London gigs diary: 23 July – 29 July

July 22nd, 2012 • Gigs diary

Torches launch their new single “Sky Blue Ivory” at The Sebright Arms Thursday night.

It’s another relatively quiet week in London for shows, what with us knee deep in festival territory. There’s of course still some decent stuff on – a string of promising US artists seem to all be in town on Wednesday night, including NYC indie rock stalwarts We Are Scientists, who headline The Garage, and Athens, Georgia’s Lera Lynn, who makes her London debut over at Bush Hall. Brooklyn’s Frankie Rose headlines XOYO on Thursday evening with support from Strangers, whilst London band Torches launch their new 7″ single at The Sebright Arms. DIAZ make their live debut at The Nest in Dalston on Saturday night, and Young Lost Club bring their acoustic events to West London on Sunday, when they host a string of acts – including the promising Maybe Myrtle Tyrtle – at The Defectors Weld in Shepherd’s Bush.

Monday 23 July

Arthur Beatrice @ The Lexington
Get People @ Barfly

Tuesday 24 July

Dog Is Dead + Splashh @ Barfly (14-17 year olds only; 5pm)
Mazes @ The Sebright Arms
Parakeet @ Madame JoJo’s (White Heat)
Three Trapped Tigers @ Birthdays
Plastic Youth @ The Social

Wednesday 25 July

We Are Scientists (US) + Bad Veins (US) @ The Garage
Younghearts + Fractures @ Notting Hill Arts Club (Death2Disco) FREE before 23:00
Pearl The Beard (US) @ Monto Water Rats
She Keeps Bees (US) @ Cargo
Lera Lynn (US) @ Bush Hall
The White Album + The Hall Of Mirrors @ Hoxton Bar Kitchen

Thursday 26 July

Torches @ The Sebright Arms
Splashh @ Birthdays (Luv Luv Luv)
Frankie Rose (US) + Strangers @ XOYO
Esser + The Voyeurist @ The Nest
Mika @ Heaven

Friday 27 July

Amusement + Mafia Lights @ Old Blue Last FREE
Billy Vincent + Second Shepherds @ Koko (Club NME)

Saturday 28 July

DIAZ @ The Nest FREE before 22:30

Sunday 29 July

Maybe Myrtle Tyrtle @ The Defectors Weld (Young Lost Club) FREE

Tags: Gig listings, Gigs diary, Live music, London, What’s on

Trackback URI.

Article source: http://laissezfaireclub.com/2012/07/london-gigs-diary-23-july-29-july/

Introducing: DIAZ

July 20th, 2012 • Introducing

We were very excited this morning to come across this video on YouTube: “Be Close To Me” is a slice of dark and atmospheric 80s pop perfection from DIAZ, the brand new incarnation of a group we’ve released on our label in the past (we’ll let you work out the rest).

Judging by the quality of this first offering, exciting things could well lie in wait as a result of the re-brand. The prominent bass and drums draw you in, before the spotlight shifts to a powerful and affecting vocal, which then hits us hard with one of the strongest, most memory imbedding hooks we’ve heard in 2012. It’s the comfortable, relaxed sound of a band who’ve clearly played with each other some time, and have found a powerful alchemy as a result.

The video, a montage of grainy footage from 1980s New York City, fits in perfectly with the new sound, all 3am, neon lights, The Cure and New Order, with a nod to the recent dancefloor filling offerings of Holy Ghost.

At just under three minutes, we’re left wanting more and wondering what’s next – of course their intention. We guess the first port of call for anyone curious is The Nest in Dalston on Saturday 28 July, when DIAZ make their live debut.

Tags: 80s, Be Close To Me, Dalston, DIAZ, London, New York City, The Nest

Trackback URI.

Article source: http://laissezfaireclub.com/2012/07/introducing-diaz/

Introducing: The BlackWhite

July 17th, 2012 • Introducing

Whilst we’re probably well past the era of indie rock as a cultural phenomenon in the UK (2001 – 2006; Is This It right through to The Automatic’s “Monster”, we’d speculate), there are of course always going to be groups of four or five men trying to relive the salad days of guitars in the top 40, enthusiastic Kiwis on brown couches and a time when we regularly noted what was being said in the weekly music press.

A memorable, guitar based three and a half minutes is definitely a timeless thing, and success can of course occur when a group composes just this. The latest band to take a punt with guitars, bass, drums and some well placed hooks are London’s The BlackWhite, a quartet fronted by a singer called Josh Bray, who enjoyed some success as a folky solo artist prior to this latest incarnation.

It’s Bray’s emotive and tuneful vocal that takes the lead on the band’s first ever demos, of which “Cut Through The Middle” and “Born To Better Times” are obvious, immediate highlights. Everything from the noisy rock of Incubus and Brand New to the mellower and moody atmospherics of Cold War Kids and The Boxer Rebellion is audible in the song writing, suggesting a band who’ve lived through and appreciated a number of ages in the rock ‘n’ roll lexicon.

Their take on it all, whilst of course nothing particularly new, is sharply executed, and hints at something bigger – if they continue to write songs in this vein we’re sure an imagination capturing moment (every successful indie band has one) is within their capability. We’re very much tuned in to their station, which broadcasts for only the second time live this Thursday night at West London’s AAA venue.

MP3: The BlackWhite – Born To Better Times

Tags: Born To Better Times, Cut Through The Middle, Indie Rock, Josh Bray, London, The BlackWhite

Trackback URI.

Article source: http://laissezfaireclub.com/2012/07/introducing-the-blackwhite/

London gigs diary: 16 July – 22 July

July 14th, 2012 • Gigs diary

Jade Hopcroft plays a free entry show at Shoreditch’s Cornershop this Wendesday.

Monday 16 July

P A L M s + The Bishops @ The Social

Tuesday 17 July

Post War Years + Cave Painting + Peers @ Birthdays
To Kill A King + Life In Film @ The Social FREE
The Crookes + The Kabeedies @ Bull Gate (Bamboozled)
Robert Ellis @ The Windmill

Wednesday 18 July

Roo Panes + Jade Hopcroft @ The Cornershop FREE
The Boy Least Likely To + My Tiger My Timing @ Hoxton Bar Kitchen (Farm Festival Launch Party)
Robert Ellis @ The Wilmington Arms (Communion)
Jonathan Wilson @ The Lexington

Thursday 19 July

The BlackWhite @ AAA
Man Without Country @ The Shacklewell Arms (Clash Magazine)
Atlas Sound @ Scala
Arthur Rigby The Baskervilles @ Old Queens Head (Oh! Inverted World) FREE
Eagulls @ CAMP (Sexbeat)

Friday 20 July

Man Like Me @ Koko (Club NME)
Digits + Look, Stranger! @ 93 Feet East FREE
Whales In Cubicles + Wild Combination @ The Windmill (Best Laid Plans)
Caan @ The Wheelbarrow FREE

Saturday 21 July

N/A

Sunday 22 July

Whales In Cubicles @ The Lock Tavern FREE

Tags: Gig listings, Gigs diary, Live music, London, What’s on

Trackback URI.

Article source: http://laissezfaireclub.com/2012/07/london-gigs-diary-16-july-22-july/

Introducing: Milo Greene

July 13th, 2012 • Introducing

We’re sure there are many types of bands in the world. But we’re going to simplify things for the purpose of this piece, and to illustrate a point. We’re going to suggest that there are two types of bands – bands that are simply here today, gone tomorrow, and ones that stay with us for a lot longer, are intrinsic to our record collections, and never veer far from our drunken pub conversations. To add to the latter category – bands who we’d go and see year after year, and ones we get excited by when they announce they’re doing they’re releasing a record, or coming to our town.

It’s relatively early days for Los Angeles’ Milo Greene – they’re releasing their debut full length in the US next week – but we’re going to go out on a limb here and confidently suggest this bohemian looking quintet are with us for the long haul.

We came across these three songs of theirs (below) a few days ago, and have been listening to them wherever and whenever possible ever since. Put simply, it’s gorgeous, melody heavy, harmony filled indie folk that seduces you on first listen. It’s music, we imagine, created by people who were raised on the likes of Love and Crosby, Stills and Nash and have more recently lived in a world where Local Natives, Fleet Foxes and Edward Sharpe are lauded recording artists, all of the time basking in glorious Californian sunshine.

If there was ever an example of music being a direct product of its environment, this is probably it. Early single “1957″ is the standout, and is sure to be Milo Greene’s calling card as they begin their inevitable rise to the top of alternative indie world. At three-and-a-half minutes, it encapsulates all that’s great about this band, and by the time it reaches its chanting, fist-pumping climax, you’re typing their name into Google to find out more.

Tags: 1957, Atlantic, Chop Shop, Don’t You Give Up On Me, Los Angeles, Milo Greene, Take A Step

Trackback URI.

Article source: http://laissezfaireclub.com/2012/07/introducing-milo-greene/