Oxjam Line-up: Stronger than builder’s tea

So yesterday the first wave of Oxjam bands were announced for 2014. 16 November is a date to chuck in your diaries now, because there’s more good bands than you can shake a stick at. It’s all for the bargain price of eight pound if you want to see any band in any venue (down to a fiver if you’re only keen to go to a couple of venues). If you’re still not convinced, check out this awesome playlist they’ve put together.

I’ll be writing some more posts on the bands in the run up to the whole shebang, but in the meantime here are some good places to start:

The Gentle Good

The start of the new Gentle Good LP Y Bardd Anfarwol (The Bard Immortal) has echoes of King Creosote and Jon Hopkins’ Diamond Mine, with gentle music kicking in over some background noise. And that’s not where the similarity ends, with some really beautiful tracks and some great fingerpicking work. The latest album is an intriguing prospect as it’s a clash of two cultures, with Gareth Bonello singing about his experiences in Chengdu in my ‘mamiaith’ of ‘Cymraeg’ (or mother tongue of Welsh). I’m massively intrigued to see how it all comes over live, and I reckon it’s gonna be a winner.

Nanook of the North

I saw Nanook Of The North play an acoustic set in Gwdihw not long ago, and they played a really beautiful set (more details about their awesomeness here). They play some great ambitious but thoughtful rock music, and I can’t wait to see their full live set complete with massive sounding guitars again. As I mentioned in the original blog, Panda Eyes is a good place to start with them, but if they have an EP for sale it’s well worth shelling out for some more. You can also check out Sweet Jubilee on Bandcamp.

Scriber

In my last post about Scriber, I described his material as being like Conor Oberst’s Bright Eyes, but his stuff easily stands on it’s own two feet. Get ready for some intricate guitar and some intimate vocals. Whether he plays a solo stripped back set show or with other musicians, I  guarantee you’ll feel moved by the end of the set. If not, then you have a heart of stone. Check out this effort on Bedroom Live.

So that’s eight quid well spent and I’ve only talked about three acts. We’d all best get investing.