“My Proud Mountains” is the 3rd Track on the EP “Iron Wall” by the Manchester based band Blind Atlas. Originally written and recorded by Townes Van Zandt, 1969 (Silver Dollar Music), this cool little animation was produced by Volkerfirma Creative. Radio support has come from the lies of; Whispering Bob, Cerys Mathews, Nemone, Gideon Coe, Jo Good, Dermot O’Leary…
Impact date: 29th August 2011
This track is also available via the Ask Me SoundCloud page.
Back in February, Blind Atlas held an “art happening” event upstairs at Odder Bar, Manchester. The idea was that the listeners, both established fans and those new to their work, would respond through art (drawing, mark making, sculpting) to their new single “Iron Wall”. This is the resulting documentary; produced by INTO productions, the film also features rehearsal and interview footage with the band.
Release date: 29/8/2011(Fallen Swine)
myspace.com/BlindAtlas blindatlas.co.uk
Hailing from Denver [Colorado USA] and disparate points around the UK, Blind Atlas came together in the bohemian suburbs of south Manchester; Led by singer/guitarist Ross Thompson, the band concoct a new take on American alternative country and classic British Rock ‘n’ Roll. Blind Atlas have notched up headline slots at some of the most iconic venues in the city, as well as supporting the likes of Blitzen Trapper, The Bees, Buffalo Tom, Liam Frost, Lucy Wainwright Roche, The Deadstring Brothers, The Features, The Acorn and The Travelling Band.
The Earlies were at the production helm again for their 3 track EP “Iron Wall”. The title track is an epic sounding beast, throbbing with a native American rhythm and building to a soaring crescendo. This is usually the high-impact finale to their live performances:
Listen to Iron Wall by Blind Atlas:
Swapping their electric guitars for acoustic instruments, the laid-back country vibe of “Mary Anne” evokes the likes of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. A live favourite, this is another perfect example of the trademark Blind Atlas sound.
Listen to Mary-Anne by Blind Atlas:
“My Proud Mountains”, a cover of the Townes Van Zandt recording of 1969, is a long time favourite of the band. Blind Atlas have beautifully reworked the song, demonstrating their skillfully plaintive vocals and sparse arrangements. Nostalgic, melancholic and impossible to listen to just once.
Listen to My Proud Mountains by Blind Atlas:
Release Date: 4th April 2011
Album launch gigs: Manchester – 4 April 2011 at Deaf Institute, London – 7th April 2011 at Union Chapel
“We have always been proud to be associated with MAK (Music Aid to Kosovo). Aside from the great work they do in Kosovo, they have brought together Manchester’s music community on many occasions. MAK events are always a document of the times”. – Guy Garvey, Elbow
Early in 2001, the release of Manchester Aid to Kosovo‘s compilation, ‘Cohesion’, gave many music fans outside of this rainy Northern city the first chance to hear the then little known group Elbow. The band donated the sublime ‘Scattered Black and Whites’, whilst other emerging Manchester legends, Doves gave the track ‘Valley’. In the intervening years both bands plus a host of other notable names included on that first album at the start of their careers (such as I Am Kloot, Badly Drawn Boy, Mr Scruff) have supported MAK in helping recovery from ethnic cleansing in the Balkans. Check out makonline.org for more information about the work of the charity.
10 years on and follow up compilation ‘ten‘ sees the now familiar voices of Guy Garvey and Jimi Goodwin surrounded by a new group of emerging Manchester artists. This 18 track album, curated by The Travelling Band‘s Jo Dudderidge, demonstrates how the poetic grandeur from the likes of Garvey, Goodwin, Frost et al has influenced a u-turn in the city’s musical output. Where the grey, overcoat of ‘dance–miserabilism’ h as been cast aside, not to reveal a post-Oasis hangover, but in fact a deep, warmly humorous and slyly experimental slew of artists intent on reclaiming the Manchester music scene for themselves.From the skittering, heart stopping afro-folk of Josephine Oniyama’s ‘Fun In The Dark’ through to the gorgeous slow-core balladry of The Travelling Band’s ‘Hindsight’, ‘ten’ is littered with countless gems, each a gateway to understanding how Manchester found a new voice for itself in the late 00’s.
Manchester Music has funded much of the work of MAK (approximately a third of its total income) enabling MAK to create the 22-acre Manchester Peace Park in N.E Kosovo at the request of children medically evacuated to Manchester. One of these children, Jehona Bogujevci, who survived the massacre of her family, went on to study graphics in Manchester and the artwork for ‘ten’ is Jehona’s first commission since her graduation.
MAK is involved in art, education, ecology, sport and human rights, as well as the Peace Park and music projects. The new republic of Kosovo remains the poorest country in Europe, and its young people lack the freedom to travel. So in 2009 ‘The Travelling Band’ became one of the first British bands to perform in Kosovo, playing at the Peace Park, in theatres, cafes, on the streets and even on horse drawn wagons, with the aim to inspire. Kosovo musicians around them to get out, go public and make it happen.
It’s hoped the album will both facilitate more projects and encourage creativity. MAK has proved that linking recovery and creativity creates strength, opportunity and of course, great music.
Check out Elbow‘s Some Riot (Live at Abbey Road), which appears on ‘ten‘ here:
To mark the release of ‘ten’, there are launch events in Manchester and London featuring, MAK Patron Badly Drawn Boy, Liam Frost and many other artists featured on the album:
Mon 4th April – Deaf Institute, Manchester –
tickets and line-up http://bit.ly/dSxCo6
Thurs 7th April – Union Chapel, London –
tickets and line-up http://bit.ly/en8fRq
CD and ticket bundles are available from http://www.makonline.org/ten
Release Date: 28th February 2011 (Stone Soup)
facebook.com/daystarmanchester
Produced by Mansun engineer Ronnie Stone, ‘Slip And Dive’ owes much of its style to a Sixties mod influence ( – as do the band themselves, based on evidence of the YouTube video for the single below), wrapped up in a Nineties package, and delivered with present day panache and vibe. “We like to think of it as our equivalent to The Who’s Can’t Explain, or You Really Got Me by The Kinks. We see it as powerful yet interesting, raw but with a certain quirky quality and a promise of bigger things to come.” explain Daystar. With their first album already in the bag, these hardworking young men bring with them the same ethos I saw all those years ago, with another, now mega-famous, Manchester band (Oasis). Daystar are rapidly garnering massive support, and may well prove to be the forerunners of the next wave to put the Manchester music scene back on the map.
Check out the video for “Slip and Dive” here:
The legend that is John Cooper Clarke gets back on the road for some high profile UK shows, leading up to Christmas 2010. Finishing at the Scala in London, the tour takes in 9 cities. JCC is getting back to his roots, doing what he knows best. Live Entertaining!
His career has recently taken a massive upturn. Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys, Plan B and Richard Hawley all name checked him as a major influence. JCC plays a cabaret performer in Plan Bs new movie and he is still talking about making a new album with Mr Hawley.
Not only headlining Latitude, The Green Man and Beautiful Days festivals in 2010, but JCC has been presenting his own unique shows on 6Music, sitting in for Jarvis Cocker and Guy Garvey (negotiations about his own shows on the station are ongoing).
Catch John Cooper Clarke Live:
February 2011
Sat 12th Globe Cardiff
Sun 13th Sub 89 Reading
March 2011
Thurs 31st The Railway Winchester
April 2011
Fri 1st Cheltenham Poetry Festival Cheltenham
Town Hall
Sat 2nd Princess Pavilion Falmouth
Sun 3rd Phoenix Exeter
Sat 9th De La Warr Pavilion Bexhill on Sea
Sun 10th Rose Theatre Kingston
Sat 16th Dylan Thomas’s Boathouse Laugharne
Sun 17th Dylan Thomas’s Boathouse Laugharne
Tue 19th Ashcroft Arts Centre Fareham
May 2011
Sat 14th Guernsey Literary Festival St Martin
Fri 27th The Foundry, Sheffield Uni Sheffield
Sat 28th The Ctiadel St Helens
Sun 29th 53 Degrees Preston
June
Sat 18th The Junction Cambridge
*John Cooper Clarke is available for interviews. Contact liam@askmepr.com
Release Date: Out Now (Project Records)
twitter.com/theuktargets thetargets.co.uk myspace.com/theuktargets
Cheshire three-piece The Targets release their debut single Wake Up on November 22nd on CD and download via Project Records. The single comes off the back of extensive UK and overseas touring, and features a Chris Sheldon (Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro, Pixies) remix. The track’s massive, über-catchy chorus pays immediate homage to the likes of 70s punk pioneers The Buzzcocks and The Jam. But there is a contemporary message behind the mayhem too – which has prompted some to dub The Targets’ uncompromising style as ‘iMod for the 21st century’ .
The band – Conrad (guitar), Jess (drums) and bassist Sam (who played George Harrison in the acclaimed John Lennon biopic movie Nowhere Boy) – have been together since they were 13 years old, shouting their brand of loud, angst-driven guitar rock from the rafters of any teenage lad’s headspace.
A video for Wake Up (also starring Jay Johnson from the Nowhere Boy cast) is below, and reflects The Targets’ earliest days when they were too young to perform in pubs or clubs and so had to cut their teeth and build their following playing private house parties.
The Targets have also released a string of UK live dates :
Artist: AM Album: Future Sons and Daughters (Out Now!)
Label: Naim Edge
myspace.com/amsounds amsounds.com
October 18 – Vicar Street, Dublin (w/ Train)
October 19 – Forum, Waterford (w/ Train)
October 20 – Academy, Birmingham (w/ Train)
October 21 – ABC, Glasgow (w/ Train) – SOLD OUT
October 23 – Academy, Manchester (w/ Train)
October 24 – Academy, Bristol (w/ Train)
October 25 – Shepherds Bush Empire, London – SOLD OUT
October 26 – Water Rats, London – **HEADLINE SHOW**
Hailed by Q Magazine as a ‘rare talent’, Los Angeles based AM arrives on these shore to support US band Train during their forthcoming UK tour. In addition to this AM headlines his own show at London’s Water Rats on the 26th October. Already he can boast support slots for French Electronica giants AIR, Charlotte Gainsbourg and the acclaimed Brazilian songwriter Caetano Veloso. His debut album Future Sons and Daughters was produced by Charles Newman (Magnetic Fields) in Elliott Smith‘s former apartment, and fuses a wide range of roots sounds; from 60s Bay area psychedelia to Brazilian tropicalia. To give you an idea of his musical influences he’s helpfully put together a mixtape, available from SoundCloud: www.bit.ly/AMmixtape
With the album set for release on vinyl on October 25th, AM is offering gig-goers the chance to pick up a free autographed copy of the album on limited edition 180gram vinyl. To qualify, you need to buy 4 tickets for the show; then you can collect the record from AM at the show.
Future Sons and Daughters is out now on Naim Edge.
From M-People’s 1994 win with Elegant Slumming, Badly Drawn Boy in 2000 through to local heroes and 2008 winners Elbow, Ask Me PR have been charged with making sure all shortlisted albums and the competition itself are featured on regional radio. This is no mean feat considering that from Cornwall to Orkney, and Norwich to Aberystwyth there’s around 400 radio stations to service!
Today, this year’s nominees for ‘Album of the Year’ were announced, and competition looks to be even fiercer than ever. North West music fans will be pleased to see the inclusion of Mancunian veterans I Am Kloot on this year’s list. Check out the shortlist below or go to the Mercury Music Prize website;
Release date: December 2010 (Elvis Lives)
twitter.com/AllTheDamnKids myspace.com/allthedamnkids
The band everyone is talking about have been busy polishing their artillery, and are back with the follow up to their well received debut single ‘The Book Stops Here’. ‘Echoes‘ is a throbbing piece of indie-pop brilliance (and incidentally was one of the demo tracks which helped forge a name for the band in their early days).
Also check out the video, produced by the very talented Sarah Keeling.
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