Great Lost Bands no.10: Quickspace

Back to London in the 1990s for this week's great lost band. Quickspace were originally called Quickspace Supersport and were formed in London in 1994. Guitarist and occasional vocalist Tom Cullinan had been in Th' Faith Healers, who had already made some cracking records in the early part of the decade and were often referred to with the 'Peel favourites' tag. Quickspace released records on quite a few different labels, including their own Kitty Kitty label, but their main releases were on Domino (UK) and Matador.
Quickspace Happy Song #1 was their first single, from 1995.



Although they had definite leanings towards more experimental music, incorporating extended repetitive grooves with links to krautrock and arabic music, some of their output was reminiscent of Th' Faith Healers, with the fuzzy guitars and the slightly off-kilter male and female voices, like this 1996 single 'Friend'.



Their profile steadily grew and by the time I moved to London in 1998 I was able to see them headline places like Dingwalls and the Underworld. They released their second album 'Precious Falling' around then as well, which was a lot stronger and more coherent than their self-titled debut. Nothing brings back the vibe of London in '98 like this video for Quickspace Happy Song #2. Some of this was shot near my flat in Finsbury Park.



The ominously titled 'The Death of Quickspace' from 2000 is probably my favourite of their records, and it has held up very well over time. They disintegrated soon afterwards although they released a single called 'Pissed Off Boy' on Domino in 2005, with Roxanne from the Th' Faith Healers on vocals. The next time I heard of any of them was when Th' Faith Healers popped up at My Bloody Valentine's All Tomorrows Parties weekend and played a thoroughly decent set in the early afternoon. The whole Faith Healer/ Quickspace set up has been quiet on the news front ever since.

They Shoot Horse Don't They (from The Death of Quickspace)

The St Patrick's Day rowdy alternative

As some of you may know, I grew up in Northern Ireland. As an antidote to a lot of the music being shared today in celebration of St Patrick, I thought I would create my own mix as an alternative to all that. I tried to restrict it to modern, lesser-known bands, but my main motivation was to make a rowdy fun 'party mix'. It features tunes from Fight Like Apes, Jetplane Landing, LaFaro, Adebisi Shank, Not Squares, Patrick Kelleher and His Cold Dead Hands, Jape, Cashier No 9 and Oppenheimer. It even has a sad song from Robyn G Shiels at the end, for that authentic end-of-party come down.
You can listen on Spotify at this link.

Slow Thrills St Patricks Day rowdy alternative on Spotify

Or on Mixcloud below - enjoy!

Slow Thrills: St Patricks Day rowdy alternative by Slowthrills on Mixcloud

An extensive and final Jeff Mangum ATP round-up

Well, I've written my 'proper' review of ATP for the 405, which you can read here
However, this was actually a festival where I met more people off twitter and the internet than ever, so it seems fitting to put together a page of links and embeds. It is what we call in work (pardon the jargon) 'user generated content', so here goes...

There is little point adding more to my 2000 word review, especially if you wade through all this and the embedded podcast below. I had originally intended to cover the festival with three 'audioboos' and leave it at that, but this proved a bit tricky. I did one on Saturday morning looking back at Friday, and here it is.

listen to ‘ATP day one ’ on Audioboo

As regular ATP-ers will know, the festival usually encourages people to film and photograph the bands, and this leads to a ton of great youtube clips and flickr sets. It was slightly different this year as Jeff Mangum had requested no photography of his sets, as the sign shows (left).
Lots of the other bands were captured, and this clip from Friday shows Mark E Smith at his most meddlesome and entertaining during the Fall's 'Cowboy George'. I can sympathise with the sound person trying to guess which mic he would use next!



Boredoms on Saturday and Sunday afternoon were the highlight for a lot of people, including myself. 14 guitarists, 5 drummers (including Yoshimi and Yojiro) and a brand new 45 minute piece. There are many clips of the set on youtube, but this one shows the drum interplay very well.



Sunday lunchtime was spent recording this podcast with a few other like minds for Plentyside, which turned out well. The clacking of the air hockey tables is already making me nostalgic!

Plentycast #33 - The Jeff Mangum ATP Cast by Plentyside on Mixcloud

Sunday's highlights once again were Boredoms, but Sebadoh were the last of the main acts that I watched, so I'll share a bit of them to finish.




some other reviews of the weekend...
My review on the 405, just in case you missed it up there, haha
Fellow podcaster Will Fitzpatrick's Festival Diary for TLOBF
The Gig Ghost, featuring the words of my twitter buddies @jkhigham and pics and vids by @pmhigham and @thelawes
And this Polish review, which has over 100 pics attached

some flickr sets...
by Simon Godley
by ukpeewee
by jaswooduk
by the_junes

My reviews or festival diaries of some of the other ATPs I've been to...
ATP curated by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
ATP vs the Fans
ATP curated by Slint

So it's going to be Antony's Meltdown this year

By now you have probably heard the announcement that Antony Hegarty, of Antony and the Johnsons, has been chosen to curate this year's Meltdown festival at the South Bank between 1st - 12th August. People who live in London will recoil at the fact that it clashes with the end of the Olympics. No acts have been announced but Antony has been quoted

I want to create a kind of paradise. I want to walk through that forest and hear that hardcore beauty and strength in art and music that makes sense to me. The weather is changing and everybody knows it. I want to participate. What is my relationship and responsibility to the world around me? Frontier expressions of emotion and beauty can be fantastic tools with which to enter that discussion

I hope he can throw a few surprises in the mix. He has played Meltdown before, with his band as part of Patti Smith's Meltdown in 2005, and as a guest of Yoko Ono Plastic Band in 2009.

I was there for that hit and miss gig, but the Antony guest spot was impressive. Here's a bit of Toy Boat.

Andrew Bird live review (the 405)

I'm pausing my ATP posts for a few hours to link to my review of Andrew Bird in the Barbican last week. It can be found on the 405, click here to read it.

In brief: Jeff Mangum ATP day three (and a link to a related podcast)

{EDIT: my full review of the weekend is now online here)
A busy, busy day! It started beautifully with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble string quartet who played Gavin Bryars's Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet with Julian Koster on saw. First standing ovation of the day.
After that I missed the chance to go jogging with Alan Sparhawk of Low because I was being a guest on a 90 minute podcast, which has now been uploaded at this link. I haven't had a chance to listen yet, but it was recorded in the Pavilion area and you should hear the clacking of the air hockey games in the background.
As for the rest of the day, Boredoms were stunning again. This was perhaps an even more intense performance than the first one. They held a minute's silence at the start as it was the anniversary of the Japanese tsunami disaster, and I wonder if that gave them even more of an emotional edge. Truly amazing and as close to being hallucinatory and a religious experience as music can get.
It was almost impossible to follow this by seeing any other bands, so the likes of Olivia Tremor Control and Versus would have been better enjoyed at their own gigs I'm sure. Magnetic Fields pulled one of the biggest crowds but didn't really click with me either, despite a crowd pleasing set on the new and the old. Jeff Mangum was great again, and although he ticked all my boxes on Friday, he did add a fine cover of Daniel Johnson's True Love Will Find You and revealed that he had wanted Daniel to play the festival.
I'll do what I did on Friday and give you the set list- Oh Comely, The King of Carrot Flowers Pts 2 and 3, Song Against Sex, A Baby for Pree, In The Aeroplane over the Sea, Two Headed Boy pt 2, Holland 1945, True Love Will Find you in the End, Ghost, Little Birds, Engine, Two Headed Boy pt 1, Fool.
My notes are a mess for the later part of Sunday because I was enjoying myself too much, but what you need to know is, the queues returned and not everyone got to see Jeff, Group Doueh played a fine set of psychedelic West African music with a couple of amazing guitar solos, Sebadoh played a cracking set which was maybe the best I've ever seen them and the whole bash came to an end with an extended 'jam' in Reds, featuring over 20 musicians from the Elephant 6 bands, Sun Ra Arkestra and Boredoms.
Yet another amazing ATP.

In brief: Jeff Mangum ATP day two

{EDIT: my full review of the weekend is now online here)
Saturday was all about Boredoms, possibly my favourite live band, and they didn't disappoint. They played a 45 minute new piece, for 14 guitars and 5 drummers, as well as some other pieces including a rearrangement of Acid Police.
Other highlights were A Hawk and A Hacksaw playing a score for the soviet movie Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Low, oneohtrix point never, and a wonderful second set from Joanna Newsom which had a completely different set of songs from day 1. Also Scratch Acid finished the night on centre stage with a mighty performance which sounded amazing.