Edinburgh’s wildly popular record label, 'Athens of the North' is back at Pikes Sunday 5th May. Starting poolside in the afternoon moving into Plaza Mayor later in the evening with a live set from James Alexander Bright (Bright & Findlay). DJs Fryer, Linkwood, For Mankind & Lel Palfrey, dig into their collection of Deep soulful funk & disco, rare Brazilian, lovers rock, weird gear, 80’s boogie, and a sprinkle of O.G house music.
JAMES ALEXANDER BRIGHT
A vibrant kaleidoscope of sound, colour and emotion, British multi-hyphenate James Alexander Bright’s songs soundtrack fertile daydreams, esoteric dancefloors, languorous reflection, and wild excursions in nature and beyond. His voice, pitched somewhere between Eddie Chacon, Beck and Michael McDonald, is an immediately recognisable signature while impressive multi-instrumentalism sees him perform on guitar, keys, programming, percussion, production and myriad quirky effects.
The past six years has seen James release a veritable treasure trove of music: ‘Mallorca’ and ‘Strange Folk’ EPs, debut album ‘Headroom’, joyous second ‘Float’, an album of collaborations and reworks with cosmic Americana-disco DJ/producer duo Flying Mojito Bros, and a new project with Groove Armada’s Tom Findlay as Bright & Findlay.
James’ music making is commonly a family affair. Although initially written and recorded at his home studio in the rolling hills of the Hampshire countryside, his tracks involve regular collaborator Peter Lyons in East London alongside old friends and new to contribute vocals (Kerry Leatham and Katharine Alice) and drums (Gillan McLaughlin and Joris Feiertag). He has also collaborated with Letherette, Daudi Matsiko, Fink, Fred Everything, Scrimshire and contributed three songs to Groove Armada’s ‘Edge Of The Horizon’ album
James balances music alongside the creative duality of a job in illustration and the responsibilities and constraints that come with raising a young family. Utilising any spare moment to write and record new ideas, his creative output under various projects had been relentless. Turning his back on apathetic major label offers in his early 20s, he’s released through cult DIY label Tape Club Records, German stalwart !K7 Music and now with Scottish tastemaker Athens Of The North, presenting an evolving vision of a sound that has touched on everything from outsider art-rock to machine funk, mystic folk to experimental jazz.
His music has been played across BBC Radio, Amazing Radio, Bandcamp Weekly, FIP Radio France, NTS, KCRW, Soho Radio, Triple J, and Worldwide FM.
Collected press:
“Blissful choruses, sweetly nagging refrains and a lo-fi sensibility. Hard not to love” MOJO
“Intoxicating, highly evocative, sun-dappled soul” Uncut
“Pastoral 21st century electronic psychedelia that knows all the best clubs in town” Electronic Sound
“Brilliantly laidback…an ever evolving journey that feels at once fun and adventurous but also familiar and comfortable” Future Music
“It’s a lush, rich slice of soul that will permeate every pore. It’s the sound of the summer” Louder Than War
“Bringing influence and experience together in a wild, kaleidoscopic world of precarious elevations and cathedral emotions” BPM
“Vivid intermingling of buoyant breakbeat drum loops, sunkissed psychedelic folk song, retrofuturist synthesisers and hot buttered British soul” Test Pressing
“All the musical styles I love. I’m a big fan” Tom Findlay, Groove Armada
“One exceptional album” Bill Brewster
“A timeless record” The Bees’ Aaron Fletcher
“Moves stylishly through psychedelic patterns and multicoloured textures” Jack Wyllie from Portico Quartet
EUAN FRYER (ATHENS OF THE NORTH)
Edinburgh’s Athens of the North was founded in 2014 by Euan Fryer who previously worked for much respected Camden label Jazzman Records for over 10 years.
Known for being a key part of the Deepfunk scene in the 2000s he trailblazed unknown Disco and Funk 45s and turned a generation of Hip-Hop and Trip-hop kids into rare disco and modern soul collectors.
Athens of the North is easily of one of the best and most consistent labels out there right now and has been leading the way for quite a few years now. A combination of wonderful re-issues, re-discoveries from dusty digging trips and some sublime original material. It’s a label which manages to balance a regular output on both vinyl and digital with a ridiculously high-quality level.
LINKWOOD
Linkwood is producer, engineer and DJ Nick Moore. As a teenager growing up in Bristol in the late 80’s/early 90’s, Linkwood became fascinated with house and techno surrounding him. This inspired him to start making his own music and learn everything possible about production and recording techniques from the people surrounding him and he quickly honed his skills.
He was first known for his highly acclaimed releases on Firecracker Records, including 'Miles Away', 'Piece of Mind', and his stunning album 'Expressions'. He also co-wrote an electronic Jazz LP on a balearic tip with Greg Foat (Linkwood & Foat) that’s still getting smashed all over the Island today.
Recently he has worked with Athens of the North producing in house band ‘East Coast Love Affair’, walking the tightrope of Deep disco, House, Soul and even some Lovers rock, getting huge love all round.
With a reputation for hype-dodging, the infamously elusive Linkwood has been doing some low-key live gigs and producing new track for his up-and-coming LP which should be out late 2024, as always expect big things.
In Freddie : Taro , Anna Wall and Guests.
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