FENECH-SOLER Audio Tues 2nd
This 4-piece band from Northamptonshire, led by the brothers Ross and Ben (singer) Duffy, arrive in Brighton as part of their UK tour to support the release of their self-titled debut LP. Their anthemic brand of electronic pop is as perfect for the blogs as it is for Radio 1, so the clamour between Brighton’s promoters and venues to secure the band on this tour was very competitive – predictably a national promoter won the booking. Hot. (TR)
!!! Concorde 2 Weds 3rd
Californian dance punks !!! (normally pronounced ‘chk chk chk, ‘ ‘pow pow pow’ or ‘that band with the exclamation marks’) are coming to weave their magic at Concorde 2 this month, and are renowned for their chaotic, jumpy live shows. Their members have been on the scene for decades, and their rock, punk and dance fusion paved the crossover way for acts such as Bloc Party, Hot Chip and Kasabian, with lazy vocals, speedy synths and pared-back beats. (JMM)
CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE Prince Albert Weds 3rd
‘Celebrating 13 years of obscurity’, Casiotone makes his final curtain call this month with his last show ever. The jewel in One Inch Badge’s crown is bidding goodbye to his moniker and turning to musical pastures new, so don’t worry too much – we’re sure we’ll be hearing Ashworth under a new guise soon. Latest signing, the multimedia-utilising folk-loopings of Robert Stillman supports. (LS)
I BLAME COCO Brighton Ballroom Weds 3rd
It’s one thing to be the daughter of Gordon Sumner, aka Sting, but Eliot Pauline Styler-Sumner, aka Coco, actually sounds remarkably like her father too. Her good looks previously earned her work as a model before she turned to acting, finally deciding a career in the music industry suited best. Thankfully the resulting debut album shows us she’s taken the lessons from her father’s love of pop drenched in reggae as much as she has his lessons in using pseudonyms. (TR)
EDWYN COLLINS Komedia Thurs 4th
Edwyn Collins’ re-emergence as a performer following his severe health problems in 2005 (two brain haemorrhages for a start) have been well documented, but it’s been, as his old band Orange Juice would have it, ‘Onwards And Upwards’ for him ever since. Collins’ latest album ‘Losing Sleep’, his first to be fully written and recorded post-hospitalisation, brought old Postcard pal Roddy Frame, Johnny Marr and assorted Cribs, Drums, Franzes and Magic Numbers along to assist their hero. Collins is one of UK indie’s true gents, and it’s wonderful to have him back. (DL)
MEN Prince Albert Thurs 4th
Brooklyn’s always been a hotbed of talent, but over the last year or two it’s been on turbo-drive. Hot off that production line is this collective who arrive with a level of pedigree, formed as they are from members of various New York bands, such as Hirsute and most prominently Le Tigre. JD Samson (from the latter) seems the main driver, in a line-up that often rotates. The charged-up music takes tips from all of their electroclash roots, but still has a pop freshness that suits 2010. (TR)
YANN TIERSEN Concorde 2 Fri 5th
Yann Tiersen is probably best known for writing the ‘Amelie’ soundtrack, but in his native France he’s recognised as one of their most impressive and thought-provoking composers. His diversity of style and original approach see him using discarded typewriters and toy pianos as instruments, yet he remains critically acclaimed and is compared favourably with Chopin. Not to be written off as solely classical, his recent live tours have seen frantic switches between instruments and a focus on the electric guitar, so this should be a truly captivating performance. (JMM)
WILD NOTHING Jam Fri 5th
Will 2010 be remembered as the year that was dominated by the genre chillwave? Well, there’s certainly been a plethora of shoegazing artists drifting over from the East Coast of America all year, but few have plucked out more melody from the typically cloudy music as this solo artist. Jack Tatum released his debut album ‘Gemini’ earlier in the year to some serious acclaim and plenty of online buzz, so this should be a mesmerising performance to look forward to. (TR)
VERONICA FALLS Hope Sat 6th
Seeing this show will truly raise your hipster-goth credentials. With songs such as ‘Found Love In A Graveyard’ and ‘Beachy Head’, these guys make lo-fi pop punk in such a nonchalant style you can’t help but shoegaze your way through one of their sets in a helpless fit of apathy. Conjuring up references of Crystal Stilts, and the new wave of surf punk bands like Vivian Girls, Wavves and Fair-Ohs, we have a feeling these guys will be making it big pretty soon. (LS)
CLOUD CONTROL Prince Albert Weds 10th
This Antipodean four-piece have already released their debut album ‘Bliss Release’ in Australia, but sadly us Brits have to wait a little longer. Perhaps the fact that they’re returning for another Brighton showcase so soon after their last one back in July suggests that a release is imminent. If so, it comes with a massive stamp of approval from us, as it’s absolutely rammed with virtually perfect, harmonic pop tunes. Get a taste of it at this small venue and you’ll see precisely what we mean. (TR)
MYSTERY JETS Concorde 2 Weds 10th
Mystery Jets return to the stage brandishing their third studio album ‘Serotonin’, the eagerly awaited fall up to 2008’s acclaimed ‘Twenty One’. An altogether more coherent album then their previous efforts, witnessing ‘Serotonin’ live at the Concorde 2 looks set to be a spectacular event. Mystery Jets are a must-see band, especially in an intimate venue like this – the perfect live band if you want an evening of fun Britpop and an amazingly quirky performance. (HM)
GOLD PANDA Audio Thurs 11th
Imagine if it actually was a gold panda. We’ve all staggered past the Brighton Sealife Centre and thought; “I should go in there one day. Maybe they’ve got a shark.” Well, maybe they have but there’s certainly no gold pandas charging about. That honour is reserved for Audio, which tonight plays host to the Peckham producer’s lush electronic ecstasy, as showcased on winning debut album ‘Lucky Shiner’. Let’s just hope the Chinese don’t get wind of the gig. Their animal rights record is terrible! (BG)
HAUSCHKA Duke of York’s Thurs 11th
FatCat Records sure know a good artist when they see one, and Hauschka is no exception, playing an intimate show at the Duke of York’s cinema this month as part of a tour in support of his third album, ‘Foreign Landscapes’. The usual melee of gaffa tape, felt and other stationary accoutrements that Hauschka places within the piano to create his original works will be making an appearance alongside this forward-thinking pianist and composer. If you don’t believe us, you’ll just have to go to the show and see for yourselves. (LS)
LIARS Concorde 2 Fri 12th
LA-based Liars are returning to Brighton for the first time in three years, bringing the ‘Sisterworld’ live show down south before heading to the Constellations Festival in Leeds. Angus and co, known for their thunderous, tribal and often brutal sonic terrorism, have been described as ‘difficult listening’. But for a band who clearly have no boundaries and song titles like ‘The Frozen Glacier Of Mastadon Blood’, who knows what horrors they’ll stir up. One thing is for sure they’ll rattle your soul. (KK)
THE DIVINE COMEDY Komedia Sun 14th Neil Hannon’s last album was entirely about cricket. Well, no-one expected him to come up with a drunken, rowdy paean to rugby, a collection of chair-throwing footy anthems or sophisticated motorik electro invocation of the pace and momentum of Formula 1. 2009’s self-satisfied ‘Duckworth Lewis Method’ chronicled all things stump-related; featuring such choice cuts as ‘The Coin Toss’, ‘The Nightwatchman’ and ‘The End Of The Over’. All of which leads SOURCE to hope rain stops play this evening. Howzat Hannon? (BG)
THE PEACOCKS Prince Albert Sun 14th
This month sees the return of the Swiss rockabilly punk rock’n’roll trio The Peacocks to the Prince Albert. Having sold out previous shows here, this promises to be another packed crowd pogo-ing around to one of the best rock’n’roll bands in the world. More than able support comes from German instrumental surfabillies The Razorblades, the Ramones-meets-Buddy Holly pop punk favourites Zatopeks and psychobilly from Go-Go-Cult. A night of riffs for quiffs… (DB)
A-HA Centre Mon 15th
In their 80s heyday, Nordic pop survivors a-ha brought UK teens many wondrous things: the innovative ‘Take On Me’ video (OK, it’s hardly ‘Avatar’, but minds boggled in 1985), some ferociously difficult spelling problems for Smash Hits subs, and Morten Harket’s enviable good looks and glacier-shattering vocal range. But now, the end is near, and fabulously a-ha bow out after this world tour, titled with wonderful good humour, the ‘Ending On A High Note’ tour. Don’t worry, darling, Mummy just has something in her eye. (DL)
LES SAVY FAV Komedia Mon 15th
New York City favourites Les Savy Fav hit Brighton, and hit could be the figurative word if their nutty, balding, bearded front man has anything to do with it. Far from the typical image of a math-rock geek in glasses and a polo shirt, Tim Harrington prefers to don a cape and underpants. Spectacle aside, Les Savy Fav remain an influential and innovative band, with catchy tunes and a longevity which command more credibility than most art-rock bands can aspire to. Despite the costumes. (JMM)
DIAMOND RINGS Prince Albert Mon 15th
What we thought was simply a side project of John O’Regan, from the band The D’Urbevilles, turns out to be a focused money-maker, as he arrives in Brighton on a UK-wide tour. Renaming himself ‘John O’ and adorning some facepaint over his eyes initially got him dismissed as yet another 80s John Hughes soundtrack fan, but it turned out to be a rather innovative creation. The resulting album ‘Special Affections’ shows off a talent of skills, producing a bagful of heartfelt songs with many strong pop hooks. (TR)
GORILLAZ Centre Thurs 18th
What’s next for Damon Albarn? The opera’s done, Blur have got back together and smashed it into the middle of next year and with Gorillaz, he’s halfway to rejuvenating most of pop’n’roll’s deluded, bewildered fallen icons. Well, NASA’s mission to Mars seems to have run aground, no cure for cancer is forthcoming and the Sagrada Familia is still incomplete. It’s a mark of the man that no objective or ambition seems beyond him. But what’s next? Brighton, that’s what. Lucky Brighton. (BG)
SLEIGH BELLS Audio Sat 20th
This New York duo may be something of a Marmite band, but don’t listen to those folk who dismiss their noisy, punked pop music, because their debut album ‘Treats’ is an absolute winner. Their hi-energy tunes, sometimes crashing, sometimes nursery-rhyme-cute, will bowl you over live, especially with the striking, femme fatale singer Alexis Krauss jumping around. They’re one of the most hyped bands of 2010, but their ability to hook you in and hold you there (by the throat), is breathtakingly good. We can’t wait. (TR)
CARIBOU Coalition Weds 24th
Canadian electronic music bod Caribou just produced one of the year’s most omnivorous dance albums. ‘Swim’ stridently stepped over musical boundaries, mixing beguiling 80s influences, 60s psychedelia and early house music to produce a pretty aloof but stirring LP. Viscerally challenging and effortlessly effective, Caribou is quite popular at the moment, so obtain that ticket early. (DV)
BEACH HOUSE Concorde 2 Thurs 25th
For an ‘indie’ act, having your debut album named the 16th best of 2006 by Pitchfork must be quite a buzz. But Baltimore duo Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally are surely getting used to the accolades. January’s stunning third studio effort ‘Teen Dream’ showcased a band entirely at ease in their own skin – hardly surprising given what a comforting, wistful, expansive and lucidly realised collection of songs they had conjured, drifting in from that fantastical world we call ‘dream-pop’. Your move, Pitchfork. (BG)
CHRIS BROKAW & GEOFF FARINA Freebutt Sun 28th
At last, some live music quiet enough to slip under the radar of the Freebutt’s noise limiters, this acoustic pairing of Chris Brokaw (Codeine, Come) and Geoff Farina (Karate, Glorytellers) promises an evening of downbeat songs from the pre-WW2 American songbook. Brokaw and Farina’s album ‘The Angel’s Message To Me’ saw the pair interpret blues and ragtime songs by the likes of Blind Blake and Rev. Gary Davis in a faithfully stripped-back manner, including some very familiar standards. Not the cheeriest way to celebrate live music’s return to the troubled venue, but worthy of everyone’s support. (DL)
HEAVEN 17 Corn Exchange Tues 30th The determination of Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh not to become the twin Pete Best’s of synth pop, following their 1980 ousting from the pre-chart fame Human League, resulted in the recruitment of genial vocalist Glenn Gregory and the production of one of the era’s defining albums ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ (recorded in shifts at the same studio the League were using to tape their defining album ‘Dare’, icily). Heaven 17’s own hits would come later, but ‘Penthouse…’s thick electro-funk and ironic foreshadowing of 80s materialism has aged well. Minus Marsh, the reformed group perform the album in its entirety tonight(DL)
ONLINE PREVIEWS
GOLD PANDA Audio Thurs 11th
This solo artist’s sample-heavy, intelligent-but-challenging music is all over the place, in a good way, but the same cannot be said for his tour schedule, as although he’s been whipping around since 2007, he’s never played Brighton. Thankfully that’s changed and we welcome his glitchy, random productions with open arms. Perhaps one of the least commercially noticed artists to appear on the BBC Sound Of 2010 Poll, but certainly one of the most innovative, his live set should range from lo-fi to high-tech in a sampled heartbeat. (TR)
GOLD PANDA Coalition Thurs 11th
Not just a coin in Chinese currency, Gold Panda is a rising musician you can put money on. A serial remixer for the likes of Little Boots, Simian Mobile Disco and Bloc Party, Gold Panda released three original EPs this summer, to immediate acclaim from the NME, the Guardian, and Dazed and Confused. His debut album, ‘Lucky Shiner’, was released recently and he’s dropping into Coalition during his first world tour. Support comes from Spanish hip hop experimentalist Lost Twin and a live set from Brighton-based attak.media. Mint. (JMM)
LIARS Concorde 2 Fri 12th
Behold. Brooklyn’s twisted Satanists put more imagination into their song titles than most manage across a six album recording deal. ‘They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top’, ‘We Fenced Other Gardens With The Bones Of Our Own’, ‘The Other Side Of Mt. Heart Attack’, anyone? Last seen incanting a real Halloween nightmare in Brighton a few years back, this will be more ‘Wicker Man’ meets ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’ and ‘Blair Witch Project’ than an actual gig. Bring your crosses. (BG)
LIARS Concorde 2 Fri 12th
It’s been too long since Liars graced Brighton’s shores, but they’re back, baby. Known nearly as much for their warped music videos as their seminal drum-crazy songs and dystopic lyrical content, and who could forget their eerily instrumental story-in-an-album, ‘They Were Wrong, So We Drowned’, an ode to the dark days of witch hunts. They’ve covered an awful lot in the 10 years they’ve been around; from the experimentally atmospheric to pure noise freak-outs, this has the promise of an incredible live show. (LS)
A-HA Centre Mon 15th
“I’ve been in so many different continents, and wherever I go, everybody goes, ‘I love that video!'” No this isn’t the director of Goldie Lookin’ Chain’s ‘Half Man Half Machine’ promo but Mike Patterson, who animated a-ha’s seminal ‘Take On Me’ video 25 years ago, sketching some 3,000 drawings in 16 weeks. With the band now pop legends and on the brink of retirement, it’s fairly clear they don’t make them like this anymore, as Brighton will surely testify tonight. All hail! (BG)
CARIBOU Coalition Weds 24th
Daniel Victor Snaith, Ph.D., better known in the music world as Caribou, is heading to Brighton with his live band and bringing electronic pop and psychedelic goodness in the form of pulsating, melodic new tracks from his 2010 album, ‘Swim’. Constantly reinventing himself for over a decade, the current Caribou uses his soft, ambient vocals over catchy rhythms which build to give a sense of wonderment, experimentation and abandon, but with controlled focus: he’s a serious musician making gloriously light music. (JMM)
BEACH HOUSE Concorde 2 Thurs 25th
Arriving off the back of this year’s ethereal traversing opus ‘Teen Dreams’, Beach House once again grace us with their indolent diaphanous sounds. Led by the seraph siren vocals of Victoria Le Grand (the shoegazer’s Stevie Nicks) they are soaring high. Catch their brand of dreamy translucence at the Concorde before it evaporates. (DV)
WORDS BY DAN BOWEN, BEN GILBERT, KERI KENNEDY, DAVID LETTS, JESSICA MARSHALL MCHATTIE, HELEN MURDOCH, THE RECOMMENDER, LYDIA STOCKBRIDGE, DOM VALVONA