Bar Sigma’s Alternative Rock night every Wednesday – 8.04.09(

(Update – This review doesn’t mention Vice, a dedicated alternative club in Swansea – sorry guys!)

Trying to compare a city’s only two alternative nights can be very tricky at the best of times, but Shinfo seems to be taking the lead in this race. Competing with Sin City’s “Face Off” rock night – every Friday – Shinfo offers more variety and covers every aspect in the “Alternative Rock” spectrum. Playing from punk to indie, electro to ska, metal, rock and even some elements of pure “cheese” just to keep the guys happy.

Shinfo has been rocking Swansea’s student night now for almost 15 months, and they’re still going strong with DJ Luc Frost finding new material every week ever since he thought of bringing this new alternative to Bar Sigma. Even though Luc did a pretty good juggling the night on his own, the duo was made complete when new DJ on the block, Tom Frayne, joined in the New Year. Now Shinfo sees a jam packed Sigma every Wednesday between 10 and 3, and never fails to dissatisfy.

Not only did Shinfo only offer their regular set this week, but there was a guest appearance from up and coming Drum and Bass DJ, Alex South, from around 12:30 which showed an epic turnout for the already busy Sigma. Dance floors and bars were full, and Sigma showed to be far fuller than usual, and was seen to be at near full capacity, for the downstairs.

Any fans of last night who enjoyed DJ South’s set, there will be a further “D’n’B” night, held by South in Sigma, called “Blame” and that will be on the 3rd of May.

Also, to add to the every growing fan base of Shinfo, turn-up at any time after 9 on a Wednesday night, and you will not regret it, it’s free before 10:30, and just £2 thereafter, so no excuses.

Shinfo Facebook Group

Beth Daniels – beth.daniels@live.co.uk

Where to even think about starting on how to describe these guys is a task in itself. They are the most unusual, diverse, and just plain quirky band I think I’ve ever seen around in a good few years. They’re more than just your usual jazz band, to be honest, I think it’s only a few who would even say that they are jazz, but their combinations of amazingly funky bass riffs, incredibly catchy choruses and soft vocals; the “genre” that I have placed them under would be somewhere between jazz with a Latin twist. However, even though most people would class them as this, some of their songs take under exception. One of the newest numbers to their ever growing set-list, which, doesn’t have a name as yet, completely takes the turn and shows Ockhams Raiser performing country and western style, which surprisingly they can pull off very well.

It was not just the band alone that kept the punters of Uplands Tavern entertained, through they’re more well-known songs such as “Just Like That”, “In The Evening” and “Window” we were presented with dancers from the crowd who never failed to disappoint.

After playing two forty-five minute sets, the usual local band would seem to bore the crowd, but after this, plus a ten minute jam played by the band, the ever growing crowd seemed un-phased. It just goes to show that these guys tend to offer so much variety in their set, it’s a surprise in the waiting to see what they’ll come up with next.

Not following everyone else in the normal scheme of things, Ockhams Raiser are set to have taken the jazz music scene by storm, and they don’t seem to be looking back, not even a little bit.

Beth Daniels – beth.daniels@live.co.uk

After around 3 years of trying find the right layout, Temp have finally found the perfect formation for the perfect songs. After adding and removing members; Temp have finally decided on Chris Fox on vocals and Lewis Pearson and Rob Crowley on guitar, after Josh Bower left in 2008.

Opening their set with their amazingly soft cover of Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol; Temp are a well connected band who know how to play chilled out music. Even though they sound SO good together, and Chris, well, his voice is just indescribable; Temp seem to be very much “set in their ways”; in the sense that they don’t seem to deviate from their usual style of music. Usually, this doesn’t cause problems, but when the music is so relaxing and soft, which in Temp’s case, it most definitely is, I felt myself drifting into a daze!

The covers of Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, Machines by Biffy Clyro and a very well done version of Umbrella by Rhianna , were done perfectly; as well as their own songs like: “Amber Skies”, “Miss you” and “Star War” mixed laid back vibes with meaningful lyrics resulting in some killer laid back tunes.

Once these guys step outside their safe box; they’ll make something fantastic.

Beth Daniels

Opening with their own song, Quietly Coughing, new stoner rock and roll band “The Pigs” don’t come across as your usual new local band. These guys don’t follow mainstream indie or punk like the rest of them; they like to take matters into their own hands. The trio coming from Mumbles and Bonymaen (watch your cars guys) seem to have a genuine click with each other and it seems obvious that they all hold strong relationships, which shows when they play on stage. With former guitarist from The Guffries; Jackson Pope – son of the blues musician Mal Pope, as their front man, The Pigs give off a good reputation with their chunky bass lines and cleverly distorted riffs. Jackson’s right-hand-man, and his brother (would you believe?) in this ensemble, Lewis Pope seems the quiet one of the trio, as he seems very settled on making his meaty bass riffs perfect. Apparently Jackson has had the idea of The Pigs lingering around for quite some time, but only recently has it come to surface. He was so determined for this idea to come into reality that he actually asked Lewis to learn to play bass just to be a part of the whole experience. The drummer, Daniel seems like he knows what he’s doing, and looks like he wants to have some fun whilst playing his shows.

One of the main things that I respect these guys for is the fact that they don’t try and define their band with one specific genre. To tell you the truth it’s very hard to! New bands these days seem to make music that’s easy to play which makes them sound good and make the crowd happy, these guys play what makes THEM happy and what THEY think is good. I think it’s a statement “Screw You” to the rest of the bands out there that follow mainstream, and even try and call themselves unique.

Having only been together for around five months, the band, although very in tune with each other, don’t seem to be putting on very much of a “show” so to speak. Except for Jackson, who does make some movement around the stage, the band is very standstill. There was no communication with the crowd and there was no knowing what songs were played and so on. This though isn’t a devastating thing; this is very common of a young band coming out of its shell. Once the guys get over this phase, then personally I see nothing wrong with them, they’ll be everywhere; around South Wales at least.

Watch this space

Beth Daniels

I’ve been keen to check out the Framework Social events ever since I’d first heard about them, but I was also a bit apprehensive. What kind of people go out to bake bread and listen to music?

Last Tuesday I finally plucked up some courage, spurred on partly by the fact that I had my own promotion to do (thanks for letting me flyer guys :) ), and ventured down to St. James Social Club to see some art.

That’s what Framework is basically; a place for people to perform, watch and interact with (or is that intra-act?) art.

I arrived early-ish so that I could take a seat comfortably and watch from the sidelines (not very sociable, I know). The organisers were friendly and they filled me in on the programme of events. I payed my £2 (proceeds going to Oxjam on this occasion) and went to the bar.

St. James’ Social Club is a great little venue for performance, with the tables and chairs arranged in a sort-of U shape around the dance floor come stage. Its worth mentioning that Swansea Jazzland organise events here every Wednesday.

So what happens at the Social?

First off, there was a pile of A4 sheets and paper aeroplane instructions on every table to get people in the mood for fun. It was a bit like a school workshop, but better and with alcohol. Adam Goodge was first to talk, with stories of past and present art projects; the current one was teaching people how to play Johnny Cash songs, even with his admittedly limited knowledge of guitar chords. This was followed by poetry from Swansea Bay Asylum Seeker project, a speed lecture about the art environment by John & Hilary, a raffle and live music.

The Framework Socials really do offer a great alternative to going down the pub, or the cinema or staying in with your Wii, and by all accounts its different every week. So if you’re open-minded and enjoy socialising (you don’t need to be ‘into’ art) then I can’t recommend them enough.

The next Framework event will be part of the Dylan Thomas Fringe, and takes place at the brand new Elysium Gallery on the 2nd of November.

http://www.myspace.com/frameworkswansea

The Bloodhound Gang came to Swansea last Sunday; headlining a weekend of bands and music put together by Sin City as an alternative to the short notice cancellation of Fflam.

I arrived a little late and missed the first support act Kiddo 360, but its okay I’ve seen them before… Next up were the Illegal Amigoz, the Swansea / Llanelli based pop punkers were tight and full of pop-hooks, ska beats and sing-along choruses with a whiff of nu-metal. Vocalist Alex is a strong frontman and their combined experience shows, despite them being relatively young.

An enthusiastic crowd gathered, waiting for the Bloodhound Gang, hungry for music and entertainment in the form of dumb white rap. A Jägermeister machine sat waiting for abuse on the side of the stage. When they arrived on stage, the screen at the back read ‘Good Evening, Pretty Shitty City’ and I can only assume that they were referring to this site. ;)

For a few songs, I tried to keep my amateur-journalistic cool and stand appreciatively at the back, but this got boring very quickly so we pushed forward and ended up at the deepest, darkest, sweatiest bit of any gig; the moshpit. The gang’s unique style of comedy-punk-techno-rap went down well and between songs the crowd’s screams were ringing in my ears.

You can’t really judge the Bloodhound Gang on serious musical merit, but they are certainly masters at referencing and executing low-brow popular culture. Between songs they kept us all entertained with anecdotes and jokes. Jared, the bassist who is prone to getting naked, spoke of beautiful Welsh girls, and even though he thought that Charlotte Church had put on more weight than the entire band put together, he’d still like to “take a shit on her tits”.

I left feeling sweaty and happy. Roll on more gigs at Sin City.

So Escape into the Park has been and gone for another year, with around 13,800 people reported as attending and some great weather despite early showers, the local residents can relax again (for a bit).

This is only my third visit to the festival and even though its crawling with Townies and there are only ever a handful of acts on the line-up that interest me, I enjoy myself more & more each time. There’s something about the mix of live music, sunshine, alcohol & a carnival atmosphere that transcends musical genres and social groups.

Of course the atmosphere probably had something to with the drugs, despite a heavier police presence there still must have been thousands of people using controlled substances. Imagine all those people on nothing but alcohol, I shudder to think what violence might have ensued. Despite some reports that the police searches were invasive and humiliating, in general their presence seemed relaxed and friendly.

The only disappointment for me, was the headline set from Calvin Harris. After a later than scheduled start, the sound seemed quiet and Harris was complaining about his monitor not working. Despite the singles (“Acceptable in the 80s”, “The Girls”) going down very well, Harris had to dodge a couple of cans from the audience, and the sound problems seemed to haunt him throughout the set. I can only guess that the technicians weren’t really up to properly sound checking multiple instruments, after all the festival isn’t used to bands. Perhaps this was the reason too for the slightly poor reception from the crowd, booking Calvin Harris was a bold and welcome addition to headline the festival, it would be a shame if it was deemed unsuccessful.

And last but not least, why did the festival finish at 11pm? It cut Calvin Harris’s already late starting set down to around half an hour. Perhaps I’m missing something here, but wasn’t the license advertised as being from midday until midnight? I’ll be round God’s Kitchen for my £3 refund tomorrow. ;)

Support was provided by Findlay Brown, whose charming acoustic songs, reminiscent of Nick Drake, were perhaps a little too sleepy for the crowd to stop talking and take notice. So, as a last act, he crouched on the stage and let loose an explosion of electronic noise, to which The Thrills should feel indebted, as it surely focused everyone’s attention towards the stage.

Despite myself, I really like both of The Thrills albums to date. Their unashamed Americanist style and big sound make for great pop songs. I got carried away with the set, to which I knew a surprising amount of lyrics and exactly when to ‘ooh’ every time.

For a moment the themes and lyrics of their songs (e.g. “Nothing Changes Around Here”) seemed to relate perfectly to Swansea and it’s strange, small town/big town mentality. British Suburbia’s obsession with West Coast Americana was so tangible you could almost smell it, or perhaps that was just the cheap vodka and sweat. ;)

The only let downs were the lack of a string section (expected) and that the set seemed to be a little on the short side. Perhaps they just wanted to play a tight, concise set and to escape before getting mobbed by a drunken fan… too late.

Check out Sin City’s website for more upcoming gigs.

Problems with MySpace aside, it’s a great tool for bands and musicians to network with fans, promoters, and other bands. But when it comes to visual artists, it just doesn’t cut it, and whilst Flickr is good for free image hosting, it’s not quite right for a design portfolio.

If your an illustrator, graphic designer or even animator then Carbon Made is perfect. It offers a simple, easy to use layout, a clean & elegant blank canvas for your images and some pretty nice technology such as RSS feeds and Google Analytics integration if that’s what turns you on.

There are limits though, the free plan only allows 5 projects and 35 images. If you want more space and video hosting you’ll need to pay, but its still a great place to start and so much better than MySpace for this sort of thing.

If you give it a go and like it, then feel free to send us a link to your portfolio :D

http://www.carbonmade.com/

Beginning with a discreet and extremely tight section questioning as to where this lost friend/ lover “Alice,” may be, this gives way to a cacophonic chorus full of anguish regarding the time and effort being misspent on the songs subject.

Indeed The Afterglow has influences that are worn on their sleeves. There are evident shades of Biffy Clyro when all three instruments collide with equal measure implying how flippantly one can jump from emotion to emotion. Also the gentle sounds that all three conjure echo early Sebadoh with a need for volume but always maintaining melody and purpose. However it’s the way the band’s three members will move so easily from one section to another that keeps the song being continually interesting and the subject matter remaining enigmatic, yet engaging.

The single is backed by “And Then, Surprisingly,” that once again offers wonderfully taut guitar and also a vocal harmony that briefly gives the same calmness that band’s such as Explosions in the Sky generate at their softest moments.

The last time I personally saw The Afterglow live was an acoustic performance. These songs very much reinforce how confrontational yet strikingly hushed a sound the three can create as they did that day. What is more its all so superbly tight and intricate, the sound shaped always being driven and meaningful.

Evidently shunning fads over heartfelt and literate song writing, which in the horrendously fickle music spewed out (and then devoured) by the majority of so called “alternative,” music fans nowadays, this single comes as a breathe of fresh air and shows a band proud of its aesthetic with an obvious vision as to where their sound is going.

http://www.myspace.com/abusiveprofanity
http://www.freewebs.com/abusiveprofanity/media.htm