Bristol Live Picks: 30th January - 5th February
Posted on: 30 Jan 2017Thekla proves that it really is the boat that rocks this week with two gigs of real quality, while elsewhere sees the return of elder statesmen of both the hip-hop and house games. Feast your ears.
C Duncan / Stevie Parker - Thekla, 01.02
Christopher Duncan is the classically-trained Glaswegian multi-instrumentalist, whose elaborate compositions billowy out into dreamy slices of intelligent indie-pop. These tracks, which have formed his two LPs to date, are incredibly ornate in their make-up and thus their live translation presents something of a challenge. As such, with his five-piece band Duncan has devised countless versions of each song to bring to the stage, so that two performances will rarely be the same. His show at Thekla will therefore be a unique one, with able support arriving from Stevie Parker, who layers cushioned beats and shining synths beneath a vocal majestic enough to stun The Louisiana when she swung by at the end of last November.
Natty - The Fleece, 01.02
It is a bit scary to think that nearly a decade has passed since the release of Man Like I, the 12-track LP of easy-going, reggae-informed pop that formed the debut of Natty. In the summer that followed, it was impossible to escape the dulcet tones of the North London-born Jamaican troubadour - not that you’d want to; his warm melisma and pleasant witticisms make his music the ideal accompaniment to a blue sky and cold lager. For a while, this was all we had to go on, which was okay: tracks like ‘July’ and ‘Badman’ still fizzed with the ramshackle vigour of youth, while the more socially-conscious lyricism on ‘Coloured Souls’ and ‘Cold Town’ remained more relevant than ever before. However a follow-up arrived last February in the form of Release The Fear, which saw the badman back on the high seas with The Rebelship, whose latest tour sees them drop anchor in Bristol for a night at The Fleece.
Liam Bailey - Thekla, 03.02
For one reason or another, Liam Bailey has long been skirting the fringes of popular music. A friend of Amy Winehouse, the list of artists he has written and collaborated with (which includes Shy FX and DJ Fresh), reads like a who’s who of dance-leaning pop, with Bailey perhaps best known for his feature on Chase and Status’ massive top five hit, ‘Blind Faith’. Despite this, and the slew of singles which have trickled through since his first emergence back in 2008, it took until 2015 for the singer to release his debut album, Definitely NOW, which saw him more than justify these confidences. Last year’s single ‘Love My Neighbour’ raised expectation for a follow-up, so expect to hear new songs when he clambers aboard HMS Thekla on Friday night.
Just Jack - Motion, 04.02
A lot has changed since Just Jack threw their first party all the way back in 2006. Their instinct for selecting stellar line-ups for stellar knees-ups, however, has not, and this instalment for their 11th birthday might just be their best yet. Posters for the event have been showing the event’s headliner as ‘Robert Hood aka Floorplan’, sparking excitement that the Underground Resistance honcho might draw heavily from his revered house project in his set, while elsewhere Glaswegian duo Optimo and emperor of the good times Soichi Terada will throw down some infectious fire. Perhaps the most tantalising prospect is seeing Midland (pictured) rolling the Final Credits as he closes out in the Marble Factory, ending a night which represents an embarrassment of riches.
Yasiin Bey - O2 Academy, 04.02
Yasiin Bey has spent the majority of the last year detained in South Africa, where he was held on charges of overstaying his visa and using world passport. Upon his release in October, he announced his intention to immediately retirement from music and film, though that he would still be creative. The dismay of his fans in the UK, however, has been suspended by Bey’s announcement of a handful of farewell dates in the country, where he will rifle through the back-catalogue of his rap alias Mos Def. Under the moniker, Bey released some of the most revered hip hop of the ‘90s, before his interest in film and activism divided his attention. Despite these changes in direction, his music has remained as fresh and relevant as ever, and his show at Bristol’s O2 Academy is a rare chance to hear it in the flesh.
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An ardent Geordie minus the accent, Sam seemingly strove to get as far away from the Toon as possible, as soon as university beckoned. Three undergraduate years at UoB were more than ample time for Bristol (as it inevitably does) to get under his skin, and so here he remains: reporting, as Assistant Editor, on the cultural happenings which so infatuated him with the city. Catch him at sam@365bristol.com.
