Birdpen and Sine Star Project Brighten Up November

Two Southampton bands that move the grey matter as well as the body are Birdpen and Sine Star Project.

And both have an excellent November ahead which will reward years of hard graft.

Birdpen (left) digitally release their debut album On/Off/Safety/Danger on 3rd November and have been confirmed as the support for Ida Maria’s 15 date tour of the UK.

As a warm-up they’ll be playing the Joiners this Monday (27th Oct) and I’ll review the album next week.

Meanwhile November sees Sine Star Project supporting Marillion: three gigs in the UK and four in Holland.

I recently spoke with their drummer Matthew Shmigelsky and he joked that because they build their own studio equipment and guitar amps they could easily be placed in a “Geek Rock” genre.

However true I see this ability as a reflection of the band’s dedication to their art and they also approach their song writing with a similar level of thought and skill.

Sine Star Project’s web video presence has recently improved thanks to filmmaker Philip Bloom.

He used the track “little Bird” from their second album “Building Humans” for an art installation and in doing so produced an impressive promotional tool for the band.

This means they have been able to ditch the old promos which were acceptable to die-hard fans but unlikely to attract new ones.

Birdpen and Sine Star Project deserve our support as they are talented and both have the drive and perseverance to take them into Europe and beyond.

Their videos are on www.showcaseuk.tv

See also: Marillion "Peer" Into The Future

Jackson Analogue in session for Levis

Jackson Analogue have posted a brand new video for the title track of the second album "Half Way Home".

Featuring "The Brothers Homes" it was recorded for a Levis Icons session.

Jackson Analogue - Half Way Home

Marillion “Peer” into the Future

Marillion release they 15th album “Happiness Is the Road” on October 20th however the music has been available, legally free, on the internet since September.

The band has been using the peer-to-peer network (P2P) to beat the pirates and also introduce themselves to potentially millions of music lovers.

Marillion are no strangers to the online community, as they point out in their press release they are: “Widely recognised as the first band to truly embrace the Internet’s potential to interact with fans since circa 1996.”

Working with Internet technology company, Music Glue they have added a video message to the downloaded music file which brings to the listeners attention what the band are about and how they can get a DRM free version of the music by signing up to the mailing list.

There are two reasons behind this.

The first was to stop the usual leak when the album was officially released and by doing so engage with the people who prefer their music for free and nudge them in the direction of the tour, t-shirts and other ways the downloader can pay for Marillion to continue existing.

Secondly it continues their successful online relationship with their large and loyal fan base whose pre-orders had paid for the album’s recording and extensive artwork - two separate 96-page full-colour hard-bound books, both stored in a single outer case.

The exclusive deluxe addition which was available to early buyers would also get their name in the credits.

The personal touch has to be the way forward for established bands. Most of them know how many true fans they have and roughly how many albums they will sell on release so all they have to do is provide some credible extras and they’ll be getting the money upfront.

One band Showcase UK has been following recently is Sine Star Project. They don’t yet have a video but they have announced they will be supporting Marillion on part their November tour!

Dates announced so far

14th November @ the Manchester Academy
15th November @ the Bournemouth Opera House
19th November @ the Forum LONDON

Tickets from www.marillion.com (of course)

Dlugokecki - Mini-Album, Gigs

Dlugokecki will join Chris Difford (Squeeze), James Walsh (Starsailor) and various other artists and Matthew Jay fans to celebrate the life of Matthew Jay, an extraordinarily talented singer/songwriter who died five years ago at the age of 24.

The concert takes place at the Shepherds Bush Empire on Friday 10th October 2008 what would have been Matthew’s 30th birthday! All profits are going to his favourite charities Amnesty International & UNICEF. Tickets are £20.

Mini-Album

Dlugokecki release a new 7 track mini album "Let This Be Right" on Cherrywood/AND Records on November 3rd. It includes all brand new, previously unreleased tracks.

There are also 4 free mp3’s at www.myspace.com/dlugokecki which includes a live version of one of the new songs ‘Save my soul’ that was recorded on a Showcase session and a cover version of a Matthew Jay track.

Live dates – headlining unless stated.

Talking Heads 4th Oct
Shepherds Bush Empire 10th October (Tribute gig)
The Vault (Winchester) 13th Oct
The Winchester (Bournemouth) 23rd Oct
Talking Heads (supporting Nizlopi) 24th Oct
The Boiler Room (Guilford) 29th Oct
The Joiners 3rd Nov
The Railway (supporting Nizlopi) Winchester 11th November

Dlugokecki

Dlugokecki on Showcase UK

Birdpen - Debut album, UK tour

Birdpen's highly anticipated debut album On/Off/Safety/Danger will be digitally released on Monday November 3rd.

A free and exclusive download of the track 'Airspace' will accompany the release and be available on all of iTunes European sites.

The album follows the digital release of the Breaking Precedent EP which, along with another album track, included two new tracks.

In November Birdpen will be supporting Norwegian songstress Ida Maria on her UK tour and have a great range of supports on the south coast lined up.

Tour Dates

Wednesday 8th October - Lennons, Southampton (Supporting The Joy Formidable)
Wednesday 15th October - Railway, Winchester (Winchester Live Festival)
Monday 27th October - The Joiners, Southampton (Supporting A Silent Film)

Ida Maria Tour:

Friday 7th November - Oran Mor, Glasgow
Saturday 8th November - Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh
Sunday 9th November - Academy 2, Newcastle
Wednesday 12th November - The Point, Cardiff
Thursday 13th November - The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
Friday 14th November - Academy 2, Sheffield
Saturday 15th November - Barfly, Birmingham
Tuesday 18th November - Komedia, Brighton
Wednesday 19th November - Cockpit, Leeds
Thursday 20th November - Club Academy, Manchester
Saturday 22nd November - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Sunday 23rd November - Zodiac, Oxford
Monday 24th November - Waterfront, Norwich
Wednesday 26th November - Thekla, Bristol
Thursday 27th November - Scala, London

Friday 12th December - Orange Rooms, Southampton (Supporting Delays)

See the BirdPen website for links to tickets and info etc etc.
www.birdpen.com

Birdpen on Showcase UK

Subsource – New Single, Tour and TV

Punk break-beats group Subsource have announce 'Dark Is The New Light' will be released officially on 10th November (pre-orders open details below) and will be touring through October/November.

They have also had 'Disarm' used as the main title music from Sky Sports’ highlights of the first ever Barclaycard World Freerun Championships. An event that brought together 23 athletes from 18 countries (broadcast 22nd September 2008).

Subsource T-Shirts as also available from the web site www.subsource.co.uk

Tour Details

3rd Oct - Monkey Bar, Swansea
10th Oct - The Croft, Bristol
11th Oct - The Jamm (Brixton), London - with STEREO MC'S
17th Oct - TBA, Manchester
18th Oct - The Lamp, Hull
25th Oct - The Brickyard, Carlisle
31st Oct - The Canteen, Barrow-In-Furness

7th Nov - The Jailhouse, Hereford - with IGLU AND HARTLEY
8th Nov - Drop Beats Not Bombs, Rainbow Warehouse, Birmingham
14th Nov - The Purple Turtle (Camden), London
15th Nov - The Boileroom, Guildford **ALL AGES**
21st Nov - TBA, Southampton
22nd Nov - Slackers Convention, Volks Club, Brighton
27th Nov - TBA, Aberdeen
28th Nov - The Ironworks, Inverness - with DREADZONE
29th Nov - TBA, Glasgow
5th Dec - TBA, Berlin, GERMANY
6th Dec - TBA, GERMANY
12th Dec - Oakenfield Social Club, Reading (TBC)
13th Dec - The Watershed, Wimbledon, London (TBC)

Subsource pre-order details
Text the word 'dark' to 78789 (UK). You will be charged £1.50 plus a standard text and receive full details on how to download the 320kbps DRM-free MP3. This service is provided by 7digital.


Subsource

Subsource on Showcase UK