Thirsty and Miserable with Gunning For Tamar, Oxygen Thief and Andy Oliveri

A late photo update from Mike Only, Jim Lockey and Mike Scott

Thirsty and Miserable Launch

Thursday 27th of Jan saw the launch of a new night in Cheltenham built on a new set of ideas with a strong DIY attitude and a little help from our friends and the nice folk at istartedthefire records. The launch had a very strong local line up with Gareth Harper, Falcons and Men Diamler all playing their hearts out in an intimate setting in front of a receptive audience.

After the three acts had wowed the crowd Men Diamler joined the Thirsty and Miserable DJ's behind the decks as we both played contrasting tracks with no attention payed to genres. Bellow are a selection of images from the night if you want to read a full review you will have to wit until the second issue of the Thirsty and Miserable zine.

Rosie Jones and The Mystery Machine - Greatest Hits (Got, Got Need Records)

Rosie Jones possesses a voice which is instantly likeable and I find it hard to believe her Greatest Hits only totals three, but that’s how many are available on the download of that name through Got Got Need Records.

All three tracks offer something beautiful in a different way and move perfectly together as a three track. Opener ‘No one but me’ offers textbook folk fronted by soulful vocals making every lyric instantly relatable. This effortlessly moves into ‘Roll on’ which starts with an almost gospel element before taking on an honest folk sound, once more focusing on soulful vocals. ‘Tennessee’ is a perfect conclusion and honest lyrics are tinged with humor, again the vocals create a relationship with the track.

Rosie deserves to take a place amongst the new folk scene alongside the Laura Marlings and Mumford and Sons. It’s awesome to hear a folk influence taken and molded into something individual. If I were to make comparisons I would recommend this to anyone who likes Laura Stevenson and the Cans, Boat To Row, Midnight Mile or Laura Marling, and anyone who enjoys folk or acoustic music of any kind.

These three tracks are enough to make me want to hear much more from Rosie and her Mystery Machine.

Mike Scott and Ben Childs Split EP

This is a record that got me truly excited both artists used to be in bands I was inspired by in my younger years (Mike sang for Phineaus Gage and Ben was one of the founding members of Sonic Boom Six) so to hear what their solo work sounded like was going to be a treat.

This excitement was not wasted as from the first few bars of  Ben’s opening track of the album you can tell you are going to be in for a treat. I was surprised to hear the large folk influence within Ben’s six tracks but it totally works the addition of violin and banjo in parts creates an authentic folk feel. This folk influence combines beautifully with elements of reggae, which mostly come through from distinctive vocals and political and personal lyrics.

This first half of the split is perfect for summer and the general cheery musical style suit Child’s voice superbly. There are moments of raw emotion, passion and completely danceable passages overall this is the perfect showcase for what this artist can and will continue to do. Each track flows faultlessly into the next making this piece of work incredible for both individual tracks and  as an entire record. 

If New-Folk is the future of alternative music expect Ben to be at the fore front of the genre as it develops. These are the first six songs to be released by Ben Childs and to be completely honest they blew me away with a mixture of surprise and pure joy. If this is to be the style that solo work keeps to I will very much look forward to hearing what’s next.

Ben’s half of the split is beautifully balanced out with the more pessimistic style of Mike Scott who presents acoustic punk rock in a passionate honest style. Mike’s snarling vocals are backed by raw acoustic guitar and occasional backing vocals. Mike’s lyrics are political throughout his six tracks, two of which are perfectly selected covers (The Connells  and Propaghandi). Mike’s observational lyrics are inspiring and depressing in equal measure, his reverse political analysis makes it impossible not to continue thinking after listening to each track.

The honesty projected through lyrics and Mikes voice create an enchanting six tracks that seem to float by in a matter of moments. The balance of songs is again near perfect showing an incredible amount of thought has gone into song selection, the track listing flows smoothly and creates a varying array of emotion throughout giving this EP a real sense of longevity.

Although Mike Scott has a completely different approach to acoustic music to that of Ban Childs this creates a split, which is a thing of beauty and wonder. The contrasted styles fit together beautifully and this record has been a regular on my CD player and Ipod in the last month or so and I can see it staying there for a long time. I can only recommend that you go and buy this record and support this countries DIY scene.