Some special sounds indeed

I'm still a bit bummed that I missed Shonen Knife at the Windmill last night. I've wanted to see them for ages and I had actually bought tickets (two even), but instead I heard Greenwich calling me...and I just couldn't resist. Monster Bobby was hosting his first Special Sounds night at Oliver's Music Bar and with Elizabeth being part of the night's line-up I felt obliged to attend.

Oliver's is a cosy little bar, tucked away underneath a restaurant on Nevada Street. Judging from the posters on the wall, they normally host jazz acts, so I don't know what they made of the evening's truly eclectic mix of cabaret-electronica-uke-pop. I assume they were happy, cause the night attracted a fair amount of people.

Monster Bobby himself started off the evening with his electro-crooner-pop. It's always a pleasure to see Bobby and last night was no different.

Xylitol was up next, with his light-hearted industrial electronica, playing a mixture of his own creations and covers by people I have never heard of. A bit strange, sure, but still hugely enjoyable.

It's been a while since Elizabeth played a solo show, but with the size/layout of the venue and the sit-down nature of the evening it just made sense. A brilliant set, with a new song (even to me!) thrown in.

The last act of the evening - Stuart Flynn's Dear Britch. Electro-cabaret I suppose would be a reasonable description. At first it reminded me a bit of Bobby Conn's weirder moments....kind of...but not really....great anyway.

When you live in North London, late nights in Greenwich are a real pain-in-the-ass and it's always depressing walking to the DLR knowing that you have an hour and a half of trains/tubes/walking until you get home. So, I'm absolutely knackered (again) today, but it was all worth it. Unfortunately I won't be around for the next night, which takes place on the last Wednesday of July, but I'm sure it'll be equally interesting. London needs more nights like this.

Monster Bobby myspace

Xylitol myspace

Allo, Darlin' myspace

Stuart Flynn's Dear Britch myspace

Find out about the next Special Sounds night and other similarly interesting events on the Little Other blog

It's been a while...

So, chaotic re-cap of the past two weeks….GO!

Last week (3rd-7th April) we went to Berlin. It was AWESOME! Allo, Darlin' played an incredible set, Moustache played a reasonably coherent set and Mike and Paul played a couple of awesome stripped-down Hexicon songs. We drank a lot, walked a lot and ate a lot. Successful holidaying indeed. And we rented bikes! Woo! Some photos…

We drank some horrible green beer.

Did some sighseeing.

Elizabeth Darling

We started a Berlin biker gang.

Took over a playground.

Last Friday I went to Kingston all by myself. I'm not sure why, but I had this image of Kingston being a horrible, dirty, dangerous London suburb. In the end it was actually quite nice. I had one of the worst pizzas I have ever had the privilege of paying £10 for though. Hooray! Instead of cheese...or at least as well as cheese, they seemed to have put bechemel sauce or some other cheese sauce on top. It was not pleasant. Anyway, the reason I went was because my old friend and former bandmate Michael was playing with his new band, The Terrors. This was my first punk show for quite some time, so it was a bit of a nostalgia trip.

Finally...yesterday it was time for the Duke of Uke Easter all-dayer (or all-eveninger as it turned out). A bunch of awesome bands in an awesome little shop. It was an incredible evening. I only caught five bands, but from what I heard it was great all the way through. Great turn-out as well. It's a real shame that these kind of events don't happen that often in London.

It was really weird playing in daylight and being able to see the audience, but I think it went alright. People seemed to enjoy it (despite all the mistakes) and we sold a bunch of CDs. Woo.

Moustache of Insanity last night (photo by Anika)

Allo, Darlin' (with Monster Bobby)

OK, I think that's about it.

Photo post No.2 (Brixton Jamm)

Went to Brixton Jamm last night to see Allo Darlin, Hexicon and Esiotrot. I took a whole roll of film, but didn't get many exciting ones. Here are the better ones.

Paul from Hexicon/Allo Darlin'

Monster Bobby doing his thang on an Allo Darlin' song

Monster Bobby and Elizabeth

Elizabeth Darling herself

Bill Moustache hanging out by himself, enjoying the show

Popfest video

Another video clip from the popfest. This one is from the Buffalo Bar on Friday 27th February. Here, Allo, Darlin is joined on stage by Monster Bobby for an as of yet untitled duet.

We did it!

The first 'Records Make Great Pets' night went really, really well. Everyone involved seemed to have a blast. Even though I spent most of my time from 5pm-8:20pm stressing like a mofo it all worked out in the end. It turned out to be exactly the type of night I've always wanted to go to, but have never really found in London. Of course, this was mainly down to the bands, who were all awesome. Well, I can't really comment on the awesomeness of Moustache of Insanity, since I'm in the band, but the others were all amazing.

Moustache of Insanity (myspace)

One of our best shows ever. Nothing went too terribly wrong and we remembered most words and chords. The new song went down really well. Hooray!

Allo, Darlin' (myspace)

Playing some new material from her upcoming EP, Allo, Darlin' was almost a full band this evening. With Paul on guitar, Bill Moustache stepping in on drums and Monster Bobby coming on stage for a duet, it was all just perfect. Elizabeth is always brilliant, but with a band behind her the songs come alive in a way that's just impossible recreate as a solo artist. 

Rob St. John (myspace)

Rob brought down the tempo a bit and the crowd gave him the attention he deserves. His heartfelt songs warmed the bellies of popsters and folksters alike.

Eagleowl (myspace)

The Owls just get better and better. They're tighter, more confident and just seem to enjoy playing a lot more than they used to. Their EP was one of the highlights of 2008 and you still can (and should) get it from their website

So, will there be a second live night next month? I sure hope so.

The first "class photo" of year 2009

Back row, l-r: Ian, Rob, Malcolm, Nik, Bart, Bill

Front row, l-r: Clarissa, Elizabeth, Paul

The only performer missing from the picture is Monster Bobby.

Allo, Darlin' in the studio

So..Allo, Darlin' is recording this week. She's doing it at Soup Studios in East London and I went over to say hello. It's tiny and cramped, but very cosy. From what I heard the recordings sound incredible. Monster Bobby is providing drum machine awesomeness and backing vocals, Paul from Hexicon plays the guitar and Mike (also from Hexicon) is doing some drumming. It will be awesome.

Elizabeth Darling aka Allo, Darlin at Soup Studios this afternoon.