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There is not a huge lot I can offer in reviewing terms regarding Stylusboy's new release of an acoustic version of "Fourteen Days" since I wrote about the original version back in May of last year when it came out as a single, & of course it later appeared on his 'Back in the Day' EP as the song was part of his "Good Neighbours" songwriting project, crafting tracks based on the life stories of  isolated older members of the community.

This one, I hope you'll recall, came from the testimony of RAF veteran John (102 years old at the time of the project) about the fortnight he spent behind enemy lines during the Second World War, having been shot down, until he reached safety & evaded both the Nazis and being the victim of friendly fire by his own side who initially mistook him for a spy.

The whole tone of these songs depends on the story being paramount, so the first version was kept relatively simple. Stripped back even further to be nearer to the sound most of us have experienced hearing it played live, emphasises the emotions & respect for its subject yet further.

You can catch him live (quite probably playing this song) on March 30th at the Tin (with M G Boulter) and if you subscribe (99p for one month) to his Ko-fi page, you can see the full video of his recent (February) CV Folk gig at the Albany Theatre..

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As I've said before, I'm obliged that Duck Thieves provide their own self description for the aid of potential audience members & reviewers: while I like a challenge (and it probably makes for a better review), I'd never have come up with "Indie Panto pop and punk performance art" if left entirely to my own devices.

It's this insouciant individuality which endears them to audiences (they've played Coventry Pride, the Main Stage at the Godiva Festival and supported The Specials at Coventry Cathedral so it's not just a cult niche they occupy) yet beneath the playfulness always lurks more profound concerns. "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down" someone once alleged & perhaps Duck Thieves were listening.

The only thing to perhaps set against their thankfully regular live performances is the rather large gaps between releases: this is their first since lockdown. I enjoyed a discussion on the matter with Justin Wing Chung Hui of the band at the recent Septic and the Tanks album launch: I suggested the issue reflected a high standard of care in composition: he rather more self deprecatingly felt that it was because he was a slow writer.

Their ‘Eyes Up Here' EP (produced by Mason Le Long) which comes out on 6th April 2024 with a launch party at the LTB Showrooms with Project Overload and Creaking Twitch in support is possibly the band at it's most polemical in terms of what they are singing about, yet in classic Duck Thieves delivery mode.

It might even be a concept EP, the theme of which could be summed up as a manifesto of "how to live your life right". Part of that is the sound: which suggests optimism and carpe diem. The other part is the lyrical content which pretty much offers a set of "you don't want to do it like that" illustrations which not only contrasts with the music, offering a powerful duality & tension (I love it when writers do that) but over all creates a dialectic (ditto).

The songs ("I'm Not a Virus", "Eyes Up Here", "Geeks Make Better Lovers", "City of London Love" and "For the Love not the Money") for the most part are unflinching in their assaults on things which at worst outrage them & even at best tend to disappoint them: misogyny, racism, oppression, stereotyping, judgementalism & dumping people all take their turns in the intense glare of the Duck Thieves' spotlight.

Within its beam, you need to be quick witted though: if you want to grasp each song in its entire glory, not allowing yourself to dance like a Duck Thief or anyone else for that matter to the exclusion of comprehension, you do need to focus your ears & brain on the words, regardless of what your feet may be doing.

Despite Justin's modesty, clearly a lot's gone into the words: both the quality of wit & metaphor and the sheer number: you get plenty for your money.

They don't pull punches and possibly people might call this their best work: I certainly would not argue with that.

Album opener "I'm Not a Virus" is the anti-racist one mentioned above and is a response to the prejudice the media stirred up against East Asian people as a result of COVID19. Its direct inspiration is the French #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus campaign in response to newspaper headlines such as "Yellow Peril".

Switching between section of punk fuelled anger & hurt ("Why am I the story? I'm not a fucking virus") and the classic Duck Thieves subversive responses in a party format ("We'll infect you with our sick tunes/We'll infect you with our dance moves/We'll infect with our killer grooves/That's how we'll infect you"), the track is clarity itself.

The title track is cut from similar uncompromising cloth and is built around a litany of misogynistic comments which Michelle has had aimed at her face: and her chest. Consequently the patriarchy gets it with both barrels and its witless, demeaning rhetoric is hurled back in contempt (you'll need to listen to "Eyes Up Here" yourselves for those sections as I don't particularly wish to repeat them) accompanied by statements of intent ("Eyes up here!/Cuz ya time is up/Cuz we had enough/Eyes up here!/Cuz we're now fed up/And we're getting tough/Eyes up here!/Calm down dear/ Let's see more of that rear/ Eyes up here!/We're sick of your shit!/Stop staring at my tits!"). I defy anyone to consider that to be a mixed message. I like the way the band use the vocal resources available to them to deliver the problems in male voices and the responses in female. Musically it's classic punk agit-pop as direct as say Crass and that's not something you hear enough of.

"Geeks Make Better Lovers" brings a more recent musical template to the EP with a grinding rock tune to set a sardonic review of various cliches & stereotypes of how we should present our bodies & behaviours that through amplification via the ever-expanding media become restrictive on our individuality and eventually cause distress when people cannot adhere to them nor acquire the items which signify materialistic "success".

"City of London Love" alters the tone: we've moved from anger to sarcasm & arrive now at sadness: the loss of a lover, though even this bitter-sweet tale is made more astringent by the termination of the relationship being carried out via intermediaries. That's not nice & unfortunately it's apparently a true story of what happened to Justin.

It's the most poetic cut on the EP and the narrative (with colder sections from the third parties contrasting with the idealistic voice of the protagonist) sits on the most gentle, melodic arrangement here. A sort of male version of a Lily Allen (at her least sweariest) track.

Closer "For the Love Not the Money" return us to where we (sort of) started in the Far East and the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests. Duck Thieves connect their own motivation of making their music for love rather than commercial gain with the smears aimed at some of the protesters (Carrie Lam, Nathan Law and Joshua Wong are specifically name checked) that they were being paid to do so. (In fact allocating one verse each to these activists reminds me a little of "Jail Guitar Doors" by The Clash who use a similar structure).

Yet again the sound contrasts with the other tracks: this one is a sombre, electro-orientated arrangement with the voices going down more classical routes: choral & operatic. These help to place the song at the "more in sorrow than anger" end of the EP's spectrum and add profundity to their tour d'horizon of our world today. It's an ambitious piece given what they are trying to do and they pull it off with aplomb: again time well spent in preparation.

The other spectrum within the EP is of polish: the earlier tracks resound with such fury that they come across almost improvised: outpourings of instinctive rage. Things have calmed down sufficiently by the time "For the Love Not the Money" comes around to sound much more considered, though I imagine similar amounts of care and thought went into them all. However this range again provides the EP with excellent diversity and stylistic variety.

Duck Thieves articulate what's in their hearts and minds and do so both unambiguously & with charm. This strong connection with their own truths (and there's quite a range of these even within a five song collection) provides the fire burning within each track: it also frankly makes a reviewer's life easier. All too often I come across what seem to me to simply be exercises in songwriting without any genuine feelings on the writer's part (these don't ever end up in reviews as I can't find anything positive to say about them, however classy the outcome of the exercise might appear). Give me truth & emotional intelligence every time. Like Duck Thieves do with ‘Eyes Up Here'.

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I'm really pleased to be reporting on the latest single from Rheo Uno: "Dead and Done". It seems ages since I last wrote about her: when "Take It Slow" came out: that could be because I seem to have missed a release in the meantime. Not sure how that happened but my apologies to you & to her.

Co-written with Charles Drew again, it's quintessential Rheo Uno. Part of that is the characteristic layered writing. You can dance along to it, oblivious to the meaning of the words & still derive much personal enjoyment, or you can dive a bit deeper into the track & get more of the obvious effort she put into the words. Which I think is more respectful…

As tends to be the case, that content is darker than most dance music seems to be: it concerns to liberation from a toxic relationship: "it's about reaching that point mentally, where that person can't touch you anymore" (let's face it: the title is quite a clue here).

Much as one might applaud the honesty of the words (and the clarity of truth gives the song its emotional lift beyond just a song to dance to), although writing it seems also to have gifted Rheo new power and acted as a form of catharsis, personally I'd rather she'd not had to go through it…. To return to her own words: "I realised I was really coming back into my own as an individual and this is where the song stems from. I'm not resentful, I just don't let that person hold any space in my life any longer. I'm doing Me and whatever you're doing, is none of my business."

I don't think anyone gazing upon Rheo from the outside would take her for anything other than a confident and assertive young woman: however I suppose that "Dead and Done" brings us back to the realisation that externals (especially those curated for the public & social eyes) can tell partial and misleading stories. Anyone can be hurt.

Musically the song is another exercise in imaginative and anti-formulaic writing: one of those songs which is robust enough to also be coming out on 29th of March in an acoustic version (and it's interesting how artists like Rheo, Ivy Ash, Emma McGann or The Rising/The Night Hearts are managing to write well honed dance/pop songs which are not prisoners of genre, format nor arrangement). Personally, I'd actually be perfectly happy just listening to it for aural pleasure (it's that good) but as I said, I feel that she deserves my deeper engagement.

Ad it's not just me either it would seem since it's already Track of the Week on BBC Introducing for Leicester. (It's also worth noting that Jess Iszatt on Radio One likened her to Raye: a career high already for 2024 as far as Rheo in concerned).

One final note: I tend to refer to Rheo's tongue entering her cheek at some point in most of my reviews: she does seem to like to defuse the heaviness which comes into her songs with the use of humour & equally bridge the gap (almost subversively) between her formal "goddess" visual persona and the true humanity she clearly possesses. In this case, I draw your attention to the rather unusual cover art: no it's apparently not a staged shot but "the results of my birthday celebrations in January". Can you think of anyone else with the chutzpah to take that route? It's hard to do so.

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Keeping tabs on the output of Daffod'i'll is frankly one of keeping score of album releases.

Since our last tally, he's put out another seventeen plus a compilations of albums 137 to 144 and of 145 to 151 and a special collection of interviews.

In terms of new releases, he's up to number 152 ("Monday") and although those from numbers 129 to 144 had numbers only, those from 145 to 151 are named "A" to "G".

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It's very exciting to be able to share 'Hot Music Live Presents Volume Twelve' with you: eleven more examples of how diverse & original the music scene of Coventry and Warwickshire is.

The songs this time are:

"Shake" by Izzie Derry,

"Righteous Man" by TwoManTing ,

"Rise Up" by Liam Vincent & The Odd Foxes,

"Amaze" by Keltik Fish

"Here & Now" by J J Bygrave & Brudez

"Second Chances" by Project Overload

"Faces of Death" by Louis B Scheuer ,

"Breathe Juliet" by AfterKnights

"No Summer" by James Knight

"Oudh" by Floating Palace

"Still Fucked Up" by Grail Guard

They can be downloaded for free via this link: https://hotmusiclivepresents.bandcamp.com/album/hot-music-live-presents-volume-twelve

 

When you have enjoyed the music yourself, please do share the album with others to help promote & support the creativity of these innovative, authentic, dedicated & skilled musicians.

 

The album and all previous eleven volumes can be downloaded for free from: https://hotmusiclivepresents.bandcamp.com

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‘The finest Irish male folk singer-storyteller this side of Christy Moore and Paul Brady.' The Weekend Australian 

It's commonly accepted that Dublin-born singer and bouzouki player Daoirí Farrell is one of most important singers to come out of Ireland in recent years. 

A product of Dublin's famous club An Góilin Traditional Singers, since launching his own solo live career at the 2016 Celtic Connections, Daoirí Farrell has gone from strength to strength. On the verge of releasing his fourth solo album in early 2023, he can boast numerous honours from multiple BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards to ALSR Celtic Music accolades. 

He has received endorsements from the likes of Christy Moore (Daoirí has assumed the mantle of Luke [Kelly]'), Mark Radcliffe (‘What a voice') and Dónal Lunny (‘Daoirí is one of the most important traditional singers to emerge in the last decade'),

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Volume 12 (opens in BandCamp)

This collection is the twelfth in a series celebrating the inspiring & diverse talent of Coventry & Warwickshire musicians of yesterday, today & tomorrow.

When you have enjoyed the music yourself, please do share the album with others to help promote & support the creativity of these innovative, authentic, dedicated & skilled musicians.

The previous eleven volumes can all still be downloaded for free from: hotmusiclivepresents.bandcamp.com

You can find out what each artist is up to on their individual websites or by following "Hot Music Live Presents" & “Hot Music Live” magazine on social media:

Many thanks to every single one of the generous & supportive musicians who have contributed their considerable talent to this project. The music scene of Coventry & Warwickshire has so many artists of vision, integrity & sense of community: hopefully this project can give a sense of some of this.

Credits:

Released March 4, 2024

Album compiled by Andy Holdcroft

Executive Producers Paul Englefield & Alan Moores of "Hot Music Live" magazine

Hot Music Live logo designed by Mel Skellon.

Hot Music Live Presents Volume Twelve

© all rights reserved

1. Izzie Derry - "Shake" 03:41 2. TwoManTing - "Righteous Man" 05:04 3. Liam Vincent & the Odd Foxes - "Rise Up" 03:35 4. Keltik Fish - "Amaze" 06:42 5. JJ Bygrave and Brudez - "Here and Now" 03:25 6. Project Overload - "Second Chances" 03:31 7. Louis B Scheuer - "Faces of Death" 05:35 8. AfterKnights - "Breathe Juliet" 02:04 9. James Knight - "No Summer" 02:52 10. Floating Palace - "Oudh" 06:36 11. Grail Guard - "Still Fucked Up" 02:52

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I have to confess that reviewing releases by John Connearn are among the most challenging for me.

It's not through lack of respect for his talent or imagination: quite the reverse in fact. So rarified are his guitar skills that not only is he a highly sought after session player & tutor but they far exceed my technical comprehension let alone vocabulary.

For those of you eager to experience what he can do, all I can really do is direct you towards his new single "Rollin' With It" in the expectation that you probably understand what he is doing better than I do, leaving me standing here in frank, if insufficiently informed admiration. Less of a review and more of a recommendation.

In trying to articulate to me what he's up to in terms I'm capable of processing, John came up with "it's my digital guitary new electronic sounding phase" which makes sense to me, especially when playing said track which is clearly more highly processed through whatever equipment he's got (I'm guessing high end & plenty of it) though his fingers (thankfully as far as I'm concerned) are still in the game of making melodic lines, even if they tend to be challenging to follow let alone predict. Which is intended as praise.

That's probably as far as I dare go without saying something which will get guitarists laughing, so over to you to "make of it what you will",  which is precisely how John left It with me.

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By now, I think many of us think we have a handle on the shape of an Eyes of Isabel release: Tony Ally conceives it, then he takes it to John Rivers and his team at Woodbine  Street Studio who help realise it & then film maker Andy McGeechan creates a visual story which captures the narrative & generally adds extra layers.

However I'm sure all of these creative people would be adverse to working to a formula and so with their latest, "Black Mamba", there are a couple of substantial new elements. Musically, they welcomed guitarist Ian Black (whom you'll know from Man Made Moon) into the studio to add his skills to the single.

In terms of the video (which can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNO9iW1KQsg), they've been even more radical as the story in it is entirely different to that in the song as written by Tony.

That tale concerned a true life case of a woman marrying for money & then poisoning her husbands to collect on the deal: Tony transposed it from the US to Mayfair and then it was transposed again into a tale of espionage wherein a female agent (played by Eyes of Isabel video regular Tracey Skarzynska) is sent to liquidate her colleague (Tony) who plans to sell stolen high tech.

They seem to have had a lot of fun filming (mainly in London with plenty of well know sites & sights as backdrops plus some in Coventry) and the result (edited by Adam O'Neill) obviously tips its hat to British spy films and probably was logistically and dramatically easier to have shot than the original story, though it's possible to say that not only did the theme of femme fatale remain, but so did that of human greed which was Tony's starting point.

Musically, although bringing in a guest musician normally involves giving them some sort of showcase, Ian fits in with what Tony plus Woodbine's John & Ollie play in a team effort, adding new textures & details to the band's sound.

I suppose one might comment that due to the fact that the songs are always presented solely in the context of Andy's striking visuals and high dramas & inevitably, that's what draws one's attention: to the detriment, to some degree of the actual song. Possibly bringing in guest players is their attempt to rebalance this, though as stated, the story still predominates in this instance: which as it is clearly the defining characteristic of the Eyes of Isabel, is probably fine by Tony & his collaborators.

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Out today is the much anticipated new EP from Green Hands, whose title is (as hopefully you were already aware) ‘Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime' and it arrives via Leamington's Stingo Collective as always.

Following last year's ‘Another Life or Two' EP, the newest one features the previously released & reviewed singles "Laughing Now" and "Been Around" plus the hitherto unheard (unless you have caught them live) "The Glaze" and "Garden at Noon".

You can see why those tracks were selected for their roles: having already told you about the singles, I'll leave you to revisit the reviews to refresh your memories, but as far as the two "new" ones are concerned, they are subtle, for the aficionados rather than with the hook laden immediacy which might ensure that a song is plucked out as a single.

And what a contrast too. By now, despite only a limited number of releases, Green Hands have demonstrated an impressive range, both emotionally and musically and "The Glaze" and "Garden at Noon" offer yet more additions to their continuum.

The latter is another instant earworm, working its way into your mind via seductive, lush melodicism. The term "evocative" might have been coined wit this song in mind.

The band are currently touring (they've played Brighton & London over the past couple of nights) & I'd be interested in audience reaction to this song in particular: to me it has the potential to be that song which represents the emotional zenith in a set: when lighters used to be waved around but still the moment when everyone there feels at their most communal. I look forwards to finding out if that's true or not. I'd also be totally unsurprised if it ends up on myriad playlists (I've added it to both my own one on Spotify and our "Hot Music Live Presents" one).

"The Glaze" on the other hand is much starker (though gentle in tone) to begin with, before evolving into a most agreeable groove (which helps it transition into the following "Laughing Now" particularly well). It's also the most lyrically elusive of the quartet (though in truth all Green Hands songs possess hidden elements which need your exploration to begin to understand) and so actually ended up being played more times than "Garden at Noon" before writing this: not that I feel particularly confident in trying to describe what it's about even now. Jack certainly gives the impression of profound sincerity however and that in itself draws one into the track.

Generally, ‘Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime' is a fine showcase for the values & attributes of Green Hands: there's that range for starters plus the excellent musicianship which supports & presents songwriting of the highest calibre. In assembling the band, Jack has brought together subtle players who serve the song & in the absence of annoying flashy playing, you only notice just how good & impeccably tasteful they are when you turn your attention to what they are doing. Most listeners will probably say "what great songs" and that's fine: it's what the band are aiming for, but a review can help shine lights upon elements which help make them so & which do not seek the spotlight.

Ever since first hearing them, I've been a big advocate of the band & I've recommended them to all sorts of people: I hope you too will give them a listen. The modesty you hear on record to some extent defines them & certainly their self promotion which veers towards the subtle & discreet rather than the brash or forceful. However the word is spreading and it would seem that they have a following in other parts of the country now. On artistic grounds, Green Hands have every reason to merit much more success and hopefully will make big strides in 2024. Sadly we all know that quality is no guarantee of career advancement, but hopefully growth of their audience will continue to open the doors they deserve to have opened for them & both you & I can play a part in that.

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As you'll know from various earlier reviews, both of Street Arts Project releases & their associated launch gigs, I thoroughly support this marvellous initiative which supports street sleepers, homeless and vulnerable people in Stratford upon Avon.

However I'd always wanted to sit in on one of the project workshops at Stratford Playhouse in which their music is composed & developed and I'm so grateful to the group for letting me do so a couple of times this month (on 1st & 15th February).

Some of the songs are essentially conceived by individual group members & then brought to the workshops to share & develop communally. Others are totally group written with everyone pitching ideas in.

As you know, quite a few professional musicians facilitate the group (most of whom we have featured in the magazine doing their day jobs) such as Jack Blackman, Wes Finch, Katherine Abbott, Jono Wright, Geoff Carr (from Generation Jones) and Nigel Clark (of Dodgy fame): though not all could be there for the sessions which I attended. However I was intrigued as to their role: with their vastly greater experience than the other group members, did the latter feel inhibited? Did the songs tend to go the way the professionals shaped them?

Naturally, knowing them, the experienced musicians would not wish such a dynamic to evolve, but it is hard to see how it might not unless handled with insight & sensitivity. Over the two sessions I witnessed, it certainly did not due to those attributes being central to what was going on. Even more so, I was taken with the overall ethos: this was totally democratic and I've never seen such mutual respect in a group situation: I wish I'd managed to encourage it in some of the classes I have taught. Everyone listened to each other without any interruption whatsoever. (It is illuminating that project co-founder Doug Armstrong told me that key aspects of the environment they fostered included "respect , honesty and we never judge. We are all equal in that room"). In addition, group members encouraged & drew each other out & praised each other's contributions.

The role of the facilitators was largely that of amanuensis: Wes in particular acted as scribe to free people to come up with ideas. Their contribution was described to me as "putting pieces of a jigsaw together" and I can agree that's what I saw. They also tended to keep the tune going while the ideas were coming in: this allowed members of the group to fit lyrical ideas into the music easily and to join in on their own instruments when they felt confident they knew the structure. (I'd also add that while I was there, Geoff was providing one to one instrumental tuition too).

What wasn't particularly expected was the speed at which songs came together: seeing as I'd only ever experienced them finished, I had no idea how long they had taken to refine: I rather assumed quite a long time. However on both of my visits, songs came together jaw droppingly fast: and I'm talking good quality ones on a par with those on the released albums. Obviously full arrangements & totally completed lyrics weren't there yet, but the essence was.

Generally the group focuses on matters personal to themselves & their lives in their writing: the process clearly helps them articulate themselves (though as I've commented on in the album reviews, the tone is always optimistic despite the very considerable challenges they have faced & continue to face in their lives: so it's hard not to see this process as offering them forms of esteem raising & empowerment). So on my first visit, I heard a song which may end up being titled "In the Future" coming together and this week one ("It's All Going On") documented their own writing sessions. Other subjects which you may get to hear on album number four include "Lifestyle Choices", "New Horizons" and "You in My Bed (Happiness is a Hot Water Bottle)": the latter of which only contains the words "hot water bottle" in the title: it's not in the lyrics, so listeners will need to figure that one out. The songs you see may touch on the simpler joys of life but are not necessarily simplistic in their composition. I also got to hear group member Craig's solo song "Falling" which the group worked on. Members variously added guitar, harmonica and ukulele to the arrangement as they felt appropriate.

Though I was aware of the workshops as an activity & the three albums to date, I hadn't fully grasped the complete range of what the Street Arts Project have done: they've now held over a hundred separate workshop sessions but there have also been eight concerts plus two plays and poetry days too.

In fact we are coming up to the fifth birthday of the project (which I hadn't realised) so what a great chance to wish them a happy birthday. Once this current round of workshops & subsequent recordings is complete, the resultant tracks will again be released on Spotify & Bandcamp and there will be another concert.

I'm obliged to project founders Doug Armstrong & Jackie Lines for filling me in on some of the facts I didn't know. Like an iceberg, much of their work is not fully visible: which of course is why I was keen to explore the process as well as the outcomes, but there are also aspects around supporting the wellbeing of group members including provision of sleeping bags, clothing etc which must necessarily remain more discreet in its delivery & publicity.

Equally my little episodes at peeping behind the curtain to see how the songs come together cannot compete with the insights of those who are part of the group & so I am appreciative of some of them for sharing their testimony here:

Craig Giles "It's a life saver really for some of us. If gives people a bit of a focus to do on a Thursday and through the music and learning to play it brings you together as a community. People have made friendships here and you can't fault it"

Wes Finch: "The Street Arts Project creates a regular, relaxed and welcoming space for people to connect and be musically creative. We provide songwriting workshops and guitar lessons and then encourage people to record the songs we make together and then perform at our concerts. We have a lot of fun and a great sense of camaraderie and achievement from it."

Katherine Abbott: "The thing I love about Street Arts is that everybody feels entirely equal and on a level as soon as we sit down in that room. It's a space where everybody can express themselves freely without fear of being judged. We laugh a lot together.

Jack Blackman: "The Street Arts Project is a truly wonderful thing to be part of. To be able to meet once a week and be creative with the participants is a joy and a privilege. It's so special and lifelong friendships have blossomed. Big love and appreciation must go to Doug Armstrong whose enthusiasm and support keeps the Street Arts Project rolling and long may it roll!"

Jono Wright: "I have been involved with Street Arts for about 2 years. It is such a wonderful project that brings together extraordinary people to do amazing things. Doug and Jackie have created such a wonderful environment and I love being part of it."

Though I haven't a date yet for the next Street Arts Project concert, there is one significant date for your diaries. Several of the facilitating musicians have banded together as WLDFLWRS and are playing at Stratford United Reformed Church on 30th March (matinee & evening performances) in aid of the project. The theme is the Martin Scorsese/The Band movie/gig "The Last Waltz" and so they and some of their friends will be looking to emulate the setlist of that concert.

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Reviewing a band's live performance when you saw them only a fortnight earlier presents its problems of finding what new to say, but given the special nature of the event, the launch gig for Septic and the Tanks' debut album, it would have not been possible to do otherwise: so I'll do my best.

First of all, credit to Joe Colombi whose Sink or Swim Promotions put on the night & Just Dropped In Records for hosting it. The venue was packed to capacity but it wasn't just the numbers which attracted my attention but the sense of community & love shown to the bands. A delightful environment to be within and one which reflects so highly on the values of the promoter, artists & their audiences. This is how it should be at all gigs.

I knew very little about first support band Hedcheese except that Septic and the Tanks really rate them and I believe that they are based in Leamington. As they don't appear to have released any music yet, I've neither been able to review them or even get far beyond Septic and the Tanks describing them as "post punk": which turned out to be wholly accurate now that I've heard them.

Supple at times, angular at others and with a deep vein of funk into which they tapped regularly, one could hear echoes of Talking Heads, Gang of Four or Wire in some songs and the drumming had that virtue of combining the tight with the unexpected (in fact it was a grand night for connoisseurs of punk drumming with three superb & totally different players). Like the other two bands, the wit & humour was important but should not distract from the playing skills which provide the platform. I look forwards to reviewing a Hedcheese release: and if they've not planned one, then I urge them to consider it.

We've reviewed Stegosaurus Sex Party before in terms of releases (and their "Snazzy Mollusc" was featured on ‘Hot Music Live Presents Volume Ten') but this is our first live one. It was worth waiting for: they are a most exciting phenomenon, a band who hurl themselves totally into what they do. Credit to Septic and the Tanks and Joe for offering them the slot as they seem to find offers locally a bit sparse: given the surge in great, idiosyncratic original music currently, I'm surprised at that & hopefully more gigs in the area will happen.

You really do get to experience songs differently live & pick up on new aspects: for example the interplay between the three musicians in terms of vocals is pretty impossible to appreciate just listening to the tracks: you have to see them live: and it's as tight as their playing. One's attention bounces from player to player like trying to follow a triangular tennis match.

They offer good value for money too: I can't state authoritatively whether they played their entire repertoire (and in a support sized slot to boot) but they must have come very close. Sex Party songs last as long as they need to in order to say what the band have to tell us: and not a moment longer. "Wanking to Natural Disasters", one of the set highlights, lays into passive consumers of other people's misery deriving vicarious kicks in a minute and three quarters and that's all they needed.

Headliners Septic and the Tanks go from triumph to triumph. In the hours before the gig, they had carried out an interview for a US based podcast (Tankmania is going international) and when the audience arrived, not only were they greeted with their first sight of the hard copies of the album, but a merch table of a whole range of associated artefacts as beautifully designed as the parent record. (Check out their website for details).

In comparison with my previous gig of theirs, by promotion from a festival slot to their own show enabled the inclusion of songs they had had to omit before: a highlight for me being the delightfully surreal (or "ridiculous" the band say) "Sky Snakes" which granted Robin the opportunity to express their inner shaman.

As readers of my (now many) articles on this uplifting band (I do hope their example can encourage others to express themselves as freely and not have any fear of being able to do so due to relative lack of experience) have shown, their ambitions have moved steadily forward with each step of the road. I think proving to themselves that they could do it was the start and then playing others and latterly recording their songs for posterity. Continuing further never seemed something they originally dared express, but as the success indicators grow  both in terms of the feedback and audience size and spread increases, talking to various members of the band, exciting possibilities are under consideration (this is not a band to embrace complacency: the road lies ever before them) including new recordings but also other things which it's probably a little too early yet to share: please do watch this space.

Above all I saw a band enjoying themselves playing together and as one with everyone there: what more could you ask for as a musician aside from cold commercial considerations? I rejoice for them in the journey they have ben on & remain on.

This may be a band now selling out quantitively but never ethically: the word is spreading fast and if you haven't experienced them yet then don't let chances pass you by.

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