“Whatabitch”
Chess Club 23^rd November
www.myspace.com/kurranandthewolfnotes

Kurran and the Wolfnotes debut single ‘Whatabitch’ stands as the perfect introduction to the way that this band have brought an unmistakable noughties twist to the alt-folk sound, with an playful hint of The Strokes complimenting the otherwise straight up trad-sound. With New Yorker Kurran’s faltering, heartbroken croon and textbook Isle of White Festival circa-1968 guitar jangle it’s half medieval minstrel, half basement bar sleaze.

On the subject of the title they’re quick to stress that no one’s calling anyone a bitch, and that the term is used purely in the weary expressional sense, lest the feminists gather at the gates. Kurran explains, “It might not be the most romantic title but it’s about, from a guys perspective anyway, maybe getting the shorter end of a stick. There’s always got to be one person, and in this case it’s me.”

But anyway, they’re bored of talking about how they got together and they hate explaining what their songs are about, but our wolf based icebreakers (Prime example: wolves mate facing away from each other) prompt a more enthusiastic response. So on the cusp of the release of their debut single we invite them, currently recording in a spider infested garage in North London, to ponder what the future holds.  Let’s get conceptual. What will the single they release in twenty years sound like compared to this one?

GARAGE SESSIONS

Whatabitch || Garage Sessions from Kurran and the Wolfnotes on Vimeo.

“Well it’ll be after the technological singularity, so you’ll just think of a song and you’ll hear it,” says Kurran, “But then it’s always the same, whenever technology goes too far people go back to the retro thing and we’ll be there shouting, ‘Here come the luddites!’ Just like now I guess, because after nu-rave and that, shall we say blip, fiddles are hot again, which is fine with us.”

Groans echo around the table at the emergence of the term “buzz band” but there’s a general consensus that maybe if they were doing this a few years ago people probably wouldn’t have been sitting up and paying attention. But with the re-emergence of a strong Brit-folk school the luddites become the cool kids, by doing what they do best.

While their sound may lend itself to comparison to a whole host of their contemporaries Kurran doesn’t see his band as a flash in the pan. He’s never more sincere than when he says, “I look and bands like Radiohead who have amazing discographies and I want to be able to look back in twenty years and say, ‘Yeah, every single one of these albums speaks for a part of my life’ where as now, with the hype thing people just churn out songs like… it’s fucking ridiculous. We want to spend a little bit more time on the songs we’ve got, but there’s always that pressure that once the song’s there it’s done, but we want to put the care in now when it’s important. We just want to make sure we’re proud of everything we’ve done and if that takes a little longer then that’s just how it’ll be. It’s all about the music! As original as that sounds.”

“The way I think about it,” says Kurran, “There are a few special people who get the chance to do this as their career and that’s it, that’s our goal, I want to be one of those people. It’s not about fame, it’s just to be able to play music for your whole life. It’s like when I was fifteen and heard NOFX and Rancid and I thought, ‘Woah, those guys are playing and it doesn’t look that hard, friggin sweet, I could probably do that.’ So I did!” With secret influences like that, who’s going to stop him?

Kurran and the Wolfnotes will be on the road with Ex-Lovers during October/November for a co-headline tour;

November
Sun 1^st- Edinburgh, Electric Circus
Mon 2^nd- Glasgow, King Tuts
Wed 4^th- Nottingham, Bodega
Thurs 5^th- Birmingham, Hare &  Hounds
Fri 6^th- Cambridge, Portland Arms

Afternoon to you all.

I have to say it was a little strange not heading off to the pub last Monday for an FM. Strange but good to have a break.

The number of out of office replies I am currently getting suggests the rest of the industry is off at the moment but can I please request that there really is no need to say where you are going in your message. I don’t really want to know about those of you in Barbados, St Lucia, Thailand or Australia.

It really is quite enough just to say you’re away – for those of us without holiday plans, it’s more than enough to bear!

Despite the exodus, there is still plenty of news.

Before I update you all, I really wanted to get something off my chest. Not quite my Friday rant about the difference between the Music industry and the Record industry. But a little rant non the less.

I think we have developed Cultural ADHD.

I know we have a history in this country for building people up and then knocking them down; the reasons for which seem inexplicable to me. However, as technology continues to change the way we live our lives, it seems we have developed an insatiable appetite not only for the technology but also what we consume through it.

This year, we have the highest number of female artists nominated for a Mercury. On this basis, there is already talk that labels are no longer signing female artists as they’ve ‘had their time’. Increasingly we give a band 2 albums at best before we get entirely bored of them (or is it the case that actually the quality of music being made is actually dropping?). The proliferation of electronic bands seems to have been and gone too. And what next – folk?

Align this with our insatiable appetite for technology. Myspace is so last year, Facebook so last month – Twitter – well that’s so yesterday. Spotify – how long will the enthusiasm for that last – some say the bubble has already burst. Rightly or wrongly, I am not a big myspacer, facebooker or twitterer. As you should know, I value personal relationships – it’s the very reason for the creation of FM.

It seems to me we are so obsessed with what’s next, we don’t seem to take much stock of what’s now and make much of an effort to enjoy it. Whatever happened to letting things develop and grow – good old fashioned nurturing?

People continue to demonstrate their love of being part of something real – festivals, gigs and so on. But now some of the festivals are suffering – is that because there are too many? Yes others are selling out like Glastonbury, Bestival etc

All I know is that our ability to enjoy something for a reasonable length of time seems to be diminishing as we have greater expectations from technology and what it delivers.

That this is spilling over into the way we enjoy music I think is a real concern. I think we need to take a collective deep breath and take a little more time to enjoy what so many people have spent so much time, effort and energy into making.

OK, so now on to other things.

O2 and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy charity are proud to announce a one off concert, featuring unique collaborations from some of the UK’s greatest music talent at London’s most celebrated music venue, The O2.

Taking place on 11th September, O2 Rockwell in aid of Nordoff-Robbins will see influential musicians including Robert Plant and Tom Jones, sharing the stage with some of the best new talent to come out of the UK in recent times. This unique event will be a celebration of the amazing contribution that Nordoff-Robbins has made to Music Therapy and the music industry over the past 50 years.

The artists confirmed to play the event, with more to be announced, in no particular order include…

Razorlight

Tom Jones

Robert Plant

Joss Stone

Ronan Keating

Gaz Coombs & Danny Goffey (performing as Hot Rats)

Gabriella Cilmi

Beverley Knight

Lulu

Dan Gillespie Sells (The Feeling)

David Gray

… with more artists coming together to plot and plan a very special Super Group to play for one night only, and legendary collaborations amongst the other artists, it truly will be the musical spectacular of the year.

One hundred percent of proceeds from the show will be donated to Nordoff-Robbins.

Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy has established itself as THE charity of the music industry, with support from across the globe and patron’s that include David Bowie, Coldplay, Elvis Costello, Mick Jagger, Tom Jones, George Michael, Cliff Richard, Keith Richards, Sting, Rod Stewart, and Paul Weller to name but a few. Since its inception back in 1959 when Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins put their individual talents together for a fantastic cause that has helped millions, it has gone on to host and benefit from some fantastic events.

Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy is the UK’s largest music therapy charity and the O2 Rockwell event is part of its celebrations marking 50 years of the Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins collaboration. It provides over 35,000 music therapy sessions to children, young people and adults who are challenged by disability, illness or injustice, through its national centre in London and over 70 national projects. Nordoff-Robbins does not receive statutory funding and needs to raise almost £3 million a year to continue to operate.

Ticket prices for Rockwell range from £40 to £65, and further information can be found at www.o2rockwell.com.

Tickets are on sale now from the following outlets:

The O2:         www.theo2.co.uk

Kililive.com:   www.Kililive.com

Ticketline:     www.ticketline.co.uk

Stargreen:      www.stargreen.com

Gigantic :      www.gigantic.com

Now, for those of you worried about how to make money from your music, Own-it www.own-it.org are holding a free event called ‘How Not to Get Ripped Off’ as an introduction for creative businesses on how to protect and make the most of their creative work.

When: 19.08.09 at 18:30

Where: Street Lecture Theatre, London College of Communication, Elephant & Castle, London , SE1 6SB

Please visit http://www.own-it.org/events/how-not-to-get-ripped-off for details and to register

Going back briefly to holidays, I have come across a pretty spectacular resort in Goa. Now we are not a travel agent so you really do have to go through to the link and do all the necessary checks but this place does look stunning and if you think a healthy retreat but be just what you need, maybe in the New Year, then this seems like an ideal spot. You can check all of the details out here

http://www.sandawellness.com/india/main/index.html

and if you want to find out more, please contact them directly here anna@essence-communications.com

With so much covered in this mailing, I’m going to leave it at that for now but details will follow later this week of September FM events in London, Liverpool and New York.

Enjoy your week folks.

Sybil