Alcopop!

Back to old mother beeb, and our handsome troubadour Sam Isaac – who’s all over the radio tonight! Kicking off with a good ol’ play on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show – the radios finest runners will then usher him off to the cuddly surroundings of Colin Murray’s studio to air a session of some of the very best bits of his repertoire… And he’s managed to fit it all in alongside his tour with Kate Walsh, and million other gigs across the country.

So unless you’ve got one hell of a good reason, you better lock in that dial (I feel like Dave Lee Travis now) to Radio 1 and listen to some of the best acoustic music coming out of Malvern, or anywhere else right about now!

You’ve read all about them, you’ve seen them on tour with the Wombats and you’ve rated them just about the best thing to come out of the Liverpool scene since The Beatles (perhaps) – and now it is with a pleasure normally reserved for delights of the carnal variety only – that I can confirm that the goFASTER>> single ‘Flammable Leisurewear’ is now available for preorder!

Available on very ltd. 7” (only 500 available), with free CD, for just £3 on this very website, the matchbook-style artwork has been designed by Paul Rafferty (of Hot Club de Paris fame) - and if you order quickly enough and are able to pick up one of the first 100, it will come in a tracksuit sleeve slipcase – and make you one of the coolest people we know.

goFASTER>> begin their bosspop tour with Elle S’apelle on the 15^th February – go and listen to them here, watch the video for their last (and now sold out) single there – or buy, buy, buy!

Show me a drawing, a brilliant drawing (one of yours)

I don’t know if I have any brilliant drawings; I don’t confess to being able to draw, or indeed liking what I draw. I imagine my best drawings are lay in a bin somewhere, or glued to a wall on the streets of Manchester. Either way, I drew you this:

I hope you like it. I also drew this man in a carrot suit:

Do you ever think a fast food chain can come close to achieving the ‘feel good’ family appeal of Wimpy?

If I’m honest, I think that I’m too young to appreciate Wimpy in it’s prime and truly experience that ‘feel good’ factor – they did have tasty burgers, though. McDonalds Cheeseburgers come close, sometimes, but nobody has ever matched the memory of my first Wimpy burger.

What to look out for from the Coxy Empire in the coming months…

Well, once I’ve finished building Pickled Dick’s official website, I’ll be cracking on with the long-running video games website Gamestyle, because we have lots of exciting developments in the pipeline, together with some top-secret ‘partners’. Other than that, my horizon is fairly clear; whilst I have a few other ‘killer’ website ideas that I’d like to implement in the future, 2008 will be all about building better friendships with my friends offline and my internet entrepreneurship will just sit in my little black book for a rainy day…

Good work sir - and thus endeth the interview… Another popper well grilled! And that picture of me is a spit!

Of all those who have stopped into Alcopop Records for a steaming cup of damn fine music, and side-plate of shortbread love, Coxy is a shining hero. Author of two blogs, Coxy’s blog and Gamestyle – he has been an ever present, owner of every Alcopop release and regular – and seemingly pursuer of all things that are brilliant… Here he is, commenting on Wimpy Burger, Carrot Men and Parsley from the herbs.

Oh, and his answers are so informed and long – I’ve decided to put the post into two parts. Here’s the first…

Of all the Alcopop releases that have ever graced your postbox, which is your very favourite?
I feel obliged to say ‘Encyclopedia – Emily’, Alcopop’s first release and the start of the singles club. The Singles Club was probably the first club I’ve ever joined of my own free will and I was quite excited to be receiving some good post for once. Encyclopedia’s Oli makes me feel slightly gay and Bencyclopedia is a lovely, lovely person and first introduced me to Alcopop (the label, not the drink).

I’m also looking forward to upcoming release ‘goFASTER>> - Flammable Leisurewear’ because the band make boss-pop and are really cool people. The artwork looks to be ace, too.

Got any red hot tips for the best bands one might catch on the smaller circuits of 2008?
I have a long list of artists that I’d like to see popular in 2008, including Fourteen Corners, National School, Mr Kamikaze and Manchester’s own Vile Vile Creatures. However, if I had to narrow my choice down to one, The Old Romantic Killer Band from Leeds have been blasting out of my speakers everyday for the past month. I do believe they have a single coming out in Q1 2008 and are currently touring the small venues nationwide before they head off to SXSW later this year.

Coxy – which 80’s/early 90’s cartoon character do you most relate too?
Something tells me you’re looking for me to say ‘Shaggy’ from the hit TV show ‘Scooby Doo’, but alas, physical appearance aside, I’d much prefer to be ‘Parsley the Lion’ from ‘The Herbs’. Parsley is as wise as I am and carries style and debonair – or at least pretends to. When those around him lose their head, he keeps calm, plays it cool and pretends to know what he’s doing.

So I realised that I’d been getting rather wide in my chatter over the last couple of days, reffing Menswe@r, Last FM and a load of other crap – but fear not good Alcopopper, because it’s firmly back in camp today with good news all round….

Bang – a couple of real nice reviews for the free downloadable Family Machine EP that was out to much cheering and happiness late 2007, with BBC Oxford describing it as “a great prelude to their album which is due for release in early 2008” – and Clickmusic.com conjures up all sorts of lovely images by suggesting “Glittery synths interweave with classic guitar riffs and a bass that connotes a smokey, bluesy bar and a sweaty dance-floor” – damn right!

Bash – Exciting news for the handsome lads from 4 or 5 Magicians, who are not only working hard in the studio with Ian Button penning seven glorious tracks, but have been confirmed for 3 dates on the Los Campesinos/Johnny Foreigner February tour in Reading (20th), Kingston (21st) and Portsmouth (23rd).

Bong – goFaster>> soon to release their next single (11^th Feb) are currently being ‘reet loved up by John Kennedy on XFM – he’s cool, they’re cool – hey, we’re all cool – go and check em out…

And Bosh, Beng, Bing, Kapow! – Sam Isaac continues to cater for you magnificently by seeming to be playing every city, town and village in the whole of the UK – Cambridge tonight, Bournemouth tomorrow and the bus rolls on – go check him out if you have a soul!

Don’t you just love days like that! and so, I shall celebrate by putting up this absolutely awesome picture!

So it’s happened – and about time too! Another shot into the bows of major labels, popular online personal radio station Last FM has somehow coerced the powers that be into allowing people to listen to whatever the hell they like online – for free, Free, FREE! It’s all explained over on Mashable, but the long and short of it is that users will be able to play full-length tracks up to 3 times, at which point they will be asked to sign up for a new Last.fm subscription service, where they will be able to enjoy unlimited listening.

Yup, and the other good news for listeners, and I’d argue, independent labels like ourselves who rely on the hardcore music fans like you, is that advertising revenue will be generated and paid directly too said labels, to be passed onto the bands – thus doing that little bit to help those releasing genuinely brilliant music to people who know what they like. After all (and I perhaps sound like a naive advert now), I think Last FM is a great way of introducing music to real indie fans, who don’t mind paying a few quid to own that limited slab of vinyl, joining a dedicated singles club (ahem) or picking up a CD at a show sometime.

Of course – the major loser in this is potentially MySpace, which may see artists leave in droves when the cheques from Last FM start popping through the door – but with exposure being as important as it is, I personally doubt it’ll have that much impact. What it does mean though, is that the Alcopop Last FM page – managed by the majestic Coxy – is the place to be!

Tight-trousered king of the Camden scene for a brief, yet glorious, dalliance in the mid 90’s Britpop wave, the much maligned (unfairly in my view) Menswe@r rocked! Signed after a handful of gigs, and hyped to fuck yada yada (all this is on the Wikipedia page), they quickly disappeared – but not before leaving a mark on the hearts of all those indie-poppers, lost in the buzz of all things heralded by the NME as cool back in the day. 

And it is with some sadness that I write this post, after being tipped off by a guitarist/hanger on/ex member (I’m not quite sure now – I was hella drunk) of follow-up band The Montrose Avenue – that despite other members of the band going on to keep their musical interests up, I heard Johnny was the manager of a London mobile phone shop. A mobile phone shop!

Now, this isn’t absolute proof – could be hear’ say for all I know, but if this is the case, then, to me at least, it seems a real shame. Sure, a number of journos and media types slammed the band for being a product of slick back hair, charm and pretty faces – but in indie terms, I think that Johnny was a true front man, delivering the kind of self-assured, stylish performance that characterised the Britpop era… and he deserves to be remembered as such. 

Perhaps calls for a 1-off Menswe@r reunion are too much, and god only knows why they went off the rails so dramatically after recording folk-infused second album ‘Hey Tiempo’ – but surely a solo show, or at least a stint presenting something or other should be calling for Johnny. But wouldn’t it be nice to see him again? Yeah yeah….

Sometimes I see something that I just must share…. Today, it’s this masterpiece from the folk i deem the greatest cartoon types on the web. Stand out stuff, full of violence, ridiculous plot twists and irreverence - all in but a few comic boxes.

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

As many of you may know, super scouse quartet Go Faster>> (musn’t forget those chevrons sir) are releasing Flammable Leisurewear - a behemoth of Liverpool related pop punk that will literally leave you crying for more - on 11th February. It will be acompanied by a video, directed by the superb Stuart Lanceley of Token Films…

It won’t be leaked to you good people just yet, but to build up your anticipation of the joy that’s to come (featuring sallies, big rizla packets and more) - here’s another of his pieces of work… The sublime video for the quartets last release ‘She Starts Monday’..

Enjoy

And as the radio 1 juggernaut rumbles on, it is with pride and pleasure that we notice it (and especially Colin Murray) is stopping off along the way for a tasty Alcopop or too. That’s right – for not only did the wee Irish champ give the Family Machine their first (of many) Radio 1 play for the upcoming new album (and former free downloadable EP) on Tuesday, featuring the song Got It Made – but he decided to give the majestic Sideways by our boy Sam Isaac a spin the following day.

We don’t know what his exact tipple is (although my chums once met him at the Northern Ireland vs. England match and said he was a heavy boozer) but anytime your round our way, I’ll get you one in Colin! And does anyone else think that his Fighting Talk on Radio 5 is one of the best damn sport-based radio shows around? Me too!

Meanwhile, Kev (Alcopop and BSM) has gone on holiday to New York to see, amongst other things, a solo, intimate Andrew WK piano gig on Sunday… Lucky f**ker! J He’s got a bit of a guestlist too, so if any die-hard Alcopopper happens to be in the big Apple this Sunday, ‘gis a shout and I’ll see if he can get you in (you never know).