Filed under: news, trouser press, video, where's the gigs | Tags: 2008, amelia fletcher, bis, charlotte richardson andrews, festival preview, heavenly, ladyfest manchester, leni ward, manda rin, music, news, penny broadhurst, sophie's pigeons, tallulah gosh, tender trap, the lovely eggs, the slits, vile vile creatures, zombina and the skeletones
Ladyfest Manchester
November 7–9, 2008
Zion Arts Centre, Hulme
While the big-name UK festivals may be little more than a wet, muddy memory, the real homegrown affairs are lighting up our diaries like autumnal fireworks. Wears The Trousers is packing its nap-over bag in preparation for this year’s Ladyfest Manchester, a three-day extravaganza featuring a glorious plethora of female musicians, bands, DJs, artists, performers and comediennes, ranging from the underground and unsigned to the established and revered.
Conveniently held under one roof at the Zion Arts Centre in the inner city area of Hulme, this year’s Ladyfest programme includes art exhibitions, cabaret, film and documentaries, and workshops on a range of topics, focusing on and around feminist debates and skill sharing. Ladyfest Manchester is a not-for-profit organisation (supported by the Arts Council and grassroots fundraising events) whose sole manifesto is to celebrate female artists and musicians, and support queer and feminist awareness – something we can get behind wholeheartedly. Watch this space over the coming weeks for features and interviews with the bands, and a full report from the frontline.
Filed under: news, trouser press, video, where's the gigs | Tags: 2008, alan pedder, music, neon neon, news, yo! majesty
This is music that has no concept of the term ‘personal space’
Alternative hip hop act Yo! Majesty are fast becoming bona fide dancefloor royalty with their latest single going down a storm at clubs. The appropriately named ‘Club Action’ first surfaced over two years ago when lesbian duo Shunda K and Jwl B were just starting to make a name for themselves outside of Florida’s underground rap scene.
Now getting its first official single release (November 17th) after proving to be a huge hit with music bloggers and remixers both budding and established, the version for 2008 has been “toughened up” to the point where it’s nigh on irresistible. Released on 12″ vinyl and via digital download, the single is backed with remixes from Arctic Monkey Matt Helders, Sunship, Stanton Warriors and Bless Beats.
Juana Molina
Un Día •••½
Domino
In her home country of Argentina, Juana Molina is best known as the star of ‘Juana y sus hermanas’, a sketch show which appears to be pretty much the Spanish version of ‘Shoot The Writers’. Over here of course, she is best known as an exponent of electro tinged folk and world music – a label which Un Día (“one day”), her fourth album on indie giants Domino, proves to be woefully inadequate. The music found here, although bearing all the aesthetic trademarks of folk music, could not be less folksy. Coming across as more like an Autechre album played acoustically, it utilises vocal and acoustic guitar samples, chopping them up to create otherworldly dreamscapes of jittery guitars and overlapping voices.
Filed under: news, where's the gigs | Tags: 2008, alan pedder, beth jeans houghton, gregory and the hawk, liz green, lou rhodes, music, news, twisted folk festival
Tickets on sale now
Gregory & The Hawk is the latest act to be added to the line-up of the annual Twisted Folk one-day festival on November 29th, joining the likes of up and coming singer-songwriters Liz Green and Beth Jeans Houghton and more established acts Lou Rhodes and The Handsome Family, among others. With second album Moenie & Kitchi (review) getting great press since its release earlier this month, New Yorker Meredith Godreau and bandmate Mike McGuire will no doubt be one of the event’s main attractions and come with the highest of recommendations for their captivating live show.
Now in its fourth year, Twisted Folk has established itself as one of the highlights of the musical calendar, despite lurching from one end of the year to the other – the 2007 event was held in April. This year’s event, subtitled ‘Tally Ho!’ after an old coach company once based on the corner on which the North Finchley Arts Depot venue sits, promises to incorporate local history with “a fresh mix of new old sounds, old new ones, and anything in between”. Tickets are £15 plus booking fee, and can be purchased here. Keep your eye on the Twisted Folk Myspace for further additions to the line-up.
Filed under: news, trouser press, where's the gigs | Tags: 2008, alan pedder, joan as police woman, music, news, rufus wainwright
Guest turn to be third release from To Survive
Joan Wasser and Rufus Wainwright have a long history of working and touring together – mostly with Joan as backing singer or support act for her flamboyant Canadian friend – and a proper duet between the two had long been anticipated before surfacing earlier this year on the second Joan As Police Woman album, To Survive.
Album closer ‘To America’ starts out a little jaunty, gathers teardrops in its eyes, poses questions with no answers and swoons along in its sophisticated melancholy before erupting into an elaborate, almost euphoric singalong towards the end. It’s classy, even stately stuff, and will be yours for the price of a download, CD or 7″ vinyl come December 1st. Not coincidentally, Wasser and her JAPW bandmates will be hitting the road for an 11-date tour of the UK and Ireland the same week. Dates after the jump.
Filed under: news, trouser press | Tags: 2008, alan pedder, jennifer hudson, music, news
Nephew thought to have been abducted from murder scene
‘Dreamgirls’ and ‘Sex & The City’ actress Jennifer Hudson made an emotional plea yesterday morning for information leading to the safe return of her missing nephew Julian, who vanished on Friday from the family home in Chicago’s South Side where her mother Darnell Donerson (57) and brother Jason Hudson (29) were found shot dead. A state-wide alert was issued for the missing 7 year old after the bodies were discovered by the boy’s mother Julia. Her estranged husband William Balfour was arrested late Friday on suspicion of perpetrating the double murder, although it seems he has yet to be formally charged. Balfour, 27, has a criminal history and spent nearly 7 years in jail for carjacking and attempted murder.
Writing in her Myspace blog on Sunday, Jennifer posted a photo of her nephew and a message thanking people for their prayers and messages of support. “Please keep praying for our family and that we get Julian King back home safely,” wrote the former American Idol contestant. “If anyone has any information about his whereabouts please contact the authorities immediately…Once again thank you all for being there for us through this tough time.”
Alan Pedder
wears the trousers magazine 