Oranj Son

Oranj Son are a four piece Psych Punk band from Ellesmere Port comprising Kieran Linford (guitar & vocals), Lew Yii (drums), Brad Welch-Harley (bass) and Matthew Linford (keys/synths). 

The band, whose influences range from Echo and the Bunnymen and Teardrop Explodes to LCD Soundsystem and Sonic Youth, have been together for two years and Oranj Son have already made a big impact on Liverpool's music scene since they made their live debut at Sound City in 2015.

Ralph gave their latest single Still a spin on last Sunday's Indie Show on Radio KC.





Still was recorded in Glasgow and produced by Luke Palmer and released by The Label Recordings as part of their Summer Sampler on June 2nd.

“Liverpool is full of great, quirky and fascinating bands at the moment. The latest to catch our attention are 4 piece Oranj Son whose curiously spelt name hints at their twisted and brilliant music which is a tripped out take on wonky psychedelic, gritty northern Fall style grooves and laced with great melodies" - John Robb

Ralph's Top 10 Blogged Band Chart - 14.2.15

OK bands you know the score .....

the more hits your blog gets by the fans ..... 

the higher you go .....

So Tweet it, Facebook it .....

Generally expose yourself .....

Now Mr Snuggles and I Have Been sitting with our heads down counting the hits on each blog to see who's got bands which place.  

The Top Ten Blogged Band Chart is played every Sunday 5-7pm on Radio KC as part of Ralph's Indie Show.

No 1...Faerground Accidents





Especially when that underdog is the extraordinarily out-there Faergound Accidents who; digitally on 9th February, are releasing the single She Makes Me Want To Die accompanied by a gorgeously glammed-up video. If Robert Smith and Jarvis Cocker have conceived a bastard son then Faerground Accidents extravagant front-man Bomar Faery is the result.








No 2...Neutronic

Now Ralph's more of a guitar band animal, however after having covered Liverpool's The Little Secrets and SeaWitches recently he's been showing his mellow side. So much so, he had a listen in to the low-fi electronic vibings of Chester duo Neutronic.

No 3...The Phantoms

Ralph's been a big fan of Edinburgh band The Phantoms since he covered them back in April last year after they played a set at the Ralph's Life CD Launch in Electric Circus for the Rethink Mental Illness charity. They've since played a succession of gigs including the one and only King Tut's in Glasgow.

No 4...New South Electrikk

Manchester bands are coming very much to the fore currently and none more so than The New Southern Electrikk.who are looking to be one of 2015's most exciting prospects.

Their current single Brown Eyes captures the listener from it's heartrending first chords garnering them some famous fans, from Suede's Bernard Butler and The Lemonhead's Evan Dando to Creation Records co-founder Joe Foster and punk icon John Robb who is releasing the track on Louder Than War Records.

No 5...Fold

Oil Powered Machine uses the powerful ecological messages from the ill-fated American journalist and political activist Michael Ruppert. As his diatribe builds so does the addictive hook of Fold's electronic musicality. 

No 6...Fiona Soe Paing

Fresh from London’s global festival of music ideas, Music Tech Fest, and a show at Cineworld for Aberdeen International Film Festival, Fiona Soe Paing will perform her show Alien Lullabies  combining  tracks from her forthcoming album with projected animation by New Zealand artist Zennor Alexander  in  a hypnotic combination of cinema and live gig.





No 7...Seawitches

Based in Liverpool, Jo Herring and Laura Caldwell met in 2007 through friends; a meeting that resulted in an explosion of creativity where songwriting, musicianship and visual art collided to create SeaWitches.

The band gig regularly in Liverpool, where they've played Sound City, Music Week and interestingly, the Green Party Conference as well as hosting their own nights supporting other well known bands like Eagulls and Giant Drag.






No 8...The Black Lamps

If you're a fan of anyone from Joy Division to Public Image Ltd, The Fall to The Cure then these Barnsley musical luminaries tick all the boxes. 

Describing themselves as a post-rock ambient guitar band, The Black Lamps have created a stunning selection of melodiously crafted 'shuffle and repeat' tracks that John Peel would have been happy to feature on his shows.

No 9...The Old Border

Courtesy of Amar Chauhan

Despite describing themselves as 'ne'er-do-well musicians' London four piece The Old Border are producing some classy alt-pop stylee tracks culminating in the release of the bouncy All Over as their first single.

It's the first track off their soon to be released debut EP Rehearsed In The Mirror and reflects their musical influences nicely.

No 10...Jay Stansfield






Variously described as - original, affecting and a tad bonkers, North West musician Jay Stansfield has consistently provided us with an eccentrically pleasing back catalogue of music. He's recently added to that with his third; and for me, best album Birth And Death.

HarFest 2014

Now it's no secret that as well as his love of Indie music Ralph's a fan of local, fresh organic food, so when fellow music blogger hiapop (Paul Scott-Bates) told me about his involvement with HarFest 2014 in Rossendale that celebrates both of those passions, it was time to investigate.

The festival is linked to the outstanding work done by Incredible Edible Rossendale which was set up by Paul and his good lady after being influenced by the Incredible Edible Todmorden project which is regularly visited by the likes of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Prince Charles.

Time to have a word...






Ralph: What's behind the Incredible Edible project?

Paul: We all have one thing that binds us together, the need to eat. Incredible Edible encourages people to grow and eat fresh food, teach them to prepare simple healthy meals and source as much as possible locally. This is where the huge emphasis of working as a Community comes into being.






Ralph: So how did HarFest 2014 come about?

Paul: At the first IER Harvest Celebration in 2013 the idea struck me to combine my alter ego of hiapop Blog and my love of music with the ethos of fresh local produce.  After reviewing over 200 artists for Louder Than War, I decided to try and coax a few of them to come and play live at our second event, and @HarFest2014 was born!





Ralph: So who can we expect to see on the day?


Paul: The generosity and friendship of Rose Redd, Ceiling Demons, The Ree-Vahs and My Little Brother (who have just released a new album) means that we can have four very different genres of music being introduced to an audience who might not have heard them before.  It boasts the profile of a free, local event and brings everyone together!

We'd hoped to have Helen McCookerybook, but she sent her apologies for not being able to play (in Brighton on the same day) by means of CD's that we'll raffle off. 


  
With that in mind, Ralph has now sent some of the fabulous Ralphs Life Charity CD's (along with a selection from bands and artists he's reviewed recently) and we would love any other artists to offer a handful of CD's, or other merchandise that can be offered up to help raise funds.  There's a small HarFest Website where the artists will be thanked for their kindness.  There will also be a handout at the event listing artists, donors and their respective websites.





The inimitable hiapop's reputation in music bloggery precedes as is  shown with the eclectic and quality talent who have agreed to play, including Ceiling Demons who recently stole the show at the Doune The Rabbit Hole Festival 'Spoken Word' tent.

Rose Redd is a beautiful contradiction. Twenty years in age but unfathomably older in soul, her music has its roots in darker days, experiences, and stories and finds its bloom in both release and connection. 

Her poignant verses and explosive choruses let you know that she makes music because she has to.

Ceiling Demons are an alternative hip hop trio from North Yorkshire, England. The group first came together in 2011 to pay tribute to a lost friend, a theme that has permeated the music ever since.

Taking influence from The Streets' Mike Skinner and the production of DJ Shadow, they seek to capture the rawness of human emotion in rhythms & rhymes. The group is comprised of identical twin brother MC's Psy Ceiling and Dan Demon, with production from Beat Demon. 

The Ree-Vahs write traditional folk music with a modern twist from the Borders of Durham and South Northumberland, generally with a bit of a twist and about life, love and loss (all the good stuff).

Their latest album 'Geordieland' comes with no small amount of critical acclaim and this would be an excellent opportunity to avail yourself of a live performance!

My Little Brother were formed when a group of people who like music got together and, fueled by gin and haribo, wrote and recorded some.

Their debut album "If We Never Came Down" has received amazing reviews and loads of airplay and they are all getting quite excited about what the future may hold.

Sisteray - She Likes The Drama

Sisteray have been making big waves in the indie/garage rock scene since forming in 2012 however 2014 seems to be a breakthrough year for the London four-piece.  

Working with producer Michael Smith (12 Dirty Bullets) at RnR Studios, the Sisteray debut EP ‘She Likes The Drama’ was released on digital format back in February, with praise from Ralph, Jim Gellatly, This Feeling, Music Week, XFM, RTE Radio, Louder Than War, Merc Clothing, Time Out and The Londonist. 







The EP followed successful debut single by Sisteray, Take It Away / Happy Endings (Double A-Side) in August 2013, which was championed by the likes of Gary Crowley (BBC London 94.9).

Big news just announced by Sisteray that will interest vinyl fetishists is that the band will release a limited edition, 300 copy run of ‘She Likes The Drama’ on 12” vinyl on the 27th of this month through Grebo Records. They've teamed up with London based Modernist artist, Terry Grant, for a unique illustrated recreation of the original CD cover. 





To coincide with that, they're also releasing new single 'Rollin' Over' for free, along with B-side 'Accelerated Culture'

They recently played their third This Feeling Club Night in association with XFM and SummerJam with Reverend and the Makers and have now announced the dates below.

LIVE DATES:

07/08 - Young Leaders Festival 

09/08 - Enterprise London

23/08 - SummerJam Festival

30/08 - Wigan Live Festival

13/09 - Sebright Arms London

The Backhanders

It's always nice when a hard copy of someones latest release drops through the letterbox, as is the case when; courtesy of the enigmatic Mr Peeps, the niftily designed CD just out by The Backhanders in the style of a vinyl 7" single arrived and its look fits in with the two tracks contained within.

The Backhanders are a recently formed Manchester four piece who are rapidly forming a steady local fan-base after a series of successful gigs including a sell-out at Manchester's Academy 3 and a support to Twisted Wheel in Kraak Gallery.





Lead track 'Campfire' is a punchy, guitar driven track inspired by and dedicated to the late Joe Strummer. The track came about after they received a photo album from Joe's wife which included some random lyrics underneath the pictures. With her permission they added their own words to create 'Campfire' and it's reminiscent of the direction Joe took with The Mescaleros. The Backhanders pay him fitting tribute.

They've been getting some radio plays and critical acclaim of late with Terry Christian giving their track 'Memory Lane' a spin and John Robb of Louder Than War including them on his list of bands to watch in 2014. Keep your eyes peeled for their Live Streaming on Vidzta on May 11th and some live dates to be announced soon.

Feral Five

Ralph played London duo Kat and Drew Five aka Feral Five the other week on his Radio KC Sunday Show to positive feedback. Describing themselves as - "raised by wolves on a diet of punk rock, disco and roots" - they've had no small amount of critical acclaim for their debut EP 'Skin' including a 9/10 review from LouderThan War who said they “might just have released the best single of 2013”. They’ve also had the nod from Alan McGee.

They've headlined the Hackney Oxjam music festival, played Dingwalls with The Woodentops, and venues such as Death2Disco at Notting Hill Arts Club, and the Red Vomit night in East London.

The EP includes title track Skin, a ‘monster’ dub mix, and club mixes by The Woodentops’ Rolo McGinty who pioneered Indie dance in the Balearic scene.

They've been variously described as 'electropunk disco', 'Patti Smith meets Hot Chip at DalstonSuperstore', and ‘The White Stripes go to Berlin’. There's definite shades of Siouxsie or Shirley Manson in the 'Skin' vocals by Kat and it's punk Jim but not as we know it. The Rolo McGinty Club Mix is one infectious piece of floor filling deliciousness. 

Feral Five built a video for the track 'Skin' sourced from Vine video clips of people’s skin sent to them via Twitter @feralfive!

The track 'Skin' is also on the Ralph's Life Double CD being produced to raise funds for the mental health charity Rethink.

Well today's the day as Feral Five have just released the track 'Strung Out' and is available now to stream and download on Primitive Light Recordings!  It's a fabulously funky fusion of quirky and typically English electro/disco pop.

Belka Films have made a surreal cyber-punk inspired video for the track, shot in dark corners of East London amongst broken but living technology and featuring creeping cables, a computer heart and a giant rat’s cage. Think David Lynch meets Shinya Tsukamoto.

Ralph's thanks to Calvin Richards for his guest review of the Feral Five Oxjam Hackney Attic gig on 26.10.13.

Now in it’s 7th year, the Hackney Attic hosted Oxjam Music festival, a volunteer organised event that raises money for Oxfam.

They headlined a wonderfully eclectic line up. Natalie Mortimer, Eliza Brown, Nukli and The High White Clouds all combining to kick off Hackney’s Oxjam debut in grand fashion.




There’s many factors that make up a great live set, but fundamentally you’ve got to have presence. Something that makes you stop, delay that trip to the bar, and stick around to see what’s going to happen next, they have this in spades.

Kat Five is as charismatic a front woman as you’ll find. Think savage glam with addictive vocals and your half way there.



From the opening heavy bass lines of 'Shake It' I’m glad I’d got my beer in early. A two piece can get lost in venues, you can’t lose the Ferals as Kat Five brazenly stares down the audience while her partner Drew prowls by, snappy crisp bass lines snarling out a disco punk energy that's both infectious and alarming.

Reassuring us after this stark opening that - “We don’t bite..” - they then ensure they have our undivided attention.

‘Invisible’ and ‘Strung Out’ advance the post punk/funk vibe, ‘Skin’ the title track to their EP, forges ahead in an almost primal furor. Clearly they've fused their unique elements together and the payback is an untamed set that confirms them as a thoroughbred live act.

“Raised by wolves”- but with a genuine pedigree.

Go see!