Previous winner of The ‘Best Metropolitan Festival’ (Festival Awards), Dot To Dot returns for 2016 to take over Manchester, Bristol and Nottingham for its eleventh year!
Venues and acts for #D2DFest 2016 are still very much under wraps, but you can be the first to hear about Dot to Dot Festival 2016 line-up announcements by registering here: http://tinyurl.com/DotToDot2016
The result of Horsebeach’s hazy, jangly indie-pop is one that drums up the contented, stoned-on-life feel of an endless summer. Another regional act for the Manchester leg of Dot to Dot, and another bunch of locals that we love watching grow in prominence. Horsebeach sing melancholy songs about love, hope and despair. They are a guitar band. They are from Manchester. Obviously they will be compared to The Smiths but Horsebeach have more in common with America’s Real Estate. This album is the perfect autumn soundtrack. It flows all the way through (album highlights are “Avoid The Light”, “Disappear” and “Broken Light”)
For fans of High Hazels, Go Betweens, Real Estate and …….of course The Smiths!
Opening with the subtle rumble of early morning Chinatown, a hazy instrumental sharpens into focus with languid guitars, gently welcoming you into a dream of Kennedy’s creation. The summery groove and pop majesty of ‘It’s Alright’ soon sends you spinning into infinity, cares eased by the warm tones of chiming guitars, while Beth de Cent’s smokey vocals come together in perfect harmony with Kennedy’s. ‘Andy’ treats you to a yearning tale of forbidden love, packed with homoerotic overtones so full blooded they’d make Morrissey blush like a young Caligula, while the marbled melodies of ‘Broken Light’ come on in nostalgic ripples and waves of sepia-tinged beauty. ‘Let You Down’ finds Kennedy’s voice sounding better than ever, detailing visceral regret over a full bodied groove which marries the baggy backbeat of his hometown with the sultry exoticism of Thai-funk. Opening the B-side with a masterful subtlety, synth led instrumental ‘Midnight Pt.2’ sees Kennedy taking us for a moonlit stroll by the ocean before ‘Dana’ ushers in the dawn with the greatest X-Files inspired song ever written (sorry Cerys). The antithesis of over-serious hipster cool, the earnestly emotional lyrics, anthemic chords and shimmering should be enough to prompt John Hughes to rise again and make a much needed sequel to The Breakfast Club. ‘Disappear’ finds Kennedy and drummer Matt Booth drinking in the cosmic vintage of Düsseldorf ’72, as their chiming West Coast guitars are joined by celestial keys, head nodding bass grooves and a motorik rhythm. ‘Clouds’ draws us back into the haze as Kennedy’s multi-tracked vocals gently melt into the swirl of flanged guitar, while ‘Avoid The Light’ closes the LP with a plea to stay in the dreamworld just a little longer.
Our Track today comes from our favourite Manchester gang, Pins . Built on a passion for punk and post-punk the band of brethren are a force to be reckoned with and ‘Got It Bad’ proves it.
Taken from their latest LP Wild Nights the follow up to 2013’s Girls Like Us ‘Got It Bad’ is a slowed down, melt-in-your-mouth track with guts and glory aplenty. It matches the video with focus dipping in and out and transcends the video with every heavy slam of the strings to accompany the softly tousled vocals.
The band’s sound is steeped in their hometown and the inevitable grey colour comparisons are in fact compliments to their ability to depict their own reality. ‘Got It Bad’ does this with that eternal favourite theme of the songwriter; love. The juxtaposition of sounds marries perfectly with this topic adding a harsh reality to every sweet and tender note. Pins are still one of the hottest acts in the country.
Dot to Dot HQ putting together another stellar line-up of eclectic, innovative, ground-breaking acts for May 2016, and to celebrate our eleventh year we’re giving you the chance to book early bird tickets for Dot to Dot Festival 2016 right now for just £11! £11 for 11 years, clever right?!
You can purchase your £11 early bird tickets for Manchester, Bristol and Nottingham by clicking here http://bit.ly/1Fi8sCO
Be the first to hear about Dot to Dot Festival 2016 line-up announcements by registering here: http://tinyurl.com/DotToDot2016
Cosmosis Festival | Saturday 12th March 2016 | Victoria Warehouse, Manchester.
We are very pleased to announce a snippet of the lineup today including…
The Jesus And Mary Chain
The Raveonettes
Wire
Ulrich Schnauss
LSD and the Search for God
The Underground Youth
+ Plus over 30 more artists to be announced over 4 stages
Tickets go on sale this Friday, 25th September via www.cosmosisfestival.com
limited allocation left.
The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, sleaford mods, The Raveonettes, Allah-Las, of Montreal, Deafheaven, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats + many many more over 5 stages with many other cosmic happenings going on. More details at www.cosmosisfestival.com
PINS recorded live in session for the BBC at Media City UK in Salford on the 5th of May 2015.
Setlist
01 Too Little Too Late
02 Molly
03 Dazed By You
04 Young Girls
Life is full of fleeting moments: our new album Wild Nights is about recognising and enjoying these moments; it’s about living for today and feeling alive. We shared a lot of wild nights whilst making our new album
Faith Vernon – lead vocals & guitar
Lois MacDonald – guitar
Anna Donigan – bass
Kyoko Swan – keyboards
Sophie Galpin – drums
CROCODILES, THE LUCID DREAM, THE SUNDOWNERS, THE BLACK TAMBOURINES take part in the biggest Manchester Psych Fest yet.
FULL LINE-UP
LIVE: CROCODILES // THE LUCID DREAM // SPECIAL GUESTS // THE SUNDOWNERS // THE BLACK TAMBOURINES // WHITE NOISE SOUNDS // HEY BULLDOG // DEJA VEGA // FREAKOUT HONEY
15:00: Doors
15:25: Freakout Honey
16:15: Black Lung
17:05: White Noise Sound
17:55: Déjà Vega
18:45: Hey Bulldog
19:40: The Black Tambourines
20:35: The Sundowners
21:30: SECRET GUESTS
22:25: The Lucid Dream
23:30: Crocodiles (Band)
As we rapidly approach the summer, some music just feels right in the sun, and Manchester Psych Fest will return for the 3rd time Saturday June 13th at the iconic Night & Day Café.
Headlining is San Diego’s Crocodiles who have established themselves over the last 7 years as one of the most energetic live bands out there. They are now 5 albums in, and have recently released their newest LP Boys.
From sunny San Diego to picturesque Carlisle – playing on the night is The Lucid Dream who have just recently released their newest self titled album to critical acclaim and radio play from the likes of Marc Riley at BBC Radio 6. They are at the forefront of the current wave of British psychedelic inspired bands, and continue to evolve into a force to be reckoned with.
Notable acts playing on the night are The Sundowners who have just come off a UK tour with Paul Weller, expect to hear lush harmonies, and some of the most well crafted songs out there. As well as this there will be, The Black Tambourines, Hey Bulldog, Deja Vega, White Noise Sound, Freakout Honey and Black Lung.
Lasting for 12 hours, with DJ sets from Only Joking Records, and Electric Jug, Manchester Psych Fest III looks to continue what it has started by showcasing the best in new and established talent both national and international in an intimate setting.
Ridiculously rad Manchester, UK, quartet PINS are back with a new, second album, “Wild Nights”, out next month and we’re stoked to premiere the video for current single “Young Girls.” Sonically it’s indie-pop edged out with a feeling of questioning melancholy, and just a smidgen of menace, and from the second they hit the screen you wanna be part of their gang. We can barely keep up with these Manchester girls, who continue to make the city that birthed them turn into that proud, motherly type. Following a recent tour in the States with Sleater Kinney, the four-piece post-punk outfit is moving fast and strong through the international music circuit, and we couldn’t be prouder.
It’s not just that they look good—Saint Laurent’s Hedi Slimane is a firm fan—but even when they’re lazing listlessly on a bed, or staring impassively down the barrel of the lens, or, you know, casually wiping blood off a baseball bat, they’ve got a fall-in-line-and-don’t-fuck-with-us attitude that’s magnetic.
“Filmed in Manchester and at favourite look out point ‘The Edge’ in Alderly Edge,” explain PINS. “The video is the tale of four girls, thick as thieves. They are dreamers, they are bold and they are bonded by a secret. All for one and one for all.”
Meanwhile, director Amy Watson, had a very specific vision for this short: “I wanted to play around with the usual ‘girls just wanna have fun’ type of music video. You know, friendship, solidarity, road trips and all the usual tropes of girly bonding. I wanted to take that wholesomeness and push it to a weird place.”
Like we said, don’t mess with these young girls.
Ridiculously rad Manchester, UK, quartet PINS are back with a new, second album, “Wild Nights”, out next month and we’re stoked to premiere the video for current single “Young Girls.” Sonically it’s indie-pop edged out with a feeling of questioning melancholy, and just a smidgen of menace, and from the second they hit the screen you wanna be part of their gang.
It’s not just that they look good—Saint Laurent’s Hedi Slimane is a firm fan—but even when they’re lazing listlessly on a bed, or staring impassively down the barrel of the lens, or, you know, casually wiping blood off a baseball bat, they’ve got a fall-in-line-and-don’t-fuck-with-us attitude that’s magnetic.
“Filmed in Manchester and at favourite look out point ‘The Edge’ in Alderly Edge,” explain PINS. “The video is the tale of four girls, thick as thieves. They are dreamers, they are bold and they are bonded by a secret. All for one and one for all.”
Meanwhile, director Amy Watson, had a very specific vision for this short: “I wanted to play around with the usual ‘girls just wanna have fun’ type of music video. You know, friendship, solidarity, road trips and all the usual tropes of girly bonding. I wanted to take that wholesomeness and push it to a weird place.”
Like we said, don’t mess with these young girls. Wild Nights is out on 9th June via Bella Union Records.
There is a glut of new quality psychedelia bands oozing out of every corner of the UK.
In a way, there’s almost too much: the sound of bowl cuts nodding along to the blur of an effects pedal can lose its charm after a while. The Watchmakers, though, seem to cut through the noise with a release of some fine tunes to date. The Manchester outfit’s live shows are a blur of vintage psychedelia and a very modern belief, the unhinged charm of the Brian Jonestown Massacre matched against the songcraft of Temples.
Debut digital single ‘Kiss The Sun’ is out this week via Loaded Soul Records, and it’s a blissed out introduction.
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