Archive for August, 2009
Hold those demos!
I received a really good demo last night… I’ve been listening to it pretty much all day, and the more I give it time, the more I fall in love with it. This is great… But also leads me to think that I should really let any bands thinking of sending us a CD over the next few days that Alcopop HQ is moving…
New address will be up in a few weeks, but while rainbows are painted on the wall and kittens are purchased, I’ll be pretty much living from a suitcase and couch surfing across Oxfordshire and beyond. This won’t affect the label at all – operations are progressing at break neck speed, computers are all OK and mail orders travelling with me for speedy dispatch… But as far as demos go, it would be best for the moment to submit electronically, or hold out a few weeks.
If you’ve just sent one fret not – I’ll be asking new residents to pass on all mail, but on the slim chance that they’re mail-hating, envelope hungry bitches – perhaps better safe than sorry…
The Candle Thieves EP up for pre-order now w/ Pre order freebies!
Ah August, look at you so gloomy out there… Refusing to make any of us smile with your cloudy face. Well f**k you you bleak old bi**h, because great news is afoot for those of you who may be missing sun on your face, but enjoy it in your heart.
Woop – one of Alcopop’s latest signings The Candle Thieves have released The Sunshine EP (limited to 1,000 copies) so delicious it will literally leave you grinning for weeks… It’s up for pre-order right now from our shop (out on the 10th September – we’ll make sure you get it early), for the sum of just £5 of your English pounds, or £2.50 for the MP3s. This site is liable to be the only place where it’s available digitally, although iTunes would be another quid more expensive, so you’re better off getting it from us anyway…
But wait! There’s more! As you may know, the boys have recently been traversing the gardens of England playing a lovely tour outside in folk’s houses, and we were keen for people to take a little bit of the Candle Thieves magic back to their own gardens… Therefore, the first 20 people to order the EP (on CD) will get a promo TCT seed bag to plant or keep, all branded up with TCT/Alcopop stickers and badge – and limited (strictly) to just 100. Plus the first 10 we ship out are fully signed by the lovely Scott and Glock.
Awesome…
Love you poppers 
My First Tooth to tour the world?
After a week of shows that have been way up, and then a little bit down – before soaring with joy again (apparently one group of fans in Colchester were so enamoured with the Tooth that they refused to let the van leave) – My First Tooth, as is their way, have been hitting the road hard. I think Ross enjoys it too, as he yesterday outlined plans to permanently locate his home to a van and have played shows in all 7 continents before the end of the 2010…. Well, almost anyway.
This is cool for several reasons… ‘Cos not only will Ross be able to take his very own brand of tooth pop to people so far flung that they haven’t been touched by the leprous tongue of Bono, but I imagine he’ll want to take Alcopop with him, and I quite like he idea of sending the mail-orders out from a golden beach in Aruba, or liaising with RoTa whilst half way down the Amazon – hanging out in Alcocroc’s spiritual home.
Either way, it also looks like the veritable champs at MFT are going into the studio before the year’s out to begin work on their debut full length – and after that, you may not see them for months. So make sure to catch them while you can, before Ross tours that little too hard and is appointed lord and master of a small southern pacific isle, soon to be deposed by a mercilessly gigging folk duo from The Philippines.
Onward MFT, onward….
And for your delectation and delight… Here’s an Italian review recently come in from soundmagazine.it! Love the translation
Don’t let yourselves be fooled by the young age of these english musicians, they play mature music.
It’s a pleasure to listen to My First Tooth because they combine elements that recall the relax, the spring warmth and the comfort of a good sofa. It feels simple to suddenly abandon yourself to the sweet and melancholy folk notes, that fit well with a delightful taste in country music. Acustic guitars, violin, mouth organ, a fascinating and sometimes harrowing voice can conquer you and make you want to stop for a few minutes, keeping time with nude feet and make yourselves a good hot coffee. It’s a pure and honest music, that goes straight to your heart, and you feel it. If you like bands like Wilco, Bright Eyes or Bon Iver, this English collective, taken with the right measures, could be your band.
Alter the Press Lead the Way in streaming albums
Try before you buy, take a good long ‘listen’ at the merchandise and give your ears a treat is what we all say (actually we don’t, it would probably make us sound like c**ts).
Nonetheless, that’s exactly what you can do at Alter the Press right now with Wolf Am I’s new album ‘Lead the Way’… Yup, the best music blog this side of Nottingham has decided to stream the entire album track by track. It’ll only be up till Monday though! To hear it, pop on over to their lovely site and, if you like it, you can come back and buy it from our shop, iTunes – or all those boring e-tailers who won’t send you a badge or sticker or two with your purchases…
Also, for a little more WAI goodness, why not check out their review over on the Music Magazine, and a super piece that our pals at Come Pick Me Up blog have lovingly put together (they’re SO ace). The sun is shining, summer booze is flowing – it’s time for WAI!
Alcopop instore @Pure Groove
It’s taken me a good few weeks to post this update about Alcopop’s recent Pure Groove jam (waiting for photos which have now arrived and are beautiful) – but I thought I’d relay the events of the eve, which were – in truth – bloody ace.
Somehow it was the first time I’d ever been to Pure Groove and it was lovely. Basically an opulent Faringdon bar with a record shop spread amongst shelves around the shop – it’s the ideal haunt for anyone with a penchant for the limited editions and niche formats.
Putting on a bill of Stagecoach *acoustic set* and Stars and Sons with Paul Steel providing a delectable melodic introduction, we all bonded over a small message in a bottle compilation – the bands entertained, and Kev and I (along with a few of the great and good from the indie music industry and plenty of happy poppers) assaulted the bar.
Highlight of the evening for me, for its unexpected appearance as much as highly polished form, was perhaps a delicate Stagecoach cover of The Lemonheads’ Drug Buddy. Awesome… What followed was an evening at the Ish Bar, a high octane Team Stagecoach Vs Team PoP pool match (we’ll get you next time Stagecoach), phantom tequilas (where do they always spring from) and plenty more hi-jinks…
The next one’s on October 7th for Stagecoach and more… See you there yeah
So I was interviewed by Punktastic…
Proud days, fine times –as an interview I recently conducted with Punktastic website has gone up, and is now ready for your consumption. Covering everything from how the label started, through what we look for in bands to the gap between indies and majors… There’s a whole lot to read but if you got a spare 20 minutes then help yourself. I am, of course, fascinating – mwahaha.
In other news the weekend has been pretty productive. Kev rocked up Rapturefest on Saturday, laying down some fruity beats, Wolf Am I have got a couple of new shows announced, The Candle Thieves have begun their garden party tour in earnest – and Stagecoach have been getting some lovely new press shots sorted out (watch this space). I meanwhile checked out Bill Bailey yesterday at an intimate pub show (photo of us genially waving at each other here), somehow acquired a big bag of mangoes and got sent round this rather lovely tweet by @JavedKurmoo.
Thanks pal. Much appreciated… Oh and for anyone who’s revelling in the glory of the football season, I’ve made some lofty predictions about league winners over here, and has anyone noticed who’s top of the Championship…. *unadulterated glee*
BSM 5-A-Side Tournament video shows Alcopop have the skills to very much pay the bills
Ole – it’s time that the football season begins in earnest (although in fairness the only league that truly matters kicked off last week) – and in celebration of this dramatically ace fact, I’m keen to show you some true, liquid football… The kind that teenagers dream of their heroes performing, and premiership footballers strive their hardest to achieve.
This, ladies and gentleman, is the official video from the BSM 5-a-side tournament where tie-dye dreams were made, and dashed, and Blakfish became (for the day) official Alcopop cheerleaders. Look out for some incredible skills, most notably by Brett Ackroyd giving defences a torrid time, and a red hot interview with yours truly.
Strong times, strong African coloured kits.
Next year Team Pop, next year….
Tis the season of [their] awesome compilation
We heart Alter the Press – because not only are they a great music blog, bringing *SO* up to the minute news on bands and labels you actually care about, but also because they create compilations that are not unlike exploding planets – in that they’re very big, and very fuckin’ loud!
The compilation ‘Autumn/Winter 2009’ (alright – so it’s not very imaginatively titled but one can forgive that) includes tracks from first and foremost Alcopop’s very own Wolf Am I and Stagecoach – but also Epitaph Records’ Set Your Goals and Every Time I Die, breakthrough UK pop-punk band, You Me At Six, Welsh rockers Attack! Attack! and Brooklyn’s Kevin Devine.
On top of that, the compilation has tracks from many up and coming bands such as O’Brother, Kill Casino, Francesqa, Kyoto Drive and many more. And is well worth downloading – for listening to on the bus perhaps, or maybe on a dull cruise with your gran. What I’m saying is, it’s very versatile.
Wolf Am I’s Lead the Way out today…
Alter the Press said it is a superb record, with a deep, personal lyrical style that is pulled off incredibly well. The 405 suggested that it is “an impressively powerful affair” whilst Rock Sound gushed that the record “is delicious as it mimics Brand New. Impressive.”
But enough of this magazine-based love… For what is more important is that Lead the Way is, as of today, available for all of you types who love digital. Bang. iTunes. Bang. Emusic. Bang – all the other places you might fancy dashing too to pick up this record online…
Or you can get it with thick, lush cardboard gatefold from us, and rock out to one hell of a handsome record… You’ve seen the Glasgow Seven video right? Well if not, watch it here….
NME rate Alcopopular 3 the ‘coolest compilation ever’
Nothing like a proud, grainy photo to cheer a Monday morning (Must remember to get a phone without a crappy camera) – and it is with great pleasure I can announce that the cheeky little bottle compilation ‘Alcopopular 3’ has been covered by music rag NME this week.
Nestled in next to some Adidas sneaks (that look a touch dull in truth), a nice King Blues T-Shirt and a waterproof video camera (?!) on page 64 – you won’t be able to read the text from the image below, but it goes a little something like this…
‘Proving that music can still be presented in interesting ways, labels like Alcopop are keeping homegrown UK music alive. This compilation comes in a bottle – the included treasure map ends with a code so you can download the likes of PABH, The Computers and Unicorn Kid. Which makes it the coolest compilation ever.’
Nice stuff NME and specifically pensman Ben Patashnik – cheers for that.
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