Showing posts with label The Ninth Watch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Ninth Watch. Show all posts

Tuesday, 21 January 2014

The Ninth Watch




It's just over a year since Ralph first took a look and had a listen to Manchester four piece The Ninth Watch. At that time they'd fairly recently formed and I caught their storming set for The Online Festival in Manchester's Dry Bar back in October of 2012. That was followed up by another top set at the Mancunia Promotions All Dayer in Barca July of 2013. It was obvious then that they were becoming a tight unit with well crafted tracks based on the Manchester music scene's rich background.





Their track 'Forever' was selected to be one of the 40 on the Ralph's Life Double CD for the charity Rethink Mental Illness and their musical journey of late has seen them work with producers Neil Treppas and Seadna McPhail who's worked with Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets among others and a recent signing with Manchester DIY record label Longevity. Alongside a series of gigs including headlining Night & Day in Manchester.


The band is fronted by vocalist and guitarist Stephen Ahern formerly of Dirty Circus (Sony Columbia Records), with Mike Fieldhouse also on guitar, Ian Holden on bass and Matt Ryan on drums.






There's a fresher sound emerging too with the guitar driven, 60's sounding 'In Soul City' and it's keyboard and horns taking it to another 'old school' level.  The likes of 'Dead Man Walking' on the other hand is a pure Manchester anthem and guaranteed gig favourite. If you're in Manchester and looking for a band to follow that have their sights set high and playing no nonsense Indie music, look no further than The Ninth Watch. 




Saturday, 23 February 2013

Ralph's Chart 23.2.13



OK bands you know the score.....

the more hits your blog gets by the fans, the higher you go.....

So tweet it, Facebook it.....

and generally expose yourself.....






Now Snuggles and me have been sitting with our heads down counting the hits on each bands blog to see who's got which place.  

So here it is.....

The Top Ten Blogged Band Chart .....








No 1..... Bird



Three piece Liverpool band Bird is the creation of Adele Emmas (singer, songwriter) Sian Williams (guitar, harmonies) and Alexis Samata (drums) Together they create dark, haunting, atmospheric music which will entice you in to their magical, other worldly universe. With beautiful, siren-esque vocals, tribal, hypnotic drum beats and spellbinding guitar work, Bird are refreshingly unlike anything that's currently on the music scene.







No 2..... Plum



Back in July last year I acquired a taste for fine female voices after listening to Kathryn Marsh so I turned my nose in the direction of Plum, the alter ego of Edinburgh based Shona Maguire.

So what's the latest...well she's just been and gone and got herself nominated in the Best Electronic category of The Scottish Alternative Music Awards 2013.....









No 3..... The Folk Remedy






Getting tired of Mumford and Sons churning out the same ole same ole? Then do what I did and take a look at The Folk Remedy from Manchester whose diversity and musicality is as refreshing as it is highly listenable.  These three musicians have merged their own different musical backgrounds into one sound, which brings out their individual personalities whilst staying true to their folk roots.








No 4..... Wullae Wright



Everybody likes to make a comparison about artistes and Ralph's old man is no exception. He heard Wullae Wright's 'Halo Effect' playing on my laptop and next thing he was wiping the dust of his collection of vinyl, dug out Led Zeppelin I and stuck it under my nose muttering....."Babe I'm Gonna Leave You".  Chance would be a fine thing some would say, however I had a listen and low and behold Wullae Wright is capturing the same raw intensity of vocals that an early Robert Plant did. 








No 5..... Wishes



Ralph's now got his own Unsigned Indie Mix show on French station Radio Kaos Caribou every Sunday 5 - 6 pm and it's thanks to listening to their eclectic mix of music that he came across Paris based band Wishes









No 6..... Calm As The Colour



So you've got to ask yourself how a band that's putting out consistently fine music and pulling in accolades from press and radio alike, still aren't quite finding their place in the hearts of the Scottish music buying public.  Calm As The Colour from The Kingdom of Fife are such a band and whilst they've only been together just under two years they've garnered compliments and airplay from the luminaries of Scottish radio and beyond.







No 7..... The Ninth Watch




After a hectic and successful years gigging in 2012, Manchester four piece The Ninth Watch are hibernating in the studio with a view to bringing you a host of new tunes and if they're as strong as the tracks they produced last year, we're in for a real treat.









No 8..... Hector Bizerk





An M.C. and a drummer...simple words for the complex musical experience that is Hector Bizerk.  Formed just over two years ago and originally comprising of  seasoned rapper Louie and equally experienced drummer Audrey Tait they've made massive inroads into the Scottish music scene. 






No 9..... The Recovery!



Img_6116



The Recovery! are a five piece punk/metal/core band from Glasgow who  release their new E.P ‘Wherever Nowhere Takes Us’ on 11th February, 2013 via Indie label Cold War Legacy. 

The first single from the record ‘The Faint & Fragile’ is available now for free download!







No 10..... Vigo Thieves



As me old man never tires of saying, "Always great to hear a Scottish band singing like you know they're a Scottish band".  Well that certainly applies to The Vigo Thieves, just listen to the wonderful Steal Your Heart with it's almost Big Country-like intro and the thumping Heartbeats, last years video soundtrack for T in the Park has got to be a big club favourite, which is guaranteed to get the proverbial joint jumpin'.  They're up for Best Live Act at the SAMAs.










Saturday, 16 February 2013



OK bands you know the score.....

the more hits your blog gets by the fans, the higher you go.....

So tweet it, Facebook it.....

and generally expose yourself.....








Now Snuggles and me have been sitting with our heads down counting the hits on each bands blog to see who's got which place.  


So here it is.....

The Top Ten Blogged Band Chart .....









No 1..... Plum



Back in July last year I acquired a taste for fine female voices after listening to Kathryn Marsh so I turned my nose in the direction of Plum, the alter ego of Edinburgh based Shona Maguire.

So what's the latest...well she's just been and gone and got herself nominated in the Best Electronic category of The Scottish Alternative Music Awards 2013.....







No 2..... Wullae Wright



Everybody likes to make a comparison about artistes and Ralph's old man is no exception. He heard Wullae Wright's 'Halo Effect' playing on my laptop and next thing he was wiping the dust of his collection of vinyl, dug out Led Zeppelin I and stuck it under my nose muttering....."Babe I'm Gonna Leave You".  Chance would be a fine thing some would say, however I had a listen and low and behold Wullae Wright is capturing the same raw intensity of vocals that an early Robert Plant did. 






No 3..... Vigo Thieves


As me old man never tires of saying, "Always great to hear a Scottish band singing like you know they're a Scottish band".  Well that certainly applies to The Vigo Thieves, just listen to the wonderful Steal Your Heart with it's almost Big Country-like intro and the thumping Heartbeats, last years video soundtrack for T in the Park has got to be a big club favourite, which is guaranteed to get the proverbial joint jumpin'.  They're up for Best Live Act at the SAMAs.








No 4..... The Ninth Watch




After a hectic and successful years gigging in 2012, Manchester four piece The Ninth Watch are hibernating in the studio with a view to bringing you a host of new tunes and if they're as strong as the tracks they produced last year, we're in for a real treat.









No 5..... Fat Goth


Embedded image permalinkOk so I saw that these guys were called Fat Goth and I thought erk, but turns out the only thing that's dark and heavy about this Dundee band are their sounds.  last year they played The Wickerman Festival  alongside other Ralph's Life favourites Campfires in Winter and Olympic Swimmers and now they've been nominated for a SAMA.







No 6..... The OK Social Club


Who said 'I don't like Mondays' (OK, OK I know it was the Boomtown Rats) because one reason to absolutely love Mondays is the release of The OK Social Club's first album 'Nothing In Common' next Monday!  They've been on the blog list for a bit but good things come to those who wait and there's no arguing this album is a very good thing.  They're also nominated for Best Live act in the SAMA.







No 7..... Wishes



Ralph's now got his own Unsigned Indie Mix show on French station Radio Kaos Caribou every Sunday 5 - 6 pm and it's thanks to listening to their eclectic mix of music that he came across Paris based band Wishes.

Always keen to promote 'The Auld Alliance'  and via the wonders of email I bring you an interview with Wishes.








No 8..... Cleavers



OK here's the skinny on fast rising Elgin 
based hardcore punksters Cleavers 
who've made inroads onto BBC Radio 
Scotland's radar.  Their first outing was in
 December of 2011 after the turn of the year
were included in BBC Scotland's 35 
Scottish Artists to watch 2012 by DJ Vic 
Galloway and they've got a SAMAs nomination.






No 9..... The Recovery!


Img_6116


The Recovery! are a five piece punk/metal/core band from Glasgow who  release their new E.P ‘Wherever Nowhere Takes Us’ on 11th February, 2013 via Indie label Cold War Legacy. 

The first single from the record ‘The Faint & Fragile’ is available now for free download!






No 10..... Campfires In Winter



I can't believe that eight months have passed since I first blogged those lovely hirsute young men 
Campfires In Winter after hearing the melodious 'Twelve Thousand Drops'.  So it was with great joy and expectation when news of a proper debut single release on March 4th dropped into Ralph's inbox. 







Saturday, 2 February 2013

Ralph's Top Ten Blogged Band Chart.....2.2.13




OK bands you know the score.....

the more hits your blog gets by the fans, the higher you go.....

So tweet it, Facebook it.....

and generally expose yourself.....








Now Snuggles and me have been sitting with our heads down counting the hits on each bands blog to see who's got which place.  


So here it is.....

The Top Ten Blogged Band Chart .....










No 1..... Wullae Wright




Everybody likes to make a comparison about artistes and Ralph's old man is no exception. He heard Wullae Wright's 'Halo Effect' playing on my laptop and next thing he was wiping the dust of his collection of vinyl, dug out Led Zeppelin I and stuck it under my nose muttering....."Babe I'm Gonna Leave You".  Chance would be a fine thing some would say, however I had a listen and low and behold Wullae Wright is capturing the same raw intensity of vocals that an early Robert Plant did. 




No 2..... The Varses




The Varese's are Jonny Andrew on Vocals, Danny Hayden on Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Paul Tallant on Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Adam Murray on Bass Guitar and Bob Gaul - Drums and Percussion.  Currently sticking to the local music scene where they have a strong fanbase (they're  No 2 on Reverbnation Indie Chart for Liverpool), however recent radio play should see them getting some attention from further afield.  




No 3..... The Ninth Watch







After a hectic and successful years gigging in 2012, Manchester four piece The Ninth Watch are hibernating in the studio with a view to bringing you a host of new tunes and if they're as strong as the tracks they produced last year, we're in for a real treat.







No 4..... Slydigs

Now it's been a while since Ralph took a look at Slydigs (back in May) and predicted big things for them, a month later and they'd signed a deal with Flicknife Records and have gone from strength to strength culminating in the release of their album 'Never To Be Tamed' in September.








No 5..... Bauer


Having been quiet for a bit other than the recently released cover of ‘Feels Like Heaven an ’80′s Electro-Pop classic by Fiction Factory from Perth, Manchester band Bauer pulled a cracker out just before Christmas when they released an album of Electro-pop classics of their own.





No 6..... The Afghan Hounds




A while back Ralph had a bit of a look at Scottish band The Afghan Hounds but back then they didn't have a lot of gigs under their collective belt and their music needed some fine tuning.....well seeing as it's blog a dog week Ralph checked them out again and lo and behold The Afghan Hounds have come of age.  Assorted influences are.....









Ralph has just been extolling the virtues of Johnny and the Giros up in Scotland for getting us up on the dance floor and getting down with our bad selves when lo and behold Liverpool lads The Tea Street Band are doing exactly the same thing!






No. 8.....
 Mama Roux



Ralph's always on the lookout for something a bit different musically and was more than pleasantly surprised when he stumbled across new Manchester band Mama Roux.  They're a sublime soul/jazz/blues fusion comprised of.....
  
Tallulah Anton on vocals, Jack Delaney - Guitar, John Bergin - Guitar, M.Alexander Robinson - Bass and Nicolas Williams on Drums/Percussion.




No 9..... Bird




Three piece Liverpool band Bird is the creation of Adele Emmas (singer, songwriter) Sian Williams (guitar, harmonies) and Alexis Samata (drums) Together they create dark, haunting, atmospheric music which will entice you in to their magical, other worldly universe. With beautiful, siren-esque vocals, tribal, hypnotic drum beats and spellbinding guitar work, Bird are refreshingly unlike anything that's currently on the music scene.









No. 10..... Kat Healy



It's not often a voice stops Ralph in his blog writing tracks but the old dear was chilling out to some music when a track came on and it wasn't until it had finished that I realised I hadn't been typing, just listening. The track was 'The Haunting' by Scottish singer/songwriter Kat Healy.  Now being a Jack Russell and inquisitive by n