Tag Archives: News

The Courtesans Genius Video

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We have the video for The Courtesans’ latest single, ‘Genius’.

This hard-hitting video considers the never-ending, unattainable portrayal of ‘the perfect woman’. With unavoidable advertising and mounting social pressure from both sexes, we too often witness childhoods ending all too early in favour of cheap lipstick and chicken-fillet bras as young women rise to the bait of their own growing insecurities overtly and subliminally governed by outside sources.
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Beyond this, we find the anti-ageing army of surgery toters, trading botox and collagen injections that prey on the insecure and the vulnerable. Slimming pills, eating disorders, false hair, false nails, false person, false life. To conform is never enough for as we are judged and criticised for our differences and shortfalls so too are we judged and criticised for owning a beautiful face or a curvaceous body.

The clip sees the band – our four overtly-individual heroines – being burned at the stake for refusing to sacrifice their own opinions of how beauty should be perceived and how this should remain the property and under the control of the individual. Covering tattoos with skin-coloured paint does not alter the truth of what lies beneath the paint and indeed beneath the skin.

‘Genius’ will be released as The Courtesans debut single on 25th August and available from all your favourite online retailers. It’ll be shortly followed by their long-awaited debut album ‘1917’.

 

 

Indie Band Boy+Kite Wants To Marry You

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To celebrate the release of their two new singles “Either Way” and “Turned Sideways”, indie quartet Boy+Kite will host pop-up wedding events around the U.S., kicking off in late September.

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The on-the-spot weddings are open to all couples that want to tie the knot without all the fuss. The officiant, cake, and champagne are included in your ticket, along with Boy+Kite, who will be there to serenade you and your true love on the big day.

For more information, go to http://www.boypluskite.com

 

Introducing stickybackplastics | Music Profile

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stickybackplastics is all about about dark, bluesy, heavy hooks with a noise-rock undertone. Grinding riffs, brooding basslines. Epic vocals. Music to make your hair stand on end. The York-based alt-blues three-piece are- Roz Walker (guitar) and Heather Niven (vocals), alongside Dom Smith on drums.

The band came together with a simple desire to create music to soundtrack the world’s best and worst heartbreaks.

Stating their influences as Garbage, PJ Harvey and Portishead, the band are “driven by a shared desire to create great guitar and blues-driven rock music that emotes any type of emotion in the listener”.

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Roz and Heather met at a way-too-grown-up garden party in deepest North Yorkshire, and quickly realised they had a great synergy for all things creative.

Vocalist Heather says: “There is something instant, forceful and immediate about singing, there is an excitement and passion like nothing I get from painting. Have you ever had goosebumps from looking at a painting? Music reaches a different part of you.”

Roz and Heather have been working together as artists for a number of years before their began exploring their collective musical potential. The track on the debut EP were built by Roz a number of years ago, and they’d been looking for a drummer to turn their work into a proper band. Following a number of meetings over the years between Heather and disabled entrepreneur Dom Smith within York’s vast creative network, a friendship grew that led to him becoming the drummer and perfecting the trio.

Their debut EP, a self-titled introduction to stickybackplastics recorded at The White Rooms, York, UK, is available on Bandcamp: http://stickybackplastics.bandcamp.com – fans just need to name their price

In the coming months stickybackplastics will be releasing an EP of remixes, followed by a new music release by the end of the year.

 

 

The Travelling Band Announce Third Album The Big Defreeze

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Manchester five-piece The Travelling Band, famed for their wonderful live prowess and feel-good epic-folk, have announced the upcoming release The Big Defreeze. The album is hugely anticipated following a three-year gap since their last long-player, Screaming is Something, received both critic and fan adulation.

Despite a long gap between album two and three, The Travelling Band have experienced anything but a hiatus, instead taking the time to hone and enhance their already much loved trademark sound. The Travelling Band departed from their last tour in 2011 – which saw them enthral the United States at SXSW – and have since patiently crafted their own personal recording studio, forged a record label and also revolutionised their horizons through remix collaborations with mix legend and Grammy award-winner Chris Lord-Alge. This break between releases has seen The Travelling Band become musical artisans, hugely benefiting The Big Defreeze as a result.

The Travelling Band new album

Produced by Iestyn Polson (Patti Smith, David Bowie) at the ethereally iconic Church Studios, The Big Defreeze oozes with creative freedom and massive landscapes, embodying The Travelling Band’s album gap. Standout track Passing Ships is a marauding beauty that hops, skips and jumps amid a backdrop of pop perfection, deeply breathing in a glorious, vast headspace. Polson has expertly captured The Travelling Band’s eminent live act into a long-player that is second-for- second as equally explosive, giddy and wonderful as a Travelling Band gig.

The Travelling Band’s The Big Defreeze is personified by blissfully clean compositions that still harbour a rough and determined bite. Part E-Street Band and Faces submerged in 21st century gleam and shine, The Big Defreeze will delight and mesmerize deeply-rooted Travelling Band fanatics and newcomers alike; reminiscent of an introduction to a person, whom you could have sworn you met before, whom you fall in love instantly.

The Travelling Bands’ third album The Big Defreeze will be released on Sideways Saloon/Republic of Music on August 25th on limited edition yellow vinyl, 2 disc deluxe CD and digital formats.

The band will also set off in August for the following tour dates:

AUG

8 – CROPREDY FESTIVAL, NR. BANBURY

16 – UNDRESSED FESTIVAL, HALLE ST. PETERS, MANCHESTER

23 – GREEN BELT FESTIVAL, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

30 – OFF THE TRACKS FESTIVAL, DERBYSHIRE

SEPT

7 – SC4M FESTIVAL, WINCHESTER

12 – THE INSTITUTE, KELVEDON, ESSEX

14 – SHREWSBURY FIELDS FESTIVAL

OCT

2 KENDAL, THE BREWERY

3 LEEDS, BRUDENELL

8 LIVERPOOL, THE KAZIMIER

9 EDINBURGH, VOODOO ROOMS

10 GLASGOW, BROADCAST

11 LETHAM, LETHAM HALL

22 LONDON, THE LEXINGTON

24 OXFORD, ARTS BAR (BULLINGDON ARMS)

25 BRISTOL, THE LOUISIANA

28 BRIGHTON, GREEN DOOR STORE

NOV

28 HURST GREEN, VILLAGE HALL

 

 

 

Newcastle’s Kosoti to Release Bark and Sticks

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Kosoti are a six piece alt folk/indie pop group based in the North East of England, UK.


After a near death experience in 2013, lead singer and songwriter Allan Hyslop realised he needed to treasure every moment of his life by doing what he loved most, writing and performing music. 
 
Once the band had formed they travelled a long way very quickly. After only six months they released ‘War’ and ‘Pirouettes’, a double ‘A’ sided digital single and video, before releasing the beautiful ‘Cradle’ EP, with its lush, homemade video complimenting the feeling of the title track perfectly.  Both releases brought Kosoti critical acclaim and word spread, ensuring the band performed their debut show at Sage Gateshead Hall Two to a sell out audience.Kosoti
Having already performed sessions for BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio and Metro Radio in their short career, their new single ‘Bark and Sticks’ is eagerly awaited by fans and media outlets alike.
 
‘Bark and Sticks’ boasts the beautiful vocal harmonies that are quickly becoming Kosoti’s trademark, with an infectious up-tempo melody that will no doubt draw comparisons to The Magic Numbers and Damien Rice.

 

 

Live Music In The Oscar Wilde Bar at Hotel Café Royal

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Live Music In The Oscar Wilde Bar at Hotel Café Royal jasmineflowers

Commencing in July, guests in Hotel Café Royal’s exquisite Oscar Wilde Bar can enjoy live music from singer Jessica Sweetman every Tuesday and Wednesday evening from 7pm. Sweetman has played alongside musicians such as Jools Holland, and at events including Benicassim festival in Spain. She will be featured on BBC Radio London at her first session at Hotel Café Royal. The breathtaking Oscar Wilde Bar (formerly the iconic Grill Room) has been stunningly restored to its authentic Louis XVI detailing. The room oozes grandeur and sophistication, offering the perfect place to enjoy the selection of creative cocktails and live music. http://www.hotelcaferoyal.com/

 

Allusondrugs September Tour | Music News

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Allusondrugs have announced their September tour dates.
 

Their Eponymous EP

 

Release Date: 21st July 2014 on Clue Records

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Allusondrugs formed in 2012 in West Yorkshire when Jason Moules (Vocals), Drey Pavlovic (Guitar), Damo Hughes (Guitar/Vocals/Effects), Jemal Malki (Bass) and Connor Fisher-Atack (Drums) came together after meeting on the Leeds music scene.  Influenced by Nirvana, Deftones, My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth and known for their blisteringly intense guitar rock sound, the band have attracted national press attention and a huge following of fans who are drawn to their captivating live performances.

 

The Allusondrugs EP was recorded and produced in one week at Greenmount Studios in Armley, Leeds. The record was tracked live to analogue tape as band members performed together in one room.  Although additional overdubs and vocals were added complete the tracks, the core of the recording was done live in an attempt to capture the band’s energy on record.

 

 

Social Links:

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Tour Dates:

 

JULY

5th July = The Wardrobe, Leeds (Futuresound Competition)

11th July = Exchange Arts Centre, Keighley

12th July = The Works Skatepark, Leeds

17th July = Proud Galleries, Camden

20th July = The Rocking Chair, Sheffield

25th July = Tramlines Festival, Sheffield (Millenium Galleries)

26th July = Lounge 41, Workington

27th July = Clarence Festival, Wakefield

 

 AUGUST

1st August = The Puzzle Hall, Sowerby Bridge

2nd August = Temple of Boom, Leeds

7th August = Bar Bloc, Glasgow

14th August = Wharf Chambers, Leeds

 

SEPTEMBER

 

11th September = The 13th Note, Glasgow

12th September = Downstairs, Aberdeen

13th September = Pickett, Liverpool

14th September = Think Tank, Newcastle

15th September = Static Bar, Swansea

16th September = Red Rooms, Nottingham

17th September = The Garage (upstairs), London

18th September = Sticky Mikes, Brighton

19th September = The Crauford Arms, Milton Keynes

20th September = Huddlefest, Huddersfield

21st September = Boiler Room, Guildford

22nd September = Joiners, Southampton

 

 

The Sunday Reeds | Music Profile

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The Jesus and Mary Chain Meets Marianne Faithful: It’s Australia’s The Sunday Reeds.

Their new EP ‘Amour Tragique’ on Heartgun Records

 

Release Date: 1st August 2014

Format: Digital Download 

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L-R: Jeremy Russell, Romana Ashton and Drew Jones.  Photo by Rex Francis

 

 

 

The Sunday Reeds, named after Melbourne’s celebrated patron of the arts Sunday Reed, are Romana Ashton and Drew Jones.  Though forming in 2009 as a duo, they soon started playing live as a three-piece and are regularly joined on stage by drummer Jeremy Russell.


 

Their first release ‘Drowning in History’ (2009) caught the attention of UK indie label Squirrel Records leading to extensive touring across Australia, the UK and Europe, during which bridges were burned, relationships ended and nervous breakdowns became commonplace.  At one point the founding duo spent three days in Paris where the most romantic city in the world became an ironic backdrop for a particularly bitter relationship break up, one that culminated in their latest EP ‘Amour Tragique’ (Tragic Love).

 

A collection of five songs that detail doomed romances and love lost, ‘Amour Tragique’ combines the grittiness and angst of ‘90s grunge with the pop sensibilities of ‘60s pop, rock ‘n’ roll, a good measure of old fashioned blues and ‘80s new wave/post punk.

 

With contralto female vocals likened to Marianne Faithfull and Shirley Manson, and a rock ‘n’ roll swagger reminiscent of The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and Nirvana, The Sunday Reeds skillfully combine the most exciting elements of rock ‘n’ roll to create lyrically rich, infectiously melodic songs with a sound distinctly their own.

 

‘Amour Tragique’ will be launched at The Old Bar, Melbourne on Saturday July 5th.

 

Videos for the singles taken from the EP ‘Jean-Luc’ (a song about the tumultuous relationship between Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina) and ‘Something About You’ (a dark pop song about love and loss) will be released later in 2014.

 

Discography

 

Amour Tragique (EP 2014 – Heartgun Records)

Drowning in History (LP Vinyl Re-Release) (2013 – Heartgun Records)

Kill This Party/Fall from Grace (Single – 2012 – Heartgun Records)

Dark Rainbows (EP – 2011 – Squirrel Records UK)

Drowning in History (LP – 2009-Squirrel Records UK)