Newcastle 02
July 28th

Jah Wobble is a legend. I have seen him once a few years ago in Hartlepool and he was a mesmerizing revelation. It has been Thirty years since he played bass with P.I.L and since then he has used his love for dub reggae to transform anything from avant-garde jazz-rock to English folk songs.

Now he has turned his attention to far eastern style and after the overwhelming success of his 2008 release, Chinese Dub, he has turned his attention to Japan, releasing a ten track album featuring himself alongside Joji Hirota (vocals, taiko drums), Keiko Kitamura (vocals, shamisen, koto), Clive Bell (shakahatchi) and Robin Thompson (hikaritchi, sho, shamisen) as the Nippon Dub Ensemble.

Traditional Japanese music is merged with Dub and the result is a truly exciting and unique fusion. Wobble is an innovator and never one to stagnate; he is constantly evolving and reinventing the template.

Grab the opportunity to witness a stunning collaboration of styles, East meets West in the mind of the brilliant, Jah Wobble.

30hertzrecords.com

Dressed In Wires/Sona Di/Khuda/Flies are spies from Hell
Plugged Inn
Sunderland

Notes magazine presented it's first attempt at a gig with help from Catfood By Seven.The Newcastle noisemaker Dressed in Wires came to Wearside to support a range of post rock outfits. Khuda and Flies are spies from hell, and our very own, Sona Di who played a great set of quiet loud noisy post rock. I did enjoy Flies Are Spies From Hell and Khuda but it wasn’t really my kind of thing and Sunderland is not the most receptive City to non indie noise but the crowd enjoyed the acts. Back to Dressed in Wires, armed with his laptop, the Yorkshire beat terrorist unleashed a maze of hip hop samples, ambient beats and pure synth. The crowd got into his sound even though he was a strange Laptopite in amongst rock outfits. That is why he is so revered; it is that ability to appeal to a wide audience and never compromising his style.

myspace.com/notes_magazine
dressedinwires.co.uk
myspace.com/fliesarespiesfromhell
myspace.com/khudamusic
myspace.com/sonadi

Newcastle University
April 30th

The Oxford based group were the support for another Oxford outfit, namely the fashionable; Foals.They didn’t disappoint the sell out crowd as they blasted into a set of euphoric indie pop. From trumpet players to two drummers, they were switching their sound and moving freely between different gears. They were your archetypal bunch of outsiders, making uplifting pop which is perfectly pitched for a mainstream crossover. I am not saying they are a cynical cash in either on the likes of Vampire Weekend or Wild Beasts, there is much more to them than scene crashers. I will be interested to see where they go from here as I imagine they cause a stir at the festivals and be a big autumn draw.

myspace.com/jonquiluk

Newcastle 02
May 4th 2010

The last time I saw the Sheffield based post rock outfit they were beset by technical hitches, no such problems this time. The band were on top form tonight as they revelled in the shadows and blasted out their tracks. They have gathered quite a following and it is packed to the rafters as we were treated to tracks from their latest album as well their back catalogue. The band now have quite a collection and they have formed their own niche of electro fused post rock which sets them apart from peers. Underneath their tracks there is a dance mentality which creates post rock which you can move to and they do it very well. In other hands, it could go so wrong but they deliver their Blogsphere friendly output and avoiding being a postmodern pastiche.

65daysofstatic.com