Headfirst Editor's Pick
"Sell out warning! Raw emotion made manifest by any means necessary. Histrionic synth-pop, searing folk noise, soaring baroque soundscapes - alienation’s never had sonic champions like Angela & Jamie. Uncompimising, exhilirating, unpredictable genius FFO: Scott Walker, Björk, Deerhoof, Lingua Ignota, Perfume Genius."
Join the Headfirst mailing list for our unbiased recommendations.
A gig held at Strange Brew on Wednesday 13th November. The event starts at 19:00.
Strange Brew presents
XIU XIU
+ Semay Wu
+ Frise Lumière
Wednesday 13th November
7:00pm
[STANDING SHOW]
The indomitable project duo XIU XIU formed of Jamie Stewart and Angela Seo return to the Brew after their brain-cracking sell out show from last June. Their music is an intense clash of voodoo drumming, noizey post-punk, trad Asian percussion and contemporary compositions.
From the beginning, Xiu Xiu combined these sounds in striking ways, whether on their brass and percussion-dominated 2002 debut album Knife Play or the hushed electro-acoustic experiments of 2003's A Promise.
Over the years, the band's music spanned the rousing synth pop of 2012's Always to the cathartic darkness of 2019's Girl with a Basket of Fruit. In the 2020s, the empowering collaborations of 2021's Oh No and the stark dualities of 2023's Ignore Grief reaffirmed that Xiu Xiu's emotional honesty was still as genuine as ever.
Semay Wu will be presenting a solo performance with cello, objects and electronics. Having lived and worked in numerous musical directions for many years, Semay Wu’s begrudgingly faithful cello still remains at her side. Always trying to push age-old boundaries of how the instrument is viewed and heard, her focus has led her to explore further collaborative and everyday improvisations, blending electronics with mixed media and a variety of gestural art disciplines. ‘Raspberry Hotel’ is Semay’s first foray into recorded solo work, and was released in Nov 2022. Semay has performed much with the same setup, notably at Tectonics Festival in Glasgow, and the Newcastle Jazz and Improvised Music Festival, both in 2023.
Frise Lumière is a personal project of Ludovic Gerst, refining the instrumentation to the bass alone. Music for Bass. Everything comes from raw textures, a noise, a note… like a voiceless chant trying to come to life, to cast itself out of a body, out of a mouth, out of this page, this bass. Hit, stroke, hijacked, refined to only itself, this instrument becomes both melodic and rhythmic, turning into percussion, letting through other voices, other breaths…
Entry requirements: 14+, any under 18s accompanied by 21+ adult 1:1 ratio
XIU XIU
+ Semay Wu
+ Frise Lumière
Wednesday 13th November
7:00pm
[STANDING SHOW]
The indomitable project duo XIU XIU formed of Jamie Stewart and Angela Seo return to the Brew after their brain-cracking sell out show from last June. Their music is an intense clash of voodoo drumming, noizey post-punk, trad Asian percussion and contemporary compositions.
From the beginning, Xiu Xiu combined these sounds in striking ways, whether on their brass and percussion-dominated 2002 debut album Knife Play or the hushed electro-acoustic experiments of 2003's A Promise.
Over the years, the band's music spanned the rousing synth pop of 2012's Always to the cathartic darkness of 2019's Girl with a Basket of Fruit. In the 2020s, the empowering collaborations of 2021's Oh No and the stark dualities of 2023's Ignore Grief reaffirmed that Xiu Xiu's emotional honesty was still as genuine as ever.
Semay Wu will be presenting a solo performance with cello, objects and electronics. Having lived and worked in numerous musical directions for many years, Semay Wu’s begrudgingly faithful cello still remains at her side. Always trying to push age-old boundaries of how the instrument is viewed and heard, her focus has led her to explore further collaborative and everyday improvisations, blending electronics with mixed media and a variety of gestural art disciplines. ‘Raspberry Hotel’ is Semay’s first foray into recorded solo work, and was released in Nov 2022. Semay has performed much with the same setup, notably at Tectonics Festival in Glasgow, and the Newcastle Jazz and Improvised Music Festival, both in 2023.
Frise Lumière is a personal project of Ludovic Gerst, refining the instrumentation to the bass alone. Music for Bass. Everything comes from raw textures, a noise, a note… like a voiceless chant trying to come to life, to cast itself out of a body, out of a mouth, out of this page, this bass. Hit, stroke, hijacked, refined to only itself, this instrument becomes both melodic and rhythmic, turning into percussion, letting through other voices, other breaths…
Entry requirements: 14+, any under 18s accompanied by 21+ adult 1:1 ratio
Other experimental pop gigs
— Rough Trade Bristol
indie rock
punk
post-punk
garage rock
— The Marble Factory
alternative rock
indie rock
garage rock
shoegaze
