Listings

London quartet The Rileys have put their own contemporary slant on the longstanding DIY ethic. The band's success in independently building a devoted audience was rewarded by earning the right to do what only a few unsigned bands in history have managed, headline the Shepherds Bush Empire. The show, which was on October 28th, followed a series of recent sold-out London shows at venues including Islington Academy, Bush Hall and The Barfly.
Having already earned a fan base capable of filing sizeable venues, 2009 looks set to build to an exciting crescendo for The Rileys. As word of mouth and media attention continues to build around them, 2010 looks set to be the year in which they break through to the mainstream.
www.myspace.com/therileysmusic

Showtime 9pm-Midnight
www.LONDONBURLESQUEWEEK.com

This event has been cancelled, please contact your ticket vendor for a refund.

Beach House is an indie rock/dream pop group which formed in 2005 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The group consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, organ) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboards). Legrand is the niece of french composer Michel Legrand. The group have released two albums: 2006’s Beach House and 2008’s Devotion. A third, Teen Dream, will be released in early 2010.
www.myspace.com/beachhousemusic

More info soon.

Jonatha Brooke is an American folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her music is notable for merging elements of folk, rock and pop, often with poignant lyrics and complex harmonies. She has been a consistent performer, writer, and artist since the late 1980s, and her songs have been used in popular television shows and movies, including Buffy and Dollhouse.
www.myspace.com/jonathabrooke

Marina and the Diamonds, AKA Greek/Welsh 24 year old Marina Diamandis, will celebrate the release of her debut album The Family Jewels (15th Feb) at Bush Hall.
Not content to conform to the on-trend sound of the moment, Marina is determined to succeed on her own terms. This steely determination even fed into the production of the album with Marina making producer Liam Howe record 482 vocal takes for one song.
The end result is an album that functions as a fully formed piece of art. Heartbreaking and emotional at times as exemplified in I Am Not A Robot Marina lays herself open and vulnerable for her fans, the "diamonds".
www.myspace.com/marinaandthediamonds

Equally at home in the studio or in concert, the 20 year-old Londoner is a natural performer – as was evident when she took to the stage at this year’s Isle of Wight Festival and stunned the crowds when she performed her songs for the first time. Afterwards the festival’s promoter John Giddings declared "Florence Rawlings rocked the Big Top - a certain star of the future" and other festival promoters have been extraordinarily quick off the mark in booking the 20 year old South Londoner, before a note of music has even been released, for some key spots including the main stage at Guilfest and Tuborg Stage at O2 Wireless in Hyde Park.
www.myspace.com/florencerawlings

A Genuine Freakshow
A Genuine Freakshow are a 7-piece pop-infused post-rock cannonade with mass appeal. Songs born of their broad range of influences from Elbow and Radiohead to Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky are accompanied by lush orchestral arrangements and the sincere falsetto vocals of Timothy Sutcliffe. This gives the music they create a blend of classic pop with unpredictable structures and epic climaxes reminiscent of Arcade Fire, Mew, and Sigur Ros.
www.myspace.com/agenuinefreakshow
Bright Spark Destroyer
Bright Spark Destroyer make experimental pop with guitars, violins, samplers, keyboards and whatever else is to hand. They currently write and rehearse (very quietly) in a one-bed flat in Kilburn.
They met through mutual friends and formed as a full collective in May 2009, bonding over records like You Forgot It In People, Silent Alarm, Funeral, Veckatimest, Boxer, The Soft Bulletin, Kid A and Merriweather Post Pavillion.
Their first batch of songs will see daylight in early 2010.
www.myspace.com/brightsparkdestroyer
The Gadsdens
www.myspace.com/thegadsdens
Our Lost Infantry
www.myspace.com/whereisourlostinfantry

Having played a brilliant, intimate show at BH at the end of 2008, we're delighted to welcome Swing Out Sister back. Swing Out Sister are a British sophisti-pop group best known worldwide for their 1986 song Breakout. Other hits include Surrender, Twilight World, Waiting Game and a remake of Am I the Same Girl? Though their album sales in the U.S. and Europe have levelled off since the 1980s, they continue to attract a loyal fanbase.
www.swingoutsister.com

Having played a brilliant, intimate show at BH at the end of 2008, we're delighted to welcome Swing Out Sister back. Swing Out Sister are a British sophisti-pop group best known worldwide for their 1986 song Breakout. Other hits include Surrender, Twilight World, Waiting Game and a remake of Am I the Same Girl? Though their album sales in the U.S. and Europe have levelled off since the 1980s, they continue to attract a loyal fanbase.
www.swingoutsister.com

Rising star Justin Sandercoe, otherwise known as Justin Guitar, is to release his debut album Small Town Eyes on February 28th 2010. Justin made a name for himself over the internet, when his free guitar lessons received more than 55 million hits on Youtube, teaching the world how to play guitar, and asking only for donations.
Having taught artists such as Katie Melua and Cathy Dennis to play guitar (and even touring with Katie for 3 years), and teaching at The Guitar Institute, Justin certainly knows what he’s talking about.
Now the spotlight has turned, and Justin is releasing his first album ‘Small Town Eyes’, which is a mixture of heartfelt chilled guitar tunes, to more upbeat contemporary tracks, taking influence from Neil Young and Elliott Smith. Justin is one talented man – not only does he write and sing his own tunes, as well as the guitar, he also plays the mandolin, bass guitar, harmonica, lap steel and percussion.
www.myspace.com/justinsandercoe
www.candythief.com
www.lukewhite.co.uk

The band was formed in 1994. Richmond Fontaine first started out touring the Pacific Northwest live circuit on the back of their first three albums released on Cavity Search Records. They have worked with a variety of musicians and a few labels over their career.
Their first exposures abroad were a song on a Loose Records compilation in the UK and the band's self-released fourth album, Winnemucca, which garnered attention outside of the U.S. The band signed with Decor Records in Europe during 2003. Their next two releases proved pivotal and received Albums of the Month in Uncut, which named both their fifth studio album Post to Wire (2004) and sixth The Fitzgerald (2005) "masterpieces".
Richmond Fontaine songs consistently evoke lyrical imagery of Reno, Nevada, Portland, the Western United States and Mexico while telling stories in a style that critics have compared to Raymond Carver. Musically the group has cited influences such as Gram Parsons, X, Green on Red and Dave Alvin.
www.myspace.com/richmondfontaine
www.myspace.com/peterbruntnell
www.boohooray.co.uk

More info soon
www.4wardeveruk.org
www.mefirighana.com

London quartet The Rileys have put their own contemporary slant on the longstanding DIY ethic. The band's success in independently building a devoted audience was rewarded by earning the right to do what only a few unsigned bands in history have managed, headline the Shepherds Bush Empire. The show, which was on October 28th, followed a series of recent sold-out London shows at venues including Islington Academy, Bush Hall and The Barfly.
Having already earned a fan base capable of filing sizeable venues, 2009 looks set to build to an exciting crescendo for The Rileys. As word of mouth and media attention continues to build around them, 2010 looks set to be the year in which they break through to the mainstream.
www.myspace.com/therileysmusic

Let Loose is an evening of music and poetry raising money for the Keith Mason memorial fund.
www.myspace.com/elizadoolittle

More info soon.

Behind the name The Tallest Man On Earth is Kristian Matsson of Dalarna, Sweden. He plays guitar and banjo and has released a full length album entitled ‘Shallow Grave’ and a self-titled 5-track EP on the Swedish label Gravitation.
"Matsson has mined the American south for inspiration, and his frantic strumming and front-porch poetry recall everyone from the Carter Family to Lead Belly to, most noticeably, country bluesman Mississippi John Hurt....Ultimately, Shallow Grave transcends comparison -- which is saying an awful lot, given the popularity of its prototype -- and Matsson is a natural-born folksinger, earnest, clever, and comforting" – Pitchfork 8.3
www.myspace.com/thetallestmanonearth
www.birdonthewire.net

The Time to Change concert is a night of live music to raise money for the mental health charities Mind and Rethink and to also raise awareness of the Time to Change campaign, which sets out to end mental health discrimination. The evening will be full of fantastic live music from James Carrington (www.myspace.com/jamescarrington), Christina Novelli (www.myspace.com/christinanovellimusic) and Roxanne Emery (www.myspace.com/roxanneemery), and just added The Ryan O'Reilly Band (www.myspace.com/ryanoreilly with more artists to be confirmed.

The new Album Leaf album A Chorus of Storytellers, marks the first decade for the group led by Jimmy LaValle. In those 10 years, LaValle has gone from initial improvised home recordings to now five complete studio albums, from opening slots to leading an incredible world-touring band to the stage at Red Rocks, headlining the Metamorphose festival in Japan and performing at the Hollywood Bowl with the Incredible String Band. LaValle’s well-earned reputation as a crafter of impeccable sonic imagery even led to a critically-acclaimed show at the Seattle International Film Festival where The Album Leaf performed a live score for the 1927 silent film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.
www.myspace.com/thealbumleaf

More info soon.
www.yadarts.com/about/index.htm

Polish hip hop gig, dubstep breaks and ragga jungle
www.myspace.com/pezet81
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAJQLtgfxoQ

The School are a female-fronted indiepop band from Cardiff, Wales, UK.
The band signed to legendary Spanish label Elefant Records after playing only 4 shows, and have since been recording tracks for their debut album with Ian Catt (Saint Etienne/Stars/The Field Mice/Shampoo) which will be released in Jan/Feb 2010.
"a swaying, winsome tune with some of the Phil Spector lushness of Lucky Soul, the Belle & Sebastian-style modesty of Camera Obscura, and the airy, girl-group vocals of both" – Pitchfork
www.myspace.com/theschoolband

The Steepwater Band formed in Chicago in 1998 ignited by a passion for the city's electric blues. The power trio who quickly progressed from covering Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker to writing compelling originals has crafted a rock n' roll sound best described as heavy Americana. For a decade the band has gigged relentlessly, performing nearly 125 shows per year and bringing their songbook of gritty Delta blues, soulful boogie, and backwoods psychedelia to audiences across the States and abroad.
www.steepwater.com/

Taking inspiration from Pop, Jazz, Reggae and Funk, twenty year old Steve Appleton has an ear for a tune and an eye for an incredible live show and wrote and produced his entire album.
When The Sun Comes Up is an album about all sorts of life experiences and Steve sings about everything from funky venues to one night stands and ruling the world. The albums title track is the celebratory sound that perfectly encapsulates the big nights out of which young life is made; if it were a TV show, it would most definitely have to be Skins. When The Sun Comes Up is an album truly about being and feeling young.
www.myspace.com/steveappleton

Wooden Shjips (that’s not a typo) is a vital and refreshingly inspired quartet from San Francisco playing loud rock ‘n’ roll in a style heavily influenced by the experimentalism of psychedelia, classical minimalism and garage rock excess.
www.myspace.com/woodenshjips

Grant-Lee Phillips is best known as the voice and vision of the critically acclaimed group Grant Lee Buffalo. His recent material carries the same depth and insight as his previous work but with added vibrancy and a new experimental edge. A bonus to Phillips solo engagements has been the exposure of a deeply human side, a unique, off beat sense of humor and love of spontaneity that might have been lost in the echo of mammoth venues.
Implying a beguiling blend of paradox and wonder – a circumference of over two thousand miles appearing fingernail thin from Earth – the title Little Moon handily encapsulates the tiny triumph that is Grant-Lee Phillips’s new album. Uncluttered but undeniably powerful, briskly recorded but a lifetime in the making, Little Moon finds Phillips letting go of his inhibitions and his ego just as he approaches the pinnacle of his abilities as a songwriter, vocalist, and bandleader. "Because I so often find myself alone with a guitar, be it at home, on stage, in a hotel," he reflects, "I’ve become more and more comfortable stripping away a lot of the artifice that comes with making a record. My albums are becoming more stark, more unguarded, and more vulnerable. This is the most unselfconscious record I have made – ever." www.myspace.com/grantleephillips

The International SEXY CIRCUS SIDESHOW descends on the historic Bush Hall in a 1 night Extravaganza for the history books! Chaz Royal has hand picked a cast of Carnival Hootchy Kootchie Vixens, the rarist oddities of Nouveau Circus Sideshow and rounded it all out with the Sexiest Circus Stunts around!!!
www.LONDONBURLESQUEWEEK.com

EVELYN EVELYN are the world's only living conjoined twin singer-songwriter duo. The sisters were discovered by AMANDA PALMER (the Dresden Dolls) and JASON WEBLEY who are touring and performing with the twins on their first world tour. After solo performances by both Palmer and Webley, and a rare performance by their multi-talented manager SXIP SHIREY, the Evelyn twins will take the stage perform songs from their much-anticipated debut album.
www.myspace.com/evelynevelyn

EVELYN EVELYN are the world's only living conjoined twin singer-songwriter duo. The sisters were discovered by AMANDA PALMER (the Dresden Dolls) and JASON WEBLEY who are touring and performing with the twins on their first world tour. After solo performances by both Palmer and Webley, and a rare performance by their multi-talented manager SXIP SHIREY, the Evelyn twins will take the stage perform songs from their much-anticipated debut album.
www.myspace.com/evelynevelyn

EVELYN EVELYN are the world's only living conjoined twin singer-songwriter duo. The sisters were discovered by AMANDA PALMER (the Dresden Dolls) and JASON WEBLEY who are touring and performing with the twins on their first world tour. After solo performances by both Palmer and Webley, and a rare performance by their multi-talented manager SXIP SHIREY, the Evelyn twins will take the stage perform songs from their much-anticipated debut album.
www.myspace.com/evelynevelyn

Few expect such heartfelt sentiment to come from a 29-year-old white kid from Ann Arbor, but he has caught the ear of his family at Stones Throw, as well as BBC Radio 1 host Gilles Peterson and producer/DJ Mark Ronson. Expectations are high for the admitted vinyl junkie who never planned on taking his crooning public. Hawthorne's hanging-by-a-string falsetto and breakbeat production on his first recorded effort, the tender Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out, are simultaneously Smokey and J Dilla – equal parts The Tracks of My Tears and Fall in Love. "It’s soul," he explains, "But it’s new."
www.myspace.com/mayerhawthorne

More info soon.
www.myspace.com/hopesandoval

With Stewart Lee / Andrew Maxwell / Edward Aczel & More TBA.
www.bushhallpresents.co.uk

With Stewart Lee / Richard Herring / Josie Long & More TBA.
www.bushhallpresents.co.uk