Un-Scene
I still can't
get into the scenes thing, by clothing, hair cut or region. I really
must be living on another planet (Oh hang on, I am! phew...)
Having said
that, East Anglia captured my imagination last year. I know it
could have been Yorkshire (though really good music came from every
corner of the land - take those Northern Ireland The Next Generation
events
at Brixton Windmill
for instance), but some trips to Cambridge, outer space
courtesy of Khe Sanh
Approach and a Sunday spent in Ipswich courtesy of
Music Is My Lover Promotions was pretty infectious.
The old skool
new ways support for what bands go through to create and
entertain from R*E*P*E*A*T
- the main network, established anti-
estblishment, website, label, zine and gig promoter of East Anglia -
iced
the cake really. It made me think that because music is being scened-by-
location it proves that there is still a wealth of talent, and more
importantly,
variety that sees beyond the boundaries of coiffure, couture or comparisons
that band-de-jour's mailing list might approve of.
I love the bands people sneer and cheer at in equal measure - it gets the adrenaline rising.
Music Is My Lover lured us to Ipswich one Sunday in March for a charity fund raiser to help a local hospice. Bands came from all over East Anglia (and London and Edinburgh) on the strength of the bill that they had
put
together with Miss
Black America headlining what turned out
to be SUCH a legendary event. They have the footage to prove
it! And, believe me, adrenaline rose high!
It was also Korova's
first show south of the border. Both the
Edinburgh artpunk trio (then London's Corporation:Blend)
turned
the dance floor into a wild mosh pit teen frenzy riot. Korova
recently topped the Earwax
Radio tunes of 2005 with the
amazing 'Just Like Peter Cook'. Chris
T-T followed them with an
acoustic set that was like Christ-T the first coming! What a show
it was. What a star he is.
How could anybody not fall in love with such a scene less scene? It was an all ages event with nobody being "cool", just going wild and enjoying themselves like punk really happened. Amazing and gorgeous and pop starrish as fug! East Anglia just got spanglier...
Of all the great
bands that graced the stage, there was one that impressed me just with
their soundcheck! From the mass of teenagers dotted around the hall, three
of them got on stage with their gear just as we were about to go out and
get some food. The singer/keyboard player
literally transformed to confidence on stage and I stopped to hear what
they
sounded like. One song later I was gobsmacked. I didn't know who they
were but no way was I missing them later. It was only after Charlie
Brown
had delivered a set of pure pop, with a driving rhythm section, jazz,
rock and
clear mind nagging melodies that I even found out who they were.
A few months later
we had managed to tempt Charlie Brown to London to
play at our little club in New Cross, that gig got them even more gig
offers
from other promoters equally impressed and less than a year later, they
are
one of the buzz teen bands and yet you couldn't really put them into a
scene.
East Anglian is wide spectrum anyway so maybe, if there was a map of the
world, it wouldnt be too immodest to say that the entire of BritainIreland,
by
density of music making and loving population, really are the most Rock'n
Roll Isles on The Planet. (Governed by a failed rock star, who less people
turned out to vote for than the Pop Idol series!)
Besides, I didn't even mention the huge amount of acitivity happening in Reading, Berserskshire and it's become increasingly livelier in our bit of London (The Shires of Elsewhere) too over the last few years.
It's not exactly quiet here in Rocklands either - spoilt for choice of music entertainment thanks to 2Bob, Alt-DJ, Subsonique, Wolfgang Bopp, Kooba, Earwax, The Blue Light District, I Love New Cross, Goldsmiths S.U., P.O.L.E. and more... With bands like The Bright Space, The Venus Kicks, The Southern Electrics,
White
Man Kamikaze, Fruit Machine
Blues, Nebraska,
William,
The Fairies
Band, The Violets, The
Rocks, The Swear, The
Total Drop, Deep South,
Videostarr, Empty Vessels,
Team B, Plugs (and..
and... etc...) cranking up
the stakes to make this year even more exciting than the excitement
before. New band Forms Forms Forms are well worth a peek.
Almost a year
on from the East Spanglier trip to Ipswich... The Khe Sanh
Approach will support Julian Cope in February. Having stormed this year's
In The City and won an Radio 1 Evening Session Scotland demo poll by
98%, Korova will have
a release in spring on Tough
Love Records - I've
had a sneak preview of their new material. They have established an
exciting rock sound.
Chris T-T played
the first OneMusic session (replaces The Peel Sessions)
broadcast this month, and will tour in February. His new album 9 Red
Songs
is a(nother) classic! Miss Black America are signed, look out for them
in
spring. Charlie Brown were also a big hit at In The City, their Operation
Persuasion EP sold out completely. They take a break from working on new songs to play at London's Barfly on 20th February. C:B bassist, Dexy, braved some acoustic shows and not only went down the proverbial storm, but has even had Elliot Smith's band give his MySpace track the thumbs up.
Rocklanders like Gear (hook punk rockers, just picked up the Buzzcocks tour), Hey Gravity! (amazing new rock of mega pop proportions) and The Needles (new wave stars signed a record deal at a New Cross show in January) have come on big steps in a few months since Artful and the new Nebraska material is to die for. Here's to whoever comes out of wherever next whenever and however they do! In cyberspace, we're all one region.
As usual, this isn't the half of it. Its healthy for everybody to differ. Imagine if we only had a dozen bands to love between us all...
McNaughty
Music Tourist Board
http://rocklands.1.forumer.com