diyvoices-blog

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We’re on the hunt for Volume 3 contributors! Our previous issues have been dialogues with female artists on their work - we’d love to keep our interview format but expand to include portfolios and short essays. 

Send us an email with a little info about yourself + a story idea to hellofangirl@gmail.com or via Tumblr message if you’re interested.

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Open Umbrella

Howdy doody Tumblr dudes.

We've been v quiet here at DIY VOICES; if you're interested in finding out about founder Jen Steiner's new project, it's called Open Umbrella 

It's pretty cool, Open Umbrella is an experimental platform and community, releasing new music for FREE from original, innovative and exquisite musicians and artists.

The official launch will be near the end of March 2015 and gorgeous things will be happening here

[diyvoices-blog]

LIVE LOOP by JEN STEINER

I listened to Song Of Stone by Jen Steiner. Her voice comes in like the tide. And every time it does, it climbs higher up the shore, saturating everything. And when it goes out there is silence and calm. In the silences I can hear the shape of her home. The song is so bare. Just a voice. The bones of a song. And it moves so slowly outward like ever increasing circles. They do not touch but they are connected. They are from the same place. I listened to the whole album, 'LIVE LOOP', which Jen released on the 09/09/2014 to coincide with the harvest full moon. The album is six songs and they are each about six minutes long. I felt like each one was a reflection on something, using a very small collection of words and tones. They are hugely spacious. The silences between verses are vast. The singing is strong but tentative. This coupled with the use of live loops (hence the title) gives each song a circular feeling. They do not so much seem move forward as they do outward from a central point, which is Jen.  To me the album feels reflective, meditative. It is Zen as fuck. And I don't mean in that flimsy new age sense. I mean like it feels properly Wabi-Sabi. Jen is making delicate, breakable recordings of life as she witnesses it and that is brave. There is no sense of bravado. It feels like impermanence and the knowledge and acceptance that all things will fall to dust is at the heart of her creative process. It's like she knows how vulnerable an individual person is but she does not run and hide. Then again, maybe I've got it all wrong. I really think this is a great piece of art. In terms of the sound, it reminds me a little of early Jana Hunter recordings. Back in the 1980s, people started realising, or maybe deciding, that things could be 'punk' without necessarily sounding like it. It was an attitude, not a genre. I would say that 'punk' as an attitude can sometimes be missed as well if it is not outwardly aggressive enough. For whatever it's worth, I think 'LIVE LOOP' is a punk record.

Written by Henry Ireland; reposted from http://elan-zine.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/live-loop-by-jen-steiner.html

Listen/purchase: LIVE LOOP by JEN STEINER

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Interview: Jc of Discount Horse Records and Martha

DIY VOICES is super pleased to share this interview with Jc, proprietor of DIY label Discount Horse Records and band member of Martha (band photos above and below!)

DIY VOICES; Can you tell me a bit about your self and where you live/are from?

Jc: Howdy. I’m Jc. I’m from Durham. I’m the proprietor of the DIY punk label Discount Horse Records and I’m a firm believer in ghosts. Durham isn’t really a place that is so well known for it’s punk-ness, but it has a pretty cool punk history. Highlights include Penetration’s formation in Ferryhill, The Toy Dolls recording their albums in a house on a street just outside of the city. Born Against tore the roof off a decaying riverside cellar at some point in the early 90s and I think Allo Darlin’s sound guy booked NoFX one of their first UK shows back in the 80s. Tons of other stuff happened too. Stuff that I don’t know about it. As a city it’s always had a consistent vein of DIY happenings.

DIY VOICES: What was your first experience of the DIY scene and how did you get involved?

Jc: I hadn’t considered DIY to be a thing until I was 16 or so. I’ve been booking shows since I was 15 and I think the first DIY show I attended was in a now demolished church hall in a housing estate called Newton Hall. I was younger than that when I became aware of the mythology of 924 Gilman Street but I suppose in my head that was something else, a long way away from me. Like I said, it wasn’t until I was older that DIY as a movement started making sense. After that - I was all in.

DIY VOICES: What's the history of Discount Horse?

Jc: DH started as a punk CD distro. I borrowed a Michael Jordan Touchdown Pass CD from a friend. The record came out on Plan It X Records and smaller Connecticut (I think) label called DIY Bandits. I got in touch to tell them how cool I thought they were for releasing cool records by cool bands and stuff. They got back to me and were like “yeah, you should do it too” and they sent me a box of their releases and zines to get started as a distro. Our first official release was a split 7” featuring ONSIND and Short Term Effect. It turned out to be a crash course in running a DIY label. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong - ending up in the company that was making the record going out of business following some dodgy stuff. Since then I’ve overseen a steady stream of releases by band from all over the place. Most recently I’ve worked with Columbus, Ohio’s All Dogs and my long time favourites The Middle Ones for their third Discount Horse release, a split with their past tour mates Best Friends Forever from Minnesota. To date, I think we’ve done 27 releases. The catalog numbers suggest otherwise because they run up to DH028 but that’s because I skipped 13 because I’m superstitious and ghosts and stuff.

DIY VOICES: Why and how did you set it up?

Jc: Oops - I might have answered that above.

DIY VOICES: (If you haven't already) Spill the beans about MARTHA!

Jc: I'm in a band called Martha. We formed on that same street in Pity Me that The Toy Dolls did their records. We’ve been doing that for almost two and a half years now which is weird. We were listening to a lot of old soul stuff and a lot of Housemartins and a lot of late 70s power pop and such and decided to start a band off the back of that. We’ve toured fairly heavily since. Last year we got to tour with Harry & The Potters in August and Spoonboy and Delay back in June. We’ve just recorded a full length with MJ from Hookworms that’s coming out on Fortuna Pop (in the UK) and Salinas Records in the US this May. We’re heading out on the road with Delay again in the summer but this time in the US. Delay are our total faves - they’re a siblings band too. They have twins. Naomi and Nathan in Martha are siblings too. So are Harry and the Potters… both Harrys are brothers.

DIY VOICES: What are your plans and future dreams for your self and for DH?

Jc: For the first time in 7 years I have no releases planned. Its nice I think. It means I can concentrate on the great records we’ve already released. My dream is to re-issue the first couple of releases. The 1st record we did was made by a place that no longer exists, so I’m in the process of hunting down the masters.

[diyvoices-blog]

Jim Ghedi 'Satori'

Jim Ghedi is an experimental singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and poet coming straight out of the DIY scene in Sheffield, UK. 

Ghedi says "I have released my debut album 'Satori' this week from my own website (http://jimghedi.com) it showcases a unique style and brings together more than twenty Sheffield musicians.

Exploring Free Jazz, Spoken word, experimental Acoustic/Folk and extreme creative self expression, 'Satori' also charts a course through various world music influences, from the mesmeric Qawwali of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to the pounding Afrobeat rhythms of Fela Kuti."

  Ghedi is planning the album launch night on 5th of April 2014 with a collection of different musicians and artists creating a live arts installation, with a band of musicians together performing an hour's long performance inspired from material taken from 'Satori' also with 3 painters illustrating a piece of work collectively live and a digital projectionist.  

[diyvoices-blog]

LUVV release 'More' 17.03.2013

We've been listening to: a band from Cardiff called LUVV.  

They've just uploaded a new song called 'MORE' ahead of the release of their second tape which you can hear via the following link:

  https://soundcloud.com/luvvluvvluvv/more

  The tape, which will be entitled 'Two' will be released on March 17th and was recorded in the Arches rehearsal space in Cardiff with JT from Islet during a particularly dreary winter's evening in 2013.

If your missing some post-punk in your life, check it!

Their facebook is https://www.facebook.com/luvvluvvluvv innit...

[diyvoices-blog]

Headfall: Stars Don't Shine To Noise

Headfall released Stars Don't Shine to Noise in November 2004, just short of ten years ago. The record has just recently been made available to order online, along with a free digital download of the whole album. It was one of the first records I ever owned and it is still one of my favourite and most prized possessions by far.  Seriously, you should buy this album. It is a genuine undiscovered classic. The only reason this thing is not completely sold out is that for a long time, the only place you could purchase it was at Headfall shows, which only tend to happen once, maybe twice a year in pretty small venues. George McKenzie (drums, guitar, violin, piano, humming, tape loops, clarinet.) once told me that this album was the only thing he's ever made that he is still proud of. He then went on to tell me where all of the mistakes were. But they don't sound like mistakes to me. This whole shuffling, brooding thing sounds so on purpose, grey as mist on the sea, broken glass, to sand, to salt water. A bunch of punk kids trying to make jazz, awkwardness exploding out of them. Everything is poetry, sung and played, 'a truth too teenage'.  I don't want to keep describing how it sounds. You can find out for yourself, and you should. I just think that what it does sound like, what it wants to sound like, is captured perfectly, stylistically, aesthetically, framed in smokey static electricity, perfectly honed and curated, artfully presented. a jagged frenzy beneath a swelling surface, barely restrained, three yearning hearts.

http://headfall.bandcamp.com/album/stars-dont-shine-to-noise

Writer: Henry Ireland

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The Jelas/Lego 17.02.2014

Today I did two things: I watched The Culture Show documentary about Lego and architecture, and listened to The Jelas' new EP Beetroot Yourself. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03vkt8l/The_Culture_Show_2013_2014_Lego_The_Building_Blocks_of_Architecture/ http://timeofasking.bandcamp.com/album/the-jelas-beetroot-yourself

I always think of The Jelas as smart and complicated. To me any song in anything other than 4/4 is complicated but I think by anyone's standards The Jelas are pretty intricate. They are angular and fidgety and their lyrics are poetic and funny and it all fits together perfectly but only just. Listening to their new EP Beetroot Yourself makes me think about complexity in art. How its one of the best, most rewarding things a piece of art can be. But how it also can be terrible and off putting and self-indulgent and elitist. The Jelas are none of these things, but why?   I think the components of a Jelas song are really wonderfully accessible. The vocal melodies are really strong and simple and they carry the songs forward. The guitar and bass riffs are controlled and the drums are melodic to me, rather than repetitive. In fact there's a complete lack of repetition, which is probably where the sense of complexity comes from, but familiar elements keep you listening. Furthermore the lyrics are totally and completely beautiful. They are poetic, filled with imagery and metaphor but Colin and Nat's delivery is so unaffected they never come across as pretentious, only truthful. They do the things that the best of lyrics do which is talk about both the mundane and the profound in strange and exciting ways. 

"The Italian coffee maker is tall and has got broad shoulders, he's the definition of a tough barista"

In the documentary I watched this morning Tom Dychoff showed how the invention of Lego coincided with the epoch of post-war architectural ideals. Ethical and imaginative, modernist architecture put together simple, plain, unadorned spacial elements (so bricks) to create socially oriented buildings and cities. Dychoff draws a link between the simplicity of Lego with this focus on easily constructed egalitarian architecture. He also compares Lego builds to the post-modernist structures of the late twentieth century, brightly coloured shapes collected into fantastical towers. 

I imagine this EP as like a city, built of so many little lego bricks of riffs, melodies and rhythms. Where The Jelas stand out is the freedom of imagination that goes into their songwriting process. What they create is an asymmetrical tower block, with square turrets and tiny triangular windows filled with pus but the elements are the same bricks anyone would use. Their subjects are universal concerns; long term relationships, illness, time. 

The feeling of egalitarian, utopian concerns are not imagined. The Jelas are super DIY and unwavering members of the Bristol music community (I've borrowed their amps and drums loads of times). Their songs are generous and are created from the perspective of ardent listeners as well as talented musicians. This EP is powerful, beautiful and fun. An example of imaginative play enacted and formalised into a real life thing, like a lego pre-fab. True DIY.

Writer: Roxy Brennan

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ooooooooooo yeah

the Chapess zine #3 the work issue

24 page A5 B&W zine with essays and illustrations on juggling jobs, teaching, freelancing, going back to work after having a baby, music, publishing, influence and inspiration. Buy it here

Karis Upton Riese Bernard Cáit Fahey Jen Steiner Grace Hong Jo Stafford Molly Davy Eileen Myles Cherry Styles Sophie Cooper Zara Gardner Abbi Cudden Donna Shapiro

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Interview: Roxy Brennan

DIY VOICES is super happy to get to share this interview with Bristol's very own Roxy Brennan; events coordinator at our vegan coop Cafe Kino, the talent behind Two White Cranes and generally awesome creative person.

Hi Roxy. Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed for DIY VOICES! Can you tell me how long you've been involved in Cafe Kino and in what ways? Say lots your role at the moment too!

I've been involved in Cafe Kino on and off for about 7 years. When it first opened in its Ninetree Hill premises I volunteered there. It was the summer before I went to university and I remember it being very quiet and mostly I'd just sit and read Middlemarch. My brother (Aaron) was good friends with all the Kino folks but I didn't know them so well and I felt very shy of them all. 

So then I went away to university for a few years and sort of moved between Bristol and Oxford a bit. But when I came back I was much less shy and I knew that the Kino folks were the kind of folks I wanted to spend time with. First of all I was involved in helping out with events and I learnt how to do to sound because I thought it would be a good thing to do (which it is, but its also very very difficult)

Then I got a job working in the cafe properly (making coffee, which is one of my favourite things) and since then I've been very involved. Its a workers co-operative so being a staff member there means you have lots of opportunities to get involved in running the cafe.

I'm now the events co-ordinator, which means I reply to people who want to use the space downstairs for cool events, as well as planning some of my own. Its a really really great job, because it means supporting the arts and creativity and its also really great for the cafe which means it supports my friends and colleagues and veganism, all my favourite things! 

What's your relationship /connection with Bristol?

Bristol is where I've lived for most of my life and I love it, largely because of the community that I am involved in. Everyone I know and love in Bristol makes something good. There are so many people working really hard to make it a better place and that is why I love it. I love The Cube and Cafe Kino so much. I was extremely lucky to grow up, as a teenager, around the people who make those spaces what they are, and that has really influenced me. I know that the things of value in this world are community and art, and that they don't come from nothing - you need to work for them and that you can't have one without the other.

Can you say more about the DIY and Independent scene, not just in Bristol, and how it affected you growing up?

DIY affected me immeasurably growing up. I remember going to Ladyfest and Bring Yourself Fest when I was 15/16 and it meant that I've always just assumed that people put on their own shows and play in bands. I really can't imagine why anyone wouldn't, and even though I understand not everyone wants to, it means that for me DIY doesn't at all feel like a political 'choice' as such but just the way that my life and my community works, which is great! This has really empowered me and made me feel quite strong.

I see the DIY scene sometimes as part love/part activism as it goes against or across the dominant social structures and industries (art music etc) can you say whether you've seen and/or experienced any of the burnout /fatigue /etc that comes from passionate people expending lots of energy and time in things they believe in? Do you have any ideas in how we can avoid burnout?

It easy to feel very tired and burnt out by DIY, and I know lots of people who do feel like that and I have at times just felt completely overwhelmed by putting on a show and felt that it totally wasn't worth it. But then you go to a show, like the Pull the Strings event at Southbank earlier this month, that makes you feel completely inspired and privileged to be part of a creative community, even if it is hard work sometimes. 

I suppose the other decision I've come to regarding burn out, is the importance of supporting art you really believe in. Even though ideally I want everyone who makes art to have a platform to express that, I am not in a position to facilitate that, and in fact capitalism is a system that makes that impossible. I want to keep art, especially my own art, as far away from capitalism as possible but that is almost impossible. Even giving away things for free seems to become tangled up in this insane system where writing a song is equal to some stupid thing called money. Anyway, so because of that it is not possible to support everyone's artistic endeavour's so for now I try to only put on shows where I really love the bands. But if everyone did that DIY would work really well, because everyone would put on their favourite band, once a year and we'd all have a really lovely time!

Lastly can you tell me about the creative projects and bands your involved in (time to blow your own trumpet etc)

So at the moment I'm involved in lots of bands - many more than ever before which is really exciting

two white cranes is my solo thing. I've been writing songs since I was 16 and I've been performing and recording under this name for two years now. I like not using my own name because it gives me the freedom to have other people be part of the project. at the moment I'm recording an album and I'm hopefully gonna release it on vinyl through stitch-stitch records which is real exciting. http://twowhitecranes.bandcamp.com/

trust fund is a band I play bass in at the moment. It is Ellis Jones' band and I love playing in it so much. We get to play lots of fun shows and his songs are my absolute favourite things in the world, and he is basically my favourite person in the world so its pretty perfect. We're on tour next week and generally playing tons of shows because Ellis is super popular (and rightly so).

http://trustfund.bandcamp.com

acres is a band I joined last summer, playing bass. It is an indie-pop band and the songs are mostly by Matthew Cheney who is a song writing genius. Its very different to my other bands because the song writing is a little bit more collaborative which is really fun. We're going on tour at the end of this February. 

http://acresbristol.bandcamp.com

Grubs is a band I've just started with my friend Jake and Owen (from the band Joanna Gruesome). We've only got two songs but we've just recorded them so hopefully people can hear them soon. In this band I write some of the songs and they are much shoutier than my solo stuff.

https://www.facebook.com/nogrubs

The Nervy Betters is another band I play bass in. Steve and Henry are excellent songwriters and playing with them is totally dreamy

I also write essays, I've written some stuff that's on the Arnolfini Blog and I have a occasionally updated blog here http://twowhitecranes.wordpress.com/

Thanks again Roxy, I really love getting to hear more you and your life and DIY VOICES is super proud to have you as our first interviewee.

(Interview by Jen Steiner, Founder & Editor of DIY VOICES)

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The Middle Ones/ Best Friends Forever split LP

If you like your music home-grown and your band members to like each other rather a lot, then chances are you've already pre-ordered your copy of The Middle Ones/ Best Friends Forever split LP from Discount Horse Records.

After touring together in 2011, The Middle Ones and BFF have put their new songs and arrangements into this friendly, shared LP. It's like listening to a record with both sides of your brain at once, the pop side and the punk side.

This LP is limited to 200 copies and I can't imagine there's many left by now, so get both sides of your brain to:  http://discounthorse.limitedrun.com/products/522898

...and soon you too can be chillin-out-max-and-relaxin-all-cool with this gorgeous number.

[diyvoices-blog]

Review: Launch of "Lullabies From The Nanoplex" (AKA: A Love Letter To The Cube) 24/11/2013

This gig was so good, the review is literally going to write itself.

The first time I visited Bristol was an auspicious weekend; on the same day it was National Tree Climbing Day at Ashton Court and in the evening the No Power Party at The Cube Microplex, organised by the wonderful Kayle Brandon. As an acoustic performer at the time, I took a chance and asked if I could perform at the No Power Party. Kayle was really welcoming and excited about my music, and so in my first weekend in Bristol I sang in the hallowed halls of the Cube.

(If you don't know anything about The Cube, it's an independent cinema and arts centre since 1998; this is their website http://www.cubecinema.com/cubewebsite/ )

(If you don't know anything about me, I'm an independent singer/writer/artist and Founder of DIY VOICES; this is my blog http://thejensteiner.blogspot.co.uk/ )

Needless to say, I was hooked. The ethos behind the Cube and it's many volunteers rang my bell, so to speak, and this year as The Cube itself is attempting to buy the venue it currently rents, when Kayle asked me to be part of a fund-raising venture, I said "WHEN?"

ESPECIALLY as the venture involved several of my favourite things;

1. The Cube: I am a Life Long Fan

2. Lullabies: one of my top varieties of music

3. A whole bunch of Independent Bristol artists producing Home-recorded tracks: Utter bliss

4. An afternoon gig, kids get in free: All ages winner!

5. Kayle Brandon: one of my favourite people I get to bump into in Bristol

So, with great anticipation I recorded a Loop version of my song "Quiet" (which has lulled many an audience over the years) one afternoon. (This song will also soon be available as part of my upcoming L I V E   L O O P album.. More details to come.) As a disabled artist, I knew that an afternoon gig is the perfect time of day for me to perform, and I hoped my irregular health would allow me to perform at the Launch.

Switch to the afternoon of 24th November 2013 and after many hours of hard work from Kayle and her team and 20 beautiful lullabies recorded by local artist and bands and 350 CD's pressed and printed, it's the Launch of Lullabies From The Nanoplex. Not being well enough to perform my self, I wrapped my self up in a duvet (part of the hope in the Cube buying the Cube is being able to make the current, pretty chilly venue cosier and more accessible) and cuddled up amongst an all ages audience to await some spectacular and gorgeous performances; all in the spirit of bringing love in the the Cube!

Stand out performance for me was Ruth Gordon and her friends singing 'Belly Of The Beast', full marks for beast-like costumes and singing through cardboard tubes for a fuzzy sound! I loved that Ruth curled up on the stage, miming falling asleep to her own song...

Yoshino Shigihara's rendition of  "Mycelium Roost" was gorgeous, as was a delicate "Good night Gometrains" by Polly Huggit. For Brian Monahun's dreamy "Moths Dream/ Flight" the grand piano got wheeled out, with some unexpected backing from some under 1 years old audience members who were either joining in or else a bit hungry!

Chingy and the Crabs' "Heaps of Sheep" and Flyhoops "Oatcake Moon" both involved young people on stage, and like all of the performances, showed something inclusive and a readiness to give that the Bristol DIY scene personifies so much and today explicitly showed by all at The Cube. There's something inspiring about a bunch of people getting together to say "We care about this so much we're putting our creative heads together to see what we can come up with..." and not just the people performing on stage; there's so much work that goes on at independent venues like The Cube, so much that keeps it altogether. And that includes the people behind the scenes and also the people who reach into their pockets to buy tickets and put bums on seats.

Throughout the gig visual spectacles were shone on stage by Dr Snoozie, I had my eyes closed through most of the show (the best way I find to listen to great music and also I was knackered) but when my eyes were open I very much appreciated the different ways to make beautiful colours, shapes and lights with two OHP and one creative mind.  

Other musical Launch Party shout outs go to Jet Mcdonald, Balky Mule, Spiderbelly, The Moons of Mulagi, Hollowbody, Mr Hopkinsons Computer Sings and anyone else I've forgotten. Every performance was singular, keenly felt and highly valued by this audience member! I loved that instead of clapping between acts, we were encouraged to 'coo'.

"Coo, coo..."

The beautiful and lovingly made album Lullabies From The Nanoplex, is available to buy and I couldn't recommend it highly enough. The limited edition CD will soon be for sale at The Here Gallery and from The Cubes' Sales Page, and also hopefully on line in a digital form at some point.  

Lullabies From The Nanoplex is my album of 2013, a title not given lightly.

[diyvoices-blog]

The only thing I would add is, not having heard any of Pity Me's other Punk Bands, Martha would be Number ONE!

Jen Steiner, DIY VOICES

At a stretch, Martha is probably the third or fourth best punk band in Pity Me. Formed in a cellar in 2011 by siblings Naomi [bass, vocals] and Nathan Griffin [drums, vocals] with J. Cairns [guitar, vocals] and Daniel Ellis [guitar, vocals}, Martha have become a staple of the UK DIY pop scene,...

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Review by Carl Harper, poster by Rosie Faragher.

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Review: Real Life Tigers @Cafe Kino 25.10.2013

I very rarely go to gigs on my own, but here I am in Café Kino, at a gig, on my own. There are three bands on the bill tonight, none of whom have made music that I’m familiar with. So why am I here? Well, there a few reasons… 1. It’s being hosted/organised by Stitch Stitch Records impresario Steve Brett and Roxy Brennan of the very wonderful musical entity Two White Cranes 2. It’s at Café Kino and 3. Because the headline act is called Real Live Tigers and I happen to rather like tigers. And on to the show… First up is a Bristol based duo called The Ninetree Stumblers. They play for us, using banjos, guitars, fiddles and occasional vocals, a selection of American songs from the ‘20s and ‘30s. They sound great, and surprisingly authentic too, not dissimilar to another beloved Bristol based duo My Two Toms. In addition to the great tunes, there’s plenty of entertaining banter, as they treat us to educational and often amusing stories regarding the origins of each song. They close their set with a gospel sing-along and leave the stage to the sounds of a very enthused audience. Next up is another Bristol based band, a four-piece called Acres. Two of the band’s members are familiar to me already. Matthew Cheney plays with the Electro-pop trio Expensive and I’ve seen Roxy Brennan play on her own a couple of times under the name Two White Cranes. As I’ve enjoyed the music they’ve made apart, I’m looking forward to hearing them play together. They do not disappoint! The music of Acres has been described as dreamy Lo-Fi Pop and I think that’s a pretty good description. Matthew sings and plays a twelve-string electric guitar. The sound he gets out of his guitar is quite lovely, bringing to mind Velvet’s era Lou Reed and also the prettier moments of Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo. He sings quite nice too, and I love the boy-girl harmonies he shares with bassist Roxy. For me, the highlights were a song called Takes Too Long and another called After The Fall, the latter sounding to my ears not unlike the lovelier moments of The Pastels’ latest album. Acres are a band that I want to exist, and they do. Hooray! As far as I’m aware they’ve yet to put out any records. If I’m wrong, then I want those records. If I’m right, then I look forward to the day when they do. After all that I’ve seen and heard so far, I could go home happy right now. But there’s more… Our headline act has come all the way from Austin, Texas. He is known as Real Live Tigers, although there’s only one of him and he’s actually quite human. First impressions, he seems nice as he introduces himself and tells us how glad he is to be playing in the new Café Kino, having played in the old one a few years ago, also he has a beautiful looking blue and white guitar. And then he sings… Nothing about this man’s look or demeanour has me expecting him to sound quite the way he does. He has a voice that is deep and very American, when he sings he commands your attention. He sings songs of love and loss, of floods and of Guantanamo Bay. This is authentic Americana. It’s not anything particularly new, I’ve heard plenty of people play this kind of music before, but few do it quite as well as Real Live Tigers. Another great night at Café Kino then, and all for just £5! Writer: Carl Harper

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Review: The Chapess Issue 2, 25.10.2013

I love getting post.

Love it.

Did I say I love it?

It's better than getting emails because you get to hold it. It's worse than getting emails cos post takes longer and people send more emails than post so you get more emails. More is better of course. (Unless quality really is better than quantity...)

Anyway, it just so happens I got some post this week. YES! It was addressed to me and everything, I didn't have to nick off my postperson.

It was The Chapess Issue 2.

What a great day!

"If you ask me what I want, I'll tell you I want everything" Kathy Acker.

The Chapess is co-edited by/ the brainchild of/ the photocopied wonderfullness of and self-published by Zara Gardner and Cherry Styles. It is a collaborative women's zine. It is also a blog. This issue sets out to explore the theme: Wonder Women.

In my hand the zine is heavy (heavier than an email for sure), I have to unwrap is from it's protective wrapping before I can open it. Here I am, a Wonder Woman my self, holding a zine about and by other Wonder Women. The power is intoxicating, the anticipation ... is anticipatory. I throw back my head and laugh, you know, one of those evil villain laughs, except I'm not an evil villain but a very excited Wonder Woman.

With 17 contributors the zine bursts with different styles, different voices, different thoughts.

Natalie Bradbury extols the virtues of E P Niblock in a lengthy, typed tribute on page 8. We follow Natalie on her journey by also following the journey of the elusive Niblock with the diaryofabluestocking.blogspot. Page 32-35 also gives us an intimate interview with Natalie; talking about zines, blogs and research.

Kay Richardson treats us to a two-page spread of cut-out pictures of Maya Angelou, Betty Davies and Valerie June, with illustrations, rhythms of drawing and typed, cut-out verse. The page is informal without being throw-away, the tone at once hushed and loudly singing.

Centre-fold is a piece by Gemma Correll about Caitlin Moran. Funny, informative and lovingly designed, the pages seep with enthusiasm and affection.

Who else is here? Nan Goldin, Patti Smith, Kathy Acker, Josephine Baker, Deb Rothery... Even Boudica gets a look in with stark and powerful pages by Vickie Johnson.

The Chapess expresses something important and beautiful, how the power of our voices and the power of our work can go on to inspire countless other Wonder Women; in that place where we can feel like we are alone, it just goes to show; we aren't.

Deadline for submissions for Issue 3 ""Working Grrrl" is December 31st 2013.

http://thechapess.tumblr.com/

Thanks to Cherry for sending post to me again, to Zara and to all the contributors of The Chapess Issue 2, it is a pleasure to have all of your pages in my life.

Writer: Jen Steiner

[diyvoices-blog]

Review: TENNISCOATS @Cafe Kino 01/10/2013

(Instagram by @thejensteiner)

Tonight's main act have squeezed Bristol onto their UK tour, and how lucky are we to have the magical duo from Japan, TENNISCOATS, grace us with their live touch at the legendary Cafe Kino.

With many musical friends in Bristol TENNISCOATS support acts are alone worth the ticket entry! Tonight's first treat is DJ ICHI welcoming us into the venue. Next, the kora playing, heart singing, water-y Will Newsom. Any gig with Newsom on the lineup feels like the right place to be. His music is the listening equivalent of an Isolation Tank; that over-worked and tired part of the brain is taken to a deeply relaxed and healing quietness. Songs such as "Up In The Trees" and "Sea-ing" speak to forgotten spaces in the unconscious and Newsom's vocal; sung almost part spoken word, part invocation.

After a short break (long enough to munch a famous Kino burger) we are treated to the uniquely expert crew of I Know I Have No Collar, and an on-stage musical chairs ensues with ever-changing cast of band members swapping instruments and entertaining babies. The band play a set that is mostly their versions of music from Hal Hartly films, after their recent performance at The Old Vic as part of the fundraiser for The Cube Microplex's bid to own their current premises. The word that comes to mind is ramshackle, but not in a negative way; the various parts of the band build to something greater than their individual parts. Their own sparkle song of the night is "Chalk", a lo-fi, keyboard drone gem.

On to TENNISCOATS. ワウ. (Wow.)

If the band were one body the guitar playing of Takashi Ueno would be the heart; ever present, a constantly flexing and contracting muscle, propelling such a rhythm over the course of the hour long gig. Saya Ueno would be the blood; liquid, mobile, full of life and improvisation, transporting meaning and melody into every part of the body with her voice and melodica.

As a pair, heart and blood, the band deliver a performance of unquestionable poetry; never seeming like something fixed or static, their songs seem to be born on stage and we are the wide-eyed mid-wives. They are joined on various songs by their friends, Sam Jones, Rachael Dadd, Steve Brett and ICHI, and whilst our minds take in the beauty and gift of a set of songs mostly in Japanese, TENNISCOATS also play here with language, translation and improvisation. Saya calls out the performances she wants (and must hear herself) and conducts her friends, her partner and the music in such a collaboration of gesture, humour and force, that the audience are also pulled into the performance. 

TENNISCOATS seem to expect to take hold of the entire stage, the entire venue; as if they know their songs will be playing in our heads as we walk home, as we try to sleep, as we wake up the next morning.. Their barefoot and bold performance was completely, completely mesmerizing.

The power of the DIY scene is in relationships, people and their passion for community and expression. ありがとう (thank you) TENNISCOATS and all whose work made the evening.

The above photographs were taken Nici Dunkelman and the live drawings of the evening by Rosie Faragher.

Writer; Jen Steiner