Pyramid Park

Winter 2017 saw Cambridge based artist Pete McCallen a.k.a. PYRAMID PARK release the second single Born To Be Brave from his wonderfully crafted debut album Vulnerability.

Recorded in Glasgow at Gloworm Studio’s with producer Iain Hutchison, the alt-pop artist and Hutchison created an album based on their mutual faith. References are as broad as Phoria, Two Door Cinema Club and Gabriel Khane.

Having performed at numerous events across the UK and Europe (including Freakstock Festival, Germany and Graceland Fest, Netherlands) Pyramid Park has racked up a name for himself as a passionate and thought provoking performer.

Having crowd funded the album Pyramid Park had this to say...

“We think the best place to launch the album is in front of people who have helped fund the album. We managed to raise £12,000 thanks to our generous fans, and this is a small way of thanking them.”

The band have also just completed another crowd funder to release their album on vinyl.

The Boy With The Lion Head

Formed in 2015 in Hawick by David Reid (vocals) John Findlay (guitar) and Rob Wood (keyboards), The Boy With The Lion Head soon added Alistair Clarkson (bass) to the band and began playing gigs around the Scottish Borders.

After gaining a small local following, Angus Hamilton (replaced now by Amy Hamilton) (percussion) joined the band during the recording of debut EP The Ebb and Flow. The EP achieved some success, notably airplay of The Eyes That Met Mine on Jim Gellatly's Amazing Radio Show.

More gigs followed in 2016, including support slots with JR Green and Man of Moon in Glasgow's famous King Tuts Wah Wah Hut venue, and James Grant (formerly of Love and Money) in the bands hometown of Hawick. The year culminated in the release of second EP Everything is Temporary and a small run of headline shows in Edinburgh and Glasgow to promote the release. This is a Battlefield received airplay from radio stations across Europe, including Ralph's indie show on Radio KC, Radio Kampus in Warsaw and BBC Introducing.



June 24th: 


Original Music Showcase, Hawick


July 23rd: 

Wilton Bandstand, Hawick


August 4th: 

Belladrum Festival, Inverness



August 26th: 

Stowed Out Festival, Stow


September 17th: 

Rec Rock Festival, Buxworth

Hunter & The Bear - Video Of The Week

This week Ralph's favourite video is Renegade by Hunter and The Bear and it's the first single from their debut album due out early next year.

Having shared the stage with Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and Simple Minds, this young British band are making a big noise on the rock scene. They've toured extensively in the UK & Europe this year and have been described as - "One of the most exciting live acts around!"

Get it here: http://smarturl.it/hatbrenegade



Watch the video here...

Pumajaw

About to ride high on the current tsunami of electro/pop sweeping the country are Scottish masters of the art Pumajaw, who are in the throes of planning a gig assault on Britain and Europe.  The release of the album Demonmeowmeow at the end of 2011 saw them tour Europe where for some reason they are more revered than back in the Old Country.  Maybe the more cosmopolitan nature of the Italians is better suited to Pumajaw's 'music is art' approach.  No lightweight electro here but hypnotic, sleazy, mean and moody jazz infused synth.








Pumajaw are producer/instrumentalist John Wills and chanteuse extraordinaire Pinkie Maclure.  Pinkie has released two solo albums - on One Little Indian in 1990 and on Beggar's Banquet in 1996. John was a founder member of Loop and the Hair and Skin Trading Company, both Beggar's Banquet, until the mid-90s.










The sultry 'Your Arms Your Doors' could almost be a homage to the late, great; always missed, Billy Mackenzie with its soaring vocal acrobatics.....

They've released two albums under the name Pumajaw. Before that they released one album as Pinkie Maclure, one as Lumen and one under their individual names.  They used to be to be pigeonholed as trip-hop or psychedelic folk, but were never comfortable with either and recently have grown more electronic/synth-led, noisier and more rhythmic.

For the recently completed third album, Demonmeowmeow, John swaps acoustic guitar for electric and rediscovers the ritualistic drumming he was known for in the 80s and 90s. Pinkie still plays concertina, but more or less abandons any folk influences and returns with vigour to her early inspirations of the great singers of jazz, blues and avant-garde pop and their on-stage performances are as mesmeric as they are musical.






A bit of hat tip to Bjork on Chinny Chin Chin with it's haunting (wouldn't be out of place in Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis') more industrial  feel.....

They have three releases lined up for 2013.  The first is a remix ep of Tallulah including mixes from Christ. (Boards of Canada) and Crooked Man (Jarvis Cocker/All Seeing Eye, Todla T) which will be released on Herb Recordings soon.

"Crooked Man are working on a remix of Mazy Laws which we're really excited about."

There is also a new album in the works which features songs from Film Noir Classics including Night of The Hunter alongside new Pumajaw songs.

"We are really looking forward to our next tour of Europe which starts in April. We may play some gigs in Britain too but that will be later in the year."



In the meantime here's their dark, atmospheric video of the original version of 'Mazy Laws'.....take your eyes of Pinky Maclure if you dare......

Fabulous news for Edinburgh as Pumajaw are looking towards crowd funding to bring their sensational show to The Edinburgh Fringe.....so have a read and see how we can all help!

Song Noir by Pumajaw - Edinburgh Fringe 2013

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Edinburgh, GB

 

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'Song Noir' is the new creation of Scottish duo Pumajaw. We are jazz/blues singer/songwriter/musician Pinkie Maclure and sound artist/musician John Wills.

Plucking from obscurity great forgotten songs from film noir and American gothic movies, we reinvent them with a 21st century approach and a deep respect for the originals. Adding to these our own haunting compositions, we create a world at once nostalgic and futuristic, using cutting-edge technology, traditional instruments (concertina, guitar, keyboards, autoharp) and our own atmospheric visuals.

Reviews

"Pumajaw raised the bar for the rest of the festival. Sometimes growling, other times hauntingly angelic, Maclure's voice was always utterly engaging. Wills is a highly accomplished player and his use of loops and samples created a wall of sound that a full-blown band might struggle to craft. Maclure is quite an enigma and Pumajaw's effect was heightened by the theatricality of her performance, pacing the mini-proscenium and, witch-like, seducing her audience into a weird and even scary world. And the way she handles the concertina would make the knees of grown men tremble."

David Prater THE SCOTSMAN****

"There are eight wonderful, original songs here together with the most atmospheric instrumental arrangements and a voice that is nothing less than thrillingly world class. This is adventurous music from one of the country’s deeply hidden artistic treasures.’"

4.5/5 Sharon O’Connell, UNCUT****

…..You wonder if the neighbours know about them in the local shop. About Maclure fleeing Banff for France on the back of a teenage Jacques Brel fascination; about her extraordinary voice– parts Juliette Greco and Ella Fitzgerald – a voice that would, in a better world, deliver the greatest Bond theme ever.

You wonder if they realise that Wills  is possessed of an uncanny knack for bewitching atmospheres and ritualistic beats.  Or that the duo’s alliance has won them fans from Radio 3's Verity Sharp to Kevin Le Gendre, editor of Jazzwise, who decreed Pumajaw “disarmingly beautiful”).

Nicola Meighan, THE SUNDAY HERALD

- See more at: http://www.sponsume.com/project/song-noir-pumajaw-edinburgh-fringe-2013#sthash.XMirf5xA.dpuf

The Cottonettes.....

The Cottonettes are from The Surrey/Hampshire borders and formed in February 2012. Likened in style to The Jam, The Clash and The Vaccines by some or The Chameleons and House of Love by others with maybe a hint of Sham 69 and John Ottway chucked in for good measure. 

The Cottonettes are..... Ben Madle, Josh Young and Marty Dixon 

Over the course of many years Ben had written many songs, usually about his travels around Europe and encounters with different characters. During this time he would see many new bands come and go until he decided that the songs he had penned were actually pretty good and there was no reason his songs couldn't be just as popular. So he sought out some musicians to join his band.

Ben and Josh had known each other for 10 years through the local music scene and occasionally had casual chats about starting a band since they were 17. Only this time it actually happened. Following Josh’s New Year's resolution to do something interesting in 2012 he decided to take Ben’s New Year approach with great enthusiasm. After hearing some rough recordings of Ben’s songs Josh saw the potential and shared Ben’s belief in his music and immediately signed up as the band’s bassist. 

After rattling through a few songs over the following weeks it was time to find a drummer.  Enter Marty who describes himself as a 28 year old eligible bachelor whose drumming has been described as 'genius' and his musical influences include Dive Dive, and Ben Folds Five.

Josh is the bassist and first started playing in bands back in 2003-2006 most noticeably in a band called In The Dark. He is a follower of fashion and is known for his 'interesting' style. His main musical influences come from bands like The Cure, Biffy Clyro and Bloc Party.

Ben is the guitarist, singer and main songwriter.  Much like Josh he played in bands back in the same era, notably a band called Sucka. His musical influences range from people like Graham Coxon, The Clash, and The Jam.

Josh knew Marty since their college days and had also attempted to start bands with Marty. He had just a month before left the Royal Navy and he was the obvious choice as a drummer. Marty enjoyed the songs and loved being behind the drum kit thus The Cottonettes were born.

Since that first practice they have written a set of energetic catchy pop flavoured punk/rock songs, which they energetically tear through at some of the most well known venues in the UK. 

Track The Cottonettes Notify me when The Cottonettes comes to town.

	Date	Venue	Location	Tickets
	Nov 10	The Boileroom	Guildford, United Kingdom	Tickets	RSVP	Share
	Nov 16	The Queens Head	Gosport, United Kingdom		RSVP	Share
	Nov 17	Facebar	Reading, United Kingdom	Tickets	RSVP	Share
	Nov 30	Queens Arms	Reading, United Kingdom	Tickets	RSVP	Share
	Dec 06	Sanctuary	Basingstoke, United Kingdom		RSVP	Share
	Dec 13	The White Hart	Basingstoke, United Kingdom		RSVP	Share