The Luminaire Events for May 2008

01 May - HEALTH + Skeletons & The King\'s of all Cities + Pre

2008-05-01

Upset The Rhythm presents
HEALTH
+ Skeletons & The King\'s of all Cities
+ Pre

Doors 8.00
£6 via WeGotTickets

A quartet from Los Angeles, Health take inspiration from \'60s British pop, Krautrock, gamelan, noise and minimalism, creating some of the crunkiest free-rock around.

Following various releases for the likes of DNT and Lovepump United, two split vinyl releases with Crystal Castles and Eye Hai are out right now on UK-based labels Trouble and Golden Lab respectively.

02 May - SCANNERS + Royal Treatment Plant + Betty & The Werewolves

2008-05-02

On The TV presents
SCANNERS
+ Royal Treatment Plant
+ Betty & The Werewolves
+ Pamflet DJs

Doors 8.00
£7 door
£5 when pre-registering at myspace.com/onthetv

Click here for a flyer.

Having released their debut album \'Violence is Golden\' (Dim Mak) in late February, 9 months after it was released in the USA to massive acclaim, Scanners are continuing their takeover of the UK. With a raucous female lead singer (Sarah) and a scorching female lead guitarist (Amina), \"Scanners might well be providing us with Yeah Yeah Yeahs style thrashy kicks in the new year...dripping with highs and lows...alluring throughout\" - Artrocker

Gigging to plug their single \'Get Played\', released on Universal\'s No Carbon digi-label, Royal Treatment Plant are making major moves on the frontline. Scoring regular airplay on California\'s renowned KROQ and impressing with live sets on London\'s XFM radio, Royal Treatment Plant are following up on the promise played out at last year\'s In The City. \"Royal Treatment Plant are a band who could rock an AGM....frontwoman Princess P does a good line in infectious, hair-flicking theatrics: she\'s a girl worth spilling your beer for.\" - Disorder Magazine.

Openers Betty & The Werewolves are \'a dapperly dressed and incredibly cute quartet catering in soaring choruses and clever lyrics\' [The Fly].

Self-styled underground \'zine girls Pamflet are back to tell us what we should be dancing to. They know what they\'re on about, too, and they dress very well.

03 May - BABYHEAD + LAST MAN STANDING

2008-05-03

Wildflower presents
BABYHEAD
+ Last Man Standing
+ DJ Tofuski spinning ska, soul and gypsy beats

Doors 8.00
£9 via WeGotTickets.

Please note: Babyhead will finish at 11.45. The last eastbound London Overground train leaves at 11.20. For info on your travel options, click here.

Last Man Standing have built their reputation on their high-energy live show and their self-described \'acid-blooze\' sound. The Guardian called them \'\'London\'s Best Unsigned Band\'\'. Since then the band have supported Violent Femmes, White Stripes and the Polyphonic Spree and recently signed to NY label Wildflower who host tonight\'s party to celebrate the release of the band\'s debut, \'\'False Starts and Broken Promises\'\'-- to which MOJO gave four stars: \"\"Last Man Standing are quite extraordinary. With a breadth of vision which encompasses the more ambitious end of glam (Aladdin Sane, Bolans Zinc Alloy) and the cabaret splendor of Alex Harvey, even Tom Waits at his most theatrical. This blast of low-life pungency feels like a righteous breath of fresh air. \"

Babyhead\'s unconventional approach tells you they aren\'t your average band. Like talented kids in a musical sweet shop they want to mix and match, sticking a dedicated horn section beside infectious heavy dub bass and ska across a hip-hop backbeat (and some funk-focused finesse). Then they\'ll spit out a layer of lyrical dexterity to improve the brew. Babyhead offer a unique sound with glittering showmanship and unadulterated energy. That\'s why this eight-piece band is rapidly generating a huge live following. (Bestival Program) 2007 saw babyhead release their debut album Babyboom Town on Cookie Cutter Records with press by Trailer and distribution by Kudos. Then followed a busy promotional tour with show at the YOYO club, London to the Riders palace, Laax Switzerland. Babyhead also got busy on the festival circuit, playing amongst others; Glastonburys Jazz World Stage, Bestival, The Glade and Beautiful days. To cap a fine year babyhead were invited to be part of the Madness show at the 02 arena. With a New single due for release in May and the second album in the pipe line 2008 is looking good for the babyhead boys!

DJ TOFOOSKI has been keeping festivals ripe with sext jump jive and balkan beats for over ten years. Largely responsible for keeping London alive, DJ Tofooski is gonna have your soul.

06 May - HOWLIN\' RAIN + Monotonix

2008-05-06

Twisted Robot and End of the Road presents
HOWLIN\' RAIN
+ Monotonix

Doors 8.00
£7 via WeGotTickets
£9 door

Howlin\' Rain\'s Ethan Miller sprang into the underground rock world with his band Comets On Fire. Comets quickly came to the forefront of what would come to be defined as The New Weird America, a movement that darkly combined elements of Folk, heavy psychedelia, free formed existentialism, and atonality. A joyful noise comprises a Comets show, with Millers vocals being driven through an echoplex and re-shaped at will by fellow member Noel Von Harmonson. While Comets chaotic wall of sound is a feat of architecture and a beloved aspect by the fans, Miller had another voice and musical path calling through the sonic maelstrom.

In 2004, he formed Howlin Rain with fellow New Weird America icon John Maloney, leader of Sunburned Hand Of The Man. The vision was a type of music originally defined in the free and easy era of the early 70s; organic, melodic groove oriented rock (Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead) combined with sensational songwriting but re-invigorated with a sonic bite and controlled chaos that hurls it into the modern times. Together, with fellow Humboldt County native Ian Gradek on bass, the band recorded what became the first self-titled Howlin Rain record.

After the dissolve of the first Howlin Rain Miller began to write a new album and put together a new group. Gradek stayed, along with Humboldt guitarist Mike Jackson, who had already joined the Rain for their U.S. tour. The new line-up was rounded off by drummer Garrett Turtle Goddard (Cuts, Colossal Yes), who brought an essential flow and driving, rolling groove to the new sound, and Joel Robinow (Drunk Horse) on keys, horn, piano, guitar, organ and backing vocals, who added a new level of chops and firepower to the Howlin Rain sound. Be prepared for the Magnificent Fiend revolution.

Monotonix are a punk trio from Tel Aviv, featuring guitar (Yonatan), drums (Ran) and vocals (Ami). They formed in November 2005, set up on the floor of the club with the audience, and the party began. But the party usually got too wild, the power got cut, the cops were called and Monotonix were banned from playing again almost everywhere. Before long, they were looking for good places to play outside of Israel and they were delighted to find that there are more rock and roll party places outside than inside!

Today, Monotonix are the hardest working rock band in the world. Sure, lots of other bands work up a sweat, but Monotonix are definitely the only band who puts in the kind of miles they do, and they rock rings around pretty much the rest of us too. These guys do two different shows in two different towns on the same day whenever they can manage it. But thats only the tip of the hard-working iceberg. Body Language sounds almost like a Monotonix show. The only thing you cant hear is the sound of your heart beating in your ears after having been chased around the room by a vocalist with his pants literally on fire, then getting doused with beer and dancing your ass off to the guitar riffage, then ending it all by carrying the drummer around on your shoulders while a few other guys hold his kit up so he can keep drumming. You dont end up quite as out of breath when listening Body Language, but you do get a ton of excitement anyway, courtesy of a killer guitar sound, precision power drumming and lusty lead vocals (with just a few little overdub touches, to add even more excitement).

Yeah, Monotonix tour a lot not like theres no tomorrow, but like theres a tomorrow in which they have another few gigs. And they play shows balls-out (not literally that would take a perverse motherfucker and Ami isnt perverse, hes just a populist). Taking a bit of a rest after 250 or so shows last year, they recorded Body Language with Tim Green (of The Fucking Champs) at Louder Studios in San Francisco. Even then, they didnt rest, taking frequent day trips to play a rock show and then drive back to the studio.

The hard work has paid off Body Language twists and grooves with all the fun and fervor of great rock and roll. The music is for the good times, and for asking yourself if you can learn a new language Body Language, player!

09 May - THAO WITH THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN + Jersey Budd

2008-05-09

Metropolis Music presents
THAO WITH THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN
+ Jersey Budd

Doors 7.30
£7 via WeGotTickets

More info on Thao Nguyen is a folk singer-songwriter out of Virginia. Shes signed to Kill Rock Stars.

Nguyen released her second album, \'We Brave Bee Stings and All\', on Jan. 29, 2008. After picking up her guitar at the age of 12, Thao Nguyen began performing and recording as a pop-country duo with a high school friend. Raised in Falls Church, Virginia with her single mother, she often practiced her songs while working at her mothers laundromat. She often cites Lilith Fair as an inspiration for her desire to become a singer/songwriter. After recording an EP that differed from her initial style, she began performing as a soloist with her acoustic guitar. In 2005 she recorded Like The Linen, her first full-length album.

Nguyen initially toured as a duo with drummer Willis Thompson, but expanded her act to a band of four durng the Kill Rock Stars Sound The Hare Heard tour. The band now consists of Nguyen, Willis Thompson, Adam Thompson, and Frank Stewart. The band was named The Get Down Stay Down by a former bassist.

Thao Nguyen continues to perform as a soloist on occasion, including a European tour with Laura Veirs and the Tortured Souls in August 2006.

11 May - CHATHAM COUNTY LINE + Hayward Williams

2008-05-11

The Luminaire presents
CHATHAM COUNTY LINE
+ Hayward Williams

Doors 7.00
£10.00 via Ticketweb and WeGotTickets
£12 door

Chatham County Line was spawned at Raleigh, NCs infamous Blue House on the corner of Hillsborough and Boylan, when Dave met high-school friends Chandler Holt and John Teer. A long-standing crash pad for Raleigh bands like Corrosion of Conformity, the house had been the scene of sunrise jam sessions for years. The kind of place where a joint was always being passed and there was always a beer to be found in the back corner of the filthy fridge. The sort of house where it wasnt clear who actually lived there and who was just hanging out fighting off a hangover, or working on the next one. Touring bands from Athens to D.C. knew about the house and its open door policy, exercising the standing invitation when the previous nights draw wasnt quite up to snuff down the street at The Brewery, or over in Chapel Hill at The Local 506. The ancient wooden floors showed the scuffs and scars of a decade of house parties and loose, drunken jam sessions.

But that year, the soft pine planks would take the brunt of an especially enthusiastic flatpickers stomp. That pickers namey Dave Wilson.

Four albums later, \'IV\' marks a watermark in Chatham County Lines creative arc. On this album I wrote a lot of the songs in a very different way from how I have written on other records, offers Dave in reference to a loose jam session-style process. Wilsons basement served as a rehearsal space for him and Tift Merritt band members Zeke Hutchins and Jay Brown to experiment between CCL tours. Theyre not in CCL but theyre good friends and helped me develop some of my ideas for this album. I would play something and Zeke and Jay would give it a groove. A unique approach when writing songs for a band with no drummer like CCL. On many of the tunes the mandolin does the work of the drummer. And I like the idea of the listener being the drummer, whether it be stomping your foot or tapping on the steering wheel.

Its clear that morphing rhythm-based songs for the instruments in CCL is responsible for much of the albums unique mood. Songs like the slurring Stonesy romp \'Let It Rock\' and the speedy blues \'I Got Worry\' give \'IV\', a relaxed boozy vibe not evident on CCLs more tightly strung previous albums. Here the tension lies solely with the searing intensity of \'Birmingham Jail\'. John Teers usually pitch-perfect high harmonies are broken into shards in the form of a blood curdling scream. The pop structures of \'Chip of a Star\' mark perhaps the bands greatest leap to date with their first hook-based tune and the addition of bouncy pedal steel from bassist Greg Readling.

While rockers do abound on \'IV\', its really the albums ballads that act as showpieces. The flat-out gorgeous \'One More Minute\' features harmonies from Whiskeytowner Caitlin Cary. \'Sweet Eviction\' tells a tale of bitterness amidst a landscape of crawling, veiled gospel. Its differences and new feel aside, IV certainly doesnt divorce itself from what fans have come to know and love as Chatham County Line. \'The Carolinian\' a tight, traditional bluegrass workout might at first glance seem out of place. But Wilson doesnt see it that way at all, I just took the best songs and put them on the album. Thats it. End of story.

Fade to black.

Main support Hayward Williams \' live shows have been described as having \"...everything you could hope for... message, melody, and hooks\" (Vital Source), and feature his facile guitar and thoughtful, distinctive tenor (imagine the honeyed side of Ryan Adams, Jay Farrar\'s earthy grit, the playfulness of Sam Cooke). Built on a foundation of folk, blues, and soul Hayward\'s songs in performance display the raw intensity common to these forms, tempered by his own easy self-possession and wry charm.

In little clubs and smoky bars around the Midwest, armed with his excellent record \"Another Sailor\'s Dream\" and his aw-shucks charisma, Hayward Williams is quietly building both a following and a career the old-fashioned way, one night at a time.

12 May - MARISSA NADLER + Guests

2008-05-12

Live Nation presents
MARISSA NADLER
+ Guests

Doors 7.30
£8 via WeGotTickets and Ticketweb

Marissa Nadler grew up in a small town in Massachusetts, where perhaps the brutal winters bred into her a chilly disposition and an early propensity for the darker and more melancholy side of things.

Marissa\'s first appearance saw her covering a Pearls Before Swine\'s Ballad to an Amber Lady for a compilation released by Jeffrey Alexander (The Iditarod, Black Forest / Black Sea) while she was attending the Rhode Island School of Design for Painting. Word of her work on this CD made Marissa Nadler quite known on the underground music scene, she was after all in the company of artists such as Sonic Youth\'s Thurston Moore on this compilation.

Marissa\'s first LP of home recordings \'Ballads of Living and Dying\' (Eclipse Records, 2004) was a release that Pitchfork called \"a landscape you may want to get lost in for a century or two\", and The Wire called \"a beauty\".

A second album of home recordings, The Saga of Mayflower May, was released the following year, and has garnered the same acclaim as did Ballads of Living and Dying, with Pitchfork calling it simply an \"enthralling album\".

Both albums were released in the UK in early 2005 by Beautiful Happiness Records, meeting the same response overseas as they had in the States, with the Guardian calling Ballads uncommonly lovely... hard to get out of your head\".

Signing to Peacefrog Records, Marissa released her third official full length record, \"Songs III Bird On the Water\' in March 2007 and in the US through Kemado Records on 7th August. Uncut, Mojo, The Times, The Guardian, Wire, Plan B, Pitchfork and many more were all united in their praise.

It was inevitable that Marissa would rise from the underground to reach a wider audience someday. Her music is dreamy and spectral: an amalgam of traditional folk, paisley underground, shoegaze and dream pop. Almost all of the songs are very sad about broken hearts, death, or simple burdens. Her voice is what most people immediately respond to, with the writing and playing yielding a slow burn subtlety.

Excelling at a Fahey-esque fingerpicking technique, she plays homage to some of the great early American blues players. The Basho-like 12-string guitar movements are also quite lovely.

She sings songs of the sea, the haunting chansons of maidens, the cowboy ditties of ranchers, and the funerary processions of mourners. The eerie quality of her atmospheric music gives her songs a timelessness and sadness that is often described as other worldly. It appears up until now her music has been a widely respected but finely kept secret.

Marissa is currently writing new material for release in 2008.

13 May - BLACK ACID + The Big Pink

2008-05-13

SJM Concerts presents
BLACK ACID
+ The Big Pink

Doors 7.30
£10 via WeGotTickets and Ticketweb

THIS IS A RESCHEDULED SHOW. ALL TICKETS FROM THE ORIGINAL FEBRUARY 12TH SHOW ARE VALID.

Formed by Richard Fearless of Death In Vegas fame, Black Acid bring their NYC tinged racket to the Luminaire on Tuesday 13th May.

Taking the dark, soulful, psychedelic rock of DIV, Fearless brings a whole new twist with Black Acid. Described by the NME as channelling \'the spirit of Suicide and the Stooges\' and by Time Out as \'lean, malevolent, darkly stuttering and urgently groovy\', the band also lists Roky Erickson and Hawkwind amongst their influences.

Having just finished an east coast tour of the US with The Raveonettes, their Luminaire appearance is part of Black Acid\'s first European tour and builds on the success of the March released debut single \'FUR\'.

Alongside Fearless, Black Acid\'s line up comprises of Matty McDermott (NYMPH), Oliver Ackermann (A Place To Bury Strangers) and Doug Marvin (Dirty On Purpose).

Info on The Big Pink soon.

14 May - UNGDOMSKULEN + Real Feal

2008-05-14

The Luminaire presents
UNGDOMSKULEN
+ Real Feal

Supported by

Doors 7.30
£6 via Ticketweb and WeGotTickets

This terrific trio from Bergen, Norway favour trebly, jazz-toned guitar skronk, syncopated bass and walloping, post-hardcore drums, but separate out each sound, then sharpen and polish them until the finished combination threatens to put your eye out. Fans of Sonic Youth, Battles, Fugazi, Liars and very possibly The Rapture should get down to one of these shows. - TimeOut

\"Ungdomskulen have produced the kind of record that leaves everything else floored in its wake. Bloody brilliant. - 9/10 Rocksound

As reckless, relentless and original as Sonic Youth - 7/10 NME

Terrifyingly taut - Uncut

Their sprawling, strangely funk-damaged rock weaves divergent musical strands into an epic whole...A far less daunting proposition than its ambitious scope might suggest - KKKK, Kerrang!

\"Like a furious Minutemen toiling at their own version of prog, each song stretched till breaking point, with gut-kick precision. There\'s a mountain of fun sprinkled on top and it\'s all over way too soon.\" - Plan B

Real Feal, Bill from Infants\' new maximalist project featuring Luca Zoo Franzoni on drums, is a world away from his other band\'s Ex-Models / Boredoms scronk. This is raw rock that has drawn comparisons to Nirvana and Pavement. (Drowned in Sound)

15 May - ACOUSTIC LADYLAND + Guests

2008-05-15

The Luminaire presents
ACOUSTIC LADYLAND
+ Fulborn Teversham
+ Normal Gimbel

Doors 7.30
£10 via Ticketweb / WeGotTickets
£12 door

This most singular of bands loves to mess with convention, although there is nothing about this band that is tricky or arch. Of jazz, but not in the least inhibited by jazz tradition, and with a fierce post-punk attitude, Acoustic Ladyland simply create potent, soul-searching music: intense, life-affirming pop. This London quartet of mischief makers and incandescent musicians raise the bar again, hopscotching feeble attempts at genre categorisation.

I can recommend Acoustic Ladylands Skinny Grin its an outstanding release - Scott Walker
Deliciously delirious fierce and serene, fluent and fractured this album is pretty damned exciting - Paul Morley, 5/5 OMM
The most refreshingly original album of the year - 4.5/5 The Sun
At their best, Acoustic Ladyland sound like no other band on the planet - 4/5 The Guardian
Enjoy the infectious energy of this remarkable album - 5/6 Time Out
Unabashed virtuosos thats what makes Skinny Grin such a blast - 4/5 London Lite
One of Londons most consistently jaw-dropping live acts theyre on blistering, beautiful form on Skinny Grin - Evening Standard
You are swept up not only by the expertise but also in the sheer joyous physicality of Acoustic Ladyland - 4/5 The Times
Fierce intelligence meets musical fire - 4/5 The Independent
Absolutely thrilling a fantastic triumph be prepared for the ride of your life a bewildering and scintillating album which transcends any outdated jazz traditions - Play Music
Acoustic Ladyland are a brilliantly refreshing rock band - Metro

Main support Normal Gimbel are a new project of music written by Polar Bear\'s Sebastian Rochford, featuring Pete Wareham (Acoustic Ladyland) on saxophone, Nick Ramm (Cinematic Orchestra) and vocalist Alice Grant. Their music goes from hard to soft, quiet to loud, happy to angry, punk to jazz to folk to electro, with songs of love and no love, friends and non friends.

Normal Gimbel open the show - two voices singing strange and lovely songs thatll put a skip in your step and a song in your heart. \"A haunting and slightly scary a cappella duo\" - Time Out

16 May - SCHOOL OF LANGUAGE + The Week That Was

2008-05-16

Mean Fiddler presents
SCHOOL OF LANGUAGE
+ The Week That Was

£7 via WeGotTickets,
Ticketweb and Seetickets

In April 2007, Sunderland trio Field Music (David Brewis, Peter Brewis and Andrew Moore) announced in a round-a-bout way that they were clearing their diary of all band activity in the hope that a change of situation and expectation might help them to become as productive as they\'d always hoped they would be. The first fruits of this new creative dawn is David Brewis\'s School of Language.

Primarily recorded by David alone and consciously susceptible to the cut-and-paste, multi-tasking tangents induced by laptop recording, these constructions are resolutely un-band-like, veering between the intricate and unplayable and the solitary and unadorned, their cohesion stemming from an embrace of all that is most obtuse and personal.

Sea From Shore is bookended by the quartet of \'Rockist\' tracks, a series of daydreams on words, their meanings and the decisions which follow from them, all underpinned by a collection of incessant looped voices. The album can, in some ways, be seen as a companion piece to Field Music\'s Tones of Town but where that record was preoccupied with the choices resulting from questions of time and place, here time is tied to people - often because of their absence, but at other times because their closeness is what rejuvenates us.

The album Sea From Shore out now in the UK and Ireland on 4 Feb 2008 on Memphis Industries (and in the USA and Continental Europe on Thrill Jockey).

17 May - MATT AND KIM + The Dallas Guild + Casiokids

2008-05-17

The Luminaire presents
MATT AND KIM
+ The Dallas Guild
+ Casiokids

Doors 7.30
£7 via WeGotTickets and Ticketweb
£8 door

Matt & Kim are a power pop duo based out of Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 2004 by Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino, the two play an unique form of keyboard driven rock n roll. While Matt takes care of the synth keys, Kim handles the driving rhythm. Their simple, dance style rhythms and energetic performances have gained them a substantial local following and a formidable online presence through YouTube and MySpace. The group released their first full-length, self-titled CD on LA-based tastemaker label/media group \"Iheartcomix\", in October, 2006.

Main support comes from The Dallas Guild - melodic psych space rock with synths and drum machines. Think Kraftwerk meets ELO meets the Lips. You may have heard the band on the VW Eos ad campaign, with their song \'Men in White Coats\'.

Casiokids open the show. Old analogue and trashy keyboards, pop melodies and a shadow puppet theatre make up the container of love that is Casiokids. Apart from doing an extensive tour in Norwegian kindergardens, Casiokids has also played for indiekids in Paris and for rockers and whatnots all over Norway since 2005. The band sprung out of an idea of making electronic music more visual, but has developed further into being a collective of theatre blended with pop melodies often sung in their native language.

The perfect hybrid of Duran Duran, Kings of Leon, Efterklang, Sigur Ros and 2unlimited (6/6) - GAFFA (denmark): By:larm festival, Oslo 2008
Rocknroll circusy Nah - Casiokids know that electro-funk shadow theatre is really where its at. - BBC, NUMusic Festival, Stavanger 2005

19 May - SARABETH TUCEK + Guests

2008-05-19

Metropolis Music presents
SARABETH TUCEK
+ Guests

Doors 7.30
£8 via Gigs & Tours

Sarabeth Tucek is the very definition of understated. Shes physically small and her voice is quiet, but it still has the power to cut right through you as anyone who heard her debut single Something For You will testify. Released last February on the tiny indie label Sonic Cathedral it became a word-of-mouth success, being crowned record of the week on Steve Lamacqs BBC 6Music radio show and raved about everywhere from Playlouder, where it was made single of the week, to NME, who summed up their Radar profile of Sarabeth by saying, If you dont think Something For You is the most beautiful record released this year, then you might as well fuck off and die. Such is the power of the song, which is quite possibly the most affecting two and a half minutes of music youll ever hear. So why did it have such a big impacty I dont know, replies Sarabeth. It\'s a very simple song. Short and sweet and bitter. As we said, understated.

Sarabeth was born in Miami, but it was while growing up in Manhattan that she fell in love with her mums favourite music such as Cat Stevens Tea For The Tillerman and Simon & Garfunkel. She went on to discover the likes of Neil Young, Big Star, The Zombies, The Velvet Underground, Television, Joy Division, The Dream Syndicate, The Gun Club, My Bloody Valentine and Elliott Smith for herself. However, more than any other, she worships Bob Dylan. My whole life is wrapped up in his songs, she explains, revealing, at a push, that The Freewheelin Bob Dylan and Blonde On Blonde are her favourites. He is wholly original. There will never be anyone like him again.

This made a support slot with Dylan in Massachusetts all the more unbelievable. The story is a simple one, but at the same time it was a dream come true: Dylans people were sent a copy of Sarabeths album, liked it and asked her to open for him at the Pines Theater in Northampton. The great man himself even took time out to speak to her afterwards. It was a surreal experience, exclaims Sarabeth, losing her understatedness for just a second. I don\'t think I was ever so excited about anything in my life.

In 2002, after relocating to Los Angeles, Sarabeth sang backing vocals on a little-known record by EZT (aka Will Oldham associate Colin Gagon) called Goodbye Little Doll. The producer was Bill Callahan of Smog who, suitably impressed, called her up a few months later and invited her to Chicago to sing on what would become Smogs acclaimed 2003 album Supper. Im a big Smog fan, recalls Sarabeth. So it was pretty exciting. Around the same time she also hooked up with Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre and collaborated on a few songs that ended up on the bands 2005 mini-album We Are The Radio, which also includes a version of Something For You that Anton retitled Seer (Im not sure why). Sarabeth even makes a fleeting appearance in the infamous documentary film Dig! where she is introduced onstage at LAs Knitting Factory club as Antons sister, shortly before he kicks a heckler in the face.

Despite all of her work collaborating with other artists, Sarabeth much prefers to work alone and was keen to make her own album. Id been writing for a while and people started responding pretty quickly to the lyrics, she explains, acknowledging her darkly cryptic words that are reminiscent of the sinister flipside of Hollywood atmosphere of Neil Youngs landmark 1974 album On The Beach. Over two weeks in 2006, she entered the studio with Ethan Johns (Kings Of Leon, Ray LaMontagne) and Luther Russell (Richmond Fontaine, Fernando) to record the 11 tracks that make up her eponymous debut and from the bitter-sweet and sparse Something For You to the heartbreaking, string-laden closer Home its a masterpiece. And thats no overstatement.

20 May - NIC DAWSON KELLY - POSTPONED

2008-05-20

Live Nation presents
NIC DAWSON KELLY
+ Guests

WE\'RE SORRY TO ANNOUNCE THIS SHOW HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND THE BAND\'S CONTROL. MORE INFO AS SOON AS WE HAVE IT.

Somewhere between Anthony & The Johnsons, Devendra Banhart and Bob Dylan lies Reading-based singer/songwriter Nic Dawson Kelly. With an enviable knack for a fabulous melody and a witty perspective on modern life, Nic will win your heart with song as quickly as he\'ll entertain you with his lyricism.

21 May - KING CREOSOTE ACOUSTIC + Guests

2008-05-21

The Luminaire presents
KING CREOSOTE ACOUSTIC
+ Guests

Doors 7.30
£10 via WeGotTickets and Ticketweb.

There are well-kept secrets, and there is Kenny Anderson, AKA King Creosote. If fame were a contagious disease, Anderson would have caught a severe dose of it years ago. From KT Tunstall perhaps, sometime backing vocalist in his first band from the mid 1990s, the faux-bluegrass outfit, Skuobhie Dubh (pronounced Scoobie Doo) Orchestra. Or from his brother Gordon, founding spirit of The Beta Band, and now The Aliens. Or from his Fifer compatriots from Falkirk, the sex miserablists Arab Strap, or James Yorkston, one of Fences most affecting traditional voices, now signed to the mighty Domino label. But he never did. Instead Anderson has spent most of the past 20 years honing his musical craft and, since the demise of the S.D.O. in 1996, creating a catalogue of over 600 genius folk-pop tunes, most of which he has released as limited edition CD-Rs through the Fence label. Anderson started out as an accordion player, deeply intrigued by the manner in which Dexys Midnight Runners used traditional instruments such as his, but not in a folk way. Since then he has expanded his reach, assuming guises ranging from the canny indie rocker to the Highland balladeer.

Local Scottish media have picked up on the awesome quality of the Creosote sound, one reviewer calling it the most sublime Scottish folk songwriting since Donovan. When he isnt polishing off another of his own songs on his home 8 track, he spends time encouraging other members of the Fence community - in the main, mates and family members from Fife who share his passion for music of genuinely independent spirit, and his fondness for quirky names. (The Pictish Trail, Midget Squid, HMS Ginafore etc.)

In 2005 he contracted KCs music to the 679 label, a subsidiary of Warners, with grander designs than the stubbornly rustic boutique ethos of Fence. King Creosotes first album for 679, KC Rules OK, followed later that year. Backed by label mates The Earlies, KC Rules OK earned widespread critical acclaim with The Telegraph hailing Andersons latest work as edging towards classic territory whilst Word agreed that KC Rules OK is an emphatic KO. Anderson was clearly making progress in moving from the realms of fringe-folk and into the mainstream.

King Creosotes finest hour, the new album Bombshell, emphasises that change ever more dramatically. Either as an introduction, or as a further instalment in an extraordinary tale, this 13 track portfolio reveals everything you need to know about Andersons maverick musical personality - right down to the influence of brother Gordon, who helps out on several tunes. Highlights include the propulsive Youve No Clue Do You, the best country rock highway driver the Eagles never wrote (they couldnt have managed the Fife accent nor the lyrical puns on Cluedo.). At the other end of the Creosote spectrum is And The Racket They Made, a shimmering, hymnal duet sung by Anderson written by fellow Fencer HMS Ginafore.

The idea this time around was to make the songs sound bigger, and more accessible, is Andersons summary of his 2007 agenda. Im not leaving home, but I am getting out a lot more. As he speaks, he has just returned from a gig in Brazil. For King Creosote the old think local, act global mantra is fast becoming a reality.

22 May - SUNSET RUBDOWN + Fireworks Night

2008-05-22

Hidden Fruit presents
SUNSET RUBDOWN
+ Fireworks Night

Doors 7.30
* SOLD OUT *

Sunset Rubdown - a Canadian 4-piece - will hit the shores of the UK for their first ever London performance. Fronted by Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Frog Eyes) this will be the first chance to see how they translate their latest record, Random Spirit Lover to the intimate surroundings of The Luminaire.

23 May - FENCE RECORDS & FRIENDS

2008-05-23

The Luminaire presents
FENCE & FRIENDS
with
Kwaing Creasite
+ The Pictish Trail
+ Player Piano
+ Special Guest

Doors 7.30
£8 via WeGotTickets and Ticketweb
£9 door

This is a very special night, hosted by Fife\'s very own Fence Records - birthing ground of King Creosote, James Yorkston, The Lone Pigeon. Expect a few familiar faces, some very special guests, instrument swapping, piggy backing, and unkempt facial hair. See Fence Records for more info.

24 May - THE FRANK & WALTERS + Pilotlight

2008-05-24

The Luminaire presents
THE FRANK & WALTERS
+ Pilotlight

Doors 7.30
£13 via TicketWeb and WeGotTickets
£14 door

The Frank & Walters did their first gig on October 14th 1989, a full 26 days before \'The Wall\' came down. Although both events were considered seismic to their respective viewing audiences (43, De Barra\'s Clonakilty / 1 billion, worldwide TV) the events cannot be verifiably linked, the number 26 would however make some curious appearances in the long and glorious history of the band.

Take five studio albums, one \'Best Of\', one retrospective triple album of rarities and remixes, one book, one live dvd, 14 EPs, two remaining original founding members and one ex-female keyboard player who used to double up as a wedding dress model, add them together and what do you gety 26. Coincidence or something more sinistery

I think we all know the answer to that.

A Renewed Interest In Happiness by The Frank and Walters tells us that everything is going to be OK. It is an antidote to the trials and tribulations we all face. Questions and answers beautifully packaged in unforgettably perfect melodies. Expect the same from their live show.

Support comes from Pilotlight. Just back from recording their debut album in France\'s Black Box Studios with producer David Odlum (Gemma Hayes, The Frames, The Redneck Manifesto) and following the success of single \'Headstart\' in Ireland this is Dublin-born, London-based Pilotlight\'s first of many UK gigs this year.

\"The band create a celestial noise that is emotional without being overwrought.\" - musicomh.com

26 May - WHITE MAGIC + Sian Alice Group + Felix

2008-05-26

Upset The Rhythm presents
WHITE MAGIC
+ Sian Alice Group
+ Felix

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS RESCHEDULED FROM THE ORIGINAL DATE IN APRIL - ALL TICKETS FROM APRIL 26TH WILL BE VALID FOR THIS SHOW.

Doors 8.00
£7 via WeGotTickets

Based around the core duo of Mira Billote (Quix*O*Tic) and \"Sleepy\" Doug Shaw, NYC\'s White Magic take so-called freak-folk to a rather more peculiar, jazzier and gothic place, Mira\'s emphatic piano chord shapes and soaring vocal leading the way. Following a rapturously received debut EP and a split with American Analogue Set, last year saw their first full length \'Dat Rosa Mei Apibus\' and a second EP \'Dark Stars\' - both for Drag City - move their minimal aesthetic into a newer, untamed musical landscape, exploring the African and the tropical, riding into dark ragas and devotional dub. The duo are set to return with \'New Egypt\' on Southern\'s rather good Latitudes series in early April.

Formed by multi-instrumentalists Rupert Clervaux and Ben Crook and singer Sian Ahern, London\'s Sian Alice Group have since gone on to incorporate musicians like John Coxon of Spiritualized and Spring Heel Jack and Gang Gang Dance\'s Brian DeGraw. Pinning down the band\'s sound is elusive to say the least - their debut album \'59:59\' on Social Registry charts transformations from psychedelic rock, pastoral folk, and piano-lounge balladry into analog-synthtronica, free-jazz breakdowns, pounding Afro-tech grooves, and avant-classical composition. The beauty of Sian Alice Group is that the band is capable of creating highly effective music even when they stray far from traditional torch-song territory.

Start with the sound in the brain of one Lucinda Chua - piano, cello, vocals sung in hushed tones, stories heard whispered in the back of the cinema and messages scribbled in biro on scraps of paper - add delicate guitar from Christopher Summerlin to make your spine tingle and you have Felix. It\'s a mesmeric formula which would ideally be consumed in liquid form, piped into the ear in the half-awake-half-asleep state.

27 May - QUEENADREENA + Vile Imbeciles

2008-05-27

Medicine Jar presents
QUEENADREENA
+ Vile Imbeciles

Doors 7.30
£9 via WeGotTickets
£10 door

Back from touring in France and Japan, Queenadreena play a headline show in the UK for the first time since 2006. They will be debuting songs from a new album due for release in September 2008.

Fronted by the truly iconic Katie Jane Garside, Queenadreena deliver an exciting and individual live performance that is unequalled. Rock & roll unlike any you\'ve seen before...

30 May - SCOTT H. BIRAM + Honkeyfinger

2008-05-30

Not The Same Old Blues Crap and The Luminaire present
SCOTT H. BIRAM
+ Honkeyfinger

Doors 7.30
£7 via Ticketweb and WeGotTickets
£9 door

Not The Same Old blues Crap is delighted to welcome back Austins self-proclaimed Dirty Old One Man Band AKA Scott H Biram.

Scoot H Biram successfully and sometimes even violently, lashes together blues, hillbilly, and country precariously to raucous punk and godless metal. Biram isnt a dour singer-songwriters sitting on a stool strumming songs about girls with big eyes and the romance of dusty, deserted highways. HELL NO!! His singing, yodeling, growling, leering and brash preachin\' and hollerin\' are accompanied by sloppy riffs and licks from his 59 Gibson and a pounding back beat brought forth by his amplified left foot.

Years of touring non-stop have honed Birams assault to a fine edge--he\'s performed in 46 US states and shared bills with Hank Williams III, The Black Crowes, Th Legendary Shackshakers, Reverend Horton Heat, Kris Kristopherson, Hasil Adkins, T-Model Ford, Cedel Davis, and The Gourds. In January 2004, Biram accompanied Hank Williams III on a two-month national tour.

No sir, nothing will get in the Devils way... In May of 2003, one month after being hit head-on by an 18-wheeler at 75 MPH, Biram took the stage at The Continental Club in Austin, in a wheel chair, I.V. still dangling from his arm. With two broken legs, a broken foot, a broken arm and one less foot of his lower intestine, the Devil returned to his throne to resume his work.

Now its the UKs turn to witness the Wrath of Biram; his wide-eyed throw downs in the First Church of Ultimate Fanaticism have led the love children of John Lee and Lemmy to the Promised Land. Its been said that rock and roll came from the blues on the right hand and country on the left; Scott H. Biram is the middle finger on both.

Main support Honkeyfinger is a one man band who plays fuzz tone pedal steel over industrial sized breakbeats and various sources of electric interference. He sounds like Sneaky Pete from The Flying Burrito Brothers jamming Paul\'s Boutique with The Stooges!

31 May - THE WAILIN\' JENNYS + Jessica Blake

2008-05-31

The Luminaire presents
THE WAILIN\' JENNYS
+ Jessica Blake

Doors 7.30
£12 via TicketWeb and WeGotTickets.
£13 door

Three extraordinary voices, two founding singer-songwriters, one singular vision: The Wailin\' Jennys continue to evolve into far more than the melodious sum of their individual talents five years after blowing in on a fresh acoustic breeze from Canadas mid-western heartland.

Spurred onward by a growing fan base that swoons at their intuitive harmonies and revels in their engaging stage presence and uplifting repertoire, the Jennys embarked on a giddy blur of activity following the release of their second album, Firecracker, in August, 2006. Numerous head-turning reviews (quiet, warm, subtle, mellifluous, almost too good to be true, noted British daily The Independent) greeted a recording produced by David Travers-Smith (Jane Siberry, Harry Manx) and featuring a crew of ace musicians led by guitarist Kevin Breit (Norah Jones, k.d. lang). The trio wooed progressively larger audiences throughout North America while also making successful forays to the U.K. and continental Europe. And foremost among an unfolding series of life moments have been a second Juno Award nomination in Canada, the continuation of a much-cherished relationship with A Prairie Home Companion (Garrison Keillors popular National Public Radio show) and a memorable date alongside Rosanne Cash at the prestigious Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow.

One Voice, a live staple and highlight of the Jennys Juno-winning debut album 40 Days, remains a metaphoric statement of intent that to this day underlines the groups original mandate: three individuals with unique gifts combining seamlessly into a single beatific entity. Soprano Ruth Moody (guitar, banjo, accordion, bodhran) and mezzo Nicky Mehta (guitar, harmonica, ukulele, percussion) are charter members whove anchored the Jennys since the first line-up formed in their Winnipeg hometown. The critical third voice, an alto who fills out the chordal range of the groups vibrant three-part harmonies, has been filled in turn by Cara Luft, Annabelle Chvostek and, now that the latter has returned to her own solo career, new recruit Heather Masse.

Launching what fans are fondly calling version 3.0 of the Jennys, Heather is a New York-based singer and pianist who finds the middle ground between contemporary bluegrass (through her work with roots supergroup The Wayfaring Strangers) and jazz vocals (which she studied at the New England Conservatory of Music). She gelled immediately with Ruth and Nicky during an impromptu audition in a bathroom backstage in Philadelphia. Singing raw versions of Amazing Grace and an old Hank Williams song, the three women quickly nailed the essence of the Jennys exquisite sound while hinting at exciting new possibilities that will flower in the months of touring and studio sessions that lie ahead.

Fueled by the elemental power and transcendent glory of their honeyed three part harmonies, Firecracker is guaranteed to soothe your soul with its earthy passion and heartfelt compassion. Creem Magazine

Like Gillian Welch or Alison Krauss, they can make new songs feel traditional and old songs sound brand new. All Music Guide