Exciting news this Saturday morning... Neverlnd, the newly renamed Balloon Ascents, have just released a new track entitled Where Do I Start, which you can listen to below. The talented bunch of school friends from Oxford will be releasing a free track each month through a mailing list (sign up here), with all the tracks produced by the equally talented Ian Wallman. They've also announced a show, organised by Tigmus, at an intimate venue in Oxford at the end of April (details at the bottom of the post).
Having been introduced to the band through the fact that the Sofar Sounds Oxford organisers manage them, I've seen them a few times over the last year and they've never failed to put a smile on my face, playing fun and superb live sets in a variety of settings, from a stripped back set at Truck Store to a couple of headline shows across the road at the O2 Academy Oxford (one of which was the first show I've had a proper photo pass for back in May, see my shots from that gig here.)Seeing them play in January at an Independent Venue Week show, it struck me that they have got better and better each time I've seen them play, and I feel lucky to know them - but especially to know of their music at this exciting time in their careers.
Photo credit: IWphotographic
Tickets for their intimate Oxford show at Jacqueline du Prê Music Building on 22nd April are on sale through Tigmus here - I'd snap one up quickly as it'll likely sell pretty quickly, these guys are very well loved in Oxford!
Since coming back to Oxford I've already been to some great gigs and last night was no exception. Roberto y Juan (side project of Robin and Jonny of Balloon Ascents) have just released a new EP entitled Monster Love, which you can listen to above and buy digitally through their Bandcamp here for a mere £3 - last night they played a launch show at Art Jericho in Oxford, with Stornoway's Oli Steadman supporting under the moniker of Count Drachma. I'd really been looking forward to seeing Oli perform as Count Drachma, a band which usually consists of his brother too; born and raised in South Africa, they play traditional South African music as well as other tracks translated into Zulu, bringing a refreshing and new style of music to an English audience (you can listen to some of their demos here.)
Count Drachma (Oli Steadman)
Roberto y Juan
The audience was pretty mesmerised for Oli's set, and by the time Robin and Jonny (joined by George of Homeplanetearth, whose single I recently posted about) took to the stage, the room was packed - there was a really nice communal atmosphere with members of various Oxford bands, family and friends waiting in anticipation, a few who I knew already (predominantly through Sofar Sounds Oxford shows), and others who I met for the first time and were all lovely folk! The guys played a fantastic set to showcase their new EP Monster Love, which I am enjoying an awful lot - it is some of the best new music I've heard so far this year! Below is a video of them performing I Used To Relax, from which I've had the "Where did you go?" "I don't know.." refrain stuck in my head for days.
I took my camera along to the show, take a look at more of my photos here.
Though I've been feeling pretty sorry for myself for the past few days (probably due to being out in the cold at a few gigs last week, and lack of sleep), I decided to pop down the road to the O2 Academy Oxford on Friday night to see local guys Balloon Ascents play their single launch for Don't Look Down, with local supports Loud Mountains, Little Brother Eli, and Esther Joy Lane - turned out to be a pretty good decision!
Artwork for the new Balloon Ascents release.
Arriving a little late I missed some of Loud Mountains set, but I was intrigued to see them play as they'd pulled out of a show I went to a few weeks ago. Looking back at the notes on my phone that I made to remember what I'd thought of the set, I find simply 'nice harmonies' and 'folky', which is a pretty concise but decent (?) review. They set the precedent for the night, with all four acts being local bands and artists, friends and linked in various ways, with different musical styles but fitting together quite well - testament to the brilliant organisation of Tigmus.
Second to play were Little Brother Eli, whose music started to form a little more of a crowd than the scattering of people found up to that point. Another local band which I get the impression are fairly well loved, they entered the stage dressed to impress. The five piece band, who describe their genre as 'bluesy garage rock' put on a fun set with superb guitar solos and an enthusiastic and powerful performance from frontman Alex.
Esther Joy Lane was up next - perhaps the most surprising act of the night and the only soloist on the bill, playing electronic music (with a hint of guitar in one track until it disconnected - a glitch which she very smoothly dealt with!) With her soft voice she made the electronic music fit well into the night, where in theory it seemed a confusing addition - and a crowd, cheering on the local talent started to form, awaiting the arrival of the headliners. A particular highlight of her set was the closing track, Poets, an ode to the late Robin Williams. The night was special for Esther too in that she released an EP yesterday, and had play on BBC Radio 6 Music as 'Recommendation of the day' a couple of days ago. Definitely one to watch on the local scene.
Having seen Balloon Ascents a couple of times before including in the same venue a few months ago - I thought I knew what to expect, but the band felt like it had been invigorated. Frontman Thomas had gained another level of charisma (I'd be interested to see if he's been taking tips from other performers), jumping around the stage and belting out the lyrics to some of the band's well known tracks - for a relatively small local band this seems a strange thing to say, but the crowd, who loved every minute, were hanging on each word and recognising tracks from their opening chords. The band seemed to be having an equally great time, feeding off of one another's energy and excitement for the show.
The newly released tracks went down well, as well as a completely new track which Thomas invited the audience to "listen for the mistakes" in as it hadn't been played live before - but the band were tight as ever, having played together for around 5 years - no mean feat when they're all around 18 years old now. Showcasing their diversity as a band they took it down a notch to play the slightly more stripped back No - see a performance of the track from a Sofar Sounds show in Reading earlier in the year here. Another highlight of the set for me was the opening track, their take on William Blake's poem London which they created for a Sofar Sounds Oxford show earlier in the year. Take a watch below to see a snippet of Cutout, another recent single from the band.
Overall a fun night (if spent mostly coughing at the back of the room) seeing four fairly different but each credible and talented local acts who are all doing well, and have great things ahead of them. You can stream and buy Don't Look Down/Someone on the Balloon Ascents bandcamp here, and see them live at The Bullingdon in Oxford on 29th November as part of Oxford City Festival.
Living in Oxford for university, I was gutted that I wouldn't be there over summer to go to Truck Festival, which always has a great line-up. Highlights this year included Public Service Broadcasting, Lucy Rose and Rae Morris, as well as local band Balloon Ascents who I saw play a couple of times over my first year at uni. For a bunch of young guys they've got their heads on their shoulders and are playing some really cool music and building up a local fanbase, as well as playing shows further afield - particularly at some Sofar Sounds concerts in other countries. Here is a session of the band performing their track Cut Out, which I posted the official video for back in May - the session was for Radio 2's Bob Harris and filmed at the festival. Having seen them play an acoustic in store at Truck Store I can recommend a listen to this session, as the band gel together wonderfully in this stripped back environment.
Check out this new video from Balloon Ascents for their track Cutout. It's a pretty nice track with a really brilliant bassline, from the talented local band who are causing quite a stir already in both the local and national music scenes, with the Oxford Times labelling them as 'terrifyingly talented'. I saw them play at a Sofar Sounds gig earlier in the year, as well as an impressive stripped back set at Truck Store recently.Last week I saw them play a set at the O2 Academy Oxford on May Day, where I had my first ever photo pass for a 'proper' gig. The lighting at the gig wasn't that helpful, but I managed to salvage some shots and put a few up on my Flickr here.
The band's self-titled four track EP released earlier this year is available on iTunes and features Cutout as well as a personal favourite, The Only One.
