We’re sharing ‘North Atlantic’ with the world today! Another gem from the jewellery box that’s Normil Hawaiians first album of new material in 40 years. ‘North Atlantic' is the meditative closer on ‘Empires into Sand’ and features reworked drum samples taken from a short track called ‘South Atlantic’ from 1984 (Normil Hawaiians - What’s Going On?). Only this time the bass refrain is reversed and the song takes on an entirely new life with an uncanny string arrangement, birdsong and lyrics about impermanence, dream states and long shadows. Drink deep!
‘Empires into Sand’ will be released by Upset the Rhythm on May 24th.
Thursday 25 April 2024
Normil Hawaiians - 'North Atlantic'
Wednesday 24 April 2024
EARTH BALL - UK TOUR with Chris Corsano!
The stupendous Earth Ball are touring the UK this May in support of their forthcoming album 'It's Yours', out May 17th on Upset The Rhythm.
BEST news... Chris Corsano will be keeping them company too. Both acts are playing all over the landmass, roundabouts and back again. Go 👀 them live, they are A+ spectacular!
https://upsettherhythm.co.uk/
EARTH BALL & CHRIS CORSANO - UK TOUR
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May 20 - London - Cafe OTO
May 21 - London - Cafe OTO
May 22 - Manchester - White Hotel
May 23 - Bristol - Cube Cinema
May 24 - Shrewsbury - English Bridge Workshop
May 25 - Glasgow - Flying Duck
May 26 - Newcastle - Lubber Fiend
May 27 - Leeds - Wharf Chambers
May 28 - Nottingham - The Chapel
May 29 - Lewes - Con Club
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Friday 19 April 2024
Kilynn Lunsford - London show!
This is going to be phantastic!
Announcing today a new show for July with the incredible Kilynn Lunsford, plus The Rebel and The Pheromoans, the power of the word surmounts!
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Upset The Rhythm presents…
KILYNN LUNSFORD
THE REBEL
THE PHEROMOANS
Wednesday 3 July
New River Studios, 199 Eade Rd, Harringay, London, N4 1DN
7.30pm | £9 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/qf75cce9e3be
KILYNN LUNSFORD had been conceiving her first solo album since she was a young teen. Growing up in Philadelphia through the MTV era of Missy Elliot, Timbaland and the Swing Mob collective, and drawn towards its “sometimes ridiculous, but overloaded” qualities, she found herself returning to that state of emerging adulthood when the moment for a solo record finally arose. ‘Custodians of Human Succession’, released on Ever Never Records, straddles unclear boundaries between electro-pop, post-punk and the avant-garde; it delves into those liminal spaces between pop culture and experimentalism, between city and country, between verse and chorus.
Written over four years, drafted during long car rides from work, hewn out first thing in the morning or last thing at night ‘Custodians'…is Lunsford’s first work since the dissolution of her former project, noise-punk outfit Taiwan Housing Project in 2021. The album itself operates like a collage, splintered and warped, each song in imprinting its own shape and colour to fashion a finished whole. Industrial-edged electro-pop a la Chris and Cosey sits shoulder to shoulder with twangling new wave rock ‘n’ roll ironies. Lunsford’s caustic lyrics embellish this further, packed as they are with a potent blood-stream of unflinching surrealism and discomfiting satire. Impacted by her experiences as Healthcare Union Organiser working through a pandemic, and as a sufferer of an autoimmune disorder with no healthcare coverage, a festering anger boils at the album’s core. Little wonder how, from all this, comes a record of commensurate disturbance, and brilliant intrigue.
https://evernever-records.bandcamp.com/album/custodians-of-human-succession
THE REBEL was born Benedict Roger Wallers in 1971. Since 1989 BR Wallers has recorded & hand-distributed a bewildering array of impossibly hard-to-find home-made cassette-albums, under a variety of guises. Wallers is a charismatic lone wolf in a cowboy hat and a tie whose electrified howls are too idiosyncratic to be broken down into market-oriented terms. It is difficult to sketch a thumbnail summary of a musician who has amassed a vast and unwieldy discography under a variety of names and genres: the most widely acclaimed is probably the Country Teasers, but he also moonlights as the Company, the Male Nurse, the Beale, the Stallion, the Black Poodle and Skills on Ampex, across folk, country, garage, post-punk, no wave and electronic pop. In the main part The Rebel is centred around twisted Casio drones, clanging guitar and some defiantly deadpan vocals, all thrown in the pan and pressure-cooked in Wallers' mind. Wallers has amassed a near-unquantifiable discography over the past 30 years, from scores of more or less “official” LPs, EPs and 7”s to seemingly endless self-released cassettes.
https://the-rebel.bandcamp.com/
THE PHEROMOANS are tenants of an unruly domain. Over the last 18 years the group have evolved from garage rock primitivists to auteurs of their own curious sound; a frothy brew of loose electronics, refractory rock and humdrum musing. Their songs are mutable, capricious, unreliable narrations, often withholding as much as they reveal. Russell Walker’s understated vocal has always been the band’s unifying focus, it is wry, unsparing and wilfully honest. Walker’s lyrics are an observational tour de force, sometimes droll, yet often tipping over into unlikely pathos. With previous releases on Upset The Rhythm, Convulsive and Alter, 2024 will witness The Pheromoans return with lucky album number 13, entitled ‘Wyrd Psearch’ (out now 1st on Upset The Rhythm). With The Pheromoans there is always a familiarity at play, only broken and reassembled, like a bygone sitcom gone rogue in your memory. This contributes to the group’s peculiarly British outsider perspective, one that shouts from the sidelines, but never goes unnoticed.
https://upsettherhythm.bandcamp.com/album/wyrd-psearch
Wednesday 17 April 2024
Jake Xerxes Fussell - August date in London announced!
We’re delighted to welcome back Jake to London with a new album under his belt in August!
Let the days roll by!
Upset The Rhythm presents…
JAKE XERXES FUSSELL
Friday 30 August
Lafayette, 11 Goods Way, London, N1C 4DP
7pm | £16 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Qb1bff0f94a7 (on sale Friday at 10am)
JAKE XERXES FUSSELL is a singer, guitarist and folk music interpreter who has distinguished himself as one of his generation's preeminent interpreters of traditional (and not so traditional) "folk" songs, a practice which he approaches with a refreshingly unfussy lack of nostalgia. By recontextualizing ancient vernacular songs and sources of the American South, he allows them to breathe and speak for themselves and for himself; he alternately inhabits them and allows them to inhabit him. In all his work, Fussell humanizes his material with his own curatorial and interpretive gifts, unmooring stories and melodies from their specific eras and origins and setting them adrift in our own waterways.
On his latest album, When I’m Called—his first LP for Fat Possum, and his first as a parent - Fussell returns to a well of music that holds lifelong sentimental meaning, loosely contemplating the passage of time and the procession of life’s unexpected offerings. The album was produced by James Elkington and mixed by Tucker Martine. In addition to Elkington, it features the playing of Ben Whiteley (The Weather Station) and Joe Westerlund (Bon Iver, Califone). Blake Mills contributes guitars on several tracks. Joan Shelley and Robin Holcomb provide backing vocals.
https://www.jakexerxesfussell.com/
House Of All - London show tomorrow!
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Thursday night is written up in more detail below where you'll also find full show listings for upcoming London concerts from Scream, Soulside, Earth Ball and Chris Corsano too. Enjoy! |
 Upset The Rhythm presents...
HOUSE Of ALL THE COURTESY GROUP Thursday 18 April The Dome, 2A Dartmouth Park Hill, Tufnell Park, N19 5QH 7pm | £18 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/wac85b671659 HOUSE Of ALL's first report of
existence only appeared one year ago, followed by a
magnificently-received debut album and two UK tours. Praise was
immediate and ecstatic, in spite of controversy from former management
of The Fall, who took offence at Martin Bramah's off-the-cuff
description of the band as "part of The Fall family continuum". Despite
this self-evident fact - Bramah was The Fall's original singer before
switching to guitar, and with the other members (Peter Greenway, Paul
Hanley, Steve Hanley and Si Wolstencroft) HOUSE Of ALL collectively
spanned the entire length of The Fall's career. Controversy arose,
resulting in a full Guardian article on the band months before the
album's release - a scant three days after it was announced. Their two
brief tours were flawless; nearly every show sold out, and the latter
tour was bolstered by "Bay City Pistols", a limited package that sold
out in two weeks.
Even before the first album was released, HOUSE Of All re-entered the studio to record their second album 'Continuum' which will be released this April by Tiny Global Productions. https://houseofall.bandcamp.com/album/house-of-all THE COURTESY GROUP are set apart in their own musical galaxy as Birmingham's own tunemongering grinesters. They survive against fashion, mediocrity, systematic dullness and impossible odds. Marmite to most musical confectionery, their debut album 'Tradesman's Entrance' and its successor 'Second City Liquor' have aired on BBC6's Stuart Maconie's Freakzone, Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service and Guy Garvey's Finest Hour (and previously on The John Peel Show on Radio 1), as well as receiving glowing reviews from Mojo, Uncut, Louder Than War and Stewart Lee in 'The Sunday Times': live, they remain consistently dangerous and a robust antidote to a fully digitalised itunes world. |
 Upset The Rhythm presents… SCREAM SOULSIDE Friday 10 May Saturday 11 May The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, Angel, London, N1 9JB 7.30pm | £20.00 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/xc9953269e0e & https://link.dice.fm/Qfab66a55a93 SCREAM formed in 1979. Drummer Kent Stacks, bassist Skeeter Enoch Thompson and the brothers Pete and Franz Stahl attended school together in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia, when they began to discover the punk and new wave scene in DC and the provocative power of making music. Like most of the punk bands in DC, they were influenced by the Bad Brains, but their rock and roll sensibilities set them apart. In 1982, they went into Inner Ear Studio with Ian MacKaye and Eddie Janney to record Dischord's first full length album, Still Screaming. Scream followed this with a second full length album, This Side Up, in 1984. The band toured throughout the US and were one of the first US hardcore bands to tour Europe and the UK. In 1987, they released Banging the Drum, which was recorded at both Southern Studios in London and Inner Ear. In 1988, No More Censorship was released on reggae label RAS records. Scream returned to Dischord to release Fumble in 1993. Scream’s newest album, DC Special, was released late last year on Dischord Records. For this record, Scream invited their extensive music community to help create a unique project that weaves the history of music in Washington DC into the story of the band. DC Special embodies the same sense of community and politics that inspired Scream from the start and is a truly special collection of new music that speaks to the present and also tells the story of DC music, Scream, and the influences that shaped them. https://dischord.com/release/194/dc-special SOULSIDE formed in Washington, D.C. in 1985, split up in 1989, then reformed in 2014 and has continued playing and writing music since then. After releasing their debut album on Sammich/Dischord, they recorded Trigger (Dischord, 1988) and Hot Bodi-Gram (Dischord, 1989), which were combined on the Soon Come Happy CD in 1990. The band toured extensively in the US and Europe during these years, including groundbreaking shows in Poland and East Berlin shortly before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. In 2020, Soulside put out a new 7-inch, This Ship, their first release in 30 years, which was recorded in Prague. In late 2022, Dischord released a 12-song Soulside album, A Brief Moment in the Sun, which was written during the heart of the pandemic and recorded in person by J. Robbins in November 2021. Soulside toured the US and Europe in 2023 to support the new album. Soulside is: Alexis Fleisig (drums), Scott McCloud (guitar and vocals), Bobby Sullivan (vocals), and Johnny Temple (bass). https://soulside.bandcamp.com/ |
 Upset The Rhythm presents…
EARTH BALL - ‘It’s Yours’ album launch CHRIS CORSANO TERRINE Monday 20 May Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin St, London, E8 3DL 7.30pm | £14 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Q5215784e354 EARTH BALL are a wild ensemble from Canada, mainly based on Vancouver Island. Their inception was serendipitous, emerging out of necessity when Isabel Ford, John Brennan, and Jeremy Van Wyck needed a name for a gig. What began as a pragmatic solution blossomed into an artistically conceived project. Embracing complete improvisation, free expression and a truly psychedelic sound, the group's lineup expands for different projects and now features Kellen Maclaughlin on Guitar and Liam Murphy on Saxophone. Each member brings a diverse musical background, having been part of various bands such as Shearing Pinx, Plan Your Future, Kamikaze Nurse, Eschatons and Psychedelic Dirt. Their individual collaborations with artists like Deerhoof, Raven Chacon, Chris Corsano, William Hooker, and others enrich their collective experience, forging a powerful musical force. Earth Ball’s first cassette 'Fruiting Bodies', released in 2021 under Misophonia Records, was followed by the self-released album 'Go to Earth.' The creative momentum continued with the digital and cassette release of 'Have One' in 2023. Earth Ball's dynamic presence has reverberated across the west coast of Canada. The group’s live shows are ecstatic and spontaneous, offering audiences a unique experience at every performance. Notably, their appearance alongside legendary experimental duo Wolf Eyes in August 2023 underscored their standing in the experimental scene. As Earth Ball continues to push the boundaries of improvisation and sonic exploration, they remain a guiding light for those seeking a transcendental musical experience. The group’s upcoming album ‘It’s Yours’ will be released on LP / digital by Upset The Rhythm this May and marks another significant leap forward. https://earthball.bandcamp.com/ CHRIS CORSANO is an upstate NY-based drummer who has been active at the intersections of collective improvisation, free jazz, avant-rock, and noise music since the late 1990's. Corsano is one of the greatest drummers working today, developing a percussive language of extraordinary amplitude and infinite resources. His collaborations stretch from free jazz greats (Joe McPhee, Evan Parker, Paul Flaherty & more) to noise mavens (Jandek, Bill Nace, C Spencer Yeh etc) and pop superstars (Björk). Capable of generating narrative out of permanent ecstasy, Corsano never ceases to be profoundly affirmative and imposing of his language, and being an absolute and charismatic virtuoso, he simultaneously is one of the most noble and generous improvisers of the few last decades. A move from western Massachusetts to the UK in 2005 led Corsano to develop his solo music - a dynamic, spontaneously-composed amalgam of extended techniques for drum set and non-percussive instruments of his own making: e.g. bowed violin strings stretched across drum heads, modified reed instruments, and stockpiles of resonant metal. In February 2006, Corsano released his first solo recording, The Young Cricketer, and toured extensively throughout Europe, USA, Australia, and Japan. In 2009, Corsano returned focus to his own projects, including a duo with Michael Flower, Vampire Belt (with Bill Nace), Rangda (with Richard Bishop and Ben Chasny) and his solo work, further expanded in its use of contact microphones and synthesizers. In 2017, he received the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artist Award. Corsano's dedication to collective improvisation has led to collaborations with many kindred spirits and his appearance on over 150 records and 1000 live performances. He's worked with, among others: Paul Dunmall (released by ESP-Disk), Joe McPhee (Roaratorio), Okkyung Lee (Open Mouth), Earth Ball (Upset The Rhythm), Nate Wooley (No Business & Astral Spirits), Jim O'Rourke & Akira Sakata (Drag City), Merzbow (Family Vineyard), Jessica Rylan (Load Records), John Edwards, Nels Cline, Heather Leigh, Ghédalia Tazartès and Sunburned Hand Of Man. https://chriscorsano.bandcamp.com/music TERRINE is Claire Gapenne, an artist and musician from Amiens in the north of France. She has been part of the experimental scene since 2012, notably in the industrial rock band Headwar with whom she discovered other ways of performing music. Begun in 2013, her solo project Terrine develops spontaneous and immediate music. From 2014, she also formed Me Donner alongside Romain Simon, a band at the fringes of no-wave, no-techno and improvised music. In 2017 Me Donner and Les Conférences Bunker founded the group Les Conférences Donner where Claire plays free guitar. Finally in 2021 she started an electronic project with Amédée de Murcia called Jazzoux during a residency at Paris’ Instants Chavirés. Claire Gapenne’s music is hosted on many different labels, from No Lagos, to Tanzprocesz, Bruit Direct, Third Type Tape. |
 Upset The Rhythm presents…
EARTH BALL & FRIENDS * A SERIES OF IMPROV SETS WITH EARTH BALL FT. CHRIS CORSANO, STEVE BERESFORD, AGATHE MAX, CONTAINER & TWO FORM A CLICK (Vymethoxy Redspiders + Sydney Koke) Tuesday 21 May Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin St, London, E8 3DL 7.30pm | £12 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/e2265868051e EARTH BALL are a wild ensemble from Canada, mainly based on Vancouver Island. Their inception was serendipitous, emerging out of necessity when Isabel Ford, John Brennan, and Jeremy Van Wyck needed a name for a gig. What began as a pragmatic solution blossomed into an artistically conceived project. Embracing complete improvisation, free expression and a truly psychedelic sound, the group's lineup expands for different projects and now features Kellan Maclaughlin on Guitar and Liam Murphy on Saxophone. Each member brings a diverse musical background, having been part of various bands such as Shearing Pinx, Plan Your Future, Kamikaze Nurse, Eschatons and Psychedelic Dirt. Their individual collaborations with artists like Deerhoof, Raven Chacon, Chris Corsano, William Hooker, and others enrich their collective experience, forging a powerful musical force. Earth Ball’s first cassette 'Fruiting Bodies', released in 2021 under Misophonia Records, was followed by the self-released album 'Go to Earth.' The creative momentum continued with the digital and cassette release of 'Have One' in 2023. Earth Ball's dynamic presence has reverberated across the west coast of Canada. The group’s live shows are ecstatic and spontaneous, offering audiences a unique experience at every performance. Notably, their appearance alongside legendary experimental duo Wolf Eyes in August 2023 underscored their standing in the experimental scene. As Earth Ball continues to push the boundaries of improvisation and sonic exploration, they remain a guiding light for those seeking a transcendental musical experience. The group’s upcoming album ‘It’s Yours’ will be released on LP / digital by Upset The Rhythm this May and marks another significant leap forward. This second show at Cafe OTO will see Earth Ball and Chris Corsano play a selection of sets with the following guests: Two Form a Click, Container, Agathe Max and Steve Beresford. |