Kate L Mooney

Kate Louise Mooney, 21, currently living in Falmouth with roots in London and Milton Keynes. All round creative thinker. facebook.com/katelouise.mooney Twitter: @katelmooney Insta: @katelmooney Spotify: gotnouseforaname Mail: [email protected] All work is copyright to Kate Louise Mooney, unless otherwise stated.

[katelmooney]

Dear New York, 

This is a love letter, for you and how you brought us together.

[katelmooney]

Went and got myself some business cards printed to go along with my website which will hopefully be finished in the next few weeks!

[katelmooney]

Pixies songs that feature Kim Deal on vocals are intense. Plus that crunchy distorted guitar is just mind blowing.

[katelmooney]

Enter Shikari/Hactivist @ Princess Pavilions, Falmouth 9/4/2013

Falmouth is fed up of being ignored. Touring bands rarely make it down this far and as a result the music loving population of this costal town must make do with folk heavy open mic nights and drink fuelled, out of tune karaoke.

  When Enter Shikari announced a string of dates focusing on lesser visited towns and venues, Falmouth breathed a sigh of relief to be included for once. Always ones to carve their own path Enter Shikari arrived in town with the support of Hacktivist, another band looking to unite differing musical genres.

  Although a few technical issues plagued the start of the set, Hacktivist easily lived up to the hype they are currently receiving. Creating a kind of harmony between metal and grime that shouldn’t really exist, they smashed through a set charged with so much energy the crowd barely had time to breathe. Nestled between the material from their debut EP was a well-received cover of Kanye and Jay Z’s “Nigga’s in Paris”, a great example of how Hacktivist are subverting genres and doing with ease. These guys are definitely worth getting to dates on this tour early for.

  Anyone hoping for a drop in the pace when Enter Shikari took the stage for the next 90 minutes was just going to have to deal with it and get ready for a riot. Explosive from start to finish they are a rare band that put every ounce of energy they can muster into their live performances and after ten years together they show no signs of slowing down.

  Starting their set with A Flash Flood of Colour’s opening trio System… Meltdown… and Sssnakepit was enough to dictate the atmosphere for the rest of the evening’s proceedings. It wasn’t long before the audience was forming human pyramids and guitarist Rory had launched himself into the mercy of the crowd.

  Old favourites such as Sorry You’re Not a Winner and Mothership still sound as fresh and innovative as the day they were released. Even though most of the crowd looks as if they would have barely been in their teenage years when Take to the Skies was released in 2007, there’s not a still body in the place. By the time they reach the encore the reply to “do you want one more?” from frontman Rou is deafening. Closing with the frantic Zzzonked, it’s clear to see Enter Shikari have got Falmouth firmly gripped in the palm of their hands.  

[katelmooney]

Record Store Day 2013 at Jam Records, Falmouth

On Saturday 20th April, for the third year running, Jam Records will play host to Record Store Day 2013.

  The nationwide event aims to raise awareness of independent Record Stores by offering the chance to purchase limited edition vinyl releases and take part in a whole host of in store gigs.

  Previous years have seen high profile artists such as Ben Howard, David Bowie, The Beatles and Arctic Monkeys release rare material for the one-day event. This year looks to be no exception with artists such as Nick Cave and The XX offering up exclusive material.

  Jam Records owner Mandy Kemp said: “It’s a really great one day event. Being one of the only record stores here we get people lining up outside the door at 7am to get their hands on releases, it gets crazy and last year I had to restrict people to two items.”

  As well as the limited releases Mandy is hoping to squeeze in acoustic folk act Show of Hands somewhere in Jam’s limited space during the afternoon. “They contacted us asking if they could play in store, goodness knows where we’ll fit them in though – I think we’ll need to ditch some furniture!”

Jam Records will be open from 9am on Record Store Day, check the website www.jamrecords.co.uk for further info

[katelmooney]

Theory of Machines

Piecing together the melancholy beats of Massive Attack and the heavy hitting riffs of bands such as Tool, Theory of Machines are dark, spooky and sound like the soundtrack to a video game where something is out to get you around every corner.

They have a hint of prog to their self titled EP making them perfect for putting on in the background and just absorbing whilst you go about some other task. That's not to say they are boring, the members all sound like highly skilled musicians who have put together a complex soundscape you can just drift away to.

Check out Theory of Machines below:

<a href="http://theoryofmachines.bandcamp.com/album/ep-1" data-mce-href="http://theoryofmachines.bandcamp.com/album/ep-1">EP 1 by Theory Of Machines</a>

[katelmooney]

Parrington Jackson

Bristol based with a pop tinged edge Parrington Jackson sound like the kind of safe bet band that should be soundtracking the latest teen drama of the day.

They've got a few nice melodies here and there but the singer sounds slightly cocky and over sure of himself, it all just sounds a bit bland and radio friendly. Listening to the debut EP it is hard to differentiate one track from the other.

However I have no doubt that people will latch on to them, as they usually do with this kind of new wave indie pop. I'd be really interested in seeing them live to see if their on stage antics and chemistry could add another level of excitement to their slightly tedious music.

Hear Parrington Jackson below:

[katelmooney]

Life Model

Up next are Life Model, a Glaswegian band who describe themselves as a combination of noisepop and shoegaze. Having never been a huge fan of shoegaze it's a cautious moment when the play button is first hit, however it's apparent that Life Model are underselling themselves

Sure they share the same dreamy, borderline psychedelic elements to their music as some of their predecessors but the female vocalist also could be compared with contemporaries such as Best Coast. Effortlessly adding in a dreamy California vibe.

I've got to say although this is only my second discovery of the day I am really taken by them. It's the kind of music I really love, some of the guitar riffs have great 90's alt rock elements to them and with the addition of the vocalist it's reminiscent of The Breeders.

Check out Life Model below:

[katelmooney]

The Knievel Dead - And We Sleep

What's the best way to get someone to listen to your band in today's digital age? The days of flyering and painstakingly sending out copy after copy of your new EP are gone. It's all about Twitter interaction.

As a journalism student with a specific interest in music, I often get a lot of new bands following me on twitter, I guess with the hope that I will be intrigued enough to listen and promote their bands. The truth of the matter is that far too often they slip through the net.

Enter The Knievel Dead, a mysterious singer songwriter from London who has interacted with me on a number of occasions on twitter. Keeping himself at the forefront of my mind and pushing me to listen to his debut offering And We Sleep.

The truth is that I should have checked it out earlier, it's a beautiful blend of haunting melodies and husky vocals. The whole sound is reminiscent of Arcade Fire although on a slightly more impressive scale as it's a solo effort. The chugging bass is reminiscent of Bauhaus or perhaps Joy Division, firmly tying all the elements together to create something truly powerful.

So today I've found something new and I'll be buying the album for what I'm sure will be many more listens. So here is my pledge to all bands that follow me on Twitter from now on (those already following me I am spending today going through my followers) I will listen and I will give my thoughts on your band. IF YOU ARE A NEW BAND EMAIL ME AT [email protected] AND I WILL REVIEW YOUR EP. All I do all day is listen to and write about music so I may as well have something new to listen to.

In the meantime check out The Knievel Dead below:

[katelmooney]

Tall Ships/Three Trapped Tigers/Emperor Yes

A short review on the recent Tall Ships + supports gig at Falmouth INC

If you are a student at Falmouth University or live in the area you'll probably be aware of Tall Ships. All three members graduated from the University and with their success steadily on the increase they've sort of become like the in house band for anyone looking to name drop some cool local talent.

The stakes are high tonight and Tall Ships need to pull out all the stops for their homecoming show, however they're in danger of being upstaged by the support they've bought along for the ride.

Emperor Yes deliver a burst of high energy performance writhing and jumping around the stage like excited teenagers and they quickly get everyone moving with brand of psychedelic electro pop.

The stage is really stolen by Three Trapped Tigers who sound like a close relative of Battles. The drummer is absolutely flawless and they provide a show that is full of vibrancy, leaving myself and I am sure many others with their catchy melodies flying around my head.

Finally it's time for Tall Ships to take the stage. The anticipation and buzz has reached dizzy heights as a crowd has gathered to watch the homecoming heroes. 

Tall Ships definitely don't disappoint. Their debut album Everything Touching sounds terrific, filling the room with it's hard hitting riffs and poignant lyrics - however it looses some of it's impact after Three Trapped Tigers earlier assault. The majority of the crowd seems not to notice though as single Gallop sends them into a frenzy proving that Tall Ships can do no wrong when it comes to their Falmouth peers.

[katelmooney]

The Next Day - first listen review.

Monday is fast approaching and I am really excited to get my first listen of David Bowie's new album The Next Day. In order to mark such a special occasion I have decided that I am going to do a live review on each individual track as I listen to it.

I really want to hear everyone else's thoughts on the album too, I think Where are we now? and The stars are out tonight have already divided opinion enough. I personally have loved both singles and hope that the album will live up to the expectations that they have set.

[katelmooney]

A few snaps from a recent surf trip, it was freezing cold and I had no gloves or boots so as soon as we got out we put the kettle on and huddled up in the van to get warm. The view at Porthtowan was beautiful as always.

[katelmooney]

Lanterns in Chinatown for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations and the famous Camden Lock bridge.

35mm/Olympus OM10

[katelmooney]

A stormy morning down at Gyllngvase watching a few brave souls take on the waves.

35mm/Olympus OM10

[katelmooney]

Slightly blurry but this is all the ingredients needed to make a top notch stilton and broccoli soup.

To make simply melt a knob of butter in a medium heat pan, soften onion, garlic and potato, add chopped leek, add chopped broccoli and 1l of vegetable soup. Leave to reduce and add crumbled stilton blend together and dip in crusty buttered bread. YUM! 

[katelmooney]

Colour my life with the chaos of trouble

The Boy with the Arab Strap by Belle and Sebastian

[katelmooney]

Personal music highlights #1

The way John Lydon snarls "No future/No future/No future for you" at the end of God Save the Queen.