The Luminaire Events for October 2008

03 October - FOOT VILLAGE + Pre + Vodka Soap + Drawlings

2008-10-03

Upset The Rhythm presents
FOOT VILLAGE
+ Pre
+ Vodka Soap
+ Drawlings

Doors 8.00
£6 via WeGotTickets

\"Of all the weird scum-hunch folk ensembles I\'ve heard over the last few years, Foot Village may be the most chaotic. Created and staffed by members of some LA underground heavies, this is a rather masterful effort, even when things are a little more controlled.\" [WIRE]

Featuring Brian Miller & Grace Lee of of Gang Wizard (Load/Ecstatic Peace), Josh Taylor of Friends Forever (Load), and Dan Rowan aka the infamous International Voice of Reason, Foot Village is the first nation built after the apocalypse.

Casting off their past accomplishments as mere musicians, the citizens of Foot Village now have a duty to rebuild the world, a new nation atop the ruins of Hell, after the oceans have all evaporated. In the absence of electricity they are erecting civilization with drums and voices alone! This is pure hardcore though. No jamming. No drum circles. So leave your bongos at home you hippy!

All we know so far is revealed on their first album \'World Fantasy\' (Not Not Fun) a collection of songs about other countries. Now Foot Village have created their own country and the songs on \'Friendship Nation\' (Recorded by Jonathan Snipes of Captain Ahab & mastered by Pete Swanson of Yellow Swans) are reports on what life in Foot Village is like.

\"Hair-raisingly direct, with drums of absolute death, Foot Village are instantly mesmerizing. 8/10\" [ROCK SOUND ]

\"anarchic percussive throwdown for the cosmic disco of the mind.\" [MOJO]

\"tribal percussion smackdowns, jungle growls, and cuckoo-house ululations\" [PITCHFORK]

Pre was born in a London basement in 2005 - five noise-sprinkled new-wavers who quickly demonstrated their rhythmically infectious skip-alongs on a flurry of vinyl releases that paired them up with acts like AIDS Wolf, Dmonstrations, Bardo Pond and Comanechi. Their latest effort \'Epic Fits\' is out now courtesy of Skin Graft and Lovepump United and is brutalist post-punk, meticulously sliced and diced.

04 October - TALL FIRS + The Declining Winter + Alastair Brown

2008-10-04

Miles of Smiles presents
TALL FIRS
+ The Declining Winter
+ Alastair Brown

Doors 8.00
£7 via WeGotTickets
£8 door

\"If your idea of staying warm on a winter night is a bottle of bourbon and a bleak memory, Tall Firs will make excellent company. (Rolling Stone)

After a 2006 debut which drew accolades from Rolling Stone, Vice, NME, Q, and Harp amongst others, Tall Firs return with a second dose of songs showcasing a new non-drowsy formula and the results are like a fine cough syrup: a confusing, bittersweet concoction laced with just enough speed to keep you feeling a bit better about the world of sickness closing in around you. \'Too Old to Die Young\' maintains the lugubrious lyrical stylings Firs accolades demand.

If Sonic Youth is the primordial, towering redwood forest of the indie noise-pop landscape, then underground NYC electric folk-duo the Tall Firs are the newly rising evergreens nestled at the foot of them. (Harp)

The band are unafraid to invoke the pocket-orchestra balladry of the first record. You try to translate the opening \'So Messed Up\' into words and back into music. You\'d end up with the ghost of Townes Van Zandt voiced by a David Byrne/Neil Young Frankenstein in pirate bespanglement backed by Echo and the Bunneymen starring Television on guitar and Rashid Aronoff on drums. But with zero tolerance for quirkiness.

\"These songs possess a sense of simmering tension, where lugubrious lyricism and instrumental drift do not detract from a poised delivery and a subtle but thoughtful use of contrasting shades. The acoustic-electric interplay suggests a kind of rootless, melodic modernity.\" (The Wire)

Main support are The Declining Winter; shimmering, shuffling and sparse, using guitars and electronics to gently post-rock you. Featuring Hood\'s Richard Adams.

Opening is Alastair Brown and his acoustic tales of hope and longing. Think Conor Oberst solo and from the home counties.

More info at Miles of Smiles / BePrepared

06 October - CHRIS SMITHER + Norton Money

2008-10-06

The Luminaire presents
CHRIS SMITHER
+ Norton Money

Doors 7.30
£15 door

Some words about Chris Smither:

\"Chris Smither delivers one of the most riveting live shows you\'re ever likely to see. His growling vocals, badass finger picking and uniformly brilliant songs are here in spades.\" - Rollingstone.com

\"The masterful combination of pure folk songwriting and intricate guitar blues are tangible signs of the singer-songwriter\'s vigorous genius. A megawatt solo performer.\" - Wired

\"Chris Smither, whose grand voice, stomping foot, blues-drenched guitar, and abiding interest in the problem of evil packed more power than the bands of (Tracy) Chapman and (John) Martyn combined.\" - New York Times

\"(Smither)\'s one of the finest interpreters of classic blues and contemporary roots music on the scene today.\" - Washington Post

Main support is in the shape of Norton Money, a London based westerish alt.bluegrass band with sweet harmonies and songs about the ocean, rodeos and finest virginia. Fresh back from a tour in California, the band is now recording their second album.

\"These San Franciscan, Bay-Area cats juxtapose gorgeous tripped-out, West-Coast harmonies with bitter-sweet Post-Country lyrics.Their debut album is a work of genius and is truly sublime. Expect a heart-lifting, Cosmic-barnstorming live performance that will have you floating on a cloud and chomping at the bit to dance all night long.\"

08 October - ME\'SHA BRYAN + Kev and Paula + Cyrus Gabrysch

2008-10-08

Remembering The People
Who Got Us Here
with
ME\'SHA BRYAN
+ Kev and Paula
+ Cyrus Gabrysch

Doors 7.30
£10 via WeGotTickets
£12 door

Described by fellow musician and world renowned drummer, Andy Newmark (Sly and The Family Stone, David Bowie, Luther Vandross) as Music, art, beauty and light, Me\'Sha Bryan has spent most of her musical career providing backing vocals for artists such as Bryan Ferry, Beverley Knight and groups such as Roxy Music and Heaven 17. After supporting Bryan Ferry on his recent Dylanesque tour and backed up by a band made up of some of Londons finest musicians, expect rock infused acoustic soul with a powerful vocal.

Kev & Paula support with a jazz / blues / rock / cabaret acoustic duo born out of the music of the \'30s, \'60s and \'90s, and anything a bit different in between.

Opening the evening will be Cyrus Gabrysch who brings his overly-sentimental and idiosyncratic, gin-drinking, road-tripping and Bible-thumping Lucky Strike take on the world to life with lots of generous old fashioned songs for story-loving music goers. All done with the help of his nine strong backing band of stray dog misfit musicians from around the planet.

09 October - SYNTAX TERRORKESTER + DATAROCK (DJ SET)

2008-10-09

FREE ENTRY

The Luminaire and Datarock presents
SYNTAX TERRORKESTER
+ DATAROCK (DJ SET)

Made possible by the kind assistance of the good people at the Norwegian Embassy in London.

Doors 7.30
FREE ENTRY

One of the greatest frustrations for a young band comes in the form of finding a label. In 2004, Datarock found themselves in just such a position. Their ethos had always been a DIY one, so to take their independent strain a bit further and release their music themselves seamed only logical. Thus Young Aspiring Professionals was born.

Apart from releasing their own material, they had a vision of helping out other bands with whom they somehow shared some common ground. Their first signing was a Bergen-based punk/new wave trio called Quasimojo; a trio who combined the raw power of punkrock with the more intricate sides of bands such as DEVO, Talking Heads and B52s.

Soon after, YAP started working with instrumental hard rock pioneers Noxagt but just as YAP was shaping up, Datarock\'s international touring schedule took them on the road for two solid years and YAP was set aside.

But eventually a band came along that demanded their attention; the seven piece punk/noise/impro collective Syntax Terrorkester, a truly remarkable collision of Fugazi hardcore and Talking Heads quirks, fused to an experimental, improvised noise-jazz aesthetic.

This is their first and only London show and will be backed by a DJ set by their label bosses, Datarock.

Their second album \'Familien Min Forstar Ingenting av Det is released internationally on YAP, October 2008

\"A tight, calorie-bomb which is both punk, prog, post, jazz, noise and improv. Energetic, challenging and close to undefinable.\" (NRK)

10 October - CHRIS GARNEAU + Banjo or Freakout + Sleaford Mods

2008-10-10

Big City Redneck presents
CHRIS GARNEAU
+ Banjo or Freakout
+ Sleaford Mods
+ DJs Bonanza [Resonance] and Tony Bones

Click here for a flyer for the show.

Doors 7.30
£5 via WeGotTickets

This will be a one-off show for Chris Garneau.

Chris Garneau starts his set hunched over a harmonia, on the floor, pumping out chords and singing with a great deal of anguish over the top. The stark lighting adds to the dramatic effect. Someone behind me mentions something about the harmonia representing a dying loved one on the floor, and the pumping his attempts at resuscitation...\" (Drowned In Sound)

Banjo or Freakout is a one man experimentalist who clearly spends a great deal of time looping and humming away in his bedroom to create his blissed out lo-fi tunes. (Time Out)

Sleaford Mods are an incendiary and inflammatory slurry of ranting controversy and an aural assault on the senses. There is a multi-layering of meaning both lyrically and musically whether he is relaying a past experience or scenario or bouncing clever couplets and soliloquies over immaculate riffs and samples.\" (Resonance FM)

11 October - THE BEVIS FROND + nick nicely + The Left Outsides

2008-10-11

Terrascope presents
THE BEVIS FROND
+ nick nicely
+ The Left Outsides

Doors 7.30
£8 via WeGotTickets
£10 door

Founded in 1997, the Terrastock festivals have become legendary in the USA for bringing together the cream of the underground and new bands poised on the brink of obscurity: some of the very earliest performances by Neutral Milk Hotel, Six Organs of Admittance and Charalambides have all taken place alongside sets by established acts such as Mudhoney, Kendra Smith and Sonic Youth. The most recent Terrastock took place in Louisville, Kentucky during June this year and featured amongst others Mono, Grails, Bardo Pond, Paik, Wooden Shjips, Jack Rose, Pelt, Major Stars, Simply Saucer and Oneida.

The event organisers, Terrascope Audio Entertainments (TEA), have now decided to try out some ideas back on their own home turf here in the UK, and the Luminaire is proud to be hosting the sixth of this occasional series of Terrastock Tea Parties smaller events intended to showcase both the music and the spirit of the festivals themselves. Tea Party 6 features a rare performance by psychedelic acid-rock guitar gurus The Bevis Frond, a one-off show by the legendary nick nicely (of Hilly Fields fame), and local psychedelic folk heroes The Left Outsides.

The Bevis Frond is the long-running musical vision of Londoner Nick Saloman, whose staunch devotion to the spirit of vintage psychedelia has yielded a shelf full of highly regarded, unmistakably late \'60s-derived albums. But there\'s far more to the Bevis Frond\'s extensive back catalogue than mere acid-rock revivalism. In addition to the extended guitar freakouts youd expect from one of the best psychedelic axe handlers of all time, this singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist\'s twisted pop tunes and gorgeous reflective acoustic excursions carry an intensely personal edge and a distinctive melodic sensibility that mark Nick out as one of Englands finest tunesmiths. Live dates have become a rarity in recent years, and this one-off gig sees Nick back in harness with arguably the hardest hitting, most volatile and best loved Bevis Frond line-up of all time: Adrian Shaw on bass, Bari Watts on lead guitar and Ric Gunther on drums.

Special Guest for this performance is Randy Hammon, lead guitarist of Californian acid-rock band The Savage Resurrection, whose 1968 self-titled LP featuring demented lead guitar excursions, feedback, wah-wah and punky voices Nick Saloman himself credits as being largely influential on his own sound.

Reclusive psychedelic recording artist, creator of landmark single Hilly Fields , 2004s successful Psychotropia album and now even further into psychedelia with his new album Translucence, nick nicely has been persuaded to throw off the cloak of anonymity and bring his creations to the live stage for one night only.

Terrastock presents the first and last appearance of nick nicely at the Luminaire on Oct 11th 2008. Performing alongside will be psych supergroup for-the-night, The Lives Unlived, including luminaries such as Paul Simmons (former Alchemyst and Frond) and sonic illusionist Vibrasonic.

This will be a unique opportunity to find out why the NME described this music as The best psychedelia since the 60s and what kick-started XTC\'s legendary offshoot, The Dukes Of Stratosphear.

The best psychedelic record made since the 1960sbeautiful and baffling exercise in DIY weirdnessthe song could have come straight off Magical Mystery Tour - and the truly shocking thing is that its every bit as good. - NME review of Nick Nicely\'s \'Hilly Fields (1892)\'

The Left Outsides seamlessly mix their love of the whimsical, English psychedelia of Syd Barrett with the icy and ethereal folk of Nico, the drones of The Brian Jonestown Massacre and the introspection of Elliot Smith, all done in their own, understated way. The Left Outsides feature Alison Cotton and Mark Nicholas, augmented by drummer Karl Sabino. They are all former members of The Eighteenth Day of May.

\" ... gentle psychedelia of chilly English fields at dawn......\" Tangents November 2006

yy\"....dreamy folksy psychedelia and a hypnotic acoustic sound from guitar and viola......\" The Metro Newspaper 11 May 2006

yy\".... dreamy, dark folk-psychedelia inspires critics to become poets....\" Sounds XP April 2006

12 October - CINDYTALK + JOHN & JEHN + TENEBROUS LIAR

2008-10-12

Last Stand presents
CINDYTALK
+ JOHN & JEHN
+ TENEBROUS LIAR
+ One Imaginary Girl (DJ)

Doors 7.30
£6 door

A triple-joint-headlining bill, culminating with seminal hammer & feather noise experimentalists Cindytalk

\"Cindytalk are blessed with an extraordinarily singular vision, an individuality and a purity that has seen them charting solitary territory throughout their existence. A band without peers, with all the joy and terror that this implies. Gordon Sharp still has one of the strongest, most beautiful voices I\'ve ever heard. A voice that connects with something elemental yet floats amongst the stars, matched by a musical backdrop of considerable subtlety and power. Tonight, the music was something of a surprise. If there\'s any long-term trend to Cindytalk\'s output, it seems to be one of de-structuring and dissolution. However, the band performance was remarkably melodic and song-oriented, amongst the expansive, ambient electronica of their concurrent laptop set.\" (Hydragenic.com reviewing June 30th gig at 12bar, London)

Before Cindytalk we have Luminaire favourites John & Jehn, a visually arresting, explosive, dueling boy-girl set up, where he plays guitar and she plays Farfisa organ and bass. Both sing. John & Jehns physical presence alone is mesmerizing. John, the feed-back-favoring guitarist, has cheekbones that could cut-glass, while his band mate Jehn manages to pull off being both gawky and sexy. Shes a little girl lost and femme fatale in equal measures. And their music doesnt fail to disappoint either. [Artrocker Magazine]

Opening the evening are Steve Gullick\'s Tenebrous Liar; \"moody and intense, occasionally terrifyingly primal, country-blues soundscapings\". (Time Out). Imagine Lift To Experience stuck in the eternal damnation their songs tried to escape from, but with a result more ashcan reality than spiritually vivid. (Drowned in Sound).

13 October - VIKING MOSES + Golden Ghost + The End Springs

2008-10-13

Viking Moses & The Luminaire presents
VIKING MOSES
+ Golden Ghost
+ The End Springs

Doors 7.30
£7 door

Raw, howling folk and intimate, intriguing story-telling. Viking Moses is music as seen through the lens of Brendon Masseis truly nomadic life.

Many musicians adopt a bohemian persona to fit their music, but Viking Moses is the real deal. Brendon has released banjo and acoustic guitar albums under several names. Perpetually on tour (since 1996), he has played with Will Oldham, Cat Power, Songs: Ohia and Devendra Banhart, to name a few, yet his body of work has received little commercial or critical attention.

His newest full-length under the Viking Moses moniker, the story-song cycle \'Crosses\', is by far his most accomplished work, and ranks among the best of the newest crop of American folk recordings. For anyone who has seen Massei perform live, the delicate mood of \'Crosses\' may come as a bit of a surprise. While a Viking Moses show often finds Massei on his knees wailing like a man possessed, \'Crosses\' consists of nothing more than a softly picked nylon-string acoustic guitar, a bass, and some piano flourishes, with Massei\'s trademark baritone rarely reaching its cathartic heights.

14 October - JON HOPKINS + Milosh

2008-10-14

Club AC30 presents
JON HOPKINS
+ Milosh

Doors 8.00
£7 via WeGotTickets
£9 door

Jon Hopkins is a musical shapeshifter: a composer, pianist and a self-taught studio wizard. He makes big, bold electronic music using walls of synths, twinkling melodies and amorphous bass rumbles. As such, his two albums have seen him labeled by the likes of ambient patriarch Brian Eno as an electronic innovator while an impressive sweep of artists from Herbie Hancock to David Holmes - not to mention contemporary choreographer Wayne McGregor, lo-fi folkster King Creosote and musical bluebloods Coldplay - have all called upon the 28-year-old Londoner\'s handiwork as a producer and composer.

Milosh makes music for the mind, body and spirit. Introspective, intimate, sensual electro-folk steeped in perfumed melancholy and luscious romance. Combining beats, samples, guitars, strings and the most silken falsetto voice since prime-time Smokey Robinson, the third Milosh album iii takes the listener on an emotional journey through an exquisitely beautiful musical landscape.

15 October - INDIAN JEWELRY + Gentle Friendly

2008-10-15

ATP Concerts presents
INDIAN JEWELRY
+ Gentle Friendly

Doors 8.00
£10 via WeGotTickets

Like their website says, their name is legion. Indian Jewelry, ostensibly a small gang from Houston TX, have a revolving door policy when it comes to band members, and have involved around 30 different people over the course of their existence so far.

At the core Indian Jewelry are a threesome (Tex Kerschen, Erika Thrasher, Rodney Rodriguez), but on tour they are known to shape-shift and add new band members in various cities to alter the sound and context of the band. \"INVASIVE EXOTICS\" is a caption of both the founding fathers and the adjoining companions, the structure and the free form, the tidy and the messy.

Renegades to traditional song structure, Indian Jewelry mix drum machine, noise, percussion, loops, dance beats, guitar, keyboards, scraps of metal, and other sounds into an unpredictable mash of aural delights, drones, and melody. Already amassing a swarm of devotees, Indian Jewelry are expanding our concept of song, and the way it is constructed and heard.

Indian Jewelry are the secret that no one gives away.

Supporting are Gentle Friendly. The music of Gentle Friendly is the mighty gallop of the fabled Scandinavian Wild Hunt hurling itself forward across woods crystallised with snow, not to terrorise and maim the pale peasants staring wide-eyed from the side of the road (although there is some carnage in the fiery explosions of noise that populate their music) but searching for a gleaming reservoir of power which lies hidden in the depths of the wilderness.

If you have seen them live you will realise that Gentle Friendly, or this sequence of creatures which are, were, could have been and might possibly be do not just stride past you with a pop glint on their eyes that would have made the Unicorns or good ole\' Yo la Tengo proud, no, they grab you in the slipstream of their exalted assault, smiling as the rhythms crash around you like thunder, and bristling shards of distortion illuminate the night, accelerating towards a place you might have visited before by the hand of like-minded explorers such as the Animal Collective, Silver Apples or Dan Deacon, the wall of a radiant horizon only 2 minutes away through which you crash in a collision that jolts you furious and gloriously alive.

17 October - THE BLACK HAND + Four Wheel Drive + Everfade

2008-10-17

The ICMP & Stiff promotions present
MishMash!
with
THE BLACK HAND
+ Four Wheel Drive
+ Everfade

Doors 7.45
£6 via TicketWeb
£7 door (£5 concessions)

Headlining this exciting, rocking musical treat are The Black Hand, with support coming in the shape of Four Wheel Drive and Everfade. Described by Classic Rock as \"Earthy, slightly Southern-tinged blues-rock, with lashings of twin lead guitar\" The Black Hand are currently preparing to record their debut album with the legendary producer Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin) later this year. Fresh from their recent UK tour supporting US band Rose Hill Drive, The Black Hand are poised to take the music world by storm.

\"This is a band that has so much promise that you can\'t wait to hear where they\'ll take it next. I know I can\'t and when they do, I\'ll be listening.\" (James Lomenzo, Megadeth)

Four Wheel Drive is a band that exists to play live. The songs have always been written with the live show in mind and the delivery is enough to get anybodys mouth away from their pint. Four Wheel Drive is made up of a highly \"driven collection of individuals whose lives revolve around the band and they deliver what can only be described as a relentless onslaught of good time, balls out rock \'n\' roll.

Formed in Late 2005, Cardiff-based Everfade combine a mix of influences into a unique and catchy sound. Having shared the stage with the likes of Dopamine, The Blackout and Said Mike, amongst others, Everfades first demo was recorded with Romesh Dodangoda (Funeral For a Friend, Kids in Glass Houses, The Blackout).

18 October - BARR + Lucky Dragons + Hawnay Troof + David Scott Stone

2008-10-18

*the Bad Science show which was originally on this date has been cancelled*

Upset The Rhythm presents
BARR
+ Lucky Dragons
+ Hawnay Troof
+ David Scott Stone

Doors 8.00
£7 via WeGotTickets

Barr is the project of LA / NYC\'s wandering pop-dynamo Brendan Fowler, in which he half-sings over half-tunes, creating a set of confessional songs that challenge the listener\'s preconceptions of truly innovative music.

Holding articulate dialogues that fall between lyrics and spoken word, Brendan\'s words are backed by deceptively simple, yet emotionally disarming melodies, formed from a sparse arrangement of bass, drums, piano and sometimes xylophone. This minimal aesthetic is the perfect platform for candid and exploratory songs about love, absence, realisation and experience.

21 October - TOM RUSSELL

2008-10-21

The Luminaire presents
TOM RUSSELL

Doors 8.00
£14.50 via WeGotTickets and Ticketweb
£16 door

Stage times:
Set 1: 8.40-9.35
Set 2: 10.00-10.55

The greatest living country songwriter in a man named Tom Russell. Hes written songs that capture the essence of America, a trait that can only be matched by the countrys greatest novelists.\" [John Swenson, Rolling Stone]

Tom Russell\'s albums in the 21st century have been heavily influenced by his current home city, El Paso. Albums such as \'Borderland\' feature a strong Tex-Mex influence and feature songs of life on both sides of the border.

\"Tom Russell is Johnny Cash, Jim Harrison and Charles Bukowski rolled into one. I feel a great affinity with Tom Russells songs, for hes writing out of the wounded heart of America. [Lawrence Ferlinghetti]

In 2005 Russell released \'Hotwalker\', the second part of a planned \"Americana trilogy\" (the first part being \'The Man From God Knows Where\'). It was another conceptual work largely inspired by his correspondence with author Charles Bukowski. Subtitled \'A Ballad for Gone America\', the album features songs and spoken word pieces, many of the latter delivered by another friend of Bukowski, circus midget Little Jack Horton. The sampled voices of Lenny Bruce and Edward Abbey are also heard on an album which takes the form of a musical collage lamenting the passing of the America of Russell\'s childhood and the Beat generation.

In addition to working on new music, Russell also exhibits his original artwork and organises an annual trans-Canadian \"music train\" featuring workshops and live concerts aboard a vintage long-distance streamline train. This train trek was depicted in Russell\'s 2005 concert/documentary, \'Hearts on the Line\', produced by Canyon Productions, which features a concert with Russell and Andrew Hardin videotaped at Capilano College in Vancouver as well as behind the scenes footage of the music train experience.

22 October - THE RESEARCH + Guests

2008-10-22

Eat Your Own Ears presents
THE RESEARCH
+ Guests

Doors 7.30
£7.50 via SeeTickets / 0870 264 3333
and TicketWeb / 08700 600 100

The Research - a three piece from Wakefield with a gift for sunshine melodies - play a tight live set of art-rock-pop as they mix minimalist guitars, punchy bass lines, swelling keyboards and pounding rhythms.

Marrying memorable choruses with fuzzy casio keyboard riffs they have created a distinctive woozy sound that works as an eminently recognisable backdrop to their tales of love, both lost and gained. Imagine the emotional witterings of David Gedge or Darren Hayman but sitting over rumbling basslines and shambolic electro rhythms and you get the tear stained picture. The trick though is that whilst the lyrics veer from the deliriously happy to, more often, lower lip wobblingly sad, the music is almost uniformly upbeat and positive.

They havent been playing out so much on account of their troubles but all that is about to make a ch ch ch ch change. Sarah is moving back to Wakefield and The Research will be born again and they will bring joy to all the creatures again and they will be mortally uncomplicated again and they will have wings and they will take you under them and show you how to disappear and then set you almost free. They are the same as ever, and yet, somehow, terribly different. Here goes nothing...

23 October - RALFE BAND + Peter Bruntell + Mr. David Viner

2008-10-23

The Luminaire presents
RALFE BAND
+ Peter Bruntell
+ Mr. David Viner

Doors 7.30
£7 via WeGotTickets
and TicketWeb
£8 door

We\'re very happy indeed to present a Loose Music tripple-whammy, headlined by one of England\'s most original, melodic and richly poetic bands; Ralfe Band.

A whiskey-soured folk trip. Ralfe\'s moon-eyed beauty is simply the work of one vivid imagination.\" (Mojo)

\"Ralfe Band have delivered one of the most arresting debuts of the year.\" (Music Week)

Their latest album - \'Attic Thieves\' - is an almanac of twelve richly varied songs and instrumentals. The recordings range from the beautifully personal to the eerily comic, with song lyrics peppered with mysterious alter-egos, all reflecting an inventive band journeying across a dreaming landscape uniquely Ralfe Band\'s.

Ralfe Band is Oly Ralfe and his music brother Andrew Mitchell. Oly sings, plays upright piano, organ, accordion and Spanish guitar. From Mitchell emanate beatnik drums, scattershot percussion, electric guitar and arrangements borne from a love of great rhythm masters from Django Reinhardt to The Ramones. Other brigands contribute; Messrs Garo Nahoulakian on electric guitar, double bassist Ben Nicholls, Joe Bennett on violin and trumpet, and Rowland Prytherch, mandolin, bass and wayward trombone.

Main support is \"one of England\'s best kept musical secrets\" (Rolling Stone); Peter Bruntnell. \"Bruntnell has a remarkable knack for turning out big, dreamy, melodic, memorable songs.\" (Mojo)

\"His songs are warm and quietly radiant.\" (Uncut)

\"One of the finest songwriters in Britain.\" (The Independent)

Opening up is Mr. David Viner. \"White Stripes fans looking for quality after-hours music need look no further.\" (The Observer)

\"Viner might yet wake up one morning and find himself a star.\" (NME)

24 October - WESTCOTT & RODWAY + Murder In Monochrome + Last Days of Lorca + DJs Atrocity Exhibition

2008-10-24

Something In My Ear presents
a night of musical wonderment
with all profits going to Oxfam
WESTCOTT & RODWAY
+ Murder In Monochrome
+ Last Days of Lorca
+ DJs Atrocity Exhibition

Doors 7.30
£5 via WeGotTickets
£6 door

Headliners, Westcott & Rodway, peddle dynamic and evocative flamenco jazz. A musical event that echoes the past yet resonates in the modern, like true music should.

Main support Murder In Monochrome are \"brilliantly bleak and misanthropic... a cathartic adrenal rush\", according to Rock Sound.

\"The hotly-tipped band, who have been causing quite a stir on the live underground music scene, unleash their ferocious blend of lush soundscapes and driving, hypnotic basslines. Backed with the sublime vocals of singer Tom Potts, Murder in Monochrome are an irresistible force. Fans of Muse, Radiohead and Depeche Mode will not be disappointed.\"

Opening are passion-fuelled post-indie rockers Last Days of Lorca. \"This is technically brilliant edgy indie music, but the mathematical upsets to the rhythm are far from a distraction, simply adding to the feeling that storm clouds are closing in.

25 October - RETURN TO CAMDEN TOWN FESTIVAL CONCERT

2008-10-25

Return to Camden Town presents
RETURN TO CAMDEN TOWN FESTIVAL CONCERT

Doors 8.00
£13 or £10 concession, available via
the Festival Hotline: 07871 088 121

This concert is a triple bill of some of the finest traditional Irish musicians on the international circuit, and part of the 10th Return to Camden Town Festival.

The artists are; Dermot Byrne (Altan), Tom Morrow (Dervish), Eamonn Coyne (banjo) & Seamie O\'Dowd (Dervish), with Peter Horan & Gerry Harrington and Sam Proctor & Chris O\'Malley.

---

The UK\'s internationally-renowned traditional Irish music, song and dance festival returns to Camden for its tenth year on Friday 24th Octoberfeaturing more top musicians, artists and teachers than ever before. For ten action-packed days, some of the top traditional players, singers and dancers from the UK, Ireland, and the US will entertain and teach in a full programme of concerts, céilís, workshops, sessions, and lectures for adults and children at all levels.

28 October - OXES + Bilge Pump + Lords

2008-10-28

Upset The Rhythm presents
OXES
+ Bilge Pump
+ Lords

Doors 7.30
£8 via WeGotTickets

Eardrum-shattering, technically awesome math rock. (Alternative Press)

Playing with time signatures, guitar leads/solos and off kilter rhythms Oxes offer a maddening chunk of rock \'n\' roll, containing their signature stadium riffage, drum spills and fills, and sense of humor.

\"Be you one of the uninitiated in the line of fire, Oxesll damn well shoot the shit outta your ears and leave you bleeding brain all over the Baltimore sidewalk.\" (Drowned in Sound)

29 October - JESUS JONES + Master & Servant

2008-10-29

The Luminaire presents
a special, intimate show with
JESUS JONES
+ Master & Servant

Doors 7.30
£10 via WeGotTickets and TicketWeb
£12 door

With their multi-platinum, EMI-sponsored, early \'90s days behind them pioneering digital rockers Jesus Jones are free to do whatever they want, whenever they want.

Its the same gravity-free attitude that infuses every bit of tracks like Culture Vulture, a fuzz bass-led assault on the vacuity of contemporary famous-for-being-famous culture.

Its been a long journey from Jesus Jones first single, the 1989 cult classic Info Freako and since then pretty much everything that could be said of the band, good and bad, has been said. Even so, the bands impact has been great enough that theyre still written about in broadsheets today, 10 years since their last Top 40 hit.

From the sonic boundary breaking of the debut album \'Liquidiser\' (1989), the 2 million selling, pop star era \'Doubt\' (1991), the artistic high point of \'Perverse\' (1993), the doomed but wonderful \'Already\' (1997) to the reborn, independent \'London\' (2001), its a journey thats seen peaks and troughs but has brought the band to a place where theyre free of the whims of the press and the restraints of fashion but still able to play over 70 shows and festivals on three continents to over 75,000 people in the last couple of years.

Despite the passing of years Jesus Jones is essentially the same band as the bunch of young hopefuls playing London pubs in 1988. Singer, guitarist and songwriter Mike Edwards, XFM DJ Iain Baker, guitarist Jerry de Borg and bass player Alan Doughty were joined by new boy Tony Arthy on drums in 2001.

Join us for what will be sure to be a packed, expectant room and a very memorable evening.

30 October - THROW ME THE STATUE + Guests

2008-10-30

Live Nation presents
THROW ME THE STATUE
+ Guests

Doors 7.30
£7.50 via WeGotTickets and Ticketweb
£9 door

\"Offering a breed of ludicrously melodic synth-driven pop.\" (The Guardian)

Throw Me The Statue is a band. Keyboards, guitars, drums... that kind of stuff.

\"TMTS throws a perfect storm of clatter into his homey pop...The absolutely addictive \"Lolita\" hits like Bob Pollard\'s beloved Kinks asking us to, please, come dancing.\" (Stereogum)

\"A captivating set of songs that begs for repeated listens. (Filter Magazine)

\"Throw Me the Statues live show is wildly energetic...an abandon grounded by serious musicianship.\" (The Stranger Weekly Blog)

\"Scott Reitherman\'s bedroom pop - catchy melodies, uke and synth, part Guided By Voices & part Magnetic Fields, - wields a wistfulness that\'s sometimes breathtaking.\" (Said The Gramophone)

\"Nods to everything from Of Montreal to the Beach Boys make his a tough sound to corral, and thats the beauty of it.\" (Seattle Weekly)

\"One of the catchiest and most enjoyable indie records of the summer.\" (I Guess I\'m Floating) \"Moonbeams, the debut album from the group, is a collection of catchy, upbeat indie pop with enough experimental twists and turns to keep it interesting.\" (NPR)

31 October - DEADSTRING BROTHERS + Lasky+ Straylings

2008-10-31

The Luminaire
DEADSTRING BROTHERS
+ Lasky
+ Straylings

7.30 doors
£10 via WeGotTickets soon and Ticketweb now
£12 door

\"This is real steel, and plenty else, tooa band who sit uncomfortable and warm.\" [Mojo]

When the Detroit-based Deadstring Brothers released their critically acclaimed U.S. debut \'Starving Winter Report\' in the winter of 2006, they took to the road, touring with sidemen on steel guitar while seeking a permanent collaborator with a shared vision. They found what they were looking for in London, where the Heavy Load club scene was packing in rock \'n roll fans who danced all night to bands like The Rolling Stones, The Black Crowes and The Allman Brothers. On meeting Spencer Cullum, a young pedal steel/guitar player with the love of warm, analog rock \'n roll, their mission was accomplished.

Rounding out the line up were Spencers brother Jeff on bass and fellow Brit Patrick Kenneally on piano and organ. This unique set of circumstances forged the band and sound that is now \'Silver Mountain\'.

Imagine Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Gram Parsons in their primes, transplanted to Detroit, laid off from the Ford plant, pissed off and ready to pound longnecks (if not rednecks) at the local saloon, and youll have some idea of the emotional weight and sonic power of Starving Winter Report. There is no best song here; the whole album is great. Its loud, loose, ragged, and not far removed from a stomping, beer-swilling masterpiece. - [Paste Magazine USA]

Recorded in the Deadstring Brothers own recording studio, Silver Mountain boasts the tunesmanship of The Faces and the barroom howl of The Band stewed together in homage to the blues of the American South and dancehalls of the urban factory North - whilst never forgetting the importance of a good tune.

Not unlike Exile-era Stones, Deadstring Brothers deliver a menacing sound that draws equally on the melancholy of country ballads and the abandon of rock and blues. The bands music is deeply rooted in the storytelling and instrumental traditions of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and the American Outlaw Movement, but is also informed by the song structure and understated aggression commonly associated with Detroit bands.

Their haunting melodies reveal the influence of early \'70s rock icons like The Band and Gram Parsons and The Faces. Deadstring Brothers live performances have the energy of guitar rock, but sophisticated arrangements, Hammond Organ and a focus on traditional American music separate them from many of their Detroit contemporaries.

\'Silver Mountain\' is a coming out party for sultry singer Masha Marjieh. Gritty and seductive, reminiscent of sixties-era Tina Turner, Masha steps into the spotlight on eight of the eleven tracks, showcasing her hot-blooded and lustful voice, leaving no doubt that the biggest heart in the room now belongs to this soulful vocalist. Harmonica player Mickey Raphael also took a break from his place alongside the great Willie Nelson, contributing to \'The Light Shines Within\' and \'Slow Down\'.

Raw and feverish, Silver Mountain is the sound of a band working at its peak, synthesizing common influences (regardless of ones birthplace) with a modern edge. Cut from jaws of Michigan steel, East London pubs and honed from months on the never-ending road, the Deadstring Brothers testify to the soul-saving grace of rock \'n roll.

The band has been touring steadily since the 2004 release of their eponymous debut and have shared the stage with acts ranging from Shooter Jennings, Cat Power and Jesse Sykes to Giant Sand, My Morning Jacket, Drive by Truckers and the Mekons.

Lasky and Straylings support. Recently aired on Huw Stephen\'s Radio 1 show, Straylings excel in broody, mysterious indie with country/blues influences. Drawing inspiration from artists such as Mazzy Star, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac and Patti Smith, their live performances are both intense and uplifting