stuff from my old sketchbooks #3

stuff from my old sketchbooks #2

stuff from my old sketchbooks #1

brainlove festival

The Nervy Betters are playing at this festival at the Brixton Windmill in London, hosted by, and celebrating the tenth birthday of Brainlove Records.

There are lots of great bands playing and tickets are only £5. Steve and I are hoping to be joined by some special guests for our set...

sent i november: press release

Polite Records are proud to present Sent I November by Tiger & Panda...

cat no.: pcd014 format: CDR/download
artwork: recycled brown card gatefold with lino-printed/hand tinted cover and A3 pastel green liner notes/poster/thing
price: £5 (CDR) £2 (download)

We wrote these songs at the end of 2012 and recorded them early 2013. Sent i November is the original Swedish title of Tove Jansson's Moomin Valley In November. In Swedish 'sent i November' means 'late in November' but in English it could also be a funny way of saying 'I sent November' like as if you are the seasons or like as the author she has subjected her characters to November to see what will happen to them.

We recorded the songs on thin cassette tape.

The music is about the fuzzy frostiness and out-of-tune blackness of late autumn when life hides beneath the surface until spring. The static on the radio at night blows also through the trees and tinny telephone voices speak orange-yellow comfort among acres of dark wilderness. Acoustic guitar plays sweet 'n' muffled 'n' keeps a rock-steady rhythm while electric guitar slips and slides like tectonic plates, accidentally jazzing the fretboard here and there. Further shadows are cast on the walls by the sizzling of a ride cymbal and the freight-train honking of a distant toot-box player.

Tiger & Panda are Olly Watson & Henry Ireland. The other singer on these songs wished to remain anonymous...

mark pawson is a nice guy

Variant 37/38

The other day I found out that Mark Pawson had written a little nice paragraph about one of my zines in this article from 2010 in Variant Magazine. It was a nice surprise!

rob st john + the nervy betters

poster by Steve Brett

The Nervy Betters are going to be playing at Cafe Kino supporting Rob St John on Thursday the 2nd of May. The show is being organised by Stitch-Stitch Records. 

cafe kino and stitch-stitch present:

Rob St John
Lancastrian Rob St John plays drawn-out and ghostly songs underpinned by the creaks and drones of the harmonium, musical saw, fiddle, skittering drums, analogue synth and field recordings. Backed by a talented cast of collaborators and co-conspirators, his first album 'Weald' combined kraut, drone and psych influences with peals of British folk guitar and wheeling gusts of rich, cryptic vocals. Since then, he's been recording illegal bird hunting in Malta, field recording in Cornwall and curating the critically acclaimed Pendle, 1612 compilation. His new 7", Charcoal Black and the Bonny Grey / Shallow Brown, will be released on May Day.

The Nervy Betters
A mild-mannered experimental pop band, figuring out their place in the world.

Tickets £5 in advance, available from Bristol Ticket Shop