Streamed with permission of the artist.

Sarah Nixey is best known as the singer in Black Box Recorder. Whilst working as a backing vocalist for the folk band Balloon, Nixey stumbled upon the reprobates John Moore (ex Jesus & Mary Chain drummer) and Luke Haines (ex The Auteurs frontman), also in the bands line up at that time. Moore and Haines approached Nixey with an idea for a band, writing a letter promising to make her famous. Given their lack of previous chart success, Nixey was amused and immediately took up their offer.

The enigmatic three piece appeared at the start of 1998 and released four massively acclaimed albums. Their debut, brutish and bleak, England Made Me spawned the single Child Psychology, banned from national radio because it contained the chorus “Life is unfair/kill yourself or get over it”. This was possibly the first anti-Britpop record. The follow-up entitled The Facts Of Life dealt with similar themes – love, sex and death – and saw the band performing the Top Twenty title track on Top Of The Pops. The Worst of Black Box Recorder, a collection of b-sides and unreleased material preceded the band’s urbane 2003 album, Passionoia. A final statement was issued just prior to the 2010 UK general election stating “on Thursday 6 May, Black Box Recorder go to the country for the last time”. After two sell out gigs at The Luminaire and one last bow at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, the band released Do You Believe In God? and Keep It In The Family.

As the Trojan horse of one of the most fascinating and compelling pop bands of recent years, Nixey’s detached sensuality and Jane Birkin-esque vocals played beautifully upon the juxtaposition of safety and horror.

In 2007 Nixey released her first solo album Sing, Memory, produced by James Banbury for the boutique label ServiceAV. The songs are modern tales of poison-pen letter writers, dysfunctional relationships, disappearances, secret love affairs and city life, providing the ideal contemporary pop backdrop for Nixey’s distinctive, Queen’s English voice. Whilst BBR songs are often about characters stranded without navigation tools, this album occasionally offers an exit route. The Singles The Collector, Strangelove, When I’m Here With You and The Black Hit of Space were released to great reviews (MSN, Playlouder, Stylus Magazine, Drowned in Sound, Popjustice etc.). The Collector made it to the main XFM playlist, whilst the third single When I’m Here With You reached national radio. Nixey followed the album with a cover of Françoise Hardy’s Le Temps De L’Amour backed by Ici Avec Toi, a gauloised-up translation of the dreamily romantic When I’m Here With You.

More recently Nixey has written and produced a new album, Brave Tin Soldiers, with the emphasis being on the narrative of the song. Lush piano, string and choral arrangements envelop her vocal, revealing family secrets, erotic entanglements and tragic love stories. This will be released via Black Lead Records in May 2011.

Sarah Nixey - Gathering Shadows

Streamed with permission of EMI

From the "Skeleton" EP Released on 20th June.
Live review
http://vonpipmusicalexpress.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/liverpool-sound-city-music-festival-2011-part-1/

Interview 
http://vonpipmusicalexpress.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/the-good-natured-interview/


The Good Natured - The Hourglass

Here's our appearance on 6 music via Tom Robinson's Now Playing on 6 Music, an interactive show where the listeners set the agenda as Tom investigates what's hot on the web.

We chose Sarabeth Tucek, Islington Boys Club and the debut single by Pris 'The Better You Look The More You See'

Streamed with permission

The VPME on BBC Six Music

Savoir Adore -"Cave Of Good Secrets"

Gazza on Raoul Moat

BIOGRAPHY


The Von Pip Musical Express is the work of Andy Von Pip (unless otherwise stated ) and this is his incredibly moving story. . . you may need a handkerchief. . .

The Early Days

In his first flush of youth a cherubic fresh-faced young Andy fell in love with something his parents described as a ‘god awful cacophony of talentless, directionless anger’. Yes he had fallen hook line and safety pin for the musical enema that was Punk, a savage incendiary explosion that  effectively flushed away the egotistical histrionics of  becaped hippies obsessed with Arthurian legends, who regularly  produced sprit crushing self indulgent wankathons known somewhat grandly  as ‘rock operas.’  Although too young to experience the first wave of punk it inspired young Andy to form a band, dye his hair various shades of red, blue and yellow and wear a safety pin through his ear. This made his parents VERY proud.  His band the little heard, barely talented Distant Echos was built primarily around  Andy’s distinctive song writing style which could be described as “a mesmerising folly of epic proportions”. With an autistic guitarist called Simon, a drummer called Tony who was openly into cross dressing  but a closet prog rock fan, a psychotic bassist known as  “Colombia” for reasons we best not divulge here  and a keyboard player called Janie who couldn’t play but who Andy fancied so much that he actually wrote a song about her , it was not a match in heaven made. With songs such as “Self Destruct 1-2-3”, “Global Chernobyl” and Andy’s touching homage to the aforementioned Janie, “Blood Rush (When I Think Of You Girl”) allied to a sonorous vocal style that was not dissimilar to Shane MacGowan having his testicles removed with a rusty spoon,  a future in music looked  about as likely as Michael Barrymore being employed as a lifeguard. Tragically the band split after just two explosive gigs  in the time honoured tradition- over musical direction (ie/ when the music started the audience headed in the direction of the nearest exit). Simon was first to leave citing  irreconcilable  autistic differences and the rest soon followed.   However  Andy’s passion for music prevailed and he consumed music with the same sort of voracity displayed by Dawn French toward all things edible.  He became an avid gig goer and  loved the Jesus & Mary Chain and Lush above all others, but always kept on open mind with regard to all genres and musical styles ( although he never has and never will understand Queen’s status as an untouchable musical deity).  He began to write , some may say quite successfully, for a number of magazines and fanzines before tragically  retiring at the age of  just 27 on health grounds. The diagnosis looked grim, it appeared that Andy was suffering from terminal apathy.

The VPME- The Raison d’être



However some years later a great darkness fell across the musical world, and a sinister shadow was cast by a man whose bizarre oblong head was filled with avaricious intent and whose greed appeared infinite. He commenced a campaign which knew no shame in its debasement of popular culture for financial gain. It was all so easy-his ethos was simple- “there’s nowt more stupid then people” and  in no time at all he had brain washed an entire generation into believing that he somehow had a magical  insight into what constituted real musical talent. He goes by many names, none are complimentary, but you may know him by his preferred moniker- Simon Cowell. In his role as musical Dementor he was able to manufacture singers who had the uncanny ability to extract all emotion, meaning and indeed soul out of any song.

At the same time Andy had been discovering new bands via a medium known as  “the  internet”,  unearthing music which spoke to his very soul . This new breed of   musician had a D.I.Y ethic that appealed to Andy’s punk roots and he came across bands from every genre, blessed with  the sort of style and talent that would confuse and confound Cowell and his fey cackling  little leprechaun sycophant, Louis Walsh.  However Cowell knew the price of everything and the value of nothing and he could see that music being produced by people with  genuine talent, who (wait for it), wrote their own songs and played their own instruments, could threaten his insidious place of worship for  the terminally shite . His only option was to expand his poisonous tentacles into every corner of the globe, brain washing people into accepting that the bawling histrionic power ballad was the only form of musical and artistic expression that had any merit.

 

David Vs Goliath

Andy could stand it no longer and the Von Pip Musical Express (the VPME) was born. Since its inception Andy’s humble musical organ has been voted in the BT Digital Music awards top ten music blogs and nominated in the Record of the Day Journalism and PR music awards, being named as runner up in 2009.  Andy was also a  member of ‘The BBC’s Sound Of 2010 taste-makers panel’ and has had press accreditation for numerous gigs and festivals including Liverpool Sound City , The Great Escape And Glastonbury. He is also a some time promoter in his home town of Liverpool  putting on gigs featuring some of the most exciting up and coming bands about these here parts and beyond.  The challenge still remains, to try and give great new bands a platform and to loosen Cowell’s cankerous grip on popular culture. It’s a tall order, but somebody has to try for f**ks sake. Who’s in ?



WeekendVP

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