Frank Turner

Xtra Mile Recording artist Frank Turner will be playing his 1000th live show since September 18th 2004 this month. The event will be marked at the Strummerville Spring Session gig on April 21st at Hearn Street Car Park in East London. The event will be a real celebration of Frank’s prolific work ethic whilst raising money and awareness for a great cause.

Frank will then head out on a sold out solo tour of the UK in May, with a couple of summer festivals confirmed at the Download Festival where he will headline on June 12th on the Third Stage and another headline spot at Blissfields Festival on July 1st.

The folk punk poet has already been confirmed for an appearance on the main stage at the brilliant Leeds/Reading Festival this year and is currently preparing his brand new album England Keep My Bones for release later in the year.

The album track I am Disappeared can be heard below, as a brilliant teaser for what to expect on the new album.

Frank Turner – I Am Disappeared

little fish - baffled & beat

Little Fish are a duo from the UK, featuring self taught guitarist and singer JuJu Sophie and Nez Greenaway on drums, the pair have just witnessed perhaps the craziest year of their life, culminating in the release of their debut album Baffled & Beat.

Legendary singer/songwriter Linda Perry was that impressed with the band’s demos that she flew over to the UK to see them perform, in a pub in Oxford. Perry signed Little Fish on the spot and took them to LA to produce their first album.

It was Perry who set new goals for the band, in particular in the song writing department where she pushed JuJu to new and unexpected heights by constantly pressuring her for new material.

Little Fish earned their stripes on a string of support dates, sharing stages and venues with the likes of Placebo, Them Crooked Vultures, Hole, Juliette Lewis and most recently Blondie.

The end result of an intense year or so is the album Baffled & Beat, a real gem of an album repaying the faith that Perry and others had shown in Little Fish from the start.

As much material as possible on the album was recorded live in the studio , capturing Little Fish’s amazing energy and enormous sound almost to perfection.

Little Fish seem predominantly a garage rock/ post punk band, but there is so much more to them and while JuJu plays the aggressive, articulate and loud front woman to perfection, her softer side on tracks like Sorry State, with the brilliant line ‘Why does misery like company’, Lucks Run Out and the title track prove that the girl really does have an incredible voice.

In fact it is the underlying melodies that set this album in a category of its own, given the chance Baffled & Beat has all the credentials to reach a mainstream audience while remaining true to the cult status that Little Fish currently enjoy.

The first single from Baffled & Beat is not the obvious choice for me, Whiplash gives a reasonable taste of what Little Fish are about, but there are other tracks that are more radio friendly, in my view. None the less the single Whiplash will be released on September 6th.

Little Fish will headline the BBC stage at the Reading/Leeds Festival this coming weekend and at the following venues in September:

8 Sep      Proud Galleries                    Camden Town

18 Sep    Southsea Festival                 The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

26 Sep    Underground Festiival        Gloucester

22 Oct    SWN Festival                         Cardiff

22 Oct    SWN Festival                         Cardiff

For more information visit the Little Fish MySpace page.

The Gaslight Anthem 2010 UK dates

New Jersey based punk rock band The Gaslight Anthem have announced a European tour which will kick off a couple of months after their scheduled appearance on the festival stages of Reading and Leeds.

The Gaslight Anthem have been catapulted into the mainstream spotlight on the back of their third album release American Slang, reaching top twenty album status in the UK and USA and pretty much everywhere else that matters.

American Slang sees the band finding their own voice, the lyrics are perhaps more personal and introspective but singer Fallon’s raw throated vocals are stronger than ever, behind the bands driving dynamic force.

The Gaslight Anthem have continued to build on the success of 2009, which was a monumental year for the band, touring the world in support of their much acclaimed album The ‘59 Sound and performing at all of the major festivals around the globe.

The Gaslight Anthem full UK and Eire dates;

October:
21st        UK    London, Hammersmith Apollo
22nd      UK    Southampton, Guildhall
23rd       UK    Bristol, Academy
24th       UK    Wolverhampton, Civic
November:
16th        UK    Nottingham, Rock City
17th        UK    Leeds, O2 Academy
18th         UK    Newcastle, O2 Academy
19th         UK    Edinburgh, Picture House
20th        UK    Manchester Apollo
21st         IRL    Dublin, Olympia
22nd       N.IRL    Belfast, Mandela Hall

For further information visit the The Gaslight Anthem MySpace page.

Steeped in history the event has attracted the best artists that the music world has to offer in its many years of existence, names such as The Who, The Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, The Small Faces, T Rex, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple have all supported the festival over the years.

More recently Nirvana made their last UK appearance at the festival in 1992, Stone Roses played their last show together in 1996, and Metallica reached their full potential in 1997.

The headline acts at this years Reading & Leeds festivals include the return of Guns N’ Roses, Blink 182 and Arcade Fire, supported by Queens of the Stoneage, Paramore and The Libertines.

As with all music festivals it is not just about the headline acts and as usual at Reading & Leeds there is a stellar line up across all the stages at this years event.

LCD Soundsystem, Pendulum and Klaxons head up the NME/Radio1 stage, while Alkaline Trio, Bad Religion and Roots Manuva headline the Lock Up Stage.

Marina & The Diamonds, Ash and British Sea Power head the Festival Republic Stage, while the Alternative Stage will be home to comedians Emo Phillips, Stephen K Amos, Jason Byrne, Kevin Bridges, Russell Kane and Rufus Hound.

An incredible line up of support on all stages throughout the weekend is promised at Reading and Leeds and some forward planning may be required to fit in all your favourite acts.

As part of an agreement with Reading Borough Council made in 2009, to increase the capacity at the festival by 10,000 over three years, an extra 3,500 tickets for the Reading Festival were released for sale over the weekend.

If you haven’t done so already, there couldn’t be a better time to purchase tickets for Reading/Leeds Festivals.

Reading & Leeds Festival Ticket Information
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Paramore add UK tour dates

Due to popular demand Paramore have added two brand new dates to their November UK tour schedule, treating the good people of Nottingham and Manchester to their very own Arena shows.

Nottingham becomes the new start date for the much anticipated UK tour, kicking off on November 8th at the Trent FM Arena and Manchester will become the penultimate night in the UK for Paramore, on November 19th they will perform at the MEN Arena.

Tickets for the two new shows will go on sale this Friday (July 9th) at 9am through www.gigsandtours.com or from the 24hour credit card hotline at 0871 2200 260.

Paramore release the fourth single from their number one album Brand New Eyes on July 12th, it will be one of singer Hayley Williams live favourites, Careful.

Hayley says of the song: ‘So psyched to release Careful as a single. It’s one of my favourite songs to play at shows… Heavy, fast, and just a really intense song. Hope people get into it!’

Paramore – Careful

Paramore will be in the UK to headline at the Reading/Leeds festivals in August before they return for the Arena tour in November.

Paramore UK Dates November 2010

Mon 8           Nottingham      Trent FM Arena         NEW DATE

Wed 10          Liverpool       Echo Arena              0844 8000 400

Thu 11          Sheffield       Arena                   0114 265 5656

Sat 13          London          O2 Arena                0844 856 0202  SOLD OUT

Mon 15          London          O2 Arena                0844 856 0202

Tue 16          Birmingham     LG Arena                 0844 338 8000

Thu 18          Newcastle      Metro Radio Arena        0844 493 6666

Fri 19          Manchester     MEN Arena                NEW DATE

Sat 20          Aberdeen       AECC                     0844 4999 990 SOLD OUT

Back 2 Skool will be second track to be taken from the incredible City Of Thieves album and features Sonic Boom’s distinctive break neck guitar riffs and dance sensibilities with a massive anthemic call to arms chorus.

To support the single Sonic Boom Six will be embarking on a full UK tour throughout October where they will be supported by The Skints, who have recently signed to the Sonic Boom Six’s own Rebel Alliance Recordings label.

The Sonic Boom Six UK tour dates:

OCTOBER 2009

TUE 6th TUNBRIDGE WELLS FORUM
WED 7th BRISTOL COOLER
THU 8th YORK DUCHESS
FRI 9th BIRMINGHAM ACADEMY
SAT 10th NARBETH QUEENSHALL
SUN 11th UK LEEDS COCKPIT
MON 12th PORTSMOUTH WEDGEWOOD ROOMS
TUE 13th OXFORD ACADEMY
WED 14th NORWICH WATERFRONT
THU 15th LONDON GARAGE
SAT 17th LIVERPOOL ACADEMY
SUN 18th GLASGOW STEREO
MON 19th ABERDEEN TUNNELS
WED 21st MANCHESTER ACADEMY
THU 22nd NEWPORT TJS
FRI 23rd PETERBOROUGH PARK
SAT 24th SHEFFIELD ACADEMY
SUN 25th NEWCASTLE ACADEMY

What the critics had to say about ‘City of Thieves’:
‘This is witty, vital and utterly infectious fare.’ KKKK – Kerrang!
‘It’s smart, joyous music that has plenty to say and does so eloquently.’ 4/5 – Big Cheese

And my personal favourite:

‘A hundred word analysis cannot do this album justice, so let’s just say it’s one f*cking excellent album and get on with out lives? Agreed? Agreed.’ 9/10 Rock Sound

The Black Lips

Drugs is taken as on of the standout track¡s  from The Black Lips album 200 Million Thousand. The video chosen to accompany the track is made by a Black Lips fan, who sent the production to the band.

The Black Lips will be appearing at the Leeds/Reading Festival this weekend, somehow squeezing a visit to Valencia in between.

Here are the UK dates:

26 Aug 2009 – Brighton
Concorde 2

28 Aug 2009 – Reading
Reading Festival, Republic Stage

29 Aug 2009 – Alaquas nr Valencia
Festival FRA Alaquas

30 Aug 2009 – Leeds
Leeds Festival, Republic Stage

Arctic Monkeys announce third album - Humbug

The Arctic Monkeys‘ third album, Humbug, will be released on Monday 24th August 2009.

Humbug features 10 brand new Arctic Monkeys’ songs and was produced by Josh Homme in the Mojave Desert and Los Angeles and James Ford in Brooklyn.

Arctic Monkeys – Humbug tracklisting:

1. My Propeller
2. Crying Lightning
3. Dangerous Animals
4. Secret Door
5. Potion Approaching
6. Fire And The Thud
7. Cornerstone
8. Dance Little Liar
9. Pretty Visitors
10. The Jeweller’s Hands

The Arctic Monkeys will be headlining the Reading and Leeds Festival in August and playing the following shows over the summer:

Thursday 2nd July
Opener Festival, Gydnia, Poland

Saturday 4th July
Rock For People, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic

Sunday 5th July
Vienna Arena, Austria

Tuesday 7th July
Prokurative, Split, Croatia

Thursday 9th July
Exit Festival, Serbia

Saturday 1st August
All Points West, New Jersey, USA

Sunday 2nd August
Osheaga Festival, Montreal, Canada

Friday – Sunday  7th- 9th August (date TBC)
Lollapalooza, Chicago, USA

Thursday 13th August
Oya Festival, Oslo, Norway

Friday  14th August
Way Out West, Gothenburg, Sweden

Saturday 15th August
Beat Day Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark

Friday 21st August
Highfield Festival, Erfurt, Germany

Saturday 22nd August
Pukkelpop Festival, Hasselt, Belgium

Sunday 23rd August
Lowlands Festival, Holland

Friday 28th August
Leeds Festival

Saturday 29th August
Reading Festival

Friday 6th  November
Zenith, Paris, France

Sonic Boom Six to play The Camden Rocks Festival

Sonic Boom Six will be opening the Main Stage at this year’s Reading Festival.

The band are also performing at this weekend’s Camden Rocks festival alongside a whole host of acts at four Camden venues (The Underworld, The Barfly, The Monarch and Prince Of Wales) including Carl Barat, Pete Doherty, Ginger, Nine Black Alps and Subkicks.

The Camden Rocks Festival will be raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Sonic Boom Six have just completed a successful City Of Thieves album tour when they were joined on stage last Sunday by Itch from The King Blues.  Their genre-fusing music covers punk rock, pop, hip hop and reggae.

Listen to the new Sonic Boom Six single, The Concrete We’re Trapped Within, due to be released on 6th July and see if it reminds you of The Rezillos.

Sonic Boom Six – Saturday June 6th – Underworld – 3pm (for 30 minutes)

Frank Turner - third album & UK tour

Frank Turner is currently putting the finishing touches to his third album Poetry Of The Deed which will be released in September on Xtra Mile Recordings in UK and Ireland and Epitpah for the rest of the world.

To help promote the forthcoming album, Frank Turner will be playing this summer’s Reading & Leeds Festivals on the NME/Radio 1 Stage on Sunday (Reading) and Saturday (Leeds).

His performance in the Lock Up Tent last year catapulted him to exciting new levels of success so who knows what could happen this year!

The first single to be taken from Poetry Of The Deed will be released the day after the festival on 31st August.

October will see Frank Turner embark on his largest UK headline tour to date and with the Manchester date already sold out – 5 months in advance – tickets are going very quickly.

Frank Turner UK tour dates:

OCTOBER
13 Dublin, Academy 2
14 Belfast Stiff Kitten Club
15 Glasgow QMU
16 Manchester Academy 2 – SOLD OUT!!
17 Newcastle Uni
18 Nottingham Rock City
19 Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall
20 Oxford Academy
22 Leeds Met University
23 Cambridge Junction
24 Plymouth University
25 Exeter Lemon Grove
26 Bristol Anson Rooms
27 Cardiff University
28 Winchester Guildhall
29 London Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Tickets are £10, £13 in London

Supports for all dates are Fake Problems and Beans On Toast.