Live Review: Nakisha Esnard - The Finsbury 19/12/13

Charismatic, quick witted, versatile and in possession of a stunning, octave-spanning set of pipes, Nakisha Esnard was the gifted ringmistress of an oddly ramshackle show at a pre-festivities Finsbury. Fronting a pared-down reggaeish quartet and resplendent in checked shirt and bow tie, Nakisha thrummed at her mandolin while her super-soulful singing stretched the limits of her backers’ lazy skank palette, her prodigious energy initially too big for her band, even when her vocal meanderings focused on such prosaic subject matter as guzzling vino prior to the gig. Early doors, it all had the feel of a jam session, the Luton chanteuse even improvising a cheeky proposal to sack her group as another tune ran its apparently formless course. But perhaps this unorthodox, unstructured delivery was the better to showcase Nakisha’s hyperactive showmanship, her on-the-spot witticisms and off-the-cuff interactivity that drew the crowd to her. And, almost indescernibly, the band’s sparse dubisms began to assume an infectious, natural feel, no longer at odds with the singer’s expansive talents but offering a loose canvas to display her offbeat brushstrokes on original material that fused poppy r’n’b with all things roots. To further stir the melting pot, she finished with a ukelele-driven ska version of ‘Spice Up Your Life' sung in full operatic mode, which, as unlikely as it sounds, was hugely enjoyable. From the enormity of her voice right down to the personalised messages scrawled on the back of each of her flyers, Nakisha Esnard displayed effortless self-assurance as a musician and entertainer – a slick package given a twist tonight by its casual presentation.

Follow @Nickjmee on Twitter

Watch: The Moth & The Flame – Sorry

Revolving around a tasty instrumental refrain in which a hypnotic bassline welds itself to a pounding soul beat, ‘Sorry’, the lead track of California trio The Moth & the Flame’s new EP (simply titled ‘&’), is a sparkling composition of melodramatic indie-rock. “Sorry, For Everything I’ve Done” laments Brandon Robbins’ falsetto vocal over a strident alt-ballad, delivered in triple time and artfully produced to shine a light on the players’ every flourish, drawing out each searing keyboard effect and cymbal crash to max the song’s dynamics. This sleek production, courtesy of Joey Waronker, is evident throughout the six-track release, but, rather like that moth becoming too familiar with the flame, the collection flares brightly before losing its lustre, fading into melancholy MOR by closing number ‘How We Woke Up’ (a recent support tour with Imagine Dragons is perhaps an indicator of the band’s less-progressive tendencies). But let’s embrace the positive, and ‘Sorry’ — as lean a stadia-oriented-indie single as you’ll have heard this year — doesn't deserve to be ignored. Check it, along with a curious desert-based last-man-on-Earth scenario, via the promo below.

Sorry is out on Hidden Records now

Follow @Nickjmee on Twitter

Download: Bad Life Records Xmas Giveaway

Bad Life Records are being extra nice and have decided to giveaway loads of tracks! In their own words below

Featuring Petite Noir, Fé, D/R/U/G/S, Qtier, Astro Zu, Arnaud Rebotini and Attaque - Click for the download

"3 years in, and we've still clearly not quite got this record label lark. As to celebrate our 3rd Birthday this week, we've decided to give all our favourite releases of 2013 away completely for free. Featuring music from Petite Noir, Fé, Astro Zu, Qtier, D/R/U/G/S, Blatta & Inesha, Arnaud Rebotini, Mason and Symmetry, it's a chronicle of our best, most eclectic year yet.

Moreover, to show that our love for our dance floor roots is as strong as ever, our new bright hopes of techno Raving George, Symmetry and Henzel and Disco Nova have served up three killer mixtapes to fill those transitional hours until 2014.

Love to everyone who bought a track, went to a show, wrote a blog, danced at a party or felt something when our records played"

Listen: Plank – Aphidelity

Plank – Aphidelity

If John Carpenter had commissioned A Certain Ratio to perform his score to an early Eighties sci-fi flick, the result may have sounded something like Plank’s instrumental new single, ‘Aphidelity’ - all oscillating loops, clumping bass, casually paced four-to-the-floor disco beats and astral synth runs. The Manchester band’s joyous outpouring of loosely funky futurism, taken from their upcoming second album, is wilfully cinematic, so clamp on those headphones, close your eyes and cast yourself as the lead battling intergalactic ne’er-do-wells in the Big Apple or saving humankind on the streets of San Francisco. You’ll be sporting wide collars, aviators and platforms as you do so, mind, but I guess that has a certain hipster cachet…

Aphidelity is out on Akoustik Anarkhy Recordings now

Follow @Nickjmee on Twitter

Watch: Minnie Birch - Glitter

Minnie Birch has been wooing audiences all over London over the past few years and finally here is the debut video called Glitter. It's a Mellon Collie but deeply beautiful...

The song will also be available soon as a free download.

Watch: Jack Cheshire - Into The Void + Free Tickets for Feb 27th @ The Finsbury

Jack Cheshire comtinues his onward march to greatness with his new video 'Into the void'. The track is the 2nd single to be taken from his acclaimed album ‘Long Mind Hotel’

You can bag youself a free ticket for Jack Cheshire at the Finsbury on Feb 27th Support comes from the stunning Buzzard Lope and Geffin Brothers. Tickets are going very fast so be extra quick! Click for tickets

Live Review: Loom + Haus + Eighteen Nightmares at the Lux Live 29/11/13 The Finsbury

A band have to be pretty sure of their sonic prowess to face their audience with permascowls and hostility, but Loom have more swagger than a gathering of Gallagher brothers and certainly don’t lack for electrifying tautness and brute force. Blasting out angry grunge-punk of the weightiest order, their breezeblock miserablism is powered by a pounding rhythm section, two vigorous guitarists and a compelling frontman, Tarik Badwan, who, when not channeling a blend of Peter Murphy and Kurt Cobain, stands glowering and provocative. Who to provoke tonight, though, among the Finsbury’s typically diverse crowd, seemed to throw the band a little. Badwan’s forward surges were dramatic, but once at crowd-level it seemed there was nothing for it but to clamber back on stage. His coiled aggression was a fascinating watch, though, and the rest of the band offered a committed visual backdrop. Loom’s volcanically stroppy stance can’t detract from the fact that they are a band whose driving hardcore incorporates catchy refrain after catchy riff; a five-piece who, at their best nail the kind of pop-aware punk at which Nirvana excelled. ‘I Get A Taste’ was thrillingly spartan rock’n’roll, like a supersize Velvet Underground, while closing number and current single ‘Lice’ was another piledriver, Badwan repeatedly bawling “Get Out of My Head” before falling prostrate and exhausted on stage as the feedback faded around him. Heavyweight knockout indeed.

The evening had commenced with another eye-catching and uncompromising act, although Eighteen Nightmares at the Lux were on more of a psychobilly tip, playing fuzzy rock’n’roll with bombastic gothic vocals. The drummer and bowler-hatted bassist were done out in Joker-style make-up (the latter’s psycho-scarecrow look genuinely creepy), giving further indications of their schlocky horror bent. Their skittery rhythm and blues was reminiscent of The Cramps, sharing a slack and skeletal sound, although this nocturnal vaudeville act took a different turn during penultimate number ‘Master John’, when some glistening slide guitar came on like The Gun Club may have if they’d gone emo, giving Eighteen Nightmares their most distinctive song of the night.

In-between this heavy, heavy monster pairing were Haus, a youthful post-millennium-indie outfit, all polite melodies, spry dialect, contrapuntal chops, rimshots and tom rolls. Three guitarists seemed a touch OTT, given the marginal disparities in each one’s playing, but this is a style that relies on such subtle distinctions and, anyway, the six members look as much a set of mates as a band (presumably they’ll be ribbing the bassist about his 1980s denim jacket, collar-popped) and that’s enough reason to cement the line-up in itself. Theirs is an increasingly overcrowded genre, however, one in which Foals are probably as surprised as anyone to be the defining act, and, to rise above the herd, Haus may need to produce more of the heightened dynamics of their final two tunes, ‘Token’( I think) and ‘February’, which were quicker, bouncier and less regimented than those preceding. The band seemed to be more relaxed and fluid during these closing tracks and the crowd, which was at its most densely populated when these boys were on stage, responded in suitably animated fashion.

Follow @Nickjmee on Twitter

Photos & Film by Chris Musicborn @musicborn @lostinthemanor

Review: Turtle - Who Knows EP

Fast gaining a reputation as a rising electronic star, Turtle, aka Jon Cooper, has released his debut EP, 'Who Knows', and it’s an expertly executed medley. Drawing comparisons to the likes of Radiohead and contemporaries Jon Hopkins and SOHN, Turtle has forged his own minimalist, layered landscape here. The title track encompasses stunning synths and a slow beat that builds through a piano crescendo, and is addictive listening. The accompanying video, produced by Simone Smith, captures the dreamy trip-hop nature of the track, with a series of disparate flashing images that gradually connect, creating a haunting nostalgia mimicking Cooper's lyrics. The rest of the EP continues in the same vein, with ‘Compartmentalisation’s more uplifting guitar glitches, and some breathy, manipulated vocals and driving, heavy bass on ‘Opposite of Low’. It’s the first release from new label Beatnik Creative, and these guys are on to something pretty special. And just in time for Christmas, the EP is available on limited edition 12" white vinyl. Festive.

Follow @f_shaf on Twitter