WATCH: Jack Garratt performs 'Weathered' for Mahogany

Happy New Year folks! It's been a while but now that the festive season is drawing to a close and I've got a month before uni starts up again, I'm going to try to post more regularly. For now, here's a treat for this dreary, drizzly Sunday morning, a stripped back Mahogany Session from Jack Garratt.

His debut record Phase was one of my favourite releases of 2016 (I can't bring myself to say "last year" just yet..) and I can't wait to see what he's got in store for us in 2017!

LIVE: Bear's Den charity Christmas show at St John on Bethnal Green (15/12/16)

Woah. Last night I went along to the Bear's Den christmas show at St John on Bethnal Green, a night raising money for Support Act. The organisation's usual way of fundraising is essentially asking for a tiny donation of £1 from people who are on the guest list for various shows, and they distribute the funds between Refugee Action and Road To Freedom. There's more info about the organisation on their site here. Charity gigs are always incredibly heartwarming, knowing that you're part of a group of people coming together to do something good, and church gigs are usually pretty special, so combine all that with a brilliant bunch of musicians and last night was quite the evening!

The night was split into two halves, with a bunch of special guests performing a couple of tracks each, first up Justin Young and Freddie Cowan of The Vaccines, whose second track was a cover of The Ramones' Baby I Love You, with Tom Hobden accompanying them on violin. 

A blurry Freddie and Justin of The Vaccines kicking off the evening!

Next up was Seramic, one of my favourite new artists - it's Marcus Foster's new project and its energetic, lively and a lot of fun. I was pretty intrigued by how they'd perform in the stripped back setting, but performing as a duo they opened with People Say, from the incredible Found EP, and it was one of the highlights of the evening for me! 

Seramic

Next up and playing their stunning track Elijah to open their part of the show, was Matthew & The Atlas. I've seen them once before playing just before Bear's Den in a church for Bushstock, great to keep the church theme going! Matt's voice is such a beautiful thing to behold - check out this Mahogany Session of the same track. Big up to them for playing a cover of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas too!

Matthew & The Atlas

While we were waiting in the queue (to get to the front pew, of course) I spotted Lucy Rose as she arrived, and was fairly excited to note that she was with Jack Steadman (lead singer of Bombay Bicycle Club). He joined Lucy for her set, where they played her track Shiver and a cover of In The Bleak Midwinter which I recorded and you can listen to below... didn't realise how much I'd missed hearing Jack's voice!

Next up, an artist I have heard about a lot, but have never taken a proper listen to.. Benjamin Francis Leftwich, who I think is actually playing a London residency at Omeara starting in March, info here! I'll definitely be taking a listen to some more of his music as his performance was pretty impressive.

Benjamin Francis Leftwich

Last up for the first half of the show, the part I'd been anticipating most... and which I heard a little of the soundcheck. It was the live debut of The Heathen & The Holy, the seasonal side project of Noah & The Whale members Tom Hobden and Fred Abbott, who also had Noah drummer Michael Petulla, Tom Figgins and an orchestra backing them. They played their 2014 track Hey Merry Christmas and really got the party started with their new track, Best Christmas Yet. Seriously felt like I could go home at that point and have had one of my best nights of the year, a real joy to see them perform, particularly to hear Tom Hobden on vocals! I recorded both tracks as it's quite a big deal and probably won't be happening again for a while, so enjoy those below (and apologies for the awful camera angle, apparently didn't realise half the camera was obstructed by the pew!) 

After a little interval, a chance to buy a ton of mince pies and mulled wine (yuck) and stretch the legs, we were quietened down so that Bear's Den could take to the stage. Having a sort of programme/order of service for the night meant that I knew what tracks coming, but it was still such a joy for them to begin with one of their biggest, Agape (particularly as when I caught them in the church at Bushstock, I had to leave to catch the train as they started playing it!) They followed it with Dew on The Vine and Elysium, before playing their new track Berlin (which they premiered online a few days ago) live for the first time. Check that out below.... really beautiful stuff! 

They followed  it with Gabriel, Napoleon and Isaac, for which Tom Hobden snuck out and joined them on violin. They were then joined by the Alda Orchestra for the rest of the set including another of their own tracks and a Matthew & The Atlas track, and a bunch of the other musicians joined them on stage for a couple of Christmas covers and a stunning Leonard Cohen tribute.

Bear's Den and friends!

It all got pretty emotional towards the end of the evening as Kev and Davie thanked everybody who had helped put the show together, including Communion, their crew, the other bands, the church, so many brilliant people pulling together to create a fantastic night of entertainment for an incredible cause, and after their final track the band left the stage to roaring applause and a standing ovation. Waiting around after it was lovely to chat to some of the artists and tell them just how beautiful it all was, and to congratulate Kev and Davie on putting on such a brilliant show. Definitely won't be forgetting last night in a hurry! Now to get ready for my penultimate gig of the year, another Tigmus show of course... think this is gig number 77 this year!

WATCH: Dawes perform 'Somewhere Along The Way' for Sofar Sounds

Back at the start of November I spontaneously followed the lovely Dawes guys around for a few shows over a couple of days in London, finishing up with a set at a Sofar Sounds show in a 3D printing shop (my post about the weekend is here) - the video from that night was posted online recently, check it out! This track is taken from their fourth record All Your Favourite Bands which was my favourite release of last year - looking forward to reflecting on this year's releases and making a playlist of my favourite music from this year (it's on the to do list!)

WATCH: The Heathen and The Holy - 'Best Christmas Yet'

I've been meaning to post this track for a few days as it debuted last week but I've been concentrating on my assignments for university. They're both finally complete, handed in and I'm free, sort of... the ever so slightly ignored dissertation is looming over me and will be taking up much of my festive break!

I now feel slightly more festive and that's certainly been helped along by Best Christmas Yet, the new track from The Heathen and The Holy, the seasonal side project of Tom Hobden and Fred Abbott of Noah & The Whale. For three consecutive years now, they've released a christmas song, starting with Hey Merry Christmas back in 2014, for which they completed a fundraising campaign to create the music video (which features some familiar faces in the shape of King Charles, NATW drummer Michael Petulla and more...) and last year's On Christmas Day. Their return was hotly anticipated (by me, at least) and I haven't been disappointed in the slightest, check out the track and get in the festive spirit...

Excitingly, the guys recently announced that they'll be playing their live debut as part of tonight's Bear's Den charity christmas show at St John's in Bethnal Green. It's sold out but luckily I've got a ticket (which I was gifted by an incredibly kind friend!) so I am really looking forward to heading down for my final trip to London this year. The show is also set to feature performances from Matthew & The Atlas, Seramic, Lucy Rose, and Justin and Freddie of The Vaccines. I reckon I'm in for quite a treat...

WATCH: Little Brother Eli perform 'Carry You' for Sofar Sounds

As I write this, it's 11pm and I'm sat contemplating the early night I promised myself half hour ago which is slowly disappearing.... it's very rapidly nearing the end of semester, I've got two big deadlines coming up (but I have managed to get one of the essays mostly written!) - and I somehow thought it'd be a good idea to be out of the flat for six nights in a row last week for a bunch of gigs and the Tigmus christmas get-together. Essentially the next week will include lots of reading, hopefully lots of writing, and a general lack of sleep... and I'm struggling to find time to write blog posts, but I thought I'd write up a quick one before I get to sleep, as many of my favourite bands are continually putting out brilliant new music which needs to be shared! 

Hopefully as the semester finishes I'll get back to posting a lot more regularly, but for now, here's a new video from Sofar Sounds Nottingham with one of my favourite Oxford bands, Little Brother Eli performing Carry You. I've certainly heard the track live before but it isn't on their debut album Cold Tales which was released back in June, so I presume it's a fairly new track. When they play with a full set-up there are five members in the band, the vibe is energetic and the tracks are catchy, and in the handful of times I've seen them perform acoustically, they've played as a trio, with Alex on vocals and Adam and Josh on guitar and bass respectively - it's awesome to see them mixing it up here with Tom on lap steel, which certainly adds an extra level to this performance!

If you're based in London and looking for things to do around Christmas, and you're a live music fan then you're in luck as LBE are playing a show for Tigmus on 21st December at The Monarch in Camden. Support comes from Darla and the Blonde and another Tigmus favourite, James Beau Barclay, and it's totally FREE! I'll be heading home for Christmas before then (meaning trips to London become around three times the price...) so won't be able to make it myself but I know it'll be a great night!

LISTEN: November 2016 playlist!

I've not been quite as busy as I was in October when it felt like at least every other day brought a gig, but I've been to a few shows this month and I've just reached my 70th gig of the year.. I think last year I went to 63 so I've outdone myself already, definitely down in part to all the Tigmus gigs I've been repping! Last night I caught Banfi playing a free show with Richard Walters and Waylor, and it never stops... I've at least four (possibly five) gigs lined up for the rest of the week! For now, here's a playlist with the music I've been listening to over November, a month which saw the return of my childhood favourites Busted, who I saw live in HMV and met. Consider my life made!

1. Martin Luke Brown Take Out Of Me - Martin played our Sofar Sounds show in Oxford this month (write-up of the show here) and was my highlight of the night... and I've heard a few others say the same! I've been meaning to check his music out for a while now as I kept hearing his name and I'm enjoying it a lot, only wish I'd got around to listening earlier.

2. Banfi Happy When You Go - these guys played their first proper headline show, and their first gig in a while, at Old Blue Last yesterday for Communion. I've said it a million times but anyone who is championed by Communion is bound to be pretty great and they're no exception! Wonderful show and felt very nostalgic in a venue with all of Dry The River hanging around - who'd believe it's over a year since they announced they were splitting? They've just announced a second (also free) show at the same venue on 8th Feb, sign up here!

3. Dawes Quitter - after waiting over a year to catch them live again, at the start of the month the show I'd been waiting for finally came around and Dawes played a total blinder at Islington Assembly Hall. Suddenly one show turned into three and I rushed back to London the day after to see them at Rough Trade and a Sofar Sounds show (write-up of the shows here.) This is one of my favourite tracks from the new record, which they recently performed on Jimmy Kimmel's show!

4. Busted Easy - I might lose all my music cred for saying it but Busted have always been and will always be one of my favourite bands... there's something inherently special about your first ever favourite band. I'd probably go so far as to say the passion I had for these guys when I was a kid helped shaped me into the huge music fan I am today. This month they released their first record in thirteen years (ahhhhh) and I met them at a HMV performance and signing, and they were as lovely as I could've possibly hoped for!

5. Jack Savoretti Sleep No More - the title track of Jack's new record, his set was opened with this on his recent UK tour. Really atmospheric with the whistling solo... I'm probably way more amazed than it warrants as I can't whistle myself (live video!)

6. Catgod Ready When You Are - Catgod are the recently renamed Roberto y Amigos from Oxford, who released one of my favourite EPs of the year, Monster Love. They've just released new record Ready When You Are online (go listen!) and they're launching it with a show at ODHHC on 17th December. 

7. Laurel Goodbye (demo) - Laurel played at our cinema Sofar Sounds Oxford show back in September, and she's released her Park EP this month - loving this demo which is the final track of the EP.

8. JONES Melt - JONES supported on Jack Savoretti's UK tour this month, and opened the nights with a really fun set showing off tracks from her debut album New Skin, of which this was probably my favourite.

9. Richard Walters Awards Night - Richard supported at the Banfi show last night, sadly we arrived too late to catch his set (but I can say with total confidence that it was probably brilliant.) Over the last few months I've been slowly working my way through putting his whole A.M. record on monthly playlists, so you might as well go and listen to the whole thing...

10. Dawes From a Window Seat - this is one of my favourite Dawes tracks but sadly it didn't make it into the set at the start of the month, although that's bound to happen when you've got five records worth of material to choose from! 

11. Lily & Madeleine Hotel Pool - this American duo of sisters supported Dawes on their UK tour and played a really beautiful set. This track is taken from their record Keep It Together which is worth checking out. I'll be keeping an eye out for when they return to the UK for their own tour!

12. Tom Odell Silhoutte - the latest single from Tom's Wrong Crowd record, the video for it was released last week, and a comment on the Youtube video summarises the track perfectly... "Seriously. Silhouette's melody sounds so Christmassy." How hadn't I noticed before?! 

13. Bruce O Yates Helen - Bruce (and his fairly big band) opened up the Sofar Sounds show I caught Dawes at and played a really lovely set. It was really interesting to finally catch a Sofar show in London... there's still a wonderful vibe but it's a different type of evening to our Oxford shows because of the scale, as in Oxford we've got mostly the same crew and many audience members coming along to each show, whereas London had something like 70/80 Sofar shows over November, so there are tons of people involved!

14. Martin Luke Brown Shadow & Light - Martin is one of my favourite discoveries of the month, loving this track which has a really lovely message and for which a really special lyric video was recently uploaded - go watch!

15. Jack Savoretti I'm Yours - the second single from Jack's record, this went down pretty well live in a set where Jack and his band played every single track from the new record. They released a video for the track this month!

16. Waylor (ft. Grace Lightman) Hungover - Waylor (Matt from Dry The River) also supported at the Banfi show last night, I saw him supporting Richard Walters last month but this time he brought along his band and it was a whole lot more lively, loved his set!

17. JONES Walk My Way - bringing the tempo of the playlist back up with another track from JONES! Really enjoyed her set at the two Jack Savoretti shows I caught her supporting this month, her record New Skin is definitely worth taking a listen to. 

18. Stornoway The Great Procrastinator - the oldest track on the playlist, I've been listening to Storno a lot since the news of their split and farewell tour, and none sum me up quite so well as this with deadlines looming and motivation declining rapidly... tickets flying out for the tour, grab them here.

19. Dawes Less Than Five Miles Away - seeing as my month became so heavily revolved around Dawes (for two days at least), it feels right to end on another of my favourite tracks from their latest record. The bass in this track is pretty insane but it takes a live performance to really appreciate it , hats off to Wylie Gelber! 

WATCH: Laura Marling releases 'Soothing' and March UK tour dates

It appears there's still a little hope for 2016, as everyone's favourite female folk musician (tell me I'm wrong?!), Laura Marling, is back with new track Soothing. It's taken from her upcoming album Semper Femina which is released next year on 10th March. 

Laura tours to support the release of the record in March, including a date at Oxford's O2 Academy on 13th March and London's Roundhouse on 17th. It's dissertation deadline month so I'm not sure I'll be able to make the Oxford date, but the prospect of seeing Laura play live is quite an exciting one! She's also taking in Leeds, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Brighton and Salisbury - tickets for all the shows are on sale on Friday through the official website here.

LIVE: Sofar Sounds Oxford at The Handle Bar (21/11/16)

Since I've been attending Sofar Sounds shows in Oxford, there have been a couple of shows at The Handle Bar, a cafe and restaurant above a bike shop, located in the centre of town, but for various reasons I haven't been able to make them. Naturally I was chuffed to finally get along to a show there this Monday, for another night of brilliant acoustic music. I spent most of the evening trying not to make everybody else ill, but also dabbled in a bit of photography and social media, posting photos and live videos to the Sofar Oxford Facebook. You can check out some of my photos from the evening on my Flickr here.

First up on the night, we had a set from local folk musician Rosie Caldecott. I've heard her name tons over the past couple of years, and couldn't recall if I'd caught her playing before, but a little browse of my gig spreadsheets tells me I haven't - and what a mistake! She played a couple of new tracks and a couple from her Inside Out record, and I got some Laura Marling vibes from the set, which can't be a bad thing!



Next up, Gloucestershire duo Ethemia played for us, letting us share in their 'musical marriage' for a few moments. The bond between the pair was lovely to see, and their songs, as well as their stories and how they engaged with the crowd during and after their set was totally heartwarming. Lovely people! Here's a video below from the last Sofar Oxford they played in the summer of 2015.

Up third and probably the set I was waiting in most anticipation for, and my favourite of the night, we had Leicester born and London-based Martin Luke Brown play a solo set for us. I've heard his name in many places online and elsewhere for a year or so now but until the day of the show hadn't really given him a proper listen. Sat barely a metre from the crowd, he made no efforts to hide that it was a little daunting in between songs, but you couldn't guess this at all from his performance! His set was totally engaging, with sing-alongs, clapping and clicking... even a little Britney chucked in for good measure (which I caught on one of the Facebook Live videos from the night, of his track Take Out of Me - definitely worth a watch.) Loving this recent lyric video for his track Shadow & Light which is also worth a listen and a watch! He's also a really lovely chap, had a lovely chat (as my voice was just about returning) after the show. So many positive vibes that night!

Last up we had a full band, playing plugged in and bringing a little more noise to wake us all up at the end of the night. They'd travelled from Fareham for the show (sounded impressive though I wasn't entirely sure where it was... a little Googling tells me it's next to Portsmouth.) The track I recorded live for our Sofar Facebook, Stay Golden, is instantly made ten times better when you know the idea originally came from the lead singers golden retriever (crossed with something which has slipped my mind..) puppy. Adorable, even if he did start the anecdote by letting the audience know he doesn't really like dogs (to some pretty sharp intakes of breath) - "so I got a puppy!" They describe their sound as a unique blend of folk, country, blues and acoustic, and performed with a cajon and banjo, win win in my eyes! Take a listen for yourself with Shake It Off,  a track from their recent EP.



Overall, the night was totally worth braving the cold drizzly night, the venue is lovely, the crowd were totally respectful as always and all the artists were great and lovely people to boot. If you haven't been to a Sofar Sounds show before, chances are there's one coming up near you soon (especially if you live in London where there are usually a few each night all around the city) so check out the website and sign up for a great night of live music and discovery in an interesting setting, with a crowd of likeminded music fans!

LIVE: Little Red at O2 Academy 2 (18/11/16)

Last Friday night, Tigmus had our third of a season of four shows upstairs at the O2 Academy Oxford, this time with local folk trio Little Red headlining. Being a fairly special occasion they drafted in their backing band for the show, performing as a 6-piece with added drums, keys and bass, but keeping their acoustic harmonious charms, and performing as a trio for a little segment of the set. I'd been under the weather for a few days and I'd like to say that the tunes warmed me up, but the venue was totally freezing! 

Opening up the night of local acoustic music we had a solo performance from All Is Worth, aka Nathan Allsworth, who played bass for Little Red later in the night. His Facebook describes his music as "combining picked folk with a haunting edge", a pretty accurate summary. You can check out some of his music over on Bandcamp. Next up we doubled in band members and were treated to a set from folk duo The Lost Art who I'd seen at another small Tigmus show earlier in the year. I'm currently being mesmerised by their music video for Secret Life as it's a one-shot video - total sucker for those!

Next up, after ducking out of the venue I return and the stage is full to the brim with people as James Bell & the Half Moon All Stars, a 9-piece band with mandolin, flute, ukulele, fiddle (always a winner) and tons more instruments! They even had a kazoo towards the end of the set! Playing some traditional folk songs (which they do regularly in the local The Half Moon pub, hence the name) a highlight of the set was The Mary Ellen Carter, a cover of a Stan Rogers song. Check out a performance of that track below!

Last but by no means least our headliners Little Red took to the stage and the crowd, though not the biggest, were definitely up for a good Friday night. The set was made up of a couple of new tracks and others from their back catalogue, which you can check out on Bandcamp! Everyone was left feeling joyful and gave a wonderful round of applause to the band as they left the stage...

A 6 piece @littleredtrio leaving the @O2AcademyOxford stage to tons of applause last night 👏🏻👏🏻 @TIGmuso @TigmusInOxf pic.twitter.com/3E8rUlaOaV

— SUPERMegAN (@meg_seekings) November 19, 2016

Here's to many more Tigmus shows - although I have to admit losing my voice when running the door the night after for our show with The Balkan Wanderers is definitely a low point! Good news: I can talk now (albeit in a croaky, husky way.)

WATCH: Banfi - 'Happy When You Go'

You know you're in safe hands when Jake Dypka is involved... I've followed his work for a few years after being introduced to his work with Dry The River, and this video he's directed for Banfi which is premiering today over on Dork is pretty epic! Take a watch/listen below...

It's the first music video from the band, who are signed to Communion (again, you know you're in safe hands!) In fact that was my exact train of thought when Communion announced recently that they were playing a free show at the end of November... I grabbed tickets thinking I'd never listened to them before, predominantly as Richard Walters and WAYLOR are opening the night and I was seeing them the next day. 

I got home and searched for some of their tracks and turns out I had listened to them before as their track Where We Part is on the Communion 10 year anniversary RSD vinyl I got earlier in the year. Now getting pretty excited for their show at The Old Blue Last - tickets were snapped up really quickly but if you're interested in seeing them you're in luck as the Communion Christmas show has just been announced and they're playing along Dan Croll, Seramic, Alex Vargas, a special guest (the intrigue! Last year's special guest was James Bay if I remember rightly!) and DJ set from Patrick Nazemi. The show is at Notting Hill Arts Club on 4th December, tickets here! Currently debating if I can afford (financially and academically) to go to the show myself... but I reckon I can probably be persuaded!