News
Hello September: News from ABoF HQ!
Festival season is done and dusted, the wellies are being put away for another year and we're looking forward to a very busy September here at ABoF HQ.
Since it's the start of the month, we thought we'd send a little update about what we've been working on over the summer and what we have to look forward to. If you've any questions about what you read below, please get in touch: info@abadgeoffriendship.
Free MP3s can always be downloaded from our Soundcloud page and any other information you need about the artists, labels and other companies we work with can be found on our official website. Thanks for reading - we hope you have a great month ahead!
Last.fm's Ghostpoet Pop-Session
It's no secret that we've been working with Last.fm this summer to help create online buzz and PR around their partnership with HP, promoting "The Power of Sound". HP and Last.fm’s partnership celebrates the Beats audio technology that comes with HP Premium PC, laptop and tablet devices through a series of live music events and artist interviews, curated by Last.fm.
The partnership kicked-off with a number of pop-up acoustic gigs which took place around London. The first two were a big success; Slow Club enchanted fans and passers by alike in Soho Square and The Boxer Rebellion got the tourists clapping along on Carnaby Street.
Ghostpoet was the latest to get the pop-up session treatment, playing to a packed-out crown at The Big Chill Bar on Brick Lane in August. The video of the session is available to watch now on Last.fm's YouTube channel.
For the latest news on the partnership, special giveaways and unique content, check out HP's Facebook and Twitter pages.
September Releases
We've lots of different releases out this month from post-rock to folk and straight-up indie, check them out below...
Copenhagen post-rockers, The Shaking Sensations, initially formed to escape the confines of their small, desolate and windy town in western Denmark. Little did they know, that in doing so, the five-piece would build a reputation that would see them join a group of up-and-coming post-rock bands following in the footsteps of heavyweights like Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Their debut album East of Youth will make you fall in love with post-rock all over again as they add a new energy and reinvigorate the post-rock genre.East of Youth is out September 12th on Pad & Pen Records. Download the album track "Glass Wings" HERE.
Following on from the success of their UK tour, and their previous single, Hopscotch Machine Gun Madness, Reading-based A Genuine Freakshow are back with the third single - the double A-side Our Bodies / New Houses. Fresh from their Reading and Leeds Festival performances, the guys are also about to embark upon a UK tour to support the release.The band are also giving away a four track sampler taken from their album Oftentimes. Just visit their official website and enter your details.
Our Bodies / New Houses is out on Peartree Records on 26th September 2011.
After building up a stellar reputation among fellow musicians while touring Europe and the US, Keith Top Of The Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band is releasing his debut album - Fuck You! I'm Keith Top Of The Pops. Keith has attracted a fantastic line up of musicians to record alongside him, including Dyan Valdes of The Blood Arm, Fruitbat and Jimbob from Carter USM, Keith Murray and Chris Cain from We Are Scientists and Ian Catstiltskin, Eddie Argos and Jasper Future from Art Brut. As a result, the sound is a collection of wonderfully chaotic freeform rock tunes that sound like a cross between The Fall and Half Man Half Biscuit, with more bitter and twisted undertones.Fuck You! I'm Keith Top Of The Pops is out on Corporate Records on 26th September 2011. The album track "I Hate Your Band" is available to download HERE.
Sweet Baboo is Stephen Black, a native of the North Wales countryside and a single-minded, idiosyncratic, contrary singer-songwriter who possesses an ear for a sparkling melody, a restless soul, and a gift for a deft lyrical turn; from darkly funny to piercingly tender, twinklingly boastful to deliciously self-deprecating. Following the release of his third album, I'm a Dancer/Songs About Sleeping, Black has returned in 2011 with his latest EP - Girl Under A Tree.Black's productivity is all the more remarkable given his extra-curricular activities, which have seen him working with an ever-growing array of musicians. This year alone Black has played on albums by Cate Le Bon, Slow Club and H. Hawkline, and has been a regular part of the touring line-ups for all three bands.
Girl Under A Tree will be released via Shape Records on 19th Sept 2011 on limited 10” white vinyl / download. Download the EP track "The Day I Lost My Voice" HERE.
The summer that was…
Our biggest successes this summer have been two bands that couldn't be more different - The Blood Arm and Knifeworld.
The Blood Arm returned with their second album Turn And Face Me. Although some reviews were mixed, the general vibe from the press was of admiration and respect for the band who clearly wrote their songs with a nod back to greats such as Dexys Midnight Runners, Elvis Costello And The Attractions and Adam And The Ants.Uncut said the band evoked "a classic lineage of ramshackle boho party-rock", whilst WORD called their sound "a good one". Even punk rock magazine Big Cheese picked up on the album saying that the music "will undoubtedly get you out of your seat".
Meanwhile, Knifeworld rocked the alternative press with the release of their EP Dear Lord, No Deal. The band featured in magazines Classic Rock Prog and Rock A Rolla plus alternative music and culture website The Quietus.
The reviews also poured in with Rock Sound picking up on frontman Kavus Torabi's unique songwriting mentioning that "you won't forget him in a hurry". The aforementioned Classic Rock Prog, always big supporters of the band called the EP "a jazzy workout; a rapid metronymic group vocal; a pause for quiet reflection; an ambitious psychedelic wash of melodies…". Quite a description there and we whole heartedly agree!
And the rest…
Congratulations for making it this far and thanks for reading… so what else have we been up to?
Well, for starters we've also been working with vintage recording studio An Endless Room. The studio currently has a competition on MTV UK's website to win free studio time. The busy folks at Endless HQ are also planning a regular podcast which will feature special guests talking about music, the studio, their own projects and also tinkering about on some of An Endless Room's weird and wonderful equipment. We'll have more updates on that soon.
Paul ABoF also wrote an article recently for This Is Fake DIY's blog. The blog had a feature running called "The Beautiful Game" and Paul was asked to write something about Celtic FC.
Claire ABoF is still busy writing and drawing webcomics in her spare time. The webcomic series "Socially Inept" is currently being published by our friends over at The 405, whilst The Cyclopes (an ode to the X-Men) is being published on Beyond Comic Books.
Super assistant Ed has been frustratingly trying to pass his driving test all month. You can read about it on the ABoF blog. Let's wish him the best of luck!