Alcopop!

Quite a bizarre meeting of minds this weekend as I flitted about the Bristol town occurred - as I was approached by two researchers from some TV station offering me a job as a hair model on a show they were involved in… Apparently a ‘bloke’ version of Coleen McLoughlin’s Real Women - it all sounded OK, other than the obviously charisma-less beau of Wayne Rooney’s involvement, and upon further inspection it seemed that they were offering upto (hmmm - that magic word ‘upto’) £1000 a day for filming.

But then disaster, and as they continued excitedly, the realisation hit in that I’d have to put my hair up for chopping, styling and generally ruining by some trained ITV2 monkey, trying to make me look hip. So I did the only sensible thing, and bailed… Still, hair modelling sounds quite good - and if it wasn’t for the cutting I would have been well in - so Armani/ CK… if you’re reading

Anyway - more importantly than my hair (yes… Really!), today see’s the official launch of Revolve by Hush the Many (Heed the Few) - a wonderful record, and one you really should have ordered, or donloaded from itunes via the button below… If you haven’t though - fear not - and do it now… You won’t be dissapointed, as these others weren’t!

“HTMHTF blend aggression and beauty in unique fashion, hitting like a bolt of lightning across a barren landscape. The Revolve-lution starts here. 4/5” - Daily Mirror

“Overly pretty strings and lilting harmonies. ‘Revolve’ is the kind of power-goth love song that Tom Editors will put on when he gets down on one knee and makes an honest woman out of Edith Bowman” - NME

“A glorious, effervescent rush to the head, arch and poised yet with an unflinching sentimentality, HTM Deserve your attention NOW” - Subba-Cultcha

“For those looking for the next Arcade Fire or Get Cape, you’d do well to listen up” - Gigwise

As an exciting video, by the name of Revolve by our good pals Hush the Many will be being aired over this weekend on MTV2, and throughout the following week…

It is seriously wonderful - and was put together by a team of the nation’s most talented animators, all throwing their own focussed, yet creatively individual ideas into the song, creating sub-sections of classically animated genius.

You can watch it here, but believe me that it looks so much better on a big TV when the fuzziness of YouTube is abandoned, and the crisp images merge with the atmospheric song - creating a breathtaking experience.

Look look - and if you see it on MTV2 - holler in joy, turn up the volume, and enjoy…

Have an ace weekend!

Like those moments in childhood, when you look up at your big brother who’s just picked you up and cuddled you after grazing your knee, or offered you the last scoop of ice cream – all at Alcopop are immensely proud and pleased that big brother label BSM has reached one hell of a milestone!

50 releases… Congratulations Kev! And thanks for the good ol’ Alcopop days too – its been a real pleasure working with you pal *sniffs*!

Anyway – rather than blog along sound like a sentimental old fool – I shall use the genial general of gentlemanly grooves (that’s Kev by the way) very own words… Oh, and if anyone wants a copy of this spectacular new release (and you do, because it’s got 50 tracks of greatness including stuff from Alcopop’s very own Hush the Many, 4 or 5 Magicians, DSP… alongside Get Cape, Rolo Tomassi, Tubelord and loads more… I’ve pinched a whole load of them out of his room (heh heh) and we’re going to give them away free with every single order until I run out! You heard it right… Any BSM or Alcopop order placed will see you coming away with a godamn 50 track free CD – (for slae on its own for £4) – so you can’t lose really!

Anyway – here is all the info you’ll need on the compilation – read and inwardly digest…

Big Scary Monsters is 50 releases old! No, we didn’t see it coming either. Over the past 7 years we’ve put out many many releases from more wonderful bands than I can count on an army of toes. There have been great moments and there have been even better moments, and so it seemed only fitting that we celebrate the half-century with something a little special.

50 Not Out is a compilation CD of 50 MP3s featuring past, present and future BSM associates, along with many of our favourite others. So that’s music from the likes of Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Maps And Atlases, Tubelord, This Town Needs Guns, Jeniferever, Jonah Matranga, Rolo Tomassi, Secondsmile, Copy Haho, Sam Isaac, Tera Melos, Hush The Many, Data.Select.Party, Meet Me In St Louis and a lot more! The full tracklisting is right here and frankly, it’s amazing.

The CD is being given away for free with all purchases from this very website, or you can buy it for the princely sum of just £4. Click here to purchase.

But wait… There’s more! If you join up to our Friend of The Family mini-site you can pick the CD up for just £3 and also have access to 10 free MP3 downloads of tracks from the CD. Check it out.<

So that’s it. Fifty bloody releases! Thanks to everyone for playing a bigger part than you probably realise in helping us reach this milestone. Here’s to the next 50.

Nice one kev!!

I wasn’t there - i regret it, stupid Jack… and all other rueful cliches abound - that it was with much woe that I missed the Camden Crawl this weekend - with previous nights exertions, birthday parties and the pressing need to gamble on the Calzaghe fight getting in the way (I love you Joe).

However, for any others like me, who are picking through the blogosphere in a wastrel attempt to bring some happiness to their lives after missing said rockin’ party, look no further - for those kindly chaps at XFM have brought you the very best bits of said Crawl! Which meant that not hanging out at all of Camden’s finest venues, watching brilliant upcoming indie talent whilst getting smashed with the movers and shakers of the Laaandon scene doesn’t seem so bad after all *sniffs*.

It’s got some ‘reet ol’ fine tracks - but best of all, a live Sam Isaac rendition of Sideways (released on Alcopop/BSM last December) for you fine folks to stream to your heart’s content! Just click this gateway to Sam’s soulful song, and listen! Or read more, non Alcopop related bits about the crawl over on the rather super-ace Music Snobbery blog!

OK – so this may be about the geekiest thing I’ve ever seen, but I felt I had to post it, as someone has clearly spent a massive proportion of their life creating it, presumably for no reward other than the knowledge of a Star Wars fans wet dream and a job well done. Work that must be saluted!

And the best thing about it is that it’s so simple to find… Simply, click the start bar of your computer, select Run, type in CMD (not in italics – they’re just for illustration purposes you’ll understand), press enter, and then type telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl (make sure to leave a space in-between telnet and towel) and seeing is believing – you’ll get almost the whole of the Star Wars episode IV movie ‘A New Hope’ drawn in ASCII code – and playing out as if George Lucas had been commissioned to make the film with just one over-large bag of chalk.

Absolutely astounding – and testament to just what can be achieved if you have one hell of a lot of spare time on your hands, the dedication of an Ewok, and the strength of mind of Chewbacca! Star Wars fans should look at this, now…

It’s been a nice few weeks for our lovely Lucy from way up north, and the one time Alcopop starlet, who was part of our inaugural singles club, has been all over the place with her trusty caterpillar in tow. Having had to leave her vintage boutique for a while to play the Camden Crawl, book up a show at Great Escape Festival, do a session for the BBC and XFM and feature in the Guardian Newspaper no less, it’s been an exciting time for the lovely lass.

Interestingly, the aforementioned newspaper describer her as “actually sounding more like Kate Bush’s self-consciously quirky kid sister or Violet Elizabeth, the homicidally annoying millionaire’s daughter from the Just William books who threatens to “thcream and thcream till I’m thick”… Is that a compliment – I should assume so… Either way, if you like your pop ever so sweet and full of whimsical loveliness, it’s unlikely you could do much better than listen to Lucy, so pop over to MySpace, or even better, order one of her rapidly diminishing 3” singles ‘Kings Cross’ released on Alcopop – limited to just 500 copies.

Meanwhile, take a look at her new video – handmade, and delightfully so!

Oh what a night or twain – I’m suffering for it now a touch, but after Fridays sojourn to a strange reggae meets trip hop night in Oxford (where they gleefully played Chaka Demus + Pliers as well as Red Dragon feat. Brian and Tony Gold, yet decided to baulk at my request for Sweat by The Inner Circle), and Thursdays trip to London to see goFASTER>> - it’s certainly been a cracking couple of days.

For not only did we meet up with some seriously ace management types and all but put pen to paper on a really exciting new release that’s liable to get summery hearts singing across the Alcopop nation, but it seems that a whole lot of the label family have fingers firmly placed in the footballing pie (at the same time as having all their other appendages firmly stuck into music of course).

For in deep, drunken discussion with all and sundry about the very serious issue of the BSM 5-a-side tournament (which will be taking place late July), we discovered that not only did Chris goFASTER>> go to the same school as Jamie Carragher, but Ian GF knew ex-Liverpool keeper Mike Hooper (now a bouncer in Liverpool incidentally) and our new pal Nick has played 5-a-side with Peter Beardsley!

So look out fellow teams – Get Cape may have won the first BSM footy shindig – but Alcopop are piling on the pressure for the next one, with a team that now represents more a team of all time Premiership heroes than Alcopop records. Ah well, I’m all about the glory – and there’s just a slight suspicion that our Peter, Mike and even Jamie might have more important things to do than turn up at the Linford Christie Sports Centre to ply their trade amongst hungover bands and fat magazine freelancers (we’re saying nothing Rocksound – NB we beat them 5-2 last year J) come the summer months.

In case they don’t though – here’s the proposed Alcopop side for this year….

GK – Mike Hooper

DF – Jamie Carragher

Jack (me)

MF – Ian from goFASTER>>

ST – Peter Beardsley

More squad options to be announced later – with Carragher possibly dropped from the starting line up in place of Nima Hush the Many or one of CTBW – I’m yet to ask them J

Have a great weekend!

Seems everyone is considering Beardo coming out of retirement!

Long live the Family Machine!

Of all the bands ever to come a wandering along the Alcopop rosta, charming us with their witty banter and crafting glorious releases now and then - if someone was to ring and say “some of your lot are rampaging around parks hanging CDs on trees” - I’d know it could be only one!

For not only do these boys have gloriously fresh minds so far removed from ‘conventional reality’ that
you could hang them in the Tate Modern, but they are all about sharing their music through rather exotic means (must be an Oxford thing). Whether its hanging CDs on trees, allowing them to float away on hot air balloons, or sending them to sea in bottles - make sure you’re always keeping an eye to the ground (and sky) for FM masterpieces released into the wild.

Of course, if you’re not lucky enough to catch one, you can always buy an album from the shop for but 7 sheets - but if you’re the more dedicated type, take a look at these clues - and bag yourself the fruit of the loins of the Family Mahine - mmm mmm!

I alluded to it in a previous blogpost, but things are really hotting up with Alcopop’s next release - Revolve by Hush the Many (Heed the Few) - and the boys and girls in London’s “power-goth love (NME)” new band are asking for your help. Whether you’re well into the band, and fancy giving a right push, or just wouldn’t mind popping an email to your favourite DJ - we’d really appreciate your help too. There are plenty of incentives too, with posters, gig tickets, rare live MP3s and various other goodies going to be sent out to folk at the end of it all. So do let us, or them, know if you do anything!

Anyway - without further ado, here is the list of things posted up on Hush the Many’s Facebook Group… And if you could help, they will “tip hats to you gratefully” - and give you things - what more could you want?

1. Requesting ‘Revolve’ from your favourite dj’s and these guys:
colin.murray@bbc.co.uk , huw.stephens@bbc.co.uk , john.kennedy@xfm.co.uk , dermot@bbc.co.uk, lamacq.6music@bbc.co.uk , stuart.6music@bbc.co.uk , marc.6music@bbc.co.uk , stephen.6music@bbc.co.uk , nemone.6music@bbc.co.uk , introducing.6music@bbc.co.uk

2. Printing out this poster/flyer and sticking it around at your college / work / recordshop or just giving to nice people:
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x50/hushthemany/Revolve-PosterWhite-LoInk.jpg

3. Er…telling anyone you think would like the song!

If you use forums or mailouts here’s a web flyer too:
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x50/hushthemany/Revolve-WebPosterBlack.gif

4. Email us at hushthemany@gmail.com for some myspace codes to put things like the video out as bulletins or comments to your friends on April 28th itself.

Oh - and you can preorder the vinyl here (out on 28th April) or purchase Revolve and B-Side Story End on iTunes right now, if online stuff is more your bag…

Cheers x

Handsome news for the Weymouth Festival going public, as a frenzied Alcopop vs. BSM DJ set has been confirmed for the Boring by the Sea afterparty, alongside Drowned in Sound’s very own Sean Adams, and Fierce Panda funsters Shitdisco. It’s not till June 29^th, so don’t hold your breath waiting for it just yet – but we’ll be spinning all the usual mix of hot-indie classics, modern day stomps and classic mid 90s dance – and it all comes with a cast-iron, 100%, Andrew WK will be played at least twice tonight, guarantee!

Come down if you’re near by – the festival promises to be awesome too with the likes of Good Books, Frank Turner, Sam Isaac and Jay Jay Pistolet amongst the line-up… And it’s all but a stones throw from the beach apparently, which is great news for a label based just a few miles from the furthest point in Britain from any hospitable coastline!

Expect many metaphorical musical bombs to be dropped all over that floor baby!