Here's
great news for all you music downloaders! We've just set up two new sites full
of free music.Happy new year to you all!
No new releases to announce though I'm thrilled to say that the festive CD,
"Christmas Folk & Old December's Bearness" (Bearos056)
has sold out in record time - well there were only 50 of them!
Sorry if you didn't get one but here are two exciting enticements for 2005.
The first is the "January & February CD Sale"
with the following marked down to £5:
Bearos024: San Lorenzo - "The Sea is a Map"
Bearos027: "Journeys without maps - A tribute to The Lord of the Rings"
Bearos031: Papa November - "From The Startline"
Bearos032: Grover - "Tiny Blue Sparks"
Bearos037: Ladyfest UK 2003
Bearos043: Og's Bunkadoo Band - "Mengakai Muriarte"
Bearos045: Ben Calvert - "Leafy Underground"
Bearos048: Owen Tromans - "Place"
The 'Product' page and 'order form' have been adjusted appropriately
The second is the "Bearos Music" download site
This has been requested many times and will be useful if you want to 'Try
before you buy' or just want to download some free mp3s!
Here's the list of available tracks:
Richard Burke - "The Secret" (taken from the mini album "Roscrea"
Bearos055)
The Starries - "Map of our Stars" (taken from the album "Our
Darkest Hours" Bearos054)
James Summerfield - "Saltwater Running" (taken from the "Hailah,
Hailah Live EP" Bearos053)
Owen Tromans - "The Spanish Flag" (taken from the album "Place"
Bearos048)
The Regulars - "October We Take It Back" (taken from the album "Effortless"
Bearos046)
Ben Calvert - "Sitting Ducks" (taken from the album "The Leafy
Underground" Bearos045)
Baxxter - "Yr Palace" (taken from the album "Action:Re-action"
Bearos044)
Grover - "Ma, I Failed" (taken from the album "Tiny Blue Sparks"
Bearos032)
Papa November - "Small Room" (taken from the album "From The
Startline" Bearos031)
San Lorenzo - "We Got Mysticism" (taken from the album "The Sea
Is A Map" Bearos024)
It should compliment the selection of tracks on the free compilation (Bearos040).
The mini site is here
and there are also links to each track from the individual 'Product' pages.
I'd be grateful of some feedback about the site as I may use something similar for some exclusive tracks late in the year - the long awaited return of the "MP3 of the Month" slot.
A fantastic time was had by all at the Bearos Christmas Gig on 17th December 2004. Thanks to Souvaris, Inch Blue and our three opening troubadors James Summerfield, Richard Burke and Simon Fox, who's SunnO))) style version of "Little Drummer Boy" is still reverberation around my head.
All been quite business like! Back to the fun and frivolity next month
Thanks for all the great e mails about the download
site and thanks for all your money in the CD Sale that continues
until the end of this month!
I've just added another few free mp3s:
CrazyFace - "Free Coke" (title track on the CD single "Free
Coke" Bearos033)
Meets Guitar - "When It Comes Alive" (taken from the Meets Guitar/Taunus
split 7" Bearos030)
Dreams of Tall Buildings - "Remember The Words" (taken from the double
7" pack Bearos021)
Check the download site
or individual product links for details
I'm really excited to tell you that the downloadable singles
series is confirmed and will start in March with tracks from Shocked
Elevator Family and Einstellung.
Shocked Elevator Family are part of the Midlands lo-fi stable that includes
Baxxter, Distophia and The Reverends and Einstellung is the krautrock power-drone-"Neuse"
that has been shaking the very foundations of local venues over the last few
months. The tracks will be complete with downloadable artwork, info and links.
The collection will build into a veritable jukebox of delights for your computer
or hi-fi which I hope will include some of the most exciting and innovative
bands around.. Once we've got around CD's worth we'll compile it with a couple
of extra tracks and unleash it as normal a Bearos Records release - hopefully
in time for Christmas 2005.
Another project to be sorted for the end of the month is a multi
label downloadable compilation. So far I've had interest from Static Caravan,
Pickled Egg, Enraptured, Stupid Cat, Antenna, Victory Garden, WIAIWYA and Artists
Against Success with another couple yet to get back to me. Most of us are the
labels you will have seen running the Sunday record fairs at All Tomorrow's
Parties weekends and the aim is to get it all sorted for the sold out Slint
weekend 25-27th February. The aim is to introduce you not only to some great
new artists but also to other hard working and innovative record labels. With
the threat of post-Peelian niche labeling and general mediocrity we need all
the help we can get so hopefully this will be a regular venture.
The new Owen Tromans EP "Your Heart is not Broken" is taking shape. It will be released in the USA by Keep Recordings who are distributed by Revolver USA. The EP will be available to buy worldwide online at the Keep Recordings website where you can also listen to an exclusive mp3 on their "audio" page. A release date is currently being decided. The most exciting aspect the inclusion of the full 12 minute electric take of "John's on the Bridge" which appeared in its acoustic form on "Place" (bearos048). I'm told that the other material makes more use of harmony vocals than any of Owen's previous work.
Lastly here's a few recommended live dates in Birmingham:
James Summerfield
22nd February supporting Deadstring Brothers at Ceol Castle, Moseley
Ben Calvert
10th February with Katlama, Lucifer & Gabriel at the Bohemian Jukebox, Bull's
Head, Moseley
24th February with Friends of the Stars (ex-Toques), Scott Matthews and Waldo
Jeffers at the Bohemian Jukebox, Bull's Head, Moseley
Baxxter
17th February at the Jug of Ale, Moseley
Thursday nights have never looked so good! See you all at ATP.
Here's
great news for all you music downloaders! We've just set up two new sites full
of free music.
The first is the monthly Bearos
Records Singles Club which is now up and running. As I revealed earlier
in February we'll upload tracks by a couple of new and exciting bands together
with downloadable artwork. It will build into a glorious jukebox of delights
and hopefully be the first step to greater things for many of the bands involved.
Babybearos001 features tracks by Einstellung
and Shocked
Elevator Family
I've already agreed the tracks by Krafla and Papa November for Babybearos002
which will be with you at the start of April.
The other project is Ol'
Tamara's Party Mix Here's the intro from the website:
"In ever increasing numbers discerning music lovers are making the pilgrimage
down to the south coast and the All Tomorrow's Parties weekends at Camber Sands.
Thanks to Barry Hogan's cooperation (and our iron constitutions that shrug off
devastating effects of horrendous hangovers and out of season sea side weather)
the Sunday morning record stalls outside the Queen Vic pub have become a regular
feature.
" Labels from all over the country arrive with boxes of small scale releases
ranging from local bands, still wet behind the ears, to limited releases from
international stars. Welcome to this exciting new project from the Camber Sands
veterans! In the face of post-Peelian desolation and media mediocrity the great
and the good have banded together to entertain and inform."
Here's the tracklisting:
1.
Interstellar Rhythm Machine (Line Out Records) “Exit”
2. Los Planetos Del Agua (Antenna) “No Longer A Tourist”
3. My Electric Love Affair (Static Caravan) “(So) I’m Alone”
4. Need New Body (Pickled Egg) “Show Me Your Heart”
5. Philm Riot (Victory Garden) “Who Is The Peanut Vendor?”
6. Plans & Apologies (AAS) “Eggbound Mutebone”
7. Since I Was A Little Girl (WIAIWYA) “They Saved My Life”
8. The Chemistry Experiment (Fortuna Pop) “Stopped Clocks”
9. The Workhouse (Bearos) “Strawberry”
10. Xahdrez (Vacuous Pop) “Sedonic Hill (Mistakes I’ve Made)”
I've optimistically called it "Volume 1" so hopefully there will
be similar projects in the future. Please visit the site, have a listen to some
stuff you've never heard before and browse the various band and label links.
Inch Blue are back on the road again with a prestigious
headline slot at the "Live and Xposed" night at Carling Academy Islington
on 22nd March. Doors open at 8 and they'll be on stage around 10.30 so I'm assuming
it'll be a late bar! The band's new double A side single "Miles Away"
and "To The Lighthouse" will be
available from early April on Enraptured records. It'll be limited to 500 7"
Vinyl and CD so I'd get your order in quick!
I'll get back to my packing, hopefully see some of you at ATP this weekend.
Welcome to the new look website that will hopefully be less cumbersome and easier to navigate. Part of this is to increase the emphasis on the download components of the website guiding you to both new and established artists. I'm particularly excited about the Ol' Tamara's Party Mix which brings together 10 quite diverse labels showcasing one of their artists with a free track to download. Have a listen to something new and follow the links to a myriad of wonderful labels and artists. If you like all of what you hear we've even thrown in some downloadable artwork for your compilation.
There's
also the new addition to the downloadable singles series. Babybearos002 sees
the return of Papa November with two exclusive tracks of lush electronic
melodies and beats. If you like what you hear we've still got copies of the
debut album, From The Startline (Bearos031)
Also included are Krafla, a project of Simon Fox and Steve Hough from
Grover. A delicate balance of light and shade as mandolin and guitar folkiness
sweeten the rasping backdrop of digital textures. A lathe-cut 7" follows
shortly on Static Caravan.
For April and May 2005 we are offering special offers on 7" vinyl. For the next 2 months they will be available for just £2 with the usual discounts on multiple purchases. The CD sale has now run its course and has been hugely successful for me! I hope it's been effective in tempting you to reckless exploration of our musical delights. Bearos Records will again be represented at All Tomorrow's Parties at the end of April. Come and visit our Sunday morning stall to update your collection, try something new or just have a chat. Expect great deals on vinyl this time and the standard 3 for 2 deals on CDs.
Did you enjoy the session by The Workhouse on Rob da Bank's BBC Radio One show on 17th March? They played Sellafield, Coathanger, Shake 'Ands and Flyover. These are all new tracks destined for the new album this Autumn though they were all previewed on their Doves support dates at the end of last year. The session had been booked with John Peel and it was the last one ever to be recorded from his outstanding list. There's an excellent interview with drummer, Peter Lazell on the Radio One Website
There
are some great gigs coming up, here's my pick of the crop:
Monday 4th April: Piano Magic, July Skies, Portal and Epic45. A MakeMineMusic
night @ The Flapper and Firkin, Birmingham
Wednesday 20th April: Isis and Jesu. A Capsule
promotion @ The Custard Factory, Digbeth, Birmingham
Saturday 30th April: Dogfood's 20th Anniversary Gig @ The Jug of Ale, Moseley,
Birmingham
Coming up in May, Fucking Champs play the Hare & Hounds in Birmingham, The
Rezillos are at The Rock Cafe in Stourbridge and James Summerfield supports
Alasdair Roberts in Manchester and The Cole Porters in Nottingham.
New releases planned for next month includes the new Ben Calvert EP (Bearos057) and a limited Grover 3" live CD featuring their versions of Sweet Leaf and You Made Me Realise. I'll hopefully have the latter ready in time for All Tomorrow's Parties.
This
month's downloadable single (Babybearos003) is curated by Ben Calvert,
our resident post-folk troubador and organiser of The Bohemian Jukebox, the
weekly acoustic nights at The Bull's Head in Moseley. There's a taster from
his next album "Festival Road" as well as fantastic tracks by Gav
Dunn and Chris Jones which showcase the wide variety of styles embraced by contemporary
folk.
Chris Jones breaks the usual singer & songwriter mold with his raga
style blues on "Fuckers". Ben returns to his dark folk roots
with the picked power chord song "Atmosphere". Gav Dunn dusts
away winter's cobwebs and heralds the spring with "Flip Flop", a eerie
sunny song which would be just as at home in the film "The City of the
Lost Children" as is in your disc player.
Ben's also collected together a number of his tour stories which I've
included on the articles page.
Next month he releases his new EP "Love;defenestrated" (bearos057)
In May and June 2005 we are still offering special offers on 7" & CD singles. For the next two months they will be available for just £2 each with further discounts on multiple purchases.
"The
Supersonic festival at the Custard Factory was one of the most ambitious and
eclectic I have ever had the pleasure of playing at in the UK. The only thing
that I know of that compares would be Sonar in Barcelona for diversity, setting,
presentation and sheer love of music."
Strictly Kev - DJ FOOD
What a super treat we've got this weekend in Birmingham! Supersonic,
my favourite day out of the year returns with a magnificent line up that includes
Psychic TV, Merzbow and Tuung with sets by members of bands as diverse as Neu!,
SunO))), Godflesh and The Flying Lizards. Dreams of Tall Buildings are performing
a specially comissioned piece from inside an icecream van! It all takes place
around the Custard Factory on Saturday 9th July with stages in the Medicine
Bar, the theatre space and around the lake. We'll be outside mid afternoon with
a Bearos stall and hopefully we'll have a few advance copies of the limited
Dreams of Tall Buildings mp3 credit card CD (bearos059) which features
their performance from Supersonic 2004 and the new Papa November EP (bearos058).
Friday 8th July is a club night in collaboration with House of God and features
local legends Surgeon and Sir Real.
For full details click on the image or visit the Capsule website.
This
month's first new release is the new EP by Ben Calvert, "Love;defenestrated"
(bearos057) Literally meaning 'thrown out the window', it's a mournful tale
of the death of love delivered with his wry sense of tragedy and his well honed
mastery of both classic and contemporary (anti) folk scenes.
Ben still appears every 2nd Thursday at his Bohemian
Jukebox at the Bull's Head, Moseley, Birmingham:
Thursday 7th July: Silverwood, Josie Dark Folk, Misterlee, Ben
Calvert.
Thursday 21st July: Gary Hopkins, Martin Mellor & Mark Murphy, MJ Hibbert,
Ben Calvert.
Thursday 4th August: Auslese, Butterfly Catchers, Ben Calvert.
Thanks for the continuing e mails about the free download pages.
So many of you have used this facility and have asked whether we were intending
to sell music across the web. To these ends we have been working with Music
Control, based here in Birmingham, to set up a site through British Telecom.
The Bearos Download Shop will function like iTunes with tracks from 79p
each and a discount if you buy the whole album. Obviously we'd like you to continue
buying our exquisitely packaged product but here's another option for the iPod
generation. Watch this space, it should be up and running by the end of July
2005.
A massive apology to all the artists and fans for the temporary interruption in the monthly Download Singles Club. At the end of the first month we were one of the most popular Tripod sites in the UK, half way through the third month they decided we were using up too much of their bandwidth and closed it down - victims of our own success! The service will return during July 2005 as part of the Bearos Download Shop - don't worry, all the monthly tracks will still be free along with pdf versions of the artwork which will be easier to print. There will be two new tracks by Gavin Baker and Will To Rally as well as all the previous releases from the old site.
After
a quiet summer we're back with three new releases and the launch of the Bearos
Records Download Shop.
The first release is a new CD EP by Papa November "Playing
At Waiting" (bearos058)
Papa November is Katy Acquaye-Tonge and Stuart Tonge. The EP develops some of
the key ideas from their debut album "From The Start Line" (bearos031)
Stuart tells me that each of the four tracks was written in a different context
and they are attempting to move away from recognizable samples. A visit to Ghana,
West Africa provided the percussive samples and more use has been made of sounds
coaxed and squeezed from the duo's synths and keyboards. The lyrics focus on
a dark exploration of different phases of womanhood. In an attempt to escape
the tyranny of the jewel case, they looked at Japanese bookbinding to create
an exclusive run of 25 handmade bookworks (beautiful but labour intensive, the
rest are in jewel cases). Please reserve your copy by e mail if you are not
paying by PayPal. Hopefully this will be the first of a number of collaborations
of music and packaging that reflects their interest in sound and design.
The
second release is another limited release from Dreams of Tall Buildings
(bearos059) a strictly limited
memento from their performance at SuperSonic04 at The Custard Factory in Birmingham.
As I mentioned last month this festival is fast gaining a well deserved reputation
as our answer to Barcelona's Sonar. "Live at SuperSonic04" is a credit
card mp3 CDR limited to 75 copies. The CD is housed in a clip-on badge with
a DOTB designed security insert. Their set offers a more hard-hitting rhythmic
sound than previous releases and real instruments were used to create the sound
of their usual tape and sample driven mantras. A good place to start for the
DOTB virgin! Many of this limited release were sold at last month's SuperSonic05
where DOTB were supposed to perform a specially commissioned piece from an ice
cream van. A faulty engine and then the infamous Birmingham bomb scare put paid
to the best laid plans and closed the gig and the merchandise stalls. At least
we are able to bring you the few remaining copies - get them whilst you can,
the limited ArtsFest CD (bearos047)
sold out in record time.
The
last release is the debut by Clair Horton "Time Stands Still"
(bearos060) Clair has been an
active performer for more than a decade. Initially in pre-Grover bands such
as The Money Gods she has spent much time as a much in demand session musician
with connections with bands like The Beautiful South. As her press release says,
there are only so many backing vocals a girl can do before needing to spread
her wings and in the spring of 2004 Clair began working again with Simon Fox
of Grover. The first results were showcased on the Bearos festive CD "Christmas
Folk & Old December's Bearness" (bearos056)
with a wistful cover of The Waitresses "Christmas Rapping". If Tracey
Thorn is husky then Clair is dusky and her sultry tones are a wonderful match
to the mixture of pop, folk and country. The CD includes covers of Sebadoh's
"Soul& Fire", Morrissey's "I Know Very Well How I Got My
Name" and "Tired", a track based on Billy Mahonie's "I,
Heston" - sounds interesting, doesn't it! Hopefully we'll have some exclusive
tracks for the Download Singles Club within the next couple of months.
The Bearos Records Download Shop is now online. We've had some problems with the free clips but that should be sorted in the next couple of weeks. We've uploaded most of the Bearos albums and the site functions like iTunes. You can buy individual tracks for 79p with discounts on whole albums. You can still download a selection of free tracks from our old download page for as long as Lycos let us keep the site. The Downloadable Singles Club is also included in the Download Shop and we're still giving those tracks away for free! I've sorted tracks by The Will To Rally and Glider for the next release and those should be up on the site in the next few weeks.
No definite news on the live Grover EP yet (bearos061) The CDs are done, just waiting on the packaging. More news as I get it.
If you live in or around Birmingham put 13th October in your diary. We've been invited by BBC Radio One to participate in the John Peel tribute week and we're currently in discussions with Capsule, The Catapult Club and Fortune & Glory Records to sort out a night of superb local music, just like the great man would have wanted!
Thursday
13th October is John Peel Day and we're paying our respects with a great
gig at the Jug of Ale in Moseley. We're really pleased that Radio One asked
us to get involved as John was such a huge supporter of Bearos and exciting,
innovative music in general. The evening is being run jointly with Capsule and
Fortune and Glory Records. Thanks to everyone who is giving their time and energy
for free and a special thanks to Ann at the Jug of Ale.
We're curating an early evening acoustic session downstairs from
7.30 with Ben Calvert, James Summerfield, Richard Burke
and Clair Horton. The big guns kick off upstairs from around 8.30 with
sets from Mistress, The Harpies and Mike In Mono.
We've gathered an eclectic selection of DJs including Chris Clark, Nick Bullen,
members of Pram and Geoff Dolman, head honcho at Static Caravan. Visuals will
be provided by 7 Inch Cinema.
Admission by donation to Shelter, one of John's favourite charities. We're suggesting a £2 minimum. Feel free to give more but save some money for the home made cake stall and the BBQ. There will also be a record stall with special offers on a range of releases from local bands and labels.
It's
already been a great couple of weeks for gigs.
Broadcast at The Social in Nottingham was amazing and one of the hottest
and most packed gigs i've been to in ages. Trish and James are very ably accompanied
by drummer and guitarist/keyboard player and as this four-piece the tracks from
Tender Buttons take on a life of their own. There's obviously a lot of
thought gone into these arrangements and it really works well, America's
Boy is especially stunning.
I'd not been to The Spotted Dog in Digbeth for ages and I was really excited
when I heard that Dave from Grandscope was starting to promote gigs there. Last
weekend we went to see Will To Rally and Adventure Club. Adventure Club are
a glorious experience. Two men, a guitar and a drum machine produce some of
the most gorgeous pop thrills i've heard in a long time, delivered with an utterly
charming Jarvis/Brett OTT flamboyance. Will To Rally (pictured right)
continue to refine and perfect their alt-pop guitar assault with more than a
nod to the wilder side of Elvis Costello. One day soon you'll be able to hear
their track Youthful on the next download single (babybearos004) It's
going to be another free track from the Bearos
Records Download Shop Whilst we're waiting for it to appear there's loads
of other tracks to download, some free and others for just 79p each.