Nat Johnson live review

Early december i used my last annual leave to have a long weekend in london. I always enjoy spending time in london, there's always plenty to see and do. This time i was keen to check out the new exhibition in the turbine hall. Shibboelth is a huge crack that has been created in the actual fabric of the hall floor. It's an incredible and novel idea, the name of the piece taken from a passage in Judges where the gileadites use the word to distinguish their enemy, fellow israelites, but from the tribe of Ephraim. The inability of the Ephramites to pronounce the word correctly resulted in their execution. A brutal biblical story that leaves 45k dead. A term that since has been come to use a means of differentiating between types of people, here the crack represents the cracks and divisions that arise in society. Cracks that are set up as stumbling blocks to make life harder for those who are different. It's a powerful message, and a popular piece of work. Plenty of other interesting things to see in and around the tate modern. Sunday afternoon I had to run to catch my coach home, just arriving at the platform on time. The journey was delayed and i arrived back in sheffield later than anticipated, but just in time to get to the red house in sheffield to see nat johnson's debut gig. The lead singer of monkey swallows the universe is currently pursuing some solo work during the indefinate hiatus. Despite the songs being very new, it is clear that with a bit of nurture they will grow into songs of beauty. She has a rare talent in making music that contains that je ne sais quois which sets it way above the rest. Teletext deemed my review worthy of publishing, a rarity for a debut gig review to be published i'm sure.

my photos of london dec 07
photos of Nat's gig

MIA live review

Just before christmas i got my M.I.A. review published on teletext. It's pleasing to see this on the screen as it was my favourite gig of the year. M.I.A. has a sound that is so fresh and original, the music is almost alive. Click the image to see full size to read the full review.

Music review 2007

Time for me to compile a list of my favourite music from the last year, and it has been a very good one on the music front. And I'll probably miss something

Top 10 Albums of 2007

1 Feist - The Reminder
This album is superb, from lilting pop to understated folk. Feist's voice is wonderful and beautifully backed by intricate melodies as she sings of love won and lost. Favourite track: The Park.

2 MIA - Kala
Bought on the back of glowing comments on teletext, this album proved to be huge. Inventive and fresh, these electronic noises rage with life. Challenging intelligent lyrics bolster this heady mix of beats, bringing issues of war and poverty to the dance floor. Fave song: $20

3 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Once again they have managed to expertly bring together a myriad of instrumentation to make a sound that is vivid and not pompous. Hurdy Gurdy's and Cathedral Organs nestle with electric guitars and horns. Songs question the insignificance of the church and it's apparent failure to engage with modern life. Fave song: Intervention

4 Monkey Swallows the Universe - Casket Letters
I have been privilaged to have become friends with this bunch of musicians over the last year and as such it makes it harder to review their music. Their second album certainly produced the goods, lilting folk pop, songs full of charm and accessibility. Music this good should really be playing on iPods around the country. Fave song: Gravestones

5 Radiohead - In Rainbows
Radiohead return to form with this album. Mixing interesting electronic noises with their brand of guitar rock. Thom varies his vocal performances with falsettos providing frshness to tracks. They continue to show that rock music can evolve. Fave song: Reckoner

6 Stars - In our bedroom after the wall
Third entry by a canadian band in the top ten. Girl/boy vocals play together against sunny guitar pop. Songs of love and broken relationships interplay, as the music careers between 70s funk to piano ballads. Fave song: Personel

7 Strange Death of Liberal England - Forward March!
Passionate vocals are hollered against a backdrop of angry guitars. But it's not all noise as gentle glockenspiel and banjo are cleverly included. Vibrant and punchy. Fave track: A day another day

8 Justice - cross album
An album named by a symbol - how crazy (!) This album starts with the dirtiest rummbling bass that entrances your legs into a dancing frenzy. The beats continue to pound as funk laden melodies are carried along. Album begins to tire after the first half for me. Fave track: D.A.N.C.E.

9 Bjork - Volta
As always Bjork brings an album to the table that continues to bring music from the future. Working with some of the world's most inventive producers she brings alien noises to back her unique voice. The album suffers from patchy mediocre tunes, but the good ones are very very good. Fave track: Earth Intruders

10 Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat
Malcolm sings about the downs and hurts of life with wit and uplifting tunes. Often overlooked for being depressing, his lyrics are actually filled with hope in the gritty reality that often you feel let down by life. Anti folk at its best. Fave track: Brighter Beat

Of course I haven't managed to listen to loads of albums that have been released this year and am sure that some of them may well have made my top ten and the alustrious acolades that that brings ;)

Top singles:

1 Justice - D.A.N.C.E.
2 Going to a town - Rufu Wainwright
3 Fire Escape - Fanfarlo

three singles will do cos I don't really pay attention to singles anymore

Top gigs of the year:

1 MIA - Manchester Academy 2
Only a few days ago, this stormed straight to the top of the gig list. I was so impressed with the live mixing of electronic loops and the ferocity of MIAs vocal delivery. A performance full of passion whipping the crowd into a frenzy of dancing. Astounding

2 Arcade Fire - Latitude
Awesome finish to a really great festival, with Final Fantasy joining them onstage the bombastic orchestral sound was electric.

3 Feist - Manchester
Small venue, big voice. Session musicians squeezed onto the stage gave a wonderful rounded sound to supplement her gossamer vocals. Wonderful

4 Monkey Swallows the Universe - Merlin
Launching their new album, this theatre proved the perfect venue for their wonderful indie folk pop.

5 Hush the Many - leadmill
Supporting The Fields - this support act blew me away with their wondrous soundscapes. Supplemented with cello and understated boy/girl vocals this sound was awe inspiring. Hope to hear more in the future.

more of my live reviews can be read in the teletext flickr set

Music I discovered this year that was out ages ago

Sufjan Stevens - this man is so good. His Illinois Album has been catapulted into my all time top albums ever. Wonderful instrumentation backs intelligent and heartfelt lyrics. You must own some of his music. Thanks to Last.fm and cait for the recommendation.

Bat for Lashes - spotted on glastonbury this eccentric musician is not only beautiful, but creates wonderful folk pop.

Antony and the Johnsons - what a voice! Album picked up on the cheap, knew it was a mercury winner - and how.

Thom Yorke - solo album of chilled electronica fused with his varied vocals. great for focusing concentration when at work.

Bands to look out for this year:
Operator Please, I was a cub scout (for pink squares, a top pop tune), nat johnson, fanfarlo, hush the many

Music reviews

I've been to a couple of gigs this week and had one review published on teletext - hooray. This was from a gig at the leadmill on monday, though I actually preferred the support act - sound grade, but I quite liked it, so to rescue the words from obscurity I shall paste them here:
I was a cub scout - live leadmill 29/10

I don't know what Todd Marriott's fire making or knot tying skills are like, but on tonight's performance he will be gaining his synth twiddling badge with distinction. Bedroom synth pop is given life and vibrancy from driving live percussion, this is no geeky art noise but a colossus of pulsing pop. Todd's distinct vocals work well with the clattering guitar and his passionate performance is infective. Pinks squares epitomises the best of their catchy sound. Akela would be pleased.

8/10

Forward Russia were the headline act, and although they produced a riotous noise, the lack of vocal variety began to bore me a bit.i was a cub scout. The penned review didn't make the planet I'm always a little embarrassed when a slightly critical review is published, I really respect anyone who forms and plays in a band - creativity should be encouraged and i hope my criticism can help encourage them to greater things. They probably will never see it anyway ;)

The second gig was the remarkable arcade fire who i saw at nottingham arena. The third time i've seen them live this year. Being seated i felt that somehow the passion on the stage was sucked out by the cavernous venue and so i didn't really get into the live experience as much as previous times. The music was still unbelievably good, musical prowess at it's height, they have a knack of arranging a myriad of musical sounds to form a cacophony of pulsing rock. I'm pleased that they are reaching super group status, but sorry that the energy of more intimate gigs can not be felt as strongly. There were a couple of new songs played and also a Smiths cover, but disappointingly some idiots thought it would be good to throw bottles at the band. Win Butler was understandably annoyed and promptly left the stage after finishing the song where the incident occurred. The band did reappear but another bottle was thrown enraging Butler further who exclaimed the band would never play Nottingham again if anything else came their way. Thankfully nothing did and the band did return for an encore, but I can't help thinking that the encore was somewhat reduced in length because of the incident. Bah - arena gigs are a let down (apart from the white stripes who were awesome a few years ago)

Stars live at Leeds Brudenell

Last tuesday i went to leeds to see Stars and they were fantastic. I'd gone straight from work in the leeds office, but the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry and so it did that day too. My change of clothes so that i could change into indie kid for the evening gig was left in my house and i was seconded onto a two day future strategy meeting whilst at the office meaning that the next morning i would have to be up at 0530 to go to stratford and miss emma pollock.
Like eddie izzard i wonder what plans that mice make?

Anyway, the brudenell at leeds is fast becoming one of my favourite venues and after the passable support we were treated to a wonderful set by the stars. Canadian bands are ruling the roost at the moment and stars are right up there. Songs from their 3rd, breakthrough, album proved popular with the audience and the new material was sounding promising. As the set finished i rushed to purchase their new release and then wondered if there would be an encore, the guy at the mixing desk certainly looked like he was expecting more, but it had been some time since the band left the stage. Some people began making their way to the exit, but I hung back for a while and eventually the guy vocalist appeared back on stage and explained he'd taken off his shirt cos it was so sweaty and he didn't have anything else to wear and so he was late re-appearing whilst they searched for something for him!

Anyway, i've had time to listen to the new album a few times and it carries on where the last album left off and is very good indeed. I want to see them again now and appreciate the new songs live. As always I dropped a review to teletext, but this week i was disappointed to see that the editor had been to see them in london and published his review so I thought that mine would be lost. But today my review was there - hooray, it's been ages since my last teletext review.

Feist

After the excellent Feist performance in manchester back in July, I had immediately purchased tickets for her show in Nottingham, which was just over a week ago. AD drove and we found a side street to park in before wandering down to the venue. Nottingham has really changed since i lived here, barely recognising the main streets. The Social was very small, and too small for an act of Feist's calibre. I don't know who her booking agent is, but she could have filled the venue a couple of times over I'm sure. Again she was excellent, a voice to silence crowds, achingly sensuous, yet also passionate enough to carry her more rocky tunes. Her excellent backing band added to the mix, with guitar harmonies and delicatley placed horns. The rendition of 'The Park' was nothing short of sublime, she really is one of the best acts around at the moment.

Merlin Theatre

Saturday saw monkey swallows the universe launch their new album, the casket letters, at the merlin theatre. I'd volunteered to help as an usher at the event, and along with the other ushers, we decided to dress up in suits to look the part. It was interesting to see the bands setting up, and it made a change to be apart from all the stress that sound checking can bring. The number of times we've set up sound stuff for an awe event and then spent hours trying to source an annoying hiss. Gremlins were found, and I thought that the sound in the theatre was really good. Didn't get to see the support acts as we were either staffing the doors or helping at the cafe. However, when mstu came on everyone was in their seats and we were able to sneek in at the back and enjoy the gig too. Having had the privilege to have heard the new tracks live and also had a pre-release copy of the album, I could really appreciate the songs. Talking to others later, less familiar with the new material, they were equally enthralled with hearing the brand new songs. After the gig everyone was invited to an aftershow party, showing the appreciation mstu have for their local fanbase. I enjoyed meeting new people and finding out how they had discovered mstu, and of course they had impecible musical taste, so no shortage of conversation. A great night, and maybe i'll get around to reviewing the album sometime! For a taster here are a couple of clips of songs from the new album: Gravestones and the Ballad of the Breakneck Bride. The latter of which has guest vocals from Rhys of Smokers Die Younger.

Feist teletext review

Yeah - it's another teletext review. I still manage to get excited by seeing them published.

Feist

As if a weekend's worth of music wasn't enough on thursday i went to see Feist in manchester. She was awesome, a truely amazing gig. Her vocals are like liquid chocolate, and ease between her sensuous lounge jazz and punky pop. She was backed by a superb band that played a myriad of instruments that added intricate harmonies that aid in giving the sound a real fullness. So much better than the generic guitar bands that are around that lack imagination in song writing. Feist sings so well and she even used a loop to create her own backing vocals, adding them at the start of a song and then singing over them. Then addressing the audience she was able to sing out intructions to split the audience in three to humm various notes to start a song. Superb talent. I made a coupld of videos, one of a quiet song and another of a punkier number. Unfortunately the sound was too loud on the latter for my camera and it is terribly distorted. Here is the quieter tune, one of my favourites, but blighted by a bit of pesky feedback.



Feist pics on flickr

Just found this link on youtube of Feist performing showing her backing vocal looping thing. It's a bit distorted, but gives you an idea

Latitude

Last weekend I went to the latitude festival in suffolk and it was tremendous. Haven't had chance to blog since as I've been busy every night, which also means I haven't full caught up on my sleep. We were really lucky with the weather too, i'd been praying for some sun, cos rain reduces the fun of camping. And the sun certainly shone. Left work a bit early on the thurs to drive down, giving a lift to ad, sb and ms. The traffic wasn't bad and we made good time, getting there before nightfall. However it was quite a queue to get our wrist bands so by the time we started on the tents it was getting dark. This resulted in one tent taking over an hour to erect, what with poles getting jumbled and the canves getting twisted!

There were a myriad of excellent acts playing at the festival and sometimes it was impossible to choose who to see. I was very lucky to be invited to stay as a guest of monkey swallows the universe as I had been helping them with a marketing scam. I'd written their stage time on one side of a peg and on the other a web address for an exclusive download. We then spent the weekend surrepticiously pegging people, on hats, jumpers, coats and bags in the hope they'd be intrigued enough to check out the band and even download the free tune. It was fun watching people wander around unsuspectingly with pegs dangling from their person.

I saw numerous acts and won't review them all, just a special mention for a few. The strange death of liberal england were even better than when i saw them at the leadmill. They were really drawing adrenelin from playing to a large crowd and I shall have to track down their cd. I was a cub scout also showed promise, bedroom rock backed by sequencers. A vibrant sound that can only mature. MSTU were on fine form and their music really suited the early evening sunshine. Bat for Lashes were plagued with technical difficulties but still managed to perform an entertaining set with natasha dressed in a skeleton costume. Finally Arcade Fire were awesome. Joined onstage by Final Fantasy they played probably one of the best performances i've ever seen. There is little more i can say to embellish this performance. Phenomenal.

Then there was the long drive back, the last hour of which I found a real struggle, battling with sleep and fog.

Strange Death of Liberal England Review

Last minute decision to go to the Leadmill on Monday, mainly to meet up with ag of mstu to discuss upcoming festival marketing ploy ‘operation peggy’. After a couple of local bands, the oddly titled ‘strange death of liberal england’ took to the stage. They did remarkably well to grab the attention of an audience mainly there to support friends in the local bands. Having a unique sound and strange presence certainly helps. Here’s my review that appeared on teletext today which added to the excitement of going to Latitude. More later on my return from the festival. Click the image to see full size.

Reviews that never appeared

Here's my reviews I sent to teletext for the gigs at the Spitz. They never appeared on screen, i blame the amount of pages devoted to the current spate of festivals. Best not let the words go to waste:

Shady Bard at Spitz London 9th June

Shady Bard make music about the environment that is a far cry from the
fey folky guff Swampy and his friends may conduct whilst living in
holes. Using orchestration to enhance piano and guitar melodies, Shady
Bard conjure visions of fruiting woods and rolling seas, ignited with
sonic soundscapes. Frontman, Lawrence, sings passionately about issues
that are clearly close to the heart, challenging the listener as he
rasps 'It's all our fault'. This is Eco-rock for people who wash.

8/10


monkey swallows the universe live at the spitz 9th june

Once again Monkey Swallows The Universe manage to woo the crowd.
Already a wealth of material allows for a varied set of acoustic folk,
downbeat melancholy and upbeat twindie-pop. Guitars gently create
melodies that are embellished with strings and melodicas. Songs of
love triumphing over adversity are sung passionately with a subtle
tone that is reminiscent of Emma Pollock at her best. How bands can
conjure a feeling of warmth and freshness is a mystery, but one that
MSTU seem to have solved.

9/10

london weekend and mstu

Leading up to June I'd been feeling a bit down, probably cos in another world I'd've been travelling to canada to spend time with v. Instead I'd decided to try and keep myself busy, which i think i've done pretty successfully. This weekend I took the opportunity to visit hc in london and see monkey swallows the universe live at the Spitz. Arriving around mid-day, i'd got a fair amount of time to kill and wandered into green park to read in the sun. Nice and relaxing, i'd arrange to meet hc around trafalgar late afternoon, so wandered over to see if i could find a nice coffee bar nearby. Arrived at trafalgar and noticed that there was due to be a free palestine march. It sounded interesting so took a seat on the steps outside the national gallery and awaited the arrival of the march. I'd happeded to be sat next to a group of knitters, who apparently meet up in random locations around the city to knit. There were a couple of guys too - how metrosexual. One of them was knitting with a pair of huge needles, about a metre tall. It seemed to be attracting considerable attention.

Eventually the march arrived and a number of seakers addressed the crowd. Some were much better than others, I must admit some of the speakers that were addressing us as comrades and encouraging us to support the freedom fighters were not using the most tactful of language. It's such a shame a week after the event to see the political turmoil that has enveloped the state of palestine. A coalition of democratically elected governers is overturned because other countries refuse to deal with Hamas. It makes a mockery of democracy. And the embargos enforced on the palestinian authorities is one of the main issues to lead to the conflict and in-fighting that only serves to ridicule the ability of the palestinian people to govern themselves. What a situation.

As the afternoon wore on I looked down to see that I was beginning to turn a bright shade of red, so i swiftly made for the shade and awaited hc.

We headed out to liverpool st station and got something to eat before making our way to the spitz. It was absolutely roasting hot in the venue, and we were in time to see the first act. They were pretty poor, playing chaotic rock that followed obvious progressions from loud to quiet. Yawn. Then it was mstu who again put on an absolutley fabulous gig. Nat's vocals were particularly passionate and the new songs hint that the new album will be just as good as the debut. Finally, shady bard, the headline take the stage and wow the crowd with their orchestral indie rock. Songs about the environment, reminiscent of 'we love life' by pulp. Good stuff.

Sunday i appreciated the warm weather, browsed the tate modern before arranging to meet a myspace friend. Passing st paul's i decided to pop in and say a prayer. The sung eucharist had just started, so i took a seat near the back and listened to the pomp of the ceremony. Not my usual thing high anglican worship, but nothing else would have done in this magnificant venue. The architecture and paintings are incredible and with the bombastic sounds of the organ vibrating through the church you can't help but get a sense of the awesomeness of god. Something that is easy to forget when sat around tables with coffee chatting, which is my normal worship preference. I also liked the fact that there were people coming and going at the back of the church, some to get a free look at the architecture, others to perhaps pray or sit in on the service for a while before leaving. It gave fluid nature to the worship, strange in a venue that follows such a rigid formal worship. Of course those who wished to take an active participation in the service could be lead to the front of the church by one of the nuerous ushers.

Finally met up with ys in shepherds bush and enjoyed mint tea and some food at a little arabic cafe before going for a walk through st james park. It was a lovely day and interesting to meet someone who is also a big fan of music.

A few more pics in the flickr set

Fanfarlo on teletext

My review did finally turn up on teletext. Hooray, click on image below to read it in old school teletext style.

Fanfarlo

Another gig review that hasn't made it on to teletext - grrr, I must be losing my touch and I quite liked this one:

Fanfarlo - Runaway Girl Sheffield 28/05/07

Fanfarlo play the musical equivalent of T-shirt weather. Squeezed on
to a small stage, this six-piece produce a wondrously full sound.
Strings and brass accompany this indie guitar pop, breathing life into
the tunes in a manner worthy of Arcade Fire. Songs are sung with
delicate cracked vocals reminiscent of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
Imminent single, Fire Escape, feels like summer is officially here and
deserves to be heard from every open window. The only downside is the
short 30min set leaves you wanting more.

8/10

You should check these guys out tho, they're superb. It was a good evening too meeting up with a couple of mstu members. I have some pictures which I guess I'll get round to uploading some time

Emma Pollock live

It's a while since i've been blogging, and it's not through a lack of things to say. Maybe it's a lack of time, or i just can't be bothered anymore. Perhaps it has run it's course. Maybe I'll offer the odd review, but perhpas my time can be better spent. If i get loads of people saying - chris we love reading your blog, i may change my mind. I doubt that is a likely outcome.

So it was a little over a week ago i went to see emma pollock performing live at leeds Brudenell Social Club. I'd been looking forward to this gig for ages. Emma used to be a member of the delgados, one of my all time favourite bands, and i was also a little apprehensive that i'd just will it to be good, even if it wasn't. Thankfully there was no need for any rose tinted glasses, the performance was fine and some of the songs were extremely good too. Her husband, paul savage, played the drums, though on future tours another drummer will be employed. I sent a review off to planet sound, but the editor went to see her live in London, so his review was aired and thus far mine has not been screened.

I'd gone straight from work as I'd planned to work from our leeds office. Not familiar with this venue, or indeed with leeds, i set off in the car, spying a maccy D i decided to pull in and get something to eat. Thinking ahead i'd remembered to bring a book with me and i 'enjoyed' a delicious meal whilst reading. It must've been my lucky day as i won a mcfluffy or whatever it is they call an ice cream there. Headed on down towards the venue, i was still a bit early so read some more before trying to seek it out. Found the place, some kind of working mens club, and the doors didn't open till 8pm, i'd guessed a 7:30 opening. The club bar was open, so i ventured inside, drinking a j20 cos i was driving. Got a funny look when i asked if i could have a glass for my drink when presented with a bottle. Scanned the room and amongst the smoking men there was an indie looking kid. Got to be going to the gig I thought, so siddled over and started chatting with him. No gig goer, but a nice guy, in fact he was writing a book and we talked quite a bit about writing and things. That was great and inspired me to get on with my prose. Went into the next door room about 8:20, the doors finally open. Saw Emma by the bar and had a chat with her, she's really very pleasant and seemed guenuinely pleased that an old delgado fan had come along. I'll maybe post my teletext review here, but i'll give it a couple more days to see if it gets a screening.
Below are a couple of youtube links of the performance and John Earl's review.

The adelphi

I knew there was something else....
On wednesday I went to visit kb in hull, it was good to catch up and see her. Some friends of hers were playing a gig that evening and they were playing at the adelphi. Fantastic, i thought, not only a gig, but one at the fabled adelphi. Hull's premier seedy music venue. I can't imagine there is another venue like this in england, if not the world. Situated down a normal street of housing an end terrace house has been converted into a small, dark gig venue. The lower floors knocked through to create a performance area, with small bar and sound desk at the back. Even better, real ale pub on hand pull. Once inside i sent a txt to my friend who had previously described the venue to me. He replied asking if the beer was still rancid. It was! First up was some uni prof playing acoustic covers on his guitar. Then some scream majors, screaming nonsense over beats supplied by music geek with his iBook, whilst hairy beast played heavy guitar riffs. All kids seem to be using i-This or that these days. Sounds good, but looks a bit naff live. Then kb's friends, KIERANONONONONO, take the stage in comedy hawaii outfits. More screeching guitars and apple macs with keyboards and decks. They made quite a racquet, not too disimilar to Wyld Stallyions of Bill and Ted fame, before they had travelled in time to get music lessons! Quality, such energy and enthusiasm. Pity it sounded dreadful. Apart from the shouty rendition of happy birthday, that was actually quite good.

Eurovision clips

I hardly ever get any traffic to my blog, but there was a small spike of activity these last few days. One of the most searched for items to reach this blog, bar my name, is eurovision clips. I posted some clips of the wonderful lordi last year and people still drop by - have they not heard of youtube!
This post has nothing to do with eurovision, cos I didn't see it, instead here is my review of the 65 days of static gig i went to the other day. It's been edited to read more scathing than my original text.
Click the image to see it enlarged if you want to read it.

bank holiday iv - 65 days of static

Just to finish my star wars-esque bank holiday double trilogy. Went to the plug, one of my least favourite venues, to see 65dos. Always a breath of fresh air to see these guys in action, competely different to the usual lilting indie pop i prefer. As usual, Mirimar disaster are in support, screaming primaeval grunts over heavy rock. It always amuses me that the singer has such good diction and incredibly clear when addressing the crowd, and completely incoherant when singing! 65 dos produced another tight set of new and old music, roaring guitar melodies and manic bleeps makes for a good combination. Visuals mixed in a bit of vjaying to add to the mix. Hopefully there will be a review on teletext this week - so watch out on p344 channel 4 (or 824 if you use digital).
Some pics flickr

not making the grade

My mstu teletext review has not made the grade - boo, especially as i find it difficult to review a band i like so much that most people have never heard of. So just for you I'll recreate it here, just imagine it in those beautiful blocky graphics:

Monkey Swallows the Universe - live Sheffield Lantern 21/4

Tonight a small Victorian playhouse nestled in suburbia is awakened by
the magic of mstu. Utilising the tools of twee: acoustic guitars,
strings, recorders, the product is more substantial. Hovering around
the territory of the delgados and camera obscura producing songs of
instant impact and longevity. Nat's achingly beautiful vocals
compliment the delicate folky-pop, a sound that is ambrosia for the
ears. Whilst the world's attention is tuned into Sheffield's more
famous monkeys, they're missing the jewel – don't fall into the same
trap.

9/10