PLUS ONE MAGAZINE: 2017

Keston Cobblers Club - Leeds Brudenell Social Club, November 25th 2017 (LIVE REVIEW)

Kentish indie folk quintet Keston Cobblers Club are one of those live acts capable of bringing a smile to the face of anyone fortunate to witness their uplifting performances regardless of age. Already darlings of BBC Radio, they’ll probably still be gigging for free way into their autumn years and tonight, their one-off High & Lonesome appearance is the first time I’ve seen a band completely fill the new Brudenell Community Room; packed to the rafters and positively buzzing as Julia Lowe (Keyboards/Brass/Vocals), brother Matt (Strings/Vocals), Tom Sweet (Brass, Strings/Vocals), Harry Stasinopoulos (Drums), with Daniel on Tuba, (presumably) deputising for Bethan Ecclestone, take to the stage with the wistful summeriness of ‘Bicycles’.

It seems only a matter of months since I chatted with then 21-year-old Brooke Bentham ahead of her stripped-down performance supporting John Smith at Leeds Howard Assembly rooms. Still virtually unknown outside her native South Shields and adopted home London, whilst about to graduate from Goldsmiths, the world seemingly at her feet, her unassuming demeanour belied the intensity of the live performance, just her fragile yet piercing voice and a guitar.

It's astonishing to think that legendary record label Sub Pop has notched up over thirty years of album releases. Home to the wave of grunge bands that brought notoriety to the label in the late eighties/early nineties, the fact that they continue to enable artists like the Toronto 3-piece Metz to have an outlet is just the ticket.

It seems almost a lifetime ago I happened upon ‘Felt Mountain’, the beguilingly ethereal Goldfrapp debut, Alison’s seductive tones part Marlene Dietrich, part Kate Bush, expertly wrapping themselves around nine lavishly produced mini-musicals, every one capable of gracing the next Bond film. Six more albums have followed at fairly regular intervals, each an evolution from its predecessor, the most recent being this spring’s release ‘Silver Eye’, a return to the electronic heartland dominating the band’s middle years; the subsequent 14-date supporting European tour bringing our heroine to a pretty full but not quite brimming Leeds 02 Academy.

Just when you thought Brudenell couldn’t get any more perfect it goes and gets another permanent live music space; The Community Room, meaning the games area can now (presumably) remain unmolested when the venue is double booked. Alas tonight the audience headcount is somewhat on the sparse side for London quintet My Sad Captains, surprising considering tonight’s absence of an admission charge for their closing date in a quartet of low key headline shows, with a further three planned for November supporting fine New York duo Widowspeak.

This 'wood & wire' incarnation of Therapy?'s 'best of' isn't just a gig, but more like old friends turning up at your house with a bag of beers and playing in front of your best pals. Andy Cairns and Michael McKeegan are seated alongside drummer Neil Cooper, candles set a mellow, relaxing atmosphere as they appear for the first of two stripped down acoustic sets in The Brudenell.

Descending the stairs into the Leeds Wardrobe immediately prior to the appearance of Nashville rockers All Them Witches, I’m greeted by the unmistakeably thunderous opening bars of Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’, together with its inevitable endorsement by several heads nodding in time to Iommi’s timeless riffage; one immediately realising an assault of good old fashioned heavy rock is just what the doctor ordered this evening.

The majority of music aficionados normally associate the super cool and hugely influential Seattle based record label Sub Pop with grunge, punk and hard-core genres. For those not in the know, it may be a surprise to find out the label also launched the careers of Fleet Foxes and The Shins, both producing a sound far closer to the considered Americana purveyed by Carolina based singer songwriter Sam Beam, also known as Iron & Wine; a moniker gleaned from a dietary supplement Beam spotted on the shelf in a general store whilst shooting a film.

Canadian quartet Holy Fuck, seem to effortlessly achieve the perfect blend of electronic geekiness combined with organic psychedelic rock. Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh share front man duties between themselves, both surrounded by a more bewildering array of electronic gadgetry than if they’d ram-raided a branch of Tandy right before the show.

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They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. In the case of singer songwriter Frankie Rose, the 18 fruitless months spent in LA trying in vain to piece together her fourth album, almost turning her back on music completely in the process, probably falls into this category...

Kurt Wagner’s strangely alluring and constantly changing collective Lambchop have been around for quite a while, shifting from a sound clearly defined by their Nashville origins yet always pushing against the envelope, absorbing new age, soul and jazz influences along the way...

Including the f-word in your band’s moniker can prove attention grabbing whilst simultaneously sending the promoters fleeing for the hills. Despite this, Canadian electronica quartet Holy Fuck continue to make innovative music, now well into their second decade, fusing live instrumentals with boatloads of electronica, creating urgent and infectious grooves guaranteed to make even the most leaden footed of us start tapping away.

"...Gogol Bordello’s main set completes 80 minutes of high octane gypsy punk, clearly demonstrating their absolute mastery of the live performance, yet these guys still have something in the tank for a three song encore..."

"...Using narrative largely hewn from historical newsreel footage, guest vocalists are also drafted in for the first time. Opening with the title track, we hear the dulcet baritone of Richard Burton, himself from a mining family, reprising his War of The Worlds narrative style in a musical setting informing the listener the reason every boy growing up in his valley wanted to be a miner..."

"...Buoyed by his rave reviews from The Flaming Lips’ headline gig on Glastonbury’s Park Stage the previous evening, extravagantly dressed frontman Wayne Coyne seems well up for a repeat here as he eggs on the packed crowd during the protracted start of opener ‘Race for the Prize’ before an explosion of light, tickertape and balloons has everyone gasping..."

"..Wild Weather will freely admit they aren’t specialists in any certain style. Some breweries excel in IPAs, others in sours etc, but for Wild Weather they love all beers and brew all beers, the only philosophy they strive for is to brew ‘great beer’.."

Portuguese siblings Julia (drums/vocals) and Maria Reis (Guitar/Vocals) have been creating a glorious sisterly racket for half a decade with their band whose moniker translates as ‘Catch the Monster”, blazing a trail throughout the Lisbon punk scene whilst also creating their own record label Cafetra Records.

Whilst taking some well-earned time out mid-tour in New York last autumn, Amber Arcades nipped into Strange Weather Studios for a couple of days, enlisting the services of producer Ben Greenberg. The result is the Cannonball EP, a handful of songs, four of them originals, released again on Heavenly Recordings.

"..attention to detail clearly evident as complex arrangements, sudden changes of pace, not to mention the boatloads of instrumentation, are all navigated with consummate ease..."

"...Choosing between the evening headliners proves challenging, Wild Beasts, Rag & Bone Man and Slaves can count themselves worthy contenders but recent release by fake band turned real The Moonlandingz is an absolute revelation; meaning we’re off to Brudenell for a lunar themed double-header denouement as all-girl quartet The Big Moon are up first.."

With their debut album ‘So Long Forever’ (Fiction Records) deservedly garnering its fair share of critical praise, it seems the initial hype surrounding Palace is beginning to feel vindicated. Having first tripped over the dreamy languid splendour of ‘Kiloran’ a couple of years ago, the richly textured expanses of their first long player proves they are no flash in the pan...

Can it really be a decade since this unique metropolitan festival burst onto the West Yorkshire live music scene, creating a slew of imitators all over the world? Now in its 11th renewal, Live At Leeds has grown into a local institution, firmly established on the live music calendar, with this year promising to be the biggest and best of all, boasting over 100 varied acts to choose from, a carefully curated blend of local, national and international musicians meaning there is more than something for everyone.

"..Things get positively intergalactic on ‘A Thousand Small Spaces’ as you drift across the universe before being rudely awakened by ‘Obidant’, a Tasmanian Devil of a tune boasting more time changes than a Southern Railway timetable during a strike.."

"...Bentham’s rich voice suddenly fills the inviting space within the Howard Assembly Rooms with ease for the elegiac opener, ‘We’ll Be Ghosts’; the first of only half a dozen songs in a short set finishing with a lo-fi version of ‘Ephemeral’..."

"...Don't be fooled by the wit and hijinks that pour freely from this band however, they have a hell of a lot to say about our current state of affairs and Talbot rightly so, is mad as hell..."

"...it’s great to see the band choosing to return to Brudenell to launch their latest European tour in support of the new record, emerging in front of a packed venue to the Nina Simone classic ‘I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free’."

"...He cuts quite a sharp-dressed slender figure through the blue swathes of dry ice as his brother still sporting that wild bird's nest of hair cranks out the walls of noise behind him."

Imperial beer Club is the first monthly subscription service that brings some of the very best, tastiest-brewed, high-strength beers direct to your door. Bottles and cans no lower than 7% abv, a box averaging between 8-9% abv and some into the double figures mark, yes this is certainly 'only for the strong'!

"The trademark Grandaddy sounds are still in evidence on the dozen tracks on ‘Last Place’, all written by Jason; fuzzy analogue synths lovingly dusted down and sounding as good as ever..."

"Doffing a cap to International Women’s Day, we then get a trio of Marling tracks baring female names, starting with her cozy new ode to the capriciousness of the fairer sex ‘Nouel’’ followed by ‘Daisy’ and ‘Sophia’, the latter featuring twelve string guitar work to send a shiver down the spine..."

"...don't think for a minute then that this forth installment is their grown up, mellowed out, mature album. Not entirely anyway. Fret not young moshers, you'll be losing your shit/phones/trainers to some of these short sharp blasts of high energy guitar-fueled rock fury".

"...the album’s sound is as densely packed as the auditoria will be in her forthcoming shows, big bass dominating a somewhat noir soundscape, yet still allowing our heroine’s chocolatey mezzo vocal free reign".

"...the set closed with the anthemic ‘Light Show’ from ‘The End of That’. Every number sounding sharp and full-on, showcasing the band’s elaborate song structures without any of them outstaying their welcome."

It’s been four long years since Matt, Oliver, Ryan, Dave and Jimmi put out their last album so it’s great to see the Rothwell quintet finally releasing some new material and donning their gigging boots once more...

Leeds Indie Food is returning this May for the third time, and we are very excited about that! The last two years have been a whirlwind of food and drink fun, and it looks like the 18 day run for #LIF17 in May is set to be even better.

This time around we’re looking at a beast of a brewery from Aberdeen, Scotland – No, not them. This little outfit have been brewing for a little over 9 months now and have already achieved nationwide acclaim and began exporting their product to the likes of The Netherlands and Belgium. Their beers are available from Plymouth to the Shetland Islands and everywhere in between and in January they were honoured with Ratebeer’s ‘Best New Scottish Brewery’ award, ladies and gentlemen – Fierce.

An album containing references to unicorns, faeries, witches, wizards, galaxies, frogs, Day-Glo strippers and castles means either its creators have ingested enough LSD to keep the entire population of California tripping their collective tits off for a weekend or The Flaming Lips are back on the block with a new release.

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