THIS WEEKEND >>> #PZYK #PZYK #PZYK #PZYK #PZYK #PZYK #PZYK @LPOOLPSYCHFEST

So it's that time of the year again, the annual Liverpool Psych Fest returns to Camp and Furnace for it's fourth congregation of all things #PZYK. A hugely exciting collection of ground breaking modern psychedelic music in all it's forms, it easily ranks as one of the best festivals out there.  We've been every year & it just gets better & better....

The line up for this year is as follows:

 Too, too much good stuff all weekend.
If you've not got a ticket yet then we're not really sure what to say other get yourself sorted now & head down...

We're hyped to be asked to DJ outside on the Friday - keep an eye on Twitter for full details. 

Full DJ line up below...

& to get you in the mood, here's a nice PZYKMIX from Black Devil Disco Club...


 
A visual guide...

STEPHEN STEINBRINK & JULIE BYRNE co-headline tour, play The Eagle Inn on Friday 11th September

 Two of America's great young wanderers and a couple of real aA faves STEPHEN STEINBRINK and JULIE BYRNE will fly the Atlantic this September and embark on a co-headline tour around the UK next week following appearances at the End Of The Road festival.

Stephen's latest single:

Here's the video for Julie Byrne's current single populating the airwaves 'Prism Song':


 
The tour runs...

Weds 9th Sept: Brighton - The Arts Club
Thurs 10th Sept: London - St Pancras Old Church
Fri 11th Sept: Manchester / Salford - The Eagle Inn
Sat 12th Sept: Liverpool - Studio 2, Parr Street Studios
Sun 13th Sept: Hebden Bridge - Trades Club

STEPHEN STEINBRINK is a 27 year old songwriter and recording engineer born and raised in the arid desert of Arizona and currently floating around the western USA, dividing his time between the green spaces around Olympia, Washington and the concrete flats of Oakland, California. Having spent the better part of a decade touring North America and Europe in buses, vans, and trains, his wanderlust travels shaped his stunning breakthrough album 'Arranged Waves', released last year on Melodic. 

Truly engaged with the unintelligible and absurd, Steinbrink is more cultural observer than 21st century busker with his intelligently cool left-of-centre approach to a sincere melody, using pop tropes to convey something deeper. At the same time, it’s his lyrics that mark Steinbrink out as a true punk troubadour trying to how to figure out how to be a person in the world.

24 year old JULIE BYRNE has counted Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Northampton, Massachusetts, Chicago, Illinois, Seattle, New Orleans and New York as her home in recent years and spent the majority of the last two years on the road. It's these travels and new places that inspire and influence her most, giving us a glimpse inside her own quietly mystical world and her unique slant on the one the rest of us happen to inhabit. 

Her debut long player 'Rooms With Walls and Windows', released last year on Orindal is a true modern-day word of mouth success and was voted number 7 in Mojo's best albums of the year and Huffington Post called it "2014's Great American Album". It's a stunning set of front porch psych-folk that unknowingly recalled the greats - Vasthi Bunyan, Linda Perhacs, Karen Dalton - but very much for our time. For all her otherworldliness, there is a realism too to Byrne, she is street smart and more punk in spirit than searching for the hippie ideal.

NOT aA BUT TONIGHT @KRAAKSPACE it's @_NIGHTFANTASY W/ @MELODICRECORDS @LOULOUPEMBERS & @VISUALS0UND

We're getting involved with Night Fantasy this evening...here's what they say..

Busting out of Kosmonaut to a back-alley near you, Night Fantasy bring their plates of peak time biker disco, tripped out electronics and throbbing analogue grooves to KRAAK for a night of certified dancefloor destruction.

Joining us for this evening of high-class entertainment will be a selection of some of Manchester's finest sleaze-bags who will be mounting the decks at various points during the night in a display of intensely erotic sonic behaviour.

So buckle-up, this ain't gonna be pretty.

Lou Lou (Dance Lady Dance)
Lego (aA / Loffel / VisualS0und)
Josh (Thinking Out Loud)

+ Night Fantasy Residents

  FREE ENTRY ALL NIGHT.

Friday 6th March
Kraak, 11 Stevenson Sq, Manchester
11pm until 4am
Facebook event here
RA listing here 

@_nightfantasy / @kraakspace
Night Fantasy Spundcloud

 For a sense of music to be played, hear this...

 

 

NOT aA BUT STEPHEN STEINBRINK | FRIDAY FEB 20TH | THE ROADHOUSE

This Friday Stephen Steinbrink touches down at The Roadhouse in Manchester, then at The 3 Wise Monkeys in Todmorden on Saturday...

Stephen Steinbrink fled the confines of the church, joined a travelling quiz team (really!) and toured the length and breadth of the United States collecting field recordings, forming bands and releasing many a fine record. His latest of which 'Arranged Waves' came out on our friends at Melodic last year...

A left of the center pop album sounding like a mix of Neil Young, Paul Simon, Steely Dan and even R. Steve Moore a bit - he plays the UK this week, playing The Roadhouse on Friday and solo in Todmorden on the Saturday. If you're around we recommend you get yourself down to them..

Facebook Manchester gig
Facebook Todmorden gig

UPDATE: We'll be playing some records at The Roadhouse show- say hello!

Check out the 'Now You See Everything Video'

20/02: UK, Manchester, The Roadhouse

21/02: UK, Todmorden, The 3 Wise Monkeys (Stephen Solo Show)

22/02: London, Waiting Room

23/02: UK, Bristol, The Lantern

RIP KIM FOWLEY | 1939 - 2015

We were sad to hear this morning that Kim Fowley, the Sunset Strip scenester, maverick genius & world class raconteur, had died at his Los Angeles home. He was 75. 

 From Rolling Stone:

'Fowley was born in 1939 to Singin' in the Rain actor Douglas Fowley and actress Shelby Payne and grew up in Los Angeles and around southern California. After a bout with polio in 1957, he began a career in the music industry, producing his first single – the Renegades' "Charge" – in 1959. In the Sixties, worked with Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Seeds and Gene Vincent, among others, as well as launching his own solo career; his 1968 LP Outrageous, Fowley's third, was the only one to chart in the U.S. Fowley closed out the Sixties by MCing John Lennon's performance at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, where he asked the audience to hold up its cigarette lighters, arguably starting the concert fad.

The Seventies found Fowley working with the Modern Lovers, Blue Cheer and Helen Reddy. He also co-wrote songs on Kiss' hit Destroyer and a "Escape" on Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare. Fowley and the Runaways severed their ties in 1977, after which he set out to find another group he could market as a novelty. Although he worked with a few groups over the ensuing decades and continued to put out his own solo LPs, none reached the success or notoriety of the Runaways.

In the 2000s, he tried his hands at experimental film, and in 2012, he won a special jury prize for innovation and audaciousness at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival for his films Golden Road to Nowhere and BlackRoomDoom. In 2014, Fowley made an appearance in Beyoncé's "Haunted" video.'

We did a show with Kim at In The City 2003, 'Rocket To Stardom'. We said at the time:  "legendary singer, songwriter, producer, blagger & all round music genius is coming to town, to show us how to put on a real show"

As he himself described it over many early morning LA to Manchester phone calls, "Rocket To Stardom will feature the return of the American Syd Barrett STEVEN T & I'm also promising drag queens, midgets, dancing girls, dwarfs, very special guests & famous friends..."

  We'll post some photos and, if we can find them, reviews from the night later on. Click here for an interview with Kim on Spectropop that was done that weekend.

SoftPreist was a big Kim Fowley fan & often played his tracks, especially this one: 

UPDATE: Just found this page on Kim Fowley's own website that documents his trip to Europe in 2003 - visiting Manchester, In The City & of course aA...photos below:

  

The Bodyguard & Stevie T

Kim at aA

Kim's In The City pass

Kim and Charlie outside aA @ Gardens Hotel 2003 

RIP Kim

PLANK | LIVE AT DRILL FESTIVAL BRIGHTON | SATURDAY DEC 06TH

PLANK are gearing up their last show of 2014 and it's looking a good one - playing at DRILL, Brighton on the Saturday of the festival. 

The full schedule has now been released, click here for details. PLANK are on at 7:00pm at Audio on Saturday 6th December. 

The line up is super impressive - also performing over the weekend are Wire, Savages, British Sea Power, The Wedding Present, TOY, Courtney Barnett and over 100 other bands. 

Tickets can be purchased from here.

 

PLANK | LAST SHOWS OF 2014 | MANCHESTER & BRIGHTON

2014 has been one hell of a year for PLANK following the release of Hivemind (we're down to the last handful of copies btw - vinyl and CD) but it's not quite over yet....

They've a couple more gigs to go - one more in Manchester booked in on November 10th at Ruby Lounge with one of their favourite bands Trans-Am. A double header well worth getting out on a Monday night for and be warned it could be PLANK's last hometown show for a good while as they hibernate for the winter to start mulling over album three.

Facebook event here.

10th November at Ruby Lounge, 

Trans Am + Plank, Doors 7:30pm

£10 advance

WeGotTickets

See Tickets

Ticketline

PLANK are then off to Brighton for DRILL Festival in December..

DRILL, which is curated by Wire and One Inch Badge and will take place 4th - 7th December at various venues across Brighton, has also announced individual line ups for each day with day tickets going onsale at Midday Monday 27th October 2014.

The four-day event will see a multitude of incredible artists performing, including Wire, SWANS, Savages, Toy, Courtney Barnett, Gold Panda, The Wytches, Claudio Simonetti’s GOBLIN performing SUSPIRIA, MONO (JPN), East India Youth, Telegram, and a one-off world exclusive collaboration between Wire & SWANS. Highlights added today include a special performance from British Sea Power with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet at All Saints Church, the Mercury Prize nominated Young Fathers, These New Puritans, Cassetteboy Vs DJ Rubbish, Three Trapped Tigers, Esben & the Witch, Fujiya & Miyagi, Zu, PLANK, LoneLady & Many more. There will also be a host of artists, talks, & films being showcased and many more bands to be announced over the coming weeks.

Having previously created DRILL : FESTIVAL events in both London and Seattle, this is the biggest & most ambitious to date. It’s a way of exploring the impact Wire have had on groups from younger generations & also to give them the opportunity for the band to connect with both new & established artists whose work they find inspiring.

PLANK play the Saturday - day tickets available here, weekend ones here.

Links & such:

www.drillfestival.com

www.facebook.com/drillfestival

www.twitter.com/drillfestival

LATE aA COVERAGE | LIVERPOOL PSYCH FEST | PHOTOS & VIDEO | SEPT 2014

Bit late on this....

 Now in it's third year, Liverpool Psych Fest is firmly established itself as Europe's best showcase of new music that roughly falls under the description of 'modern psychedelia'. Or to be briefer, it's very ace. 

Clash Music and Drowned In Sound, amongst others, have already written pretty comprehensive reviews of the 2014 event so give them a read, this is more just a few photos & video taken across the weekend. 

aA DJ'd in The Camp on the Friday evening (video below) after PLANK opened things up.

PLANK live in The Camp on the Friday

 Dan Tombs TV installation artwork

Limited run #PZYK vinylfrom the Piccadilly Records pop up shop

 #PZYKLHOPS festival ale - brew footage here

 aA DJ-ing in The Camp on the Friday evening

&; in the Moroccan tent on the Saturday...

As ever the visuals across the festival were amazing - by Sam Wiehl - check out the video below too.

Liverpool Psych Fest 2014 3 from sam wiehl on Vimeo.

Bring on
#PZYK2015 !

THIS WEEKEND | LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF PSYCHEDELIA | PLANK & aA DJs

It's that time of the year again....the third annual Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia - as you'd expect the line up is far better & behind any other festival happening in the UK this year, check out the line up below & if you've not done so, get hunting for a ticket immediately.

 PLANK are playing in The Blade Room on Friday where we'll be DJ-ing too - see below for timings...

	ALIEN BALLROOM
15:30-16:00	PLANK
	ALIEN BALLROOM
16:30-17:00	SPINDRIFT
	ALIEN BALLROOM
17:30-18:15	ASTEROID #4
	AKOUSTIK ANARKHY
18:45-19:30	HOLY WAVE
	AKOUSTIK ANARKHY
20:00-20:30	SPECTRES (SC)
	SONIC CATHEDRAL
21:15-21:45	THE VACANT LOTS (SC)
	SONIC CATHEDRAL
22:15-23:00	THE EARLY YEARS (SC)
	SONIC CATHEDRAL
23:15-23:45	YOUNG HUSBAND (SC)
	THE QUIETUS
00:15-01:00	BESNARD LAKES
	THE QUIETUS
01:30-02:15	ZOMBIE ZOMBIE
	PLAY LIST

There's loads else going on, best to keep to date with everything via @Lpoolpsychfest

+ here's a mix from Richard Hector Jones who's part of the 'Chimes...' crew...

The Chimes of Big Ben - Pure hits of sunshine for Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia by Richard Hector-Jones on Mixcloud

PLANK AT FESTIVAL NO 6 | THIS SATURDAY | FINDERS KEEPERS STAGE

So this Saturday afternoon PLANK are playing the Finders Keepers / Clough stage at Festival No 6 alongside H Hawkline, Jane Weaver and Emma Tricca. They'll be about 5pm - if you're already going then check them out - if you've not tickets yet there should be some still available - click here for more info...

Weather's looking good for it too...

LIGHT IN THE ATTIC Presents MICHAEL CHAPMAN & JULIE BYRNE | Todmorden Unitarian Church | Sunday August 24th

Michael Chapman & Julie Byrne

So whilst PLANK play some festival dates over the next few weeks, here's news of a very special show over the August bank holiday...

LIGHT IN THE ATTIC PRESENTS....

MICHAEL CHAPMAN & JULIE BYRNE

LITA DJS

Sunday 24th August

Live at Todmorden Unitarian Church

Honey Hole Road, Todmorden,West Yorkshire, OL14 6LE

Ticket link click here

6pm - 10pm 

PLEASE NOTICE EARLY START

includes Afterparty at 3 Wise Monkeys

Seattle/LA based reissue record label Light In The Attic will host their first ever official event outside of North America in Todmorden on Sunday 24th August from 6pm.

Michael Chapman

The Unitarian Church in the town centre (2 minute walk from Todmorden Station) will play host to an evening with the maverick that is MICHAEL CHAPMAN. 

Live Chapman constantly surprises, combing his song based material with strung out-melodic-hypnotic instrumentals that totally mesmerise. Light In The Attic have been reissuing some of his Harvest output from the 1960/70s over the past year or so.

Also on the bill is JULIE BYRNE who is over for her first trip to the UK. A true DIY punk in spirit she spends the majority of her life on the road in the States, her recent debut album Rooms With Walls and Windows is a stunning slice of front porch psych folk and live she's even more enchanting.

Check her out here:

Light In The Attic head honcho Matt Sullivan will be in town to spin a few choice cuts at the church. Doors will be at 6pm and the live music will be over by 10pm so in plenty of time for last trains to Manchester and Leeds.

The afterparty (it's a bank holiday afterall) will be down the road at the 3 Wise Monkeys with a collection of local DJ bods from White Rabbit, aA and Duende playing suitably out there cuts.

Light In The Attic Records

Todmorden Unitarian Church 

Upcoming PLANK festival dates FOR AUGUST & SEPTEMBER 2014

NOT PLANK

So as you know, PLANK have been in Europe recently in support of their new LP Hivemind (check some of the album reviews below) but they're now back in the UK & preparing for a string of festival dates. 

Please see below for the dates & links to what are pretty much the best festivals going on this summer - we're not sure on exact stage times as yet but keep an eye on here for updates & that...

01st - 03rd August - Cloudspotting Festival

07th -10th August - Beacons Festival

14th -17th August - Greenman Festival

5th - 7th September - Festival Number 6

26th - 27th September - Liverpool Psych Fest 

Only snag we've got at moment is awaiting the delivery of the Hivemind vinyl - as soon as it lands we'll get it sent out - apologies to everyone who's waiting. If you've not ordered it yet you can do so via their Bandcamp, get the MP3s straight away & vinyl will be sent out  ASAP.

Here's some of the recent press coverage on Hivemind

THE SUNDAY TIMES

METRO

Q 

THE SKINNY