There’s something special going on at The Victoria in Brum today, so I hope this belated blog reaches you in time!

AUTUMN STORE is a local club night that celebrates the quirkier side of independent music and beyond (I don’t say “indie” any more, the word stinks of cod-mod-wankery)… For 5 years it’s been the only club night where you’d hear the likes of Field Mice and Arab Strap next to Orange Juice, The Slits and beyond, and has given shelter to stray cats such as awkward pop-rockers ACE BUSHY STRIPTEASE and post-folk chordgazers FALLING & LAUGHING, as well as hosting an impressive roster of international acts

Taken from their Facebonk Event Page;

“On 11th January 2006 The Autumn Store was born as a pre-Snobs DJ night. The first song we played was Pristine Christine by The Sea Urchins and it was played to one other person who I *forced* to be there from the start in case I failed at being able to DJ.

That all means in January 2011 we’ll be FIVE YEARS OLD! And we’re planning an action packed all-dayer with BANDS, ZINES, DANCING, SUGARY FOOD STUFF, DINOSAURS, and hopefully COMMUNITY.

It’s £5 in and the first band is on at 3pm, feat. KateGoes // Ace Bushy Striptease // My Autumn Empire // Horowitz // Flowers of Despair // MJ Hibbett’s Dinosaur Planet // LookiMakeMusic // Vom Vorton // Pocketbooks // We’ll be doing an Autumn Store DJ set into the night”

As if you needed more convincing, here’s a pretty awesome Spotify playlist inspired by their opening night 5 years ago to help nudge you out of the house this Saturday;

Autumn Store 1

See you there

THISISTMRWxxx

Better late than never, eh?

*Deep breath*

In 2010 Matthew Beck resurrected THISISTMRW, brandishing a website (Thanks Rob Adams!), a gig banner (Thanks Lewes Herriot!) and drafted new members Greg and JP for a mission to bring the beast back to life… Together we hosted TIMES NEW VIKING, CASIO KIDS, JAMES YUILL, TORO Y MOI, THE PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP BAND, SHAPES and ABE VIGODA at venues across Brum, but mostly at our new favourite venue The Hare & Hounds. We also had a whole slew of awesome local talent for supports; from CALORIES with their monstrous second album ‘Basic Nature‘ doing the rounds, to TANTRUMS adding a 5th member and taking the city hostage with their duttied anthems…We also witnessed the likes of SAVANT, PANDAS & PEOPLE, VS and ACE BUSHY STRIPTEASE flourish into the premier Brum bands of 2011, as well as THE TRAPS making a comeback with a set of pop-rock tunes that scream ‘Glasto!’, and an unforgettable string of gigs from crazed genius TOM PEEL

On the CD players and Mp3 docks; Matt soaked in the glo-fi sounds of WASHED OUT, CARIBOU and SMALL BLACK; JP absorbed quality follow-up albums from FOALS, THE NATIONAL and LCD SOUNDSYSTEM; Greg listened to AZARI & III and TENSNAKE‘s dance-pop revival anthem ‘Coma Cat’ at least once a day for the entire year.

JP unleashed his latest and most defining musical project yet with 3-piece VICTORIES AT SEA, whose dark, semi-industrial epic ‘Echoes‘ is still doing the rounds with us today. Greg finally put out an EP of that synth-drenched bedroom funk he’d been warning people about for years, and donned a pink gimp suit for VIVID’s Cum Clubbing, a warehouse rave held as a tribute to the alternative gay cabaret/club nights held in Digbeth during the early 80s

Matt snuck out of Brum to see MATTHEW DEAR at Manchester’s Deaf Institute and BEACH HOUSE with GRIZZLY BEAR at Warwick Arts Centre…JP also dared to leave B13 for the Bristolian half of Dot To Dot Festival where he stood in awe of WILD BEASTS, TEAM GHOST and TIT faves CASIO KIDS… Greg coaxed 35 SECONDS into a brief comeback after they topped the ‘Best Brum bands of the 00s’ poll run by Blue Whale Blog and Brumnotes, and wouldn’t shut up about THE SHALFONTS…

2010 was a year of intensive DJing, with THISTMRW DJs appearing at Purgatory, Momentum, Oxjam, Vulture Vulture, Chicks Dig Jerks, Leftfoot and Bigger Than Barry’s MOUNT KIMBIE show and many, many more. Matt often span plastic from OGRIS DEBRIS to much rear-end acclaim, and taught Greg how to cue tracks and beat-match, birthing a monster who occasionally haunts The Victoria with his early 90s house anthems… Meanwhile at The Flapper JP maintained his Saturday night DJ slot converting the punks and metalheads of Brum whilst slipping in the odd indie classic where possible…

We also saw UB40 return to the Hare to play through their seminal debut ‘Signing Off‘, Carl Finn freestyle on stage with Akil The MC , jaw-dropping performances from &U&I and PULLED APART BY HORSES at The Flapper’s Off The Cuff Festival, Lewes Herriot continually blowing our brains out with his sublime TIT poster art, and TIT approved organisations such as DIY label Speech Fewapy and the awesome Brumnotes Magazine flourishing in popularity… But we also saw Andy Robert’s much-missed In The Belly radio show come to an end, not to mention SCARLET HARLOTS‘ triumphant farewell gig in support of post-steppers MOUNT KIMBIE which has left us all hoping for a second-coming

Finally, for Matt and our unofficial 4th TIT Carl Finn, 2010 was all Soul Food, Soul Food, Soul Food as they launched the Midland’s first authentic New Orleans restaurant at the Hare and Hounds, filling the bellies of Brummies and touring acts alike with jambalaya and chilli bowls to die for. With most of our gigs being held at The Hare, Soul Food Project has become the beating heart of THISISTMRW, not mentioning the fun and frolics surrounding their own series of gigs, parties and Sunday “Roasts ‘n’ Records” sessions – We demand you to check the place out.

So what’s next in 2011? Well, for starters there’ll be more gigs – at least one per month – with bigger names and even better line-ups, an exciting new club night, more and more mixes, and then there’s this guy we keep going on about…As for the rest, you’ll have to wait and see.

THISISTMRWx

WALER /// FORMULAS

Over the course of the last few years, Waler have released some of our favourite EPs and have continued to write and write and write, developing their sound into a punk funk via hip hop juggernaunt underlooked by most of Birmingham.

Now, they’ve slyly released their debut album ‘Formulas’ and it very nearly passed under the This is Tmrw radar. Waler’s DIY ethic is refreshing and hopefully rewarding for them, given that this record was self funded, self recorded and self released.

Formula’s opens with the title track, which is one of the duo’s catchiest songs with a bassline that Dave Allen would be proud of and a drum track that would be at home on a UK Funky dancefloor. The next 40 minutes then takes us on a journey covering their diverse influences from new wave to post punk, house, italo, rap, cosmic sounds & beyond.

In our opinion, Vince delivers his best vocal of the album on the abrasive May You Live and Cheater could sit quite nicely on an ESG record (especially given the ‘Spaced Out’ follower) but for me the highlight of the record is the white boy funk of ‘Look What You’ve Done’ with a guitar riff straight out of Bowie’s Station to Station and a breakdown that would make New Order foam at the mouth.

Ages ago I described Waler’s sound as a cross between Q – Tip and Gang of Four and in certain respects that is true but with Formulas they’ve created a debut that sounds distinctly British and although it’s fair to say their influences are pre- noughties, an album that sounds like nothing out there at the moment.

Listen to the album on Spotify here