A Place to Bury Strangers to hit the UK and Europe

A Place to Bury Strangers (aka, "The Loudest Band in NYC" which they are, many nights in NYC left my ears completely numb thanks to them, but of course it was worth it) launch their UK/European tour in Nottingham on 6th November. The tour is to help promote their new album, Exploding Head (which I bought the other week, and suggest you do the same!). Their Cardiff date on the 8th November will be with support by Dublin's The Brothers Movement (formerly Mainline), who are amazing in their own right. Most of the UK dates however will be supported by Canada's Japandroids, followed with a date in Milan with Gringo Star and then a performance at December's All Tomorrow Parties' Nightmare Before Christmas festival in Minehead, England.

UK/European dates are:
6 Nov Bodega Social Nottingham UK
7 Nov Flapper Birmingham, UK
8 Nov Barfly^ Cardiff, UK
9 Nov Whelan’s* Dublin, Ireland
11 Nov Auntie Annie’s* Belfast, Ireland
12 Nov The Captain’s Rest* Glasgow, UK
13 Nov Digital (club night)* Newcastle, UK
14 Nov Moho^* Manchester, UK
15 Nov Cockpit^* Leeds, UK
17 Nov Portland^^ Cambridge, UK
18 Nov Garage^^ London, UK
19 Nov La Maroquinerie Paris, France
20 Nov Paradiso - London Calling Amsterdam, Netherlands
21 Nov Botanique Orangerie Brussels, BE
22 Nov Le Grand Mix Tourcoing, FR
24 Nov Ubel & Gefahrlich Hamburg, Germany
25 Nov die Werkstatt Cologne, Germany
26 Nov Guess Festival Utrecht, Holland
27 Nov Vera Groningen, Holland
28 Nov Museumskeller Erfurt, Germany
29 Nov Beatpol Dresden, Germany
1 Dec Magnet Berlin, Germany
2 Dec Le Romanidie Lausanne, Switzerland
3 Dec Magnolia** Milan, Italy
4 Dec Munich, Germany
6 Dec All Tomorrow’s Parties Minehead, UK
11 Dec Sala Caracol Madrid, Spain
12 Dec Sala Apolo Barcelona, Spain
13 Dec LA2 Barcelona, Spain

^ with Japandroids & the Brothers Movement
* with Japandroids
^* with Japandroids & Sad Day for Puppets
^^ with the Brothers Movement & Sad Day for Puppets
** with Gringo Star

Lastly, their new video for "In Your Heart", from the album Exploding Head


A Place To Bury Strangers' myspace

A few minutes with The Lovely Eggs

The Lovely Eggs, who are currently promoting their Halloween single, "Haunt Me Out" (available on CD via Cherryade Records, and also iTunes) sat down to answer a few questions....

How did The Lovely Eggs come about?
The whole reason we started was a drunken dare!
I (David) was visiting Holly who was living in Paris. We just started writing some tunes for a bet because Holly's friend Becky didn't believe we could write a song between us! That song what we wrote was called "Last Train To Ballard", a true story about Holly falling asleep on the Metro and waking up at the final station in an empty train where she had to get let out by the cleaners and find her way across Paris to her flat.

Where do your rehearse?
Well, we rehearse at a place called Lancaster Music Co-op. It's brilliant, non-profit making and David works there!

What was your best gig so far? why?
To be honest with you, in the last couple of years we've played so many gigs in so many bizarre places it's hard to choose! But recently the gig at Indietracks festival was amazing as it had such a good vibe! There are bands playing on steam trains and we played in a really old wooden church which looked like it belonged in America. We love playing places that look like they belong in America!

And the worst gig? why?
We've not had many bad gigs as we try and make gigs like a party and have lots of fun. Washington DC was quite scary and we saw a rat in the alley way!

When you guys are just hanging out, what music are your most likely listening to?
Well, in the evening we listen to 6 music as lot (especially Marc Riley's show) just to hear some new stuff, really. Marc Riley is into a lot of good stuff (old and new), but other than that we've been playing the new Jeffrey Lewis album a lot recently and some classics like Jonathan Richman and the Velvets. It just depends what mood takes the fancy!

What was the first album you ever bought?
Holly: I know the first single I ever got was theme tune from Fraggle Rock, not sure what album it was, but probably something like Michael Jacksons' thriller!
David: I think the first album I ever got was Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat!

Any weird phobias and/or band superstitions?
Holly is frightened of buttons and David is frightened of giant pins! We have a mutual fear of Haberdashery!

What's your band's fashion sense/style? Any favourite clothing shops?
We do most of our shopping in Charity shops! Our favorite is St Johns Hospice on Church Street in Lancaster. We love anything that's old and has a story!

Describe your fanbase in 3 words:
Where are they?

If you could be any other person for a day, who would you be?
David: Elvis Presley, cause we've just visited his house and it made you wonder what his life must have been like!
Holly: Elizabeth the 1st cause I'd like to know what it would be like to have Henry 8th as a dad!

What's better - downloading, still buying CDs, or collecting vinyl?
Collecting vinyl, but we are still doing the cd thing because our turntable in the front room won't fit in, size wise that is!

Best band you've seen live?
Holly: It's a toss up between The Make up, Sonic Youth and Jonathan Richman, but Hotpants Romance are pretty ace too
David: The Fall, Grandaddy, Sonic Youth, there are so many!

Is there anything (previously unknown) about your band that you'd like to share with the world?
We have an unhealthy obsession with Twin Peaks.

Tell us something interesting about your hometown:
It's a spooky place with a history of witches

And share a story from the road:
We once played in a scrap yard outside LA and Holly thought David had disappeared and got kidnapped by a serial killer, but he just went to a gem rock museum.

Thanks Holly and David! x

Watch:
The Lovely Eggs' music video for "I Like Birds But I Like Other Animals Too" on YouTube

The Lovely Eggs' myspace

The Gallagher Brothers' Future Plans

Following the break-up of (one of my favourite bands) Oasis in August, last
week the NME reported that Noel Gallagher has confirmed plans for a solo album, quoting “I’ve actually got a backlog of songs that are slowly building up. The thing about a solo record is the time to do one is between Oasis world tours because you’d have a good couple of years, But it takes me so long to write the songs that eventually I run out of time (before Oasis begins again), but I’ve got a backlog now of about four or five songs which are probably too far in the past as far as the band in concerned, but which could work on my record... it's coming.”

Now this week there's reports that younger brother Liam has plans to start a
new band in 2010. Liam stated, "I'm always going to miss Oasis. It was my
f***ing thing, you know what I mean? It's who I am. But it's only a name.
I'm still who I am and I can go and do something else. I've got music in me.
I'll never leave it behind but we'll see where it goes. It might be s**t but
you don't know until you try." Then Liam told The Scotsman newspaper: "For now, I'll be relaxing at home, just getting out of music for a bit and then I'm going to start up something maybe after January, do something different, see where it goes. But I'll be having a breather from the music for a bit without a doubt."

------

As a long-time fan, I'm looking forward to both Noel and Liam's projects.
With Noel's support of more underground bands (Amorphous Androgynous, for instance) his solo album, with all his different influences and music acquaintances, could turn out to be quite interesting. Also, Liam is still arguably one of the best rock'n'roll frontmen of the past 20 years, so there's no question that whatever band he puts together, it's going to have a lot of that rock'n'roll swagger that Oasis fans love.

But for now we just have our old Oasis albums, wondering about the future, and of course, Liam's own line of designer clothes.

Download:
Oasis - Listen Up (Live from MTV Unplugged).mp3


Oasis' official site

Video: The Black Ryder's "Sweet Come Down"

One album I'm anticipating this fall is the debut by Australian band, The Black Ryder. Above is their new video for the track "Sweet Come Down". The haunting vocals match the concept of the video: an outlaw walking through the desert, stepping over deceased victims, but then finds one still alive... For how it ends, well, you have to watch the video..

Harmonica on this track is provided by Peter Hayes of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

The Black Ryder's album, Buy the Ticket, Take The Ride, will be released on EMI Australia on 6th November.

The Black Ryder's website
The Black Ryder's myspace

A few minutes with...Kim Acrylic

This past weekend's interview with Kim Acrylic from the band Kim Acrylic & the Northern Drones, who are based in both Seattle, USA and Dublin, Ireland.

How did Kim Acrylic and the Northern Drones come about?
It's pretty interesting really. I had just gotten my first volume of poetry
published and decided to do some promo stuff with me reading spoken word on my myspace. Well, the Northern Drones happened to stumble across my page, digged my voice and words, so they asked me to collaborate on a music project with them. Of course I was beside myself, it's been my dream to put my words with music. They reside in Ireland and I'm here in Seattle. Everything was recorded via the internet...talk about LOW-FI!

So, being the vocalist and lyricist for the Northern Drones, who are your biggest inspirations, lyric-wise?
As a teen Jim Morrison was a biggie for me, the dark mystical words thrown
together. As I got older I branched out into the beats. Jim Carroll and a
lot of the French poets. But lyric-wise and musically I'd have to say Jarvis
Cocker from the band Pulp is my greatest influence. His delivery and choice
of words and story telling is amazingly done.

What bands do people say are similar to the Northern Drones?
We seem to get the Velvet Underground comparison a ton! Which is so
flattering because I'm a HUGE fan of Lou Reed's words as well. We also get
compared to Sonic Youth which s funny cos I never listened to them much, and again, The Doors.

Tell us something interesting about your hometown of Seattle:
What can I say about Seattle that hasn't been said? Well it DOESN'T rain as
much as people say, in fact our summer had temps in the 100's and a rough
winter..I blame global warming...But yeah Seattle is more GRAY than
rainy..in my opinion.

When you're just hanging out, what music are you usually listening to?
Huge Britpop fanatic. Shoegaze, French and U.K. indie and 60's counter
culture. I have a ridiculously huge music collection

What was the first album you ever bought?
First album I owned was Chipmunk Punk on vinyl. I was like three or four
years old. However, the first one I bought on my own was most likely a
horrid bubble gum pop album from the mid-eighties.

Does your band have any weird superstitions?
I'm not superstitious myself, however, I was a little worried of the "poet
curse". After I got published then released a record I was worried I'd die
tragically (laughs), but as for the rest of the band I don't really know
where their beliefs on superstitions lie.

You're friends with James St. James...how did you get to know him?
James is a great guy. I interviewed him once for a music magazine I used to
write for. We talked a few times on the phone and say hello online, but we
have never met. We're more of acquaintances, really.

What's your band's fashion sense/style? Any favourite clothing shops?
I'm all about thrift stores and yard sales! Jeans and t-shirts suit the band
just fine. I'm mostly in all black, in a band shirt and skirt. Nothing is
ever "brand new" in my closet.

Your album is called "Fanfare Meltdown". Where did that title come from?
Fanfare Meltdown is the name of one of our songs and one of my poems. I
thought it would be a catchy title and the band agreed.

Describe your fanbase in 3 words:
Eclectic, avant garde, eccentric

I love the music video for "Exile Yourself". How was it made?
With a web cam. I made videos of me moving about and being intense with
masks and props. Then I sent it to Steve Lowe, the guitarist, who also mixed
the album. Then he added in his footage and tripped it all out. Very
brilliant artist. I'm happy to be working with him

If you could be any other person for a day, who would you be?
Someone definitely opposite from me, otherwise whats the point? Maybe Chloe Sevigny? Naw, shes not too different, maybe a gay guy!

What's better - downloading, still buying CDs, or collecting vinyl?
Downloading is easier, however, there is NOTHING like browsing a little
record shop for either tapes, CDs or vinyl. I really dig tapes still, I have
2 suitcases FULL of them! And besides, we don't want record stores to shut
down, do we?

Best band you've seen live?
Jarvis Cocker live in 2007..Hands down most amazing gig. The energy and
passion,everything I strive to be.

Is there anything (previously unknown) about your band that you'd like to share with the world?
We have never met in person during this whole project

And lastly, how can people get their hands on your album?
iTunes and CD baby

Thanks Kim! x

Kim Acrylic & The Northern Drones' myspace

Halloween mixtape!

It's that time of year again - the air is getting colder, the leaves are turning all shades of orange and brown, and it's perfectly normal to be dressed as a vampire in public. It's Halloween! To celebrate, here's a ghoulish mixtape.....enjoy. x

Side A
The Postmarks - Everyday is Halloween download
The Raveonettes - Attack of the Ghost Riders download
The Sonics - The Witch download
Zombina & The Skeletones - Zombie Hop download
Ladytron - Ghosts (Candle Hank Mix) download
Singapore Sling - Midnight download
The Ramones - Pet Cemetery download
Poe - Haunted download

Side B
Rob Zombie - Living Dead Girl download
Siouxsie Sioux & The Banshees - Halloween download
The Horrors - Count in Fives (demo) download
Blind Mr. Jones - Spooky Vibes download
The Shaggs - It's Halloween download
The Starlight Mints - Pumpkin download
The Tamborines - Bewitched download
The Flaming Lips - Halloween on the Barbary Coast download

Basement Jaxx with Yoko Ono on Later...

Last night on Later...with Jools Holland they ended the show with a brilliant performance by Basement Jaxx featuring Yoko Ono. The track is called "Day of the Sunflowers" and is one of the stand-out tracks from Basement Jaxx's recent album, Scars.

For Yoko fans, the Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band is having a remix competition for their track "The Sun is Down" off of their new album, Between My Head and the Sky. If you'd like to enter, the remix package is available for download here....good luck!

Basement Jaxx's website
Basement Jaxx's myspace

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band's website
Yoko Ono's myspace

28 Degrees Taurus

A band that deserves to be on everyone's radar is Boston's 28 Degrees Taurus. I first became aware of them as one of my former bandmates became good friends with their guitarist/vocalist, Jinsen. Before we knew it we were sharing a stage in a basement of a drag queen/cabaret club in downtown Boston. Good times. Their music (almost literally) blew me away. Still partying as hard as ever, 28 Degrees Taurus is still going strong.

Their song "Universal Love" sounds like a ethereal soundscape drawing you into a void where you could live happily ever after (if you're into that) while "Electricity" is a bit more of a rocker, with haunting vocals and blurring the edges of psychedelia...but I think my favourite track of theirs is "Wherever You Can Find It", with Jinsen and Karina sharing the vocals, it's shoegaze as its finest.

You can download both of their albums for FREE at Gimme Sound.

Check them out at the dates below:

23 Oct - Grady Tavern (8pm)
Manchester, Connecticut
24 Oct - Bushwick Music Studio (8pm)
w/Gunfight, Where the Land Meets the Sea & Quiet Loudly, Brooklyn, New York
24 Oct - Goodbye Blue Monday (10pm)
w/The Vandelles & Fly Upright Kite , Brooklyn, New York
6 Nov 2009 - The Precinct (10pm)
w/Lindsey Starr & the chemical smiles , Somerville, Massachusetts
28 Nov 2009 - Middle East Upstairs (8pm)
Cambridge, Massachusetts

28 Degrees Taurus' myspace

Document 7 Film Festival

From now until Sunday night, Glasgow is hosting the Document 7 Film Festival at the Centre of Contemporary Arts. The films are documentaries concerned with human rights and development issues around the world. Tomorrow (23rd October) there will also be a discussion led by Amnesty International.

Here's a trailer for one of the films, Hair India.



Cost per event is £4.00 (Unwaged £2.00) or you can get a day pass for £15.00 (Unwaged £10.00).

For more information, visit the Document 7 website.

Crocodiles, Divorce, Golden Grrrls and She's Hit at Stereo

Last night we went to Stereo to check out Crocodiles, a band from San Diego that I've been keen on for quite some time. Draping their amps with the California State Flag and decked out in black leather jackets, they gave their all during their short, but sweet live set. They ended with their arguably most popular track, "Wanna Kill". Even though it sounded less polished as it does on record, it was better live due to all the energy that these guys pulled off. If they play in your town, definitely go check them out.

Download:

Crocodiles - Neon Jesus.mp3

Crocodiles' myspace

Before the Crocodiles' headlining set, we saw the follow bands...

She's Hit

At first impression, with their garage rock sound, floppy fringes and skinny jeans, they reminded me of The Horrors with a wisp of The Jesus & Mary Chain. The more the set went on, I could also hear bits of influences by The Cramps - obviously this was more apparent when they covered The Cramps' classic "I Was a Teenage Werewolf". Despite this, they definitely have shaped their own sound. I think that they have a lot of promise and if we're lucky, we'll be seeing a lot more of them in the future...

She's Hit's myspace

Golden Grrrls

Their stomping drum beats, keyboard melodies and guitar riffs made for some very catchy tunes (and also, on a fashionable note, I really liked the keyboardists' dress). Recently they've released a cassette of their tunes that you can purchase at Monorail Music in Glasgow. If the track below is anything to go by, it may be worth getting out your dusty old boombox...

Download

Golden Girls - Space Shuttle Discovery.mp3

Golden Grrrls' myspace

The final band on before Crocodiles was Divorce....

Divorce was featured in this past weeks' NME (the one with Jamie T on the cover) and even after reading about them in there, I wasn't prepared for what I saw. Clearly, Divorce is nae wave (like no wave, but more of a community that is possibly exclusive to Scottish bands..) at its finest...Listen for yourself...

Divorce's myspace

The Tamborines

The Tamborines, formed by Henrz and Lulu Grave, moved from their native Brasil to London sometime in the early-mid 2000's. Since then they've become one of London's most exciting up and coming bands. The first time I saw them live, in 2006, it ended in a riot started by a guy in Selfish C***. Then in 2007 I saw them in a jam-packed bar in Shoreditch which left the audience wanting more. Including support sets for Brian Jonestown Massacre and having played various Sonic Cathedral gigs, their reputation and sound have only intensified since.

Recording on a 4 track from their West London flat, they've managed to create some of the most infectious fuzz rock tunes of the past few years. You can catch them on the following dates, below:

3 Nov - Club AC30 - Queen of Hoxton - London
27 Nov - Fortuna Pop - Buffalo Bar - London
28 Nov - Reverence at ICA w/ Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Ringo Deathstarr - London
12 Dec - Sound of Confusion - Birmingham
29 Jan - Feedback Fever - Shoegazer Club - Hamburg, Germany

& check out their video for "Sally O'Gannon", below:



The Tamborines' myspace

John "Hoppy" Hopkins exhibit

Yesterday we went to see the John "Hoppy" Hopkins exhibit at Street Level Gallery in Glasgow. The exhibit is called "Taking Liberties" and features Hopkins' photos of The Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull, Paul McCartney, Allen Ginsburg, Malcolm X, William S. Burroughs and Martin Luther King, to name a few....

The exhibit runs until 7th November, and for more information on John, visit his website.

The Big Pink & Findo Gask

Last night we went to The Big Pink gig at King Tut's in Glasgow. The support act was a local band by the name of Findo Gask (pictured above). Without knowing anything about them beforehand, I really enjoyed their set. Made up of 3 synths (2 of which are KORGs), a guitar, bass and drums, I was impressed with how the band members inter-changed their instruments. The guitarist/synth player even got out a trumpet in which he looped up different trumpet parts as the intro to the song kept going on...They reminded me of Hot Chip, Roxy Music and at some points, old Studio 54 disco (I mean that in a good way).

Their single "Va Va Va" has been acclaimed by The Guardian and The Sunday Times, to name a few. I'm personally fond of their Yoko Ono remix, now playing on their myspace

For those in the Glasgow area, they're playing at Nice'n'Sleazy on Saturday night (the 17th).

Download:
Findo Gask - Va Va Va (disco mix).mp3

Now for the headliners, The Big Pink...



We were pretty blown away by the intensity of the set. Opening up with "Too Young Too Love", they ripped through 9 songs with a more rock'n'roll edge than their album provides..."At War With the Sun" got the crowd a bit rowdy (I have the bruise on my side to prove it!) and their drummer, Akiko (who also has her own band, Comanechi) was probably the coolest one there. She somehow commanded your attention, even from the back of the stage.

Towards the end of the set, lead vocalist/guitarist Robbie announced to the crowd his mum was in the audience and dedicated a sweet a capella track to her before kicking into the last track of the set, "Dominos", which had the entire crowd shouting along, all the way though.







The Big Pink continue their UK tour on Saturday at the Duchess in York. Full tour details on their myspace.

Download
The Big Pink - Velvet (Gang Gang Dance Remix).mp3

The Big Pink's official site

New FK single out now!

Factory Kids have released a new double A-side single, "Not Enough/Analog Dream" on
Odd Box Records, who write:

"They’ve been gaining a reputation as exciting pioneers of experimental pop music. With contributions on compilations released by Unexplainable Recordings, Series Two Records and their debut LP has just been released by Powertool Records.

The single is a two tracker and features two cracking songs that fuzz and crackle with beats and distortion. This is beautiful pop music that defies easy classifaction. There are nods to Flying Saucer Attack, Massive Attack and The Third Eye Foundation – but this band really needs to be heard. This is pop music for the 21st Century."

Download the single from the Odd Box Records shop for FREE here!

Factory Kids' myspace

Logan Lynn

The first time I heard of Logan Lynn, he was hosting NewNowNext on LOGO. A few months later he contacted my band, requesting a remix. While collaborating with him, I had the honour of previewing his upcoming album, 'From Pillar to Post'. The unique hooks and beats that loop throughout the tracks were infectious. This album will be perfect for dancing away those winter-y nights and comes highly recommended by me.

'From Pillar to Post' will be offiically released on 24 November 2009 on The Dandy Warhols' label, Beat The World Records.....and this month Logan turns 30! Happy Birthday Logan!! :)

Download:
Logan Lynn - The Dotted Line.mp3

Logan Lynn's official site
Logan Lynn's myspace