Polar Bear - Broomhill Art Hotel (18 Nov)

'Polar Bear' on Amazon

Ever since their nomination for the Mercury Prize Award and their appearance on the televised award show - this 'Post-Jazz Combo' - whose drummer Sebastian Rochford (the one with the big hair) cleverly lead, controlled and tamed this apparent free form (potential disaster) creating an exciting panacea to the usual 'Brit Pop' shit - has fascinated me.

This assemblage of charaters has progressed through several metamorphoses and the incarnation that performed at Broomhill, for me, was the best cohesive montage I have seen them perform. North Devon is a cultural desert. There are a few individuals who make an attempt to make things better, Rinus, Aniet and the Broomhill Team put on great art and music events and this night has to be at the very top.

I have struggled over the past month with a virus (possibly swine flu apparently) and could only manage to watch their first set - that huge cloud that passes over you which invokes the uncontrollable desire to fall asleep visited. This first set featured new material from their forthcoming album (2010) and was a journey into the melodic, with the unmistakable sax of Pete Wareham weaving in between ethereal and aggressive executions, in a beautifully controlled unpretentious style. The rest of the team were in no way supporting players; with everything sounding like a well oiled machine, sweet, solid and with purpose.

Great night - Great food!

Review by This Window

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Mick Mercer - Music To Die For

Mick Mercer is a journalist and author best known for his photos and reviews of the goth, punk, and indie music scenes. He publishes a monthly online magazine called "The Mick". After working on his own fanzine ‘Panache’, Mick then worked for other music papers and magazines including Melody Maker and ZigZag, always promoting the positive side of his beloved Goth music. Since then he has had numerous books about Goth and related subjects published, including photo-books of many well-known bands.

'Music to Die For' is a classic book about the history of music. Mick Mercer has compiled a remarkable directory of bands that have been inspired or are inspired by the post-punk Goth phenomena. This book contains discographies and web links (plus a load of other stuff).

Music to Die For

…the postman arrived and I have sat here for the past hour or so thumbing through and reading the pages. It was a great relief to find out that I could still read the printed word - my dependence on visual and aural spoon fed pap via MySpace has been cured. The logical cataloguing of this tome is a truly important achievement and it is a relief to be able to find something (in alphabetical order) easily. The only warning I must give is - beware of the photographs, there are some ugly mugs in there. You have to get this book it is more than just a simple list, it is a Bible.…

TW

Phideaux - Review

Sometimes I miss the pure self indulgence of prog-rock, its fast licks and swirls and Rick Wakemanish classical orchestration. Well I have, via Jacky, managed to get a quick fix and listen to something new. Thank God there is an alternative to 'Tales From Topographic Oceans'!

TW

Phideaux… algo creativo y refrescante.

Phideaux es una banda especialmente anarquista liderada por Phideaux Xavier, un altamente experimentado multi-instumentalista cantante y compositor, oriundo de New York que no sólo se ha dedicado a componer y a interpretar música sino que ha producido a otras bandas que también creen en la innovación.

Éste erudito artista después de una larga trayectoria profesional, emprende junto con el baterista Richard Hutchins un misterioso viaje musical en compañía de otros músicos con quiénes Phideaux ha tenido que ver en algún momento musical y experimentan creando elaboradas piezas musicales, misteriosamente fuertes y a la vez con una composición melódica, salpicadas de rock progresivo bajo un fondo de sutileza que incitan a realizar viajes mentales hacia el mundo de las sensaciones ficticias, elaboradas por la psiquis del oyente.

Es así como ésta particular banda nos invita a volar y a crear nuevos vínculos con uno mismo al hacernos pensar, cuando escuchamos sus interpretaciones psicodélicamente progresivas y góticas, por su profundidad y por lo adictivamente divertidas que éstas pueden resultar.

Review by Jacky

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Translation:

Phideaux ... something creative and refreshing.

Phideaux is a band led by anarchist especially Phideaux Xavier, a highly experienced multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer, born in New York dedicated to not only compose and perform music but also produces other bands that believe in innovation.

This erudite artist with a long career, takes us along, with drummer Richard Hutchins on a mysterious musical journey in the company of other musicians with whom Phideaux has been involved in a musical and experience creating elaborate pieces of music, strong and yet mysteriously with composition melodic, progressive rock sprinkled under a background of subtly inciting mental voyages into the fictional world of sensations, produced by the psyche of the listener.

Thus this particular band invited us to fly and create new links with oneself to make us think when we hear their interpretations progressive psychedelic and Gothic, for the depth of them and so additively fun they can be.

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Newsletter 31 October

Your emails about our side project have been helpful and very rewarding, here are few of the latest interview pages we have done on SystemCulture.org. See: Cyphreinc Podcasts this this is a great little gem.

• Celloman's Compositional Force - Review
• Alex Final - Review
• Fafnirrockson - Review
• Edge of Chaos - Review
• The Dancing Did - Retrospective
• New Release on M4tr Productions
• Newsletter 23 October

The website SystemCulture.org is dedicated to reviewing and interviewing artists. Each interview has the artists link widget and player on it. If you want an interview on SystemCulture.org - We want to ask you some questions; contact us if you want to participate - keep emailing us with your details and we will keep promoting your music.

Thanks for your support and kind words about my dreaded back injury, which will apparently need as much time to heal as a broken leg - but the drugs they have given me are good!

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