So this Thursday will see the 7th anniversary of vacuous pop promoting shows in Oxford and to celebrate we're putting on two shows this week, more of which below.
It's hard to believe but it was way back in 2002 when we put on our first ever show with the fantastic Canadian band Kepler & Meanwhile Back In Communist Russia.  Two great bands both of whom are now sadly defunct, although saying that Kepler's drummer is now playing in Arcade Fire so it's not all bad I guess.
That was only supposed to be a one off to help out some mates with a show for Kepler and 7 years on we're still here, through many ups and downs but still going strong as we continue to bring some of the best bands around to Oxford.
Wednesday is the first of our two shows this week with the wonderful Klaus Says Buy The Record, new vacuous pop signings Wise Children and local boys Ute at The Wheatsheaf.
Then on Saturday our monthly clubnight at The Cellar features Capillary Action over from the US with a stellar supporting cast of Friendship, Ice Sea Dead People & another new vacuous pop signing Part Dinosaur.  Plus vacuous pop and Silent Running DJs with the usual mix of good tunes until the early hours.  This will be one big party for sure!
Come and help celebrate our 7th birthday with these two great shows!
I still can't believe it's been 7 years...
cheers
Ady

So we've now dropped the Attack! Attack! name for the clubnight as people kept thinking we were putting some Welsh band on!   So no new name as yet but we're working on it!

Anyway, these nights will be fun, there's no bands this Saturday but we're back in February with a cracking line up - see below!

So come down and blow out the post new year blues! or just come down when the pub shuts!

cheers
Ady

plus vacuous pop/Silent Running DJs with an ever eclectic mix of Indie/Rock/Electro & much more

 

vacuous pop presents...

Saturday 21 February
Oxford Collapse (Sub Pop), Swound!, Phantom Theory & Elephants
The Cellar, Cornmarket St, Oxford
8:30pm - 3am / £6 / 18+

plus vacuous pop/Silent Running DJs with an ever eclectic mix of indie/rock/electro & much much more.

Oxford Collapse

'Oxford Collapse cruise effortlessly from shoegazey dream pop to classic college rock to Schilitz-soaked Americana.' Alternative Press

'When Oxford Collapse pull off the throttle, the results are remarkable' Prefix Magazine

http://www.myspace.com/theoxfordcollapse
http://www.subpop.com/artists/oxford_collapse


Swound!

‘Swound! are more bonkers than Amy Winehouse on a crack binge. If this band of brothers isn't hooked on some weird fucked up mushrooms I want to know what they do take.' Punktastic.com

http://www.myspace.com/swound
http://www.swound.co.uk


Phantom Theory

“A two-piece whose musical ambition shames those around them… a band with a whole skipload of talent and potential.” Nightshift Magazine

"Made to be played loud." - BBC Introducing Oxford

http://www.myspace.com/phantomtheorymusic


Elephants

"It was like an earthquake. Utterly confusing beats. Guitars were immense, drumming was energetic enough to cause technical faults and the bass was grounding." - Sea Tea Zine

http://www.myspace.com/fullyelephants


Last.FM Event: http://www.last.fm/event/880687

_________________
vacuous pop recordings – upcoming releases:
Cutting Pink With Knives / 10lec6 - split 7"
Load.Click.Shoot! - X-Ray Specs EP
Elephants - Lions EP
----
www.vacuouspop.com | label: www.myspace.com/vpop | gigs: www.myspace.com/vacuouspop

is bloody great fun, i've been on it all evening messing around and can see much more time wasted on it too.

see www.spotify.com if you haven't caught on yet.

and here's my first attempt at a playlist:

http://open.spotify.com/user/vacuouspop/playlist/00oGDBR4iVDK8d7JOpQXu7

there's a lot on there but unlike mixtapes you don't have to make those heartbreaking decisions of what tracks to leave off!

i just realised i must be stuck in my ways as there's absolutely nothing recent on this list at all and i really really like brass in songs!!

awesome!

Hello,

Time for a quick update as to what's happening with vacuous pop....

RELEASES
Work continues on the long awaited releases from Cutting Pink With Knives / 10LEC6 and Load.Click.Shoot! with artwork and mastering currently all being sorted out ready for imminent release.

LOAD. CLICK. SHOOT! debut 7" EP





-----||-----

CUTTING PINK WITH KNIVES & 10LEC6 split 7"





Plans for the Alphabet Backwards release(s) are also being finalised, the only problem is that James is so prolific he keeps coming up with new stuff but I think we have a plan to take forward now! Good to see his talent being recognised by many more promoters now too hence the live shows keep coming.
- http://www. myspace. com/alphabetbackwards

GIGS
I've just updated the gigs list so it's now up to date with all the latest shows for Cutting Pink With Knives, Load.Click.Shoot! and Alphabet Backwards so check them out!


LIVE PROMOTIONS
Don't forget we also put gigs on in Oxford, good gigs too although admittedly a lot less so than before - probably due to the credit crunch or something - but rest assured those that we do bother with are definitely worth it!  Although saying that, after the next one it's now likely that we'll be taking a nice long break until much later in the year!

You've already missed the likes of Efterklang, EX MODELS and Enon this year and coming up this weekend we have the return of two of our favourites from last year, Munch Munch and Lonely Ghosts playing at The Cellar with further bands (and DJs) to be announced.




see more info at http://www. myspace. com/vacuouspop regarding all the gig promotions you missed and those that are coming up.


TRUCK FESTIVAL
Don't forget that we're also teaming up with our friends Abort, Retry, Fail? to host two stages at this year's Truck Festival on Saturday 19th July, to be held as ever at Hill Farm, Steventon, Oxfordshire.

The Barn will be home to the vacuous pop stage with live music running from 12pm - 9pm, before we head across site to take over the Market Tent and host the ARF? club night from 10pm - 2.

30am with live bands til midnight and DJs after providing the trademark "music to make your ears smile and your feet bleed".

It's been a long time coming but we've now got our line ups for both stages finalised and Truck should be confirming full details for the festival very shortly.

Unfortunately for a number of reasons we had to lose many bands from our original wish list and couldn't fit in a number of bands we'd like to have done.

However, I think we've still pulled together a very decent line up and there should be some familiar names and in the grand tradition of Truck, a few new names for you to discover too!



If you didn't already know, The Lemonheads are the main headliner for the weekend with the likes of Okkervil River, Laura Marling, Noah & The Whale, Emmy The Great, Maps, Ulrich Schnauss, Get Cape, Danny and the Champions of the World and many more also playing.

Further info at http://www. thisistruck. com



OK, that's about it for now but keep an eye out for further updates!

cheers
Ady

___________________________________________________
vacuous pop - independent record label and live promotions
po box 289, oxford, ox5 1we
label: www. myspace. com/vpop | gigs: www. myspace. com/vacuouspop

We're pleased to announce that Vacuous Pop and Abort, Retry, Fail? are joining forces once again and will be hosting two stages at this year's Truck Festival on Saturday 19th July.

The Barn will be home to the vacuous pop stage with live music running from 12pm - 9pm, before we head across site to take over the Market Tent and host the ARF? club night from 10pm - 3am with live bands til midnight and DJs after providing the trademark "music to make your ears smile and your feet bleed".  

We're working very hard to secure the best line ups we can, offering some familiar names and in the tradition of Truck some not so familiar names for you to discover.

Bands confirmed to play the vacuous pop & ARF? stages so far include These New Puritans, youthmovies, Johnny Foreigner, Lovvers, Munch Munch, Robots In Disguise, This Town Needs Guns, LOAD.CLICK.SHOOT! and Alphabet Backwards with further names still to be confirmed.

Other acts confirmed to play over the weekend include Television Personalities, Camera Obscura, Emmy The Great, Danny & The Champions Of the World, Noah And The Whale and the Faces' Ian McLagan & The Bump Band with many more yet to be announced.

The festival, as ever takes place at Hill Farm, Steventon, Oxfordshire on 19th & 20th July and further information can be found at www.thisistruck.com so keep an eye on the site for updates.

Hey there,

Hope you're well.

Where have you all been? There's been some cracking gigs and you've definitely been missed! Yes, as a result of that I'm skint again as usual! ;-)

Anyway, there's a gig this Wednesday you may be interested in - the return of the wonderful Stafrænn Hákon to Oxford, again with a full band line up with excellent supports from The Keyboard Choir and a great new talent Alphabet Backwards. This is one for fans of Sigur Ros, Efterklang, Postal Service et al.... but do check out the MySpace links to hear for yourself!

Also, if you're in London TONIGHT go and see Detwiije who have temporarily reformed to play a one off show tonight at the Hoxton Bar & Grill, sounds well trendy!

More news next time, including a long awaited label update (although there are a few clues within this mail...).

cheers
Ady




vacuous pop presents...

Wednesday 10 October
Stafrænn Hákon, The Keyboard Choir & Alphabet Backwards
The Wheatsheaf, Oxford
Doors 8pm / £5 adv

Advance Tickets: www.wegottickets.com/event/22573



Quick Links:
www.shakon.com
www.myspace.com/shakon
www.myspace.com/thekeyboardchoir
www.myspace.com/alphabetbackwards


Stafrænn Hákon
Once described as "frequently mesmerizing, seamlessly interwoven combination of electronica and ambient guitar.." by the legendary Wire magazine. Stafrænn Hákon has indeed through the last 6 years been described as a mix of post-rock, lo-fi, ambient guitar & electronica. The Icelandic born Ólafur Josephsson has been recording music since 1999 under the name Stafrænn Hákon, and "Gummi" is his fourth album release for UK indie label Resonant.

While "Ventill/Poki" represented his first material recorded with a supporting cast - a progression that was very evident in comparison to his previous output - "Gummi" marks a further giant leap forward in every respect.

Having established himself as a predominantly instrumental artist, Josephsson will surprise many with the inclusion of six full vocal tracks among the nine included here - featuring Birgir Hilmarsson (Blindfold/Ampop) on five tracks and Efterklang's Casper Clausen on one, alongside other guest musicians and collaborators.

While recognising the need to constantly evolve in order to maintain and expand upon your audience, the key elements that have always marked out Stafraenn Hakon from the crowded post-rock platform are still very much in place; delicate, intricate instrumentation and atmospherics, building slowly and organically, drawing in the listener.

www.shakon.com
www.myspace.com/shakon


The Keyboard Choir
Local collective of musicians playing, er, keyboards...

"this six man keyboard choir make genuinely moving live electronic music" - the dawn chorus

"awesome hypnotic sound sculptures" - diskant.net

www.myspace.com/thekeyboardchoir


Alphabet Backwards
Learn Binary code in five minutes, base two counting, flying hamsters, squirels do make noise, Just another bedroom musician, they are just songs, Creating songs, alphabet backwards, 24 years old, small town, river bridge, poor lights, hard door, guitar and using the wonders of computers, two step, influenced, david ford, four tet, postal service, hammer horror, human shy, made with help from friends who wanna help.

"This guy is bloody brilliant and as for his music, sheer genius. he is definitely something special" - roomthirteen.com

"only a major label PR machine short of turning Hitchman into a star" - dailyinfo Oxford

"we think this guy is bloody brilliant." - Playmusic pickup

www.myspace.com/alphabetbackwards


_________________

--
--
vacuous pop presents...
----
Wednesday 26 September
Future Of The Left, Lovvers, Meet Me In St Louis @ The Wheatsheaf, Oxford
--
Sunday 30 September
Prinzhorn Dance School, Johnny Foreigner & Fee Fi Fo Fum @ The Jericho, Oxford
--
Wednesday 10 October
Stafrænn Hákon, The Keyboard Choir & Alphabet Backwards @ The Wheatsheaf
--
Saturday 20 October
This Town Needs Guns, Meet Me In St Louis, An Emergency & LOAD.CLICK.SHOOT! @ The Wheatsheaf, Oxford
--
Saturday 27 October
The Patty Winters Show, LOAD.CLICK.SHOOT!, Alphabet Backwards & special guests @ vacuous pop RoTa special, Notting Hill Arts Club, London
--
------------
_____________________
vacuous pop recordings
upcoming releases:

An Emergency / Breakneck Static ltd split 7" single
Trouble Everyday - Code Word CD & ltd 7" single
Trouble Everyday - On The Way To Disaster (brand new album)
The Patty Winters Show - You Are Wrong 7" single
Cutting Pink With Knives / 10lec6 - split 7" single

___________________________________________________
vacuous pop - independent record label and live promotions
po box 289, oxford, ox5 1we
label: www.myspace.com/vpop | gigs: www.myspace.com/vacuouspop

Hope you're enjoying the fine weather, seeing as Spring is in the air I thought it was about time for the long awaited update on what's happening with the label and the latest gig news follows.

-------------------------------
upcoming releases:
-------------------------------
Yep, after some disappointing coverage (and yet again, lack of sales) for the last few releases, things are finally coming together and it's all go for the next few months as the ante is well and truly upped to get these out!

I had hoped to be able to include a few other bands in this list but sadly due to various reasons it looks like I missed out and they've all gone elsewhere.

Anyway, I wont dwell on disappointments too much but you can expect the following to drop over the next few months, hopefully with some decent press coverage on board this time, hence the delay...

upcoming releases:
An Emergency / Breakneck Static ltd split 7" single
The Patty Winters Show - You Are Wrong 7" single
Cutting Pink With Knives / 10lec6 - split 7" single

More info on all the bands and releases will follow and be on the page soon including details of how to order, complete with paypal links but you can check all the bands out on their MySpace pages for now. I'll hopefully have the new improved website back up soon too.

However, if you're really keen and can't wait for the release, you can get hold of the limited hand numbered An Emergency / Breakneck Static split now, just email me for details.

I've noticed a lot of other labels are doing pre-sales, it could seem a bit presumptuous but let me know if that's something you'd like to see!


-------------------------------
band/artist updates:
-------------------------------

Resting on my laurels maybe but I've also updated the main page with the latest dates from all the bands, past and present, including youthmovies (who are playing at All Tomorrows Parties in May!) and Help She Can't Swim (playing Dot to Dot Festival at both Bristol and Nottingham in May!) along with An Emergency, Breakneck Static and Trouble Everyday. I try to keep it up to date but it's a gargantuan task and things can change so check out individual band pages for the latest info on what they're up to now!

Sadly Detwiije called it a day sometime last year but individual members should carry on with various other musical projects.

I'll update the MySpace page (and website) with further info on all the bands (and their latest guises) in the near future to show how close I was to releasing some very NME favoured bands - whether that's a good thing or not I don't know! It's too late now anyway!


----------------------------------
upcoming live shows:
----------------------------------
The gigs are slowly coming together too and there's some great shows coming up over the next month or so as follows.

After waiting on some confirmations for the 24th April show none of which could make it, I've now asked a few bands to join Thee More Shallows & Eugene McGuinness so hope one of them can confirm soon!

After unsuccessful attempts in the past I'm more than pleased to say we're teaming up with Oxford Contemporary Music to present a very special show from A Hawk And A Hacksaw and The Hun Hangár Ensemble at The Zodiac on Saturday 5th May. Due to time restrictions there's no additional support for this show.

I'm happy to say that Meet Me In St Louis and Hreda are now confirmed to join The Paper Chase and Cutting Pink With Knives on 12th May. It should be a cracking night.

Sadly, there's also some bad news and due to another mix up with the venue, the Polmo Polpo / Mantler show is no longer going ahead.


vacuous pop proudly presents...

--------
Tuesday 24 April
Thee More Shallows, Eugene McGuinness & more tbc
Port Mahon, Oxford
Doors 8pm / £5



Advance Tickets: Buy Tickets For Thee More Shallows


Thee More Shallows first played for us back in 2002 and I've managed to get them to Oxford for every subsequent UK tour. After 2 albums with the excellent Monotreme Records , they're now signed worldwide to the awesome anticon. label. They're ace and they're coming back for their 4th visit on Tuesday 24 April. Support comes from Eugene McGuinness , making a quick welcome return to town after playing a blinder last month, plus one more band tbc.

Being such an intimate show, it should be a busy night so to ensure you don't miss out, I'd recommend getting advance tickets.

www.myspace.com/theemoreshallows
www.myspace.com/eugenemcguinness85

-------------


Saturday 5 May
A Hawk And A Hacksaw & The Hun Hangár Ensemble
The Zodiac, Oxford
Doors 7.30pm / £13.50 or £9 conc.



Advance Tickets:
Buy Full Price Tickets For A Hawk & A Hacksaw

Buy Concession Price Tickets For A Hawk & A Hacksaw

A Hawk and a Hacksaw is Jeremy Barnes (ex Neutral Milk Hotel) and Heather Trost from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their sound is a fantastical and emotive mix of Eastern European folk, gypsy song, klezmer, Mexican fanfare and gorgeous cinematic flourishes, with flashes of classic songwriting.

For this very special tour, Jeremy and Heather have expanded the band to include a group of four adventurous musicians from Hungary and one from the UK. Together they will perform beguiling new music, reworkings of traditional Hungarian and Balkan songs, and material from AHAAH's back catalogue.

AHAAH's incandescent third album, The Way the Wind Blows, was partly recorded in a remote Romanian village with members of the Balkan folk group Fanfare Ciocarlia. Its release last year to critical acclaim boosted the already feverish word of mouth reputation created by their stunning live shows.

The Leaf Label will release an EP to coincide with the tour, recorded with the Hun Hangár Ensemble.
A Hawk and A Hacksaw
Jeremy Barnes accordion, drums, vocals
Heather Trost violin, glockenspiel, vocals

The Hun Hangár Ensemble
Bela Agoston Hungarian bagpipes, clarinet, alto saxophone, taragoto, viola
Zsolt Kurtosi upright bass, accordion
Ferenc Kovács trumpet, violin
Balázs Unger cymbalom
Alex Nielson percussion

For further info please visit:

www.ahawkandahacksaw.co.uk
www.myspace.com/ahawkandahacksaw
www.theleaflabel.com
www.myspace.com/hunhangarensemble

www.ocmevents.org / www.myspace.com/vacuouspop

This is a joint promotion with Oxford Contemporary Music

---------
Saturday 12 May
The Paper Chase, Cutting Pink With Knives, Meet Me In St Louis & Hreda
The Wheatsheaf, Oxford
Doors 7.30pm / £6 advance

www.thepaperchaseband.com
www.myspace.com/cuttingpinkwithknives
www.myspace.com/meetmeinstlouis
www.myspace.com/hreda

Advance Tickets: Buy Tickets For The Paper Chase


---------------------------

Don't forget there's no regular monthly Wheatsheaf shows for either April or May so don't go along expecting to find anything for 20 April or 18 May, if you do find there's a gig on, they're nothing to do with me!

Damo Suzuki reviews
Thanks to anyone who came down last weekend to see Damo Suzuki play with youthmovies, it was a great night and there's an ace review of the gig up at www.gigwise.com now. Thanks to Joe John Coxhead for the review.

There was also a review in The Independent of Damo's recent show at Queen Elizabeth Hall with Elysian Quartet and Adem, it's worth a read if only for the last paragraph! ;-)

http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article2433033.ece


That's about it for now, thanks for reading!

--
cheers,
ady


___________________________________________________
vacuous pop - independent record label and live promotions
po box 289, oxford, ox5 1we

label: www.myspace.com/vpop | gigs: www.myspace.com/vacuouspop