Showcasing some of the best upcoming local talent for their December extravaganza, they are inviting back some of their favourite acts from the past year for one big (non Christmas-y) event.
Balloon Ascents will be headlining, one of Oxford’s young talents, with pop star swagger balanced by compositional subtlety and honest to God killer tunes.¬† If you‚Äôve not seen them yet you either don‚Äôt live in Oxford or don‚Äôt have ears (very sorry for your loss, if it‚Äôs the latter), as they blend the folky pop nous of Stornoway with sultry cheek and the odd funk lick.
Zurich are the epic kings of widescreen, large scale, emotion wringing rock, who sprang from the ashes of popular North Oxon dark indie act The Scholars (although, if anything, they’re better and more gloriously grandoise).
A one-man band dropping by from his native Montreal, The Jon Cohen Experimental aims to daub his tidy ditties with intense psychedelic flourishes.  Part indie-rocker, part experimentalist, part promoter and all adventurer Jon has served time in The Dears and The Social Register, but struck out to forge a new path of sonic trickery, pop songsmithery, and spiritual ritual madness (ery).
And finally, probably Oxford’s greatest current techno artist, ‚ÄòAfter The Thought‚Äô intersperses his banging beats with post-rock textures and soaring melodies.¬† Electronic sounds made with care and love…and pedals. Loads of pedals.
If you’re not feeling the Christmas spirit in December, and you just want a good, honest gig to go to, you could do a lot worse than going to the Wheatsheaf and catching some proper local talent. Beats a cheesy school nativity performance at least!