Reviews of gigs in Brighton, if you want to join us and review gigs, drop us a line.
Monday, January 30th, 2012
Walking into a packed foyer, it was nice to see I wasn’t the only one excited by the prospect of Steve Severin, founder member of Siouxsie and the Banshees, performing a soundtrack for ‘Vampyr’ by Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer. It didn’t matter whether the majority of people were there as fans of the Severin, Dreyer or, like me, both.
Saturday, November 26th, 2011
The Besnard Lakes probably have an amazing record collection. Shelves of 70s soft-rock rarities, obscure progressive concept albums and original copies of out of press early 90s shoegaze classics.
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
The gig started with Toe. But before they came on we were subjected to choral, opera and 20s music, which was a pleasant change from the sort of nonsense you often get between bands.
Sunday, September 4th, 2011
“I don’t believe in ghosts, but I have seen the demon host.” With lyrics like these, who needs harrowing music to convey a sense of the impending apocalypse? But then with instruments sounding this lush, you wouldn’t want Timber Timbre to go acapella…
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
Terms like ‘transcendent’ and ‘trance-inducing’ are generally overused in music. From Lady Gaga to Mogwai, all kinds of artists have been characterised as a premier purveyor of experiences beyond the mundane. Someone who probably deserves the label more than most is Sain Zahoor, a 70 year-old street musician from Pakistan who is playing Brighton as part of the annual World Sacred Music Festival.
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011
From beer to beards, Brighton seems to have a festival of some description every weekend over the summer. Unlike many of them, Soundwaves isn’t an excuse to flog you expensive yet enticing food and drink while a dodgy funk band plays in the background. A registered charity dedicated to experimental sound, it’s supported by local institutions like Brighton University as well as the Arts Council and that bastion of the musical avant-garde, Wire magazine [...]
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
Six Organs of Admittance at Komedia, Brighton 11/6/2011 by Adam Bambury Last time Ben Chasny visited Brighton he had a full band in tow. They blasted the audience with electrified squalls of noisy distortion, focusing on the frequent dissonance that pulses through his extensive oeuvre rather than the equally common moments of sun-dappled beauty. Tonight [...]
Sunday, May 15th, 2011
Sufjan Stevens mesmerised the Brighton Dome last night. There were dancers, balloons, confetti, angel wings and a fluorescent stage show. Behind the band, outsider art-inspired video projections that attempted to send us to a different mental cosmos. The setlist was mainly sourced from his latest album Age of Adz. But there were a few songs from the All Delighted People E.P. as well as older material from Illinois. The night kicked off with a bang when Seven Swans reached its rousing crescendo.
Friday, May 6th, 2011
For a couple of bearded guitarists specializing in droning instrumental soundscapes, Barn Owl have a pretty high profile.
Previous releases have been put out by likes of hip noiseniks Not Not Fun. Their most recent release, the brooding and revelatory Ancestral Star, came out on Thrill Jockey.
Sunday, May 1st, 2011
A swirling cacophony of noise engulfed a sold out Concorde 2 as Skindred kicked off their 2011 tour in fine style. Their unique kaleidoscope of genres (is there a word to describe the combination of punk, heavy rock and reggae!?!) fused together to create an exhausting night of pogo bouncing, old fashioned moshing and even the retro robot.