Latest News
Vienna Ditto release video for single ‘Ticks’!
"...woozy sci-fi inspired blues fused with catchy melodies." - Gigslutz
“…wild-eyed rockabilly riffs with sparse, atmospheric electronica.” - Q Magazine
Eccentric alternative duo Vienna Ditto have released a video for their new single Ticks, the title track from their new EP - out Friday 13th May 2016 via Ubiquity Project Recordings.
The video, which combines gospel blues, surf rock and primitive electronica to create a sound that is full of naïve wonder, premiered on Echoes and Dust and you can also watch it now via the band's YouTube channel.
Guitarist Nigel Firth describes Ticks as "...a twitchy paranoid song about having your identity stolen by a friend." The video hilariously shows Nigel and vocalist Hatty Taylor as their puppet alter-egos driving around town in an increasingly dangerous manner, with tragic consequences.
In addition to Ticks - which you can stream now on the band's Soundcloud page - the band have released another track from the EP, Frank Account, which you can stream from the embed below.
Ticks is a collection of seven sonically-alluring sci-fi blues tracks that slip somewhere between a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack, a charity shop Bacharach-on-the-Moog-Synthesizer album and a bad night on the brown acid.
Each track has its own sound; Frank Account swaggers like a glam rock incarnation of the Andrews Sisters, whilst infectiously-catchy title track Ticks - which grouches along on a deeply Kinks-y riff and a Planet Rock electro beat - crackles with a nameless, twitchy paranoid disgust. The EP also features more gospel-influenced tracks such as Motherless Child, which feels almost like it could be a cut from an Etta James or Nina Simone record, with lead singer Hatty Taylor’s smokey, bruised vocals taking centre stage. The band put the dark, almost dystopian vibe that clings to the whole affair down to “...mainly being up at night, not eating so good and watching (German 20s Expressionist film) Metropolis over and over”.
The pop-noir duo consists of Hatty Taylor (vocal and synth) and Nigel Firth (guitar) who first met in 2000 when Nigel taught an eleven-year-old Hatty to play guitar. Ten years later, they formed a band in Oxford and have been creating exceptional, boundary-pushing music ever since. Nigel is the engine behind Vienna Ditto’s restless experimentation and sonic evolution, while Hatty is responsible for the band’s effortless and enchanting lead vocals.
Vienna Ditto have already received praise from the likes of Q Magazine, Artrocker, BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens and BBC 6Music’s Tom Robinson amongst others. With Ticks, the unlikely, delectable and ever-so-slightly dysfunctional duo delve a little deeper into the phenomenal sonic capabilities of combining blues, electronica and surf rock to create something truly mesmerising. Catch Vienna Ditto live at the following dates, with tickets available from their website.
6th May - St James Wine Vaults - Bath
12th May - The Bullingdon - Oxford
13th May - Rising Sun Arts Centre - Reading
14th May - The Moon Club - Cardiff
28th May - Peripheral Festival - Norwich
29th May - Common People Festival - Oxford
3 - 4th June - Brew At The Bog - Inverness
5 - 7th August - Sunflowerfest - Hillsborough
Ticks is out on 13th May 2016 via Ubiquity Project Recordings and is available to pre-order via the duo's Bandcamp page now.
Luke Howard releases video for ‘The Ends’!
"...will leave you breathless." - The Line of Best Fit
"...introspective and triumphant..." - Earmilk
Luke Howard has released his new video for The Ends, a track taken from his latest album Two Places, out 22nd April 2016 via Lukktone.
The video for The Ends premiered on The Line of Best Fit and is available to watch now via Luke’s YouTube channel.
The Ends is available to stream now via Soundcloud.
The album’s title track Two Places is also available to stream now on Soundcloud.
Trained as a classical pianist, Luke worked for many years as a session musician and score writer for both television and film before taking the plunge and releasing his own solo records. Based in Melbourne, Australia, his previous releases have received rave reviews from the likes of BBC 6Music and The 405. Luke has also worked with Ben Frost and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as well as opening for 2015 Mercury Prize winner Benjamin Clementine at The Great Escape festival in Brighton.
With is new record Two Places, Luke continues with his exploration of piano and electronic music that he begun on his previous release Sun, Cloud. Each track is composed beautifully as Howard draws influences from composers like Arvo Pärt framed around the modern sounds of acts like Grandbrothers and Rachel’s. A triumphant, cinematic journey of sound, each of the thirteen tracks on the album feel like their reaching out beyond time and space, spanning every emotion imaginable, and will leave you in a quiet state of euphoria by the end.
With a fantastic musical pedigree behind him and great praise from a number of key tastemakers, Two Places is sure to cement Luke Howard as one of 2016’s most promising up and coming solo artists and composers.
Two Places is out 22nd April 2016 via Lukktone and is available to pre-order now on Luke's website.
Armando Iannucci Q+A and ‘In The Loop’ Screening Confirmed For Restless Natives Festival!
A Badge of Friendship will host a screening of critically acclaimed satirical comedy In The Loop at Restless Natives Festival on Saturday May 14th 2016 at Drygate. Following the screening there will be an exclusive pre-recorded Q+A with director, writer and producer Armando Iannucci.
Restless Natives Festival are asking fans to tweet their questions for Armando between April 18th-23rd using the hashtag #AskArmando. Armando will choose the best five questions and answer them in a pre-recorded Q+A for the festival to be shown after the screening.
In The Loop is a spin-off of the BBC series The Thick of It. The film satirises Anglo-American politics and centres around the possible invasion of Iraq. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to huge acclaim, from the writing to the performances, and was eventually nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2010.
Restless Natives Festival will run from 9th-15th May 2016 and tickets can be purchased from the Restless Natives website.
Watch the trailer for In The Loop via YouTube now.
Restless Natives’ heart and soul lies within the DIY scene as the festival not only aims to bring people together in and around the East End of Glasgow, generating income for the local community, bands and charities, but it also aims to promote ethnic diversity and gender equality throughout the program.
Restless Natives is reflective of a truly modern DIY ethic that showcases talent from a broad spectrum, mirroring the diverse talent the creative scene has to offer.
“Armando is not only one of the country's top TV comedy producers, but his credits also span critically acclaimed features for radio and film. Given he is one of the most influential and prominent writers to emerge from Scotland, it’s not only an honour for Restless Natives to be screening In The Loop, but also to have the ingenious satirist put his name to the festival.” comments festival co-ordinator Halina Rifai.
All events will be individually priced as affordably as possible to ensure accessibility for people from all economic backgrounds and the organisers will also be donating a portion of gate receipts towards specially nominated East End charities to help their community.
A number of film events have already been confirmed including a screening of Instrument plus a Q&A via Skype with Fugazi’s Ian MacKaye, The Skinny presents Couple In A Hole with live Q&A by Geoff Barrow (BEAK>, Portishead) and Billy Fuller (BEAK>, Robert Plant Band), The Room featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary and live Q&A via Skype with Greg Sestero, Song, By Toad presents The Ambiguity Of David Thomas Broughton with exclusive unseen footage and Restless Natives’ own national exclusive of Blood, Sweat & Vinyl : DIY in the 21st Century starring Neurosis, Godspeed You Black Emperor and ISIS (the band!) with live Q&A via Skype with director Kenneth Thomas and A Page of Madness with an exclusive live original score by Adam Stafford. Plus special guest-curated screens by Africa in Motion, the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival and Radical Film Network Scotland amongst others.
The festival also boasts a strong music line-up including Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah, LAW, Cardiff's alt rockers Future of the Left, Sheffield mathcore champions Rolo Tomasi, Canadian composer Tim Hecker, electronic maverick Blanck Mass, Chicago favourites Into It. Over It, US cult heroes The Hotelier and Glasgow’s own Tuff Love, United Fruit, Happy Meals, Spinning Coin and Lightwave. Full details of further showcases, film nights and talks programmed by Hotgem Music, Nightschool Records, No One Knows Records, Winning Sperm Party, Stretched, Fuzzkill Records, Nice n' Sleazy, Bloc+Music, Song, By Toad and Struggletown are also set to be announced very soon.
Restless Natives Festival will take place May 9th - 15th 2016 and tickets are available via the Restless Natives website.
Caralis release video for single ‘Logic’!
"Effortlessly pieced together" - Clash
"...lush and scintillating dream-pop..." - The Revue
Caralis are set to release their new EP Logic on May 20th 2016 via Fairfield Records. In anticipation of this they have unveiled their new video for the title-track and single - out April 22nd.
The video premiered on The Revue and is available to watch now on the Caralis YouTube channel.
Over the past year, electronic pop artist Caralis has emerged from the shadow of London’s urban landscape, producing a discordantly melodic sound captured superbly on the release of forthcoming debut EP Logic.
Beginning as an experiment between two friends, Dan (vocals, drums, keys, guitar) and producer John Merriman (production, drums, percussion, backing vox), Caralis has morphed into the bones of what loosely could be considered a ‘band’, with the added additions of Phil Merrimen (keys) and Ex Libras front man Amit Sharma (guitar, noises) adding a little something extra. The result is the noticeable growth of an embryonic, raw sound laid down in 2015 through the release of single Clicks In and free download track Be Automatic, into something more delicate, subtle and, ultimately, more complete.
There is no mistaking the organic qualities that distinctively permeate Caralis’ sound. These qualities offer an almost bedroom producer-like charm that emanates through the music however, this acts as a mere distraction to what is, in fact, an impressively sophisticated level of production, musicianship and collaborative songwriting. Title track Logic exhibits all of the best facets of what Caralis has to offer. Ethereal beauty pours from Dan’s falsetto vocals, enhanced further by the bands unerring ability to create melody and hooks, neatly finished off with an ominous outro, turning the song completely on its head.
Despite having released only two tracks thus far, Caralis have already gained support from the likes of Clash, Artrocker and Candid Magazine as well as receiving radio airplay on BBC Radio 6 and Absolute Radio. The band will be looking to gig more throughout 2016 on the back of their recent live debut and will be playing a launch show at The Half Moon on 19th May.
Logic by Caralis is released on 20th May 2016 with the title track and single out on April 22nd both via Fairfield Records.
United Fruit announce new single ‘Where The Sun Beats Down’!
"...the kind of pummelling instrumentation you’d find on main stages the world over." - DIY
“...A snorting, snarling, four piece rock explosion…” - Clash
United Fruit have announced their latest single Where The Sun Beats Down, due for release on May 6th 2016, taken from their second album Eternal Return out May 13th 2016.
The single premiered on DIY but is available to stream now via United Fruit's Soundcloud page.
United Fruit will also hit the road in May, including a date at Restless Natives Festival, full dates are below:
13/5 - Madhatters, Inverness
14/5 - Restless Natives Festival, St Lukes, Glasgow
15/5 - Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh
21/5 - Tolbooth, Stirling
Eternal Return is a heart-pounding blast of energy, hope and passion. Featuring some of the band's most accomplished songs to date, as each track unfurls and bursts into a cacophony of riffs, high soaring vocals and hectic beats that will leave you exhilarated by the end.
The Glasgow based four-piece have taken their time with Eternal Return, slowly teasing fans over the last few years with single Open Your Eyes and their Nightmare Recovery EP, which features three tracks on Eternal Return - ‘Ghost Inside Your Head’, ‘Nightmare Recovery’ and ‘Cause And Effect’. Press were quick to pick up on the band’s thrilling punk rock sound with The 405 noting that, if played loud enough, ‘Nightmare Recovery’ would ‘probably wipe all that shit off your face’. Stereogum also featured ‘Ghost Inside Your Head’ after the band played a showcase for the critically acclaimed site at SXSW plus DIY, Drowned in Sound, Clash, The Skinny, Rock Sound and many more have been strong supporters of the band.
Check out the video for Open Your Eyes, a track taken from the album, via the band's YouTube channel now.
More so than ever before, Iskandar Stewart (vox, guitar), Stuart Galbraith (guitar, vox), Marco Panagopoulos (bass) and Dean Inglis (drums) have brought together their love of discordant, dissonant chords and melodies then destroyed the rule book and created their own unique sound upon its smouldering ashes. The result is Eternal Return - an eleven song beast that combines angular alt rock and pop, drenched in love, sweat and optimism.
From the uplifting riffs and driving beats, which channel the Smashing Pumpkins filtered through an early Rival Schools lens, on ‘Where The Sun Beats Down’ to Iskandar’s signature anthemic rock vocals on ‘Golden Days’, Eternal Return feels like an exciting journey for the band and one that only scratches the surface of what’s to come.
Eternal Return is out on May 13th 2016.