The Luminaire Events for March 2008

02 March - THE CLIENTELE + The See See + The Left Outsides

2008-03-02

The Track and Field Organisation presents
THE CLIENTELE
+ The See See
+ The Left Outsides

Doors 7.30
£6.50 via Ticketweb
£8 door

Track & Field\'s very own The Clientele usher us into Spring with their gliding sixties West Coast-inspired melodies from new LP \'God save The Clientele\'. The Clientele are a four piece who formed in Hampshire in 1997, with a sound combining the melody of \'60s pop-psych heroes The Monkees, Love and The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and the later, magical strangeness of Felt, Television and Galaxie 500. The NME has said about them: \"those who like their art-pop espresso laced with gentle Surrealism will swoon to the sounds of the Clientele\".

The Left Outsides are Mark Nicholas and Alison Cotton, both former members of The Eighteenth Day of May while Mark served in acid expressionists Of Arrowe Hill and Alison\'s considerable viola skills have been put to good use in numerous bands including Saloon, Comet Gain and Television Personalities. The Left Outsides seamlessly mix their love of the whimsical, English psychedelia of Syd Barret, with the icy and ethereal european folk of Nico, the drones of The Brian Jonestown Massacre and the introspection of Elliot Smith, all done in their unique, understated way.

03 March - SUNNY DAY SETS FIRE + Captive State + Blindfold

2008-03-03

Just Good Music presents
SUNNY DAY SETS FIRE
+ Captive State
+ Blindfold

Doors 7.30
£5 via WeGotTickets
£6 door

A night of cutting edge, contemporary music.

Sunny Days Set Fire are an innovative indie 5-piece stem from four countries, whose wide influences shine through in their sunshine psych songs. 2008 promises to be a massive year for the band; as well as forthcoming tours of the US and Europe, their debut album Summer Palace is due to drop.
\"The future of pop looks mighty bright if Sunny Day Sets Fire can ignite the masses\" - Amplifier Magazine (U.S.)

The Luminaire provides the perfect intimate setting for Captive State to showcase their new material and their new live set up. Expect a magical musical mystery tour that will elevate your mind to a fantastical world deep in your imagination. Relax and let the soothing horn tinged melodies guide you down the yellow brick road. This is the first gig for sometime from this song based electronica group who are promoting their hotly anticipated debut EP Elmore Grove.
\"Mouthwatering\" - Timeout

Blindfold is the brainchild of award winning producer/composer Biggi whose film/tv credits and song writing/producing as a mainstream artist in Iceland have brought him admiration from Bjork, Sigur Ros and many film production companies and advertising agencies. Now the live experience is coming to the forefront.
Credits include:
Album of the Year - \'Sail to the Moon\' Iceland National Radio 2007
Song of the Year - BLINDFOLD, Icelandic Music Awards 2006
The Best New Act - Icelandic XFM Radio Awards 2006

08 March - KAPUTT + The Vanguard + Thomas White

2008-03-08

Late in the Evening presents
KAPUTT
+ The Vanguard
+ Thomas White [of Brakes/Electric Soft Parade]

Doors 7.30
£7 via WeGotTickets
£8 door
Click here for a flyer.

WE REGRET THAT DUE TO SERIOUS PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES, THE LONGCUT HAVE HAD TO PULL OUT OF THIS SHOW.
The show will go ahead with the billed supports and one more band, to be announced. Refunds will be available, if wanted, from WeGotTickets - if you\'ve already purchased a ticket, WeGotTickets will be contacting you shortly to offer you a refund.

Following the cancellation of The Longcut, Late in the Evening are delighted to announce the addition of Thomas White to the bill, performing a short acoustic set of material from his forthcoming \'I Dream Of Black\' EP, along with various covers. Thomas is a member of popular beat combos Electric Soft Parade and Brakes.

Continuing as per our existing line-up the excellent Anglo-German outfit Kaputt will now be finishing off the evening... Featuring former Go! Team member Silke on vocals, but worlds apart musically think more Sonic Youth meeting the Pixies. With Mark Riley sessions and recent band of the week exposure on XFm under their belt, expect great things...

Also making their London debut will be Manchester\'s The Vanguard. Newly formed but with support slots for British Sea Power, no less, already to their name their hugely intense sound demands attention. Parallels are already being drawn with the great and good of Manchester\'s post-punk past, but the Vanguard are busy crafting a sound all their own.

Following on from the bands, DJs will then take the helm to spin the more intrepid attendees out till 2am expect the unexpected. And lots of stuff that sounds a bit Mancunian.

12 March - CHRIS CUTLER + DAAN VANDEWALLE + SCANNER

2008-03-12

spnm & The Luminaire present
CHRIS CUTLER, drums / percussion / electronics
with DAAN VANDEWALLE, piano
and SCANNER, electronics / guitar

Doors 7.30
Performance from 7.45
£6 via TicketWeb
£8 door
£5 for SPNM card holders at door

spnms experimental music night The Sound Source returns to Kilburns Luminaire on 12 March with an unusual and creative response to the work of Karlheinz Stockhausen. Headlining the event are Belgian pianist Daan Vandewalle, who will perform Klavierstücke I-IV, and drummer and percussionist Chris Cutler, who will join him for a version of Kontakte. Electronic artist Scanner completes the line-up with some Stockhausen-inspired works. Rounding off the evening, the three will team up to perform a newly commissioned tribute to one of Stockhausens hidden gems, Stockhoven/Beethausen.

The event begins with an Open Source slot, in association with Music Orbit, offering emerging British artists the chance to showcase their work. A CD of the results will be given to audience members at the end of the night.

spnm\'s The Sound Source is the UK\'s leading out-of concert-hall new music night, bringing cutting-edge composition to new audiences and venues. The series showcases multimedia work and collaborations that cross art forms. The Sound Source is a regular, bi-monthly night at the Luminaire in Kilburn, Time Outs Live Music Venue of the Year 2006 and Music Weeks UK Venue of the Year 2007.

Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. After working in the 70s with English avant-garde rock group Henry Cow, he founded Art Bears, News from Babel and Cassiber, and joined the American band Pere Ubu. In addition to special projects for stage, theatre, film and radio he still works consistently with Fred Frith, Zeena Parkins, Jon Rose, Tim Hodgkinson, David Thomas, Peter Blegvad, Daevid Allen, Hugh Hopper, Daan Vandewalle and Stevan Tickmayer and has toured the world as a soloist with his extended electrified kit. Other recent projects include Out of the Blue Radio - a daily year-long soundscape project for Resonance FM and p53 for Orchestra.

Belgian pianist Daan Vandewalle enjoys an international reputation as a new music specialist, with a strong focus on 20th century American piano music. He studied at the Conservatory of Ghent, Belgium with Claude Coppens and at Mills College, California with Alvin Curran. His recitals and projects have become increasingly more diverse and challenging, and his programmes are often highly unusual, both on a technical and intellectual level, often combining the classical repertoire with premieres of new works written especially for him e.g. Frith, Newman, Curran, Rzewski. As an improviser he has collaborated widely with David Moss, Fred Frith, Han Bennink, Chris Cutler and Tom Cora amongst others.

British artist Robin Rimbaud, aka Scanner, traverses the experimental terrain between sound, space, image and form, creating absorbing, multi-layered sound pieces that twist technology in unconventional ways. From his early controversial work using found mobile phone conversations, through to his focus on trawling the hidden noise of the modern metropolis as the symbol of the place where hidden meanings and missed contacts emerge, his restless explorations of the experimental terrain have won him international admiration from amongst others, Bjork, Aphex Twin and Stockhausen. Scanner has collaborated with artists from every imaginable genre, including Bryan Ferry, Radiohead, The Royal Ballet, Merce Cunningham, Michael Nyman and Luc Ferrari.

13 March - ART BRUT + Official Secrets Act

2008-03-13

The JD Set Presents Art Brut with support from The Official Secrets Act

Doors 7.30
* SOLD OUT *

Thats what we kept saying all the while we were recording the album, says Eddie Argos, its a bit complicated. So it just made sense that that would be the title.

Oh yes, with their Dan Swift produced second album, their first for new label Labels / Mute, Art Brut (Eddie Argos - vocals, Ian Catskilkin - lead guitar, Freddy Feedback - bass, MIkey B - drums and new guitarist Jasper Future) have grown up. But dont worry, theyve only grown up a little bit. The first album was kind of me when I was 17, and I suppose this one is me when Im 19. If we do another one, I expect it will be me when I was 21.

As chief rapier wit and unlikely champion of Britpops new wave, the 27-year-old Eddie Argos is used to living life at the speed of pop. It was (a bit) complicated enough for the band who combined kitchen sink drama and French philosophy to even get here here being encroaching international superstardom from humble beginnings as champions of Londons DIY New Cross Scene, class of 2004. And youll know about Eddie Argos, former postman, lifelong dreamer, occasional indie prophet whose only real ambition in life was to one day get on Top Of The Pops.

The TOTP dream may be over now the show has ended, but Its A Bit Complicated takes Art Bruts love affair with pop music to dizzying new levels. I didnt realise how much I love England, being away from here for so long, says Eddie. The band had just completed their biggest ever US and UK tours, festivals across the globe including Coachella, Pitchfork, Benacassim and New Yorks Siren, had a hit single in all-new track Nag Nag Nag Nag and, recently signed to Labels / Mute, they were quick to work on Its A Bit Complicated. Its good, muses Eddie, because we never really got to write the first album. We just had to use all the songs we had. This time we knew what we were doing.

And in every sense, its a better album a bit complicated, but not so much that it muddies the cast-iron pop principles the band were founded on. The album is more if the same, but better. Weve got a sense of humour, but were not a joke.

Official Secrets Act met deep in the galleys of the last of the great sea clippers. Tired of the sirens and the crack of the whip they jumped ship in Shanghai and earned a meagre crust playing sea shanties for the great and the good of the opium trade. At the fall of Singapore they stowed away to the west and now find themselves in the shark infested waters of 21st century London.

They sound like a honey-trap sturm-und-drang disco hedgehog, seconds before it\'s squashed under the merciless wheels of the giant \"rockadecker\" bus, driven by Kitchener with a tear in his eye and war on his radio.

Or Talking Heads if they\'d listened to more Weezer, Woody Guthrie, and the Shipping Forecast.

\"Pop-tential to be a classic mainstream band\"- Emma Edmondson, NME
\"A band who by the end of the year will surely have the world at their feet\"- Anjela Balakrishnan, Artrocker
\"The most lyrically erudite band i\'ve heard for a long time\" - Steve Lamacq

17 March - THE POPES + Guests

2008-03-17

Mean Fiddler presents
THE POPES
+ Guests

Doors 7.30
£15 via WeGotTickets
£17 door

Originally formed by Shane MacGowan in 1994 to record his album The Snake after his split from the Pogues, The Popes are touted as the Irish Music Equivalent of Booker T and the MGs. With a mix of contemporary folk rockin\' and head boppin\' Dublin Rock, the Popes will be playing a selection of Classic tunes and songs from their forthcoming album.

Now headed up by Paul (Mad Dog) McGuiness with a new line up including Will Morrison, Charle Hoskins and Gerry Driver, expect a cracking St Patricks day knees up!

19 March - CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE + a.P.A.t.T. + Harry Merry

2008-03-19

Upset The Rhythm presents
CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE
+ a.P.A.t.T.
+ Harry Merry

Doors 8.00
£8 via WeGotTickets

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is the musical alias of American film school drop-out Owen Ashworth. Owen began making music in 1997, after he realized that song-making was a far more cost-effective means of storytelling than film-making. To date, he has produced 4 CFTPA albums, released through Tomlab, that have defined a hybrid strain of raw, emotional and very homemade synth pop that is instantly recognizable as Owen\'s own - claustrophobic two-minute character studies shuddered with reverbed beats, blown-out chords and bittersweet odes to love lost.

A collective formed in Liverpool in 1998 a.P.A.t.T. are pretty much impossible to classify! United by their a.P.A.t.T. branded nurses\' outfits, but performing with everything from 2 to 7 members and going through a constant evolution of hardware and software changes, the group fuses mathy, synth-led moments with almost klezmery freak-outs rendered in accordion, strings, brass and piano. Think the missing link between The Locust, Danielson Famile and A Hawk and A Hacksaw and you may be getting close!

Harry Merry is a pop singer-songwriter, all-round entertainer and long time touring buddy of Mr Quintron and Miss Pussycat, from Rotterdam. Playing a Roland Keyboard, with some pre-recorded rhythmical accompaniment on diskette, Mr Merry covers a whole stretch of musical ground with a mind-melting array of Rock\'N\'Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Beat, Ballads, Schlager, Latino, Chansons, Liedjes and lately also some Slovenian Pop and Serbian Turbo-folk.

20 March - BO PEPPER + Royal Treatment Plant + Double O Zero

2008-03-20

Curious Generation presents
BO PEPPER
+ Royal Treatment Plant
Double O Zero

Doors 7.30
£5 at Curious Generation
£7 door

Bo Pepper are one of THE bands to watch out for in 2008. Their influences are The Pigeon Detectives, The Hoosiers, The Strokes and knitted sock puppets. Bo Pepper are as yet unsigned but they are about to play the prestigious SXSW festival this March 2008 at the main event as well as at the Hit Sheet gig.

Also on the bill - Royal Treatment Plant - think Blondie meets Sonic Youth airdropped into a new century.

Double O Zero open the show - their sound is that of a retro futuristic, 60s electro three piece.

22 March - VINCENT VINCENT & THE VILLAINS + Lo-Fi Culture Scene + Rochelle

2008-03-22

Disco Rejects & Take It Away in association with Xtaster present
VINCENT VINCENT & THE VILLAINS
+ Lo-Fi Culture Scene
+ Rochelle
+ Str8 Necklin DJs
+ ADHDJs

Doors 7.30
£7 advance via Ticketweb and Music Glue

This show is open to over-14s.

Sometimes, you have to go back to arrive at the future. Whether its a hip-hop producer looking for a new beat, or a band looking for something fresh, if they look for it hard, the smart ones will always find it in the past. That, at any rate, is what Vincent Vincent & The Villains have done, and now theyre forging a musical future playing decidedly modern, decidedly British rock n roll. Vincent is accompanied by three fantastic musicians; drummer Alex, guitarist Tom, and bassist Will. He collectively refers to them as the boys. Born out of the conviction that a live band however sincere their music should make an effort to engage with an audience, this is a band on a mission to entertain. For them, its a serious business.

Oh yes and the songs sound great. This is a songwriter with a sense of humour, and a great eye for detail. Never wanting to simply emulate the glories of rock n roll hits past, Vincent has arrived at his style as say Jonathan Richman and Johnny Thunders did before him because he thinks its the freshest and most direct way to communicate his ideas, and offers the biggest contrast to any other music around today. It could reach the young, for sure. But Vincent doesnt just want to want to appeal to them he wants to appeal to everybody. The truer I can be, the more people are going to relate to us, he says. If you can come up with something that people relate to then thats part and parcel of being a great band, I think. I can find salvation through a song.

Rochelle\'s story came together in Leeds, a short, short time ago. Meeting at one of the citys colleges, the group began making music in the summer of 2006. By the winter of that same year theyd been joined by Lydia, and the band took off. From the start they were prodigious, recording batches of songs inside of an evening. They worked hard, they shared a good chemistry, each member brought something different to the party. They threw Kylie, Kraftwerk, The Beach Boys and Daft Punk into the punch bowl. They mixed it all up.

Just as quickly as it started, people began to take notice. Rochelle were playing dance music that appealed to people who liked pop and those who were fans of indie bands. They were a captivating act as well, something you could watch, and Leeds music fans saw them cut their teeth at venues such as the Faversham and The Cockpit. Soon enough the band had won a competition to perform a set at the Leeds leg of the Carling Weekender which was closely followed by a UK tour as main support to Bristols Kosheen, playing in venues such as Camdens Koko and Manchesters Academy II. Then, just last November, Rochelle undertook their biggest gig to date, performing to 2000 people in the city of Barcelona.

It felt great to do all of these things, says Lydia. But more than that, we felt like we were ready to do them. Because wed worked so hard we felt like wed earned the right to play at Leeds festival, or to perform in front of a hardcore dance crowd at 3 in the morning in Barcelona.\"

Now relocated from West Yorkshire to East London, Rochelle are ready to ensure that 2008 is the year they make themselves heard.

Main support Lo-Fi Culture Scene are made up of 5 13/14 year old boys who live in north London. The band started as Tom M, Angus and Callum. They played together for a while in a Park Avenue South basement, playing covers and making up some tunes which weren\'t that great, before Callum asked his friend Tom Herzberg to join the band. They decided they wanted to start writing their own songs, and for that, they needed a singer. Tom M and Callum looked around their school for someone who could sing and found Jacob. The band rehearsed and still do in Tom M\'s basement, and they have been around for around a year in all but for around 7 months seriously. Since their first gig at Nambucca for clubnight \'Oops\', they have done a hell of a lot in a short space of time. They have played The Astoria, supported Bloc Party, played Truck Festival, and are now discussing the release of their first single.

25 March - THE RIPPS - CANCELLED

2008-03-25

The Luminaire presents
THE RIPPS
+ Guests

* CANCELLED *
We regret the Ripps are unable to play this show, due to unforeseen studio commitments. Refunds will be issued from WeGotTickets and Ticketweb. Our apologies for any disappointment or inconvenience.

\"Loads of bands at the moment are \"redefining\" Britain with \"poetic\" visions as if they share family heirlooms with Charles Dickens, but few are taking the hot air out of the process and having a damn good crack. That\'s where The Ripps come in, and ye Gods it feels more like the start of the world than the end of one. Spanking.\" [Artrocker]

26 March - REDJETSON + This Et Al + kontakte

2008-03-26

The Luminaire presents
REDJETSON
+ This Et Al
+ kontakte

Doors 7.30
£6 via WeGotTickets and Ticketweb soon.
£7 door

More info on Redjetson and our other guests soon. Meanwhile, some words on openers kontakte:

kontakte draw from all sides of the sonic spectrum fusing together deep passions for post-, drone-, space- and kraut-rock. The band\'s love for distorted beats, transience and star-scraping melodies informs them on their quest to create music of depth, space and intensity.

kontakte is a unit of three minds pulling together to create challenging music and sounds that leave an indelible, lasting impression on the listener.

\"kontakte make music for motorways and autobahns.\" - NME
\"kontakte produce very pleasing drone rock instrumentals somewhere between Sigur Ros and Spiritualized\" - MusicOHM.com

27 March - MARTIN SEXTON + Guests - CANCELLED

2008-03-27

Kitchen Table Records presents
MARTIN SEXTON
+ Guests

WE REGRET THAT THIS SHOW WILL NO LONGER GO AHEAD. ALL TICKETS WILL BE REFUNDED FROM THE POINT OF PURCHASE.

American soul singer Martin Sexton, as Rolling Stone describes, \"can easily be compared to the likes of a young Steve Winwood or Van Morrison.\"

BBC Radio 2 Bob Harris Martin has a good album out. Billboard says \'the finest new male singer/songwriter of recent memory,\' as well as \'a vocalist of amazing proficiency and sensual conviction\' how about that!

BBC Radio 2 Alex Lester \"Great songs with a distinctive voice and some interesting arrangements.\"

Maverick 4 out of 5 stars... This guy has one of the most incredible voices in music at the moment & the quality of all the songs is a massive credit to Sexton.

28 March - THE NEW YORK FUND + Dusty Rhodes & The River Band + Emit Bloch

2008-03-28

Nashville Babylon and The Luminaire presents
THE NEW YORK FUND
+ Dusty Rhodes & The River Band
+ Emit Bloch
+ Nashville Babylon DJs

Doors 7.30
£6 via WeGotTickets
£8 door

Loose Music and Not The Same Old Blues Crap join forces and stretch the country genre to breaking point while delving deep into the traditional country themes of pathos, humour, women, whiskey, murder, death, disease and destitution.

The New York Fund rip the heart out of country and nail it to the door of rock\'n\'roll and claim it as their own. In 2007, this North London four piece honed their craft and shared stages with The Hold Steady, Ed Harcourt and M.Ward among others - they are are now ready to step up to the plate.

\"Country with booster jets\" **** -Uncut

Dusty Rhodes & The River Band are set to explode.....They arrive to play Nashville Babylon directly after SXSW with a hotly tipped debut album, \"First You Live\", produced by Isaiah \"Ikey\" Owens from Mars Volta. Taking their influences from The Band, Brian Wilson, Hank Williams, The Flying Burrito Brothers and The Flaming Lips, this Orange County sextet will rip the roof right off The Luminaire!

Born on a cattle ranch in Utah and transplanted to Berkeley, California, Emit Bloch has a rich history to draw on when creating his distinct brand of avant-country music. With a unique guitar picking style and surreal electronic harmonica Emit Bloch fuses pioneer spirit , Woody Allen wit and California transcendentalism to create modern bluegrass and country music that still manages to retains the old time values of innovators like Jimmy Rodgers and Hank Williams.

29 March - FINDLAY BROWN + Lisa Lindley-Jones + Moon Music Orchestra

2008-03-29

Eat Your Own Ears presents
FINDLAY BROWN
+ Lisa Lindley-Jones
+ Moon Music Orchestra

Doors 7.30
£6.50 via Ticketweb and Seetickets

Findlay Brown will be following up his jam-packed residency at the Gladstone Arms with a special show at the Luminaire.

Emotionally-driven, psychedelic, spiked with wit, blessed with a cidery traditionalism and foiled with subtle, yet noticeably modern, production from Simian\'s Simon Lord, Findlay\'s work is truly \'alternative folk\', but he says he\'s \"more influenced by sixties music in turn influenced by folk\". Understated, nylon-stringed acoustica with a timeless and haunting edge.

Lisa Lindley-Jones Lisa saw something bigger than any of the cooler than cool scenes she dipped into tripping between Brighton and London and also her native Stockholm. This talented musician and lyricist\'s music has a fragility and power conveyed through both her vocal style and the songs\' framework, managing to be complex without pretence.

We regret Florence & The Machine are no longer able to play, but they\'ll be very ably replaced by Moon Music Orchestra. More on them shortly.

30 March - DARREN HAYMAN & THE SECONDARY MODERN + The Wave Pictures + Robin Ince

2008-03-30

The TRACK & FIELD organisation presents
DARREN HAYMAN & THE SECONDARY MODERN
+ The Wave Pictures
+ Comedy from Robin Ince

Doors 7.30
£6.50 via Ticketweb

More info soon.

31 March - NEW ADVENTURES + The Ads + Thomas Tantrum

2008-03-31

Faded Grandeur presents
NEW ADVENTURES
+ The Ads
+ Thomas Tantrum

Doors 7.30
* SOLD OUT *

In recent months New Adventures have been gaining new fans and plaudits - most notably from Steve Lamacq on his Radio 6 show, Eddy Temple-Morris on Xfm London and Clint Boon of Xfm Manchester. Awestruck receptions at shows the length and breadth of the country have seen the band hone their live sound to perfection. Now, having taken stock and put the finishing touches to their debut single with Richard McNamara at Magnetic North Studios (The Moths, Thomas Tantrum, Opera House, The Ads) they\'re back at home base for the launch of their debut single \"How I Got My Devil Back (Part One).

When two life long friends come together and add in two neighbourhood musicians to form a band, you know there is an immediate bond created, simply due to shared experiences. Two years down the line, Kemy, Matty, Murphy and Dave are ready to take their message to the world. The Ads are simply a four piece band from the outskirts of Glasgow getting down to some serious musical invention.

Thomas Tantrum are a female fronted four piece from Goatee Beach who specialise in wiry guitar patterns with little red riding hood vocals [the wolf still lurks somewhere in the background].