Listening Post – November 2021
As regular as my dog barking me awake every day before 9AM, Birthday Cake For Breakfast has your NEW monthly playlist to tuck into! First of the month, like clockwork.
Featuring everything that’s been tickling our fancy this past month, within these 20 tracks you’ll find new and old, loud and quiet, hard and soft and everything in between. Do yourself a favour – give it a like so you remember it each month and share it with your friends so they can do the same!
‘No he don’t taste the food, he’s just shovelling it down.’ Yet another wonderful ditty from the ever brilliant Jonathan Richman, rhyming up a storm as is his wont. Continuing our lifelong Richman trip.
Don’t look forward, look backward! Glittering nostalgic joy on offer from Nation of Language out of Brooklyn, NYC. ‘This Fractured Mind‘ is an energetic delight, calling to mind The Human League and ‘Johnny and Mary‘. Perfect pop.
Wonderful Autumnal feeling on offer from the latest out of Lancaster’s finest, Mr Ben & the Bens. Crunchy leaves, wrapping up tight, crisp air. Rocking a bit of a timeless feel, one loves those brass bursts!
Total slacker jam from North Carolina outfit Wednesday. Brings to mind the feelings we first felt when we fell in love with Milk Teeth all them years ago (before Josh left…) A spine-tingler no doubt, turn this one right up, kid!
Really swish stuff from Kentucky’s own Wombo, the trio letting rip on ‘Dreamsickle‘. The almost dreamlike vocal of Sydney Chadwick compliments the post-punk-ish instrumental perfectly. Joy Division one minute, The Strokes the next, then Omni the next.
Further Bowie vibes on the latest from the brilliant Cate Le Bon, from her forthcoming new record ‘Pompeii‘. Luscious and warm, ‘Running Away‘ is a welcome return, one which builds upon the splendour of the untouchable album ‘Reward‘.
Lump in the throat territory from a pivotal album in the early days of Birthday Cake For Breakfast, a mid-October morning was sound-tracked quite wonderfully by the fantastic debut album from Tall Ships (RIP). ‘Gallop‘ sounds a lot more relevant almost a decade on from when we first heard it…
Boy oh boy, We Are Scientists know how to write a bloody catchy chorus. Whilst they’ve been waffling on about bringing back the bridge ahead of the release of ‘Huffy‘, there’s no denying their knack for penning an anthemic, sing-a-long refrain. Hearts set to burst.
Satisfyingly 60’s sounding cucumber cool number from London formed duo Kit Martin and Merve Erdem, the pair bringing Turkish and French influences to the table. Martin perfectly sets you up for the knockout vocal of Erdem.
Leeds lot Delta 5 sounding box fresh in the year 2021, despite ‘Mind Your Own Business‘ coming out forty years ago! Hypnotic bass line make no mistake, this is such a rager.
From an EP we’ve been positively rinsing since its release a month or two back, this sultry, 80’s sounding piece featuring the vocals of the brilliantly named Biig Piig has been swirling round my brainbox almost as much as the undeniable collab with Folly Group and Brian Nasty. The fact that Metronomy have now followed it up with the ludicrously catchy ‘It’s Good to be Back‘ is testament to them!
Dynamite lead single from the forthcoming BODEGA record, ‘DOERS‘ takes about 40 seconds before you know you’re in good hands. An anthem for the 2021 pandemic crowd, the refrain of ‘Bitter, Harder, Fatter, Stressed Out‘ feels very relatable!
Rocking shoulder-shuffler from French duo The Limiñanas, with a garage-rock vibe that makes you want to whack on a pair of black shades and light one up. Much in the same way that BODEGA sound like they’re from New York, The Limiñanas most definitely sound like they’re from France (the vocal helps…)
As heard on that latest Metronomy EP, LA based French-Korean artist Claire Chicha creates perfect wonky pop as Spill Tab, with ‘Anybody Else‘ very much hitting the spot.
We’re still vibing off the latest record from Future Islands at Birthday Cake For Breakfast HQ, so it was a treat recently to discover this standalone single. I’ve always said they sound best when they’re moving at a clip and ‘Peach‘ is very much that brand from the quartet out of Baltimore.
Nails double-peddle nastiness from LA artist SASAMI and her newly announced album ‘Squeeze‘. Discovered here via the involvement of Patti Harrison (the star of multiple scenes in I Think You Should Leave), ‘Sorry Entertainer‘ is a ripper, a metal blast from the past that sounds gnarly as you like.
Recent Mitski news resulted in some looking back to 2018’s ‘Be The Cowboy‘ and the terrific, hypnotising dance-y bop ‘Why Didn’t You Stop Me?‘. Love how much it builds and builds, leading to that fist in the air crescendo!
Last month we were bigging up Ibibio Sound Machine and we find ourselves doing so once again this month off the back of their latest single, ‘Electricity‘. Recorded at the studio of Hot Chip, the collective were so keen on it that they wanted the world to know and we’re chuffed they did – yet another arse-shaker from the outfit.
The Gun Club – Death Party
(Death Party)
Raging garage punk banger from Yank lot The Gun Club. Love that yelped, almost unhinged vocal delivery from Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Proper sinks its teeth in this one, its repetition working you up so much you’re begging for another verse at its end.
Absolute disco-dance delight this, the work of Falle Nioke and members of SAULT, Soma World and Michael Kiwanuka’s band. The story goes the quintet got together in Margate after a visit to the pub, setting up an impromptu jam sesh that eventually led them to the business of ‘Yagana‘ (which translates to ‘It’s been a while‘), which was recorded in just one weekend. You’ll note Nioke has previously been seen round these parts, the vocalist moving to the UK from West Africa back in 2018 and coming to our attention through collaborations with sir Was and Ghost Culture.
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Listening Post – May 2020
Another month is it? Such lines are becoming blurred – one bank holiday after another, shambolic government briefings on heavy rotation… Familiarity can have its upsides however, and with a new month comes a new Birthday Cake For Breakfast playlist! Heavy and hard, light and soft, with everything in between. Get it listened to, kid!
*UPDATE – Our playlist only sticks about for ONE MONTH before we move on. No regrets. You can listen to the latest playlist below!*
MAKE ENDS MEET! Mega riff-fest off the new album from our favourite hogs, ‘World Crust‘ is a brutal thrash effort that gets the heart pumping. Top performance from vocalist Baty.
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs recently talked us through influences and inspirations – From Oh Sees to The Stooges – Check it out here!
I remember actually laughing out loud when I first heard the drumming on this. It’s the same reaction I had when I first heard ‘Raw Optics’ from Oh Sees ‘Orc‘, with its mid-song drum-off that seemed to last forever. More wonderful stuff from the mind of Thundercat.
2018 debut ‘Quit The Curse‘ was (and still is) a personal favourite and I love the work of Anna Burch. Lead single ‘Not So Bad‘ off her latest album was a wonderful return, but it’s this angelic mid-album instrumental that struck a chord. A heart-stopping delight.
Another smasher of a single from LDN quartet Jade Hairpins, featuring two bods from Canadian punks Fucked Up! Very much giving us LCD Soundsystem vibes on the regular, this is a sun-soaked danc-a-thon, make no mistake.
Jade Hairpins recently talked us through influences and inspirations – From Miles Davis to Toy Love – Check it out here!
Prince – Mountains
(Parade – Music from the Motion Picture Under the Cherry Moon)
I find with artists like Prince, Bowie, Dylan and the like, they have so much in their back catalogues that even if you’re a fan of their work, there’s so much uncovered material. That being said, I can’t believe i’d not heard ‘Mountains‘ until recently… Thanks to Jon-Lee of Then Thickens, i’m absolutely hooked on this record. ‘Mountains‘ is a total bop!
Opener from the new SAVAK record – as rightly pointed out by our Nate in reviewing the record, there are harsh moments throughout, “but above all there’s a strong pop sensibility, lots of warmth and sweetness“. ‘Vis-A-Vis‘ was an unexpected treat having heard the jagged post-punk hit of ‘It’s Mutual‘, a really good, infectious bit of kit.
SAVAK recently talked us through influences and inspirations – From One Last Wish to Young Marble Giants – Check it out here!
Another anthemic delight from one of our favourite rising post-punk outfits, waxing on about getting about without public transport. No choice now anyhoo, lads (unless you want to get caught up with Coronavirus…)
On more than one occasion this lockdown, my partner has unknowingly recreated the Beta Band scene from ‘High Fidelity’. The soundtrack to many an afternoon getting absolutely melted in the back garden.
(Photo Credit: Kevin Cummins)
Picked up on as part of the wonderful listening parties taking over on Twitter from that Tim Burgess, this early New Order number never registered much for me as I could never get much further than ‘We All Stand‘ on this album, which knocks your enjoyment west somewhat. ‘Your Silent Face‘ is completely different however, with an incredibly captivating instrumental throughout. Love ’em.
No strangers to being a real bunch of smoothies, Canadian outfit Pottery tug at the heartstrings with this swell wonky love song from their forthcoming album ‘Welcome to Bobby’s Motel‘. I’ve got it on good authority that the album is a ripper – Keep an ear out.
New single from SQUID having signed to WARP, it took a minute for us to get on board with it following the likes of instant smashers ‘The Cleaner‘ and ‘Match Bet‘, but it’s now stuck entirely in my head. Leaning heavily into their various influences, it’s another indicator that there’s something special cooking up with this lot.
“…BAG!” Viagra Boys surprised us recently with the release of a new EP, particularly with the title track – an “anthemic 80’s sounding pop jam“. ‘Lick The Bag‘ is more like it – grim tales of debauchery and being a bit of a scuzz ball. We’ve all been there though, right?
The Modern Lovers – I’m Straight
(The Modern Lovers)
Absolutely love the vocal of Jonathan Richman on this, tossing and turning between angst and confidence, completely lovelorn and green with jealous rage. “I’m certainly not stoned“.
One that used to be all over Marc Riley’s show on 6 Music late last year, this very telling tale of devotion from NYC anti-folk artist Jeffrey Lewis is super infectious and slightly concerning if you’ve fallen into a vinyl buying habit like myself…
Caught me out a few times when i’ve been out and about – Do not adjust your set! I’ve been picking out records from the past during this lockdown and very much enjoyed working through ‘Everything Touching‘ again, having been mildly obsessed with Tall Ships a number of years back. Euphoric ending.
(Photo Credit: Andy Watson)
“F*ck it, anything (musically) goes in these mad times.” So said one of our favourite noisy outfits, GOD DAMN, on releasing a cover of Foo Fighters at their gnarliest. ‘Wattershed‘ suits the Black Country outfit down to the ground, with them coming at it rough and ready from their lock-up. It also celebrates the record being 25 years old (what!)
Ian Dury – Razzle In My Pocket
(Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll)
Listening to a lot of Ian Dury this lockdown. It still seems odd to cotton onto an artist having gotten into them via their kid (maybe i’ll start listening to Albert Hammond next?) If you like the idea of Baxter Dury in a pub-rock, cheeky-chappie role, his Dad is the best bet. ‘Razzle In My Pocket‘ is a great little wink-to-the-camera story.
From an exceedingly pleasant album out earlier this year, Shauf and his Paul Simon-esque vocals hit on incredibly catchy territory with ‘Things I Do‘. This record perfectly paired with an evening where we had the fire blazing in the garden recently (no way of writing that without sounding like a fudd).
Stonking bit of scratchy guitar post-punk out of Chicago, reminding us very much of D.C. band PRIESTS. From their forthcoming new album ‘Just Look at That Sky‘, we’ve been really digging ‘Bad Form‘ and new single ‘Lucky‘, very much whetting our appetite for this kind of thing.
Another new discovery for us, MAITA hypnotised us with this heart-swelling single from their debut album ‘Best Wishes‘. Based out of Portland, Oregon, their debut LP arrived this month via Kill Rock Stars – Once home to the likes of Elliott Smith and Sleater-Kinney. Great company indeed and the label have clearly got a knack for picking ’em, with ‘Can’t Blame A Kid‘ being an instant favourite.
MAITA recently talked us through influences and inspirations – From Big Thief to Nirvana – Check it out here!
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Do Not Miss – ArcTanGent 2019 Top Tips
Can you feel it? It’s that week of ArcTanGent tremor that runs through those in the know. The genre-shirking festival all the way over there in Bristol is highly regarded for those who love their alternative music and is, quire rightly, critically acclaimed and award winning. 75% of tickets have already been sold for this years festival (their seventh edition), potentially making this their busiest year to date!
Chances are, if you’re a regular Birthday Cake For Breakfast subscriber, you’ll know we go mad on ArcTanGent every year around this time – You may even be a regular attendee yourself! For those unfamiliar or if you’re just in need of a steer, we’ve picked out some unmissable moments forecast throughout the forthcoming festival for you to keep an eye on.
Dan Wild-Beesley celebrations
(Photo Credit: snaprockandpop)
In terms of memorable ArcTanGent moments over the years, a number of unforgettable performances can be attributed to Dan Wild-Beesley in one form or another. From last year’s triumphant GUG showing to their Alpha Male Tea Party mash-ups over the years and the very first ArcTanGent outing for festival favourites Cleft back in 2013!
Following the incredibly tragic passing of Dan late last year, ArcTanGent 2019 will see a celebration of life in the form of a tribute showcase featuring Alpha Male Tea Party and friends. Surprises and special appearances galore, you’d be daft to miss ‘The Beft‘!
Elsewhere, Nordic Giants have arranged a special dedication to Dan – A ripped up and stapled back together rendition of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘ that they’ll somehow work into their Thursday afternoon set!
The Elephant In The Bar Room
Lovingly named after the shouty Cleft smash that got right under the skin of all ArcTanGent attendees, this latest addition to the festival will see an entirely new stage featuring stripped-back acoustic sets to piano-jazz and everything in between. Certainly worth a punt, we recommend attending to catch the likes of A-Tota-So, No Violet and Pave!
Horrifying noise for breakfast
We still to this day talk favourably about the mind-melting wake-up we received from USA Nails a few years back at ArcTanGent – A set that genuinely had people have to leave the tent as it was too much for them…
This year sees early sets from the likes of Cocaine Piss, Big Lad, Cattle and The St. Pierre Snake Invasion, with ringing ears on the menu for afters.
Danceable double action
Last year at ArcTanGent, one of our definitive highlights came via Belgium based duo LA Jungle bringing danceable daftness, a pair we lovingly called “a not at all mainstream Death From Above”. This year we predict a similar math-rock dance-a-thon from Aiming For Enrike, another double act who were a major highlight at the wunderbar StrangeForms Festival in Leeds earlier this year.
Being mega-lashed in a field and seeing Battles (hopefully) play ‘Atlas‘
(Photo Credit: Chris Shonting)
A song that has forever been in my brainbox since I heard a strand of it many years ago, it’ll be a hypnotising affair when Battles take to the Arc Stage on Friday night. They’ve got a new album in the works too, so expect to hear some choice cuts from ‘Juice B Crypts‘!
Discovering a new favourite
(Photo Credit: Puzzleman Leung)
As is often the case at ArcTanGent, you will likely wind up discovering a new favourite in the fields. For us last year it was the aforementioned LA Jungle and their fellow Belgians The Guru Guru. Having become acquainted with the festival playlist this year, we’re expecting to become loved up over the likes of Elephant Gym, Ogives Big Band, Oxygen Thief and DJ Perro!
BLAKFISH taking up the secret spot on Saturday afternoon
Because it’s going to happen, eh? It could be worse…
Tickets are still going for this year’s ArcTanGent Festival – For all the information you might require, you should head here!
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What’s On Michael Portillo’s iPod: Too Pure Singles Club Special!
Here at Birthday Cake For Breakfast, we like to get to the heart of what an artist is all about. We feel the music they listen to is just as important as the music they make.
With that in mind, we decided (as it’s Christmas), to cast the net out a bit further and reel in one of our favourite people in THE BIZ. Whilst not technically the one making the music, Paul Riddlesworth a.k.a. The man behind the Too Pure Singles Club, has been a true pioneer and champion of DIY music for a good number of years. Putting out exclusive records every month as part of the Singles Club, Paul has amassed a gnarly collection from a host of tremendous bands.
Sadly, the Too Pure Singles Club is being retired at the end of the year, so we expanded on our regular feature and gave Paul the chance to pick out his TOP 10 releases through the Singles Club! Take it away, Paul…
(Photo Credit: Matt De Jong)
Pulled Apart By Horses – I Punched A Lion In The Throat (2009)
“This was the first single I ever put out and I don’t think it was ever surpassed in terms of how much I bloody love it… I even gatecrashed their mastering at Abbey Road I was that excited… We went out that evening and I drank my weight in Jagermeister… Unfortunately for me I’m bit of a unit so it was A LOT of booze…
I awoke the next day from a phone call from my then boss asking where I was… it was 2pm in the afternoon… “I think I’ve just woken up… i’ve been pulled apart by jagermeister!” I got a right bollocking…”
“My absolute heroes… Fact fans, these are the only band to put out 3 releases on the Singles Club… I’ve said it a million times, I honestly don’t understand why no one has released an album by these lovable rogues… People in the music industry must have absolute cloth ears… Unfortunately they were pretty unlucky with this release though as all their 7”s were in the Sony warehouse when it was burnt to the ground in the London riots… So if you got hold of this gem, you are one of the lucky few…”
Hookworms – Radio Tokyo (2013)
“I was up in Leeds visiting Norman Records trying to flog them the latest Cat Power album at the time… I was chatting about the Singles Club to the wonderful Jonathan Nash who told me about Hookworms… He said they probably wouldn’t be interested… Turns out they were and it turns out he was in the band…”
The Lovely Eggs – Allergies (2011)
“It’s always special when a band you love become your good buddies… These guys are the absolute best!! They got in touch about doing the single and it was an absolute no brainer as I was already a fan… If anyone hasn’t heard ‘Don’t Look at Me (I Don’t Like It)’ featuring John Shuttleworth with a sausage roll thumb then get on youtube immediately… Allergies was produced by Gruff from the Super furry animals and the video was done by the incredible Casey Raymond who had it played at Adam Buxton’s Bug… Which is an honour in itself.”
Spectres – The Sky Of All Places (2014)
“These Guys are the absolute best… We released Gebbie Street alongside Big Scary Monsters (who released the CD) and Kissability (who released the Tape) and we released the 7”… It was a match made in heaven… The only band I would not beat in a shot drinking competition…”
“The only time I was ever invited to go to SXSW I was lucky enough to go to a house party where these guys were playing… I was on my own and it was in the middle of nowhere… There were people crowd surfing and being rammed into ceilings… I was fucking terrified. The best thing I have ever been party to… And their manager Holland is an absolute hero.”
The Lucid Dream – Moonstruck (2015)
“When I first heard this it was stuck in my head for days… These guys are incredible… Also the first of many radio sessions Too Pure had for the wonderful Marc Riley… They have a new album next year which I am so fucking excited for..”
Menace Beach – Tastes Like Medicine (2013)
“The TPSC Super group… Along the way Ryan, Liza and Nestor have been joined by various members of Pulled Apart By Horses, Hookworms and Seize The Chair... I lied earlier when I said Seize The Chair were the only band to release 3 singles, turns out I have the memory of a salmon as these guys also put out the holy trinity with us. For Jumbo Records 40th Anniversary, we asked them to choose two artists for a special split single, they chose Menace Beach and Post War Glamour Girls (Who I also LOVE)… I’ve seen them so many times at the Brudenell and they are one of the many reasons I love Leeds!! Ryan also have really good hair…”
Dream Themes – 20 Golden Greats (2017)
“I’m so proud to have these guys be our final EVER release… Probably the band I’ve seen the most live… They were also my 3 year olds first ever gig… What’s not to like about a band that exclusively covers TV theme tunes… It doesn’t get much better than Sunday Bloody Ski Sunday… If you ever get the chance to witness them play the game show shenanigans, I strongly recommend it…”
Dream Themes ’20 Golden Greats’ marks the end of the Too Pure Singles Club, but you can still grab some vinyl before it’s too late! Further information can be found here!
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Live Review: ArcTanGent 2017
For a good couple of months, I’ve been concerned about sleepwalking into being a cliché of a man. Rounding the corner of late 20’s, watching my belly balloon due to drinking too much beer, amassing a sizeable record collection and loving baths (that’s men, right?) To make matters worse, late August I found myself clutching my back in agony for half a week, having spent the weekend before it camping in a field. All tragic I’m sure you’ll agree, but at least with the latter it’s as a result of the annual extravaganza that is ArcTanGent Festival.
THE festival of choice for Birthday Cake For Breakfast, it’s a haven for fans of all manner of noise, home to math-rock and post-rock heroes from all over. Celebrating its fifth year in 2017, the highlights were plentiful.
Having been a definite highlight a few years back when they graced the PX3 stage in the early afternoon, Chiyoda Ku returned to ArcTanGent this year in the exact same spot, but with a different slot. Getting Thursday afternoon going with all manner of gnarly, jagged, riffy moments, the trio played it super cool and super tight with a number of cuts from their incoming debut LP ‘How It Works’. Though there are no vocals to be heard, I’ve started to catch glimmers of Television frontman Tom Verlaine in guitarist Charlie Barnes. A group down the front singing back the riffs to the trio was a joy to behold, given they’re are an instrumental band…
One of our top picks in the lead up to ArcTanGent, Wrexham’s own Gallops certainly lived up to the hype. Aside from a minor blip toward the end (the band putting it down to “…Computers, etc”), their appearance had the crowd 100% on board. ‘Darkjewel’, the ludicrous 7 minute mind-melter taken from their latest album ‘Bronze Mystic’, has been on heavy rotation in our household and it sounded just as crushing on the Yohkai stage.
“We’re USA Nails. Have fun” came the introduction from Steven Hodson, frontman in acerbic noise-makers USA Nails, just prior to the quartet being the 100% highlight of the whole weekend. Their appearance at the festival many years ago came on a hungover late morning and was a complete life-changer (and a considerable gut changer…)
Since then we’ve been gifted a horrid new LP (in the best possible way), as well as a few separate releases here and there, each completely different from the other. They all came out to play in the afternoon, and it’s particularly great to hear the brutal ‘They’d Name An Age’. It’s equally great to see people going full-on this early into proceedings. There’s a brief break as Hodson apologises for “sloppy guitar playing” due to his hands being covered in sun cream, but it’s not long before they go back to caving heads in.
Tall Ships were the self-professed ‘Poppier side of ArcTanGent’, at one point the darlings of the festival – once upon a time being the highlight of many on the very same stage. Having mixed up their sound and lost their momentum somewhat, it was good to see them make a pretty storming return to the Yohkai stage – though it did feel like they were relearning odd tracks here and there (particularly ‘Ode To Ancestors’). It all came flooding back during early number ‘Tectonic Plates’ and it was a pleasure to see their half hour or so peppered nicely with new and old, rather than primarily material from their latest (and ultimately last) album.
The final highlight from our Thursday evening (in a musical capacity at least) came from Welsh leg-ends Future Of The Left. What followed was a seemingly endless stream of chugging, turbo-charged super hits. Outside of the expertly titled ‘Robocop 4 – Fuck off Robocop’, I don’t know a whole host of FOTL numbers by name, but they’re always a total riot in a live setting. I overheard a bloke behind us state they were “Pretty good”. Job done.
Having been woken up early Friday morning by the biggest assortment of coked up cretins I’ve ever encountered, there was enough time to get in a spot of breakfast and some much needed coffee prior to more Welsh noise. Two-piece Right Hand Left Hand kicked off the main stage proper, sounding particularly LARGE, with one track featuring the sweetest little earworm of a riff, entrancing the bright-eyed audience. I’d like to think I had a small part to play in this pair being up on the main stage, having tweeted many years ago that they’d be a welcome addition at ArcTanGent…
A brilliantly epic reimagined version of the Twin Peaks theme soundtracked our walk over to see Britney – Cheers to Gilmore Trail for that. As for Britney, their early Friday mind-melter kicked off with a massive internal threeway hug. Can’t argue with that. Their raucous blend of nightmarish noise was absolutely nails and rough as you like (in a good way, of course). It looked like the trio were having a blast, cherry on top coming amidst a crowd clap along in which vocalist Stewart came out with “clap for us like we’re an actual band…”
Years on from their debut on the big Arc stage, Alpha Male Tea Party sounded particularly gnarly on Friday afternoon. Total fan favourites, everything they offered up was greeted with much enthusiasm (so much so that bassist Ben looked like he’d received orgasmic pleasure only two songs in!) Some older fan favourites jumped in amongst the mix and whilst it was a shame to not hear ‘Truffles’ make the cut, a big choir rendition of the closing moments of ‘No More’, from their new album ‘Health’, more than made up for it.
The discovery of the weekend came early Friday afternoon from a band who had helpfully been described to us as “Four blokes from London”. Nitkowski – admittedly, four blokes from London – continued the raucous sounds on PX3 with some straight up noise-rock. Discovered on somewhat of a whim, everyone in our camp was instantly into it. With this quartet, there was no fucking about or half measures, just take it or leave it abrasiveness. They just about managed to look toward the crowd during their allotted time, with one of the guitarists muttering “We’re Nitkowski – that’s it really” toward the end. To make this ultimately bittersweet, they’ve just announced that they’re knocking it on the head. Thanks for the memories, Nitkowski.
It was odd seeing Wot Gorilla? on the huge Yohkai stage to loads of adoring punters, having seen them a week or so previous in a tiny venue in Salford. That’s the nature of the game though, right? Unsurprisingly, Halifax’s finest had some wonderfully heavy math-rock moments as they belted it out to a huge appreciative crowd, sounding just as spot on as they had a week earlier. Their new EP ‘Angel Numbers‘ is up there for top releases this year, so it’s never a chore catching them live!
Once we managed to get in out of the pissing sideways rain, Ho99o9 were rad as all fuck. One of the most talked about bands following their performance, it’s highly likely that whoever booked them got extra chips that night. Boris Gardiner’s ‘Every Nigger Is A star’ made an appearance and was a calm, welcome break from the brutal assault. It soon led to a fucking wigged out, horrid beat, sending the congregation fucking mad. A backflip to close the madness wound up being the cherry on top of what was the second best discovery of the weekend.
Converge picked up where Ho99o9 left off and smashed it from the start. It was absolutely chucking it down at this point, but it didn’t seem to have an impact on the crowd. Chaotic and gut wrenching – Worthy headliners for sure.
Because I’m a silly boy and was out past my bedtime on Friday evening, I unfortunately missed out on a host of Saturday morning bands. Pijn were therefore our first taste of the day and sounded rather large over at the Bixler in the afternoon, taking a packed out tent on a brutal journey in the closing minutes.
The Physics House Band wowed the ArcTanGent faithful on the Arc stage, with face-melting wig-outs being the order of the day and sounding particularly splendid. I was glad to see they had bought prolific Leeds saxophonist Miles Spilsbury along for the ride, he of Cattle/ZoZo/Cameron Vale fame, given some of the brilliant sax wig-outs on their new record ‘Mercury Fountain‘. From my vantage point I even caught a bloke genuinely slack-jawed, such was their mastery!
Prior to an incredible performance from Tricot, it was hilarious hearing the palava go on between the sound guy and the drummer as they attempted to sort out the floor tom sound. There’s really no way to convey just how funny it was unless you were there live, but trust me – If Tricot weren’t so stupidly good, that may have been the only talking point. As it happens though, Tricot are stupidly good and they suitably energised the crowd throughout their lengthy set.
100% love the playing of lead guitarist Motoko “Motifour” Kida, who has such a cool, charismatic style. The trio introduced themselves about eight songs in, but it felt like the whole tent were more than aware of who they are. A huge dancey pit kicking off at the front was the only logical outcome, and so the last few numbers were accompanied by a throng of people collectively losing their shit. Perfect.
So that was ArcTanGent 2017. Numero Cinco was tons of fun. A total mates fest for the ages, with some super-duper noise-makers littered throughout. It’s become the one-stop shop for fans of everything noise and with it comes an atmosphere second to none. If you’re still on the fence regarding ArcTanGent, you’re missing out.
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5 Things to love about…ArcTanGent Festival
The only festival to have a mathematical equation to determine how rad it is, ArcTanGent Festival is bigger than birthdays, bigger than Christmas, bigger than your Wedding Anniversary. The three-day festival in late August is THE social event of the year for music nerds, YASS QUEENS, rad-ladz, fringe-freaks and everyone in-between. A joyous occasion, it’s been a must for Birthday Cake For Breakfast these past four years, and with its bumper fifth year incoming, we’re as giddy as can be.
The big question though: What’re you having on your Raclette hot dog?
Once you’ve figured that out, have a read of our top picks of ArcTanGent 2017 – we’ll see you in the pit (after we’ve had our Raclette hot dog…)
There’s probably no point in putting together a paragraph or two of praise for Brighton trio The Physics House Band. These days, they leave tasks like the penning of their biography to the likes of Stewart Lee – that funny bloke off the telly. On their latest record, the stunning ‘Mercury Fountain’, he had this to say:
“…a super-dense sci-fi mindfuck of a thing, music scholarship charity case keyboards in combat with squally spacerock guitars, dub boom bass and multi-time-sig clatter; a territory staked out over mushrooms at break-time, on the top floor of the multi-story car park, overlooking the ‘70s Bauhaus shopping centre concrete functional fountain square, but now gone all Escher in the aftermath, like a black and white architectural schematic drawing dipped in tie-dye.”
Unsurprisingly, they’re shit hot live too. Be sure to keep an eye out for them – they play the Arc stage on Saturday afternoon!
Described on these very pages as “…the most underrated band in UK math-rock”, the alarmingly good Wot Gorilla? recently put out one of the gnarliest releases of the year in five-track EP ‘Angel Numbers’.
Prone to their raucous, darker moments, you’ll need your plugs in when this trio make their Yohkai arrival on Friday afternoon.
We’ve been banging on about Tricot for a good while now. We’re still super stoked to be one of the first Western interviews conducted with the Japanese math-rock wonder trio, and we were also seemingly the first to inform the trio about the festival itself – how’s that action!
So when you’re standing in a field with your jaw dropped to the floor, you can thank us for letting you know about these YASS QUEENS. Witness Tricot’s ridiculously fun math-rock stylings with J-Pop flourishes when they play the Yohkai in the early evening on Saturday.
Read our review of their latest record ‘3’!
THURSDAY!
ArcTanGent veterans will know that Thursday’s are not to be sniffed at on Fernhill Farm. For the past four years, weekend warriors have missed out on all the fun by side-stepping Thursday. This year, the puppeteers behind this whole ArcTanGent business have gone all out to put together a stonker of a line-up.
With bricks of noise-rock, post-rock, math-rock and everything in-between, Thursday delicately builds up the day like a tremendous Jenga tower. The arris-kicking of Chiyoda Ku and the twiddly loveliness of Waking Aida/Vasudeva is set to get people in the mood as they crack open their first tins. A highlight from last year came from Vasudeva beautifully soundtracking our late morning coffee in the rain. Change of pace this year in the afternoon (hopefully).
Head-Fuck City awaits later in the afternoon with turns from Gallops and USA Nails, the latter’s set a few years back being a definite Top 5 ArcTanGent highlight throughout its history.
Elsewhere, there’s joyful math-rock from France’s Totorro, cinematic brilliance from Nordic Giants, the second coming of Tall Ships and then the potential MVP’s of the weekend, Future Of The Left. Then Russian Circles come on and things really pick up. Fantastic.
(Photo Credit: Andrew Ellis)
I’m not crying that Vasco Da Gama aren’t a thing any more, you are!
When I first moved to Manchester and learned of bands like Alpha Male Tea Party and Cleft (through the wonders of A Carefully Planned Festival), there was a quartet of young lads from Liverpool playing the most brilliant stuff every other month on similar bills. Then they disappeared.
Thankfully, three quarters of the band made a triumphant return years later and we have been more than happy to welcome them back with open arms. Older, wiser, a little more chilled out but just as wonderful as those heady days of Vasco Da Gama, Real Terms are a total joy!
They play early on Saturday afternoon – don’t be a prat, go and get taken in by their Liverpudlian loveliness.
ArcTanGent 2017 kicks off on August 17th and carries on through to the 19th! Ticket information can be found here!
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Live Review: Tall Ships at The Deaf Institute in Manchester 07/03/2017
So, I’m sat in the pub just across the road from The Deaf Institute with two fellow music nerds and we’re discussing our fondest memories of seeing Brighton formed outfit Tall Ships over the years. This is because, in just a matter of minutes, we’ll be dodging a few cars to get to The Deaf Institute to catch the quartet play their first Manchester headline date in nearly three years!
The show is part of a full UK headline tour in support of their long awaited second album ‘Impressions‘. It’s been a tough few years for Tall Ships trying to get this album finished and released and to their dismay, the album has been pushed back from its original February release to the end of the month. So this tour was suppose to be the release tour, which I can only imagine is frustrating for the band. But, any signs of frustration don’t appear to be present tonight as they take to the stage to a nicely full Deaf Institute with smiles all round. I wasn’t sure what the turn out would be tonight considering the amount of time since the band last played here/last released anything, but I’m very pleased that the room is full as it goes to show that the love for this band is still very present and with a set like tonight’s, you can totally see why.
The band waste little time and blast through a stomping rendition of former single ‘Will To Life‘, which is a perfect opener with a driving chorus and a passionate vocal from frontman Ric who sounds note perfect this evening. For a band that are big on their soft to loud dynamics, it’s easy to forget that they have some proper foot stomping rock songs under their belts. Tracks ‘Meditations on Loss‘ and ‘Gallop‘ go a mile a minute, with the band throwing their luscious long locks around their instruments, engrossed in their compassionate brand of indie-rock.
I’ve been lucky enough to review the new record (Let’s whack a link to that here, eh? – Ed) and although it certainly takes a different tone to debut album ‘Everything Touching‘, it’s still another gut punching yet gorgeous set. The band don’t overdo it with new songs, but it’s great to hear the stunning dynamic build of ‘Home‘ and the full throttle pop of ‘Petrichor‘ blasted out here. Believe me when I say that this new record is a strong piece of work and I can’t wait to hear more of it live as tonight it sounds HUGE.
I know a few in my party were expecting to hear mostly new material, but to their delight we actually get a pretty even mix of songs from their glorious back catalogue. I’d forgot how powerful songs like ‘T=0‘ and ‘Ode To Ancestors‘ sound massive, with their ever building loops and driving rhythm sections. This band know how to tug at your heartstrings and they use this to their advantage tonight with a set full of huge sounding rock songs designed to give you that lump in the throat feeling.
Tall Ships have always been a well oiled machine but tonight I realized their potential to become a big deal. I really think that Impressions is a beautiful record and the songs do work really well with older material; tonight’s set is just super powerful and epic and beautiful. I admit, I’d lost my love in the band for a moment, I wasn’t sure where they were going, but I’m so glad I stuck it out and I’m so hopeful that their tides are going to turn this year!
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Album Review: Tall Ships – Impressions
It’s been a long five years for Tall Ships. In 2012 they released their highly acclaimed debut album ‘Everything Touching‘ which saw them travel the world and become one of the UK’s most beloved underground acts. Since then they’ve had to deal with many issues, both as a band and as individuals, leaving them in a make or break situation. Luckily, they chose to ‘make’ and re-built the foundations of the band back up to create this highly anticipated sophomore effort.
I admit, I did go into this album with slight caution. The last time I saw Tall Ships live they played a bunch of new songs that didn’t grab me in the way their previous work had. Gone were the twiddly, loop-driven guitars that originally caught my attention and instead we had this very straight up indie-rock sound that just lacked the gusto of yore. On first listen to ‘Impressions’ it seems that the band have opted for a much more cleaner sound, but what they have done is keep in all the big crescendos and heart stopping dynamics that made Everything Touching so epic. They’ve then multiplied this by a hundred to create something nothing short of gigantic.
‘Road Not Taken‘ certainly sets things up for the rest of the record, with this hushed yet major reversed guitar melody as front man Ric brings his gentle, warming vocal over the top that brings us into a drop of thick bass, driving drums with guitars sprinkled in overdrive for extra bite. The main trick for a lot of the tunes here is to take these simplistic and beautiful melodies then turn them into these grandiose slabs of widescreen pop; I dare you to listen to ‘Home‘ and ‘Day By Day‘ and not get emotional as they build and build into these perfect climactic endings.
For me, the rhythm section of Tall Ships really come into their own on this record. The drive that bassist Matt and drummer Jamie bring to tracks like ‘Meditations On Loss’ and ‘Will To Life‘ really propel the tracks to soaring new heights; the choruses on both are sublime, reaching an almost lump-in-the-throat degree. Then you have the jaunty groove of ‘Lucille‘ and the pulsating beat of ‘Lost & Found‘ which add this really nice layer to the luscious, melodic foundations put down by guitarist Ric and keyboardist Jamie.
Ric has always struck me as a thoughtful lyricist and on Impressions he really delves deep to write personal, honest lines with distinct themes of loss, love and hope. Loss is probably the most occurring theme here, but instead of dwelling on feelings of sadness and grief, Ric finds a lot of light in his words. Coupled with the elegance of its instrumentation, this can be quite an uplifting listen.
Impressions is the musical equivalent of climbing up a really, really big mountain, reaching the top, scouring the scenery and then screaming in jubilation. It’s an emotional piece but it is packed full of passion and vigor. Whenever I listen to it, I can’t help but feel moved by its sentiments and the chest swelling sense of hope that runs through it. Although this might not be for OG Tall Ships fans, it is to their credit that they have audibly put a lot of soul into this record. They have pushed themselves as a unit to make an earnest, honest heart-on-sleeve set of songs that I think is going to mean a lot to many many people.
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a/s/l: Big Scary Monsters
Remember the days of the old schoolyard? Remember when Myspace was a thing? Remember those time-wasting, laborious quizzes that everyone used to love so much? Birthday Cake For Breakfast is bringing them back!
Every couple of weeks, an unsuspecting band will be subject to the same old questions about dead bodies, Hitler, crying and crushes.
This week: Kev and Dave of mega indie label Big Scary Monsters!
a/s/l?
K – 33, M, Oxford.
D – 35, M, London.
Have you ever seen a dead body?
K – Yes in Prague on the way to a church made of bones. I was nonplussed, which is kinda worrying in itself. Jack Alcopop was silent for hours.
D – Nah!
Who is your favourite Simpsons character?
K – (Ed – Kev just provided this link, but he’s quite right)
D – Ralph. Visionary in a crazy world.
What T-Shirt are you wearing?
K – Some white-ish t-shirt I bought in USA.
D – A Free Throw shirt featuring Scrubs.
What did your last text message say?
K – ‘LOL’
D – ‘Jesus Christ’
What’s the last song you listened to?
K & D – PUP – ‘Pine Point’
How did you meet the people in your band/label?
K & D – I was sick in Dave’s sink, while he was being sick in the toilet.
What’s the first record you bought?
K – Fresh Prince – Code Red
D – The Farm – Cover of ‘Don’t You Want Me Baby’
What was your favourite VHS growing up?
K – Match of the Day 1970s highlights.
D – E.T.
When was the last time you cried?
K – The morning after I met Dave.
D – The other week at the tattooist. Beyond brutal.
Have you ever kissed someone & regretted it?
K – YES. Obviously.
D – They might have regretted it.
Best Physical Feature?
K – ‘Nice Eyes’
D – I’m very long.
Worst physical feature?
K – ‘Calf’s like Johnny Bravo’
D – I‘ve got a face shaped like the fucking moon.
Reasonably ok/not bad feature that you’re not fussed about?
K – Feet are a bang average size 9.
D – My outstanding pseudo-scouse accent.
Do you have any pets?
K – Yes Ron Swanson – the sausage dog. Have you seen our logo?
D – I wish.
Ever picked up any injuries on tour?
K – At End of the Road festival, I told Matt Stagecoach I could kick the beanie off his head, while he was standing up. I fell over, broke my wrist, and went to A&E.
D – No – but I did cut my finger off in a lawnmower. I now have a stump.
What did you do for your last birthday?
K – Had a BSM stage at Truck. Drank Fruity Cider, watched Gnarwolves, went home and watched the whole first series of The Office on the sofa while eating chicken. I was 33.
D – I think it was Letlive at The Dome. Got drunk and decamped to the Irish Bar to watch karaoke and the best rendition of Informer – Snow I’ve ever seen…
Name something you CANNOT wait for?
K – My first thought was death…..
D – My wedding … (I have to give at least one semi -serious answer)
Do you have a crush on someone?
K – Liv – PWR BTTM
D – As I’m getting married this year– definitely no. Not ever.
What’s the shittest experience you’ve had in music?
K – Jairus.
D – Getting so drunk at Reading I mixed up band members. Embarrassing.
If you could go back in time, how far would you go?
K – All the way. Nah – early 90s. Invest in Apple. Sign Oasis and gamble on football.
D – 1991. I need to relive Tranmere Rovers past glories.
How do you want to die?
K – I’d like to be shot. Instant and I’d be famous.
D – Gin based.
What are you craving right now?
K – That fateful bullet….
D – Security.
Have you ever been on a horse?
K – No.
D – Yes – and I was fucking petrified.
If you could go back in time and kill the baby Hitler, would you?
K – Yeah.
D – This is fucking bleak – how about I just go to his art school and set him right?
Have you ever been on TV?
K – Yeah Swedish TV – it’s on our YouTube somewhere.
D – Nah – I’ve not the face for it.
Ever meet someone famous?
K – Ryan Giggs.
D – Does Geoff from Thursday count? I got a little fan boy….
What do you want to be when you grow up?
K – Shot. (see earlier point)
D – Alive.
Having been trailblazers for years now and selling more records than you could imagine, Big Scary Monsters decided to go and open up their own bloody shop! Open now until the 4th of February, the popup in Hackney celebrates the 16th birthday/200 releases of the label, featuring rare and exclusive records, merch, instores, live screen printing, local beers and more! The poster is up there, and you can find out further details here!
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Competition: Win a 2017 subscription to the Too Pure Singles Club!
You can’t escape it – It’s already begun.
The lights have already gone up. The music is blaring out of all the shops. You’ve watched a month’s wages vanish buying gifts in preparation. Christmas is right around the corner and there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop it!
Whilst not everyone is keen on the festive period, it does mean that we’re one step closer to the gift that keeps on giving – The Too Pure Singles Club!
2016 featured delectable cuts from the likes of Cassels, False Advertising, Post War Glamour Girls, Menace Beach, USA Nails and more. If this year’s releases are anything to go by, 2017 should be a real hoot!
The 2017 edition kicks off with the wonderful new track from mister prolific himself, Matthew Johnson a.k.a. MJ of Hookworms a.k.a. Family Scraps! ‘Mistakes’ and ‘It Follows’ will be the first release under his new moniker, the two songs dealing with loss following the Boxing Day floods of 2015 that destroyed Suburban Home – the recording studio in Leeds owned and operated by MJ.
You can listen to both track below:
Subscriptions to the Too Pure Singles Club come at £50 per year in the UK, which entitles members to twelve singles throughout 2017. However, as we’re such big fans of Too Pure and everything they do, we put our minds together to come up with this bumper competition available to one lucky punter! To win a year’s subscription to the Singles Club, as well as a copy of the gnarly ‘Pay No Attention’ Record Store Day compilation and a motherlovin’ tote bag, just Follow @BirthdaycakeFB and @Toopuresingles on Twitter and RT this tweet:
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Vinyl Revival: An interview with Paul Riddlesworth, the man behind Too Pure Singles Club
The life of a man who starts a vinyl subscription service
Tell you what, vinyl is pretty popular right now isn’t it?
You’re probably sat at home right now, reading this whilst your turntable is playing an exclusive, one time pressing of an alternative dust-core band from Wisconsin. I get it – that’s me too. I enjoy baffling older folk who grew up with vinyl; befuddled as to why I’m buying records when I could pick up a copy of my favourite Elton John album on a shiny CD, or better yet – a digital download! Even fucking Tesco is selling the stuff – Grab yourself a copy of the latest Iron Maiden record whilst you peruse the fruit and veg, madam.
Down in that there London, Paul Riddlesworth has put together something really cool for those who can’t get enough of their exclusive wax discs. The Too Pure Singles Club is a subscription service where subscribers can look forward to an exclusive 7” single every month, featuring rising bands from across the UK and beyond.
April will see the Too Pure Singles Club mark their 100 th release, with a back catalogue consisting of the likes of Pulled Apart By Horses, Menace Beach, Weirds, Tall Ships and more.
Previous inductees Pulled Apart By Horses
With the release in his sights, I got in touch with Too Pure megamind and leg end Paul to discuss the story behind his monthly subscription service and what he’s got in store for the upcoming year.
BCFB: For the uninitiated, what’s the story behind the Too Pure Singles Club? How did it get started up?
Paul: The Singles Club was set up in 2008, around the time that Too Pure/Beggars merged into 4ad. We somehow wanted to keep the Too Pure name alive and champion new music; the Singles Club seemed to be the perfect solution.
We were a bit nervy at the beginning, to see if we’d get any subscribers, as it’s a bit of a gamble… but I don’t think we’ve done too badly.
April will see the 100 th release in the Too Pure Singles Club. We’ll get to that in full later, but first – Basic maths should allow me to figure this out, but how long have you been putting out these monthly vinyl releases?
The very first 7″ was January 2008 and was by the wonderful Lone Lady. The Singles Club is an introductory label and hopefully a stepping stone for unsigned artists, as well as hopefully providing subscribers with their new favourite band.
I’ve spoken with a few bands who rate the whole process quite highly – Who have been some of your favourites to work with?
To be fair, 98% of the bands have been fucking marvellous. The majority of the artists have been awesome. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have been able to put out some of my favourite EVER bands, so it’s really hard to choose. It would be a lot easier to say who the worst ones were… but I’m too much of a coward to even comment.
To that end, what have been some of your favourite releases in the singles club?
This is really, really difficult. I absolutely love the releases by Seize The Chair (Although the majority of this 7″ got burnt to a crisp in the Sony fire…), Pulled Apart By Horses, Alex Dingley (his album ‘I Lost My Honey In The Grass’ is incredible), Spectres, Hookworms, DZ Deathrays, Menace Beach, The Lovely Eggs, Tigercub, Die!Die!Die! We//Are// Animal… I could go on, but that would make me incredibly tedious and I’m a boring fella at best…
Is there anyone you’ve had your eye on that you’ve not been able to acquire?
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Bloody Knees and Hideous Sun Demon are a few I’d have loved to have put out. I was always keen to put out a Chapman family 7″, but rectified that by being able to put out the Kingsley Chapman And The Murder 7″ last year, which is proper nice like.
Part of the package is to get mastering done at Abbey Road, right? Unbelievably cool. Is it still something to pinch yourself over, working within its hallowed walls?
We are SO lucky to be able to have the bands master at Abbey Rd. They are absolute legends. We’ve had the same guys master all the singles from the very beginning – the awesome Alex Wharton, Christian Wright, Sean Magee and the mighty Geoff Pesche have done us proud! All thanks to the ever wonderful Lucy Launder who sorts everything out for us; they are the absolute best and without being too gushing, I absolutely bloody love them.
It’s so great for the bands to have their (normally) first single masters there. It’s weird, but as soon as you walk in, there really is something incredibly special about it… and the bars cheap.
You’re starting out the year by putting out a Chupa Cabra single and you’ve already got Fruit Bomb lined up for the next release. Are you able to announce any of the other releases for the rest of the year? Is there anyone you’re particularly stoked about?
We’ve got a new Cowtown 7″ coming soon and only yesterday did I get the full confirmation for Aprils 100th release. I can’t announce that yet unfortunately, but suffice to say it’s a hero of mine and I dare say a few others.
Back to that 100 th release, it’s obviously a pretty big milestone and one which you seem pretty excited about! What have you got planned for it?
I’m hoping to do a few celebratory gigs around the time, and we’ll also be releasing a compilation album called ‘Pay No Attention’ with some of our favourite tracks on it. Here’s to the next 100!
Pay No Attention will be a super stacked compilation album, featuring tracks from the Too Pure past, with artists including Seize The Chair, Tigercub, DZ Deathrays, Best Friends and more! Find all about how you can subscribe by clicking the album cover below:
‘Pay No Attention’ – The Too Pure Singles Club release for Record Store Day 2016
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An interview with Matthew Boycott-Garnett as A Carefully Planned Festival returns to Manchester’s Northern Quarter for its fifth year
A Carefully Planned Festival, now entering its fifth year
The year is 2012, the month October and the location Manchester’s vibrant Northern Quarter. Upstairs at Gulliver’s, a crowded room stare in disbelief at the stage, on which three men known as Alpha Male Tea Party are causing a real math-rock ruckus. Everyone in the room is losing their shit at what they’re hearing, yours truly included. A set packed with incredible songs, each one greeted with enthusiastic applause from the swelling crowd. As soon as they’re finished, the room rapidly clears. People dart to locations all over the Northern Quarter, clash finders in hand, hoping to squeeze into yet another packed room and possibly uncover a new musical gem.
That historic moment was all thanks to the folk behind A Carefully Planned Festival, with that weekend in particular being part of ACPF#2 – a wonderful weekend of too many good bands and too many beers. Looking back on it now, the line-up over that weekend was insane. Packing out venues across the Northern Quarter were the likes of This Town Needs Guns, Tall Ships, Brontide, Shapes, &U&I, Cleft, Dad Rocks!, Wot Gorilla?, Delta Sleep, Vasco Da Gama, Bad Grammar, Bearfoot Beware, Ninetails, Quadrilles, Axes and even a band called Lynx Africa!
A Carefully Planned Festival has become a yearly tradition and a staple of the social calendar. With acts of all shapes and sizes, it tries to cater to all tastes and usually ends up doing so in spades. Each and every year it’s always a blast, with popular watering holes up and down the Northern Quarter full of music fans from across the land.
In tremendous news, A Carefully Planned Festival will return to the Northern Quarter this October for its fifth year. The wonderful weekender will be gracing its usual haunts, with bands appearing at Gulliver’s, The Castle, Soup Kitchen, Mint Lounge, Night and Day Café and two further venues still to be announced. As well as that, those top lads in Big Scary Monsters and Alcopop! Records will be venturing North to curate their own stage!
As for the bands, take a little peek at the poster below for those announced so far (with more to be announced over the coming months!):
A Carefully Planned Festival #5
Thanks to the line-up announcement this morning, excitement has already started to build for this year’s ACPF and early-bird tickets are already being swept up.
The one man who is probably most excited about the announcement is festival organiser Matthew Boycott-Garnett, who very kindly answered some questions on the upcoming weekender.
BCFB: This year sees A Carefully Planned Festival celebrate its fifth Birthday. What sort of things have you got in store for this momentous occasion
Matthew: Yeah! Five years! Crazy; I don’t quite feel like we deserve to celebrate a milestone yet though. I still feel like we’re quite a young festival. There seems to be a lot of people approaching organising their festivals with a sort of ‘grow or die’ kind of attitude. Things have certainly developed for us over the years, but it’s not perfect as it is and so I don’t feel like we need to move on to the next level yet. I feel like that’s what getting to a milestone ought to be. When we truly feel like we’ve achieved what we set out to achieve and we feel it’s sustainable, that’s when it’ll be time to celebrate. I reckon maybe ACPF#10 would be an appropriate time for something particularly special. Until then, we’re just focussing on putting on another great weekend much like the previous events.
How does it feel to have this much-lauded weekender now reaching its fifth year?
I’m glad we’re doing another one. I think I said in an interview like this last year that it’s never guaranteed that we’ll keep going. ACPF#3 was destined not to happen for a while and it took a big U-turn from me before we made the decision to go again that year. Last year happened much more naturally/smoothly but it’s always something we think about before powering on and I know something must be going right as here I am announcing ACPF#5!
From this year’s line-up, who are you most excited about putting on?
I’m still putting the line-up together at the moment, but of the bands we’ve announced today, I’m probably most proud of having In Gowan Ring on the bill. He was previously based in Portland, Oregon but is now living in Leipzig and is coming over, perhaps with a band, just to play our festival (at the moment – maybe he’ll plan some other shows over the next few months). I’ve been aware of IGR and Birch Book for probably 12/13 years and he’s an incredibly interesting/mysterious guy. As far as I’m aware, he regularly plays instruments he’s made himself. His music is often sort of medieval-sounding and always distinctly ethereal.
More recent discoveries that I’m particularly excited about are The Great Albatross and Speak Galactic and it’s also nice to have some faves who’ve played CP events before back again. Most notably, Gaunt Story, Baby Brave, Chuman and Napoleon IIIrd. Just had another look at the line-up and there’s loads more I want to mention now too. I best keep it at that though.
The running of the ACPF weekend always seems to go pretty smooth on the surface. What’s the situation like behind the scenes over the two days?
You know what, the last two festivals were SO different for me. I felt so busy the whole time at ACPF#3 and I really did struggle to find enough time to enjoy myself. Obviously there were some wonderful moments, and the impression I get is, as you say, that on the surface, things appeared to run pretty smoothly – but I felt completely snowed-under the whole weekend and ended up drinking far too fast to try and escape some of the stress! Last year, I had an amazing time and I think that was due to the reaction to how things felt at ACPF#3. One of the most valuable things about our approach to CP, as a team, is how we recognise when we need to persevere with something and when we need to learn from mistakes. Mike, Adam and Nick who’ve all been involved since ACPF#2 have helped to establish and maintain that collective mentality and the understanding and confidence that we’re doing what we’re doing for the right reasons. As such, it’s not the end of the world if we disagree or we don’t always stick exactly the plans, because eventually we’re all pulling in the same direction and when that’s the case, being part of a team is great. Admittedly, ahead of the festival last year I started doing a lot more of the preparation myself, and this year, the core team has pretty much been myself, Mike and Jess, but the roots and the trajectory and the objectives are the same and as long as that’s the case, whether it’s hard work or a load of fun, I’m glad and proud to be involved.
Casting your mind back to the very first ACPF, how much has changed in the running of the festival between then and now?
Very basically, we just have more people now. The first one, if I remember correctly, we had a bunch of people doing the doors, and me and Mike just did everything else. Or at least I did until I got too drunk, then I just got in the way and Mike did everything. Last year, we had somewhere between 70 and 80 volunteers including the core team, and we’ve gradually figured out the best way to manage people’s time/responsibilities. Eventually, everything didn’t feel quite so hectic last year, and I’m hoping the same will be true of this year too. Anybody who has volunteered is amazing, by the way,
Did you ever have a game plan going into ACPF?
I have always loved festivals and I’ve always loved putting gigs on, so I think that I would end up being involved in organising something like CP Festival was inevitable really. I definitely don’t recall ever thinking “Right, I’m going to organise a multi-venue, two-day festival in the Northern Quarter and it’s going to be THIS, THIS and THIS”, I just did what I wanted to and did what I could and it ended up this way.
Mention of the festival always brings back memories of Kraak Gallery and Gullivers for me – Have you got a favourite NQ venue or somewhere new this year you’re looking forward to showcase?
We do have a couple things up our sleeve with regard to the TBA venues this year, but they’re top secret. I think my fave CP venue is The Castle. Her Parents playing in there in 2012 was mental! And, of course, that’s where CP in the Northern Quarter started, back in 2010 (I think!).
Over the years you’ve put on some tremendous bands, &U&I being a massive highlight for me, as well as discovering Alpha Male Tea Party and Cleft. Who have been some of your favourite names to play ACPF over the years?
Maaaan that is a tough one. It’s hard to know where to start really. Having Alasdair Roberts play at ACPF#2 was a particularly proud moment as a festival organiser since he’s been one of my favourite musicians for many years. In terms of my favourite performances at CP though, hmmm. I don’t know which to single out! I think my favourite acts each year have been The Middle Ones, Ajimal, Richard Dawson and Shana Tova. Also, my memory of it is a little blurry, but Human Pyramids at Soup Kitchen was probably one of the best things that has ever happened!
For someone who’s not been to ACPF before (Not me, mind – I think I’ve been to most of ’em…) how would you sum it up for them?
Without trying to make it sound too much like another bloody advert, it’s a load of really sound people, watching a load of really good bands, in a load of decent spaces, in one of the coolest parts of one of the best cities in the world.
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