chickfactor friends 2023 lists, round one

image courtesy of Alicia

Alicia Vanden Heuvel (Speakeasy Studios, The Aislers Set, Poundsign, Brigid Dawson and the Mothers Network):
My “2023 Top Ten Songs that Ripped by Heart Out”:
“Love is Overrated” by Lightheaded
“This Job Is Killing Me” by the Telephone Numbers
“For Today” by The Lost Days
“Shadow” by Ryan Wong
“Perfect Worlds” by Tony Jay
“Cheap Motel” by Michael James Tapscott
“Holdin’ On” by Anna Hillburg
“Cross Bay” by Meg Baird
“Here We Go Again” by Tony Molina
“Smudge Was A Fly” by Seablite

image courtesy of Kendall

Kendall Jane Meade’s Best IRL Music Experiences of 2023
Experienced the Joan Baez documentary I Am A Noise two nights in a row because she was in attendance at a Q&A after each screening. On the first night, Lana Del Rey led the Q&A and it was so great to see that Lana is a huge fan of Joan’s. She seemed to hold all of the same folk nerd facts about Joan that are also stored in my brain. Just to be in Joan’s presence was spiritual for me, and you could tell Lana felt the same way.

Saw Bonny Doon play at Golddiggers in LA. I have a lot of love for this Detroit-based band, and I loved hearing live versions of songs off of their new album Let There Be Music. Katie Crutchfield from Waxahatchee was also in the audience, and she joined them on a few tunes.

Went with my big sister Merritt to see Willie Nelson’s 90th Birthday concert at the Hollywood Bowl. It was so heartwarming to see so many people pay tribute to Willie including Beck and Keith Richards. My favorite performer of the night was Willie’s youngest son, who performs under the moniker Particle Kid.

Saw my dear old friends Mary Timony and Joan Wasser play in a backyard in Pasadena. So many friends I hadn’t seen in a while were in attendance, and it felt like no time had passed between us. Mary sounded transcendent and was joined by a quartet for a song, and Joan was so moving and entertaining—two ladies I love at the top of their game.

I did a two-week tour of the UK and Scotland, tagging along with songwriter Kris Gruen to promote our single “Heaven on a Car Ride.” We opened for Chuck Prophet and the Mission Express and completely fell in love with that band. Chuck is such a unique songwriter and the whole band are incredible performers, including Stephanie Finch who needs to be on the cover of Chickfactor as she is an incredible pop singer and songwriter in her own right.

Connie Lovatt (photo: Gail O’Hara)

Connie Lovatt’s Top 2023 things
Top Record Label: Enchanté (US)

Top devastating comment by rock critic: the one that compared my work to a viral video of baby ducks.

Top Sound: Bill Callahan going “plink” on a guitar string to bring to life the “wink” done by a character in a new song of his.

Top Coconut Mirror whisperer: Dawn Sutter Madell

Top Walk: From the White House to Georgetown with Ravi.

Top Heartbreak: Saying goodbye to St. Marks apartment.

Top Meal: A chickpea and rice soup my daughter and I love to make and eat when sick or blue.

Top Song: Mom singing anything to me over FaceTime. But she does too many country tunes. Needs to branch out.

Top Joe: Joe Wohlmuth

Top Honey: Avocado Honey. This year and every year.

Top Disgust: Canned Sardines.

Top Pain in the Ass: The leak in roof that could never get fully fixed no matter what anyone did. Have high hopes for a solve in 2024.

Top Image: Our dog in his winter puffy coat. He gets compliments from strangers. It’s that good a fit.

Top Gluten Free Sourdough: Knead Love Bakery.

Top Salad: arugula and sauerkraut. No one believes me.

Lois Maffeo (Photo: Gail O’Hara)

Lois Maffeo: 4 Radio Shows to listen to when you can’t take Marc Riley mansplaining everything on the Riley & Coe show on BBC6.

James McNew on NTS radio. I wish it was on every day.

Don Letts on BBC 6 on Saturday. It was a bit mellower when it was on Sunday, but he still hauls out 70s pop hits that “caught my imagination when I was a youth”. Contemporary dub and Stealers Wheel? Get in!

Night Tracks on BBC 3. Host Hannah Peel has a very quiet voice and faultless taste in off-piste music. Where else would I have found JJJJJerome and an ice orchestra?

And then there’s always good ol’ Gideon Coe when he flies solo on Thursdays on BBC6. Just great tunes and no fuss.

Photo by Riley Artsick

Riley from Artsick Favorites:

Tara Clerkin Trio – On The Turning Ground (music)

Anna Hillburg – Tired Girls (music)

Lightheaded – Good Good Great (music)

Mo Dotti – Blurring / Guided Imagery on Vinyl (music)

8th Day by Cindy Deachmann (art book)

Drive Here and Devastate Me by Megan Falley (poetry) (it didn’t come out in 2023, but it is one of my fav books read from this year)

Handsome Podcast with Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster and Mae Martin

Show I watched: Rap Shit on MAX

Show I went to: All Girl Summer Fun Band, Kids On A Crime Spree and Tony Jay at Bottom Of The Hill

Show I played: Slumberland Records with Tunnel Records show – The Reds, Pinks & Purples, Chime School, Artsick with DJs Poindexter and Jessica B at The 4 Star Theatre in SF

Fav record store: Redwood Records, Santa Cruz

Award-winning music supervisor Dawn (via Agoraphone’s FBK page)

Dawn Sutter Madell’s top 15 live shows I saw in 2023

dry cleaning at pioneer works

john cale at prospect park

calexico at lpr

black duck at union pool

mosswood meltdown-oakland, ca (esg, avengers, bratmobile, le tigre, quintron and ms pussycat, 5,6,7,8s, morgan and the organ donors, etc)

plantasia at greenwood cemetery (alex zhang hungtai, angel bat dawid, laraaji, etc)

hand habits at webster hall

dromedary festival (das damen, antietam, sleepyhead, versus, etc) -catskill, ny

boygenius at msg

arca at armory

soul glo, zulu at monarch

girl ray at sultan room

frankie cosmos at warsaw

panda bear, sonic boom at knockdown center

mekons at good fork pub

Bridget at Mon Gala Papillons (a chickfactor event), Bush Hall, London, 2004. Photo: Gail O’Hara
Bridget St John: 5 things that have enriched my 2023
American Symphony
American Fiction

Candle Restaurant, NYC

30th Street Guitars
Feldenkrais – functional integration

image nicked from Glenn’s fbk

The Reds, Pinks & Purples favorite albums for 2023!
tested on multiple listens…

Vulture Feather – Liminal Fields

Parker Allen – Melon Kolly/Parker’s First Song Diary

Pumice – Phyllis

Wurld Series – The Giant’s Lawn

Ryan Davis – Dancing on the Edge

Cindy – Why Not Now?

Fortunato Durutti Marinetti – 8 Waves in Search of an Ocean

Truth Club – Running from the Chase

Outer World, from their bandcamp

Tracy and Kenny from Outer World’s list of ten music-related things that have made us very happy in 2023.
In no particular order.

1) Jane & Serge – A Family Album hardcover book from 2013, long out of print, but discovered in a local bookstore this year. It comes with so many fun bonus items: poster, sticker sheet, booklet, contact sheets, and photo prints.

2) Yogasleep Dohm Classic white noise sound machine to help with tinnitus ringing at bedtime. It is an actual small fan creating the relaxing sound of moving air so there isn’t a digital looping sample that can be troubling for musicians with a keen ear. For touring musicians – it is also relatively portable and helps to drown out snoring members.

3) Yoshitomo Nara Drumming Girl collectible figure #3

4) Apple AirPods

5) The Ekdahl Moisturizer from Knas is a spring reverb unit with exposed strings for manually manipulable sonic noise making

6) The Teenage Engineering K.O. II does it all: sample, sequence, compose, records sounds, loops, includes fun filters + stereo effects, compressor, and is super portable.

7) John Waters X Seth Bogart Pope of Trash socks from the Academy Museum exhibit in Los Angeles.

8) Custom color palette Shure SM58 microphone

9) The Buddha Box 1 2023 edition from FM3 (reissue)

10) BiLLY LiLLY’s Kate and Cindy sensational paintings on wood.

Jeffrey Underhill (right, with pals, HoneyBunch, Velvet Crush, Field Drums):
10 loosely chronological things that made my year.
1. The Island of Hawaii
2. The February 22nd snow storm.*
3. Velvet Crush Teenage Symphonies to God re-issue/Spanish tour
4. Michael Hurley & the Croakers last Friday shows at the Laurelthirst*
5. FieldDrums/Lunch Box/All Girl Summer Fun Band at The 2-Fir*
6. The 48 hour Drag-a-Thon at Darcelle XV*
7. The Family Reunion Festival July 27-29, in Rainier OR.
8. The entire month I turned 60.
9. All of the foods on and just off of 82nd Ave.*
10. Winnie Dean UnderBerg
*in Portland, OR

Looking back at CF30 night 4: Oct. 28 at London’s Lexington featuring Sacred Paws, Rachel Love and Artsick

Artsick / Photo by Jen Matson

chickfactor anniversary parties are sometimes characterized as events where we bring bands back from retirement or as total nostagia-fests. While it is true that they are basically the best kind of friend reunion, this year’s London shows had little to do with nostalgia (though there was a wee Dolly Mixture vibe and a Heavenly song!). Our three-day festival featured five bands that were just interviewed in our latest issue, chickfactor 19 (Sacred Paws, Rachel Love and three Bay Area pop bands mentioned below), and two bands whose members (Paul Kelly and Debsey Wykes and the Catenary Wires) have been interviewed on our site in mostly recent times. The Lexington shows also featured three bands making their London debut: Seablite, Artsick and The Umbrellas flew across the world to play in London!

Artsick / Photo: Jen Matson

Tonight I was dead excited to see Sacred Paws for the first time, and they did not disappoint! (They toured the U.S. a while back but only the East Coast and I was West Coast then.) Rachel Aggs’ dance moves are a joy to watch and the whole band generates goodness. Their sound is rooted in the ESG-influenced past, but completely fresh and modern. We are so grateful they came down from Glasgow to play!

Nothing to see here! Just three members of Dolly Mixture. Photo: Gail O’Hara

It was also amazing to see Rachel Love solo for the first time! She brought her kids and their friends to play many of the wonderful songs from her 2021 solo album that deserved more attention. We heard a few Dolly Mixture songs during Rachel’s set (“Down The Line,” “Miss Candy Twist,” “How Come You’re Such a Hit With the Boys, Jane?”), some with Debsey Wykes as a guest! Unbelievable joy. Plus, tonight was the first time Artsick has ever played in London and they were killing it with fizzy pop punk energy! 

Rachel Love soundcheck / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Thanks to the bands who played and traveled from afar, MC Gaylord Fields, the fans who came out, the Lexington, the soundpeople and especially the Betsey Trotwood and Paul Kelly for sorting out the backline for the whole weekend. Tonight was epic!

Rachel Love and her fab band / Photo: Jen Matson
A mini Dolly Mixture reunion / Photo: Jen Matson
Debsey and Rachel at soundcheck / Photo: Gail O’Hara
No one puts on a show like the Paws! Sacred Paws / Photo: Andrew Bulhak
Sacred Paws / Photo: Jen Matson
Morgan Umbrellas getting an autograph from Rachel Love
Indie legends sign the set list / Photo: Gail O’Hara
Berets for everyone! Rachel Love and Debsey Wykes with Morgan Umbrellas / Photo: Gail O’Hara
Rachel Love set list / Courtesy: Morgan Stanley
Five of the acts on the London shows are in CF19.
Poster: Tae Won Yu
Art: Tae Won Yu
Art: Tae Won Yu
Art: Tae Won Yu

Looking back at CF30 night 2, Oct. 7, Brooklyn

our second event in New York was at the Chashama space in Brooklyn where Steve Keene was having an exhibition. As the editor of the Steve Keene Art Book, I was sad to miss a number of book launch events earlier in 2022, so I was happy to put on this event with the book’s producer and SK documenter Dan Efram. Many of the pieces on the wall were from his or other private collections, so they were not all for sale (sadly!) Christina Zafiris, who worked in the marketing department at Matador Records when the label did a series of “Pavement Trees” made by SK, wrote about the experience of doing those in the book, and asked me to edit her essay for the book, which led to me editing the whole book. Another contributor to the book, Sam Brumbaugh, interviewed Bridget St. John for chickfactor 12 back in the late ’90s. (Read his essay from the book here!) Our love for Bridget’s music led to us having her play at many of our big festivals over the years in both New York and London. We named one of our festivals at Bush Hall in London “Mon Gala Papillons” (it takes its name from a photograph by Jacques Lartigue), which inspired Bridget to write a song of the same title! We love Bridget. (Photos: Gail O’Hara)

The great Bridget St. John playing our event in Oct. 2022. Photo: Gail O’Hara
Photo: Gail O’Hara
Christina Riley from Artsick with her fave Steve Keene / Photo: Gail O’Hara
Reader, I really wanted this one. / Photo: Gail O’Hara
Tonight’s DJ: CF contributor and wonderful human Sukhdev Sandhu / Photo: Gail O’Hara
I want this one too / Photo: Gail O’Hara
Former Matador marketing lady Christina Zafiris / Photo: Gail O’Hara
Best LP of all time? Perhaps. Photo: Gail O’Hara
Donna McKean from Artsick and Lunchbox with her fave / Photo: Gail O’Hara
The amazing photographer Reuben Radding and Bridget St. John / Photo: Gail O’Hara
Steve Keene documenter Dan Efram / Photo: Gail O’Hara
Chime School / Seablite’s Andy Pastalaniek and Christina Riley out front / Photo: Gail O’Hara

our 2022 lists: round one

image courtesy of Christina

Christina Riley / Artsick
Chickfactor 30 NY and London
Oakland Weekender 2022 
Glasgow 
Breaks from social media  
Rock and Roll Vegan Donut bar in Monterey
White Lotus season 2 on HBO 
Simon Guild guitar pedals
Meditation
Chickfactor 19 issue, and shirt designed by Jen Sbragia 
Buzzcocks tribute compilation cassette for Oakland Weekender 2022

BONUS:
-Pop sockets for saving my phone from the swiper on a bike in London, haha! 

Bridget St John at our CF30 party in Brooklyn; Photo: Dean Keim

Bridget St John
my list: a collection of some of the meaningful/impactful/grateful and awe inspiring experiences of 2022

Nicola Walker – magnetic irresistible UK actor

                        Annika

                              River

                                  The Split –
I could make the whole list revolve around her and the other extraordinary actors she works with…

Colin Farrell & Jamie Lee Curtis Actors on Actors

Brady’s Irish Ground Coffee / Celtic Blend

Banshee’s of Inishereen

every Adirondack sunset 

the caeser’s salad at Da Umberto in NYC

Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard

WNYC – especially  The Brian Lehrer Show & Fresh Air

Hampstead – with Brendan Gleeson & Diane 

the daily, weekly, monthly endless resilience strength tenacity and spirit of the Ukrainian people

JOC / Photograph by Janette Beckman

Jennifer O’Connor / musician, owner of Kiam Records and Main Street Beat
Lizzo – Special (Atlantic)
Flock – Flock (Strut)
Mabe Fratti – Se Ve Desde Aqui (Tin Angel)
Beach House – Once Twice Melody (Sub Pop)
Megan Thee Stallion – Traumazine (300 Entertainment)
They Hate Change – Finally, New (Jagjaguwar)
Harry Styles – Harry’s House (Columbia)
Cass McCombs – Heartland (Anti)
Sudan Archives – Natural Brown Prom Queen (Stones Throw)
Madonna – Finally Enough Love (Rhino/Warner)

Daniel Handler’s favorite books this year:
Kathryn Davis, Aurelia Aurelia
Fadhil al-Azzawi, Fadhil al-Azzawi’s Beautiful Creatures
Jakuta Alikavazovic translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman, Night as it Falls
Chen Chen, Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced An Emergency
Fanny Howe, London-rose/beauty will save the world
Hiromi Ito, translated by Jeffrey Angles, Wild Grass On the Riverbank
Geoffrey Nutter,  Giant Moth Perishes
Carl Phillips, Then The War
Keiler Roberts, The Joy of Quitting
Peter Rock, Passersthrough
Kathleen Scanlan, Kick The Latch

Photo: courtesy of the Jim Ruiz Set

Jim Ruiz and Emily Ruiz from Jim Ruiz Set

9 T.V. series from the ’60s that got us through the pandemic and beyond.
1. Danger Man (a.k.a. Secret Agent Man)
2. Gidget
3. The Saint
4. Batman
5. Hawaii 5-0
6. Mission Impossible
7. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
8. The Girl from U.N.C.L.E
9. Mannix

Royal Arctic Institute / image nicked from their website

Lyle Hysen (Bank Robber Music and Royal Arctic Institute)

Mike Baggetta / Jim Keltner / Mike Watt (Big Ego)
Everywhen We Go Dezron Douglas – Atalaya (International Anthem)
Hermanos Gutiérrez – El Bueno Y El Malo (Easy Eye Sound)
Hammered Hulls – Careening (Dischord) 
Horse Lords- Comradely Objects (Rvng Intl). 
Julian Lage – View With A Room (Blue Note) 
Beth Orton – Weather Alive (Partisan) 
Jeff Parker – Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy (Eremite Records) 
Romero –Turn It On – (Cool Death) 
Stella – Up and away (Sub-Pop)

Travis Elborough
In no particular order – I ended up listening to quite a few things on cassette this year, one consequence of spending 10 days in bed with Covid in April with only my walkman to hand for audio entertainment, and probably als0 vinyl pressing plant backlogs but here’s some stuff that hit my ears this year. – baker’s top 10 at 11 

Artist/Album 
Loop – Sonacy 
Kemper Norton – Rife (cassette) 
Opal X – Twister (cassette) 
Telefis –  a Dó (cassette)
Blue Spectre – Silver Screen 
Cosey Fanni Tutti – Delia Derbyshire soundtrack album 
Andrew Poppy – Jelly 
Robyn Hitchcock – Shuttlemania (cassette and LP) 
The Advisory Circle – Full Circle 
Xopher Davidson – Lux Perpetua 
Nkisi – NDOMBALA (A Journey to Avebury

Ed Shelflife / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Ed Mazzucco (Shelflife Records / Tears Run Rings)
1. Billow Observatory – Stareside
2. RxGibbs – Eternal 
3. Motifs – Remember A Stranger
4. Life On Venus – Homewards
5. Martin Courtney – Magic Sign
6. Marine Eyes – Chamomile
7. Humdrum – Superbloom
8. Foliage – Can’t Go Anywhere
9. Jeanines – Don’t Wait For A Sign
10. Korine – Mt. Airy

Julie Underwood (CF contributor!)  
1. Beyoncé – Renaissance 
2. Wet Leg – Wet Leg 
3. Alvvays – Blue Rev
4. Alex G – God Save The Animals 
5. Angel Olsen – Big Time 
6. The Beths – Expert In A Dying Field 
7. Plains – I Walked With You A Ways
8. Weyes Blood – And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow 
9. Sasami – Squeeze 
10. Yard Act – The Overload 

Kendall (right) with Jennifer O’Connor; courtesy of these two

Kendall Meade (Mascott, CF contributor)

Songs on repeat 2022
“San Francisco” Bonny Doon
“Problem With It” and “Abeline” Plains
“Mistakes” Sharon Van Etten
“It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody” Weyes Blood
“Anti Hero” Taylor Swift
“Daylight” Harry Styles

art by Tae Won Yu

Beatrix Madell (Girl Scout Handbook)
My top ten songs of all time from the members of Boygenius:
1) “Night Shift,” Lucy Dacus
2) “Chelsea,” Phoebe Bridgers
3) “I Know the End,” Phoebe Bridgers
4) “Hot and Heavy,” Lucy Dacus
5) “Waiting Room,” Phoebe Bridgers
6) “Timefighter,” Lucy Dacus
7) “Graceland Too,” Phoebe Bridgers
8) “Me and My Dog,” Boygenius
9) “Song in E,” Julien Baker
10) “Punisher,” Phoebe Bridgers

Gilmore Tamny

Some Stars of 2022 Both Welcome and Unwelcome 

anxiety

air fryer

Excellent books that are also mysteries: 
The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran
The Violin Conspiracy: a novel by Brendan Slocumb
Vera Kelly: Lost and Found by Rosalie Knecht
The Second Cut by Louise Welch
The Verifiers by Jane Pek
The Maid by Nita Prose
Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia. P. Manansala
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
Confidence by Denise Mina 

despair over Ukraine (et al)

Podsies: my ability to tolerate current news became I guess you’d say…refracted (?) i.e. bearable only by hearing it through other countries’ news like The Rest is Politics, or through the lens of a specific frame like the art world, The Week in Art or The Art Angle (scammers too). Gave esotericism a twirl with The Secret History of Western Esotericism, yikes, I do not have any idea what Earl Fountainelle was talking about much of the time, but interesting all the same. Also enjoyed for different moods and needs: Shedunnit, Art Law Podcast, The Witch Wave, The Read, Bad Gays, Don’t Ask Tig, The Bald and the Beautiful, My Favorite Murder. 

I watched too much TV to remember any of it

found a perfect pop song not from 2022 

painting a giant gift box

Scottish Rite Masonic Museum, Salem Witch Board Museum (Ouija boards) 

what is the word where you don’t want to mention anything for fear of forgetting something, i.e. some standout 2022 shows: id m theft able outdoor show in Elfland, Paulownia at Waterworks. 

tried to figure out what to do about mortality

reading play aloud – The Mousetrap on a writing retreat – very fun, recommend

Desus and Mero breakup. All right, sad, but I console myself: a) performers-writers-artists need to grow and sometimes that means change b) think of all they gave us 

finally watched Lord of the Rings for details of that experience read here

Brittney Griner WTF and thank god 

if nothing else may I please recommend @archaeologyart on the instagrammo

Fairfield Church / Photo: Rob Pursey

Rob Pursey (The Catenary Wires, Skep Wax Records, Swansea Sound, Heavenly, etc.)
After a long pandemic period of not going out I made a list of ten places I liked to visit and was very very happy to re-visit.

1. Rye Church Tower.  
You have to pay, but not very much, to climb up to the top of this beautiful old building. Narrow stone corridors, creaking wooden staircases, and then you climb a rickety ladder right next to the huge church bells – try to not to do this at midday – and then you’re out onto the tower roof through a trapezium-shaped wooden door. You get to admire the aerial view of this perfect hill-town and of the marshes and Dungeness in the distance.
2. The Betsey Trotwood, London.
One of those venues that had to fight for survival during the pandemic. A warm, sanctuary of music.  Always has friends in it. 
3.  Larkins Ale House, Cranbrook.
A tiny purveyor of local ale. Very hospitable. On the first Sunday we went in, they asked if we wanted a free snack and handed over a plateful of them, like a free meal really.  The beer is perfect.  
4.  Fairfield Church. A peculiar, isolated survivor on the Kent Marsh and now a place where we are able to put on Skep Arts events.  No water, no electricity, no light.  Beautifully basic. 
5.  The Oast, Rainham.
Another lovely little venue where our friends at Careful Now Promotions somehow manage to book the best indie bands, every month.  
6.  The De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea.
An art gallery, a cafe, a great record shop (Music’s Not Dead), all housed in one of the most beautiful Twentieth Century public buildings, right by the sea.    
7.  Nutmeg Cafe, Tenterden.
Best local coffee, friendly staff, dangerous pastries.
8.  The Ellen Terry Theatre, Smallhythe.
Another place that became a Skep Arts venue this year. A thatched barn, converted into a theatre by a Suffragette group in the early Twentieth Century.  I don’t think there is anywhere else like this in the world. 
9.  London Bridge Station.  
I am still awestruck by the roof and the pillars of this huge building. It’s worth going to London just to see it.
10.  The Chinese Supermarket in Hastings.
Everything you need is here – all kinds of noodles, of rice, of spices.  And home-made bao buns in the steamer by the check-out.  

Joe Brooker (Pines / Foxgloves / CF contributor) 2022 Top 10

1 / Close-Up
I’d long known of Shoreditch’s Close-Up Film Centre, but only in 2022 did I actually pay for membership and start watching films here: Bergman’s Persona for the first time, Godard’s Le Mépris for at least the sixth, Spanish films of the 1970s, in the little cinema where film abruptly starts as a light in the darkness. I love the array of thousands of DVDs to browse any time. The place reminds me a little of the Poetry Café, which I once knew as another oasis of culture.

2 / Chloe
Under-the-radar BBC drama about identity and imposture, memory and teen friendship, social climbing and social media, all refreshingly based in the West Country.

3 / Ride
As a student in Norwich I missed seeing Ride though they played only a few hundred yards away from me. Now by contrast I travel a hundred miles back to Norwich to see them play their debut LP Nowhere. Some of the audience are younger than I was then. The music is marvellous and fresh, but above all I just love the idea of seeing Ride in Norwich.

4 / Bordando el manto terrestre
In the vast last room of Tate Modern’s Surrealism Beyond Borders exhibition I’m stunned to encounter Remedios Varo’s triptych of paintings Bordando el manto terrestre / Embroidering the Earth’s Crust (1961). I’ve read about this painting, looked at reproductions, so many times that I feel a rare awe before the original painting, with its size, texture and detail. In the same year, I might say something similar of Manet’s Un bar aux Folies Bergère (1882), which I’m taken aback to find in the Courtauld.

5 / Isokon Building
Hampstead is a storied place but not well known to this South Londoner. A friend shows me around it: mile after mile of avenues green with trees, well-preserved housing, modernist outliers. Down a side street, flowering suburbia like Tolkien’s Hobbiton, I see for the first time the art deco Lawn Road Flats, known as the Isokon Building. Cherished by the many lovers of modern architecture, it’s spectacular: pure white, curved, its stairwell magnificent; an ocean liner.

6 / Sandymount Strand
James Joyce’s Ulysses was published in 1922, and set in Dublin on 16th June. On 16th June 2022, a Joycean friend leads me out to Sandymount Strand, to retrace the steps of Stephen Dedalus in the novel’s third episode, as evening falls instead of the book’s morning. Almost alone amid the vast space we step across wet mud, puddles, treacherous ground, as a calm dusk slowly dims all around us. Finally we must take off our shoes and socks to paddle across streams, maybe similar ones to those that Dedalus feared would sweep him away with the tide.

7 / The Magnetic Fields
Touching down in West London they play Quickies and representatives from most of their other records; songs I think I’ve never heard live, like ‘Love Goes Home To Paris In The Spring’ and ‘It’s Only Time’. The encore yields ‘100,000 Fireflies’. I don’t recall them sounding better, and the set list offers what now feels like one standard after another, a great American songbook of its own.

8 / Ross Macdonald
Ross Macdonald is like Raymond Chandler twenty years on: still droll and tough, but private eye Lew Archer tours a changing California with meditative sympathy as well as pugilistic ability. I find that I can read one of his novels in a day, if I do nothing else. I could tell you the titles, but to a degree the novels are happily interchangeable, intricate permutations of recurring features: Archer’s police contacts and helpers, wealthy clients, runaway girls and boys, seedy trailer-park characters or desk clerks. I feel that I could read them forever; there are eighteen, but perhaps a sophisticated artificial intelligence could generate many more. Archer’s narrative voice is laconic, often very humorous, but also every couple of pages flashes into descriptive fire, a margin of writerly excess.

9 / Helen Saunders at the Courtauld
She was a modernist painter (1885-1963), associated with the Vorticist movement of the 1910s. Typically enough, the work of the era’s women artists often became obscured, and curators have lately sought to reclaim them from history: in Saunders’ case, culminating in this one-room gathering of her work at the Courtauld Gallery. The retrieval is worthwhile. Saunders’ lines and strokes are clear and bold. She seems to draw and paint with conviction and native talent. Some of her pictures are figurative, showing a mother and child, a house, a canal. Some are much more abstract, imagined patterns and designs, but often with some resemblance to a real-world object or experience. She would merit a larger exhibition, of whatever work has survived the decades of neglect.

10 / The Cure
I have loved The Cure for decades, from a distance; never seen them, and often had the impression that my last chance to see them had already passed. But when their lengthy European tour reaches Wembley Arena, at last I’m in the crowd: unusually early, standing as near the front as I can, waiting through a tedious support band. Before a bright picture of the turning Earth, Robert Smith tiptoes on to the stage like a child, peering shyly at the audience. They play numerous ‘new songs that will soon be old songs’, as Smith repeatedly says. They play relatively deep album cuts; few hits in the first two hours. The music is unblemished, the voice strong. Along the way, ‘Pictures of You’, ‘A Night Like This’, the extraordinary ‘Push’ which amazed me when I discovered it on vinyl aged 17. The final encore of rapid-fire bright hits Smith calls his ‘Sunday night disco’. I haven’t felt quite this way about a concert in a long time. Outside, snow is falling.

Read our lists from punk historian Theresa Kereakes and Angelina Capodanno here (both CF contributors and music obsessives!)

CF30 London: Oct. 28-30

CHICKFACTOR 30
chickfactor fanzine was founded 30 years ago by Pam Berry & Gail O’Hara (in DC/NY) and we are incredibly excited to celebrate with you on October 28 & 29 at the Lexington and October 30 (afternoon) at the Betsey Trotwood. Cannot wait to see everyone and see these wonderful bands play! (Our 30th-anniversary issue is out now too and 5/6 of these bands are in it.) Presented in cahoots with the Hangover Lounge folks.

Fri. October 28: 
Sacred Paws
Artsick
Rachel Love

Get tickets

Sat. October 29: 
The Umbrellas
Birdie

Seablite
Get tickets

Sun. October 30: Daytime event (Noon to 4!)
Hangover Lounge at the Betsey Trotwood
The Catenary Wires

& Special Guests
Get tickets

Fri. Oct. 29: Doors 7pm, show 7:30

Sacred Paws, photo by Katherine Rose

Sacred Paws (from Glasgow!) have a natural inclination not to take things too seriously. You can hear it all the way through a conversation with its two members, guitarist Rachel Aggs and drummer Eilidh Rodgers, punctuated by rolls of giggles and thoughtful pauses, and you can hear it in the light touch they bring to their music, a jangly blend of indie pop full of fizzing world rhythms and bright horns. Shimmering guitar riffs dance between snappy beats and swooning melodies that will have crowds committing to far more than a simple head-bob. “I think we’d get bored if it was too slow,” Eilidh says. “We’d never want to play something live that people couldn’t dance to. It would feel really strange to us. It’s kind of the whole point.” Joining them at this show will be Jack Mellin on guitar and Moema Meade on bass! 

Artsick

Artsick
London debut! Artsick is an indiepop band from Oakland/Seaside, California, consisting of Christina Riley (Burnt Palms/Boyracer) on guitar and vocals, Mario Hernandez (Kids On A Crime Spree, Ciao Bella) on drums and Donna McKean (Lunchbox/Hard Left) on bass. They formed in 2018 and released a 7-inch single, followed by their debut album Fingers Crossed, on Slumberland Records.

Photo by Heather McClelland

Rachel Love
Rachel was guitarist and singer in the seminal 70/80s band Dolly Mixture who were signed to Paul Weller’s Respond label and championed by The Undertones & John Peel. She was the singer in the band Spelt and has released her first solo album, Picture in Mind, in 2021. Also half of the Light Music Company. 

Sat. Oct. 29: Doors 7 p.m., show 7:30

The Umbrellas

The Umbrellas
London debut! “The Umbrellas are one of the most exciting bands to come from the indiepop underground in ages. Bursting out of the SF Bay Area’s fertile indie scene, The Umbrellas come correct with a sound that fits snugly into a long line of classic pop, from The Byrds to Orange Juice, The Pastels, Comet Gain, Veronica Falls and Belle & Sebastian, along with a noticeable garage-pop/Paisley Underground flavor that is a hallmark of San Francisco’s best bands. Their self-titled 2021 debut album dazzled with a dozen perfect pop tunes, charming the indiepop faithful but also winning fans outside the scene, leading to sold-out tours with bands as disparate as Ceremony and Destroy Boys.” (—Mike Schulman) New Releases – ‘Write it in the Sky’ 7″ released via Slumberland, Meritorio, Tear Jerk, and Fastcut records. 

Birdie

Birdie
Debsey Wykes (Dolly Mixture, Saint Etienne) and Paul Kelly (East Village, Saint Etienne) decided to form a group together while they were members of SAINT ETIENNE’s backing band in 1994. For two years, Debsey (backing singer) and Paul (guitar) toured Europe, Japan, America and played most of the major European festivals until SAINT ETIENNE took a break and BIRDIE was born. For this show, it will be: Debsey (bass and vocal); Paul (guitar and vocal); Jon (drums); Patrick (guitar or piano) and possibly Sean (piano)!

Seablite (photo: Michael Aguilar)

Seablite
London debut! Seablite is a four-piece pop band from San Francisco inspired by 80s/90s indie and shoegaze. In June 2019, Seablite’s LP debut, Grass Stains and Novocaine was released by Emotional Response, garnering domestic and international praise. They’ve since released a 10″ EP, High-Rise Mannequins (2020) and most recently their new single, Breadcrumbs c/w Ink Bleeds (2022). Seablite are back in the studio recording their sophomore LP and looking forward to what the upcoming year will bring.

Sun. October 30: CF30/Hangover Lounge at the Betsey Trotwood

The Catenary Wires

The Catenary Wires
& Special guests
& Hangover Lounge DJs

Formed by Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey (of Talulah Gosh, Heavenly, Marine Research and so many more!), Catenary Wires also feature Fay Hallam, Andy Lewis and Ian Button. Today will be Amelia and Rob as a duo. Their Birling Gap LP released June 2021 on Skep Wax and Shelflife (USA). Super early show! Noon to 4pm event. The show is technically sold out but we hope to be able to release more tickets.

CF30 New York: Oct. 6 and 8

chickfactor fanzine was founded 30 years ago by Pam Berry & Gail O’Hara (in DC/NY) and we are celebrating by having some parties in New York! We are so excited to have a friend-reunion and see all these rad bands play!

October 6 at the Frying Pan
The Aluminum Group 
Jim Ruiz Set
Dump
Girl Scout Handbook
+ DJs Stephin Merritt & Gaylord Fields

Vegan options in the restaurant, nautical photo ops and portraits and other fun stuff!
Get tickets

October 8 at Union Pool 
Seablite
Artsick
Jeanines
Gary Olson 

Get tickets

Thurs. Oct. 6:

The Aluminum Group / art: Tae Won Yu

The Aluminum Group
are the brothers John and Frank Navin of Chicago and Detroit, who recently released a wonderful new album. John says of this event: “Our performance is very audience interactive. We start with a brief demonstration and teach attendees how to make paper laurel necklaces, then we sing 5 new songs. Show a new short film by Frankie. Then sing sing 5 more songs from the new record, then encore with a new unreleased song from our next record, called ‘Punch The Lights Out Of This Crazy World.’”

Jim Ruiz Set

Jim Ruiz Set
Led by the Legendary Jim Ruiz (guitar, vocals), the set also features Emily Ruiz (drums, vocals), Mike Crabtree (lead guitar) and Charlotte Crabtree (bass, vocals). The Twin Cities outfit has been playing CF events since the olden days and never ever disappoints.  

art: Tae Won Yu

Dump
Brooklyn’s James McNew is the force of nature behind Dump, which was interviewed in Chickfactor 8 back in 1994. Some of you may have heard of his other band, Condo Fucks. We are pretty sure that he will be playing solo tonight and that this is the only Dump show happening anywhere in 2022.

Girl Scout Handbook / art: Tae Won Yu

Girl Scout Handbook
Girl Scout Handbook was formed by Brooklyn high school student Beatrix Madell, an avid musician and music fan. The band is technically 5 people, Madell, another guitar player, a drummer, a trumpet player, and a keyboard player. They will be doing a set of covers for tonight’s show!

Sat. Oct. 8:

Seablite

Seablite is a four-piece pop band from San Francisco inspired by 80s/90s indie and shoegaze. In June 2019, Seablite’s LP debut, Grass Stains and Novocaine was released by Emotional Response, garnering domestic and international praise. They’ve since released a 10″ EP, High-Rise Mannequins (2020) and most recently their new single, Breadcrumbs c/w Ink Bleeds (2022). Seablite are back in the studio recording their sophomore LP and looking forward to what the upcoming year will bring. East Coast/NYC debut!

Artsick

Artsick is an indiepop band from Oakland/Seaside, California, consisting of Christina Riley (Burnt Palms/Boyracer) on guitar and vocals, Mario Hernandez (Kids On A Crime Spree, Ciao Bella) on drums and Donna McKean (Lunchbox/Hard Left) on bass. They formed in 2018 and released a 7” inch single, followed by their debut album “Fingers Crossed,” on Slumberland Records. East Coast/NYC debut!

Jeanines

Jeanines specialize in ultra-short bursts of energetic but melancholy minor-key pop. With influences that run deep into the most crucial tributaries of DIY pop — Messthethics, the Television Personalities, Marine Girls, early Pastels, Dolly Mixture — they’ve crafted a style that is as individual as it is just plain pleasurable. Alicia Jeanine’s pure, unaffected voice muses wistfully on the illusions of time, while My Teenage Stride/Mick Trouble mastermind Jed Smith’s frantic Motown-esque drumming and inventive bass playing provide a thrilling rhythmic foundation.

art: Tae Won Yu

Gary Olson
OG Brooklynite Gary Olson is best known as the leader and founding member of The Ladybug Transistor, but he made a wonderful solo record in 2020 as well, and has collaborated with many bands including the Aislers Set. He also runs a famous studio in Brooklyn called Marlborough Farms, and will be playing as a duo tonight.

chickfactor 19 is out now

The new issues are here! Jen Sbragia and I have been working diligently to bring you a new issue to read during these very challenging times. Edited by me (Gail O’Hara) and designed by Jen Sbragia, the issue is 72 pages long and has two covers (red and yellow):

The covers feature (clockwise from top left):
Rachel Aggs.
Horsegirl.
Sacred Paws.
The Umbrellas.

chickfactor 19 features interviews with:
Artsick
Connie Lovatt (Containe, The Pacific Ocean, etc.)
Dan Bejar (Destroyer)
Gina Davidson (Marine Girls, The Fenestration)
Horsegirl
Kevin Alvir’s Fanboy Memoirs
Magic Roundabout
Melenas
(interview by Janice Headley)
Rachel Aggs (Sacred Paws, Shopping, Trash Kit)
Rachel Love (Dolly Mixture, Spelt)
(interview by Gail and Gaylord Fields)
Rebecca Cole (Clay Cole, Minders, Wild Flag)
Sacred Paws
Say Sue Me
(interview by James McNew)
Seablite
The Umbrellas
Laura Veirs
(interview by Rachel Blumberg)
+ Our usual silly polls where indie stars answer our latest round of Qs
+ Lois Maffeo on the latest Tracey Thorn book, Theresa Kereakes on the Poly Styrene doc
+ Loads of record reviews: albums, EPs, 7-inch singles, reissues, comps, collections, films, books and live shows
+ Our esteemed contributors (writers, artists and photographers) including Kevin Alvir, Rachel Blumberg, Joe Brooker, Angelina Capodanno, Jason Cohen, Gaylord Fields, Amy Greenan, Glenn Griffith, Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), Edwina Hay, Janice Headley, HK Kahng, Theresa Kereakes, Beatrix Madell, Dawn Sutter Madell, Lois Maffeo, James McNew, Kendall Meade, Stephin Merritt, Peter Momtchiloff, Nancy Novotny, Gail O’Hara, Chris Phillips, Sukhdev Sandhu, Jen Sbragia, Stephen Troussé, Julie Underwood, Lydia Vanderloo & Doug Wallen
Order a copy of Chickfactor 19 here!
US ONLY
CANADA
UK & REST OF WORLD
Stockists:
Quimby’s in Chicago
Record Grouch in Brooklyn
Monorail in Glasgow
My Vinyl Underground and Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon
End of An Ear in Austin
Peel Gallery in Chapel Hill/Carrboro
Coming soon: Main Street Beat in Nyack, Sonic Boom in Seattle, Atomic Books in Baltimore and Grimey’s in Nashville
Also online at K Recs or Jigsaw

Rachel Aggs photographed in SE Portland, 2019. Photo: Gail O’Hara
The Umbrellas photographed at the Elizabeth Cotten mural (painted by Scott Nurkin) in Carrboro, NC, 2021. Photo: Gail O’Hara
Horsegirl photographed in Washington, D.C., March 2022. Photo: Gail O’Hara

Sacred Paws photographed by Edwina Hay in Brooklyn, 2019.