9 for 2023!

 

Nine lessons and carols and… nine releases from Upset The Rhythm too! 2023 has been a bumper 20th year for UTR with releases by Me Lost Me, Es, Water Machine, Screensaver, The Toads, Terry, Brontez Purnell,Vintage Crop and Historically F*cked. If you like spontaneous rock throttles, gothic restlessness, time-straddling folk role-play or snappy postpunk we’ve got you covered. So many highlights! All of these records are streaming through the digiverse now, whilst  you can find pristine vinyl copies in all the best shops and via own webstore here too.

Thank you for supporting us as ever by listening, it really means the world.
May many merry times be bestowed upon thee!
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The Umbrellas - London show announced for March 13th!

 

 

Upset The Rhythm presents…

THE UMBRELLAS
Wednesday 13 March
OSLO, 1a Amhurst Road, Hackney Central, London, E8 1LL
7.30pm | £13 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/ee39bba86945 (on sale this Friday at 10am)

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

UTR20 t-shirts and posters hit the webshop!

Ho, ho, woah!
Tis the season for jolly merch!
Today we added to our webshop our Upset The Rhythm ‘20th anniversary’ t-shirts and risograph posters designed by the wondrous Meg Woof. Our new pin badges and stickers are up there too, joining this year’s UTR releases by Brontez Purnell, Screensaver, Me Lost Me, Vintage Crop, Water Machine, The Toads, Terry, Es and Historically F***ed. To celebrate we’re offering everyone here a festive 20% discount, just use the code UTR20 before January and get merry!

UTR webshop: https://upsettherhythm.bigcartel.com/
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The Pheromoans at Cafe OTO in March!

Really thrilled for this new show in March!

 

Upset The Rhythm presents…

THE PHEROMOANS
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 were formed in Brighton in 2005 as a quartet of Alex Garran, James Hines, James Tranmer and Russell Walker, and played their first concert in at the Freebutt in Brighton in January 2006. Russell moved to London shortly after, putting the future of the band in doubt. Combinations of the above line-up along with new member Christian Butler-Zanetti. They would play sporadically in London with promoters such as Upset The Rhythm at venues such as Bardens Boudoir in Dalston. The sound was a very basic take on UK DIY bands such as Swell Maps, along with obscure garage rock bands from the 1960s as documented on retrospective compilations such as Back To The Grave. What set the band apart from their peers was a complete disregard for musical competence and rehearsing, along with the effort Russell Walker put into his lyrics. They made a CD to start selling at gigs in 2007, and gradually recorded that would make up the material up that would be included on several singles and a debut LP on the New York label Consulsive in 2011. Several releases followed, with Scott Reeve replacing James Hines as drummer following a dispute. The early 2020s saw founding member of the band Alex Garran moving to Stavanger in Norway, and Christian Butler-Zanetti to Okinaya, Japan. In stepped Brighton resident Henry Holmes and work began on a forthcoming album in Lewes, recorded as usual by James Tranmer.
https://thepheromoans-alter.bandcamp.com

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 last September.
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 celebrates turning 20 this Saturday!

 

Seasonal greets!   We're donning party hats this Saturday at Cafe OTO as Upset The Rhythm is celebrating 20 years of rigourous DIY musical operation: 2000 shows, 160 records and a whole lotta late nights!   Come and help us blow out all those candles! We have thee best company as Linda Smith & Nancy Andrews will bring their lo-fi pop marvels, ethereal ballads and noir soundscapes to London for the first time. Long-standing UTR kith and kin Rattle and Russell Walker (of The Pheromoans) will also be providing entertainment during the evening, plus Simon Marchant (of Normil Hawaiians) will be sharing his DJ talents with us throughout.   We'll have records for sale, risographed posters and bright orange t-shirts (designed by Meg woof) to help mark the occasion, read on for the full story. Mince pies vs birthday cake hmmmm!

Upset The Rhythm present their 20th birthday party with… LINDA SMITH & NANCY ANDREWS RATTLE RUSSELL WALKER SIMON MARCHANT (Normil Hawaiians) - DJ SET Saturday 9 December Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin St, London, E8 3DL 7.30pm | £12 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Y1c88667d259 LINDA SMITH & NANCY ANDREWS shared a big house in Baltimore in 1983 with a continuously revolving cast of artists and musicians. It was there the like-minded artists formed their first band, Ceramic Madonna Head, a short-lived project which included housemates Elizabeth Downing and Peggy Bitzer. By the time the lease was up, Linda and Peggy had decided to move to New York where they would form a new band called The Woods while Nancy and Elizabeth remained in Baltimore and formed a performance art band called Lambs Eat Ivy. While playing guitar in The Woods in the mid-80’s Linda purchased her first 4-track cassette recorder and embarked on a pioneering decade of solo, DIY home recording with a series of cassettes and 7” records of smart and moody singer-songwriter bedroom pop music. This trailblazing period was recently documented on jewel-box compilation ‘Sky Girl’ and Captured Tracks’ retrospective compilation ‘Till Another Time: 1988-1996.’ During this same period Nancy pursued art, animation and filmmaking. The friends stayed in touch but hadn’t worked on a project together in nearly thirty years. In 2020, Linda rediscovered in the back of a drawer some old tapes of Nancy’s songs she had recorded for her in the 90’s. In the process of digitizing the old recordings she was inspired to reach out and float the idea of a new collaborative recording project with her old friend. ‘A Passing Cloud’ (Grapefruit/Gertrude Records) is the fruit of their rekindled long-distance musical conversation. All the songs were composed incrementally by passing tracks back and forth between Maine and Maryland, making for some beguiling pop music that draws us in with a carefully rendered intimacy. https://lindasmith2.bandcamp.com/album/a-passing-cloud RATTLE are a UK-based duo, Rattle focus almost exclusively on drums and more drums, beneath a delicate overlay of vocal harmonies and percussive effects. Formed by Katharine Eira Brown and Theresa Wrigley, Rattle began as an experiment in crafting rich songs and melody using drums and voice alone. Their music weaves and intertwines post-punk, minimalism and experimental rock, through off-kilter rhythms, patterns and counter melodies. Rattle effortlessly blend the avant-garde with irresistible melodies and hypnotic drum beats, using rhythm and harmony to create a refreshing sound that is utterly new - a pretty rare feat these days when we're saturated with so much music. Rattle's immense ‘Sequence’ album came out recently through Upset The Rhythm. https://rattleon.bandcamp.com/ RUSSELL WALKER is a 43 year old resident of Hitchin, Hertfordshire who dislikes Piers Morgan's son. He  writes / performs on his own as well as in various projects - his most recent releases are Soothers with Malvern Brume (Are You Before, 2023) and I Can't Remember as the Lloyd Pack (Digital Regress, 2023). https://on.soundcloud.com/aACG9     * Amazing poster by Meg Woof! We will have some risograph posters and some striking orange t-shirts emblazoned with this image available at the show!

Look out below for our programme of events for 2024, now boasting a Tara Clerkin Trio concert at the end of febraury at The 100 Club. Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday!   Upset The Rhythm

UPSET THE RHYTHM UPCOMING SHOWS

Upset The Rhythm present their 20th birthday party with…
LINDA SMITH & NANCY ANDREWS
RATTLE
RUSSELL WALKER

SIMON MARCHANT (Normil Hawaiians) - DJ SET

Saturday 9 December
Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin St, London, E8 3DL
7.30pm | £12 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/Y1c88667d259

LANKUM

RACHAEL LAVELLE

Wednesday 13 December
Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, London, NW1 8EH

(Produced by UTR and Parallel Lines)

7.30pm | SOLD OUT

 

THE HOMESICK

ROBERT SOTELO

Thursday 22 February

The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Rd, London, N1 9JB

7.30pm | £10 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/bf946caa252b

 

TARA CLERKIN TRIO
Monday 26 February
100 Club, 100 Oxford St, London, W1D 1LL
7.30pm | £13 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/a16641a4040a

 

MARY LATTIMORE
Tuesday 26 March
Scala, 275 Pentonville Rd, London, N1 9NL
7.30pm | £15 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/E8624bc1f2eb

 

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 | £25-£31.50 | Tickets: https://upsettherhythm.co.uk/

 

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

Tara Clerkin Trio - London show for February!

 

OK! February just got interesting!

Upset The Rhythm presents…

TARA CLERKIN TRIO
Monday 26 February
100 Club, 100 Oxford St, London, W1D 1LL
7.30pm | £13 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/a16641a4040a

TARA CLERKIN TRIO are Pat Benjamin, Sunny Joe Paradisos and Tara Clerkin, three musicians involved in a number of cult Bristol bands over the years before confidently settling down in triangle formation. They are inspired by and borrow from jazz, trip hop, electronica, psychedelia & minimalism, twirling the non-pretentious strands of these threads together into a trippy green winged-cloak, adorning Arthur Russell and dripping in blue jam.

Their self-titled debut LP was released in 2020 and was a sleeper hit, coming in at 35 in the Wire's top 100 albums of the year and in Bleeps top 10. Their latest EP, ‘On The Turning Ground’, was released on World of Echo in November. Whilst their inspirations might be centreless, but the trio still possess a very obvious anchor in the form of their hometown. Bristol stands as a city of multitudes, heterogenous and vibrant in such a way as to allow it to renew and remake time and again. Tara Clerkin Trio drink from that same well, duly reflecting a rich musical heritage built on fwd-facing electronic subcultures and experimental urges. As such, ‘On The Turning Ground’ finds them subject to their own subtle internal evolution, the pervasive sense that you've caught them mid-bloom, on their way to becoming but never anything but themselves.

https://taraclerkintrio.bandcamp.com/

UTR 20th anniversary radio special for Hello Goodbye!

There was an Upset The Rhythm 20th anniversary special on the radio over the weekend. Huge thanks to deXter Bentley & Hello Goodbye on Resonance FM for inviting Chris to chat about two decades of activity, our party at Cafe OTO this coming Saturday and why his right arm is two inches longer than the left. Starts from 7 minutes! Featuring tracks from Brontez Purnell, Linda Smith & Nancy Andrews, The Pheromoans (exclusive first listen) and Rattle (live in session). Nick Carlisle from Bamboo even pops up for a chat too! Magic!

Listen again

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