Vinyl and CD Copies of the new Frank and Walters album Greenwich Mean Time are now available to order:
Downloads available as always on ITunes
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Dropkick - Time Cuts the Ties. Plus 59 FREE previously unreleased songs for download.
“Time Cuts The Ties” is Dropkick’s 4th release on Swedish label Sound Asleep Records. Coming less than 6 months after their 2010 Christmas EP “25th December”, the album sees the band reverting back to their original line-up with the return of founding member Ian Grier after a 5 year break. “Time Cuts The Ties” is Dropkick’s most varied and accomplished collection of songs to date, demonstrating a new maturity in their songwriting and arrangements. The generous sprinkling of piano, organ and strings has added new textures and an extra dimension to their already well established alt-country powerpop sound.
Dropkick’s profile has risen significantly since the release of their self-titled debut album in 2001. The band have now released a further 9 albums and 2 EPs, mainly on their own label Taylored Records label. Their 2008 album “Dot The i” was re-issued on Rock Indiana Records of Spain and was also made “album of the week” on BBC Radio Nan Gaidheal’s Rapal show. Since autumn 2008, Dropkick have released material on Sound Asleep Records of Sweden, including the critically acclaimed albums “Patchwork” and “Abelay Hotel”.
Dropkick have played hundreds of gigs (including several headline Scottish tours, the Darvel Festival, Tartan Heart Festival, International Pop Overthrow Festival and most recently, 4 sell-out headline shows in Spain) in the past 5 years. They have also had significant airplay over the same period, including BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio Scotland’s Tom Morton, Brand New Country, Get It On, Vic Galloway and Janice Forsyth shows. Many local UK radio stations also regularly play Dropkick’s music, as well as countless stations throughout the world, particularly in Spain where the popularity of the band’s music has increased dramatically thanks to the internet. Dropkick have performed 10 songs live on the Tom Morton Show on BBC Radio Scotland, firstly on an outside broadcast in July 2007 and then at the BBC studios in Nov 2007, the latter being part of a Children In Need special. They also played live on the same station’s ‘Highland Café’ show in July 2008 and again in July 2009.
In recent years Dropkick have shared the stage with acts such as Marc Olson, Seasick Steve, The Primary 5, Half Man Half Biscuit, Snow Patrol, Kit Clark (ex Danny Wilson), Nigel Clark (Dodgy), Sid Griffin, Roddy Hart and ‘Guitar George’ Borowski.
The album can be downloaded from the following sites:
Physical copies can be purchased via Amazon on the bands site or through Sound asleep Records.
Dropkick recently made 59 previously unreleased recordings free to download from their website: HERE all of which are well worth downloading, but don't stop there, the bands previous recordings are all highly recommended.
or contact via
Monday, March 19, 2012
Silver Sun - Disappear Here
Disappear Here is an album that is built to be enjoyed in the classic Silver Sun style. This is how pop music should be made; ten tracks and it`s all over in exactly thirty minutes as the band adhere to the three-minute template of the perfect pop record. It`s impossible not to get that adrenalin rush you get from hearing boisterous guitar pop catchier than a dose of chicken pox. You just can`t help but to want to dance to this record. Nowhere is this more evident than on the first single taken from the album, `Bubblegum`. As the album opener this sets out the Silver Sun manifesto in three perfect minutes. The guitars crunch gloriously, while the melodies forcefully implant themselves in your brain. By the time the `na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na` section kicks in it`s sugar-coated power-pop heaven.. hopefully the world will be ready this time around for Silver Sun`s brand of high energy power-pop and this album will see the band back in the spot-light in 2005. As James Broad advises in the sleeve-notes, `the way to enjoy this? - play it loud.-Americana-UK.com.
Listen:HERE
Friday, March 16, 2012
Phenomenal Cat.....A single a month for the whole of 2012......FREE DOWNLOADS!!!
Since they all lost their jobs at Woolworths, Phenomenal Cat have made the most of their free time writing and rehearsing a load of new tunes in a small room above a local greasy spoon. 'Sugary Tea' has been their hallucinogenic of choice and helped fuel a batch of new songs about love, money, jobs, sex and 21st century England.
January's release "Letters Home From Nazi Occupied France" a song written from the perspective of a front line soldier in the trenches during World War 2, is a really well crafted piece of power/indie pop with overtones of The Kinks (maybe not surprising given the bands name is a Kinks song) and The Doors amongst others, this really is a great piece of music and a great song.
Februarys release, "Ramshackle Heart." Once again a well crafted number with lyrics suggesting love is like Richard and Judy (A husband and wife morning TV presentation team)....brilliant and humorous!
"Postcards from the British Empire" is another blinding song, both lyrically and musically. Phenomenal Cat are writing in a style that relates to the now in the same way that Blur wrote in the 90's and The Kinks wrote in the 60's, these are great songs backed with some real ear pleasing tunes, the only downside to Phenomenal Cat and it really is quite terrible....is that we have to wait another month for the next song to come out, I don't like to wish my time away, but I am looking forward to playing the 12 tracks that the band produce this year in one go, I hope they can keep up the momentum and continue to release 9 more songs of the same brilliance as these.
Phenomenal Cat are:
Samuel Carney (Guitars, Organ, Mellotron and Voice)
Ben Day (Drums & Percussion)
Natalie Kuroczycki (Bass Guitar)
Mik Peirson (Guitar & Voice)
Other musicians:
Dan Whitehouse (Trumpet)
Ben Day (Drums & Percussion)
Natalie Kuroczycki (Bass Guitar)
Mik Peirson (Guitar & Voice)
Other musicians:
Dan Whitehouse (Trumpet)
Download "Letters from occupied France" HERE and navigate to the side bar on the right hand side of the bandcamp page to download the singles for February and March.
The band are pressing a limited 25 cd singles for each song and they are currently being sold in a charity shop, with the total sales price all going to that charity. If you want to collect the whole 12, contact the band and I am sure they will sort something out....all for charity....what lovely people as well as a great band!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Femme Fatale - Fading Night Sounds FREE DOWNLOAD
The primordial core of FEMME FATALE born during the summer of 2007. Rox and Mick, high school’s mates, met Dave, a Mick's old time friend. Rox and Dave discovered to havea common passion for indie rock and played music, so they had the idea to form a band, getting Mick involved.
Only two guitars and the vocalist were ready. Looking for a drummer, Rox thought of a guy met during the just finished summer at the Arctic Monkeys’ gig in Turin: Nick. About the bass guitar, they decided to entrust this role to Mick. With the confirmation of Nick, the personnel of the band was ready. The monicker FEMME FATALE got chosen, as homage for a certain kind of woman’s charm and for Velvet Underground’s song, dedicated to Edie Sedgwick.
In October of 2008 the band cuted their its first “single”: You’re The One. In September 2010 they’ve released their first, totally self-produced, EP ”Fading Night Sounds”.
Later they began to pursue the goal of playing live as much as possible. The route brougth them to Milan, Florence, Genoa, Turin, Ferrara, Pavia, Biella, Novara, to mention few. The Femme Fatale’s style begins to be forged: emotional and tough, cynical and meteorosensitivity.
The band is now composing new songs whose sound is slowly detaching from the initial Brit Pop. It’s opening itself to other sounds always connected to the North American independent scene which developed during the 90s.
Only two guitars and the vocalist were ready. Looking for a drummer, Rox thought of a guy met during the just finished summer at the Arctic Monkeys’ gig in Turin: Nick. About the bass guitar, they decided to entrust this role to Mick. With the confirmation of Nick, the personnel of the band was ready. The monicker FEMME FATALE got chosen, as homage for a certain kind of woman’s charm and for Velvet Underground’s song, dedicated to Edie Sedgwick.
In October of 2008 the band cuted their its first “single”: You’re The One. In September 2010 they’ve released their first, totally self-produced, EP ”Fading Night Sounds”.
Later they began to pursue the goal of playing live as much as possible. The route brougth them to Milan, Florence, Genoa, Turin, Ferrara, Pavia, Biella, Novara, to mention few. The Femme Fatale’s style begins to be forged: emotional and tough, cynical and meteorosensitivity.
The band is now composing new songs whose sound is slowly detaching from the initial Brit Pop. It’s opening itself to other sounds always connected to the North American independent scene which developed during the 90s.
Free Download of Fading Night Sounds: HERE
Femme Fatale shall be playing 15th May at the Cavern Pub Liverpool and May 16th Cavern Club Liverpool as part of the International Pop Festival.
Contact and Like Femme Fatale here: FACEBOOK
Red Jacket Mine - "Listen Up (If the World is Going to Hell)" Limited edition 7" single
The latest incarnation of Red Jacket Mine finds Barr, who also serves as guitarist in Seattle power-pop heavy hitters Stag, marrying that band’s penchant for the sub-three-minute pop gem with his love for vintage soul and ’70s British pub rock. The results are thrilling, infusing Red Jacket Mine’s trademark commitment to songcraft with a welcome dose of humor and devil-may-care kineticism.
After club-testing the new songs in early 2011, the band and Sangster entered Seattle’s Avast! Studios and emerged with material for two singles. The first – the Curtis Mayfield-meets-Nick Lowe soul of “Listen Up (If the World is Going Hell)” [FIN-LE7-014] – was released as a limited-edition 7″ on Fin Records in February 2012, and is currently in rotation on KEXP 90.3FM.
Read and interview with Lincoln Barr here: Seattle Weekly Interview
Recommended if you like: Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Nick Lowe, Alex Chilton, Squeeze, Graham Parker, Steely Dan, 10cc, Paul Weller
Red Jacket Mine are:
Lincoln Barr (vocals/guitar)
Matthew Cunningham (bass)
Andy Salzman (drums/vocals)
Matthew Cunningham (bass)
Andy Salzman (drums/vocals)
Find Red Jacket Mine around the web and buy the record here:
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The Stands - All Years Leaving
U.K. quartet the Stands traffic in gentle jangle pop rooted in the Byrds and the '60s West Coast sound, the mid-'60s Beatles, country Dylan, and in their missing and missed countrymen the La's. Their debut album, All Years Leaving, is coated in honey-sweet vocal harmonies, rollicking tempos, gently strummed guitars, and a general sense of easy nostalgia. Many, many bands have treaded this leaf-strewn, autumnal path and the Stands don't do much to distance themselves from the pack, nor do they stumble significantly. Middle of the packers then and that's not so bad. In fact, it is unfailingly pleasant. The tunes tend to blend together in a sepia-toned wave of gentle melancholia, but there are worse ways to spend 40 minutes. There are even a few that you will want to throw on mixtapes, like the dreamy opener, "I've Waited So Long"; "The Love You Give," which has a languid beat, slow-motion guitar plucking, and fine la-la-la backing vocals; and the album's crown jewel, "Here She Comes Again." It's definitely a cousin to the La's' "There She Goes," with a lovingly similar melody (and an almost direct lift from the Cars' "My Best Friend's Girl"), but it adds some Byrds-y 12-string and an emotion-packed bridge that does what a bridge should and jumps the song's intensity up a notch. It's the kind of song that you will want to listen to about five times in a row every time you hear it, the kind of song that would make you want this album even if the rest stunk. If they can come up with a couple more like it on their next record, they might take a giant step to the front of the pack. Until then, All Years Leaving is a fine, solid debut. -All music guide
Listen: HERE
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