’s cohorts in the mysterious Gescom project – and extreme noise artist Russell Haswell. (SH)
THOMAS TRUAX Freebutt Fri 19th
Straight outta Wowtown, one-man steampunk band Thomas Truax is famed for his array of bizarre homemade instruments, including amped-up gramophone mutant The Hornicator and much abused flywheel rhythm box Sister Spinster. Truax affectionately treats his Heath Robinson inventions as musicians in their own right, arguing and apologising to them throughout his performances. His most recent, self-explanatory album ‘Songs From The Films Of David Lynch’ upped Truax’s profile considerably, putting scores under the influence of this most charming man. (SH)
PETER ANDRE Dome Fri 19th
While the days of Katie and Peter may be over, all is not lost – Peter has thoughtfully sought to re-establish our faith in love by releasing an album of love songs chronicling the good times (as featured in the tabloids and on ITV2). And if the prospect of a live version of ‘Mysterious Girl’ isn’t enough to get you down to the Dome, there’s always the chance that he’ll cry publicly again… What, too mean? (AL)
EDITORS Dome Sat 20th
The enigmatic Editors are back touring their latest album, ‘In The Light And On This Evening’. For a Brummie band whose quiet but bold presence has easily filled the main stage at countless festivals since their first album, they are still underrated. Expect the Dome to provide the perfect luxurious backdrop for these smartly-dressed young men in their continual production of a rich balance of orchestral, anthemic rock and pulsing, room-shaking electro-tinged laments. (NH)
BRUISE Three and Ten Sat 20th
The fantastic Bruise rarely play outside of London, except perhaps on the summer festival circuit, so it’s essential that you catch them here while you can. They’re an amazing mix of very simply arranged rock music, with a richness and dexterity that’s showstopping. Singer Isobel has a way of blowing your head off with thought-provoking lyrics blasted effortlessly from her powerful lungs, backed by delicate and expressive guitar. An unsettling and atmospheric set is guaranteed, plus some euphoric new material to boot. (NH)
THE JOY FORMIDABLE Audio Mon 22nd
If you like your indie powerful, amicable and as full of melodic choruses as possible, then this Welsh trinity are well worth checking out. Fantastic songs such as ‘Whirring’, ‘Cradle’ or ‘Austere’ , from their debut album, ‘A Balloon Called Moaning’, are remarkably mighty, which surprises when you see it played live by the tiny frame of lead singer, Ritzy. It’s also worth noting that this headline tour brings with it a support slot from Airship, an unsigned band currently getting noticed on the blogs. (TR)
TURIN BRAKES Concorde 2 Sat 27th
The lovely Turin Brakes are still going, quietly producing dewey and gorgeous folk rock. You’ll definitely get to hear the soporific ‘Painkiller’ (the summer rain song) but they have other songs as well, with a surprising amount of heart-wrenching punch to meet the rolling, lackadaisical nature of their singles. This tour is a kind of celebration of their previous years, and they’re guaranteed to saturate you with wistful sentiment for summers past, and affirmative joy for the year ahead. (NH)
THEE SILVER MT. ZION MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA St George’s Church Sat 27th
After some exciting recent on-and-offline releases, the Silver Mount Zion project takes on another guise for a very brief UK tour, as a memorial of what they once were. No doubt there will be the usual endless spiralling soundscapes, mad harmonising, and palpable sense of destiny being present in the room, especially with it being in the ethereal and intimate setting of St George’s Church in Kemp Town. Not something to miss. (NH)
STANLEY BRINKS Prince Albert Mon 29th
The artist formerly know as Andre Herman Dune, Stanley Brinks has been a busy man of late touring and recording with The Wave Pictures, the outcome of which can be heard in the form of his eponymous album released in January. Complete with his trademark lyrical whimsy and a bunch of charmingly ramshackle, simple, yet effecting songs, it all brings to mind a European Jonathan Richman – and that sure ain’t a bad thing in our book. (IC)
DAN LE SAC vs SCROOBIUS PIP Concorde 2 Mon 29th
Stupid names aside, there’s a fair bit of talent and originality crammed into this pair of Essex boys. They produce rather brave music that nobody else could quite achieve, which is an especially difficult thing in this day and age. Poetic spoken words, which range from political comment to insightful observation, are spat out by Scroobius Pip in his styled accent. Dan Le Sac meanwhile fills in the rest with beats and samples, regularly matching Pip’s resourcefulness. (TR)
THE COMPUTERS Engine Room Tues 30th
The Computers are a very interesting bunch from the West Country. Where else would you find minds that reach the combination of “blues/punk/hardcore” described on their Myspace? Beneath their hardcore exterior lies some amazing guitar-crunching (so very almost Jonny Greenwood), and a sense of fun that only a four bar blues bassline beneath hammering metal guitar and drums can provide. Perfect for hardcore and rockabilly fans alike, who are craving something more unusual and brilliantly intense. (NH)
Words by Mike Bradford, Ian Chambers, Dionne Elizabeth, Ben Gilbert, Nicole Holgate, Stuart Huggett, Amy Lavelle and The Recommender