Texan duo Charalambides formed in 1991 and have a sizable and acclaimed discography behind them for such prestigious labels as Kranky, Eclipse and Time-Lag. Impossible to pigeonhole, they are famed for Tom’s astounding steel pedal guitar playing and for Christine’s amazingly soulful voice. Yet for all the strong influence of the blues, country and folk, the band are more frequently associated with the psychedelic, experimental avant garde.

“On the band’s last album, Likeness, Charalambides used old American folk lyrics like mirrors to both reflect the stains upon the country’s soul and burn them away. The Carters are just as cognizant of these afflictions on Exile, but the struggles they recount are individual ones, and the tongues they speak in now are their own.” – Bill Meyer, Dusted Magazine
“…musically, through two decades of working together, they’ve created a world apart. Though they’ve played with many like-minded artists and floated through a number of “scenes” … their work feels wholly self-contained, never seeming to refer to anything but itself.” – Marc Masters, “The Out Door,”Pitchfork
“Christina has a beautiful voice, clear and bell-like. I’ve heard her influence on lots of women in the experimental underground music scene. I never heard anyone quite as vulnerable and as strong. It’s kind of magical. I never get tired of listening to it. It’s fresh every time I put it on.” – Kim Gordon, New York Times
“Charalambides are among the most beautiful and mysterious groups to have emerged from the American desert. …They have created a glowing template of humanist/mystical improvisation that has kneaded brain muscles from here to Kokomo.” – Byron Coley, The Wire

Padang Food Tigers are an experimental folk duo consisting of 2/3 of the band Rameses III. With esteemed champions such as David Tibet of Current 93 and likened to Ry Cooder’s soundtrack for “Paris, Texas”, they have made quite a stir in the capital.

Bridget Hayden made her name with underground heroes Vibracathedral Orchestra. Nowadays she has been playing in The Telescopes and putting out some equally blinding solo releases.

Tickets on sale from venue, Jumbo Records and www.wegottickets.com

DJ sets from Was Ist Das Soundsystem & Jonathan Lees

Tickets £8/£7 from venue, Jumbo Records and online at wegottickets

“a great American songwriter in full bloom.” – Michael Gira
“somewhere between traditional troubadours such as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan as well as more contemporary songwriters like Cave, Billy and even [Michael] Gira” – Soundlab
“beautiful variations on folk music” – popmatters

We are crossing off a Was Ist Das? news years resolution by bringing you Wooden Wand to Hebden Bridge. He is, in our humble opinion, simply the finest songwriter on this planet right now. To us, he is our Dylan, our Cash, our Nelson. He started out playing with freaked-out improv band The Vanishing Voice but a series of astonishing solo acoustic records have established him as a major songwriting talent. He’s gone on to record albums for Fire, Young God Records and Rykodisc.
Don’t just take our word for it, though, have a listen to these fine examples:

A headliner like Wooden Wand demands some serious support and we have the motherload here. Savaging Spires released their self-titled debut album last year and made every end of year list that matters. How to describe them?
Well, you could listen to me telling you they’re a stunning, Autumnal blend of psychedelia, folk and subtle weirdness all tied together with a sharp production and some classic songs but you could just click play below:

As usual, we will be running set times so you can make the last trains to Leeds and Manchester. On DJ duties for the evening we will have dangerous Dave Ives, famed for his red tin and his appearances at the likes of Duende. An evening of marvelous is guaranteed for all.

Tickets are £8 (£7 members) and are available from the venue, Jumbo Records and from we got tickets

Hush Arbors and Arbouretum have each been exploring for years now the intersection of progressive folk and psychedelic rock, albeit filtered through their own distinct sounds. It was only a matter of time before their paths would cross. Keith Wood and Dave Heumann met at a show in Baltimore and discovered their mutual appreciation for each other’s music. The two bands planned a joint European tour, and recorded Aureola to further showcase and celebrate their complimentary sounds.

Keith Wood (the man behind Hush Arbors), “has a poet’s soul and a drifter’s mentality. Better than most, he understands the similarities between Ted Berrigan and The Byrds,” says friend Matt Krefting. “He’s put the hours in playing with Six Organs of Admittance, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Current 93, and Thurston Moore, and is equally at home in the wilds of improvisation as he is with the vast possibilities of song form. As adept as he is at playing with others, Hush Arbors is all his, and it’s what he does best. His records for Ecstatic Peace, Hush Arbors and Yankee Reality, demonstrate Keith’s extraordinary capacity to mold songs of haunting beauty and sweetness, songs that make sense around the fireplace or on the open road. These new songs continue that trajectory and intensify the emotional gravitas of his previous work. They are like a re-awaking, a groggy hello to a forgotten world,or a blissful hangover full of melancholy love and beautiful promise.”

“Keith’s music suggests some strange place where John Philips, Merle Haggard, Charalambides and Federico Garcia Lorca all occupy the same neighborhood tavern. His songs are fluid and lucid and frequently dazzling, displaying a mastery of craft only gleaned from countless pie-eyed hours strumming along to records late at night and absorbing their individual magic. Hush Arbors is Keith’s nearperfect distillation of all that magic.” – James Jackson Toth (of Wooden Wand)

Dave Heumann’s allegorical and metaphorical lyrics for Arbouretum ride gently atop his fuzzed-out guitar solos, pushing them ever higher into the stratosphere, and lending his songs an emotional weight uncommon in “heavy rock” music. The band also continues to push forward, experimenting with improvisation to capture a more immediate feel that reflects their ever-changing live performances. Arbouretum perfectly exemplify a band that exists in a dual state. They are both loose and rhythmic, channeling the Velvet Underground’s repetitive grooves, but also technically precise and expansive. Folk ballads and acid-guitar psychedelia in perfect harmony. It’s music that can be played on an acoustic guitar or pushed through a distortion pedal and a stack of amps.

“Arbouretum have forged a new alloy of psychedelic heavy rock that captures the narrative power and sonic fury of electric Neil Young, the floral qualities of 1960s British psychedelia and the textural use of distortion at the foundation of drone and stoner rock. More importantly though, Arbouretum manages to avoid the parochial trappings of any of those camps. In other words, Arbouretum sounds like all of those things without the cliches. Throw in Heumann’s flair for putting a fresh twist on tried-and-true (read: tired)
traditions, and Arbouretum arises out of the psychedelic swamp blazing with an almost shamanic power.” – New York Press

So far, the only release from this dynamic duo has been an insanely limited compilation of last years live sets which sold out in the blink of an eye but just to satiate your curiosity, here’s a couple of excerpts from that gem:

live sample 1
live sample 2

But that is not all. Oh no. In support we have the debut gig of Slomo. Slomo is a duo of Holy McGrail (from Julian Cope’s band) and Howard Marsden. They have two albums under the belt, both released on the prestigious American label Important (the first also had a limited release on Julian Cope’s Fuck Off & Di label but sold out straight away). Their intense but subtle syth & guitar drones have found acclaim from the likes of The Wire and Sunn O)))’s Stephen O’Malley.

You can listen to them on Boomkat’s website
Tickets are £4 on the door but for only £3.20 in advance from our shop page and advance buyers get a free mix CD on the door entitled “Return to Owl Temple” packed full of serious gems including future attractions….

If you’re travelling, the last trains home are at around 11:30pm, the gig will be finished in plenty of time for them and the Stubbing is renowned for excellent pub food at reasonable prices. They also have 3 guest cask ales and are cider specialists too.

In support we have Samandtheplants doing a special solo, experimental set utilising some instruments he has built recently…plus a few songs. Samandtheplants have done 3 EPs and an album for Twisted Nerve Records. Their music is curious, whimsical and experimental where folk music meets modern technology and new acoustic instruments.

Opening the night are curious dark local act A Rookery who take acoustic music into 2012.

Tickets on sale now from the venue, Jumbo Records in Leeds and online at Wegottickets.com

Savaging Spires have had to reschedule their appearance in Hebden so won’t be supporting at this show but at another very special show to be announced soon.

Hibernate and Home Normal proudly present Wil Bolton, Ithaca Trio, Isnaj Dui, Talvihorros, The Boats, Machinefabriek and Konntinent on the 18th December at The Victoria in Dalston, London.

For more details on the venue and directions: http://www.thedalstonvic.co.uk/
Doors 5pm until 11pm
Tickets £8 in advance which includes a free and exclusive CD or £10 on the door.

Wil Bolton:
Wil Bolton is an artist and composer based in Liverpool, UK. He has been producing melodic electronica and IDM under the name Cheju since 2004 and in 2010 released Time Lapse, his debut album under his own name on hibernate. Performance time 17:45.

wilbolton.co.uk

Ithaca Trio:

Ithaca Trio is the project of Oliver Thurley, a composer based in Leeds, UK. Established in 2009, The Ithaca Trio is a collage of compositions, soundscapes, improvisations, field recordings, manipulations and experimentations recorded by members of the Deus Ex Machina Arkestra. Performance time 18:30.

ithacatrio.co.uk

Isnaj Dui:

Standing somewhere between modern classical and electronica, Isnaj Dui (real name Katie English) works within minimalist parameters using acoustic instruments and electronically manipulated effects. Performance time 19:15.

isnajdui.bandcamp.com

Talvihorros:

Talvihorros is an experimental composer from London, UK exploring the possibilities of the guitar. His compositions venture into the fields of ambient, experimental, drone, post-rock and folk but dont fall into the cliches associated with any of these genres. Performance time 20:00.

talvihorros.com

The Boats:

The partnership of Craig Tattersall and Andrew Hargreaves collectively know as The Boats enters into its seventh year. In this time they have released a catalogue of seven albums, four EP’s and have appeared on many compilations. Performance time 20:45.

oursmallideas.tumblr.com

Machinefabriek:

Machinefabriek is the alias of Rutger Zuydervelt, living in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Since 2004 Rutger unleashed more than 50 releases and has collaborated with Aaron Martin, Steinbrüchel, Dag Rosenqvist, Peter Broderick, Tim Caitlin, Gareth Hardwick, Gareth Davis, Simon Scott among many others. Performance time 21:30.

machinefabriek.nu

Konntinent:

Antony Harrison is the London based musician behind Konntinent as well as two other projects, Arev Konn and Paco Sala. Since 2009 he has released work on various labels including Home Normal, Digitalis, Sonic Pieces, Humming Conch and Sweat Lodge Guru. Performance time 22:15.

konntinent.blogspot.com

A founding member of Philadelphia folk rock band Espers, she recently released her second solo album “Seasons On Earth” via Drag City. She has toured with the likes of Bert Jansch, James Blackshaw, Micah Smaldone and Sharron Kraus. She is also the great-great niece of Isaac Garfield Greer, the historian and Appalachian folk singer.

Tickets available from the venue, Jumbo Records and online at wegottickets

Meg Baird’s “The Finder” from The Wire Magazine on Vimeo.

However, that is not all, oh no. We have local wonders The Steals playing a special stripped down set. Described as “Mysterious, haunting, heart-breaking and life-affirming” by the excellent Terrascope magazine, this will be something special.

Starting it all off will be John Powell & The Sad Face of Infinity. Johnny’s new revolving door group will see him joined by special guests onstage.

On DJ duties are Red Tin Dave & Russ Duende

LAST TRAINS FROM HEBDEN:
Platform 2 – 23:31 to Leeds/Bramley/New Pudsey/Bradford/Halifax/Sowerby Bridge/Mytholmroyd
Platform 1 – 23:28 to Manchester/Rochdale/Smithy Bridge/Littleborough/Walsden/Todmorden

Well, here it comes!…

Thanks to Alice Mill for Poster Design and Alice Carfrae for poster photography!

Doors will be around 8pm and we hope to get the band on around 8.30pm so you can all get your last trains home. DJs will be on until late for those who want to stay and enjoy some appropriate music alongside the Trades Clubs real ales, real ciders, German pilsners and special selection of some of the world’s strongest beers.

Tickets will be £10 (£8 for members) and can be bought from https://www.wegottickets.com/event/126939

This is their only Yorkshire date, so if you’re unsure about visiting Hebden, click HERE for more info.

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARAISO U.F.O. ‘Electric Death Mantra’ by Riot Season Records