Birthdays
Wednesday 25 September 2013
Sold Out
We are excited to announce that MT Warning will return to London in late September before the release of “Youth Bird”, right after the bands very first headline tour in Australia.
“‘Youth Bird’ falls midway through the forthcoming album. Like the life story of the record, ‘Youth Bird’ is the lament but also the regained freedom of realizing the coveted, but short lived prize of youth. “ MT WARNING.
MT WARNING had a big start earlier this year with their debut single ‘Forward Miles’ – Triple J airplay, FBI, XFM Evening playlists in the UK and ‘NEXT HYPE’ artist predicted by Zane Lowe on Radio 1. Along with a remix in conjunction with US Filter magazine via Vinnie La Duce and a 7inch release on Rough Trade Records, it’s been a busy few months.
Their new single ‘Youth Bird’ was immediately played on Triple J. “Following on from the beautiful slow-burner ‘Forward Miles’, MT WARNING are back with the propulsive and rocking ‘Youth Bird’. It features sharp guitar chords, a driving drum rhythm and Mikey Bee’s howling vocals.” – Dom Alessio, Home & Hosed.
Their first gigs ever were support slots for The Temper Trap and The Rubens. These were followed by a a headline show at The Shacklewell Arms, presented by Communion & Eat Your Own Ears, before opening the main stage at Field Day London.
The band name comes via their home town – Mount Warning is the first place to see the sunrise in Australia, the first place the sailors would see from the ocean and when they saw that they knew they were close to Point Danger, a reef that would kill them if they didn’t turn east.
Single “Youth Bird ” is out on Itunes on 21st October
BORN RUFFIANS return to London this September.
With support from MOON KING
Born Ruffians from Toronto, Canada. We’re writing to tell you we’ve just finished our third album – Birthmarks. When we wrote our first album, Red, Yellow & Blue, we all lived in a house in downtown Toronto. We jammed in the basement, which meant whenever we had an idea we could work it out right there that moment. Our second album, Say It, was different. We’d moved out of the house to separate apartments and wrote the record in a rehearsal space over a 6 month period.
This time, we had no interest in going back to the rehearsal space. Instead we went back to the roots of our debut and lived together again. The three of us plus Andy, our fourth member now with us to fill out our live show, spent a spring and a fall isolated at a haunted farmhouse in rural Ontario.
Living together and not relying on a shitty rehearsal space was important to us. We wanted to be able to write when the idea was fresh, stop when we got stuck, and pick everything back up whenever we wanted. Being on a farm where we were isolated and could turn up as loud as we could was important.
These songs – Birthmarks – came out of a dusty living room in an old house, in between chopping wood and build- ing bonfires, playing crokinole at the kitchen table, cooking family dinners and shooting beer cans with a bow and arrow. We’d wake up, head downstairs from our rooms, and write.
While some of Birthmarks was born on the farm, many of the songs were conceived long before. Luke would write and demo constantly on his laptop, at home, on tour, in Toronto, Montreal, Midland, Australia, France, Germany, everywhere. Several songs were realized during the recording process in the studio.
After we felt we had a strong group of songs we booked ourselves into Boombox Sound and spent most of 2012 moving in, out and around there with producer Roger Leavens and engineer Marcel Ramagnano tracking some 15 songs and figuring out the sound of the album. Luke had just finished doing an album of his own at Boombox so the environment was warmed up and ready for the band to come in. Luke worked closely with Roger on the produc- tion of the record, bringing sounds and parts of demos in from his laptop and dropping them into the studio, often building from there. The sound of the record was largely shaped by freedom of time and the new ability to manipu- late a song over the course of several days or weeks until it was ready.
We don’t want to tell you about what we think we sound like. We can tell you that this record will sound different. These songs lived with us, toured with us, got drunk with us and made our ears ring. Now, we get to hit the road and start making your ears ring. It took us almost three years writing all over the world, several months of farm life in the country, and a calendar year at Boombox Sound to finally finish Birthmarks. We think it’s time to show you what Born Ruffians birthed.
Eat Your Own Ears are excited to present Connan Mockasin at The Village Underground.
Connan Mockasin has the kind of deliciously off-kilter and gloriously idiosyncratic worldview that rapidly proves addictive. Once you’ve heard it, you can’t help but wish to go back for more. On his rather unusual childhood activities: “when I was really young my mum got me a welder and just let me turn all the discarded pipes and rubbish on our property into a proper junk yard. I got really obsessed with carnival rides and ghost trains that folded up. Mum said a lot of the neighbours were a bit disgusted…”
Welcome, folks, to the delightful, slanted and enchanted world of Connan Mockasin. Like David Lynch’s wilfully surrealist take on American suburbia, or Richard Prince’s paintings investigating modern cultural tropes, the New Zealand born, current London resident Mockasin makes beautiful, off-kilter music which subverts as it compels, challenges as it mesmerists, startles as it seduces, even drawing fans as diverse as Johnny Marr and Radiohead to Ed Banger chief and ex Daft Punk manager Pedro Winter into its wide-eyed, childlike exploration into the final frontiers of pop music. It is all too rare, in this current climate of manufactured pop acts, grey over produced ‘alternative’ guitar music and press-fuelled mania for the next-big-thing, to hear something truly striking and original, but a strong case can most certainly be made for Connan to be a true pop auteur, taking his rightful place in a proud lineage which includes past mavericks such as Joe Meek and Brian Wilson, right through to current cult heroes like Ariel Pink, Sufjan Stevens and John Maus.
We are thrilled to have him back in London after his incredible performance at Field Day 2013.
When he’s not making gorgeous, spare folk-pop on his own, José González leads the pastoral folk-pop trio Junip, and they’ll follow up 2010′s Fields this spring with a self-titled sophomore album and a second London date at the O2 Shepards Bush Empire.
Junip makes music that glows. Their springy guitar riffs flicker around the mix like light on water, while an oozing old Moog synthesizer adds undulations of its own. Meanwhile, soft drums keep the rhythm fleet.
It’s a sweet, sensual and inward-looking sound that Junip makes — one not totally divorced from the style of their best-known member, José Gonzalez. In 2003, Gonzalez became world famous for his debut solo CD, “Veneer,” on which he matched his hallowed voice to acoustic guitar chords, as dark, heavenly and richly arpeggioed as those of the late, great Nick Drake.
Together, Junip’s second offering is just as rich as ‘Fields’ in its illustrious textures and acoustic layers, but it somehow seems more channeled and more polished. This no doubt is a sign that the three friends are maturing both in their relationships, their music and almost certainly, gearing up for something special when taking the record on the road.
Tickets have flown for Barbarossa at the Waiting Room, so we’ve added another show at the lovely Sebright Arms.
What’s the point in life if you’re not prepared to roll the dice from time to time, to take a leap of faith? There were plenty of reasons for James Mathé, the unforgettable voice behind London’s Barbarossa, to keep the course after the release of his acclaimed debut album, Chemical Campfires in 2008 on Fence Records: a flourishing reputation as one of Britain’s most intrepid acoustic troubadours, a prominent spot in Johnny Flynn and Jose Gonzales’ backing bands, the roar of applause from the audience at a sold-out show at New York’s Bowery Ballroom still ringing in his ears. But Mathé had other ideas.
“I loved the acoustic scene, but knew it was not all I was about,” remembers Mathé, recently seen on tour with indie favourites Polica and Junip. “So I dug out all my old Casiotone keyboards, drum machines and analogue synths and just started writing.” The result is one of the most exciting reinventions of 2013, rewiring his sensitive, tender missives from young adulthood into big elegiac electro anthems, tinted with huge spectral gasps of reverb, slow jam drum samples and searing organ melodies. Call his new direction a gamble, call it what you want – critics are calling it “skewed but wonderful pop… inspiring” (The Line of Best Fit) and “the perfect soundtrack to gazing out of a rain-stained window wondering why she hasn’t called you back after you left three thousand voicemails” (Noisey).
If there’s a gloriously loose, tenebrous feel to songs like ‘Pagliacco’ and the pizzicato synth-lined ‘Turbine’, it might have something to do with the Londoner’s organic approach to songwriting. “I just sit down with my dictaphone and make sense of what comes out afterwards. The best stuff usually comes when I am hungover or not really thinking. The minute I try to be clever with words, it just sounds shit,” Mathé laughs. Instead, the lyrics at the heart of new single ‘The Load’ burn with a simple, simmering poignancy: “I would never take this for granted, I am forever in your hands,” coos its enigmatic chorus.
Recently signed to iconic London label Memphis Industries (Field Music, POLIÇA, The Go! Team, Dutch Uncles), Mathé is inspired by everything from the ’70s soul men Stevie Wonder and Levon Helm to Dirty Projectors and D’Angelo (“his grooves are amazing, so simple and tight,”) but claims it was Jack White who shaped the gritty, evocative sound that belies his new material. “I read an interview with him talking about the process of recording totally analogue and decided I just had to make this record this way,” he explains. “I have always been obsessed with vintage analogue gear and really fancied getting back to basics. I was tired of trying to iron out all the mistakes in modern production. I wanted to record live to tape, keeping all the mistakes in, warts and all.”
Tender and triumphant, Mathé is emerging as one of Britain’s most versatile and adventurous songwriting talents. Some gambles, it seems, are destined to pay off.
SOLD OUT
Liverpool’s Outfit will play the Electrowerkz on 12th September, exactly a month after the release of their debut album ‘Performance’ on the 12th August through Double Denim Records.
Produced by the band ‘Performance’ combines live instrumentation with heavily processed samples, manipulating everyday noises and field recordings. The album opens with ‘Nothing Big’, an ode to late nights, friendship and ultimately, love. ‘I Want What’s Best’ is a track about the agony of having to choose one of many paths in life, before ill fated love story ‘House On Fire’ ignites, a song made all the more lonely by the space echo of rotation rims, clattering like the foundations of a relationship collapsing. The spaced out psychedelia of ‘Spraypaint’ finds Outfit questioning modern life, while ‘The Great Outdoors’ is a deeply visual song, using an intimate narrative that tells a story of simultaneous strong-willed independence and loneliness. ‘Thank God I Was Dreaming’ is a ghostly house influenced track, referencing skittish, garage percussion, before previous ‘Two Islands’ is rewired as the album’s euphoric closing track, leaving the listener high and hypnotized.
Inspired by Talking Heads’ knack for off-kilter pop, Portishead’s ‘Third’, the ambition and diversity of Radiohead, 70’s prog and the ambience of Cluster, this album is rich in textures and plucks compositional tricks from techno and house. Painting a world that’s as beautiful as it is dystopian, as hopeful as it is uncertain, Outfit’s debut album is a step into the glorious unknown.
10-14th September
Live: New Additions
The Horrors / Factory Floor / Lulu James / Jagwar Ma / Clean Bandit / East India Youth
DJ: New Additions
Richie Hawtin / Tiga / Nina Kraviz / Tale Of Us / Craig Richards / Waze & Odyssey / Justin Robertson / Trevor / Jackson / Renato Ratier / Eskimo Twins / Joe Hart / Lock Tavern DJs / Mike Jones / Shacklewell Arms DJs / Tom Grainger
Live: Actress / Disclosure / Django Django / Four Tet / Henrik Schwarz / Jessie Ware / Lindstrom / Moderat / Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
DJ: Ame / Cyril Hahn / Damian Lazarus / Daniel Avery / Daniel Baldelli / Dixon / DJ Koze / Erol Alkan / Floating Points / Francesca Lombardo / Geddes / Giles Smith / James Holden / James Priestley / Jamie XX / Joy Orbison / Julio Bashmore / Kerri Chandler / Michael Mayer / Optimo / Prins Thomas / Richy Ahmed / Scuba / SBTRKT / Subb-an / Tim Sweeney / Todd Terje
Festival Partners: Mono Cult / Bugged Out / Secret Sundaze / Jukebox / Unit 44 / Crosstown Rebels / Phantasy / Kompakt / Innervisions
Unknown Festival Camping:
Set in and amongst a lush, shaded forest the Unknown site is quite simply a campers haven. With an abundance of toilets / showers, the most stunning views, 3 swimming pools & the beach only a hop, skip and jump away, this really is kitted out for a delightfully cool (and peaceful!) nights sleep under the stars.
Although hardtop accom is available on site, it is extremely limited so we would encourage you to get those tents out the loft and rediscover your primitive side. To give you a bit of a head start, we have put some festival tickets on sale with 5 nights camping included for £159.
SOLD OUT
Eat Your Own Ears are happy to announce Snow Ghosts debut album tour, A Small Murmuration, at St Pancras Old Church.
Crafted from a shared interest of the odd folk nature of Britain and the resultant dark strangeness,
Throwing Snow and Augustus Ghost pool their individual inspirations, ideas and styles as Snow
Ghosts.
Throwing Snow, aka Ross Tones, first started working with Augustus Ghost, aka Hannah Cartwright, after she first arrived in England in 2008. Hannah comes from a songwriting background, having previously collaborated with Phaeleh as well as singing in the band Masakichi, while Ross possesses more electronic influences – his work as Throwing Snow has gained plaudits from all sides, manifested most recently through invitations to support Bonobo on his forthcoming tour, as well as Thom Yorke’s Atoms For Peace project. Together, the pair shared a mutual influence of the shadowy elements of folk and metal, and it is through these reference points that Snow Ghosts took shape.
They first found an outlet for their music through Black Acre Records in 2011 on the ‘Lost At Sea’ EP,
and the pair have spent the subsequent two years compiling their debut album through short bursts of writing. Summer 2013 sees the release of the album ‘A Small Murmuration’ on Houndstooth.
ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER of Fiery Furnaces fame is back to infatuate us all with songs of love and loss, written with her inimitable flourish.
Eleanor Friedberger creates love songs. Hellos and goodbyes, infatuation, pre-occupation, loss – but not simply about romantic love.
“They’re also love songs to music: how you feel on stage when you do something spontaneous and it works, how you feel when you hear someone sing a song for the first time, what it’s like to watch a friend perform, how you can feel close to someone you barely know because you both happen to love the same record, or playing the same song forty times in a row, not being able to rest until you own every song recorded by your favorite singer, or every version of your favorite song. “
Plus support from EMPTY POOLS
Empty Pools formed in the halcyon days of fading summer 2011. They artfully combine elements of noise rock with teen dream melodies, late ’70s CBGBs angularity and the jazzy, world pop sophistication of the Thrill Jockey set. Following a handful of DIY releases, their first single for BATTLE (Frenchkiss Label Group) made it into Pitchfork’s top tracks of 2012, alongside coverage in the NME, Drowned in Sound, The Line of Best Fit, and on BBC 6Music and Radio 1. The band have since shared stages with Sharon Van Etten, Destroyer, Menomena, White Denim and Tom Tom Club.
Empty Pools have just wrapped up recording on their debut album, ‘Saturn Reruns,’ which is released on November 4th on BATTLE, preceded by single ‘Exploded View’ on August 26th.
We are thrilled to welcome back Julianna Barwick to play at the amazing St. Giles Church for us this august.
“Gorgeous & immersive on first listen & never loses its sparkle. She has tapped a vein of expression that is rich & powerful & affecting” – PITCHFORK
“Her ethereal multi-tracked harmonies have the devotional quality of gospel choirs, and the oddball allure of Björk or Yoko Ono.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Describing this hazy, hallucinogenic album from Brooklyn’s Julianna Barwick, you can neatly take Panda Bear’s trippier tracks as a jumping off point, as Barwick loops and layers beautiful vocal harmonies with a similar slow-motion deep sea vibe. But this lovely debut is more than just derivative, and the wordless sound collages are transporting” – OTHER MUSIC
We’re delighted to announce JULIA HOLTER’s much anticipated return to London.
Julia Holter’s first full-length Tragedy picked up plaudit after plaudit, topping best-of polls universally. The album showcased Holter’s exploration of different sonic textures and compositional techniques, elements which she evolved into achingly beautiful pop songs. These songs formed a suite based on the ancient Greek play ‘Hippolytus,’ the narrative slowly revealing itself over the duration of the album but not detracting from the universal beauty of the compositions.
Eroded opera and field samples, sweeping synthesisers and meditative structures frame each song – giving it breathing space and allowing each nuance to fully captivate – while, above all, Julia’s effortless, heartfelt voice crystallises each moment perfectly.
Support comes from the much-hyped Sophia Brous.
Download your free ticket here
Eat Your Own Ears are excited to announce that Las Kellies will be playing a free show at the Shacklewell Arms.
Fiery Argentine trio Las Kellies return with their fourth album Total Exposure, which is due out on Fire Records in September. The album features a wonderfully eclectic collection of tracks, drawing on their post-punk and punk roots with added inspired from reggae and dance music as well as bands like The Slits, ESG and 80’s girl group Humpe Humpe. This beckons a new sound for the band, with the introduction of keyboards, synth drums and more harmonious vocals. The result is a splendidly seductive, cohesive album with a summer party-time, slow-groove vibe and sprinklings of Peaking Lights and Massive Attack.
Total Exposure shows Las Kellies leaning heavily on dub influences thanks partly to the involvement of Iván Diaz Mathé (Ivi Lee), one of the most influential reggae-dub producers in Buenos Aires – having worked with the likes of Lee “Scratch” Perry and Mad Professor. The album also features guest appearances from another reggae legend, Dennis Bovell (who mixed their last album) as well as The Make Up/Chain and The Gang frontman, Ian Svenonius.
Their live shows are full of infectious energy, with their garage rhythms and teasing impertinence, this show is one not to miss.
Las Kellies new album Total Exposure available here
Plus support from Mickey Gloss.
Mickey Gloss is a rock party that started in Australia and ended up in London. Songs consist of absurd rants scattered against sophisticated minimal bass and emotional drumming.
Hampshire via-Berlin electronic artist James Welch aka SEAMS plays an intimate show at Servants Jazz Quarters. This erstwhile musical cousin of Pantha Du Prince, Four Tet, Tycho and Gold Panda makes both brooding electronica and stuff more summery, inspired by the bright lights of Berlin’s nightlife