Eamon McGrath and The Mohawk Lodge to tour the UK this May!
Eamon McGrath never sleeps. He’s toured and recorded more songs than most artists do in a career.
Culled from 18 home-recorded albums, comes 13 Songs of Whiskey and Light, an introduction to a great talent well beyond his 21 years.
Folk, soul and blues music is filtered through a think, layer of psychedelic and raw garage punk rock. His music has been compared to that of both Neil Young and Black Flag; Tom Waits, Robert Johnson, Ryan Adams: a punk rock songwriter, with the smell of Saturday night on his wrists, and an amp capable of shaking the rafter on the roof.
13 Songs of Whiskey and Light will be released on White Whale Records on 24th May.
Eamon McGrath will be touring Europe with label-mates, The Mohawk Lodge who release their third full-length, Crimes, this summer. Overseen by producer Darryl Neudorf (Neko Case, New Pornographers), their song writing owes as much to Springsteen as to Smog, while their playing manages to bridge the gap between Fleetwood Mac and the Constantines.
UK Tour Dates:
Wednesday 19 May – Nottingham @ Spanky Van Dyke’s
Thursday 20 May – Liverpool @ Liverpool Sound City
Friday 21 May – Liverpool @ Liverpool Sound City
Saturday 22 May – Liverpool @ Liverpool Sound City
Sunday 23 May – Bath @ Moles Club
Tuesday 25 May – Barnstaple @ North Devon College
Wednesday 26 May – London @ the Windmill
Thursday 27 May – Northampton @ the Bantam
Listen to the track ‘Big River’ from the album http://whitewhale.ca/media/eamonmcgrath/EamonMcGrath-BigRiver.
Posted on: April 30th, 2010
Octoberman UK Tour kicks off this weekend at the Camden Crawl!
Toronto based, Octoberman will be touring Europe and the UK in May to promote their latest album Fortresses, released on White Whale Records on 3rd May.
Fortresses is Marc Morrissette and his band’s most cohesive and adventurous album to date and marks Morrissette’s most thematically unified work as a wordsmith.
Examining a variety of relationships, the melancholic record ultimately emerges as an unabashed break-up album in every conceivable sense.
After earning critical praise from the likes of Pitchfork, Uncut and Americana UK (album of 2007), Marc Morrissette will be heading to a venue near you!
UK Tour Dates:
Saturday 1st May – London, Camden Crawl (Fiddler’s Elbow)
Sunday 2nd May – London, Camden Crawl (Tommy Flynn’s)
Tuesday 4th May – London, Slaughtered Lamb
Thursday 6th May – Halifax, The Puzzle Hall @ Sowerby Bridge
Friday 7th May – Cheltenham, Conservatory Cafe Bar
Wednesday 26th May – London, Camden Head (Club Fandango)
Thursday 27th May – Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete’s
Friday 28th May – Glasgow, Brel
Saturday 29th May – Northampton, The Lamplighte
Sunday 30th May - Bath, Moles
Monday 31st May – London, Windmill (afternoon)
Tuesday 1st June – London, Acoustic Launch @ Barrio Central
Wednesday 2nd June – Barnstaple, North Devon College
Thursday 3rd June – Cardiff, Buffalo Bar
Friday 4th June – Bedminster, Southbank
Saturday 5th June – Glossop, The Oakwood
Sunday 6th June – Maidstone, Babylon Lounge
Monday 7th June – Norwich, The Bicycle Shop
Posted on: April 30th, 2010
Octoberman play Camden Crawl
Posted on: April 25th, 2010
BACHELORETTE WILL BE BEAMING TO OUR SHORES THIS APRIL!
“Annabel Alpers, a uniquely engaging oddity who captures NZ’s sense of space and seclusion. A real treasure.” Mojo ****
“… a kind of lo-fi, one woman version of Animal Collective…” Q ***
“…the record is a nebulous dream-like beast which demands that you completely submit to the delicate complexities within and become as enthralled as I was.” Big Cheese ****
“My Electric Family is endlessly inventive and rewarding.” MusicOMH ****
Bachelorette’s Annabel Alpers has a family of synthesizers, keyboards and computers that beam to us all the way from Christchurch, New Zealand. Her third album, My Electric Family was released last year on Drag City and is a hand-woven sci-folk lullaby that delves into your subconscious and hits you right at your electric core!
Alpers stands in the cradle of modern songwriting, that of psychedelic pop music. The sense of infinite possibility felt in those songs, the desire to manipulate a collective sensation to become anything at all, informs Bachelorette’s journey. Her beats, voices, keyboards, and a variety of guitars and percussions to create the melodic constructs we know so well, and delight in, and sing along with, and imagine to.
Her flighty vocals have been compared to Syd Barrett and her multi-tracked harmonies have a Spectorish touch.
Don’t miss one of Bachelotette’s rare UK shows – her songs will be filled with starlight supernova and black hole energies pouring through tales of earthbound love and longing.
UK Dates:
Sunday 25th April – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club (w/ Bear in Heaven)
Monday 26th April – Sheffield, The Harley
Tuesday 27th April – London, White Heat @ Madame Jo Jo’s
Tuesday 4th May – London, Cargo (w/High Places)
Posted on: April 20th, 2010
Xiu Xiu 2010 UK Tour Dates
Xiu Xiu’s world tour in support of their new, forthcoming record, Dear God, I Hate Myself, will kick off on February 20th 2010 in Dublin, Ireland.
Dear God, I Hate Myself is out February 15th on Kill Rock Stars.
UK Tour Dates:
Saturday 20th February – Dublin, Whelans
Sunday 21st February – Glasgow, Nice ‘n’ Sleazy
Monday 22nd February – Edinburgh, Electric Circus
Tuesday 23rd February – Manchester, Islington Mill
Wednesday 24th February – Sheffield, The Harley
Thursday 25th February – Cardiff, Cardiff Arts Institute
Friday 26th February – London, The Luminaire
Saturday 27th February – Brighton, Freebutt
Sunday 28th February – Coventry, Taylor John’s House
Read almost any piece about Xiu Xiu and you’ll see words like ‘harsh’ or ‘brutal’ — the same words that appear before ‘truth’ when an unwavering eye is turned on any intimate detail of our lives. Fair descriptions of the themes central to the music, they sit incongruous to the intricate and beautiful approach taken in crafting the twelve tracks on Xiu Xiu’s new album Dear God, I Hate Myself.
Stewart is joined by new full-time band member Angela Seo on piano, synth, and drum programming; with production handled by Jamie and Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier. Together they’ve crafted a fully grown sound for Dear God, I Hate Myself with elements from goth and pop that are expertly performed by a crop of brilliant musicians. Saunier himself plays on much of the record as does Ches Smith (John Zorn, Terry Riley, Marc Ribot) who supplies timpani, conga and moog along with a broad range of other instrumentation. Deerhoof’s John Dieterich is all over a rendition of the traditional folk song “Cumberland Gap” and Xiu Xiu is even joined by the Immaculata Catholic School Orchestra in Stewart’s ode to heartbreak and healing, “This Too Shall Pass Away (for Freddy).” The title track, one of four songs done primarily on a Nintendo DS, explores the relationship between faith and despair with a layer of commentary provided by the bizarre sounds of the music itself.
Each new Xiu Xiu release has evolved alongside the lives of Jamie Stewart and company. On this record you’ll find more intensity and introspection than ever before, but sonically and lyrically it continues to move forward with a subtly new perspective — hyper-focussed yet aware of a larger, external picture unfolding. The pace of the record grips you, the music offers layers of detail, and the themes focus on not just the past or stark present but hint towards vespers of the future as well. Dear God, I Hate Myself will challenge you and force you to look inside yourself, but only after you get lost in the music. It’s passionate, it’s energetic, and it affects you.
Posted on: December 11th, 2009
HORSE FEATHERS RETURN TO THE UK IN DECEMBER!!
“…Justin Ringle’s semi-whispered vocals and rainy, backwoods milieu, coupled with the poignant string decorations of multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick.” Mojo
“This music is fingerspun nostalgia. The past don’t change.” Plan B
“House with No Home is beautiful, eerie and the most accomplished record I have heard this year.” Big Cheese *****
“…simply stunning” NME (8/10)
“…defines an eerie space where the skeleton of a story lies: no exposition, no names, just hints of a grief and outrage…” Pitchfork
“Horse Feathers will tickle your emotions and send you galloping through your own personal pastures.” Tracer
After fronting several rock bands in his native Idaho, singer/songwriter, Justin Ringle moved to Portland, Oregon in 2004 and began focusing on acoustic music, playing open mics regularly under the moniker, Horse Feathers. In 2005, multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick heard a couple of Justin’s demos and offered to help ‘flesh them out’. In February 2006 the duo went into Skyler Norwood’s Miracle Lake studios and recorded their debut album, Words are Dead, which was released that September on Portland label, Lucky Madison. Later that year, Peter’s sister, Heather Broderick joined the group on cello and by 2007, Horse Feathers began featuring a rotating cast of instrumentalists backing Justin’s guitar and vocals.
Justin and the Brodericks returned to Miracle Lake studios in the fall and winter of 2007 and recorded House With No Home, which was released on Kill Rock Stars in the Spring of 2008. Around that time, Peter left the country to pursue music in Europe, and Nathan Crockett was enlisted to cover violin duties. Several months later, Heather also left the group to pursue other musical projects and cellist, Catherine Odell came on board. The current line-up was rounded out at the beginning of 2009 when Sam Cooper joined as a multi-instrumentalist. As a four piece, the group has been touring extensively and have just completely their third full length album to be released on Kill Rock Stars next year
Horse Feathers will be touring the UK in December.
UK Tour Dates:
Monday 7th December – London, Hoxton Bar & Grill
Tuesday 8th December – Oxford, Jericho Tavern
Wednesday 9th December – Manchester, Dulcimer
Thursday 10th December – Glasgow, Nice ‘n’ Sleazy
Friday 11th December – Dublin, Academy 2
Saturday 12th December – Belfast, Speakeasy
Posted on: November 15th, 2009
