Track Of The Day: Ms Mohammed – ‘Alibi’

Ms Mohammed (aka Dana Jade) is not one to suffer fools gladly. As both a musician and an activist, she confronts xenophobia and Islamophobia head-on to challenge pre-conceptions about race, gender and sexuality. Born in Trinidad and of South Asian descent, her guitar-wielding persona is equal parts exotic Goddess and entrancing vampire.

Her new track ‘Alibi’, taken from her recent EP of the same name, is full of thumping, exotic dhol drums, surrounded by fuzzy, bluesy guitars, all of which lead the listener down velvet and gold-lined corridors to Ms. Mohammed’s lair – a prospect which is simultaneously thrilling and terrifying.

As a champion of religious and cultural tolerance and supporter of LGBT rights, Ms Mohammed is challenging prejudice through her music – and we are 100% behind her endeavours to promote tolerance, acceptance and freedom of expression.

Follow Ms Mohammed on Facebook, and join the Clitrock movement on Twitter too.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: DIDI – ‘Back Off’

It’s hard to believe that GIHE favourite Lauren Deakin Davies – aka DIDI – only embarked on her solo career in March this year, having already received praise from the likes of BBC 6 Music’s Chris Hawkins and Tom Robinson’s Fresh On The Net. A pretty impressive feat for just about 7 months’ work! And now she’s treated us to another expressive, attitude-filled anthem.

Filled with DIDI’s trademark joyous energy and laden with astute social observation, ‘Back Off’ is another impassioned slice of empowering punk-pop from the young artist. Of the inspiration behind the track, DIDI explains:

“I was on the way back from a gig, on the late night train from London, where I witnessed a guy shouting at a drunk girl to be quiet. He starting dissing her education and race and it really pissed me off. I was about to wade in but she was sticking up for herself so well, had a sassy come back for everything and it actually made me sad that this was clearly not the first time she had had to deal with this. So I just had to write a song about it there and then, before I could go to sleep. as I was so angry! In recording it, I was really pleased to have some additional vocal contribution from Minnie Birch, Lewis Bootle, Penny Churchill and Rhiannon Mair.”

Created by Dani O’Brien, the punchy brand new lyric video for ‘Back Off’ is out now, and you can watch it here:

DIDI is fast turning heads as a provocative, fearless solo performer, as well as a record producer, and recently won Producer of the Year from East Anglia’s NMG Awards. Her debut EP is out early 2018, and you can catch her live next week 10th November at Get In Her Ears Live at The Finsbury, along with The Magnettes, MeMe Detroit and Carolyn’s Fingers!

 

Mari Lane
@marimindles 

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LIVE: Girl Ray @ EBGBs, 30.10.17

During their headline set, Girl Ray lead singer Poppy Hankin confesses that tonight’s show – part of the annual Liverpool Music Week festival – is the band’s first outside of the capital. Appropriately, then, the headliners take to the stage in the basement of EBGBs after a line-up featuring several local acts.

Disastronauts are first up. A four-piece specialising in totes emosh pop-punk and garage, their sound is typified by shredded Sonic Youth-y guitars on top of a bang-bang-boom rhythm section, with flips into math rock and pure grunge. They’re young, and raw, but there’s no shortage of talent and invention, with opener ‘The River’ demonstrating a rapidly-developing maturity. Special props to their drummer too who, whilst the lead singer and guitarist are acapella-ing the lyric “It’s time to go”, decides to dismantle his cymbals. It’s a riotous, consciously chaotic start to the night. 

Up next are Gintis. Hailing originally from Abergele, they’re an acoustically-driven latter-day take on the likes of Grandaddy and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, with the addition of a trumpet.  fter them, it’s Sugarmen – an indie-rock band with a drive that sits somewhere between Buzzcocks and Arctic Monkeys, with the Scouse tinge of The La’s or The Coral’s most upbeat numbers.

Finally, to the headliners, who kick off with the bouncy indiepop double-hit of ‘I’ll Make This Fun’ and ‘Just Like That’. It’s a perfect way of demonstrating their arpeggiated sparkly pop that hangs around Poppy’s vocals, intoning lyrics, all served with just a hint of country winsome.  

The performance of ‘Don’t Go Back at Ten’ even involves a line-dancing style 360° spin, courtesy of Poppy and bassist Sophie, during its middle eight, whilst ‘Trouble’ and ‘Stupid Things’, with their bittersweet combination of naïveté and confession, carry the band through until their penultimate song, which is a Breeders-like rock number.  

Sid from The Orielles is spotted in the audience and invited to play cowbell on final song, ‘Ghosty’. It’s a reminder that, for a lot of these bands, this is really just the start and, although the set may not have been perfect, there’s enough to suggest that Girl Ray will be venturing out of London for a long time to come.

John McGovern
@etinsuburbiaego

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ALBUM: Best Girl Athlete – ‘Best Girl Athlete’

What were you doing at 18 years old? Finishing A-levels and contemplating university? Maybe starting work? For Katie Buchan, aka Best Girl Athlete, her 18th birthday has brought a second, eponymously-titled album that’s as consciously, comfortably pop-y as it is lavishly produced.  

The album shows that Buchan’s ambitions are as wide as her horizons. Opener ‘Baby Come Home’ begins as a chilled slate of folktronica with Lorde-style vocals that unexpectedly brings in fellow Aberdonian Jackill for its rap-led middle eight. It’s a step that pre-empts the range of influences littered across the album – a Depeche Mode style chorus on ‘Different Face’; a ’90s acoustic feel in the style of Beth Orton on ‘Cigarette Dreams’; the synths of Yazoo and stripped back feel of The XX on ‘In the Morning’.  

All through, there’s a brisk pace to proceedings, as the album’s differentiation keeps the interest. But this is no vanity project, Buchan’s songwriting couldn’t be described as arch. Instead, her youth is contrasted with the maturity of each tune’s orchestration, lending the album a winsome, bittersweet quality similar to Let’s Eat Grandma.

There’s a touch of darkness here too. ‘Join the Masons’ has some of the morbidity of Aldous Harding, while ‘Lucy’ has echoes of Bat for Lashes’ cinematic sound. The album’s final few tracks are a mix. Whilst ‘In Your Head’ is Scandi-pop-rock, ‘Everything Must Go’ is a piano-led piece of chamber-pop and closer ‘Sometimes’ a country-ish slowie that morphs into something mournful.

With influences that range far and wide, and an ability to put them together into a greater whole, there’s great promise for Katie Buchan. On the basis of this album, this athlete’s career promises to be a marathon, not a sprint.

Best Girl Athlete, the eponymous album, is out now via Fitlike Records.

John McGovern
@etinsuburbiaego

 

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