Spindle Introducing

We here at Missed Deadline love Spindle Magazine. 

Spindle 'Perfection' Issue 4

It feels fresh, has managed to introduce is to new music and more often then not reviews book and artists that we love, thus making us all here feel about smug about our immaculate taste. It manages to stroke our egos whilst offering a Smörgåsbord of new offerings from fashion, arts, music and literature to dip our toes into, without bludgeoning us with advertising. 


Last week we attended out second visit to a Spindle 'Introducing' event, their third at  93 feet East. 


One of our number had been had been to the second (when the rest of you were at Bestival, but she's not bitter) during which enjoying several songs from Air Castles set.  


The night its self is a relaxed mixture of up and coming music and live art. Don't worry we don't mean earnest poetry reading, rather a mix of artists producing images in response to the music whilst the musicians play. You can either choose to ignore them entirely, or let your eyes flicker from the bands to the appearing artwork on the wall. We'd urge you to watch the art as it's always interesting to watch a piece of work being created when you've got the rare opportunity. 


We were looking forward to this one having listened to all three of the acts prior to attending. 

AMiTY: Image by Shane Hawkins

We have to admit we're a little hesitant about writing this as we were a little worried a review of Amity would come across as biased as we've known Amy for a little while. However we'd never seen her play live, remiss of us, but you know how life can get in the way. Also if she wasn't worth reviewing we wouldn't have done so, harsh but true. 


Amity is well worth a listen. We'll be honest her music isn't my usual cup of tea, and had we not have known her we probably wouldn't have listened (see not biased). 


Her charm as a live act is that she catches your attention charming your ears into submission. We've seen a few solo musicians play, and its rare that they manage to catch your attention let alone hold it and then reward you for your time. 


Amy not only manages to catch your ear, but  repays your attentiveness with witty succinct lyrics, a wholly impressive application of effects pedals, and sound loops using her own voice to provide harmonies and backing vocals. She manages to trick the ear into thinking there is more then just one lady with a guitar, a snare drum on stage. Her voice has an impressive range, never faltering she belts out catchy tunes of nights out and misadventures in love. As Spindle rightly pointed out in issue three, she's one to watch. 

Amy will be on tour as AMiTY will be on tour soon, we'll post the dates as soon as we have them. 
In the mean time until you can catch her live go listen for yourself here:  http://www.iamamity.com/

Lilies on Mars

We were looking forward to seeing Lilies on Mars. Having listened to them on Soundcloud our latent  riot girl was looking forward to some girls with guitars and she wasn't disappointed. That is not to say that they directly recall any of the bands normally associated with that particular moment in music.  

We'd say they veer closer to Warpaint or maybe a mixture of the more laid back tunes from Belly and Luscious Jackson. Describing themselves as 'shoegaze' when playing live the way in which the three-piece frequently attack their instruments with a pleasing level of abandon, not something you get much these days. 

Lilies on Mars New Album 'Wish you Were a Pony' is available on I-tunes and Amazon. 
You can learn more about the band and listen to their music on their website here: http://liliesonmars.com/about.html as well as clicking on the above link to their tracks on Soundcloud. 

Lets buy Happiness

We love Sugarcubes era Bjork and therefore was hooked by the idea of a band which might hint at something which we find myself returning to throughout the years. Always intrigued by a girl fronting a band we are often disappointed. We are pleased to say that Sarah Hall's clipped Nordic-sounding vocals and stage presence didn't disappoint. Their collective youth belies an impressive performance track record having performed with Idlewild, The Temper Trap, Vivian Girls, HEALTH, Sky Larkin and The Futureheads, played The Great Escape (Brighton) and Evolution Festival and they were selected by Eavis and co. to play the John Peel stage at Glastonbury Festival 2010. Don't be fooled by their youth, this is a tight slick band who you'll see scale the festival listings quickly over the next year. 


Visit their website and listen for yourself : http://www.letsbuyhappiness.com/ You'll kick yourself if you don't. 


As soon as we have the date for the next 'Spindle Introducing' we'll post them on the blog/ facebook/ twitter. It's a great night out in a great live music venue. If you like keeping up with new music in a relaxed atmosphere it would be hard to beat Spindle Introducing for a night out. 

Lana Del Rey

We've had a bit of quandary of late. We really wanted to write an article, but we didn't want to look like we were jumping on the band wagon.

An executive decision was made though and we've decided the the Lizzy Grant is too good not to comment on.

Back in 2010 McSchmesh came across an article written by Felicia C Sullivan on the Huffington Post (read the original article here). Curious she trawled the internet for the seemingly slightly eccentric songstress and was deliriously happy to find several tracks from her first album her favorite of which was 'On our way'.

McSchmeshs short and sweet link to it can be found over on her blog as follows: Lana Del Rey.

At the time McSchmesh found and contacted the then little know Miss Lizzy Grant and was surprised to receive a response. Pleased that her music had been appreciated she kindly offered to forward some tracks from the first album, some of which were online coupled with the now familiar Lana Del Rey video's, which McSchmesh also greatly enjoyed. She was at the time, she said working on the second album in London. This was back in June 2010.

 

As she was  Lizzy Grant back in 2009?

Sadly Lizzy didn't forward any tracks from the first album. We carried on listening to them online from time to time and resigned ourselves to the possibility that she would disappear without a trace as so many often do.

However as you probably know if you're reading this She didn't, far from it, at the moment you cannot move for the LOVE Lana Del Ray is getting, and rightly so too!

The gig that was due to be held earlier this week at Madame Jo Jos in London has now been postponed and moved to the Scala on Wednesday 16th of November, which we're pleased to hear as we weren't quick enough off the mark to snag tickets and there's still a few up for grabs, though at ludicrous prices.

The original gig sold out in half an hour, it seemed that the signature Lana del Ray You tube video's had become the talk of the internet and everyone is now pushing and shoving to get a piece of Lizzy.

The decision to publish this post came after reading Dan Cairns 'Who's pushing the driving seat?' article on Miss Grant in the Sunday Times. Cairns questioned Lizzy's authenticity. It's clear that there is a considerable amount of clout behind the current campaign and I am sure given the time it wold be quite easy to get to the bottom of Cairns queries.

However, having read that original article and returning to the genuine and charming e-mail received back in 2010 I think we can say Miss Grant is a rare thing in todays music industry a genuine article.
A quirky breath of fresh air compared to the other supposedly earthy & genuine songstresses currently riding high and being played to absolute death in our charts at the moment.

We hope she retains a little of her rough edges that make her music and her videos so charming, it would be a shame to lose it, we also hope the first album surfaces at some point, there really were some beautiful tracks on it.

As she is now Lana Del Rey 2011

If you're one of the few who hasn't already go and enjoy the tracks here: http://lanadelrey.com/ & 

http://www.myspace.com/lanadelrey you won't regret it. 

Back up and running!

The sites been down for a bit, but we're back!

More nonsense and such soon! 

S.W.A.L.C

This Saturday most of the Missed Deadline team will be at the Lord Clyde for the first S.W.A.L.C.
There'll be lots happening as we previously blogged. Please do come along, bring friends, you'll be missing out on some quality banter and some amazing pastry goods if you don't!

See you there Much Love Panda and the rest XX

Queen of Hearts "Arrival EP" Launch party

Last night I was lucky enough to attend the 'Arrival EP' Launch Party from Queen of Hearts. Held at the wonderful Lexington in Islington London. 

Now I've blogged about Queen of Hearts  previously to this when I'd read about her in Spindle's latest issue, and you'll know if you read it my curiosity had been piqued. So I trawled the interweb and found a Guardian Music review on her. 


Armed with this scant knowledge I went along last night unsure of what to expect though hoping the teaser trailer on the Queen of Hearts website (click on link above), was an indicator of what to expect. 


Anticipation was high in the crowd gathered with little space in which to move all craning their necks to get the best view. 


The stage was set with six neon lights (Neon being the title of one of the QoH tracks) there plenty of DJ's to keep us entertained prior to the lady making her entrance. 


And what an entrance to make. 


Flagged by two dancers with rams skulls and little else on Queen of Hearts took the stage starting with 'Freestyle', other tracks included 'Where are you now', and 'Perfect Mistake' (which is the track I believe the lady said was her favorite?) which can be heard here on Sound Cloud. 


I can honestly say there wasn't a bad track in the set (I didn't get a set list, I realize now how remiss this was of me). 


Dressed in a jacket that would make Björk jealous, hair literally Gold at the back with a brunet fringe (or 'Bangs' for our American Readers) and eye make up to make Elizabeth Taylor Proud the as yet still nameless performer had the audience dancing from the moment she belted out the first note. 


This Electro was a little more 'Pop' then I would usually go here and there, but with a pleasingly heavy bass line the whole set was impressive and theatrically delivered with aplomb by a little lady with impeccable stage presence and a gorgeous smile. 


I've followed the trajectory of various acts on the up including Victoria Modesta to name but one, but despite fine voices, image and performance there's always something just ever so slightly off. 
Sadly the majority have always seemed on the cusp of success and then for mostly spurious reasons 'IT' never quite happens, they either remain just slightly under the radar with a small but loyal fan base or disappear altogether.


This however is (I think) an act that not only delivers all the goods, but is in the right place at the right time with the right people backing her, and she knows it, this is a lady who knows she's going to be HUGE!


Keep you ear to the ground and if you can see her before tickets are impossible to get hold of!

The 'Arrival EP' is available from all good record shops (and the interweb I suspect) from the 3rd of October. 

SWALC

Right then the strong majority of those involved on this here Missed Deadline will be attending What will hopefully be the first of many SWALC (one is actually organizing it). 

If you've some sort of creative talent, then please come along! We'll be bowled over to see you. 

Full details as follows...

SWALC - LORD CLYDE, ESSEX RD N1 SEPTEMBER 10TH 1PM - 6PM 

(www.thelordclyde.com for contact details) 

Book signings are like boring speed dates, conventions are just weird. Here's a chance to meet a bunch of writers and artists from a wide gamut of genres, media and backgrounds in a natural environment - the pub - and just sit and have a chat about their work. 

Top writers, artists, comedians and musicians will be milling about happy to talk at length (within reason) to anyone about their work in that most wondrous of British traditions, the local pub, with great beers, good wine, excellent food, games, performances, competitions, bookstall and a convivial atmosphere with no walls between creators and guests. 

here's the list so far... 

Gail Renard - author of 'Give Me a Chance', her autobiographical account of spending 8 days at the John and Yoko bed-in as a 16 year old. 

Nick Harkaway - author of 'The Gone Away World', an award-nominated masterpiece of a debut SF/fantasy novel, mixing political satire, high concept SF, comedy, killer mimes... breathtaking. 

Rufus Dayglo - acclaimed artist on the still-going-strong cult classic comic heroine Tank Girl and keen taxidermy collector and illustrated man. 

Jeff Povey - award winning short-film maker, novelist and staff writer on Eastenders, Holby and loads more. 

Philip Gladwin - writer and editor and brains behind the brilliant writing program and website, Screenwriting Goldmine (its like Script Doctor, but professional and proper like) 

The makers and some of the cast of Peacock Season, an astonishing feature-length comedy starring the cream of the british stand-up scene and made for an amazing £38 and a lot of favours. 

The Comic Book Alliance - a whole swarm of Britain's comic artists signing their magnificent new anthology book 'Spirit of Hope', a fabulous creation raising money for earthquake victims in NZ and Japan. 


Abigail Blackmore and the Blind Date crew. Blind Date is a brilliant short film that we'll be airing and its already won Audience Awards at the LA and Austin, Texas short film festivals. 

Some idiot called Si Spencer who's done Grange Hill, Eastenders and the Bill as well as loads of comics inc. graphic novels The Vinyl Underground and Hellblazer: City of Demons, the first page of which is actually set in the snug bar of the venue 

Webley Wildfoot, who was there at the birth of a 'well known spin off to a popular family SF TV show' and has documented the traumas of the event in his 'entirely fictional' work 'Torch, Wood & Peasants'. 

There's music from Paul Mosley, without a doubt my favourite contemporay musician; imagine Nick Drake singing Tom Waits songs to the music from Bagpuss with a bit of electropop and Hi NRG thrown in. 

Shooting schedule allowed, the brilliant Justin Edwards (Thick of It, Sorry I've Got no Head - everyting) singing a couple of comic songs, plus more music, some poetry and a Lennon singalong at the end... and I'm STILL waiting to hear from more folk, so it could get even bigger. 

There's going to be a bookstall, so you can buy stuff and get it signed, but also a book drop - bring a novel you don't want, take one of out of the box for free. I'll try and organise a few games too and it would be BRILLIANT if people came in fancy dress as a fictional character. There'll be yummy-licious bar-snacks on sale all day and weather permitting a barbecue in the elegant seclusion of the beer garden. 

All you've got to do is rock up and just chat to anyone you like. No formal signings, no lectures or seminars, just a day in the pub milling about chewing the fat, drinking of the beer and relaxing. And it's all FREE!!!! 

Riot Clean Up/ CLean Up London T-shirt Design

Want to help with the Clean up? not sure how? Hows about a t-shirt with this design?

We're looking into costs etc and which Charity to send the profits too and get it all up and organised. We'll keep you posted.  In the mean time e-mail us here: deadline.missed8@gmail.com ASAP so we can get figures in for the quote. 


Many thanks for your Help and Support All at Missed Deadline Stay Safe XX