Shifty have come up with another clever plan that should be alot of fun..below is the official blurb, probably best to get tickets in advance as these dates may well sell out. We shall be headlining each night and are particularly excited about making the Reading leg as special as we can muster..

Pioneering Oxford based independent label, Shifty Disco is set to have some fun this summer as its artists embark on a Come Play With Me Tour!

The artists taking part are critically acclaimed indie-rockers The Race, post-punkers My Device and indie-folk storytellers King of Spain with the cult hero’s cult hero Anton Barbeau stringing the evenings together in his loose compère / troubadour style. The tour, that takes its name and format idea from the popular TV show ‘Come Dine With Me’ comes with a bit of a twist.

The bands will take it in turns to host a show whilst the others grade them out of 10, from the pre-show promotion to the rider and of course the crowd on the night, the bands will be doing their utmost to impress each other. The whole tour will be filmed in a tongue-in-cheek, reality-show documentary style and the end result will be streamed on the Shifty Disco website at the end of the week.

Catch the Come Play With Me Tour in the following cities:
Monday 29th June Brixton Windmill (hosted by King Of Spain)
Tuesday 30th June Reading Cotton Club (hosted by The Race)
Wednesday 1st July Brighton Freebutt (hosted by My Device)
Thursday 2nd July Cambridge Portland Arms (hosted by Anton Barbeau)
Friday 3rd July Oxford The Winchester (hosted by Shifty Disco)

To purchase tickets go to: http://www.wegottickets.com/af/60/find/artist/come+play+with+me
 

IMHIW is now available in France through Volvox, here is a review we received yesterday (can't remember who from) its been very kindly translated for us as we aren't too hot at french.


Good bands out of England have been few and far between recently, don’t you find? Which is why when you find one, you make a lot of noise about them! The Race is one of those groups who created a buzz on the other side of the channel even before their first album was recorded. Barely two years later and the spirits appeased, the group is back with a second album, In My Head It Works, on a par with their reputation.

The group keeps a steady course, offering an album with a long shadow, multi-faceted, with varying rhythms. It was Summer that grabbed most of my attention during the first few listens. Whether in the vocals or the guitars, this song guides us towards the influences that perhaps stayed with us from the 90s (Dinosaur Jr, Afghan Whigs…) . The group’s talent is also equally notable both in the composition of the melodies and the richness of the sound. And they are able to alternate rhythms and atmospheres, to prevent In My Head It Works from becoming an insipid or stodgy album. Racing Car Game or Give Me Your Bible were also good for a few replays, with their noisy, whirling guitars in the style of My Bloody Valentine and the turbulent, mad vocals again.
Pretty damn impressive, all that!Yes, you guessed, it, if there’s one real rock album you should listen to now, then it’s The Race, In My Head It Works !As for me, I’m pretty hard pressed to part with it since a few days ago. It’s a real obsession! Apparently, it’s working on my head as well!Without doubt the finest surprise in this style since the first Bloc Party album.

9/10

Spring has sprung and we no longer need to use the heater to keep Jess warm in our practice room, from here on in we shall be shedding clothes as we practice.
 
Le Vid.
We are delighted to be able to finally show you the Rude Boy video, it was directed by a chap called Mark Simon Hewis who has won awards for his film making and wanted to make a music video. Thankfully he approached Shifty Disco and we were waiting with arms wide open. It may well be the most 'interesting' video we have made to date, you can see it on our pages or directly from Youtube below, any  help sharing/spreading it on sites such as facebook and myspace is always greatly appreciated.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGfjy0wbySE
 
T-Shirts.
We have been badgered by certain stake holders for a while now about getting T-Shirts made... we have finally succumbed, and thanks to your fellow stakeholders Amanda and Rich Watkins (myspace.com/penpaperpause) we have a wonderful design which you should be able to see below- no girl picture yet sorry. They are available in Mens and Ladies cuts in sizes S-XL and will cost just £10 plus postage which is a bargain!
  Jess has done a lot of research to make sure they are as high quality and as ethical as possible within our price range. Jess famously swopped a Howling Bells t-shirt of the same type about 3 years ago when we played with them, and still goes on about the quality/it being her favourite etc. It should be another nice way of spreading the word about the album this summer as you begin to bare your forearms once more.

Gigs.
We have a clutch of gigs coming up over the next week, the first three are our own headline shows and the final two are as main support to the fantastic Boxer Rebellion, we hope to see you at some if you can make them. Don't forget to ask for guestlist if you are coming and we shall see what we can do.
 
thanks for all the support as always,
 
dan, jess, gra, andy and james
 

Hello all,
our second album In My Head It Works is out in the shops today, we are really pleased with it and strongly recommend you get your ears around it. It has been receiving radio play from Radio 1, XFM, 6 Music and NME radio. Here are some reviews just in; 

"endearingly awkward... couldn't be more triumphalistic if they soundtracked Brandon Flowers taking a unicorn for a victory lap round a paddock" NME
 
"the band are definitely firing on all cylinders, get into them now before everybody else does" Clash
 
"this band delivers.  If the Pixies shacked up with The Arcade Fire and then threw in a bit of Bloc Party for good measure, 'In My Head It Works' would be the hybrid love-child.  ...twinkling, mesmerising with enough grunge sensibility to give this band the edge." RockSound
 
"As bold and big-hearted as The Waterboys in the Grand Canyon, it's vaulting ambition meets ruddy big choruses coming the other way. ...roars majestically.  Intriguing moments of punk interrupt... it's classy anthems aplenty." Channel 4, Planet Sound
 
"it's really very good. ...the elegiac nature of the lyrics and the soaring guitars of the del Rios make this a stadium-friendly unit-shifter which owes a debt to many, from Arcade Fire to Simple Minds. If the race is on for successful rock with balls and brains, then it's already been won" AU

"Akin to Editors, Interpol and White Lies....Floor-tom heavy with a rolling bass the guitars are alternatively choppy then floating on a Chameleons-like tide of echoing, chiming, glassy effects." Q
 
 
You can buy it here:

http://www.oxfordmusic.net/product.php?link=new&id=1966 (this is the best place to get it, as a better percentage of your money actually makes its way back in our direction!)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Head-Works-Race/dp/B001R4MEW0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1236593063&sr=8-1

http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=200;1;301;-1;201&sku=938238
 
IMHIW is also available on Itunes UK (shortly worldwide), HMV stores and selection of good independent music shops. We've just finished a new video for Rude Boy and that should be circulating by the end of the week. Gigs wise we shall shortly be doing some dates with The Boxer Rebellion and there are more dates being added to our listings daily, check our websites for details. Its still not too late to buy a stake in the album (there are 100 left) all the details are still up on our website if you fancy one,
 
see you around,
 
dan, jess, james, gra and andy
 
www.inmyheaditworks.com
 

We're having a nice week, rude boy is kind of the flagship single for the album at the moment, it seems to be doing a nice job. Its a song inspired by a visit I made to one of my friends who was in Reading Prison  at the time. I watched as some of the other prisoners gave it the strut as they entered the visiting room. Its funny how just being in a prison can effect how a dude see's himself.
It was Q track of the day yesterday;
http://news.q4music.com/2009/02/its_something_of_a_challenge.html
and had a nice this is fake diy review this evening;
http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/tracks/the-race-rude-boy
its good to read stuff about you that doesn't just repeat your press release. Next wednesday is going to be a good day, We're getting the rude boy video back from Mark the director dude, we are quietly excited about the results..it could be very special, we're then headlining the 229 club in central London for club fandango in  the evening. Do come. Rude boy has now made its way onto the NME Radio A list too.. which is good.
Thats all band stuff and all very nice but the thing I'm most excited about this week is my local library; Palmer Park library in Reading. I haven't had a library card since I was about 14, back then you could borrow 7 books at a time. Yesterday, aged 26 I took my I.D along and asked for a library card at my local library... 20 BOOKS!!! I didn't know where to start, I found myself reverting back to my childhood and heading straight for the sports section again. You can now borrow dvd's too, woop woop. We're hoping to have some more gigs to announce shortly (do i say that every time? -we really mean it this time). We have ants in our pants.
 
 

Its very snowy today here in Reading, there is a skip outside my house and it has been hit four times by cars coming around the corner, thankfully my car has survived unscathed.

Having spent several months waiting for this new album and its singles to be released its been wonderful having people hear it (journalists/stake holders) and to get some feedback. We are really pleased with the songs and their recordings.
'Rude Boy' shall be the next single (February 23rd) and has two of my favourite b-sides to date. It also has some lovely artwork from our friend Tom Derret (morning runner) which makes it extra special. We begin work on the video tomorrow. We heard today that its made its way onto the NME radio playlist which is good. Meanwhile 'I Get it Wrong' is being beautifully serviced over in America and has had a whole bunch of plays on different stations across the country thanks to our newest team member Liz.

In My Head It Works (the album) is set for a full release on Mrch the 9th although it can be downloaded from iTunes already if you like your music downloaded. We're just trying to sort our some dates around its release, more to follow.

Thats about all I can think of for now. We hope all you stakeholders have received your singles and albums safely and have been studying them carefully. dan x

Thankyou so much to those of you that came on Saturday to the Reading gig. What an awesome start to the year..sorry to those who couldn't get in (actually we're not sorry at all). This months Artrocker magazine have just published the first album review, they don't mince their words. This is what they said;


THE RACE. In my head it works.
I wasn't a fan of this band, to be honest (until now). Their anthemic indie harmonisations are excellently executed,but still managing to teeter dangerously close to the Razorshite category, although managing to outshine other bands involved in the self-admiring indie stifle. 'I Get It Wrong' showcases the bands willingness to down tune the guitars and make riff's more akin to Interpol than the Zutons, a blatant improvement from the last album 'Be Your Alibi' subsequently showing that the band have somewhat matured from obvious pop structures and hooks. Dirty, subdued riffs, spindly chords and key tonal changes on tracks like 'Rude Boy', 'Better ship away' and 'Racing Car Game' further proved me wrong as I listened in awe to the transformation- from an underachieving 'comic' sponsored mob to something that may actually be interesting live, its lighter holding, stadium rock contains a dirty penchant for the extrovert and out of tune. Joe Gamp.

You stakeholders got a mention in the NME today, your 'rude boy' singles should be on their way and the albums are being manufactured as we speak although i think you've already been told that. There's a gig in Aldershot on Friday and we're just waiting to here back on a last minute gig in London next Thursday too. Things are warming up.

dan

If we were to release a Christmas single this could well be it. Screw everyone else!!
Mr Fogg sent us through a remix of our song Moorwood late last week and on a cold, damp, flu riddled day I had a bit of a moment. Have a listen, if you like it pass it on to your friends..we will make it available to download from our website between Christmas day and New Years day, some kind of virtual stocking filler I guess. We're also working on the 'Race Christmas Message 2008'..more of that to come.

Now please go and check out Mr Fogg.

www.myspace.com/mrfoggisapopstar

'I get it wrong' is the first single from this new album and is available for download today on all the usual sites, physical release is via the independent coalition of stores(the HMV's of this world ain't so hot anymore on selling singles), you will find yourself a copy in;

SISTER RAY LIMITED LONDON
WALL OF SOUND RECORDS HUDDERSFIELD
RESIDENT MUSIC LTD BRIGHTON
SPILLERS RECORDS CARDIFF
SELECTADISC LTD NOTTINGHAM
REFLEX NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
PICCADILLY RECORDS MANCHESTER
ACTION RECORDS PRESTON
AVALANCHE RECORDS EDINBURGH
AVALANCHE GLASGOW

 it will also available at gigs and through being one of the stakeholders..we hope you like them, feel free to ask for them from us directly too, i'm sure we can shove copies in the post. The physical single includes the B-sides Maisie and Here I Lay, which we are really pleased with. I Tunes also exclusively has Maisie as the second b-side..so there.

couple of single reviews below..

THE RACE I Get It Wrong 8/10
Long under-rated anthemicists return with more shivering unabashed big music, this time like The Open taking on The Killers' Smile Like You Mean It. Belongs in arenas, not pubs. John Earls, Teletext.

THE RACE – I Get It Wrong (Shifty Disco) –  Another single from The Race, they do seem to just glide along semi-lost in their own lush indie rock world and now and again pop up with something that reminds you that they're out there and has you wondering why they aren't far bigger news and all over things like the NME. I think this maybe the first the fruits of a new album, then again I may be wrong, someone will correct me when I get it wrong. Lush indie rock, tiny epics and an ambitious sound that really does sound like it should be coming from a big stage or a daytime alternative radio station on the same playlist as The Cure and bands like Snow Patrol, Arcade Fire. Three more fine hopeful ambitious alternative indie songs, three more impressive tracks from a band who really deserve to be doing more than just gliding along in their own lost world. Sean O, Organ.

We had a wonderful time of it with the gigs last week, Jess was very proud to wear her Super badger for the first time and i'm so sorry to those in Windsor who I offended by screwing up the game of Hangman mid set..I honestly thought I was going to win(!). The Chilli Con Carne in Brighton was top notch and made a wonderful change from eating restaurant food every night..much more homely.

This week we are very pleased to be heading back into Reading prison, Its been a big source of inspiration over these past two albums as it sits smack bang in the middle of our town and I often think of the boys inside as I walk past in the fresh air, Its a gig I've been looking forward to very much.

For those in the know, the 'Come on Over To My Place' Winter Tour is looking really good, thank you so much to all the stakeholders who have put in their requests so far, keep them coming and we shall get onto the logistics shortly. We're also getting set for the belated Stakeholder and friends bonfire night at Andy's house..its set to be a classic, Gra is very keen to host the maggott racing..I'm not sure how that will look, but hopefully we'll have some apple bobbing too..its still not to late to get involved with the Stake stuff, its all on our website.

wrap up warm,

dan

www.inmyheaditworks.com

 

 

 

 

 

The video you  can see below is for our new single I Get It Wrong. It shall be out on the 10th of November and is intended to create a ripple before the album and another single arrive in January. We shot this video in Reading town centre from 5.30am on a Sunday morning two weeks ago. Our friend Alex was after some nice dawn light and empty streets. A few people have asked where Andy is in the video..look more closely..body double?

The video and single have gone to radio and tv so feel free to request plays from your favourite dj's/stations. We shall be watching on with interest. We now have a wonderful manager called Roy Eldridge at the helm and a lovely bunch of people plugging away, its all very interesting. We find ourselves dreaming up new artwork ideas for the next single/writing new b-sides/songs for the japanese version of the album and shortly flying off to the alps for a quick holiday. Stakeholders we have not forgotten you, promo singles should be on their way I think and we're planning a big jamboree to see in the album and give you your special copies. Don't forget its Jess' birthday tomorrow. Speak soon. dan.