Alter The Press! favourites Portman have announced they are to go on a indefinite hiatus.
Messege from the band:
"After being together as a band for more than 5 years, Portman have decided to go on an 'indefinite hiatus'. This band has been the biggest part of all our lives and its hard to leave it behind, and with us all going in different directions, we feel it is now time to put it to rest.
Our last gig will be at this years Riverside Festival, Stamford on Saturday July 4th. we are on the marquee stage at 6:30.
we want to send portman out in style so we are inviting everyone who has ever been a part of Portman, to come down and get merry.
we hope to see you all there!!"
Portman Go On Indefinite Hiatus
LAB Records Launch Buy One, Get One Free Offer
LAB Records have launched a buy one, get one free on CD's from the likes of MiMi Soya, The Auteur and The Honeymoon Suite. Visit www.labrecords.co.uk for full details of how to pick up a release...or two!
Album Review: Apologies, I Have None - Two Sticks & Six Strings EP
If you are reading this review and are a fan of the much loved band Against Me then I might as well save you a bit of time and tell you that these are going to be your new favourite band so go buy this release right now. Right, now that’s out of the way let’s get down to a proper review. Apologies, I Have None, despite having only a five song EP previous to this, are my ninth most listened to band according to Last.fm, which gives you an idea of just how good I think this band is.
For those of you who don’t know much about this band, they are a two-piece that have gained a pretty substantial following armed with just a guitar, drums and a whole lot of woah-oh’s/gang vocals/handclaps and have the reputation of being two of the nicest blokes in music, they even apologised that I paid £4 for this release rather than getting it for free because I was reviewing it.
Join the Alter The Press! Forum
Just a quick reminder to say don't forget to join our forum. We'd love to hear your feedback about Alter The Press! Where could we improve? What would you like to see?
Join our forum NOW!
We are also on Myspace and Twitter.
Every Avenue Studio Video
A video of Every Avenue working in the studio on their new album can be seen here.
Manchester Orchestra on Letterman
A video of Manchester Orchestra performing 'I've Got Friends' on Letterman can be seen by clicking read more.
New The Ghost of A Thousand Album Track Listing
The Ghost of A Thousand have announced the track listing for their new album on 'New Hopes, New Demonstrations' which is released on June 1st.
01) Moved as Mountains, Dreamt of by the Sea
02) Bright Lights
03) Knees, Toes, Teeth
04) Canyons of Static
05) Split the Atom
06) Neptune
07) Small Mercies
08) Nobody Likes a Hero
09) Running on Empty
10) Fed to the Ocean
11) Good Old Fashioned Loss
Runner Runner Posts New Song
Runner Runner have posted a new song called "Back to Go Again" on their Myspace.
New Of Mice and Men Video Update
A new video update by Of Mice and Men can be seen by clicking read more.
OM&M update 4.28.09
Steel Train Update
An update from Steel Train can be read by clicking read more.
"HI HI
Its jack - Im back in LA. We "finished" recording on april 21st, and Ev and I flew home. We played a show at colgate university on 4/23 which was a lot of fun. The 5 of us hadn't been all together in 3 months, and it was so great to play again and hang out. then....spent the weekend in vermont and NYC and on monday i flew back to LA to finish mixing with steve. So thats were im writing from, steve's studio. We've been mixing all day in here, and then ive been sleeping all night in the same room. Or rather some of the night because i've been up all hours playing bejeweled on my phone and looking at
porn - JK (not JK about the bejeweled, just the porn). SO... the record sounds amazing, and im so excited to get it out there and tour on it. Its so different for us this time cause its all brand new. On trampoline we played almost every song live before we recorded the record. With this one, "touch me, bad" and "soldier in the army" are the only songs anyone has heard live. It makes it that much more exciting to bring all of you these new songs.
lets see... what else is going on??.? how are all of you doing>? great, i hope.
hmm, oh yeah, we are do some touring in may. a few shows in a few very random and far parts of the US (seattle, portland, columbus, carlisle, st. boneventure). Some shows with BEN FOLDS - so fucking cool. some shows a colleges, some shows with dashboard, and we also announced a really exciting festival in NJ on 8/2. its called all points west and the lineup is nuts - coldplay, MGMT, black keys, beastie boys, yeah yeah yeahs and most importantly lykke li. I fucking love her, its what ive been listening to non stop. But besides that, we are putting all our efforts into this record. So much planning is going to start next week when we finish the last mixes and master it. So, i know things have been quit for a while, but its like that silence before a massive storm. Us being the storm, a positive one that wont destroy things. See what i mean? Point is, things are gonna get crazy soon, and tons of music, tours and pictures of evan will start to surface. so for right now, just hold out a tiny bit longer and we will be updating a lot about when the new music will be available!!! im so excited - we love all of you, nice to talk for a second - let us know how you are - and we will see everyone soonish!
love -
jacksteeltrain
Revised LAB Records Tour Dates
LAB Records have announced a few changes to its label tour featuring The Auteur, MiMi Soya and Lost On Campus in July.
Thursday 16 July – BRIGHTON, Hot Damn @ The Ocean Rooms (18+)
Friday 17 July – LONDON, Hot Damn @ The Purple Turtle (18+)
Saturday 18 July – HITCHIN,Club 85 (14+)
Sunday 19 July – MANCHESTER, Satans Hollow (14+)
Monday 20 July – GLASGOW, Ivory Blacks (14+)
Tuesday 21 July – LEEDS, Cockpit (14+)
Wednesday 22 July – SCARBOROUGH, Vivaz (14+)
Thursday 23 July – BLACKPOOL, West Coast Rock Cafe (14+)
Friday 24 July – HIGH WYCOMBE, Blues Loft (16+)
Saturday 25 July – CARDIFF, Koko Gorillaz (Afternoon Acoustic Show) (14+)
Saturday 25 July – CARDIFF, Koko Gorillaz (Evening Full-Band Show) (14+)
Sunday 26 July – PORTSMOUTH, Cellars (14+)
Skindred Announce UK Tour
Skindred have announced a UK tour that will begin at the end of September.
September 30 - Waterfront, Norwich
October 1 - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
2 - Club Academy, Manchester
3 - Cockpit, Leeds
4 - Academy 2, Newcastle
5 - ABC 2, Glasgow
7 - Sugarmill, Stoke
8 - Corporation, Sheffield
9 - Roadmender, Northampton
10 - Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
11 - Academy 2, Oxford
13 - Uni Solus, Cardiff
14 - Academy 2, Bristol
15 - Pavillions, Falmouth
16 - Phoenix, Exeter
17 - Southampton Uni
19 - Concorde 2, Brighton
20 - Electric Ballroom, London
Free Farse Show Announced
Farse will play a free hometown show on Monday May 4th at Subside in Birmingham.
30 Seconds to Mars Sign to Virgin Records
30 Seconds to Mars have signed a worldwide deal with Virgin Records.
The Sounds Announce New Album Track Listing
The Sounds have revealed the track listing for their new album 'Crossing the Rubicon', which will be released on June 2nd.
1) No One Sleeps When I'm Awake
2) 4 Songs & A Fight
3) My Lover
4) Dorchester Hotel
5) Beatbox
6) Underground
7) Crossing The Rubicon
8) Midnight Sun
9) Lost In Love
10) The Only Ones
11) Home Is Where Your Heart Is
12) Goodnight Freddy
New Taking Back Sunday Single Stream
Taking Back Sunday's new single 'Sink Into Me' is streaming here.
Taking Back Sunday's new album 'New Again' is released June 1st on Warner Bros.
Jimmy Eat World Tell Story Behind Clarity
Jim and Zach from Jimmy Eat World have posted track by track stories of each track on 'Clarity' here.
Modern Day Escape Sign to Standby Records
Orlando, Florida based screamo/rock outfit Modern Day Escape have announced that they have signed with Standby Records. The band will release a new album later in the year.
Interview: The Appleseed Cast
Kristin recently spoke to Aaron Pillar & Chris Crisci of The Appleseed Cast about their new album 'Sagarmatha' and the making of the record, the changes in the music industry since the band formed in 1997 and life outside of the band.
K: So, how's the tour going so far and what've you been doing to pass the time on the road?
Aaron: The tour is good! The shows are fine, everythings been good. We had a couple of bad shows; well not bad shows but just kind of not great. We got caught in a tornado in Tennessee, that was fun! I mean, it was about a football field away, like a hundred yards in front of us, & that was pretty exciting because we probably cheated death for a second! Like, literally. We stopped at this overpass right in front of it & we sort of contemplated for a second. We just didn't know what to do when there's a tornado in front of you! I had food poisoning, that was kind fun! But, to pass the time, the laptop is popular; surfing the internet. I've been reading a book about golf and mountain climbing. And sitting around and smoking lots of cigarettes.
K: It's interesting that you mention the book on mountain climbing with the new album being titled Sagarmatha (meaning "Mount Everest" in Tibetan sanskrit). Are you a mountain climber or are you planning on getting into that?
A: No, I was like a backpacker when I was a kid, Boy Scouts & stuff, but we were in Europe a couple of years ago & there's this book called 'Into Thin Air' that I read & reread seven times on tour. I just think these guys are crazy. I really wanna do it, although I know I would die long before that would happen. But the more I started reading those kind of books, I got into all these different people. That was just one big story about Everest, & I wanted to learn about all the other mountains and all the other things. Long story short is, we had like 3 weeks to write all the lyrics, we had basically the music done and we were trying to think of something to try and jump start it all, we kind of had some ideas but nothing solid. We wanted to do that kind of concept, but didn't want to make it something we had to translate. The night before, well, I'm a big Battlestar Galactica geek, the new one, it's my absolute favorite. Well, it's over now, the series finale was before we left, but I was watching that or Twelve Monkeys, and we just ended up thinking of like, zombies and disease. So I was like, "well, we'll call it Sagarmatha & this is what is means". And it kind of has great imagery. So it is from mountain climbing but it has nothing to do with mountain climbing!
K: How would you describe this album to readers that have yet to hear it?
A: I like the one that's on our Myspace; you can pick what your band sounds like. Theres a ton of things on there, but I found "melodramatic popular song." [LAUGHS] No, but, I mean, we were just talking about this upstairs. Basically we're a rock band. We're two guitars, bass and drums. So we're a loud, guitar based band, but I think there's an overwhelming influence of how pretty that can be, within how loud that can be, and there still be pretty moments.
I usually have a lot of the starting points & then Chris adds a ton of color to it, but it's the idea that it has a mood. It's either happy or its sad. I'll hopefully have a lot of those moments within a song. There's only so many notes; there's only so many chords. You can only do so many things within rock music without being just kind of goofy, as far as if we shred and all that stuff. It wouldn't make any sense. If we're gonna play the same progression that so many have done before, why play it? What does it mean? How do you alternate with that? Thats kind of my thought on that. So at the end of the day we're a rock band, but maybe more of an "art rock band", I guess. I just want it to be memorable in some way, or make you reminisce. Its music that makes you want to reminisce about things, be it good or bad. I get that a lot from people, & that's cool. They'll say "You make my drive to work better" or "You helped me get through my finals, or that old girlfriend or boyfriend or whatever." And that's perfect, 'cause that's music for me. I listen to talk radio, I watch TV, but I don't really listen to music except in those times. Music means people over for a party, or something bad happened.
K: How would you compare Sagarmatha to the previous albums The Appleseed Cast have put out?
A: It started as an instrumental EP, that was the idea. Then it was stretched out & within time it was like, "we just need to put out another record." We didn't think we had enough material to back up an EP & a new record right away wasn't going to happen. So we went back to some of the ideas from Low Level that were longer (and probably some of our playing was better) to be able to do more interesting changes in some of the longer songs. And the process of making it was pretty long and sort of arduous. There were a lot of different stages to get to the end but I think it's kind of darker and a little bit heavier at times. When we did the last studio session we had two musicians that helped us, and both of them are like, total music nerds. They know every obscure, weird record from the 60's and 70's and stuff, and they were bringing in a lot of weird things. It was just a different way of looking at it. They'd be like "Oh! Put this percussion there!" So, I think there's a lot more percussion and little bits of piano & organ that made the sound more organic, in a way.
A lot of it was home produced, too. Almost all of my guitars were done at the house, so I didn't get that overproduced sound, which I like. It's not a bad thing but I really wanted to try & get the sound that I heard in my head and have it sound the same on the record. I always do big, heavy distortion things and by the time we'd get the record back I'd be like "That doesn't really sound like what it did for me when we were in the studio..." Two or three of the records, for me, were sort of a disappointment on certain songs, and I shouldn't worry about just my own guitar parts! [LAUGHS] But I always thought that was the important part of the song! I think there are certain elements (even though live they're two different animals, live and the record) of the record that were better abled to retain the heaviness, recording at home. There's also a ton of stuff that's totally impossible to do [live] that I love. There's no way. There's a song that I wrote, where at the ending part theres this ridiculous loop that I made that I could never recreate. We even ran it through a splicer! So, you can always tape it and play on a sampler, but it was cool to realize that there are moments of "Oh I'll never be able to do that live, but I don't really care!"
K: Did you a particular sound in mind for this album or did it sort of just develop as you went along?
A: I had an idea of what I wanted my guitars to sound like & for what I wanted. Not what I wanted Chris to do, but I wanted him to have more time. A lot of the time I feel like he feels overwhelmed with everything else on the record, so I think sometimes he underplays what he can do & I was determined to make sure that didn't happen. He can play things I can't & I wanted to be like "Try and do some crazy stuff that I could never try to do but you can!" I wanted him to try and mess around with that. It was pretty funny. The first studio we went to, I had a dream guitar set up. I had all this junk; I had a big rig and three guitar rigs all together. It was the best sound ever. At the end of that, it actually wasn't very good. What sounded better was the recording with just one small amp. To tell you how far it had to go, it was almost like it was live. Just two guitars, bass and drums, bass and overdubs, no vocals, no keyboards, no nothing. Then you have what we have now, which is a ton of crap on every single song. When we finally got to the last part of studio time, which we weren't even planning on doing, John and Dustin came in. Dustin came in to help with keyboards (I didn't even know he was going to be there. He kind of just showed up and was like "Do you guys care?" and then he set up an entire room of keyboards. He's a great musician & we kind of just took the whole thing & ran with it. It was like "Alright! We'll just put on as many things in the world as we can!". So, it certainly changed. I actually have a variation of the beginning of 'Raise the Sails' that sounds like an Oingo Boingo song. Its awesome!. We went back to the original drums and I heard it the other day, I had found the CD in my car and I was like man, we probably should've gone with the Oingo Boingo version, I mean, just to see our drummer now play it would probably be really funny, it's like really upbeat, it's pretty crazy.
K: So do you prefer the method of home recording or are they just different aspects entirely?
A: Total different aspects. Black Moth Super Rainbow is on our vinyl label, & they did their new record at Tarbox, which is Dave Fridmanns studio. They were there for six days & spent a couple grand. We didn't spend any money at all & made the whole record, at least from what I understand. Something about that is awesome. One guy going "Hey, what do you got? Cool, let's make it!", you're going to get something that way.
I think with how much Chris and I will second guess it & want to mess with it, it's pretty cool to have the personal rig at home, where you can be like "Do this, mess with this, fix this!" That keeps records from coming out when they're supposed to but....[laughs] and it's not that I want to see studios out of business, there's just something about it. We set it up so that we have everything "mic'd" up so if Chris is playing guitar and I go "Organ!", the organs right there. It's just a matter of assigning a track to play organ. If I want to play whatever, it's all right there and it's not that you can't do that at a regular studio but that's costing you $500. I don't want to make it sound like it's money per say, it's not necessarily that. We've been lucky enough to have pretty much good money coming in from making records. We just laughed, it was like "I made this song, what do you guys think? It wasn't recorded great, but it's a really great idea and its really cool. I recorded it last night, & it only took me an hour!" So that's really cool, we've never had that before.
K: How different was it going from always writing as a band to taking full control alongside Chris?
A: It obviously caused a big change in the band but it was something that we needed to do for a while, you know? Finally saw the writing on the wall. It was kind of how it was when I first joined the band, when I first met Chris back in LA in '97. It was like "Here's the songs that I wrote, here's what I want you to play" and that turned into a good thing for some records; a free-for-all with everybody putting their two cents in. Then it almost became sort of creative gridlock, as far as trying to force that angle as a band where we were all going to sit & write together. There would be times when everyone would just sit and stare at each other, or stare at Chris like "Okay, tell us what to do." and it's like "Okay, but you're not going to like the fact that I''m going to tell you 'okay, why don't we replace this & this just kind of eliminates that'.'" At the same time, I don't envision the future being like [nods at Nate across the room] "Here Nate, here's your bass line!" It's not going to be like that. It'll be like we're all writing together, but it's also cool knowing that the precedent is put out there that basically Chris has the final say. If he doesn't like it, then we're going to figure something out. That being said, it eliminates the weird tension. It's just something that we needed to have happen because we were always starting the songs anyway. The songs are usually always coming from guitar or whatever, but we always had that door open, & that door was always there. So yeah, that's that & it's a good thing!
K: With all of your albums showcasing so many different stages of your life and career, which album or song would you say you're most personally attached to and why?
A: Hmmm. I have to think about this for a second...[laughs]
K: You can pick one or the other!
A: [laughs] I think for an accomplishment of how difficult it actually was to do & the fact that it kind of really helped us be seen at the time as more than...mehhh, you know what, I get it. I get where 'Mare Vitalis' falls into the "emo" trap but 'Low Level', I thought was like, not drawing any comparisons whatsoever but we did the double record before Kid A came out. which I heard a lot of comparisons to. We weren't trying to do that; we were trying to get off Deep Elm to be quite honest [laughs]. That was the reason we did the two records. But to go into the studio with like, four songs, & then just say "screw it, let's just get crazy!", & we did that on tape too (we did all of those songs on tape, we used nine reels of tape!), & to actually make that be solid music from start to finish, seventy two minutes on both discs, with no gaps or real forethought with how we were gonna make these things end in the right notes to make sense, just maybe gave us more credibility as a band. It also was just a blast to have that much time & we never really got too bogged down on that. It was a lot of work, but it was more the accomplishment of it. I think in a lot of ways I'd say this record, for me personally right now. There was just a lot of stuff happening. I don't think that we were really ever going to break up, but I could see where it might still not be made yet. We just had to power through & make it happen. It was really only the second record that I had a lot to do with helping Chris with the lyrics. I normally haven't been doing that. I sort of asserted myself more, which I had made a point to do, even if he hates it. 'Cause that's sort what I used to do, just shrink away and say "you know what, it's fine." But I realize that that doesn't work in a band, & I needed to put it out there.
Song? Oh, boy. At certain times, I won't listen to it for a really long time, & then I'll listen to "Fight Song". I know that its a song that just helped us a lot. It's funny because it sort of sticks out to me on that record; it's such a little anthemic break up song. But it's really great. It's exactly what it is; it's a break up song. But I think it was supposed to be kind of like, you know, "no more break up songs, so I'm going to do one more because I'm done with all that business." There's just moments, I couldn't say just one, and I'll say "yeah that's the one!" I'll hear random stuff and go "wow! I remember when we recorded that, that's a great song, I'm gonna relearn that!" So, that's something that I've always been pretty stoked on; the idea that it can come through in waves & come back around.
[Chris walks in at this point]
K: What are you guys currently listening to?
A: Ed Shultz, & we listen to the morning briefing; it's just political talk. [looks over at Chris] I don't know, what have we been listening to? Through the whole west coast we listened to Sirius XMU. It's like their indie rock station, & I think by the end of that leg of the tour we absolutely just hated everything. We've rocked the new Mastodon a couple times; it's a pretty good record, I like it. But, gosh, I'm pretty bad when it comes to listening to music. I need to like, that should be one of my missions when I go home, I need to go buy a bunch of new records. I mean, I brought some old stuff, like some old Fugazi records. I've listened to them a few times but, it tends to be talk radio or sports [laughs].
K: In your opinion, what's been the biggest change within the music industry since you put out your first record?
A: You mean, what's changed for us?
K: Yeah!
Chris: MP3's [laughs]
A: I would have to say, some of it would be...
C: Cell phones!
A: Yeah, cell phones are pretty huge. The internet. I mean, we had internet when we started but it wasn't like, easily as readily available. There was no wireless or anything.
C: I just remember having to pull over on the side of the road somewhere & put some quarters in a phone booth and call the label & that was just ten years ago.
A: Well, outside of technology, for me, we almost broke up at one point because I had this really terrible relationship. That's kind of fixed now, & that sort of made things better. It made me see clearly that I didn't want to stop doing this, because at that point I felt like this was just a stupid idea; that being in a band was just dumb & I needed to be serious. I got caught in that, you know, and it was just...[Chris cuts him off]
C: You thought this was a stupid idea? [jokes]
A: Yeah, I did! [everyone laughs] No, I just didn't think I could handle it. I was like "I just need to get a job and blahblahblah" but I think getting those things fixed & having a better perspective, (especially this last year with some of the changes in the band that we talked about, just kind of being like "Look, this is how it's going to be & this is how we're going to deal with it."), those things definitely give things perspective as far as what we can achieve & what that even means. Sometimes in the past we had thought about "when we get a bus" or "we need to have trailers so we can have this guy come with this & we can have all this other stuff." That stuffs great if you're at a pit stop place where you need to be in the next city & you have to have a tour manager & a manager & all that stuff. This year was sort of that realization that we've never needed any of those things & I'm not looking for those things. I just have fun doing this part of it. It's fun!
K: If music wasn't an option, is there a different form of art you'd use to express yourself?
A: I paint a little bit, but I don't know that I would've ever really pursued that. I wanted to, that's why I always went to art when I was in college, but I don't know. I always thought I would've been okay at acting, I don't know why.
C: It's not too late to do that.
A: It's not too late?
K: It's never too late!
A: I always just thought I could pull that stuff off, the whole like, get lucky & be like DiNero where you just get to be yourself all the time, you know, you don't even need a script! But, if I had my choice, I'd be a professional golfer. Unfortunately, I wasn't born with the gift & you have to be born with the gift. You're either really great at it or you're not. It's just that simple. It's kind of a bitch. [looks over at Chris] You? You always wanted to write.
C: Yeah, I like writing & I'm not good but I like painting, I like pretty much any artistic activity. I kind of enjoy hacking my way through it.
A: Well, you're a woodworker now.
C: I'm a woodworker now!
A: He's building his own guitars, or getting close to it.
K: Wow, that's awesome!
K: Ok, last question. What can we look forward to from The Appleseed Cast for the remainder of 2009 and do you have any plans to tour overseas?
A: Hopefully! We've never really had everything coordinated where we go, as far as the European side of it. I've never really felt that the European side was as hooked up as it needed to be. I just want to go over there when there's like, press and promo. Because we go over there & basically just play shows and it's great. It's totally fun. But there's always that kind of like "man, we spent $5,000 on plane tickets to basically come over here and play shows!" I don't want to leave anybody out, but I'd like to go when there's a real good point to it. I think he's going to finish Old Cane's record & then I have this wild hare to score a book as a side thing, but we'll see if I can get that. Actually, we'll logistically figure it out. I don't know how many chapters in the book yet, that's kind of the road I'm on right now. I'm thinking there's actually like thirty something chapters & that's going to be really difficult [laughs]. Work on the new Appleseed Cast record! We want to start working on that as soon as possible. Pretty much just staying constantly busy & not being so with Myspace & with the digital format, sort of brace that a little bit more. And not worrying about always having to get down to "okay, here's the new full length!" you know? Just start putting out some random stuff.
K: So does that mean there may be an EP in the near future?
A: Yeah, I don't know that it'll be an Appleseed EP, but I think that it'll be, you know, something that we're working on. That's kind of what we want to do. That way, we wont tarnish the Appleseed name if it sucks! [laughs]
C: [laughs] It's so untainted!
A: [laughs] So yeah, I just want to be more productive. It was a pretty long time between this & the last album, I think it's a good thing 'cause when we go out, it's fresh. Having the studio in Chris' house is just really fun. [looks over at Chris] That'd be great too, if we could somehow just finagle you into a new house!
C: Yeah, my prospects went down the tubes a few times...
A: Our place is cool now, but it would just be really cool that have a proper...
C: I would love to have a room that sounded really good!
A: It's basically a shitty basement. Got equipment; shitty room! So, who knows!
C: Just gotta give Obama a couple six more months & we'll be fine!
A: Yeah, we'll turn this baby around!
The Appleseed Cast's new album 'Sagarmatha' is available now through Vagrant Records/The Militia Group.
Kristin Stubblefield
Save Your Breath Post New Song
Save Your Breath have posted a new song called 'The Lost Boys' on their myspace.
New Enter Shikari Video and Album Track Listing
Enter Shikari have reveleaed the track listing for their new album 'Common Dreads', as well as the video for 'Juggarnauts', which can be seen by clicking read more.
1. Common Dreads
2. Solidarity
3. Step Up
4. Juggernauts
5. Wall
6. Zzzonked
7. Havoc A
8. No Sleep Tonight
9. Gap In The Fence
10. Havoc B
11. Antwerpen
12. The Jester
13. Halcyon (intro)
14. Hectic
15. Fanfare for the Conscious Man
Young Guns Announce Headline Shows
Young Guns have announced a headline UK tour to take place in July and August.
They will also be touring in a rotating bill with Enjoy Destroy and The Crave next month, as well as an appearence as the Slam Dunk Festival in Leeds.
(Rotated Billing w/ Enjoy Destroy & The Crave)
MAY 16: BRIGHTON, Pavilion Tavern
MAY 17: SOUTHAMPTON, The Joiners
MAY 19: KINGSTON, Fighting Cocks
MAY 20: LONDON, South Of The Border
MAY 22: NOTTINGHAM, Rock City
MAY 24: LEEDS, Slam Dunk Festival
MAY 25: BOURNEMOUTH, The Gander
(Headline Shows)
JUN 18: BRIGHTON, Hot Damn @ The Ocean Rooms
JUN 19: LONDON, Hot Damn @ The Purple Turtle
JUL 18: GILLINGHAM, The Star
JUL 19: SOUTHEND, Sunrooms
JUL 21: STAINES, Sticky Fungus
JUL 22: NORTHAMPTON, Roadmenders
JUL 23: SWINDON, 12 Bar
JUL 24: MIDDLESBOROUGH, Bar Sumo
JUL 25: LEEDS, Cockpit
JUL 27: STOKE, Harry's Bar
JUL 28: CARDIFF, Barfly
JUL 29: SWANSEA, Sin City
JUL 30: EXETER, Cavern
AUG 05: BRIGHTON, Engine Rooms
AUG 06: COLCHESTER, The Twist
AUG 07: CAMBRIDGE, Man On The Moon
AUG 08: GUILDFORD, Boileroom]
AUG 09: NOTTINGHAM, Rock City
AUG 10: EDINBURGH, GRV
AUG 11: GLASGOW, Ivory Blacks
AUG 12: DUNDEE, Dexters
AUG 13: ABERDEEN, Tunnels
AUG 15: ARBROATH, Viewfields
AUG 16: LIVERPOOL, Barfly
Cave In Reunite and Plan New EP
Cave In have reunited and are planning a new vinyl-only EP, which will be available in July through Hydra Head Records. The release is titled "Planets of Old" and will feature four tracks recorded by producer Paul Q Kolderie (Pixies).
Frank Turner Signs to Epitaph Records
Frank Turner has signed to Epitaph Records but will remain on Xtra Mile Records in the UK.
This Is Hell Part ways with Trustkill Records
Long Island, NY hardcore band This Is Hell and record label Trustkill Records have parted ways after two releases together. The group has written a handful of new songs and is actively in search of a label to release their next album.
IWrestledABearOnce Posts New Song and Studio Video
'You Aint No Family' by IWrestledABearOnce can be heard on their myspace.
A studio video by IWrestledABearOnce can be seen by clicking read more below.
IWrestledABearOnce's new album, 'It's All Happening' is released on June 2nd.
Mae to Release 3 EPs Throughout 2009
Mae have announced they'll release '(M)orning', '(A)fternoon', and '(E)vening', a collection of EPs due out in April through December via Cell Records.
On Our Stereo: Kyte - Two Sparks, Two Stars
In the latest instalment of our regular 'On Our Stereo' we take a brief look at Kyte, a Leicestershire-based ambient four-piece and their late 2008 release 'Two Sparks, Two Stars'.
Kyte make music that takes you somewhere else, their blend of subtle electronic beats and ambient keys paints a wide, beautiful picture. This is the band's second release after self-titled release, also in 2008. However this release sounds more mature and to an extent, more epic.
They have released 4 tracks that will really take your breath away and each track having its own little characteristic that makes it stand out by itself, weather it be the cold undertone of 'Eyes Lose Their Fire', the electronic-heavy 'Bridges In The Sky', the dreamy cover of Peter Gabriel's 'Solisbury Hill' or The Postal Service-esque 'Lights Outside Here' with its mix of layered fast beats and slowburning guitars. All 4 tracks will leave you with much to admire for a young band that create music beyond the years.
More Information on Kyte can be found here.
Sean Reid
Free Alcopop Records Show Announced
Alcopop Records have announced they are to host a free show at the Notting Hill Arts Club in London on Saturday May 9th.
Line up:
The October Game
Stagecoach
Cat Marador
My First Tooth
Full details can be found here.
New Jeremy Engik Song Posted
'Life's Too Short' from Jeremy Engik's forthcoming new album 'Ok Bear' can be heard here.
'OK Bear' will be released on May 12, 2009.
The Rocket Summer Album Title
The Rocket Summer's new album will be called 'Of Men and Angels' and is expected to be released in late summer.
The Almost On Stickam
Fans of The Almost can now watch the band working in the studio on the band's Stickam page.
Monument, Monument Giveaway EP
Unsigned Detroit-based band Monument, Monument are giving away their 'Sleep Well When You Get There' EP for free here.
The Chariot Release New Video and Song
The Chariot's new video for 'Daggers' can be seen by clicking read more.
The Chariot's new album 'Wars, and Rumors of Wars' is released on May 5th.The Chariot - Daggers
Edit: The band have posted a new song called 'Giveth' on myspace.
New Set It Off Song Posted
Set It Off have posted 'Text Me, Kelly' from their forthcoming EP, 'Calm Before The Storm' on their myspace.
The Ghost of A Thousand Announce Slam Dunk Warm-Up Show
The Ghost Of A Thousand have announced they will play a warm-up shwo for the Slam Dunk Festival at the iBar in Bournmouth on May 20th,
New There For Tomorrow Song Posted
There For Tomorrow have posted a new song here.
There For Tomorrow will release their debut album 'A Little Faster' on June 9th.
Faith No More Plan Greatest Hits Release
Faith No More have announced they are to release a new Greatest Hits compilation on June 8th called 'The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection'.
New Isis Album Stream
Isis' new album 'Wavering Radiant' is streaming here. 'Wavering Radiant' is released on May 5th.
New Paramore Album Update
Hayley from Paramore have given an update on the bands new album, which can be read by clicking read more.
MTV confirmed the album will be released in September.
"well, we only have a couple days left to go. i feel like we just got here... and already i'm deciding what i should pack up and take home (vs. what i'm going to trash and pretend i don't care about). we've been living in a "band house" out here... all 5 of us, plus salty Brandon. it's a modest but reasonably comfortable place. i tried to make it cozy. a candle here, a poster there. i never got around to actually haaanging the poster but it sits decoratively on my dresser. i hardly packed any clothes. i guess i knew i would shop... and i did, a little. like i needed any more tshirts! all in all, packing won't be hard, so maybe i can put off thinking about that 'til the morning we fly out. that's what i usually do anyways.
today was the start of all the press for the new record. what a wake-up call! it's been a while since we've done real press and had people really drilling us... i have to say it was kind of fun talking about the new songs... but i don't think we'll ever get completely used to it. all in all, having to answer questions about the lyrics, the energy, the entire process in general, was a good way to get even more comfortable with the record we made. oh and another thing, i only had to answer one question about my hair the whole time. score.
so about these songs. what can i say? i'm stoked! i can't wait for people to hear what we've done. like it or not, i'm prouder than ever. mostly because i don't believe it happened. we made a record that is exactly what we set out to make. there's fast, there's slow, and in-between... happy, angry, desperate and over it. and i can't believe it's real.
when i started writing for the album, i was really nervous about my role and what my opinions were worth now-a-days. i figured, who is going to care what i have to say? we had a pretty successful record, we tour in a bus, buddy-up with mtv, and we recorded for the twilight soundtrack... no one wants to hear me whine. especially now! but hey, i still have a lot to say. i'm still capable of getting hurt... and capable of hurting other people... i'm still human, so i have to get it all out. i ignored the insecurities and then all the sudden, the songs were done. then, i found myself looking back on the beginning of this process as if it never existed. like the songs were just there the whole time.
most of the songs you'll hear have to do with friendship. in fact, this is the first paramore album that wasn't written mostly about love relationships. i have made a lot of friends and i've lost a lot of friends over the past couple years... and it's all gonna be there for you to dissect. i think, too, that the past couple years were some of the first times in a while that i've felt the burn of other people's ignorance... a lack of patience and a quickness to judge. it forced me to "grow up" and realize what's real. who's worth the pain and who's not. i'm most proud of these lyrics because they were the healer. a couple of these songs and their lyrics acted like some kind of therapist... forcing our band to talk out the true issues we've dealt with.. both as a band and personally. i owe a lot to these songs! of course, i'm nervous about putting it all out there on the table... but what else is there to do!? i'm just as excited to hear people's thoughts.
i gotta get to bed. more posts later!
love,
hayls bayls. (hells bells, get it?)
ps. "you don't deserve a point of view if the only thing you see is you"
Tragic Hero Records Sign Confide
Confide have signed to Tragic Hero Records and will re-record their 'Shout The Truth' record for re-release later in the year.
New A Skylit Drive Song
'Eva The Carrier' from A Skylit Drive's forthcoming new album 'Adelphia' can be heard here.
Adelphia' via Fearless Records on June 9th.
Mouthwash to Release New Album with Bonuc CD
Mouthwash will release their new album 'True Stories' on June 8th on Rebel Alliance Recordings. The album will come with a 10-track bonus CD.
1. Ask and it is given
2. A face in the crowd
3. No fear
4. N68
5. The sound
6. That Girl
7. Everyday feelin’
8. What I don’t know
9. Southbound
10. Atlantic Rd.
11. Dark was the night
12. Hazy days
Bonus Disc:
1. N68 (acoustic live)
2. Solid as a rock (live)
3. Sign of the times (unreleased)
4. I don't wanna hear it (live acoustic)
5. We evolve (live acoustic)
6. Knock on your door (demo)
7. Ask and it is given (live acoustic)
8. Fools Gold (live)
9. One in ten (demo)
10. Deeper (unreleased)
Forthcoming UK Dates:
29th April Brunel Students Union Uxbridge w/THE KING BLUES
30th April Students Union Bath w/THE KING BLUES
1st May Sin City Swansea w/THE KING BLUES
2nd May Underworld Camden, London w/SONIC BOOM SIX
3rd University Union Hull w/THE KING BLUES
22nd New Cross Inn, London
23rd May Mclusky’s Kingston on@ 5pm w/ANTI-FLAG+THE KING BLUES
24th May The Gander Bournemouth
25th May Harrys Bar Stoke
28th May Wagon and Horses Digbeth, Birmingham
29th May Ringside Hull
30th May Thatched House Stockport
31st May Rainham Mark Social Club Gillingham
26th July The Retro Bar Manchester
8th Aug Maze Nottingham w/VOODOO GLOW SKULLS
Without Thought Set To Release Debut Album
Guildford band Without Thought have announced they will release their debut album 'Get Down and Give Me Infinity' on June 29th through Regretamine/IRL.
Hatebreed Covers Album Delayed and Track Listing
Hatebreed's new covers album 'For The Lions' has been delayed till May 25th and will be released on Century Media.
1. Ghosts of War (Slayer)
2. Suicidal Maniac (Suicidal Tendencies)
3. Escape (Metallica)
4. Hatebreeders (Misfits)
5. Set It Off (Madball)
6. Thirsty And Miserable (Black Flag)
7. All I Had I Gave (Crowbar)
8. Your Mistake (Agnostic Front)
9. I’m In Pain (Obituary)
10. It's The Limit (Cro-Mags)
11. Refuse/Resist (Sepultura)
12. Supertouch (Bad Brains)
13. Evil Minds (D.R.I.)
14. Shut Me Out (Sick Of It All)
15. Sick Of Talk (Negative Approach)
16. Life Is Pain (Merauder)
17. Hear Me (Judge)
18. Boxed In (Subzero)
Free House of Brothers Show
House of Brothers have announced they will play a free show at the Vibe Bar in Shoreditch, London on May 4th. The show will see the launch of the bands new 'Document 1' EP. Support comes from Moon Music Orchestra and Tom Mansi & the Icebreakers
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
