Monday 28 October 2013

New album from Beans On Toast

As is customary every year, Beans On Toast will be releasing his brand new album on his birthday 1st December 2013 through Xtra Mile Recordings. 

‘Giving Everything’ is Beans’ fifth album in five years – all of which have also been released on his birthday whatever day it falls on!

The album was recorded in the wonderful Toybox studios in Bristol and produced by Mike Freear from Pyro Circus Gypsy Rave outfit Slamboree. It is still a folk record, but it has a twist. Subjects tackled on the album range from Prince Harry joining the army to Fracking; from the Modern day Glastonbury  and English music venues to American conspiracy theories and all the way through to swollen throats, love and things, lots and lots of Things.

There's no point in bullshitting, these are simple 3 chord folk songs about the life that he leads and the world as he sees it. Carried through by the heartwarming nature and infectious charisma Beans conveys in every song. You can't really dance to it but its music for people who do like to dance, especially to the beat of their own drum.
And here's a taster of the album - 'Post Bestival Festival Blues':

The album will be launched with a huge party at The Magic Garden Pub in Battersea, London as well as a whistle stop tour of UK venues. 
Then in February 2014 - Beans will join friend and musical peer Frank Turner on his huge UK Arena Tour. Frank said: "It just wouldn’t be right to head out on a tour like this without having him around to kick the night off in style."


Full dates are:
NOVEMBER
30 London, The Magic Garden
DECEMBER
04 Glasgow, The Poetry Club
05 Manchester, Cuba Cafe
06 Derby, The Brunswick Inn
07 Leeds, Eiger Studios
08 Colchester, Tribal11 Swansea, Garage Venue
12 Bristol, The Old Bookshop
13 Brighton, The Haunt

FEBRUARY 2014 SUPPORTING FRANK TURNER & THE SLEEPING SOULS
06 Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, 
07 Capital Arena Nottingham, 
08 Edinburgh Corn Exchange
09 Manchester Arena
11 Plymouth Pavillions
12 London O2 Arena
13 Portsmouth Guildhall SOLD OUT

It’s been another busy year for Beans On Toast who has played loads of summer festivals including Glastonbury and Secret Garden Party; made it across the Atlantic to support Frank Turner in North America; played and compered at Mumford & Son's Gentlemen Of The Road festival in Lewes on the 19th & 20th of July, playing alongside Vampire Weekend, The Vaccines, British Sea Power and Mumford & Son's themselves – and headlined his biggest UK tour to date.  

Perfectly highlighting Bean’s versatile talents – a modern one-man all-round entertainer.
You can pre-order the album here: iTunes / Amazon / Xtra Mile Recordings

 
credit
Hill and Aubrey

Wednesday 23 October 2013

CHRIS T-T - UK HEADLINE TOUR

CHRIS T-T - UK HEADLINE TOUR

Described as an “Outstanding, indispensable genius. A modern-day Blake” by Sunday Times and “One of the great underground artists of our time.” by Jon Snow - CHRIS T-T is truly one of the nation’s best songwriting talents.

Following the release of his critically applauded ninth studio album ‘The Bear’ - which came out on 7th October 2013 – Chris is announcing the details of a headline tour that will start as soon as his support slot on the nationwide Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo tour finishes in late November. His dates will run right through until Christmas. Full tour details are: 

CHRIS T-T ‘THE BEAR’ UK TOUR – SOLO HEADLINE CONCERTS
NOVEMBER
24 Cardiff Mind Fest
27 FolkestoneGoogies Arts Café
28 Ipswich The Soapbox House
29 York The Black Swan
30 London Bush Hall Supporting Jim Bob (Carter Usm) *
DECEMBER
5 Manchester KraakGallery
6 Leeds All Hallows Church
7 Durham Old Cinema Launderette
10 Newcastle Tba ** 
11 Edinburgh Pivo **
12 Glasgow Roxy 171 **
13 Bexhill Eras Of Style ***
14 Margate Tom Thumb Theatre ***
19 Brighton 68 Middle St ***
20 DevizesThe Lamb
22 Portsmouth Edge Of The Wedge

* this gig marks Chris’s beard’s 20th birthday
** special guest Dave Hughes (solo) *** special guest Tom Williams (solo)

‘The Bear’ is Chris’s third album for label Xtra Mile Recordings. Recorded with his band The Hoodrats, together they have departed from the paired down introspection of 2010’s Love Is Not Rescue and instead created a full-on psych rock record with hints of Sebadoh, early Hold Steady, early Yo La Tengo, or Blur at their heavier moments and with a nod to grimy garage-y 60s like The Faces and Animals. Channelling these influences, Chris and his band taped the album live in a room and completed it in 3 or 4 takes just as those bands would have done back then. The result is a fascinating and excitingly fresh sounding record and some of his best work to date. 

The title track of the album was released on split 7” as part of the Xtra Mile Single Sessions on the same day as the album. 

And there are lyric videos to every track of the album available:

Since 1999 Chris T-T has released eight albums, including a trilogy about London: The 253 (2001), London Is Sinking (2003) and Capital (2008), as well as alt-folk protest classic 9 Red Songs (2005) and more recently the inward-looking Love Is Not Rescue (2010). Based in Brighton but restlessly mobile, he has written for The Morning Star, Louder Than War, Huffington Post, New Public Thinkers and others. Alongside writing and touring, Chris speaks regularly at conferences and runs seminars and workshops.



* not that Jon Snow; that Jon Snow. The main dude off of Channel 4 News, not Ned Stark’s bastard off of Game Of Thrones.

Monday 21 October 2013

Franz Nicolay - returns to the UK

FRANZ NICOLAY
New single ‘Hearts of Boston’ out 25th November 2013

Franz Nicolay is set to release his latest single 'Hearts of Boston' out in 25th November from his third vaudevillian world folk extravaganza, 'Do the Struggle' out now on Xtra Mile Recordings.   The video was shot at Franz's ancestral homeland in the mountains of New Hampshire, and features a lot of flaming things.  Possibly including Franz. 
Check it out here:


The single is a whacked-out Pogues via Arcade Fire burst of handclaps and violin. Crammed with his Americana storytelling across a pace and passion to match any punk outfit, it's as good an introduction to Franz Nicolay as you could get. He worked with producer oktopus, of the innovative New Jersey industrial/hip-hop group dälek, to move beyond the singer-songwriter sound world and create a dark, explosive, and cinematic opus of personal and political anger.

With the help of Guignol rhythm section John Bollinger (drums) and George Rush (bass, tuba) and guests including Ezra Kire (Leftover Crack, Morning Glory), Franz Nicolay has woven tales for everyone to hold onto.

He is over this side of the pond this November for a UK tour with The Cut Ups. The 'Bearing Torches' tour will see the Exeter band back Franz during his headline sets, and they'll also be main support each night, with Franz joining them on keyboards. 
Catch them at:

NOVEMBER
13 The Exchange, Bristol
14 The Cavern, Exeter 
15 Tiki Bar and Diner, Plymouth
16 Wharf Chambers, Leeds
17 Chameleon Arts Cafe, Nottingham
18 Tiger Lounge, Manchester
19 Kage, Dundee
20 Audio, Glasgow
21 The Central, Gateshead
22 The Prince Albert, Brighton
23 The Black Heart, London
24 Rising Sun Arts Centre, Reading (Franz only, acoustic, w/ Ben Marwood)

Friday 11 October 2013

Oxygen Thief - signs to Xtra Mile Recordinsg

OXYGEN THIEF
SIGNS TO XTRA MILE RECORDINGS 

‘Accidents Do Not Happen, They Are Caused’ mini album 9th December 2013

We are delighted to announce that the incredible Oxygen Thief has joined the Xtra Mile Recordings family and will be releasing a mini album in December. 

‘Accidents Do Not Happen, They Are Caused’ is out 9th December 2013 and features some of Oxygen Thief’s most loved songs reworked, re-imagined and reinvented with the ferociousness of a full on rock band. Lead track ‘Terry Nutkins Salute’ is out digitally the same day. 

Oxygen Thief is the alias of Bristol's Barry Dolan; touring and recording as a solo acoustic act with all the passion, intensity, and volume of a full band, he has shared stages with Frank Turner, Jonah Matranga, Mongol Horde, and Ben Marwood as well as performing at T In the Park, 2000 Trees, and ArcTanGent festivals. 

Content with playing acoustic guitar "with such ferocity that it takes the top of your head off" (as Tom Robinson from BBC 6Music put it), he had no plans to turn Oxygen Thief into a band but Neil and Ben from of Xtra Mile's own The Retrospective Soundtrack Players had other ideas; re-recording some of his songs with distortion pedals firmly engaged and firing the demos at his inbox.

So, Barry dusted off his electric guitar and started rehearsing and recording with this new line-up and played their first shows; opening for Left Side Brain in Bristol, and at London's legendary charity knees-up Lexapalooza in March 2013.

Solo, acoustic, loud / 3 piece, electric, louder: Oxygen Thief will tour the UK in both incarnations to celebrate the release of the ‘Accidents Do Not Happen, They Are Caused’ mini album – firstly solo supporting Jonah Matranga (far, onelindrawing) and then full band headline shows as well as a support slot for Jamie Lenman. Full dates below. 

Oxygen Thief has been unofficially part of the Xtra Mile family for a while now – Charlie Caplowe, Managing Director of Xtra Mile explains: “We’re delighted to have Oxygen Thief join the XM clan. To be honest he’d somehow managed to get himself onto so many Xtra Mile Recordings bills and stages over this last summer that we were almost convinced he was already signed!’

Dolan says: "Having released a split EP with Ben Marwood; Jim Lockey (2009's ‘Exclamation At Asterisk Hash’) I've watched them go from strength to strength since signing to Xtra Mile, and we've often chatted about whether I might end up joining them on the label someday. The opening song (There Can Be Only One) from the band mini album appeared on that split in acoustic form, so I'm glad to have it kick off the new release as a link back to the fun we had touring together. I'm excited to be joining a roster with so many other acts that I've been both a huge fan of, and great friends with, over the years, especially as the label celebrates its 10th anniversary."

Tour dates: 
Solo tour supporting Jonah Matranga  
November
12th: London - Windmill Brixton
13th: Newport - Le Pub
14th: Stoke-on-Trent: Minster's
15th: Nottingham - Guitar Bar
16th: Dunlop - Auld Hoose
17th: Aberdeen - Tunnels
18th: Edinburgh - Sneaky Pete's
19th: Glasgow - Nice & Sleazys
21st: Newcastle - Trillians
22nd: York - The Basement
23rd: Brighton - The Hope
Full band shows:
November
29th: Plymouth - Tiki
30th: The Louisiana - Bristol
December
1st: The Loft, Portsmouth
3rd: Cookie Jar, Leicester
4th: The Vic, Swindon
5th: Avondale House, Southampton
8th: Frog & Fiddle, Cheltenham
9th: The Garage, London w/Jamie Lenman

@oxygenthiefyeah / www.facebook.com/oxygenthief666  / www.oxygenthiefmusic.com

www.xtramilerecordings.com / www.facebook.com/xtramilerecordings / @xtra_mile 

Monday 7 October 2013

Northcote signs to Xtra Mile Recordings

Brand new signing to Xtra Mile Recordings

It’s with great pleasure that Xtra Mile Recordings welcomes the musical talents of Northcote to the ever growing roster and unveils details of his forthcoming album. 

Canadian Matt Goud (aka Northcote) will release his self-titled album on 11th November 2013 with the stand-out single ‘Hope The Good Things Never Die’ following on 18th November. The releases coincide with a huge tour of the UK and Europe supporting peer and comrade Dave Hause – ex-frontman of The Loved Ones. Full dates are:

NOVEMBER
13 Dublin Academy 2
14 Belfast McHugh’s
15 Glasgow King Tuts
16 Manchester Gorilla
17 Brighton The Green Door Store
19 Amsterdam Paradiso
20 Hamburg Knust
21 Bremen Lagerhaus
22 Hannover Gig Linden
23 Dresden Beatpol
24 Berlin BiNuu Berlin
26 Cologne Gloria
27 Frankfurt Batschkapp
28 Munich Strom Linienclub
30 Milano Factory (Area2)
DECEMBER 
02 Vienna B72
03 Stuttgart Universum
04 Antwerp JH Kavka
05 Southampton Joiners
06 London The Garage
07 Nottingham Bodega Social Club
08 Newcastle The Cluny

Born and raised in small-town Saskatchewan, Northcote’searly exposure to music was a mix of traditional country on AM radio and the hymns he learned at his childhood church. However, it wasn't until he discovered punk and hardcore music that he realized music’s healing and therapeutic power.

Over the past 8 years, few young musicians in Canada have put on as many miles as Goud who toured for years as a member of a post-hardcore band and has more recently transitioned into life on the road as a singer/songwriter with accompaniment by an ever-rotating slew of guests and friend musicians.

On signing with Xtra Mile Recordings, Northcote’s main man Goud states:
"The Northcote team is excited and grateful to be working with Xtra Mile. I felt at home while playing for the first time in Europe this past spring at the Pirate Satellite Festival in Stuttgart, and I am looking forward to returning next month to support Dave Hause for 25+ shows. We're very excited to be joining our new label home in Europe." 

The new self-titled album was produced by Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, Cave Singers, Dan Mangan) at The Hive in Vancouver, and is Northcote’s most forthcoming and confident album to date, reflecting this young songwriter’s increasing maturity and experience. Breaking the stereotype of the reserved and solemn cafe singer/songwriter, the album entices both the performers and the listeners to come out of their shell.

On ‘NORTHCOTE’, Goud further strengthens his voice as an emerging Canadian artist. Confident, full chords replace contemplative ballads, and the influence of his eclectic background of punk.

Check out a taster of the album here with the track ‘When You Cry’. http://snd.sc/1hko2eY And pre-order the album at the following places: http://bit.ly/1eZs3J3