Venue Download
Because we like you, the BMF and Venue magazine Bristol and Bath’s one and only what’s on and all that matters in Bristol (and Bath) guide, shall be bringing you a series of tracks to download linked to key music events happening in the good ol’ South West of England throughout the year. Absolutely free! This month you can download yourself an album’s worth of musical goodness plucked from the line-up of the 2009 BARSS Fest.
CLICK the link right HERE to download them all now! And read on…
Playing a SongSmith night has become something of a rite of passage for songwriters Round These Parts, the wide-ranging booking policy and supportive environs providing a nursery slope for acts looking to move from open mic slots to ‘proper’ gigs, name on the bill and all.
Liz Lawrence ‘Back Seat Driving’
It’d be wrong to say that acoustic guitar-wielding performers singing songs of confession are ten-a-penny; generally, you can see them for free. But when we saw Ms Lawrence play this track at a Mr Wolf’s SongSmith night earlier in the summer, we reckoned we’d chanced upon a fresh-faced, free-flowingly precocious talent (she’s still ‘just’ a student at Dartington, after all) for whom an Emiliana Torrini-esque pop-shaped career could be just a sympathetic producer away. Now, go check out that chorus progression and tell us we’re wrong.
myspace.com/lizlawrencelive
Elliot Hall ‘Life Is Hard’
Life is also rough, opines the song, and utterly impervious to just how hard you work. There’s an outside chance you may have come across similar sentiments in blues songs before; altogether rarer, though, to hear them expressed in a voice you actually believe. As we noted in our review of his cracking ‘Songs and Sonnets’ long player, “Hall is what Ray LaMontagne pretends to be”. As he admits, he couldn’t be anything else if he tried: “If you like Britney Spears, I have a slightly blond tinge to my hair and could even try wearing a dress. But, frankly, it ain’t happening.”
myspace.com/elliothallmusic
Hazel Mills ‘Low Place Like Home’
This take on an old Sneaker Pimps track is the answer to the question: what do you get if you set up the theme from ‘The Exorcist’ with a 20-year lease on a flat in St Pauls, feed it a daily diet of paranoia and then get Tori Amos to sing over the results? If Ms Mills is good enough to be invited to play alongside Roxy Music alumni Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson in The Metaphors, then, dammit, she’s good enough for us. Expect new, Abbey Road-mastered album with new band White Rabbit by the end of the year.
myspace.com/hazelmills
Diego ‘Another Place’
It was only 10 days ago that the Bristol five-piece launched their very first release, the ‘Surrendered’ EP, at The Croft. Which makes this slice of Snow Patrol-/Coldplay-/Starsailor-oriented keening indie pop sound almost ridiculously accomplished.
myspace.com/wearediego
Emily & The Whispers ‘Try Not To Break Anything’
The band haven’t even celebrated their first birthday yet, but this one’s got Future Favourite of Uncut Magazine written all over it: lilting electric guitar lines, string-laden undertow and breathily wistful vocals are all present and correct. As is the perfectly polished production, courtesy of Jim Barr and long-time Hazel Mills collaborator TJ Allen. Little wonder, then, that they’ve been bequeathed radio airplay everywhere from the NME to LA.
myspace.com/emilygrist
Ian Perry ‘Tides’
Remember the kind of lugubrious, naturalistic imagery-packed, slow-hand balladry beloved by Free in their ‘Fire & Water’ days? We’d hazard a guess that Ian Perry does. Next time you find yourself last person standing at a late-night beachside campfire, make damn sure this one’s on your iPod.
myspace.com/ianperrymusic
Ruby Brown ‘Love In A Box’
“It’s all fabulous,” claims Ms Brown’s EP mixer, Midge Ure, of her tastefully understated tuneage. Here you’ll find pleasingly restrained, softly sung phrasing
augmented by jazz chording guitar from Marius McKee and Tom Skailes’s fluttering sax (part of a live set-up often also including Beth Ubiquitous – sorry, Porter – on cello and ukulele).
myspace.com/rubybrownmusic
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