Slomo / Faded Starlets

@ The Deep End

This is how gigs should be – support band comes on, warms the crowd up nicely then the headline band march on and the blow the place open. Even better when the headline band are from within a mile of the venue and turn out to be one of the city’s best kept secrets.

Faded Starlets are an odd mix of glam and straight forward rock – the singer looks like he’s auditioning for Muse and the keyboard player’s legs must get draughty since so much of them are visible. Slow to start (anyone hear the singer for the first few songs?) they find their feet and impress a decent size crowd with songs that get us thinking of less oblique earlyish Pulp. Worth seeing again.

Clearly, determinedly, loudly notches above the run of the mill Slomo quickly demonstrate their slick and sleekly powerful sound. There’s lights! There’s dry ice! There’s Dave Gledhill who knows how to write songs! And sing them! Backed by a great band with the best female backing harmonies Sandman’s heard for a long time!

Apparently Dave’s one of those home studio wizards who’s been buried away recording stuff, biding his time until everything’s ready to show the world. Touring with Soft Cell has honed this lot into something quite formidable. Reference points were clicking away, Alabama 3, Stereo MCs, Morcheeba – not all bands Sandman has a particular fondness for but the pop dynamics were so much stronger, ‘Accidental Joe’, ‘Love, Hate, Devotion’ are just great lyric-led songs drenched in powerful beats and styles marinated in clubland but blessed with great hooks, and ‘The Crocodile and The Goldfish – the encore – was just great. Boom! Indeed.

Look, we love the shambles that are often pub gigs but just every now and then it’s great to get one where it’s so damn perfect. Hands in the air for both the band and Mr. Sievwright for getting the best sound we’ve ever heard in the Deep End.

Jack Tractor

pic: Tracy Welch

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Other Music

@ The Point

19th February. The overwhelmingly bizarre circumstances of my key breaking off in the front door of my house will tell you two things – firstly, how damn cold it’s been in Sheffield recently, and secondly, that I managed to miss the first set of the evening by the headliners but I managed to catch George Haslam & Paul Hession’s performance. It was a set grounded in the lyrical lines of classic jazz standards but veering off in to the righteous clatter of free improv. Hession is undisputed as one of the UK’s greatest free jazz drummers yet there was the slightest hint of discomfort between his trademark superfast patter and Haslam’s fantastically fluid playing. Swapping effortlessly between baritone and alto, there was a great ease and underlying structure to Haslam’s sax which Hession at times struggled to match, though all was saved by a deft bit of cymbal scraping at the end to bring things back nicely.

Eddie Prévost is another legendary figure in British improv, going back to the 60s as a founding member of AMM, the uncompromising free noise ensemble with which he still performs today. Here, he was playing with some much younger colleagues for he is heavily involved with workshops bringing the jazz ‘to the kids’. OK, that’s overstating it a bit, but he seemed somewhat out of place with his younger cohorts, who look more impressed to be playing a gig than anything else. Their reverence for their mentor and the situation somewhat stalls the flow of what could be far more powerful in more experienced hands. Prevost held things together well with his trademark drone n’ scrape, and it’s always a pleasure to see such highly revered improvisers at local events. Other Music do this sort of thing about once a month and have been ‘bringing New Sounds to Sheffield’ for 19 years. So get with the new thing.

Chrome Smith

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Other Music

@ The Point

7th March. Disappointing. Although the headline band were all very talented, their music didn’t inspire me and somehow missed the sparkle of a really good gig, probably because the main aim of the band seemed to be to make the most unpleasant noise possible.

The music was all improvised, which left the band free to experiment with tone and dynamics. Tim Hodgkinson, the slide guitarist, used a violin bow on different parts of the instrument to change its timbre. Most of the sounds he made were harsh – hitting and scraping like a beginner on a violin. In some of the quieter bits he played harmonics, which were more pleasant to listen to. Thomas Lehn played different samples using a mixing desk, and so couldn’t create as many different timbres. Roger Turner (the drummer) was the best of the three, though. Most drummers use more than just a standard kit for free improv, but Turner had more extra bits than he had drums! The temptation when faced with so many options is to forget about playing in the conventional way, but Turner managed to throw in a few beats.

Between the two main sets was a sopranino sax solo by Martin Archer, which included improvisations around tunes he had written. Although he seemed a bit nervous and uncomfortable, Archer still had stage presence. It seemed like he knew what he wanted to do, but had problems carrying it off. Overall, Archer’s music was the opposite of the main band’s – pretty good but let down by technicalities.

Harriet Commander

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David Holmes and the Free Association

@ The Tuesday Club

DJ and producer David Holmes has been doing his thing for a long time now. His solo work on earlier albums like 'Bow Down to the Exit Sign' and 'Come Get It, I got It' as well as his soundtracks to the films Out of Sight and Ocean's 11 combined obscure yet accessible funk and soul of the 60s and 70s with his own killer productions. However, it is since he has put together his own 'Free Association', more of a collective than a band really, releasing the album of the same name he has really been able to impose his creativity. So it was with great anticipation that myself and a few hundred like-minded individuals went to the Tuesday Club. The atmosphere was electric and I have to say that Holmes has picked his men well. With himself on sampling duty on the decks, a sexy female vocalist and an insane male one, the band kicked ass. All carried off with huge amounts of style and energy by the two front (wo)men the 'Association' started off with 'Free Ass-O-C-8'. Things really began to blow up with powerful hip-hoppy number 'Don't Rhyme No More', moving through the soulful 'Whistlin' Down the Wind' but the night really climaxed in the club with the awesome 'Everybody Knows'. It was at this point that I thought I was gonna die from a combination of too much alcohol, over excitement and the fact that everyone else in there had had too much to drink and were over excited and therefore were crushing me to death. However, as I'm sure you've guessed, I made it and this near death experience has made come out the other side inspired to preach the gospel of the, as it would appear these days, nearly always life changing Tuesday Club. Now get your asses down there.

Dominic Stanley

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Pepe Bradock

@ Scuba

This eagerly anticipated date in Scuba's I sub-aqua calendar saw one of France's mostly highly acclaimed and secretive pro-ducers visit Sheffield for the first time. Monsieur Bradock is primarily known in deep house circles for his emotionally charged fiery "Deep Burnt", that set the world alight in 1999. His more recent output has been a slew of weirdly wonderful off kilter dancefloor grooves and abrasive bass monsters. Less well known as a DJ, this night let him prove his worth. Pepe exhibited his skills on the hallowed Scuba decks, instilling the same passion and raw fervour as he manages with his own musical output. His two-hour dancefloor journey encompassed a variety of styles and flavours; from glorious touching jazzually leaning House, to fierce atmospheric techified stormers, gorgeous impassioned vocal outings and experimental key addled grooves. Pepe didn't follow a tried and tested route through the tracks, but instead changed mood and style precisely when it suited him, adding to the impact of his set. The clued up open-minded crowd responded favourably to his selection, apart from the most challenging avant garde moments, which brought bemused looks all around. Choice cuts included Underground Resistance's instructive charged "Transition" and Chris Lum & Jay J's spine-tingling smitten re-rub of soulstress Jill Scott's "He Loves Me". Toko distribution main man Alec Greenough had the job of warming up, and he accomplished it admirably. He dropped jazz flavoured percussive builders and a variety of feel good vocal numbers including Deluxe Pusher's utopian desiring honey toned "Next Lifetime" to get the floor moving.

Jon Freer

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Coalition

@ The Casbah

Vivaldi should be resurrected," says Matt, flicking through the latest copy of some well-thumbed drum and bass magazine. Yeah...maybe it would work. For one night only, Thursday nights at the Casbah could bring "Vivaldi-digitally re-mastered." With the help of some clever mixing and a decent MC over the top...the place would boom. The frilly-coated men in the sky would raise their metronomes in a mark of respect and appreciation, witnessing the birth of a new music revolution at Coalition. Somehow it's difficult to imagine the crowd bigging-up the Four Seasons and judging by the queue on the door every week, somehow I don't think Matt, Darragh and Tristan will need to take any advice in the near future. Since starting up March 2001, the guys have bought legends such as Randal, Shy FX, Ray Keith, MC Det, MC Fearless and Grooverider to the Casbah. Why didn't anyone inject some drum and bass into the proceedings sooner? "We like the Casbah because it's dark and dirty downstairs and light upstairs. It creates a nice atmosphere, quite intimate' says 22-year-old Darragh. 'When Sushi stopped the drum and bass scene kind of dried up in Sheffield, so we wanted to start something up." "Putting a night on keeps us out of the pub I guess. It keeps us busy, we love what we do and we get to meet our favourite DJs of courses says Matt sheepishly, sipping his pint. A mutual appreciation of beer and Bad Company bought Mott and Tristan together, after meeting randomly in a bar while travelling round Australia a few years back. Even stranger, Matt and Tristan found themselves together at Sheffield Uni, where Matt introduced Tristan to his childhood friend, Darragh.

"In December 2000 we had a one off night in Brighton where Tristan's from. We thought, yeah, let's bring it to Sheffield." said Darragh. Originally called Turbulence, the name had to be dropped because by mistake they'd nabbed it from another drum and bass night. All was not lost though. After thorough brainstorming and the aid of a dictionary, Coalition was born instead. Two years later, the dictionary now eats ,dust and the night has now become one of the biggest drum and bass knees-up in the city, an achievement considering all three are juggling a degree at the same time. "We've noticed we've got regulars coming from Leeds, Manchester and Nottingham, so we think that's pretty cool" says Darragh, aware that two years on, the night has gained quite a following. Amongst the biggies, such as Mambi Swift who's making the trip from London to play on May 15th, regular DJ competitions are held to promote local talent. The boys also hint that they've got some-thing special lined up for June but they're not giving always any clues. "We're not really sure yet but whatever it is, it's going to be big." "Sweating our arses off", the trio work on average five hours a day and put in £20 of petrol in the car so they can flyer around Sheffield every week. Donations gratefully received, they admit they don't make much money from their weekly shenanigans. "We want to do this while we're young, we might not get much chance to later." Somehow, it's difficult to imagine the guys donning a suit and working 9 to 5 in the next few years...they're having too much dirty fun for now anyway. 

Laura Noble

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