i thought that the release of my first album ever would be a good time to do a blog. is that what it's called? doing a blog? i don't know. anyway, as you may have gathered from my myspace page, the album is now out! the front cover looks like this:
the drawing was by rob "sparky deathcap" taylor and the general design stuff was a collaboration between fuchsia macaree and rosa martyn. the packaging is really neat and it all folds out and does things that you wouldn't expect a cd case to do. it's worth buying for the packaging alone.
the track list is as follows:
rail replacement bus structural integrity it's always sunny inside wikipedia says i'm dying the pros and cons of having a beard i wish i was a manatee when i'm entering data let jason donovan do the talking i heart labrador records
you can buy a physical copy from team strike force! or from your favourite digital music provider, as long as your favourite digital music provider is itunes, amazon, 7digital or emusic. you can also listen to it on spotify but i think i only get about 0.000001p per listen or something. physical copies come with a bonus disc that is well worth having and some other nice things that you will probably like.
the album was recorded at oli horton's dreamtrak studios in hackney, with help from chris "internet forever" alcxxk, grace "the middle ones" denton and will "stairs to korea" vaughan. ace.
is that all i need to say? probably. here's a video of me and chris playing 'it's always sunny inside' in a tent at indietracks. i have had my hair cut now.
hello all, it's been ages since i last did one of these. i thought it was about time i stopped being so lazy and wrote another blog. here we go.
split ep asyou you can see on my profile, i'm now selling copies of my split ep with mat riviere. the recordings of my songs aren't great but it'd be nice to have a real life copy wouldn't it? and mat riviere is awesome so it's definitely worth buying one for yourself. please do! i'm poor. mat will get half of the proceeds too.
july tour me and mat are going off on tour again in july. know anyone who you think would like to put us on? we'll be travelling around between the 4th and 11th of july so if you think you know someone who'd be able to fit us in and cover our transport costs then get in touch please!
festivals also, i'm playing at a couple of festivals over the summer. i'm really excited about woolfire 'cos i'm playing with other wonderful artists/bands like sparky deathcap, pagan wanderer lu, napoleon iiird, keyboard choir and mat riviere. ace. also, the first ever nebraska pop fest! i'm very much looking forward to visiting omaha. i'd like to play more festivals though, so if you're reading this and you run a festival somewhere, let me play, yeah? cool.
other stuff that'll do i think. one last thing; come and see the loves, pocketbooks, the bobby mcgees and the lovely eggs at the black lion on chapel street, salford (opposite sacred trinity) next friday (from 7:30pm) and i'll love you forever. and then come to carefully planned on saturday 11th at kro bar. the wonderful his boat and his bairns are playing her/their first ever manchester gig which will be SUPER exciting.
first off, i'm playing two gigs in leeds at the weekend. one on friday and one on saturday. cool huh?
the friday is at the library in leeds and i'm playing with A SUNNY DAY IN GLASGOW as well as the MANHATTAN LOVE SUICIDES, AWASH WITH ANTLER, THE MIDDLES ONES (the best band in the world) and HOE CAKES. all for £4!
the saturday is a brainlove records alldayer type thing with loads of amazing bands. bands that include:
the research bearsuit! cats in paris! napoleon iiird! keyboard choir! pagan wanderer lu! capitol k! the retro spankees!
that's like, four of my favourite bands ever in that eight. good going, eh? the ones who aren't my favourites are pretty good too. i can't wait to see keyboard choir live! it starts at 2pm at the brudenell social club and costs £10 on the door. pretty worth it if you ask me.
if you send me a message, i'll sell you a copy of that PLUS a copy of trains are mint 5 and some stuff that i found around my flat for £9! this'll include a hand written message from ME! wow! i also have a grand total of TWO jam on bread badges left, so you'll get one of them if you order quickly. send me a message!
i'm also on a series two records compilation with loads of amazing indie pop bands. it's called series two records compilation volume 8 (i think). you might as well just buy 6, 7, 8 and 9 because they're all ace. go to their myspace page http://www.myspace.com/seriestworecords or click on their profile in my top friends. cool!
also, i'm playing a gig in sheffield on the 6th with calvin johnson. wow etc. come along! i'll be plugging that one closer to the day.
hello! it's been ages since i wrote a blog, sorry, but there's a few things to update so i'll do it all on one go.
dandelion radio so i was played on the rachael neiman experience on the world famous dandelion radio this month. her show is really brilliant and you should listen to her show, even if you skip my song. dandelion is a really cool internet radio station and the new home of the 'festive 50'. the shows are played on a rotation over the next month, so you should look on their site and see what time the rachael neiman experience is playing! dandelion radio site here!
student direct i'm in this week's student direct! student direct is manchester university's student newspaper and it also includes salford uni and bolton college as well i think? i'm not sure. but anyway, i'm in the 'singles reviews' section. i get an 8/10. PRETTY CHUFFED. thanks to jim for writing such nice things about me!
keyring magazine i did a one week long tour a couple of weeks ago and then wrote about it for keyring magazine, an awesome fanzine that's based in paisley, scotland. yeah, that's where st johnstone play, yo. anyway, i don't know when it'll be out, but it was lovely to meet gemma and fiona at my glasgow and i totes can't wait to see me being all in print and things. add them here!
tour while i'm talking about the tour, i must say a big thanks to everyone who put me up, put me on and put up with me over the week i was away. every night was brilliant. kind of. well one was a bit crap, but it'd be rude to name names. i made lots of friends and saw existing friends that i don't get to see very often. the fact that a handful of people enjoyed my sets was a bonus. there's no accounting for taste, eh?
other stuff keep your eyes peeled for the possibility of a split ep and a 7" single sometime soon. i can't really say anymore than that at present. that said, if someone/anyone would like to record my songs semi-properly, get in touch. i don't want to record them in a studio, but someone who knows how to master and has a decent microphone would be really cool.
also, i'm booking a tour for the last few days of august and the first week of september. my only requirements are about £20 to cover my costs and possibly somewhere to sleep, if needs be. i'm friendly and don't mind playing to 3 or 300 people, or playing first or last. I JUST LIKE PLAYING. so get in touch, yeah? unless you're in london. i already have a london show worked out.
