FEATURED ARTISTS 2007 - 2009
VALGEIR SIGURÐSSON
(Bedroom Community)
"Valgeir Sigurdsson was at the recording controls for eight years as
his Icelandic countrywoman Björk conducted her most crucial
experiments. He has also brought other ground-breaking artists –
Bonnie "Prince" Billy, CocoRosie, Maps – to his home studio in the
Reykjavik suburbs, where they live till their work is done. Now,
Sigurdsson has stepped out of the shadows – first with his own
label, Bedroom Community, and ith his solo debut, Ekvilibrium, which
distills his warm, liquid, organic-electronic sound."
THE INDEPENDENT, UK
Valgeir Sigurdsson
has a healthy list of outstanding credentials having worked as a
producer for; Múm,
Nico Muhly, Camille, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, CocoRosie, and Maps (to
name the very few). He is perhaps best known for his numerous
collaborations with fellow Icelander,
Björk
which have spanned nearly a decade. His live show combines sparse,
delicate acoustic melodies with a beautiful mastery of digital
electronics.
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www.bedroomcommunity.net
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www.myspace.com/valgeirs
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ELIZABETH
(now known as Gazelle Twin)
(unsigned)
"Tonight’s host, Elizabeth Walling, is equally excellent. Her voice
is winter picture postcard purity personified – it seems to frost
over, bewitch and envelop her songs which range from, rather aptly,
Vespertine style choral glitch to Kate Bush goes Balkan folk within
the tidy confines of a short set. It’s effortlessly good and the
perfectly prefigures the glacial grace Valgeir serves up. "
FACT MAGAZINE, January 2009
"Every now and again, a genius arrives, seemingly out of nowhere.
Elizabeth Walling aka Gazelle Twin is one of those rarities, taking
her first giant steps on the road to everywhere."
GARRY MULHOLLAND,
Oct 2009
Elizabeth Walling
is the founder and director of SoundCirque. She is a
musician/composer from Brighton, with a
list of
musical influences ranging from Hildegard of Bingen (an 8th Century
Abbess), to Bessie Smith, to Boards of Canada. Her solo project,
Gazelle Twin is
undergoing development, and an album release and tour is planned for
2010.
Read Biography here.
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www.gazelletwin.com
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www.myspace.com/gazelletwin
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GROW
CLAWS
(formerly Le Band Extraordinaire)
(unsigned)
"...the Fab Five have reached their creative high point just as the
world is ready for Buster Keaton-influenced jerk-pop genius. "
Garry Mulholland
Grow Claws (formerly Le Band Extraordiniare) dare to experiment. Songwriter Jez Berns
(who is also the bass- playing front man), has a talent for fusing
the best bits of a very eclectic list of musical genres and creating
highly energetic, gloriously catchy pop songs. It's basically 'Art'
or 'Avant' Pop; i.e the sort of thing that the lesser music
journalists of this world wrongly dismiss and/or misunderstand (Wild
Beasts are another such band). But despite their complex musical
background, Grow Claws' songs are always solidly grounded and
extremely well written - expect to have 'Dr Morocco' and 'Rubber
Ball' stuck in your head for at least a week after hearing them.
Having played some highly acclaimed shows alongside
bands like The Noisettes
(Mercury), Wild Beasts (Domino), The Fiery Furnaces (Thrill Jockey)
and Amanda Palmer (Roadrunner Records), there is a lot more to come
from Grow Claws. Watch out for them.
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www.growclaws.com
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www.myspace.com/growclaws
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DARK HORSES
(unsigned)
Dark Horses is the aptly dark and delicious project of Brighton
based artist Lisa Lindley-Jones. Her music creates a dark, trippy,
almost 60's psychedelic revival; with crackling analogue
electronics, droning heavily delayed guitars, harmonica and an
intoxicating live presence to boot. It's sinister, fatal, mysterious and beautiful all at the same time.
http://www.myspace.com/darkhorsesofficial
A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA
(unsigned)
"Best Brighton
Group"
THE
WIRE
"The most scandalous thing about this Brighton outfit is that they
aren't better known."
BEARDED Magazine, Jan 2009
A Scandal in Bohemia, who
disbanded in 2009, were a 6-piece experimental band (Elizabeth
Walling as vocalist/flautist) with a diverse
range of musical influences from post-rock to electronica, post-punk
avant-garde classical. Their songs combined a near orchestra of
electronic and acoustic instruments. Often likened to film
soundtracks, their songs often develop and transform like a
symphony, from a single improvised, delicate musical gesture
progressing into an immense, pulsating rock-out. Many fans of the
group have expressed their regret at the band's split, but each of
the members has since gone to deveolop new projects: Gazelle Twin
(Elizabeth Walling), Soccer 96 (Dan Leavers & Maxwell
Hallet), Your Laughter (James Barton), The Little Big Band
(Ed Briggs, James Barton, Thom Punton. You can still hear their
music on myspace, and can still purchase their first and last
self-released EP, CHINA.
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www.myspace.com/ascandalinbohemia
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GRASSCUT
(Ninja Tune)
“A celebration of England at its naffest and most beautiful. I like
it a lot”
Steve Lamacq
(BBC 6 Music)
grasscut composer Andrew
Phillips is an award-winning film and television composer with over
100 screen credits (to be viewed at unitedagents.co.uk/film/andrew-phillips/).
His soundtrack album, Home, is out now on Burning Shed and he has
recently contributed tracks to Lo Recordings. He is joined on this
journey by erstwhile partner in grasscut: classically trained double
bassist, keyboards player and noisenik Marcus O'Dair.
grasscut describe their
debut album: Meadowhall, At Last!, as "a transcendental journey
from the England of the South Downs of Sussex to the Nintendo
Cathedral of Meadowhall Shopping Centre.".
| www.myspace.com/grasscutmusic |
LEAFCUTTER JOHN
(Staubgold,
Planet Mu, Schematic, Tigerbeat6, XL)
Leafcutter John is the recording name of John Burton, a UK-based
musician who also plays with Mercury nominated Jazz group, Polar
Bear.
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www.leafcutterjohn.com
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www.myspace.com/leafcutterjohn |
CAPILLARY ACTION
(Discorporate Records)
"Imagine Prokofiev
re-arranging Red Krayola...Capillary Action offered the spectacle of
virtuosity, with technical mastery of their instruments and a
sophisticated understanding of melody and harmony."
The Wire
Capillary Action
songs never sit still and do what you expect; they bend, stretch,
fall apart and come back
together, only to fall apart again. Since 2004, composer/guitarist
Jonathan Pfeffer has drawn upon a wide range of influences to create
dense, catchy, and deeply personal compositions that mesmerize as
much as they challenge. The New York-based band -- now an
all-acoustic quintet -- tours relentlessly, having played hundreds
of shows across the U.S., Canada, and Europe alongside the reunited
Shudder To Think, Dirty Projectors, Joe Lally (Fugazi), Dos (Mike
Watt and Kira Roessler), Daughters, Ruins, and 31Knots, among
others. Capillary Action have also been featured in Pitchfork Media,
Exclaim, Guitar World, Modern Drummer, the Wire, the Onion, the
Stranger, and Time Out New York.
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www.capillaryaction.net
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www.myspace.com/capillaryaction
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BIRDENGINE
(Drift records)
Based in Brighton , birdengine’s
live shows vary greatly, from purely electronic sets using toy
keyboards with dying batteries and a tape recorder to sets with just
nylon guitar, vocals and a cello. His body of work ranges from soft
and slow waltzes to thick electronic dirges all retaining that
distinctive weird, sad and isolated birdengine sound.
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www.myspace.com/birdengine
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CAROLINE WEEKS
(Manimal Vinyl)
Caroline
Weeks is otherwise known as Ginger Lee (musician in Mercury
Nominated band Bat For Lashes). Her solo act is inspired by the
poetry of Edna St Vincent Millay to which Caroline writes her
delicate and magical music, usually self accompanied on acoustic
guitar.
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www.myspace.com/carolineweeks
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KOPEK
(shels music)
After a debut performance
supporting Mechanical Bride, Kopek have already played with the
likes of The Blow, David Thomas Broughton, Casiotone for the
Painfully Alone and Vic Chesnutt with the A Silver Mt. Zion and Guy
Picciotto of Fugazi and Rites of Spring. Kopek have also headlined
shows both in and outside of Brighton, Kopek's home town.
Bass-player Jacob and guitarist Marcus also play in Sons of Noel and
Adrian and drummer Danny plays as Laish and with the Laish Quartet.
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www.myspace.com/kopekmusic
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BUNTY
(beatabet)
Bunty is a
Brighton based musician and visual artist. Bunty is a member of
beatabet music and arts collective. Bunty uses one mouth, one mic, a
Boss loop station and a dd5 delay. Bunty performs solo vocal looping
sets which are a mixture of improvised and composed music. She is
currently collaborating with VJ Adam Hender to play games with
visuals.
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www.myspace.com/buntylooping
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JUNKBOY
(Enraptured Records)
Junkboy are an, experimental post-rock and electronica band that
originated from Southend-on-Sea, Essex in the late nineties. The
core members of the band include brothers Mik and Rich Hanscomb.
Through Moshi Moshi records, Junkboy released an EP entitled Robot
and Proud in 2000. The band went about recording their first album
for Moshi Moshi Records entitled The Dynamics of Modern
Communication released in the summer of 2002.Junkboy finished their
second album in late 2004.
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www.myspace.com/junkboymusic |
ROBERT STILLMAN'S
HORSES
(millpond records)
HORSES is wordless music and sound by Robert Stillman. The spirit of
'Horses' music is somewhere between the fairground, the rural
parlour,
and the stars; while the shrewd listener may be able to pick out
hints of Stillman's influences, (among whom he counts John Fahey,
Kurt Weill, Scott Joplin, and Maurice Ravel), his music exists on its
own terms, a detailed musical territory unto itself. Attendees of
Stillman's live shows have come to expect the unexpected; a 'Horses'
performance can mean a one-man-band, tape-based sound collage, live
accompaniment of silent archive footage, or a full ensemble event.
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www.myspace.com/robertstillmanshorses
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REVIEWS
"Anyone who knows Brighton well enough will
understand that it is a vibrant and colourful little
seaside gem. It boasts a vivacious nightlife; an
eclectic live music scene, where you can see small
indie treasures in the likes of The Freebutt or The
Prince Albert, or catch bigger deals at The Dome,
The Corn Exchange or my personal favourite, Concorde
2.
Small sweaty clubs like New Hero and Jam have
provided an alternative to the larger 'hair
extension and fake tan' filled venues such as
HoneyClub or Tru... or even Digital. And with a
bottomless pic 'n' mix bag of bars and pubs, one
might say you're pretty well catered for here.
Almost.
For where do you go when you want to experience
something a little more out of the ordinary? You
have a love of unique and experimental music, the
arts, cinema, the avant-garde... but you want to
share that interest with like-minded, interesting
and intriguing people. Small festivals may offer
some occasional relief, but my, wouldn't it be
divine to experience it on your doorstep?
Fortunately SoundCirque is a night offering just
that. Curated, funded and run by Elizabeth Walling
aka ELIZABETH (who you may have caught a review of
in Danny and I's LOOP Festival coverage), these
nights offer a far cry from Brighton's mainstream,
where you may encounter performances, live music and
DJ sets which "bravely cross genres and create a
unique musical experience". The collective have
worked with many artists and experimental musicians
including Capillary Action (Discorporate Records),
Valgeir Sigurdsson (Bedroom Community), Leafcutter
John (Staubgold, Planet Mu, Schematic, Tigerbeat6,
XL) as well as Brighton's best talent such as Dark
Horses, Le Band Extraordinaire and ELIZABETH
herself, I was delighted to be invited to Wrapped In
Plastic, a night to pay homage to the mother of all
directors twisted and tantalizing - David Lynch. Did
you get the Laura Palmer reference there?
The Studio Bar of Komedia had been transformed into
a dark, seedy and alluring Lynchian dreamscape - The
Black Lodge. Tonight's event had sold out within the
first 40 minutes of the doors opening. As I entered,
I noticed a small table of cherry pies and later
spot the baby from Eraserhead. The theme to Twin
Peaks drifts from the soundsystem as masked faces,
rabbits and femme fatales grace the bar and stage
areas. The lighting was low, the black and white
stage met with thick, luscious red velvet curtains,
was just about visible through wafts of red and
violet smoke.
At the bar, Lynch themed cocktails sold at £5 a pop.
I chose 'In Dreams', an intoxicating blend of which
I can't quite remember now. Though I do remember its
toxic green hue... Anyway, I arrived just in time
for ELIZABETH's performance. Emerging in silence,
and wearing delightfully eerie night-owl attire,
handmade signs inform us what is going on. For
anyone who has seen Mulholland Dr., you will of
course have been forever haunted by the scene in
Club Silencio. "NO HAY BANDA!" That scene is an
emotional powerhouse. Elizabeth, armed only with her
own voice, executed the most chilling, raw cover of
'Llorando' that I could ever have imagined. It was
to no surprise the crowd fell silent, with the
exception of some drunk idiots in Phantom Of The
Opera masks at the back, clearly misinformed of what
tonight was to entail.
After a much deserved applause and cheer, DJ sets
drew us back into reality with Rock'N'Roll,
Rockabilly, Blues and Experimental Jazz. I went and
treated myself to another cocktail. This time, 'It
Was Red'.
After conversing with and photographing some
wonderful people, Dark Horses later take the stage
and perform a haunting rendition of In Heaven,
Everything Is Fine aka Lady In The Radiator song
from Eraserhead, among more Lynchian delights. Le
Band Extraordinaire's performance gets toes tapping
and bodies swaying to deep heavy basslines and
crooning sax. More aural delights are provided by
tonight's DJs, and the dancefloor slowly began to
fill with characters from Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks,
Eraserhead, Lost Highway and more. Upon my departure
I very much enjoyed the sight of rabbits, vampish
laydees, dapper gentlemen and bejeweled faces
getting pretty funky and having a generally dazzling
time. "
| The 405, August 2009 |
(Review of Wrapped In Plastic)
|
"Paddling defiantly away from the mainstream and
giving patrons something to think about, as well as
a dazzling good time".
| Brighton Fusion, July 2009 |
(Preview of Wrapped In Plastic)
|
As the proprietor of Reykjavik’s Greenhouse studios,
Valgeir Sigurðsson has had a decidedly hip hand in
the facilitation of sound recording by clients such
as Bjork, Will Oldham and CocoRosie. Last year he
made his tentative steps out of the doubtless icy
wilderness with the release of his solo album,
Ekvílibríum (Icelandic for 'Equilibrium'). An album
of magic-realist, electronically refracted folk;
it’s quite lovely - although one can’t help but muse
upon whether the collected beard scratchers huddled
within the cozy environs of West Hill Hall are here
for Valgeir’s music or his glamorous brand name.
Proceedings begin with low key delights, Grasscut.
Plying the kind of steam powered imagined futurism
that Daedelus does, Grasscut mesh phonographic
samples with toy keyboards and Fender Jaguar riffola.
It look likes Fuck Buttons on paper. I’m pleased to
say it sounds nothing like that. Tonight’s host,
Elizabeth Walling, is equally excellent. Her voice
is winter picture postcard purity personified – it
seems to frost over, bewitch and envelop her songs
which range from, rather aptly, Vespertine style
choral glitch to Kate Bush goes Balkan folk within
the tidy confines of a short set. It’s effortlessly
good and the perfectly prefigures the glacial grace
Valgeir serves up.
Greeted with rapturous applause, it’s soon clear
that the audience are genuine fans of Valgeir’s,
nodding with sage like intent to every intricately
crafted crystalline of sound design Valgeir and his
band treat us to. The ease with which Valgeir
assimilates and manipulates both digital and
acoustic instrumentation is a testament to his
in-demand status (and it’s exemplified tenfold in
tonight’s context) but there’s more at work here
than pleasing aesthetics. These are beautiful songs
and would be even if they were shorn of their
tasteful studio wizardry. At times it sounds akin to
a third rate Sigur Rós, but for the most part
Valgeir’s much better than that: wrapping us, cocoon
like, in the glistening, amniotic slipstream of his
aural candy floss as he darts between laptop,
percussion and piano ably assisted by his band.
Heck, it might have been freezing outside but
tonight was all about musical warmth.
|
FACT MAGAZINE,
January 2009 |
|
Alongside regular nights like Safehouse, Spirit of Gravity and
Perfect Sound Forever, SoundCirque is always an exciting,
excellently curated evening of avant garde talent. The previous
event saw A Scandal In Bohemia and Leafcutter John astound a sold
out Komedia audience and the first SoundCirque of 2009 saw West Hill
Hall similarly jam- packed.
Elizabeth Walling’s brand new set fused
sparse, cold electronic beats with live cello, harmonised flutes and
her breathtaking voice to create an impressively full yet restrained
sound with nods to Bjork and Beth Gibbons.
Icelandic producer Valgeir Sigurðsson was joined by a cast of multi-instrumentalists
from Reykjavík’s vibrant experimental music scene to craft intricate
and alien soundscapes.This is no Sigur Rós or Múm clone,
Sigurðsson’s music is daring and original. He took the role of live
producer with the rich textures of bassoons, trombones and cellos
giving him plenty of source material to craft into delicately
powerful harmonic collages.
On top of the victorious performances
there was the charm of the superb venue, an appreciative, attentive
audience and a BYOB policy – perfect all round. It’s a shame the
quarterly SoundCirque isn’t a more regular fixture.
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THE ARGUS, January 2009
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