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I haven’t been to a gig in over a week, so it’s OK for a quick talk about vinyl right?

Of course it’s more CD and even more MP3 these days, but my current favourite sounds on the silver disc are by Ulric Schnauss, particularly his first LP (under his own name) 2001’s Far Away Trains Passing By. If you like Boards of Canada and Fischerspooner then this German ambient will be right up your street.

There’s a real floaty, ethereal quality to Ulrich Schnauss music that hits the spot so sweetly. In particular Nobody’s Home really plucks the heart strings – simple and increasingly layered, there’s a childlike innocence to this track that breaks into a euphoric “chorus” before gently drifting back into a brief lullaby verse. Then he takes you off again on a magic carpet ride. Awesome stuff, especially if you crank it up on a decent sound system or some studio quality Sennheiser headphones if you’ve got a set

Between Us & Them from the same first album is also a drop of pure ecstasy in the same vein. Jangling ambiently into dreamy signatures before kicking into a lazy drum beat, this class track is another gentle crescendo of sheer bliss that eases off just to give you a chance to catch your breath before journeying onward again.

There’s half a dozen more tracks on this LP and they’re all good, so if you love your ambient tunes then dive in; I just picked my two faves because they’re awesome.

I’m a sucker for good quality ambient sounds and if I’d died and gone to heaven then Ulrich Schnauss would provide the theme tune. In the meantime I have to seriously consider buying a property where one room can be empty apart from an ace quadraphonic hi-fidelity system and a comfy armchair right in the middle of the floor

music ambient, ulrich schnauss

When your mates’ band says they’re playing a gig in London on a Sunday night and your Mrs is home from the US for just one week, you just grab the chance with both hands. So me & DJ Chick’n'Rock jumped the train to the capital at 7pm and touched down in Kentish Town just as the snow was starting to settle.

The Bull & Gate, if you’ve not been there, is an excellent little venue about 2 minutes walk from Kentish Town tube station. With a bar at the front of the house and a live stage at the back, it’s a perfect place to rock out on the day of worship.

First up were Swallow Your Pride and what a great noise to kick off the gig with. Although I lost my way with metal for a bit in the ’90s, there was both a Machine Head and Panterra t-shirt on the stage and that’s the sound we were treated to; Heavy & catchy.

Safehouse Theory hit the stage next and certainly made quite an impression. Their sound was very reminiscent of a band who had a similar name before they went big and Becky said they’d certainly go down well in the U.S. – that’s what so many Brit bands want to hear when trying to make it big. (BTW whatever happened to Bush?)

Safehouse Theory were pretty polished. Despite the small stage they certainly had presence and not a shred of ego there; They just got on and enjoyed pumping out hard & heavy rock with some nice catchy melodies and a lot of vocal passion, backed up by beats & fx. Their bassist was particularly excellent and has inspired me to give up playing the 4-string because I haven’t got a hope in hell – I think I’ll just retire into being a rhythm guitarist

And finally, ladies & gentlemen, Demilo. With a good-looking chick on vocals they’re like a younger Republica. Of course a decent voice and some cute tunes does the trick too, so Demilo are candy to both the eyes and ears.

Whilst lead-singer Tess is explaining the meaning to the next song bassist Chris butts in and pipes “It’s about drugs” LOL And after that all their songs seemed to be about drugs! Only kidding

Nice to see some bodies from Farnborough at the gig and as the clock struck 11 we had to head home that way ourselves… and that’s where the REAL fun began.

Due to the snow above ground the tube train services underground were badly affected. Our tube train was late and when it did turn up it took us to the wrong branch line, so we hopped off at London Bridge at midnight to make another connection.

The Jubilee line was closed completely so we had to walk to Waterloo to catch the 00:58 last train.

After an hour of trudging through snowy London streets, very reminiscent of a Victorian Christmas card we finally made it to our train, which was late in leaving, luckily, because it was now 1:07am.

The 40 minute train journey back to north-east Hampshire took over 2 hours thanks to snow & “points failure” and once back in Farnborough we had to dust off the Subaru and drive home in the snow, finally getting home at 3:30am

What a long old night, but it was fun

And the best bit? I took a cheap snapshot of some old London Church looking pretty in the snow. When I got home and downloaded the image… it was only the Atheist Bus infront of Southwark Cathedral! How funny is that?

london, music, pubs Demilo, Safehouse Theory, Swallow Your Pride