This bunch of hairy Brighton degenerates and their violent mish-mash of surf punk, grunge and doo wop are steadily garnering a reputation as one of the country’s most insane live bands (seriously, they’re incredible!!). Bassist Jimmy Diego has been known to accidentally break his own nose with his guitar so… well, you get the point.

The dates are…

Dec 16^th London The Monarch

Dec 17^th Stoke Alsager Arms

Dec 19^th Newcastle The End Bar

Dec 19^th Brighton Concorde 2 w/Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster

Dec 21^st Cardiff 10 Feet Tall

Dec 30^th London Old Blue Last

Last week they released their debut single ‘Old Rats on a New Ship’, backed with B-side ‘Kemptown Animals’. The band have kindly posted it for free download from http://badforlazarus.bandcamp.com/

Bad for Lazarus have also uploaded some video footage of the recording sessions for the single which you can see here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-8rWNtssuc

Musée Mécanique

SINGLE ‘LIKE HOME’

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25^TH 2010

(Souterrain Transmissions)

www.myspace.com/museemecanique | www.souterrain.com

“It is [the] ability to viscerally effect an audience that make[s] Musée Mécanique such a powerful, if unusual, folk force. Their shy yet florid debut is tinged with sadness, like a painted carousel sitting empty in winter, mourning for a time that they—or we—never even knew.” – Pitchfork

“Armed with a hoard of antique instruments, this multi-tasking band create ornate pop full of sepia-tinted nostalgia” – The Guardian

Another in a seemingly endless string of new and unique musical gems spawned amongst the hubbub of Portland, Oregon is Musée Mécanique. This, their debut single, ‘Like Home’ is released on Janurary 25th on limited edition 7” backed with b-side ‘Under Glass’ and will lull you gently into the beginning of 2010 with it’s subtle and elegant  folk-pop. 

After their recent stripped down two-piece shows supporting Laura Gibson on her European tour, Musée Mécanique were selected as a Guardian ‘New Band of The Day’. They described the quintet’s sound as “ornate pop based on acoustic guitars fleshed out with orchestral flourishes and programmed electronics”.

This single precedes the release of their debut album ‘Hold This Ghost’ on February 15^th 2010 through new European label Souterrain Transmissions (formed by staff from legendary labels Touch & Go and City Slang).

First conceived in a museum of antique arcade machines and later actualized in a small Victorian home on the banks of the Willamette River, Musée Mécanique’s Hold This Ghost began its journey in a high school literature class.

Sean Ogilvie and Micah Rabwin met, started their first band together, played their first shows, and wrote their first jointly-penned songs before either of them could legally drive a car. Their early friendship fostered a creative partnership that has endured distance, estrangement and more than a decade of their lives.

While living in the Bay Area of California, the two songwriters developed an affinity for the collection of vintage coin-operated games, player pianos and novelties housed at the Musée Mécanique (Mechanical Museum) located on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. Much like the recordings of Hold This Ghost, the machines within the museum are a hybrid of technology and humanity: mechanical by nature, but animated via a dedicated craftsmanship that reveals the unique flaws and personality of each.

Their Portland, Oregon home studio, itself a collection of interesting instruments and antiques, is peppered in every corner with second-hand flotsam. Tack pianos, trumpets, musical saws and garage sale Casio keyboards mingle among forgotten amateur landscape paintings, broken 1930s-era radios and hand-cranked ice cream makers. Their neighborhood - an integral source of the album’s inspiration - is flanked by giant Redwoods that overlook the scenic Willamette River. Nearby, an eerie mausoleum perches above a wildlife refuge and one of the oldest running amusement parks in the world.

Excited by the album’s story and songs, producer Tucker Martine mixed Hold This Ghost with a creative vision that perfectly echoed that of Rabwin and Ogilvie. Now, Rabwin and Ogilvie are joined on stage by multi-instrumentalists Matthew Rubin Berger, Jeffery Boyd and Brian Perez, bringing the album to life.

Musee Mecanique are: Micah Rabwin (vocals/guitar/musical saw/keyboard); Sean Ogilvie (vocals/keyboard/guitar/accordion/melodica);

Matt Berger (drums/percussion/glockenspiel); Jeff Boyd (bass/glockenspiel/cassette player);

Brian Perez (keyboards/lapsteel/glockenspiel/melodica/percussion)

HEIGHTS

Hertfordshire crew, Heights, unleashes "The Land,
The Ocean, The Distance" this February with
extensive UK touring penned for 2010!

Born in 2009 and hailing from Welwyn Garden City, Heights have played show after show, up and down the country, touring whenever and wherever they can. It is the live environment where Heights thrives, throwing everything they have at every show, leaving nothing behind, whatever the situation. The quintet's live shows are highly noted for being fully packed, sweat-drenched basement affairs with copious amounts of energy and raw passion.

The band, comprised of Thomas (Vocals), Dean (Guitar), Tom (Guitar), Andrew (Bass) and Tom (Drums), recently completed their debut EP "The Land, The Ocean, The Distance," which combines the distinctive sounds of Hertfordshire hardcore with more epic progressions. The result is an ambitious record that pays no heed to the usual restrictions of the hardcore scene. From the wonderfully dynamic and equally epic "Empires", to the hard-edged hardcore bite of "Paint the Sky" and "World’s Apart", Heights have genuinely created a mouth watering debut e.p.

Heights releases "The Land, The Ocean, The Distance" EP on 22nd February and will soon follow up by taking their music on the road. Check out the band’s myspace for show details and dates.

www.myspace.com/weareheights

ARTIST: Heights

TITLE: The Land, The Ocean, The Distance

RELEASE DATE: 22nd February 2010.

LABEL/DISTRIBUTION: We are Heights / iTunes

FORMAT: E.P.

TRACKLISTING:  Empires, Paint the Sky, Worlds Apart.

FOR FANS OF: Killswitch Engage, Underoath. Cult of luna.

WEBSITE: http://www.myspace.com/weareheights

PLACEBO TO RELEASE NEW SINGLE

‘BRIGHT LIGHTS’ ON FEBRUARY 8^TH

PLUS ITUNES ONLY RELEASE OF ROUNDHOUSE SET FOR ITUNES FESTIVAL ON DEC 6^TH

Brian Molko – guitar/vocals / Stefan Olsdal – bass / Steve Forrest – drums

www.placeboworld.co.uk

Having had an incredible year to date which has seen the band play to over 1 million people across the globe, Placebo have announced they are to release a new version of ‘Bright Lights’, mixed by Dave Bascombe (Soulwax, Goldfrapp, LadyHawke and Funeral For A Friend) on February 8^th 2010 to continue where they left off in 2009.

The single will feature new remixes from the multi-talented Alex Metric and D’n’B new kid on the block, Randomer.

With their latest album ‘Battle For The Sun’ having sold over half a million sales worldwide so far this year and garnering critical acclaim across the board, Placebo have proved themselves to be just as relevant as they ever were:

“This is Placebo’s most coherent, energized album to date, displaying an unswerving focus.” - Classic Rock

“New album ‘Battle For The Sun’ is among some of Placebo’s finest work.” - Kerrang!

“Magnificently airy, stadium-sized tunes.”  - The Telegraph

“Experience all the benefits of a great band.”  - NME

“Placebo at their breathtaking, irresistible best.” – Mojo

“Nothing is beyond Placebo, who continue to break the mould and ‘Battle For The Sun’ takes them on an Icarus-like ascent.” Rock Sound

In addition to the tour and single release, ‘Placebo Live At The Roundhouse’ will be released exclusively on iTunes on December 6th, featuring the band's full 19-track set which was performed in July in London. The album will available as a single live album for £5.99 and as a bundle with ‘Battle For The Sun’ for £8.99. The full tracklisting is:

Kitty Litter

Ashtray Heart

Battle For The Sun

For What It’s Worth

Soulmates

Speak In Tongues

Cops

Every You And Every Me

Special Needs

The Never-Ending Why

Devil In The Details

Happy You’re Gone

Meds

Come Undone

Special K

Song To Say Ggoodbye

Infra-Red

Bitter End

Taste In Men

Placebo recently claimed ‘Best Alternative‘ award at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2009, voted for by fans, showing the high regard they are still held in. Add that to their upcoming UK arena tour, which takes in London’s The O2, and you’ve got a very successful year.

The UK tour dates are:

Tuesday 8^th - Birmingham LG Arena

Wednesday 9^th - London The O2

Friday 11^th - Bridlington Spa

Saturday 12^th - Manchester Central

Monday 14^th - Glasgow SECC

Tuesday 15^th - Dublin Olympia Theatre

Wednesday 16^th - Dublin Olympia Theatre

Dead Confederate’s debut album ‘Wrecking Ball’ was released earlier this month to unanimous resounding delight. The critics said things like:

“DC create spacey atmospherics of somber beauty, sonic monoliths as massive and turbulent as the weather systems that punish the Southeast in the Autumn” - Uncut

“This Athens, Georgia band are unafraid to engage with music that’s emotionally charged, and to do so in as noisy and melodic a way as possible” – Guardian Guide

“Dark-heated but intelligent, violent without being aggressive and epic without losing its core of songwriting depth… Literate music that can lift the soul, 4Ks” – Kerrang!

“Songs that tremble and pound, in a good way. Deeply passionate, this is earthy and unpretentious stuff.” – The Stool Pigeon

Whilst the album well deserved the praise it earned, Dead Confederate’s real forte is their live shows. So if you’re able to make it along to any of these dates then please do! It’s a personal recommendation – I don’t think I stopped grinning for about 2 hours after they played last time they were over here!

Here’s an idea of what to expect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORCbE4YQz2I

DECEMBER

01  London Hoxton Bar & Kitchen

02  Oxford Jericho Tavern

03  Plymouth Hippo w/J Mascis

05  Leeds Cockpit w/Pulled Apart By Horses

05  Birmingham Academy 3

07  Manchester Moho Live w/ J Mascis

08  Nottingham Bodega Social

10  Leicester Uni w/ J Mascis

DEBUT SINGLE ‘OLD RATS ON A NEW SHIP’ RELEASED NOVEMBER 30TH

www.myspace.com/badforlazarus

“They sound like the poster Herman Munster would have had on his wall during the stoned days of Ghoul School” – Music Week

“Fuelled by passion and entailing one brutal rocking riff following another, until ears are bashed to within an inch of being broken” – Loud & Quiet

“Tired of drab, non-descript indie? Brighton’s Bad for Lazarus have something a little more exciting and hard hitting to offer” - Artrocker

Brighton based Bad for Lazarus are the new noise-merchants to watch out for. Pitching their violent pop in an ungodly realm somewhere between Buddy Holly and Slayer, their sound straddles a wealth of punk, hardcore, Motown and doo-wop influences whilst maintaining a self defined mission to write simple yet brilliant songs.

With less than a year since conception, they have already built a reputation as one of the South’s most bombastic and vicious live acts, leaving a trail of shattered glass and sweat stained walls in their wake. Now the time has come for the chaos to be committed to record and unleashed for all to hear.

‘Old Rats on a New Ship’ is their debut single and is to be released on November 30^TH through the band’s own label, Shit Chic, and is backed with b-side ‘Kemptown Animals’.

On the subject of sometimes obtuse lyrical matter, Bad for Lazarus front man Rich Fownes says “It's important to me that the lyrics are somewhat absurd as there's always a raw, angry vibe to the music and the subject matter, and there's nothing worse than woe-is-me, sullen, introspective rock bands / artists. I can't read a Jonathon Davis interview without being sick in my mouth. Depression and self-loathing are the new sex in rock music, but I don't find anyone being emotionally retarded and self-involved charming.”

Bad for Lazarus; the name is taken from the famous bible story in which Jesus lets down his followers by arriving too late to the deathbed of Lazarus to save him, only to later perform a miracle and bring him back to life. Echoing sentiments of previous musical endeavors ceasing (having previously played with Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, With Scissors, Nine Inch Nails and UNKLE) Fownes explains, “I liked the idea of reincarnation after the year I'd just had… and the idea of Jesus, the first celebrity, getting all the kudos for essentially getting there late”.

In starting Bad for Lazarus, Fownes was determined to create something he truly believed in, writing all new material and recruiting the finest and most charismatic musicians Brighton has to offer. Here is the result…