Adventures In Static Monochrome
I’ve been looking for support for the Andersens & Starlets gig on 12th July and stumbled across a nice collective of local bands called Adventures In Static Monochrome. It’s kind of like a record label but without the records, in that it’s a statement of intent and beliefs by a collective of bands who like each other, and like any good indie label, liking one band makes you want to check out the rest.
Hopefully good things will happen as part of this - there’s already talk of a compilation CD and it seems that various collaborations take place too.
These are the bands currently in the collective -
Bavarian Country Singers and Comrades
I’ve not seen these play live yet, but hopefully I will soon if they can play the Andersens gig. They’re kind of a folk lo-fi in the same way as Andersens which makes me think it’ll work really well. They use a good mix of instruments to great effect - the banjo works really well on A Stormy Day At Sea and I love the brass instruments which kick in about a minute into Hooks Pt 1.
Dan Hartland
Solo acoustic performer who plays a lot around Birmingham and has a residency at The Queens. He’s joined by a cello player from time to time too by the looks of things, and there’s some songs with more arrangement on his myspace too if you want to have a look round.
The Sleuths
Former Autumn Storeists who played at the Monkey Swallows The Universe gig just under a year ago. They’ve got an absolutely brilliant track called The Other Sleep on the Adventures in Static Monochrome page at the moment. *tries to click on it to download it and keep it forever*. Hopefully it’ll make the CD.
Jay Krause
He’s from Manchester so not as local as the rest of the collective, though you can download his songs from his myspace. It’s reflective solo songwriting, and he does some short film soundtracks too - there’s a Youtube of one on his myspace.
Mellow Peaches
I’d not had chance to listen to these before today but I’d heard good things. They’re quite bluesy with some lo-fi thrown in for good measure. I quite enjoyed the bouncy tune of ‘Fireflies’ which is on their page at the moment, and there’s some nice guitar work going on.
Gurdan Thomas
I accidentally walked in on a Gurdan Thomas gig a while back and stayed for most of the set. He’s got a really inventive use of melody and there’s a great song called I’d Have Her which you can download off his myspace. Ooh, and his myspace has recently filled with loads of local gigs.
