Hare and Hounds

Mark Morriss is best known for fronting 90’s number 1 selling Brit Pop-ers The Bluetones. Not one to be pigeonholed though, Mark has carved out a critically acclaimed career as a solo artist too.

Mark’s shows are renouned for his sharp wittiscms and audience interaction and feature a mixture of Bluetones hits along with many solo penned future classics too.

This promises to be a delightful and entertaining show packed with gags and great tunes alike in Birminghams most intimate venue.

Support from Black Market Empire (Acoustic) – The Birmingham, England four piece burst onto the scene early 2009. Marking their debut show to a sold out Barfly.

BME soon became renowned for their storming live shows. Their reputation did not go unnoticed with the quartet sharing bills with award winning (Song of the year for ‘Sweet disposition’ at the APRA music awards) The Temper Trap, (NME best new band 2009) Bombay Bicycle Club, Million selling Brit pop treasures The Bluetones, Nine Black Alps & Paul Weller’s young favourites DOGS.

Such Shows only added to BME’s already large & loyal fan base. Earning them accolades from critics & their peers a like.“a superb roof raising set of classy Rock n Roll songs”… Mark Morris, The Bluetones.

BME are an exciting ,Indie, Guitar based, Bluesy, Rock n Roll band who will be releasing their first EP ‘FORWARD’ on July 31st with the launch party being at The Victoria pub (John Bright street, behind The Alexander Theatre). With catchy riffs, heartfelt, melodies, well crafted songs & anthemic tunes Black Market Empire are set to conquer.

Contact – Sparse acoustic guitar interplays with Mike’s rhythmic bass lines, allowing space for Zoë to deliver the lyrical, melodic vocals that complete the Contact sound.  Studio material reflects aspects of the live sound, alongside more expansive arrangements that transform live favourites into something new.

The show has been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. A new date will announced in the near future, keep checking the site for updates. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

For mercurial L.A. music-maker Will Wiesenfeld, Baths has been a long time coming. The 21-year-old has spent the better part of his days living amidst “pleasant” and “unremarkable” in the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley, so perhaps it’s due to a general lack of local inspiration that Wiesenfeld’s own work has never fit into a prefab box of its own. Over the last six years, under the handle of [Post-Foetus], Wiesenfeld has gainfully explored the intersections and outer reaches of both electronic and acoustic music. With Baths, his eclecticism finds its greatest focus yet, in a hail of lush melodies, ghostly choirs, playful instrumentation and stuttering beats.
Though Baths represents the next evolution in Wiesenfeld’s oeuvre – which also includes the excellent ambient project Geotic – it came together under nigh-opposite circumstances. Last September, [Post-Foetus] was invited by L.A. electronicist Daedelus to share a bill with a handful of local Beat Music luminaries. Witnessing a burgeoning movement firsthand sparked something in Wiesenfeld that the ’burbs never could. In a fit of inspiration, Baths was born, though not into a preexisting scene. As is to be expected, this music goes its own way: fueled by spontaneity, tempered by Wiesenfeld’s background in classic songwriting. Those two influences collide in glorious ways on Cerulean, Baths’ stunning debut.

Support comes from Arc Vel – ‘Preserving a green belt of flowing melodies and shifting temperaments, Arc Vel’s explorative electronica is infused with the currents of dub, world, hip hop and post rock music. Underpinned by convulsing beats and supple sub-bass, there is an inherent warmth and instinctiveness to the sound, realised by the use of field recordings, live instrumentation and sample based synths.’

Howard James Kenny -

Influences from Nick Drake to Stars of the Lid to Juana Molina to Liars to Tom Baxter and onwards…

Task In Hand Promotions – “His solo side arm had it’s first outing last month and he managed to blow everyone away with a sensational set! Some call him ‘a one man Sigur Ros’, some call him ‘a whisper in a giant cave’, some call him ‘acoustic Fuck Buttons’, we call him Howard James Kenny … and he’s ruddy good!” 2000 Trees – For fans of Oceansize & Sigur Ros… “Fink meets Aled Jones”

The Phenomenal Handclap Band is a tight-knit aggregation of musicians and artists from Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. At the center of it is Daniel Collás, the Witch Doctor, and Sean Marquand, the Medicine Man; who, after years of searching and contemplation, through live performance and the manipulation of recorded music, have finally succeeded in assembling the personification of their holy vision: Patrick Wood, Nicholas Movshon, Luke O’Malley, Laura Marin, Quinn Luke, and Joan Tick, enhanced by the remarkable talents of Aurelio Valle, Carol C, Jaleel Bunton, Bart Davenport, Jon Spencer, and Lady Tigra, among carefully chosen others.

Together they have crafted a sound that is equal parts anthemic, dancefloor-oriented and orchestral, borrowing elements from progressive rock, disco, electro, and psychedelia.

Live, The Phenomenal Handclap Band is distilled to an eight-member powerhouse, an eye-popping spectacle that overwhelms the senses. It pulses with a savage rhythm section that provides the ultimate foil for cascading guitars and electrified washes of organ and synthesizers. Their delirious sermonizing whips crowds into a charismatic frenzy. Needless to say, their live shows are more akin to a spiritual church revival than an actual rock show.

‘Musically diverse, incredibly melodic and dance-floor ready. It’s the kind of album that gives cookie-cutter pop the trashing it deserves.’
– New York Post

‘The PHB are astronauts of progressive soul, moored at the stellar point where rock, funk and psychedelia bloom into cosmic-disco amazingness.’
- Guardian UK

Cancelled due to unforseen circumstances. Refunds will be available from point of purchase. Sorry for any Inconvenience caused.

Frenetic Balkan punksters Mama Matrix combine finely honed musicianship with raw, infectious charisma. Frontman Daz Dolczech reels off salacious tales of panic and infidelity, rippled through with a hearty Balkan baseline and feverish violectra. Regulars at Shambala and Moseley Folk, they have wowed and disturbed in equal measure across the UK, in Amsterdam and Rome. To experience Mama Matrix is to stare into the mouth of a devastatingly beautiful, dangerous chasm, and those who survive cannot help but be drawn back for more.

“The Crooked Fiddle Band are completely surprising: the music is original and quixotic, and yet has the strength of some deep and strong roots. I can’t say I’ve ever heard anything else like it!”- Brian Eno

Australian chainsaw-folk vigilantes The Crooked Fiddle Band deliver a no-holds-barred celebration of dark, ecstatic energy.

Fronted by Sydney Conservatoire trained, Golden Fiddle Award winning virtuoso Jess Randall, tCFB are equally at home in an underground warehouse party and in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House.

Intertwining folk traditions with bush music, Celtic, bluegrass, jazz and modern gypsy evolutions, this Sydney-based acoustic four-piece (double-bass, violin, drums and guitar/bouzouki) spurs the dance floor into a post-apocalyptic hoedown.

Boat To Row formed in May 09′ from Nuneaton, a small town in warwickshire and play folk music that encourages you to tap your toe in time. Chief songwriter Michael King began writing after his grandmothers record collection was passed down to him. After digesting the likes of Donovan, Joan Baez, Buddy Holly and Bob Dylan as well as current artist Fionn Regan, he began to craft his own songs with a longing to write songs that “Are just nice to listen too” writing about what any 21 year old would, love, loss, friendships and life.

The current E.P ‘Crossroads’ will be released on the 17th of May on a limited Tape Run courtesy of label Danger! Lazer! Phaser! Razor! with more released planned throughout the year.

‘Our money’s on Dinosaur Pile-up delivering one of the best British rock debuts in recent years.’ NME

‘Proof that indie bands don’t have to choose between noodling or landfill. As exciting as you could wish for.’ The Guardian

‘The perfect soundtrack to a monster collision.’ Kerrang

‘Dinosaur Pile-up are here to show us the error of our ways. Thank them.’ The Fly

‘Growing Pains’, the debut album from Leeds trio Dinosaur Pile-up, will be released via Friends Vs Records this September.

Led by the single Birds And Planes, released on digital download and limited-edition 7” vinyl, available just prior to the album on July 26, Growing Pains is the sound of a one of the UKs most exciting bands hitting their stride. It comes, following a handful of introductory independent releases over the past year and a bit, after which the band’s frontman and creative force Matt Bigland entered Bridlington’s Lodge Studios with producer James Kenosha to record the debut, taking place over January and February this year. The result is a storming rock powerhouse of big pop songs driven by the kind of wall shaking undercurrent only a three piece can muster.

Bigland says of the album: “I know it sounds bent but I liked the idea of people to be able to sing along to the songs, even if they were singing about being hated or upset. I wanted to make a record that kicks people in the face whilst getting stuck in their head.”

Their career to date was led by the January 2009 debut 7″ single My Rock N Roll, followed by a second single Traynor, and last year’s summer release, modestly titled The Most Powerful EP In The Universe – which spawned songs such as Summer Hit Single, Beach Bug and Cat Attack.

Their live plot to date has seen them tour with a rich cast of bands including a UK/European jaunt with the Pixies in December, and a French tour with Violens for the coveted Les Inrocks tour last Spring. On the festival circuit the band has shared stages with Crooked Vultures on the Radio One tent at last year’s Reading and Leeds festivals, and they headline NME’s Halloween spectacular at Koko last October. Elsewhere they have performed alongside Future Of The Left, Pulled Apart By Horses and The Automatic, and last summer stormed the festival circuit performing at Bestival, Oxegen, T In The Park, and aforementioned Reading and Leeds festivals.

They will return to the live stage this September with a headline run ahead of the album’s release.

‘Growing Pains’ will be available digitally and on CD / Vinyl.

Equal measures high energy speed-rock and computerized disco-hell fury, Turbowolf form the most exciting and electrifying music your senses are likely to taste. Formed under the red light of a Bristol swingers club, the wolves have been smashing together their varied influences, everything from Japanese synth-pop to black metal, to create a sound that burns into the stratosphere on wings made of future noise. Turbowolf have established a reputation for behemoth godzilla-size guitar riffs, pounding double-kick rage, evil buzz keys, dancefloor-heavy bass and blood spitting vocals, to create the most explosive, high energy live shows, keeping those kids angry.

Indie Rock quartet “Rase” formed in late 2004 and comprises of Dan Greenaway (Vocals / Guitar), Jay Goodison (Vocals / Guitar), Giles Smith (Bass) and Matt Yates (Drums).

Post recording their first album in 2005, Rase dipped in and out of genres changed the line up and produced a number of demos. By 2008 the band had re-invented itself and released a self titled EP as a taste of their new sound. The next step was to find a top class producer that would help the band reach another level and produce a recording that matched their live performances. After 6 months of persistence Rase finally tracked down acclaimed producer Gavin Monaghan (Editors, the Twang, Ocean Colour Scene, Scott Matthews) who has realised their potential and packaged up the band’s sound stating:
“Rase have a fistful of stadium-sized choruses, and it’s only a matter of time before they get to unleash them on the general public”  Gavin Monaghan
The years spent gigging around the UK and ‘finding their sound’ has not been wasted. With an abundance of energy onstage and the tightness a touring band needs, Rase’s name began appearing on the Stereophonics fan forum following support gigs with Casino front man Adam Zindani (Stereophonics/Casino) stating how tight the band is with the lads also receiving the thumbs up from ‘Them Is Me’ (feat. Ex REEF singer Gary Stringer) on another recent support leg.

Crawling like a one legged misanthrope from the glade of curmudgeonly union, other wise known as Kings Heath, a three headed beast now designated the moniker Black Heart Generator first reared its collective cranium in mid 2009.
Having spent the previous 12 months or so expediating across this fairly broken isle, conveying a debauched bacchanalia to various cities and towns, there is now a rumour, like a whisper on the wind, that a release is soon to be forthcoming, and the performance of askew alternative vibrant indie energy driven deconstructionism is set to traverse even further and wider with immediate affect.
Black Heart Generator play an agressive brand of noisy grungish punkish alternative music, with dangerous hints of melody, and the odd hint of Motown.

Digit Dealer was formed not that long ago, an art school student at Pratt met an Indian kid from Queens at a party. Now they record CDs and play music together for drunk friends at house parties (and real places sometimes too). One time at a show, a random gentleman, by the name of Sean, randomly got up on stage and started playing real drums to one of our songs. He became part of the band after that.

Places where Digit Dealer have set foot upon to play their unique blend of electro rock:
-New York City
-Bethpage, New York
-Austin, Texas
-Houston, Texas
-London, UK
-Brighton, UK
-Dorking, UK
-Portsmouth, UK

The Targets are loud, angst driven Mod punk. They don’t want to change the world, just tell it like it is. After 6 years of crafting their sound and their songs, after setbacks and heartaches, crap demos and shit takes, The Targets are ready to explode on to the international scene.

“The Wilderness of Manitoba have delivered an EP of stripped down folk that relies on gorgeous three and four piece harmonies to grab your attention. Most of the tunes don’t move faster than a snail’s pace, allowing a slightly plucked banjo to lead the way. What it lacks in speed, it makes up for in substance.”
- hearya.com

‘it is all to easy to get cynical about those who run about championing things as the greatest this or that since, er…the last one. Yet, every now and then something or someone gets through the cracks, rises above the general morass and makes you sit and take stock, even for just a few minutes. From the moment I hit play on The Wilderness of Manitoba’s latest EP ‘Hymns of Love and Spirits’ I knew I was hooked. There’s a stark understated beauty to it’s 8 tracks, which combine perfectly executed four part harmonies intertwinned with muted banjos, solitary cello and subtle fingerpicked parts.”
– thelineofbestfit.com

Ben writes and plays what he describes as ‘Lo-Fi Post-Folk musings’. He grew up on a diet of English folk, U.S. 60’s Psychedelia and Brit-Pop, resulting in sounds with melodic, narrative, songwriting at the core.

In the last three years he’s played support slots to Kris Drever, Jeremy Warmsley, and Jim Bob, amongst others. He also appeared onstage with Guillemots at a packed out Birmingham Academy.

Tonight he’ll be previewing songs from his new album Festive Road. Therein lie stories of twisted carnival characters, all played out against the backdrop of the decline of a circus in winter. Clockwork clowns! A weak strongman! A ringmaster on his last legs! A love affair! Polystyrene take-away containers that talk! And more! There’s a sideshow for Peter and Katie…

Ben is joined onstage by drummer Carlo Solazzo, and Dave McCabe on keys/guitar.

‘Long-established Moseley-based tunesmiths Finding Calcutta are returning from the wilderness at long last with a more rootsy, honest sound, and a few new members.  Their traditional folk vibe has a modern, poppy twist, with influences ranging from Crosby Stills & Nash and Jethro Tull, through to Cara Dillon and Elvis Perkins.  With sparkling 3-part harmonies throughout, and their trademark acoustic gymnastics still on display, they are finally ready to bounce right back into the scene.’

Featuring members of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Tropic of Nelson, The Depreciation Guild is a fuzzed-out, reverb drenched pop/electronic group consisting of Kurt Feldman (guitar, vocals, programming), Christoph Hochheim (guitar, vocals), and Anton Hochheim (drums). Backed solely by a Nintendo Entertainment System, the band blankets their sound with the crushing blows of its 8-Bit 2A03 sound chip. Drawing inspiration from classic dream-pop bands such as Pale Saints, and Cocteau Twins, as well as 80’s synth-pop masters such as Bill Nelson, Gangway, Scritti Politti and YMO, The Depreciation Guild have artfully cultivated a unique sound that strikes a balance between progressive and retro-chic.

Support comes from Jodie & The Jet Plane, a five piece with a nice line in soaring (I guess that’s where the Jet Plane bit comes in) vocals and emotive lyrics who, in places, reminds a little of All About Eve (floaty folky rocky 80’s band who sang songs about stuffing flowers in their hair, sitting by harbours and being ‘ocean waves’…it happens, right?).