New Blog

I'm currently  in the process of moving everything from this blog over to WordPress, mainly because I can do more with the layout and what I have on WordPress at the moment looks more professional and that's what I was aiming for. I can also have a post slider on WordPress and that looks pretty great!

You can read here : www.natalielongworth.wordpress.com

Wild Belle: 31st March, The Deaf Institute, Manchester

Published on crackmagazine.net

Wild Belle, a Chicagoan sibling outfit comprised of Natalie and Elliot Bergman, brought their funk imbued jams to the environs of the Deaf Institute on their first outing to Manchester.

With a set drawn from their recently released debut LP, Isles, their sound can be characterised by an endearing blend of reggae hallmarks, mellifluous vocal lines and saxophone solos.

Natalie exudes an ethereal beauty and beneath her cascading blonde locks possesses a beaming smile that remained on her face throughout their set. The repetitive piano stab of Happy Home and the dub beats Keep You retain all their infectiousness and prove to be notable highlights. The latter embellished with a spiralling sax riff and unsurprisingly teased out the most movement from the crowd.  It was their rendition of Another Girl with its calypso drenched rhythms that ensured they reached their apex, and as Natalie warbled: ‘Didn’t I treat you right?’ she kicked off her heels as if they were unsightly Crocs.

The affable duo proclaim that Isles is packed with summer tracks and you can well imagine that they’d be best enjoyed with the glorious sun beating down at a festival.  So while Isles will almost certainly affirm itself as a quintessential summer album, for now, on this March evening they leave the crowd enamoured. 

I finish Uni in 2 months. I don't know whether to be excited or scared, I suppose I feel like it's going to like the first time you ride a bike without stabilisers. I remember my Dad letting go of my bike for the first time and I face planted the floor, I hope this won't reflect my entrance to the world of work. Leaving Uni and the security of still being in education is terrifying, and the thought of potentially spending my days watching The Jeremy Kyle Show and re-runs of Cash In The Attic is even worse.

At the moment I'm working on my dissertation which is based on Music in TV Advertising, I have 5 great interviews for it, I just need to crack on writing it up. I'm still updating the No-Title social media accounts with news and posting all news stories to the site. Although, the website still hasn't been fixed so none of the news stories I've posted are showing up. In the meantime you can just follow No-Title on Twitter or like the Facebook page!

Me and Chynna were on Spencer Leigh's show on BBC Radio Merseyside talking about our final year practical project -  you can listen to it here for 1 more day I believe . We've both been working tirelessly on this and I'm just relieved that everything is going well so far. I daren't listen back to it so hopefully we didn't sound too nervous. I've been on student radio before with my own show and then again on Planet Radio Huddersfield which you can listen back to here . That was fine as you kind of expect your parents to be the only listeners, but Spencer mentioned that their listener ship is about 30,000. I think all the colour drained from my face at that point. 

We've had a few mentions on line too if you'd like to read them:

Examiner.com

Liverpool Daily Post 

JMU Journalism

Here's our Facebook and Twitter pages if you'd like more information about the project.

This post is getting slightly long so I'll finish off with a track that I've been listening to incessantly over the past few days. I managed to see Fenech-Soler in Manchester on Tuesday, I've seen them once before and they really are brilliant live - enjoy!

News

I'm concious that I haven't been posting on here much but I have been keeping on top of my writing - promise. So here are a  few news stories that I've been writing for No-Title mag!

Biffy Clyro to headline Reading and Leeds

After securing a number one spot with their sixth album ‘Opposites’ yesterday, Biffy Clyro are amongst the latest batch of bands announced to play Reading and Leeds.

The Scottish trio join previously announced rap heavyweight Eminem for headlining duties, with a final headline act to be revealed for the main stage at a later date.

Also confirmed to play by Zane Lowe this evening are Bring Me The Horizon, Foals, Jake Bugg, System Of A Down and the recently reformed Fall Out Boy.

Tickets are available to purchase now at £197.50. Alternatively, a new scheme has been introduced this year where a deposit of £50 will secure a place, as long as the payment is fully paid by March 31st.

The festivals will take place on the weekend of  23rd - 25th August.

Live At Leeds reveals initial line-up

On Monday, Live At Leeds announced the first wave of bands to play this year’s festival. The annual event returns for a seventh year and is the ideal alternative for those who love the festival vibe but don’t like the mud, camping and portaloos that accompany it. A hectic dash from venue to venue is all you need to be concerned about.

This year Live At Leeds returns on the May Bank Holiday from May 3^rd-6^th. The musical proceedings will happen on the Saturday with a wide breadth of talent gracing twelve venues across the city, including the stunningly beautiful, Holy Trinity Church. Included in this year’s line up are local lads, The Pigeon Detectives, Everything Everything who are fresh from the release of their second album and buzz bands Peace and Swim Deep, as well as plenty of local bands.

The Vaccines will play on Sunday for a separate ticketed event costing £25, with support coming from psychedelic quintet, Toy.

Tickets for the Saturday are priced at £22.50 and are now on sale. They can be bought here or at a number of stores including; Crash Records, Jumbo Records, The Cockpit, Brudenell Social Club and the Leeds Academy Box Office.

Local Natives to play the Brudenell Social Club

Local Natives released their sophomore album, Hummingbird via Infectious Music today. To follow this release, the LA four-piece will embark on a European tour which will include 6 UK dates, opening in Leeds and finishing in London on February 14^th.

Hummingbird, their second long player and follow up to their 2009 debut, Gorilla Manor, was co-produced by Aaron Dessner of The National. The percussive elements and glowing vocal harmonies that they brought to the fore in their previous efforts still remain. The band will play the Brudenell Social Club on February 8^th.

FEBRUARY:

8^th - Leeds, Brudenell Social Club

9^th - Edinburgh, Electric Circus

10^th - Dublin, Whelan's

12^th - Liverpool, Kazimier

13^th - Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms

14^th - London, Scala

Skateistan benefit show this Saturday

Wharf Chambers will play host to Skateistan, a benefit show to raise funds and awareness for the non-government funded organisation. With its roots in Kabul, Afghanistan - Skateistan provides a safe access route to education and skateboarding classes for youths aged from 5-18. Skating has been found to be an empowering activity for the young people they help in not only Afghanistan but Cambodia and Pakistan too.

The event taking place on Saturday is guaranteed to be an enjoyable night with live music, an art auction and a raffle with prizes from local businesses up for grabs. Available to purchase at the auction will be beautifully hand-painted skate decks donated by Jenna Lee Alldread - who also designed the event poster, David Tyson, Drew Millward, Helen at Hello Mello and Jordan at Pogger Art plus more.   Providing the music for the night and cranking up the decibels will be Yorkshireman Serious Sam Barrett, Liverpudlian troupe Salem Rages and finally Steel City’s punk outfit Dry Heaves.

As Skateistan relies on donations in order for their great work to continue, the proceeds from this event will go directly to their worthy cause. Doors open at 6.30pm with a £5 entry fee.

Update

I seem to be slacking with this lately but I do have good reason. Final year is so much more work than I anticipated and writing a dissertation is bloody hard work! A few things that I've been focusing on is my practical project, I'm currently putting together an exhibition with one of my course mates about The Jacaranda, the infamous club in Liverpool. We're on Twitter and Facebook - give them a follow/ like if you want to. Our exhibition will be at Heebies on 6th April from 4pm-6pm and everyone's welcome! 

Aside from this I'm the News Editor for No-Title magazine in Leeds. I'm so happy about this as I never thought I'd get this position so I'm absolutely chuffed. The new website is under construction at the moment so I have only just started to write up news stories for the site. Although I did get to go to the Live at Leeds launch night yesterday on behalf of No-Title - all very exciting as that's the first press night I've ever been to.

There are a few albums that I'm really excited about, first off Hummingbird from Local Natives and Holy Fire from Foals. I've waited impatiently for the news that Local Natives would release new material and 4 years after their debut, Gorilla Manor I am bursting with excitement. May even post an album review for that at some point, but for now I've been listening to this track on a loop for about 30 minutes and it's just as brilliant as I expected their new material to be. I'm going to see them when they play at the Brudenell Social Club next Friday which is just a few days after my birthday. I'd say that's a pretty good present.

Top 10 of 2012

      I don't often put together lists of my albums of the year or singles in this case because sometimes I think they can become quite exhaustive, but I was asked to put together my own top 10 for the student paper alongside the rest of the contributors for the music section. A top 20 was then worked out from everyone's suggestions. My choices of Foe, Local Natives and Everything Everything made it in there so that's why they have a brief description below!

Published in T'Hud

Published in T'Hud

1.      Foe – The Black Lodge

Taken from her deliciously grungy debut, Bad Dream Hotline, The Black Lodge is emblematic of what Hannah Clark excels in. Her gory-fuelled lyrical tales are disguised by an ethereal vocal that serves as an artifice for this sinister Hansel and Gretel-esque imagining. It’s embellished with a tribal drum beat that immerses you in her fantastical musings and remains captivating with every listen.

Photo Source

2.     The Neighbourhood – Sweater Weather

3.      Local Natives – Breakers

     Picking up where their previous effort, Gorilla Manor left off, LA’s Local Natives have tightened the foundations that made their debut so beautiful. Their sumptuous harmonies have always been their forte, and on ‘Breakers’ they rush in and grip you like a drowning man clinging onto his life jacket.  The militant drum beats that can be heard on fan favourite, Wide Eyes make a welcome return and help to create 4 minutes of bliss.

4.      Pins – Say To Me

5.      Fake Club – Do What You Gotta Do

6.      Rudimental ft. John Newman – Feel the Love

7.      Everything Everything – Cough Cough

     Opening with some frenetic spluttering, the Mancunian band certainly know how to return from a two year hiatus in style. ‘Cough Cough’ meanders from the frantic to the down tempo in seamless transitions when Jonathon Higgs sings, “and that Eureka moment hits you like a cop car”.  It’s instantly catchy and hummable resulting in its potential to become fairly irritating once it gets stuck in your head – as I’m sure it will.

8.      Jai Paul – Jasmine

9.      Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch - Sweet Nothing

10.      Widowspeak – Ballad of the Golden Hour 

It's Christmas all over again.

Ah, the sound of Christmas. I’m not talking about the echoes of laughter that erupt over Christmas dinner, or the strains of petty arguments that make their reliable appearance every Christmas morning without fail.  It’s the songs that take entry on those Christmas compilation albums every year  that I’m referring to. They appear in November and linger until Christmas time before they're forgotten about for another 12 months like the Christmas shops that appear in towns across the country for a limited time. You're just glad to see the back of them. 

Wham, Cliff, Slade, Mariah, Wizzard, East 17, Shakin Stevens and co all attempt to make a dint into the charts around this time after their heavy rotation in shops and on the airwaves .  But where are the contemporary festive carolings? Excluding Rod Stewart and his 'Merry Christmas, Baby' obviously. (That guy's a genius) Pins, Dan Croll, Lower Than Atlantis and Foe provide the best  for 2012. Although it’s unlikely that they’ll sit pretty at the crux of the charts, they’ll undoubtedly make you feel festive. Don your Christmas jumper and take time to listen to these merry offerings.

If they fail to get you into a festive mood, my last suggestion is Mele Kalikimaka by legendary crooner, Bing Crosby. 

I’ve also shared a thought for those on Boxing Day. A day where I normally spend glued to the TV, still in my PJs and gorging on the leftover strawberry creams that no one ever eats, ever. But for those brave enough to face the sales, it takes great determination and commitment to tussle your way through the swelling crowds. I have the perfect song to motivate you to barge past those in your way like a quarterback so you can nab the last JW Anderson jumper in the Topshop sale.