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Christmas Compilation & 2012 Year RoundUp!
We're about to hang-up our PR hats for the year as we reflect on a successful 2012 year here at ABoF HQ. We started the year event managing a party for HP and Last.fm featuring David Guetta on the decks, we then found ourselves managing Doug Stanhope's campaign for his latest DVD - Before Turning the Gun on Himself - and spent the rest of the year working on an array of brilliant bands and labels.
To get you into the festive spirit, we asked some of our roster to cover their favourite Christmas songs. The 405 featured the compilation exclusively on their site but each track is now available to download via our Soundcloud page.
Many of our bands also released some fantastic videos this year, we've condensed them into this playlist below.
The playlist includes:
- Me And My Drummer - "You're A Runner"
- Pipers - "Ask Me For A Cigarette"
- Hiva Oa - "Badger"
- The Birthday Suit - "Less Worthless Years"
- The Murder Barn - "Harvest"
- Three Blind Wolves - "Parade"
- Turnpike Glow - "1986"
- Vigo Thieves - "Heartbeats"
- Death Rattle - "The Dig"
- Algernon Doll - "Spiral Sounds"
- Fat Goth - "Creepy Lounge"
- Humphrey Milles - "Not Enough"
- Jo Mango - "The Black Sun"
- Knifeworld - "Clairvoyant Fortnight"
- State Broadcasters - "Trespassers"
- The Maginot Band - "Slow Down Sundial"
- The Unkindness of Ravens - "The Spaces In Between"
- The Jar Family - "Broken Minded"
- Shirock - "New Solution"
- Daniel Inouwa - "Lay Now"
If you'd like to hear our most recent free downloads, always check our Soundcloud page. Recently, The Maginot Band, Johnny & The Giros and Algernon Doll have released brilliant free tracks available to download now.
So, now you've seen and heard with your eyes and ears what we've been up to in 2012, what's in store for next year we hear you ask! You know us, we're going to be busy as ever. We're planning on relaunching ABoF TV at some point next year as well as taking on board some exciting new bands - Homework, The Caulfield Beats and Artifacts. Scottish based label Olive Grove and our favourite German label dudes Sinnbus will be releasing more brilliant records as well as some of the current acts on our roster.
We'll have more news for you all in 2013 but for now, we'd like to say a massive thank you to the magazines, websites, freelancers, bloggers, radio producers and DJs who've supported us and our bands this year.
If there are any bands, musicians or comedians out there wanting to find out more about what we do, please get in touch with us at info@abadgeoffriendship.com.
Merry Christmas everyone - Claire & Paul, A Badge of Friendship xxx
Me And My Drummer: Latest remix single and Sofar Sounds session!
"...an immaculate construction that feels altogether heartfelt..."
- The Line of Best Fit
Leftfield alt pop duo Me And My Drummer released their debut album The Hawk, The Beak, The Prey this year via Sinnbus. Since the album's release, the Berlin two-piece have had a very warm welcome from the UK press with The 405, The Line of Best Fit, This Is Fake DIY, BBC Radio 1's Huw Stephens, XFM's John Kennedy and many more singing them praises.
Hot on the heels of the release of their las single 'Don't Be So Hot', their label present a brilliant new remix of the track by Tale Of Us & The/Das.
The band also recorded an intimate live session with Sofar Sounds when they hit London in October. The session has just been released and you can watch it via the Sofar Sounds YouTube page. Sofar stands for 'Songs From A Room', and is a movement which brings music lovers together in secret living room locations across the world to hear the most cutting edge artists - perfect for Me And My Drummer.
This year, the band released three singles - You're A Runner, Heavy Weight and Don't Be So Hot - all of which have received support from XFM's John Kennedy and Mary Anne Hobbs, BBC 6Music's
Tom Ravenscroft and Chris Hawkins and BBC Radio 1's Huw Stephens. The videos for the single have received support from Artrocker, NME, Spinner, The 405 and various music websites and blogs online.
If you can't view our Me And My Drummer video playlist below, you can watch My And My Drummer's videos on the Sinnbus Records YouTube channel.
Two remixes of the album track "Phobia" - the bretonLABS remix and La Boum Fatale Euphobia remix - are also available to download via the Sinnbus Records Soundcloud page.
With brilliant press already received in their native Germany from Rolling Stone, MTV, Musikexpress and Radio 1, Me And My Drummer prove they are one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Germany in a long while as they blend their collective influences to create music that is beguiling and sublime. Now, the duo prepare for another busy year in 2013 with another single planned from The Hawk, The Beak, The Prey, an edit of "Rain Kids", which will come with another sublime video. They've also got various festivals planned throughout Europe and the UK but start the year with the Saarang Festival in India. After all this, expect a second album to drop in late 2013 - we're already excited!
If you'd like to speak to the band, would like a copy of the album for review or if you'd like any more information about Me And My Drummer or our PR services please contact info@abadgeoffriendship.com.
Hiva Oa: ‘Badger / Urban’ double a-side single out now!
Scottish based three-piece Hiva Oa released their debut album this year - The Awkward Hello, Handshake, Kiss. Before the band prepare to unleash new material next year, they're bookending 2012 with the double a-side single release Badger / Urban, taken from the aforementioned debut. The video for 'Badger' has already received support from NME, Spinner and Contactmusic online.
Hiva Oa's video for "Badger" is available to watch on YouTube now.
"Badger" has a heart wrenchingly eerie sound that creeps inside your bones. Stephen Houlihan's ghostly vocals echo and intertwine around beautiful strings whilst percussion slowly builds. Although the band site Tom Waits and Mount Eerie amongst their musical influences, there's a similarity to experimental hip-hop outfit UNKLE's "Rabbit In Your Headlights" here, with Hiva Oa's combination of disjointed beats and haunting vocals. The video for the track matches the song's mysterious, dream like intricacy.
The single is available to stream now on the ABoF Soundcloud page.
After "Badger", "Urban" is a pleasant u-turn, more reflective of the band's influences. Armed only with a simple acoustic guitar, the song channels an Iron & Wine vibe. The track also features on their album, making this double a-side treat an insight into Hiva Oa's diverse writing style.
Although the band hail from Edinburgh, each member - Stephen Houlihan, Christian Smallwood and Marco Calderone - came together from Ireland, Belgium and Italy respectively. They’ve have had a busy year with the release of their debut album and their EP Future Nostalgia For Sale. As well as a successful album launch, they have supported a number of their peers on the scene including the acclaimed Adam Stafford, Admiral Fallow and Conquering Animal Sound.
Following the release of "Badger", Hiva Oa are planning another single late January 2013 an EP in April and finally their second album nearing the end of 2013. This is just the beginning for the band who promise to be one of the most exciting prospects of 2013.
Hiva Oa release double a-side single Badger / Urban via mini50records on 10th December 2012.
If you would like more information about Hiva Oa or our PR services, please email info@abadgeoffriendship.com
The Maginot Band single ‘Veiled Clock’ free to download now!
Scotland’s The Maginot Band return with their very own festive single, Veiled Clock, released via When You Awake Records and free to download now.
Veiled Clock continues the band's exploration of a contemporary indie sound not unlike The Maccabees and the Mystery Jets spliced with a classic, retro overtone
- the chiming guitars and the echoing, harmonised vocals is reminiscent of sixties greats The Band and The Beach Boys. The track is given a Christmas flavour with the inclusion of choir like backing vocals and the use of sleigh bells. While the video consists of old black and white footage of children playing in the snow during the war, as the footage cuts between the blissful ignorance and happiness of the children, and the mass destruction of war - both human and material. Not particularly uplifting, but anyone who has seen It's A Wonderful Life will know that Christmas doesn't always evoke joy and goodwill.
Veiled Clock is available to download from our Soundcloud page
The video for Veiled Clock is available to watch on The Maginot Band's YouTube channel.
Veiled Clock is the first release by the band since the success of their debut EP Peace and Quiet. Having initially formed as Maydays, The Maginot Band, who hail from Caithness, have been writing music together on and off for the past decade. After numerous changes to their line-up, they finally settled as a six piece in late 2010 consisting of Jordan Shearer (vocals), Calvin Wilson (bass, vocals), Kevin Swanson (guitar, Vocals), Jamie Swanson (guitar), Liam Whittles (organ, piano) and Darren Coghill (drums). Since the change of name and the release of their debut EP, the band have picked up support from the likes of Song By Toad, BBC Introducing in Scotland, Drunken Werewolf and The Vinyl District and are looking to continue to develop their sound with every release.
2012 has been a busy introduction for The Maginot Band having released their EP, followed that up with the free single Veiled Clock and due aim to release another single in January.
Veiled Clock is released via When You Awake Records and is available to download for free now.
Johnny & The Giros Got Them Running / Shoot Me Up double a-side single Out Now!
For Fans of... Foals, The Rapture, Two Door Cinema Club
Johnny & The Giros return with their brilliant new double a-side single, Got Them Running / Shoot Me Up.
Got Them Running opens with keyboards that hark back to early 90s rave and evokes memories of acid T-shirts and tie-dye. The vocals ring out and counter punch between band members as the band expertly build and manipulate the track, and the listener, as they ebb and flow - weaving in and out of the epic chorus, making the track a true indie-dance classic.
Got Them Running / Shoot me Up is available to download from our Soundcloud page.
Shoot Me Up is a more considered track. It builds slowly at an even pace flanked by chiming, picked guitars that echo into the distance pushing the track along. Once we reach the mid-section the track breaks down energetically, throwing in time changes and heavily reverbed vocals, creating another accomplished tune that straddles the lines between indie, dance and pop expertly.
The band have had a busy second half of the year with the success of their last single 'I Don't need A Lover', gaining support for the likes of Radar Scotsman, Drowned In Sound Scotland, The Vinyl District and New to Q Radio. With the release of Got Them Running and two shows for This Feeling in Glasgow and Edinburgh (22nd and 23rd respectively) Johnny & The Giros will be finishing the year on a high.
Got Them Running / Shoot Me Up is out now via Dead Hand Records.