Liverpool Sound City – first acts announced!

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:11:37 +0000

For one reason or another Liverpool has picked up a bit of a reputation for good music. Liverpool Sound City, the 3 day music, media and technology conference, and live arts and music festival Continues that tradition when it returns to the city in May with another thrillingly compelling line up. Forward thinking and future focused, the show aims to bring the best new music, film, art and more from all over the world to Liverpool, although wings are expanding with the inaugural New York Sound City show taking place in March and further international shows to be announced.
As well as a whole bunch of good music, Seund City will be hosting the UK Music Student Awards to be hosted by BBC Radio 1’s Edith Bowman and a running in live demos, master classes, discussions and more as part of the convention exploring the intersection between art, music, business and technology.
Band wise, Professor Green, White Denim, Death In Vegas, Cloud Nothings, Yukon Blonde, Charli XCX, and Fixers have all been announced, perfectly demonstrating the breadth of talent that Liverpool Sound City aims to showcase.
Early bird tickets are available here – but be quick as the recession busting price expires at midday on February 6th. Although it’s well worth it whatever price you pay.

Charli XCX @ HMV Next Big Thing, The Borderline 5 February 2010

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:07:10 +0000

Music is full of dichotomies. If only it was as simple as being ‘all about the music.’ In the past week I‟ve been reminded how muchAdd New more to the whole shebang there really is. Take Goldhawks on Tuesday night (3rd Feb) at Hoxton Bar & Grill – some alright tunes, bit of a Bono complex, but altogether tight – but lead singer Bobby Hawk’s flicking fringe for flick’s sake. Get a grade 2 man.
Or hearing Arctic Monkey’s cover of Love Machine…that is a tune. But not so much when Girls Aloud do it, obviously. Their glamour and commercialism mar the integrity of what might constitute a good song.
And tonight it‟s the turn of Charli XCX to feel the wrath of my dou-ble standards or confused opinions. Part of HMV‟s Next Big Thing line up, anyone who comes on stage, delivers one song, dressed in a leotard and two giant baby faces on her nipples, before storming off because ‘the beats aren’t right’ until coming on again with the same song, is likely to raise eyebrows. All around me ‘weird’, ‘mental’, ‘crazy’ and other such Roget’s thesaurus synonyms are being belted about.
The problem is, and it is a problem, because we don‟t want to like her, this twice performed track ‘Do It Well’ is actually rather good. And we can‟t help but respect her. Because as crazy as she is, isn‟t art all about being crazy…totally absorbing yourself in the moment, feeling the music, losing yourself in it. We all secretly harbour a desire to be brave enough to jump up in a meeting or school assembly, or throw some shapes on the stage, or really say what we think, and Charli XCX is doing this.
Yeah, she’s a precocious teenager, but maybe the fact we find this so irritating is because we’re too scared to do as she says and ‘Dance! Come on people, you‟re being boring! Be happy!’ she reminds us what we‟re missing out on.

Charli XCX – and so she thinks

Liverpool Sound City – first acts announced!

Charli XCX @ HMV Next Big Thing, The Borderline 5 February 2010