Classic orange Upset The Rhythm poster!
Dates for the diary!
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Sunday, 24 March 2024
Saturday, 23 March 2024
Earth Ball + Chris Corsano - in Shrewsbury!
Upset The Rhythm presents…
EARTH BALL
CHRIS CORSANO
Friday 24 May
English Bridge Workshop, Abbey Forgate, Shrewsbury, SY2 6AD
7.30pm | £10 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Rd34b1015951
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.
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
Tuesday, 19 March 2024
Parsnip - Turn to Love [VIDEO]
Don’t turn back!
Parsnip explode into colour, costume and creativity with their incredible video for new single ‘Turn To Love’. Out today digitally and featured on their forthcoming album ‘Behold’ (out April 26th through Upset The Rhythm and Anti Fade). Blooming marvellous effort from the Australian DIY pop quartet!
Slumberland Records showcase!
Upset The Rhythm present a Slumberland Records showcase featuring…
BIRDIE
TONY MOLINA
LIGHTHEADED
HANGOVER LOUNGE DJs
Wednesday 24 July
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, Angel, London, N1 9JB
7.30pm | £14.00 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/j163b4c82f7b
BIRDIE’s
roots go all the way back to 1992 at Saint Etienne live band
rehearsals. Debsey Wykes had been in Etienne (and everybody's!) faves
Dolly Mixture and was on board as a backing vocalist, while Paul Kelly
had been in the equally legendary East Village and was now part of St
Etienne's touring band. The pair became fast friends and then a couple,
bonding over a love of the sunshine pop and soft rock music of the 60s
and 70s, and began spending hours together strategising a new band,
eventually forming Birdie in 1994 and releasing the "Spiral Staircase"
7" in 1997.
In the summer of 1998 Birdie recorded their debut
album "Some Dusty" with the estimable Brian O'Shaughnessy (Denim, Moose,
The Clientele). It's a deep and beautiful album, with Paul's melodic,
sophisticated arrangements providing the perfect setting for Debsey's
sweet and soulful soft-pop vocals. Birdie followed up the 1999 release
of "Some Dusty" on It Records with a series of essential singles - “Let
Her Go," "Such A Sound," and "Sidewalk" -- culminating in the release of
their second album "Triple Echo" in 2001. Family life and other
artistic pursuits called, and Birdie has only been sporadically active
since then. Their brief but perfectly-formed discography has become the
stuff of legend, charming savvy pop fans around the world. Summer 2024
will see the long overdue vinyl reissue of "Some Dusty" on US indie
label Slumberland Records.
https://www.discogs.com/artist/292344-Birdie-2
TONY MOLINA
is a northern Californian native with a restless, multi-faceted musical
personality. He got his start playing in hardcore bands, but over time
developed two distinct styles that are very far removed from that sound.
Initially under the name Ovens, then as a solo artist, he crafts
bite-sized chunks of melodic pop that can be broken into two
sub-headings: quiet acoustic guitar-led ballads and noisy electric songs
that sound like Teenage Fanclub with J Mascis and the Fastbacks' Kurt
Bloch spearheading a dual guitar attack. In 2009 Molina released the
first music under his own name, the 12-song Embarrassing Times cassette.
In 2013, Molina released his second solo album, Dissed and Dismissed, a
collection of 12 short and fuzzy tunes that took notes from '90s indie
and power pop acts like Weezer, Redd Kross, and Dinosaur Jr. What was
intended as a demo caught the attention of fans of melodic guitar pop
and hooked two legendary American labels, Matador and Slumberland. The
former released the Six Tracks EP later in 2013; the latter signed him
and reissued Dissed and Dismissed in 2014.
His next album,
2018's Kill the Lights, came about much more naturally. He worked on
some songs with a friend, Jasper Leach, and they decided to make a
record out of the demos they had started. Recorded in two studios and a
bedroom, the album was again built around Molina's acoustic guitar and
winsome pop melodies, but this time featured some folk-rock-ready
12-string electric, a full-band sound, and Leach's keyboards. Molina’s
latest album, In the Fade, was released by Summer Shade, an offshoot of
Run for Cover, in August of 2022 and was the first of his solo records
to contain all the sides of his musical personality under one roof.
https://tonymolina650.bandcamp.com/
LIGHTHEADED
from New Jersey have conjured, through some mysterious alchemy, a
distinctive flavor of pop that draws as much from 60s Brill Building,
garage-pop and folk-pop as it does from the DIY indie explosion of the
80s/early 90s. Their debut EP "Good Good Great!" shows that band core
Cynthia and Stephen are clearly students of pop in all its permutations,
but they wear their influences lightly - a typical Lightheaded song
could have been released in 1966 or 1986, but in fact sounds just right
in 2024! Their sound has just right amount of elemental murk, drawing to
mind a mythical collab between Phil Spector and Curt Boettcher's
Sagittarius, working their way through the Goffin & King songbook.
Cynthia's rich vocals are the secret weapon, possessing a depth and
swing that can handle with aplomb the sprightliest pop or the
tear-jerkingest drama. The group’s debut album titled “Combustible
Gems”, will be released on Slumberland this May!
https://areyoufeelinglightheaded.bandcamp.com/
Thursday, 14 March 2024
Empires into Sand
Huge day today! Normil Hawaiians’ first new album in 40 years will be coming out on Upset The Rhythm on May 24th. Titled ‘Empires into Sand’, the record is an incredible patchwork cloak of ideas drawing on ambient drone, motorik impulse, folk idiom and a certain cosmic uncanny.
A Windswept album recorded in a windswept Scottish coastal retreat, ‘Empires into Sand’ swims with short wave radio interference and overheard satellite transmissions. These are winding rivers of song, peopled with the displaced, determined, downhearted yet hopeful. Swirling atmospheres, field recordings, tape-looped drums, rapid synth flights and soaring vocals all abound in this echo from the now.
‘Empires into Sand’ will be released on gatefold LP, CD and digitally on May 24th, it is available to pre-order now from our shop now.
Lead single ‘Exiles’ is released today, exploring the continuous movement of human beings, check out the video for more sublime signs from the firmament.
Tuesday, 12 March 2024
Earth Ball - 'It's Yours' album announced!
Arise!
It's time to take on Earth Ball! Earth Ball are a wild ride of an ensemble from Nanaimo (Canada); spontaneous, instinctual and eruptive inside out. When Earth Ball fire up the amps in their basement you can hear the voices of ghosts hum through the speakers. Kellan's hued feedback, Izzy's sturdy basslines, Jer's paperbag guitar tone and rumble pack zaps, Liam's sheets of sound and Brennen's multidirectional drums are expansive, restlessly inventive and truly psychedelic. Their debut LP ‘It’s Yours’ will be coming out on May 17th via Upset The Rhythm. Take a first listen to ‘A Need To Cool Down’ and reframe your brain, all is temporary.
‘It’s Yours’ is available to pre-order on clear 180g vinyl w/ a hand-painted insert from the band now.
Earth Ball are also touring the UK this May in support of this release with their friend-in-sound Chris Corsano, see you at a show!
EARTH BALL & CHRIS CORSANO - UK TOUR
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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Monday, 11 March 2024
The Umbrellas - Live in London this Wednesday!
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Lots more on Wednesday's concert to follow, along with full show listings for our forthcoming London events with Mary Lattimore, Luce Mawdsley, Alison Cotton, Stereocilia, House Of All and The Courtesy Group too.
You'll also find new listings for Earth Ball, Chris Corsano, Jeremiah Chiu and Mohammad Syfkhan added to our upcoming programme too, all on sale now! |
 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 LUCE MAWDSLEY
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/ LUCE MAWDSLEY (they/them) is an autistic non-binary composer
and guitarist based in Liverpool with a practice rooted in progressive
experimentation. Drawing from a range of poetic art forms, their work
uses personal experience of neurodivergence, mental health disorders and
queerness as a ligature from which to generate subversive explorations
of gender, sexuality, place and identity formation. 'Northwest &
Nebulous' (out this March on Pure O Records) is a lush and accomplished
album suffused with radiant and fluid possibilities. A world-building
album pulling from folk, Americana and soundtrack influences, it fuses
their romantic and exploratory energies and signals the beginning of a
new journey for composer, with an open invitation for listeners to come
along for the ride. Luce Mawdsley will be accompanied by fellow North
Liverpool musicians Nicholas Branton and Luci Mercer for this
performance.
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 Upset The Rhythm presents… ALISON COTTON STEREOCILIA Friday 5 April St Pancras Old Church, Pancras Road, King's Cross, NW1 1UL 7.30pm | £13 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Hc9626d08025 ALISON COTTON is a viola player based in London working in composition and improvisation. Her debut album ’All Is Quiet at the Ancient Theatre’ was released in 2018 firstly on cassette on Bloxham Tapes, followed by a vinyl release on Cardinal Fuzz (UK) and Feeding Tube (USA). In July 2019 her longform piece, ‘Behind the Spiderweb Gates’ was released on the Australian label, Longform Editions. As well as the viola, she uses an array of other instruments (her voice, harmonium, percussion, recorder, omnichord, shruti box and piano) to create long, haunting folk drones. Cotton’s recent album ‘The Portrait You Painted of Me’, is a 6-track record – her first for Rocket Recordings. This will be followed up in March with ‘Engelchen’, an album reflecting on the intrepid Cook sisters whose efforts helped refugees escape Nazi-occupied Europe in the 1930s. It’s a celebration of the human spirit, one that reflects a universality in its narrative which transcends the boundaries of history and impacts very urgently on our daily lives. Whatever attempts may be made to tell this story, it’s hard to imagine one that resonates deeper than ‘Engelchen’. https://alisoncotton-uk.bandcamp.com STEREOCILIA is Bristol, UK based guitarist and composer, John Scott. John uses his guitar, analog synths and live looping techniques to create dense, rich layers of sound. Over the past 10 years John has performed all over the UK and Europe. in the past he has shared a stage with acts including Ben Frost, William Baskinski, Gnod, Nadja, Daniel Lanois, Noveller, White Hills, Acid Mothers Temple, Josef Van Wissem, Mick Turner (The Dirty Three) and performed in three of Rhys Chatham’s guitar Orchestras. He has also presented work for live radio broadcasts and regularly composes for Short Film, including the Channel 4 award winning documentary, 'The Boy With The 8-Hour Heart.' Stereocilia has released several albums and EP’s on UK independent labels, Drone Rock Records, Low Point, Champion Version, Weird Beard, and his own imprint, Echoic Memory. His 5th album “Crystalline” released in April 2023 was his third release for Brighton based label, Drone Rock Records. https://stereocilia.bandcamp.com/music |
 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. https://thecourtesygroup.bandcamp.com/ |