AKOUSTIK ANARKHY

Thursday 2 January 2014

Softpriest / Charlie Bayley 1967 - 2013

Softpriest / Charlie Bayley

Just before Christmas, our dear friend Charlie lost his long battle with cancer.
As most of you know, Charlie (known to many as the Softpriest) had been a
massive part of Akoustik Anarkhy right from the early days. He first appeared behind the decks with us at La Bodega (formerly the Cypress Tavern/Granby) in September 2000 before making his live debut as Rupert Thee Transformer at The Star & Garter in August 2001.

His passion for new music and the obscure held no bounds and came to the fore during his iconic DJ sets from behind the Soft Priest Mobile Confessional at The Gardens Hotel and beyond. Charlie constantly surprised & delighted us with his total enthusiasm for new sounds & was the driving force in signing and looking after many of the acts on the aA label.

Later releasing his own fantastically unique music on aA via cuts on the Class aA LP, the Soft Priest 'Done It' EP & his debut LP 'Enjoying Moths', Charlie was planning new releases before his truly sad passing.

We miss him dearly already and our thoughts are with his family. Through this tough time we take hope from all the wonderful memories he gave us. The travels and adventures, the long nights & early mornings, the music and the laughter he gave to us all. He was a true one off, the likes of which we won't see again and he will be with us always.

For those wanting to pay their respects, the funeral will be on Friday 10th January at midday at St Josephs R C Churchmore, Gorton Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK5 6AZ, (Google map here) followed by the burial at 1.45pm at Mill Lane Cemetery, Stockport.

Venue for The Wake after is Heaton Sports Club, Green Lane, Heaton Moor, SK4 2NF

Love & Mercy

aA x

Wednesday 18 December 2013

PLANK! 'APHIDELITY' SINGLE LAUNCH, @ THE EAGLE, SALFORD

PLANK! will be marking the release of their new double aA sided single 'Aphidelity' / 'Babia Majora' this Saturday 21st December (FB event here) at the very fine The Eagle Inn in Salford...

Plank - Aphidelity by PLANK

Plank - Babia Majora by PLANK

Doors will be 8pm, entry is £6 but be warned the live room at the back is very small so it's going to be tight. Advance tickets can be purchased from here. We'd advise getting down early to guarantee entry. It's a great little boozer anyway with a good selection of ales so perfect for to while away a winter afternoon.

Click here for location on Google Maps - it's about 50 yards from Blueprint Studios..

Also we've Melodic Records' latest young prodigy HOWES providing the warm up, his EP was one of our favourite records of the year.. so search that out as well. aA DJs will be playing records throughout the night as well and into the early hours...

Howes - TD-W700 / Leazes by Melodic Records

Talking of records, looks like we'll have a handful of hand numbered white label Plank! 7"s to sell on the night (you can also pre-order it here)... looks like it will be a white Christmas after all then.

Wednesday 13 November 2013

PLANK! - D/L new single 'APHIDELITY' TODAY, vinyl SOON COME

APHIDELITY!

PLANK! have fully taken the plunge into gloriously off-kilter pop instrumentals and limb-seducing oscillations on their BRAND NEW single ‘Aphidelity’. Check it out below.. we dare you to try and not dance to it... awkwardly.

It will be available on 7" and can pre order it here - you'll get the digital version of it right away.

We'll be holding somesort of party to mark the release, more on that soon...

THE TEA STREET BAND - FRIDAY NOV 22ND - GULLIVERS MCR

Facebook event thing here, advance tickets from here.

SEE YOU AT THE FRONT

Sunday 27 October 2013

aA NOV 22ND - THE TEA STREET BAND @ GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER

THE TEA STREET BAND

To say we're a bit excited about the next aA would be something of an understatement - we welcome undoubtedly Liverpool's most boss, THE TEA STREET BAND, to play live at the newly refurbished Gullivers on Oldham Street, Manchester.

They're making their way across the M62 to celebrate the release of their forthcoming single 'Lost For Words' on Baltic Records. This will be a party.

If you've not seen them before, think ecstasy, basslines, 10 minute trance-outs and it going right off. All night. Check out the embeds below for more audio. Their blog is worth a read too.

Tickets for the party are only a fiver and can be picked up from here. Capacity is only 100 so if you wanna get in, get one ASAP. Facebook event thing here too.

aA has previous with most of the band, in their former incarnation as The Maybes?, back when we put them on at the Piccadilly Gardens Hotel. Good times.

We'll confirm the rest of the support as soon as poss. Joining aA resident DJ Lego will be Jeffo from Eighty Six, hopefully knocking out some Quadrant Park classics to get it nicely warmed up.

What else to say? Not much at all. The video has it all.

We'll post more info as we get it.

SUPER HYPED.

NEW SINGLE ON BALTIC RECORDS

TEA STREET LIVE

Monday 30 September 2013

@LpoolPsychFest : LOST FOR WORDS SO HERE'S SOME PICTURES...

So we've made it back from Liverpool Psych Fest & wow, what a weekend...

From pitching up at 6pm Friday until we left 4am Sunday there was just too much good stuff on across the Camp, Furnace & Blade Factory spaces so for now, rather then try to recap every band we saw here's a selection of random photos & video taken at various psyched points....

THE BLADE FACTORY VISUALS

THE FURNACE FOR PSYCHIC ILLS

SONICBOOM HAD AN ART GALLERY THERE...

SCARY HOODS AHEAD OF CLINIC


BEHIND THE DECKS IN THE FURNACE

Massive congrats / props to Tom, Craig, Nicko & everyone else involved in the Festival, was amazing. We loved DJ-ing on Saturday night & even better, checking out about 12 months of bands in just over 2 days. Bring on next year....

BLADE FACTORY PANORAMA

A FEW OF THE RECORDS I PLAYED...

& THAT WAS OUR PSYCH FEST, APART FROM A COUPLE OF HOURS SPENT HERE:

AFTER PARTY LOCATION

Tuesday 24 September 2013

THIS WEEKEND - @LpoolPsychFest 2013, Camp and Furnace, L1 0BY

After all the fun of it's hugely successful 2012 debut, Liverpool Psych Festival returns this weekend for a two day programme of pretty much psych-perfection.

Here's what they say...

"The Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia returns this September for two days of worship. This is the UK's largest celebration of psychedelic sub-culture.

Liverpool Psych Fest celebrates artists operating at the cutting edge of today's global psychedelic renaissance, alongside visual art, film, performance and mind expanding visual delights"

"A 150 microgram hit" The Quietus

Which is pretty bang on.

The line up of live acts is listed below & we're DJ-ing from about 11.30 in the Furnace on Saturday night, just before Peaking Lights - pop by & say hi...if it's ready in time we hope to debut a certain aA act's new material...

For last minute ticket purchases and more info, check out the Psych site here.

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Sam Forrest bits and bobs

Check out Sam Forrest 's website here for a nice little photo montage of his rustic stoodio set up.

Don't forget to join us at aA this Saturday 21 Sept for Sam Forrest,

Songs for Walter & Gasoline Alley all live.

Cheers

Monday 16 September 2013

Sam Forrest, Songs for Walter & Gasoline Alley at aA Saturday 21st September

Join us this Saturday back at The Castle for

Sam Forrest, Songs for Walter & Gasoline Alley.

8pm til late!

Tickets available here

Cheers

Monday 9 September 2013

aA this Friday 13th September at The Castle.....The Spirit Vines, High Hazels, Clang Boom Steam

Akoustik Anarkhy Presents:

The Spirit Vines

High Hazels

Clang Boom Steam

+ Support

& aA DJ’s

The Castle Hotel

8pm til late

Friday 13th September

£3 Advance…..more £££ on the door!

The Spirit Vines

We’re pleased to announce the return of Manchester’s The Spirit Vines with their marvellously urgent Joyce/Rourke esque rhythm section.

https://www.facebook.com/thespiritvines

https://soundcloud.com/thespiritvines

High Hazels

Alongside them come Sheffield’s High Hazels who are about to release their debut single ‘Hearts are breaking’…. already been played this week by Don Letts, Huey Morgan, Whispering Bob Harris, Steve Lamacq & Radcliffe & Maconie on BBC Radio 2 & 6 Music which is quite a pleasant start.

https://www.facebook.com/HighHazels

https://soundcloud.com/high-hazels

Clang Boom Steam

Stolen from Ireland and drowned in the Mersey, CLANG BOOM STEAM emerged from Liverpool’s underbelly in 2012. They are the acerbic, long lost Irish cousins of The Bad Seeds. All McGowan and Cave, Auden and Poe;

https://www.facebook.com/clangboomsteam

https://soundcloud.com/clangboommusic

Very Limited Advance Tickets......... here! More ££££ on the door!

Tuesday 20 August 2013

September aA

Hello folks, aA is back with a double header of September shows at the Castle. Tickets are now on sale for Saturday 21st September here

--------------------------------

Saturday 21st September

Akoustik Anarkhy Presents

Sam Forrest

Songs for Walter

+ Special Guests

& aA DJ's

A very limited number of advanced tickets are available for £3 but it'll be more ££££! on the door so get a bargain quick smart before they all go.

Here's a video of the sensational Sam Forrest's River Bed to get you started.....

Thursday 1 August 2013

@LpoolPsychFest : LINE UP UPDATES & MORE DETAILS

@LpoolPsychFest

We're super excited here at aA Towers to see the line up for this year's Liverpool Psych Fest is just getting better & better...

If you've not got your tickets yet then do so here, quick quick as it's gonna sell out very soon...

See below for the latest updates, breath in....

27th and 28th September 2013 - Camp & Furnace, Liverpool

With the announcement of final line-up additions and the release of single day tickets on Tuesday 30^th July, LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF PSYCHEDELIA announce a limited edition 7” vinyl on their new imprint label PZYK.

The record will feature previously unheard tracks from Lorelle Meets The Obsolete (Sonic Cathedral/Captcha Records) and Maston (Trouble In Mind), as well as tracks from festival headliners Moon Duo (Souterrain Transmissions/Sacred Bones) and Clinic (Domino). PZYK 0001 will be limited to a specific number of copies, and will be given away FREE, exclusively to people who purchase weekend tickets from Bido Lito! (see link below). The records will be allocated on a first come first served basis: once they are gone successful purchasers will be contacted with details of how they can collect their record at the event.

WEEKEND WRISTBANDS + FREE 7” RECORD: CLICK HERE

In addition, Liverpool Psych Fest are delighted to unveil the complete bill of artists for this year’s event, with Heavenly Recordings’ scuzzed-up East End rockers CHARLIE BOYER AND THE VOYEURS, and cinematic diviners of psych LOLA COLT added to the programme. Orlando’s STRANGERS FAMILY BAND will be continuing their proggy tour through the outer reaches of blistering rock by teaming up with Dead Meadow again at Liverpool Psych Fest. Glaswegian psychonauts THE COSMIC DEAD are joined by CAMERA, Berlin’s latest wunderkinds of drone, with the deliciously raw garage rock of TELEGRAM and Manchester’s sonic wanderers BASE VENTURA completing the stunning roster.

Individual day line-ups have also been finalised, with the opening night (Friday 27^th September) featuring MOON DUO, DEAD MEADOW and PSYCHIC ILLS. Running from 5pm – 4am, Friday also sees performances from THE HOLYDRUG COUPLE, NIGHT BEATS, KLAUS JOHANN GROBE and CARLTON MELTON.

The live action on Saturday 28^th September begins at 2pm, with CLINIC, FUZZ, THE BESNARD LAKES, HOOKWORMS, WHITE MANNA and a PEAKING LIGHTS SOUNDSYSTEM keeping things running until 4am. Individual day tickets are available to purchase now, and full breakdowns of the running orders for each day can be found on the accompanying poster, or at www.liverpoolpsychfest.com.

BBC 6 Music’s MARC RILEY will be performing an exclusive DJ set at the festival this year, following on from recent live sessions with Psych Fest artists Hookworms, Telegram and Moon Duo. The award winning DJ has a sharp ear for today’s cutting edge sounds, so expect his set to be nothing short of an education. Founder of the consistently stunning Finders Keepers Records, ANDY VOTEL, will be playing an exclusive "Heavy Global Psych" set especially programmed for the festival.

RICHARD HECTOR-JONES (Never Been Caught, Slut Smalls Records) and BERNIE CONNOR (Bernie Connor’s The Sound Of Music) will be performing an exclusive back-to-back DJ set, while proprietor of the longest running alternative music show on radio, Roger Hill, brings his PURE MUSICAL SENSATIONS playlist to the turntables. SONIC CATHEDRAL will be reprising their role on the 1s and 2s this year, along with TROUBLE IN MIND RECORDS’ DJ PSYCHED ALEX, and Shindig! Magazine’s SI NORFOLK. All of these will be joining existing disc spinners RICHARD NORRIS (The Time And Space Machine, Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve) and Super Furry Animals collaborator PETE FOWLER.

The festival’s DJ selection already includes BAD VIBRATIONS, THE BLACK MARIAH, FAUX DISCX vs GRINGO RECORDS, THE GREAT POP SUPPLEMENT, AKOUSTIK ANARKHY, JOE McKECHNIE and CAFÉ DEL LAR.

This is all in addition to a bill already consisting of -

MOON DUO (USA), CLINIC (UK), FUZZ (USA), DEAD MEADOW (USA), THE BESNARD LAKES (CAN), PEAKING LIGHTS SOUNDSYSTEM (USA), WHITE MANNA (USA), PSYCHIC ILLS (USA), NIGHT BEATS (USA), THE HOLYDRUG COUPLE (Chile), HOOKWORMS (UK) and tonnes more.

The festival features a stage curated by the stunningly consistent TROUBLE IN MIND RECORDS, who will be making the trip across the Atlantic from Chicago bringing a cohort of their artists along for the ride. Liverpool Psych Fest will also host an exclusive hook-up with the gloriously antagonistic MORDANT MUSIC who bring an audiovisual MORDANT MUSIC MiasMa to the festival.

The full programme of visual arts, projections, film and additional kaleidoscopic delights will be announced later this summer, ahead of the festival in September.

For full line-up information and artist details please visit - www.liverpoolpsychfest.com

Here's a mixtape we did for last year's event:

@LPOOLPSYCHFEST MIXTAPE FOR NME by VISUAL SOUND

Sunday 7 July 2013

Not aA but... THE RETURN OF CLUB SUICIDE, July 13th at Islington Mill

Here at aA we remember fondly the Manchester electroclash wars of the early 00's so we were excited to hear about the return of arguably the finest night of the time, Club Suicide.

Full details are below - it's on Saturday 13th July Salford-side at Islington Mill

CLUB SUICIDE

LIVE: AÉREA NEGROT (BPITCH CONTROL) & HIEM (NANG RECORDS)

ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD

Club Suicide is a misguided attempt to map the space between leftfield pop, old punk (funk), new electro and off-kilter techno. You could say 'anything goes', but it doesn't. Not really. Between 2000 and 2004, Suicide ran sporadically and chaotically at a pub in the Arndale (now demolished) and Charlie's. Live turns were crucial to the night and Club Suicide gave Manchester debuts to, among others, Patrick Wolf and M.I.A. The 'DJs' didn't mix (they still can't), but people danced. Honestly.

On Saturday July 13, Club Suicide returns for a one-off continuation. No classics, no nostalgia, no pandering. Instead, we will pick-up where we left off and, for one night, hopefully present a unique collision (car crash?) of musical styles for curious disco dissidents.

Playing live: Aérea Negrot, the 21st century Berlin chanteuse and Venezuelan force of nature, whose Arabxilla on BPitch Control was one of the most distinctive albums of recent years. Aérea's music may be filed as house or techno, she may be a sometime collaborator with Hercules & Love Affair, but this is 4/4 channelled by a woman equal-parts Grace Jones, Maria Callas and Klaus Nomi. Google her, now, and tell us that operatic, electronic eruption isn't one of the strangest, most thrilling noises you've heard, this year. See? You can’t, can you?

Closer to home, we also welcome our friends and yours, Sheffield's mighty Hiem. The Steel City lineage of peculiar, clangy electronic pop remains one of Club Suicide's key inspirations, and with Hiem's debut album, Escape From Division Street, recently re-released by Nang Records, fate was clearly telling us to get Nico and Bozz involved. Expect: facepaint, fleet disko, fat synths and plenty of that trademark surly SoYo wit.

WHY? WHY? WHY ARE WE DOING THIS NOW?

Someone asked us, basically. Bill Campbell is the creator of Islington Mill and a one-time Suicide regular: "For me, the early Club Suicide nights at John Willie Lees reasserted a DIY, John Peel-esque spirit in Manchester, bringing together various generations of misfits, and giving them a new home. The music, post-punk, synth pop and noisy garage rock, sat perfectly alongside the emerging electroclash scene, putting it in context without nostalgia. It reignited a sense of just-do-it in me personally and, in the friends I made there, brought two distinct music and art crowds together in a way that has informed much of what we now do at the Mill. That is, bringing people together to explore what is possible."

Which is a very nice way of Bill saying that he spent a lot of time at Suicide, "drunk" and "dancing". Ultimately - in fact, primarily - that is all there is to it. See you there.

Tuesday 25 June 2013

THIS WEEKEND: PLANK! W/ SONIC BOOM @ Kraak Friday, HILLS excursion Sunday...

DOTS & LOOPS

This Friday at Kraak Gallery, PLANK! are playing at Dots & Loops' birthday extravaganza, alongside a DJ set by the mighty SONIC BOOM. It's £8 on the doors and runs 8pm til 4am....(!)

PLANK! in Halifax

PLANK! road tested a load of new tracks a couple of weeks ago in Halifax & they sounded amazing, catch them now before they lock themselves away recording their second album...

SONIC BOOM

Then on Sunday things take on a much more laid back agenda, at the Fox & Goose in Hebden Bridge...

The Fox & Goose

DANIEL BACHMAN / dbh (LIVE)

FOX & GOOSE , Hebden Bridge

Sunday 30th June

EARLY EVENING SETS

FREE entrance with a hat going around for the musicians

Daniel Bachman is a 22 year old musician born and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He has been playing what he describes as “psychedelic appalachia” since he was a teenager, releasing small run editions of tapes, CDs and LPs for the past three years, with a sound that evolved from drones and banjos to a now guitar centered focus.

Touring off and on since the age of 17, Bachman has managed to cover thorough ground across the US, sharing stages with like minded folk such as fellow Fredericksburg native Jack Rose, for whom he fashioned the artwork for the posthumous release of ‘Luck In The Valley’. His newest effort is the full length LP ‘Seven Pines’ on the Tompkins Square record labal, sprung from a year living and working in the city of Philadelphia. The sound results in a combination of homesick worried blues and the ecstatic buzz of fresh experience and a new life in unknown territory. Familiar and known, but also seeking to access memories from lives past, dead and gone.

Duende & aA DJS from 3.30pm playing psych, folk, country, pop oddities

Manchester based dbh plays lovingly crafted instrumentals, enunciating his passion for popular music with a languid, progressive guitar style and playful experimentation. The approach will appeal particularly to fans of American Primitive (Fahey/Basho/Lang et al) and modern-era, post-Takoma solo guitarists (Steffen Basho-Junghans/William Tyler/James Blackshaw), but the melodies are there for all to enjoy as heard on his recently released 'Time Flies' release.

TestPressing just posted this new mixtape which is all related...

Thursday 20 June 2013

THIS SATURDAY: Beat The Radar, Clang Boom Steam & Plant Food @ The Castle

aA @ The Castle

This Saturday at The Castle sees the long overdue return of our favourite lo-fi indie poppers Beat The Radar, supported by Clang Boom Steam & Plant Food Disco + aA DJs.

You can pick up £3 advance tickets via here & head over to the Facebook page for the latest updates....

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Fancy a Sunday afternoon in the hills...?

The Fox & Goose

DANIEL BACHMAN / dbh (LIVE)

FOX & GOOSE , Hebden Bridge

Sunday 30th June

EARLY EVENING SETS

FREE entrance with a hat going around for the musicians

Daniel Bachman is a 22 year old musician born and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He has been playing what he describes as “psychedelic appalachia” since he was a teenager, releasing small run editions of tapes, CDs and LPs for the past three years, with a sound that evolved from drones and banjos to a now guitar centered focus.

Touring off and on since the age of 17, Bachman has managed to cover thorough ground across the US, sharing stages with like minded folk such as fellow Fredericksburg native Jack Rose, for whom he fashioned the artwork for the posthumous release of ‘Luck In The Valley’. His newest effort is the full length LP ‘Seven Pines’ on the Tompkins Square record labal, sprung from a year living and working in the city of Philadelphia. The sound results in a combination of homesick worried blues and the ecstatic buzz of fresh experience and a new life in unknown territory. Familiar and known, but also seeking to access memories from lives past, dead and gone.

Duende & aA DJS from 3.30pm playing psych, folk, country, pop oddities

Manchester based dbh plays lovingly crafted instrumentals, enunciating his passion for popular music with a languid, progressive guitar style and playful experimentation. The approach will appeal particularly to fans of American Primitive (Fahey/Basho/Lang et al) and modern-era, post-Takoma solo guitarists (Steffen Basho-Junghans/William Tyler/James Blackshaw), but the melodies are there for all to enjoy as heard on his recently released 'Time Flies' release.