The Proclaimers - More Tour Dates 2009

The Proclaimers have confirmed a Canadian tour in July.

Also confirmed are gigs on August 1st, a free event Croydon Summer festival in London, August 17th at Belfast Mandela Hall and August 18th at Dublin National Concert Hall.

All ticket info at www.proclaimers.co.uk/2003/the_gigs.htm

Saturday 4th July - Mariposa Festival
Monday 6th July – Hamilton Convention Centre
Wednesday 8th July - Peterborough Festival of Lights
Thursday 9th Toronto Mod Club
Tuesday 12th Quebec Festival D'ete
Monday 13th Winnipeg Club Regent
Wednesday 15th July – Edmonton Century Casino
Thursday 16th July – Calgary Deefoot Casino
Saturday 18th July – Vancouver Folk Festival

Reminder on all gigs confirmed so far for this year.

Special guests for June dates are Walter Mitty & The Realists
Friday 26th June - Portree Isle Of Skye Community Centre
Saturday 27th June - Oban Corran Halls
Sunday 28th June - Kelso Tait Hall

Saturday 4th July - Mariposa Festival, Ontario
Monday 6th July – Hamilton Convention Centre
Wednesday 8th July - Peterborough Festival of Lights, Ontario
Thursday 9th Toronto Mod Club
Tuesday 12th Quebec Festival D'ete
Monday 13th Winnipeg Club Regent
Wednesday 15th July – Edmonton Century Casino
Thursday 16th July – Calgary Deerfoot Casino
Saturday 18th July – Vancouver Folk Festival

Friday 31st July - Stokes Bay Festival, Stokes Bay, Hampshire
Saturday 1st August – Croydon Summer Festival
Sunday 2nd August - Stockton International Riverside Festival
Saturday 15th August – Cleethorpes Rocks, Meridian Park
Monday 17th August Belfast Mandela Hall
Tuesday 18th Dublin National Concert Hall
Friday 21st August - Rhythm Festival, Bedford
Saturday 22nd August – V Festival, Staff, CH 4 Stage
Sunday 23d August – V Festival, Chelms Ch 4 Stage
Monday 31st August - Shrewsbury Folk Festival

September USA tour dates to be announced

October 2009
Special guests for England & Wales are from The Wonderstuff, Miles Hunt & Erica Nockalls Special guests for Scotland are Mr Kil

09 Carlisle Sands Centre
10 Manchester Apollo
12 Norwich UAE
13 Cambridge Corn Exchange
14 Oxford O2 Academy
16 Nottingham Royal Centre
17 Southampton Guild Hall
18 Exeter University Great Hall
20 Bristol Colston Hall
21 Cardiff St. David's Hall
22 London Hammersmith Apollo
24 Coventry Warwick Arts Centre
25 Llandudno Venue Cymru
26 Birmingham Symphony Hall
28 Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
29 Sheffield City Hall
30 Leeds O2 Academy
November
01 Newcastle City Hall
05 Dumfries DG1
07 Aberdeen Exhibition Centre
09 Perth Concert Hall
10 Edinburgh Usher Hall
11 Edinburgh Usher Hall
13 Glasgow SECC

Belle and Sebastian/God Help The Girl news

"Hi Everyone,

The first single by God Help The Girl, the new project produced by Stuart is released this week by Rough Trade.

"Come Monday Night" is the first track to be released from the self titled album by God Help The Girl which is due for release on 22nd June on Rough Trade. The single is backed by the non album track "Howard Jones is My Mozart".

A limited edition 7" and download version of the single will be available from this week with the 7" available from bigger branches of HMV, selected independents including Rough Trade and Sister Ray in London; Action Records in Preston, One Up Records in Aberdeen, Fopp and Rythmic in Edinburgh and Monorail in Glasgow.

It can also be purchased online from the b&s online store (http://www.belleandsebastianshop.com) (while stocks last!)

Also available is a subscription package for God Help The Girl which includes all the planned releases from the next few months and much more...read about this at the God Help The Girl website at http://www.godhelpthegirl.com

Bye for now,
B&S & Banchory"

Attic Lights/The Primary 5/Dropkick/The Parish Music Box - Town Hall, Darvel 8 May 2009

If the recent Camera Obscura/Attic Lights Barrowlands gig was a double whammy of pop, then last night's Darvel Festival gig was a quadraphonic aural delight with four quality bands taking to the stage on a great night for lovers of melodic pop.

Due to a prior engagement with a fish supper on the bench outside the venue, accompanied by Annemarie and Fiona from the Cairn String Quartet, I missed half of The Parish Music Box's set. But what I did see was very impressive and once you get past the Rhydian-meets-Morrissey look and mannerisms of lead singer Andy, you can hear an interesting band, with more than a hint of Cousteau about them. And that's no bad thing.

Two previous attempts to see Dropkick live had been aborted due to personal reasons too trivial to go into here. Needless to say I was delighted to finally catch their finely-honed country-tinged pop. I'm always delighted to see a band using harmonies and all four band members get in on the act to great effect. On a personal level I would love to have heard the title track from "Patchwork" and opener "Nowhere Girl" from the same album but I have no doubt I'll have more opportunities soon to hear them live. There was more than enough

Opening with "What Am I Supposed To Do?" from debut album "North Pole", The Primary 5, as they say in football parlance, set their stall out early doors. With four guitarists up front, including new recruit Gordon Keen (ex-Eugenius/Captain America/BMX Bandits), they were playing attacking pop and hell mend anyone who got in the way. Half of their set came from their most recent platter "High Five" and they were joined on stage for the title track by the Bellshill Beach Boy himself, Duglas T Stewart. Sure there are bound to be comparisons with lead singer Paul Quinn's musical alma mater but I can think of a lot worse bands to sound like. They're developing their own sound and musically maturing with every record. My personal highlight of their excellent set was "Fly Baby Fly", which, to me at least, had an air of The Beatles-meet-The Pastels about it and that's something you don't hear everyday.

Playing all the tracks from their stunning debut "Friday Night Lights" alongside a couple of brand new sings and some old favourites, Attic Lights served up a fabulous pick 'n' mix of pop goodies to an enthusiastic crowd. Despite seeing Attic Lights four times in the last six months, I still can't get enough of their harmonic, melodic guitar-driven power pop. With plenty of keyboards and pedal steel guitar thrown into mix too, their well-crafted songs are nothing less than wonderful. Your next chance to catch this very talented band at The Big Festival on 25th July. You certainly won't regret it. Hell, I may even join you! Again!!

The Parish Music Box
Heavy Drinkers
Sand Apple
Velocity Kendall
Can't Weigh The Rain
Petrocelli
Sniffer Dogs
Our Roman Knows
Bring It On

Dropkick
Only For Yourself
Can't Help It
Making Time To Talk
Breakdown
Choose
Don't Know Where It Ends
Dot The I
Figure It Out
Lucky That The Heart
Obvious
Avenues

The Primary 5
What Am I Supposed To Do
Out In The Cold
High 5
Sunsets
I'll Lay You Down
I Wonder Why
Lost and Confused
Fly Baby Fly
So Much To Find
Make Believe

Attic Lights
Bring You Down
God
The Dirty Thirst
Suzi Come On (new song debut)
People Say
Never By Myself
Walkie Talkie
Send Those Dark Eyes This Way
Stay Before You Leave (new song)
Late Night Sunshine
Martin
Bad Day (new song debut)
Game of Pricks (Guided By Voices cover)
Winter On
Wendy
Nothing But Love (Encore)
Never Get Sick of the Sea (Encore)

A big thank you to Fiona and Annemarie from the Cairn String Quartet for their company and craic. I had a bad start to the day and they snapped me out of my grumpy mood.

Music in the car going to the gig: The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs
Music in the car travelling home from the gig: The Primary 5 - High Five (3 times because I daren't risked changing CD mid-journey, especially at 1am on the M8!)

Highlights: Attic Lights “Send Those Dark Eyes this Way”, The Primary 5 “So Much To Find”, Dropkick "Lucky That The Heart", The Parish Music Box "Our Roman Knows", The Cairn String Quartet (well, half of them) doing "air" strings.

Lowlights: Twice being asked to "move along" from an area that wasn't exactly mobbed - not everyone wants to sit at a table and chairs at a gig. Also, there was only one prize at the raffle - where's the tin of shortbread? There's always shortbread at a raffle!! These are very minor gripes because it was well organised and I look forward to returning to Darvel in future years. Well done to Sheila, Neil and your team.

Ten Things I Learned In Darvel:

1. It's pronounced "Dur-vel", apparently.
2. Fiona and Annemarie (Cairn String Quartet) cannot do The Slosh - more lessons needed ladies!
3. Attic Lights' drummer Noel is actually Captain Caveman (Zowie!) or, sans beard, Bud Cort!
4. The Primary V could do with more guitarists.
5. All Attic Lights songs "need strings" (so say Fiona and Annemarie)
6. Darvel is near Moscow (no, not that one)
7. Attic Light's Jamie has a big organ. (Yamaha, I believe)
8. Nobody plays "air cello" and "air viola" like Fiona and Annemarie.
9. Salt and vinegar on your chips isn't so bad after all.
10. Annemarie McGahon is a human beatbox.

Peace out...

The Cat
=^..^=

Trashcan Sinatras - New Album

Hi everyone - it has been a while since the last update but we have a bit of news to share:

***new album, "in the music"***
a special, limited, deluxe version of the trashcan sinatras' new album "in the music" is now available for pre-order at trashcansinatras.com!

* includes a high quality (320 kb/s) download of the 10 track album (link sent after your order clears)
* includes 2 bonus tracks not available anywhere else
* limited to 2,000 copies, individually numbered
* special packaging - clothbound, screen-printed digipak with custom made, paper slipcase
* special artwork - personal photos and commentary from the band and album designer emlyn firth
* first 250 orders are signed by the band
* free copy of the "wild mountainside" single while supplies last

also, pre-order by may 31 and your name will be included in the deluxe cd liner notes as a special thanks for your support!

the deluxe cd is $39.95 in north america, £26.99 everywhere else.
note: if you're interested in a low numbered copy of the cd, there is a variable pricing option, with the numbers assigned on that basis.

the cds should be mailed slightly in advance of the regular cd release.

***regular album release***
the band has signed a north american licensing deal with hensley music group, which has ties to EMI records. the regular 10 track album will be released in north america on july 14.

the band is signed with lo-five records in the uk, which will release the album in the uk, europe and rest of the world in august.

***gigs***
the band is playing at the fuji festival on july 25 and expects to tour in north america in august and the uk/europe afterwards. tours of japan and australia are possible later in the year.

****guitar chords/lyrics***
if you haven't been to trashcansinatras.com lately, all of the lyrics and guitar chords from the first 4 albums, plus b-sides have been added or updated. "in the music" will be added once the album is released.

***find us***
the trashcans are now on facebook and twitter, as well as myspace and ilike. please see trashcansinatras.com for more details and updates.

thanks for listening and we hope to see you on the road in 2009!

Attic Lights - A Short Film

Here's a short film about Attic Lights called "A Short Film About Attic Lights":



See you in Darvel.

The Orchids

Jocknroll favourite The Orchids have unveiled a new track on their MySpace site. "Need You To Believe In Me", a track from their 2007 album "Good To Be A Stranger" has been remixed by long time collaborator Ian Carmichael. Enjoy.

Tigerfest

A wee reminder of the goodies in store for those partaking in Tigerfest in May 2009. Don't forget the wonderful bargain that is on offer for those taking in the Carnegie Hall gigs in Dunfermline. You can get a season ticket for all four gigs for an amazing £10!! It's limited, while stocks last, blah blah blah.

Full listings

Edinburgh

Wed 6: Amusement Parks On Fire / The Gothenburg Address, @ Cabaret Voltaire. 7pm, £8

Thur 7: Meursault / Inspector Tapehead / The Japanese War Effort (Song:bytoad):, @ Bowery. 8pm, £5

Fri 8: Aberfeldy / Ex Lion Tamer / The Gillyflowers (17seconds / ZekePromotions), @ Cabaret Voltaire. 7pm, £10

Sat 9: Ordinary Allstars / SupersonicSims / B-burg DJset (Fallen Apple Events), @ Cabaret Voltaire. 7pm, £7

Sun 10: The Stantons / The Gillyflowers / Le Reno Amps (Duty Free) , @ Cabaret Voltaire. 7pm, free

Dunfermline

all shows at Carnegie Hall

Wed 13 May: James Yorkston / Lisa Knapp. 7.30pm, £10

Thu 14 May: Cruiser / Found / Swimmer One. 7.30pm, £6

Fri 15 May: ballboy / Audrey Sings Nico / The Rosie Thomas Project / Saint Jude's Infirmary. 7.30pm, £6

Sat 16 May: Lord Cut-Glass / De Rosa / Angil + The Hiddentracks. 7.30pm, £6

Aberdeen

Thu 21 May: Alasdair Roberts / Kitchen Cynics / Amber Wilson (IMP) @ Tunnels. 8pm, £8 / £6

Sun 24 May: King Creosote / The Pictish Trail / Player Piano (IMP) @ Lemon Tree. 7.30pm, £14

Camera Obscura

Congratulations to Camera Obscura, whose excellent "My Maudlin Career" album went into the UK Top 100 Album Chart at an impressive 32 last week. Well done. (Can't believe the "French Navy" single didn't dent the Top 100 singles - tasteless swines!)