midwich live! the radio free midwich 5th birthday shindig! saturday 29th november 2014! wharf chambers, leeds!

October 26, 2014 at 9:06 pm | Posted in blog info, live music, midwich, new music, no audience underground | Leave a comment
Tags: ashtray navigations, astral social club, daniel thomas, dave thomas, drone, electronica, forgets, hagman, human combustion engine, joe murray, john clyde-evans, kroyd, mel o'dubhslaine, midwich, mitch, neil campbell, new music, no audience underground, noise, phil todd, scott mckeating, shameless self-congratulation, trowser carrier, uk muzzlers, wharf chambers

Announcing an unmissable event to note on every diary and calendar in the house – in fact, best write it in blood and tear out the surrounding days just to be sure…

In summary: that Mitch (of RFM faves forgets) asked if I would grace a gig he was organising with a rare midwich performance and, as he caught me in a gregarious mood, I agreed.  This will be a new set of specially prepared material, possibly with an intro by noise-offshoot-project TJ Cuckoo if I (literally) get my act together.  It will also be the only midwich show of 2014.

Musing on the date and the RFM-friendly line-up I realised it was within a few days (well, three weeks) of the fifth anniversary of the birth of this blog.  I joked to Mitch that I could hijack his efforts and use the show as an unofficial birthday party.  Mitch, a canny promoter, sensed that the connection could draw a few extra punters, cheerfully hijacked my hijacking and changed the name of the show accordingly.  Who doesn’t love a shindig, eh?  Here’s the details ripped from Mitch’s Facebook listing:

Starring!

UK MUZZLERS

UK Muzzlers is Neil Campbell (Vibracathedral Orchestra/Astral Social Club/A Band) and John Clyde-Evans aka Tirath Singh Nirmala (Hood/Ovid Corpse). Bass & drums, all buried beneath a glorious sound collage

http://astralsocialclub.wordpress.com/

http://astralsocialclub.bandcamp.com/

MIDWICH

Rob Hayler’s long running noise/drone project based in Leeds. All-enveloping, heart-swelling, fuzz-tone ego- dissolution with spiky interludes.

https://radiofreemidwich.wordpress.com/

http://midwich.bandcamp.com/

HUMAN COMBUSTION ENGINE

Krautrocky synth loveliness from Ashtray Navigations’ Mel & Phil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9LPPMSK9ug

HAGMAN

The Leeds-based pairing of Daniel Thomas and David Thomas (no relation) who have been aptly described by Rob Hayler as “scene-leaders in crescendo management and deep, heavy electronics”.

http://hagman.bandcamp.com/

FORGETS

Spoken word tales and improvised guitar from Kroyd & Mitch

“I find Kroyd’s storytelling to be hypnotizing. The dourness and despairing humour of his observations are perfectly relayed by the rhythm of his delivery and underscored by Mitch’s post-apocalyptic (well, that’s how it feels in some parts of Leeds on a rainy weekday afternoon) chang.”
Rob Hayler

https://radiofreemidwich.wordpress.com/tag/forgets/

http://forgets.bandcamp.com/

TROWSER CARRIER

Trowser Carrier exist to bring politeness to the harsh noise scene

http://trowsercarrier.bandcamp.com/

£5 OTD

“Wharf Chambers is a members’ club and you need to be a member, or guest of a member, in order to attend. To join, please visit wharfchambers.org.Membership costs £1 and requires a minimum of 48 hours to take effect.”

Cool, eh?  And I’m unapologetic about what some might see as immodest self-congratulation.  Radio Free Midwich has had 80,000 views during its lifetime, there have been over 400 posts (more than one a week despite becoming a father and long periods of illness during its existence) totalling well over 300,000 words.  It has been the catalyst for resurrecting midwich as both a live and recorded concern, for the occasional waking of fencing flatworm recordings and for making freely available not only my own back catalogue but that of the oTo tape project (50 releases!) too.

Then there is the ‘scene’.  The music that I write about and the people who make it are constant sources of joy and inspiration.  That my phrase ‘no-audience underground‘ seems to have struck a chord – and gone world-wide since my belated arrival on Twitter – never ceases to amuse.  Many collaborations and creative endeavours have been inspired by the goings on here, not least eye for detail the recent 27 track compilation of midwich remixes which has raised over £100 for The Red Cross so far.  You are all so beautiful.

First by myself then, in the last year and a half, aided by my tireless comrades Joe Murray and Scott McKeating, a metric fuck-ton of musical brilliance has been informatively documented in what I hope is an entertaining manner.  This is all worth celebrating and to do so with an oddball noise show at Wharf Chambers could not be more appropriate.  I’ve no idea to what extent it will be a ‘party’ – perhaps I’ll buy a balloon.

See y’all there.

Event page on that Facebook