Miscellaneous - Water Rats, London, 15/9/2018

  by Admin

published: 24 / 8 / 2018

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We profile our 20th Anniversary Bands' Night which will take place on Saturday September 15th at the Water Rats in London and feature sets from The Bitter Springs, Idiot Son, Oldfield Youth Club and Raf and O.

Pennyblackmusic is delighted to announce that it is celebrating its 20th anniversary with our first Bands’ Night in London in two years on Saturday 15th September at The Water Rats at 328 Grays Inn Road, Kings Cross, WC1X. 8BZ. The evening will be predominantly a “best of”, featuring some of the finest acts who have appeared on our previous bills. Tickets can be bought in advance at http://www.wegottickets.com/event/435924 for £8 and on the door for £10. THE BITTER SPRINGS Formed in the London suburb of Teddington in 1982 as Last Party, The Bitter Springs changed their name to their current moniker in 1996. Since then they have released seven studio albums of witty English lyricism and heartbreak, the last of which, ‘Cuttlefish and Love’s Remains’, came out in 2015 and was our Editor’s Album of the Year. They collaborated regularly with Subway Sect's Vic Godard as his backing band, a partnership that extended for nearly ten years. Godard has now returned the compliment and joined The Bitter Springs as their keyboard player and backing vocalist. He will join regular members Simon Rivers (vocals, guitar), Mark Humphrey (bass, vocals) and Paul McGrath (drums, vocals) on their new LP, ‘Odd Shower’, which is due for release later this year. The Bitter Springs have played various Pennyblackmusic nights over the years, and this will be their first central London show in over a year. We look forward to a full set of their music which includes elements of punk, folk, vaudeville, country and electronica. https://www.thebittersprings.com https://www.facebook.com/TheBitterSprings IDIOT SON Idiot Son remain something of a hidden secret. Based around frontman Andy Thompson, the band formed in the late 90s, but only released their first single, 'Sunflowers', in 2000. It would take another four years before they would release their debut album, 'Lummox', on their own Poppycock label, featuring shimmering, solitary acoustic guitar and cello alongside conventional drums and bass, all winding around Thompson's wry observations of the capital city and its stories. They returned after a recording absence of ten years with their second album, the similarly sublime ‘Stibbington’, in 2016. Tracks such as ‘Hold the Engines’, ‘Like a Lot of Men Do’ and ‘HeadSwimming’ build on Thompson’s melancholic themes of love, heartache and urban living. More recently Thompson has been busy rekindling the flame of his former loves, punk and drumming, as part of the popular trio DPRK (Democratic Punk Rock Karaoke). This will be Idiot Son’s first London appearance since a previous Pennyblackmusic gig in 2016 featuring four of the band’s original line-up. https://www.facebook.com/idiotsonuk/ OLDFIELD YOUTH CLUB Oldfield Youth Club is the new other band and trio of Bitter Springs frontman and songwriter Simon Rivers. It is also a partial reformation of Simon’s previous band Last Party, because, as well as Simon on vocals and guitar, it also features two of that band’s other members, Kim Rivers (ne Ashford) on vocals and bass and Neil Palmer on drums. This will be one of their first shows and debut London gig, with a release hopefully slated to come out this year. RAF AND O Raf and O are Raf Mantelli and Richard Smith (aka O), a duo from South London. Their music draws together an intriguing mixture of live electronics, acoustic guitars, synths and strange, jumbled pop melodies. This beguiling mix has seen the duo support the likes of Faust, Alabama 3, and Adam Donen, along with a number of others, including playing the grand environs of Shoreditch Church and the Queen Elizabeth Hall at London's Southbank Centre (as part of a tribute to William Burroughs). Their 'Avant-bizarre' interpretation of ‘Lady Grinning Soul’ pricked the ear of David Bowie’s pianist, Mike Garson, who praised Raf and O's minimalist approach. The duo also performed at the Union Chapel in 2016 celebrating David's work. They have also contributed music to theatre, such as for the play 'That Woman's Voice – A Tribute to Jean Cocteau and The Human Voice', and have recently established a side project The Kick Inside, which celebrates the songs of Kate Bush. They played their first Pennyblackmusic Bands night in 2016 shortly before the release of their third album, ‘Portal’. Their fourth album will be released this year. http://rafando.com/ https://www.facebook.com/rafando/ The night is dedicated with love to the memory of three friends of Pennyblackmusic: Robert Fisher 9/9/1957 – 12/2/2017 - Robert was the front man and only permanent member in American alt.rock/country collective The Willard Grant Conspiracy, who played four Pennyblackmusic shows in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh between 2010 and 2015. The Willard Grant Conspiracy’s tenth and final studio album ‘Untethered’ will be released on Loose Music later this year. Mary O’Meara 20/7/1966- 10/12/2017 – Mary was the editor of Manic Street Preachers fanzine ‘Terrible Beauty’ across seventeen editions between 1995 and 2003 and again for its eighteenth and final edition in 2015. She was the author of two books, rock biography ‘Between the Lines: A History of Haven’ (2012), and a novel, ‘A Certain Kind of Light’ (2017). Mary wrote for and was a sub-editor at Pennyblackmusic between 2014 and 2017. Anthony Strutt 2/7/1962 – 25/3/2018 – Anthony was the former editor of ‘Independent Underground Sound’ fanzine which ran to seven editions between 1997 and 2001. He was one of our longest-serving writers, writing for Pennyblackmusic between 2000 until this year, and contributed over 1,550 articles to our site. All profits for this gig will be divided equally between Macmillan Cancer Care and Prostate Cancer UK. Pennyblackmusic Live at The Water Rats,328 Grays Inn Road, Kings Cross, London, WC1X. 8BZ Saturday 15th September 2018. Doors 7.30 p.m. First band on 7.45 p.m. Tickets £8 in advance and £10 on door. www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk The top photograph was taken by Peter TaInsh http://petetainshlivemusic.tumblr.com/

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