BRISTOL BIG JEFF: CUTTING FROM THE EDGE (SEPTEMBER 2010)
This is where I get to spew like an overly sick child on about the goings on in the Bristol in a music sense and the various things I have been getting up to.
The past month has seen many things come through the city including electro pioneers Silver Apples who pretty much, single handedly, invented Oscillation Distortion Units and crafted the whole Krautrock sound even before the genres invention in the 70’s, inspiring both Kraftwerk and talking Heads with their mixture of crunchy beats and bleepy electronics.
I got spaced out by a band called Z’s who dealt in epically loud avant guard post rock noodlings, checked out The Domino State who were reminiscent of early Idlewild mixed in with a bit of the Verve piping out infectious choruse. I saw Grammatics on their last ever tour which was a bit sad really, as I personally am going to miss their grandiose pop, they gave me the mic at one point for me to embarrass myself with my Beat poetry/MC-ing skills…or lack of.
I also enjoyed a hearty dose of Punk ‘n’ Bowl which played hosts to many fine bands, including The Arteries and Crazy Arm to name a few.
What with it being August, it has been Festival a-go-go and I have been busying myself with both Harbourside Festival and Standon Calling Festival, where apparently British Sea Power dedicated half of their set to me – but I was not present to see them as I was grabbing some much needed food at the time. I also got mobbed by a group of teenagers when I was dancing to Fools Gold, who all decided to copy my dance moves; it felt strangely like one of those dodgy pop music videos from the Eighties as I accidentally ended up choreographing all the kids around me. It felt quite surreal to see all these bodies and limbs moving in the way I was. You can read my full review of Standon Calling on www.247magazine.co.uk
Next up on the festival calendar was Shambala, but before then I enjoyed gigs from The Besnard Lakes at the Fleece – providing really blissed out sleepy shoe gaze mixed in with a pinch of Americana and Pull in An Emergency at the – who seem to deal in kind of twee uncomplicated indie pop with infectious hooks. For all those who never made it to Reading or Shambala Festivals then there were a plethora of gigs to choose from on the Bank Holiday Weekend, including Ugly Duckling at the Thekla and a hardcore all day charity gig at the Cooler Cause for Chaos on the Sunday night.
September will see me sprinting around like a gig going version of Bagatelle, trying to see all that I want to see. The highlights include Jonsi from Sigur Ros (playing the Colston Hall on the 1st) where he will playing songs from his debut solo album, crazy Japanese rockers Electric Eel Shock (The Louisiana 22nd), Steve Ignorant will be playing songs from The Crass back catalogue (Academy 26th) , I am Kloot will be bringing his beautiful voice all over the Thekla, With Wolf Parade a few weeks beforehand, whilst Gass Lamp Killer will keep the Dub step hip hop fans happy. For those of you who are fans of the Anticon label then we have the legendary Sage Francis ( Fleece 15th) also within a couple of weeks ahead we have American Indie geeks Cymbals Eat Guitars (Sep 8th ), Bristol finest psychodelic experementalists Zun Zun Egui will be headling a How Come night at the Croft on the 17th. Pulled Apart By Horses will be tearing up the Croft with their rampantly fun fuelled punk rock.
Rounding off September in style will be Brisfest down in the harbourside and many of the fine clubs mixing some of the best talent this fair City has to offer in a Crystal Maze theme, covering a wide variety of Music and performance art alongside works by some of Bristols best Graffiti Artists.
By Bristol’s most prolific gig goer, Big Jeff
