Artist Highlight: Jan Roth

Today we had a chat with new artist Jan Roth. His brilliant debut album L.O.W , will be released on 29th July 2013. The album is packed with majestic and quirky melodies that strike a fine balance between post-rock, electronica and chamber music.

Let¹s begin by having you introduce yourself and declare your onstage weapon of choice:
I prefer quiet places. I'm very healthy, because I laugh a lot. My favourite animal is the sloth, a remarkably slick creature: too slow to be seen by predators; bumblebees are very cool, too. I like a simple life. My favourite colours are blue, green, yellow, and red, everything else is black and white.
When I say something, (some) people, including myself, have difficulties to recognize whether i'm just joking or actually serious. Music was my first love and it will be my last.
My onstage weapon of choice: no choice.



If you could create a new genre for your music, which one would it be:
Happy metal..?

Name the poster was hanging on your bedroom wall when you were fifteen:
I never gave my posters any names ... but seriously, don't remember.

Top tracks that been warming your iPod or spinning on Spotify recently:
I'm more like an old fashioned album listener.
MF Doom - Special Herbs
Alva Noto/Ryuichi Sakamoto - Insen
Miles Davis - Four & More Recorded Live In Concert
Atoms for Peace - Amok
Jim Black Trio - Somatic

Name one of your musical guilty pleasures:
Karaoke-ing the sh*t out of Eros Ramazzotti' superhit "Se bastasse una canzone"

Pick one album from your youth, that made you think "this is what I am going to do for the rest of my life":
Keith Jarrett Trio - standards live (it was one of my first jazz records and I was instantly hooked on drummer Jack Dejohnette)



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ABoF Mix - Top of the Scots!

ABoF's first official mix is dedicated to Scotland!

From ABoF's founders to their roster, Scotland is a cornerstone for A Badge of Friendship. This mix features six free downloadable tracks from Algernon Doll, Cherri Fosphate, Quickbeam, Poor Things and The Deep Red Sky.

Enjoy!



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ABoF Does Electro

With the rapid and sudden emergence of a really strong alternative electo scene at the moment and artists such as AlunaGeorge and Disclosure going from strength to strength we thought it sensible to introduce to some of the artists on the A Badge Of Friendship roster helping to spearhead this new campaign.

Death Rattle

With recent support from John Kennedy (XFM), Tom Robinson (BBC 6Music) and Amazing Radio plus video features on NME, Artrocker and Clash around their last EP HE&l, London based girl/boy electro-gloom-pop duo Death Rattle return with their second offering - four track EP Fortress released via Frontal Noize on 29th April.

Fortress continues where HE&l left us - on an intense and darkly mesmerising journey through icy and desolate soundscapes. Where HE&l gave us the kind of immediate, dark electro pop and nod-along beats that drew instant comparisons to The Knife and Sleigh Bells, Fortress is its insular, brooding cousin subtly creating an even bleaker, impending-doom feel that their previous release always hinted towards with the band's influences - Depeche Mode, Fever Ray and NIN - becoming ever more apparent.

Homework

With two critically acclaimed EPs already under their belt and a growing reputation for thunderous live shows, Edinburgh-based synth lovers Homework released their debut album 13 Towers on 25 March 2013.

Recorded over just a handful of weekends in a former lighthouse, the band set about working on the album with a fresh approach and one simple goal: to capture the raw energy of all four band members playing together. The result is their most ambitious work to date.

To support the release of 13 Towers, lead single It’s All Over was be released on 4th March 2013and the band have an array of live dates throughout the UK in April and May.

The/Das

Berlin based duo, The/Das introduce their unique brand of ‘techno tenderness’ with their forthcoming EP Speak Your Mind Speak, which will be released on 29th April 2013 via Sinnbus.

On Speak Your Mind Speak, The/Das wield the electronic avant-pop sensibilities of Matthew Dear with an understated melodic charm akin to Darkstar and create something that’s laid back and intriguing.

The/Das duo Fabian Fenk and Anton K. Feist have previously played together with Bodi Bill. As Bodi Bill, the band released four albums together and built a considerable fan base in their native Germany. In the UK, XFM, NME Radio and BBC 6Music picked them up with reviews and features coming from RCRDLBL, Notion, Shortlist Magazine and numerous websites and blogs online. They are no strangers to the live circuit either having played Melt, Eurosonic, Iceland Airwaves, Ekko Festival and many more festivals and shows all over Europe.

With the release of their debut EP Speak Your Mind Speak, The/Das prove to be one of the leaders and innovators of their genre, showcasing their pop sensibilities as they did with Bodi Bill yet with an edgy toned down vibe making them an exciting prospect for 2013.



If you would like further information on these artists or any others on our roster, please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Our Best of 2013 so far!

We've barely hit March but we've already found ourselves working with some of the best new bands in the UK and beyond. We're super proud of our roster and we think 2013 is going to be our best yet.

We've made a Soundcloud set for you to listen to our latest releases online. Some of these are free downloads too - don't say we don't spoil you! We'll let the music speak for itself but do check out the links below and if you can't see the Soundcloud playlist for whatever reason, just click here.

Tracklisting

Flutes - 'What Is Love'
Death Rattle - 'The Blows'
Homework - 'The Edge of Control Was Black'
Access Royale - 'Truth In Numbers'
Three Blind Wolves - 'In Here Somewhere'
The Maginot Band - 'Sombre Fayre'
The Caulfield Beats - 'Two of Swords'
Artifacts - 'Echoes'
Woodenbox - 'Race To The Flood'
Fat Goth - 'Creepy Lounge'
Daniel Inouwa - 'Fade Out'

SAMA nominated ABoF artists!

SAMA (Scottish Alternative Music Awards) has just released this year’s list of nominations and looking at the list it's not hard to see how many brilliant Scottish bands there are on the scene. In its fourth year, SAMA draws attention to the Scottish bands and artists that the mainstream tends to ignore and looks away from major acts like Frightened Rabbit and Biffy Clyro.

The SAMA shortlist just demonstrates how varied and colourful the choices can be, where nominations are chosen by leading figure heads in the Scottish music industry and the final winner is decided by a 10 day public vote. This year see’s three A Badge Of Friendship bands reach the shortlist and three in strong contention of success. So lets take a look at them now...

Fat Goth

Fat Goth released their second album Stud on January 28th. The Dundonian three-piece have gained support and praise from Kerrang! Magazine, Rock Sound Magazine, Q, Terrorizer Magazine, BBC.co.uk, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1 Scotland and many more. 2013 sees them nominated in the Best Rock / Alternative category. A tour is currently in the works for April and May and with Fat Goth riding on the success of their latest album and this SAMA nomination, their shows could turn out to be rather unmissable.

Vigo Thieves

Formed in Wishaw in 2008, Vigo Thieves have been nominated in this years Best Live Act category. With appearances last year at T in the Park where a huge crowd swarmed the BBC Introducing stage to witness the four-piece, video releases that are easily reaching over 30,000 views on YouTube almost every time, their most recent success is being the first unsigned band to sell out King Tut's in Glasgow, two nights in a row back to back. With this in mind it’s not hard to see why they've earned this most deserved nomination.

Cara Mitchell

Cara Mitchell has been nominated in the Best Acoustic category. This sixteen year old songstress has already enchanted listeners with her debut EP, Have You Ever Wondered, which was released via AGP last year and although only debuting live in October 2011 this nomination proves that Cara is someone to cast an eye on over the coming year. A firm one to watch.



For more information about the SAMAs, head over to their official website for the latest news.