Sian Webley (vocals); James Youngjohns (guitar, keyboards, viola); Sarah Kemp (violin, mandolin, glockenspiel); Mike Doward (bass, double bass, guitar) plus various friends and family
Influences
Nico, Sparklehorse, Dirty Three, Giant Sand, Spiritualized, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Jesus & Mary Chain, Scarlet Rivera, Nick Drake, Phil Spector, Bernard Butler, John Cale, Billie Holliday, Low, Thalia Zedek, Nina Nastasia, Elvis Costello, Neil Young, Smog, Eileen Rose, Miles Davis, Velvet Undergound, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Bert Jansch, Elliott Smith, Mazzy Star, Shangri Las
Sounds Like
Record Collector: "A broken world accompanied by bare acoustics and evocative violins: never has desperation sounded so good."
Comes With A Smile: "Beautiful, casting a seductive spell, controlled menace bubbling under the surface."
BBC Online:"Songs that teeter on the edge of exploding, that sound like they are desperate to scream but never dare, that wind so tight with energy that you cannot fail to be enthralled by them... weaves a web of delicate beauty that shines like a heap of diamonds."
Losing Today: "It hurts, it weeps drowning in it's own sense of despair, it's lonely and tugs emotionally at the most ardent of stone hearts."
The original duo of Sian and James recorded two self released singles - Three Wise Men and About A Boy - before hooking up with vinyl only label Emma’s House Recordings to produce a mini album Philokalia , released in December 2001. Philokalia achieved critical acclaim from publications in Britain, Europe and the US, along with radio play from British national stations including Radio One and Virgin, and in Europe such as the Belgium station V.Z.W. Radio ATL. Sarah and Pete joined the line up in June 02 and, following the winding-up of the Emma's House label later that year, retired to Manchester to work on a series of new recordings.A cover of Matt Hill's Ash Ballad contributed to Slow Noir's debut release Sunset: False marked the first release to feature the new lineup, and the band released a 7" single Lakeside Call / Whitworth Park on Stolenwine Records in May of last year. Critical response for the new material has demonstrated a similar enthusiasm as for the earlier material, and a new album Palisade was release on Stolenwine in September this year.
Recent live shows have included the talents of new arrivals Jo Foote and Mike Doward, and Sarah, James and Mike can also be found touring with their other band Last Harbour.
Anna Kashfi have made live appearances supporting artists such as Eileen Rose, Giant Sand, Laura Viers, Jessie Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter and Butterflies of Love as well as regular local and national headline gigs. Live sessions by the band have also been broadcast on BBC 6 Music, BBC GMR, Manchester ALL FM and the television channel Channel M.
Aidan Smith appears in-store at Piccadilly Records with his Indulgent Friends to mark the official release of his new album, Allotments.
Tuesday 22nd July, FUEL, Wilmslow Rd, Withington, Manchester
The Miserable Rich will be live on Marc Riley's BBC 6Music show at 7pm, after which they will dash down Wilmslow Road to perform at Fuel before heading home to Brighton. Joining them in Fuel will be Table and Nancy Elizabeth.
8pm. £3 donation (for which you also get a copy of the new single, "Pisshead/Boat Song").
This month we have Regina Spektor with the theme to the film Prince Caspian (but don’t let that put you off, it is really rather wonderful), Mermaid Skeletons with a great song that’s worth it for the chorus alone, the Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir, who are as good as their name if not more so and finally the legendary Chip Taylor with the thought-provoking Former American Soldier. Great listening, and if you like the tracks, buy the albums!
"Drapes of Black" is the new single from Aidan Smith's new album, Allotments. It was played on Radcliffe and Maconie's show on Radio 2 on Monday and is in this week's Pick and Mix!
Go here to vote for Aidan to get played on their show every day next week!
EYES come from Chicago and make glorious music for dancing that straddles the vibes of Ariel Pink and HEALTH. The type of band people might lie about having seen first time round once they make the cover of Plan B. You know, if they felt so inclined.
Skitanja, in spite of what the poster says, are actually from Bournemouth. They make scrappy, electronic bleep party pop music with guitar.
Shiu-Yeung Hui is the Chinese member of Japanese group Maher Shalal Hash Baz. He drinks quite a lot of neat vodka then takes to the stage to perform his wonderful, fractured, miniature songs using guitar and keyboard. An exercise in patience, an audience with Shiu pays off massively.
Elapse O are a death disco unit from Oxford. Imagine swimming the butterfly through a load of broken Swans LPs. That's what they sound like. Dig.
This is an unmissable show! After the rave reviews of Sam Amidon's last show in Manchester, where, in league with Red Deer Club, we arranged for Sam to play at the Unitarian Chapel with a string quartet, we couldn't wait for the opportunity to bring him back. Since that time, his album All is Well has been critically lauded and the media have finally caught on to the New Yorker's immense talent.
Incredibly, the opportunity that has arisen includes a touring party from Sam's Icelandic label, Bedroom Community. Sam will be performing with a six-piece band, including legendary producer and Bedroom Community chief, Valgeir Sigurðsson.
And if that isn't enough for you, Valgeir will also be performing tracks from his own album, Ekvílibríum, a critically lauded masterpiece of electronica-laced folk.
To cap it all, the night will be kicked off by support from Manchester's own acoustic-electronica maestro, Denis Jones; having waited two years to play in this wonderful venue, he will be playing his fourth show here inside two months, after support for Jack Rose, Phosphorescent and Chris Corsano.
Aidan Smith and his Indulgent Friends play at The Art of Tea in Didsbury. A new album, Allotments, is due out soon and advance copies will be available at the show.
Also playing are Brighton's The Miserable Rich, returning to Manchester just two weeks after their great show at Hedge for a more intimate set in this wonderful cafe. And this time they'll have vinyl copies of their debut single, Pisshead/Boat Song...
The Art of Tea 47 Barlow Moor Road Didsbury M20 6TW
Hedge presents the legendary Peter Walker with support from John Fairhurst and Olivia Moore Friday 25th April, 8pm St Margarets Church, Whalley Range, Manchester, M16 8AE
Finally touring again after nearly 40 years of quietly working damn hard on his playing, Peter Walker comes to Manchester. Truly a Godfather psyche raga flamenco and folk. He studied with Ravi Shankar and Ali Akhbar Khan, travelled to Franco era Spain to study flamenco and jam with the gypsies and was at the heart of the San Fran acoustic scene.
Don’t for a minute let your mind wander to the watered down come-backs of some of his contemporaries; Peter has just matured and improved, developing his passion for flamenco. A rare opportunity this is, to encounter a player of Peter's influence and excellence.
In support are two local musicians, descendants in a musical family tree.
John Fairhurst has travelled extensively with his guitar, playing everywhere and anywhere with allsorts of people. A heavy Raga influence, with elements of gypsy jazz, a big spoonful of blues and psyche folk.
Olivia Moore, a truly gifted violinist, has herself travelled to India on numerous occasions to study. After many years playing classical violin, she delved into the worlds of jazz, flamenco, Cuban music and improvisation. Awesome!
Hi, just wanted to let you know that I've released my first album "Pretty Boys and Ugly Girls". You can listen to some of the songs on my profile and also order it from amazon.de :-) Sign up to my blog to get informed when it's available on CD Baby. All the best Agnes
Hi, Check out the pedal steel on "Someone Is Bound To Come Along" if you would? There's also a couple of new songs up on the Wisemen page... Cheers, Richard
