It’s taken a while, but the season is right – Moriarty are headlining their first show in the UK. And why not? Their debut album Gee Whiz but this is a Lonesome Town just went gold in France.

Most of the Moriarty camp are from Paris but don’t call them a French band. They don’t even sing ‘en Francais’. Led by vocalist Rosemary Moriarty with backing from the Moriarty Brothers  (Arthur, Zim, Thomas and Charles) the band’s eccentric nod to musical theatre was born somewhere between Ohio and Paris in the backyards of blues and folk.

Nothing immediately gives an impression of their cohesion like their first single, “Jimmy,” due for release on the day of the show, December 8th. The song has been a smash hit in France, earning them a slot on the French primetime TV showcase program Ta Ra Ta Ta performing alongside the maverick beatboxing blues hound, Son of Dave. It was from there that Son of Dave acted swiftly and invited them in that same week to his summer rendez vouz at Camden’s Roundhouse.

This very special occasion, brought together by Kartel, proffers an abundance of blues and psychedlia with label mates Tom Mansi and the Icebreakers making a long awaited London appearance (recently appeared on Mark Lamarr’s Radio 2 session) plus the quasi-country funk-force that are The Moon Music Orchestra perform.


Tickets at: www.gigantic.com; www.seetickets.com; www.ticketmaster.co.uk; www.ticketweb.co.uk; www.stargreen.com

Madame Jojo's, 8–10 Brewer Street, London, W1F 0SE. Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus.
020 7734 3040
www.madamejojos.com
events@madamejojos.com

Unique, unmissable Moriarty are headlining this very special show, featuring the finest talent on the alt psych-folk scene.
 

Moriarty

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Rosemary Moriarty (singer, xylophone, thumb piano, spoons, tambourine) and her four brothers Tom (chromatic and diatonic harmonicas, kazoo, drilling machines, Jew's harp), Arthur (Tchekovian guitar), Zim (double-bass, acoustic guitar, music box, suitcase drum), Charles (electric and resonator guitars) plus Vincent Talpaert & Eric Tafani on drums make up Moriarty, formed in 1999. With members of French, American, Swiss and Vietnamese parentage they're based in several cities around the globe and have a huge following in France where their debut album is regarded as gold.
 
As their eclectic instrumental range indicates, their music is a quirky blend of late 1960s-influenced psychedelia and melodic rock with jaunty bluegrass guitar, wistful harmonica and lyrics about roaming buffalo, with echoes of early Pink Floyd.
 
These bohemian gypsies do live in the modern world, however, having recently appeared with Morrissey, Babyshambles and My Bloody Valentine. They have done a cover version of Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence, and their interests include Lewis Carroll and surrealism, which makes perfect sense.
 
"This pan-European indie folk group sounds like they were magically transported from the 1920s American South, with the soulful, melancholic, charmingly twangy voice of frontwoman Rosemary Moriarty backed by folksy, bluesy acoustic strings, harmonica, and swingin’ drums. Their subtly political lyrics remain true to both the progressive parts of the folk and indie movements" - Parisnormale.
 
"Rosemary Moriarty's pure, clear folkish tones, redolent of Joan Baez, make her seem as though she's spent the last few years in the blue ridge mountains of Virginia ..." - Guardian.co.uk.
www.myspace.com/moriartylands
 

Tom Mansi and the Ice Breakers

Their sound is rooted in old school, acoustic, porch blues whilst exploring heavy, angular funk and late night jazz. Tom Mansi & the Icebreakers centre their unique take on rock n’ roll, country and blues around the steadfast double-bass and, in the words of Time Out recently, “put on quite a show” to boot. Q magazine describes their debut album as a mix of “twisted smoky nightclub balladry and dark funky rockabilly ... ideally suited to a David Lynch movie.”
www.myspace.com/tommansiandtheicebreakers
 

Moon Music Orchestra

An emerging gaggle of troubadours with an ever-changing lineup, sometimes including Findlay Brown, but constantly led by South Londoners Daniel Orcese and Rob Jesse. This psychedelic, West-Coast rock 'n' roll/folk collective has grown its fanbase organically, due to their habit of taking themselves off in a minivan round the country performing wherever they find friends - through word of mouth and consistent gigging. A measure of their sound owes a debt to the late 1960s halcyon summers of California, but they can claim influence from sources as diverse as traditional English music and Primal Scream.
"Excellent Laurel Canyon-inspired psych folk" - The Times.
www.myspace.com/theholymoonmusicorchestra