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Outgroup

outgroup
Oscar Cassidy is indeed a man, and someone whose talents – of a decidedly beaty nature - have been very much in demand. His love of drums, funk and unconventional grooves began at the age of nine (NINE!) and it’s a love which has seen him whirl into the orbits of British young guitar virtuoso Thomas McRocklin; Inbreed (hardcore band featuring members of Blunt Wound Trauma); Rubberneck (hip-hop/funk band with Smoove, Nick Pride

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Cloud City Trap

cloud city trap
Let’s start by bandying a couple of names about. Say “Hi, how you doing?” to Liam Watson and Kevin T Melling who are coming at you straight outta the South Tyneside area. Now imagine a dirty, mega wall of sound; thrash metal played at finger bleeding speed with vocals that sound like they’re being shouted into a bucket. Now imagine the polar opposite of that: this is

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Trafik

trafik
If it’s names that you’re hankering for then cop for Andrew Archer and John Elliot who have just banged out their third album on one of the world’s premier dance labels, Global Underground. And the label has given the band the chance to grow into what it is now with the album (‘None But The Brave

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Alex Butler Band

alex butler
As their name hints at, the Alex Butler Band does indeed include the talents of one Alex Butler, a young singer/songwriter from Newcastle who began performing at various busker’s nights before stepping up and playing storming gigs at The Cluny, Head of Steam and the O2 Academy. He’s now roped in a rhythm section going by the names of Paul Westgate and Mick B

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Kid Coda Sounds

kid soda sounds
Sure, Kid Coda Sounds knock out some eminently danceable stuff, but this isn’t just mindless juddering for the sake of juddering. They also come complete with tunes that have been buffed, Xenomania style, into poppy nuggets which sparkle in the most pleasing of manners. And they’re not afraid to throw down curveballs;

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Mamacoca

mamacoca
Those of you who keep abreast of such stuff will know that the nationwide Live & Unsigned competition is something of a very big deal, especially with the final being held at the IndigO2 Arena in London this year. And Mamacoca have pulled plenty of aces from their funky sleeves and played

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Caplyn

caplyn
Caplyn have recently been cleaning up (not literally) at the Live & Unsigned, battle of the bands type of gigs; no doubt wowing the judges with their supremely confident alt.rocking sounds. In Ben Hannington they have a vocalist of a decidedly full-bodied nature (i.e. he’s got a powerful,

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Forgotten Roots

forgotten roots
With ages ranging from late teens to early twenties, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Forgotten Roots are still finding their way around a good tune, right? Wrong! They’ve got a new five-track EP in the offing and it’s full-bodied stuff:

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Sona Di

sona di
A three-piece from rural Northumberland with a penchant for instrumental post-rock anyone? We don’t mind if we do.

And their music sounds like it’s been hewn from the rugged Northumberland landscape, too. Big, occasionally sparse, occasionally monumental, but

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Apache Viking

apache viking
Here’s a three-piece who we wouldn’t be afraid to slap the word “rollicking” on.

And they are Phil Dorsett (a US chap), Ross Forster and Paul Cosgrove (of Northumbrian extraction). They play the sort of garage rock that is tighter than

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Cedarway

cedarway
All of the best bands had three members: The Beatles (you can’t really count Lennon), The Rolling Stones (ditto Jagger and Richards) and Stevie Wonder (and his two very influential mates). There’s three of Cedarway and they’re surfing a musical wave of a decidedly indie/pop/rock

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Bernice McDonald

bernice McDonald
The Brighton via Jesmond artist is currently causing quite a stir on the south coast. Born into a family of musicians, Bernice has always been around professional performers as her parents met and played in The Northern Sinfonia Orchestra. The Newcastle born artist also sang jazz with her father’s trio, as well as The Swing Bridge Singers choir in Newcastle and performed on The Ant

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Jimmy and the Sounds

jimmy and the sounds
I like the fact that in the photo Jimmy and the Sounds look like they mean business, but not Apprentice-style, back-stabbing, cash-is-king, kind of business. There’s a hint of a smile dancing around their chops and the business they mean is the type that likes to give something back to the community:

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Mass

mass
Culled from the remnants of some of the region’s most promising bands is Mass, a new entity hurtling through time and space with all the force of that asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs (i.e. they play really loud music).

There’s five of them and they have been drawn together from some of the north-east’s more spikier

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The Turing Test

the turing test
There’s two of them (as the above pic hints at), they’re from Newcastle, and they know their way around an electronic tune: it’s The Turing Test.

You can’t beat a lovely slice of electronica for lifting the soul during these dark months and The Turing Test have got some juddering good stuff to take to your heart. Dark and rumbling and pierced with some divine shards of light, 

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The Longsands

the longsands
After touring the UK supporting Bruce Foxton’s With The Jam, Newcastles The Longsands are looking for a big cream bun of a year in 2010.
From The Jam
is a funny proposition is it not? It’s The Jam

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The Casual Terrorist

the casual terrorist
A cursory listen to ‘We Are Nothing’, the first track on The Casual Terrorist’sThe Lost EP’, will throw up the lyrics: “We talk about love, freedom, revolution and peace but we still treat each other like shit. LIKE SHIT”; and “We can look up at the stars for as long as we like and it will never explain as to why we all feel so fucking miserable”; and “WE ARE NOTHING, AND THIS IS JUST

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Sonner

sonner
Ok fact fans, here’s the upfront news: Sonner consists of Paul Watson, Mick Corkhill, Gareth Ord, Tom Elliott and Gary Partridge and they certainly know a thing or two about knocking out sharp indie-rock which is fired out from the heart and straight into your solar plexus


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Nuala Dalton

nuala dalton
I think that we can all agree that Nuala Dalton has a rather fine neckline but she’s backing that up with a rather fine forthcoming album too, in the shape of ‘Breaking The Spell’.
So then: this new album, ‘Breaking The Spell’. It’s the debut release from Nuala Dalton who is a singer/songwriter/guitarist and she’s come up with a bunch of tracks (eleven, fact fans)

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Scottish Polis Inspectors

scottish polis inspectors
This Newcastle based trio have just released their ‘Gina McKee’ album and jolly excellent it is,too. It was launched at Cluny 2 in November and I note the poster for the gig had a pic of Bob and Terry from The Likely Lads

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Bridie Jackson

bridie jackson
There are two things that most of us can all do with live music. The first is that when you see a musician or a band live you can then tick them off your mental checklist as ‘done’. This, however, is not possible with local singer-song writer Bridie Jackson. Why? Well, because she is so endlessly inventive and playfully experimental

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Saint and the Cynics

saint and the cynics
There’s a new genre of music bubbling to the fore at the moment and all of the hip-kids have christened it “pop”. Imagine. Saint and the Cynics (good name? Terrible name? Hmm…) knock out this so-called pop, but this is not yer full-throttle robo-disco stuff as practiced by the likes of Girls

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Monster Ceilidh Band

monster ceilidl


For me the act of dancing has been the source of many things in my life. A deep well of personal shame is one; an excuse to try and get off with assorted unsuitable types is another; but above all it’s been about having fun. And I don’t think

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Gullich

gullich
Hailing from Billingham, Newcastle and Middlesbrough, that’s Gullich who are apparently named after a rock climber called Wolfgang Güllich (who was Sylvester Stallone’s stunt double in Cliff Hanger…). The trio

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Fables Last Stand

fables last stand
The band may look as they've just arrived from LA's Sunset Strip, but Fables Last Stand hail from Newcastle and Hexham, and while their music does owe a debt to the original Sunset Strip scene that spawned Guns n' Roses, there's plenty of British classic

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A Thousand Lies

a thousand lies
What this feisty five-piece knock-out is uproarious rock with the emphasis on the “roar”. And if its names that you’re after then say hello to Dave McQuillans (bahsing the drums), Steven Bagnall (thumping basslines), 

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The Mosaics

the mosaics
I like Coldplay and don’t care who knows it. Ok – let me qualify that. I quite like Coldplay and I quite like some of their records. They write songs which, while never earth-shattering, have that ability to take flight and you can’t help

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The ForceField Kids

the forcefield kids
Names? We’ve got ‘em. Say hello to rapper/writer Stain(ed) Art and DJ/producer, Sleepy, who dish out the kind of hip-hop which is inventive, clever and one big, happy, clappy, slappy slice of goodness.

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My Dark Star

my dark star
Potential’ is not a word I use lightly (it so is. I used it only the other day while in Greggs and I described the haughty young women that worked there as having potential. I thought she was potentially going to serve me. She so didn’t). Anyway. Potential. My Dark Star have it. They’re by no means the finished article 


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Greyhound

greyhound
Greyhound’s debut album, The Art Of Seeing, has got more than a flavour of Phoenix about it. Phoenix are those French peddlers of US style 80s pop/rock and jolly good they are too. I’ll tell you what else this album reminds

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Softwhere

softwhere
From pastoral drum and bass workouts to Tom Waits’ style balladeering, Softwhere refuse to be stuck in a box labelled ‘Indie’, ‘Rock’, ‘Pop’, or indeed ‘This Way Up’. They’ve got a forthcoming album out soon (July 6, fact fops) and it’ll take you on a journey to where ambience meets acoustica; quietness has an inner strength;

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Dead Man’s Shoes

dead mans shoes
Setting aside the fact that the band are using the phrase: “This is broken Britain” prominently on their website (a dreadful term coined by David Cameron and The Daily Mail in order to make the general populous think that they’re going to be knifed by drunken

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Night Of Sevens

night of sevens
Considering themselves “an autonomous garage rock ‘n’ roll movement and collective brotherhood,” who set out to “contribute to the history of righteous music with conviction and the greater aim of upholding the age old fight between good and

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Kiss Your Commander

kiss your comander
Promise is a commodity that we’re quite prepared to buy stocks and shares in. (Metaphorically speaking: those Big City Fat Cats aren’t getting any of our real cash to buy any more gold holiday homes on the moon.) Kiss Your Commander

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The High Rise Diaries

the high rise diaries
The High Rise Diaries have a purpose. They are FOR something. I listen to too many bands these days and I’m left thinking: ‘Hmm… alright I suppose, but what’s the point?’ The High Rise Diaries give you the impression that they need to exist;


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Purple Shards

purple shards
Here’s one of the most moribund sentences that we’ve read in a while: “I believe that Purple Shards can go a really long way.” It fell from the dry lips of Tim Vernon, music producer at Absolute Radio and one of the judges of the Carnegie Talent Awards 2009. Thankfully his dead

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Smoove & Turrell

smoove and turrell

 

On the funk and breaks scene, Newcastle-based DJ and beat boffin, Smoove, has been the real go-to man over the last few years. Prodigiously talented he’s finally found a singer to match his skills going by the name of Turrell. And what do you know, he’s from Newcastle too. Crikey. They’ve got their first album out and it’s crazy good.

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Music Prophetic

music prophetic

 

More music, less legislation. That’s what AKA Music Prophetic is all about. Their main objective is to get local artists, bands, composers and producers to unite under a common goal of sustaining music that is artistic, soulful, and inspiring, but based on the belief that each artist can maintain their sovereign rights while still being part of a larger body. Intrigued? Like to know more? Check out their webby below.

Seek: www.musicprophetic.com


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Amy Holford

amy holford

 

In a world of bland, indentikit popstars, 17-year-old singer/songwriter, Amy Holford from Newcastle is a breath of fresh air and looks set for certain stardom. She takes the best musical attributes of a bunch of well known artists including Norah Jones and is able to create a unique sound which works brilliantly.

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Radio Dynamics

radio dynamics

 

They’re from Durham; and Teesside; they’ve got guitars; and songs; and other stuff.

And here’s ‘Stand Alone’, the first track on their ‘Stand Alone EP’ and it’s got some 

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Pioneers Of Mediocrity

pioneers of mediocrity

 

I’ve just been listening to Bruce Springsteen’s new album and it’s just not doing it for me at 7.15am on a freezing cold Monday morning. Miserable, I stick this CD on and pretty soon things are looking up.


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ABSORB

ABSORB

 

First up, here’s the history. ABSORB independently released his debut album ‘Now Is The Time’ back in 2004 which was influenced by the UK garage scene but also UK and US hip-hop. In 2007 he released


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Hassle, The Girl Who I Adore, released 1st February

Hassle

 

In an exclusive interview with The Crack, Geordie dub daddy and front man of Hassle, Stevie Dread, tells our very own Jon Corbett why he’s swapping his allotment in Heaton for the onions of France.


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Paul Fisher

paulfisher

 

We’ve always enjoyed Paul Fisher’s oeuvre and his latest recording – in the shape of a limited edition, handmade compact disc – is a joy to behold with two songs of rare beauty, showcasing his winning way with a melody bringing to mind the underrated sound of

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Izon Audio Visual

izon

 

North-east based Izon Audio Visual Ltd have just opened a brand new video and recording establishment just 10 minutes from Newcastle.


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The Knutsens

theknutsens

 

Here’s a Newcastle four-piece with a bunch of songs for your perusal. I say a ‘bunch’ of songs - I’ve only heard three - but I have to report that they may have something worth stroking your chin about and stating: “Hmm…

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Man Is Slapped

manslapped

 

It says on Man Is Slapped’s myspace page that his music is experimental / electro / pop. I suppose it is ‘experimental’ in that his songs are a bit out of the ordinary, lurching from tuneful grooves to wibby wig-outs. Put it this way:

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Cosmos Recordings

AndyKelly

 

Bury that tired credit crunch cynicism of yours! - Facebook can be a truly wonderful thing. It can unite people. It can re-unite people. Granted, it can annoy people equally so, but I honestly believe Facebook, with the right button presses, is a positive thing. It can, somehow, bring people like myself and Andy Kelly

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Balao

balao

 

Balao make the kind of music that sounds like it should echo down through the ages; there’s something ancient about it yet it’s infused with a modern sensibility. Contradictory?

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Luxon Bute

luxon

 

The band are a young Newcastle outfit that do the north-east’s music scene proud. Although still relatively unknown, they were this years winners of the Vodaphone Live and Unsigned, Newcastle’s first band to achieve Britain’s best unsigned band in the under 18s category. The level of performance is astounding

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Open Stage, The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle, monthly

bridge

 

Ok. Just who is behind this empty, but strangely alluring platform. Say hi to north-east production company, Blank Studio LLP, who once a month are staging an open stage event at The Bridge Hotel. The aim is to support

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Carl Jackson

carl

 

If we’re going to start lobbing labels around – and we must – then let’s start with ‘folk’ and ‘indie’. I’ve heard three songs from Carl Jackson’s and they’ve undoubtedly got an indie/folk tinge. But there’s something else there, too. There’s anger in ‘The Asylum Seeker’

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Attention Promoters!

curious

 

Aspiring young music promoters who are passionate about enhancing the live music scene in the north-east are being encouraged to take up a fab offer 

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The Ballarats

ballarats2

 

If the hype surrounding Black Lips is anything to go by, retro garage-rock appears to be back in vogue. But wasn't it only recently that we had to suffer the likes of The Datsuns doing something suspiciously similar?

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Urban and Eastern

mush2

 

Urban Eastern is a north-east based live music promoter and record label and my, do they have a roster of delights.

Urban Eastern, then. What are they all about? This: 

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Allendale

allendale

We’re starting a new, semi-irregular series (of one) called: Great Places For A Holiday Break That You May Not Have Previously Considered. This week: Allendale.

This is what we love about it:

1. It’s just been voted the Calor Village of the Year (Calor being our favourite supplier of cooking and heating applications and a real ‘Investor In People’).

2. It’s literally just around the corner (ok, not literally).

3. They’ve got AMAZING pony trekking.

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Such Great Heights

suchgreat

 

It should be noted at this early juncture that Such Great Heights have a song called, If Any Of Us Gets Laid Here Tonight It’s Because Of Bruce Banner In Munich. There’s been a decline in great song titles

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Demo-lition derby

cheapantiques 

It’s time for another round-up of local stuff. Your navigator: Daniel Clifford.

Cheap Antiques – ‘Mystery is History’ single
Cheap Antiques have managed to achieve something virtually impossible with their single, ‘Mystery is History’, in that they make great music while also appealing to trendy Topshop types. A round of applause for Cheap Antiques! The track begins with a spoken word mantra before giving way to a fantastic horn riff and

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Get Involved

getinvolved

 

They’ve put on various nights around Newcastle since coming together in 2006, bringing to the region bands such as Los Campesinos and Shitdisco, and have also stormed some top indie discos.

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Beth Jeans Houghton

bethjeans

 

We’ve been playing the forthcoming Beth Jeans Houghton EP non-stop since we managed to get hold of an advance copy (you could say that we’ve had the same Jeans on for four days now – Crowbarred In Jokes Ed.) She plays a beautiful kind of skewed folk.

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Leagues


leagues

 

One of the most promising of a new generation of British guitar bands, Leagues, will make a strong statement of intent in the coming months, and their confident, purposeful debut EP, ‘Blank Flags’, will act only as a starting point
 



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Steve Jinski


home

 

Steve Jinski has dipped his toes into many musical pools including acoustic roots, folk, pop, country and all those bits that sound a bit like acoustic roots, folk, pop and country, but the fact that always remains the same is his uncanny knack of coming up with nailed-on, brilliant tunes.

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Sirens

sirens

 

Sirens are signed to Newcastle based label, Kitchenware, a label we’ve hitherto thought of as playing host to a load of skinny indie boys, possibly wearing hats.

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Detroit Social Club

detroit

 

There are only two adjectives music writers care about – “brilliant” and “different” – and Detroit Social Club, despite only being together an incredibly short amount of time, already have a freehold on both.

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Ever Since The Lake Caught Fire

estlcf

 

ESTLCF rose from the coastal towns of Tynemouth and Whitley Bay before alighting on Newcastle; banging out a few gigs; and winning praise and clamour in equal measure.

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amazingtunes

amazingtunes

 

amazingtunes is a Newcastle-based music label who like to stick it to The Man by 1. refusing to use capitals and 2. refusing to use gaps between words. Cool. They’re also in the business of snapping up top talent such as Little Comets

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facia

facia2

 

I used to regularly write about up and coming, and up and going, bands from our region. Until exactly now however, from a wee while back, that passion to pick up the pen and scribble about local sounds has very much been on hold. But then, almost by chance,

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The End, 78 Scotswood Rd., Newcastle

theend2

 

Lordy lordy, get the bunting up, for it is said that every time a new music venue opens up in the north-east, an angel gets its wings.

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Dot45 Records

smallscreen

 

Durham is often overlooked in the north-east music scene but all that is about to change with the launch of Dot45 Records. Durhamites will be familiar with the popular Fishfood night and now the creators have branched out into a label. It was formed by the acclaimed Durham quartet, The Colt 45s and they are launching it with a compilation album called Planet Durham which is going to include over 20 Durham based artists,

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Demo-lition Derby

shunjin

 

It’s time to round-up some demos and local releases we’ve collated recently. Your tour guide: Daniel Clifford (Note: If you’d like to submit a demo, single or album send to: Local Scene, The Crack, 1 Pink Lane, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5DW).

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Strangers in Polaroids

sip

 

It would be easy to group Strangers in Polaroids in with the likes of Editors and Interpol on the strength of (the opener of their debut CD) but delve a little deeper and you’ll see that there’s a whole lot more going on with this band of gloom-rockers.

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Kalidah

kalidah

 

Kalidah (pronounced ‘Kal-eye-dah’, if you were stuck) are a Newcastle-based quartet who deal in the same kind of anthemic melodies as everybody’s favourite FM rockers but marry them to much more interesting – almost folky – soundscapes. If twinkling pianos, finger-picked acoustic guitars, reverb-drenched mandolins and multi-layered boy-girl harmonies are your bag; this is definitely the band for you.

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d_rradio

butterfly

 

It’s often said that describing music is like dancing about architecture, but I prefer to liken it to conveying déjà vu with shadow puppets, or indeed, enacting the history of the Ottoman Empire with kites. Which brings us to the eponymous new album from local heroes, d_rradio.

 

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Squares

squares

 



They’re a twosome from South-Shields and make the kind of indie-pop that your dad used to tell you about.There’s a nagging urgency about Squares that can’t but help pull you in. A Whirlpool of indie-popness (an indie whirlpop, if you please) that has you longing for the days when John Peel

 

 

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Anyone for table-tennis?

pingpong

 

I was going to begin this article by stating that table-tennis is a much maligned sport, but it isn’t really. I mean for something to be maligned it has to register somewhere in your consciousness, which table-tennis just doesn’t.

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2 Many Units

2ManyUnits

 

The press release that accompanied this release had the band marked down as a “young four piece experimental punk band from Darlington”. ‘Experimental’ I think, ‘Oh, no’. In truth there’s nothing experimental in the least about these guitar-based pop songs, not unless you count a cover version of House Of The Rising Sun with an intro that sounds a bit like The

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Guessmen

2guessmen

 

The Newcastle-based band return with their outstanding new album, Back From The Bins, this month. Robert Meddes recently caught up with the band (John Ayres, Tommy Anderson and Alan Edge) to find out what cooks their goose.




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Seventythree

seventy three

Those seven super-soulful Sunderland types, Seventythree, are kick starting 2008 with their third release, Heavenly. With its carnival vibe and anthemic chorus,

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The Cutters

the cutters
They’ve just nabbed the Glasswerk Indie Band Of The Year and have just issued their latest single, Saviour. It’s the Cutters.

Teesside’s The Cutters had something of a road to Damascus moment when they holed themselves up in a remote Scottish farmhouse at the beginning of this summer.

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Klub Knievel, ARC, Stockton

klubknievel
Klub Knievel rocks

Klub Knievel is ARC’s new monthly band night showcasing live performances from talent across the region and beyond. As the music policy is anything goes –

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Jeans goes POP!

jean goes pop
Get the bunting out: Jeans goes POP! are winding up to cast their debut album to the four winds. Hooray!

There can be only one. Band members that is. Yes; Jeans goes POP! is actually one lad – Northumberland-born Paul Jeans

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Jenny Stevens & The Hiccups

jenny stevens
Daft moniker aside, JS&TH have had a fantastic year and the feather in their jazz/pop cap is the imminent release of their debut album.

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Amber Souls

amber souls
Like your indie rock to come with a side order of chutzpah? Gotta have Souls.
Names? Nick Grimes (guitar and vocals), David Welsh (guitar), Ollie Scott (bass), David Green (drums) and Gemma Bradshaw (percussion).

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Last Orders

last orders
Imagine if the Arctic Monkeys played folk and came from the north-east. Shut your eyes and imagine. You can’t can you? Well, now you don’t need to; they exist, they’re award-winning and they’re Last Orders.

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Maybe Myrtle Tyrtle

maybe murtle turtle
Newcastle’s favourite rockabilly n’er do wells, Maybe Myrtle Tyrtle, are getting set to cast their latest missive to the four winds (i.e. they’ve got a new single out this month). It’s great.

I know of someone who once cut dead a late night boozy argument about the multifarious merits of Rachel Stevens vs. Jimi Hendrix with the slurred statement: ‘Trees are better than music. Marginally’.

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George Washington Brown

George Washington Brown
Never A Frown, With Washington Brown

There are few things guaranteed to confuse the record buying public quite like a musician who refuses to stick to one set style. Well, perhaps only one other: a musician who does that and also refuses to stick to one set name.

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Grandma’s House

grandmas house

Grandma’s House show the old guard how it’s done

The rock’n’roll business - it isn’t a young man’s game. Jagger may still strut like a peacock with 20,000 volts flying through his anus, Weller may still claim to have that angry youth of old boiling beneath his Prada suit, but let’s face it, anyone past that perfect-age-to-die-and-become
-a-rock-legend milestone of 27 may as well pack up and piss off or face being shown-up by the next loud-mouth oiks to hit the scene.

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thousand:litres

thousand litres

 

The BIG case for the band in lowercase…

Like working with members of your family or going on a date with someone your sister selected, giving an open honest opinion on a friend’s music isn’t something generally recommended.

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Landermason

landermason


Landermason
– hailing from the north of England but with strong links to East Anglia and the Lake District – have just launched their latest album, The Reason, a superb amalgamation of folk and jazz.

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The Small Screen Light Show

thesmallscreenlight

The Small Screen Light Show are a young trio from County Durham who are what’s known in the trade as something of a ‘proposition’. The average age of The Small Screen Light Show is 16. Let that sink in for a moment. Then shake yourself out of your God-I-must-be-getting-old reverie and then consider the following fact.They’re already notched up 40,000 odd plays on their myspace malarkey.


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Casualkai

casulakai

Casualkai are a local four-piece being officially touted as ‘on the up and up’. They’ve just linked up with Bright Pink Music – a digital record label – to unleash a couple of their EPs this month. It’s all in the playing; and the chemistry; and the ability to hone a good song. Casualkai rope in a whole range of disparate influences

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The Mosaics

mosaics
Newcastle-based four-piece, The Mosaics, are one of the north’s brightest prospects and to hammer home such optimism, they’re getting set to cast forth – yes, cast forth – their debut album this month. See the launch, buy the album, feel that indie-warmth.

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theproof

theproof
Take a look at this lot. Are they:
1
. Mean
2. Moody
3.
Magnificent or very possibly all of the above. One thing is certain: they’re called, theproof.

Alan Bates vomiting behind his mother-in-law’s sofa in A Kind Of Loving; Albert Finnney imploring you not to ‘let the bastards grind you down’ in Saturday Night Sunday Morning; Tom Courtney scowling through borstal in The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner... 

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Smokin’ hot

westartfires
After a lengthy layoff perfecting their dazzlingly ace new material, We Start Fires are back, bolder, and more boss than ever.

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Spraydog

spraydog
The underdog bites back…

Much like most walks of life, the music industry is chock-full of hard-luck stories, could have beens, should have beens, and never ever going to be’s...

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Make It Better Later

makeitbetterThese jolly looking coves only got together at the back end of 2005 and they’ve got good reason to be happy: they’ve got some quality tunes.

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Minotaurs/Blackflower

minataurs

Sublime split single from two of Newcastle’s finest folkies.

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Facia

facia

Heart-melting melodic pop from Newcastle.

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Novasmoke

novasmoke
Novasmoke: they walk the walk; talk the talk; and rawk the rawk. Oh yes.

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Family values

thechapmanThe Chapman Family. They love you all you know…

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Sure Bets


jennieandbets
If the name of you game is high-rolling indie/pop, then ge t your chips on Newcastle-based band, Jennie and the Bets. If you're not acquainted; time to Jen up.

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A Thousand Lies

a thousand lies

It's rock with a capital Grrr... It's A Thousand Lies.

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Demo-lition derby

demo derby
You’ve sent us your demos, we’ve listened to them - but are they any good? In the driving seat: Lee Johnson.

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Garage rocks!

garage music

Situated just off the bottom of Shields Road (down past Morrisson’s) is The Garage, the north-east’s latest music rehearsal/recording space.

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Strings attached

A new guitar shop in Middlesbrough is proving quite a draw for local musicians.

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Free style

free runner


Local luminaries, Freerunner, have just secured a publishing contract with Zomba Music Publishing. Expect them to cut quite a dash this year.

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Farewell To Felix

farewell to felix

A Newcastle four-piece with a neat line in indie-rock? I don't mind if I do.

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High Society

15 minute

Horror punk antics from the Boro with Fifteen Minutes Society.

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