Welcome to Playlist#1. We use tracks from bandcamp wherever possible. The reasons why are best explained by Damon of Galaxie 500.
Sabres of Paradise
The Golden Lion’s recent tribute weekend to Andrew Weatherall centred around what would have been his 61st birthday. In honour of the late, great DJ-producer, we couldn’t kick-start this, our first ever Dirty Sunbeams playlist, any other way. Here’s AW’s Sabres of Paradise project with Smokebelch II. Thanks for the memories and the tunes, Guv’nor!
The David Tattersall Group
More widely known as the lead singer in The Wave Pictures and Surfing Magazines, David Tattersall released a truly wonderful solo(-ish) album towards the back end of 2023, brimming with sweet nostalgic melodies. Somehow, it wasn’t really picked up by the masses. My Lovely is a prime example of its magnificence. David recently stopped off in Halifax to play The Grayston Unity in his more familiar Wave Pictures role.
The Lounge Society
The jazz-and funk-fuelled indie-rockers from Hebden Bridge have reared their heads once more, emerging from a mini hiatus to play a unique charity-do acoustic set at The Golden Lion. With new material in the pipeline it’s only right we fire up The Lounge Society machine in preparation. This is a little-known remix they did of the song Friends Around Us by A Certain Ratio, who are also in the area in April, playing The Parish in Huddersfield.
Bill Ryder-Jones
The new album from Birkenhead’s BRJ is a stunning selection of crafted pop soundscapes. Here’s one of its many nuggets, This Can’t Go On. Bill’s old bandmates, the ridiculously talented The Coral, recently brought their psych-folk to Halifax, playing a rare acoustic set at the Square Chapel.
Fat Frances
The dynamic new single from Todmorden’s very own Fat Frances, aka Rory Johnson, featuring The Strokes’ producer, Gordon Raphael, at the controls. Read more about how that very special collaboration came about.
Minami Deutsch
It’s no hyperbole to suggest that one of Tokyo’s mightiest modern-day achievements is the formation of Miami Deutsch. Seriously. The purveyors of heart-pounding, krautrock-psych will once more be crushing minds and saving souls at The Golden Lion on May 17th. This is from their famous Roadburn Festival performance with Damo Suzuki.
Edgars Rubenis
Working his magic with early blues and ragtime influences, Edgars writes music for the ages in an entirely new way. The acclaimed finger-picking, steel-string guitarist from Riga, Latvia – now residing in the Netherlands – stopped off at The Puzzle earlier this year and delivered an expressive, bewitching set.
The Burning Hell
Despite being nearly 10 years old, this remains very much a song for our times. It is also one of The Burning Hell’s finest moments. The quirky Canadian trio, led by chief songwriter Matthias Kom, dished out their perfect blend of folk-pop humour and infectious charm at The Trades Club in April.
Les Gillon and The Agents Of Karma
The talented singer-guitarist, Les Gillon, is perhaps best known as frontman of alt-rock band Fez, but he has also let his experimental tendencies run amok in various other exciting directions. Les will be playing with the Agents of Karma at The Blind Pig in Sowerby Bridge on May 17th.
Paul-Ronney Angel feat. Casino Steel
Paul-Ronney is the face and voice of titanic, bourbon-soaked gypsy blues combo, The Urban Voodoo Machine, who made a welcome return to The Trades Club this Spring as part of their 20th anniversary tour. Here he is in almost-solo guise, alongside Norwegian musician, Casino Steel of punk band, The Boys.
————————
Photo credit: Taken from a picture by Rory Flynn
