Posts Tagged ‘London gigs 2014’

matt-howden-and-george-by-chris-saundersSieben or else music as a sound maze in three dimensions

This is a band that has traced a path in music since 1999 with the album ‘Forbid The Sun’s Escape’ now out of print and sold out as are most of his earlier albums. Even though the atmosphere and melodies of this first album were never to be evolved or reappear, Sieben has continuously evolved its sound, unveiling, with each new album, different hidden aspects of the band’s personality. The looped nature of Sieben’s music and the dexterous layering of vocals and instruments create invisible spaces with infinite depth filled with multiple and complex meanings. Even though the use of the loop brings to mind a closed circular shape, the music of Sieben is a very open shape resembling the spiral of the golden rule. With the themes of most of the songs revolving around existential matters and paganism (‘Ogham Inside The Night’ was one of the albums where paganist influences were more prolific), Sieben has always advocated a love for nature.
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Of the Wand and the Moon Album CoverI can’t think of a better way to kickstart Autumn than with a live with mesmerising magickal music by  ‘Of The Wand And The Moon’ , supported by Black Light Ascension and Lloyd James the lead vocalist of Naevus.

Of The Wand And The Moon, or else music inspired by the moonlight and whose magickal aspect is represented by the wand , as Kim Larsen, the band’s founder, has explained in the past. The band that was formed in Denmark, has so far already released 6 full length albums including one with Sol Invictus, Matt Howden (Sieben) and Unveiled.

Drawing inspiration from folk music of the 60s (i.e. Lee Hazlewood, Serge Gainsbourg, Johnny Cash) but also following the trail that neo folk and psych rock bands have drawn (i.e. Death In June, Sol Invictus, Der Blutharsch, NON, Current 93), Of The Wand And The Moon released their first album called ‘Nighttime Nightrhymes’ in 1999 by Euphonius Records. (more…)

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Dieter_Meier_profile…I always tell stories. For me, it’s an impromptu sharing experience. Sometimes I’ll talk a whole five minutes to the audience before starting the next song…” (Dieter Meier at a conversation with Bryan Ferry in 2011)

Dieter Meier is a Swiss musician and artist who has come a long way since 1979 when he was chosen by Boris Blank and Carlos Perón, as the lead singer of their band Yello. Since 1969 he has produced experimental films  ( i.e. ‘Jetzt und Alles’, ‘Lightmaker’) which were presented in festivals around the world, he was the director of Alphaville’s videoclip for their famous song ‘Big in Japan’, he created street art in Zurich, Munich and New York while he has also provided articles and essays for several magazines. Besides art he owns a ranch in Argentina called ‘Ojo de Agua’, a restaurant in Zurich and in the 1990s he designed silk scarves and was involved with the company ReWATCH, that uses recycled cans in order to make watches. (more…)

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In the aftermath of a ritualistic live gig by Fire+ Ice which had as support bands While Angels Watch and Knotwork,  it’s time to start preparing ourselves for a more melodic upcoming live gig which will take place at Electrowerkz on Saturday July 12. The headliners, Kirlian Camera, is a band I personally adore and the support bands will be Naevus and Rome.

How does one introduce a favourite band without risking being favourable? Somehow it seems that the best way to do this is by adopting the same approach as for talking about a dear and old acquaintance.

Kirlian Camera’s name has been inspired by Kirlian photography also known as electrography which is a technique used to capture the phenomenon of electrical coronal discharges and has been the subject of scientific and parapsychology research. Kirlian Camera is Angelo Bergamini’s band which now counts 35 years of history. 13 albums after the release of the first self title 12’’, mark the long path of musical and stylistic transformations that the band has followed since their debut gig in Spring 1980 on the occasion of the Italian Gay Pride party. The band’s line up was constantly changing with four female singers preceding Elena Alice Fossi who officially began the collaboration with the band in 2000. (more…)

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Wovenhand photoTo be honest with you this was more an initiation ritual rather than a live gig and I enjoyed it so much that now after almost a week I still can’t stop thinking about it!

I’ve always believed that the only direct way to connect with a band is to attend at least one live gig and this live gig didn’t prove me wrong.

When it comes to Wovenhand, listening to their albums in any other way than ( during a live) only tells half the story about what this band is really about. But let me take things from the beginning…

It was the first time that I went to the Bush Hall  and the first time I was seeing Wovenhand live. The Bush Hall is a surviving example of Georgian architecture with great acoustics and it seemed to be an ideal place for the dynamic music of the band which has played live there four years ago. Unfortunately the tube’s delayed schedule didn’t allow me to arrive on time for Desert Mountain Tribe which played very briefly. This is a new and promising group and having listened to their debut EP ‘Desert Mountain Tribe’ it is obvious that their sound is classic heavy rock with an emphasis on electric guitar solos. I will be waiting to listen more from them in the near future.

When a setlist starts with such a dynamic and perfect song like ‘Hiss’ you can only expect that this will not be an ordinary live!

Wovenhand, respecting the announced stage time, appeared at 9.15 and played with a remarkable energy and passion for 1 hour and 45′. Bush Hall was almost at its full capacity and from the moment David Eugene Edwards started singing in an unknown and incomprehensible language coupled with capturing gestures, he gained everyone’s attention.

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Daemonia Nymphe is a Greek band created by Spyros and Pandelis Giasafakis in 1994 and since then, they have inspired their audience in Europe incessantly, by offering a unique combination of strong and dynamic melodies, interesting rhythmic and stylistic alterations within their compositions as well as unforgettable live performances. Daemonia Nymphe are collaborating with a dexterous manufacturer of traditional music instruments in Greece, Nikolaos Brass, who is providing them  with hand made ancient greek instruments which are resurrected through the band’s music. Thus the band is offering a unique experience to their audiences to see and listen to these instruments on stage. To those of you who will listen to this band for the first time, I can only say that the sound  is unique, drawing inspiration from  traditional greek music, world, eastern and balkan music traditions and creating an original sound with unending inspiration with the contribution of various collaborators throughout their career. Having attended recently an inspiring, and utterly interesting live performance at The Lexington of London (live review will follow soon) of this ethereal/ethnic/traditional but overall authentic band, Daemonia Nymphe, I would like to encourage all of you to attend ‘Psychostasia: The Performance’ on 23/3/14 at Riverside Studios in London.

The text below is the official press release for this performance

Blaue Rosenbox

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Xiu Xiu is not your average post punk/experimental band. They belong to the wider post punk scene but they actually create a music genre of their own. The band started in 2002 from San Jose in California and Angela Seo has joined Jamie Stewart in 2009. 

Last year Xiu Xiu played at Koko as the support band for Swans during ‘Mouth to Mouth’ mini festival which was curated by Michael Gira. During this live performance Jamie Stewart offered a rather acoustic set and the setlist included revisions of older country/gospel songs. This year, having already released two aesthetically opposite albums, the electrifying ‘Angel Guts: Red Classroom‘ and the more melodical/acoustic/country ‘Unclouded Sky‘, they are visiting London for two shows at Birthdays in Stoke Newington. On the 21st James Blackshaw will be the support band while on the 22nd Blood Music will be on stage before Xiu Xiu.
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