Now Wave & Off with Their Heads @ Islington Mill
If you’ve been a regular attendee at live shows in Manchester/Salford over the last three years, then it’s nigh on impossible that you haven’t found yourself at a Now Wave event. Promoting early shows for the likes of the XX and James Blake through to Four Tet, Sleigh Bells and Wild Beasts, Now Wave continue to show an uncanny ability to keep their focus on the ‘sounds of the near future’
We’re super excited to have them back for a second year at SFTOC, this time teaming up with Off with Their Heads, a now infamous party that started out last year at Islington Mill and has already seen some memorable shows from Bonjay, Austra and Screaming Females as well some best forgotten late night antics!
Teaming up on common ground, they will present a ‘female focussed’ line-up and a no-holds-barred party. We can’t wait to see what they come up with.
+ M A R I A M I N E R V A
London-dwelling, Estonian-born Maria Minerva has emerged as one of the most interesting artists to come into leftfield-pop arena over the last 12 months, with two album releases on the the prolific LA label Not Not Fun, mixes for FACT and a heap of lo-fi video releases. Add to this her art school background and its easy to see why she has had the world’s music press all in a lather.
Musically her references are vast and span everything from deep House to Euro-pop, whilst simultaneously calling to mind Ariel Pink and the sinister underbelly of Throbbing Gristle. She simply like to call it ‘21st century pop music’
“Think Donna Summer’s Casablanca for Wire Readers” The Guardian
+ V E R I T Y S U S M AN (E l e c t r e l a n e )
As Vera November, Electrelane frontwoman Verity Susman began producing solo material during her band’s indefinite hiatus from 2007 onwards. Her work builds on the minimal krautrock rhythms of Electrelane with a more theatrical, cinematic oeuvre, with parallels in Bat For Lashes.
Having since retired the Vera November moniker, Susman’s latest solo project is set to be a further step away from her work in Electrelane, with the promise of ‘psychedelic alienation’ alluding to a new experimental, improvised approach.
+ K E E P S H E L L Y I N A T H E N S
Greek duo Keep Shelly In Athens – RΠЯ and vocalist Sarah P – create a combination of dreampop, trip-hop and Balearic, often recalling Saint Etienne and Massive Attack in their hushed vocals and brittle 90’s-evoking processed drums. Appearing on the Hype Machine’s Top 10 Most Blogged About Artists before playing a live show, the strength of the group’s recorded output has seen them taken under the wing of influential music website Gorilla vs Bear, who promoted their extensive US tour in November of last year.
+ T H E B L A C K B E L L E S
Signed to Jack White’s Third Man Records, Black Belles are an all-female Nashville-based ‘goth-garage’ four-piece. The band’s sound recalls much of their label head’s own production work, with Lil’ Boo’s ethereal organ work echoing the carnivalesque atmosphere on White Stripes tracks such as ‘Icky Thump’.
Having released two singles and been featured on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report – collaborating with Stephen Colbert on the limited single ‘Charlene II (I’m Over You)’ – the band released their debut self-titled album in November 2011.
+ P A N D R E Y E Z
“The spelling of our name has provoked a distinctly British, middle-class reaction amongst the general populace of the UK. Several concerned citizens have expressed their distaste at our seeming lack of respect for the English language via various internet channels, and quite rightfully so.
We would like to take this opportunity to humbly apologise to those affected by the incident – we understand that change is frightening, and in the same vein wish that things like language would just remain static in order to avoid undesirable outcomes such as social evolution or difference.
We also realise that we must become a lot more palatable to those who find the X Factor a bit subversive if we ever want a shot at appearing at the Royal Variety Performance, or being anybody’s Desert Island Disc on BBC Radio 4. To this end, please find herein a link to Susan Boyle’s rousing first audition on Britain’s Got Talent.
We were meant to be an official David Gray tribute band, but he never returned our emails :(“
+ S U N L E S S 9 7
London-based Sunless ’97 name such disparate acts as Boards of Canada, ESG and The Shangri-Las as influences, and their warm, ambient electronica certainly combines a unique set of sounds – the lush synth clouds of Grimes, combined with splintered beats and Summer Camp-esque vocals. Produced by XX and Joe Goddard-collaborator Kwes, the band’s debut EP ‘Making Waves’ was released on XL subsidiary Abeano in November 2011. The release has since been getting some serious love everywhere from the NME, The Guardian and Gorilla vs Bear.
+ A U P A L A I S
Electronic duo Au Palais’ 2011 EP ‘Tender Mercy’ is a snapshot of an act at once nostalgic and futuristic, building shimmering synths around 4/4 drum machines like a more overtly Italo-inspired Nite Jewel. Now based in London, the pair have been compared by Pitchfork to Austra and look set to follow the success of their fellow Torontonians to wider success in 2012.
+ F E A R O F M E N
Split between Brighton and London, Fear of Men have released two demo collections, and one single, August 2011’s ‘Ritual Confession’. Described by The Fly as creating “their own brand of ‘90s nostalgia with Breeders inspired basslines and irresistibly dreamy vocal harmonies”, the band combine aggression and delicateness for stunning, reverb-laden effect.
+ P I N S
After playing a low-key debut show last November, rumours quickly started to circulate about PINS. The list of half-truths seems to grow longer by the day, but here are the facts: They are 4 girls – two guitars, bass, and drums. They do not have any music online, as of yet. Everything else will become apparent in time.
+ T H E A B C C L U B
Leeds-based The ABC Club have released one single to date – 2010’s ‘Thieving Magpie’ – and have drawn comparisons with The Strokes and The Cribs, with Zandra Klievens’ delicate vocals adding a touch of The Long Blondes to their ramshackle, upbeat pop. Formed in 2006, the band have had support slots for Glasvegas and Wild Beasts and been celebrated by Steve Lamacq, who played them on Radio 1 as his ‘Demo of the Week’.