It’s official. Tindersticks are returning from a five-year hiatus with a new album ‘The Hungry Saw’. It’s out on 28th April. We’ve heard it and we love it, but then we would, wouldn’t we?

There’s also a single preceding the album which is also called ‘Hungry Saw’ set to come out on 14th April on limited edition 7”.

You can hear the single and album track ‘Flicker Of A Little Girl’ on the band’s MySpace page: here

Check their new website for regular updates of their goings-on here

They will be playing some European dates this Spring and Summer. Make sure you check them out!

February 29th 2008 – Gary Numan takes to the stage in Bristol to perform the influential ‘Replicas’ album in it’s entirety at the start of a UK tour. To celebrate the tour, Beggars Banquet have released an expanded, 2 x CD edition of the album. For more details click here

Here at Beggars Banquet, we are very excited to announce we will be releasing the latest album from Bob Mould, entitled District Line, worldwide (excluding US).

Those familiar with Mould need no introducing to this rock legend. His previous incarnations as the driving force behind Husker Dü and Sugar inspired countless others to take up instruments and create something incendiary of their own.

District Line is slated for release in early 2008…

Here’s a few words about Bob Mould and District Line

How do you build on a quarter-century legacy and catalog as a living legend and trailblazer of alternative rock? When you’re 47-year-old vet Bob Mould, you ignore such accolades, and go straight to making hair-raisingly emotional, undeniably catchy, loud, mature guitar rock albums. Yes, he was an ’80s punk pioneer with Husker Du, and indie rock god with ’90s juggernaut, Sugar. But in between and since, Mould has unleashed a half-dozen uncompromising solo LPs, unafraid to follow inspirations where they’ve led – from 1989’s Richard Thompson-influenced Workbook to 2002’s dancefloor-minded Modulate.



Now, following 2005’s acclaimed, return-to-bracing Body of Song, Mould is poised to rip the roof off further with the hard-hitting, elastic District Line – his first for Anti Records. Ace Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty returns from Body of Song, as the perfect backbone to Mould’s determined guitar riffs, insistent basslines, and passionate, vulnerable singing. (Amy Domingues also again adds beautifully bittersweet cello.) Recorded in a Washington D.C. warehouse space with a mobile studio, District Line is a dozen flavors of Mould’s inspired, instantly memorable, melodic songwriting and playing. The inimitable blasting, bursting, guitar-smacked choruses of “Stupid Now,” “Who Needs to Dream,” “Return to Dust,” “The Silence Between Us,” and “Very Temporary” sit comfortably with the folk-tinged “Again and Again” and “Walls of Time,” the more fanciful “Miniature Parade,” and the electronic-laced postpunk dance stomp, “Shelter Me.“



“Body of Song was written over the course of five years,” remembers Mould. “Whereas this one was written in a concentrated period starting with ‘Stupid Now.’ I started with a few ideas when Body came out [in June 2005]; then I wrote a lot of material in the start of ’06. That summer, I settled in a lot more writing as I was finishing up stuff. And the last song, ‘Walls of Time,’ was a [1989] Workbook song that didn’t make that record. It seemed like a really appropriate closer for this record, when it popped back into my head.“



The title nods to home base. “I’ve been in D.C. for five years,” he notes. “And this record really sums up the past five years of being here. These are funny stories about me and my friends’ things I see or overhear. It’s been a very positive experience, and District Line is my way of putting it down in a book.” And whereas fans formerly feared for his sanity after hearing his records, he laughs, “I’m generally content, now! But there’s also a lot of sadness on the record; there’s some loss – not gigantic, but it’s there. It’s being content with understanding loss.”(Hint: see “Old Highs New Lows.”)



Of course, few have had a more storied history and experience to draw on as a wiser older head. It is near impossible to calculate the level of impact or influence that Husker Du has had on the last two decades of modern rock, from the Pixies to Nirvana, to Green Day to Daft Punk – and 100 punk-inspired bands that have battered the public sphere since. Perhaps no band since the Ramones did more, thanks to constant touring and a feverish recording schedule that produced eight astounding albums in six years (two of them doubles), such as the acknowledged classics, Zen Arcade and Candy Apple Grey. 



Likewise, Mould’s estimable 18-year solo career, launched upon the Huskers’ 1987 dissolution, has proved as durable and intensely respected, from the days of Workbook and 1990’s harrowing Black Sheets of Rain – interrupted by Sugar’s three wildly popular, positively piledriving rock albums, particularly the beloved Copper Blue, NME’s 1992 “Album of the Year” – to such modern maulers as 1996’s Bob Mould, 1998’s The Last Dog and Pony Show, and Body of Song (and his October 2007 DVD debut, Circle Of Friends, live from Washington D.C.‘s 9:30 Club). 



Now, after nearly 30 years of such yeoman work, Mould in District Line is far from an icon trying to summon faded glories. Rather, his lyrics reflect forthrightness that has carried over from his earlier works and maturity that has developed since. “As I get older my life gets simpler,” Mould laughs with real satisfaction. District Line is the manifestation of a thinking man’s constant evolution. Emotional twists and turns thread throughout the album: “All the triggers pulled at once / So begins my ugly fall from grace,” he insists on “Again and Again.” Yet, whereas on Body of Song he sang, “This would be / The sound of me / Looking for some kind of closure,” he’s now come full circle on the crushing District Line climax, “Return to Dust,” singing, “Growing old it’s hard to be an angry young man.“



That lyric is the last that Mould wrote for the record, and is undeniably the album’s emotional centerpiece. “When you’re younger it’s very simple to be like that, but you get over it,” he explains. “It’s not a new idea in this line of art; Pete Townshend has talked about how the aging process is what we all make it to be – that we can’t try to fight it. And I see that on a daily basis: people dying their hair, getting facelifts, getting a growth hormone to delay the inevitable – men and women alike. But at this point in my life I embrace it. Because in my 40s, I have never felt so comfortable in my own skin, or so calm. All that anxiety – that stuff falls away as you start to realize that time is moving differently and it is a finite concept in terms of our earthly existence. All the things I used to worry about are not that big a concern any more. Maybe now I have the answers and I just don’t know it?” he laughs again. 



And yet, as if to refute these candid, serene admissions, it’s hard to think of a more energizing, smashing, nay, youthful record than District Line. Perhaps Mould remains so vital because his life never slipped into rote regurgitation. Ten years ago he went on sabbatical, writing wrestling scripts; now when not writing, recording, and touring, he stays busy penning a weekly column called, “Ask Bob,” for Washington City Paper (also widely read online), while DJing the D.C. 9:30 Club (and New York) party Blowoff with Richard Morel (the two collaborated on a crisp Blowoff LP last year). “I can’t emphasize how much I look forward to that party every month,” he exclaims. “There’s this other side of me. As a gay man, I never addressed my community. It’s not the most important part of what I do, but it’s an important part of who I am, and throwing this crazy ass party that 1000 people come to and have a great time dancing to, for years – I’d have never imagined!“



But does he ever relax? “When I am home, my thing is having friends over for dinner and working on my yard.” For the prolific Mould, that’s different.

Annie Clark has been a busy lady. Not only has she been traversing the world with her electric guitar and elaborate array of pedals, she has also found some time to ham it up for the
cameras in the glamourous surroundings of London and Paris.

Here’s Annie playing a bit of Beatles whilst riding the streets of London in the back of a black cab. Big thanks to the Black Cab Sessions people for being pretty fantastic all round.

Next is something altogether cinematic and a bit film-noir from Take Away Shows as we see Annie playing some of her own tunes this time in the opulent surroundings of Paris:

The debut full-length album is out now in all good music shops. It’s a corker but then we are a little bit biased.

For those of a literary bent who haven’t already purchased, might we suggest you head on down to Record Store pronto as they are currently throwing in an accompanying book of essays with every purchase. Each essay acts as a guide offering an insight into the history of the characters featured in iLiKETRAiNS’ music. That’s a music and history lesson combined! What more could you want?

Tracklisting:
We All Fall Down
Twenty Five Sins
The Deception
The Voice of Reason
Death of an Idealist
Remnants of an Army
We Go Hunting
Come Over
Spencer Perceval
epiphany
Death Is The End

Don’t forget, you can catch this audio/visual spectacle live at the following venues:

October
MON 01 CAMBRIDGE Soul Tree
TUE 02 HERTFORD Marquee
WED 03 LONDON Scala
THU 04 COLCHESTER Arts Centre
FRI 05 NORWICH Arts Centre
SAT 06 NOTTINGHAM Social

November
WED 31 PARIS Fleche d’Or
SAT 03 MADRID Moby Dick
SUN 04 BARCELONA La Apolo
TUE 06 GRENOBLE Eve
WED 07 MILAN Casa 139
THU 08 ROME Circola degli Artisti
FRI 09 RAVENNA Bronson
SAT 10 TURIN Spazio 211
SUN 11 ZURICH Hafenkneipe
TUES13 MUNICH Ampere
WED 14 DRESDEN Star Club
THU 15 HAMBURG Knust
FRI 16 COLOGNE Gebaude 9
SAT 17 BERLIN Lido
MON 19 COPENHAGEN Rust
WED 21 GOTHENBURG Pusterviksbaren
THU 22 STOCKHOLM Debaser
SAT 24 THE HAGUE Crossing Borders Festival
MON 26 BRUSSELS Botanique

iLiKETRAiNS homepage

‘Yes, U’ hits the shops this bright(-ish) Monday! (if you’re Stateside, you’ll need to wait a while, but it’s worth the wait).

If you’re of a forward-thinking disposition you will probably have pre-ordered a copy and are likely to be playing it right now. Tell us what you think – we appreciate feedback!

For those yet to discover the joys of Devastations, why not listen to the album streaming from their website here? If you like what you hear, get yourself to your nearest friendly record shop person and part with some of that loose change currently jangling in your back pocket. You know it makes sense.

Scout Niblett asked the trio to open for her on her forthcoming UK in November. Flattered and pleased, the band said “Yes, of course!” Here’s the dates:

22 Nov – Thekla, Bristol
23 Nov – King Tuts, Glasgow
24 Nov – Faversham, Leeds
25 Nov – Zodiac, Oxford
26 Nov – Scala, London

Don’t forget, Devastations are playing London’s Water Rats tomorrow night. Josh T Pearson and Jack Savoretti support, plus Drowned in Sound DJs will be spinning tunes between bands. See you down the front!

Here’s your chance to get in touch with your inner-Tarantino/Scorcese/Ford Coppola/Spielberg…

Film School, in conjunction with iMeem, want YOU to create a 30-45 second trailer for the new album ‘Hideout’ (out today US people; out 5 November everyone else) and submit it to iMeem.

They’ll then handpick their favourite trailer and the winner will win a Sony DV Cam and have self-same trailer premiered at their hometown Film School gig.

Not bad eh?

For more information check out their iMeem page

Good luck!

Annie comes back to the UK this November – hot on the heels of her support slots with The National – with a tour all of her own. This time she’ll have a full band behind her.

The dates look a little like this:

November:
22 – Glasgow, Nice’n Sleazy
23 – Belfast, SpeakEasy
24 – Dublin, Sugar Club
26 – Manchester, Night & Day
27 – Birmingham, Glee Club
30 – London, Bush Hall

Go get a ticket before they all get snapped up.

And if you needed an incentive, check out the video Black Cab Sessions made with her on her last visit to London, as reported on Pitchfork:

St. Vincent Black Cab Session

Go forth and buy ‘The Deception’! It’s now available in all good record shops on 7” vinyl and CD as well as a download (from all the usual online outlets).

The 7” features exclusive track ‘Victress’ as its flipside whilst the CD has an additional track by the name of ‘Joshua’ as well as ‘Victress’.

Don’t forget, it’s not long until iLiKETRAiNS’ debut album ‘Elegies To Lessons Learnt’ is unleashed to the masses on October 1st. Pre-order a copy of the album from Record Store and we’ll throw in a rare and exclusive essay booklet:

http://www.recordstore.co.uk/home.jspCatalogNumber=BBQCD257

The Leeds quintet have kicked off their extensive tour of the UK this week. The dates look a little like this:

September:
10th Bristol Carling Academy
11th Cardiff Barfly
12th Exeter Cavern
13th Southampton Joiners
14th Brighton Barfly
16th Northampton Soundhaus
17th Birmingham Barfly
18th Sheffield Plug
19th Manchester Academy 3
20th Stoke Sugarmill
22nd York Fibbers
23rd Newcastle Academy 2
24th Aberdeen Tunnels
25th Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire
26th Glasgow King Tuts
27th Leeds Cockpit
29th Oxford Zodiac
30th Leicester Charlotte

October:
1st Cambridge Soul Tree
2nd Hertford Marquee
3rd London Scala
4th Colchester Arts Centre
5th Norwich Arts Centre
6th Nottingham Social