News: Wussy to release Buckeye on 9th July and announce September tour, inc. Leicester...

"Imagine a Yo La Tengo too tight to get cute or far out, dispensing a Velvet Underground derivative, fluent enough to warm the erectile tissue of anyone with a thing for guitar drones.”  Rolling Stone 4/5

“I consider Wussy the best band in America ... just about every one of the 46 songs on those five albums: Funeral Dress, followed by Left for Dead, Wussy, the unplugged start-to-finish remake Funeral Dress II, and Strawberry.  We're talking Beatles-Stones consistency here.”  Robert Christgau

“Recalling a roll call of adventurous boy/girl-styled indie bands – Yo La Tengo, Handsome Family, X – Wussy draws on plenty of yin/yang sexual and existential tension, a charmingly shambling, rough-hewn sound, and an army of alternately droning and jangling guitars on their sharpest outing yet.”  Uncut ****

Chuck Cleaver (formerly of Cincinnati's Ass Ponys) and Lisa Walker began playing together in 2001 as a result of Cleaver’s stage fright when asked to perform a brief run of solo shows.  The duo’s first performance was largely unplanned, and yet went without incident… so they agreed to continue and expand.  Mark Messerly came on board in 2002 as bassist and utility man, with Dawn Burman joining on drums shortly thereafter.   Joe Klug was added as drummer and multi-instrumentalist after Burman’s  departure in early 2009.  Not one, but two great singer songwriters complimenting each other on guitar and vocals over a pulsating thrum of drone-shoegazey spikey rock.  The four-piece has released several albums and EP's on their native Cincinnati’s Shake It label.

Wussy will be coming to the UK in September - dates below:

Wednesday 19th Sepember - London, Brixton Windmill
Thursday 20th September - York, Stereo
Friday 21st September - Wakefield,  The Hop
Saturday 22nd September - Cardiff, Dempsey's
Sunday 23rd September - Bristol, Croft
Tuesday 25th September - Leicester, Musician
Thursday 27th September - Hull, Adelphi
Saturday 29th September - Brighton, Green Door
Monday 1st October - London, Cargo - Damnably 6th Birthday spectacular!
w/ Osaka Ramones (Shonen Knife)

Review: Lost Dog Found - The Jump Start Scandal

Lost Dog Found - The Jump Start Scandal (Independent)

Lost Dog Found is a retro swing jump blues band, based in San Francisco, but guaranteed to raise a ruckus wherever they’re heard. Led by guitarist Stevie Mac, the band, all seven of them, let rip on their debut long player “The Jump Start Scandal”, which features an impressive track listing that’s comprised of no less than 11 original songs.

They begin with “Tear Up the Floor” with guitarist Mac and trumpeter Adam Borden combining beautifully to cook up a ‘50s noir setting for vocalist Chris Hudlow’s after hours delivery (he’ll solve the mystery and get the girl – but you know she’s going to turn out bad). It’s followed by the goodtime “50 Things I Love About a Woman”, which wisely turns out to be just about everything, and the slower “Turn Me On” offers clues as to why they were Jango’s number one indie blues band for a third of a year.

Swing revivals may come and go, but while there are bands out there as good as Lost Dog Found, it’s a genre that will continue to live, breathe and thrive. In fact, these guys would go down a storm on the UK Americana circuit, and I hope they make a trip over sooner rather than later. Until then we’ll just have to be satisfied with their record, and however much I’d love to see them do there thing live on a local stage, I know I’ve got the next best thing right here.

www.lostdogfound.com

www.facebook.com/ldfband

Rob F.

 

News: Blur are to debut two new songs on their Twitter feed...

A reunited Blur are to debut two new songs on Twitter.

The band will play the new tracks, which have not been performed in public, in a live web stream next week.

The performance on Monday comes ahead of their appearance at London's Hyde Park in August, in a show to mark the close of the Olympics.

The quartet will play Under The Westway and The Puritan from a secret location in the UK.

The songs will later be available to download and a limited edition vinyl 7in single will be released by Parlophone on 6 August.

The live stream takes place on Twitter at 6.15pm on 2 July @blurofficial.

There will also be an interview with the band.

Frontman Damon Albarn said: "I wrote these songs for Hyde Park and I'm really excited about getting out there and playing them for people."

The group - made up of Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree - are also playing warm-up dates in August at Margate Winter Gardens, Wolverhampton Civic Hall and Plymouth Pavilions.

Source: BBC

Coming up at The Phoenix: June 25th - July 1st...

The Phoenix

Phoenix Square
Midland Street
Leicester
LE1 1TG

Box Office: 0116 2422800
General Enquiries: 0116 2422803

Web: http://phoenix.org.uk/

Monday 25^th June

Visit the Phoenix website (link above and below) for all start times and certification.

2 Days in New York

Julie Delphy writes, directs and stars in this follow up to her hit comedy Two Days in Paris. Delphy plays Marion, a passionate French photographer living in New York with her DJ boyfriend Mingus (Chris Rock, playing brilliantly against type). When Marion's family descends on the couple out of the blue, their cosy life is thrown into disarray through a series of misunderstandings and a profound clash of cultures. A wickedly witty ensemble piece, cementing Delphy's reputation as a director of skill and imagination.

Cafe de Flore

One of the standout films on last year's festival circuit, Cafe De Flore weaves together two love stories separated by 40 years. In modern day Montreal, Carole mourns the loss of her husband and childhood sweetheart to another woman, whilst four decades back in 1960's Paris, Jacqueline (Vanessa Paradis) cares for the love of her life: her 7 year-old son. With its stunning mix of music and visual textures, Vallee creates a dreamy, moving exploration of obsession and lost love.

LONDON 2012 FESTIVAL FILMS

The premiere of four brilliant short films celebrating the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by some of the UK’s finest directors.Witness a unique cinematic event as the four films are screened together on Monday 25 June at 6.30, followed by exclusive Q&As with the filmmakers live via satellite from Hackney Picturehouse, London.

Monsieur Lazhar

Nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, Bachir Lazhar plays an Algerian immigrant hired as a substitute after a primary school teacher commits suicide. As his antiquated teaching methods and policy of mutual respect begins to help the pupils deal with their grief, so to must he come to terms with tragic events in his own life. With echoes of The Class and Être et avoir, this is a moving and thoroughly brilliant film. The final scene won't leave a dry eye in the house.

Tuesday 26^th June

2 Days In New York

(See Above)

Café De Flore

(See Above)

Monsieur Lazhar

(See above)

Wednesday 27^th June

2 Days In New York

(See Above)

Café De Flore

(See Above)

Monsieur Lazhar

(See above)

Thursday 28^th June

2 Days In New York

(See Above)

Café De Flore

(See Above)

Monsieur Lazhar

(See above)

Steven Severin - Vampyr

After the success of his Blood of a Poet tour in 2010, Steven Severin returns to Phoenix with a rare opportunity to hear his new score for Vampyr, the third in his ongoing film accompaniment series - Music For Silents. Dreyer's unsettling tale of fear and obsession finds its aural counterpart in Severin's suitably textured score, a synthesised, highly atmospheric soundscape. Loosely based on Sheridan Le Fanu's genre-defining 1872 vampire tale Carmilla, Vampyr is an alternative take on the cinematic vampire, creating an intense, nightmarish atmosphere that haunts the mind long after the lights go up.

Friday 29^th June

Free Men (Les Hommes Libres)

Tahar Ramin (A Prophet) delivers another intense performance Younes - an Algerian smuggler who finds himself in the hands of the Gestapo in Paris in 1942. Instructed to spy on the local Muslim community, the initially apolitical Younes finds himself drawn to benevolent mosque leader Si Kaddour Ban Ghabrit (Michael Lonsdale Of Gods and Men) and the plight of the resistance. A tense, intelligent and thrilling tale of suspense and trust in difficult times based on real events.

Mamma Mia

Join us at Phoenix for a special one- off screening of Phyllida Lloyd’s 2008 smash-hit! A young bride-to-be’s search for her real father is played out to the songs of 70s super-group ABBA! Grab a glass of wine (or two!) and sing your heart out to this endlessly charming movie! Come and sing along to Mamma Mia with Anne and friends from Marriott Primary School as they celebrate a successful school year and her retirement.

The Source (La Source des femmes)

Romanian born Mihaileanu (The Concert) presents a modern re-telling of the Lysistrata myth in this tale of female empowerment in a remote Magherb village. The women of the secluded community have finally had enough of carrying water to the township everyday while the men lounge on porches drinking tea. They enforce a love embargo, denying their frustrated husbands sex until they consent to build a water pipe to the village. An intense drama punctuated with great songs and moments of laugh-out-loud humour.

Top Cat 3D

Top Cat and the gang face a new police chief, who is not at all happy with the poor officer Dribble's performance trying to prevent Top Cat's scams!

Saturday 30^th June

Free Men (Les Hommes Libres)

(See Above)

The Source (La Source des femmes)

(See Above)

Top Cat 3D

(See Above)

Vanechand No Var ghodo

A non-stop comedy film adapated from a popular Gujarati book. Devang Patel is best known for his popular song - Jalsa kar baba jalsa kar. Please note that this screening is in Gujarati with no English subtitles.

Sunday 1^st July

Free Men (Les Hommes Libres)

(See Above)

The Source (La Source des femmes)

(See Above)

Top Cat 3D

(See Above)

The Phoenix

Phoenix Square
Midland Street
Leicester
LE1 1TG

Box Office: 0116 2422800
General Enquiries: 0116 2422803

Web: http://phoenix.org.uk/

Coming up at The Musician: June 25th - 30th...

The Musician Venue & Bar

Clyde Street
Leicester
LE1 2DE
Tel: 0116 251 0080

Tickets: www.themusicianpub.co.uk

Tuesday 26^th June

Doug MacLeod

£8adv

www.doug-macleod.com

Doug MacLeod is a singer-songwriter in the American tradition. He is a traveling artist that writes and sings original songs that are based on his own life and experiences. He learned from the old masters, lived the music, survived the life and carries forward a valuable tradition. MacLeod is known for his superb songwriting, guitar wizardry, warm soulful vocals, wit and unforgettable live performances. At the heart of this is his knack for storytelling, bringing characters-from the faceless to the legendary-to strikingly real life.

Wednesday 27^th June

Leicester Rocks

Free

This event in the LEICESTER ROCKS programme will showcase many of the bands that have been in this and the Weekend Warrior scheme giving many the opportunity to perform along with all the other musicians that have been involved.

So expect a wide variety of styles and talent and for those of you who don't already know, LEICESTER ROCKS has been organised by Dan Britton and Simon Gilroy and is designed to target those musicians who have allowed time and their instruments to slip into the background as life, work and families have taken priority.

LEICESTER ROCKS is there to help with getting back into the music scene - it is a regular mentored rehearsal course aimed at creating and supporting new bands and is held at Quad studios.

Thursday 28^th June
The Hillmans feat. Dick Taylor (Rolling Stones/Pretty Things)
£7

www.thehillmansbluesband.co.uk

Playing a mix of jazz blues, Chicago blues, delta blues, rock & roll and carefully selected popular songs, The Hillmans are now firmly established as a leading band on the Isle Of Wight. This is hardly surprising as they feature the legendary Dick Taylor, guitarist with the Pretty Things and an original member of the Rolling Stones. The band also features Tony Minx's solid rhythm guitar, powerful vocals and howling harmonica, and Mike Huddart's lyrical, driving bass, which combine to provide the ideal platform for Dick to showcase his amazing fretboard technique, particularly with a bottleneck.

Friday 29^th June
The Groundhogs

£10

www.thegroundhogs.co.uk

Tony McPhee may be the godfather of grunge, ask Nirvana producer Jack Endino, he may have been playing with blues legends (Hooker, Dupree, Wolf)  in the British Blues boom check out BBC4's 'Blues Britania' and 'Blues in Britain' footage. He's still featuring in Classic Rock, Mojo and Music Maker magazines, you will have to buy those… and yet he remains one of the businesses more enigmatic guitar legends, choosing to just get on and play rather than jump on the biz bandwagon.

For more info visit www.xanderpromotions.co.uk

Saturday 30^th June
Kingsize
£6adv £7door

plus The Ark (feat. DJ Trevor Rockers)

www.kingsize-ska.com

Kingsize play foot-stompin’, house rocking Kingsized arrangements of the finest original Jamaican ska sounds. Their style draws heavily on the classic Studio One song catalogue and traditional big band sounds of ‘60s ska.

The Musician Venue & Bar

Clyde Street
Leicester
LE1 2DE
Tel: 0116 251 0080

Tickets: www.themusicianpub.co.uk

Things To Do In Leicester 24/6: Food Through The Ages Event...

Food Through The Ages Event

Donington le Heath Manor House, Coalville

Run by: Donington le Heath Manor House

A chance to explore food from the past, with reenactors presenting 13th and 17th century cooking and showing a range of dishes in and around a 700 year old house.

Members of high quality re-enactment groups, Circa 1265 and The Open Rope, will be doing cookery demonstrations and talking about food customs and etiquette. You can also see Early 18th century ice cream making!

An exhibition charting 200 years of 'Eating In' will be accompanied by a short talk at 2pm. The Friends of Donington will be exhibiting kitchen bygones and running a second hand book stall. Children's craft activites, refreshments and a hog roast available too.

Admission free with small charge for craft activities.

BBC Link

Donington le Heath Manor House

Manor Road, Donington le Heath, Coalville, LE67 2FW

www.leics.gov.uk/donington

Telephone: 01530 831259

Email richard.knox@leics.gov.uk

About this location

A restored, stone built, 13th century manor house with 17th additions. It houses a museum on Medieval, Tudor and Stuart life, as well as regularly changing temporary galleries, and is partly furnished with late 16th to early 18th century furniture. There is a busy events programme throughout the year.

News: Radiohead postpone European tour dates...

Radiohead have postponed part of their European tour, following a stage collapse in Toronto which killed a crew member and injured three others.

A statement on the band's website said the group were still "dealing with the grief and shock" from the accident which killed technician Scott Johnson.

The collapse caused serious damage to equipment which would "take many weeks to replace", the statement continued.

Seven shows in Italy, Germany and Switzerland have been postponed.

The band will resume their tour on 10 July in Nimes. New dates for the cancelled shows are expected to be announced on 27 June.

"Whilst we all are dealing with the grief and shock ensuing from this terrible accident, there are also many practical considerations to deal with," the statement said.

"The collapse also destroyed the light show - this show was unique and will take many weeks to replace."

The band said its backline set-up - a term that refers to amplifiers that typically sit at the back of the stage - had also been seriously damaged "some elements of which are decades old and therefore hard to replace".

Canadian authorities have launched an investigation into the collapse at Downsview Park, which happened last weekend approximately an hour before the band were due on stage.

Source: BBC

News: Ronnie Barker's 'boring' Edward Lear limerick book sells at auction for £3,600...

A book of Edward Lear's limericks that comedian Ronnie Barker changed to make funnier has sold for £3,600 at auction.

The Two Ronnies star wrote his own versions of the poems alongside Lear's in The Book of Nonsense, first published in 1846.

Dominic Winter Auctioneers said it had been bought by a private buyer at the sale in South Cerney, Gloucestershire.

The book, which is signed and dated November 2001, had been estimated to make about £1,500.

Ronnie Barker, who died in 2005 aged 76, was apparently disappointed by the poet's use of the same word at the end of the first and last lines, so made his own additions.

Among them was an introductory limerick he wrote, calling the verses "boring and drear".

It reads "There was an old fossil named Lear, Who's verses were boring and drear. His last lines were worst - just the same as the first! So I've tried to improve on them here."

The auctioneer's website described the book as, "an extraordinary and unique item, associating two British masters of comic language and wordplay."

The buyer was a private collector from Scotland, the auctioneer said.

At the same sale a 1924 first edition of a collection of short stories by Agatha Christie, Poirot Investigates, was sold for £34,000.

It had been estimated to make £3,000 - £5,000.

Auctioneer Chris Albury said: "We knew it was a very, very rare dust jacket featuring a picture of Poirot, and we couldn't find an example of the book with a jacket ever having come up at auction before.

"But it proved to be even rarer than that, and most of the specialists had never even seen one in decades of dealing."

Source: BBC

Coming up this weekend: Leicester Vintage Festival...

Leicester Vintage Festival

Come and celebrate the vintage spirit of Leicester with steam engines, locos, classic vehicles, a myriad of collectables along with live music, craft stalls and the chance to ride on the museums very own Lenny the Loco.

Join in the fun by wearing 20th century costume from Edwardian to Hippie and joining in the costume parade at 2.30pm. Throughout the weekend, the beam engines will be in steam, culminating in a spectacular sight at 3.30pm when three of the engines will be working in steam together, the only place in Europe where this can be seen. Refreshments available at the LMTA café.

Saturday 23 June 2012 - Sunday 24 June 2012

Link: http://whatson.leicester.gov.uk/eventDetail.aspx?eid=208755

Abbey Pumping Station

Corporation Road

Leicester LE4 5PX

Adults £3.50 / accompanied children free (a small charge for train rides).

museums@leicester.gov.uk

www.leicester.gov.uk/museums

Telephone: 0116 299 5111

Things To Do In Leicester 22/6: The Golden Age of the Electric Guitar...

The Golden Age of the Electric Guitar

22^nd June

Snibston, Coalville

Run by: Snibston Discovery Park

Music is interspersed with very funny and entertaining recollections of a time when the humour was as unique as the music we love. Includes the opportunity to ask questions.

The first half of the two hour guitar extravaganza covers the music of the Rock & Roll pioneers - Scotty Moore, Duane Eddy, Hank Marvin, Bert Weedon, Chuck Berry and others. The second half covers the great Pop, Rock and Blues players of the mid 60s to mid 70s - Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, BB King, Peter Green and others.

BBC Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/thingstodo/activity/the-golden-age-of-the-electric-guitar/occurrence/130594

Snibston

Snibston Discovery Park, Ashby Road, Coalville, LE67 3LN

Website: http://www.snibston.com

Telephone: 01530 278444

Email: snibston@leics.gov.uk