Maaaaaybe that sounds a little grander than intended – but it’s the Northern Embassy – y’know? Ok, anyway… there’s two more nights left to go for our first year in Soho, down beneath Charing X Road with our friends at our central London enclave, The Phoenix. We’re all looking forward to this one (I mean, we always do, but..) Having bought both Megan’s record Hunt & Chase, and Samantha’s Dark Nights Make For Brighter Days while we were writing the mailshot, we’re as vibed up as ever. We do our best to make sure we know what we’re talking about before the artists arrive – there’s nothing worse than turning up to a show where the people presenting it know nothing about the acts they’re promoting. In our first year, it was all friends playing for us so it was easy – but these days with more and more new friends coming through the gigs, it’s important that we do our research! Both those records are heartily recommended. Here’s a link to the email we sent out, so you can read our wee write up.

Having made a fair share of records ourselves between the various members of the collective, the mind tends to wander when listening to new artists’ recordings to things like: “I wonder what vocal mic they used/is that a Fender Twin on the guitar/I wonder if there’s a ribbon mic on the kick/I reckon that’s a soundtoys crystallizer on guitar, it’s not a keyboard…/how on earth has he got the kit to sound so 3D/are they flatwounds on the bass/good to hear a wrong note, sounds like there’s no melodyne on this – or at least it’s very well done!” etc etc With Megan’s record we’ve been debating the vocal reverb (that’s the nice roomy ‘echo’ folks, for the non musos out there!) – it’s great.

Samantha’s record has been on repeat at HQ all day again today – just the most relaxing listen in ages: truly a lovely writer – and what a voice.

Of course, Monday is not just about the ladies! We’ve been trying to tell the world about Matt Woosey for a while. He is ferocious live – he’s like a one man Old Grey Whistle Test, and it’s so rare and refreshing to see a man so bound up in the bandages of his music that he can’t help but scratch and tear them off with a snarl to the side of the microphone mid-song, like he was biting at a loose rag. It’s the entire persona with Matt – not just his domination of his poor guitar, and his snarling vocal: You feel like you’re watching a man that does 250 gigs a year – and you are.

The Christmas show on December 16th is already looking like a supersonic lineup – but don’t be fooled, we’re not holding anything back for the penultimate night. We hope some of you will make it down – the whole point of what we’re doing is to give an opportunity to great writers and performers in the centre of town; but also to keep connecting and reconnecting those of us both inside and outside the industry. If you love music, and you care about musicians; and if you care about the future of music and all those who love on fresh air in the cause of making it – then you’re always welcome at any of our nights. See you at 6pm for an informal networking hangout, a tremendous dinner for around £7 (see the afore mentioned mailout link for menu) and a stellar showcase at 8. We don’t make a penny out of it, we just care about creating a bubble that we all want to be in. Hopefully see you then. In the words of Tom Robinson – “Matt Woosey – Oh… Oh, he’s the real deal.”

(Not sure what drugs the director of this video was taking – we’re not wanting any of that near our cornflakes on Monday morning… But you get the idea, right?)