Monthly Archives: June 2006

We’re already up against the World Cup of Association Football as the sweltering night opens, and despite the ISD ‘crew’ being football crazy (myself excluded) they are all up here when [b] Wolfie [/b] take to the stage. Last time we were delayed by circumstances beyond our control but tonight we’ve deliberately timed their first song with the start of half-time and, sure enough, some extra punters venture upstairs to fill out the room a bit. Not that we’re exactly dodging the tumbleweed: there’ s a respectable number of people who’d rather take seat upstairs with us than watch Italy vs. USA downstairs. Continue reading →

The Betes Noires play the Luminaire, London on Thursday 29th June

Belfast four piece The Betes Noires headline The Luminaire in London Thursday 29th June, along with the Grand Rose Band, New World Record and a DJ set from One Imaginary Girl.

Having been compared to The Pixies and The Cure, The Betes Noires have supported The Kooks, All American Rejects, The Wonder Stuff, Art Brut, Kerbdog, Tim Wheeler [Ash], and were hand picked by The Wedding Present to support them on their recent Irish tour as well as packing out their own gigs across Ireland and England. Continue reading →

The next band night is now [b]this Saturday[/b] 17th June, 2006. The venue is still: Upstairs at the Enterprise, 2 Haverstock Hill, right by Chalk Farm tube, a map can be found [url=http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=NW3+2BL&ll=51.5442,-0.153058&spn=0.003009,0.009881]HERE[/url].

The running order is still a bit mad. All I know for sure is Popular Workshop are headlining!

[url=http://www.myspace.com/popularworkshop] Popular Workshop [/url] are a bit of a “finally” for me, since I’ve been trying to put one of Gypsy’s bands on for about three years. They’ve got one fine single out already with [url=http://www.myspace.com/studiopenguinrecords] Studio Penguin [/url] and another in the pipeline for later this year with [url=http://www.tigertrap.co.uk] Tigertrap [/url] so it’s fair to say they’re making an impact. Soundwise it’s…erm…good. Really good. Frankly, they seem to gig every other day so if you’ve not heard them already you’re probably dead. They’re worth seeing as often as possible so we’re happy to give you that opportunity. Continue reading →

Daddy Long Legs is proud to announce their first release – the double A-side single Captain Aqua/Soup – available on Monday 19th June from Conker Records on CD and vinyl formats. Continue reading →

The CD opens with a sombre electronic piece, all synth strings and reverb-laden deep vocals with a quiet backing beat, somewhere between the more edgy stuff from the 80s and the electronic Goth stuff I hear my flatmate play on hungover mornings with the paper sometimes. The second track is a bit faster, certainly more upbeat musically even if the vocals are still ‘dark’, to overuse a cliché.

Drums are all drum machine, or I guess maybe a very straight drummer on an electro-kit. Certainly the sounds are meant to be electronic and not mistaken for real drums; guitars are clean, delayed and jangly and the synths stick to that string sound. There seems to be no bass to speak of, which is an interesting choice and not something I particularly felt was lacking, but it marks the sound out from a band like New Order somewhat. Continue reading →

The build-up is practically over. For weeks and months we have been ritually patronised by all manner of marketing people wishing to convince us that they “understand” the passion of football fans for the world’s greatest sporting event, and meanwhile an idiotic debate rages on about flag-waving. So it’s a relief that we’re finally there now. The tournament kicks off tomorrow – here are some thoughts and predictions. Continue reading →