Yes another year is almost passed and as we enter a new decade we would like to whole heartedly wish you all a very happy 2010 on behalf of the Mr Elephant crew.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who bought their vibes to any of our 25 events this year, lent their ears to any of the 16 radio shows, or took part in our community workshops back in May.

And of course a big shout to the 50+ artists who delivered their magic at the various Mr Elephant events, and the 100 + people who came together behind to make it all happen, and platform and share their unique skills, with us (and each other.)

You may have noticed that this year we wanted to focus more on showcasing as many Birmingham artists as we could (hence the 3 very different monthly residencies at 3 great Birmingham venues) but we haven’t forgotten why we started Mr Elephant, and in 2010 we will be looking to hopefully bring a balance to both with slightly less regular events and slightly more of the larger events.

Because they require so much time we have had to look at how best to move forward so we will be playing the next quarter by elephant ear, but suffice to say there are plans already in action for another festival style event with the return of the mr elephant midnight parade and featuring all the trimmings of the 1st 2 at Epic from 2007, the 12 hour celebrate underground from 2008, our 1st birthday also from 2008 and  our 12 hour 2nd birthday from 2009. We are also aiming to grow our regular monthly events and showcase some great live artists,underground djs, and forward thinking vjs at two of our favourite Birmingham venues.

Our Party Rockin Mammal Sessions will be the first to return with a new home @ the Hare & Hounds room 2 on Saturday Jan 9th (http://www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/party-rockin-mammal-sessions-free-party/) with a huge free party featuring around 10 of our favourite underground djs in brum, and will of course be on rotation 2nd Sat of every month thereafter with our Cinephonic A/V cinematic dancefloor sessions both bringing you a host of great djs, vjs, and live electronic artists.

Along with his unique visual talents, Vj Blendstate has taken over the promoting reigns of both of these events since mid October, along with our super skilled elephant residents the beat suite (aka skeleton & dolhasz) rocking the decks, and Liam has some big plans afoot, so if you like underground dance music and quality visuals, keep it locked.

I’ll be continuing with our live and free residency at the Adam & Eve which will feature more great live bands, eclectic djs and solo artists on the last saturday of February and each month thereafter, and will of course remain free entry til 4am, and will be returning with our eclectic radio show each monday to its home on rhubarb radio from 6pm – 8pm – (Check out/hear all our past shows and artists here) . – On a personal note i’ll be returning to the decks in around April/May with something i been working on since having a break in October.

Along with Jack and friends we will continue to capture and post footage of all artists as best we can on this website and make a loud elephant noises about the wealth of talent that exists in the city we live in. BIRMINGHAM! and our resident journalist Emily P will be continuing her cool column on the news and reviews front, and is rumoured to be bringing her interviewing prowess to the site in the new year.

The website (like the events, workshops, and of course radio) is totally unfunded, and features over 140 posts, many of which with video, photos, and of course links to all artists, so please have an explore round the various posts, check the videos and support any of the artists you enjoy by following their links and making a noise about whatever you’re into.

We would like to work the site better, so if you know about websites or have any ideas, feel free to let us know on how we can improve the community side of the website, or by dropping a comment. (We’ve had major issues with the mailing list plugin which has now been discontinued, hence no mailouts for almost a year now, but we are migrating to another option in jan)

And finally we would like raise the collective trunk and make a huge elephant noise to everyone who is, and has been, involved with Mr Elephant thus far, (which deserves a post in itself!) Whethers it’s bringing music and events this great city, using the platform to showcase and develop a creative passion, or trying a creative interest with experienced artists in hands on situations, the shared grass roots ethos that seem to run through all people who get involved with the phat mammal, is a testament to the abundance of opportunities that it continues to create.

Whatever you are interested in and however you celebrate, may 2010 bring you all you wish for, and the decade be an evolution of all that interests you.

One Love

Marc  (on behalf of Mr Elephant as a whole)

Music Fashion Style

The Correspondents – A sexy twist on the 1930s

Beginning a set with a rendition of Jungle Book’s I wanna be like you can seem like a daunting task for some, but not The Correspondents.

This truly imaginative duo, comprising of DJ Chuckles and Mr Bruce, allow no time for talking, just pure 1930s big band revamped for the 21^st Century.

Whenever these gents start a gig, there seems to be an influx of men in bow ties and ladies in high-wasted flapper dresses. Their sets drain any energy out of the room; just watching Mr Bruce strut his stuff leaves the most athletic out of breath. The Wandsworth swing-hip hop outfit never fail to impress at their gigs, ending with some incredible drum ‘n’ bass style finales, topped with lyrical virtuosity.

The Correspondents Live at The Globe

Chuckles, the musical mastermind, effortlessly selects jazzy and bouncy hip hop, which allows for Mr Bruce to MC, scat, sing and work his voodoo over the crowd.

The Correspondents, when they can drag themselves away from the usual London haunts, play some pretty exciting gigs, as well as the major festivals including Glastonbury and The Edinburgh Festival.

Their debut release, The Rogue EP, is available for download from www.soundspurple.com.

The Destroyers – Are you ready, ‘cos here they go!

http://www.adrian-burrows.co.uk/?p=225

When you find yourself down on one knee in the mud at Glastonbury, among a few thousand people listening to a story about a mouse – you know you’re watching The Destroyers.

The 15-strong group of instrumentalists, vocalists and composers describe themselves as specialising in turbo-folk mélanges of gypsy, Balkan, Klesmer and beat poetry. Formed in Birmingham, a small group of gypsy-folk enthusiasts decided to play Eastern European music at a makeshift jazz venue in someone’s basement. As the band grew, so did their scope and talent.

The Destroyers have been everywhere this summer; including the Avalon Stage at Glastonbury, Shambala and Bestival. Their live show is certainly something not to be missed; they take story-telling to another level. If you keep up with these 15 turbo-folkers, you’re in better shape than you think. Their shows are manic and get even the sceptical of gypsy toe-tapping.

Following the launch of their debut single “Out of Babel” and their huge show to mark it’s release in their home town of birmingham back in July, the Destroyers are now releasing their lomg awaited debut album of the same title, available right now via their own website – http://thedestroyers.co.uk,

Catch them live in Birmingham at the Town Hall on October the 11th for a birthday celebration with The Old Dance School & The Toy Hearts.

Alternatively have a listen to their music online at their http://www.myspace.com/thedestroyersplaymusic

Little feature on Mr Elephant appeared in the recent Night Times publication which gives a little overview of what we do as Mr Elephant.

20, 000 copies of the Night Times have been distributed this month to showcase the best of brums underground and music nightlife to our new arriving students. Copies can be found for free at your local music venues in Birmingham and for those that havent come across the paper, its a must follow publication in our opinion and we lucky to have it in the city, featuring music reviews, events and local information. As far as we know its funded only by advertisting and the fact they make the advertising really affordable and really useful to underground nights and local people who dont have much money, means its something that needs supporting, so get in touch with them if you have something you want to share with the birmingham masses.

Here’s our little biog, and click here to read a bigger version

Mr Elephant’s news and reviews #3

“Mr Elephant shakes its trunk at Shambala”

Something magical has been happening in a heavenly forest, tucked far away near Market Harborough.

This weekend, the Mr Elephant collective donned its wellies and raincoats to experience an assortment of emerging and established talent from the Midlands and further afield.

Birmingham favourites, the Destroyers and Boogie Dave put the city firmly on the Shambala musical map. Bristol’s finest gave the crowd the what for, introducing acts such as Yes Sir Boss, Bizali and Carnival Collective. The revellers were privileged to see legendary acts such as Dub Colossus and The Egg, and were treated to a secret gig by Coldcut. Take a look at some of these sexy highlights and delights:

Kokolo opened the Shambala Stage on Friday afternoon. The New York afrobeat band meshed together funk, dancehall and polyrhythms. Bizali followed shortly after offering a Róisín Murphy wannabe attached to a Bjork sounding band from Bristol.

Moving over to the second alfresco stage, delightfully situated next to the ground’s lake and manor house, Miss Cecily played a beautiful set on the Lakeside Stage. Miss Cecily performed with a talented six-piece band encapsulating jazz and soul to Latin and klezmer.

By way of a birthday present, Coldcut played a secret AV set for the last hour of the roller disco in the Kamikaze Tent. The set offered 80’s delights and feel-good samples from classics such as Little Miss Sunshine (Super Freak) and the iconic Hiphopopotamus rap from Flight of the Concords.

Another of Birmingham’s regulars, The Apples, kicked off the evening’s entertainment delivering their signature explosive live experience. The Tel Aviv musicians spontaneously kicked ideas up and down the stage in a torrent of decks, horns, double basses, drums and electronic effects. They, of course, finished with their fantastic Rage Against the Machine cover Killing in the name of.

Saturday was brought into its prime when Zion Train followed the enigmatic Royal Gala and picked up the pace ten-fold. Described as one of the best dub acts around, these guys have been leaders in the roots reggae field for over 15 years and the energy and dynamic still remains. The crowd was worked up into a dub frenzy, with the band feeding the crowd some of their classics tunes.

The Correspondents, made up of DJ Chuckles and Mr Bruce, filled out the Kamikaze Tent on Saturday evening. The set started with their rendition of Jungle Book’s I wanna be like you. With some masterful MCing throughout, Mr Chuckles dropped the genius Ghost remix of It’s all love and finished off with some incredible drum ‘n’ bass with lyrical masterfulness.

Crazy P Soundsystem took the tempo down after The Correspondents with her soothing voice and dancefloor groves. The Bays followed at a drowsy 1 o’clock in the Kamikaze Tent, bringing the mood into a different dimension with their musical adventure of drum ‘n’ bass, techno and hypnotic beats.

Slightly deflated after all those nitrous balloons, Sunday was put into fifth-gear with some mind-blowing dancing from Tikambilanie. This collective brings together rhythms and dances from Zambia’s seven main tribes and got even the most temperamental of toddlers stamping their feet.

Sunday evening saw the Carnival Collective bring out the sunshine with their enchanting drumming. This extraordinary collective used their traditional Brazilian instruments and percussion to play reggae to break-beat, encapsulating the carnival that is Shambala.

The eagerly anticipated Dub Colossus closed the Shambala Stage shortly afterwards. The might of the lead vocalist took many somewhere more spiritual than they’d been all weekend. The set took the listener on a journey of African musical heritage, capturing some of Ethiopia’s finest performers. Shambala was truly privileged to see this performance.

This festival encapsulates what every festival should: innocence, general sillyness and tea! Happy 10^th birthday Shambala.

Check out this year’s Shambala photo album and see if you can spot Mr Elephant in action.

For more crucial rantings and ramblings about Shambala pick up a copy of this month’s Night Times.

emily_poser@hotmail.com

Birmingham’s weird and wonderful summer

Sometimes it takes a hard slap in the face (or your average out-of-body experience) to realise that you’ve been doing the same thing week-in, week-out for about four and a half years. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun? The number 50 bus to work, the same over-priced warm beer accompanied by unobtrusive house music or the majestic trips to Cannon Hill Park to feed the only duck left in the city.

Now, my friends, is the time to inaugurate Random Monday’s Club with your buddies, Sexy Thursdays with your capably sexy neighbour and Weird Weeknights with your mum – they’re all bloody good options!

Summer is about to get eccentric and there’s plenty of tomfoolery to be had in Birmingham whilst you’re learning to love the rain. Here’s a list of some juicy activities to get your teeth into:

Kings Heath Scrabble Club

Kings Heath Community Centre, 7.30pm every Tuesday

Now, to the modern dyslexic out there this may seem like a frightening thought, but this club is a sociable affair and fun can be had by all. Beginners and professionals alike are welcome. The aim is to play three games between 7.30pm and 10pm with a break for tea and Penguin biscuits.

This week saw a fight break out between Ralph and Mavis over an illegal double word score.

Stitches and Hos

The Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath, last Tuesday of every month

The widely acclaimed (and featured in the Daily Mail) Stitches and Hos monthly meet has encouraged even the most sceptical swines to have a go at all things knitted, crocheted and stitched. All are welcome – you don’t even have to know your cross from your fisherman’s rib stitch!

Birmingham British Sub Aqua Club

Stechford Cascades Leisure Centre, 8.45pm every Monday

You won’t believe it, but you can actually go diving with blue fish tuna, great white sharks and barracuda, right in the city – they’re rectangular and made of foam, but that’s fine. Birmingham, sometimes mistaken for Barbados, actually has a diving club to which anyone is welcome to join and learn to dive with friendly and qualified coaches.

8bit Lounge

The Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath, starts Tuesday 1 September

Ever laid awake in bed and thought about what it feels like to beat your older brother at Street Fighter? Yes? Well this is going to be right up your garden path. On offer is a menagerie of arcade games, arcade theme tunes, game inspired music, robotics, hacking and circuit bending, along with a collection of games consoles for you delight from the 80s and 90s.

Clive’s Easylearn Music Schools

Dickens Heath School, Solihull, starts Tuesday 15 September, weekly

Free, yes free. Sorry did you hear that? Free adult guitar lessons are starting in September. Places are limited, so get booking or forever hold your peace.

What lies beneath

Midlands Arts Centre, Cannon Hill Park, from 11am onward on 16 August
Find out what, and who, lives under the surface of the ‘secret pond’ at Cannon Hill Park. The event is again free, but you may have deal with some pesky kids asking how snails have sex or something, actually that would be quite interesting eh? Nets provided, wellingtons advised.

In fact, the much-loved park has community events on most weekends over the summer.

Outdoor showing of Moonwalker

New Elizabethan School, Stourbridge, 5pm onwards on 29 August
With pre-movie entertainment from the local radio station (maybe skip that bit) starting at 5pm, Moonwalker will be screened at 8pm in loving memory of Mr Michael Jackson to commemorate what would have been his 51^st birthday.

The Travelling Picture Show

West Midlands, June to September

This summer, kids (and grown-ups) will have a chance to feast on film. Inspired by the classic Saturday matinee experience, the Travelling Picture Show will be popping up in arts centres and community venues all over the region with a lorry-load of short films, animation and features from across the world.

Other nights to look out for this summer include: the swing based Sugar Foot Stomp, the excellent Coffee & Cake by The Other Woman’s Club and Mr Elephant’s very own Cinephonic/Intermix; all offering a twist of lemon and some ice in your warm lemonade. And one last thing, keep your eyes peeled for ArtsFest running from 11 to 13 September.

Do you know of any peculiar nights happening near you? Then email: emily_poyser@hotmail.com.

Written by Emily Poyser for Mr Elephant Presents

Supersonic Sound Wave by Emily Poyser

Monotonix in crowd by J D Robinson

Synonymous with bringing anything to the table, Supersonic Festival offered willing musos experimental delights from around the globe. This three-day miscellany of music brought together folk, breakcore, metal and chaotic beats – a daunting task for some, but not Supersonic.

The Capsule gang: the masterminds and curators of the festival, now into its seventh year, took over the Custard Factory in fantastic style – utilising the factory and outside spaces for not only music, but cheeky pockets of artwork and film.

It had been passed down the grapevine that 2008 was going to be hard to beat, but Capsule seem to have recreated the perplexing balance of eclectic and experimental. The weekend seemed to offer a platform for new and emerging Birmingham talent, alongside established and international acts.

People came from all corners of the UK to descend on a not-so-sunny Birmingham, almost selling out the festival on all three nights.

Friday’s highlights

Friday saw the bemusement begin in supersonic style with Drum Eyes belting out psychedelic sounds in the Factory Club. Scorn followed shortly after with stirring downtempo minimalist beats and deep baselines. The former Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris served a unique fusion on trip-hop and dub revellers.

The Custard Factory outside stage, inhabited by a 300-strong army of hardcore Sunn O)) fans, were treated to their juxtaposition of ambient sounds and black metal. Accompanied by only their guitars and what seemed like an unnecessary amount of amps, Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley couldn’t fail to make an impact.

Smoke filled the outside stage through which droning guitars, feedback and other sound effects could be heard at an incredible decibel level.

Thirty minutes into the performance, still with no discernible beat, body numbers had reduced significantly; the mob of hardcore fans persevered in classic style.

Sunn by J D Robinson

The only endurance test which could follow the might of Sunn O)) was Venetian Snares, aka Canadian mind-bender Aaron Funk.

This legend could be described Aphex Twin meets your little cousin f**king around with your old breaks records, whilst drumming a skip with chop sticks. He seems to have mastered experimental electronic blending anything from reggae to classic techno at around 4000 bpm!

Saturday’s highlights

Saturday saw an arcane line up, with Nisennenmondai welcoming the evening on the outside stage. These fine Tokyoites gave definition to Japanese punk, with the female three piece enticing the crowd into a frenzy.

Staying in East Asia, Japanese band Corrupted played their first gig in the UK and offered Space 2 (the Custard Factory’s warehouse space) a bleak and forceful sound. The band demonstrated brutal riffs-drones, as well as a drummer who maintained an unbelievable striking force on improbable slow tempos.

Bobby Previte and VJ Benton offered a fully immersive audio-visual experience straight from New York. Zu, scheduled slightly awkwardly afterwards, shifted down-gear and left the crowd somewhat indifferent.

The reminder that music festivals shouldn’t be taken so seriously came in the form of Monotonix.

Easily the hairiest men at the festival, the Tel Aviv trio closed the Saturday night on the outside stage in unparalleled style. By far the most energetic performance of the festival, these guys sported some courageous shorts and offered some old-fashioned entertainment.

The equipment, originally set up amongst the crowd, moved to all four corners of the venue throughout the performance (with kit being passed everywhere, it’s a miracle if they got it all back). As the drum kit and singer edged the crowd further away from the stage, enticing havoc at the back, VJ Blendstate and the front of house team were almost taken out.

The crowd numbers soon doubled, then tripled to a full house. The crowd sat down thanks to the singers barking instructions and one guy almost got a clout round the head – carrying the debacle on for a further ten minutes.

Banned from most venues in Tel Aviv, hopefully, they’ll be frequenting the city a little more often.

Monotonix by J D Robinson

Sunday’s highlights

A credit to Capsule’s programming, Theo (aka Sam Knight) worked his one-man magic on a rainy afternoon. To see this talent live is something of wonder with his looped layers of delicate sounds echoing on the factory walls.

Each song moved effortlessly to the next as his impressive guitaring and drumming baffled an attentive crowd. His rhythmic melodies and beats induced a trance like state as he improvised and worked off the crowd.

The Black Country’s finest industrial export, Head of David, played their first live show in 23 years as the original line-up. Sunday’s headliner, Italian legends Goblin followed with nothing out of the ordinary.

Goblin by J D Robinson

Old Supersonic favorites Caribou closed the outside stage offering building blocks of divine melodies. Programmed as a “perfect slice of bedroom psychedelia from someone for whom melody and emotion are ten times as important as collectible obscurity”, they certainly didn’t disappoint before bed time.

Time and time again, Supersonic gets described as the best organised music event in the Midlands by gig-goers, crew and artists. Everyone seems willing, friendly and this creative hub becomes a place where metallers meet the folk fairies.

And don’t forget the cake…

You can listen to this tomfoolery and genius on Rhubarb Radio and catch a look on the Flickr group.

Photos taken from Flickr group – Jwrobinson’s photostream

Review written by Emily Poyser on behalf of Mr Elephant – emily_poyser@hotmail.com

Yes, yes, we are most excited to announce that our big little radio show is back on the rhubarb airwaves, every monday evening from 6-8pm from 20th July 2009.

After a somewhat shaky start we decided that their was too much technical difficulties with trying to stream from home, which meant the show was at the mercy of Marc’s dj gig commitments, which were pretty much each week.

Now however we have a new timeslot, due to an opening in the schedule, in which we can showcase some of the cities finest musical talents, live recordings from our elephant events, and a huge range of unreleased music from Marc’s own promo lists.

Expect a whole host of music you’ll know too, and special guests each week from our sock rockin resident, and also pushing the Birmingham sound is one of the kings of brummy airwaves, little chris, who will be hosting his inspiring Brum cast live each monday from 8pm, starting on the 8th August 2009.

Monday nights are a good night for new music, and relaxing in your space.