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The Yorker presents this week's succinct guide to goings-on of the musical variety, both locally and nationally. Here you'll find previews of a selection of single releases from the week ahead, as well as a guide to the hottest tickets in town for live music.
Gigs
I’ve been looking forward to this week. It’s a good one.
For those of you lucky enough to get tickets, Beardyman will on stage at Fibbers tonight in what is guaranteed to be an excellent gig. Enjoy. Those that didn’t grab a ticket can spend their evening in the Basement, which tonight will be hosting jazz quartet The Dagda Quartet, with support from Ian Chalk Quartet. Known for their innovative blend of musical traditions, The Dagda Quartet will not fail to provide a night of superb musicianship expertly performed.
Tuesday sees indie outfit Kill It Kid take to Fibbers for an evening of folk-rock. The Bath quintet are already a well-established band, releasing their debut album in 2009 to high praise. These guys should provide a polished and professional performance, and would be well worth seeing.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK: The very up-and-coming north-London band Yuck will be playing in Stereo on Wednesday. Following the release of their debut album today, these shoegaze indie kids should go down a storm. Also on Wednesday vocal chamber group The Hilliard Ensemble will be performing in the Chapter House of York Minster. Famous for their impressive reputation in the fields of both early and new music, the ensemble will be performing a selection of works by, amongst others, Pisano, Roger Marsh, and Arvo Part.
Thursday and The James Warner Prophecies will be on stage in Stereo, with support from The Falling Spikes and The Birdman Rallies. A brief trawl through youtube shows JWP to be a standard pretentious rockband but with added flute. They’ve also referenced a Bill Bailey joke in one of their songs, and as yet I’m unsure whether I love them or hate them for this. Thursday also sees York-based quintet The Paper Tigers launch their debut EP at Duchess. Expect a mix of catchy pop rock and acoustic tunes from some very talented musicians; this looks to be an entertaining and engaging set.
Albums
Recent performers on the Fibbers’ stage Frankie and the Heartstrings release their debut album Hunger today. Catchy indie pop a la Futureheads, these guys do radio-friendly songs very well. Also released this week is Jamie xx and Gil Scott-Heron's We’re New Here, a remix of Scott-Heron’s 2010 album I’m New Here. What we’ve heard so far proves it retains the joy of Scott-Heron’s distinctive voice and adds a piano-based dance beat (echoes of Chilly Gonzales), but not so much as to be overpowering and loose the beauty of the original record. Another set of great remixes by the xx member Jamie Smith.
Singles
Alexis Jordan – Good Girl
Fairly standard pop princessy sort of stuff; repetitive lyrics and chorus make this an easy one to sing along to. Likely to be popular with the pre-teen crowd (if you have little sisters don’t say I didn’t warn you). Listen to half the song and it will be stuck in your head all day, unfortunately this is not a good thing. Overwhelmingly unimaginative, the track fails to impress on all scores. Though I do quite like that she demands cake somewhere in the first verse. Cake makes everything better.
Written by Lucie Vincer
Lupe Fiasco – The Show Goes On
The recent fad of rappers (and wannabe rappers) producing club tunes to hit the top 40 has been really successful, but rather irritating. It's disappointing that Lupe Fiasco's stellar lyricism and less egoistic tone is wasted on the autotune-tinged chorus and "party all night" theme. The beat feels like it was made for T-Pain or Flo Rida instead of Lupe, but I can't hate the Modest Mouse sample and catchy brass.
Written by Nathan Blades
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