Bonilla presents: Genius of Time, Leif and Matt Pond @ Antwerp Mansion, 25.01.14

Going toe to toe with a plethora of heavyweight Saturday night crowd-pullers is a tough ask for anyone, so first time promoters Bonilla had a job on their hands at the weekend. Hoya Hoya, Hit&Run, Wigflex, Craig Charles and Pangaea were all turning heads, but this cosmic disco vibed line-up held a different allure and as Matt Pond’s scene setting slot drew to a close, the gathered crowd was a good size – plenty enough people to warm Antwerp Mansion’s draughty climes, but with enough space to bust a groove without tripping on anyone’s heels.

Almost immediately after taking the musical baton, the headlining Swedish duo Genius of Time shake the cobwebs from the far corners of Antwerp Mansion’s main room, swapping previous gentle taps for their hefty sub-thwomps. Although away staging a ‘Pre-launch Party’ at the new Underland venue in Ancoats (established by former members of the Mansion team), it was Hit&Run’s extra soundsystem rattling the floorboards, sending shockwaves through the Rusholme venue’s core to move bass hungry dancing shoes into action.

The set mostly comprises the cut and paste percussive dexterity of cosmic house, with occasional nods to sweeping synths and hi-hats on the drum machine. Punctuating an otherwise vocal-less set, the crowd favourite was the addition of the ‘Love Thang’ vocals by oft-sampled 70s group First Choice, but no sooner had hands been raised to their remix’s infectious rhythms, than the mix ended, hands lowered and the numbers subsided to wander the Mansion’s dilapidated rooms elsewhere.

That left Freerotation Festival favourite Leif to see out the final two hours to a fluctuating dancefloor, with a set more intriguing than his predecessors’, but perhaps less appreciated, including hints of samples as disparate as The Prodigy’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ and Jon Hopkins’ single ‘Open Eye Signal’, infiltrated by jazzy saxophones and a wide array of percussive styles across his record selections.

Words: Ian Pennington

Preview: Video Jam returns

The not-for-profit event curator Video Jam is set to assemble another eclectic mix of audio and visual artists for their next Antwerp Mansion showcase later this month.

After a short hiatus, Video Jam has set the date of Sunday 18 November for a fourth instalment.

The event, which has not been staged at its regular Antwerp Mansion home since July, will again create a speakeasy café environment for audience members to lounge in front of a makeshift screen fashioned from a large sheet while a variety of musicians and poets will provide a score. If that sounds ramshackle, then it is charmingly so.

The show will be left open to the interpretation of musicians Adam Hart, Boz Hayward and his Bozchestra, members of Songs For Walter, double bassist Dickon Kyme-Wright, Chris Barrett, opera soprano Lisa Newill-Smith, Fizzy Vickers as well as performances by writer James Leach and visual artist Sarah Hill. All of whom have been allocated a short film with which to work – most are produced by local filmmakers with one having recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

In the time since their last showcase at Antwerp Mansion, Video Jam has collaborated with Blank Media Collective at Sandbar as part of the Projector Series this summer and have more projects in the pipeline for next year.

Words: Ian Pennington

Video Jam 4 will take place on Sunday 18 November at Antwerp Mansion, Rusholme. 7pm doors, £2 entry on the door. For more information, see their website. This article first appeared on the Manchester Mule website.

Interview: The Family Wolves

So, Family Wolves – is it with or without the ‘The’?

“With the ‘The’, definitely,” asserts Matt Williamson, co-ringleader at Rusholme’s eclectic arts house Antwerp Mansion and the crux of The Family Wolves, a rock band formed from within the Mansion’s decrepit walls. “You need a run-up to it,” adds lead guitarist Dan Jones.

A fair point; it would be unwise to dive straight in. So, some key facts: there are six of them, they play music for the love, they have been gigging for less than a year, they’d pack it in to be able to make cheese and pate platters at the Mansion and they go by The Family Wolves.

Given Williamson’s proclivity towards more complex verse, it comes as no surprise to discover that this name derives from a Sylvia Plath poem named ‘Manor Garden’, which contains the line: “two suicides, the family wolves.” Of course, there’s more to them than odes and hors d’oeuvres.

As with any of the third Millennium AD’s heaped recycling centre mound of music, there are influences; part of the trick is being able to delve deep enough into the mound so that it’s as freshly repackaged and unrecognisable as the last time it successfully emerged. For The Family Wolves, this is a 1960s USA West coast jam band psyche folk feel, paralleled of course by others before and since using the media du jour but placeable geographically and temporally both in its outward appearance and stated nurture.

Neil Young’s legacy crops up in the ‘sounds like’ column as his is a smartly presented grunge. Grunge’s Godfather, in fact. And not the FF Coppola crime syndicate variety, but a less ill-tempered model. Aesthetically, the Godfather’s apparel is apparent with the Wolves' trilbies and waistcoats rather than a scruffy demeanour more fitting with Young’s Godsons and Goddaughters of the late Twentieth Century stoner rock.

On top of this, the vocal angle is more choral than growl, much indebted to Celine Belli’s reprise of Emmylou Harris’s collaborations with the Canadian Young, or more currently Mimi Parker with Low, Amber Webber with Black Mountain and until 2010 Rachel Fannan with Sleepy Sun. Indeed she carries her double x chromosome like a lone star, shining it as crucially as those fellow psyche maelstrom brewers. Again, although more modern, the appendices are North American.

Although relative Luddites compared with the loopers and vocoders and Ableton Live sequencers of Twenty Twelve, Gibson SG wielder Dan Jones boasts a well-populated pedal board featuring an oft-used Wah Wah wailing with near-crescendonic dominance. But even as lead guitar he stays in line with the Family’s values; the bluesy garishness of the late 60s with post-“Judas” folk amplification is still more team than I. Ivory tinkler Bradlie Houldsworth too is an example of FX in a land of Americana.

Sticksman Alex Grindulis (also of post-rocker locals Peak District) remains untouched by technology as he thunders his skins with a furious fortitude, as if revenge is perched intently in his mind’s eye, just as he is perched intently behind the more upright Wolves.

Then there’s Matt Williamson taking on the burden as the central figure, calm and in control but mindful of scenarios beyond his grasp, which are verbalised with clamour to enamour. His shouts and bawls about who-knows-what deliver in paradox to the poetic eloquence of a classical bard itching within. The polysyllabic articulation is often lost in the sheer depth of the compressed strata emitted by all six, including his own acoustic guitar, plucked rhythmically in tune with the lupine dogmatism rather than aiming to stand out as a lead.

It’s a wholesome broth that can easily lose key ingredients. With this in mind, the motorik certitude of audio density creates another angle aimed towards the stoner rock dial; it’s easy to forget the folk and blues foundations when you’re treading water in gluttonous drone, but for Kris Extance plundering the sonic depths of bassline with rigid reliability. With tides rising vertically all around him it could easily become nonsensical dirge, trailing off into aimless tangential self-indulgence. That rhythm section rudder provides both structure and direction, deliberately guiding towards the sirens luring the Wolves’ bonnie voyage to a final destination.

But it isn’t quite the end. Shouty vocals with messages hidden amidst a crepuscular rhythmic elegy energise a steadily pounding regularity for the hip-swaying shoegazers ebbing across the rattled floorboards. They don’t hear what Williamson says until WHAM; silence hits harder than noise. It clears the room of the all-encompassing muggy miasma enshrouded, before he unflinchingly continues, “I’m your maaaaan!” And in these words he speaks for the whole sextet.

If it’s an unremittingly infectious groove enclosed within clamorous cacophonies that you’re after, then, tonight at the Dulcimer venue in Chorlton at least, he is your man and they are your band.

It hasn’t always been that way in their short history. But as Kris runs through a veritable nightmare of a debut outdoor festival slot at Leek Summer Jam you can tell by his tone that they haven’t taken the experience to heart.

“We got told, ‘2,500 tickets have been sold, you’re on the main stage, at a good time,’ and we were thinking ‘oh, great!’”

“We turned up; three glorified marquees, ours was the furthest one away and the only one without a bar in it as well, the weather was shit, Matt snapped a string before we went on then two when we did go on, the power cut out halfway through the set, the crowd had just witnessed a covers band who played Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Killing In The Name’ before we went on so that obviously set the mood for us...”

It’d be misguided to blame only external forces every time. Matt’s vocal is often off-key in the same way as Bob Dylan but that’s rock’n’roll, as it is told. Precision discarded for pure, raw emotion; the odd bum note lost and forgotten whether sung, strummed, thwacked, grooved or tinkled. After all, to make genuine mistakes is more meaningful and true than hiding behind auto-tuned, over-produced sheen.

They’ve grown tighter both musically and emotionally. Together, they present more than a group; family is indeed a more apt description. They are a synchronous unit, starting as one and pausing in unison, understanding the emphasis of a strategic collected breath before rising to song finales.

Taking account of the root of their growth, the comparisons between Antwerp Mansion and Andy Warhol’s Factory HQ also point towards the equally ramshackle collective The Velvet Underground. Indeed, Lou Reed’s troupe’s early backroom dirges harvested a fine crop of recordings and so will be the case for The Family Wolves, with a debut EP pressed through their Animal Sounds label and ready to go later in September.

Words: Ian Pennington
Photography: Andy Minotaur

The Family Wolves next perform live at the Nothin’ But Abattoir Blues Festival on Saturday 8th September, shared across Oldham Street’s Castle Hotel and Gulliver’s. The free entry event also features fellow Now Then gig alumni The Bourbon Words, The Calimocho Club, Death Vignettes and many more besides.

Canned Music. Now Then Manchester Presents, feat. (murmur) & Raikes Parade @ Antwerp Mansion Festival, Saturday 14th July 2012

The last time I entered these premises it was by traipsing through an overgrown garden littered with empty beer crates and then climbing over a fence. All done under the hours of darkness. The main area in the building comprised of a large, dust filled, poorly lit room where the artists performed.

This time the approach is in bright sunlight and along a path of sorts, though there appears more beer detritus than last and a temporary BBQ stall has been set up. The vast size of the premises is now apparent. The access door to the inside is more of a challenge as it has been painted to form part of mural that extends from the ground floor up to the roof. The location has always been a ‘work in progress’ type of development and the owners / users have now managed to repair another section of the roof, allowing an upstairs toilets room to be created. The layer of dust has increased in depth.

The reason for the visit is that the venue has been hosting a three day musical festival and today is the middle day. This section comprises of a series of solo performers, organised by Now Then Manchester, that utilise electronics to develop their tastes.

First up is (MURMUR), aka Rick Hartley, who has previously appeared as one half of Bug & Leaf. As the warm, pulsating beats grow and fill the room, there’s a constant stream of musicians walking in front of the raised stage to collect their instruments that were used the previous day. Putting this visual disruption to one side, the air starts to fill with Japanese style chimes and ethereal notes. Layers of ska beats are then mixed in as the morphing of the different strands into something new and attractive continues.

A more robust and aggressive product is displayed by Raikes Parade. Hunched over his decks, Andy Blundell, who has worked as a soundman for GNOD, unleashes an explosion of noise. The sound bounces out, hits the wall and slides down. Those present feel the beats flow though the room and eventually their resistance to move and sway along begins to crumble, although it’s not quite an outbreak of dancing. The recent sound proofing (i.e. bricking up the windows) is put to the test, but those outside sampling a few rare rays of summer sun are still able to sample the intensity whilst partaking in the barbecue.

Words & Photography: Ged Camera

The next Now Then Manchester gig sees an audio-visual show with Disney's timeless feat of imagination, Fantasia, remixed in a live headlining performance by experimental band TheBrokenDoor. Special guest Paul Green will support by adding his ambient electronica to an edit of Gaspar Noé's cult hallucinatory classic Enter The Void. All at Dulcimer bar in Chorlton on Sunday 22nd July.

Interview: Plyci

Our next headliner at Antwerp Mansion will be Welsh electronic music whizz Plyci, with live music support coming from Borland and Swansong and intervals filled by DJ sets courtesy of From the Kites of San Quentin’s Blood Boy and ERRrr.

Plyci, along with his label Peski Records, has been championed by BBC Introducing DJ Huw Stephens and refuses to be pigeonholed into one area of electronic music having shifted through, in his own words, “synth pop, glitch, ambient, electro, techno and IDM”.

Now Then fires some questions in his direction about that, his forthcoming EP and Welsh music generally.


Now Then: How did the involvement with Peski Records begin? You have an EP planned for release via the label – when can we expect this?

Plyci: Well me and Peski go back about 5 years now, I was asked to join Rhys Edwards in his Jakokoyak project which he released through the label; I handled all the live electronics at his gigs. We always spoke about releasing a Plyci EP on the label and now it's finally happening. We've finished the artwork and everything's ready to go so it should appear very soon.

NT: You’ve remixed tunes by your Peski labelmates; how do you choose which direction to go with your remixes? Are there any more in the pipeline?

Plyci: With remixes they tend to just happen, I never have a definite plan as to which direction to take. I begin with just the raw audio and see where it takes me. I can't really think of any remix I've done where I knew exactly what outcome I wanted, they’re very spontaneous.

NT: Aside from being part-based in Manchester, Peski has strong Welsh connections – where you’re also originally from. Do you think it’s important to keep the Welsh language alive in non-Welsh speakers’ minds through the medium of music? Which other Welsh-speaking artists would you recommend, in electronic music or otherwise?

Plyci: There's a great sense of identity among Welsh people, it's very obvious among Welsh musicians especially. My music is instrumental therefore has no language so in order to give it an identity I used Welsh words for song titles sometimes and reference various Welsh establishments along the way. In terms of Welsh artists there are some great acts such as Crash.Disco, Ifan Dafydd, Y Niwl, VVolves among others. There really is a lot of ace music in Wales; the scene in Cardiff is full of great bands!

NT: How did you choose the Plyci alias?

Plyci: I made the word up, it doesn't exist is Welsh but does in English as 'plucky'. I've never really liked it but it stuck so I kept it.

NT: What urges you to sit down and write music? And what is it that draws you to electronic music? Do you think you’ll settle on any one style?

Plyci: I really love the process of creating something from nothing. I could quite happily make music all day if I could. I’m initially drawn to electronic music because you have endless possibilities in terms of sounds. There is no limit. Over the years my style has changed, I started with broken beats and moved through synth pop, glitch, ambient, electro, techno and IDM and probably won't settle on any one. I create sounds that suit my mood at the time, what I'm listening to and other things I'm into. I see influence in a lot of different places.

NT: What do you have planned for Plyci’s future?

Plyci: I want to take Italo disco to North Korea! If I can't I'll just keep on producing and promoting my work, keep busy and hopefully create some sounds that people enjoy listening to. After releasing the EP I hope to start an album, we'll see.


Interview: Ian Pennington
Images: Courtesy of Plyci & Peski Records
Flyer design: Hattie Lockwood

Plyci headlines Antwerp Mansion on Thursday 26th April. Support comes from Borland (whose recent Islington Mill performance is described here) and Swansong (whose performance at Gulliver’s last year is reviewed here). Blood Boy and ERRrr take to the decks between performances. Pay what you like; £3 suggested.

Antwerp Mansion: Gig Photography (Air Cav, Foreign Hands & Ivan Campo on Thursday 24th November 2011) and Previews

To precede the next Now Then monthly gig at south Manchester's best venue for arts, music, antics and boundless creativity, Antwerp Mansion, here's a look back at some long-overdue photography from our vaults.

Ivan Campo set the scene with harmonic folky tales to a relaxed early crowd.



Foreign Hands then raised the tempo...

...before Air Cav celebrated their newly pressed debut album, Don't Look Indoors, in typically rousing fashion.

Air Cav's Spring UK tour begins in Preston on 2nd March, calling at Kraak in Manchester on 6th March.

All photography is courtesy of Ged Camera, while the Air Cav flyer design was by Craig Brown at Beards Club Illustration and the flyer and poster art for forthcoming Now Then gigs (below) is by Hattie Lockwood.

Thursday 23rd February is the date to keep in mind for the next show (tomorrow for anyone reading this hot off the press), which is a co-promotion with alt / prog / experimental rock label Superstar Destroyer Records. The musically multi-dextrousCyril Snear headline what will be one for the hardcore eardrum bangers and chin-stroking fans of intricate axe-wielding alike.

Liverpool's Always The Quiet Ones and Superstar Destroyer's Black Market Serotonin support.

Also at Antwerp Mansion this (long) weekend will be a music and art crossover looking at the recent evolution of the venue itself from decrepit former Conservative meeting house to South Manchester's answer to Islington Mill. The {EVOLVE} exhibition launch features music from Death To The Strange and more, along with the work of 27 artists under the Creative Transit banner.

And finally, next month's Now Then Antwerp Mansion gig (Thursday 22nd March) features a debut performance of a new Dayse & Aver live band show with former members of The Mind On Fire Band sharing the stage with The Natural Curriculum's talented wordsmiths. Exciting new local hip hop collective Mothership Connection support along with Yorkshire label Sinoptic Records' razor sharp lyricist Krankit.

Words: Ian Pennington

PS. Just announced is the Now Then My First Moth Records show at Dulcimer. Unrelated to Antwerp Mansion, but well worth a trip to Chorlton on 8th March to catch Neko Neko (performing a debut collaboration with Najia Bagi on vocals), DJ Mischief, WhoAmI & Trebor, Omas and Aver. (Poster design by Beards Club Illustration).

Interview: Superstar Destroyer Records

Prog is not a four letter word, claimed Twisted Nerve’s purveyor of rare psychedelic records Andy Votel atop his 2005 compilation. Linguists would beg to differ, but the sentiment lies in the expansive nature of a much-maligned genre. From Genesis to Tool via Jethro Tull and Radiohead, many recording artists have been branded ‘prog’, whether correctly or otherwise, but Alex Lynham points out that “being 'progressive' is a state of mind; it's about cramming in ideas and not being afraid to let motifs and threads just unwind on their own.”

And Lynham should have at least a fairly good idea. As a music writer for many websites and publications from Line of Best Fit to Classic Rock presents: Prog, the co-founder of Manchester based label Superstar Destroyer Records has been able to pick the brains of many a musical mind, from Oceansize’s Mike Vennart to Amplifier’s Sel Belamir. But his favourite chin wag has been with Ben Curtis, a guitar formerly of The Secret Machines and currently playing with School of Seven Bells, an interview which “was amazing,” says Lynham, “as he's possibly my biggest influence as a guitar player – I asked him all these geeky questions about past bands, effects and stuff and he humoured me, which was great.”

Prog as a genre often has to defend itself due to Steve Lamacq and other media trendsetters peddling views of two-chord punk as a saviour movement. It's no wonder many buy into the anti-‘prog’ vibes so as to avoid its overly theatrical and un-cool connotations; even Peter Hammill of 1960s and 70s prog band Van Der Graaf Generator's agreed in a previous interview with "the fundamental principle that music had got overblown with the idea that you can only be a band if you’ve got six keyboards." However, since that 1970s heyday, its genres and sub-genres have diverged and overflowed into various streams and there are those who may share the appreciation for modernist interpretations of progressive music without realising it.

In this respect, Lynham’s clarification of ‘prog’ vs ‘progressive’ in alt rock thinking becomes more salient. “I've seen both Yes and Dream Theater and [the theatrical stage show] is more-or-less what they're about, but there's also bands like Tool and Porcupine Tree that come at the genre from a completely different angle. I like to make the distinction of 'progressive' rather than 'prog' in that sense, as it's easier to get non-'prog' fans to give it a chance. You see a bit of talk these days about 'post-progressive' and that's basically what I mean; all those weird bands that don't fit in anywhere else.”

Aside from writing about bands in the eye of the wider public, Lynham also champions lesser known musicians through Superstar Destroyer Records. Up to now that has manifested in EPs and singles for Ninetails, Dune (now named Peak District), Metamusic, Nowhere Again (Lynham’s band whose name was influenced by the aforementioned Secret Machines) and Black Market Serotonin, who will perform at the Now Then Superstar Destroyer show at Antwerp Mansion this week. Those records meander through many a rock sub-genre, taking in the math, alt and post-rock inventiveness. Indeed, when Lynham says he has assembled the SSD roster through “kidnapping, extortion and blackmail,” perhaps he means he has entrapped the musicians’ minds in his ‘progressive’ genres net, before conversely allowing them the free-thinking, shackle-less melodic mindset that he shares. Sort of like Captain Beefheart’s isolated cabin lock-in to free the minds of the Magic Band from societal structure during the writing and recording of Trout Mask Replica.

Whatever it means, he’s letting Black Market Serotonin loose – without demanding a huge ransom – to support Manchester favourites Cyril Snear and Liverpool’s Always The Quiet Ones on Antwerp Mansion’s stage this Thursday. There’ll be no Beefheart-esque lock-in but there will be progressive music aplenty through what Lynham describes as “a line-up so hardcore it'll rip out your eyes and piss on your brain.”

Words: Ian Pennington
Poster & flyer design: Hattie Lockwood
Logo: Courtesy of Superstar Destroyer

Arts, Music & Events Preview, January 2012

As mentioned in a previous post, the Midwinter supplement of Lass Fest is ongoing at Lass O’Gowrie with an array of comedy and drama productions until Sunday 29th, but there is plenty more to shelter you from the gales.

We’ll start with a relaxed event on Wednesday 11th; down in Didsbury there’s a Manchester Friends of the Earth endorsed film night, screening ‘No Impact Man’, in which New Yorker Colin Beavan decides to eliminate his personal environmental impact for one year.

Onwards to Thursday 12th, which is when the top shout on the Song, By Toad label / blog’s tips for 2012 list, Easter, will be headlining a show at Dulcimer with fellow reverb-friendly post-rockers Outer Dark (three quarters of To Sophia) and Cyril Snear. Before you head along, you will have had ample time to discover and download (legally; ie paying the music maker) the new Borland EP, Romantic Animals, which is organised via local label Gulf Records and sits in the early Nathan Fake-esque cosmic soundscapes corner of electronica.

If you were playing a magical version of Monopoly and encountered a Community Chest card that says you could be a giant for one day then Saturday 14th might be the day to opt for, so that you could leapfrog through town and sample a bit of each of the following. Mellowed out ambient duo A Winged Victory For The Sullen pop into Academy 3 to emit some peaceful tones, the Underachievers clubnight continues its Roadhouse stint by welcoming local indie favourites Brown Brogues and Great Waves and Kraak welcomes the justifiably hotly tipped Trailer Trash Tracys. Given the lack of such a card, you’re going to have to take a chance and choose.

Take a deep breath for a few days after that one.

The first Now Then Manchester show for this year of supposedly imminent oblivion will play host to Dan Haywood’s New Hawks, Samson & Delilah and Ottersgear. Haywood himself has been likened to Nick Drake and Mark Kozelek by critics who were running out of superlatives to describe his self-titled debut album, released late in 2010. That LP documents the ornithologist Haywood’s five years of bird-and-people-watching during travels around Highland Scotland. Combined with the New Hawks, a band comprising talented musicians such as Paddy Steer, Mikey Kenney and Mia Bleach, Dan emits a crazed stage presence, which can be sampled on Thursday 19th at Dulcimer.

If your disco feet are getting itchy by now, then never fear! Casiokids are here. I remember when ‘Fot I Hose’ planted itself in my subconscious back in the day and it hasn’t left since, such was the rhythmic infection bestowed. The Scandinavians’ sophomore LP is due out this year to coincide with a tour that stops at Deaf Institute on Friday 20th.

Humble Soul, believe it or not (you'll have to believe it because it's the truth), will have been promoting some of the area’s finest music for five years this month and have assembled a typically stellar bill for the occasion. Denis Jones, Paddy Steer, Table, Aidan Smith and GladEyes all jostle for attention at Band On The Wall on Saturday 21st. Then as an after party option the Spektrum attic club at Sankeys hosts another edition of Continue through the early hours, this time roping in a recently arrived Manchester resident in the shape of R&S and Magic Wire signee Lone.

Some more folky types will be showcasing some songs at Dulcimer on Sunday 22nd; Imploding Inevitable presents the Manchester leg of Laura J Martin’s album launch mini-tour. As a multi-instrumentalist (flute, piano, mandolin) who favours a looping pedal to build her compositions, Martin brings an off-kilter zaniness to the alt-folk template, leading chirpy melodies through meandering sonic textures. Emily of former Red Deer Club cohorts Stealing Sheep supports in Emily & The Faves guise.

Last year an arts group based at Islington Mill decided that the best way to counter the public sector cuts would be to subject their work to a fiery communal death, very much shaped by its participants, in order to rise again from the ashes with new ideas and outlook. The Artists’ Bonfire returns this year with concern for funding in the arts still ablaze, but interpretations of the event needn’t be as incendiary as the fires, as artists are encouraged to join for reasons both political and personal. This will take place at Islington Mill on Thursday 26th but be aware that the deadline for submissions is Friday 20th.

Warehouse Project may be cocooned for hibernation again pending an announcement of their new lodgings – supposedly in, around or nearby Manchester – but that won’t stop them from treading a nomadic path along with Drop The Mustard in pursuit of some of the best international electronic musicians. Nicolas Jaar is scheduled for Saturday 28th with the likes of Scuba and Damu at the ever impressive Sound Control, which is entering its third year in the dubiously named Southern Quarter.

Also on 28th will be Air Cav's first show of 2012 across the Irwell at the Kings Arms

And if neither of those are striking the right chord then there's the grand reopening of Antwerp Mansion, Rusholme’s answer to Islington Mill. No concrete details as yet, but they don’t tend to operate on anything less than full-speed so it’ll be worth a look. And while your eyes are on the Mansion, have a glance down to the Now Then Manchester monthly there; 4th Thursday of the month from February. More info soon...

On the subject of self-promotion, our monthly Sunday Soirée slot at Dulcimer recommences on Sunday 29th. That one opts for an acoustic feel featuring Dr Butler’s Hatstand Medicine Band and Aidan Smith, with support from James Munro and Shen. Future Sundays will assemble some of the best local comedy (February) and electronica (March), all maintaining an earlier start of 5pm.

Neko Neko has a new single ('Trouble In The Streets' / 'Ya Playin'') lined up for vinyl release via My First Moth on Monday 30th, so I suggest you dust off your record player in preparation. Also scheduled for that day, the home of the aforementioned Samson & Delilah, Little Red Rabbit Records have a taster for Last Harbour's forthcoming album in the form of a single entitled 'Never'.

To finish the month off, Grey Lantern are teaming up with dependable shoegaze selectors Sonic Cathedral, whose signings of a few years back, The Early Years, have reformed and are back on the gig trail, calling at Kraak on Tuesday 31st.

A quick peek into February illuminates an enticing double promoted by Hey! Manchester. Saturday 4th sees a Jesca Hoop show at The Annexe room in The Cornerhouse and then on Monday 6th they bring back the folk / electronica crossover collaboration King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, this time at Central Methodist Hall.

Then a little further along is a special tour for Now Then interview alumnus The Electronic Exchange, who are set to treble in numbers for a full band performance at Kraak on Friday 10th. Also on that bill is Dayse & Aver from the always excellent hip hop collective The Natural Curriculum.

And for the photogenic amongst you, contact The Last Party about appearing in their forthcoming single's video alongside various local celebs from the radio and telly. (The catch is that you'd need to be available over the weekend of Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th February).

I’ll stop there before I chew any further into February...

Words: Ian Pennington

Interview: Air Cav

So far Air Cav have resisted the temptation to cash in on acclaim afforded them since emerging in 2008, choosing instead to hone their skill for heart-poundingly epic shoegaze compositions. The ‘Alliance / Branches’ single was tagged by Steve Lamacq as one of his five picks for ‘Hottest Records in the World Right Now’ and various analyses have alluded to Arcade Fire when searching for an appropriate simile for uplifting violin embedded within the alt-rock line-up. Unhurried and unfazed, the quartet have been biding their time, adding to that an armoury of tunes all tried and tested as part of an oft-applauded live show. Everything is now picking up pace – a new single ‘A Call To Arms’ was released earlier this month and the debut album entitled Don’t Look Indoors is set to follow on 5th December.

The album in question meanders from alt-rock’s choppy staccato to the engulfing reverberations of shoegaze which, with the presence of the undeniably soothing violin lines, embraces both the classical and contemporary. Serene yet stirring instrumental breaks belie the urgency of motorik marching beats and Chris Nield’s Brian Molko-esque vocal charges; it is a collection of contrasts cohesively soldered into shape. The band’s name (Air Cav is the name for an air-mobile division of the US Army) isn’t where army influence ends; from ‘A Call to Arms’ to ‘Alliance’, ‘So Others May Live’ to ‘Here Be Dragons’, there are military references aplenty, which violinist Sophie Parkes defines as “metaphor and a combined respect for war films – from the males in the band at least!” The record could be interpreted as a concept album; in the same breath, the architects could be interpreted as a concept band.

Released on the band’s own label, Crystalline Recordings, Don’t Look Indoors realises that promise with all the grandiose aplomb that you’d expect. Still the standout track, ‘Alliance’ is that rare musical adhesive that’ll stick to your inner playlist long after listening and it is accompanied by an often fearsome arsenal of fellow euphoric climbs. But the highlights aren’t necessarily always the besieging; ‘Exile’ and album closer ‘Glossary’ retreat to forge a fortress of melancholy, captivating those who enter its melodic gates.

Ahead of a headlining slot at Now Then Manchester’s first Antwerp Mansion showcase on 24th November, violinist Sophie Parkes spared some time to answer our questions.


Now Then: You were initially victims of the journo shorthand for melodic indie: ‘sounds like Arcade Fire’. Did you welcome this? What did you think about the reaction to your recording emergence back then?

Sophie Parkes: Well, as much as I love Arcade Fire, it seemed very simple to be able to equate ‘girl on violin’ with ‘sounds like Arcade Fire’ – I don’t think we would have had those comparisons had we not the line-up we do, because I’m not sure there is all that much in common. It’s one of those journalistic timeframes where everyone is caught up with the ‘big sound’; a decade ago, everyone sounded like The Strokes. Otherwise, I think we were really pleased with the reaction to our first singles: we had some really nice airplay, including Radio 1 and being made ‘Single of the Week’ on XFM. It’s always heartening to have that kind of reaction when you’re essentially doing this yourself; no manager, no agent, no label, no PR specialist and so on.


NT: It’s been a long time in the making since the first singles released back in 2008. What has been the hold up?

SP: We’ve spent a long time scrapping, rewriting... We weren’t going to hurry, as there seemed nothing to hurry for! It’s not like we’ve ever been involved in the hype machine or anything. We thought we’d take our time, get together a collection that we were pleased with and see what happened...


NT: Did you hesitate before including the early singles on the album, given the length of time since they were originally recorded, or were they too significant to omit?

SP: I don’t think we hesitated as such, just as we’re really proud of ‘Alliance’ and ‘Picking At The Bones’ and wanted to include them, but we did want to record them differently, with a different slant. So ‘Alliance’ is calmer, fuller, whilst ‘Picking At The Bones’ includes different backing vocals and more noise.


NT: What has the response been to the album so far and how do you feel about it?

SP: The reviews have started filtering in and they’ve all been really positive and enthusiastic so far – and some of our nearest and dearest are very impressed, and that’s what matters. We’ve also had some great airplay: Steve Lamacq has played ‘A Call To Arms’ to end one of his shows on 6Music and John Kennedy gave us a whirl on XFM, so it’s looking good.


NT: You’ve recently been taking support slots on Now Wave and WotGodForgot promoted shows... How have they gone for you?

SP: It’s really great to be able to support interesting, well-received bands from outside the UK and see what all the fuss is about. And, of course, they’re experienced promoters who choose great venues and really think about which support bands will complement their headliners, meaning that fans might well have an ear out for us, too.


NT: Which has been your most memorable live show and why?

SP: Well, there’s been several really. We were really lucky to head to Holland with our friends, Daniel Land And The Modern Painters, for a couple of shows and meet some really lovely people who we’ve stayed in touch with. We also put on our own Christmas gig a couple of years ago at the Cross Street Unitarian Chapel which was amazing; mulled wine, mince pies and music in a very ambient setting always goes down well! Then this year, Dave Haslam invited us down to play at the Manchester International Festival, which was really great, and we also loved supporting Ringo Deathstarr at the Ruby Lounge, just because they’re fantastic.


NT: Which records are you playing the grooves off at the moment and which of your peers would you recommend?

SP: I’m a big folk fan and I’m currently enthralled by a new female English folk singing collective called Lady Maisery who specialise in ‘diddling’, singing instrumental tunes rather than singing words. Chris is desperately awaiting the new Spiritualized album, following their performance at the Albert Hall last month.

As for other bands at the moment, we’re big fans of Driver Drive Faster, who we asked to support us at our Christmas gig a couple of years ago, and I love Caulbearers, too.


NT: Where will Air Cav go from here?

SP: Well, we’ve already got a clutch of new songs that we’re really chuffed with, songs that are sounding a little different to what we’ve done before, so we’ll be looking forward to playing those live and seeing how they go down.


Words: Ian Pennington
Photographs: Courtesy of Air Cav
Logos: Courtesy of Air Cav / Crystalline Recordings
Promo design: Craig Brown Beards Club Illustration

Air Cav headline the Now Then Crystalline Records show at Antwerp Mansion on Thursday 24th November. Foreign Hands and Ivan Campo will also perform; entry policy is pay-what-you-like, £3 suggested.

Arts & Music preview, October 2010 (Part Two)

It barely feels like summer has ended thanks to the unexpected burst of sunshine lately, but here we are with mid-October fast approaching. And, since we left your October event highlights glass half empty a fortnight ago, now seems an apt time to fill the rest of your cup.


It’s a busy weekend, no matter what your niche. It could all start on Friday 15th at the newly refurbished Islington Mill with one of a few of this month’s birthday parties – Mind on Fire’s 6th anniversary on this occasion. They’ve invited along eight of their favourites for MoF musical chairs, including LA77, Neko Neko, Woli Wols and xxxy (below), and will even send you home with a goody bag consisting of Hear No Evil, See No Evil’s audiovisual treats.


If you’re at a loose end this Saturday 16th lunchtime then head to Chorlton Park to don a cow mask with Friends of the Earth for a photo shoot supporting their Food Chain campaign. Later on, Debt Records present their annual knees-up at the Dancehouse with John Fairhurst and Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six leading from the front.

London promoters Mie Music have seen the light and now ply their trade up here, inviting along the distorted ambient soundscapists Demons for an Islington Mill show on Tuesday 19th. Elsewhere on the same night you can catch part-time Efterklang multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick at Academy 3 for some folk-oriented goodness.

Also celebrating a birthday this month are the tech house connoisseurs, Content. Head over to Joshua Brooks on Friday 22nd and you’ll be able to see / hear / dance to headlining DJ Kenny Larkin. Alternatively that night, American wordsmith Saul Williams is scheduled to wax lyrical in poetic verse at Band on the Wall for Manchester Literature Festival.


Now that your ears are ringing with the tinnitus of a near-month-long sound binge, you’ll likely fancy the prospect of something quieter to mellow the soul. Step forward Trof’s Art Corner exhibition. Staged showcases photography that aims to take a storyboard approach by depicting narratives on a variety of subjects from the British class system to the effects of childhood games. You can view the results any time between now and mid-November.

Another option during this hypothetical sonic siesta might be a stroll down to Mooch's new HQ on NQ's Spear Street for Pain(t) and Ink, which opens for public viewing from Saturday 23rd.


Refreshed and ready to rock, next let hotly tipped antipodes Tame Impala guide you on a psychedelic trip, Wednesday 27th at Ruby Lounge.

Chorlton’s premier folk outlet, Dulcimer, has reeled in Bristolian chanteuse Jane Taylor to top a bill on Thursday 28th that also includes Louis Barabbas and Becca Williams. Expect a duet somewhere along the line.


Naive Melody look to be bidding a fond farewell to their regular monthly discos, but conveniently round off at five years old on Friday 29th with the usual cosmic selection. If you don’t want to confront the end of an era there is another option of a similar ilk. The relatively nascent, yet progressive thinking, promoters HearHere are aiming to tempt you to Soup Kitchen with the double lure of Kompakt’s Ewan Pearson and Andrew 'one half of Fuck Buttons' Hung.


The end of the month (28th-31st) signals the rebirth of arts house Antwerp Mansion, who’ve lined up a four-day event. You can pick and choose your own best bits here.

And squeeze in a trip to Withington that weekend if you can (unless you're already there, of course), particularly if you're enamored with the place and would appreciate a festival that states this emotion. Love Withington Festival takes place on Saturday 30th, predominantly on Old Moat Park, with expected presences of Food Not Bombs (who're looking for volunteers to help on the day and in advance) and the Spokes Bicycle Dancers, amongst others. Furthermore, get involved with the Love Withington group's Street Clean Up earlier that day. Egerton Road is the target for planting bulbs and generally tidying students' vomit and half-eaten kebabs.


Our final tip is Envirolution at the Contact Theatre, which promises debates, interactive workshops, arts and more by way of sustainable living solutions. That'll be free entry on Saturday 30th.

Now take a deep breath because there'll be plenty more next month.

Words: Ian Pennington
xxxy image: Ian Pennington
Antwerp Mansion flyer image: Kris Extance