Losin’ You

I really love Honey From The Tombs, it’s such a wonderful record that has been a good friend to my ear drums over the past couple of years. I’ve never heard Amy sing live, but with a second album- Masters of the Burial, I hope a tour will be in the works for Winter or Spring. Losin’ You is one of my favourites from Honey, it’s such a beautiful, sweet song. Here is a lovely video:

Possibilities In Winter

Hello-hello, this is what I did yesterday:

And here is an open letter to you, yes, YOU:

So, yesterday when I was feeling creative I decided to make a new book. It’s a mini, mini book, called ‘Possibilities In Winter’. It’s a booklet about some stuff that COULD happen in winter. Stuff I think you should be prepared for. I know it’s still August, but it’s practically winter now, and it’s time you were cautious. Just sayin’.

Anyway, I want to give away 50 of these. I have learnt my lesson from previous times I’ve given stuff away: Postage for 1 item is ok, postage for 50 items is toooo much. But, I really really would like for you to have a copy… So if you would like one perhaps you could send me a stamped and self addressed envelope? Then I will make you a copy and pop it in the post for you.

Email me here: anikainlondon@gmail.com and I will send you my address for you to send your envelope. Alternatively, if you’re going to be seeing me around or at a show or whatever, and would like one, email me and I will remember to bring one for you. Yay.

Anika

Ema and the Ghosts

I’m a big fan of Ema and the Ghosts. Ice cream season is ending, but only in convention! I intend to eat ice cream all winter. And I’d really love for you to join me.

I love this so much. Talented lady. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Listen.

Interview: Family of the Year (Part Three)

Here we are! Part three of an interview with the lovely Family of the Year. You can sign up to their mailing list here, if you fancy. Free MP3s will be sent out, and if you sign up now you can get Summer Girl. Click the links for Part One and Part Two of the interview, and pay a visit to their Myspace.

Christina:  The weirdest thing is that these big people are taking notice of us.

Vanessa:  I’m trying to coax her into putting a modest spin on impressive things. She feels embarrassed, which is only natural.

Christina:  And we’re really just excited about everything… it’s kind of unreal and hard to beleive since we’ve all only been playing together for such a short amount of time, and to have all these really great things come out way…

Me:  Exciting times.

Christina:  We’re playing CMJ which is a big music/film festival in New York.

Me:  Oh wow, I wanted to go to that this year.

Vanessa:  We have a couple major labels that are licking their chops, but really we kinda wanna take things into our own hands.

Christina: And we’re selling cars and packing bags and coming up with creative ways to make money… bake sales maybe

Vanessa:  Love bake sales.

Me: And you have your EP out this coming September…

Vanessa:  It’s nuts cause we all have these different trades that we’ve worked hard at and become comfortable at. And this thing just sort of happened. and came along. And people are taking notice. It’s really exciting. Yes!

Christina:  Yeah, our EP is coming out Sept 22… we have this great manager who has given us deadlines and lots of ambitions and things, and she really beleives in us and it’s really encouraging… alot of our focus is doing everything ourselves and we hope to keep it that way… so like, we’re hoping that the donations from our EP will help fund the release of our full length… and every other expense that comes our way.

Me:  What’s the local music scene like where you are? I noticed you have Whispertown and Michael Runion as your top friends. I like them both alot…

Vanessa:  Awesome. Yeah it’s cool because everyone sort of helps each other and inspires each other. It’s sort of a tight knit group where everyone sort of helps each other out and stuff.

Me:  Was that a bit intimidating when you first started?

Christina:  What she means is that Silverlake is very communal… I always find that other bands are so supportive. It wasn’t that it was intimidating, it was  inspiring to be around artists like us who were succeeding.

Me: Are you nervous about the prospect of all these future shows? And touring?

Christina:  Yes, of course we are nervous! The thought of touring sounds like a dream come true, but yeah, of course we’re nervous too… I mean, I am.

Vanessa:  totally. to be with your best friends and have someone else pay, even a little for you to do it, and meet people from all sorts of hometowns, way too good to be true.

Christina:  I just couldn’t imagine anything better than getting paid to see the world with my best friends. I mean, at least hoping to pay my bills.

Vanessa:  I love being on stage in genera though.

Me:  I want to see you live! I bet your show would be super fun

Christina:  Vanessa is AN AMAZING front woman. She really is, and she’s my best friend and I love her either way, I mean, except in interviews, but she really is amazing live

Vanessa:  You even caps locks for me your awesome. 

Christina:  And Seb and Joe and Jamesy.  Brent has yet to play live with us, but he’s sure impressive in practice.

Vanessa:  The reason we’re called Family Of The Year is because we want not only everyone to be in that sort of thing, but also know that they can do it to. I don’t want to say its all about the fans, cause that retarded, but really it’s more about like… play music, have fun…

Me:  That’s sweet.

Vanessa:  Does that make sense?

Me:  Yes. There’s a band here in London, who I love alot, called Alessi’s Ark… which has the same sentiment. She added the Ark on the end of her name because she wanted it to seem inclusive.

Vanessa:  We’ll check them out for sure. Totally.

Christina:  Yeah Seb and Joe and Jamesy are like seasoned musicians and Vanessa and I, and Brent, are pretty … not new, but drawing from old experiences.

Vanessa:  When we origanally started, Joe and I wanted it to be a revolving door of sorts and just play with everyone we know and love.

Christina: It’s more about just hanging out with best friends, I think. Because if we werent playing music, I’d still be with these humans.

Part four soon (!). 

We’re all in a cosmic sing-a-long…

Every note is an unfinished song. Isn’t that a lovely thought? I really love Cryptacize. I saw them a few times in May and they’re still one of my favourite live bands of the year. They have a record out, Mythomania. I love it and recommend picking it up. Their first record, Dig That Treasure, is also brilliant and worth seeking out. I adore the jaunty drums and guitar, and Nedelle has such a fantastic voice. I’m listening to Cryptacize right now, in fact. You can too (!):

Cosmic Sing-A-Long is from Cryptacize’s first record, Dig That Treasure, available from the lovely Asthmatic Kitty.

Review: I’m From Barcelona at Favela Chic

I approved of this show. Firstly, I’m From Barcelona are SUPER fun, secondly, Favela Chic is about 3 minutes from where I work. Super convenient. Despite being a mere 3 minutes from my office, I had never actually been to Favela Chic. It’s in Shoreditch opposite The Foundry. Inside is a medium sized main area, perhaps 200 person capacity, with some tables round the edges and a leafy stage area. From the ceiling hang chairs and other random trinkets. It was a cosy place and felt very Spanish (it made me want Nando’s).

There was no support band but there was a DJ spinning some tunes. The show was only announced a week or so before it happened, and it didn’t seem to be sold out. It was a shame because I’m convinced anyone who likes to have fun would love I’m From Barcelona.

I’m From Barcelona are just a fun band. You can’t go to a show and not have fun. There was bags and bags of confetti, giant balloons, paper planes… dancing, singing, crowd surfing. There were 12 members in the band and every single one of them looked like they were having a brilliant time. Set highlight for me, again, was Oversleeping/We’re From Barcelona. I love the transition between the two songs and We’re From Barcelona had literally the whole room bouncing and singing along. I’m From Barcelona are a fantastic band, what they do is really wonderful and I can’t wait to see them again. Listen to their sweet songs.

Review: Monotonix at The Garage

Oh! This feels like an eternity ago now. It was only last Monday. Here is my explanation of one of the weirdest shows I’ve been to this year:

I decided to take a day trip out of my usual musical leanings and try something new. Photos of Monotonix intrigued me (drumming on top of the crowd etc. etc.) and it was free as I was taking photos, so I thought it was worth popping along. It was. It was an experience.

Monotonix are from Israel and play noisy rock and roll. They look like vikings. Vikings who like to wear short shorts. They took to the stage, stayed there for about 4 seconds, before dragging the drum kit into the crowd. They rolled about on the floor, and on top of the audience. They had the audience hoist up the the stool and the drum kit and drummed whilst on top of the crowd. The singer was tapping on the ceiling and walking about with people holding him up by his feet. He dived into the bar, did the ‘moon walk’ (that’s one too many butts than I would have liked to have seen, thanks) and was just generally insane. There were three of them, and they all played with so much energy solidly for a whole hour.

The singer took great pleasure in throwing bottles of water everywhere. He made the audience sit on the floor, chant along with him and join in with the craziness. They are undeniably brilliant performers, and even though it’s not my thing musically, I can appreciate they put on a unique, fun show that their fans clearly loved. If you get the chance to go see Monotonix, I would say: GO! Even if you don’t like the music, it’s funny atleast. Plus, if you’re a photographer, it’s really fun to photo such an insane band.

Dawn Landes- Young Folks

Dawn Landes was really fantastic at the Windmill, I’m pretty keen to see her play again.  She’s supporting Elvis Perkins at Scala on the 22nd, but, September being the clash-o-rific haven that it is, I’m busy that day. But if you’re not busy, I’d recommend going to see Dawn. I like this tasty cover of Young Folks with some fun kazoo, I don’t even like the original, but I love this version. The sign of a good cover, I guess.

Listen to her songs here.

Bandstand Busking next Sunday

Here is a poster for the next busk:

Pay a visit to Bandstand Busking.

Updates updates updates

I have succeeded in making a 9 day streak in which I have only been in the house for a couple of hours each day. Bravo, bravo. It’s made blogging hard, but I am in the house tomorrow and will have a blogathon. In the meantime, why not visit The Allotment.?

Welcome To The Allotment

Exciting, yes.

Updates include more of the interview with Family of the Year and reviews of Monotonix and I’m From Barcelona, comics, and some excited ramblings about all the great shows coming up.