Tags: Codeine Velvet Club, Jon Lawler, The Fratellis, We7

Seizing opportunities presented by the digital space, Codeine Velvet Club’s album will be released in an innovative manner.

Starting from November 16^th free online music service we7 (www.we7.com) will be streaming two tracks a week from the bands’ eponymously titled debut album, ultimately streaming the full album before it is realeased on general sale.  In addition, we7 will have exclusive access to the band, publishing interviews with Jon Lawler, lead singer and chief songwriter of The Fratellis, on its website at the opening and close of Codeine Velvet Club’s UK tour.

For fans who listen to the tracks at we7 or via a distributed we7 widget and want to experience the band live, we7 will also be running a series of nationwide and regional ticket giveaways, helping fans to get as close to the band and the music as possible.

On December 7th Spotify subscribers can hear the album via its premium service aswell as an additional three exclusive live tracks.  Non paying Spotify users (on the ad-funded site) will be able to hear a sampler of six tracks from the album from the same date.

The physical and complete digital Codeine Velvet Club album will be made fully available across all platforms on December 28^th along with their next single “Hollywood”.

Says Island GM Jon Turner: “At Island we are keen to embrace innovative ways to deliver our artists’ music to the consumer.   The Codeine Velvet Club album is such a strong and unique body of work that we felt it was vital for fans to hear as much music as possible upfront of release to create what we are confident will be a huge word of mouth viral uptake. We wanted to partner with Spotify and we7 who both have a passionate audience of music lovers and are the perfect digital platforms to spread the word”

Codeine Velvet Club is a new musical collaboration featuring Jon Lawler – lead singer and chief songwriter of The Fratellis – and singer-songwriter Lou Hickey, that celebrates their shared love of ’60s girl-boy duets, dramatic orchestral pop, and dark post-war Hollywood and Las Vegas romanticism.

Tags: Flood Of Red, Jordan Spiers, The Xcerts, We Are The Ocean

Tours with We Are The Ocean (November) and The Xcerts (December) announced

www.floodofred.co.uk

Jordan Spiers – vocals | Sean McGroarty – guitar | Calum Doris – guitar & backing vocals  |  Jamie McGowan – bass guitar | Dale Gallacher – keyboards | Graham Griffith – drums

Following the release of Flood of Red’s debut album through their own label Dark City exclusively at www.floodofred.co.uk, the band will be hitting the road hard on the lead-up to Christmas.

Firstly, the band head out with We Are The Ocean next week. Vocalist Jordan says about the announcement of Flood of Red’s addition to the tour – “We have never really had the chance to play a good set of shows with We Are The Ocean and we’re all stoked about it. With both our debut albums recorded with producer Brian McTernan and both out this very year, it’s an exciting time for both our bands.”

Of The Xcerts Christmas Tour in Scotland, Jordan has the following to say – “The Xcerts are one of the most talented young bands out there and we have been good friends with them for several years now. Every opportunity we get to play with each other is an enjoyable one. Expect lots of crazy festive surprises when we pair up to tour in December, it’s gonna be awesome!”

Flood Of Red formed in Airdrie, a satellite town twelve miles east of Glasgow in 2004. Starting out as a trio who met via school and the local skate scene, they soon expanded to a sextet. The band went straight out on tour just months after their formation, all aged just seventeen. Fast-forward to January 2nd 2009 when Flood Of Red flew to Baltimore, Maryland where they spent a month recording their debut album with punk rock extraordinaire producer Brian McTernan  (Cave In, Thrice, Converge) in his Salad Days studio. Having been so far on their journey up to this point, Flood Of Red are now more than ready to share their lovingly crafted debut full-length with the world as they continue to tour tirelessly in support of the record.

Supporting WE ARE THE OCEAN on tour –

18 Nov 2009        White Rabbit      PLYMOUTH

19 Nov 2009        Le Pub                  NEWPORT

20 Nov 2009        The Pitz                MILTON KEYNES

21 Nov 2009        Rescue Rooms  NOTTINGHAM

23 Nov 2009        O2 Academy 2   BIRMINGHAM

24 Nov 2009        Academy 3          MANCHESTER

25 Nov 2009        King Tuts              GLASGOW

26 Nov 2009        Cockpit                 LEEDS

29 Nov 2009        Arts Centre         COLCHESTER

30 Nov 2009        Concorde 2         BRIGHTON

1 Dec 2009           Electric Ballroom               LONDON

DECEMBER SCOTLAND TOUR WITH THE XCERTS

10 Harley’s          Bathgate
11 Devitos           Arbroath
12 Twa Tam’s     Perth
13 The Cell          Kilmarnock
15 Electric Circus Edinburgh
19 Dog House    Dundee
20 King Tuts        Glasgow
21 Ironworks      Inverness

22 Tunnels          Aberdeen

Tags: insurgentes, Steven Wilson

NEW RELEASE FEATURING REMIXES OF TRACKS FROM STEVEN WILSON’S ‘INSURGENTES’ ALBUM, REMIXERS INCLUDE DAVID A. SITEK (TV ON THE RADIO), DÄLEK AND ENGINEERS

www.insurgentes.org www.kscopemusic.com

“Wilson has created yet another masterpiece. Insurgentes is an incredible musical journey and an essential purchase for anyone who still believes in the sanctity of music as an art-form.” Classic Rock

“Insurgentes’ stunning musicianship offers a free-sprawling, exquisitely dejected tour of our psychic hinterlands, and one that will resonate for many years to come” Metal Hammer

Insurgentes, the debut album from Steven Wilson, was released earlier this year on Kscope. The album immediately received a rapturous reception from not just fans and critics but also from fellow artists. Several of these artists have remixed tracks from the album and NSRGNTS RMXS is a collection of some of these remixes. NSRGNTS RMXS opens with a mix of Harmony Korine by David A. Sitek, currently enjoying massive critical acclaim for the new TV On The Radio album.Underground hip-hop pioneers Dälek have created a dark, brooding mix of Get All You Deserve (think Massive Attack meets UNKLE). Engineers, who return on July 6^th with their new album Three Fact Fader, have brought their widescreen sound to Abandoner while Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, XTC) has created a sprawling mix of Salvaging and drone act Fear Falls Burning have also reworked Get All You Deserve.The mini-album is completed by the winner of the remix competition which ran on the Insurgentes mini-site. The competition offered fans the chance to remix the track Abandoner and received over 200 entries. Steven listened to all the entries and whittled them down to a final eight mixes which were then put up on the site for fans to vote on. The Danse Macabre remix created by Łukasz Langa topped the poll. This mix will now feature on the CD and download versions of the NSRGNTS RMXS mini-album. A 12” vinyl edition of NSRGNTS RMXS will also be released. This will be limited to 1000 copies only available from the Kscope store. It features the David A. Sitek mix along with two mixes of Only Child by Pat Mastelotto. A digital edition will also be available which will collects all eight tracks available on the CD and 12”. The initial run of 5,000 copies of NSRGNTS RMXS is now available from the Kscope store. The CD edition will be in stores from August 24^th (October 12^th in UK)

One of the most eclectic and prolific artists in rock music, Steven Wilson has been writing, recording, and producing music continuously since the age of 10. Best known as the frontman of Porcupine Tree, Wilson is also the key component in various other projects including No-man, Blackfield, Bass Communion as well as a respected producer and mixer acclaimed for his work with Opeth and Anja Garbarek amongst others. Insurgentes comprises 10 tracks that range from ballads and anthems to all-out industrial noise assaults, the dark, cinematic and richly textured album represents two years’ worth of creative output and numerous recording sessions worldwide in studios from Mexico City to Japan and Israel. While Wilson is a member of several bands including Blackfield, No-Man and Bass Communion, he explains that “when I began writing these songs, I quickly realised that they would be best suited to an album under my own name.  It was an intuitive, almost unconscious writing process that resulted in a kind of ‘poetry of melancholy.” The final product inhabits a similar experimental realm as recent albums by Thom Yorke, Portishead, and Nine Inch Nails.

For more information please contact Sam Hesketh on 0208 962 8282 or sam@divisionpromotions.com

Pixies have confirmed the release a box set Best Of called ‘Minotaur’.

The luxury collector’s box set featuring material spanning Pixies’ entire career is available to pre-order from June 15th. ‘Minotaur’ will see all five albums (‘Come On Pilgrim’ (1987), ‘Surfer Rosa’ (1988), ‘Doolittle’ (1989), ‘Bossanova’ (1990), and ‘Trompe Le Monde’ (1991)) re-released and the deluxe version of the package includes a DVD of Pixies legendary 1991 Brixton Academy performance, all of the band’s videos, a 54-page book and reinterpreted artwork by Vaughan Oliver.

A limited edition version of ‘Minotaur’ features everything in the deluxe edition plus all five Pixies’ albums on 180-gram vinyl, a Giclee print of Oliver’s artwork and a 72-page hardcover book.

Morrissey kicked off his set at the Coachella Festival with the classic Smiths tune ‘This Charming Man’ – just one in a string of hit songs by his former band that he played tonight (April 17).

Performing in front of a backdrop with a black-and-white photograph of the naked torso of a sailor smoking a cigar with the word ‘Refusal’ written across his chest, the singer humbly asked, “Does it sound OK?” after performing ‘Girlfriend In A Coma’. The audience cheered back loudly in response.

Midway through the set, Morrissey said, “I can smell burning flesh and I hope to God it’s human,” as the smell of barbequed meat from nearby food stands wafted through the air. A few minutes later, the famous vegetarian walked off the stage in the middle of ‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’.

He returned shortly afterwards, saying, “The smell of burning animals is making me sick. I just couldn’t bear it.”

Morrissey continued on, performing his latest single ‘I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris’ as well as older solo material and more classic Smiths tunes including ‘Ask’ and set-closer ‘How Soon Is Now?’, which culminated with a loud gong finale.

Morrissey played:

‘This Charming Man’
‘First Of The Gang To Die’
‘Black Cloud’
‘Girlfriend In A Coma’
‘Irish Blood, English Heart’
‘How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?’
‘When I Last Spoke To Carol’
‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’
‘I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris’
‘Seasick, Yet Still Docked’
‘The Loop’
‘Sorry Doesn’t Help’
‘Ask’
‘Let Me Kiss You’
‘How Soon Is Now?’

Fans’ first chance to hear new material from ‘The Eternal’ arrives early.

In June Sonic Youth will release their first record on new label Matador. It’s called ‘The Eternal’ and it’s a bit special. Seems like a long time to wait though, which is probably why the band have decided to play a one off ’secret’ show at The Scala, Kings Cross, on Monday 27 April.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning (April 21st) at www.gigsandtours.com.

Noel Gallagher has suggested there may be no new Oasis album for at least five years, in an interview with Q.

The guitarist – who spoke to Q for the new edition on sale on April 28 – revealed that in the meantime he is planning a solo album when the band finish touring their current record, Dig Out Your Soul. Gallagher said he had built up a stockpile of tunes that date back to the Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants-era of the band in 2000.

“I’ve got a lot of songs lying around and some of them are really great,” says Gallagher. “But they’re not Oasis songs. They’re going to sit there and do nothing, so hopefully at the end of this tour I’m going to go and do something for myself.”
Gallagher’s solo plans will result in an extended gap between Oasis albums.

“The last three albums have been three years in between,” he says, “but I see it as likely to be longer this time. We’ve arrived at the point I wanted to be at from when Gem [Archer] and Andy [Bell] joined the band. And the last time we did that was at the end of Be Here Now, and we rushed the next album [Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants]. There was no inspiration on it. Even before the end of making each Oasis album, I’ve always started writing the next one, and I haven’t this time. I don’t
want to force it.”

He added: “By the time we make another record we’ll be five years older.”

Gallagher has performed solo in the past, most notably for a Teenage Cancer Trust show at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 2007; a set that is now available for download from iTunes. He insists that the break will do Oasis good and hopes the other members will also work on their own side-projects.

“It’d be really interesting for fans of the band to see how each individual makes up the whole,” he says. “I don’t think it’ll affect what Oasis do. Liam, on the other hand, will f***ing freak out.”

Noel revealed that his relationship with his brother is still fractious – and that Liam has never met his nephew Donovan, Noel and his partner Sara MacDonald’s son. “He’s never seen my little lad, just pictures,” Noel said. “To a stranger it sounds ludicrous, but you wouldn’t have him in the house if he spoke to you the way he speaks to me and my family.

“He’s rude, arrogant, intimidating and lazy. He’s the angriest man you’ll ever meet. He’s like a man with a fork in a world of soup.”

Oasis will begin a UK tour on 4 June at Manchester’s Heaton Park, and have been announced as one of the V Festival headliners on 22 and 23 August (playing Staffordshire and Cheltenham respectively).

The Low Anthem, US roots rockers and breakthrough stars of this year’s SXSW festival, will be playing an exclusive show at the MOJO Club in London on June 23.

The trio hail from Providence, Rhode Island and their second full-length album, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin with its meld of lush Americana and blues stompers, is already set to be one of the key new releases of 2009. Ben Knox Miller and Jeff Prytowsky began their partnership as an “electronica-songwriter fusion project”, before the entrance of the classically inclined Jocie Adams realigned their musical direction.

Reporting from The Low Anthem’s MOJO show at SXSW, Editor-In-Chief Phil Alexander described them as a band “with a sound based on intimacy, quiet charm and melody…The Low Anthem are truly songwriters and instrumentalists. Theirs is a gloriously romantic vision of America that sits somewhere between Dylan and Waits. Furthermore, they have the songs to seduce almost any crowd, and with shows looming with everyone from Josh Ritter to Bruce Springsteen that can only be a good thing.”

Elbow are set to play a show at the Manchester MEN Arena on September 18 and then, according to frontman Guy Garvey, “disappear” from the live scene until they finish their next album.

The band are billing the event as a special homecoming show that has extra poignancy as the venue is located within a mile of Blueprint Studios, where they recorded their hugely successful latest album ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’.

“It’ll be the biggest show we’ve done,” Garvey told NME.COM. “Then we’ll disappear for a couple of years to work on a new record.”

See the new issue of NME, out tomorrow (April 29), for the full interview with the Elbow man.

Tickets for the show go on sale on Friday (May 1).

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher is offering the first fruits of his clothes label, Pretty Green, to five lucky readers of NME and NME.COM.

You can win one of five Pretty Green T-shirts (pictured, as worn by the Oasis singer) signed by the man himself. The shirts will officially be the first clothes produced for Gallagher’s label, which is set to launch next month.