100 Flowers - London show announced!

 

 

What a turn up for the books… 100 FLOWERS in London on Halloween, wowowowowo!

Upset The Rhythm presents…

100 FLOWERS
Friday 31 October
New River Studios, 199 Eade Rd, Harringay, London, N4 1DN
7.30pm | £10 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/teff2cfdc2f2

100 FLOWERS are a post-punk band from Los Angeles, California, active primarily in the early 1980s. The group evolved from the politically charged punk outfit The Urinals, who were known for their raw, minimalist sound and radical brevity, many of their songs clocked in under a minute. As their musical interests expanded and matured, the trio mutated into 100 Flowers in 1981, taking their name from Mao Zedong’s “Hundred Flowers Campaign,” a brief period in Chinese history encouraging open expression. The new moniker reflected their increasingly sophisticated and experimental approach to music, while maintaining a subversive, critical edge.

The band consisted of the same core lineup from the Urinals: John Talley-Jones (vocals, bass), Kjehl Johansen (guitar, vocals), and Kevin Barrett (drums). Under the 100 Flowers name, they moved beyond the stark minimalism of their previous incarnation, embracing more complex song structures, abstract lyrics, and an eclectic mix of influences ranging from Wire and Gang of Four to Captain Beefheart and Pere Ubu. Their sound retained punk’s urgency and DIY ethos but integrated funk, avant-garde noise, and jarring time signatures, all hallmarks of the emerging post-punk genre. In 1983, 100 Flowers released their self-titled LP on the independent label Happy Squid Records, which they co-founded. The album was critically well-regarded within underground circles, praised for its angular guitar work, sharp lyrical content, and inventive rhythms. Songs like “Sensible Virgins” and “Motorboat to Hell” showcased their unique fusion of intelligence, irony, and punk rebellion. The group disbanded in 1983, but their influence endured. Both 100 Flowers and the Urinals became cult favorites, especially among later generations of punk, indie rock, and lo-fi musicians. Their music was rediscovered and reissued over the years, including a retrospective compilation, 100 Years of Pulchritude, which brought renewed attention to their groundbreaking work.

https://100flowers.bandcamp.com/album/100-flowers

The Smashing Times / Linda Smith - 7" released!

What a day! 

Upset The Rhythm releases UTR174 - a split 7” single between The Smashing Times and Linda Smith. United by DIY panache, Baltimore habitats and a charmed-pop delicacy, both acts showcase two new tracks on this record. Linda Smith conjures up some keyboard-warble anthems, whilst The Smashing Times encourage all to partake of their low-fidelity daytrips. It is a real meeting of minds. Available on all streaming platforms as of… now, and as an impressive black vinyl artefact from all the best shops.

https://upsettherhythm.bandcamp.com/

UTR
x

Me Lost Me + Walt McClements - August London shows!

 

Hello again!   I hope you enjoyed the last week as much as we did, four incredible shows in five days. We're far from a spent force though, as tomorrow Upset The Rhythm returns to the atmospheric St Pancras Old Church for Me Lost Me's album launch.   Wednesday's concert will celebrate Me Lost Me's stunning new record, proudly released by UTR last month. 'This Material Moment' was described by MOJO recently as a David Lynch-directed version of The Unthanks. It certainly is a dramatic listen, and the songs? The songs! Well they are simply alive with ideas and emotional quests.   Tomorrow's performance sees Jayne accompanied by her full band featuring John Pope on electric/double bass, Faye MacCalman on clarinet, and Ewan Mackenzie (Dextro/Pigs x7) on drums. It's going to crush. We're beyond happy to have The Silver Field opening the show too. Tickets available on the door from 7.30pm, live music firing up fro 8.15pm. Read on for all the particulars.   You'll also find below the listing for our other August event (Wed 27 Aug) at Cafe OTO with ambient accordionist Walt McClements and Jacken Elswyth.

Upset The Rhythm presents… ME LOST ME - ‘This Material Moment’ album launch! THE SILVER FIELD Wednesday 6 August St Pancras Old Church, Pancras Road, King's Cross, London, NW1 1UL 7.30pm | £10 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/i7853be3d99b ME LOST ME delights in experimenting with songwriting and storytelling, creating a beguiling mix of soaring vocals and atmospheric electronics that playfully weave together disparate genres, drawing influence from folk, art pop, noise, ambient and improvised music. In 2023 Me Lost Me released the critically regarded album 'RPG' and toured extensively in support of the release. On Me Lost Me's fourth full-length, This Material Moment - arriving on Upset the Rhythm on 27th June - she has created an "emotionally raw" album, her most honest and vulnerable yet. Me Lost Me presents sound reaching in opposite directions, straddling time towards the archaic and timeless traditions of folktales, and towards the possible and potential futures of pastoral Britain and the world at large. Concerned with physicality, interpretations, and, yes, materiality, ‘This Material Moment’ is an album akin to rummaging through a box of long-forgotten trinkets. With each song, Me Lost Me extracts something from the box and asks us to consider it from every angle. "This is an album which uses words as a material, a playful tool for experimentation, full of metaphor, abstraction and analogies." Jayne says, "it has softness and anger, humour, hope and despair, intensity of feeling in all directions expressed as textures, objects, places." ‘This Material Moment’ was written and arranged solo, but played with a core band of John Pope on electric/double bass, Faye MacCalman on clarinet, and now with the addition of Ewan Mackenzie (Dextro/Pigs x7) on drums - bringing in live drums and electric bass for the first time. The album was recorded by Sam Grant at Blank Studios in Newcastle, who also worked on RPG. https://www.melostme.com/   THE SILVER FIELD is an Oram award-winning project built from the sound world of Rose Kindred-Boothby. Voice, tapes, bass, samples, synthesis, strings, reeds, drums, small sounds, big sounds, sunlight, moonlight, a lot of water. Using her modular synthesiser and other self-built electronic instruments, Coral weaves together song-soundscapes, creating a rich and dream-like tapestry of sound that draws from folk music tradition, experimental electronics and psychedelia. https://thesilverfield.co.uk/

Upset The Rhythm presents…   WALT McCLEMENTS JACKEN ELSWYTH Wednesday 27 August Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin St, London, E8 3DL 7.30pm | £12 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Q090a15c33bd   WALT McCLEMENTS is an accordionist, multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Los Angeles. His solo compositions focus on processed accordion, creating patient and emotional meditations that nod to drone and ambient music. His debut record, “A Hole in the Fence” was released in 2021 on American Dreams, and utilized a minimal palette of accordions treated through guitar pedals to create glacial soundscapes and odes to hidden worlds. On his latest record and first for Western Vinyl, “On a Painted Ocean”, he expands his sonic tools to include lush synths, droning pipe organs, and spirited horns, creating a vibrant journey from solitary stillness to community exuberance. The record also follows last year’s “Rain on the Road”, a collaborative album with harpist Mary Lattimore, released on Thrill Jockey.   Prior to releasing music under his own name, McClements has been a touring member of Weyes Blood, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and Dark Dark Dark, as well as leading New Orleans art-punk brass ensemble Why Are We Building Such A Big Ship? and one man band Lonesome Leash.   https://www.waltmcclements.com/   JACKEN ELSWYTH is a London-based folk musician, banjo player, and instrument builder. In her music making she is focused on exploring traditional tunes, developing extrapolations on folk styles and techniques, and investigating drone, ambience, and improvisation within and beyond folk music. Her debut album At Fargrounds (Wrong speed Records, 2024) was described as a ‘folk-thesis for our times’ by The Quietus. Jacken also organises the Betwixt & Between split tape series, and plays in Shovel Dance Collective too.   https://jackenelswyth.bandcamp.com/

See you tomorrow at St Pancras, thanks for reading! Upset The Rhythm

UPSET THE RHYTHM UPCOMING SHOWS

ME LOST ME - ‘This Material Moment’ album launch!
THE SILVER FIELD
Wednesday 6 August
St Pancras Old Church, Pancras Road, King's Cross, London, NW1 1UL

7.30pm | £10 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/i7853be3d99b

 

WALT McCLEMENTS
JACKEN ELSWYTH
Wednesday 27 August
Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin St, London, E8 3DL

7.30pm | £12 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Q090a15c33bd

 

SIR RICHARD BISHOP
Saturday 11 October
Chats Palace, 42-44 Brooksby's Walk, London, E9 6DF
7.30pm | £14 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/V7e42376f168

 

LANDE HEKT
Wednesday 15 October
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, Angel, London, N1 9JB
7.30pm | £12.50 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/fbcab145bcce

 

STEVE GUNN
Thursday 23 October
St Matthias Church, Wordsworth Rd, Dalston, London, N16 8DD
7.30pm | £14 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Kbeb8bca6565

 

LUNG LEG

UNMARRY ME!

THE PLAN

Saturday 25 October

MOTH Club, Old Trades Hall, Valette St, London, E9 6NU

7pm-10pm | £10 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Uf5bde2d3be1

 

PROLAPSE

MODERATE REBELS

Sunday 26 October
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, Angel, London, N1 9JB
7pm | £15 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/of4172f9538d

 

JOHN MAUS

Monday 3 November

O2 Forum Kentish Town, 9-17 Highgate Rd, London NW5 1JY

In collaboration with Parallel Lines

7pm | £25 | Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/2uctuz6b

 

PHEW
FREDDIE MURPHY
Tuesday 4 November
ICA, The Mall, London, SW1Y 5AH
7.30pm | £16 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/j37d81ca0772

 

PROTOMARTYR

MARCEL WAVE (Nov 12)

HONESTY (Nov 13)

Wednesday 12 November - on sale!
Thursday 13 November - sold out!
ICA, The Mall, London, SW1Y 5AH
7.30pm | £21 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/ha26f4ea47ea  

 

TRISTWCH Y FENYWOD
ANNA PEAKER
Friday 14 November
St Matthias Church, Wordsworth Rd, London, N16 8DD
7.30pm | £15 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/C2c8f1fbb937