Bearos News Archive 2006

13/02/06

Here we are in 2006 and already we've got some lovely releases for you. Richard Burke's new album, The Wintered Sea (Bearos062) is just released on CD. Another beautiful collection of lost loves as he skillfully combines Irish folk with the pop of The Smiths and Belle & Sebastian. This comes hot on the heels of last year's debut, Roscrea (Bearos055) and gigs around the UK that included Birmingham's John Peel anniversary night.

Ben Calvert's Love;de-fenestrated (Bearos057) is also rereleased after it's initial run. You can listen to Ben's recordings at his Overplay and MySpace sites as well as catch up with tour dates and details of his fortnightly Bohemian Jukebox which is not at The Cross in Moseley on alternate Thursdays.

Sorry the Download Single of the Month (DSM) has not worked out in recent months. As you remember it was too successful for the Tripod site and Lycos shut it down. I've not had that much success incorporating it into the Download Site either. The master plan is to upload a free album's worth of stuff and artwork onto the net, all the current tracks and also the ones that got left behind - it'll be there for as long as it's allowed and then I'll put it out as a limited CD - you can't say fairer than that! Finally you'll get to hear the exclusive Clair Horton, Will to Rally, Meets Guitar tracks and Richard Burke playing Buddy Holly!

Still rather quiet gig-wise (though the Bauhaus gigs in Manchester and especially Birmingham were superb!) On Tuesday, 21st February Chris Brokaw (ex guitarist of Codeine), Lazarus Clamp and Chinook & The Charged Particles (ex-Og's Bunkadoo Band) play at The Jug of Ale in Moseley. It starts at 8pm and is just £6.

Forthcoming releases include the long awaited Grover Live 3" CD (bearos061) with their takes on Sweet Leaf and You Made Me Realise - just waiting on the extra special packaging for this one. Currently on the drawing board is the debut release by Einstellung who you will remember from their DSM, Tot, last year. They are Krautrock-tastic and their track, Sleep Easy Mr Parker (bearos063) checks in at over 27 minutes of Neu!/Ash Ra Temple wig-out mantra rock.

Back next month with more new releases and news of Bearos tracks on a free compilation that will be given away at this year's All Tomorrow's Parties weekends in May. Sorry there's been such a gap between updates but I've been changing jobs and everything else has taken a bit of a back seat.
Currently enjoying a few days off with my face still glowing from windy walks in Cornwall and I've been sorting through loads of old concert photos with the aim of putting them on the web - if you are interested I've started with a load of old Balaam and the Angel photos from 1986-7. Enjoy, laugh or cry, it's your choice!

Still bored? Try the Goth Quiz in honour of the mighty Bauhaus.

16/03/06

Good luck to Birmingham's representatives at SXSW in Texas this week. They've taken a CD with the best of the local music scene chosen with the help of Barry Hogan of ATP fame. I'm thrilled that Richard Burke's track Buttery Cup from The Wintered Sea (Bearos062) was chosen, I'm sure anyone who gets their hands on a copy will be immediately captivated by his gravelly Irish brogue. There's loads of other Bearos artists included in various guises - Krafla is Simon and Steve taking an electronica holiday from Grover, D. Louis Baker is Solway Fifth frontman Daz backed by an Og's and a Starrie, Knives is Russ from Baxxter's new band. Great to know that despite the demise of many an excellent local band that they are still out there producing amazing music. There's more details on the Capsule site including links to individual artist home pages and myspace sites.

The ATP compilation is coming on nicely and I should be able to give you a sneak preview of the sleeve in a couple of weeks. This project is a collaboration with Pickled Egg, Static Caravan, Fortuna Pop and Where It's At Is Where You Are Records. Last year we did the free download album - still available at http://members.lycos.co.uk/tamarasparty/ - and this year we thought you'd like something tangible. Each label is contributing 4 or 5 tracks. The Bearos tracks are as follows:

The Workhouse - Shake Hands (Taken from their new album "Flyover" Bearos065 to be released in time for ATP)
Chinook - Part Of Me (Taken from their debut release "Answering" Bearos066)
Richard Burke - Women Of Birmingham (Taken from "The Wintered Sea" Bearos062)
Einstellung - Sleep Easy Mr Parker (edit) (Taken from their 27 minute epic Bearos063)
Ben Calvert - Flee (Taken from "Love;defenestrated" Bearos057)

I'm really looking forward to hearing the tracks from the other labels especially as I've heard rumours of a new Butterflies Of Love track. If you are not going to ATP please drom me an e mail and I'll grab you a copy and put it in the post.

Richard Burke is also featured on Resonance 104.4 FM at 7pm on 20th March 2006. "Resistance Through Existence" is a one-hour documentary following the progress of the "Project X Presents" collective. Thisdiverse group of Midlands musicians and performers have formed to present an ambitious event called "Like Fxck", an event featuring 40 or so performers on three stages as a seven hour seamless whole. The members of the team are recorded in dealings with the council, performers, the venue owner, funders and gate keepers on the local arts scene making for an entertaining and informative documentary. The program will showcase a wide variety of Birmingham musicians including Rich Batsford, Marc Reck, Koala Grip, Los Tigres de Birmingham, Richard Burke, Quiet Ensemble, Modulate & Iain Armstrong.

More news next time on the new Workhouse album and an update on other previously mentioned projects that are slightly further down the pipeline. Here's a few local dates for your Midlands diaries:

Saturday 18th March - Black Heart Generator (Greg Baxxter's excellent new band) @ The Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath
Saturday 25th March - Mills & Boon (ex-Og's Bunkadoo Band) @ The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath
Tuesday 4th April - Ben Calvert & James Summerfield @ Barfly, Birmingham
not forgetting...
Saturday 8th April - The Workhouse supporting Thee More Shallows at Port Mahon in Oxford

04/05/06

It's been a busy month with a load of new releases coming together at once.

The Workhouse release their second album, Flyover (Bearos065). This is the follow up to their critically acclaimed debut, The End Of The Pier (Bearos041) released in 2003. The new album features 11 tracks which were showcased on their Doves support in 2005. Three of the tracks were featured on the last ever session recorded for John Peel in October 2004; Last Of The Big Songs, Boxing Day & Chancers. Aberdeen is not on the album but is still available as a split 7" with Inch Blue (Bearos052) Taking their influences from 80s bands like The Chameleons, Kitchens of Distinction and The Cocteau Twins they weave sweeping moodscapes full of passion and virtuosity. The occasional Ian Curtis-esque vocal track on the new album marks a progression in the breadth of their sound and their confidence in making this genre their own.

Chinook's debut mini album Answering (Bearos066) is an absolute masterpiece. An unholy amalgam of Syd Barret, Bob Mould and Ivor Cutler; the CD features five tragic tales of confusion, doubt and pigeon power! (Check out http://www.myspace.com/chargedparticles for a preview of Love Dumps On The Pigeon Lord). Chinook's alter-ego is Ed Aston who describes himself as "the stoned woman's Daniel Beddingfield". He played in Og's Bunkadoo Band (Bearos043) and pays penance for his current acoustic leanings by serving with ex-Ogs as part of Mills & Boon's "Evil-Christian-Free-Jazz-Death-Punk Spaz-Fit Death Deafblindcore"!

It's a pleasure to work again with Krafla on their debut CD release, the Like Machines EP (Bearos067). Krafla is an electro/acoustic project of Simon Fox and Steve Hough from Grover. The mini album features the two tracks from the ultra limited lathe cut released by Static Caravan along with three other contemporary recordings. We featured them on the short lived Download Singles Club (more news below) when i described them as "a delicate balance of light and shade as mandolin and guitar folkiness sweeten the rasping backdrop of digital textures". It's beautiful stuff and I'm not surprised Static Caravan snapped them up for a 7" release.

Simon and Steve are also involved in the two overdue releases which need their extra special packaging finalised. Grover Live (Bearos061) is a 3" CDR featuring their versions of Black Sabbath's Sweet Leaf and My Bloody Valentine's You Made Me Realise and a great version of Like A Bunny with Andy Parker from Sally monstering up the guitar sound at their Halloween 2003 show.
Einstellung features ex members of Sally, Godflesh, Grover, Katastrophy Wife and Cable Regime. They've been busy fusing krautrock, shoegaze and hard rock into a beautiful hypnotic noise since October 2003. Their first release Sleep Easy Mr Parker (Bearos063) is a 28-minute epic of similar proportions to Ash Ra Temple's Ambos. We're still finalising the packaging for this one as well but they do have two Birmingham gigs lined up for next week.

Monday 8th May Capsule presents Tarantula AD, Einstellung & Haxan at The Medicine Bar. 8pm doors £6

Tuesday 9th May Chunky & Resonant present This Is Your Captain Speaking, Yellow6 and Einstellung at The Flapper & Firkin. 8pm doors £4

Both should be mighty fine gigs and a great warm up to the All Tomorrows Parties weekends. The free ATP CD is ready for all you festival goers. 27 tracks from ourselves, Static Caravan, Fortuna Pop!, Pickled Egg and WIAIWYA.
As mentioned before the Bearos tracks give you a taster of our current releases:

The Workhouse - Shake Hands (Taken from their new album "Flyover" Bearos065)
Chinook - Part Of Me (Taken from their debut release "Answering" Bearos066)
Richard Burke - Women Of Birmingham (Taken from "The Wintered Sea" Bearos062)
Einstellung - Sleep Easy Mr Parker (edit) (Taken from their 27 minute epic Bearos063)
Ben Calvert - Flee (Taken from "Love;defenestrated" Bearos057)

It should be a fantastic couple of weekends, perhaps the last at the Camber Sands site. We'll be part of the record stalls outside the Queen Vic on the Sundays between 12-4, most probably hiding in the merchandising room if bad weather. As well as special offers on our new releases we should have some rather special Bearos cotton shopping bags for all you ethical purchases.

29/05/06

We had a fantastic time (as usual) at the two All Tomorrow's Parties weekends. Thanks to Barry and all the curators for six days of great music. We saw loads of familiar faces and made loads of new friends at the Sunday record stalls. I hope you are all listening to your free ATP CD put together by ourselves, Static Caravan, Fortuna Pop, Pickled Egg and WIAIWYA. I've got a few copies left over and I'll be sending copies with any mail orders - first come first served!
We've also got some very special Bearos shopping bags left over from the festivities. 100% unbleached cotton 15" square, screen printed with a different design on each side. They are a bargain at £5 and just the thing for shopping, college or that beach holiday that's just a couple of months away! (link)

We've again run out of our free CD, Bearos040, and have decided not to repress this time as all the songs were old and most of the bands have split up! Just in time, along comes Bearos064 which you can download for free at http://members.lycos.co.uk/bearos064/ including some lovely artwork featuring Angus,one of the Bearos cats.
Lycos sites have a tendency to get shut down so don't wait too long. The album features the 8 tracks from the 3 Download Singles Of The Month (BabyBearos001-3) and 8 new tracks. Here's the full tracklisting:

1. 35 Seconds - Grudge Match
2. The Will To Rally - Youthful
3. Glider - Le Mal Ne Meurt Jamais
4. Einstellung - Tot
5. Clair Horton - Dolphins
6. Chris Jones - Fuckers
7. Shocked Elevator Family - Euro Court
8. Gav Dunn - See You On The Flip Flop
9. Papa November - Welsh Chocolate
10. Papa November - Welsh Vanilla
11. Richard Burke - Pian
12. Richard Burke - Learning The Game
13. Richard Burke - A Lot Of Things
14. Richard Burke - The Prettiest Smile
15. Krafla - Lake Turquoise
16. Ben Calvert - Atmosphere

Tracks 2 & 3 were destined for BabyBearos004, 5 & 11-14 for BabyBearos005. The 35 Seconds track was on a recent demo and was too good not to share around!

Check back next month for updates on Einstellung (Bearos063) and Grover Live (Bearos061) along with some other projects currently in the pipeline.

From the end of June 2006 the prices of our CD albums will be going up to £10, mini albums to £6. Part of this is to cover increased production, promotion, postage & packaging costs and part is to start contributing towards local charities. I feel like being a bit more interested and a bit more involved and hope you will too!

19/07/06

"With their superb first album 'The End Of The Pier', The Workhouse managed to fuse the influences of the post-rock giants of the day with the often unfairly overlooked melodrama of Kitchens Of Distinction. It was a thrilling emotional ride. 'Flyover' is some twenty minutes shorter in length but its concise approach still finds space for some drawn out, passionate music. One of the key differences this time is that there are more vocal tracks; many of which recall the approach of Redjetson in the way that the bruising vocals and the guitars push and grind for a state of emotional exhaustion so much so that 'Boxing Day's lyric of "The world is a brighter place now" seems more than a little ironic. Elsewhere, the towering title track is the most ecstatic of the sung songs and the pretty Kitchens OD-style signatures on 'Big Sam' make it the stunning, shimmering centerpiece of the record. In fact, from start to finish, this is a real, euphoric sugar rush of a record." www.leonardslair.co.uk

"The NME describes them as "the new priests of the cathedral of noise" so forgive us for checking the big ads in that rag and how to spell "crap" but suspensions of disbelief all round as The Workhouse work through the full range of the rawk and the reflective, the stylish and, help me Lord, the progressive to enchant and captivate as well as uncoil lazy rock beauty, like ... "Coathanger" being a big, buzzy beauty and "Last Of The Big Songs" turning out to be just that. This isn't "scene" music, this is full blown adult rock music and www.the-workhouse is where they live and where anyone interested in fine or new music should be" www.unpeeled.co.uk

Flyover (bearos065) is in the shops next week and is already available from ourselves and Amazon. It's already received airplay from Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 1 & 6 with NME and RockSound reviews next week.

This weekend is SuperSonic at the Custard factory in Birmingham. We'll be there in the afternoon selling our wares along with a host of other labels and shops. Friday 21st features MISTRESS, PCM, THE BUG and DJ FOOD whilst the Saturday starts at 4pm and has an amazing line up including CIRCULUS, BROADCAST, MODIFIED TOY ORCHESTRA and MICHAEL GIRA. Full details can be found on the Capsule website.

On it's first birthday it's time to say good-bye to the Bearos Download Site - it's been a lot of fun but all you people out there just seem to prefer the real article! Also it's last chance for Bearos064 the limited download album - details are in the 29/05/06 news. Both will be available until the end of the month so you'd better hurry. We'll be doing another download album later this year.

As announced at the end of May we have put the prices of CDs up to £10 per album and £6 per mini album. This is to offset increased production, promotion and postage costs but now also includes a £1 donation to Cats Protection. I'll probably rotate round various charities. We're also happy to support Shelter with our involvement with Audioscope in Oxford at the Zodiac on 28th October. I've see the list of who they've got already and it looks amazing - sorry I can't tell you but it's work in progress and it's not even on their site yet. Put it in your diary and I'll keep you informed.

Did you see the article on Dreams of Tall Buildings in the Observer last month? Here's what Killian Fox wrote in case you missed it:
Dreams of Tall Buildings: Found-sound scientists
They demand to remain anonymous, claim to have no interest in record sales and are slow to pin down what exactly it is they do. So what can be said about Dreams of Tall Buildings, beyond the fact that they are two guys, an art lecturer and a full-time musician, from Birmingham? 'We collect sound and organize it to suit the context,' says one. 'We make music out of cameras, typewriters, microwaves and other found sounds, as well as normal guitars and software,' elaborates the other. 'We never play the same set twice and never use the same material.'
If DOTB are to be labeled at all, it's as sound experimenters, part of a heritage that links John Cage to John Duncan and Matmos. They describe their work using a clutch of visual analogies: tracks are 'like miniature films with emotional narratives' to which listeners can 'add their own images'. The short, eerie pieces of ambience on their MySpace page don't quite bear out the analogy, but the duo have some very intriguing projects in the works.
Their latest is the most ambitious yet: turning their own bodies into instruments. In collaboration with a Birmingham University professor, they are creating special suits to sample their heartbeats. The pulses will be amplified live, rising and falling as they react to the audience. It's a striking concept, which they see as a development of their roles as vocalists in earlier, more conventional bands.
Both musicians value the presentation of their releases as highly as the music it contains. A recent single took the form of a 'mummified tape', wrapped in plastic, dipped in wax and individually stamped. As the packaging had to be destroyed to get to the tape, it posed the question: 'Do you want this for the music or the artwork?'
At the same time, DOTB are acutely aware of the 'visual bubble' we live in today, and the need to puncture it with sound. They say that 'our ears have become a secondary sense which we only use in times of heightened response', and, as a result, 'the public are more open to visual art'. The consequence of this may be a continued lack of mainstream exposure, but DOTB don't seem overly concerned. 'If experimental music did become part of the mainstream, we would only react against it.'
We are in the final stages of planning the definitive DoTB release, two albums that encompass their career to date and include many of their rare and deleted tracks. It is going to be a collaboration between ourselves, Earworm and Static Caravan and will be packaged in a glorious fold out sleeve. More details as I get them.

Final date for the diary is a couple of months away so I'll keep it brief. The Moseley Folk Festival takes place on 2nd and 3rd September and has an amazing line up with an excellent representation of our own post-folk and acoustic clan.

02/08/06

Come be our friends at the new Bearos Records MySpace site! I've added 4 of the tracks from the ATP compilation that you can have a listen to:
The Workhouse - Shake Hands (Taken from their new album "Flyover" Bearos065)
Chinook - Part Of Me (Taken from their debut release "Answering" Bearos066)
Richard Burke - Women Of Birmingham (Taken from "The Wintered Sea" Bearos062)
Ben Calvert - Flee (Taken from "Love;defenestrated" Bearos057)
There are links on the site to loads of the Bearos artists (as there are on our links page) where you can download free music.
I'm not quite sure how the whole thing works so be patient if I'm not answering your posts to the site!

More great reviews coming in for "Flyover" by The Workhouse (bearos065)
Norman Records in Leeds have made it their album of the week:
"I've heard this a few times now and it's a total grower as the more I hear it the more the goodness seeps through to my fat ears into my musical receptor in my brain... which converts it into smiles and goose pimples. It's good to have them back in my life...... For the uninitiated it's post rock Jim (but not as we know it...) with a healthy dose of the Cocteaus in there. Mind you that's exactly what Explosions In The Sky sound like. The difference being The Workhouse have a more of an 80's raincoat doom twinge about 'em. On "Boxing Day" it sounds just like iLIKTRAINS and the singer sounds just like Patrick From the Kitchens of Distinction. Am loving this."
The NME think we're called "Beards Records" - great folk label name if someone wants it! - and assumes the band are from Birmingham. Never mind, it's an interesting read and a well deserved 7/10.
"With the sun scorching down the way it is, people's faces full of ice creams and Callipos like the way they are, it is a brave band indeed that releases an album as late autumnal/winter desolate as "Flyover". Certainly it will never accompany a jolly picnic or boys-against-girls softball game, but this collection of sweeping, shifting, almost entirely instrumental pieces has a frosty, parched beauty, pleasingly devoid of artificial happy-happy bits.
"Like Talk Talk's "Spirit Of Eden" or Sigur Ros' "Takk", it only works in its entirety. The tone of the album: its spidery guitar lines and subdued strings thawing perceptibly as it progresses; the belated presence of Editors-esque vocals underlining this thaw. Chilling. 7/10"

Really looking forward to The Green Man Festival in a couple of weeks time - hope to see loads of familiar faces though watch out for the Giant Hogweed!
The following weekend on 26th August is The Palimpsest Festival at All Saints Church in Cambridge. It describes itself as 'An all day event of new music and outsider folk sounds' and there's a great line-up that features A Hawk & A Hacksaw, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Alasdair Roberts and Chris Corsano. It comes well recommended and with a capacity of 300 it's sure to sell out soon.

It's also time to book your Birmingham B&Bs for the Moseley Folk Festival which takes place in Moseley Park on 2nd & 3rd September. It's an incredible lineup of traditional and contemporary artists and I'm thrilled to see the likes of Ben Calvert, Richard Burke and James Summerfield included alongside John Renbourne, Seth Lakeman and The Incredible String Band.

28/08/06

We had a fantastic time at the Green Man Festival - can you spot me in this picture? I'd like to know what we were all staring at! Full marks to Jo & Danny for an excellent line-up and a glorious setting that included the best maintained festival toilets I'd ever seen! Wonderful acts including transcendental performances by Silver Jews, Jose Gonzales and Calexico and great new discoveries like The Archie Bronson Outfit and Foxface. Circulus kept us smiling through the Friday showers and Shady Bard got us all up for a mellow Sunday lunchtime show.
The Palimpsest Festival was another amazing day, held at All Saints Church in Cambridge. Sunburned Hand of the Man gave an excellent and irreverent performance and the haunting acoustics really suited Alasdair Roberts' solo show. The gypsy folk of Hawk and a Hacksaw was an atmospheric finale to an interesting and challenging day.
The folky vibe continues this weekend at The Moseley Folk Festival. If you were foolish enough to chose the V Festival over Green Man you have a second chance to catch John Renbourne, Circulus, Tunng & Scott Matthews as well as last year's headliners, The Incredible String Band who say this is going to be their last ever show. Hayseed Dixie and Seth Lakeman join the top names with Bearos and other local acts (including Richard Burke, James Summerfield and Ben Calvert) providing musical interludes throughout the day. Tickets are £25.50 per day or £38.50 for the weekend. Visit www.moseleyfolk.co.uk for further details including very reasonably priced family tickets.

Here's another great review of Flyover by The Workhouse (Bearos065) from Penny Black Music. It's rapidly becoming our best selling release ever.

I'm also really pleased to be able to offer you James Summerfield's second album which was released at the end of last year on General Records. Paint The Road (GENCD2001) continues his soulful exploration of Americana which started in The Toques/Buick6 and blossomed in his debut album Hailah, Hailah (Bearos051) James often sounds like he could be holed up in some moss hung Appalachian cabin, sitting on the porch, banjo on his lap and bottle of hooch at his side, swapping Southern gothic songs of misery and murder with preacher men and moonshiners. Americana-uk.com called him "A songwriter of real flair", Uncut, "Gillian Welch at her Bible-black best" and Mojo commented that whilst "Sutton Coldfield is not best known for its lonely prairies... they're beautifully evoked on these 10 songs". It's a worthy successor to the Bearos release and I strongly recommend you check it out. You can preview a couple of songs at www.myspace.com/jamessummerfield

More news next month about the delayed Grover (bearos061) and Einstellung (bearos063) releases as well as the possibility of some more Lazarus Clamp and the debut release from Mills & Boon.

02/10/06

The long awaited debut from Einstellung had arrived. "Sleep Easy Mr Parker" (bearos063) is a Power-Kraut mantra of Neu!-se that checks in at over 28 minutes. Not since my first drowning in Ash Ra Temple's "Amboss" have I been this enveloped by a piece of music. The 3-minute edit on this year's All Tomorrow's Parties CD resulted in a torrent of requests for this delayed release - share that sneak preview now on the Bearos MySpace site.

Epic in its simplicity, joyful in its repetition. Einstellung's first single is dedicated to guitarist Andrew Parker's father who passed away shortly before the recording. When a reviewer commented that the band are a perfect fusion of experimental Krautrock and Black Country heavy metal, Andrew Parker wondered what his father would have thought: "He'll probably be looking down on us and he'll be happier that the first single sounds more like Neu! than Black Sabbath". This record is an uplifting celebration of a life well lived. Pete (Sonic Boom) Kember described it as "a cool & satisfying swim thru the dark waters of post kraut". Fine praise indeed!

On Wednesday 1st November 2006 Einstellung will be presenting a one off performance of "Sleep Easy Mr Parker " at The Rainbow, Digbeth High Street, Birmingham. This will be a very special appearance as part of a 7 Inch Cinema Night.

The single coincides with the release of the band's debut LP"Wings of Desire" on an Australia's Chatterbox Records and they will be making the album available via itunes. There are edits of selected tracks on the Einstellung MySpace site.

We're also supporting this year's Audioscope at The Zodiac in Oxford on Saturday 28th October. Here's some information on the line-up I've shamelessly stolen from their website.
CLINIC - Domino Records' wonderful Clinic headline this year - always a band to play by their own rules, and new album Visitations, out in October, is sure to cement their reputation as one of the UK's finest bands.
MAGNÉTOPHONE & SONIC BOOM - A unique collaborative set between Birmingham Krautrockers Magnetophone and Spacemen 3's Sonic Boom.
PARTS & LABOR - A boisterous clash of guitars, drums and electronics all pushed to the limit with exultant abandon, fusing digital dissonance with a melodic core verging at times on pop songs of the most bewildering kind.
I'M BEING GOOD - Stars of the Brighton underground, having played with the likes of Mogwai, Deerhoof, Melt Banana, Oxes and Trumans Water, I'm Being Good put just about any angular art-rock band in the country to shame.
PIANO MAGIC - Ambient pop legends Piano Magic have a stunning back catalogue encompassing wistful electronica, arty baroque pop and post-rock. They don't perform live too often, so we're especially excited about seeing them.
KIDS IN TRACKSUITS - Nottingham's answer to DJ Shadow - all throbbing basslines, scratched samples and killer dancefloor grooves.
TRENCHER - They call themselves 'Casio-grindcore', and no one's topped that definition yet. Awesome keyboard- and bass-driven hardcore devastation.
SUNNYVALE NOISE SUB-ELEMENT - Kraftwerk remixed by Shellac, guitar-driven electronica from the Audioscope organisers.
A bargain at £10 with all profits going to Shelter, hope to see loads of you there.

08/10/06 John Peel Festivities

Two years on from John Peel's untimely death, a legion of bands, promoters and music-lovers will be gathering at events up and down the country to celebrate his legacy. During an unparalleled 40-year broadcasting career Peel was responsible for introducing UK listeners to everything from crackly old bluegrass to pounding techno, as well as giving a vital first break to countless influential artists including David Bowie, Joy Division, The Smiths and more recently the White Stripes.

As with so many other cities, Birmingham's music scene owes him a huge debt for the inspiration, exposure and encouragement which his programmes provided.
On Thursday 12th October, a selection of acts who benefited from his adventurous ears will be gathering at the Jug of Ale, Moseley to raise a glass in tribute and provide the kind of mixed-up musical entertainment that the man himself might have enjoyed. With DJ sets from Lee Seafood (Birmingham Nihilism), Geoff Dolman (Static Caravan), Una Corda Boyz, and Brian Duffy of the Modified Toy Orchestra. Also expect a Peel related pub quiz, Raffle and of course homemade cakes. (Min£1 donation to Shelter)

Not strictly a Peel Gig but well worth a mention, The Nightingales play at The Jug of Ale on Tuesday 10th October with support from Poppy & The Jezebels and The Victoria Lucas. The Nightingales were John's favourite band from the Midlands, second only to The Fall in total number of sessions recorded!
As the great man himself said, "The Nightingales turned in a performance of the type that will serve to confirm their excellence when other infinitely better known bands stand revealed as charlatans." The Nightingales play their official Peel show at The Firebug in Leicester on 12th October. Details of the rest of the tour can be found at http://www.myspace.com/nightingalesmusic along with tracks from their new album.

The Workhouse travel to Germany this week and headline the Peel festivities at Monheim am Rhein, Germany. Go to http://peel-festival.de for details.
The band continue to gather amazing reviews from around the globe. Here's the most recent one from Jack Rabid at New York's Big Takeover Magazine:
"Wow, This Oxford band have delivered an absolute stunner of a second album,one that might possibly trump their debut('End Of The Pier') which was one of the best instrumental, guitar-bliss records of the decade. On album two,the inclusion of Chris Taylor's deep,baritone vocals on 'Boxing Day' and the title track,wisely add extra dimension to an already spectral,haunting record. This is really awesome, brilliant music. Men with guitars who know how to use them! I hate to do the standard "RIYL",but...I'll feel very sorry for you,if you dig KOD,Chameleons et al. and then go and miss out on this killer record. Support quality music...find and purchase!" www.bigtakeover.com
Hopefully we'll have some more UK dates soon and I'm really jealous of all you who made it to the Oxford gig last month

06/12/06 We're off to ATP!

Firstly apologies to anyone whose e mails are bouncing back or if you are waiting longer for replies or email orders. My new spam filter seems stricter than a girls' bording school headmistress - it will help if you put "Bearos" in the subject line of your e mails or orders - Thanks, i'm sure it's just teething problems.

Really looking forward to ATP's The Nightmare Before Christmas - it's a fantastic lineup and the drive from Birmingham to Minehead will be an absolute joy after all those trawls round the M25 on the way to Camber. We will miss the Saturday morning constitutional from Rye to Winchelsea across the salt flats, steak sandwiches in The Mermaid and popping into the Weald Smokery on each leg of the journey - if all you saw were bands and the inside of the Queen Vic you missed out! Butlins looks far more salubrious than Camber which seemed to be in greater disarray and state of decomposition on every visit. Planning a Saturday morning walk to Dunster Castle and we'll find a space for our usual Sunday lunchtime record fair so save a little bit of money!

Einstellung's "Sleep Easy Mr Parker" (Bearos063)is selling fast with the help of rave reviews.
Organ made it their single of the week:
"Ah now this is soothing! A one track single but hey, twenty-eight minutes, almost twenty-nine and not a moment too long (fine artwork as well). Einstellung pick you up and wash you away with their soothing warm slow building sound - this is brilliant and beautiful. Just go get it and let is take you where it wants you to go - highly highly recommended, one of the singles of the year."
Pete Kember (Spacemen3, Spectrum) describes it as:
"A cool and satisfying swim thru the dark waters of post kraut"
There's also a great article on the BBC website with a very scary picture of Steve Hough doing his best Private Pyle impression after another marathon practice session with Sgt Major Andy Parker weilding the whip.

The band did a one off performance of "Sleep Easy Mr Parker" at The Rainbow in Birmingham at the beginning of the month - a relentless and wonderful experience. The term "wanking on poppers" does not appear on their website and there's no way i'll include it here...oops! There are some great pictures of the gig on Einstellung's MySpace site
The band have their last gig of the year at The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham on Tuesday 19th December. Steve Hough from the band says "We have achieved a lot this year and wanted to say thanks to everyone in Birmingham who has supported us by doing this free gig. We're playing with some friends called Knives. They're heavy; we're krautrock and its Christmas so we've called the gig "Heavy Krautmas". The audience can expect a few German Christmas treats". Did you notice it's free!!

Einstellung are also featured on the Shifty Disco download singles club with an edit of "Konstant" from their debut album "Wings Of Desire". A hypnotic drum pattern, a simple ebow lead line and breezy guitar builds melodic tension before the band clatter hell-for-leather through a heads-down-thrash which scales a couple of peaks before finally exploding into a full on noise-pop monster.

There's still a fair few gigging days left til Christmas - here's where you can find me post ATP and buy me a drink:
Thursday 14th December - Pete (ex-Regular) Green @ Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham
Saturday 16th December - Vile Evils (ex-PWEI) @ Civic Bar, Wolverhampton
Sunday 17th December - Balaam & the Angel (first gig for over 6 years!) @ Paradise Lounge, Lichfield
Tuesday 19th December - Einstellung & Knives. Free gig @ Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham
Wednesday 20th December - Distophia & Shady Bard @ Jug of Ale, Birmingham
Friday 22nd December - Havana a Go-Go Christmas Gig (amazing Ramones covers band) @ Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham