Womb on Transmission FM

November Rehearsals

Womb – with Bong

Islington Mill with Bong.

Womb – 12″ release

We are ecstatic to announce the release of our first every vinyl! The 12″ will be a self titled EP on SWAYS records. Released; 10 October 2011, available for pre-order [HERE] Each vinyl will come with handmade covers, some of which will be prints of Womb member’s body parts.

 

Dance For Me (Bitch) Gets Me Too Wet – video. Directed by Helen Shanahan & Louise Woodcock.

 

 

EP Launch Party!

We will be having a record launch party this Thursday October 13th at Gullivers, Manchester with Part Wild Horses Mane On Both Sides, Klaus Kinski and Madpack!! Check out the Facebook EVENT PAGE .

Ian Simpson of Electronic Musik has recently wrote:

 The most important band to come out of Manchester in a very long time. I’ve heard a sneak preview on Fiona Ledgard’s Anything Goes Breakfast show last week. The track ‘Temple of Bees’ is a huge slab of primal sounds and energy, so much has been brought to Womb’s palette (Krautrock, free jazz, noise, punk, contempory classical, spacerock, avant garde, freak out) which is joyfully and unashamedly splattered onto their sprawling sonic canvas.

Womb

Womb – DiY Feminist After Party 17/09/11

Helen Shanahan – keyboards/vocals, Jennifer McDonald – guitar/percussion/vocals, Whitney Bluzma – bass/vocals, Genette Reynolds – percussion/vocals, Fiona Ledgard – drums.

Matt Dalby wrote about the gig,

I’m not sure if this was the last time I’ll see Womb play before I head off to China in three weeks. If it is it was a good one. Perhaps not quite at the same level as the Kraak gig, but fucking excellent nonetheless.

With a smaller lineup than recently it was always likely to be a slightly different dynamic and sound. Here it was Fiona on drums, Genette on Pianophone, percussion and voice, Helen on keyboards and voice, Jen on guitar, percussion and voice, and Whitney on bass and voice.

The venue was a small and intimate basement room with seating for fewer than a dozen and floor sitting/standing room for about 20 if they got pretty close. When the band started I was still sat down and somewhat boxed in so I wasn’t able to join Sadie as one of the few people dancing initially. Then someone came and sat between my legs – which meant I was stuck there a little longer.

The group started out in recently familiar territory – what you might describe as doomy churning with excellent beats. From there the sound shifted with the chiming of singing bowls and other percussion, and voices adding texture. While bass and keys provided some additional structure and melody, guitar and voices ducked and interwove, mutating the colours and pulling the music in different directions.

Eventually, disgracefully, the crowd thinned out a little, which meant the person sat between my legs could move somewhere more comfortable for them. That in turn meant I could get up and dance. Like I said, disgraceful. If it meant more people could have seen or heard the group I’d have been happy to be pinned against one of the walls [insert your own filthy joke here].

So dance I did for a little until the band stopped. People applauded and then after a brief discussion the band started again, and the dancing started again. Still fewer people which was a shame, but it was an after party with a variety of spaces and different things going on, so a different dynamic from a gig. Also Womb were going on pretty late – somewhere close to 1am.

The sound transformed again in the second half. While the drums provided the rhythmic foundation the other sounds became predominantly more abstract. Sound textures and patterns rather than more conventional melodies and structures. Even more than the first half the actual sounds were explored for their own sake rather than pressed into a preformed idea of how they should be structured.

It was really quite minimal and abstract – in case there’s any doubt I think this is a good thing. As usual there will be a recording going up at some time soon – which will no doubt sound completely different from what I’ve described.

A wonderful performance – if it had been a more normal gig at a more conventional venue the band would have stormed the place. They were – as you’d expect from a mainly subterranean, brick-lined, low-ceilinged, small room – pretty fucking loud. I think that meant that even more than previous acts they could be heard through a lot of the house.

It’s a shame I may not get to see the band again until March next year or maybe later. I’m going to miss them.

Meat Drive

Managed to get very close to butterflies again. This time the butterfly was drinking the liquid of a turd.

The other butterfly encounter was in India. No matter how close I got, the butterflies wouldn’t move, seemingly transfixed. I watched them for a while before noticing that they were ejaculating. They carried on squirting for about 3 minutes, continuously shaking liquid from their abdomen.

I have enjoyed seeing butterflies in this way. The butterfly seems to be a cultural signifier for things such as consciousness, transience, freedom etc. The times I have been allowed moronically close access have had opposite associations of primal drives such as hunting, gathering and fucking.

butterfly eating shit

butterfly ejaculating (can see pool of liquid attached to abdomen)

Have been printing my arse and vagina for an up-coming Womb ep. I’ve got some similar associations with this.

Womb – Kraak, 02/09/11

Womb played at a benefit gig (Operation Florian) raising funds for a fire engine to be taken to Serbia. Other bands on the bill were Poliburo, Krystal Pistols and Salford Media City.

Womb took to the stage after midnight and both band and crowd admitted that this was one of the most enjoyable Womb gig’s yet.

Stephanie Davis- vocals/percussion, Helen Shanahan- keys/vocals/drums, Emily Ward- saxophone/guitar, Genette Reynolds- violin/percussion, Louise Woodcock- vocals/guitar/bass/drums, Jennifer McDonald- guitar/percussion/drums, Sian Williams- bass/guitar/drums, Fiona Ledgard- drums/bass/vocals.

Many of the band members swapped instruments during the set. This is what it sounded like.

 

 

The night got two great reviews, one wildly enthusiastic by Matt Dalby here and the other- the recorded audio of an audience member talking about how irritating the set is etc, check it out 25 minutes into the soundcloud recording.

Womb – Ear Whacks, Preston 23/08/11

 

Matt Dalby reviewed the gig, have a look here.

Attitude

Womb are in this month’s Attitude, the September issue is all about what’s happening on the Manchester DIY queer scene.