Saturday 16 July 2011

Hello,

it's that time again ~ the next b&b is this Sunday 24th July in the beer garden at The Railway Hotel. 2pm-6pm:

Stuart Jardine + The Isinglass Affair + Tuppenny Bunters + Splinters + ArtGruppe +Dooyah!

This gig is an extra one this year, it was pencilled in later than the original schedule due to a large demand from bands who wanted to play.... we just couldn't pass up the offer of having Tuppenny Bunters and Dooyah on the same bill!

The last b&b was upstairs at the pub, June 26th and featured Plantman (acoustic) + Wendy Solomon, Dave Woodcock and Jo Calver + ArtGruppe + Chip Shop Charlie + Carterhaugh. We used the pub's own sound engineer Billy and their were minimal tech probs. ArtGruppe were joined by Natasha Orchover on cello, she was a little nervous but did really well.

Looking forward to Sunday ~ doing sun salutations as we speak (-:


Thursday 17 February 2011

Bursting....

....with enthusiasm for a happy healthy and indie-poptastic 2011

Upcoming events:

17th April - BelleBeat as part of Southend Fringe Festival, at the Railway Hotel, featuring our first ever Swap Meet in the small room and live music and entertainment on the big stage

6th May - BelleBeat special event - T.A.P. (Temporary Arts Space, North Road, Southend-on-Sea), are letting us into their screening room for a one-off launch... ArtGruppe are hosting a pre-EP-release show. 6pm-9.30pm invitation only. As if this wasn't exciting enough... Roy Thirlwall (Melodiegroup), will be playing some 45s to celebrate his birthday too!!!

19th June ~ Outside Garden Party at The Railway Hotel, bands tbc

28th Aug ~ Summer's End Party Upstairs at The Railway Hotel, bands tbc

30th Oct ~ Hallowe'en Hoot Upstairs at The Railway Hotel, bands tbc

29th December ~ Christmassy Tingle Upstairs at The Railway Hotel, bands tbc

We've lots more planned for the year but these are the dates confirmed so far. I am especially looking forward to an afternoon of Electronica, a beach party and Southend's first ever BelleBeat Skype gig... watch this space,

Michelle xxx

Tuesday 1 February 2011

The Tumbledryer Babies ~ Simulacra 1.3.10

I first saw The Tumbledryer Babies live at Shangri-la, an acoustic-based evening of music in my home town. I was struck by Andrew Moore's ingenuity and craft; he filled the room with melody and texture using only his vocal and a bass guitar.

I'm a sucker for a short song and this set consisted of perfectly formed tunes, none more than 2 minutes long and a couple which barely reached 60 seconds... but the songs were not 'little.'

Shortly after the gig I procured a copy of Simulacra ~ it has haunted me ever since.

The tracks may be short but they are not small; each one is dense with its own message. There are influences from Bowie to Barrett from the start with the deconstructionalist First Song on the Set List.
The clanging bass effect on Turbulence goes right through you like an enthusiastic gardener on a quiet Sunday afternoon, jarring and disturbing but still pop.
My favourite track on the album is Jump with its distorted slack bass and dark lyrics.

The Tumbledryer Babies are not derivative, they are more unique than that: subtle, ironic and bleak fuses with a witty and sparkly realism.

Belle et la Beat