odds and ends

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I have been a busy boy. I'm in a massive hurry so I'm going to keep the chat to a minimum and the music to the max.

At the moment I'm mainly loving the discordant joys of the Dresden Dolls. Their songs include every ear jarring chord known to man, but some how manage to combine them in such a way as to end up with enchantingly edgy musical masterpieces.



Above: Dresden Dolls - Girl Anachronism

Like that? Watch Dresden dolls - Backstabber

Moving in a completely different direction, I have been meaning to write about Tellison for ages. I saw them at the Huckster Club in London a while back and was very impressed. Here are a few videos to wet your appetite.



Above: Tellison Tour Montage A La New York
Below: Tellison - Reader



Since I'm here I may as well mention that Scouting For Girls next single 'She's so Lovely' is out next Monday. The video is below, go and buy it!



As if all of this isn't enough, we're sponsoring another event!



Kiss My Face Events

Dresden Dolls Myspace
Tellison Myspace
Scouting For Girls Myspace

funk off, jazz on

Firstly, apologies that it’s so long since my last post; I’ve been on holiday, graduated, went on holiday again and been job hunting since we last spoke!

I’m going to jump straight in with tales of the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia. Expectations were high, following a solid performance by Sergio Mendes at last year’s festival. I hadn’t had time to check the lineup, so arrived not knowing what to expect. The band we saw is called Funk Off. Wow, they were sensational. This 15 piece band (verging on full orchestra) is known for playing Jazz on the streets of Italy. On their website it is said that Funk Off are "probably the most exciting street band in Italy at the moment". This is contender for understatement of the year. Unwilling to confine themselves to a stage, the band snuck around the back of the audience in the town square and started the set whist marching through the audience, in to the back stage area, finishing the song on stage to rapturous applause. Carnival atmosphere and spectacular, free flowing jazz followed. This band is a unique visual and aural phenomenon, which you have to experience to appreciate.

Below is a 45 second clip of a street performance at the festival, followed by an 8 minute long full parade for those of you with more stamina!





Check out the band here - Funk Off

Having returned from Italy, my next stop was the equally glamorous Derby, where I was impressed by Komakino and The Strand Arcade. Myspace links are below so you can check them out for yourselves. Derby seems to have a habit at the moment of generating a lot of very good indie bands, all of which seem to struggle in obtaining excellence. Hopefully these bands will have what it takes to break that habit.

Komakino
The Strand Arcade