The Basement Bar, 1 Wellington Street, Leicester
Thursday 29th March. 8:30pm, prompt start!
£6/£5(concs)
FULBORN TEVERSHAM are the mindblowing new group
of Seb Rochford, the extraordinarily in-demand and prolific drummer/composer, leader
of Mercury Music prize nominees Polar Bear, and winner of BBC Jazz award for Rising
Star 2004.
Fulborn Teversham pursue a more eclectic, and
less overtly jazz direction than Polar Bear, or indeed Rochford’s other acclaimed
group, Acoustic Ladyland, incorporating elements of electronica, Bablicon/Henry Cow-style
prog and post punk. With clever balancing of cosmic and acoustic sounds, Seb
Rochford (drums), Nick Ramm (Nord synthesizer), Pete Wareham (saxophones), and
Alice Grant (vocals), set up an intimate and thrilling improvisational post-punk post-jazz
chamber music for the future.
"Alan Freeman used to play the most extraordinary music on
BBC radio in the late 70's, once mixing the Slits with Henry Cow and classic rock cuts. He might
have gone big on Fulborn Teversham, as they sound like a cross between these groups in places.
Count Herbert II is fascinating and vital collection" [The Wire]
"Since his Mercury Music Prize nomination with Polar Bear in 2005,
drummer and composer Seb Rochford has dragged jazz in ever-more diverse, inclusive directions. With
his new band, Fulborn Teversham, Rochford sneaks like a cat burglar through generations and genres,
stealing and fusing influences along the way. Versatile vocalist Alice Grant is spear-like and edgy
one minute — "Off Song" sees her reveal, "There's just one thing that I would like to say / It
starts with 'F' and ends in 'Off'" — then sensuous the next, as she entwines with the Pete Wareham's
saxophone riffs on glowing laissez-faire masterpiece "Even If". Observing the pop-like discipline
of length, "Beach Tune" screams a dishevelled anthem for hair-shaking late-night crazy cats,
while the title track pit-fights mellow organ and grinding bass breaks. A punky debut of virtuoso
performances, inspired by a madly engaging imagination"
Although Pete Warham's F-IRE affiliated jazz/grindcore
oufit, Acoustic Ladyland, have got all the media attention, they're a seeminly
contrived outfit next to the genuinely playful, unself-conscious prog-skonk of Fulborn Teversham.
Their new album, 'Count Herbert II' is a collection of unquanifiable pices which mix
jazz's joyous experimentation with alt-rock's love of noisescapes and the tangential
noodling of prog. Countless rock bands have been trying to pull off this same trick - of constructing
melody from cut-up disonace - for as long as Tom Wairs and Sonic Youth have been cool, but
Fulborn actually have the chops to make it work" [Eddy Lawrence, Time Out]
Fulborn Teversham's debut album, 'Count Herbert II'
is available now from Pickled Egg. Click here
to purchase online.
PIT ER PAT is Rob Doran (bass,
vocals), Fay Davis-Jeffers (keyboards, vocals) and Butchy Fuego (drums,
vocals). Originally calling themselves Blackbirds, the group began as a backing
band for a singer/songwriter. After playing a handful of small shows in
Chicago, the guitarist/singer abruptly decided to move to New York, leaving
the threesome to quickly write a set for a show that was already booked. There was something striking about the dynamic of the sound made by this three-piece, something unusually compelling about the rhythm section. Without the singer/guitarist, this sound allowed the space to be heard. They wrote a handful of instrumental, rhythm-heavy songs, later adding vocals, and thus, Pit er Pat was formed. The name was chosen after seeing the words "pit er pat" written in a painting by the Chicago artist, Jim Nutt (responsible for the infamous Hairy Who movement).
Their debut recording was the Emergency EP, released on the Thrill Jockey off-shoot label, Overcoat in the winter of 2004, followed by a 12” on Born and Raised on Sugar Disks. Their first full-length album, ‘Shakey’, has just been released on the cult Chicago label, Thrill Jockey (Tortoise, David Byrne, Mouse on Mars, Tom Verlaine), produced by Griffin Rodriguez (Bablicon, Need New Body, Icy Demons). Plan B magazine described Pit er Pat’s music as “punk prog”, and compared them to early Soft Machine, Slapp Happy and Faust. One might also throw a measure of The Raincoats and Blonde Redhead into the mix.
The group have toured extensively, especially in their native US, with the likes of Tortoise and Need New Body. On stage, Pit er Pat are a compelling presence - a constant propelling of rhythm and melody steeped in innumerable influences and emotions. Like the Hairy Who movement the band so admires, Pit er Pat might be described as an expressive work of fantastic adventure -- compelling, arousing and mysterious.
All three band members are heavily involved in the arts, which in turn heavily influences Pit er Pat as a band. Rob runs a design company for printed materials, clothes, album packaging and textiles. His work has shown in Tokyo, San Francisco, Berlin, New York and Chicago, among many other places. Fay makes drawings, clothing, sound for cartoons, films and pictures. Butchy has a self-titled solo album on Pickled Egg, and has played on albums by Bablicon and Need New New Body. He also makes audio documentaries, sound design for cartoons, music for film and theatre, various home recordings, sculptures, and installations. This diversity in interests is essential in shaping Pit er Pat's music.
The music of Leeds-based QUACK QUACK isn’t easy to categorize. Take a shared spirit of
improvisation and a healthy disregard for well trodden musical paths, and you’re moving
in the right direction. Like the great rhythm sections of James Brown, Africa 70, Can
and Led Zeppelin, Quack Quack operate right next to your heartbeat and your footsteps.
They understand the importance of rhythm and use it to get the good chemicals flowing.
This is music for dancing and smiling. This three piece instrumental group was formed
in Spring 2005 by drummer Neil Turpin (Bilge Pump, Polaris, and sometime HiM),
keyboardist Richard Morrisand bassist Stuart Bannister.
DRAGON OR
EMPEROR are the awesome two-piece
lightning-bolt drum & bass assault of Aaron Moore (Volcano the Bear, Songs
of Norway) on drums/vocals, and Stewart Brackley (Black Carrot, Songs of
Norway) on bass guitar/vocals. Somewhat akin to a geeky Lightning Bolt in
charity shop suits loosening up and playing jazz-metal, with additional manic
Pere Ubu-style vocalisations, Moore beats absolute hell out of his drumkit,
whilst Brackley embarks on daring fretless excursions to the absolute edges of
what constitutes a rhythm. An enormous
sound that marries their intense mixture of fun and chaos. Moore and Brackley have been friends for
over 20 years, and have previously played together (along with fellow Volcano
the Bear member, Nick Mott) in the improv jazz trio, Songs of Norway (Beta
Lactum Ring Records). However, it was
when Moore heard Brackley sing for the first time - with Black Carrot – that he knew the right thing to do.......
form a band with him, and explore his new found voice. With Aaron currently relocated
to New York, due to some little matter of marriage, percussion duties are ably
deputized by Euan Rogers. The debut self-titled
Dragon or Emperor album is available now from Pickled Egg.
"DoE are a bass and drums punk/jazz/metal powerhouse, with a spontaneous feel
that frequently threatens to spill over into hysteria. This is partly down to
Brackley’s monstrous distended fuzz bass riffs, but has more to do with his
wild evocation of what it might sound like if Yamataka Eye found himself trapped
inside the body of David Thomas" [The Wire]
"A
deluge of drum and bass chaos coming on like the bastard son of Pere
Ubu, Lightning Bolt and (for some reason) Family, Dragon or Emperor turn everything
up to eleven, fire up the distortion
pedal and get down to some serious sonic destruction, the electricity literally
crackling in the air" [The Ptolemaic Terrascope]
Make Pickled Egg some extra cash by following the Egg credit card link