Featured in the 2011 MTV EMA official gift bag will be the new Swatch Touch 2011, a colourful new collection of trend-setting timekeepers with big-screen LCD dials and a touch-sensitive zone in place of pushbuttons. On the style front, Swatch Touch 2011 brings streetwise fashion to the wrist, showing inspiration from urban rhythms and electric sounds, boarders up on snow and surf, riders taking life to extremes. (more…)
Surly it’s not the UK tour unless they come to Northern Irealnd? But anyway…
Rizzle Kicks have announced plans to embark on a headline tour of the UK.
The duo will play 17 dates across the island in support of their debut album Stereo Typical, which is released on October 31.
They will start the string of shows in Cambridge on February 16 and conclude at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire on March 15.
Tickets for the shows will be priced between £10 and £12.50 and will go on sale on October 21.
The Brighton pair are currently preparing to release their new single ‘When I Was A Youngster’ on October 23.
The single will serve as the follow-up to their summer hit ‘Down With The Trumpets’, which managed to shift over 250,000 copies.
The Rizzle Kicks UK tour dates are as follows:
Watch the music video for Rizzle Kicks’ new single ‘When I Was A Youngster’ below:
The Funeral Suits play Animal Disco , Belfast on November 11th!
Congratulations on the release of your new single, Health. Some images in the music video, like the haunting pigs head, would suggest inspiration was taking from literature classic Lord of the Flies. Can you clue us in on this?
The video was totally inspired by Lord of the Flies. One of our good friends, Shawn Ryan, put together the concept and directed the video. I was so excited when he pitched the idea too us because Lord of the Flies is one of my favourite books. We weren’t around for filming because we were on tour at the time but Shawn was telling me that they shot it really early in the morning in a public park somewhere in Dublin. Apparently when they were finished they left two mutilated pigs heads in the centre of the green area. Would have been nice to get some reaction shots from that.
Where did the name Funeral Suits come from? Is the dark, melancholy image it can portray something you want to bring across in your music?
I used to work in an office in town a few years ago where I had to wear a suit. I completely hated the job and having to wear a suit. So i thought it’d cool to start a band called ‘The Suits’ but I think some Australian band were already called ‘the suits’….. When i found that out i was sitting beside my computer and a copy of ‘Funeral’ by Arcade Fire was on a table in front of me. I was lost in that album at the time, its so good. ‘Funeral Suits’ just came into my head. Thats how the name came about……. I didn’t even think of the item of clothing until someone else said it. I think for us the name is something that has never meant anything melancholy or morbid. A Funeral is a celebration of life anyway.
With upcoming shows across the pond in New York and in London, is there one thing you miss about Ireland or like to take along with you on the road?
We usually make sure to bring a box of lucky charms and a picture of a field with us. I joke. Of course we love Ireland but while we’re away we’ll have a good time.
Your debut album saw you working with Stephan Street, who had the experience of producing for Brit rock legends such as The Smiths and Blur. Was this experience paramount in creating the sound you wanted?
Of course. Stephen is a great engineer and producer. It was great working with him and we learnt alot from working with him.
From watching your 2011 tour video on YouTube, you all seem to be up for a laugh. What was the funniest moment had or prank played while on tour ?
I really don’t know. When Brian just joined the band i woke up with him holding a knife around my throat which i’m still not sure was a prank.
What is your typical song writing process and what comes first, music or lyrics?
Anything and everything goes.
What’s the next step for Funeral Suits, what does 2012 have in store?
We’ll be bringing out the album and touring a stack more!
The Funeral Suits play Animal Disco , Belfast on November 11th!
to release new single on November 7th
‘Shine’
following Top 20 debut album
‘Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm’
“A majestic debut” - The Fly
“Brit-folk’s new voice” - NME
“A serious new talent” - The Sunday Times
Following the release of his critically acclaimed debut album ‘Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm’ Benjamin Francis Leftwich prepares to release his third single ‘Shine’ on November 7th.
Delicate yet upbeat, ‘Shine’ perfectly balances Ben’s subtle guitar with his soft and unique voice. With layered hand-claps combining with aching harmonies, this is three minutes of pure positive elegance, further proving that the excitement surrounding Ben as one of the most compelling new prospects of the year is justified.
The single follows in the wake of the acclaim that has been building since the release of his 2010 EP ‘A Million Miles Out’. Ben’s debut album ’Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm’ was recently Album of the Week on Radio 1 and XFM as well as Album of the Day on BBC 6 Music. His debut single ’Box Of Stones’ was also awarded the coveted Zane Lowe’s Hottest Record In The World, adding to a list of honours including multiple Radio 1 Record Of The Weeks and a Maida Vale session with Fleet Foxes. Ben’s cover of Arcade Fire’s ‘Rebellion’ from the Dermot O’Leary Sessions for Radio 2 has been downloaded over 45,000 times, with ‘Atlas Hands’ from the ‘Million Miles Out’ EP being chosen as one of Jo Whiley’s tracks of 2010.
Following on from a summer of festival-storming sets, Ben is currently embarking on a huge October tour that will see him perform at 28 venues across the country with his first show kicking off in Stockton’s Georgian Theatre on September 30th. The tour will head to the capital on October 26th where Ben will perform a sold-out show at Islington’s legendary Union Chapel, before coming to a close in Belfast on November 3rd.
Ben follows his Autumn UK tour by announcing a new London show for 2012, which takes place at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on February 22nd; a huge step up from his sold-out Union Chapel show this October.
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – Shine by Dirty Hit
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From Bellaghy, Co.Derry, General Fiasco are Owen Strathern on bass, brother Enda on guitar, Stephen Leacock on drums and new guitarist / keyboard player Stuart Bell.
The EP “Waves” is the first taste of what’s to come from their sophomore release on new label “Dirty Hit”.
“Waves EP” – 14th Nov 2011
General Fiasco – Waves by Dirty Hit
TOUR DETAILS:
For further information please visit http://www.facebook.com/GeneralFiasco
We LOVE Neon Indian and we LOVE their new video and tune! We also have their album which we’ll be making a post on soon! It’s magnificently delicious! WATCH THIS SPACE… after you watch their new video of course.
Set in a futuristic world charting the ill-fated digital romance between a lonely humanoid and a girl, Neon Indian’s Tim Nackashi-directed video for ‘Polish Girl’ is ultramodern, stylish and slick. Taken from the album ‘Era Extrana’ that’s set for release on October 10th through Transgressive Records, the track shows Neon Indian, aka Alan Palomo, at his sparkly-pop best.
With videos for Death Cab for Cutie, Givers and OK Go under his belt, Tim Nackashi teamed up with The Creator’s Project to produce this dystopian cyber-fantasy. Merging traditional techniques with post-production to create the impressive light-painting effects; the visuals complement the other-worldly nature of Alan Palomo’s music, which is rich in electro-pop hooks, synths and dream-like vocals.
Not one to shy away from the obscure and creative, Palomo has also created a mini analog-synthesiser called the “PAL198X” alongside the Austin-based Bleep Labs. Available to those that order the deluxe edition of ‘Era Extrana’, it enables you to create weird and wonderful sounds purely from interacting with the environment around you.
You can pre-order the deluxe edition including the PAL198X from Rough Trade
Neon Indian plays London’s Heaven on November 16th
This tribute in lights is made up of eighty-eight 7,000 Watt light bulbs which are visible up to 60 miles away when illuminated. (more…)
