It's been a long time since our last blog post. It's been a long time since we've released any new music. Both of these are in the process of being remedied. I'm writing a new entry; we're writing new music. We've been busy being human beings for the last few years (playing in other bands/solo projects (more below)/studying/making films and writing fiction as well as the usual shopping, eating, sleeping etc.) and now we're really starting to get moving on finishing up record numero dos, which doesn't have a title yet, but will soon.

We are going to start recording in September. All new songs. All incredibly exciting and definitely the best music we've ever written.

Band members have been musically busy. I'm writing a new A Lily album (half finished, to be released around April/May of next year); Oliver has been working steadily on the first Lunch Time Sardine Club release; Daniel has immersed himself in a vast number of projects - soundtracks, workshops, technological sound research and so on; Brendan has been working on some ridiculously bangin' electronica/pop/soul/instrumental hip-hop under the name Mr ZsasZ. We don't stop.

We are playing at Brighton's steadfast rock of a venue, The Freebutt, at the end of the first stage of recording. This is the 16th of September. Do not miss it. You can buy tickets here. Hell yeah.


Grosses bissous

yndiyndiyndiyndiyndi

x

Hooray! Our new record is coming along quite nicely. We have almost have a vague idea of how many songs will be on it, what those songs sound like and what they're going to be called. We're not going to reveal too many secrets for the minute because we'll probably change our mind about it all, or at the very least argue lots until we can compromise on keeping 5 band members happy.

We've announced it already, but we are playing in London on the 20th of June. This is at the Union Chapel (Islington), and is an afternoon show. Please take note of the times - we'd hate for folk to turn up in the evening and miss everything. There's an open invitation to join us for drinks and lunch after the show. We'll find a pub or something. Our friend Paul Marshall will be playing as well. He's very good indeed. And there's bacon rolls.

What else are we doing...?

This, for a start: James' Podcast.

I'm also contributing string arrangements to the new record by our dear friends (and one-time show buddies) Metavari. Also, also, my third short story (The Light of the World) will be heading towards the printing presses for release at the beginning of May in the wonderful Pieces of String literature/arts/music/craft zine.

Drummer Olly is working on a new screen printing company named Nacht Kunst, which will be hitting the "internet" soon. For details on how to use the "internet", enquire at your local Dixons (that's British for "RadioShack", Americans)


Brendan is selling an old bass rig; click here for the bidniss.

Love always,

yndi lauper
Brighton, England
Apr 2009
x

Dear Sir/Madam,


Sorry for the internet silence recently. We've been busy writing, putting together bits and pieces for our new record and planning out exactly what it's going to sound/look/act like. We're very pleased with how it's coming along, though, and we're excited to be able to show off these new songs soon.

We're also working on some new shirt designs, and a new website. Both of which will be available for consumption soon, we hope. The shirt designs are actually the same as the US-tour shirts we sold in the states last August, but they're having some minor roadworks done for the UK printing price highway.

The website is being conceptually designed by us and physically executed by drummer Olly.


We will be playing live again soon! We've just confirmed a LONDON show for the 20th of June 2009...details soon!

(A quick O Rosa note...the label is currently as broke as the rest of the Great British economy, so is pretty quiet at the minute, but it won't be for long.)


Another point of interest is that Soporus' beautiful new album 24,110 is now available through Burnt Toast Vinyl, and features me somewhere on it. The record itself is incredible, a slumberous colossus of noisescapes...we love it. here is their website. Do it to it.





Lastly, Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins...wow...


JV
JL
OFN
DN
BG
yh
Brighton, England
Feb 2009
x

Hello, If anyone in or around Brighton would like guitar lessons, let me know. Let's talk! james@yndihalda.com. James

Dear men and women,


There's a couple of things on my mind. There's a couple of things at my fingertips. The moon is appearing slightly earlier than it did before and so we're cheering ourselves up with songwriting, new ventures and new shows.

Last thing first: we have two shows confirmed for upcoming months; firstly a set at the Rockomotives Festival in Vendome, France. This will be a lot of fun. Why? are playing, and are one of our favourite bands currently. Suzanne Vega, I'm From Barcelona and Camille will also be gracing that same stage, which is very exciting.

We have also just confirmed our first ever trip to Greece! We play at Kyttaro in Athens on the 18th of January! See you there!


We have also started arrangments for a European tour for our beloved Rivulets, the most recent signing to O Rosa Records. We will have details of these shows soon. Sylvain Chauveau, also from O Rosa, will be playing at London's gorgeous Union Chapel on the 2nd of November alongside Greg Haines and Peter Broderick. We urge you to come along. Details and tickets here.

If you visit the O Rosa webstore any time soon, be sure to check out the new addition of the Pieces of String Too Small to Use zine. I wrote a short story for it called Vaya Con Dios.

On the subject of the webstore, we'd like to ask people's opinions on two possible new merch items we've been considering: hoodies and Converse trainers. We like the idea of stocking these with yndi designs. If anyone would be interested, do get in touch.


Lastly, we're thinking of redesigning our website. We have an idea in mind but not enough programming skills to execute it - is anyone able to help with that? I guess this would be a flash project, but I'm not sure.


Thank you, everyone, see you in France and Greece soon with new songs.

James Jonathan Vella
(+ best wishes from the rest)

p.s. the new A Lily record will be for solo piano and will be entitled Joy

Dear Massachusetts,

All we can do is apologise! We got as far as NYC before the rear axle of our van started causing troubles, and we had to drive at 10mph to a repair place, only to hear that the cost of fixing the problems would be far more money than we could ever afford, and it would take a week to get the part!

We spent lots of money on cabs to the (wrong) station with all the equipment we could carry, then had to get subway to a different (correct) station, but arrived too late to get a train to Boston.

In short, we were hugely looking forward to last night's show, and we're terribly disappointed to have missed it.

We will endeavour to return as soon we can, though, and sorry a thousand times to everyone that we let down.

We do urge anyone who can to come to tonight's show in Torrington, CT. We have just booked a temporary replacement van!

 

y

h

 

x

 

Hello you,


We've had a hectic June. Our first show of the year was at the Barbican Hall on the 20th, and we played two new songs which we'd never really played live before. The show was most enjoyable, and we'd like to extend our thanks to everyone involved, especially Óli and his crew; David, Sorcha and Rob and everyone at Serious; the Barbican staff and Alan Wong. There are probably some more people I should include in that list but that's all I can remember. If anyone has any photos or videos from this show, please feel to send them to us - we'd love to see them!

We spent the first couple of weeks in June travelling back and forth between the barn and our adopted university towns - as you can see from our recent additions to our photos on this page - to concentrate on writing and rehearsing for the show. The two new songs are coming along exactly as we wanted them to and we're really excited about finishing them and heading towards getting our new record together.

Next up: the Musica Urbana de Braga Festival in Portugal - we play on the 13th of July!

We're also planning a trip to Greece before the end of the year, perhaps just a one-off show. We've all had that country in our mind as somewhere we'd really like to play for a while and the opportunity to do seems to have risen, happily.

There are other places that have that certain romantic resonance that we'll try and hit this year or next: Brazil, Israel, Malta, Mexico, Istanbul are all somewhere near top of the list. We'll still tour as much as we can, but there is something about certain places that really inspire us to try and get there as soon as we can.

Potential additions to that list are welcomed, so send away!


Lastly, a short note about merch:
We're so sorry for the delays with merch ordering recently. Especially with the 2xLP of Enjoy Eternal Bliss, everything has been nightmarishly difficult to keep on track and we can only apologise to everyone waiting while we try and get on top of it. Any orders delayed by an unreasonably long time will have some extra bits in it as thanks for patience.


Um Abraço,

'da
x

p.s. anagrams of our names:
James Vella - A-Levels Jam
Jack Lambert - Jet Black Arm
Oliver Newton - Not Wolverine
Dan Neal - Anal Den
Brendan Grieve - Vinegar Bender

yndi halda - a handy lid

COMPETITION: 1x Pair of tickets to attend Olafur Arnalds / yndi halda at the Barbican at 19.30 on Friday, 20th June. To claim your tickets, send an email with the correct answer in the 'subject' box. The winner will be randomly selected.

Q: What is the title of Ólafur Arnalds new EP?

A: 1) Variations of Static. 2) Variety Love. 3) Verity Stains. 4) Stoic Drill.

Source: http://www.run-riot.com/node/1441



Ólafur Arnalds / yndi halda at the Barbican
Date: 20/06/2008
Time: 19:30
Producer: Serious
Price: £20, 15, 10
Get ready for cinematic, emotional, moody music.
Bring along a pack of tissues.
Surf to http://www.myspace.com/olafurarnalds
See you at Barbican [Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS]


All we need to say about 21 yr old Ólafur Arnalds is that he hails from a suburban town just outside Reykjavik and his sound of strings with loops, ambiance, electronics and beats has been likened to Sigur Rós. Instant vibe.

This young Icelandic musician's music has been described as 'beautiful in the same way the arctic is'. His debut album Eulogy for Evolution, on Erased Tape Records, is an evocative, orchestral suite that culminates in a sweeping climax of elegiatic swells and swirling post-rocking guitar noise. His latest EP, 'Variations of Static' is out now.

yndi halda, from Kent, write the sort of songs that simultaneously break hearts and mend hearts. The pieces that make up debut record Enjoy Eternal Bliss
This will be the band's first UK show in 2008, having spent the first half of the year in their hilltop barn, busily crafting new songs for their forthcoming LP.

Hello everyone,


May has been a creative month for us. We have two new songs that are coming along really nicely. They both have tentative titles now ("La Lumiere Lit" and "This Very Flight"), and one of them has near-enough finalised lyrics. Exciting!

These new songs are quite different from the old ones. Of course, it's still the same 5 people writing them - they're quite noticeably by the same band - but, we wrote our first record when we were children, and now we're a lot braver. We are no longer an instrumental band, we no longer shun pop music, we no longer only play electric guitars.

Also, there is a new A Lily EP to be released soon. It will be incredibly limited edition (200 copies!) and it can be pre-ordered from the Dynamophone website here.

You can hear a new song here.


Lastly, arrangements for our US tour this summer are coming along well. We're very busy with preparations and will have some news to announce soon.

LOVE
x