The Blackeyed Susans play two London gigs

THE BLACKEYED SUSANS

The Barbican, London (with The Triffids)
Fri 19 April 2010
The Borderline, London (headline show)
Sat 10 April 2010

Londoners will get their first opportunity to see Australia’s Blackeyed Susans live when they play the Barbican on April 9 as part of The Triffids’ ‘A Secret in the Shape of a Song’ show. The Susans will also play one headline show of their own the following night at The Borderline on Saturday 10 April with friends and special guests including Melanie Oxley and Chris Abrahams.

The Blackeyed Susans and The Triffids have a long and intertwined history. The Susans started as a side project for members of The Triffids and Chad’s Tree in the late eighties before growing into the legendary collective that has over the years boasted members of the Dirty Three, The Drones, The Bad Seeds and many other luminaries of the Australian alternative music scene. They have also released six albums across this time, marking their twentieth anniversary last year with the release of the four disc retrospective box set, ‘Reveal Yourself 1989-2009’.

Lush, dark and romantic, The Blackeyed Susans twist their op-shop stylings into something uniquely their own.

Featuring with The Blackeyed Susans will be a number of special guests including pedal steel ace “Evil” Graham Lee of The Triffids.

FRI APRIL 9

THE BARBICAN – THE TRIFFIDS ‘A Secret in the Shape of a Song’

Silk Street, London EC2Y 8 (Barbican tube)

TICKETS ON SALE: www.barbican.org.uk

SAT APRIL 10

THE BORDERLINE – THE BLACKEYED SUSANS AND FRIENDS

Orange Yard, Off Manette Street, London W1D 4JB (Tottenham Court Rd tube)

TICKETS ON SALE: 08448 472 465 www.meanfiddler.com or www.ticketweb.co.uk

Special guests: Melanie Oxley & Chris Abrahams

Leader of the Pack

Thrilled to be adding another great band to the roster! Since I've been spending most nights this week glued to the Winter Olympics (doubles louge anyone? why is curling so addictive?), I'm glad to be able to welcome the next best thing to come out of Vancouver, the band THE PACK A.D. With growling rock'n'roll vocals and sounds that you didn't think a woman could make from singer/guitarist Becky Black, and Maya Miller's explosive drums attacking the songs rather than playing them, the duo make up one of the most exciting garage rock/pop/punk combos around.

Their new album 'We Kill Computers' will be released in the UK by Mint Records on 3 May.

Here's a little teaser right here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE9pMFzdR_Y

Keep posted for more postings...
http://thepackafterdeath.com/

Cloud Control Press

I'm well and truly chuffed about the great reception people have been giving Cloud Control's "Gold Canary" 7". As well as getting single of the week in Drowned In Sound this week, we also got great reviews in Artrocker, Record Collector, Subba-Cultcha and This is Fake DIY. To cap it all, the track won Steve Lamacq's rebel playlist on 6 music last week!!

Drowned in Sound: http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4139096-this-weeks-singles--15-02-10
This is Fake DIY: http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/tracks/cloud-control-gold-canary
Subba-Cultcha: http://www.subba-cultcha.com/features/article.php?contentID=17962

Thrill Jockey Records

As well as working on freelance projects with butilikeyou, I have also just started working for Thrill Jockey Records here in London. I'm very excited to be here and working on some really fantastic releases and with a label that I've been a fan of for many years. This blog is mainly for my freelance stuff but I might post a few MP3s and exciting tidbits of news about TJ stuff as well... www.thrilljockey.com

One of the first bands that I'm working on is HIGH PLACES (pictured left). The second full-length from Mary Pearson and Rob Barber, High Places vs Mankind, tackles the complex, gigantic subject of being human and what it's like to interact with human beings. Having moved from Brooklyn to LA last year, the duo combine luscious, effect-drenched vocals with off-kilter dance rhythms and a DIY aesthetic. Both are very creative and interested in art, designing all their own sleeves and making all their own videos. You can see some of their photography on their blog here: http://hellohighplaces.blogspot.com/

Here's an MP3 of the album track, 'On Giving Up'
http://thrilljockey.com/assets/freedownload/High_Places-On_Giving_Up.mp3

They're touring the UK in May...
Mon 3-May-10 Brighton Freebutt
Tue 4-May-10 London Cargo
Wed 5-May-10 Dublin Whelans
Thu 6-May-10 Glasgow Nice & Sleazy
Fri 7-May-10 Sheffield The Harley
Sat 8-May-10 Leeds The Brudenell Social Club

More Cloud Control radio action

Ok, so I got a bit over excited by a couple of plays on Lauren Laverne's show... so you should have seen me when 'Gold Canary' got added to Steve Lamacq's rebel playlist!! Go on, do your bit and vote to see Cloud Control in 6 music's playlist!! I think it lasts for a week (until 6pm Tues 17 Feb)...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/steve_lamacq/rebel_playlist.shtml

Cloud Control track played on the radio

Lauren Laverne played 'Gold Canary' on her daytime show on 6 Music yesterday (20 Jan 2010). See track listing here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00q2n7x#segments
On the very same evening, John Kennedy played the track on X-Posure on XFM.

Bird Show Band

Here's another great project that I'll be working on. The self titled Bird Show Band album will be out in the UK on 8 March via the New York based label Amish Records (who also brought you Oakley Hall, Mike Wexler, PG Six and many others).

Here's a bit of background info: Bird Show is the solo project of Ben Vida (who used to be in Town and Country and now plays with various bands including; Soft Circle [with former Black Dice member Hisham Bharoocha], Singer [on Drag City] and The For Carnation – who were in the UK recently for the 10 Year Anniversary of All Tomorrow's Parties).

With two solo albums out on Kranky, Vida has now expanded the scope of Bird Show, incorporating a band featuring a who's who of Chicago's improvisational luminaries, including Dan Bitney and John Herndon (Tortoise, Isotope 217) as well as Josh Abrams and Jim Baker (they have played with the likes of as Jeb Bishop, Hamid Drake, Ken Vandermark, Jim O’Rourke). While Herndon and Bitney’s percussion invokes German psych, progressive rock, and jazz idioms, Vida’s synth-based experiments rely heavily on the Moog and fluid, lyrical melodic lines.

We also have the pleasure of offering you an MP3 for absolutely free of the track Quintet Four, which you can download right here, right now...

Quintet Four MP3

For more info, drop me an email or find out for yourself at:
www.amishrecords.com