Manifesto #13 Feb 10 by manifestosunderland

February '10

13 FREE t

hatcham social

PLUS Major Major Blanc Studios Top Fives CD & gig reviews

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Contents. FEBRUARY ‘10 ISSUE 13

05 07

EDITOR Philip Jarvis DESIGN Callum Brand ‘Big Gulp Graphic Design’ biggulpdesign@gmail.com

5- Give me the Horn 6- Top Tracks & Maifesto Quiz 9- This month... 10- Major Major 11- Hatcham Social 12- Blanc Studios 13- Cd Reviews

WORDS Nina Cowey, Rhiannon Harker, Kelly Horn, Philip Jarvis, Dan Smithson, Chris J Allen, Lyn Bassett, Laura Johnson PHOTOGRAPHY Nicholas Gray, Ian West, Jazzy Lemon, Amy Brammalll

Manifesto Magazine 29 Stockton Rd Sunderland SR2 7AQ Tel: 0870 922 0336 E-mail: manifestomagazine@ymail.com www.myspace.com/magmanifesto Facebook - ‘Manifesto Sunderland‘

15- Live Review 17- Top Fives 18- Mikhail Bakunin reviews Bud Biglows and Cafe Blue Cobra

MaNiFestO

Give Me the Horn! The St. Valentine’s Day Word Massacre Armed with my ladle-esque spoon utensil and compensatory Ben and Jerry’s vat of Cookie Dough goodness, I settle down to an exclusive showing of Amelie, ready and willing to have my faith restored in romance. Yes, St. Valentine’s Day has reared its mocking head again to make all singletons feel like spinsters, destined to advertise their abode to rent for the feline species. So is it a twenty-four hour stint with the sole purpose of making happily single individuals mourn their Facebook relationship status? Perhaps not… I’ve never been a fan of this Valentine’s malark, romantically attached or not. Declarations of love and fidelity displayed on trite greetings cards the size of a front door have always made me retch. Walking around shopping centres in the lead-up to mid-February is painful for all as your eyes are inundated with I LOVE YOU’s and BE MINE’s radiating from un-anatomically correct heart-shapes embraced by cutesy doe-eyed teddy bears that you’d like to hunt, shoot, stuff and mount the heads on your living room wall. Ah, how very bitter, I hear you mutter. Quite the contrary, I will retort. Even if the Milk Tray bloke launched himself through my bedroom window, armed with his trademark confectionary and a bunch of blooms on said day, I’d kindly tell him to get stuffed. The gift of flowers on any occasion merely dumbfounds me. Yes, they smell nice and look…flowery but what am I supposed to do with them? Sniff them? View them? And then they drop to pieces and rot- what a fantastic present! The key to my swinging-brick heart is a good book, not an extravagantly wrapped collection of grass and sickly sweet mounds of chocolate. But even if Mr. Tray mended his ways by producing a first edition Fitzgerald novel from his trouser pocket, I’d still remain nonplussed. A day that forces couples to purchase a gift and card as proof of their feelings is a day that should be boycotted. If such acts lacking the thrill of spontaneous sentiment are classed as ‘romance’, please count me out. One thing I will grudgingly admit; there’s nothing like receiving anonymous secret admirer correspondence in the post to bring a coy smile to your face. Even if it has a docile ‘Be Mine’ bear on the front. And even if you know it’s from your mam. MaNiFestO

Chased by Wolves - On The Fall Of The First Leaves In November We absolutely love this song by former Widows frontman Richard Smith. The lyrics sound like they were written by a young Bob Dylan, the vocals and guitar are exquisite. www.myspace.com/followthewoods Miscellaneous Adolescent - Welcome To The Circus Super-funked-up maths rock, that’s what Miscellaneous Adolescent play (don’t let the name fool you). This is sound like George Clinton at his weirdest, standing on the verge of getting it on with Battles. www.myspace.com/onemiscellaneousadolescent

The Vaudeville Class - Pretty Flowers This is stripped down ‘n’ dirty bluesy rock ‘n’ roll, with nice soulful vocals from Laura Lee Stephenson. It recalls the Von Bondies, the Rogers Sisters or the more edgy side of The White Stripes. www.myspace.com/thevaudevilleclass Calasis - Jar Jar Bree This is some scary shit, man. Straight from the bowels of hell, Calasis play terrifyingly loud and aggressive death metal. It’s full of heavy bass grooves to make you get up and bang your head. Tasty. www.myspace.com/calasis

MaNiFestO Quiz. Send the correct answers to all five questions to manifestomagazine@ymail. com for your chance to win a year’s sucsription of Manifesto posted straight to your door. 1. Which legendary rock n roll band played at the opening of Snderland AFC’s Satium of Light in July 1997? 2. Complete the line up of this highly influential New York band: Reed, Cale, Tucker, ________. 3. Which prominent Sunderland band’s previous incarnations include Electronic Eye Machine and The New Tellers? 4. Which Mercury Music and Brit Award nominated English dance/indie band’s lead singer is Ed Macfarlane? 5. At the beginning of 1994 NME touted the new wave of what - with Elastica, These Animal Men and SMASH at its forefront - as the next massive scene in the music world?

MaNiFestO

This month I’ll be.... LISTENING TO... I am currently listening to Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago. It’s pretty much a perfect album, created in a log cabin in Wisconsin after Justin Vernon (singer and songwriter) came out of a long relationship and retreated to his father’s cabin and didn’t leave untill the album was created. Perfect listening in the winter weather. The sound is raw, minimal acoustic guitar and haunting vocals. Also i am of course listening to Chased By wolves.

Richard Smith Chased By Wolves

WATCHING... I just recently bought the Scorsese directed film, No Direction Home. The film follows the life of the one and only Bob Dylan, through his early years of discovering New York, his folk sage and his protest songs, all the way through to going electric and pretty much creating rock and roll. The film is a great insight into the life and mind of Dylan and i would reccommend it to any fan. READING... For about the fourth time now i am reading Jack Kerouac’s classic, On The Road. The book follows the adventures of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriaty, on their quest to discover what life is really about via America’s highways, back roads, hotel rooms, apartments and any place there is anyone with any interest. Dean with his love of life, women, alcohol and life in the fast lane and Sal with his deeper search, trying to unravel all of the secrets that the road truley keeps. This is an inspiring book and one of my great true loves. GOING TO... I plan on traveling this summer and also playing a few more gigs with my band Chased By Wolves. Where theres a road theres a way.

LISTENING TO... Currently listening to loads of music from the triumphant return of Field Music with their new double album, the Bristol based Portisheads spin off trio called Beak> and I have just discovered the dystopian synth pop of John Foxx.On my ipod at the moment could shuffle from HEALTH to Annie to The Horrors. WATCHING... I am hooked on watching classic Doctor Who after the end of David Tennant’s era/ I’ve also enjoyed viewing the latest show from the Cramlington born comic Ross Noble. I also like to dabble in the uncool Big Brother and old episodes of the Larry David penned Curb your enthusiasm.

Ian Todd Local Stand Up Comedian

READING... I am not much of a reader but I have been reading the latest Vic Reeves Book, he has always been my idol, I once met him at the Glass Centre, he was very miserable but he is still a comedy legend. Oh and I have been re-reading all the Karl Pilkington books, he is unintentionally a comedy genius. GOING TO... I plan to go to Edinburgh for my birthday and maybe back down to London to explore the Docklands again, I am obsessed with futuristic architecture. Also I plan to see a few bands play live, including Hot Chip and Blood Red Shoes. MaNiFestO

MAJOR MAJOR Major Major are a four piece band from Liverpool. Winners of Rockstar ‘08 they became the first band confirmed for Glastonbury ’09. Since then they have played with Scouting for Girls at the Pilton Party and supported Ting Ting’s and Franz Ferdinand. Invited to record at Real World Studios, their subsequent CD received much critical acclaim from local radio stations and resulted in some great slots at UK festivals in 2009. Playing the Opening Event of the Capital of Culture in 2008 in front of 5000 people they became the first band to play the Liverpool Echo Arena, cementing their place in Liverpool history. They have had regular radio play as part of BBC Introducing on Radio Merseyside and have gathered a committed following all over the UK from extensive touring. With a stunning concoction of influences from all corners of music, Major Major will have you captivated with their original pop sound! Comparisons have been made to Talking Heads, Dr Feelgood, Franz Ferdinand and Ozomatli. Major Major make an impact anywhere they play so watch as one of the country’s most exciting young bands tear up the stage in front of you…then offer to pay for any damages.

You can catch Major Major playing Dirt Disco, upstairs in Pure on Saturday February 13th. Doors 7.30pm / £2 entry

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hatcham social Winning over Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess and former Creation Records honcho Alan McGee, Hatcham Social made a fairly successful early bid for pop stardom. Formed in London in 2006 by David Javu and brothers Tobias and (soon to be ex-Klaxons drummer) Finnigan Kidd, the trio gelled pretty quickly, and soon after released a single, “Dance as If...,” on Waks Records. Before 2006 was out, the band had a second single (released on yet another indie, PopGrooves), called “How Soon Was Then?,” in the shops. With some local momentum carrying it, the band was making appearances at McGee’s Death Disco, and caught the attention of Tim Burgess, who agreed to produce single number three for Hatcham Social, the double A-sided “’Til the Dawn”/”Penelope (Under My Hat).” With this winning streak of singles in the bag, the band was beginning to win over that very fickle of audiences, the British music press, scoring CD com-

pilation appearances and a fair amount of column inches devoted to rhapsodic waxing with regard to the group’s sound. 2009 saw the band embark on a frenzy of activity, playing prominent slots at the Pandamonium and Artrocker new year events, appearing at the end of Push and the launch of Sidewalk, supporting The Walkmen and The Maccabees. In March 2009 they released their long awaited debut album ‘You Dig The Tunnel, I’ll Hide The Soil’ which was Album Of The Month in Artrocker, got 8/10 in NME and received a critique-busting 10/10 from Vice magazine. People quite liked it. This month they embark on a nationwide tour, stopping off in Sunderland along the way. Hatcham Social play Dirt Disco @ The Milk Club (upstairs in Pure) on February 27th. Doors 7.30pm // £3 entry. Support comes from Pontiffs and The Castells.

MaNiFestO

Blanc Studios

ATTENTION BANDS: Need to record your lovingly-crafted songs? Want to do it with people that really care about your music? Then look no further than Blank Studios: a group of three self-professed “sound geeks” – John, Sam and Chris. Having previously run their production company nomadically for some years, flitting between various acoustic hot spots and studios in the North of England, they’ve since settled and you can now find these sound enthusiasts plying their trade in their own studio – Blank Studios – at the top of Stepney Bank in the Ouseburn Valley of Newcastle – an area synonymous with creative venture. The acquisition and conversion of this once ice-cream factory stands testament to their relationship with sound engineering and production, and the studio is the first official home for Blank, representing the affections and ideals for acoustic spaces that they’ve picked up along their journey. “The studio itself provides a very individual – and adaptable - sonic environment,” Says John “with brick, various woods, cork and plaster all sharing acoustic duties in the live room – to get everything sounding nice; lot’s of character. We all favour the more open, ‘played’ vibe with our production. We want to hear the band in the space, and a lot of bands really like this.” To date they’ve worked with a plethora of great local acts including 12

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The Pilots, Moleck, O’ Messy Life and Sunday School Adventure Club to name a few. This is alongside a few national acts, most notably Manchester’s doom collective Khünnt and Ninja Tunes’ Spokes and King Cannibal. It is the rapport with the acts that Blank find most important. “At Blank we’d rather think that the musicians’ choice is founded upon an appreciation for work they’ve heard from us,” says Sam. “That’s what we want people to to come to Blank Studios for, to work with us, not our equipment. That said, I think we all get a bit overexcited by a nice rack of vintage tangibles.” So now you know, and there’s no excuse for your great band not having a great recording.

www.BlankStudios.com myspace.com/BlankStudiosMusic

CD reviews. The Castells - 5 Track Demo Durham three piece The Castells have produced some tidy work with this their first demo. It really is a beaut, full of classic English riffs lifted straight from the Rolling Stones, the Clash and other past masters, but with a thoroughly modern and unique twist. Frontman and lead guitarist Sam Reynolds’s idiosyncratic mumble lends their sound a rock n roll vibe - he sounds like a distorted, acid-dipped Elvis. Romance is edgy, melancholic and finally uplifting. Infatuation is dirty and aggressive, with a beefy bassline and massive, anthemic chorus. The other tracks, We’ll Be Alright, Paris St. Germain and Cloud Lovers all have a vibrancy and spark about them, making The Castells definitely ones to watch.

Chased By Wolves - EP1 Chased By Wolves is the new project from former Widows singer Richard Smith. Taking inspiration from such diverse and subtle influences as New York punk pit the Chelsea Hotel, Beat novelist Jack Kerouac and teen angst monolith Sylvia Plath, Smith has crafted a set of songs that would stand up to the work of any singer/songwriter currently plying their trade across the world today; I’m not exaggerating, it really is that good. The stand out track is On The Fall Of The First Leaves In November, a Dylanesque tale of death and love, switchblades and ghosts of girls. With nods to Johnny Cash and Ryan Adams, the first Chased By Wolves EP follows the classic lineage of tortured troubadours and is a must-have acquisition for any fan of the genre.

Rainfalldown - The Mexico EP Vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboard, mandolin, bass guitar, drums Rainfalldown, that’s how they roll. Sounds a bit too much, doesn’t it? It’s not though - each sound is channelled perfectly, enveloping Martin Trollope’s sublime songs and lifting them into the cosmos. Mexico is a happy little jaunt with a killer chorus and a nagging mandolin groove that makes you wanna listen to the track on repeat. Maybe veers into the realms of Maximo Park with its driving rhythm, addictive melody and regional vocals. The South Shields band are lashing out this EP for free at every gig they play. What a huge reason to go and see them NOW! MaNiFestO

MaNiFestO

Live Review. Black Eye Friday @ Independent It’s been facking snowing for facking twenty-four facking hours solid. No let up. None whatsoever. As a result, tonight’s gig attendance figures are pathetic. Conforming to cliché, white powdery stuff has messed up a night of musical performance. Doh. As if that’s not enough, the soundman’s going out of his way to make himself the most hated man in the postcode by cutting band after band off mid-set. Where’s the Christmas spirit I ask you? Oh well at least the DJ’s shit hot and Ben’s put on a free bar for the bands and Manifesto staff. First up are a beret-and stripey-jumper-clad Senor Beatnik, playing messed up instrumental rock. They’re OK but you sense that, had they had a bit of a crowd watching them, they’d be playing with a lot more energy and vigour. Next up Rainfalldown playing their lovely freak-folk. Footprints in the Snow is the highlight of the night. Well done for writing their own Christmas song, no lazy Slade cover from them. From here on in it all gets a bit hazy, in no small part due to the complimentary Sambucca. It’s quite possible that Static From Stereo went on next, I remember enjoying their set and that they were hastily cut off before they could perform their rendition of White Christmas. If I recall correctly, Pontiffs played next. Then Sunday Best…Then Sonner…. Then Black Cab Casino. A blizzard, a blur, a blowout, a bonanza of bollocks. Senor Beatnik

Static from Stereo

MaNiFestO

ToP Fives.

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Mark’s Top 5 Cliffs

Alex’s Top 5 Fashion Faux Pas

Kris’s Top 5 Scowls

1. Cliff Richard 2. Cliff Thorburn 3. The White Cliffs of Dover 4. North Cliff, Roker 5. Claxheugh Rock

1. Double Denim 2. Axl Rose Bandanna 3. Too Tight Speedos 4. Stone Island Poncho 5. Y Fronts by Pretty Green

1. Angry Scowl 2. Mildly Irritated Scowl 3. Scowl of Indifference 4. Baffled Scowl 5. Sexy Scowl

Kaye’s Top 5 Mythical Creatures

Alan’s Top 5 Brothers

Matt’s Top 5 Animals

1. The Chuckle Brothers 2. The Blues Brothers 3. The Brothers Grimm 4. Brothers in Arms 5. The Smothers Brothers

1. Vampire Bat 2. Siamese Cat 3. Electric Eel 4. Elephant Seal 5. Crawling King Snake

1. Pegasus 2. Dragon 3. Griffin 4. Unicorn 5. Dave The Rave

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This months guest philo

sopher

Mreikvihail Bakunin

ews Bud Bigalows and Cafe Blue Cobra

Where there is authority, there is no freedom. I have held true to this throughout my whole revolutionary life and I was not about to change on my visit to Bud Bigalow’s, Sunderland. The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. It was now eight in the evening and I had polished off the bottles of brandy and gin I had brought with me (to the sober person adventurous conduct often seems like insanity) so had to join the ‘locals’ in the bar next to my hotel. ‘’A pint of gin please.’’ ‘’We don’t sell gin in pints mate, you can have a house treble and a mixer for 2 quid’’. ‘’It’s no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society my man, now pour me a pint of gin’’. ‘’We don’t do pints of gin mate, I’ve just told you’’. ‘’Listen here you imbecile, I can have what I want I tell you. You don’t have a peaceful revolution. You don’t have a turn-the-other-cheek revolution. There’s no such thing as a nonviolent revolution. Revolution is bloody. Revolution is hostile. Revolution knows no compromise. Revolution overturns and destroys everything that gets in its way.’’ ‘’Ya what mate?’’ ‘’The guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea’’. “Look mate, fuck off out of here will ya’’ Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road, I thought. Every normal man must be tempted at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. I grabbed this fool by the collar but as soon as I had I was accosted by a large man who took me by the shoulder, and with no word of warning nor explanation placed me on the street without deigning me a single glance. Most people are not really free, I thought, they are confined by the niche in the world that they

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carve out for themselves. They limit themselves to fewer possibilities by the narrowness of their vision, with this truth laying heavy on my mind, I stepped out into the streets of Sunderland. I passed a restaurant where one man was expelled for drunkenness. I should have been disgusted but felt some sort of envy of the expelled individual. Let me but pick a quarrel and they will expel me too! To such a pitch can alcohol and youthful idealism eat into a man’s soul. “What’s this?” I ask when my meal was served. “Its curry”, said one guest ,”It used to be used in India to kill the taste of old meat’’ parped another. It’s always amazed me that money confuses itself with intelligence. ‘’If that’s all it kills, I’m surprised’’, I rasped,”no decent human being could stomach this filth’’. ‘’We stomach it, are we not decent human beings?’’ said another. ‘’You know best about that’’ I said. ‘If you take my advice, you’ll hang the chef’’. ‘’You rude man’’ piped another. ‘’Rude to struggle for mans soul? To believe in a world where there are no limits on a man’s freedom?’’ ‘’OK then, you’re an idiot too’’ said another to much merriment. If only this had been a real literary quarrel, I had been treated like a fly by these nincompoops! With this, I left, furious but with my anarchic principles intact. As I walked along the street, a lady pulled down my trousers from behind me whilst her friends burst into laughter. If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist it’s another nonconformist who doesn’t conform to the prevailing standards of nonconformity. The hotel beckoned, an evening of reflection and I was grateful to these people of Sunderland, who, by very much doing nothing had allowed me an insight into the crudity of my own beliefs. The truth alone has never set anyone free. It is only DOUBT which will bring about mental emancipation. Without the wonderful element of doubt, the doorway through which truth passes would be tightly shut, impervious to the strenuous poundings of a thousand conceited anarchists. Bakunin rating 8/10.

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