This Wednesday 21st November at Joe Publics, Queens Avenue, Clifton Triangle we have a Bristol Festival Fundraiser: featuring Frakture DJs and their Broken Beats, Ruptured Rythms and Twisted Basslines! Come along for an evening of breaks, beats, drums and bassline...raising money for Bristol Festival 2008! Featuring Munter S Dobson (Frakture), Dejenerate (Frakture), Smiffy (Resident) and The Lyricist Hobo (Resident) with more to be confirmed. Drinks Promos starting at £1.50 for spirit and mixer, Entrance £3 before 10/£5 after/£4 NUS

On Wedneday 14th November the Bristol Festival Fundraiser is on a Sessions Night with Fucknuckle & the Bastards (Gypsy Misfits), Venus Noir (Burlesque performer) and The Alfresco Trio (from the excellent Sheelanagig), with a Punksi DJ set and The Lyricist Hobo DJ's set. Drinks Promos like you wouldn't believe and all for £3 before 10pm (£5 after, £4 NUS). It's on from 8pm-1am at Joe Publics, behind Habitat, Queens Avenue, Clifton, Bristol. All in fundraising support of the Bristol Festival, next year's replacement for Ashton Court. If you haven't heard about this then you haven't been talking, reading or listening. Check the bristolfestival.org website for more info on this initiative.

This year's Amnesty International (Bristol Group) fundraiser gig looks like a good one, with an eclectic mix of music performed by some of Bristol's most interesting artists. Confirmed acts include headliners Return to Field, JetKing, Mood Indigo, Leeza Jessie, Colin Parsons,  Grace Ekall and Friends, Rupert Hopkins and Fromage en Feu, a gypsy street party band. From 2pm - 10pm on Sunday 25th November at the Golden Lion on Gloucester Road, Bishopston, Bristol, tickets a mere £3 on the door with proceeds going to the Bristol Amnesty International Group. Full details after the link.

This week's Bristol Festival Fundraiser: Unsigned at Joe Public's on Nov 7th 2007 looks like a lively one. The Bristol Hornstars will be bringing their own brand Big Band style, playing groovy swing, phat funk and hot Latin tunes! Still riding on the wave of success after their storming tour of Barcelona in the summer, the Bristol Hornstars will be turning out in force. An open mic slot, resident DJs and drinks promos complete the evening, so head on over to BFF Unsigned this Wednesday at Joe Publics, behind Habitat, Clifton Triangle 8pm-1am £5/£4 concessions. 

The Public Consultation for the Bristol Festival took place on Thursday, 25th October, from 6pm at the Trinity Centre, St Phillips, Bristol. The consultation raised and discussed many issues and ideas. A vote was held on the festival name, and it was decided to stick with the Bristol Festival, whilst some of the other names suggested may be used for stages. An online forum has been set up to allow the discussions to continue, so everyone is encouraged to visit the website, sign up and add their voice and opinions. A Bristol Festival logo is needed, so a competition has been launched for which submissions are invited. Read on for further details.

Not entirely music related, but we really like the sound of Bristol Radical History Week 2007 which started yesterday (28/10/07 - 6/11/07). This year Bristol Radical History Group turns its single beady eye on Pirates, Witches & Smugglers, icons of the past, so deeply reviled by the rulers of their time. Who were these 'outcasts'? Why are we so fascinated by them? Do their villainous representations carry clues to their real nature? Get answers to these questions and more during this year's Bristol Radical History Week, more details after the link.

Another excellent movie/sountrack night in Bristol, the original and most notorious cult film of all time is scored by rather magical art house electronix outfit Bronnt Industries Kapital (duo Guy Bartell and Nick Talbot aka WARP's Gravenhurst) for a one off performance in a beautifully faded gothic cathedral. HÄXAN: Witchcraft Through The Ages with live soundtrack by Bronnt Industries Kapital, plus support from Grouper takes place on Saturday 10 November 2007 at The Pro Cathedral, Park Place, Clifton, Bristol. Doors open at 7.30pm and tickets are £7 in advance. 

A musical collaboration by stars of the Bristol music scene will be performed in Bristol and London in early December. Will Gregory (Goldfrapp), Adrian Utley (Portishead), Tony Orrell, Andy Sheppard and the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Charles Hazlewood will be playing Will Gregory's exhilarating score alongside the 1924 silent classic "He Who Gets Slapped". This historic film, directed by Victor Sjostrom, stars Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer and John Gilbert, was the first feature filmed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Catch this monumental multimedia Bristol music collaboration at Colston Hall, 1st Dec 2007. 

The Cabot Circus Cantata is a collaborative project developed by Neville Gabie, Bristol Alliance’s Artist-in-Residence and Bristol composer and conductor David Ogden. With fifty-nine nationalities represented on site, construction workers from the Cabot Circus development, including builders, secretaries, foremen, security guards, and canteen staff have been invited to contribute traditional songs from their native countries. The songs are combined into one set, and performed either by the contributor from the construction site or the City of Bristol Choir. If you missed the performance on 14th Oct there is now a video available online.