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Blue Orchids

The Bitter Springs, Pog

0	BRIGHTON: The Hope & Ruin
P	Saturday 23rd July, 2016
N	8:00pm

Event information

Bizarro Promotions Presents.... BLUE ORCHIDS

A new album, a new live line-up and a distinguished musical pedigree .. Martin Bramah's poised to begin a new chapter in the history of the Blue Orchids while also embracing his past.

The legendary band's new ten-track album 'The Once & Future Thing' will be released this year.. It shows his songwriting as strong and yet as diverse as ever, from the powerful opener 'Good Day to Live' to the delicate and sensitive 'Rosy Hours' and the twisted English city blues of 'Motorway'.

Backing Bramah live will be a new band comprising John Paul Moran (The Monochrome Set, Rapid Pig) on keyboards; on drums, Chris Connolly (The Glitter Band, Ed Banger and the Nosebleeds, V2); and Vince Hunt (Inca Babies, A Witness) on bass.

They'll be playing a set of classics from the band's four main albums - The Greatest Hit, The Sleeper, Mystic Bud and Slum Cavern Jest - returning Bramah's mesmering, shamanic performances to the stage with his new material. There'll also be samplings from Bramah's various musical reincarnations as Factory Star and as a solo artist.

The new songs on 'The Once and Future Thing' confirm Bramah's status as one of the UK's most inventive and original guitarists and a superbly measured, thoughtful lyricist. Perhaps that's why he was sought out by Nico of the Velvet Underground to back her band, why his songs have been covered by a vast number of independent bands in the USA (Slovenly, Fish & Roses, Monks Of Doom, Crystal Stilts and Dustdevils, to name just five) and why he's acclaimed by a generation of musicians and writers for 'making music which is introspective yet exhilarating, sad but stirring.' (Dave Hill, City Limits.)

A founder member of The Fall, Bramah left after the 'Live at the Witch Trials' debut album, forming the Blue Orchids - with almost instant success. John Peel championed the 1981 single 'Work' and their first album later that year 'The Greatest Hit' (1981) topped the independent charts and delivered five classics still in the set today - Sun Connection, Dumb Magician, A Year With No Head, Low Profile and Bad Education, the latter covered by Aztec Camera.

The line-ups of the Blue Orchids over the next twenty years read like a Who's Who of independent music but despite penning a catalogue of great songs in that time there was never a settled band.

Now, as well as the ten new tracks on 'The Once and Future Thing' there'll be accompanying vinyl releases on the Tiny Global label of a 1980s singles collection called 'Awefull' and Bramah's legendary never-before-released solo album 'The Battle of Twisted Heel'.

'Awefull' will chart the band's classic Rough Trade singles from the 1980s (The Flood, Disney Boys, Work, Agents of Change, demos of Sleepy Town and Unknown and many more) while 'The Battle of Twisted Heel' has been re-mastered and will now be available on vinyl for the first time.

Having created one of the most distinctive post-punk sounds - strung-out keyboards weaving around inventive, discordant guitar patterns, once described as 'Phil Spector meets the Velvet Underground beneath the Blackpool illuminations' - the Blue Orchids now move on, determined to make the world a more colourful place.

And 'The Once & Future Thing' will confirm Martin Bramah as an artist that has followed his muse and who has given the world some great and memorable songs.

"...songs sound utterly timeless and that swirling keyboard is still the defining feature of those great haunting songs that echo through the decades." John Robb, Louder Than War

SUPPORT

The Bitter Springs - one of the most enduring and unpredictable independent rock groups this country (England) has ever produced,
much preferring to go unnoticed rather than be diluted by compromise. Working in the stubborn single minded tradition of groups like Dexy;s Midnight runners, The Fall and The Smiths always prepared go
where the Song takes them. They hail from the London suburbs of Hampton and Teddington, which is often reflected in the songs.

Pog - a 7 piece collective that's a mixture of folk, punk and ferocious indie pop. A buzzy mix of clarinet, violin, accordion and keyboards, they set tales of everyday disappointment to gloriously upbeat soundtracks. They are currently writing a lot of songs about the Tories.

Doors 8.00pm