ERIKA – ‘Onna-Bugeisha’ [Review]
Turning a first name into a brand name can be a risky proposition. On the one hand, it’s great for solo artists as it’s more personal than hiding behind a pseudonym – but on the other, it makes it very difficult for people to search for you online. There are many Erikas in the world – especially on Spotify, where you can find Erikas playing everything from acoustic folk standards to dark, brooding electronica, lounge jazz, and even six albums worth of accordion music. Google “Erika music” and the top hits are for a dermatology consultant (Dr Erika N. Music – I kid you not), a YouTube video featuring Nazi military music, and a list of still more artists named Erika who are, annoyingly, not the ERIKA (full caps) that we’re looking for. Read more…
As we noted 
Although YouTube is home to a vast number of musicians of note, few bands have demonstrated YouTube’s marketing power as efficiently as Dirty Loops. A Swedish power trio whose fusion-flavoured take on Lady Gaga’s mega-hit Just Dance catapulted them into the online eye, Dirty Loops’ YouTube channel has attracted over 100,000 subscribers and 15.5m views while being home to just ten videos. Not bad for a group known as much for their collective technical abilities as their song-related skills.
Sweet, lilting atmospheres and nuanced, intimate vocals. A fantastic understanding of dynamics, understated instrumentalism, well-crafted lyrics and massive repeatability. The support of a great producer who knows exactly how to bring out the best in a worthy artist, and elicit just the right shades of emotion in the end product’s listeners. 
I need to work on my time management. Arriving all too tardy for this show, I missed most of Jonas & Jane’s set. However, I did catch their encore, a pretty and well-performed country-tinged tune. Check out their 
Martha Paton is a fantastic songwriter – and more than anything else, Suitcase Full of Stories is a simple and unassuming demonstration of that fact. 
When I first saw that poster, my first thought was that this show would turn out to be a serious sausage party, full of hot-under-the-collar guys who’d assumed that an evening spent being entertained by women would entail something very different. I was relieved to arrive at the Boileroom and find that I was wrong; like the performers, last night’s crowd was stylish, socially competent, and clearly excited to be in the presence of the following: 
Guildfordian promoters 
I’ve said this many times before, I’ll tell anyone who’ll listen, and I’ll say it again: The Boileroom is my favourite independent live music venue. The same statements apply to this sentence too: Genrebomb know how to put on a show. 
The Easter weekend is always a good time to let your hair down, forget the workaday world, and just have some fun. You can drink, you can dance, and thank that guy with the crown of thorns and Men’s Health covershoot abs for giving you the opportunity.