There will be the mad-rock antics of 8otto, with their J-afro vocalist/drummer. A dose of Japanese indie rock will be given via the female fronted outfit Miila and the Geeks, plus NOKIES! (pictured) fresh from their tour of America and a date at the SXSW festival.

Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/421495877876266/

The final two ‘plot holders’ were left to an open call and announced at a celebratory event that took place in March, which included a temporary shed serving soup in Milk, Two Sugars cups courtesy of ‘plot one’ holders Trove, ensuring attendees left with their own little piece of art.

One of the final plots was awarded to textile designer, lecturer and curator Helen Foot from Shropshire. With her own design company and extensive experience Helen’s work has introduced her to some of the brightest up and coming talent from around the country, with each helping Helen bring a mixture of colour and contemporary style to her plot.

The last plot was awarded to a collection of Birmingham artists, who joined with artists from Bordeaux. They will develop the plot under the collaborative name Dialogue, building on a four year relationship with mac.  
 
Other plots of interest include plot 5 run by the mac staff and featuring a recreated library from 1974 (the opening year of the Central Library), where visitors can sit and delve into the selection of books. The plot is dedicated to the memory of Birmingham born library architect, John Madin, who passed away recently.

With ten plots, a wealth of talent and constantly changing artistic landscape, the coming months are sure to see a ripe harvest of creative expressionism at its best.

Words: Lee Hall

Upon stepping inside the hall, I felt myself becoming consumed by stalls full of records, CDs, books, films and obscure magazines, immediately bestowing a need to explore each in order to nourish my music appetite and desire.

While being greeted by a glowing cheerful face behind every browse, the addition of a socialising aspect provided the perfect composure to a ‘feel good’ attribute, in order to bring back that community ambience, which all too often seems to be at a loss from the recent upstart of social networking.
Instead, the growth of sincere passion and enthusiasm filled the air, breaking down barriers between strangers with discussions of common interests and insights, to share knowledge and intellect with people we barely met minutes ago.

Inside the cafe, more conversations were to be made, as you find yourself engulfed in a 70s style civilization, with traditional home-made cake and of course, the best of all, herbal teas, fitting flawlessly among the unmodernised get-up, and lets face it, we all need a bit of retro in our lives.

Whether you’re looking for a bargain, a rarity or just somebody to talk to, Moseley Record Fair is certainly the place to go to.

With a keen interest in music, you’re sure to delve into something new as well as discovering that purchase you longed for, returning back to modern life with a truly reflective smile.

The next Record Fair is the 27th March.

Ross Cotton

We often associate Christmas with quaint home comforts: turkey sarnies, chestnuts roasting on open fires, ‘horrid’ jumpers from Nan that we’d probably splash £40 on if they were hanging off a rack in Urban Outfitters. But what to do if we want to hit the town, yet can’t stomach the thought of yet another mulled wine at the famous Xmas market?

Round up some pals and go to a gig, silly! With some big names hitting some of the biggest venues in and around Birmingham, you can experience some top festive music this December away from Mum’s countless Christmas carol CDs – maybe expect a tongue-in-cheek cover of ‘Mistletoe and Wine’ somewhere down the line, though…

You could do worse than kicking off the party with Scissor Sisters at the LG Arena on 3rd December. They’ve rediscovered their credibility without losing any of the fun on third album Night Work, and their show, featuring Hurts as the opening act, is sure to be camp as Christmas. (Like you didn’t see that coming.) If you’ve got any energy left, keep on dancing at Wolves Civic the following night when the Sisters’ electro-pop forebears Human League treat us to their back catalogue of classics.

Back in Brum, those who prefer the quieter kind of Crimbo can indulge in poetic acoustics from Mercury-nominated Villagers on 5^th December at the HMV Institute  – they’ll undoubtedly be wearing fuzzy festive jumpers. Keeping it twee, the following night beloved Scots Belle and Sebastian will be at Symphony Hall, playing music for lovelorn geeks everywhere to kiss under the mistletoe to. Or, if The Boy with the Arab Strap passed your generation by, catch pop-punkers You Me At Six the same night in Wolverhampton.

Feel like the whole ‘birthday of Jesus’ thing warrants a sense of occasion? You can’t get more epic than Arcade Fire on 8^th December, who’ll deliver a simultaneously gloomy yet life-affirming sermon at the LG. The fact that prince of cool Devendra Banhart is supporting is enough to seal the deal, surely?

If you’re looking for a Christmas knees-up, Ronnie Spector’s Best Christmas Ever on the 9th at the HMV Institute’s Library sounds like a great addition to the party season – even if Phil Spector will be eating another turkey dinner behind bars this year. Meanwhile, Suggs and his band Madness will get even Santa skanking at the O2 Academy on 11^th December, while Martha Reeves & the Vandellas represent a ghost from Christmases past at the Institute on the 17th.

Local music fans get an early present in the form of Wolves troubadour Scott Matthews appearing at his city’s Slade Rooms venue on the 10th, three nights before The View, who will hopefully have some new jeans waiting in their stocking this year. Birmingham heroes The Twang also headline a Christmas homecoming gig at the Institute on 20th December.

Nothing taken your fancy as of yet? Rock around the Xmas tree with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the O2 Academy on 7^th December. Stop by the ever-lovely Glee Club on the 12th to witness the sufficiently Christmassy-sounding Trembling Bells. Or tickle your funny bone with white and nerdy Weird Al Yankovic on the 2nd at  O2 Academy, or Jimmy Carr at Wolves Civic on 17^th December.

There’s easily something for everyone then, and what better way to while away the cold nights than getting to the front at a must-see gig? There’s only one way to wrap up this Christmas’s musical merriment though, and that’s with a trip to see The Pogues at the O2 Academy on 18th December. Raise a glass during ‘A Fairytale of New York’ and your own fairytale Birmingham Christmas will surely be one to remember. LM

7 December

£18.50

There was a time not so many years ago when it seemed that rock might be in a state of terminal decline, in the days of wall-to-wall Coldplay, Keane, and Cowell and co’s manufactured X-Factor pop. BRMC are one of the bands who restored the faith of many a distraught music-lover and helped to bring a bit of balance back to the musical landscape, definitively answering the question “Whatever Happened to my Rock ‘n’ Roll”.

Their heady blend of heavy, hard-rock riffing and thunderous rhythms, combined with lighter, folkish moments and psychedelic washes, with constant overtones of doom and damnation, blasted through the prevailing conditions like a blaze in a fireworks factory.

OK, so they might not do anything particularly new or ground-breaking, and the cynics may carp that they’ve heard it all before, but they provide exactly what any self-respecting, dyed-in-the-wool rocker is after.

And now they’re back in the UK, after touring earlier in the year to promote their latest album, Beat the Devil’s Tattoo. (Coming soon is the DVD of their sell-out show at London’s Kentish Forum.) But this time around you can expect more of a greatest-hits show as they build up to their 1000th gig, at Brixton Academy on the 11th.

So make sure you’re in top moshing form, get your big boots on ready for a good stomp, and don’t be surprised if you wake up the next day with ringing ears and a sore neck. WL

Bonobo, HMV Institute, 12 December, £15 adv

Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, The Library HMV Institute, 17 December, £18.50 adv

January 2000 saw Adam Regan and Richard Whittingham start up Leftfoot at the Medicine Bar. It quickly became a haven for fans of leftfield, soulful music.

Now based at the Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath and Moseley’s Bull’s Head, Leftfoot continues to push underground soul music for the people of Birmingham and beyond.

They’ve been celebrating their 10th anniversary this year with a variety of events, and will be bringing 2010 to a close in style with three live shows: Metro Area, Bonobo and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.

Darshan Jesrani, one half of Metro Area, will be at the Bull’s Head tomorrow night, 3rd December, with the mix of electronic and live instrumentation that proved so influential on the sound of today’s house music.

Producer, DJ and musician Bonobo comes to Birmingham’s newest venue, the HMV Institute, on Sunday 12th December, delivering deep and complex basslines alongside an amazing live sound with full band. He’ll be supported by rising star and Freestyle regular Sam Redmore.

Leftfoot’s last gig of their anniversary year is the Motown superstars Martha Reeves and the Vandellas at the HMV Institute on Friday 17th December, whose songs, boasting a harder R&B sound than many of their contemporaries’, have become some of the best-known of the era; they’ll have us all ‘Dancing in the Street’, or at least, in the Institute.

Glee Club

2 March 2011

Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton

5 March 2011

“Last year the show was about Hitler. This year it’s about Jesus. My target audience is clearly Pope Benedict.”

Richard Herring reprises his first solo show, only making us wait 10 years, as opposed to Mr Christ’s getting-on-for-2000-and-counting.

Though a self-confessed evangelical atheist – think Richard Dawkins with a sense of humour and balance – Herring is obsessed with Jesus. Could it be that there’s a stronger link between them than might seem to be the case?

“I’m not saying I’m Jesus … that is for other people to say.”

In the course of the show Herring tries to find the true historical Christ, combining childlike guile with rigorous historical research. He attempts to discover why the Messiah is all things to all men, unearths an error on the very first page of the New Testament, and hopes to ascertain whether Jesus ever really did walk like a lady and wear a bra.

a) 24 hours

b) 36 hours

c) 48 hours

If you think you know, email your answer to competitions [@] fusedmagazine.com, including your name, address and date of birth. Deadline for entries is 28th November.

The cheekiest, geekiest and somewhat eccentric duo that is We Are Scientists, return to Birmingham for ‘The American Barbarians Tour’.  According to bassist Chris Cain this tour marks an exciting return: “The American Barbarians Tour is, in my estimate, going to be the sexiest, bloodiest, down-and-dirtiest carnival of ecstasy since, at the latest, Roman times – and who can be sure those stories are even true?”

If you’ve been lucky enough to watch the mockumentary shorts that have accompanied the release of their new album ‘Barbara’ you know that you are in for a roller coaster ride of catchy tunes, comedic anecdotes and a slice of good ‘ol fashioned fun.

With the addition of Razorlight’s Andy Burrows, the band’s live presence has been bolstered; however it’s the comedy connection between Cain and Murray that makes them a great band to watch. Grab your tickets now. KO