Now the dust has settled….

Well….what a couple of weeks it’s been….I’d use the term ‘emotional rollercoaster’ but I’m not really a fan of that particular theme park ride so I’m going to go for….er…..what else has twists and turns? Perhaps a Paul Hollywood plaited loaf? Emotional loaf. That’s how I feel.

So. Against all odds (more of which in a mo…) our second album is finally out. To buy. On vinyl. Doesn’t it look purdy?

Tremors & Nosebleeds: The Melodies of a Malady

It’s £9.99 and comes with a free download code – you can purchase it here: http://thebofthebang.bigcartel.com/ (you can get it from iTunes, Amazon and all that too but it doesn’t look as nice as this does…)

Basically (and to cut a very long story short) we were originally promised the album was going to be baked (like Hollywood’s loaves again…), pressed and delivered the week before Record Store Day and in more than enough time for our album launch.

How wrong we were.

On the delivery date we were suddenly informed by the European pressing plant (I shan’t mention any names…) that we wouldn’t be receiving the records for another month! This pretty much rendered the whole shebang a wee bit pointless and, as might be expected, many swears were flung into the surrounding silence….

BUT

Up stepped a hero of a man, who did an absolutely Herculean job at wrenching us – battered, bruised and weeping – up from the gutter. Tim at Sound Performace. What an absolute legend. He worked tirelessly non-stop for us and pretty much cut, pressed and manufactured a record in a week. Outstanding. Our gratitude to him is endless. Many, many phone calls, emails, favours, handshakes, winks and secret nods were deployed and….Friday night (the night before Record Store Day) the band were in production plant mode gluing labels on, popping inlays in and printing off download codes left right and centre at our Pie & Vinyl Headquarters. DIY til we die. I want to thank all the P&V staff there for their help in the matter too…we couldn’t have done it without you. Steve, Rob, Rob, Roberta, Lydia & Kirsty. Thankyou.

No sleep and plenty of worried hours meant that things were pretty fraught in the camp for a while….a happy ending was much needed and by jingo we got it. First with the success of RSD at P&V where we played an instore acoustic set alongside Band of Skulls…(followed by an ace evening at The Registry where the documentary Last Shop Standing was shown featuring our own Pie & Vinyl peeps…)

The queue outside Pie & Vinyl whilst we played…

then….at our album launch at The Wedgewood Rooms on the Sunday night. It couldn’t have gone any better. I won’t forget that gig for a long time. We’ve played that particular venue a fair few times over the years in various bands but we’ve never actually headlined our own night there so it was a definite tick off the list. Cheers to Geoff at The Wedge for his help. The support bands were all absolutely incredible too. Revere, Hall of Mirrors, Billy Vincent, The Boy I Used to Be and Rich Keam. All of them friends from the last few years of touring around the UK. Everyone mucked in to help us make the place look nice and turn it into a bit of a different event than your normal, everyday gig too…

Amongst good company…

My incredible wife and her incredible cakes…

Roberta (of the ace band Curxes and P&V fame…) sold some of her excellent prints – she did the RSD and launch poster designs n’all…

TBOTB & TBIUTB. Some Bangers chat to Ed of The Boy I Used To Be…

Nothing like last minute preparation…the band & chums assembling our vinyl…

The marvellous Rich Keam and his self assembled ‘glimmer curtain’…

The aforementioned TBIUTB bringing the magic…

Lovely London folksters Billy Vincent…

If you haven’t seen Hall of Mirrors, I suggest you do. Soon.

Sorry Revere – I didn’t get a photo of you in action as I realised I’d left a lead we needed for our visuals at home! Here’s one of my wife’s cakes instead. (Rest assured Revere were amazing)

We played the new album in it’s entirity plus a few choice cuts from our first album and EP’s. Including a ridiculous, comedy Jools Holland-style ‘introductions segment’ where we all played the worst possible thing we could. Not entirely on purpose. Keef’s Jurassic Park solo was a highlight.

Here’s one of our new album tracks ‘Something is Holding Me Down’, filmed by the splendid Ryan (Revere’s visual fella and helper of me-not-knowing-what-I-was doing-with-a-laptop)

A massive thank you to everyone involved once again. Friends, family, staff and random strangers who all assisted us in creating what we hope was a unique and special night. It was to us anyway. HERE’S TO THE NEXT ALBUM EH???? (Hopefully it will be easier than this one…)

Wit & The B of the Bang

xxxxx

ps – as an aside, Mr Rich Keam who opened our show, has made it through to the final 25 applicants out of 600,000 in ‘The Best Jobs in the World’ competition. As part of this, we became his backing band ‘The Tastebuds’ for one night only last week…please have a look at his blog here and give him your support. He deserves it. http://richkeam.wordpress.com/

G-G-G-G-G-G-G-GO!

It’s all go-go-go here in BangLand at the mo so not many words today but some pretty pictures and audio for you….

Firstly – we’re playing an acoustic instore set at our lovely headquarters http://www.pieandvinyl.co.uk this Saturday 20th April for http://www.recordstoreday.co.uk  – Band of Skulls will be making an appearance too…

Secondly, the day after (Sunday 21st April) we will be having our big album 2 launch gig/mini-festival at The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth with support from some of our very favourite bands…it’s going to be a truly special day and we’d love to see you all there….tickets and details available here: http://tinyurl.com/BangWedge

Thirdly, we’ve been announced to play at the splendid looking Victorious Festival http://victoriousfestival.co.uk in August alongside The Cribs, Maximo Park, Nine Black Alps, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Mike Skinner, Katy B…..and more excitingly….LEVEL 42! Yes indeed.

Fourthly (I know…!), our new album will be out Monday 22nd April (although we will have vinyl on us for Record Store Day and the album launch) and it has had a couple of lovely early reviews here:

http://recordoverplayed.co.uk/cdreviews/botb_tremors13.html

http://www.mrteethreviews.com/the-b-of-the-bang-tremors-and-nosebleeds-melodies-of-a-malady/

AND FINALLY…..our very own Wit appeared on BBC6 Music’s Radcliffe and Maconie Show yesterday cramming in as much info about all the stuff above as possible whilst fulfilling a lifetime ambition appearing on their ace feature ‘The Chain’. His song choice? John Grant’s ‘Pale Green Ghosts’ (from The Walker Brothers ‘Make it Easy on Yourself’ – Ivor Raymonde arranged the strings for it and his son is Simon Raymonde who runs the Bella Union label…which John Grant is on). Listen again here (2 hours 14 minutes in):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rsz1y

PHEW!!!

xxxx

PIE AND VINYL RECORDS/THE B OF THE BANG ALBUM LAUNCH EXTRAVAGANZA!

We are proud to announce our brand new album ‘Tremors and Nosebleeds: The Melodies of a Malady’ will be released on Pie & Vinyl Records on Monday 22nd April.

To celebrate this we’ll be having a humdinger of a launch show at The Wedgewood Rooms on Sunday 21st April (vinyl copies of the album will be for sale too…)

We have gathered together the finest menu of our favourite bands from around the UK to hopefully concoct the most satisfying aural-meal you will ever indulge in.

RICH KEAM: A delightful entree. Delicately balanced folk-flecked acoustic flavours served with a robust bluesy sauce. Will certainly get your tastebuds excited.

THE BOY I USED TO BE: A smattering of lo-fi, two scoops of sweet melody and a hearty side helping of ace. You’ll definitely be asking for seconds.

BILLY VINCENT: Lashings of full on creamy folk rock, this is much more than your standard amuse bouche. Spicy vocal harmonies blend with rich velvety song-smithery. Pairs well with a fine Merlot.

THE HALL OF MIRRORS: Bold, ear-caressing flavours and subtle, left-field textures combine together beautifully for a full on wow factor with this course. Modern haute cuisine fused with classic cordon bleu piano-led wonder.

REVERE: The chefs have really pulled it out of the bag here. Every mouthful is full of satisfaction….depth, sweetness, spice and a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ mean that your palate really is in for a post-rock soundtrack treat of epic proportions. You might want to loosen your belt a little…

THE B OF THE BANG: Rich, meaty, avant-garde gravy smothering a moreish, sinful pop-pastry-cased surprise. The sound of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory if you poured it into your ear-pipes. Avoid if on a diet as TBOTB pack a weeks worth of aural calories into one song.

There will also be stalls selling bric-a-brac, nik-naks and other such trinkets and curio in a setting that will hopefully inspire and enhance your evenings specially selected 6 course sonic-dinner.

DOORS AT 5pm

TICKETS: £4 in advance / £5 on the door

Available from:

Pie & Vinyl Record Cafe
http://www.pieandvinyl.co.uk/

Wedgewood Rooms Box Office
http://tinyurl.com/BangWedge

We cannot wait to see you all around the table…tuck in.

THE GOOD FRIDAY ALBUM ANNOUNCEMENTS….

HEAR YE! HEAR YE! THE GOOD FRIDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE HERE FOR YOU TO HEAR IN YOUR EARS!

GOOD FRIDAY ANNOUNCEMENT 1: Our new album ‘Tremors & Nosebleeds: The Melodies of a Malady’ will be released on vinyl and download by Pie & Vinyl Records on Monday 22nd April 2013!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pie-Vinyl-Records/553520584679230

GOOD FRIDAY ANNOUNCEMENT 2: We are having a launch show/mini festival at The Wedgewood Rooms on Sunday 21st Apri with some of our favourite bands!

http://www.facebook.com/events/584303971594938/?fref=ts

GOOD FRIDAY ANNOUNCEMENT 3: Lastly…we will be performing a Record Store Day acoustic set at our HQ of Pie and Vinyl Record Cafe on Sat 20th April!

HERE IS OUR NEW ALBUM TO STREAM:

Here’s our 2 singles so far:

‘Wander (Through the Night)’ video :

‘Aim High’ video: 

If you like a tweet every now and then, please go show our new label some love too:

http://twitter.com/PieVinylRecords

See you at the launch show!

TBOTB

xxxxx

DIY til we die…

Cello

Here is a video. It’s for a new song of ours. We made it ourselves.

I guess that makes it a single. Is it a single? Do bands still release singles? I’ve heard folks in the know talk of ‘impact dates’ and ‘release schedules’ but I don’t suppose we’ll be troubling the charts much. 

Still…it’s nice to look at something innit?

If you don’t like looking at things you can always just listen to it here:

There is a day in April that is devoted to all things vinyl. Well…not all things vinyl…it’s not an appreciation of vinyl flooring or tiles or ‘owt weird like that. It is a celebration of those wonderful things we call ‘records’ (or as I overheard a kid say at a festival merch-stand last year to his Dad ‘old-style discs’…) PUT THAT DATE IN YOUR DIARY YEAH?

*message end*

xxx

Where are we now?

 

…as a certain David Jones might say…

 

Soooooo….let’s briefly recap dear reader….

 

Had a couple of messages recently that go along the lines of ‘ahhhh I remember seeing some stuff about you lot a few years back and then you disappeared…bit of a shame’

 

Well – I cannot comment on whether our perceived disappearance would be a ‘shame’ or not but thought I’d just give you a bit of a lowdown on what goes on/has gone on behind the scenes. You may or may not be interested…but if you’re not…WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING LOOKING AT THIS BLOG??? GETOUTTAHERE!!!

 

Anyhoo. As far as it goes for us, we’ve never been away. In fact, everywhere I turn, I’m there. It’s ruddy irritating to be honest. Our first album came out in 2009 and we toured it around the country to various dingy back rooms. Some amazing, some not so much. Many of those early gigs were a bit more acoustic in nature as there wasn’t so many of us in the band and they were often easier for us to play. In fact, amusingly, we were nominated for a Folk Award even though we’re not particularly any more folky than…oooh, I don’t know, Slayer or someone…that may be a slight stretch but…you catch my drift. Just because we wield the occasional banjo or accordion, the arran sweaters are firmly stashed away (for now). I even wrote my Uni dissertation on notions of genre and how we perceive them don’cha know??? So check me out.

 

So, folk or not, in 2010 we recorded and released 2 EP’s….’Art Deco’ and ‘Art Nouveau’. One was electric-y, full bandy, sample-y stuff and one was more solo-y, traditional-y, acoustic-y stuff. As is often the case with EP’s however, these sort of slipped beneath the radar and no-one really noticed. We liked them though. 

 

Since then a variety of things have occurred…first off, I swanned around travelling a bit…growing various beards and wrote most of what was to become our new soon-to-be-released-honest-guv album. The people who made up TBOTB swapped around a fair bit too so myriad rehearsals and low-key gigs testing out new material and members was pretty much the de rigeur order of the day in 2011.

 

It was also the year of a few side-projects that developed into other things which naturally took up plenty of tim. Myself and Mr Rhodes dallied with our inner noise-rockers in Analogue Manilow, Elliott stepped in to alt-country-pop-rock mode with the Retrospective Soundtrack Players. Again, a few members went off on their own journeys and more new members came into our warm bosom (titter titter). Southsea’s musical fraternity is like that. I for one relish it and it means I’ve had the honour of playing with some amazing musicians of whom all are now firm friends. And that’s the important part really isn’t it? Yes. Yes it is.

 

So – anyway – fast forward to 2012 – album 2 was finished and ready to go. Self recorded and produced we were as happy as pie with it…but the opportunity arose for another good pal of ours, the esteemed Mr Jake Gordon, to give it a bit of an extra mix and polish. My word we’re glad he did. Here’s a bit of info about him and his recent work (including stuff he’s done with a couple of our fave bands…) 

 

http://miloco.co.uk/engineers/jakegordon.php

 

Jake made everything sound a hundred times greater than we could have ever achieved on our own so it was well worth that extra wait. So, prepped, ready-to-go, gorged with fresh blood and mixed perfectly…..our dear little indie label Jelly Maid Music fell off the cliff into the abyss! T’was a sad day for all and meant, like The Littlest Hobo, we were now homeless…

 

After touting it around to a few of the labels that we love and trust and being greeted with stares that I’m sure Joseph and Mary received in Jerusalem before they bedded down in someones shed or something, we realised that we were probably looking at a self-release. Now these aren’t necessarily a bad thing as it means you have total control (always good) and can create your own world around you…..BUT….you also have no money (or we certainly don’t) nor any inbuilt ‘network’ of friendly faces and industry peeps to help you out or fight your corner.

 

If you can now, at this point dear reader, imagine a hero – swarthy and muscular – swooping in and grasping us in their bulging arms while we look up doey eyed and, well theres no other word than aroused, then please feel free to do so as that is basically the truth of it. I’m not going to reveal all yet (where’s the fun in that?) but, rest assured, April is certainly going to be a splendid milestone in The B of the Bang’s strange, exciting, terrifying adventure…

 

Keep your ears to the ground BangFans

xxx

 

ps just in case you wondered David Jones is David Bowie’s real name. Told you I went to university.

So guitar music is ‘back’ and HMV is ‘gone’ eh?

 

 

Strange times we live in……BUT……no stranger than anywhen else in history.

 

Yes it’s sad HMV seems to be on the verge of disappearing from our high street but have you been in there in the last few years? Unless you want Beats headphones or an overpriced iPod dock it’s slim pickings. I can’t remember the last time I bought anything in there as they generally haven’t stocked for a while:

 

a) much in the way of vinyl 

b) CD’s that I might want for under about £15 and…

c) DVD’s that aren’t The Hangover

 

Hopefully, the few remaining FOPP’s will stay open/be snapped up by someone else and the staff who do know their onions (quite rare in my experience at my local HMV if I’m honest…) go on to work at the independent record shops that might hopefully spring up and take hold of a market that I definitely believe is still there. One can dream eh?

 

So, say a few words in prayer if you want, but don’t mourn long….get yourself down to somewhere like Pie & Vinyl in Southsea and buy your music from knowledgable staff who love what they do. You can spend as much time as you want having a browse (something that I do miss about the HMV of old….)

 

Right. Next up. Rock music is back is it?

 

Where has it been then? I’ve read a few reports and listened to some radio articles that generally go along the lines of ‘Mumford and Sons blah blah blah….Keane blah blah…..’ even Scouting for Girls were mentioned. Yes you read that right.

 

Now, I don’t care whether you have guitars, samplers, banjo’s, theremins, violins, tubas or you’re an Aboriginal acapella throat-singing quartet. Good music is good music. I have nothing against any of those bands mentioned above but something that unites them all is the fact that they are in no way ‘rock’. Whatever that means.

 

I understand that these things go in cycles and every 5 or 6 years the industry needs to ‘stay fresh’ (hmmmm…) and change it’s focus to sell more product. I also understand that, as pop and R&B has been dominant in the charts for a while that guitar bands in the background have perhaps been free to make music that might be less commercial and a wee bit more experimental but……and here’s the twist…THIS IS ALWAYS HAPPENING. ALL THE TIME. CONSTANTLY. 

 

Go and watch bands in the town you live in. I guarantee you’ll still see plenty of Strats, Les Pauls and Teles. You will also see a few laptops, synthesisers and samplers. Many of them will be making good music regardless of whether it’s trendy or flavour of the month. Lot’s of them will have been doing so for some time. Of course there will be a load of chaff to weed through but that, my friends, has always been the case and will never change. 

 

So. To surmise. The moral of this Aesop’s fable is…..

 

1) If you like music, keep buying it however you choose to consume it. Preferably from somewhere that will benefit from your hard-earned dosh. 

2) Keep going to see the artists you like regardless of whether you’ve been told to or not. Preferably from a venue that has great bookers and cares about who it puts on.

3) If you can’t find any music you want to buy or bands you want to see then pick up a guitar or a laptop and start making it yourself. 

 

Good luck.

 

xxx

Gigs of the Year 2012 (and a new song for y’all…)

Another list coming at’cha…..drum roll please…….

 

1) Wild Beasts – ATP Camber Sands

 

An incredible performance. The album ‘Smother’ in full, plus a few other choice cuts. I was on my stag do. Very tipsy. Questionably dressed. Best man/TBOTB geetarist David claimed it was ‘the best gig he’d ever seen’. I’m tempted to agree.

 

2) Eric Pulido & Friends – The Slaughtered Lamb, Clerkenwell

 

A secret gig in a tiny London pub that featured Jason Lytle of Grandaddy (covering Neil Young, no less…), John Grant, half of Midlake and Ed Harcourt. Probably only about 50 people there and felt like watching some mates play in a living room. Some mates though…

 

3) Olafur Arnalds/Nils Frahm/Winged Victory For The Sullen – Hackney Empire

 

A beautiful evening in a beautiful venue. WVFTS were incredible. I’ve seen Olafur a few times now and he’s always an utter joy to watch and Nils (down to 9 working fingers…) had the entire place spellbound. Also they were all very amusing between songs. Which was nice.

 

4) Sigur Ros – Laugardalshöll Arena, Iceland Airwaves

 

Every show at Airwaves this year could probably go on the list but this really was special. An absolutely amazing performance with visuals to match. Even after the hour-long drone that preceded them which seemed to annoy a few peeps (I quite enjoyed it….)

 

5) Asgeir Trausti – KEX Hostel, Iceland Airwaves

 

I knew nothing about this lad before we went to see him so he’s discovery of the year for me. The excellent taste of my ladyfriend guided us his way as he’d been called the ‘Icelandic Bon Iver’. There were certainly similarities but also touches of Jeff Buckley and some lovely instrumentation. I predict big things for this lad and he’s only 20. Bastard.

 

6) The National – ATP Camber Sands

 

At the very end of an emotionally draining stag that probably should have seen me hospitalised at the very least….one of my favourite ever bands playing everything you’d ever want to hear them do for 2 hours. Including an unplugged ‘…Crybaby Geeks’ which by that point I actually was…

 

7) Bon Iver – Latitude Festival

 

The last time I saw Mr Vernon at Glasto he just had a coupla folks backing him and an acoustic guitar. This time he had a ten piece band, an expansive stage set-up and a sawnky, fancy light show. Both times he was no less than brilliant. The man certainly has skills.

 

8) Efterklang/John Grant – Brighton Dome

 

Efterklang playing this years ace ‘Piramida’ album in full with an orchestra. Peter Broderick played with them. They were supported by one of my favourite ever artists who debuted some fantastic new songs. In one of my favourite ever venues. What’s not to like?

 

9) Dirty Projectors – Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland Airwaves

 

Bjork was wandering around whilst these were playing (we’d seen her watching Purity Ring earlier on. Wearing a puffa jacket and a veil. As you do…) and she has splendid taste. Very very very good indeed….even if aforementioned TBOTB six-stringer Dave missed it due to too much vodka consumed from a mouthwash bottle….

 

10) Field Music – Electric Ballroom

 

Infuriatingly talented, those Brewis brothers. They played for nigh on 2 hours, swapping instruments, changing song structures and even threw in a few Week That Was numbers too which sounded fantastiche. Hadn’t been to the venue before either and rather liked it n’all….

 

11) Josh T Pearson – Latitude

 

Magnificent beard. Magnificent hat. Magnificent guitarist. Magnificent man. Had the audience in the palm of his hand. Also had a mean line in blue jokes. Brilliant.

 

12) Lianne La Havas – Great Escape

 

Quite a surprise for me to be honest. I’d heard a couple of her songs and they sort of passed me by a little as standard pop stuff. What a fool I am. She was incredible….especially when performing solo. Definitely want this album as soon as poss. She seemed genuinely happy to be there as well which is a welcome change from some of the usual dour indie nonsense I generally see. Like when we play.

 

13) Kerbdog – The Garage, London

Hundred Reasons/Hell is for Heroes/Cable – Kentish Town Forum, London

Therapy? – The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea

 

I’m not generally one who likes to wallow around in nostalgia…it’s pretty rare I listen to stuff from my teens really (except Idlewild obviously….that borders on dangerous obsession) but these 3 gigs were all absolutely amazing. I can definitely see why some people’s music tastes get stuck around 16 years of age as these gigs evoked some lovely memories that I’d almost forgotten. I was accompanied at all these gigs by good friends too and everyone was there to have a right old time. That first little hi-hat count of ‘I’ll Find You’ by HR just does something to me….

 

14) Sharon Van Etten – Latitude Festival

 

I missed her at ATP due to playing the drinking game ‘Leanmaster’ but it was OK as her performance earlier in the year was enough to keep me going for some time it was so good. She really is something else this lass.

 

15) Clock Opera – The Registry, Portsmouth

 

I’ve seen Guy and co a few times now and they’re always entertaining. This gig was late, there were technical problems and the sound wasn’t as clear as some of the times i’d seen them before but it was my favourite performance of theirs. Possibly as I think it was the last night of their tour and they seemed really up for it. Top stuff.

 

 

Honourable mentions also go to Richard Hawley & Lisa Hannigan at The Pyramids, Southsea. A freshly reformed 80′s Matchbox B-Line Disaster at Concorde 2, Brighton and Elbow creating some of the biggest sing-a-longs going at Latitude….

 

So….what are your gigs of the year? Maybe the one this coming Saturday?

 

http://www.pieandvinyl.co.uk/events/pievinyl-presents-the-official-christmas-party-2012/

 

To get you in the mood here’s a brand new song of ours.

 

https://soundcloud.com/thebofthebang/the-b-of-the-bang-chemikals

 

Merry Xmas everyone!

 

xxx

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012

No messing….straight to the point….

1) Sigur Ros – Valtari

2) Asgeir Trausti – Dýrð í dauðaþögn

3) Field Music – Plumb

4) Efterklang – Piramida

5) Grizzly Bear – Shields

6) Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan

7) Borko – Born to be Free

8) Tame Impala – Lonerism

9) Clock Opera – Ways to Forget

10) The Invisible – Rispah

I seem to vaguely remember last year’s list being a bit of a lady-fest so odd to see this year is much more testosterone based…(well….that’s not quite accurate as none of these are particularly LAD! LAD! LAD! bands but you know what I mean…). As ever, the Scandinavians have done well. The cheeky scamps. Not that gender or geography matter an iota. It’s either good music or it’s not.

Also, in a year where I’ve probably listened to more varied styles and genres of music than ever before I’m quite surprised that my final choices are all still fairly guitar oriented alt-pop stuff. I guess some habits die hard….probably because a lot of those jazz and classical types are too busy being dead to make a new album. How achingly cool of them…

As per usual there’s loads of albums I’ve either only heard on Spotify (other streaming services are available) or not had enough time with to fall for properly yet. I’m still catching up with last years albums to be honest….and the year before….and the year before etc….

One of my ‘rules’ is that I have to at least properly own said album, so Beach House, First Aid Kit, Sharon Van Etten, Lianne La Havas, (so there’s all the lasses!) The Shins, Godspeed!, David Byrne/St Vincent, Peter Broderick, Swans and The Walkmen would all probably be very high if I’d actually gotten around to purchasing the LP’s yet. Damn being a skint musician and vinyl being more than 50p a go. Fingers crossed that Santa reads this blog…

Also, lingering just outside the top ten would probably be Scott Walker, Spiritualized, Retro Stefson and Richard Hawley. They were just nudged out as it’s been a particularly cracking year for music I think. I expect a few other names will come to me the minute I post this up.

Aaaaaaaaand finally…this is Wit posting so don’t hold any of the others responsible for my musical tastes…..NONE OF THEM ARE AS HIP AS ME*

Top gigs of the year to come later this week….

W

xxx

*they are all hipper than me

WE ARE BACK

Good day all

We are venturing outside into the real world from our self-imposed exile. The thick blank concrete walls of the studio have left us with mole-like eyes, blinking in the winter sun….chomping at the bit to spew forth some new audio ejaculations for your aural canals.

In other words – we’re playing a hometown gig. Our album is finished.

The Bang’s favourite place in the whole world – Pie & Vinyl – are putting on a Christmas shindig at The Registry on Saturday 15th December….and who are we to say no to an invitation from them?

Joining us will be our good buddies Kinky Boot Beasts to provide you with a sonic battering (in the best possible way…) and there will be prizes and surprises of all shapes and sizes……I’ve even heard whispers of the return of the meat solo…….

Here’s the deets – you wouldn’t want to miss this one now would you?

http://www.facebook.com/events/381501581932593/?notif_t=plan_user_joined

See you there

TBOTB

xxxxxx