Our recommendations for The Great Escape
Anna Calvi
“If you are going to fail, try hard,” we were always told and this short preview of The Great Escape in Brighton lives by that maxim.
Muso’s Guide has listened to demos, live tracks, radio edits, YouTube videos and MySpace streams of over 200 of the acts performing across 30-odd venues in Brighton from Thursday through to the early hours of Sunday, but it’s not enough; there are still nearly 90 that we are fairly clueless about.
But on we soldier: here are a few less well known acts we recommend seeking out by the south coast -
Anna Calvi (Saturday 21.45 @ Revenge)
Calvi is one we’ve been keeping an eye on for a while, especially now Domino have signed them up and had them supporting Arctic Monkeys. The music has been drawing inevitable but fairly accurate PJ Harvey comparisons, more specifically for tracks like ‘Blackout’ which Dev Haynes was championing at – deep breath – light speed in the NME this winter [Ed - CRINGE].
Best Coast (Thursday 21.45 @ Life)
The weather might not reaching summer heights quite yet but it’s already time for the second wave of glo-fi. ‘Something In The Way’ is one of those songs that makes you wonder if another video has started on their MySpace player at the same time, such is its scuzzy charm. Hopefully the sun will come out (not likely at ten at night admittedly) for ‘Sun Was High (So Was I)’.
Dead Wolf Club (Thursday 19.15 @ Volks)
Dead Wolf Club remind us of These New Puritans, which is of course not a bad thing considering their stonking staccato guitar and terse delivery. They do have their heavier moments, like ‘Radar’, as well as the more chiming Byrdsian swirl of songs like ‘Wave’.
Esben and The Witch (‘Sunday’ 00.45 @ Duke of York)
On early-morning Sunday (so really, Saturday night), go and see this local buzz band> It’s a fair trek inland to the venue, and by this stage your feet may be calling for bed, but stick with it as Esben contain shades of Portishead, Björk, Bat For Lashes, Siouxsie and The Banshees, Aphex Twin and swathes of Poe and Brothers Grimm in the lyrics. You might even get to hear their curious take of Kylie’s ‘Confide In Me’ as well as recent single ‘Lucia, at the Precipice’.
Gaggle (Thursday 20.30 @ Concorde 2)
Concorde is a bit of a stroll down along the beach but if you do make it there you are sure to be rewarded by the sound of 22 women dementedly shrieking “I’m a drunk” like banshees on recent Transgressive single ‘I Hear Flies’. Imagine if someone swapped The Polyphonic Spree’s happy pills with booze. They literally scare me, as a man.
Islet (Friday 14.30 @ Freebut)
Despite their reluctance to leave a digital footprint we have already witnessed the barely controlled tornado of Islet’s live show supporting Los Campesinos! this winter. With more instruments lying about the stage than at a surgeon’s theatre, and members swapping places and sharing vocal and drum duties, they come Very Recommended from us.
Let’s Buy Happiness (Thursday 19.45 @ Basement)
We were flagging by the time we got to L in the A-Z Of Bands To Check Out to be honest, but this one really perked us up. When wesaw the familiar influences on the MySpace page (The Shins, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and other NAIR stables), weweren’t expecting much. But then we heard Sarah Hall’s amazing vocal on ‘Works Better on Paper’, sounding a little like Liz Fraser, and the requisite Cocteau Twins backing for it. Magical.
Rich Aucoin (Saturday 22.15 @Above Audio)
Beach Boy comparisons are probably fair game when you have a song called ‘Brian Wilson is A.L.i.V.E.’, and they are spot on as well. This Canadian wizard gave me a grin that hasn’t spread across my mouth since hearing Daft Punk’s ‘Discovery’ and Avalanches’ ‘Since I Left You’. That was in Spring 2001!?!
OTHERS
Although they clash with some of the above and may be a little more packed, you can’t go far wrong with Spectrals, These New Puritans, Wild Beasts, Summer Camp, Egyptian Hip Hop, Bo Ningen, Crocodiles, Chapel Club, Stricken City, Avi Buffalo, The Morning Benders, Alessi’s Ark, Class Actress, Here We Go Magic, The Phenomenal Hand Clap Band, Slow Club, Crystal Fighters and Ray Dar Vees.
See you there!
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