Mysterious Cities of Gold on DVD – at last!

The tail end of March has festooned a rather difficult weekend (in a word: shit) upon me with severe flu (not man-flu, a proper bangin’ virus cos the doctor said) and terrible out-of-our-hands supplier problems not the worst news I’ve had…

But gloom is for winter (and not an Alcopop winter at that, which primarily consists of merry drinking by crackling log fires, surrounded by a load of clapping dogs in father Christmas suits) – so I shall not dwell, instead pointing out the great news that not only does someone seem to be jamming some kind of grooving ragga beat outside of the house, but that my Mysterious Cities of Gold boxset has arrived!

Awesome for anyone that remembers the glorious childhood days of watching Esteban, Zia, Tao et al, and wishing to discover it anew.. This was literally my favourite 80’s cartoon, and a boxset has been long in the waiting. Animated by the same people who’ve created such classics as ‘Spirited Away’ so I’m told, the tale follows the journey of 3 children who are taken by the gallant, but greedy, Mendoza to travel to a distant land to unlock the treasures of the lost cities of gold in 39 pulsating episodes – last seen on British TV circa ’86/87 I think.

Plus… after a few episodes, the characters get to use probably the greatest form of transport ever – The Golden Condor… What wouldn’t you give for a plane shaped like a massive opulent bird of prey eh! Also the thing comes with some postcards, a map of the mysterious cities – and contains those documentaries about real elements of the journey that (presumably) gave the show that extra educational reference. Awesome…

A marathon awaits, and but for the Hush the Many gig Tuesday (93 Ft East, London) Family Machine show Wednesday (Cobden Club, London) 4 or 5 Magicians extravaganza Thursday (Sumo, Leicester), of course leaving Friday free to browse the Alcopop shop at length for many and varied purchases – I’d be watching every minute of the day .

Hush the Many (Heed the Few) available for pre-order

You’ve seen the heart-achingly beautiful video, hopefully attended one of the sell-out residencies at intimate venue The Wilmington Arms, and now Revolve (out on the 7^th April) is available to pre-order – direct from the Alcopop shop and limited to just 500 7” copies (available at but £3) – complete with sumptuous artwork and one of those B-side’s that makes you realise you’ve bought an all-round classic.

To hear Hush the Many, visit the MySpace – and to experience them live, make sure to get your tickets in for the release show at 93 Ft. East next Tuesday 1^st April…

Meanwhile, here’s just a few of the things those ‘in the know’ have been saying about the record…

“Enchanting and somnolent, this is a band to be cherished.” – Noize Makes Enemies

“The bands new single is something really special” – Comfort Comes

“HTMHTF blend aggression and beauty in unique fashion, hitting like a bolt of lightning across a barren landscape. The Revolve-lution starts here.” – The Daily Mirror

Alcopop visit Gretna FC!

At last, the promised Gretna FC blogpost – and a brief summary of the super adventure to bonnie Scotland, and the football related shenanigans we shared there.

Offering myself as the lucky driver (idiot – never again…) Bank Holiday Saturday saw us wend our way inexorably through the difficult M6, past a monkey forest (the things they have up north!) and finally, accompanied with a bottle of chicken bones (well – you can’t chuck them out of the window eh), grand designs on chatting to all and sundry who had ever been linked with the good ship Gretna FC (recently gone into admin) – we arrived in the little border town.

First thing we noted (as we embarked on a mammoth 3 drinking establishment pub crawl), was the size of the town – and the fact that not only were Gretna players not roaming about the streets looking for friendly Alcopop types, no fucker was. Undeterred, we strode to the Gretna FC social, stopping only at the local convenience shop to purchase a ticket for the match (true!) – and relaxed amongst the 4 very quiet old men grumpily sitting with their pints, clutching them as I would Rocky the Rooster’s extended wing (more of him later).

Still, we’d paid 50p to sign in, and we weren’t going to be deterred, eventually crashing a 40 year old’s birthday party (filled with an unbelievable amount of teen short skirt and a Gretna player from the ‘50s named Tommy Reiley) – drinking shots till we fell and our pal Rich needed to head back to the hotel to rest and recuperate in a profound manner. Handsome brute eh!

Then it was on to Livingston’s Almondvale ground with around 1,500 Gretna faithful and one very handsome rooster. We locked eyes, shook hands and embraced – and quickly considered fleeing back to the Green to get married, but upon my guilty admission of love for KFC, we realised it could never be – and thus I crashed him 8p for his ‘Save our Club’ bucket, and joined in heartily with the “There’s only one Gavin Skelton” chants, until my favourite Scottish club had crashed to an undeserved 3-0 defeat to Celtic. Very unfortunate.

And then finally we set off to complete our rubber-hungry journey with a detour to Edinburgh – Scotland’s finest city (so I hear) and home of fine Austrians and cheap metal clubs. Smashing back £1 shots, pints and anything else we could get our hands on, we danced to rockin’ pop hits (including Cotton Eye Joe), became quite the club charmers with our effervescent banter (which in the cold light of day may have not been quite so charismatic as we thought at the time) and ended the night with Rich once again showing who was boss by collapsing outside his hotel room vomiting – “it’s OK though” he cried, “it was all watery so I didn’t even have to rub any chunks in!”

It’s unlikely Alcopop will be invited back with open arms anytime soon…

A word from Nima Hush the Many (Heed the Few)

Hey everyone,

We are really happy to announce that the supports at the London 93 ft East show will be the the fantastic Matthew Sawyer and the Ghosts who we heard on a random friend request and instantly wanted to play with, and the ever-beautiful Dark Captain Light Captain doing their first full-band show that i know of )

Here is a ticket link and a special poster…Hurray.

Nima x

Cheers Nima – and I would strongly advise you pop down – this show is going to be magical!!!

www.wegottickets.com

Flowers by the Roadside video

Apologies for the distinct lack of blog posts over the easter weekend, and I hope you all had a cracking one filled with plenty of eggs, booze and cuddly things that are generally associated with easter. Myself, Kev and another pal Rich headed to the Scottish border – where we took in the metropolis of Gretna (and the 3 pubs it offered), Livingstone and Ediburgh. More about that tomorrow, but for now – I should point out this cracking video recently produced by Alcopop champs Family Machine.

You know how when you buy a samosa, enjoy it a little too much and get run over… That kinda thing yeah? Well this tour-de-force (directed by John Spira) is a gorgeous little song about roadside tributes, and the fact that if Jamie (lead singer FM) was to die, he wouldn’t want his friends to leave flowers by the accident spot – that wasn’t the place he loved, that was just the place he died… A fascinating sentiment when you think about it.

Watch it here , and if you like – the album is now available in the shop priced at just £7… Oh, and look out for some well acted ‘grief’ aroud the 1.39 mark (ahem…)

Cut the Blue Wire sign to Alcopop Records

Another day, another happy announcement from everyone at Alcopop Records as we can unveil our latest signings – the quite frankly awesome power-pop-punk-princes – Cut the Blue Wire! 

Described by The Fly as mixing ‘Sentiments of At the Drive-In, the soul of Enter Shikari and the twister ambience of Bloc Party’ and by our pals at XFM as having ‘fierce tunes. Rather exciting’ CTBW (learn that acronym) are touring up and down the country over the next few weeks – check below for full details.

They will be making their first sojourn into Alcopop folklore with a digital single ‘Everest’ available on all your favourite digital vendors, and on a sickeningly limited (to 150) CD single, and hand-numbered and such– which will only be available at shows. This will then be followed up with a 6 track EP, out in the Summer, of which more details will follow soon.  

So get down to see them next week, proudly tell all your friends that you’ve found the next big thing – and swing by the MySpace to hear what the fuss is all about!

goFASTER>> on Hollyoaks

That’s it – you better get your autograph books at the ready, as some of Alcopop’s closest pals, those lovable scouse rogues goFASTER>> are on telly – tonight! Aye – If you’re a fan of the show (Kev is, I’m sure as hell not – but I might give it a go), keep your ears peeled as the druggie kids walk into their 6th form common room tonight, around about 6:40pm, just before the ad break. Then you’ll notice the wonderful sounds of goFASTER pumping on the stereo, like Supergrass did all those years ago.

Awesome eh! Oh, and you should probably also know that Flammable Leisurewear (released on the good ship Pop) is at No. 2 in the Artrocker Magazine charts – and that the dynamic quartet are on tour with The Wombats in but a few weeks…. (phew).

But if you want to buy a copy for £3 (with free CD), do get in quickly – because this badboy is limited to but 500 copies..

 

Revolve single video in full

We previewed it last week with a sumptuous 30 second clip, and now that the hangover from Monday has cleared (and for anyone missed the BSM St. Patrick’s Day party, see here for a brilliant video of the Leprechaun related shenanigans) – it’s time to settle down and enjoy the full show. Crafted by a team of the nations most talented young animators, and dark in a delicious way that I can’t rightly describe but sits somewhere between ‘Where the Wild Things Are’, Alan Moore’s ‘From Hell’ and ‘Tube Mice’ – in other words glorious!

So without further ado, feast your eyes on this masterpiece…

 

Raise your glasses to St. Patrick…

For Monday 17^th is a great day – as not only are DSP playing with Tubelord afore an audience of genial geniuses down at the Social in London Town, W1, but Alcopop’s very own Family Machine finally unleash their debut album ‘You are the Family Machine’ into the world.

Cherish it – good alcopopper, for behind the plastic case and delicious starry artwork (that is likely to make you wish for dusk, lush springy grass and perhaps a smoke/drink or two as the evening meanders on) there is an explosion of a record. So for the ultimate in expansive summer pop mixed with wistful melodies, go here to buy – or catch the Family Machine live across the country, no doubt with a host of fair maidens and unicorns trailing in their wake.

“…a fantastic album of semi-acoustic pop, that can make you dance on the tables downing sangria one minute, and slump weeping into your whisky the next. Highly recommended” say oxfordbands.com, and Nightshift aren’t shy with their praise either branding it “...an album of sweet, fun pop music that carefully manages to mix emotional shifts and understated wit… a treat“. Russell from russellsreviews.co.uk says “…this is the album “Road to Rouen” should have been or the type of thing Teenage Fan Club should be achieving … A triumph” – and there’s plenty more praise out there.

Indeed, I’ve tried in vain to film my reaction to the CD all day, but failed, in a way that only NES can succeed. So take a look at this brilliantly overblown piece of advertising – and read ‘Alcopop’.

And hopefully see you tonight…

Retro rare record collectables – in digital!

There’s little better (in my eyes) than scouring a record fair for a few hours, on a bleary-eyed Saturday afternoon and uncovering an old ‘test pressing’ vinyl of your favourite artist’s debut single that has been thrust to the bottom of a bargain bin in some overzealous stocktake. I still remember fondly picking up a hand-stamped clear purple test copy of Symposium’s ‘Drink the Sunshine’ in much the similar fashion, and it cheered me for weeks!

Well now, due to Kev’s -ahem- creativity, and the perils of having to verify iTunes listings after a particularly intense Alcopop session the night before, you can now do the same (ish…) – but this time in Digital…

You see, again keen to get their hands on the Alcopop Data.Select.Party single over on iTunes will be delighted to see that – for a few weeks only – we’ve somehow managed to muddle ‘This Charm is Charmless‘ to read ‘This Charm is Christmas‘.

Very seasonal….