Now Then in Gorton: Event Photography

We staged the first event of our summer series on Saturday 24 May in Gorton.

Below is the story of the day told in photos by Ged Camera.

The t-shirt design screen printing workshop set the wheels in motion, facilitated by Upper Space.

Artwork from past Now Then issues was projected onto the back wall as DJs James Owen, Biff Roxby and Joe Who selected songs throughout the day.

The audience listened intently to Ruth Daniel's talk on her work with grass roots music, from Un-Convention to Agencia, which has all aimed to encourage a 'Do It Together' attitude.

North West folk-pop trio Ivan Campo concluded the event. A unique suitcase kick drum is one one their many idiosyncrasies.

Words: Ian Pennington
Photos: Ged Camera

Now Then Magazine expansion: Gorton event

We're excited to be working with the Arts Council England to stage a trio of events this summer. The events are connected to a wider project to expand Now Then magazine across the city.

As part of this we'll be distributing more copies of each issue in more locations and it will be our first opportunity in a while to get out and stage some events featuring local art, poetry, music and discussion.

At St Philip's Church hall, where we will be staging the Gorton event this Saturday 24 May, we have constructed a day mixing art and music, including a talk by Ruth Daniel, who founded the Un-Convention events and will be speaking about the impact of digital and social media on the music industry, how this has transformed the music industry landscape and opened up opportunity for musicians to form networks, work together and become empowered. There will be chance to ask Ruth questions around these topics of cultural entrepreneurship following her talk.

Early in the afternoon, the local art activism group Upper Space will be leading a screen printing workshop. In the past they have been involved with campaigns to promote social justice and intervene with the status quo by presenting opportunities to question and discuss society. Leaving their more political cultural work to one side for this event, on Saturday they will be teaching you to design a t-shirt that you can then take home with you.

Finally, North West folk-pop trio Ivan Campo will perform their harmonious songs until we finish the day at 7pm. They have performed at Now Then events before at both Antwerp Mansion in Rusholme and Dulcimer in Chorlton, as well as supported the likes of Stealing Sheep, Alt-J and Roddy Woomble. Across their recorded output, they specialise in seven-track EPs, and have recently signed with Manchester label Debt Records, whose affiliated sound engineers WR Audio will be providing the soundsystem.

The whole event will be free for everyone to attend and there will be DJs invited by Now Then all day to fill in the gaps.

Later in the year we'll be visiting Moston and Stockport and will divulge more information on those nearer the time.

Ivan Campo photo by Ged Camera

The venue address is St Philip's Church, Brockhurst Road, Gorton, M18 7ER. For more information, visit the Facebook event page.

Review: Folk & Acoustic Albums

A selection of folky records landed on my desk recently and as such they find themselves tethered together by this tenuous testimony for the purposes of the following combined review post...

Tawse – ec.dy.sis

What do you expect in a recording from a quartet whose live covers have ranged from The National to Daft Punk? ec.dy.sis is safely more the former than the latter given its folky delivery. Chirpy opener ‘Rehab’ takes on various sides to the genre. Initial joviality gives way to inequality-fuelled emotions of anguish and insecurity (“Profit is a dirty word / It’s the dirtiest word that I have heard / There are people in the ditch / And others getting rich”) and finally a rise into remedying crescendo.

Again on the topic of medication for life’s labours and toils, ‘Painkiller’ murmurs in the same bittersweet breaths as Radiohead’s classic ‘High And Dry’, while ‘Carrion’ is higher tempo all round with its Wild Beasts-esque falsetto, but it is the percussion that has the final say; closing on a crashing cymbal. Those rhythmic guides are significantly dampened for the pensive wordplay (“I’m afraid that I don’t love you / I don’t love you ‘cause I’m afraid”) on closer ‘Why Did You?’ and although they don’t go as far as to roll out the synths and take on Daft Punk’s guise wholeheartedly, Tawse do achieve a variety within four tracks that leads the listener both high and low.

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Captives On The Carousel – Turn Off The Sun / In The Bleak Midwinter

With a sparse aural arsenal, Captives On The Carousel offer voices against a vacuum; cellist Ben Eckersley (also of Legend Of The 7 Black Tentacles) backs the earnest lyrics and occasional acoustic strums of Sarah Morrey.

Without an interfering beat, Morrey’s saccharine vocal stillness is allowed the space to linger; Eckersley’s restrained cello strings permeate an otherwise untouched subtlety with rhythm in stifled staccato. Although the more upbeat, ‘Turn Off The Sun’ stays as static as ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’ in a wintry air where, like footprints in newly fallen snow, too much movement might have spoiled the imagery.

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Rook And The Ravens – The Judge EP

Rook and the Ravens have been reading from a different songbook for their latest record. Like that Judas reincarnation Bob Dylan gone electric, they are an indie / folk quintet led astray by the allure of alt rock.

Although previously evoking vague similarities with The Band and other 20th Century folk rockers, this EP veers clear of folk music roots. The title track is explosive with shrieks almost Cedric ‘The Mars Volta’ Bixler-Zavala in pitch – although nearer James Dean ‘Manic Street Preachers’ Bradfield in substance – and tightly contained drum lines; a marching progression is curtailed, simmering down while keyboard patterns peacefully lay the dying embers of the blaze to rest. It is followed by ‘Miss This Boat’, which holds onto more of melodic folk rock feel – aided by diminished drumsticks – until its chirpy guitar flourish, whereas final jive, ‘Horses’, is theatrically presented in the tones of rock opera.

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Ivan Campo – What Went Wrong?

The trio evoke not only a fuzzy-haired, fan-favourite footballer, but also sunny days and sing songs, even in the midst of coldest wintry chills.

By comparison with the above artists, these north-westerners are veterans. With What Went Wrong? they’re touching double figures, making a habit of recording long-EP / short-LP hybrids of their progress since 2003 while gigging all the while.

The palm tree in one of their logos tells a tale; with minimal percussive input, many songs are laid back and agreeably lacking in urgency. Opener ‘Dice Man’ is a fine example with a languid piano lament matched with undercurrents of clarinet preceding solemn harmonies of reminisce and its successor, ‘Wolf’, displays the other side of their coin in all its summery chirpiness.

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While we’re on the topic of folk music, locally based folky website Thank Folk For That [dot com] launch their monthly Monday at Castle Hotel this evening (26th March), headlined by Ruarri Joseph. I’m told it’s now sold out, but next month’s sees Sam Airey take top billing so get in early for that.

Words: Ian Pennington

Tawse appear on the bill of the next Now Then event; an all day Easter Sunday folk festival at Dulcimer in Chorlton, which also includes David A Jaycock, The Existence of Harvey Lord, TE Yates, Dan Melrose, Greta Santagata and Shen. All in association with Imploding Inevitable. Tickets available here or from the bar at Dulcimer.

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: 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.