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The Blood Arm Launch Pledge Campaign For Album ‘Sister City’
After the release of last year’s critically acclaimed album Turn And Face Me, The Blood Arm are already plotting their next assault after relocating from LA to Berlin. They are launching a PledgeMusic campaign to raise funds for their next release Sister City.
Sister City will be the band’s fourth album release, completely self-funded on the band’s own imprint Pau! Records. With the money raised, they plan to record the album in June and release it early next year.
The band have made a video explaining why they have chosen PledgeMusic.
PledgeMusic is designed to help bands fundraise for forthcoming releases, encouraging them to participate with fans by creating fun and unique ways to access exclusive content and material. A portion of the proceeds will go to the American Red Cross plus they’re giving fans incentives for pledging. Examples of incentives include signed copies of the new album, rare out of print t-shirts, tickets to exclusive Pledger-only acoustic shows, an opportunity to visit the band in the studio, a custom scarf hand-knit by Dyan, and even the chance to have the band write and record a personalised song.
The garage rocking four-piece are also giving away a free MP3 alongside the launch of their PledgeMusic campaign - Over Your Head, which is available to download now via the A Badge of Friendship Soundcloud page.
It’s been quite a year for the band with keyboardist Dyan Valdes and frontman Nathaniel Fregeso making the big move from LA to Berlin.
“We wanted to follow in the footsteps of some of our other favourite artists who have moved to Berlin and done the best work of their careers – David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Brian Eno...” explains Dyan. “As the music industry crumbles, it has become increasingly clear that the best way to sustain ourselves and our music is to work directly with the fans who support us. Pledgers can be confident that the money that they spend on this campaign will go directly into making the album (rather than paying for record company overhead).”
Third album Sister City will see a departure from the band’s sunny, garage rock bravado, a sound that Q Magazine called “playfully knowing indie rock” and Uncut hailed as “ramshackle boho party-rock”. The band’s recent move will be reflected in the music with themes of change, uncertainty and discover reflected in their new, more experimental, direction.
If you would like to speak to The Blood Arm about their PledgeMusic campaign or anything else, please email info@abadgeoffriendship.com.
Last.fm presents… Belakiss, Folks and The Sundowners in Leeds!
Last.fm continue to bring the online experience to the live setting with a trio of Last.fm Presents gigs in the north of England. Up-and-coming artists from the Last.fm Hype Chart will keep their momentum going in 2012 by performing small, intimate free entry shows.
The first of these intimate free entry shows starts next week with Belakiss, Folks and The Sundowners set to perform at The Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, Tuesday 27th March. Entry is first come, first served so make sure you get down quick to ensure you grab a chance to see the first of these special Last.fm presented gigs.Karima Francis was originally lined-up to headline the Leeds show but unfortunately had to pull out due to recording commitments, however, Last.fm have outdone themselves again with this exciting new line-up of fresh talent.
Still hot from their recent slew of dates supporting indie giants Kasabian, Belakiss bring their raucous garage rock tones to a more intimate setting. Support comes from the tremendous indie six-piece Folks, who have been supporting Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds in Europe and The Sundowners with their nostalgia-tinged rock and roll.
Last.fm aren't stopping at Leeds, there are free shows already planned for Manchester and Sheffield. Politically-charged rockers Sonic Boom Six, supported by Straight Lines, will play a hometown show at The Roadhouse in Manchester on Thursday April 19th. The last show planned will be in Sheffield at The Harley on Tuesday May 1st, with locals The Crookes, with support from Hey Sholay. Although all the shows are free, these are first come, first served so make sure you get down early!
Encouraged by the successes of 2011’s partnership, which featured a series of London based live music events showcasing emerging talent such as Slow Club, The Boxer Rebellion, Ghostpoet, DELS, The Leisure Society and We Are Augustines, HP and Last.fm’s early 2012 strategy will be to branch out of the capital, and hit the road with the Everybody On global campaign.
Supporting the Turn On The Sound Inside live series activations, HP will be giving its Facebook community access to exclusive video content captured by Last.fm at the curated gigs, continuing the celebration of Beats audio™ technology that comes with HP’s premium range of PC’s and laptops.
Tango in the Attic release video for “Paw Prints”
Scotland’s Tango in the Attic released the free download single Paw Prints this week, taken from their much anticipated second album Sellotape - set for release on Believe Digital on 23rd April 2012.Paw Prints sees Tango in the Attic's sound progress into much noisier territories than anything on the first record. It's loud, frantic, childishly fun and unconventional.
You can watch the video for the track no on the band's YouTube channel.
Paw Prints is available to stream and download now from the A Badge of Friendship Soundcloud page.
The video for the track "Swimming Pool" was also recently released as a taster of what to expect from Sellotape. The video was picked up on NME, MUZU, Clash, Artrocker and made Spinner's Video of the Day.
Jordan Craig (vocals / guitar), Jonathan McFarlane (guitar), James Crook (bass) and Paul Johnson (drums), all from Glenrothes, formed Tango in the Attic in 2008. After the release of Bank Place Locomotive Society, the band took time out to pursue other projects, coming back together in October 2011 to record their second album. Their debut received brilliant support from the likes of NYLON magazine, Artrocker, The Line of Best Fit and The Skinny with their singles receiving plays on BBC 6Music, Absolute Radio and BBC Radio 1 Scotland.
In March, the boys will tour the USA as well as appearing at SXSW. When they return, they will tour the UK relentlessly from May onwards, eventually heading out to Japan. Alongside the tours, and the single Paw Prints, they plan to release Sellotape on 23rd April 2012 and then another single in May. These boys don't stop!
Paw Prints is available to stream and download now from the A Badge of Friendship Soundcloud page.
Doug Stanhope: “Before Turning The Gun On Himself” out now!
"Doug Stanhope might be the most important stand up working today" - Ricky Gervais
"If there's a comedian out there who is as vital as Stanhope I haven’t heard him or her yet" - The Independent
Comedian Doug Stanhope releases his latest DVD Before Turning the Gun on Himself this week via Roadrunner Comedy, the sister label to Roadrunner Records, home to bands like Slipknot, Rush and Rob Zombie. The DVD (his tenth DVD release to date) comes with a bonus audio CD. To coincide with the DVD release, he is currently doing an extensive UK tour throughout March and April. The audio CD was released on March 5th 2012, with the DVD hitting stores this week. Stanhope's act offers a potent double dose of the abrasive, brutally honest brand of standup comedy that has established him as a one-of-a-kind phenomenon.You can watch Stanhope introduce his involvement with Roadrunner Comedy on Roadrunner Record's YouTube channel.
Stanhope's confrontational rants, whose live show was twice named Best Stand-Up Show of the year by Time Out New York, encompasses caustic social commentary, outlandish first-person narratives, graphic sex and perversion, sometimes within the same sentence.
Fuelled by equal amounts of anger, outrage and alcohol, Stanhope rails against western civilisation's slide into apathy and stupidity, always on the edge of implosion yet fully in control and never afraid to risk alienating his audiences.
In a field crowded with conformists and copycats, Stanhope is a genuinely original comic voice, albeit a gleefully vulgar one.
"A visionary douchebag" says The Times. Raw, agitated and unflinching, he holds forth on all manner of major injustices and petty annoyances, excoriating himself as much as any of his other targets. But Stanhope's venomous bile is matched by his passion and conviction, as well as a fierce intellect that gives his work a level of substance and subtlety that belies his snarling exterior. His comedy is as corrosive as it is hilarious, and his righteous self-immolation is exhilarating and life affirming in its cathartic honesty.
Stanhope completed a 25-date residency in at London's Leicester Square Theatre in August 2011 to rave reviews and sold out shows. Metro lauded Stanhope with five stars saying, "Searing, relevant and brilliantly funny, there's good reason why Stanhope is often cited as one of the greatest comedians on the planet… If fearless stand-up is your bag, you’d be a fool to miss him." The comedian has also been compared to such fearless comic revolutionaries as Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison and Bill Hicks. But his work makes it abundantly clear that he's a complete original.
- Doug Stanhope's official website: www.dougstanhope.com
- Roadrunner Comedy: www.roadrunnercomedy.com
- Roadrunner Records: www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk
You can download the full DVD press release from the A Badge of Friendship website.
If you would like a promo copy of the DVD, physical and digital copes are available. Please note however that physical copies are extremely limited. For more information, email info@abadgeoffriendship.com.
March 12th Single Releases: Atom Eye, Tango in the Attic and The Birthday Suit
Dark, cinematic and intriguing, Atom Eye release Part II of the three part Trilogy 120 today. Atom Eye is Elsie Martins' solo project whilst she steps aside from Phantom for the moment to create gorgeous, experimental, filmic soundscapes. The single Trilogy 120 - Part II will be available to download from Atom Eye's official website from 12th March 2012, however, a stream of the single is available to check out now.Tango in the Attic are back and preparing for the release of their forthcoming second album Sellotape out 23rd April 2012. The album is the follow-up to their fantastic 2010 debut Bank Place Locomotive Society. The live session video for the track "Swimming Pool" is already available to watch on their YouTube channel and now you can download the free single Paw Prints, from our Soundcloud page.
In case you missed them, The Birthday Suit (Rod Jones from Idlewild) released their debut album Sing It Alone in November. Just back from their first UK tour, they're releasing the single A Nation, a more melodic departure from the free track "Do You Ever?", which was released alongside the album last year.
A Nation is available to stream on The Birthday Suit’s Soundcloud page now.