The Hype

An Intriguing Message From The Ting Tings

2009-02-23T21:54:00.001Z

This was posted today, but to be honest it seems fairly unlikely that you'd get a place now. Still, it sounds interesting.

"We are doing a secret gig / paint somewhere in central Manchester on the evening of the 27th of Feb.
the first 300 people to message me back on

thetingtingsparty@googlemail.com

-will get free tickets. You will have to pick up the tickets on the door, on the night, so we need you to email your post codes along with your names to the googlemail address.

Oh Yeah, you will need to be OK with getting paint splattered on you and to wear a white tracksuit when at the gig to protect your clothes (we will provide tracksuits when you arrive).
This will be really funny!

Also we are going to be painting, ( more like throwing paint!) over a limited run of calvin harris remixes of 'we walk'. once dry, we will send everyone that came to the gig a free copy. Of course we will also be playing a gig for you all and bringing in all the new stuff we are doing on this uk tour, including brass section. It sounds wicked.

Thats it. Go email us now if you can defffo make it on the night.

katiex"

Bands With Songs

2009-02-23T21:50:00.002Z

Foals have got a new myspace for their DJ 'alter-egos', featuring remixes, etc.: Myspace.com/foalsdjs.

In this blog (Blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=68784665&blogID=472039852), Johnny Foreigner link you to exclusive free songs and go on about their European tour.

Bands With Videos

2009-02-23T21:41:00.003Z

Ice, Sea, Dead People appear to be giving free music lessons. In this episode of 'ISDP TEACHES YOU', they teach you how to drum. They explain how to make the sounds you've heard - useful stuff.

ISDP TEACHES YOU: Drums from isdp on Vimeo.

Here's a link to Peter Doherty's new video for 'Last Of The English Roses': Lazyeyemanagement.blogspot.com/2009/02/last-of-english-roses.html. It involves young men playing football.

Bands With Free Downloads

2009-02-17T22:11:00.003Z

Colour and Data Select Party are giving away free downloads (Data.Select.Party - ‘The Woot, The Hot, The Hotness’, Colour - ‘Unicorns (Acoustic)’) at Theawesomeradgnarlytour.co.uk/ in honour of their joint tour in March (which will be reviewed at Myspace.com/_youvedonethiswrong).

Little Man Tate are giving away 'Jenny Put The Record On' for free at Myspace.com/littlemantatemusic.

Provided you've already bought the proper album, you can download the whole Instrumental version of White Lies' 'To Lose My Life' album. You just put the CD in your computer's CD/DVD drive or ensure that you have purchased it from iTunes, and sign up to the mailing list. Its at Pushentertainment.com/192?url=/exclusive.

The Maccabees have made 'No Kind Words' available for free download from Themaccabees.co.uk. It's on here too:

Bands With Videos

2009-02-17T21:59:00.002Z

If you go to whitelies.com you can see Andreas Nilsson's video for White Lies' new single 'Farewell To The Fairground'.

This is a video of a press shoot The Maccabees did:

And this is their new video for 'No Kind Words':

Latest Gigs

2009-02-12T22:13:00.003Z

Kid British - Monday 16th February - FREE show for Key 103 in front of The Great Northern
1990s - Friday 24th April - Roadhouse (on sale Friday 13th February, 9.00am)
Friendly Fires - Monday 27th April (on sale Friday 13th February, 9.00am)
The Maccabees - Academy 2 - Sat 9 May
The Sunshine Underground - Saturday 16th May 6.30pm (on sale Friday 13th February, 9.00am)
Ladyhawke - Sunday 17th May - Club Academy
Florence & The Machine - Monday 1st June - St Phillips, Salford
Blur - Friday 26th June - MEN Arena (on sale Friday 13th February, 9.00am)

Latest Gigs

2009-01-29T21:30:00.002Z

Doves - Thursday 12th March - Pyramid and Parr Hall, Warrington (on sale Friday 30th January)
The Airborne Toxic Event - Wednesday 1st April - Club Academy (on sale Friday 30th, 10am)
White Lies - Tuesday 5th May - Academy 1 (upgraded from Academy 2 due to unprecedented demand)
Razorlight - Saturday 9th May - MEN Arena (on sale Friday 30th, 9am)
Maximo Park (supported by Noisettes and Stricken City) - Satuday 23rd May - Academy 1 (on sale Friday 30th)
2 Many DJ's - Saturday 6th June - Academy (18+)

White Lies and Maximo Park will be reviewed at Myspace.com/_youvedonethiswrong.

Bands With New Music

2009-01-26T21:25:00.004Z

Hot Club de Paris are writing their third record. They've uploaded four new songs at Myspace.com/hotclubdeparis, but they're actually from the 2nd album - they just haven't been on Myspace before. The songs added are: 'I Wasn't Being Heartless When I Said Your Favourite Song Lacked Heart', which is very boncey, 'Boy Awaits Return of The Runaway Girl' and 'Let Go of Everything', which aren't anything magnificent, and 'For the Parties Past and Present', which is very summery.

You can stream Franz Ferdinand's new album at Myspace.com/franzferdinand. Excellent stuff.

You can preview The View's new album at Last.fm/music/The+View/Which+Bitch%3F?autostart. It's quite like 'Hats Off To The Buskers' really, but perhaps a bit heavier and dirtier in some ways. Look out for a live review and possible interview with The View soon at Myspace.com/_youvedonethiswrong.

Bands With Videos

2009-01-26T20:49:00.003Z

White Lies have got a load of videos. There's footage of them performing 'To Lose My Life' as part of their Live Lounge set at BBC.co.uk/radio1/livelounge/artist/090114_whitelies.shtml, a short introductory film entitled 'To Lose My Life 4Play' at Uk.youtube.com/watch?v=11EJMFdSdGI&NR=1, which is very lyrical and quite eery at times; and here's a track by track commentary of their debut album:

This is a studio update from The Maccabees:

Latest Gigs

2009-01-22T19:58:00.004Z

Brakes - Sunday 1st February - Moho Live
The Noisettes - Saturday 14th March - The Ruby Lounge
Yo Majesty - Thursday 26th March - The Ruby Lounge
The Rifles - Tuesday 31st March - Ritz
Brakes - Monday 13th April - The Ruby Lounge
The Virgins - Thursday 16th April - Ruby Lounge
The Rakes - Thursday 23rd April - Club Academy
Art Brut - Monday 27th April - Academy 3

PS. The Maccabees have said that they will tour in March, having now finished recording their new album.

Bands In Some Way Connected With Videos

2009-01-21T21:30:00.002Z

The deadline for a certain Bloc Party competition that has somehow escaped my notice - the 'Blocumentary' - is nearing. if you go to Blocparty.com/members/blocumentary.php you could win the chance to go to one of their upcoming gigs (a Manchester date of which will be reviewed at Myspace.com/_youvedonethiswrong) and make a film with provided cameras and AAA access. You can film the gig, interview the band, crew and fans (and anyone else you may want to speak to). You've got till Friday.

This is Kid British's video for 'Lost In London'. It's fairly self-explanatory:

Bands With Songs

2009-01-21T21:21:00.002Z

Pictures Of You have uploaded a new song called 'It's Time' at Myspace.com/wearepicturesofyou.

The Teenagers are giving away covers and remixes for free. You can get their cover of 'Step Cousins' at Themusicslut.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/starlett-johansson-the-teenagers-cover.mp3 and there's a heavy metal remix of 'Feeling Better' at Mirandow.com/initials/feelingbetter.mp3.

Bands With New Stuff

2009-01-19T20:34:00.002Z

You can listen to Jack Penate's new song, 'Tonight's Today' at Jackpenate.com - although I'm sure you've heard it before.

Cajun Dance Party have got a special display of photographs by Jacob Perlmutter, who documented their UK mini tour in June 2008, up at Cajundanceprty.tv.

Hadouken! have announced their tips for 2009 in a blog at Hadouken.co.uk/blog,new-music-tips-for-09_163.htm?pg=1?eml=atl/hdk/150109.

Bands With Videos

2009-01-19T20:29:00.002Z

White Lies have got a load of new short films up in the video section at whitelies.com.

Pete & The Pirates have got two new videos in promotion of their new single, 'Blood Gets Thin'. There's one for 'Jennifer' at Babelgum.com/html/clip.php?clipId=3005128, and one for 'Blood Gets Thin' at Babelgum.com/html/clip.php?clipId=3004122.

Bands With Free Downloads

2009-01-19T20:18:00.003Z

Dance To The Radio are giving away songs as Christmas presents to those who enjoy their records at http://www.dancetotheradio.com/. So you can get The Pigeon Detectives' 'Let's Stay Out Tonight', which was the B-side on the vinyl only release of Everybody Wants Me, and Grammatics' 'Vague Archive' in the form of a remix by Anteater (Tom from ¡Forward, Russia!).

Ladyhawke are giving away a free download of 'Dusk Til Dawn' (Canyons Garage Disco remix) at U-download.co.uk/dusktilldawncanyonsremix.

Bands With Videos

2008-12-11T20:54:00.003Z

We Are Scientists have a video advent calendar this year, uploading a new video each week of December, "Each as funny or funnier or a little less funny than the last. These videos will deal with religion, the current economic downturn, war in the Middle East, abortion rights, race, sexuality, class, and epistemology, so try not to miss very many." The first one's up now:

This is another studio update from The Maccabees, and the video has snippets of songs:
"So we're nearly done in Paris, and here is another little video diary of bits of our recording, as always carefully edited by Hugo. Don't worry, not all of the takes you see will end up on the record! We're real close to finishing the songs. Just making sure, to quote Markus, that it doesn't sound like 'a load of housewives making bread' or that we're not 'leaving too many wet fish flapping on dry land'. What any of that actually means is a bit of a mystery. It's all cake, sun-dried tomatoes and American Office in our spare time.
x
P.S We have updated our website Themaccabees.co.uk with a new video from the Roundhouse show as well, so head over there to check that out."

Foals have announced that their second album will be out in the spring, before uploading this video of what Tinhead has been up to, which you should apparently "Watch to understand 'sweaty nerd'":

Amazing, the shit you'll watch if it's loosely connected with some band you like.

Latest Gigs

2008-12-11T20:49:00.002Z

The Cribs - Friday 6th February - Ritz (on sale Friday 12th December, 9.30)
The View - Monday 9th February - Academy 2
The Wombats - Tuesday 24th February - Academy 1
Franz Ferdinand - Friday 6th March - Academy 1 (on sale Friday 12th December)
Bat for Lashes - Tuesday 7th April - Ritz

Foals in Munich

2008-12-02T21:02:00.001Z

Here are yet more [rather unpleasant] photos from Foals, in Munich this time:

Morning on the tour bus//

munchen food //

Rap Spew with Cut off Yr Hands//
You rap – then you spew…

dm x

The Maccabees Learn French

2008-12-02T20:51:00.003Z

This is another studio update from The Maccabees:

Hello everybody.
We're in Paris, finishing the record... Yes! It's freezing but beautiful. We have an amazing house for three weeks; it's got a spiral staircase and a tree. We'll take that. Every morning we walk through 'Pere La Chaise' cemetery to get to the studio which is really something. Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried there. There's something proper peaceful about walking through it, but I've been listening to Wu Tang Clan on the walk the last few days which doesn't really compliment the poignancy. We're getting really good at French. Really good. We've absolutely nailed 'ca va et toi?' and can do 'oui oui oui' with real assuredness now. The rest is a bit of a mystery. Luckily Sam, drumming on this record, is fluent. Which has turned out to be a bit of a burden for him probably?

Blood Red Shoes and Peggy Sue played here yesterday and so of course we went, the gig was great, we were all so impressed to see Blood Red Shoes pulling such a crowd in Paris. A real achievement. While they were here, we got Peggy sue and Laura Mary down to sing a few bits on a couple of the songs which we're all well happy with. So for the first time we have some new voices on a record. It's all change. The album is coming along well, we're starting to hear it all take shape now and it's finally feeling like the year of really holing ourselves up writing and writing and writing has paid off. We've recorded 14 songs. Don't know how many will end up being on there though.

Having done most of his bass parts, Ru has had to look for other things to do. He's got the bass line to Deal or No Deal down. In the pocket. We were all taken aback that he has also, overnight, become a huge AC/DC fan. He spends his days in the 'experimental' room with a drum machine working out Back in Black. He reckons he'll have the solos sorted by the end of the three weeks. We wait with baited breath. Hugo continues his search for barbecue sauce and amuses himself by asking 'ou est l'office de tourisme' whenever he gets the chance. That's about it. I'm writing for something to do while Lando is singing, once he's done we should have the first little set of songs done.

I'll write again in the next couple of weeks when the whole record should be finished!!
Felix

P.S Here is a video update from the studio in Liverpool... It contains a small recording of one of the new songs for the album...

Latest gigs and Bands With Live Stuff

2008-11-27T20:50:00.002Z

Gigs
The Rumble Strips - Tuesday 10th March 2009 - Roadhouse
Coldplay with Jay-Z - Saturday 12th September 2009 - Lancashire Cricket Club (on sale Friday 28th November)

Live Stuff
You can stream The Pigeon Detectives' gig in Newcastle live now, and for a few days after at Channelbee.com/move/music.

Ice, Sea, Dead People performed for a BBC podcast, which you can get by searching for BBC Introducing on iTunes, or by streaming it at Odeo.com/episodes/23663881-TRIntro-Album-Length-Podcast-24-11-08.

Bands With New Songs

2008-11-26T20:37:00.002Z

Kid British's album is under way, so they've uploaded previews in the form of 'She Will Leave' and 'Lost In London' at Myspace.com/kidbritishmusic. This is a seriously good band, and these are good, strong recordings of catchy ska-pop songs, particularly 'Lost In London'.

The Small Screen Light Show have a couple of new tracks up at Myspace.com/thesmallscreenlightshow. I'm pretty sure 'Collide' and 'Home Alone' are the new ones. They're best if you give them a bit of attention. And they've also made a video for 'Home Alone':

Bands With Photographs

2008-11-26T20:29:00.002Z

Cajun Dance Party have a photoblog of their tour up at Cajundanceparty.com/blog/.

This is actually a flyer, but still. The Courteeners are playing the Orange Unsigned Act show on Channel 4, which happens to be filming in Manchester tomorrow night. It's first come first served, since it's a bit late to book a place. Over 18s as well.

These are pictures from Foals' German gigs in Frankfurt (after which it snowed and they played with the freight trains):

And Berlin:

Bands With Songs

2008-11-20T20:22:00.002Z

The Futureheads are releasing bootleg live albums from their recent Cardiff and Seattle gigs, which you can listen to for free at App.topspin.net/artist/915/home?account_id=915

Lo-Fi Culture Scene have finally got a new song, called 'Too Late Anyway' at Myspace.com/theloficulturescene. The melodies are unusual and it's not the most striking thing, but it's alright.

White Lies actually have a new video, but it is for a new song called 'To Lose My Life', at the top of Myspace.com/whitelies. It's got that perfect balance of an upbeat chorus with bleak lyrics that this band seem so good at.

Latest Gigs

2008-11-20T20:17:00.003Z

Twisted Wheel - Thursday 11th December - Ritz
Late Of The Pier - Saturday 14th February 2009 - Academy 2 (to be reviewed for Monday 16th February)
Yo Majesty - Thursday 26th March 2009 - Ruby Lounge

The Pigeon Detectives have announced The Virgins and Red Light Company as supports for their Manchester Apollo dates on Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th December.

Bands With Videos

2008-11-17T19:40:00.003Z

Something rock'n'roll from Johnny Foreigner:

Didn't really happen though.

This is an amusing glimpse into the way local TV news stations report music festivals, featuring The Small Screen Light Show: Uk.youtube.com/user/mattietssls

Bands With Things To Say

2008-11-17T19:32:00.003Z

The Maccabees are back in the studio recording their second album, so here's a rambling blog from Felix:
"We are in the studio... at last! Sorry to everyone who thought we'd be in quicker, we thought we would be too. It's been a year of getting the songs sorted, but in terms of being written they're all there! We promised ourselves we weren't going to make a dud second record and have had to take a little bit longer than intended to make sure that's the case. We've been here for a few days and we're really proud of all the songs we're going to record. There's a definite 'feel' that ties all the songs together and listening back to them, they make the old songs seem comparatively two dimensional. It feels exciting, which I suppose should be the point. Markus Dravs is producing. He's taken to calling Ru 'Rupee', which makes him the only person that isn't Ru's Mum that does so. I think he may have had enough for tonight; we finished immediately after Hugo suggested we find some mice and teach them the guitar and drums.
So far we have learned don't put fairy liquid in the dishwasher. It goes wrong. Really wrong if you put too much in...and the 'Hogs Head' isn't the best place to go for a drink.
I think there'll be a few video clips of us in the studio over the next six weeks. Other than that we've sort of been in hibernation when it comes to gigs etc... I'm sure some of you who might have liked to have seen us will appreciate there's no point of touring properly if we haven't made the best record we possibly can.
I can't stop listening to Roots Manuva at the moment, went to see him in Brighton a few weeks ago and it was way more exciting than most of the guitar bands I've seen recently. 'La Shark' and 'The Golden Silvers' are our favourite new bands we've seen, I think the Golden Silvers have been supporting Mystery Jets recently... they've got a well good song that goes 'Today I felt it go for good, last night I thought it was invincible'... can't remember the name of it though. La Shark have to be seen live to be believed, they are incredible!
If any of you are around try to catch the Derek Meins/Peggy Sue tour too. Lando is busy doing artwork for a few of our mates in his spare time, I'm not sure if I can tell you who they are though. But it looks great.
Anyways, just thought we should at least let you know that we're busy and will have recorded this album by the end of the year. Take care and all of that, I'll write again soon..."

Mike Skinner got stoned and wrote a blog at Myspace.com/thestreets. It's short and sweet, I suppose.

Latest Gigs

2008-11-13T21:06:00.003Z

Shockwaves NME Awards Tour 2009 (Glasvegas, Friendly Fires, White Lies, Florence & The Machine) - Friday 6th February 2009 - Academy 1 (on sale Wednesday 19th November)
Kings Of Leon - Monday 22nd June 2009 - MEN Arena (on sale Friday 14th November)

The Courteeners have been announced as the support act for the Stereophonics, playing the MEN Arena on 10th December.

Bands With Photographs

2008-11-11T19:52:00.002Z

Cajun Dance Party are in the studio at the moment, recording their second album (which bassist, Max Bloom, talks about in an interview at Myspace.com/_youvedonethiswrong). So they've done a picture blog at Cajundanceparty.com/blog/.

Foals appear to have been to Brazil, so here are their holiday photos:

Bands With Songs

2008-11-10T21:06:00.002Z

The Futureheads are releasing a new song called 'I Wouldn't Be Like This If You Were Here' on download only next month. It's very energetic, noisy and punky - good stuff. You can hear it at Myspace.com/thefutureheads.

Soft Toy Emergency have given out their MSN address (softtoyemergency@hotmail.co.uk) for "random convo's, free mp3's and more!!"

Bands In The Studio

2008-11-10T21:01:00.003Z

Nine Black Alps have posted a new blog about their recording antics at Nineblackalps.com/blog with pictures and a video.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? are in the studio recording an album set to keep them off the road until its release. So here's a video of new song that basically sounds like a remix of various emergency services vehicles' sirens:

Latest Gigs

2008-11-06T21:00:00.004Z

XFM Winter Wonderland Tour (Scouting For Girls, The View (Acoustic), The Music, The Subways, The Automatic, Cage The Elephant, Kid British) - Monday 8th December - Academy (on sale Friday 7th November)
Snow Patrol - Saturday 7th March 2009 - MEN Arena (on sale Friday 7th November)
The Prodigy with Dizzee Rascal - Friday 10th April 2009 - MEN Arena (on sale Friday 7th November)

PS, Cold War Kids are performing at the Ritz right now (from 9pm, 7th November), and you can watch it live at Channelbee.com. It'll be archived as well, so you can catch it later.

Making Waves

2008-11-05T21:35:00.014Z

RAZMATAZ LORRY EXCITEMENT
What?: Epic electronica.
Live: A guy that doesn't look up for all the complicated mchinery he has to operate at mad speed.
Listen to: The Biggest Waste Of 33 Minutes

Myspace.com/razmatazlorryexcitement

READER'S WIVES
What?: Upbeat, jokey ska. Their track, 'Mother Russia' goes a bit Primal Scream/'You Shook Me All Night Long', but generally this is just good entertainment.
Live: Lots of 'too-much-information' jokes between very tight performances.
Listen to: Sexually Attracted To Myself for jokes, Cavan Cola for feel.

Myspace.com/readerswives

RUM SHEBEEN
What?: Generic post-Libertines stuff (down to the Pete Doherty's guitar). At best, fast-paced, quirky off-beat ska. At worst, slow, long and generic.
Live: They go down well with the scenesters.
Listen to: Curly Song and Lock A Monkey Up

Myspace.com/rumshebeen

THE SMALL SCREEN LIGHT SHOW
What?: Indie, jerky, pop. A million and one bands sound like this, but it's pretty good stuff.
Live: A bit like watching your mates' band, but it's pretty tight stuff.
Listen to: I'm Too In Love

Myspace.com/thesmallscreenlightshow

THE VALKARYS
What?: Very retro. They basically sound like The Kinks/The Yardbirds, with a twist of fifties rock'n'roll.
Listen to: Candy Girl

Myspace.com/thevalkarys

THE MEDICINE
What?: Good, off-beat indie, leaning more towards Bedouin Soundclash. But they look like a cross between The Courteeners and The Pigeon Detectives.
Listen to: Stop

Myspace.com/themedicinebanduk

Bands With New Songs

2008-11-04T21:11:00.002Z

Data Select Party we have uploaded a new song called 'Ultra Swing', which will feature on their forthcoming EP, 'Hanging Out With Humans' at Myspace.com/dataselectparty. It's got that same call and response theme they do so well, but is a lot more percussive and loud.

Megatron have uploaded new track, 'Watchmen' at Myspace.com/megatronwillkillusall. It's heavy, wordless electro, with 'Popcorn' style noises.

Bands With Videos

2008-11-04T21:03:00.004Z

Here's a video of a "crap" show Does It Offend You, Yeah? played last week in Leeds. In all honesty it isn't that great by their standards. You can read a blog that tries to win the fans back with guilt at Thehype-chronicals.blogspot.com/2008/11/does-it-offend-you-leeds.html.

This is Jaguar Love's new video. The track is very much leaning in the direction of Blood Brothers and the video's basically a suped-up tour film.

Does It Offend You, Leeds?

2008-11-04T20:59:00.003Z

Does It Offend You, Yeah? apparently did a crap show in Leeds last week, so in this blog they attempt to win back the sympathy of their fans.

"Hmm, well we have been getting some complaints about our last show in Leeds.

As we said at the show. All of us were ill. Rob Dan and Myself had that vomiting bug that's been going round. Dan was sick on the tube the night b4 on his way to a show. Morgan also felt very ill on stage and that's why we cut the coming back on. tbh alot of bands would of cut the show altogether. but we had already done that to you so we made ourselves do it so we would not let anyone down.

with regards to the matter of not letting people get up on stage. this has to do with my broken leg. again, alot of bands have pulled whole tours when a member has broke something. we didn't. we went on. even when I broke my leg we didn't stop the show. we played till the end. but what we didn't want was people getting up on the stage and jumping around and maybe falling on to or knocking my leg. don't get me wrong. we don't mind people doing this when we are all on form. however you must understand that I cant risk re breaking it. it would be a massive set back. so I told sweeny (our tm) not to let anyone up while I'm still recovering. I'm sure you understand.

also. yes, we like people jumping up and down and have fun at our shows. but what we don't like is seeing our fans get hurt and when we do stop and ask you to chill out it's because we are seeing this. you must remember that we see everything up there. all of you. just because you don't see some guy head butting someone or some young girl getting pushed over and stood on. does not mean it doesn't happen. we want everyone at our shows to have a good time. but what we won't do is stand by and watch 1 or 2 people ruin it for someone else. we care for you guys and the last thing we want to hear about is someone getting hurt at one of our shows. ask any band and they will tell you the same thing.

OK. so we are sorry some of you didn't enjoy the show. but we have been on tour for a year non stop and you can get very very run down. however, I'll tell you what I'll do. the 1st show we do on the next tour. we will play it in Leeds. so you will get us fresh faced and be the 1st to hear us play all our new tracks.

anyway. love to you guys.

James DIOYY?"

You can watch a video of the gig in question at Thehype-chronicals.blogspot.com/2008/11/bands-with-videos.html.

Maximo Park In The Studio

2008-10-23T21:54:00.003+01:00

Maximo Park are back in the studio in LA recording their third album, so they're posting blog updates at Maximopark.com/.

And here's a video of their sightseeing, brocolli eating and bare-foot recording antics:

Latest Gigs

2008-10-23T21:40:00.004+01:00

Biffy Clyro - Friday 19th December - Academy 1 (on sale Friday 24th October)
Kerrang! Tour (Mindless Self Indulgence, Bring Me The Horizon, Black Tide, In Case Of Fire) - Friday 23rd January 2009 - Academy 1
Oasis - Saturday 6th June 2009 (14.00) (on sale 10.00 Friday 24th October)
Oasis - Sunday 7th June 2009 (14.00) (on sale 10.00 Friday 24th October)

Bands With New Directions

2008-10-22T22:19:00.002+01:00

The Long Blondes have announced their split, which has seemed inevitable really since that cancelled tour: "We have decided to call it a day. The main reason for this is that I suffered from a stroke in June and unfortunately I do not know when / if I will be well enough to play guitar again. On behalf of the band I'd like to say a big thank you to anyone who ever came to one of our shows, bought one of our records or danced to one of our songs in a club. Thank you, if it wasn't for you the whole thing would have been pointless. Finally on a personal note, thanks for all your well wishing messages. Dorian xxx"

Having recorded The Streets' last album this year, Mike Skinner has gone in the self help book direction. You can learn about it at Myspace.com/thesteets.

Bands With Videos

2008-10-22T21:59:00.002+01:00

Bloc Party have taken over The Guardian Online this week, with 'Cooking With Bloc Party' films and some advice from "your trusty agony aunt, one Mr. Kele Okereke."

This is a sneak preview of The Cribs' 'Live at the Brudenell' Christmas DVD. It was a super nostalgic gig, where they performed old songs on old guitars wearing old clothes (The Cribs' jeans really aren't the type for lasting), at Christmas time.

This is Lightspeed Champion recording and unleashing the guitar whore that was Dev Met from Test Icicles:

Bands With Things To Say

2008-10-22T21:48:00.002+01:00

The View, who have been very much silent for the past year, have posted a new blog about some sort of gig [I think, but I didn't really read it properly] at Myspace.com/dryburgh.

These are Foals' pluses and minuses on their UK tour, the Manchester date of which is reviewed at Myspace.com/youvedonethiswrong.

ThankYOU to everyone who came to the shows on our UK tour.
we had an amazing time, we feel happy and cleansed by it. we are home now, missing the new friends we made and the BUZZZZ of playing but happy to have a rest.
gonna start writing some loops tonight.
i just watched Burn After Reading..i wouldn't bother. it felt like a film that was about itself.
know what i mean?

:+ Brixton academy.

- Jimmy vomiting in the first 5 minutes of being on stage & the "afterparty" which we got fined for.
bummer

+ recording shopping in Aberdeen. loads of old vinyl.

- thinking we were getting heckled at Leeds Academy...

+ only to realise the shouts were really of "Yorkshire". you can figure out what we were thinking...

- this being a precise example of how deaf we've become tsh

+ getting to watch Holy Fuck, Dananananaykroyd, Wild Beasts and Maps & Atlases every night.

- seeing vampires. sometimes.
as well

+ rediscovering Mellon Collie by Smashing Pumpkins

- indian summer flu in Newcastle.

+ getting to handpaint our Holy Fuck split 12" everyday. like a rock n' roll after school club. felt tip pens and everything.

- trying to tell people about TECATO GUSTO to no avail. a hispanic explanation of addiction . it can be expressed as an "interior psychic worm"... ravenous, cannibalistic munching through yr mind always requiring more.
anyone home? anyone got it? i do

+ Zane Lowe penalty shoot out.

- that being the most exercise anyone has got for months.
surprisingly being massive jocks we lost

+ new ideas gathering like hundreds and thousands.

- bad dreams.

+ autumn leafy

anyway hope everyone is swell
see you all on the other side of "The Crunch".
love
The Prince of Darkness

Latest Gigs

2008-10-16T20:27:00.005+01:00

The Futureheads (DJ set) - Saturday 18th October - Propaganda
No Half Measures Tour (The Holloways, Underground Heroes, Haunts, Regards and Bear Hands) - Monday 27th October
FOM's 4th Birthday (The KBC, Delphic, Lucy & the Caterpillar, Gideon Conn and The Little Comets) - Friday 31st October - Deaf Institue
Seasick Steve - Friday 23rd January 2009 - Apollo (on sale Friday 17th October)

The Enemy have been announced as supports for Oasis at their Manchester dates on 6th and 7th June 2009 in Heaton Park.

Bands With New Directions

2008-10-13T20:22:00.003+01:00

Nine Black Alps' frontman, Sam Forrest, has released a solo semi-acoustic album called 'Down The Hillside', recorded during time off from NBA earlier this year. He's also playing a Manchester date on 20th October. It is, however, assumed that Nine Black Alps are soldiering on.

This is an upset letter from Boy Kill Boy announcing their split:

"Hello one and all, jesus it's been a while.
I really hope you're all well. We've missed ya! We've missed gigging, we've missed everything really. I bumped into a girl at some gig the other night (she called herself BOB though i'm sure that wasn't true) and she asked me what's going on with Boy Kill Boy. It made me realize that i'd sat down here about twenty times over the last 4 months trying to write to you all and explain what's going on. Every time i try to i don't like how it sounds so i stop, go to the pub and pretend it's not actually happening.
So i just thought today i'd finally just get it out there.
IN SHORT WE'VE SPLIT UP.
Basically like many other bands we kinda got sucked into some sort of decision made by 'the powers that be' that guitar bands are 'over'. The label got shakey and decided to start chasing whatever they're told is gonna be the next big thing and as a result, we got dropped, just a month after the record was released.
We obviously were completely fucking broken about it. At the time being we all know the industry is in a bit of a state, to say the least, so really everything is being run by a few people. Until 'the professional music industry business people' work out how to sell their artists, really all you can do is just gig your ass off and reach as many people as possible, and that's just what we did. But even still bit by bit, we could feel ourselves being buried alive. No matter how hard we tried to pull ourselves out, there was just another familiar face ready to throw another pile on. Having said that, it's been amazing to have the support of people you'd not necessarily expect it to come from. As much as it's been such a tough time for us recently it's been great to connect in so many other ways. Especially reading all your emails.
You can imagine i'd want to answer all your mail individually but it's just to rough having to deal with the reality of it all day every day.
It's really important to say how much we've appreciated what we've been through. After many many years we finally got the chance to live the dream and we made the most of it that's for sure.
I sent Shaz a message a little while ago asking how he was and he just replied,
"After every great part there is a hangover, we can just hope it doesn't last too long".
True words Shaz. This is one great fuck off hangover.
I'm trying to say how much we've appreciated getting to know you all. We tried our best to meet you all after most gigs. And every show, be it intimate or large has been just as special to us. We just wanted to leave the band in a good place. There's nothing worse than fading away, so our decision to leave it, all be it the hardest thing to do, must be the right thing.
We miss each other and it's so weird where we are right now, trying to look forward to our future, not as Boy KIll Boy but as Chris Peck, Peter Carr, Shaz Mahmood, and Kevin Chase.
Thanks for all your support and amazing words along the way, and sharing the most special moments of our lives.
Speaking for myself, i'll probably swing by here every now and then to reply to as many messages as possible but if you wanna get in touch with me or the guys personally we're all in our 'top 8' (yes we made it!) So please come say hi. I check mine as often as i can.
All the best and good luck for the future,
Love Christian Peck."

Bands With Free Music And Videos

2008-10-13T20:02:00.004+01:00

Telegram From The Queen are giving away their EP, 'The Crown Masacre' at Megaupload.com/?d=D11VCF1G. It's very loud and has heavy, dancey synth riffs. There's also an excellent wordless cover of Justin Timberlake's 'My Love'.

Foals' lead singer, Yannis Philippakis, did a deadly serious and very newsy interview on ITN about the tour (which, coincidently enough, is reviewed at Myspace.com/_youvedonethiswrong), feeling famous and the importance of commercial success. This is it:

This is CityLights' new video for, one of their best songs, 'Mashed On Fashion'. There's lots of dressing up and standing in front of screens.

Barely Worth A Mention

2008-09-29T21:47:00.002+01:00

White Lies are giving away a free download of 'Unfinished Business' if you sign up to their mailing list at Whitelies.com. (It's in the bottom, right hand corner).

The Courteeners will be recording a live EP at their homecoming gig at Manchester Apollo on 9th October, which will be reviewed at Myspace.com/_youvedonethiswrong the next day. The band reckon "It'll be a cracking momemto of one of the best gigs ever".

Bands With Videos

2008-09-29T21:44:00.003+01:00

Cajun Dance Party have put a live video of their recent gig at Bloomsbury Ballroom up at Cajundanceparty.tv... But you have to sign up to watch it.

You can watch The Courteeners performing an intimate acoustic session in the back of a VW Kombi van, with an interview for Yahoo! Music at uk.launch.yahoo.com/festival-guide-2008/darling-dont/. They play 'Not Nineteen Forever', 'That Kiss', 'Yesterday, Today & Probably Tomorrow' and 'Kings Of The New Road' as well as a cover of Stephen Fretwell's 'Darlin' Don't', before talking about influences, festivals and their year so far.

This is the video of Data Select Party performing on Gonzo.

New Releases

2008-09-29T21:35:00.002+01:00

Singles
Foals – Olympic Airways
Funeral For A Friend - Kicking And Screaming
Oasis - The Shock Of The Lightning
The Streets - Everything is Borrowed
Towers Of London - Naked On The Dance Floor

Albums
The Aliens – Luna
Bromheads Jacket - On The Brain
Cold War Kids - Loyalty To Loyalty
Iglu & Hartly - And Then Boom
Jeremy Warmsley - How We Became
Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
Order - Lowlife - Collectors Edition
New Order - Brotherhood - Collectors Edition
New Order - Movement - Collectors Edition
New Order - Power Corruption & Lies - Collectors Edition
New Order - Technique - Collectors Edition
St Etienne - London Conversations: The Best Of
Seasick Steve - I Started Out With Nothing And I've Still Got Most Of It Left
Symarip - Skinhead Moonstomp - Deluxe Edition
Travis – Ode To J. Smith
U2 - Under A Blood Red Sky

Bands With New Songs

2008-09-25T20:42:00.004+01:00

Ice, Sea, Dead People, in an attempt to gain votes, have uploaded the B-side to Hence:Elvis at Xfmuploaded.co.uk/iceseadeadpeople. It's only ever been heard on the vinyl and, apart from the ghostly intervals, is a one minute and fifty seconds crash-bang affair, with lots of noise and unusual guitar licks.

Bromhead's Jacket have yet another song from their album, and an accompanying blog, up at Myspace.com/bromheadsjacket. It's the 'Interlude' and, as interludes go, it does at least resemble some sort of actual song - as opposed to the usual thirty second filler of strange noises. But it's hardly something to get excited over.

Latest Gigs

2008-09-25T20:31:00.003+01:00

Starsailor with The KBC - Friday 26th September - Moho Live
In The City: The Fratellis with The Chapman Family - Tuesday 7th October - Academy 1
The Long Blondes DJ set - Tuesday 28th October - The Deaf Institute
Bloc Party - Wednesday 28th January 2009 - Apollo
Bloc Party - Thursday 29th January 2009 - Apollo

Making Waves

2008-09-25T20:19:00.010+01:00

CLEAN GEORGE IV

What?: Grizzly guitar music with good riffs and a melody
Ice, Sea Dead People reckon: "They're a really good pop band that people need to hear about"
Listen to: A Five For You Is A Ten For Me

Myspace.com/cleangeorgeiv

HELLACOPTER

Where?: Lakeland, Florida, USA
What?: Interesting little electronic guitar tracks with no words
Listen to: Faking Our Own Thoughts

Myspace.com/hellacoptermusic

Barely Worth A Mention

2008-09-23T20:14:00.003+01:00

In The City has finally announced all the stage times of every band at the event. I'd post it all here, but it's ridiculously long, so you can find it at Fantactics.co.uk/showscreen.php?site_id=30&screentype=folder&screenid=1961.

This is Hot Club de Paris' new video for 'My Little Haunting'. It's based around hands and ouija boards.

Bands With New Songs

2008-09-23T20:01:00.003+01:00

Part two of Bromheads Jacket's album preview is up at Myspace.com/bromheadsjacket today. It's called 'You'll Lose It' and is all tinny drums and snappy rhythms. There's another blog telling you about it as well.

Los Campesinos! have put three new songs from their new record up at Myspace.com/loscampesinos. They are 'Ways To Make It Through The Wall', 'We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed' and 'Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1'. There is more angst and even faster lyrics.

Bands With New [sort of] Albums

2008-09-23T19:48:00.005+01:00

The Futureheads are making a series of their classic concerts available to buy. You can buy them on CD from the merch stands at their upcoming gigs (they're not playing Manchester though).
But you can download the set from The Quart Festival, Norway in 2004, which features 19 songs, including 'Ticket', 'Danger Of The Water', 'The City Is Here For You To Use' and 'Robot'.
You can hear clips from it at app.topspin.net/artist/915, and the live version of 'Danger Of The Water' is up at Myspace.com/thefutureheads.

Los Campesinos! will soon be releasing a new record, which is not, it has been stressed, a second album. There will be no singles released from it and it will be very limited. There will be one worldwide run of CDs, and then it will be out of print.
The CD will be accompanied by a self-made DVD documentary of the band's weekend at Oya festival and SummerSonic in August and a 30+ page 'zine, including the record's lyrics and contributions by artists including Xiu Xiu, Grandaddy, Tender Forever, Menomena, Parenthetical Girls and Paul Heaton, based around the title 'We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed'. You also get an exclusive poster drawn for the project by Jeffrey Brown.
This is what it'll look like:

Choose Johnny Foreigner's Setlist

2008-09-22T20:36:00.002+01:00

Johnny Foreigner appear to be following in the footsteps of Little Man Tate (see Myspace.com/_youvedonethiswrong) with their new tour, which started yesterday, by letting you decide the set list. They said, "we rarely actually decide on a set list until we stumble on stage, so Alexei came up with this genius idea to get YOU to decide!"
If you want to hear a particular song in their set, let them know what song/songs and which city to play it (presumably via Myspace.com/johnnyforeigner. They'll do their best to play them, but old songs they would have to re-learn are excluded, so no 'Ninki vs Dingle' or 'Candles'.

Bands With Free Music/New Songs

2008-09-22T20:27:00.002+01:00

Cajun Dance Party are giving away a demo of, new song, 'Five Days, which was the first song they wrote since recording 'The Colourful Life'. Right click and save as this: Cajundanceparty.com/giveaway/cajun_dance_party_-_five_days.mp3.

Soft Toy Emergency have a new song up at Myspace.com/softtoyemergency called 'Beats Plus Bass Equals'. It's quite fun and dancey, with a jumpy melody.

Bromhead's Jacket are previewing their new album at Myspace.com/bromheadsjacket every day this week. The first, 'Clear to Some', is here today but gone tomorrow. It's quite different from the stuff on their debut - sort of heavier, but still has those stabby guitars. There's also a blog about the song at Blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=12978029&blogID=435102605.

Bands With Videos

2008-09-22T20:14:00.003+01:00

This is a video of Ice, Sea, Dead People making a big noise in a small venue, performing 'Brrrrr':

Here's a video Hadouken! have made with footage from Japan and a few bits from the UK tour in July, set to the last track on the album, 'Wait For You'. It's surprisingly professional, so they probably didn't literally make it themselves.

This is a live video from Lightspeed Champion doing 'Galaxy Of The Lost' at South By South-West:

New Releases

2008-09-22T20:10:00.003+01:00

Singles
Cold War Kids - Something Is Not Right With Me
N*E*R*D – Sooner Or Later
Roots Manuva - Let The Spirit
Yo Majesty – Club Action

Albums
Cold War Kids - Loyalty To Loyalty
Iglu & Hartly – And Then Boom
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
Kings Of Leon – Only By The Night
Ladyhawke – Ladyhawke
Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling
The Spinto Band - Moonwink

Barely Worth A Mention

2008-09-18T21:11:00.018+01:00

Telegram From The Queen have a new track up at Myspace.com/telegramfromthequeen called 'Scream'.

This is The Courteeners' new video for 'That Kiss':

Latest Gigs

2008-09-18T21:11:00.017+01:00

Peter Doherty - Friday 3rd October - Ritz
The Research - Saturday 1st November - Roadhouse
Duncan Lloyd (Maximo Park) - Thur 11th December - Night & Day
The Ting Tings - Thursday 26th February 2009 - Apollo (on sale Friday 19th September)
The Enemy - Saturday 21st March & Sunday 22nd March 2009 - Academy 1 (on sale Friday 19th September)

And Rolo Tomassi have been announced as supports for Blood Red Shoes.

Channel M Sessions

2008-09-18T21:11:00.016+01:00

Channel M have the following bands in for sessions in the next few weeks:
Johnny Foreigner. Wednesday 24th September, 2:00pm - 3:00pm.
Fujiya And Miyagi. Thursday, 25th September, 2:00pm - 3:00pm.
Jeremy Warmsley. Thursday, 9th October, 2:00pm - 3:00pm.

You can go down to the studio in Urbis and be the little huddle of awkward-looking people watching them perform for free if you email guestlist@channelm.co.uk saying you want to come along.

Hadouken! Intice Voters

2008-09-18T21:11:00.009+01:00

Hadouken! have been nominated for ‘Best Electronic Artist or DJ’ and ‘Breakthrough Artist of the Year’. If you vote for them at BTDMA.com/index.php/dma08/voting/ they’ll send you the Noisia remix of ‘Crank It Up’.
It's a bit of an effort though. You have to take a screen shot of your voting confirmation and send it to Hadouken@atlanticrecords.co.uk, then they’ll email you the track.

Whoopsadaisy

2008-09-17T20:54:00.003+01:00

Yannis, lead singer of Foals, posted a blog at Myspace.com/foals about Las Vegas and good (+) and bad (-) things that happened over the summer, entitled 'Whoopsadaisy'... Here it is:

hi wider world,
and our semi-concerned parents who may / may not be reading this
we are in Vegas. right now..i'm up $150 everyone else is down.

watching The Karate Kid and thinking that i'd kinda wanna be him..
rather than me.
i mean he learns banzai
while we eat American fastfood for real.

with a bag of whitewidow and Tago Mago amd Jimmy's playlists blasting on the speakers we drove yesterday through the Nevada desert...it was one of the best times.

we're all looking and feeling a bit harrowed as documented in Jack's FOALSFOTO blog (Myspace.com/foals) yesterday.

but we met some lovely people in Salt Lake City and Colorado and besides we play better tired.

up until h e r e proves i can't really write real sentences so i'm gonna do a digest:

+ All the festivzls we've played at this summer. You've been lovely.. we've been unhinged.

- Bestival weather.
and my search for a 'friend' through the campsite-cum-disaster area
where i dropped my phone and my soul. picked them up. wiped them on my sleeve.
you
get the idea...

+ My Bloody Valentine from side of stage. My Bloody Valentine at Electric Picnic. My Bloody Valenine out front. My Bloody Valentine period.

- our hair pact growing thing. it just fucking sucks really.

+ covering Holy Fuck's "super inuit" for a split limited 12". i think they're doing "balloons".

- getting heckled as "The Jonas Brothers'

+ AAAAHAHAHAA

- Sarah Palin attempts to ban " Brave New World".
are you SERIOUS?

+ writing more and more and more new stuff.

- all of Britain's bees, both bumble and regular, dying out.

+ UK tour. almost here.....!!

anyway i'm gonna go back down and play some more blackjack.
wish me luck
same as ever
yannis

p.s. the men in suits would probably like me to plug our new last single from antidotes. Olympic Airways. yeah buy it. and then we can make another record. peace.

Currently listening :
Live 1974
By Harmonia
Release date: 2007-10-01

Johnny Foreigner Videos

2008-09-17T20:23:00.005+01:00

Here is a serious of videos Johnny Foreigner have stuck up at Myspace.com/johnnyforeigner, in celebration of their tour with Dananananaykroyd:

This is a wildly hysterical video of the band discovering, and singing, 'Eyes Wide Terrified' on Japanese karaoke. It's good for if you want to learn all the words.

This is a video for 'Camp Kelly Calm', made by friends of the band with old footage from gigs and practises and stuff.

This is their performance of 'Cranes and Cranes and Cranes and Cranes' at Summersonic festival, Japan.

This is the video for 'Salt, Peppa and Spinderella'. It's very good and centres around the lyrics being stuck on their mouths.

In The City Showcases

2008-09-15T21:07:00.003+01:00

Here are the line-ups for most of the In The City showcases, though some are yet to be announced.

BBC Introducing
Full line-up TBC

Heavenly Recordings
Cherry Ghost
Edwyn Collins
Loose Salute
Romeo Stodart (The Magic Numbers)
John Head (Shack)
Pete Greenwood

NME (More TBC)
Little Boots
The Joy Formidable
Apes & Androids

Piccadilly Records
‘Great Pop Supplement’
Woodcraft Folk
Beach Fuzz
DA Jaycock Quartet

‘Switchflicker Records & Redbricks’
Magic Arm
Colorama
The Real Dolls

‘Red Deer Club’
Sophie’s Pigeons
Down The Tiny Steps
Sara Lowes

The Warehouse Project & Eat Your Own Ears: The Official ITC Opening Party
Reverend & The Makers
Tricky
The Whip
Late Of The Pier
Midnight Juggernauts
Simian Mobile Disco
Four Tet

Rocksound Magazine
Attack! Attack!
To The Bones
Vessels
The Computers

Channel M
Josh Weller
Jose Vanders
Robots in Disguise
Cheeky Cheeky and The Nosebleeds
The All New Adventures of Us
Situationists
Polly Scattergood
The Molotovs
Stars and Sons
Run Toto Run

FIERCE PANDA
The Spinto Band
Dutch Uncles
Laymar
Airship
Acres Of Lions
Capital

Fear And Records
Data.Select.Party
Dash Delete
ABC Club
¡Forward Russia! DJs
GoodBooks DJs

Clash Magazine
Baddies
Lesser Panda
Innercity Pirates
My Toys Like Me
Clash DJs

Clubland UK
At The Ritz: Line-up TBC

Drowned In Sound (More TBC)
White Denim
Grammatics
Skeletons
Prego

Twisted Nerve
The Liftmen
Sam and The Plants
Andy Votel
Dom Thomas
Doug Shipton
Special Guests

Popjustice
Daggers
Little Boots
Antigone
V V Brown
Tommy Sparks
Red Blooded Women & Popjustice DJs

Lucky Number
Keith
Your Twenties
Micachu and The Shapes
Horsemeat Disco DJs

Brighton Institute Of Modern Music
Mascara
Catapult
Riot Riot

360 Degree Music
Roses Kings Castles
Mozzy Green
Rum Shebeen
Readers Wives
No Picasso
Krakatoa

Circular Productions
A Joker’s Rage
Talk To Angels
D’Nile

Saash Arts
The Scratch
The Molotovs
Verra Cruz

NIMIC (Northern Ireland Music Industry Commission
Panama Kings
Ed Zealous
Cashier No. 9

Big Multimedia And UKBands.net
Ravenface
Kings Parade
Sylva Tha Poet
Phubus

XFM Breakthrough: XFM X-posure Live
Full line-ups TBC

Babycakes
Henry Homesweet
Sabrepulse
Unicorn Kid
Casio Kid
Wroooaar!
Girljoy

Alan McGee’s New Favourite Band: The ITC Closing Party
The Grants
The Sessions
Infa Red
Death Disco DJs

You can now get a limited run of ITC wristbands, which get you into every event for free from Wegottickets.com/inthecity2008. It also gets you 10% off at Piccadilly Records, an iTunes custom card so you can download the ITC Unsigned Album 2008 for free, and a load of other discounts throughout the city.
(Excludes ITC opening party at The Warehouse Project. Entry to all venues is subject to capacity. All line-ups subject to change. ITC Unsigned Album 2008 – containing 45 of our bands - available exclusively on iTunes from September 28th.)

Bands With Videos

2008-09-15T20:45:00.005+01:00

Arctic Monkeys have announced a one night only screening on Tuesday 14th October of 'Arctic Monkeys at The Apollo', filmed on the last gig of their 2007 world tour at their Manchester Apollo show in December. Locally, there will be screenings in Blackburn, Bury, Cheshire Oaks, Manchester and Preston. A load of Vue and other independent cinemas in the UK will be hosting the one night only screenings in High Definition with full surround sound and will feature an exclusive, filmed introduction by the band.
Tickets for Vue cinema screenings will go on general sale at 9am on Tuesday 16th September at: Arcticmonkeysattheapollo.com. Tickets for Independent cinema screenings will go on sale at 9am on Monday 22nd September. There's more information at Arcticmonkeysattheapollo.com.
Tracklisting:
Brianstorm
This House Is A Circus
Teddy Picker
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Dancing Shoes
From The Ritz To The Rubble
Fake Tales Of San Francisco
Balaclava
When The Sun Goes Down
Nettles
D Is For Danger
Leave Before The Lights Come On
Fluorescent Adolescent
Still Take You Home
Da Frame 2R
505
Do Me A Favour
A Certain Romance

There is a video of Foals' Yannis backstage at Reading talking about the new tracks and the band's forthcoming new album for 2009 at http://streamos.warnermusic.com/qtime/wmiuk/foals/yannisnewalbum_hi.mov.

This is the video by Maximo Park's Duncan Lloyd for 'Nightfly':

This is Rod Thomas' new video for 'Same Old Lines':

'Same Old Lines' by Rod Thomas

Bands With New Songs

2008-09-15T20:25:00.004+01:00

General Fiasco have a new song up at Myspace.com/generalfiasco.

CityLights have two new songs up at Myspace.com/citylightsarecoming. 'This Kite' is quite soft, but still has that bouncy, happy feel. 'The Tale Of The Fool And The Fox' is all off-beat with fast-paced lyrics, and actually sounds quite like The Holloways.

Ice, Sea, Dead People's new song, 'I'm Cat' is on the smalltown america 'blogcast' at Smalltownamericarecords.blogspot.com/2008/09/public-service-blogcast-episode-1_02.html. It's the first song, so it's easy to find, and is packed with the usual noisy guitars, shouty vocals and unexpected bits.

Foals have an exclusive preview of their new B-side 'Glaciers' up at Myspace.com/foals. It has a very ambient feel, with lots of distant vocals and strange noises.

New Releases

2008-09-15T20:15:00.003+01:00

Singles
Estelle – Pretty Please
Flobots – Handlebars
Iglu & Hartly – In This City
Jeremy Warmsley – Dancing With The Enemy
Tilly & The Wall - Beat Control / Too Excited

Albums
Captain – Distraction
The Coral – Singles Collection
Little Man Tate – Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy
The Metros – More Money Less Grief
The Streets – Everything Is Borrowed

Latest Gigs

2008-09-11T20:43:00.003+01:00

Jarvis Cocker - Sunday 30th November - Academy 1 (on sale Friday 12th September)
Cage The Elephant - Friday 7th November - Club Academy
The Walkmen - Wednesday 29th October - Academy
The Music - Monday 20th October - Preston 53 Degrees (On Sale Friday 12th September)

Razorlight Tour

2008-09-10T21:07:00.003+01:00

Razorlight are going to be announcing a 2008 UK tour, tomorrow I assume. If you go to http://razorlight.trinitystreetdirect.com and give them your details you can get tickets on the presale, 48 hours before everyone else.

Talons

2008-09-10T21:05:00.001+01:00

This is Bloc Party's new video for 'Talons'. It's very long and quite dark. There are lots of searchlights and industrial-type scenes.

Bands With New Songs

2008-09-10T20:54:00.003+01:00

Fionn Regan has uploaded a new acoustic demo of 'The Ballad Of The Toadeaters' at Myspace.com/fionnregan. The voice is slow and calm and the guitar is happy and plucky. It sort of sounds like it was recorded in a very tiny bathroom.

Lightspeed Champion has recorded a song with Basement Jaxx called 'My Turn', which has been uploaded at Myspace.com/basementjaxx. It's pretty much what you'd imagine a Lightspeed Champion/Basement Jaxx clash to be.

Making Waves

2008-09-10T18:53:00.005+01:00

This week it's an In The City special, telling you which of that terribly long list of bands announced as playing In The City Unsigned yesterday, are actually any good. None of them were terrible in all honesty, but here are the top 20:

1. Run Toto Run, we've already covered. (See here: Myspace.com/_youvedonethiswrong.

2. The Jessie Rose Trip is a girl with a strong voice who knows how to use it in an individual way, with a bit of soul.
Myspace.com/thejessierosetrip.

3. Tubelord have quite a quirky, noisy sound. Go to Myspace.com/_youvedonethiswrong for a review of their double A-side with label mates, Tellison.
Myspace.com/tubelord.

4. Isosceles do fun, jerky pop songs.
Myspace.com/isoscelestheband.

5. The Fire And I are very energetic and upbeat.
Myspace.com/thefireandi.

6. Baddies do good old fashioned punk rock, with good melodies and a bit of attitude, which is lacking somewhat at the moment. Listen to 'Who Are You'.
Myspace.com/baddies.

7. Rod Thomas makes sweet folky pop music.
Myspace.com/rodthomasmusic.

8. Telegram From The Queen have heavy, old school synths that make Does It Offend You-sized riffs.
Myspace.com/telegramfromthequeen.

9. Friends Electric are, as you might have guessed, electric. Fun dancey songs.
Myspace.com/friendselectricmusic.

10. Maths Class do shouty jerk-pop.
Myspace.com/mathsclass.

11. Alphabet Backwards do pretty good acoustic stuff with synths.
Myspace.com/alphabetbackwards.

12. Hemme Fatale do lots of synths. It's just good music to dance to.
Myspace.com/hemmefatale.

13. Hold Fire make nice indie songs.
Myspace.com/weareholdfire.

14. General Fiasco are nothing spectacular, but they make for nice listening. Drunken Irish songs with lots of guitar.
Myspace.com/generalfiasco.

15. Karoshi Bros make me think of Simian Mobile Disco. You'll probably like them if you're into repetitive electro stuff.
Myspace.com/karoshibros.

16. Last Gang do indie rock'n'roll.
Myspace.com/lastganguk.

17. The Paris Riots apparently do "French Pop". I don't know about that, but they've got good riffs on dirty guitars.
Myspace.com/theparisriotsmusic.

18. Soft Toy Emergency are a bit like Late Of The Pier, but easier to follow, and with a female singer.
Myspace.com/softtoyemergency.

19. The Travelling Band make nice, bouncy, acoustic folk music.
Myspace.com/thetravellingband.

20. Twin Atlantic's singer really shows off his accent. Slightly on the emo side of indie.
Myspace.com/twinatlantic.

Almost none of these bands are actually from Manchester though, so let's chuck these guys in for good measure:

NO*TOKYO

Where?: North Manchester
What?: Indie dance, with a bit of psychedelia.
Listen to: A Sense Of Hope
They reckon: "You have to see us live to really appreciate us. We just never seem to be able to capture our real sound in the studio.
Live: "They're high energy gigs. The audience is usually buzzing and having a good rave/dance. We like to grab the audience's attention and keep them involved."
If you like NO*TOKYO, you might like: The Stone Roses and stuff.

Myspace.com/notokyo

Behind The Scenes

2008-09-08T20:08:00.003+01:00

This is The Automatic's 'Making of Steve McQueen. We meet a man who blows up planes for a living and see lots of Welshmen-in-the-desert antics.

The Teenagers have posted a new blog at quentintheteenagers.blogspot.com: 'What Really Happened: Bestival'. It tells you what they got up to at Bestival, in pictures.

In The City Unsigned

2008-09-08T19:58:00.002+01:00

All of the acts for In The City Unsigned have now been announced. So here they are:

6 Day Riot
Alban Dereyer
Alphabet Backwards
Arthur Delaney
Baddies
Barn Owl
Bo Pepper
Broadcast Radio
The Brute Chorus
Charlene Soraia
EJ
El Condorez
Fenech Soler
The Fire And I
Flashguns
Friends Electric
General Fiasco
The Grants
Graveyard Johnnys
Hemme Fatale
Hold Fire
Hotel de Ville
I Am Austin
Isosceles
The Jessie Rose Trip
Karoshi Bros
Kids On Bridges
Last Gang
Les Gars
Lord Auch
Maths Class
Meadow
Micachu And The Shapes
The Mood
Nomad Jones
Oscar Charlie
The Paris Riots
Rod Thomas
Run Toto Run
Silverclub
Soft Toy Emergency
Substatic
Telegram From The Queen
To The Bones
The Travelling Band
Tubelord
Twin Atlantic
Winners

Click them for Myspaces. I can't possibly listen to that many bands and tell you what they're all like I'm afraid, but check back on Wednesday for some recommendations.

Bands On The Radio

2008-09-08T19:51:00.002+01:00

Cajun Dance Party recorded a session for Radio One, which will be played played on the Colin Murray show tonight some time between 10pm and midnight. There are three songs, recorded specially at Maida Vale, where they "hijacked some BBC Symphony string players", as well as a "pretty awkward" interview - "It was difficult to know if we were 'on air' or not."

Bloc Party's new single will be premiered on Zane Lowe's Radio One show tomorrow night, some time between 7 and 9pm. Apparently if you've bought or pre-ordered the new album already you will get it delivered as a free download after it's played on the radio. The band said: "The track is one of the last songs we recorded during the 'Intimacy' sessions and we always had it in mind to be one of the extra tracks for the CD version if it turned out well. It turned out great so we decided to make it the next single."

New Releases

2008-09-08T19:34:00.005+01:00

Singles
Black Kids - Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo)
The Coral – Being Somebody Else
CSS – Move
The Cure – Hypnagogic States (EP)[Sat 13th Sep]
Ladyhawke – Dusk Til’ Dawn
Martina Topley Bird - Baby Blue
The Metros – Talk About It
Mogwai – Batcat (EP)
Sigur Ros - Innni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur
The Spinto Band – Summer Grof
We Are Scientists – Impatience
The Zutons – What’s Your Problem

Albums
Glasvegas – Glasvegas
Metronomy – Nights Out
Morrissey – Years Of Refusal
Sportsday Megaphone - So Many Colours/So Little Time
Yo Majesty - Futuristically Speaking Never Be Afraid

Reviews of Black Kids, Martina Topley Bird and Sportsday Megaphone at Myspace.com/_youvedonethiswrong.

Bands With Free Music

2008-09-04T22:08:00.002+01:00

Tokyo Police Club recorded a session for iTunes a month ago and it is available now if you get down there. There are six songs including a previously unreleased version of New New Song.

Mirror! Mirror! have a free download for one week only over at Puregroove.co.uk/downloadChart.aspx. There are actually 100 songs freely downloadable from there, so you might have to have a hunt around.

Bands With Videos

2008-09-04T22:00:00.003+01:00

There's a short video interview with Foals' lead singer, Yannis, backstage at Reading Festival at http://streamos.warnermusic.com/qtime/wmiuk/foals/yannisoavideo_hi.mov. He talks about the making of the new video for Olympic Airways. There's going to be a little series of these, so there's more to come.

Hadouken! ran a competition a while ago to get fans' questions answered by the band. You can watch the result here: http://links.mkt1397.com/ctt?kn=8&m=179130&r=NzI1MDkzNjE3S0&b=0&j=NjM2Nzc3MAS2&mt=1&rt=0. (Opens in Windows Media Player.)

The Teenagers' dancing fans video for Feeling Better is finally here. It does what it says on the tin really.

Latest Gigs

2008-09-04T21:44:00.005+01:00

Some of these might be a bit old, but still.

Mirror! Mirror! - Thursday 18th September - Roadhouse
Daggers (with The Answering Machine, The Ruling Class and Special Guests) - Thursday 9th October - Academy 3
The Paddingtons - Wednesday 15th October - Roadhouse
The Charlatans - Friday 17th October - Preston 53 Degrees
The Whip - Friday 21st November - Academy 2
The View - Thursday 23rd October - Moho Live & Night & Day (on sale
Friday 5th September)
The Holloways - Monday 27th October - Club Academy

Notes From LEEDS FESTIVAL 2008 - SUNDAY

2008-09-03T22:53:00.002+01:00

It's Sunday morning at the Main Stage, and the sound is back. The Automatic play a set of mediocre new material, but actually prove surprisingly popular. And of course as soon as Monster kicks in, a tide of people rush forward to sing along with the song that reached football chant status back in 2006. The singles are ever popular, but the performance is definitely missing something without Alex Pennie's yelping, stage climbing antics.

It's easy to see that pulling their album has made Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong somewhat uneasy about showing their faces in public again. Joe apologises and thanks the audience for turning up repeatedly, trying to get them to come and talk to them afterwards. The real problem with postponing an album is that no one actually knows your stuff, so there were a lot of blank faces, with a bit of dancing to Lucio Starts Fires. But this band do small venue performances - and it doesn't quite fill a festival.

Editors know what they're doing with a festival performance. The entire set, but one song, is comprised of singles. It's difficult to be an active crowd when it comes to seeing someone like Editors in the middle of the day, but it definitely went down well.
Even the bouncers enjoyed Editors:

Los Campesinos! appear to have discretely hit the big time. They got a bigger reaction than pretty much anyone else playing so early on such a small stage. Their enthusiasm is clearly contagious, sparking of a fair bit of madness down the front.

We Are Scientist are always crowd pleasers. Alright songs and a sense of humour pull in a massive crowd (right). But we left half way through for...

Foals were an interesting one. For a start there was a giant, I mean really giant, beach ball covered in mud being thrown around and hitting unsuspecting victims in the face to make-up devastating effect. The performance itself is all right - it kicks off for Cassius and stuff. But it's the end that's weird. Yannis starts wandering about down the front in amongst the crowd. He gets back onstage and fiddles with something, and all of a sudden jumps up and attempts to knock an amp over before trashing the rest of the gear. The video at BBC.co.uk/readingandleeds/2008/artists/foals/ was up on the Leeds Festival site last week, but has since been taken down from there. It's unclear which site this is from to be honest.

Pits at Bloc Party. This is new. A little group of blue people down the front decided to kick things off, leaving pretty much everyone else looking confused. Aside from the flag-holders, who were having their own wars - trying to knock the flags, or clothes, or litter, off eachother's poles. The controversial Mercury is actually a lot better live, but it's not quite Banquet. Kele announces that the band want to headline next year, and claims to be defying the man in his ear by staying on stage. Bloc Party said "We just got back from playing Reading and Leeds Festivals this weekend. Both were amazing, so thank you to everyone who came to see us."

Casual fans don't like unfamiliar songs. Something lost on The Killers, who are relentless in their second album promotion, to the annoyance of thousands of people who obviously haven't bothered with it. Everyone loves these singles - they are huge - but Brandon Flowers' announcement of 'We're going to play a new song now' is greeted with 'Boo! I got soul, but I'm not a soldier...' They walk off stage at 10.30, with no All These Things I've Done, to even more confusion and annoyance. But eventually, they return to do a couple of the best known songs of the decade, and end with an explosion of confetti and the song we've been after. And by the sound of things, that's enough to be forgiven.

Notes From LEEDS FESTIVAL 2008 - SATURDAY

2008-09-03T22:51:00.000+01:00

Saturday was a late start after a long night, so it kicked off for us with Taking Back Sunday. And it wasn't the best of starts. The sound at the main stage all day was a mess - all bass and no vocals. Accompany that with a subdued crowd [apart from these three - right], and you may as well have stayed in bed. "The sound really ruined it," said one girl.

Next, out comes Dizzee Rascal. Hat to the side, Man City on the screen and trousers a little bit too low, his knack for holding everyone's attention comes out. This time the bass is actually deafening, right to the back, but it's easy to keep spirits high when you're being entertained by thousands of Yorkshire kids trying to put on a south-east London accent. Dance Wiv Me's status as number 1 for four weeks becomes an excellent thing as everyone gets going for this last one.
Talking to NME, and the walk on:

Later, despite his pretty uneventful 2008, Jack Penate goes down a storm. Second, Minute, Hour and Torn On The Platform see the vast majority of drunks attempting to do that dance, and inject a heavy dose of happiness into the air. He says "Reading & Leeds were wonderful and I feel sad that they will be the last last shows until I finish my new album. Thank you for everyone who came and watched. It was rediculously fun, and whoever gave my gold chain to the security who then gave it back to me, thank you thank you thank you!"

MGMT were perhaps even more popular than the latter, and it's clear to see that Time To Pretend has become something of an anthem for this summer.
Here it is:

Leeds is apparently unable to resist a man in shorts. The tent is crammed, and every song is surprisingly well known. All of the singles are everyone's favourite songs, but nothing compares to APunk, which provokes the loudest chanting of 'Hey, hey, hey' you could ever hope to hear. It's easy to see that this country is already very much in love with Vampire Weekend.
Footage of One:

Late Of The Pier are one of those bands with a very loyal following. And I think it's safe to say that they were all in the middle of the Festival Republic tent, scrambling forward to get a glimpse of strange clothes and mad dancing. However erratic and unpredictable these songs might be, they're a lot of fun to dance to. They said "Thankyou thankyou thankyou to everyone who was there. You fucked off QOTSA to make them some of the best shows we've had the pleasure of playing."

The past few months have had a lot of the long-time followers of Does It Offend You, Yeah? asking themselves what the hell has happened. A line of dreary, riff-less singles has seen them gain quite a different audience, in the form of the daytime radio 1 listener. So this was a bit of a test, to see if they'd forget all that for the live performances and give us stuff to dance to. It's half and half, but the lulls in the action that are Dawn Of The Dead and Epic Last Song turn out to be real downers.

What A Waster. Peter Doherty is fucked out of his mind. You might expect this to make for a disappointing shambles of a performance, but actually it's as if Babyshambles are on top form. They play all the best songs and actually give a tight performance, in between Pete's wandering down to the crowd and towering countless hats on top of his head, of course [and apparently a Tshirt - right]. They genuinely seem to be enjoying themselves, and if they can keep this standard up, their performances might start selling out like they used to.

Notes From LEEDS FESTIVAL 2008 - FRIDAY

2008-09-03T22:50:00.000+01:00

There's nothing like finding your feet unbelievably stuck in mud, falling over and getting two handfuls of mud, before sliding up a very dodgy hill to get you in the mood for Friday's line up.

Slipknot cancelled, of course, so there was a late start down at the Main Stage, forcing thousands of people too lazy to give up their sort-of-green patch of grass to sit through the disturbingly serious and insulting Mindless Self Indulgence (right).

But, eventually, Alexisonfire take to the stage to put all their energy into a performance that the crowd can't quite be bothered with yet.

Cajun Dance Party proved surprisingly popular, with even the kids in the back knowing the words. They just say "Thanks to everyone who came and watched Cajun at Reading and Leeds."

Johnny Foreigner got themselves a right little audience at the Festival Republic Stage. They were a bit poor at first, breaking guitars and messing up. But as soon as Eyes Wide Terrified kicked in, they had the place by the scruff of the neck, and managed to hold it together till the end of the set.

Hadouken!'s set was dominated by new material - which proved to be real crowd pleasers among these fluro-painted, foam 'H!' wearing kids (right). Lead singer, James, appeared to be in a showing off kind of mood, and ended up doing headstands before launching into The Prodigy's Breathe, to the delight of the older drunks at the back. Bassist, Christopher, said: "I wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who came to see us at Leeds and Reading festivals. Both shows meant the world to us. To have anybody turn up to our shows is an honour. To fill the tent at both sites is beyond words."
Here's footage of Crank It Up, from behind a cameraman:

Pendulum turned out to be one of the best bands of the weekend. A beyond packed-out tent crammed with everyone from wasted teenage girls, to half naked, body painted men with poles with skulls on (right), tribal dancing under the influence of, I'm sure, a cocktail of drugs, all singing to tracks without lyrics, made for one of the best atmospheres of the festival.
It was a bit like this:

And sort of like this:

Unfortunately, pretty much everyone left the NME/Radio 1 stage before Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band arrived onstage, in exchange for Jack Black & A Man In A Devil Costume [ie. Tenacious D]. The music was lovely, the performance was tight, but the crowd, apart from one guy caught on camera down the front, drew blank faces. The problem with sticking this band so far up the bill is that no one actually knows anything beyond Bright Eyes.

Naturally, everyone returned in time for The Last Shadow Puppets. And, as per usual with things related to Alex Turner, the hype is surprisingly accurate. The stage presence of the full orchestra has the whole place captivated. Everyone already knows every word to the singles, and when the crowd sing lines of Standing Next To Me back at him, Alex Turner's face is priceless. This being "Only our third gig", he appears quite overwhelmed. Here's Calm Like You:

Headliners, unless you're into Metallica, come in the shape of The Cribs. Now this band know how to do a festival. They play everything you could ask for - every single, all the best album tracks, and that Smiths cover. On top of that is the whole crowd interaction thing that's become expected of a Cribs performance. But by ender, I'm A Realist, things start to get a bit carried away. Ryan crowdsurfs and ends up completely lost in the crowd. So his guitar cuts out, leaving an empty bass line and drums, and vocals that can't be heard past the mics. The crowd fills in, but lyrics get muddled - not exactly the ending this set deserved.
Women's Needs:

Moving Pictures:

Notes From LEEDS FESTIVAL 2008 - THURSDAY

2008-09-03T22:49:00.001+01:00

Arrival at Leeds. Two Red Bull cars turn up - minis, with giant cans of Red Bull Cola on the back of them, fully stocked with girls giving out endless cans of free Red Bull, to the utter delight of the punters.

There’s a shocking amount of mud about. Not good for people who are unfortunate enough to fall over with the weight of their luggage in the queue, or are wearing new shoes, but simply cause for more drunken antics for the rest of us. Particularly for one half naked festival goer, who proceeds to slide down a steep hill in Blue Campsite on a dinghy.
It was a bit like this:

but better.

Everyone was talking about how The Pigeon Detectives were going to ‘do a Kaiser Chiefs’ and play a surprise set on Thursday night at 9 o’clock. It’s half past nine. A good couple of hundred people have turned out to the NME/Radio 1 tent only to cheer and ‘boo!’ at the roadies as they test the lights for tomorrow’s line up. They’re not playing.

Hot Club de Paris, who did play on Thursday, said: “Those who did, thanks for watching. We had a blast.”

Widgets And Videos

2008-09-01T21:40:00.003+01:00

Frost, of The Automatic has uploaded this 'webisode', featuring footage of the band recording 'Steve McQueen' in LA earlier this year and Frank Turner and Chris T-T, who star as guest vocalists on the track.

This is Bloc Party's new widget. You can watch videos and stuff.

New Releases

2008-09-01T21:34:00.003+01:00

Singles
Dirty Pretty Things – Plastic Hearts
Johnny Flynn – Brown Trout Blues
Ladytron - Runaway
Portishead – We Carry On
Weezer – Troublemaker

Albums
The Chemical Brothers – Brotherhood
Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
Fujiya & Miyagi – Lightbulbs
Holy Ghost Revival - Twilight Exit
Motorhead – Motorizer
Nouvelle Vague – NV3
Queen + Paul Rodgers – The Cosmos Rocks

Bands With Free Music/New Songs

2008-08-27T20:25:00.002+01:00

Sir Yes Sir have a new song called 'Horse Walking' up at Myspace.com/siryessiryessir.

The Harks have all of the songs at Myspace.com/theharksuk up for free download, for a very limited time. They're also going to have 3/4 new tracks going up the first week in september, which are going to be sent free to everybody on the mailing list. You can sign up to that on their page too.

You can download 'Annie' by Kid British for free from U-download.co.uk/kidbritishfreemp3.

Lightspeed Champion Down Under

2008-08-27T20:22:00.001+01:00

Lightspeed Champion has done an Australian tour diary in photographs at Fasterlouder.com, and a video blog, which you can see here:

Maximo Park Solo Project

2008-08-27T20:15:00.002+01:00

Maximo Park guitarist, Duncan Lloyd, is set to release a solo album called 'Seeing Double' in October, with a single, 'Suzee' coming at the end of September. You can listen to three tracks, including the single, at Myspace.com/duncanlloyd.
Maximo Park fans should apparently not fear - the band (including Duncan) are in the studio recording their third album right now.

Bloc Party Intimacy

2008-08-27T20:11:00.001+01:00

Here's the tracklisting for Bloc Party's third album, 'Intimacy':
01. Ares
02. Mercury
03. Halo
04. Biko
05. Trojan Horse
06. Signs
07. One Month Off
08. Zephyrus
09. Better Than Heaven
10. Ion Square

You can listen to 'Trojan Horse' at Myspace.com/blocparty.

New Releases

2008-08-27T20:07:00.002+01:00

Singles
Biffy Clyro - Mountains
Conor Oberst – Souled Out (7”)
Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Dawn Of The Dead
Glasvegas – Daddy’s Gone
Infadels – A Million Pieces
Mystery Jets – Half In Love With Elizabeth
REM - Man-Sized Wreath (7”)
Sergeant – Sunshine
The Subways – I Won’t Let You Down

Albums
Dandy Warhols - Earth To The Dandy Warhols
Jaguar Love - Take Me To The Sea

Holloways Songs & Updates

2008-08-18T20:40:00.003+01:00

The Holloways have uploaded four new songs at Myspace.com/theholloways.
'Listen' is quite a way from their old stuff, much more grown up - they even have strings. 'PSB' and 'Cool Down' are more back in the direction of 'Record Player', which is never a bad thing, but 'Cool Down' is a slower one. 'Sinners And Winners' is a funny, catchy little hit in quite a similar style to Hot Club de Paris' stuff.

They've also posted a blog at Blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=21742176&blogID=425223907 detailing their future plans.
There's going to be a new EP, followed by a second album, an Autumn tour, which will take in Manchester's Club Academy on 27th October, and a new website with loads of videos because apparently, "we are going to be filming everything from now on and anything worth watching we'll stick on the web". They also want your input and feedback on everything, from the new songs to what merchandise to put out.

From A Shit Hotel In Camden

2008-08-18T20:37:00.001+01:00

...Is the title of a new blog from The Cribs about festivals, Europe and Hungary's biggest band, up at Blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=18868961&blogID=425021413. There's also a picture of Johnny [Marr], Ryan and Gary, taken by Ross from behind his drums.

Brown Trout Blues

2008-08-18T20:29:00.002+01:00

This is Johnny Flynn's new video for 'Brown Trout Blues'. It's a bit like a day in the life of a film set. It starts out a bit like a poorly made play set in the early 20th century and turns into a weird glam rock gig with lots of groupies and a chaotic birthday party. Then they all dance and Flynn turns back into his usual self.

'Brown Trout Blues'

New Releases

2008-08-18T20:03:00.005+01:00

Singles
The Automatic – Steve McQueen
Cut Copy – Hearts On Fire
Cut Off Your Hands - Expectations
The Fratellis – Look Out Sunshine
Friendly Fires – Jump In The Pool
Holy Ghost Revival – Embrace The Hate
Hot Chip – Hold On
Hot Club De Paris – My Little Haunting
Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong – Lucio Starts Fires
Lykke Li – Breaking It Up
Magistrates – Make This Work (7”)
Paul Weller - All I Wanna Do / Push It Along
Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
The Young Knives – Dyed In The Wool

Albums
Jaguar Love - Take Me To The Sea
Monkey – Journey To The West

Check out the reviews of this month's new releases at Myspace.com/_youvedonethiswrong, including Magistrates and Monkey.

Bloc Party Webchat

2008-08-14T21:54:00.002+01:00

Bloc Party thought it "might be a nice time to say hello a bit more personally than from a stage, and before we play Reading and Leeds next weekend", so they're going to be doing their first live webchat on Monday (18th August) at 7pm. You'll be able to access it at Blocparty.com from around that time.

Bands With New Songs

2008-08-14T21:42:00.002+01:00

CityLights have uploaded a rough demo of new song, 'Skeletons With Telephones' at Myspace.com/citylightsarecoming. Apparently the drums were recorded through two mikes instead of five, Joe had a blocked nose and someone had cold fingers when they put the keyboard down. Admittedly, it is a bit quiet, but it certainly has the makings of something could and punchy.

Born Ruffians have uploaded new tracks from their EP, 'Little Garcon', at Myspace.com/bornruffians. The title track is a cute, acoustic, romantic little number, while the remixes by Four Tet and White Williams provide very remix-ily interesting listening.

Latest Gigs/Festival News

2008-08-14T21:16:00.002+01:00

Gigs
Born Ruffians - Tuesday 16th September - Night & Day
Eat Your Own Ears Presents... Reverend & The Makers, Tricky, The Whip, Late Of The Pier, Simian Mobile Disco [ DJ Set ], Four Tet [ DJ Set ], Max Tundra & Eat Your Own Ears DJ's Will [ Tramp ] - Saturday 4th October (20:30-05:00) - Warehouse Project
¡Forward Russia! - Sunday 19th October - Ruby Lounge
Moshi Moshi Records 10th Birthday Tour (Tilly & The Wall/Slow Club) - Wednesday 22nd October - Club Academy
Los Campesinos! (with No Age & Times New Viking) - Wednesday 22nd October - Academy 3
Team Waterpolo - Monday 27th October - Night & Day
The Whip - November sometime - Academy 2 (on sale Monday 18th August)
Neon Neon - Sunday 9th November - Ruby Lounge
Youthmovies - Tuesday 18th November - Night & Day
The Pigeon Detectives - Wednesday 3rd December - Academy 1
The Pigeon Detectives - Thursday 4th December - Academy 1 Stereophonics - Wednesday 10th December - MEN Arena
NME Rock And Roll Riot Tour (Primal Scream) - Thursday 11th December - Apollo
Biffy Clyro - Friday 18th December - Academy 1
The Hacienda Presents... Happy Mondays, Mike Pickering, Peter Hook, Jon Dasilva - Sunday 28th December (20:30-2:30) - Warehouse Project

Foals have announced the supports for their Autumn tour as Dananananaykroyd, Maps & Atlases, Wild Beasts and Holy Fuck.

Festivals
Loads of new acts have been announced across two new (or newly renamed) stages for this year's Reading and Leeds festivals. Where Leeds had the Topman Stage in previous years, showcasing "the next generation of UK music", this year both sites will hold host to the BBC Introducing Stage, with bands chosen by BBC - through their UK-wide network of Introducing shows. At Leeds the stage will also be kicking off the proceedings on the Thursday night as Dinosaur Pile-Up, Grammatics, The Wallbirds, Broken Records and Wintermute play from 6.30pm. The Carling Stage has this year been replaced by the Festival Republic Stage, which is basically the same thing with a different name. Piles of bands have just been added to this stage, including The Teenagers, Florence & The Machine and Los Campesinos!

goFASTER>> Lose A Guitarist

2008-08-11T21:34:00.002+01:00

Basically, goFASTER>>'s guitarist, Chris, has decided to leave the band in September. It all seems very amicable, but they could do with a new guitarist. If you fancy it, there's more information at Blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=89982215&blogID=423119224.

Los Campesinos! New Album

2008-08-11T21:28:00.002+01:00

Los Campesinos! have just announced the release of a new record called 'We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed', coming in October. All the tracks are brand new and were recorded in Seattle in June with John Goodmanson and mixed immediately after at Monnow Valley in Wales.
The band have said that "despite 'Hold On Now, Youngster...' being only 5 or so months old, we wanted to emphasise that this is no post-album cash in. It's no B-Sides and rarities or 'songs that weren't good enough to be on the album cobbled together with some remixes and field recordings of Cardiff's indie scene'; it's ten all-new tracks that none of you have ever heard before".

Here's the tracklisting:
1. Ways To Make It Through The Wall
2. Miserabilia
3. We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
4. Between An Erupting Earth And An Exploding Sky
5. You'll Need Those Fingers For Crossing
6. It's Never That Easy Though, Is It? (Song For The Other Kurt)
7. The End Of The Asterisk
8. Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown # 1
9. Heart Swells/Pacific Daylight Time
10. All Your Kayfabe Friends

Bands With New Songs

2008-08-11T21:21:00.002+01:00

Late Of The Pier have their entire album ('Fantasy Black Channel') up for listening at Myspace.com/lateofthepier.

Ice, Sea, Dead People have uploaded 'My Twin Brother's A Brother' at Myspace.com/iceseadeadpeople. It's been on the profile before, but the vocals were re-done last week and they're going to release it as a 7" and digital download in a few months.

Bands With Videos

2008-08-11T21:14:00.003+01:00

Vampire Weekend have posted their video for new single, 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa' in high definition at Vampireweekend.com/video.php.

This is CityLights' new video. It's amusing and ever so slightly pornographic.