Archive for February, 2009
New Blood Red Shoes shows
Before hiding away to record album #2, Blood Red Shoes are heading out and playing a few shows to roadtest new material. So far, three shows have been announced:
March 10 – Chinnery’s, Southend (16+)
March 11 – Roadmender, Northampton (14+)
March 12 – Guildhall, Gloucester (14+)
Tickets available at seetickets.com
Blood Red Shoes are a two-piece band, Laura-Mary (guitar/vocals) and Steven (drums/vocals), who know how to make a lot of noise. There are no useless gimmicks with this band, just high-energy, raw and gritty punk influenced jams. (With a killer live show repuation to boot!) For your listening pleasure, “You Bring Me Down” from their I’ll Be Your Eyes EP
Blood Red Shoes, official website + official myspace
Buy their album Box of Secrets, amazon.com + play.com + itunes
Jamie T Club Tour
Praise a panda, Mr. Treays is back in business! The man made of lyrical genius is slowly, but surely finishing his second record and has announced a handful of small club shows around the UK.
Feb 28 – King Tut’s, Glasgow (18+)
Mar 01 – Zanzibar, Liverpool (16+)
Mar 02 – Academy 2, Oxford (aa)
Mar 03 – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth (14+)
Mar 04 – The Peel, Kingston (16+) SOLD OUT!
It’s been less than a week and one show is already sold out. If you’ve got any sense, you will get your tickets ASAP! Believe me, it is worth the cash and trek. The man is a force to be reckoned with.
Jamie unleashed a new song into the world last month, “Fire Fire”, which is up for free download at his official website. If you’re having trouble, you can find the song here. Beware, it will only make you want the new album even MORE.
Jamie T official myspace
Official “Fire Fire” video
A New Pipette
The Pipettes have posted a new video blog on their official website introducing the newest member of the group, Beth.
Last year, Rosay (Rose Elinor Dougall) and RiotBecki (Rebecca Stephens) left the group to pursue other musical projects and were replaced by Anna McDonald and Ani Saunders, Gwenno’s younger sister. After a few months in the new lineup, Anna announced her plans to leave and focus on songwriting.
The ladies have been working on their second record, which is to be released this year. Catch Gwenno, Ani, and Beth at Wonky Pop Night at The O2 in London on March 20th.
(my favorite lineup)
Due to lame 21+ venues, I got jipped when it came to seeing The Pipettes live in Chicago twice before the lineup change. I fell in love with them a few years back. It was easygoing retro sounding girl pop with attitude, how could a person resist? Their songs are catchy and their debut album, We Are The Pipettes, is a fun listen from start to finish. The type of album you blast as you try to clean the house, but end up just dancing around instead. Good times.
Check out:
Simon Says, one of my favorite b-sides.
The Pipettes on myspace
Rose Elinor Dougall, her solo work
Into Cinders, Rebecca Stephens solo work
FLYP Media – Noah and the Whale feature
Crazy, super hi-tech interactive media is slowly, but surely taking over the world! Exhibit A: FLYP, an online magazine claiming to combine “video, text, animation, high-quality design and interactivity in a new kind of storytelling that blends the best from the world of print with the latest from the Web”. Sounds good to me.
The latest issue features an article on Noah and the Whale, which can be read online here (Flash required!) for absolutely free. Who doesn’t love free stuff? It’s a short read, but jam packed with exclusive videos and photos from the bands’ first US tour back in September 2008.
Noah and the Whale have just finished recording their second album and are set to begin their Club Silencio Tour in March, just after a one-off show at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg on February 21. The boys have even set up a small competition inviting fans to submit their very own short films, the best of which will be featured on tour! Enter the contest here by simply posting a comment with a link to your film. With any luck, your film will be featured on any of the following days:
March 5 – UEA, Norwich
March 6 - Shepherds Bush Empire, London
March 7 - St Georges Church, Brighton
March 8 – Academy 2, Manchester
March 10 – The Sage, Gateshead
March 11 – Queens Hall, Edinburgh
March 12 - Metropolitan University, Leeds
March 13 – Town Hall, Birmingham
March 15 – Bristol Academy, Bristol
March 16 – Trent University, Nottingham
For us American fans, Noah and the Whale will be back touring the states once again around Coachella time (April 17-19). Official dates TBA.
The Maccabees are back!
The Maccabees are giving away a free download of “No Kind Words”, a track off their highly anticipated (to me, at least) second album, “Wall of Arms” (no release date yet). The download can be found at their official website. Go. Download. Listen. Love. If this song is any indication of what the rest of the album will sound like, it’s going to be epic. (Ha, as if there was ever any doubt?!)
If you’re lucky enough to live in the UK area, catch the these fellas when they come around:
Thursday 19th March 2009 - Glasgow Oran Mor
Friday 20th March 2009 - Sheffield Plug
Saturday 21st March 2009 - Coventry Kasbah
Monday 23rd March 2009 - Derby The Royal
Tuesday 24th March 2009 - Brighton Concorde 2
Thursday 26th March 2009 - Cambridge Junction
Friday 27th March 2009 - Stoke Sugarmill
Saturday 28th March 2009 - Liverpool Academy 2
Thursday 30th April 2009 - Northampton Roadmenders
Friday 1st May 2009 - Edinburgh Studio 24
Saturday 2nd May 2009 - Leeds Live
Monday 4th May 2009 - Bristol Thekla
Tuesday 5th May 2009 - London Electric Ballroom
Wednesday 6th May 2009 - Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Thursday 7th May 2009 - Norwich Waterfront
Saturday 9th May 2009 - Manchester Academy 2
Sunday 10th May 2009 - Birmingham Academy 2
Tuesday 12th May 2009 - Cardiff Point
Wednesday 13th May 2009 - Southampton Uni
If you’re having trouble downloading the track from their official website, get it here.
Hello
I was sitting here watching yet another thought provoking episode of Bravo’s Real Housewives of Orange County when I thought to myself, “There is no way she is actually in love with that old guy!” Then I changed the channel and realized I needed to put this blog to good use. Or at least I needed to start putting this blog to good use. So, here I am.
I only have one goal for this blog: Write about the things I love and have others share the things they love with me.
Simple enough, no? Let’s see how it goes.
Up top you will find a link to an “About Me” page –a scintillating read, that’s for sure. To the left, I’ve added a handy-dandy list of other places in the world wide web where you can find me. I think I’ve made it too easy for you to stalk me.
Okay, I think this is enough first post babble.
