Tribal Culture Recommends: #1 BIG DEAL

The first of our recommends starts with dark acoustic duo Big Deal.

Made up of Alice Costelloe (formerly of London band Pull in Emergency) and KC Underwood, Big Deal offer 90's grunge style acoustic. Consisting solely of one acoustic guitar and one electric, its dark and eery but at the same time manages to be beautiful. What's more these guys are everywhere at moment, look down any festival line up and you're likely to see Big Deal. They could quite easily become one of the most talked about acts this summer.

Homework by Big Deal

Es Muss Sein to Support Glasvegas

Es Muss Sein is Poppy Wilson

Es Muss Sein, Glasvegas & Two Wounded Birds @ The Garage, London - 03/04/12

I've been working with Es Muss Sein (Poppy Wilson) for almost 2 months now and It would be a fair assessment to suggest that these 2 months have been incredibly productive and successful. Perhaps the most obvious sign of this success is the Glasvegas support slot that Poppy has bagged herself at Relentless Garage (3rd April). But this is not your average run of the mill support slot, set up by some promoter without Glasvegas's prior knowledge. Nope, this is the real deal. Glasvegas themselves have declared their love of Es Muss Seins music. Bassist Rab quipped on the bands official Facebook "I love her voice and the song on her Facebook page "Sail" is beautiful..." Rab continued "she sounds similar to Lykke Li". 

Its easy to see why Glasvegas like Es Muss Sein, there's something so endearing, beautiful and humble about her music. Something that we can all relate to. The music has soul and passion, something perhaps you wouldn't expect from a fifteen year old. I was lucky enough to be involved with the recording of Es Muss Seins debut EP and let me tell you, Poppy Wilson is one very talented young lady. Watching her record her vocal parts was a joy. It quickly became apparent that Poppy was born to do this, everything seems to come so naturally to her. From her unique vocal style to her sombre guitar playing. 

I'm confident this girl has a bright future ahead of her and i'll be backing her to the hilt. If you are yet to listen to Es Muss Sein then I strongly recommend you give "Sail" a listen just below.

                                                                          Sail

                 Sail by Es muss sein


                                        Es Muss Sein's debut EP is out - April 1st

Live Tonight - Dog is Dead

Dog is Dead perform at the Komedia tonight; 14/03/12

Indie 4 piece Dog is Dead play the Komedia in Brighton tonight as part of their UK Tour. The tour coincides with the celebration of their new release, the "Two Devils EP".

The EP has four tracks, two band recordings, an acoustic track and a remix. With hints of Two Door Cinema Club, Bombay Bicylce Club and The Drums, whats not to like about these guys? If you're in the Brighton area tonight, then by all means, head down and check them out. I certainly will.

Free Download: "Henry" By Fish Tank

Fish Tank @ The Cherry Tree, Canterbury - 21/02/12

Its fair to say, that 2012 has already been a gig fuelled frenzy. I've witnessed the good, the bad and the down right awful, that the music scene has to offer. I've seen signed bands, unsigned bands and bands who should be signed, but aren't. Fish Tank are a band i'd place in this category.

I've seen Fish Tank on numerous occasions, but this is the first time I've seen them perform their debut EP "Henry" and my word, what a treat. It was furious, it was energetic and it was steamy. Quite literally, steamy.  The band kicked their set off with EP opener "Capybara" a song rick-rolled by key change and surprise. Next, it was "Kakapo" then "Ginny" two songs riddled with hooks and melody, that had the room politely head banging. Throughout the set, the noise that emanated from The Cherry Tree clearly intrigued. The Canterbury public, passing by The Cherry Tree, would stop, gaze in and watch frontman Ed Wetenhall throw himself around the room. One passer by who was clearly caught in Fish Tanks net of musical intrigue, a middle aged commuter, ended up at the bar watching the remainder of the set.

Frontman: Ed Wetenhall

The Cherry Trees windows were fully steamed by the time Fish Tank ended their 30 minute set with the ever so epic "Oliver Postgate". A song that has been carried with the band throughout their short existence, a song that oozes quality and class. How is it possible to write songs this good, when starting out?

On a night when "One Direction" claimed the "Best Song" award at The BRIT's, I was out watching real music. Music that has been written by the person performing, a person who puts their life and soul in to the words. Music that has real meaning. Fish Tank are without doubt one of the finest that the unsigned music scene has to offer, their music would quite easily be at home on arena tours with the likes of Biffy Clyro or Muse. And its with that, that I leave you with Fish Tanks EP "Henry" which you can download for free, below.

                                              "Henry" - Free Download from Fish Tank:
                                                           http://fishtank.bandcamp.com/ 

Huzzah! CD Sales Rise For a Second Year

I'll keep this one brief.

CD sales are in the ascendancy, climbing 2% from 2010's figure to 78 million. Digital sales also improved by 14% in 2011, with over 45 million consumers using digital avenues such as iTunes, Amazon and 7Digital to purchase music.

Source; http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2012/03/06/music-sales-stage-comeback-cd-buyers-up-for-second-year/

Tribal Culture's Guide to... Latitude 2012

No sheep were harmed.

Latitude Festival @ Henham Park Farm - 12/07/12 - 15/07/12

This, will possibly be my festival of choice this summer. With a superb blend of mainstream mixed with the up and coming, this promises to be a belter. Last year I ventured to Spain's, FIB Benicassim Festival in search of my yearly festival fix. And I wasn't disappointed, in fact I strongly considered boycotting British Festivals in favour of the more chilled out, warmer foreign festival. But, like everything there's a downside, the downside here being that foreign festivals rarely showcase good new music. And with the ongoing decline of guitar bands, its becoming increasingly hard to find this genre of music. Latitude 2012 has got me really excited, here are 5 reasons why:

Metronomy - 2011 was a superb year for Metronomy with the release of their third studio album "The English Riviera". This without a shadow of doubt would make it into my top 5 records of 2011, the band have come on leaps and bounds since their first release "Pip Paine (Pay the £5000 you owe)" in 2006. 


Baxter Dury  - I recently saw Baxter @ XOYO in Shoreditch and what a treat it was. "Happy Soup" is a superb album and is a perfect example of the brilliant music that is being created beyond the mainstream. If you haven't heard Baxter Dury, I strongly suggest you give them a try.


M83 - M83 seem to be doing quite well for themselves, I keep hearing "Midnight City" on various television adverts as I flick through the channels of an evening. But, like the artists mentioned above, once you go beyond "Midnight City" and scratch beneath the surface there's a brilliant album in "Hurry Up We're Dreaming" an album that's sure to please many tastes. 


Yeasayer - I first heard Yeasayer's second album"Odd Blood"  whilst round a friends house and automatically found myself drawn in. I can't explain why though? All I know is, its a ruddy good record and I've heard nothing but good things about their live shows. These guys are a must see at Latitude 2012!


Laura Marling - It would be rude not to put Laura Marling on this list. After all, she embodies everything that's great about the modern day musician. Humble, shy and talented. I manage an artist very similar to Laura called "Es Muss Sein" who I have extremely high hopes for. Both perform beautiful, soul ridden folk music, that you just know has true meaning. 

HOWLER GIVE UP - LIVE REVIEW 26/01/12

Howler Give Up.

Howler @ The Green Door Store, Brighton - 26/01/12

Howler an all American five piece, turned up in Brighton with enough arrogance to suggest their music would melt faces and leave us all gagging for more. In reality, their arrogance outlined just how "average" this five piece are. 

The night started when Howler frontman Jordan Gatesmith stumbled, JD bottle in hand, into a room packed with mardy faced Brighton posers, who dared to cunger a shape throughout the evening. But, who could blame them? After all, its Howler we're watching, hardly The Strokes like some reviewers would have you believe. *Cough* NME *Cough*. 

Howler ripped through their set, playing songs off their debut album (America Give UP) such as "I Told You Once" and "Back of Your Neck". I have to admit, "I Told You Once" had me moving, but apart from that, I couldn't help but think the whole thing was just a bit "average". Almost something you'd expect to see down your local venue on a battle of the bands evening. There was just no hook, nothing that stood out and grabbed me, even their image is poor. 

But there was one highlight to this otherwise dreary occasion. This was the moment when a crowd goer stopped Jordan Gatesmith as he stumbled out of the room post gig, to tell him just how "average" he thought their performance was. This, for me, summed up the night completely.

Average. 

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