Cuckoo Flies the Nest

The people behind a recently-closed Truro bar have relaunched the brand as an alternative club night.

Cuckoo, formerly of Old Bridge Street, was closed in September due to the proprietor's ill health. It is now manifesting itself as 'Club Cuckoo', which kicked off in Truro's Bar 200 on 20th October, and will move around the clubs of the area. Liam Jolly was the bar's live music promoter, who, with his company 'Suave', will be journeying the night around Cornwall:

"At Cuckoo we created a very identifiable brand, so now we can take that to those who couldn't make it to Truro due to Cornwall's awful public transport! We wanted a friendly, non-cliquey environment in which to listen to the best in alternative music at loud volume.

"We had great feedback from the first night, although it was quite stressful as we coincided with the rugby world cup final."

A customer from the first night seemed to agree: "I'm so glad that Cuckoo hasn't gone completely - we need this kind of thing to cater for people who don't like 5000 beat-per-minute dance rubbish, which is the only taste that other clubs in the area seem to cater for. The mixture of live music and DJs is obviously a winner, and going by their track record with getting bigger names to play, I for one am excited."

During its time at a permanent location, Cuckoo was renowned for supporting bands from Cornwall and further afield, with over 80 bands performing on their stage in the five months they were open. Many of these nights were filled to capacity. Live music is also a feature of the new night, which will take place across the county.

"We're opening in Falmouth on 12th November in the upstairs of MI Bar. We have some great bands lined up for it, and with the student population in and around Falmouth at an all-time high, it should be great. It's a very arty night, so where better to do it than Falmouth? There will also be a one-off night in Redruth soon," said Mr Jolly.

Under the proprietors of Kazbah, the Barley Sheaf became Cuckoo in April, and was suceeded by The Riverside, a new gastropub, in September.

The next night will take place at Bar 200 on 27th October, featuring A Day At The Movies, King Furnace, and The Venton Gimps, in addition to resident DJs The Earls of Suave (aka Liam Jolly and Frank Gane). Entry is £3 and strictly 18+.

Harmonia - Live 1974

Comprising members of Krautrock superstars Neu!, Cluster, and, at times, Brian Eno, Harmonia helped to redefine and rebel against the cultural wasteland of a Germany in the process of renewed self-discovery. On ‘Live 1974’, they’ve taken the moody mechanical side of the genre, lacing it with determined soaring intricacies and synths which inspired bands from Battles to Radiohead, potentially making Harmonia one of the most important supergroups you’ve probably never heard of.

9/10

(as printed in NME 17.10.07)

Listen to: Laura Gibson

If alternative and challenging culture needed a mecca, one need look no further than Portland. From the legacy of Riot Grrl, Matt Groening's take on American suburbia and Chuck Palahniuk's defining work springs Laura Gibson, whose waltz-imbued 'Nightwatch' brings to mind staticky super-8 films of fun in snowy parks and coffee by dappled light. The four tracks on her Myspace challenge Bright Eyes' 'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning' for the crown of exquisitely-interpreted acoustic Americana, and her voice laps with natural nonchalance such that Kate Nash only wishes she could accomplish. The sepia fanfare on 'Come By Storm' wouldn't sounds incongruous on a Sufjan Stevens album, nor Nina Nastasia. Luckily for us, she's playing in London in December, so there's no need to buy a ticket to Portland for the pilgrimage.

Lethal Bizzle to play in Falmouth

Grime star Lethal Bizzle will be performing at University College Falmouth’s (UCF) Stannary in November as part of his ‘Back to Bizznizz’ tour.

Bizzle (real name Maxwell Ansah) will be playing the Stannary, one of Cornwall’s biggest music venues, on 27th November. He was due to support punk band Gallows on the Falmouth leg of their tour, but had to pull out due to a video shoot which ran over-schedule.

“We knew that a lots of people had been disappointed when Bizzle was a no-show on the Gallows date at Princess Pavilion last month, so we have been talking to his agent ever since about getting him a date in Cornwall,” said Katy Thomas from SW1 Productions, who are promoting the event.

‘The Hook Up’ are presenting the tour, which will also feature music, film, fashion, technology and more, and is said to “reflect what is happening” in the UK scene at present.

Lethal Bizzle came to prominence in 2003 when his single, ‘Pow! (Forward Riddim)’ was banned from UK clubs for supposedly inciting riots. He is part of the East London ‘grime’ scene responsible for the careers of Dizzee Rascal and Kano, and has released two albums to critical acclaim.

Tickets are £11 and available at www.seetickets.com, or £10 for students, available from Woodlane and Tremough FXU offices. The show is strictly over 18s.

Fruit juice and smoothies are taxed; hot dogs and all other foods are not.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/fruitjuiceVAT/

Please sign this petition to encourage the government to lift the 17.5% VAT on fruit juice and smoothies. If they are as committed to decreasing the rate of obesity in this country as they say they are, they should also switch the tax around to make unhealthy foods more expensive. It seems ridiculous that people who make a healthy choice in their purchases are being penalised.

Research conducted by Innocent, the people behind Innocent Smoothies and This Water, has established that at least 500 million more portions of fruit would be consumed each year if this tax was lifted.

How many times have you gone for a cheaper carbonated drink after being put off by the price of smoothies etc? Sign this petition so everyone can enjoy the benefits of drinking fruit (it's quicker and easier than eating apples as well as being healthy!).

of Montreal at The Scala 02.08.07

In any land far far away, it would take a powerful and exotic creature to turn torture festive, but electro pop chameleon Kevin Barnes's flamboyant psychosis did just that at the Scala, lacing the mental unrest that permeated most recent album Hissing Fauna with twisted nonchalance, and a gaudy stage show that made the comparable Rufus Wainwright look positively conservative. Dancing in front of images of duck-horses fondling each other (seriously), chic basslines rumbled around Barnes' pouting, often downright bitchy (yet comical) delivery (on "She's A Rejector" in particular), whilst a whole host of post-Brothers Grimm characters fought around him. "The Past Is A Grotesque Animal", "Hissing Fauna"'s 10 minute brainstorm, toned down the vibrance of the set as Barnes spat his personal dissatisfactions out to richochet inside his crystal encrusted bell jar, coming on like a rainbow-coloured Ian Curtis. Returning for an encore of older songs, Of Montreal blew the roof off their fairytale kingdom.

Tegan and Sara in Bristol 12.08.07

“We took a course on how to make people like us,” says Sara, totally deadpan, her diminutive frame perched on an amp so the crowd towards the back of the criminally tiny Academy 2 could see her. “Lesson six is this: con-nec-ting with your people.” Supporting the release of their fifth record, “The Con”, the Canadian twins (and their band of “Sting and Paul McCartney”, according to Sara) kicked off their first proper jaunt around the UK to a crowd who made Glastonbury sing-a-longs look amateur, whilst they performed songs from their increasingly experimental repertoire with such aching charm and musical versatility that it beggars belief as to why they don’t currently have a UK label. Sometimes unfairly stereotyped as dreary singer-songwriter “lesbiancore” performers, the grinding yet elegant synthesis of “So Jealous”, science-questioning urgency of “Like O, Like H”, and the now anthemic (no thanks to the White Stripes) “Walking With A Ghost” shattered this ludicrous theory, along with the affable sisterly banter that permeated the performance; never mind taking lessons in likeability; T&S are already prodigies of their subject.

Kitsuné Maison - Mixed By Jerry Bouthier

Apparently, London club BoomBox is populated by a bunch of Nathan Barley types who “care more about the guest DJs than the music”. Let’s be thankful then, that when Frenchies Kitsuné Maison translated the club to CD, they weren’t as shallow, as illustrated by this titillating collection. From the cut’n’paste shenanigans of Chromeo’s ‘Fancy Footwork (Guns’n’Bombs remix)’, to Van She’s house retake of Feist’s ‘1234’, this’ll have you chanting “vive la France!” until the early hours.