Live Review: Generator Sessions, Mining Institute, Newcastle (14/12/2013)

WITH a stellar lineup, a sell-out crowd and classy setting at Newcastle's Mining Institute, Saturday night threw up a real Christmas treat for North-East music fans. Organised by local agency Generator, this special gig provided intimate, collaborative performances from four of the region’s finest songwriters, following a spate of video sessions recorded last month (see below).

Live Review: Ajimal, Heartattack & Vine, Newcastle, 26/03/2013

With his debut mini-album finally nearing completion and a brand new single already in circulation, Fran O'Hanlon - aka Ajimal - can justly claim a place along the hottest up-and-coming acts in the North East. Already hailed as "unearthly" and "setting a new benchmark for sensitive pop in 2013," the Mick Ross-produced 'This Human Joy' saw release on Monday, and was available at this launch gig as a special handmade CD, limited to 20 copies. The show itself was similarly exclusive; fans having been encouraged to register online, with 25 lucky pairs assigned a passcode and the secret location, which as it turned out was Newcastle's Heartattack & Vine. An intimate - albeit chilly - renovated room, its cosy confines provided the perfect stage not only for Ajimal, but also the two support acts who preceded his appearance.

2012: A Year In Retrospect

The Twilight Sad

I don't want to cast a downer on the past 12 months, but I think most would agree 2012 has hardly been a vintage year. Let's not get overly dramatic here; affairs in the musical world have been as compelling and headline-worthy as ever, and although short on true masterpieces we haven't exactly been bereft of quality releases on which to gorge. Speaking from a personal perspective, nothing has hooked me in the way that WU LYF's Go Tell Fire To The Mountain or The National's High Violet have in recent times, though to grumble would seem irreverent given the wealth of worthwhile material we have been blessed with.

Artist Of The Day: Ajimal

North East England currently has quite a concentration of upcoming talent, but Ajimal, a solo project from Fran O'Hanlon, could be the best of the lot. "A collaborative in-ear experiment with the aim of writing about the interplay between ideas from music, medicine, art, ideas, literature, science and stories" may not sound like the most engrossing of propositions, but with only a handful of recordings to his name, the Newcastle-based musician is already confounding his own dreary descriptions. With an angelic, ethereal croon and slightly flamboyant demeanour, it's not too far fetched to draw parallels with Jonsi Birgisson, but it's in his compositions where the comparison truly lies. They adopt a more folky aesthetic, and are clearly still in their primitive stages, but they nevertheless hold a fluid, otherworldly beauty that's not wholly dissimilar from Sigur Ros themselves. That harrowing emotional punch has already been sampled on debut single 'Footnote To Love [Part One],' with an EP, entitled Childhood currently in the works. Early days perhaps, but if these initial indicators are anything to go by, Ajimal could well be worth getting excited about.

Check out 'Footnote To Love [Part One]' and a handful of other tracks on Ajimal's Soundcloud page.

Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr