Halloween, Alaska on UK tour - Anna Calvi Support and Headline Show

“Halloween, Alaska may be a mythical town, but on the strength of All Night the Calls Came In, it's one you'll want to visit often.” Rough Trade

 

“The sounds — whether gravelly bass riffs or lighter-than-air background washes — are so carefully picked and programmed that you dwell on their texture in the same way that you’d run your finger over the grain in a piece of wood … Mesmerising stuff.” Sunday Times

 

Fresh off supporting Anna Calvi on the first leg of her European tour, Halloween, Alaska will be continuing their UK embarquement in support of Calvi on a string of Scottish and Irish dates next week, as well as a solo stop in t'North (see dates below).

 

Described live as a ‘full-blooded, proper rock band’ (Americana UK), the band will also play their own headline show in Edinburgh, which is set to be an intimate sceptical. The tour coincides with the release of the band's fourth album, All Night the Calls Came In, which is currently Rough Trade Shop's 'Album Of The Week'. The album will receive a full-on European release on Amble Down Records early next year.

 

All Night the Calls Came In also marks the solidification of a new lineup following an extended period of tension and transition. Singer/keyboardist James Diers, guitarist Jacob Hanson and drummer David King (The Bad Plus) are joined by newly recruited bassist William Shaw.

 

Halloween, Alaska were hurled onto the indie radar in 2004 with an auspicious self-titled set of electronically laced art-pop. Initially hatched by Diers and King as a low-key, studio-based diversion from other projects, the group soon took on a life of its own, spreading by way of Internet and TV to amass a sizable cult following. After 2005's Too Tall to Hide, the band's moody palette began to expand as original keyboardist/engineer Ev Olcott resigned his post and Hanson began to introduce weightier guitar work into the mix. The change was evident in the restless sprawl of 2009's Champagne Downtown, and when the group subsequently parted ways with original bassist Matt Friesen, the addition of Shaw set the stage for a more radical restart.

 

All Night the Calls Came In is both a continuation and a rethinking of Halloween, Alaska. Packed with forthright pop hooks and confident brooding, its tracklisting offers an earnest and compelling capsule of the band's self-imposed reboot.

14/11/11 – Manchester Cathedral – Manchester, UK*

15/11/11 – Oran Mor – Glasgow, UK*

16/11/11 – The Cockpit – Leeds, UK*

17/11/11 − Sneaky Pete's - Edinburgh, UK

19/11/11 – Vicar Street – Dublin, IRE*

20/11/11 – The Empire – Belfast, IRE*

* w/ Anna Calvi

Go here and grab this amazing free track ‘Dance By Accident’. We challenge you to sit still to those bassy grooves:

http://soundcloud.com/neverenoughpress/halloween-alaska-dance-by

  www.ambledown.com / www.halloweenalaska.com

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First Acts for Soundcity 2011 Announced

We are extremely exited to present to you the first wave of acts for Liverpool Sound City 2011, the UK’s coolest boutique urban festival performing across the city’s most iconic venues from 19th-21st May.

The raw and raucous Black Lips bring their American garage sound to Liverpool. Infamous for their intense shows and febrile atmospheres, the USA rockers are revered for their stage antics as much as their irrepressible sets. North West’s The Whip serve up a heavy, hectic dose of electro-rock whilst LSC faves Wave Machines return too; quixotic and enchanting in equal measure, the Liverpool-based band present the finest electro-pop ditties around. Keeping the stateside theme fresh, Baltimore hip-hop and rappers Spank Rock also make their debut.

Bastion of brilliant blues, Willy Mason, also stars. The USA folk songster writes music which belies his still tender age; his sound has evolved since his debut album, Where The Humans Eat, to encapsulate incredibly rich poignancy and heartache. Revered Liverpool indie rockers Sound of Guns also star, headlining one of the prime shows at the sumptuous and prestigious St George’s Hall.

There’s much more to savour at Liverpool Sound City. USA experimentalists Chain & The Gang also feature, as do the lo-fi charms of Chad Valley, Mugstar’s inspired psychedelic sounds, electro-punk outfit Handsome Furs and the vibrant Colourmusic.

There’s also music from local Liverpool lads The Sand Band, Ed Sheeran, Publicist, Those Dancing Days and don’t forget Forest Swords, a young Wirral-based artist who Pitchfork have heralded as one of their stars for 2011.

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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

The continued success of BRMC may come as some surprise to most as the band haven’t really had a major hit in a few years but when seeing them live you can understand why they still have such a huge following. This gig is no different as it is jam-packed to the rafters with punters all wanting a slice of the rock and roll pie.

If you like your bands with very little audience participation and lots of sneering darkness then BRMC are the band for you and by the reaction to their onstage entrance would imply this is exactly what their type of following insists on. Cranking it up as soon as the first chord is played we are subjected to 90 minutes of intensity and guitar thrashing the likes most probably have never seen in their lifetime.

Ranging from blues and blue grass harmonica induced songs through to acoustic ballads and thrusting through into T-Rex rock stomping beats, this is a non stop juggernaut filled with blackness and brooding which the clambering crowd are dragged through willingly and embrace with open arms.

If there were any negative comments about the night the only one I would point out was length of the set. Ninety minutes is a long time to stand in a heat soaked arena without a break but then again maybe that’s just my age speaking and I guess ending with the ever popular “Spread your Love” made it a worthwhile endurance and one I would gladly advise anyone to undertake.

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Music is over at Jilly's Rockworld

After four decades of weathering shifting musical tastes, two of Manchester's most famous music clubs have finally closed their doors.

The owner of Jilly's Rockworld - famous under its previous name of Fagin's - and the Musicbox - previously known as Rafters - has called time on both venues after struggling to find new audiences.

During its Seventies heyday, crowds flocked to Fagin's to watch top stars Cliff Richard, Morecambe and Wise, and Lulu perform.

Well-heeled patrons were wined and dined as they enjoyed gags by comedy greats Tommy Cooper, Dave Allen and up-and-coming stars such as Billy Connolly.

Beneath the Oxford Street cabaret, was sister venue Rafters, a disco and rock club which launched the career of Joy Division.

But John Bagnall, who has owned both clubs since 1981, said he was shutting down the business, blaming the smoking ban and competition from new music venues.

He told the M.E.N: "There has been a decline in the business. People have not been coming through the door the same as they used to.

Competition

"There are a lot of smaller rock clubs in Manchester now and there is a lot of competition for acts. The smoking ban has also devastated us.

"The problem we have is that there is no outside area where we could have a designated smoking zone. Our customers have to go into the street and are being moved by the police for blocking the road. It is things like this which have damaged us.

"We have tried everything over the last few years to change our business but it became clear we had to call it a day.

News of the closures this week has been met by an angry response by regulars and a wave of nostalgia among former patrons.

The music boss said one group of overzealous patrons had attempted to steal the sign above the venue.

He added: "Since yesterday we have had nearly 7,000 visit our website. I just wish we had had that number coming through the door every week. I don't know if the clubs will ever open again. It's in the hand of the liquidators,"

Both clubs played an important part in the city's musical history. Joy Division were signed up by Tony Wilson shortly after he spotted them at Rafters in April 1978.

Rock band Depeche Mode even decided to recorded an album in the basement venue, while the upstairs cabaret helped launched the careers of singers Lisa Stansfield and Sade as well as hosting Motown legends such as Edwin Starr and Jimmy Ruffin.

Retired police chief Lil King, whose varied career saw her work as a dancer and DJ at both venues, recalled the venue's glory days.

She said: "Women wearing trousers were not allowed inside Fagin's. Men with hair below their collar were not allowed. It was a very strict dress code. It was the ultimate place to party. Hundreds of people were turned away each night."

Former DJ and compere Pete Smith added: "Top comedy acts with shows on TV would be playing upstairs. Cannon and Ball and Russ Abbott were playing when they were in their heyday. On Thursday nights, all hell would broke lose when the punk night was on. It was an incredible mixture. There won't be anywhere like it again."

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Malcom McLaren dies at 64

Malcolm McLaren, the former manager of punk group the Sex Pistols, has died in New York, aged 64, his agent has said.

McLaren, the ex-partner of designer Vivienne Westwood, was believed to have been diagnosed with cancer a while ago.

He set up a clothes shop and label with Westwood on London's King's Road in the 1970s and was later a businessman and performer in his own right.

The couple had a son, Joseph Corre, the co-founder of lingerie shop Agent Provocateur.

His agent told the BBC McLaren passed away on Thursday morning.

Spokesman Les Malloy said he expected McLaren's body to be returned to the UK before it is buried in Highgate Cemetery.

He said McLaren died at his home after his condition suddenly got worse.

He said the artist's family was "devastated" and "in shock" and said: "He had been doing very well, it's a sad day. I have spoken to his partner."

McLaren also managed a number of other bands, including the New York Dolls and Bow Wow Wow before producing his own records including the much-sampled track Double Dutch from the 1983 album Duck Rock.

McLaren emerged from art school in the 1960s and with Westwood, set up Let It Rock - a fashion store specialising in rubber and leather fetish gear.

It was later, infamously, renamed "Sex" and he and Westwood defined punk fashion.

He went on to manage the Sex Pistols in 1976 although there was a falling out and he later lost a court case over royalties.

McLaren dabbled in politics and at one point, toyed with the idea of entering the race for the Mayor of London.

What he did with fashion and music was extraordinary. He was a revolutionary Jon Savage

In 2007, he pulled out of an appearance on the reality show I I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, after changing his mind about the show.

Between December last year and this January, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead hosted an exhibition by McLaren of "musical paintings" on the issue of sex.

Music journalist Jon Savage said: "Without Malcolm McLaren there would not have been any British punk.

"He's one of the rare individuals who had a huge impact on the cultural and social life of this nation."

Mr Savage, who wrote a definitive history of the Sex Pistols and punk said McLaren was a "complex" and "contradictory" character who had influenced British culture in many ways.

He said: "He could be very charming, he could be very cruel, but he mattered and he put something together that was extraordinary.

"What he did with fashion and music was extraordinary. He was a revolutionary."

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