Twitter reviews: Update 2

Firstly let me apologise.. I realise everything I’ve written about over the last few days on the blog has been very compilation focussed. The message in a bottle has kinda gotten hold of me, and I’m no doubt boring everyone I talk to about it about now… But with such awesome feedback, and most notably – heroic Twitter reviews producing such great reviews – ah, I just can’t help it. So after having bits and bobs about the release featured on Die Shellsuit Die, TLOBF, Free the Press, Punktastic – ah well… Tis very pleasent.

Anywhoo – just a quick update on the muy awesome reviews that have come in from our Twitter folk over the last couple of days. Search the band names in Twitter Search to read all the well chosen words… But I just had to share these two, about Apples and David Gibb respectively. Firstly – from the resplendant @Minorityof1…

and secondly this… From the rather excitable @colinmercer, clearly pleased his county is getting a mention – and hungry for campfires and a tinny or twain!

More over the weekend…

Alcopop full page feature in Loud and Quiet magazine

It’s always lovely when people mention Alcopop in print, so excuse this slightly self-indulgent post, but in case you missed it, this month’s Loud and Quiet has got a ‘reet big’ full page spread in it, all about the label and the Alcopopular 3 compilation. You can read it online here.

I would take a photo of the full article, but I’ve tried that before and you can never read a word, so I’ve just snapped this, the rather magnificent graphical image created by Eleanor Dunk of elbowdesigns.co.uk, which I really like.

Ace. I’m not going to quote myself, but if you happen to pick up a copy of the paper, then read it heartily – especially page 10.

“Maybe it’s now that we need labels like Alcopop who’ll offer us something a little out of the ordinary. There’s no character in a bunch of mega bites, but there’s a hell of a lot in a bottle containing a modern day pirate treasure map that leads you to audio booty.”

Cheers chaps! You can buy it here…

Alcopopular twitter reviews in full flow

Happy days… The compilation is up for pre-order, and as well as some rather magnificent feedback from our pal Coxy who has described the release as “one of the coolest things I have seen not just today, but possibly this whole year”, suggesting one should “buy more than one and give it your friends – it’s the perfect birthday / wedding / christening / divorce / funeral present – bound to cheer anyone up!” I concur, and so it seems do our exquisite bunch of Twitter reviewers who have today been taking in a bit of Tellison.

Plenty of reviews have been written, all of which have been magnificent crafted in circa 100 characters, and from @ChrisS’ exclamation that one should “Plunge your head into their Wasps Nest with its Math Rock twiddlings and captivating lyrics”, to @diazzzz’s suggestion that the “Best way to start a comp/the summer/life is with 3 minutes of indie-pop joy. Y’know the words”.  You can read them all by typing ‘Tellison’ into Twitter Search (you definately should), but a true tweet of genius came from @_ruthwilson who tweeted as follows…

Thanks so much for getting involved – keep an eye out tomorrow to see what the Alcopop Twitter reviewers make of Theo by Apples…

Alcopopular 3 – message in a bottle compilation for pre-order!

Hurrah! As featured in Loud and Quiet (full page) – it is with great pleasure I can announce that our newest compilation Alcopopular 3 is up for pre-order… And coming out next week

Priced up at just a fiver, and featuring delicious tracks from the likes of Pulled Apart by Horses, Apples, Paul Steel, Unicorn Kid and Stagecoach (along with many more) your downloadable comp comes in bottle with hand-browned treasure map tracklisting and is pretty much a must for any record collection.  After all, you can pretend to be a pirate and listen to some cracking tracks… Can’t beat that eh!

It’s – in a word – amazing! But you don’t even have to take my word for it as we have a number of crack Twitter reviewers, picking it apart track by track in 140 characters or less over the next couple of weeks… So I’ll be letting you know some of the highlights of what they say about each track.

Bottle – Buy now / MP3s only – Buy now

Full tracklisting is…

1. Tellison – Wasp’s Nest
2. Apples – Theo
3. David Gibb – The Oxfordshire Brigade
4. Stars and Sons – In The Ocen (piano version)
5. Town Bike – Cock Muff Bum Hole
6. Pulled Apart By Horses – E=MC Hammer
7. Stagecoach – We Got Tazers
8. Paul Steel – Psychedelia Smith
9. Unicorn Kid – Nuts n Milk
10. Arrows Of Love – Prescriptions
11. Ice King of California – I Wouldn’t Want To Do That All
12. The October Game – Cast These Waves
13. The Computers – Track Four

Purchase, and fill that bottle shaped hole in your record collection, because – as Loud and Quiet say…

“but maybe it’s now that we need labels like Alcopop to offer us something a little out of the ordinary. There’s no character in a bunch of mega bites but there’s a hell of a lot in a bottle containing a modern day pirate treasure map that leads you to some audio booty.”

Awwww

Literally the best ‘cat playing keyboard’ based video I’ve ever seen…

Just magnificent…

Alcopop@ The Great Escape – highlights, low lights and Kev’s plight

Ah The Great Escape – Brighton’s most hazy weekend, and this year – quite the most splendid weekend of 2009. Mass vomiting, plenty o’ partial nudity and winds so blustery that anchoring oneself to the pier would have been a good move were just a few highlights, and amidst the 1000’s of bands I wanted to see but missed due to over packed schedules, booze and the mighty Pav Tav – I caught some real highlights.

1.) Sam Isaac, who rocked like a gentle hurricane on the Thursday night – topping even Future of the Left with his accomplished set, making me very excited about forthcoming album bears.

2.) Riddim Saunter, a Japanese power-pop band who set the pier alight with delightful tunes, an over-happy drummer who never quite found his stool – and have definitely camped out for a good long stay deep within my heart.

3.) Idlewild – who topped off a really accomplished set by playing Low Lights, one of my favourite tracks from Hope is Important And…

4.) Kev BSM – who puked in his own mouth 4 times in one night. Congratulations Kev.

Overall though, it was just a remarkably pleasant experience, with just too many lovely people to mention. Whatsmore, we cast our first compilation into the tempestuous Brighton Ocean to produce a lovely video (on its way), outdrank our pressing hero Dave DMS (shame on you Dave) and dropped ice cream all over the pier.

I bloody love Brighton.

Alcopop at The Great Escape

We’re on our way – heading out on another Alcopop outing, and no doubt Kev has already cracked the first bottle of Pitcher (damn the fact I agreed to drive)… I’ll be checking emails vaguely over the next few days though so if anyone fancies hooking up, or thinks there’s a show we should definately be at – drop us an email at info@ilovealcopop.co.uk. Would be lovely to hear from you…

Otherwise, buy a CD, 7″ or two and feel safe in the knowledge that you’re bankrolling the future of Alcopop with another A&R mission into the unknown. We’ll invest wisely!

Maybe see you there x

Any questions answered… By Wolf Am I

You’ve barely been introduced to them yet, but new Alcopop signings Wolf Am I are all set to crash across your ears with force akin to a steamroller in an oil slick, so before they do you might be well advised to have yourself a listen.

And while you’re there, if you fancy getting involved, as part of their album release, they are putting together a short documentary including the whole set from their hometown album show and a Q&A session with the band – which will be included with a limited amount of pre-orders.

So, if you have any questions you would like to put to any of the band members, just leave them as blog comments on their MySpace and they will answer as many as possible on the DVD – which is kinda’ ace.

My favourite question so far goes thusly – “Would you rather have stubs on the end of your arms (saying you have no hands) or feet on the end of your arms?” The latter surely? There is a whole heap of really searching stuff to though… Get involved.

Alcopop Rota show and Andrew WK at the Old Blue Last

Oh what an afternoon/ evening/ night was Saturday… Storming times were had by all at the Alcopop@RoTa@Notting Hill Arts Club and a packed club seemed to really dig the show.

My First Tooth performed their luxurious brand of harmonious folk rock, Cat Matador hammered out a tenderly beautiful ‘morose fun’ fuelled set of violin, Stagecoach rocked the joint with bouncy indie pop and finally The October Game delicately swathed the venue with beautiful melody – and as the drinks flowed throughout the afternoon, Nath T. Pyle played a mix of retro hits to keep things ticking along.

I had a superb time, thanks to everyone who came down, and despite risking my life with an ill-advised ‘chicken dash’ across a busy Notting Hill High Street, it was great to hook up with some well known Alcopop faces, make some new friends and meet plenty of folk who knew there were few better places to be on a sunny London afternoon.
Here’s a picture of Stagecoach pwning.

Then, after a few more drinks – it was onto Andrew WK (more words/images about it here), and one of the most passionate, sweaty affairs I’ve experienced since last hanging out with Courtney Love. I danced harder than I ever had before, partied like it was the year 2,099 and actually got to sing a chorus of She is Beautiful with the man himself (he was very complimentary) – before exiting the stage thusly.

Ace!

Saturday night’s alright for gigging… (in Laaandon)

Just one last quick shout to remind you about the Alcopop show coming up this Saturday at RoTa@Notting Hill Arts Club – with The October Game, Stagecoach, Cat Matador and My First Tooth all playing, with free entry. Oh yes!  Incidentally, MFT will be on pretty close to doors as they have to rush off for a soundcheck in Worcester afterwards – so do get down on time. See what the venue says… and know it’ll be ace.

The magical land of the Alcopop! label is populated by wondrous indie-pop, passionate post-hardcore riffers and dreamy folk kids with their hearts on their sleeves. you’ll never want to leave! With live music from The October Game, Stagecoach, Cat Matador and My First Tooth

It’s happening between 4 and 8pm, it’s free entry and all the booze is at happy hour prices so we hear, which means a reet old shindig for all and no lies.  Nathan T. Pyle will be marshalling decks with his fingers of steel, so if you have any requests drop them in the comments box below or @ilovealcopop on Twitter.

Then, post show – and no doubt flush with the joys of 4 exceptional bands – I’m going to be popping off to see Andrew WK at The Old Blue Last playing I Get Wet all the way through… I’m pretty excited! Anyone else coming down?

See you Saturday yeah… Oh hell yeah! And watch this to get in the mood…