Tag Archives: Music

Band of Holy Joy Release When a Gift is a Curse

Posted on by

Their new single on Radio Joy

When a Gift is a Curse

Release date: June 16th
Format: Digital Download

For 30 years original Rough Trade Alumini The Band Of Holy Joy have been a main part of the rich tapestry of alternative urban folk punk groups emanating from the UK. The band continues to write about the same outsider concerns with the same measure of spirit and care and man, they still put on a show.

Band of Holy Joy

n the back of great reviews for their latest album ‘Easy Listening’ and to coincide with the band’s appearance, where they headline the second stage at the NME C86 festival at London’s 229 Club on June 14th, Band Of Holy Joy are releasing a digital single ‘When A Gift Is A Curse’ through their own label Radio Joy on Monday 16th June 2014.

The song is a glam hymn to both good living and bad livers and pays tribute to the wayward genius that was George Best.

This is a first in a series of libationary singles spaced six weeks apart and dedicated totally to the joys and pains, the triumphs and tribulations, the art and indeed style attendant to the age old right now remember then forget about tomorrow, beautiful and ugly, sordid and sensual pastime of the older person’s habitual alcohol consumption.

“It’s become something of a tradition for Band Of Holy Joy to release my favourite album of any given year… When A Gift Is A Curse concerns the notion of destructive talent, with George Best taking a leading role…”
Louder Than War, rating 9/10

“..this band still revels in their own potency.”
The Daily Mirror, rating 4/5

“Band Of Holy Joy are an unsung British institution that understands the human heart.”
Mojo, rating 4/5

Villiers – The Dancer

Posted on by

Release Date: Thursday 12th June 2014

Format: Digital Download

“The Dancer weaves its hypnotic magic from the off, with Ben Earnshaw driving the front vocals over yearning guitars, synth and tribal drum beats – the latter excelling where the track rides to its closing notes.”

Little Indie Blogs

villiers

Hailing from Lancashire, Villiers are an Alternative/ New Wave outfit who cite the iconic sounds of New Order and Echo and the Bunnymen as major musical influences. Lyrical inspiration comes from dystopian writers such as J.G Ballard and George Orwell. Since their formation in 2011 the band have released three studio EPs (Light the Fuse, Into the Haze and VLRS) earning them praise and recognition from radio DJs, bloggers and music magazines across the world.

Last summer saw Villiers break onto the UK festival scene with a slot at BeatHerder alongside Clean Bandit, TOY, Temples, Chic ft Nile Rodgers and Groove Armada. This year they played their first headline show at Manchester’s Night and Day, a performance that sealed their reputation as one of the region’s most exciting and innovative new bands.

‘The Dancer’ was recorded and engineered by Nick Gizzi at The Den.

See Villiers live at The Grand, Clitheroe on June 21st 2014 with more dates to be confirmed.

 

 

Tree Dwellers Release Come Up and See

Posted on by

Their new track released on Melted ONE

Come Up and See

Release Date: May 30th 2014

Format: Digital Download

Tree Dwellers Release 'Come Up and See'

Father and son, Mark and Jake Haslam have come together to form Tree Dwellers, a project born to push the boundaries between funk and electronica.  Beautifully produced drums, groove filled basslines and intricate strings evoke images of watching the sunset from the terrace of Ibiza’s Café Del Mar.

 

Tree Dwellers appear on Melted ONE, a compilation featuring a range of artists who are uniting to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and The Teenage Cancer Trust.  All the profits from the sale of Melted ONE will be donated to both charities.

 

<iframe width=”100%” height=”450″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”no” src=”https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/149848508&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;visual=true”></iframe>

 

The Melted ONE project is proud to be part of #greatmusicforabettercause, a movement that unites a diverse group of musicians who are all lending their support to this initiative.

 

Melted ONE will be available on iTunes from May 30th.  All those who purchase the album will receive a bonus ‘Thank You’ Track.

 

Jake Evans Unveils Video For This is Life

Posted on by

Release Date: Monday 16th June 2014

Format: Digital Download

jakeevans

JAKE EVANS, songwriter and co-frontman of Bad Lieutenant alongside Bernard Sumner, and featuring Stephen Morris and Blur’s Alex James, releases his highly anticipated second solo single.

Based in Macclesfield, in the north west of England, it was the reputation of Jake Evans’ first band Rambo & Leroy that brought him to the attention of New Order’s Bernard Sumner. The subsequent success of Bad Lieutenant earned Jake his status as one of the UK’s most exciting musicians, leading to invitations to open for Paul Weller, New Order, Johnny Marr and Doves’ Jimi Goodwin. Jake is now so well established it comes as a surprise to many that ‘This Is Life’ is only his second solo single release.

With the likes of Bernard Sumner describing Jake’s debut single as “triumphant”, Xfm’s Clint Boon declaring that “it doesn’t get much better than this”, highly praised appearances at Festival No 6 and the iconic Jodrell Bank music festival, Jake Evans is attracting a large and ever-growing following of fans who are hooked by his heartfelt lyrics and effortlessly cool brand of post-rock indie.

This Is Life is a sweeping anthem blending influences from pop, rock and soul to create a euphoric soundscape, driven by Jake’s masterful guitar playing and unmistakable vocals.

The Sons To Headline First Off Axis Show

Posted on by

Their New Single

Relic

Release Date: Monday 30th June 2014 as a digital download

Relic is a heartfelt and gentle song that showcases singer Paul Herron’s accomplished vocal performance against a simple yet effective piano and guitar accompaniment, but the song’s lyrics come from a place of mourning for what has passed.

The Sons to Headline First Off Axis Show
L-R: Roger Millichamp (Drums), Paul Herron (Vocals, Piano & Guitar),

Steven Herron (Vocals, Guitar & Keyboards), Stewart English (Vocals & Guitar), Lee Blades (Vocals & Bass).

The Sons, an independent British five piece from Derby, draw inspiration for their alternative guitar pop from the likes of Crowded House, Wilco, Paul Simon and Fleetwood Mac, to create a current sound with a timeless feel.

They are masters at coupling upbeat, catchy songs with rather dark, complex lyrics about the pains and hardships of life. Having toured the UK & Europe extensively, The Sons have attracted a large and a very loyal following with fans fully funding the making of the band’s third studio album, ‘Heading Into Land’. This record hit the UK album charts upon its release in March 2014, marking a new chapter for the band.

The premiere single from the album, ‘Death Love Money’ was released in January 2014. The video received 20,000 views within a week of release and Sony then chose the band as a feature artist for their Xperia Lounge app. The Sons have been featured on BBC Radio’s ‘Introducing’, chosen as Tuborg’s ‘Spotlight Artist to Watch’ and included on Jonathan L’s list of ‘Ones to Watch in 2014’.

‘Relic’, the band’s second single from their new album, showcases their softer side. This alt-pop ballad features Paul Herron on piano and tells the story of a man who feels a universal, post-break-up emptiness – “I’m just what’s left of you and me”. He continues to pursue his big dreams and as the song progresses, he becomes more and more successful, finally becoming the “creator of every particle you see”, yet he still feels only emptiness, a shell of the man he once was, a relic.

Tour Dates:
31 May – Hucknall Fake Festival

31 May – Summer Gathering Festival (headline set)

7 June – The Venue, Derby – Off Axis Show

20 June – The Cookie Club, Nottingham

28 June – The Goodship, London – Relic Release Party

The Talks Release Radio | Music News

Posted on by

Their new single on All Our Own Records

Radio

 

Release Date: 30th June

Format: Digital Download

 

“There aren’t many bands that are good enough to catch the attention of members of The Specials, but then there aren’t many bands like The Talks. Proving that hard work, persistence and a pocket full of irresistibly catchy tunes can pay dividends” – Music radar

 

thetalks

L-R: Jody Moore, Pat Pretorius, Iain Allen, Richard “Titch” Lovelock

 It’s an exciting time for The Talks and the release of new single ‘Radio’ is only going to add to the buzz that surrounds this four piece from Hull.  The band have built up a reputation across Europe for bouncing, blistering live shows supporting the likes of The Specials, Rancid, Madness, The Beat, King Blues and The Toasters.

 

Their 2012 single ‘Can Stand The Rain’ featured the legendary Neville Staple of The Specials and had over 55,000 views in its first week on YouTube. 2013 saw the release of their ‘West Sinister’ EP, which received fantastic reviews and airplay on both Ska and mainstream stations across Europe, leading to The Talks being invited to appear at a large number of festivals across the continent, including the famous Mighty Sounds Festival (CZ), Rebellion (UK), Galtres (UK) and This is Ska (DE).

 

The success of The Talks last single ‘Don’t look behind you’ has brought the band to an even bigger audience and with sellout shows and invites to play across more European festivals including Boomtown (UK), Sapi Festival (FR), Camden Rocks and Fusion Festival (DE) amongst many others.

 

Lead vocalist Pat says “it is amazing to see so many people showing up to the gigs and seeing such great reviews from the likes of Team Rock, Punk Archives and Louder than War to name a few. Truly makes us happy to know that driving miles and miles in the tour bus is worthwhile when we know people out there are digging it.”

 

Further proof that The Talks are on the receiving end of a huge amount of attention from all corners comes in the form of tweets praising the band from big hitters ‘Less Than Jake’, ‘Sonic Boom Six’ and Itch from King Blues; glowing reviews, front cover features and appearances on various UK TV networks.

 

The Talks highly anticipated debut album ‘Commoners, Piers, Drunks and Thieves’ is released later in the year.

 

 

Scarlet Starlings | Music Profile

Posted on by

music profileAlbum released June 1st 2014 Unsigned. Independent release.

Scarlet Starlings are a London-based folk rock band made up of cousins, siblings and significant others. They grew up listening to their large musical family playing jangly folk music like Fairport Convention, Crosby, Stills & Nash and The McGarrigles. Granny Maisie, the family matriarch, taught each of them how to play on an old Takamine guitar held together by a piece of Meccano nailed to the bridge. Mike Scott brought his love of electro pop and Grant Lee Buffalo to the mix – he and Sara-Mae have been writing songs together for years. Now, they love bands like Fleet Foxes, Sufjan Stevens, Conor Oberst and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Their sound will take you down some unexpected roads where folk, indie and alt country deliciously combine with harmonies and sweet melodic riffs.

They are Sara-Mae and Mike Scott, Simon Tuson, Joe and Jen Tuson and Talitha Gamaroff.

 

Their music was on the soundtrack of 2011 Portabello Film Festival award winning documentary, ‘Hard to Get: From Patient to PinUp. One of their songs ‘Ransom’ was played on Gary Crowley’s BBC London Calling radio show. They have played at festivals Lakefest 2013, Shuffle Fest London 2013 and a variety of venues across London including The Old Queens Head Islington, Folklore at the Half Moon in Putney, Into the Warm at The Harrison Kings Cross and many more.

The debut album has been a year in the making and includes these 9 tracks:
1. You Give It All Away 2. So Glad You Stayed 3. Anyone Can Say I Love You 4. The Wolf 5. Death of Innocence 6. Montauk 7. Beckons 8. Don’t Fix it 9. Shape You’re In
It was mostly recorded at a small studio just outside Oxford, England. Jason King at Shed Studios recorded So Glad You Stayed, The Wolf, Montauk, You Give It All Away and Beckons. John Laurence (of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci) and Geraint Jones mixed and mastered those tracks. Daniel Green of Laish mixed and mastered Anyone Can Say I Love You, Death of Innocence, Don’t Fix it and Shape You’re In.

 

 

Lovesick Saints | Music Profile

Posted on by

These guys are a personal favourite of mine, I love War Story and listen to it on repeat. It starts with bagpipes playing ‘Amazing Grace’ and then goes into a brilliant song. They may be lovesick, now so am I.

Love Saints Band/Artist: Lovesick Saints
Location: Scottsdale AZ.
Styles: Alternative Punk
Similar to/RIYL: Bad Religion, Social Distortion, Pennywise, Alkaline Trio, Face to Face, The Ramones
CD: Dia De Los Muertos
Release date: 6/19/13

Members/Instruments: Tom Holliday (Guitars/Vocals), Jarrod Olson (Bass), Christian Howell (Drums/Backing Vocals)

Production: Recorded at Pyramix Studios (Glendale,AZ) Mixed at The Salt Mine Studios (Mesa,AZ) Mastered at Gateway Mastering (Portland, ME)

Tracklisting: 1) Dia De Los Muertos 2) Sick and Broken 3) One Foot in The Grave 4) War Story 5) This Aint It 6) Empty

Bio:
Born in 2007 in Chandler Az, Lovesick Saints was a formation of Tom Holliday on guitar/vocals, his brother Davy Joe on bass/vocals and Sun Yun on drums. Initially mixing the old skool country sound with old skool punk rock, Lss eventually evolved into the rhythm-driven Alt-punk rock sound it is today. Although heavily influenced by early punk pioneers such as the Ramones and the Clash, Lss continues to push forward, incorporating fundamental punk music principles with messages from life’s ups and downs of today.

Christian Howell joined the project in 2010 when Sun departed ways and moved to California to pursue another career. Possessing similar musical interests and undeniable dedication, Lss was honored to welcome the new punk rocker to the line up with his undeniable rhythm capabilities. When Davy Joe left the band for personal reasons in 2012, thats when Tom turned to long time friend and fellow musician Jarrod Olson. Having worked with Jarrod on an earlier project years ago, Tom knew he would be a perfect fit. With Jarrod’s unrelenting grunge-era bass technique, this Seattle-born musician was exactly what the band needed to complete it’s line up.

Lovesick Saints has played numerous venues in the Maricopa county area of AZ and looks forward to expanding its sound outside the borders of its home state. The band has released 4 studio EPs: The Punk Rock Honky Tonk, Resurwreckshun, Outside Looking In and its recent “Dia de los Muertos” EP was released in June 2013.