Earth Ball, Chris Corsano and Terrine in London this May!

Thrilled to have Earth Ball, Chris Corsano and Terrine playing in London this May at Cafe OTO!!! We're booking some extra dates in the UK for EB and CC too, so drop us a line if you're inspired to set up a show by these heavy heads: upset_the_rhythm@yahoo.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), Bill Orcutt, 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.
https://terrine.bandcamp.com/

Scream + Soulside in London this May!

Deep breath!
We have a DC special heading to town this May with Scream and Soulside playing two shows back to back at The Lexington! Tickets are on sale now, most likely for a very short time!

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/

Tara Clerkin Trio - London show for November announced!

 

Huge news!

We’ve booked Tara Clerkin Trio to play again for us on Sat 16th November at EartH Theatre. Tickets are on sale… now!

The 100 Club show on Monday is long sold out, so we’re not expecting tickets to linger. Exciting times.

Upset The Rhythm presents…

TARA CLERKIN TRIO

Saturday 16 November

EartH Theatre, 11-17 Stoke Newington Rd, London, N16 8BH

6.30pm-10.30pm | £16 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Aeb338640a1d

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Behold... PARSNIP!

 

Green shoots have burst forth from Parsnip! The Australian group have a super-catchy single out today called ‘The Light’, taken from their sophisticated sophomore album ‘Behold’. Drawing comparisons with Dolly Mixture, Sara Goes Pop and Look Blue Go Purple, Parsnip are an animated ensemble, full of life, emotional complexity and humour. On ‘Behold’ they explore both the inner and outer realms of consciousness with quick wits and some seriously quality jangle and jolt. Take a listen to ‘The Light’, a whip smart workout if there ever was one!

Upset The Rhythm and Anti Fade Records will release ‘Behold’ on April 26th. There’s a limited transparent vinyl edition, available to pre-order (drum roll please)… now!

UTR
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Are you being served this Sunday?

 

Alright there!   This Sunday Upset The Rhythm will be setting out our wares in a highly entertaining pop-up independent label department store event called Are You Being Served?   This will take place across three floors of the Betsey Trotwood on Sunday 11th Feb, from 1pm-7pm.     Russell Walker from The Pheromoans will be performing a 20-min set at 1pm, alongside many other artists and label DJs throughout the day, well worth the £1 entry fee! Check out all the acts performing and labels involved below and if you love a good theme tune this trailer is for you.   See YOU there!

Talking of The Pheromoans, they rolled up their trouser leg and consulted with the master mason this week too as they rebounded with a second single from their  upcoming Wyrd Psearch album.   ‘Faith in the Future’ “cautiously tugs at a thread of certain patterns, mishearings and misinterpreted gestures” according to vocalist Russell Walker. The song is complemented by the visual recordings of 11-year-old Hitchin resident Rowan Walker and his keen eye for transportation.   Wyrd Psearch will be released on March 1st by Upset The Rhythm and is available to pre-order now.   The band will be launching the record with us at Cafe OTO on March 5th too, more info below.

Read on for lots more information on our upcoming UTR London shows, including a new listing for Future Islands at Crystal Palace Bowl later this July.   Our next event by the way will take place on Feb 22nd at The Lexington when we're lucky enough to have Dutch trio The Homesick (Sub Pop) performing. The Homesick write giddily brilliant odd-pop, expect to be bowled over by the fizzing energy of it all.   Findom and Home Secretary are performing too, so look out for some No Wave / Dub / Goth thrills and rhythmic non-songs of crude sound collage.

Upset The Rhythm presents… THE HOMESICK FINDOM HOME SECRETARY Thursday 22 February The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, Angel, London, N1 9JB 7.30pm | £10.00 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/bf946caa252b THE HOMESICK are Elias Elgersma (Vocals, Effects), Jaap van der Velde (Vocals, Effects) and Erik Woudwijk (Drums). The Homesick fuse post-punk rhythms with melodic whimsical pop into an experimental blend of great songs. The Dutch group have been around since their first EP Television from 2013 and released their debut album Youth Hunt (Subroutine) in 2017. Hailing from the backwater Frisian municipality of Dokkum, the band enjoy exploring the extremes of their music. Their albums play with this ambiguity as they incorporate dark post-punk alongside sure-fire pop earworms. Their second album The Big Exercise (SubPop) from 2020 inverted this sound, second-guessing their core chemistry as a live unit. Where the debut album incorporates vocals drenched in reverb, warped synths and distorted guitars, the Big Excercise leaves a hint of romanticism through the baroque elements such as piano, acoustic guitar, percussion and clarinet. Shortly after the release of The Big Exercise they individually started to explore new musical directions. Guitar and bass were dropped as Elias and Jaap searched for other sounds playing keys, sample boxes and more new rhythmic instruments. “We wanted to come up with something that we can dance to”, Jaap says. “After these last two years we very much felt like this is what we need now.” The new songs are unmistakably The Homesick and at the same time like you've never heard them before. The third and self-titled album by The Homesick is out now. https://thehomesick.bandcamp.com FINDOM know a thing about Britain’s death drive. They know that morbid fascinations of bad faith, morose binds and slow crawls have led us here. Their debut tape (on Gob Nation) confronts the conceit of class deterioration, clashing together energies of No Wave, Jazz, Dub and Goth into a work that, through part satire and part protest, has the hooks to fight back. We are left with five tracks self-described as anti-jazz with an overarching structure that feels like a Killing Joke inspired noir thriller, where moments of dark aggression are sonically punctuated by open stretches of rhythmic disorientation. https://gobnation.bandcamp.com/album/pay-pig   HOME SECRETARY are a duo from South London, creating rickety and occasionally rhythmic non-songs that combine spoken word with improvised instrumentation. Expect to hear crude sound collage, fumbled instruments, and vocals whispered and proclaimed. https://homesec.bandcamp.com

Upset The Rhythm presents… THE PHEROMOANS - Wyrd Psearch album launch APOSTILLE DEAN RODNEY JR. & THE COWBOYS FLEX DJs (HP Sorcery & The Plague) Tuesday 5 March Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin St, London, E8 3DL 7.30pm | £10 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/ed1d116c8c37 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 March 1st on Upset The Rhythm). ‘Wyrd Psearch’ was recorded in Lewes throughout 2023. This was undertaken by founding member James Tranmer, his keen instinct for how the band should sound shaping many of the creative decisions. Joined by new guitarist Henry Holmes, the five piece doubled down on a decidedly breezy, melodic approach. Scott Reeve’s drumming is ever brisk, whilst Daniel Bolger explores AOR peripheries on keyboard and bass. “Wyrd Psearch finds us on relatively zestful form” affirms Walker “whether it be merrily recalling the Jason Williamson / Tim Lovejoy Covid summit, or mentally bathing in the pleasures of lunch hours spent strapped to a listening post in Borders.” 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 APOSTILLE is a man who's torn through enough soundsystems to know the difference between gesture and meaning. Alongside running his own DIY record label Night School Records, Glasgow native Michael Kasparis has previously made forays into the realm of hardcore punk with his groups Anxiety and The Lowest Form. Throughout all this, his solo electronic venture Apostille has continued to evolve with each twist and turn of the world. What started off as a quest to whip up a mood and force that into a song has steadily become more of a mission in communication. The third Apostille album, ‘Prisoners Of Love And Hate’, was released on Night School on September 22nd. https://apostille.bandcamp.com/album/prisoners-of-love-and-hate DEAN RODNEY JR. is an artist and the lead singer of Dean Rodney Jr. & The Cowboys. In this latest project he puts on the golden suit and riffs about food, jiggling body parts and more over tight disco pop. Backed by Rosie Ridgeway, Jack Barraclough, Tom Hirst and Robyn Steward, you better watch out as there’s a new sheriff in town! Their debut album ‘The Yeehaw Moment’ is out now. Dean was also the frontman of The Fish Police, has collaborated with Ravioli Me Away and during lockdown, Dean wrote and recorded 54 albums, describing a fictional alternative version of the present day, Dean TV World. https://deanrodneyjrandthecowboys.bandcamp.com

Upset The Rhythm presents… THE UMBRELLAS SWANSEA SOUND AUTOCAMPER Wednesday 13 March OSLO, 1a Amhurst Road, Hackney Central, London, E8 1LL 7.30pm | £13 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/ee39bba86945   THE UMBRELLAS are four renegade romantics crafting irresistible indie pop hymns. The band’s self-titled 2021 debut album became a breakout moment, winning critical praise and sparking an international tour. Follow-up LP ‘Fairweather Friend’ goes a step further – absorbing the sonic attack of their live shows, it balances this with studio finesse, allowing the San Francisco four-piece to become the band they’ve always aspired to be. It’s a record overflowing with highlights. The candyfloss melodies of introductory track ‘Three Cheers!’ are matched to an impactful percussive punch; ‘Say What You Mean’ finds The Umbrellas working with total confidence, letting the song ride out to its chiming conclusion, four voices working in precision. ‘When You Find Out’ offers rotating notes of guitar punctuated by a vocal that pushes past angst to accept a world full of hope. A lean 10 track affair, it grasps towards beatific pop while fuelled by a sense of risk, and the precision that comes from long months on the road. Taken as a whole ‘Fairweather Friend’ is a bold indie pop triumph, crafted with purpose and attention. Taking their time over each note, the four-piece have strengthened their songwriting, adding depth and assurance while unlocking their potential. Some bonds last a lifetime – The Umbrellas are ready to capture your heart. https://theumbrellasca.bandcamp.com/album/the-umbrellas   SWANSEA SOUND are Hue Williams (The Pooh Sticks), Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey (both Talulah Gosh/Heavenly, The Catenary Wires), Bob Collins (The Dentists, The Treasures of Mexico), Ian Button, (Death in Vegas, with Louis Philippe, Pete Astor and Papernut Cambridge). Swansea Sound’s recent album Twentieth Century was released by Skep Wax Records. On this second album of unapologetic indie pop and punk they sing about things like Pete Shelley, vinyl, online shopping and getting older. https://swanseasound.bandcamp.com/album/swansea-sound AUTOCAMPER are a four-piece jangle pop band playing scuzzy C86-inspired music. The band’s recent demo EP came out on Discontinuous Innovation Inc (run by Nick from The Umbrellas), they’ve recently played shows with The Orchids, Lande Hekt, The Vaselines and Jeanines. https://autocamper.bandcamp.com

Upset The Rhythm presents… MARY LATTIMORE Tuesday 26 March Scala, 275 Pentonville Rd, London, N1 9NL 7.30pm | £15 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/E8624bc1f2eb MARY LATTIMORE is a harpist and composer living in Los Angeles. She experiments with her Lyon and Healy Concert Grand harp and effects. Her solo debut, The Withdrawing Room, was released in 2013 on Desire Path Recordings. Lattimore also writes harp parts for songs and recordings, performing and recording with such great artists as Meg Baird, Thurston Moore, Sharon Van Etten, Jarvis Cocker, Kurt Vile, Steve Gunn, Ed Askew and Fursaxa. Her debut solo record for Ghostly International, 'At The Dam', was recorded during stops along a road trip across America and released in March 2016. The next year, she compiled sounds from her past life in Philadelphia for a cassette tape titled 'Collected Pieces'. Released in May 2018 to acclaim from the likes of NPR, Pitchfork, and The New Yorker Lattimore's next album 'Hundreds of Days' presented an expression of mystified gratitude for the natural world. ‘Goodbye, Hotel Arkada’ (Ghostly International), Lattimore’s  new LP, speaks not just for its beloved namesake - a hotel in Croatia facing renovation - but for a universal loss that is shared. Six sprawling pieces shaped by change; nothing will ever be the same, and here, the artist, evolving in synthesis, celebrates and mourns the tragedy and beauty of the ephemeral, all that is lived and lost to time. Documented and edited in uncharacteristically measured sessions over the course of two years, the material remains rooted in improvisation while glistening as the most refined and robust in Lattimore’s decade-long catalog. It finds her communing with friends, contemporaries, and longtime influences, in full stride yet slowing down to nurture songs in new ways. The cast includes Lol Tolhurst (The Cure), Meg Baird, Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Roy Montgomery, Samara Lubelski, and Walt McClements. https://marylattimoreharpist.bandcamp.com/

Thanks for reading and we'll see you on Sunday in shop assistant mode! Upset The Rhythm

UPSET THE RHYTHM UPCOMING SHOWS

THE HOMESICK FINDOM HOME SECRETARY Thursday 22 February The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, London, N1 9JB 7.30pm | £10 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/bf946caa252b   TARA CLERKIN TRIO GENGHIS COHN Monday 26 February 100 Club, 100 Oxford St, London, W1D 1LL 7.30pm | SOLD OUT   THE PHEROMOANS - 'Wyrd Psearch' album launch APOSTILLE DEAN RODNEY JR. & THE COWBOYS FLEX DJs (HP Sorcery & The Plague) Tuesday 5 March Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin St, London, E8 3DL 7.30pm | £10 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/ed1d116c8c37   THE UMBRELLAS SWANSEA SOUND AUTOCAMPER Wednesday 13 March OSLO, 1a Amhurst Road, Hackney Central, London, E8 1LL 7.30pm | £13 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/ee39bba86945   MARY LATTIMORE Tuesday 26 March Scala, 275 Pentonville Rd, London, N1 9NL 7.30pm | £15 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/E8624bc1f2eb   ALISON COTTON Friday 5 April St Pancras Old Church, Pancras Road, King's Cross, NW1 1UL 7.30pm | £13 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Hc9626d08025   MARTIN NEWELL (Cleaners From Venus) Thursday 11 April St Matthias Church, Wordsworth Road, Dalston, London, N16 8DD 7.30pm | £15 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/b9f5c252d897 HOUSE Of ALL Thursday 18 April The Dome, 2A Dartmouth Park Hill, Tufnell Park, N19 5QH 7pm | £18 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/wac85b671659   LANKUM Saturday 18 May Sunday 19 May Hackney Empire, 291 Mare St, London E8 1EJ (Produced by UTR and Parallel Lines) 8pm | SOLD OUT   THE REDS, PINKS AND PURPLES Wednesday 12 June - SOLD OUT Thursday 13 June The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, Angel, London, N1 9JB 7.30pm | £14 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/gf4a71a6788c   FUTURE ISLANDS BAXTER DURY JULIE BYRNE Saturday 27 July Crystal Palace Bowl, Crystal Palace Park, London, SE19 2BA (Produced by UTR and Parallel Lines) 2pm | Tickets: https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/event/3500603AB71C3B14

Faith In The Future!

 

The Pheromoans roll up their trouser and consult with the master mason today as they rebound with a second single from their glorious upcoming ‘Wyrd Psearch’ album. ‘Faith in the Future’ “cautiously tugs at a thread of certain patterns, mishearings and misinterpreted gestures” according to vocalist Russell Walker.

The song is complemented here by the visual recordings of 11-year-old Hitchin resident Rowan Walker and his keen eye for transportation. ‘Wyrd Psearch’ will be released on March 1st by Upset The Rhythm and is available to pre-order now.