There is some absolutely brilliant music coming out of West Yorkshire right now and who better than to run the rule over it than Come Play With Me’s Tony Ereira. The man behind CPWM, the project that aims to offer artist development opportunities to those making music within the Leeds City Region – including its renowned 7″ singles club – has had a pretty tough job on his hands narrowing down his selections to just ten, but here is Tony Ereira’s Playlist of the most Essential West Yorkshire Live Acts and his reasons for choosing them.
Caro
– good to see these guys starting to get some attention now on the national stage…great musicianship, beautiful vocals and never just the obvious hook.
https://soundcloud.com/caroetos
Galaxians
– ridiculously I’ve so far failed to see the band since they added Em, their new vocalist but more 1990s Meatpacking District than 2017 Hyde Park??…….a lot of fun.
La Rissa
– I put La Rissa on last month (after recommendations from BBC Intro’s Emily Pilbeam) at a CPWM showcase and she was a bit of a revelation. Early days but big heavy beats and that beautiful soaring vocal left me wanting to find out more…
The Orielles
– totally infectious, youthful energy from Halifax’s Orielles who sound less haphazard and much more together these days… No wonder at all that Heavenly have snapped them up.
Post War Glamour Girls
– James’s snarling vocals, heavy post-punk riffs and Alice’s hypnotic bass never fail to disappoint. A massive debut album three/four years ago and two more studio albums since that have seen the band evolving into the jewel in the Hide & Seek Records crown.
Stems
– if you’d have told me I’d get carried away by a band made up mainly of strings with few vocals I’d never have believed it but armed with their short film backdrops, Stems gigs are enthralling… Sadly I think they tend to tour more in Europe than around their native Huddersfield these days.
Team Picture
– Was lucky enough to catch their tentative 2nd performance in front of 30 or so people at the Leeds Music Hub but they’ve grown in stature & confidence since, added visuals and are now one of the most exciting bands plying their trade around Leeds.
The Wedding Present
– the band that inspired the name of the label and one that I’ve probably seen 20+ times and been lucky enough to release music by. The oldies work from a nostalgic angle and then they hit us with a beautiful new album last year in ‘Going, Going.’
Wild Beasts
– are they a West Yorks band? Maybe that’s pushing it… They are rather brilliant though and even shine in odd venues that weren’t really designed for such delicate sounds (Canal Mills)
ZoZo
– I’m always a sucker for sax outside of the jazz context but married as it is in ZoZo with mad, bad lyrics and energetically to the best hooks in LS6 this lot are just a lot of fun live and can even get this old man dancing…
