Filed under: news, where's the gigs | Tags: charlotte richardson andrews, ladyfest goldsmiths 2010, PENS, veronica falls, wetdog
2010 is a big year for Ladyfest. The US-inspired DIY organisation is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and although the main Ladyfest Ten party won’t be lighting the sparklers and slicing the cake ’til October/November, there will be a number of fundraisers and mini-fests in the meantime. Most pressingly is the upcoming week-long affair at Goldsmith University’s Student Union, now in its fourth year and getting better all the time. Running from February 22–26, events include art exhibitions, discussions, cabaret, talks from female-centric activists and artists, crafternoons, performance art and the essential Ladyfest ingredient: live music.
Filed under: news, where's the gigs | Tags: 60 watt bayonets, alan pedder, alessi's ark, anais mitchell, buffy sainte-marie, charlotte richardson andrews, chew lips, comanechi, divorce, emaline delapaix, emily barker, erin mckeown, goldielocks, haunted stereo, i blame coco, judy collins, kittie, lail arad, laura swain, laura veirs, le plat du jour, lulu and the lampshades, marina and the diamonds, mariza, martha wainwright, MEN, PENS, she keeps bees, the berettas!, the kittiwakes, the momeraths, trash kit, vivian girls, wetdog
So, January, yeah. Rubbish, isn’t it? Dark, cold, still bloated from Christmas, the annual humiliation of failing to keep your resolutions for longer than a fortnight, nothing to do…wait! Nothing to do? The gig year doesn’t usually heat up properly until March or so but there’s plenty worth seeing. We’ve trawled the listings to pick out something to warm your cockles for every black, freezing night of the month, starting tonight!
Filed under: album, review, video | Tags: 2009, charlotte richardson andrews, music, PENS
Pens
Hey Friend, What You Doing? ••••½
De Stijl
There’s nothing like a little controversy to inflate the buzz around debuts, but for London trio Pens the kerfuffle in question has come squarely from critic-to-critic politics rather than any attention seeking gimmicks from the artists themselves. Pitchfork’s damning review of the band’s recently pressed LP, Hey Friend, What You Doing? – which came complete with heaving sighs and ‘now now, we know best’ style tuts – incited a scathing response from legendary muso Everett True, who quite rightly countered their reviewer’s claims that Amelia Braekke-Dyer, Helen Taylor and Stef Orlando “can’t play their instruments”. No press is bad press, as the saying goes, and karma has most definitely cartwheeled on this one as Pitchfork’s bemoaning only helped to alert everyone to this awesomely necessary band and their giddy riot of a debut.
Filed under: news, where's the gigs | Tags: an experiment on a bird in the air pump, anais mitchell, austin drage, autumn grieve, betty and the werewolves, camille o'sullivan, cara dillon, carmen souza, caroline weeks, cerys matthews, cris tanzi, damon and naomi, doghouse roses, ellen mary mcgee, emmy the great, françoiz breut, grace jones, grace obika, harem scarem, helen mccookerybook, jill sobule, julia nunes, karima francis, liz durrett, melodica melody and me, nancy wallace, ora cogan, PENS, pumajaw, rebecca worthley, rolo tomassi, samantha whates, sharleen spiteri, sharon shannon, shrag, sky larkin, stonefoxx, teddy thompson, the duke spirit, the duloks, the left outsides, tift merritt, wallis bird
So, January, yeah. Rubbish, isn’t it? Dark, cold, still bloated from Christmas, the annual humiliation of failing to keep your resolutions for longer than a fortnight, nothing to do…wait! Nothing to do? The gig year doesn’t usually heat up properly until March or so but there’s plenty worth seeing. We’ve trawled the listings to pick out something to warm your cockles for every black, freezing night of the month, starting Monday.
* * *
05
Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump
Durrr @ The End, London
10:30pm | £6 (£4 before 11)
Named after an 18th century painting by Joseph Wright, raucous London trio Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump play a thumping live set to promote their debut EP These Sins at legendary (and soon to be demolished) club venue The End. Regular Durrr DJs, including Rory Phillips, will be on hand to turn Monday into fun day, even if it’s the first day back to the hideous reality of work for many of us.
www.myspace.com/anexperimentonabirdintheairpump
www.myspace.com/durrrclub
06
Melodica, Melody & Me
Club Ugly @ The Social, London
8pm | FREE!
With their debut EP Stones (produced by Gorillaz bassist Al Mobbs) about to be unleashed on the world, this folk-meets-reggae quintet have a promising year ahead. And with this gig costing nil pence, zero pounds, we can’t think of a reason to miss it. If dancing ’til your feet fall off at Durrr sounds a bit too energetic for this early in 2009, Club Ugly is the perfect way to ease yourself gently into the gig-going year.
Also playing: Captive State, The Housewives, We’re Not Cool (DJ Set)
wears the trousers magazine 