EP review in Monolith Cocktail, May 31
The new EP’s scored a great review in Monolith Cocktail, which describes it as one of my “best releases yet” – and the in-depth write-up concludes I’ve “seldom sounded better and more imaginative”. Have a look, see if you agree (and read all the other stuff too… It’s a great gateway into loads of interesting music).
On a related subject, another shout out for Plugged In Brighton Mixcloud 2 – which features a track from the EP. Here’s the playlist: Frank & Beans – Card Song/ Big Slammu – Chicken Pocks/ Young Francis – Short Hair Girl/ Bitch Theme – Tigerlily/ Rotten Foxes – Mullet/ Matt Finucane – Not Too Far/ Sit Down – Candy Bar/ Ditz – Two/ Negative Measures – Chained/ Red Shores – Cold War/ Clt Drp – Merry Go Round/ King Bee Buzzkut
11 June gig, Hope & Ruin, and other stories
My next full-band gig’s on Mon 11 June at the Hope & Ruin, with Pink Narcissus, Peter Cat & Lewis McKale. I’ll be onstage from 8:30, with a new drummer and new songs – truly, playing with the big boys…
Before that, there’s a return to Mr Wolf’s in Bristol (tomorrow!) and another go at Bar 42 in Worthing (electric this time). I chase the phantom wherever it leads, till the oil runs out and the lights go off.
I love a blog entry studded with enticing blue links. So – another track from the new EP can be heard on the second Mixcloud from Plugged In Brighton, along with loads of other really good hard stuff. Listen at leisure.
new EP “Ugly Scene” released 11 May ’18
Bandcamp (includes bonus material) / Amazon / Apple Music / Spotify
Not Too Far
The Wrong Side
Ugly Man
Damn Storyteller
City Consolation
Out today: the loudest and most obnoxious set of recordings I’ve done in quite a while – it felt like that kind of time again. The follow-up, hopefully due later this year, is already finished and takes a different angle… it’s called Disquiet. But for now, hope you enjoy these dispatches from the feedback frontier x
“spins and spins to weave a heavy and complex sonic web” – indiebandguru.com
Interview & front cover, Plugged In Brighton
There I am on the cover of Plugged In Brighton 2… And here, with their kind permission, is the interview from the same issue:
It was lovely to be asked, and they had some kind words about Ugly Scene too:
“the songs are art rock without being limp and inhabit a weird version of our world […] Matt is raging against whatever is there” … among other things.
There’s good info on local bands in there, so pick up a copy if you live in this hipster gulag – or check their facebook page (link above) and mixcloud, if not.
live video & pix: Wildcard Quartet, 25 April
As part of my musical sideline as a (novice) member of the Safehouse collective, here’s some video footage – and photos – from the 25th April gig supporting Shatner’s Bassoon & Bolide, once again courtesy Agata Urbaniak:
…photos on Flickr here
It’s good to branch out…
live video/photos, Bar 42 April ’18 (Agata Urbaniak)
Fantastic, atmospheric photos by Agata Urbaniak – follow this link to Flickr for more
These were taken at Sunday’s Bar 42 gig, and include shots of Dran Krwawy, La Pequena Em, Kuroneko… I really like this photographer’s work, which captures the heightened, adrenalised feel of live performance better than most others I can think of – without resorting to any of the obvious moves – so it’s a thrill to be included. Feast yr eyes, glut yr etc.
And for good measure, here’s a video of an unreleased song called Evil Relief :
new EP & gigs (April-June ’18)
There’s a new EP due on 11 May in all its ugly glory… I got tired of introspective stuff and dialled up the noise/sarcasm/repetition. It’s also, for the most part, very… direct. Here’s advance word from xsnoize.com.
I’ve already recorded the follow-up, and that’s different again. Meanwhile, think of this one as an outburst of protest – although the final track may be one of the prettiest things I’ve ever done. A conundrum, for sure (but not too much of one… it’s getting playlisted a lot, which is very welcome).
Gigs are lining up – solo, as a guitar/drums duo, full electric band – and dates so far include:
Another improv gig, as described previously, in the Wildcard Quartet:
Mon 21 May, Short Steps presents @ Fortune of War (Brighton) – w/ Ja Sputnik, Noisferatu & Pete Wiseman
Mon 28 May, Mr Wolf’s (Bristol)
Fri 22 June, Real Music Club @ The Brunswick (Brighton) – w/ Andy Roberts & The Boy In The Cupboard
More tbc for June onwards. Ugliness, ugliness everywhere (and I love it)… x
EDIT: you can hear a track from the EP on Indie Arena Radio’s Mixcloud here
never to be repeated: Safe House improv gig, 31 Jan
the venue (Verdict Jazz Club) in a quiet moment
So I’ve been going to Safe House here in Brighton for a while, and it’s helped keep me honest and open-minded musically (flexible, too). It’s a, well, it’s… right, this is off their site:
…collective that hosts two separate nights that focus on improvised and experimental music: Safehouse, on the first Wednesday of every month, and On The Edge, on the last.
[…] There may or may not be any rhythm, tonal centre or structure to the pieces played. The music is free in that sense. No premeditated ideas or constrictions. Any sound is valid. It is a sonic conversation, in which players respond to each other as spontaneously as possible.
It can be brilliant, terrifying and beautiful or absolute shit, depending on the quiddities of the moment. Some of the players are very advanced indeed, but I’ve managed to reach a point where I can hold my own onstage well enough as part of a free improv scratch ensemble – or at least not embarrass myself too often. One aspect of the gig nights is the Wildcard Quartet: four names are selected at random to go on as first support and improvise for about twenty minutes, no quarter asked or given. (They’re very clear about this… it’s not “jamming”, it’s improvisation. Start spamming out riffs by rote and they take you out back and shoot you. Horribly distorted electric guitars are permitted, however.)
Anyway, my name came up for the gig on 31 Jan. It’s exciting stuff, and will be entirely unique, which is kind of the point.
Event link here // Tickets here (£6/5)
The program:
Graham Dunning, Colin Webster, Sam Underwood
In this trio Graham Dunning plays turntable, dubplates and dentristry tools, walkmans and amplified objects. Colin Webster plays saxophone and Sam Underwood the tuba.
In 2014 Graham and Colin released two albums of recordings on the Linear Obsessional and Raw Tonk labels. They also toured the UK and Switzerland – the video below is from their set in Zurich.
The trio performed a memorable set at Supernormal festival in 2015 and released a CD called Bleed on ADAADAT label – a track from which is below.
https://soundcloud.com/mrunderwood/tarnlavadust#t=0:00
Fettucini Spicer
Fettucini Spicer attempt to provoke/shock each other into action by the application of a multitude of instruments and objects too numerous to mention!
Wildcard Quartet
…I have no idea what to expect, and trust me – neither do you.
2017 in fuzzy pixels
Quite a full year: a new live band plus lots of gigs, an EP release and tour. Here’s to another like it, but more so – it’s been great, and thanks everyone who’s listened. (Should point out, I do own more than one shirt… look closely and you’ll see they’re not all the same garment – just very, very similar. Maybe next year I’ll experiment with another colour or two. Maybe.)
x
Cargo gig pix Dec 17
from the 69X End of Year show at Cargo, London, 16th Dec ’17
photos by Paul Newman
last 2017 gig: Cargo LDN, 16 Dec, 10-hour homeless charity benefit
A big title, but then it’s a big day. Runs 12 – 10:00pm on Sat 16 Dec, promoted by 69X Music, features:
Amber Anderton/Elliot Falla/Danny Martin/Spidasense/LegPuppy/The Wax Lyrical Sound/Act of Love/40 Shillings On The Drum/LaFlamme/Lauren V/Nemesis…
Plus film crew, a “surprise guest” and me – kicking it off at noon.
Proceeds to homeless charities http://www.streetlink.org.uk/ | http://dotslondon.co.uk/ | https://www.mungos.org/
A good one to go out on for 2017, then.
Here’s a short fb vid:
EP review on Subba-Cultcha
A new write-up for the EP here – “This is not your standard Brit-Pop”, featuring “innovation, with sound experimentation, layering and fluctuations within the music’s structure itself, ranging from full-fledged psyched out Pink Floyd-ish granderie at one moment, then over to stripped-down Bob Dylan-like moments of minimalism and pensiveness”.
Good to know it’s doing what it was meant to.
EP launch & gig
My new EP comes out today (25th Oct), and I’m doing a gig on Sun 29th for Brighton Noise to mark the launch. It’s beyond cool to be asked to play by them – plus ChrySalliss Presents – on a bill with Cali Santo and local legends The Long Goodbye.
Following that, there are more gigs across the UK: check back for updates.
EP can be found on Bandcamp here
plus Amazon, Apple Music & Spotify
tour Oct – Dec 17
infoOut on tour for the first time in years, by fits and starts till December.
It’s written up in Misfit City:
“If Matt’s got a keynote as a songwriter, it’s his knack for seamlessly juxtaposing the macabre with the ordinary […] These days he’s a little wiser and friendlier, but just as stubborn; and still worth spending time with.”
EP review in Monolith Cocktail
According to this great in-depth review, the EP marks “a welcome return to the music scene, and once again defies categorization”
…Which is very good to know. If you read the whole entry (I’m about halfway down it), you’ll find several interesting new artists to hear.
Guitars Who Cares gig pix
Photos of the band onstage at the Guitars Who Cares all-dayer, put on by Poupee Visage at Green Door Store (as you just might be able to tell from the glowing backdrop). They’re grainy because they’re stills from a video camera – sadly the footage was unusable because we were too loud for the mic. It was a good gig.
Guitars? Who Cares – gig with band, Brighton 8th Oct
So I’m playing at this all-day celebration of noise on Sunday, with bass and drums and a loud electric guitar again. We’re on about 6pm, but I can recommend arriving earlier: check that line-up.
5 quid, 11 bands, 9 hours of mind-smashing volume in Brighton’s best, most dimly-lit venue. Sounds like heaven to me.
BLURB
An All-Dayer showcasing the best Brighton bands and artists playing Alt, Indie and Grunge. Only £5 on the door. #Brighton #Alt #Indie #Grunge #Punk #Rock
Pink Narcissus
Brighton Freak Rock est. 2009
https://pinknarcissus.bandcamp.com/
Idle Bones
Alternative Rock from Brighton.
https://www.facebook.com/IdleBonesUK/
Hell Beings
Fuzz Chug Wailers
https://hellbeings.bandcamp.com/
Matt Finucane
Deliciously dysfunctional, hard-edged art rock.
https://mattfinucane.net/
Thirty Giants
Homegrown heavy featuring bits lifted from all your favourite bands.
https://www.facebook.com/thirtygiants/
ARXX
A fine tuned mix of garage rock and gospel.
https://www.facebook.com/arxxband/
Spleen
https://www.facebook.com/spleenbrighton/
Frank & Beans
Two-piece thunder punk outfit from N. Ireland.
https://www.facebook.com/Frank-Beans-1502143416758541/
https://frankandbeans.bandcamp.com/
Embet Henx
Brighton Rock/Noise Pests
https://www.facebook.com/embethenx/
https://embethenx.bandcamp.com/releases
WitchShark
Punchy, noisy, melodic punk from Brighton
https://witchshark.bandcamp.com/releases
Young Francis
One Man Punk Band
https://www.facebook.com/yyoungfrancis/
song of the day @ This Is Not A Drill
A feature on the EP from This Is Not A Drill
“…like with any good outsider, the more you listen to the songs, the more natural they become, and soon those quirks become hooks”
A write-up for Threaten Me With Your Love, to go with this one from withguitars.
live session, Radio Reverb: listen back
Here’s a live session / interview I did for Pete Jones the other day on Radio Reverb (at 33min 58 onwards)…
There’s two unrecorded new tracks – one so new that I cocked up the intro twice, the suspense is incredible – and two from the forthcoming EP:
Not Too Far / Threaten Me with Your Love / Looking For A Genius / Moon Madness
There’s plenty of other tunes and chat, some of which took a weirdly confessional left-turn; a solid listen all round. See if you can tell how wretched my hayfever was; I reckon it doesn’t show at all, but what do you think?
BBC session free download
Here’s a free download, moved across to Bandcamp from Soundcloud.
It’s a BBC Introducing: South session with my previous live band (including links by DJ Melita Dennett – these were included in the original files they sent me afterward, and add a pleasing sense of the captured moment).
Live-wise, my next gig’s in Brighton at Campbell Rd Studios, for these guys:
Feel free to pig out on all of the above.
electric band PIX
Some photos of Thursday’s full-band gig. Mik and Steve sounded great – dead showbiz.
gig, Thur 13 April – with electric band
Octopuses (Bouncy Castle single launch!)
alt indie dance from the bottom of the (Brighton) sea
https://www.facebook.com/octopusesband/
Matt Finucane + band
chanelling Lou Reed stylings with backing band
https://mattfinucane.net/
AK Patterson
folk singer songwriter…
https://m.facebook.com/akpatterson
live at the Prince Albert on Thursday 13th April
Doors Open: 8pm
Entry: £4
tickets on the door only
email: dazedawake@gmail.com
a band (definite)… some gigs (rumoured)
by Pete Wiseman
Not been idle, as the ultra-swift sketch above shows – that’s me playing guitar at an open mic, you can tell by the eyebrows.
Been testing out a lot of new songs lately, getting a heavy slab of stage-time over the last few months – some of it transcendent, some of it pure fucking grim. But even the misfires excite me.
Okay, enough brand-management. What news? Put together an electric band end of last year, just a three-piece but very powerful and much more simpatico – in both senses – than my previous attempt, which was fine but hardly built to last. Our first gig will be here in Brighton sometime around 30th March, details still tbc. Before then I’ll be back at the Coach House with Sam Cutting on Thur 16th Feb – more info soon.
May this glorious new year bring you a few moments’ respite from the crushing fear and horror
x
