Friday 19 January 2018

The Green Child's debut album is released today! Plus news on upcoming shows for David Nance & Shopping!

Hello there!
 
Today our new release from The Green Child sprints into a world of future sound. Taking their name from Herbert Read’s 1935 utopian, communist, sci-fi novel, it is no surprise The Green Child draw their sound from an illusory past as much as they stalk into pastures new.
 
Broadly retro-futuristic in scope, verdant acres of lushly evocative synthesizers and blippy drum machines underpin most of their upbeat yet decidedly uncanny songs. Whilst, Raven’s measured vocal flits like a will-o’-the-wisp through the tracks, proffering a guiding hand as she walks us through the often eerie, electronic concoctions.
 
 
Mikey Young and Raven Mahon began collaborating on The Green Child, after meeting in 2013 when their bands, Total Control and Grass Widow played a show in Oakland, California. They started writing songs together in Australia in 2014 and the project has been on a slow burn since. Their self-titled debut album is the culmination of a several years of putting ideas together internationally and periodically recording in Mikey's home studio.
 
 
 
‘Traveler’ opens the record all redolent, beat-minded and labyrinthine. Twisting melody lines swirl and envelop like a sandstorm, whilst Raven coolly projects on a “solitary man” lost to “green oblivion”. Similarly, ‘Her Majesty II’ glistens with its playful yet plaintive vocal and iridescent arpeggios, whilst ‘Bertha’ slows things down with tumbling chimes and stately use of space.
 
The Green Child are adept at atmosphere, their songs are refined from gently unfolding ideas that never fail to realise and build to their potential. Tracks like ‘Walking Distance’ (featuring Al Montfort on saxophone) and ‘New Years Eve’ are exercises in evolved composition with ideas budding off and blossoming into truly resonant dimensions. The band’s cover of ‘Marie Elene’ (by Keith Pearson) and closing track ‘Destroyer’ are further crowning achievements, both pieces subtly handled with poise and ample melancholic grandeur.
 
 
‘The Green Child’ is released today through Upset The Rhythm on 180g black vinyl, accompanied by some suitably spirited sleeve design by James Vinciguerra. It is available in all good shops and directly through our webshop here.
 
 
 
With that new record well introduced, let’s now turn our attentions to our upcoming concerts. Through this last week we’ve confirmed new events in London for Nap Eyes, Rattle, Drag City’s Ka Baird, Greg Ashley (of The Gris Gris), Mass Datura, Screaming Females, Vital Idles, Dead Rat Orchestra, Ana Da Silva (from The Raincoats) and Milky Wimpshake. Not too shabby!
 
Our next two live events will take place in early February and are outlined below in all their glory. Firstly on Feb 5th, we’re very pleased to have the excellent David Nance, Negative Space and Midnight Mines all playing at The Islington. Then one day later, on Feb 6thShopping, Dog Chocolate and Big Joanie look set to shake up Moth Club in support of Shopping’s brand new album ‘The Official Body’. So yes, plenty to look forward to, check out our listings for a full run down of our plans for the first half of 2018. Enjoy…
 
 

 
 
 
Upset The Rhythm presents...
 
DAVID NANCE
NEGATIVE SPACE
MIDNIGHT MINES
Monday 5 February
The Islington, 1 Tolpuddle St, Angel, London, N1 0XT
7.30pm | £6 | TICKETS
 
DAVID NANCE, Omaha veteran of warble and hiss, returns with ‘Negative Boogie’ (Ba Da Bing Records), his new concoction of chug, throb and greasy swagger. For ‘Boogie’, Nance trades in his beaten up Tascam 488 for the bulletproof, glass walls of A.R.C. Studios. Where else can you brew the negative boogie? It’s a bit like Canned Heat but with Pere Ubu’s queasy rhythms and someone playing five-finger fillet with Swell Maps. Ensconced in his ivory tower and soundproof rooms, Nance reached for unlikely weapons to tear down his own lofty experiment. He had his pick of rare guitars, cowbells, steel drums, vintage amps, Crazy Horse microphones, mellotron, and the restless but indefatigable rhythm section of Kevin Donahue and Tom May. They started at sunrise and recorded 15 songs by midnight. Maybe it’s his Midwestern work ethic, maybe he’s a sonic cheapskate. Maybe it’s just the sound of negative boogie. These songs stab and flow into one other like a perfectly orchestrated classic. They’re drenched with Nance’s most biting and comic lyrics to date, peaking on “D.L.A.T.U.M.F. Blues”. And ripping through the entire thing is the cracked power he yanks out of the guitar, a veritable The Good, The Bad and the Ugly of riffage. This is a departure for Nance. It’s bigger and grander but it’s far from easy music. It’s his Plastic Ono Band, his For Your Pleasure, his fever dream of Rocket from the Tombs. Shredders sit with jangling rockers, manic energy spills into depressive torpor, providing the ultimate record experience: one of power, nuance and emotion.
 
NEGATIVE SPACE play mysterious gay hardcore. Negative Space released their debut album 'Gestalt' through new London-based queer label Always Restrictions and Drunken Sailor late last year. The record focuses almost exclusively on the miasma of larger inner-city living and the effects of gender dysphoria on the self, 'Gestalt' pushes an overbearing aural disquiet that expands on the band's established tense minimalism while upping the ire, recalling post-punk forefathers like Wire or a peppier Gang of Four while simultaneously feeling wonderfully, urgently now.
 
MIDNIGHT MINES are a self-styled ‘spontaneous music ensemble’ eschewing formal songwriting for laying down improvised bursts of music during their recording sessions. The resulting live jams are subsequently chopped, screwed and assembled into tracks, filtered through their love of obscure 60s garage no-hopers, outsider folk, The Fall, fried dub, early industrial and other esoteric concerns. Baron Saturday and Private Sorrow swap instruments and splice together tracks built out of old drum machines, feedback, 2-note riffs, atonal harmonies, transistor organs and repetitive mantras.  Check out their recent LP on Mystery Plane and the duo’s ‘We Are The Primitives of a New Era’ cassette.
 
 
 
 
Upset The Rhythm presents…
 
SHOPPING
DOG CHOCOLATE
BIG JOANIE
Tuesday 6 February
Moth Club, Old Trades Hall, Valette St, Hackney Central, E9 6NU
7.30pm | £9 | TICKETS
 
SHOPPING are propulsive bass lines, primitive disco-not-disco drums and guitar lines sharp as broken glass. The band was formed in 2012 by members Rachel Aggs (guitar), Billy Easter (bass) and Andrew Milk (drums), who've all done time in a plethora of notable UK DIY bands including Trash Kit, Sacred Paws and Wet Dog. They pull from a well of 70's post-punk with a voraciousness seldom seen these days, bringing to mind the jagged aggression of Gang of Four, the voracious yelp of The Slits and the dance inducing thrust of Delta 5 . Their debut LP 'Consumer Complaints' was released November 2013 in the UK via MILK records and quickly sold out its first pressing. A US re-issue of 'Consumer Complaints' came out in 2015 via Fat Cat records, followed up by their excellent second album 'Why Choose?' The band are tirelessly committed to taking their sound to new audiences and spreading the Shopping gospel, securing impressive gigs along the way including main support for ESG and Gang Of Four as well as a BBC 6 Music session for Marc Riley. They have toured in the UK and throughout Europe numerous times over the last few years and last year toured the USA with also awesome Gauche, look out for a new album ‘The Official Body’ through FatCat imminently!
 
DOG CHOCOLATE sound like a crowded room but are actually four individuals from London. Having played in many other bands including Yeborobo, Limn and Gasp! Cracking Eggs, united they recognise Dog Chocolate as their one true love. Abandoning notions of elegance, cred and professionalism they embrace the ramshackle, instant and fun, capturing a vivid spontaneity with their music. Their sound is a shabby, fast, over-excited ball of wet fur falling down the stairs, knocking over plant pots along the way and staining the carpet. With an average song time of 2 minutes, Dog Chocolate are on to the next treat before fully digesting the last. Chewing up bits of punk, post-punk, noise and pop, Matthew and Robert's guitars race around each other like wasps, pitch-shifting and phasing all over the place while Jono's rolled-up-newspaper drums chase them round the room. The band's new album ‘Moody Balloon Baby’ is readying for release through Upset The Rhythm, who also released their debut 'Snack Fans' in 2016.
 
BIG JOANIE are a black feminist punk band based in London, UK. They formed in July 2013 to play First Timers in November that year - a gig where every band played their first set. Big Joanie are Chardine Taylor-Stone (drums & vocals), Stephanie Phillips (guitar & vocals) and Estella Adeyeri (bass & vocals). Big Joanie are influenced by Nirvana, Throwing Muses, X-Ray Spex, The Bags, My Bloody Valentine, Darlene Love, Tina Turner, Jesus and the Mary Chain, Breeders, PJ Harvey, Shop Assistants... They're like The Ronettes filtered through 80s DIY and riot grrrl with a sprinkling of dashikis. Big Joanie formed to make powerful music but also to create a continuum for black punks by presenting a strong, powerful vision of black womanhood and discussing the black punks who came before them. By making black punks more visible, they believe they can inspire young black punks to start the bands they always wanted to hear.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hoping you have a fantastic weekend,
Thanks so much for your time,
Upset The Rhythm
 
 
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UPSET THE RHYTHM
UPCOMING SHOWS 
 
DAVID NANCE
NEGATIVE SPACE
MIDNIGHT MINES
Monday 5 February
The Islington, 1 Tolpuddle St, Angel, London, N1 0XT
7.30pm | £6 | TICKETS
 
SHOPPING
DOG CHOCOLATE
BIG JOANIE
Tuesday 6 February
Moth Club, Old Trades Hall, Valette St, Hackney Central, London, E9 6NU
7.30pm | £9 | TICKETS
 
GUN OUTFIT
DEAD RAT ORCHESTRA
Tuesday 20 February
Moth Club, Old Trades Hall, Valette St, Hackney Central, London, E9 6NU
7.30pm | £10 | TICKETS
 
GREG ASHLEY
MASS DATURA
Saturday 24 February
The Islington, 1 Tolpuddle St, Angel, London, N1 0XT
7.30pm | £7 | TICKETS
 
CHAIN AND THE GANG
MILKY WIMPSHAKE (SOLO)
Monday 26 February
OSLO, 1a Amhurst Road, Hackney, London, E8 1LL
7.30pm | £10 | TICKETS
 
KA BAIRD
HACK MYSTIC
Tuesday 6 March
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, Angel, N1 9JB
7.30pm | £7 | TICKETS
 
SHANNON LAY
Wednesday 7 March
The Islington, 1 Tolpuddle St, Angel, London, N1 0XT
7.30pm | £6 | TICKETS
 
BILL ORCUTT & CHRIS CORSANO:
* DUO PERFORMANCE
RATTLE
Saturday 17 March
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, Angel, N1 9JB
7.30pm | £12 | TICKETS
 
* SOLO PERFORMANCES
Sunday 18 March
The Islington, 1 Tolpuddle St, Angel, London, N1 0XT
7.30pm | £12 | TICKETS
 
JOSHUA ABRAMS - NATURAL INFORMATION SOCIETY
Monday 2 April
OSLO, 1a Amhurst Road, Hackney, E8 1LL
8pm | £11 | TICKETS
 
NO AGE
VITAL IDLES
Wednesday 4 April
Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, 44 Pollard Row, London, E2 6NB
7:30pm | £12 | TICKETS
 
JAMIE STEWART (Xiu Xiu)
ERIC CHENAUX
Monday 9 April
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, Angel, N1 9JB
7.30pm | £12 | TICKETS
 
NAP EYES
Tuesday 8 May
OSLO, 1a Amhurst Road, Hackney, E8 1LL
7.30pm | £10 | TICKETS
 
PROTOMARTYR
ANA DA SILVA
Thursday 10 May
Scala, 275 Pentonville Road, King´s Cross, London, N1 9NL
7pm | £12.50 | TICKETS
 
SCREAMING FEMALES
Wednesday 23 May
OSLO, 1a Amhurst Road, Hackney, E8 1LL
7.30pm | £10 | TICKETS
 
 

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