Showing posts with label the black lamps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the black lamps. Show all posts

Saturday, 21 February 2015

Ralph's Top 10 Blogged Band Chart - 21.2.15

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...The New Southern 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 2...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 3...Neutronic



Closer

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.











Working on a debut album, The Phantom Sound aka Californian born (now living in London) Marisa Schlussel strives to create honest, powerful and emotional songs, drawing on diverse influences from the late 70's and 80's including Bowie, Blondie, The Ramones and Duran Duran and giving them a contemporary feel.







No 5...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 6...Officer





So I'm watching the start of the new video from Officer for his single The Waters (a pre-cursor to his Myriads album) and thinking amiable electronica, when all of a sudden it bursts into up-beat Alt-Rock-esque swathed in an almost 80's New Wave back beat. It's made all the more lovely by Officer's celtic edged vocal and an atmospheric video that carries you along on a tide of musical goodness.






No 7...Fold





Fold - Press Photo - Wide
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. 






Alien LullabiesFresh 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 9...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 10...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.












Tuesday, 13 January 2015

The Black Lamps


Whilst the barrage of music from the 'bright young things' is endless it's always nice when some grown-up music drops into the kennel. So Ralph was delighted when the postman dropped off a copy of the newly released album by The Black Lamps eponymous debut in all its shiny, translucent red vinyl glory before making a quick exit past the 'Beware Of The Dog' sign.








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.











Collectively the musical pedigree of band members Liam Stewart (vocal & guitar), Dean Ormston (drums), Greg Firth (bass) and Lyndon Scarfe (guitar & keyboards) is almost as wide ranging as their musical influences.



The Black Lamps have a shared love of The Cure, David Bowie, The Pixies, The Ramones and The Bad Seeds however individualy it's an eclectic mix.










Greg has a penchant for post-punk and the heady days of C86 although more recent leanings are the likes of Mogwai, Sigur Ros and British Sea Power. 






Dean on the other hand has souled out (he regularly DJ's at local Northern Soul Nights) and his particular love is Curtis Mayfield. No bad thing says I.






Liam is very much the wordsmith favouring songwriters such as Nick Drake, Bowie, Nick Cave and Ralph's current favourite John Grant. 





Lyndon however professes an obsession with a multitude of musical delights ranging from elecronica and drone to post-rock and classical. 




The Black Lamps, having drawn on a lifetime of musical experience have created a must have album for any serious music collector. It looks good, it feels good, it sounds good...and by God it does you good! 

Stand out tracks for me are lead track The Archivist and Scissors, Paper, Stone which I've had on repeat all week and playlisted on Ralph's Radio KC Indie Show.

The cover artwork was created by Jamie Briggs from a painting by drummer Dean who is also a noted comic book artist who's work includes 2000AD and DC Comics.