Latest News
Last.fm Presents… ‘Turn On The Sound Inside’ Live Series
Last.fm are continuing 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.
Singer-songwriter Karima Francis will play at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds on Tuesday March 27th. The songstress was named by The Observer as the number 1 act to watch in 2009. Since then she’s appeared on Jools Holland and released her critically acclaimed debut album The Author, which the BBC called “A sublime and often astounding debut.” Support comes from the tremendous indie six-piece Folks, who have been supporting Noel Gallagher in Europe.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.
The Son(s) Return!
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After their critically acclaimed self-titled album released in 2011, The Son(s) return with their latest EP Leviathan, which will be released on 7th May 2012 via Olive Grove Records.
“These songs were sung and recorded in an old cold, empty, echoey flat in Edinburgh. Away from home, stuck in the dark middle of winter. It was the coldest winter there for more than 50 years. Temperatures fell to minus 14C. It was colder at night, colder still at home. Snow fell, trains stopped.”
Leviathan was recorded in the middle of winter in an old, cold, empty flat in Edinburgh and, as a result, each track is dripping with atmosphere. The EP picks up where last year's debut album left off, tipping a hat to the laid back and stripped down qualities of Americana, with tracks like "Cocksure Boys" and "Shot Out A Cannon" utilising echoey minimalist guitar and harmonious vocals to summon images and sounds reminiscent of The Beta Band at their best. As always, strong lyrics are at the forefront of this release, with each track encapsulated in its own world while The Son(s) paint metaphysical pictures in the mind's eye of the listener.
The free download track If I Hear You Talk Apostrophes Again... is available to download now via the Badge of Friendship Soundcloud page.
The Son(s) previous releases received great support from the press, with the single Radar featuring as Track Of The Day on Spinner and Classic Rock Magazine (online) plus some outstanding reviews from the likes of The Line of Best Fit, Sunday Mail (4/5) and The Skinny (4/5).They also received support from BBC 6Music’s Gideon Coe and Tom Robinson plus BBC Radio 1 Scotland’s Vic Galloway and Ally Mcrae. Leviathan is a worthy follow-up to an already impressive body of work.
For a little taster of the what you missed on The Son(s) last album, you can watch the haunting video for Radar on YouTube now.
Leviathan EP will be released via Olive Grove Records on 7th May 2012 as a download and a limited edition cassette tape, complete with intriguing inlay artwork.
Physical copies of the EP are available but extremely limited, however, we have digital promos and streams of the EP available upon request.
March Releases: Music and Comedy
Last month's update was packed with news but now we've hit March, there's no rest for us here at ABoF HQ. We’ve got lots of brilliant releases from our bands plus comedian Doug Stanhope, who's releasing his next DVD on Roadrunner Records.
We have lots of free tracks to give away and stream in this newsletter and if you've any questions about anything you read here, please email info@abadgeoffriendship.com and remember to keep checking our official website for all the latest news!
Released March 5th 2012
Our very own electro rockers, The Unkindness of Ravens, return with the single Last Call For The River. The single is taken from their eagerly awaited debut album Virus out 7th May on Sonic Fire Records.
Last Call For The River is available to stream and download now via the band's Soundcloud page.
Turnpike Glow released their first free download track before Christmas. The boys have started the year with a bang with the release of 1986, a track that’s been remixed by Broken Social Scene's producer, Dave Newfeld. The video for the single has already been featured on NME and the single has been played on Frank Skinner's show on Absolute Radio plus there's a Video of the Day feature planned on Spinner soon.
1986 is available to download now.
Saturday Night Gym Club, a band that site M83 and Ólafur Arnalds as a few of their influences, release their EP How To Build A Life Raft. The Line of Best Fit and This Is Fake DIY are amongst those to give the EP a gleaming review with the former calling the release "lush".You can download the title track of the EP now and also watch the video for "I Know featuring Ellie Walker" on their YouTube channel.
How To Build A Life Raft EP is available to buy on Amazon.
Glasgow's Vigo Thieves their EP Heart and Soul Part 1 this month as well, the first EP of a two-part release. Their new sound harks back to those epic 80s greats like Simple Minds and U2, real sing a long stuff. The free track "Heartbeats" is available to download from our Soundcloud page now. The video for the track has already received over 32,000 hits on YouTube in four weeks, proof you need to check out these guys now!
Grab a copy of Heart and Soul Part 1 on Play.com.
Released March 12th 2012
Dark, cinematic and intriguing, Atom Eye release Part II of the three part Trilogy 120 this month. Atom Eye is Elsie Martins' side 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 but this month they also release the free single Paw Prints, which is currently available to stream 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.
Doug Stanhope DVD Release!
We've been working with comedian Doug Stanhope on his forthcoming DVD release Before Turning the Gun on Himself. The DVD is out on 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) will come with a bonus audio CD. To coincide with the DVD release, he will also be hitting the road, doing an extensive UK tour throughout March and April. The audio CD will be released on March 5th 2012, with the DVD to follow a few weeks after. 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.
Introducing… Quickbeam
Glasgow’s Quickbeam are set to release their debut single Seven Hundred Birds on April 9th 2012. Having recently signed with fledgling Glasgow based label, Comets and Cartwheels, 2012 is looking set to be a watershed year for Quickbeam.
The single was produced by Chris Gordon (Union of Knives, Song of Return) and is accompanied by a video directed by Mat Sheldon (Kodak Short Film BAFTA finalist) of Crush Films, whose director of photography worked on features including Jane Eyre, This Is England and the recent Sherlock Holmes movies.
You can stream the single via the A Badge of Friendship Soundcloud page.
The video for Seven Hundred Birds is available to watch now on Quickbeam's YouTube channel.
Quickbeam were formed in Glasgow by Monika Gromek and Andrew Thomson in 2010 after bonding over a mutual love of sparse, minimalist music. They have since refined their sound over the last couple of years. With violist Nichola Kerr joining in 2011, the band finally cemented their intimate, yet beautiful sound.
An early demo recorded by the band caught the attention of Steve Lamacq who played them on his BBC 6 Music show. As a result, this led to further airplay on Vic Galloway's BBC Introducing In Scotland on BBC Radio 1 as the industry began to sit up and take notice.
Seven Hundred Birds accentuates the band’s rich, luxurious sound with harmonium, cello, viola, double bass and percussion creating a melancholic warmth further enriched by the dream-like harmonies headed up by Monika’s ethereal, luscious vocals. With lines like “…through the land where their shadows graced the northern plains”, this accomplished debut single pulls at the heartstrings much like heavyweights in their field Low, Bon Iver and Sigur Rós, making Quickbeam a must listen for fans of the genre.
Seven Hundred Birds will be released via Comet and Cartwheels on 9th April 2012.
If you would like more information about Quickbeam or our PR services please contact info@abadgeoffriendship.com.
French Wives release free download single “Younger”
Since their inception in 2008, Glasgow's French Wives have been working intensively to build a strong fan base in Scotland. Today, the band have released the free single Younger taken from their forthcoming album Dream of the Inbetween, released on 7th May 2012.
Younger is available to download from French Wives' Bandcamp page.
You can also watch the video for the single via YouTube.
The album Dream of the Inbetween is a culmination of French Wives hard work over these last four years and follows the release of the singles Halloween / Dogfight (a double a-side), Me vs. Me and an EP entitled Feel Safe Small. Their label - Electric Honey - has also previously released records by Belle & Sebastian, Snow Patrol and Biffy Clyro, and sets up a fascinating 2012.
The album encapsulates French Wives ear for a gorgeous melody. "Numbers" and "Month of Sundays" are as good as some of the best modern alternative anthems, with Stuart's lilting vocals hanging over a glorious cacophony of strings and drums. "Sleep Tight" showcases French Wives diverse writing ability, with an angular take on their gorgeous indie sound.
The band are on tour this February and March. See below for their full list of dates:
February/March Tour 2012
Tuesday 28th February - Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh
Thursday 1st March - Hootenannys, Inverness
Friday 2nd March - New Market Bar, Thurso
Sunday 4th March - Harrisons Bar, Sheffield
Monday 5th March - Brixton Windmill, London
Tuesday 6th March - Dry Bar, Manchester
Thursday 8th March - Milo, Leeds
Friday 9th March - Stereo, Glasgow
Stuart Dougan (vocals/guitars), Chris Barclay (bass/vocals), Siobhan Anderson (violin/vocals), Scott MacPherson (guitar/vocals) and Jonny Smith (drums/vocals) formed via mutual friends while at University. Although the band’s beginnings are humble, they have been on quite an adventure so far, supporting the likes of Bombay Bicycle Club, Two Door Cinema Club and Mystery Jets. They’ve also played festivals like T in the Park, Rockness, Wickerman and Stag and Dagger, while their captivating live set has also caught the attention of BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1 Scotland and BBC 6Music as well as making The Guardian’s up-and-coming bands of 2012.
Dream of the Inbetween will be released on 7th May 2012, via Electric Honey.
If you would like more information about French Wives or our PR services please contact info@abadgeoffriendship.com.