Casiotone For The Painfully bring their collection of indie synth pop tunes to the Black Box on Saturday 8th March. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is the musical alias of American film school dropout Owen Ashworth, who realised that recording songs was a more cost effective means of storytelling than film-making. So Ashworth developed a lo-fi indie pop aesthetic utilising a Casio SK-1, a range of Casiotones and a four track on a 4-track cassette and the occasional contributions from friends, that craftly captured the pioneering excitement of early '80's electronic music. Over the last decade, Ashworth has carved a reputation as one of the best songwriters in independent music, documenting the romantic trials and travails of twenty somethings with intimate character studies that are reminiscent of the witty melancholia of The Smiths and Stephen Merritt's Magnetic Fields."The American Arab Strap" is another comparision often made.. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone unleashed an emotional, homemade brand of synth pop with the bedroom classics of the debut album, Answering Machine Music, the bittersweet indie pop of Pocket Symphonies for Lonesome Subway Cars and the wistful, warm electronica of Twinkle Echo. Deciding to step beyond the limitations of his bedroom recording project, Ashworth expanded his sound into a small orchestra of pianos, organs, strings, flutes, pedal steel guitars, drums, drum machines and synthesizers to create the ambitious sound of his last album, Etiquette. Ashworth makes stylistic leaps through dark Euro synth pop, country-tinged techno and classic 60's bubblegum pop with infectious new tunes like "I Love Creedence", "Cold White Christmas" and "New Year's Kiss". CFTPA will be joined on stage by Jenny Herbinson, the vocalist from Etiquette and a number of his recent singles. All four of CFTPA's albums have been released on Tomlab.

Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang's music career started with modest goals but grew to incorporate one of the most influential bands of the 80s (Galaxie 500), a string of duo albums on Sub Pop records thoughout the 90s, collaborations with some of the most adventurous rock musicians playing today (Ghost, Michio Kurihara, nmperign, Wayne Rogers), and most recently, the formation of their own record label (20/20/20) and subsequent release of their two latest Damon & Naomi albums, 'The Earth Is Blue' and 'Within These Walls'. In addition to their work as musicians, Damon & Naomi are the founders of Exact Change, a publishing house dedicated to avant-garde literature and artists' writings. As individual artists, Damon writes (and teaches) poetry and music criticism, and Naomi is a visual artist (photography and painting) and graphic designer.

Japanese hardcore legends Melt Banana finally make their debut Belfast show on June 19th.. Notorious for their incredible live performances and one-and-a-half-minute songs featuring the shrieking vocals of Yasuko O and Agata's intense overdriven guitar, Melt Banana's new album, 'Bambi’s Dilemma', is out now on A-zap records

Neither prolific nor easy to pigeonhole, San Francisco's Vetiver have long been associated with the city's alternative indie-folk scene probably due to head honcho Andy Cabic's dalliances as producer and sometime collaborator/bandmate with the likes of Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Vashi Bunyan and Bert Jansch.. Vetiver released their debut album in 2004 on the small indie folk label DiCristina and featured guest appearances by Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) and Colm O'Siosoig (My Bloody Valentine). Their most recent album "To Find Me Gone" came out in 2006 on the ultra hip Fat Cat label (Sigur Ros, Mum etc) and this summer sees the release of the bands third album "Thing Of The Past". Adrian Crowley has toured extensively in the UK, USA and Europe with Adem and James Yorkston, Damon & Naomi (ex- Galaxie 500), and Hood. He has also shared the bill with Animal Collective, Jose Gonzalez, Fence Collective, Arab Strap, Badly Drawn Boy and has recorded with Steve Albini. In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Ryan Adams named Crowley one of his favourite underground songwriters. "Like Nick Drake strung-out on the minor chords and major catastrophes in the lives of Low." -PLAN B MAGAZINE:

Plaid are an electronic music duo comprising Andy Turner and Ed Handley. Former members of The Black Dog, they have collaborated with female singers Mara Carlyle, Nicolette and Björk, and have released records on the labels Clear, Peacefrog, Black Dog Productions and Warp. Aside from their own material, Plaid have done extensive remix work for many other artists, including Red Snapper, Björk, Goldfrapp, and The Irresistible Force. Parts in the Post (2003) contains just a handful of Plaid's remix work to date. Plaid often work collaboratively with video artist Bob Jaroc, whose animations often accompanied the music during live performances. They quite recently developed a DVD consisting of new material and video artwork to accompany the music, entitled Greedy Baby. The project was completed on July 20 2005, and was first shown at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in the South Bank Centre, and subsequently at the BFI Imax cinema in Waterloo, London. Greedy Baby was released on DVD from Warp Records on June 26, 2006. Plaid are putting the finishing touches to their new album 'Scintilli', and have just signed on to write the STX for Michael Arias' next feature film 'Heaven's Door'.

Fortune Cookie Music in assoc with The Black Box are thrilled to announce that Swedish troubadour Jens Lekman will embark on a full-band debut Belfast show on May 23rd, which will follow his appearances at both the Pitchfork and Explosions In The Sky-curated All Tomorrow's Parties weekenders. "Pop is rarely as genuinely affecting, joyful or good as this." - The Guardian, 5/5 "He crafts sun-drenched tunes that swoosh inside your head... Listen and believe." - NME, 8/10 "Kortedala represents the most cohesive statement yet from an immensely talented artist." - Pitchfork, 9.0 album review "Joyous, danceable, at some times euphoric, at all times gorgeous." - Plan B "Lekman marshals small orchestras, home-made Hustle-flavoured disco and subtly crafted acoustic indie pop to create an album that pulls off that simple, incredibly difficult achievement of elevating the mood without patronising the listener." - Word

The records that Jonathan Richman has made over the past 30+ years have long held a special place in the hearts of his fans. The raw, minimalist sound and emotionally forthright songs of The Modern Lovers helped to lay the groundwork for punk rock. But by the time the group's landmark debut album (including the much-covered Road Runner) was released in 1976, Jonathan had already moved on to a quieter sound and a gentler lyrical focus. Since then, he's continued to record and tour prolifically. Jonathan's music has absorbed a multitude of influences, from doo-wop to country to a variety of international styles, without sacrificing the artist's effervescent personality. His deceptively straightforward songs embody timeless qualities of humanity, optimism, emotional insight and a boundless sense of humour, untainted by cynicism or transient notions of hipness. Jonathan's audience expanded substantially in the 1990s, thanks to frequent guest spots on TV's Late Night with Conan O'Brien, his prominent appearance in the 1998 film comedy smash - There's Something About Mary, and the inclusions of his Modern Lovers classics Ice Cream Man and I'm A Little Airplane on Sesame Street.

A beautiful mess of indie rock, country-rock and lo-fi with lyrics both witty and profound - the Silver Jews were formed in 1989 by writer David Berman along with Pavement's Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich. Sometimes regarded as a Pavement side project, in fact The Jooswere formed before Pavement, and by 1996's The Natural Bridge album none of the Pavement musicians featured. Offering listeners an album without the inimitable influence of Stephen Malkmus' guitar and vocals, Silver Jews were always a conduit for David Berman's brand of sardonic, countrified indie rock, and Berman has remained the only constant member. Berman had been steadfast in his almost complete refusal to play live, and so surprised the indie world when he announced the Silver Jews first ever tour of the U.S and Europe in 2006. Silver Jews' sixth album Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea is released in May on Drag City Records.

Glasgow's 1990s debut album, Cookies (Rough Trade Records), dragged The Rolling Stones, Velvets, The Fall and Modern Lovers out of the bedroom, and onto the dance-floor, with classic party-rock assets You Made Me Like It, You're Supposed To Be My Friend and See You At The Lights. Lead singer Jackie McKeown was the founding member of Scottish Indie band The Yummy Fur alongside Alex Kapranos and Paul Thomson from Franz Ferdinand. Anyone who witnessed their previous Belfast shows with CSS and The Long Blondes will know that 1990s play music "like a blonde gets out of a car".

How to describe Ulrich Schnauss's music? Let's see. It's shoe-gazing heroes. Slowdive headlining a rave. It's krautrock plunging headlong into the celestial raptures of the Cocteau Twins. It's U2 if Brian Eno had ousted Bono and commandeered the band in 1985. It's Balearic with a view of the Baltic instead of the Mediterranean. It's art-techno for the heart as well as the head. It's stadium chill-out, as immense as a festival field and as intimate as a bedroom. It's celebration and catharsis. It's vapour trails and meteor showers. And it's very, very good. Ulrich's third album, Goodbye, was released in Summer 2007 on Independiente Records.

The prodigal brainchild of aural non-conformist David Longstreth, Dirty Projectors cast a kaleidoscopic glare far beyond the variegated province of experimental rock. Their perpetually inventive, evolving aesthetic is buttressed by skewed guitars, skyscraper strings - and, not least, Longstreth's unparagoned larynx - into a livid anthology that variously chimes with Prince, Outkast and Bjork. Little wonder they've been widely extolled as the last guardians of rock 'n' roll. Their latest album, Rise Above (Rough Trade) is a halfremembered re-imagining of Black Flag's coruscating masterwork Damaged. Rise Aboverevokes the original's hardcore brutality for a delirious acquisition of volatile tempos, unorthodox vocals, fitful wig-outs and lambent guitars. It is, of course, spectacular. Portland Oregon's Yacht, is an amalgamation of self-taught dance moves and anthemic electro-power jams all played backwards and covered in cherry cola.

We are proud to announce the return to Belfast of some of Japan’s foremost musical innovators. Longtime FC Music favorites The Acid Mothers Temple core will be joined on this occasion by the mighty Ruins. Three musicians play in 7 combos in one show. THE ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE SWR. The Acid Mothers Temple has rapidly become acclaimed as the greatest, most extreme trip psychedelic group in the world. Releases have appeared on labels around the world at an amazing pace, and the magnificence of their live performances is already being whispered of as legendary. SWR is the AMT Family's most powerful battle-formation yet. ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE SWR features Tsuyama and Kawabata from the original AMT and Yoshida from Ruins on drums. Their crushingly acute freak out sound pulverizes the world's legions of wannabe psych groups. RUINS ALONE Yoshida Tatsuya is one of the most innovative drummer/composer/improvisers in Japan's music scene. He is the pioneer of Drum & Bass duo RUINS which was founded by Yoshida in '85. The music is complicated and mysterious, and songs are sung in a language of their own invention. It's high-tension, wild, heavy, speedy, acute, and powerful. The tremendous ensemble never sounded like they were only two players. Now RUINS has no bassist and recently Yoshida has been playing as RUINS ALONE. This is the same mind blowing RUINS songs with sampled bass. KAWABATA MAKOTO (Solo) Kawabata Makoto is best known for his speed-demon noise-fuzz guitar in Acid Mothers Temple, but he is also widely active as an unparalleled drone guitarist. Drawing upon a huge reservoir of original techniques including metal glissando and bow-work that can summon up the sound of a string ensemble or orchestra, his work in this area cannot be simply categorized as minimal, drone or experimental. You'll find it hard to believe that a single guitar can create sonic worlds of such meditative and elegant depth.

B-Music is an independent collective of DJs, musicians and music lovers dedicated to the obsessive and painstaking pursual of obscure, obsolete, exquisitely obnoxious, unbelievable, underexposed and undeniably delectable discs of experimental pop music from the psyched-out sixties and seventies. B-Music.co.uk provides a pocket library for discerning aficionados of fascinating rhythms from six times around the globe - unifying record collectors, beat diggers, fanatics of the avant-garde and trash-merchants alike. Centred around the Mancunian eponymous travelling club and bar night - hosted by Andy Votel (Twisted Nerve) and Dominic Thomas - and along with twin record labels Finders Keepers and Delay 68, B-Music represents a passionate, un-blinkered approach to the culmination of way-out sounds encompassing all elements of off-kilter counter-culture: Psych Prog Space Rock Ye-Ye Euro Beat Folk Funk Jazz and Whacked Out Movie Musak. Joining the lads in Belfast will be CHRIS GEDDES from BELLE & SEBASTIAN. Once described as the greatest Scottish band ever Chris brings the noise with a truly eclectic mix of sounds dispelling the notion that djs from bands are on the whole wick as shit. Bringing up the rare is Belfasts own SARGE who plays them crazy shit records from the olden days. All in all it’s a bloody tremendous line up of spin merchants from all over the British isles to excite and delight you with their rare vinyl records from all over the flippin globe so expect FREAKBEATS, STRANGE FUNKS, BIG DRUM SOUNDS, SWAMPY FUZZ GUITARS, GARAGE GRINDINGS, PSYCHEDELIC SWIRLERS, HEAVY ACID DROPS, KLAZY KRAUT & PROGGY EAR WRESTLINGS, LIGHT FOLK GROOVERS AND JUST LOADS OF STUFF YOU AINT HEARD BEFORE……….its all gonna go down like that. So if you’re opened-minded about new old music and wanna hear something different to the drudge of today you really must check it out one time.

Palindromic Berlin group To Rococo Rot are among the most influential and innovative acts in electronic music. They returned in 2007 with the masterful ABC123 (Domino Records) based on a commission to mark the 50th anniversary of the Helvetica typeface. To Rococo Rot is one of the most innovative electronica bands in recent times. The band was formed in 1995 in Berlin by Stefan Schneider of Kreidler, Robert Lippock, and Ronald Lippock (who is involved with Tarwater) as a collaborative work to produce the soundtrack for an exhibition of Roland’s lithographs. Since then they have gone on to release some of the most outstanding and seminal electronic music of recent years on releases such as including ‘Veiculo’ (1997), ‘The Amateur View’ (1999), ‘Kölner Brett’ (2001), ‘Music Is a Hungry Ghost’ (2001) and ‘Hotel Morgen’ (2004) for labels such as Domino, Staubgold and Mute. They have collaborated with artists as diverse as Mira Calix, Barbara Morgenstern, Alexander Balenescu and Ludovico Einaudi.

Now on her sixth album ('Saltbreakers' - Nonesuch Records), Laura Veirs continues to be one of the most enigmatic talents on the US singer-songwriter scene, fascinating with both her guitar style and nature-driven lyrics. Having expanded her sound on 2005's 'Year of Meteors', Veirs pushes herself even further here: 'Saltbreakers' is her most diverse yet also most accessible album having been recorded in Seattle with Tucker Martine (The Decemberists) once again producing and mixing. One of that ever decreasing group that can draw you back to a lyric sheet again and again, Veirs journeys through styles and doesn't lose her way. Here the rocky 'Phantom Mountain', the quirky pop of 'Don't Lose Yourself', the country of 'To the Cowboy' and the brooding 'Ocean Night Song' all co-exist. She's also one of that even smaller group that tries to make every song as distinctive as possible. And on a record that's concerned with the life aquatic, you won't have to dive too deep to find treasure.

You know he is, he realllly is! thank you!

Formed in Melbourne in late 2002, DEVASTATIONS were from the outset mining a well of their own, preferring understated emotion and veiled menace to the primal strut and bluster of the much-hyped 'new rock' of the time. The critical response to their debut album, released in 2003 - described by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in Mojo magazine as "the best thing I've heard all year" - earned the trio supports slots with the Dirty Three, Cat Power, Tindersticks and the Black Heart Procession - but the Devastations always had their sights set further afield. The group has now released three albums. 2003’s self-titled debut won them a following in Europe, and that’s where they created 2005’s “Coal,” (ATP Recordings) an album that raised their profile considerably both home and abroad. Nominated for the Australian Music Prize (AMP), it put them in contention with esteemed countrymen like the Go-Betweens, Ben Lee and Wolfmother. The record went on to receive praise in such antipodal press outlets as Uncut (four stars), Pitchfork (7.5 rating) and Q Magazine ("cultdom seems assured; more may follow. Meanwhile, the band mounted their first major tours of the United States and Europe, capping off a year of non-stop activity with a triumphant appearance this April at the Dirty Three-curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival in England. Finally, “Coal” earned the musicians a place at Beggars Banquet. “Yes, U” - the first album recorded for the label - marks a striking evolution. Previous records have been praised for their gothic detailing and subtle use of instrumental colouration (harmonium, Optigan, rhythm box, keyboards, strings, et. al). Devastations earned a reputation as well-refined miserablists and classic-minded balladeers, specialists in the sub-genre known as orch-pop. This was a mixed blessing. Unlike the artists to whom they were compared (Bad Seeds, Tindersticks, Go-Betweens), Devastations’ songs were not intended as weepers, and their arrangements did not fill up every nook and cranny with suffocating detail. Rather, they were particularly notable for their use of space and careful construction. The noir moods did not seem like a plea for sympathy, or an indicator of depression, but a glimmer of how one might find salvation. The band that greets us on new album “Yes, U” have sloughed off their previous history, and landed upon a path to the future. Recorded in Berlin, where they now reside, with Jeremy Glover and mixed in New York City with Chris Coady (Blonde Redhead, TV on the Radio), it still hints at spiritual predecessors like Serge Gainsbourg and the Velvet Underground - urbane artists who revelled in the life of the metropolis, with all its glamorous, grimy, and sensuous details. But it also brings to mind thornier cosmopolitans such as Suicide, Scott Walker and Yoko Ono - deep thinkers all, each noted for creating treacherous sonic environments and tangible, physical sounds.

Almost a year to the day we are delighted to welcome back Osaka, Japan's legendary Acid Mothers Temple;;; Psychedelic,Progressive, Metal, Krautrock, sometimes chaotic, sometimes beautiful, always spectacular and awe inspiring! Psyche rock at it's most amazing... "The Acid Mothers Temple never slips into humourless self- indulgence or pomposity. The playing, particularly from lead guitarist Makoto Kawabata , is visceral and gripping, shifting from gentle harmonies to ear-rupturing noise. For all their long hair and flared trousers, the collective's music has little to do with the hackneyed cosiness of psychedelia's past. Rather than looking back, they translate its spirit of wild experimentation into the 21st century. The results are challenging, utterly unique. " - The Guardian.

Mark Kozelek is the reigning king of downer folk-rock. As auteur and frontman for San Francisco-based Red House Painters, Kozelek was responsible for some of the saddest and most beautiful music of the ‘90s. His musical style is equal parts Nick Drake and Neil Young, sprinkled with numerous other influences. His lyrical style is as often painfully confessional as it is darkly humorous. Mark Kozelek has recorded six studio albums with Red House Painters, four solo albums, and two with Sun Kil Moon. In February 2007, Caldo Verde Records reissued the first Sun Kil Moon album Ghosts of the Great Highway with reworked packaging and a six song bonus CD featuring two versions of Leonard Bernstein’s “Somewhere,” alternate versions of “Carry Me Ohio” and “Salvador Sanchez,” a radio performance of “Gentle Moon” and the previously unreleased instrumental,“Arrival” recorded for the movie The Girl Next Door. Originally released on November 3, 2003, Ghosts of the Great Highway received superlative reviews, moved quickly to Number 1 on college radio and has become one of singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek’s most loved and best-selling albums of his 14 year career. Little Drummer Boy Live was released through Caldo Verde Records on November 28, 2006. Recorded mostly in 2005 and 2006, the album contains live to CDR recordings from various shows in Europe and North America. The limited edition double CD covers a broad range of Mark Kozelek material, including Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon and personalized covers of Modest Mouse, Cars and AC/DC, with new tracks “Moorestown” and “Unlit Hallway.” Little Drummer Boy Live will be packaged together with Mark Kozelek’s limited 2001 release White Christmas Live in an exclusive 4 piece vinyl set to be released later in the year entitled White Christmas and Little Drummer Boy Live. Mark recently recorded music for the movie Fairwell Bender, had two songs from his Tiny Cities album featured on The O.C. and collaborated with Kristina Faragher on a 7 minute film entitled Gaping Mouth, currently part of the exhibit Yosemite, Art of an American Icon, now showing at the Oakland Museum until September 2, 2007. Ghosts tracks “Carry Me Ohio” and “Lily and Parrots” were featured in the Steve Martin film Shopgirl, in which Mark plays the role of a lead singer in a fictitious rock band. Mark also contributed several tracks to several compilations. His version of Will Oldham’s “New Partner” is included on CD entitled I Am A Cold Rock, I Am Dull Grass. Sun Kil Moon’s version of Neil Diamond’s “Kentucky Woman” is featured on Songs from the Brown Hotel which also features Elvis Presley and Nancy Wilson. The original composition “Leo and Luna” appears on a Canadian Compilation entitled See You on the Moon. A live version of “Have You Forgotten” will be featured in the soundtrack The Trials of Darryl Hunt, due out this summer. Other highlights include producing Take Me Home: A Tribute to John Denver; Retrospective, a two-CD collection featuring various rarities and live tracks alongside favorite RHP material; scoring the independent film Last Ball and appearing in Cameron Crowe’s critically acclaimed Almost Famous and Vanilla Sky, which also featured a re-recording of “Have You Forgotten”.

Low, a band from Duluth, Minnesota, formed in 1993. The band features Alan Sparhawk on vocals and guitar, Mimi Parker on vocals and drums, and Matt Livingston on bass and vocals. Sparhawk and Parker are married with two children; they first met in fourth grade in rural Minnesota. Livingston, the latest addition to the band, replaced longtime bassist Zak Sally, who left in 2006.. Low’s first album, I Could Live in Hope, was produced by Kramer and released in 1994. The band was immediately pegged as “slowcore” due to their minimalist soundscapes and the beautiful harmonies of Sparhawk and Parker, which stood in stark contrast to the era’s fascination with “grunge.” Low continued to work with different producers (Steve Fisk, Steve Albini, Dave Fridmann) and released a steady stream of critically acclaimed albums (The Curtain Hits the Cast, Things We Lost in the Fire, The Great Destroyer), one-offs, collaborations, and other miscellany, including a classic Christmas album, aptly titled Low Christmas. Throughout, Low toured the world and eventually found themselves in the company of such artists as The Dirty Three, Radiohead and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Drums and Guns is the band’s eighth full-length album and second for Sub Pop. It’s also, after 2005’s The Great Destroyer, the second album they’ve recorded with producer Dave Fridmann (the “fifth Flaming Lip”). Drums and Guns features a number of songs that ardent Low fans will recognize from the band’s recent live shows. These songs appear here in substantially altered forms, as though they’ve been taken apart and reassembled in striking new ways. There’s no contrivance here, however. While these songs feature new elements (looped vocals, drum machines, etc.) and are thoroughly, radiantly contemporary, they remain undeniably Low’s. Drums and Guns possesses the unique, subtle beauty and power we’ve come to expect from Low, and the record is also a breathtaking step forward. One of the albums of the year!!

Fortune Cookie Music is honoured to presents 'An Evening with Frank Sidebottom' Papier-mâché showbiz legend Frank Sidebottom performs an off-beat night of music and comedy, plus eccentric renditions of popular songs accompanied by his Casio keyboard, Yes, beyond doubt Frank Sidebottom is Show Biz's most fantastic star... and when we say "Show Biz" Frank can't be surpassed in his world of light entertainment including - Television; Radio; Concerts; Lectures; Records; Comic Strip Art; and Puppetry! Come and let the man with the papier-mâché head invite you into his bizarre and anarchic little world.

It must be a crazy world when "authentic" is a term used to separate an artist from the pack. Charlie Parr is a folk and country blues musician who is routinely labeled "authentic" and "the real deal" by fans and critics alike. Charlie shows up with a lived-in rasp of a voice, National resonator and 12-string acoustic guitars, a banjo and a batch of his own songs and well-traveled numbers by Mississippi John Hurt, Charley Patton and other cohorts from another time. He lays it on you, and you sense that the gamblers, the union workers, the criminals and the sinners that wander around his songs are peering right over your shoulder. Parr has sung about these folks at steady gigs in his hometown of Duluth, Minnesota, showcase performances like "A Prairie Home Companion," roadhouses in Texas and Montana, punk clubs in Ireland and pubs in London – let's just say that he's turned a lot of heads. His self-taught mix of slide, finger-picking and quasi-frailing technique, together with a voice that's low on drama and high on impact, can also be heard on four CDs (including the acclaimed 2005 release Rooster). The stories he tells get into some dark spots; that place where regret and remorse part company. A bit of a modern take on timeless conditions. Check him out and you'll probably agree – Charlie Parr is coming from a very real place, and this has, in fact, always been a crazy world. Charlie Parr grew up in Austin, Minnesota, in a house filled with the music that would inform his style. His late father loved the music found on collections like the field recordings by Alan Lomax released on the Folkways / Smithsonian label and Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music. The elder Parr's first-hand accounts of growing up during the Depression, riding the freight trains and traveling to places like the Piedmont region (a North Carolina country blues mecca), made the music all the more visceral to Charlie. While his peers were immersed in what is now called "classic rock," Charlie was soaking up the music of Furry Lewis, Rev. Gary Davis and Mance Lipscomb. As both his parents were union workers at Austin's Hormel plant – picket line fixtures during bitter labor strikes in the mid-1980s – Charlie himself got a first-hand view of what those old songs were talking about. Parr picked up the guitar around age eight, however, music lessons never held his interest. He's one of those self-taught guys who inevitably brings his own twists to music. He dropped out of high school as a freshman, eventually earning his GED after moving to Minneapolis. Parr's performing career began in 1988, playing in Twin Cities coffeehouses and clubs. Over the next decade-plus, Parr continued to hone his style and took up songwriting in earnest. Parr also earned a degree in philosophy and became an outreach worker for the homeless, working for the Salvation Army in Minneapolis. His experiences in social services can be heard in his songs, the way any songwriter is impacted by their life experiences. Parr moved from the Twin Cities to Duluth, Minnesota in 2000. In 2001 he released his debut CD, Criminals & Sinners, named "Best Local Folk Record" by Duluth's Ripsaw News. His three additional releases include 1922 (in 2002), King Earl (2004) and Rooster (2005). Glowing reviews for each release have cited the obvious influence of pioneers like Mississippi John Hurt and Robert Johnson, as well as more modern artists like John Fahey and Nick Drake. But what also gets people's attention is Parr's willingness to be himself – unbound by the constrictions of traditionalists and undeterred by present-day themes. (You wouldn't hear Robert Johnson refer to television or raising funds by recycling cans. Charlie does, but not for the sake of irony – it's simply part of his landscape.) Perhaps being steeped in pre-WWII acoustic blues while having his eyes wide open to current conditions explains how Charlie Parr has been embraced at punk clubs, jam band festivals and trendy bistros, in addition to traditional "Americana/roots" venues. Charlie Parr's fan base says a lot about how his music connects with people. From folk-blues purists to Goth-rock fans to 21st Century Deadheads, Parr has been welcomed into their worlds. With famous fans like Brown, noted eccentric and illustrator R. Crumb and fellow Duluthian Alan Sparhawk of Low, Parr has received some well-credentialed endorsements. When you hear all of these people from all of these outlooks describe Charlie Parr, one thing is evident. Their admiration for his music is, indeed, authentic.

Kevin Rowland has been making some of Britain's best loved music in a career spanning the best part of three decades. As the leader and singer of Dexy's Midnight Runners, Rowland scored two number one hits with Geno and the best selling single of 1982, Come On Eileen. Three classic albums (Searching For The Young Soul Rebels, Too Rye Aye, Don't Stand Me Down) later Rowland disbanded Dexy's and made two solo albums. Rowland reformed Dexys in 2003 for a triumphant UK tour and is currently working on the bands' 4th album as well as writing his own book. Well known for his passion and commitment to great music, Rowland's DJ set promises to be just as soulful and tasteful as his own music has always been... Expect classic soul, pop and funk, right through to classic Acid House and anything else that feels right.

The self proclaimed 'greatest band in the history of music', Melvins are: Buzz Osborne (also of Fantomas) & Dale Crover (also of Porn) plus more bassists over the years than you have had hot dinners, including Shirley Temple's daughter, original Mudhoney bassist Matt Lukin and even Gene Simmons from Kiss for one show. The most recent one is Slide bass overlord Kevin Rutmanis (also of Tomahawk) They have been delighting / annoying audiences since 1983 and have managed to release a lot of records while constantly evolving and inspiring along the way. Many consider them to be the founding fathers of grunge and back in the day they had the world's most famous roadie in Kurt Cobain. He probably made them hundreds of cups of coffee. Since 1999 their home has been Mike Patton's Ipecac records for whom they have released a whopping six new albums, three reissues and a very nice art book in celebration of their twentieth anniversary.

We are delighted to welcome back Osaka, Japan's legendary Acid Mothers Temple for their first Belfast show for over 3 years! Psychedelic,Progressive, Metal, Jam band, sometimes chaotic, sometimes beautiful, always spectacular and awe inspiring!

Japanese quartet MONO describe themselves as "an instrumental noise unit" and are based in Tokyo. At the moment they release recordings in the US, UK and Europe through Temporary Residence Records, the US home of fellow instrumental travellers Explosions in the Sky and Fridge (Kieran Hebden of Fourtet)and have recently released a split album with Chicago based experimental metallers Pelican. With their last three albums recorded by the legendary Steve Albini,MONO are recommended listening for fans of Explosions in the Sky, Isis, Pelican, Sigur Ros, Neurosis, Red Sparrows etc…

After 2004's critically acclaimed Blue Cathedral (Sub Pop Records), one might have expected Comets on Fire to blast off into the cosmos in an infinite flurry of lysergic spasmodicism. Surprising, then, that they should turn in an earthy, more accessible and downright beautiful album as their follow-up. Harnessing the most crucial elements of freeform classic rock, AM gold, and the never-ending possibilities of their combined instrumentation, Comets On Fire have produced the seven-song, 46-minute long player 'Avatar' (again on Sub Pop & recorded with Fucking Champs guitarist and perennial studio sorcerer Tim Green (Melvins, Pearls & Brass, etc.) In the years since the release of Blue Cathedral, the Comets’ achievements—both together and individually—have been many: The band performed live demonstrations both foreign and domestic (with the likes of Wolf Eyes, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr.), and received an invitation (from Mudhoney, no less) to play this year’s All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in the UK. Meanwhile, Ben Chasney re-affirmed his status as a fully ordained folk champion with the release of Six Organs Of Admittance’s School of the Flower while Ethan joined forces with John Moloney of Sunburned Hand of the Man to record the Howlin’ Rain album;

Bandzai test gig!

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is the musical alias of 28 year old American film school drop-out Owen Ashworth. Ashworth began making music in 1997 after he realized that song-making was a far more cost-effective means of storytelling than film-making. The first three Casiotone for the Painfully Alone albums were made using only battery operated keyboards and electronics recorded to 4-track cassette. With 1999's Answering Machine Music, 2001's Pocket Symphonies for Lonesome Subway Cars (now collected onto one CD), and 2003's Twinkle Echo, Ashworth defined a hybrid strain of raw, emotional, and very homemade synth pop that was instantly recognizable as his own. Claustrophobic two-minute character studies shuddered with reverbed beats, blown-out chords, and simple but infectous melodies, all layered beneath Ashworth's sometimes funny but always heartbreaking lyrics. Believing he had taken his self-imposed set of limitations to their logical conclusion, Ashworth expanded his sound with 2006's Etiquette. Etiquette removes the focus from a decidedly utilitarlian aesthetic to a broader production spectrum that finally gives Ashworth's personal,affecting song writing the space it deserves. In collaboration with producers and musicians like Jherek Biscoff (of The Dead Science and Degenerate Art Ensemble) and Jason Quever (The Papercuts and Pan American Recording Studio), the sound of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone has grown to include pianos, organs, strings, flutes, drums, and pedal steel guitars in addition to Ashworth's signature electronics and drum machines.

We have recently finished recording an album by Mi and L'au here in Brooklyn. I, Michael Gira co-produced it with them. It turned out very lovely indeed. It was a privilege to work with such talented, sincere, and intensely focused individuals. They have a quite passion that is expressed both in the way they are as human beings and in their songs. The music is austere, but simultaneously warm. Picture a glacier with a red ember glowing in its center. Mi and L'au met in Paris a few years back. Mi is Finnish and was working as a model to make ends meet and L'au (who's French) was working in the music industry (soundtracks, I think). They fell deeply and immediately in love, and after a short period of moving from apartment to apartment in Paris, they gave everything up and decided to move to the woods in Finland, so they could be alone together in peace and to spend their time discovering each other and their music. They live in a small cabin in complete isolation with the barest of essentials and they spend virtually all their time making music together in solitude. They are pure and gentle souls (Devendra's song, from his album, Oh Me Oh MY... "Gentle Soul" was written for L'au – the two had met in Paris when Devendra was wandering there, and L'au took him in, and they also made music together). Their music is bare, delicate, and made with simple instrumentation - voice, acoustic guitars, and other very sparse orchestrations. I wouldn't say it compares at all to the current crop of neo-hippy "weird folk" etc. though. It has the naked quality of certain early Nico recordings, or Chet Baker (I don't mean there's a stylistic similarity by any means - just a sense of space)...soulful and elegant, without being touchy-feely or confessional. Their music reminds me of how one might imagine a winter Finnish landscape - haunting and pure.

Quasi consists of Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, both of whom possess impressive indie rock credentials. Sam has recorded with Heatmiser, Elliott Smith, Built to Spill and more. Janet has played with The Go Betweens, Junior High, and Elliott Smith, and she continues to play drums with Sleater-Kinney. Quasi has released three full-length records on Domino Records (Europe) & Touch and Go (USA) since 2001: The Sword of God (2001), and Hot Shit (2003). 2006 saw the release of their latest, When the Going Gets Dark. Quasi creates an incredibly large sound within the limitations of a two person band. Much of their signature style was originally derived from the use of a Roxichord (a unique hybrid keyboard) and Sam’s acidic lyrics coupled with Janet’s deft drumming and honeyed backing vocals. The duo fleshed out each album with a number of different instruments at their disposal. Recent years have seen the band moving away from sunny, keyboard-driven songs into a bluesier, psych-tinged guitar-based sound. Hot Shit saw the addition of caustic, politically charged lyrics to their already highly personal agenda. With When the Going Gets Dark, the duo is further expanding their sound with perhaps their most furious playing to date. Seven albums into their constantly changing career, Quasi continue to explore and stretch the boundaries of what they can achieve together.

Okkervil River from Austin, Texas combine Americana and Folk with the spirit of Indie Rock to fashion a sound that’s been described as both heartbreaking and beautifully uplifting. The bands fourth and most recent album, Black Sheep Boy (JagJaguwar Records), has earned critical raves from the likes of Rolling Stone, MOJO, Uncut, and No Depression variously comparing the band to Neutral Milk Hotel, Wilco, Bright Eyes, Tindersticks and Will Oldham. Rolling Stone magazine calls the American sextet a band ‘ready for worldwide renown’ while NME says the bands tear-stricken homilies soothe with their warm orchestration (wurlitzers, mandolins, and pedal steel all help shade Okkervil River’s rustic gloom), while lead singer Will Sheff wrings many a wry grin from the depths of depression with black-hearted humour…like the most rowdy wake you never attended.

Terry Hall shot to stardom in Britain in the early '80s as frontman with The Specials, one of the most popular and influential bands in the UK, scoring a string of seven straight Top Ten singles. Their popularity culminated with the prophetic Ghost Town, which spent three weeks at Number One in the summer of 1981. Terry's solo work after The Specials split has never been less than eclectic, ranging from Fun Boy Three, Colourfield and collaborations with Gorillaz, Bananarama, Dub Pistols and forays into world music with Mushtaq. Terry Hall's DJ sets really mix up different genres of music ranging from Reggae, Ska to Jackson 5, Sly & The Family Stone to Bowie. Not to be missed!

Richard Hawley has been compared many times to Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Scott Walker and Frank Sinatra. In reality he is an English romantic, a son of a Sheffield steelworker and a person who believes in making honest music. He has been described by Uncut as 'Possibly the best songwriter in Britain' and recently won the coverted South Bank Show Album of the Year award (he was nominated with Kate Bush and Gorillaz). He is simply the real deal. A rare thing. 'Coles Corner' is the fourth album from the former Pulp guitarist. The album sees Hawley build upon the fifties and sixties influenced rock sound that has graced his previous releases, creating his own unique adult contemporary rock sound.

A sometime member of post-rockers Fridge alongside Kieran Hebden (Fourtet) and a one-time musician with Badly Drawn Boy, Adem recently contributed to Vashti Bunyan’s lovely ‘Lookaftering’ album. Master of serenades and exquisite song-craft, he hasrecently played with Bert Jansch, Smog and SFA’s Gruff Rhys: among whom Adem and his arias sparkle. His woozy strings and soaring oratorios and whispering, harmonium charms prove a highlight wherever Adem plays live: from London’s Royal Festival Hall and the Green Man Festival, to myriad Fence Collective shindigs and glam-bashes at the Tate Modern. His 2003 inaugural offering, Homesongs, (Domino), proved one of the decade’s finest debuts – and asserted Adem as one of the UK’s most precious (and precocious) stars with its long awaited follow up 'Love & Other Planets' coming out in May again on the ultra hip Domino imprint!

Rural American quartet Akron/Family moved to New York to make music in 2002. After impressing with their experimentation and intense performances they were signed by Michael Gira to Young God Records (Devendra Banhart), one of the bright lights in New York's indie-acoustic music scene. They released their self titled psych-folk debut album in 2005 to significant praise. "the most exhilarating and solid weirdie-beirdie band in operation. The new Animal Collective, which was the new Flaming Lips which was the new Floyd on and on and on".

From Brooklyn, NY The Rogers Sisters draw on a wide range of sounds that includes new wave,no wave,punk,post-punk and garage rock. The ­real life Rogers sisters Jennifer (vocals, guitar) and Laura (drums) plus Miyuki Furtado (vocals, bass) ­forge a completely original sound however. Releasing their first full-length,'Purely Evil'(on Troubleman),in early 2003,the album drew rave reviews and landed them tours with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, The Hives,The Raveonettes and The Kills ­as well as one-off gigs with their heroes ESG, The Fall, The Ex and Mission of Burma. Signed to Too Pure at the start of 2005 the band released their second album 'Three Fingers'in February. New single "Emotion Control b/w The Conversation" hits the shops in October, with the bands third album to be followed in early 2006. Oakley Hall is a 6 piece electric string band led by Papa Crazee from Rough Trade band Oneida that draws from the tradition of The Byrds (Gram Parsons/ Clarence White-eras), Flying Burrito Brothers, Neil Young (On the Beach-era), Douglas Sahm (Sir Douglas Quintet) and other California country bands and fans of stuff like Wilco, Whiskeytown etc will love em...

In 2001 a band emerged from Denton, Texas with one of the most awe-inspiring debuts in recent memory. The band was LIFT TO EXPERIENCE and their record was entitled THE TEXAS-JERUSALEM CROSSROADS… a concept album about the end of the world where Texas is the Promised Land… and a record so epic and evangelical it almost made even the staunchest non-believers think there might really be a higher power. The band’s leader was the charismatic and enigmatic JOSH PEARSON, son of a southern Preacher man who grew up listening to endless sermons of fire and brimstone. Listening to his music was akin to hearing Jeff Buckley fronting My Bloody Valentine, Godspeed! or Slint… a beautiful, intoxicating experience for sure. Lift To Experience spent the following year on tour, stunning audiences with their incendiary live shows, looking set to cross over to a huge audience… and then… nothing. The promised second album never arrived and Josh appeared at times to be retreating from the world, a soul in crisis, moving to a hut in a remote part of Texas to wrestle with his demons. When he was occasionally sighted in Denton or Austin he seemed to many to be an outlaw, belonging to an earlier time… Over the years, the Lift To Experience legend has continued to grow, fuelled by the absence of a follow-up, the elusive behaviour of their leader, and the fact that bands such as HOPE OF THE STATES, EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY and THE DUKE SPIRIT have cited them as such a massive, essential influence on their music. Now Josh is finally emerging from the wilderness… shaking off his demons… and returning to the UK (as tour support to THE DIRTY THREE) armed with a collection of astonishing new acoustic material to play to his fans, which should hopefully (all being well!)become his debut solo album next year.

Liars forthcoming album DRUM'S NOT DEAD (Mute Records, Feb 06) was partly inspired by the band's relocation from NYC to Berlin. It finds Liars taking another seismic step forward, switching continents and seizing new musical territory. It's also their finest and fullest album to date, shredding all past reference points. No more Post Rock, Punk-Funk and No Wave clichés. The Atlantic Ocean certainly puts clear blue water between Liars and narrow, outdated NYC scene labels. DRUM'S NOT DEAD marks a major shift for Liars to rank alongside Brian Wilson's wilder sonic journeys, or Radiohead's embrace of experimental abstraction. Tracks like "Drum And The Uncomfortable Can" build to a symphonic crescendo of brooding, brutal intensity. And yet the album ends with "The Other Side of Mt.Heart Attack", the most perversely conventional and unashamedly beautiful Liars track ever written. The calm after the storm, quietly moving and totally unexpected. DRUM'S NOT DEAD comes loaded with its own cinematic sister project: 36 short films, three for each track,all included on the standard album CD.From backstage travelogues to surreal animation and mini sci-fi epics, Liars document the process of recording, touring, then visually reinventing each track. It's an ambitious and groundbreaking expansion of the CD format, throwing down the gauntlet for other creatively ambitious bands to follow suit - the sound of a band redrawing their own creative horizons.