Bodebrixen

How much good news can a person take in just a few small hours? Might as well push the boundaries a little bit, or at least that’s our outlook. We’ve got Bodebrixen, The Grave Architects and Our Lost Infantry on the bill for this night and you’d be a mega-idiot to miss it.

It’s happening at The Lexington on Sunday January 31st, and tickets are available from this link: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/68997

BODEBRIXEN
Indiepoppers Bodebrixen are here all the way from Denmark, with their self-professed “happy pop” set to induce an instinctive singalong-type reaction. Magical.
http://www.myspace.com/bodebrixen

THE GRAVE ARCHITECTS
Blackly humorous, Pavement-kooky and with the occasional tendency to break into an entertainingly contrary rap, we’ve asked this wonderful lot back again because we think they’re so very brilliant.
http://www.myspace.com/thegravearchitects

OUR LOST INFANTRY
Spirited, twinkly uplifting stuff that’s been known to induce an air-punch and slots supporting Frightened Rabbit, Johnny Foreigner and Sky Larkin.
http://www.myspace.com/whereisourlostinfantry

Manic Street Preachers

Welsh trio the Manic Street Preachers have released details of a short UK tour in support of their forthcoming album, Journal For Plague Lovers.

The band, who had previously said that they would not tour their new record, will play dates across the UK, including a three-night residency at The Roundhouse in Camden.

The latest MSP album was written using lyrics written by the band’s former guitarist, Richey Edwards. Journal For Plague Lovers’ tracklisting was also revealed today, and it includes songs entitled ‘Jackie Collins Existential Question Time’ and ‘She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach’. The record is out on May 18th.

Bassist Nicky Wire said: “The brilliance and intelligence of the lyrics dictated that we had to finally use them.  The use of language is stunning and topics include Le Grande Odalisque by Ingres, Marlon Brando, Giant Haystacks, celebrity, consumerism and dysmorphia all reiterating the genius and intellect of Richard James Edwards”.

The full tour is as follows:

May 25 – GLASGOW Barrowlands
26 - LLANDUDNO Venue Cymru Arena
28/29/30 - LONDON Roundhouse
June 1 – WOLVERHAMPTION Civic Hall
2 – BRIGHTON Dome
4 – DUBLIN Olympia
6 -BELFAST Ulster Hall

To buy your tickets, which are on sale at 9am on Friday 27th March, click here.

Grace/Wastelands

That rampant wayward Libertine, old moonface Pete Doherty, is streaming his first solo album Grace/Wastelands gratis online.

His new record, which seems to be largely a collection of old songs a la Babyshambles, is out on April 6th and is produced by indie-pop legend Stephen Street. Graham Coxon, who spent years recording under Street’s watch, appears to play guitar on numerous tracks, and Dot Allison guests on ‘Sheepskin Tearaway’.

Grace/Wastelands can be heard in its entirety here.

Pete Doherty will undertake a UK tour in March, which will call at the following venues:

13 - Cardiff University Great Hall
15 - Southampton Guildhall
16 - Norwich UEA
17 - Lincoln Engine Shed
18 - Nottingham Rock City
19 - Brighton Dome
20 - Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall
23 - Leeds 02 Academy
24 - Grimsby Auditorium
25 - Birmingham 02 Academy
26 - Newcastle 02 Academy
27 - Edinburgh Picture House
29 - East London Troxy

Buy your tickets from Muso’s Guide by clicking here.

Crystal Antlers

January 28th 2009

Off the back of a much-praised, self-released EP released last summer and a record deal with Chicago label Touch & Go, the LA five-piece Crystal Antlers touched down in London last week to reward those who’d followed them since their breakthrough and give the uninitiated and curious a taste of what to expect from their debut full length record, Tentacles, due at the start of April.

The venue was The Lexington, an establishment that has been helping to bring a number of upstart American bands to North London for a few months now in its intimate upstairs room.

Those members of the audience who had arrived at the show as a result of buzz and positive reviews may have been given a clue as to what to expect in the build up to Crystal Antlers’ set; their equipment was set up by guys in ear guards, while more well-prepared gig-goers could be spotted inserting ear plugs as the band emerged to begin. And the noise did come, almost immediately. However, Crystal Antlers’ songs are built around organ, waves of guitars and two percussionists so there is enough variety to keep the attention of listeners who might not enjoy ten minute long noise freak-outs.

There were snatches of melody, in the vocals and lead guitar in particular, that reference 1960s psych-rock, and these are married to strangled cries, tribal drumming and vast, burnt-out noise that recalls Sonic Youth or the New York nu-wave artists at their most dark, though transported from the East Coast to the sun-scorched west. When this works, as on the stop-starting, metamorphosising ‘A Thousand Eyes’, the effect is breathtaking; it sounds like the soundtrack to some sort of blissful, beautiful destruction.

By the end of the gig, the band’s relentless energy and constant fluctuations between blissed-out, melodic sections of ambience and brutal assaults of noise had reduced both percussionists to shirtlessness. When so many bands like this tend to get lost in their own noise, it was refreshing to see a band control and pace their set.

On record, Crystal Antlers are a less expansive, more precise proposition, where melody is allowed to bubble to the surface, rather than having to be sought out under the layers of sound, so it will be interesting to see how their live sound will develop in the spring, as listeners grow more familiar with their songs.

Patrick Wolf

The prodigious Patrick Wolf has revealed details of a short UK tour in support of his new album Battle.

Mr Wolf is pioneering a brand new way to buy music – www.bandstocks.com, where his latest record will be funded by you, the listeners. You can purchase shares in artists’ work and possibly reap the rewards if the musicians find success. This is more than likely with the talented Wolf, who has been making music practically since he left the womb, and has received critical acclaim for his previous albums, which include 2007′s The Magic Position.

Preorder Battles at www.bandstocks.com from today and you can access the presale for Patrick Wolf’s UK tour, which goes on general sale on February 4th.

The tour calls at:

MAR

8, Colchester Arts Centre

9, Gloucester Guildhall

10, Cambridge Junction

12, London Heaven

Maximo Park

Everyone’s favourite North-Eastern band, Maximo Park, have released details of their long-awaited 2009 tour, with dates across the UK.

Teessider Paul Smith and his gang of merry Geordies are bringing tracks from their synthtastic soon-to-be-released third album, as well as a copious amount of hit singles from their back-catalogue, to lucky fans’ ears in May.

Supporting the boys in black will be The Noisettes and Stricken City.

Maximo Park will play:

MAY

14, Newcastle Academy

15, Glasgow Academy

16, Liverpool University

18, Southampton Guildhall

19, Birmingham Academy

20, Nottingham Rock City

22, Leeds Academy

23, Manchester Academy

24, Norwich UEA

27, London Brixton Academy

28, Bristol Academy

Tickets are available from Muso’s Guide from Friday January 30th at 9am by clicking here.

Frank Skinner

Midlands funnyman Frank Skinner has announced details of a bargainous run of stand-up shows in London’s West End – at a tenner a ticket.

The Credit Crunch Cabaret shows are happening every Monday from February 9th to March 9th 2009 at the Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. The reduced price of £10 per ticket is possible thanks to the performers slashing their usual rates and passing on the savings to fans.

Other comedians confirmed include Russell Howard, Dave Gorman, Al Murray and Richard Herring, as well as Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Lightning Seeds singer, Ian Broudie.

Speaking about the anti-recession gigs, Skinner said: “Comedy is the best way to forget what’s going on in these dark, depressing days, but it costs about £30 to watch a big name in the famous venues so I’ll do it at an affordable price. Hopefully it will spread to other cities.”

The exact line-ups for each gig have not yet been confirmed, but tickets are on sale on Monday.

The View

Scottish indie heroes The View are heading out on a UK tour in support of their second album, the soon-to-be-unleashed Which Bitch?.

Throughout February, the band will be headlining in various UK cities, and we’re offering you the chance to win one of three pairs of tickets to catch them.

Tickets are up for grabs for the following dates and venues:

11th February: Newcastle University
15th February: Inverness Ironworks
17th February: Leeds Metropolitan University
18th February: Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
19th February: The Junction, Cambridge
21st February: Anson Rooms, Bristol
22nd February: Southampton University

All you need to do is follow this link…

If you’re not lucky enough to win, click through to Muso’s Guide’s ticketing section and treat yourself anyway.

Little Boots

Blackpool’s very own Little Boots, the newly-announced winner of BBC’s prestigious Sound of 2009, has released details of a headline tour which begins in February.

Also known as Victoria Hesketh, Little Boots is currently holed up in Los Angeles putting the finishing touches to her debut record, which is to be released in the summer. The 130-strong team of music experts who made up the BBC Sound of 2009 panel clearly took a liking to Little Boots’ own brand of electro-dance pop.

Her self-titled EP is currently available to download from iTunes. If you fancy checking her out, then grab yourself a ticket to one of the following dates:

Friday, February 13th         NME Awards Tour w/Mystery Jets @ Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Thursday, Feb 26th            Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh
Friday, Feb 27th                Mad Hatters, Inverness,
Saturday, Feb 28th             Moshulu, Aberdeen
Sunday, March 1st             The Sub Club, Glasgow
Thursday, March 12th         53 Degrees, Preston
Friday, March 13th             The Cornerhouse, Middlesbrough
Saturday, March 14th         The Faversham, Leeds
Thursday, April 2nd             Bucks Uni, High Wycombe
Friday, April 3rd                  Carling Academy, Bristol

Morrissey - Years of Refusal

That lovable legend Morrissey has just announced three UK tour dates, for which tickets will be released at 10am tomorrow (Friday 5th December 2008).

The former frontman of The Smiths is touring in support of his new record, Years of Refusal, which is released in the UK on February 23rd.

Morrissey will play London’s Royal Albert Hall on Monday May 11th 2009, followed by two dates in his hometown at Manchester Apollo on May 22nd and May 23rd 2009 – his 50th birthday.

Click here to buy your tickets!