Pin Up - Ladies Nights 3

PIN UP NIGHTS LADIES NIGHT 3

FRIDAY 26TH FEBRUARY, 9PM - 3AM

THE FLYING DUCK, 142 RENFIELD STREET, GLASGOW

GUEST DJS: TRACYANNE & CAREY (CAMERA OBSCURA), ADELE & AILIDH (SONS & DAUGHTERS), EMMA POLLOCK (DELGADOS), MANDA RIN (BIS), EMMY KATE & MARIE DU SANTIAGO (KENICKIE), AND A VERY SPECIAL HUNKY SECRET TREAT!

PLAYING LIVE: FRENCH HORN REBELLION (KITSUNE RECORDS) AND MORE TBC

THE PIN UPS DJS PLAYING THEIR INIMITABLE MIX OF NEW AND CLASSIC INDIE, PUNK, SOUL & ELECTROPOP
“VINTAGE VILLAGE” WITH STALLHOLDERS SELLING JEWELLERY, CLOTHES, LOADS MORE!

£6 FOR LADIES AND £7 FOR GENTS ON THE NIGHT (IF NOT SOLD OUT!)

OR £5 RIGHT NOW FOR BOTH LADIES AND GENTS FROM THE STORE AT HTTP://WWW.PINUP-NIGHTS.CO.UK OR TICKETS SCOTLAND

It’s February, so it must be time for a Pin Ups Ladies Night! This will be Ladies Night 3 and we think that it’s going to be the biggest and best one yet!

Our star live headliners are French Horn Rebellion ( http://www.frenchhornrebellion.com ). Robert and David are a shiny electropop duo from Brooklyn, New York, who came to our attention last autumn with their tremendous single “Up All Night”, which you might have heard being played all over Radio 1 and 6Music. Mixmag made it Electro Tune of the Month, Artrocker gave it 5 stars for its “sparkling synths and vocal bridges of epic scale” and to top things off Kitsune chose it for the highly prestigious opening slot on their latest Kitsuné Maison 8 Compilation. FHR are visiting Pin Ups as part of a UK tour to promote their new EP “Beaches and Friends”, out 1^st March.

In support of FHR will be the sweet harmonic indiepop of Maple Leaves (fronted by Anna Miles - http://www.myspace.com/mapleleavesmusic) and a band that those in the know are calling "the best new band in Scotland" (!), Conquering Animal Sound ( fronted by Anneke Kampman - http://www.myspace.com/conqueringanimalsound ).

For Ladies Night 3 we’re also welcoming the most stellar cast of Guest DJs that Pin Up Nights has ever assembled! Tracyanne and Carey (Camera Obscura), Adele and Ailidh (Sons & Daughters), Emma Pollock (The Delgados), Emmy-Kate and Marie du Santiago (Kenickie), Manda Rin (Bis) and a very special “Hunky Secret Treat” (whose handsome identity we are keeping a closely guarded secret) will all be on the decks during the night to keep you on the dancefloor.

The first 100 ladies to arrive will receive a special Goody Bag, and we will also be once again be setting up a “Vintage Village” (this year with help from the Made in the Shade girls - http://www.wearemadeintheshade.com ) for stallholders selling jewellery, comics, vintage clothing, sweets and loads more.

Overseeing all the chaos and hilarity and filling in the gaps will be the Pin Ups DJs dressed in our best drag gear (joking - or are we..?) and all-lady DJ collective Bow Peep who, after entertaining the Kitchen at September’s Circus and Hogmanay, will be making their Main Room DJing debut!

As you can imagine this shindig is costing us a lot of cash to put together, but we still want to give everybody the best value we possibly can, while also giving ladies the fun and privilege of a discount on the entry fee. So we have come up with the following pricing (pay attention at the back):

1.There will be a strictly limited number of online FIVER tickets available, for ladies or gents, from the store at http://www.pinup-nights.co.uk .

2. After the strictly limited online £5 tickets are gone advance tickets will still available for both ladies and gents for £6, from both the store at http://www.pinup-nights.co.uk or Tickets Scotland. (The Hogmanay Ball was sold out by 10.30pm, so advance tickets might be necessary!)

3. Finally on the night we will charge £6 for ladies and £7 for gents.

(We hope you agree this is still amazing value for all the action involved!)

We’ll be updating the details of the night in the next few weeks so keep checking back!

Go snap up those £5 tickets!

Thanks, Pin Ups.x

ps -

"Ladies Night 1" featured The Pipettes, the ladies from Sons and Daughters, Manda Rin (Bis) and Susan Hay (Xfm) Guest DJing, as well as Pooch, Miss the Occupier, and Sisa playing live and DJs from the variety of girl-club nights that were on the go back then (Dolly Mixture, Pretty Ugly, Blitzkrieg Bop etc). Pictures of the night are http://www.pinup-nights.co.uk/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=32

"Ladies Night 2" featured the ladies from Camera Obscura, Victoria Bergstrom (the Concretes/Peter, Bjorn & John), Queens of Noize (BBC 6 Music/MTV), Manda Rin, Susan Hay and Laura & Kirstin (Pooch) Guest DJing, as well as Paper Planes, Fangs and The Miss’s playing live. Pictures are http://www.pinup-nights.co.uk/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=37

Jocknroll Review of the Year

Here are my choices as best in show for 2009:

New Album of the Year:

1. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
2. Dropkick - Abelay Hotel
3. Sergeant - Sergeant

Old Album of the Year:

1. Jackie DeShannon - Breakaway?: The Songs of Jackie DeShannon 1961-1967
2. Various Artists - The Girls Are At It Again: UK Beat Girls 1964-1969
3. Jackie Lee - The Town I Live In: The EMI 1965-1967

Single of the Year:

1. Camera Obscura - Honey In The Sun (although I think it was a promo only that's good enough for me)
2. Polka Party - Serbian Tennis
3. Camera Obscura - French Navy

Band of the Year:

1. Camera Obscura
2. Norman Blake and Euro Childs aka "Jonny"
3. Dropkick

Gig of the Year:

1. Edwyn Collins with Teenage Fanclub (Mono/Trongate 103, Glasgow)
2. Camera Obscura/Attic Lights (Barrowlands, Glasgow)
3. Attic Lights/The Primary 5/Dropkick/The Parish Music Box (Town Hall, Darvel)

Book of the Year:

1. Simon Goddard - Mozipedia: The Encyclopeadia of Morrissey and The Smiths
2. Luke Haines - Bad Vibes: Britpop and My Part in its Downfall
2. Graham Joyce - Simple Goalkeeping Made Spectacular

Audio Book of the Year:

Andrew Collins - Where Did It all Go Right?: Growing Up Normal in the 70s

Film of the Year:

The Monks - Transatlantic Feedback

TV Programme of the Year:

1. Mad Men
2. House
3. Big Bang Theory

Quiz Show of the Year:

1. Pointless
2. Only Connect
3. University Challenge (even though I'm rubbish at it)

That's your lot for this year. See you all in 2010.

Jocknroll - Top 10 Albums of 2009

Lloyd over at Peenko has invited many of the blogging community to submit their Top 10 albums of 2009. Here, just for the record, is the selection of The Cat (Dave might get round to his at some point). There's an obvious jockanese slant to my selection. To be honest most of the stuff I've bought this year has been compilations for my radio show but here is the modern stuff that has floated my tanker in the past 12 months and, yes, they're in order.

1. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
2. Dropkick – Abelay Hotel
3. Trashcan Sinatras – In the Music
4. Colin MacIntyre – Island
5. Sergeant – Sergeant
6. Ian Brown – My Way
7. Prefab Sprout – Let’s Change the World with Music
8. God Help The Girl – God Help The Girl
9. Butcher Boy – React or Die
10. Jackie Leven – Winter: Men in Prison/Munich Blues

The Cat
=^..^=

Trashcan Sinatras/Camera Obscura - News

Some news from the Trashcan Sinatras:

"hi everyone. if you haven't checked out the trashcans on the web lately, here is the latest news:

record releases:
* "in the music" was released in the uk on september 14
* "people" is being released as a single in the uk on november 9
* a video for "people" is available on youtube
* "in the music" release in the usa and canada in feb/march 2010
* back catalogue re-release still planned...now early 2010

touring:
* a few uk tour dates are finalised:

nov 12, glasgow, oran mor
nov 13, kelso, tait hall
nov 14, edinburgh, cabaret voltaire
nov 16, aberdeen, the warehouse
nov 18, nottingham, rescue rooms
nov 19, london, bloomsbury ballroom

tickets are on sale now. a few more uk/ireland dates still to come.

* japanese tour dates:

feb 16, osaka, club quattro
feb 17, tokyo, club quattro

also possibly australia around then.

* usa/canada around march 2010

other news:
* the band filmed a session in new york for aol, which you can view at spinner.com
* the trashcansinatras website shop now has:

- new t-shirts
- a new radio sessions cd
- trashcan sinatras branded usb sticks with live shows from the 2009 usa tour

* "in the music" lyrics and guitar tabs are now available at trashcansinatras.com
* "in the music" reviews are on the website

you can find more details at trashcansinatras.com. don't forget to check out the band's message board, facebook, myspace, twitter, ilike and reverbnation. thanks for listening."

And from Camera Obscura:

"Camera Obscura release their new single "The Sweetest Thing" on Nov 2nd, 2009 on digital and 7" vinyl. The B-side is a beautiful cover of "Tougher Than The Rest" by Bruce Springsteen. New video features cameos from 'Simon & Garfunkel' and 'Kate Bush'...ahem...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhSanTYPm2g

Camera Obscura On Tour:

OCTOBER
12 59to1, Munich, GER
Buy - http://bit.ly/48xPQ
13 Abart, Zurich, SWZ
Buy - http://bit.ly/30QeiK
14 Casa 139, Milan, ITA
Buy - http://bit.ly/lQYvW
16 La Maroquinerie, Paris, FRA
Buy - http://bit.ly/HOaZ4
18 Le Grand Mix, Tourcoing, FRA
Buy - http://bit.ly/jPVZH
19 Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, BEL
Buy - http://bit.ly/VdgjH
20 Paradiso, Amsterdam, NED
Buy - http://bit.ly/16RbkM
22 The Waterfront, Norwich, UK
Buy - http://bit.ly/ze9OC
23 Komedia, Brighton, UK
Buy - http://bit.ly/19jiVb
24 Phoenix, Exeter, UK
Buy - http://bit.ly/ztRkr
25 Thelka, Bristol, UK
Buy - http://bit.ly/UlGFY
26 Library, Morecambe, UK
Buy - http://bit.ly/bk14Y
27 Cockpit, Leeds, UK
Buy - http://bit.ly/1AZy6s
29 Barrowlands, Glasgow, UK
Buy - http://bit.ly/aNwjS

NOVEMBER
3 Shepherds Bush Empire, London, UK
Buy - http://bit.ly/1DqaRd
5 Casa Del Loco, Zaragoza, SPA
Buy - http://bit.ly/3b38EE
6 Multiusos Sanchez Paraiso, Salamanca, SPA
Buy - http://bit.ly/cxibO
7 Fair, Valladolid, SPA
8 Heineken Theatre, Madrid, SPA
Buy - http://bit.ly/qPrfq - and - http://bit.ly/4hs5YZ
9 Sala Apolo, Barcelona, SPA
Buy - http://bit.ly/3ZU4gy
18 Tipitinas, New Orleans, LA, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/ltj7T
19 Bottletree, Birmingham, AL, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/HnuRf
20 Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/ZimZv
21 Attucks Theatre, Norfolk, VA, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/qDC6e
22 Music Hall Of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/KZI5A
24 Pearl Street Ballroom, Northampton, MA, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/2gLs49
25 The German House, Rochester, NY, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/n83y7
26 Phoenix, Toronto, ON, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/GMeOA
27 Crofoot Ballroom, Pontiac, MI, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/IQ7Lc
28 Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/18i1b7
30 Bluebird, Bloomington, IN, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/RxZEi

DECEMBER
1 Off Broadway, St Louis, MO, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/OUBNj
2 The Lyric Oxford, Oxford, MS, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/Rgt9F
3 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA, USA
Buy - http://bit.ly/2bKGc3


To visit the the newly-opened Camera Obscura shop click -
http://www.camera-obscura-shop.net

Website - www.camera-obscura.net
Twitter - http://twitter.com/camera_obscura_
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/CameraObscuraMusic
MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/cameraobscuraband"

Camera Obscura - More Live Dates

From Camera Obscura:

"Hello, it’s time for the news.

Firstly; a reminder that our session for World Cafe on NPR was broadcast this week. There’s a link to it from here, secondly; we are delighted to declare our new online shop open for business. You can take a spin round the aisles here, thirdly, and gosh doesn’t this seem like it’s becoming something of a habit, here are our new tour dates taking in the USA/Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

On the American dates we will be joined by the wonderful Papercuts and in Oz/NZ by the excellent Slow Club.

USA and Canada dates (please note the rescheduled Atlanta & Alabama shows)

Wed 11/18 New Orleans, LA Tipitina’s
http://www.ticketweb.com/snl/EventListings.action?pl=tipitinas&orgId=12267

Thur 11/19 Birmingham, AL Bottletree
http://www.ticketbiscuit.com/bottletree/eventspotlight.aspx

Fri 11/20 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E0042F0D77D8F3C?artistid=920296&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=60

Sat 11/21 Norfolk, VA Attucks Theatre
http://www.ticketmaster.com/Attucks-Theatre-tickets-Norfolk/venue/8900

Sun 11/22 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
http://www.ticketmaster.com/venue/1098

Tues 11/24 Northampton, MA Pearl Street Ballroom
http://www.nbotickets.com/default.asp

Wed 11/25 Rochester, NY The German House

Thur 11/26 Toronto, ON Phoenix
http://www.ticketmaster.ca/The-Phoenix-Concert-Theatre-tickets-Toronto/venue/131109

Fri 11/27 Pontiac, MI Crofoot Ballroom
http://www.ticketweb.com/snl/VenueListings.action?venueId=22313&pl=ticketweb

Sat 11/28 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall
http://www.turnerhallballroom.org/obscura

Mon 11/30 Bloomington, IN Bluebird
http://www.ticketmaster.com/Bluebird-Nightclub-tickets-Bloomington/venue/41291

Tues 12/01 St Louis, MO Off Broadway
http://uptoeleven.frontgatetickets.com/

Wed 12/02 Oxford, MS The Lyric Oxford
http://www.thelyricoxford.com/ticketinfo.aspx

Thur 12/03 Athens , GA 40 Watt Club
http://www.40watt.com/ticketing.php

Australia & New Zealand

Monday 18 Jan New Zealand Auckland King’s Arms Hotel

Tuesday 19 Jan New Zealand Wellington San Francisco Bathhouse

Thursday 21 Jan Australia Sydney Sydney Festival -Popfrenzy Party

Friday 22 Jan Australia Brisbane The Zoo

Saturday 23 Jan Australia Melbourne Corner Hotel

Monday 25 Jan Australia Perth Amplifiers

Europe

SEPTEMBER
Sat 26 Sep UK Southend Village Green Festival
Mon 28 Sep Belgium tbc
Tue 29 Sep Germany Osnabruck Glanz & Gloria
Wed 30 Sep Denmark Copenhagen Loppen

OCTOBER
Thu 1 Oct Sweden Gothenburg Parken
Fri 2 Oct Norway Oslo Parkteatret
Sat 3 Oct Sweden Stockholm Strand
Mon 5 Oct Sweden Malmo Debaser
Tue 6 Oct Denmark Aarhus Woxhall
Wed 7 Oct Germany Hamburg Knust
Thu 8 Oct Germany Berlin Postbahnhof
Fri 9 Oct Czech Republic Prague The Cross Club
Sat 10 Oct Austria Vienna Flex
Mon 12 Oct Germany Munich 59to1
Tue 13 Oct Switzerland Zurich Abart
Wed 14 Oct Italy Milan Casa 139
Thu 15 Oct France TBC
Fri 16 Oct France Paris Maroquinerie
Sun 18 Oct France Tourcoing Grand Mix
Mon 19 Oct Belgium Brussels Ancienne Belgique
Tue 20 Oct Holland Amsterdam Paradiso
Thu 22 Oct UK Norwich Waterfront
Fri 23 Oct UK Brighton Komedia
Sat 24 Oct UK Exeter Phoenix
Sun 25 Oct UK Bristol Thekla
Mon 26 Oct UK Lancaster Library
Tue 27 Oct UK Leeds Cockpit
Thu 29 Oct UK Glasgow Barrowlands

NOVEMBER
Tue 3 Nov UK London Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Thu 5 Nov Spain Zaragoza Casa Del Loco
Fri 6 Nov Spain Salamanca Multiusos Sanchez Paraiso
Sat 7 Nov Spain Valladolid Fair
Sun 8 Nov Spain Madrid Heineken
Mon 9 Nov Spain Barcelona Apolo"

Enjoy!

Camera Obscura - Tour Dates and News

From Camera Obscura:

"Hello again,

A big thanks to everyone who came out to see us in North America. We will be back soon!

Now remember how we told you about all the festival shows we'd be playing throughout the summer, and we might have mentioned that we'd be touring round the UK and Europe in the Autumn. Well, here we are, barely finished in North America, and we'd like to fill you in on the shows we have organised for later in the year so far. See below.

While we have you, you can also watch us make our TV debut on The Craig Ferguson Show here and a new video for Honey in The Sun here.

Thats pretty much it for now, we'll see you soon no doubt, unless you are in Australia or New Zealand or one of them lands, in which case you'll have to wait a little bit longer (there's a hint there somewhere).

Thanks,
Camera Obscura

JULY
Fri 10 Jul UK T In The Park Festival
Sun 12 Jul Ireland Oxegen festival
Sat 18 Jul UK Suffolk Latitude Festival
Sat 25 Jul UK Derbyshire Indietracks festival
Sun 26 Jul UK London Ben & Jerry's Sundae

AUGUST
Sun 2 Aug UK Cardiff Big Weekend
Sat 8 Aug UK Ayrshire Dean Castle - with Lloyd Cole (how good is that going to be?)
Sat 15 Aug France St Malo La Route de Rock
Sun 23 Aug UK Hay-on-Wye Green Man Festival
Sat 29 Aug Sweden Stockholm Popaganda Festival

SEPTEMBER
Sat 26 Sep UK Southend Village Green Festival
Mon 28 Sep Belgium Venue TBC
Tue 29 Sep Germany Osnabruck Glanz & Gloria
Wed 30 Sep Denmark Copenhagen Loppen

OCTOBER
Thu 1 Oct Sweden Gothenburg Parken
Fri 2 Oct Norway Oslo Parkteatret
Sat 3 Oct Sweden Stockholm Strand
Mon 5 Oct Sweden Malmo Debaser
Tue 6 Oct Denmark Aarhus Woxhall
Wed 7 Oct Germany Hamburg Knust
Thu 8 Oct Germany Berlin Postbahnhof
Fri 9 Oct Czech Republic Prague The Cross Club
Sat 10 Oct Austria Vienna Flex
Mon 12 Oct Germany Munich 59to1
Tue 13 Oct Switzerland Zurich Abart
Wed 14 Oct Italy Milan Casa 139
Thu 15 Oct France Venue TBC
Fri 16 Oct France Paris Maroquinerie
Sun 18 Oct France Tourcoing Grand Mix
Mon 19 Oct Belgium Brussels Ancienne Belgique
Tue 20 Oct Holland Amsterdam Paradiso
Thu 22 Oct UK Norwich Waterfront
Fri 23 Oct UK Brighton Komedia
Sat 24 Oct UK Exeter Phoenix
Sun 25 Oct UK Bristol Thekla
Mon 26 Oct UK Lancaster Library
Tue 27 Oct UK Leeds Cockpit
Thu 29 Oct UK Glasgow Barrowlands

NOVEMBER
Tue 3 Nov UK London Shepherd's Bush Empire
Thu 5 Nov Spain Zaragoza Casa Del Loco
Fri 6 Nov Spain Salamanca Multiusos Sanchez Paraiso
Sat 7 Nov Spain Valladolid Fair
Sun 8 Nov Spain Madrid Heineken
Mon 9 Nov Spain Barcelona Apolo"

Enjoy.

Back From My Holidays - An Update

After a week in the Neuk Of Fife, I'm back and fighting fit. I'd missed the first two days of the holiday thanks to the New Taste of China who decided to poison me with their King Prawn Curry (if that's the "new" taste, I'd hate to try the old one).

In my absence the following has happened:

Camera Obscura have made a super video for "Honey In The Sun", which, in my hu8mble opinion is not only the best track on the album but the song of the year so far. View it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfDg7Vz8Ow4 The video also features the wonderful Cairn String Quartet, well, most of them!

Susan Boyle's making a few quid and good luck to her.

Jim Gellatly and Vic Galloway tied the knot at Rockness!

Biffy Clyro announce a UK tour, with tickets on sale with the usual outlets:The full list of shows are:-

Som more Proclaimers news and bits and pieces:

"A few wee Proclaimers things, you can listen for the next 7 days to Craig and Charlie's interview with Mark Lawson on BBC Radio 4's Arts magazine programme, Front Row at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kwp11


Two songs live acoustically at The Fly's Courtyard Session can be seen at http://www.the-fly.co.uk/words/news/top-news-stories/5331/flytv-in-the-courtyard:-the-proclaimers


Orange The Music Show interview at
http://web.orange.co.uk/p/music/orange_play


Holy Moly interview
http://www.holymoly.com/video/when-hm-met/we-would-walk-500-yards-meet-proclaimers15500.html


GMTV performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jJnTX-kM-s


TuneTribe interview at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YnVfq3GKMQ


The Proclaimers are delighted to return to Shetland for a gig at the Clickimin Centre on Saturday 29th August Tickets on sale 9am Saturday 20 June at Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745555 and at www.seetickets.com


Also, the final date in July's Canadian tour has been added, Ottawa Bluesfest on July 10th on a new downtown stage at Byward Market and this will be a free show www.ottawabluesfest.ca"

Here are DeRosa doing "Cathkin Braes" during the recent Tigerfest and there will be a debut (i.e. a full proper gig) Glasgow gig for Lord Cut-Glass on the 27th of June at King Tuts.

Not really Jocknroll but the Joe Meek biopic "Telstar" is out now, finally, and is so much better than "The Boat That Rocks"!

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!)

Camera Obscura/Attic Lights/Cairn String Quartet - Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow 26 April 2009

This gig wasn’t so much a ‘headline and support’ as a double whammy of pop-tastic acts who treated a packed Barrowlands to a night that will live long in the memory.

With a set tighter than two coats of paint, Attic Lights showed why they should be a force to be reckoned with over the next few years, if there’s any justice. Having left Island Records by mutual consent, the band is working on new material and previewed a new song in the shape of “Stay Before You Leave”. It slipped into the set like it had been there for years and augurs well for their next album.

If Attic Lights were the meat and two veg of the night, Camera Obscura were the most sumptuous of desserts. A sundae of bittersweet lyrics and a luscious sound that you could just melt into.

Coming on to the strains of Glenn Miller’s “In The Mood”, Camera Obscura showed no sign of nerves as they kicked off with the title track from new album “My Maudlin Career”, which as they later informed us with genuine surprise, had entered the UK album charts at 32. Most of the new album was aired, including current single “French Navy”, along with a veritable ‘greatest hits’ of classic singles and much-loved album tracks.

In between all the big pop tunes were the sensitive and haunting “James” and “Country Mile”, which were given the quiet reverence they deserved. The set ended with a double-barrelled blast of power pop as “Lloyd Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken” and “Honey In The Sun” (surely the next single and THE hit of the summer, should the weather oblige) brought the crowd to a frenzy. Old favourites were the order of the day for the encores as “Eighties Fan” and “If Looks Could Kill” brought proceedings to an end. I can only speak for myself but I left the venue with a lovely warm feeling inside and a sense that maybe the world isn’t such a bad place after all. That’s what Camera Obscura’s music can do for you.

The Cairn String Quartet, a quadrumvirate resplendent in black, accompanied both acts. Enhancing an already luscious sound, along with their own growing reputation, these girls are cornering the strings-for-hire market in Scotland. Such is the demand for their services that a studio date with Pop Up beckons and a possible hook up with Ally Kerr. Next stop, the world.

Attic Lights
God
Never Get Sick of The Sea
Dirty Thirst
Stay Before You Leave
5 Weeks Behind (CSQ)
Wendy (CSQ)
Late Night Sunshine (CSQ)
Bring You Down (CSQ)

Camera Obscura
My Maudlin Career
Tears for Affairs
Teenager
The Sweetest Thing (CSQ)
French Navy (CSQ)
Let’s Get Out of This Country
James
Forest and Sands (w/Tim, Attic Lights)
Come Back Margaret
Swans (w/Tim, Attic Lights)
Country Mile
Lloyd I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken (CSQ)
Honey In The Sun
Eighties Fan (CSQ)
If Looks Could Kill

CSQ – Accompanied by Cairn String Quartet

On a personal level, I’d like to offer a big thanks to the Attic Lights guys, the Cairn String Quartet girls and Francis McDonald for their time and chat.

Music in the car going to the gig: Various - Out of Sight: More Sounds from the In Crowd
Music in the car coming from the gig: Billie Davis – Tell Him: The Decca Years

Highlights: Attic Lights “Never Get Sick of The Sea”, Camera Obscura “Country Mile”, the Cairn String Quartet.
Lowlights: The people chatting ALL the way through the Attic Lights set and the bird who shat on me before the gig!

After a couple of dates over the Irish Sea, Camera Obscura head off to America and Attic Lights stay in the UK for some festival dates, including the Darvel Homecoming Festival at Darvel Town Hall on Friday 8 May 2009. See you there.

The Cat
=^..^=

Camera Obscura - A Band Beginning With C

At 0055 tomorrow morning (that's very early on Tuesday for you night owls) you can see a great wee programme about Camera Obscura called "A Band Beginning With C". Part of Channel 4's "4 Music: 4 Play" series the band are interviewed and play a tune or two (I suspect).

Here's the trailer:



Tape it, Sky Plus it, what you will.

A Message from Camera Obscura Towers

Its all go here at Obscura Towers...

Our new single, 'French Navy' is out now, available on 7" b/w 'The World Is Full Of Strangers' and CD b/w 'You're The Only Star In My Blue Heaven' and Jim Noir's 'French Navy' Remix. It is also available as a download. We are very excited it finally out.

The new album, 'My Maudlin Career', is coming out on Monday 20th April (in Europe) and Tuesday 21st April (in North America) also across three formats, LP. CD and DL.

Some reviews said this:
"Make no mistake, this is a remarkably beautiful record. (It) exists to reward those both mad, and sad, in love." NME (9/10) "A whole album of 60s pop gems." The Word "To sing you into springtime, (My Maudlin Career) is sauntering, glistening, honey-dripping." Plan B

Buy from:

Rough Trade: http://bit.ly/EQfdb
Amazon: http://bit.ly/MoBXj
4AD: http://bit.ly/8XFQj
Beggars USA: http://bit.ly/15APpb

If we're putting out a new album shouldn't we have a launch party you ask?
Good idea. Becasue we live in Glasgow, we thought we'd have one here, in Mono from 8.30pm on Sunday Night (19th April). Feel free to pop along and here the new album and us DJing, join us for a tincture, and Monorail will even be opening at midnight in case you can't wait till the morning to buy one. There will be a raffle, with prizes, and if any of us are still capable of holding a pen at midnight, we'll sign your albums.

Also, if you find yourself near a wireless or an interweb on Saturday, we're live on Jonathan Ross on BBC Radio 2 (18th April).

Then on Monday night (12.30am: it's Tuesday morning really, if you insist on pedancy, but you know what I mean) - Paul Morley hosts a documentary on Camera Obscura: A Band Beginning with C, on Channel 4 on your telly.

As if that wasn't enough, the UK and Ireland dates start on Tuesday 21st in Newcastle, then its Manchester Club Academy on the 22nd, London Village at the Shepherd's Bush Empire on the 23rd, Leamington Spa at The Assembly on the 24th, Sheffield Leadmill on the 25th, Glasgow on the 26th at the Barrowlands (goan yersel!), Belfast Stiff Kitten on the 29th and Dublin at the Andrews Lane Theatre on the 30th.

North American Tour runs from the end of May into July, I'd type out all the dates but I can't face that any more than you can face reading them all, they're up on the myspace and the new official facebook page and the new website.

Oh, did I mention the new website will be up in time for the album coming out? same old url www.camera-obscura.net

And you know how we're always telling you we were going to get new merch? Aye, well we did, it should be on sale on the tours and will go into the shop as soon as we get it back from the folks making it all.

Bored yet? Fair enough. We are looking forward to seeing you all out and about on tour, and hope you enjoy the new records.

Cheers

Jim Gellatly/Camera Obscura

Instead of posting links to Jim Gellatly's excellent New Music podcast every week, I've linked to it on the right. They really are very good.

There's an excellent Camera Obscura interview in the Scotland on Sunday: http://tinyurl.com/c9h2r2

See you all at the Camera Obscura/Attic Lights gig on 26th April at Barrowland Ballroom. Should be a pop-tastic evening.

Indietracks Festival 24-26 July 2009

Okay, it's not a Scottish festival but a number of great Scottish bands have been lined up to play the Indietracks Festival, which continues to go from strength to strength.

This year's line-up includes appearances from several Scottish acts including Camera Obscura, The BMX Bandits, Wake The President and Butcher Boy.

Go to the Indietracks website for more details.

Camera Obscura - Tour Dates and News

From the band themselves:

"Hello everyone

We've just got back from playing the first shows to give the new songs a bit of an airing in London, New York and SXSW and it was great to be out and about again and remembering what you all look like. We are now home all of five minutes and are all jumpy and excited about some more shows we have coming up. Presenting....the North American Tour of Summer 09...

27th May Nashville, TN, Mercy Lounge
28th May - Newport, KY, Southgate House
29th May - Chicago, IL, Metro
30th May - Minneapolis, MN, Cedar Cultural Center
1st June - Denver, CO, Bluebird
2nd June - Salt Lake City, UT, Urban Lounge
4th June - Portland, OR, Wonder Ballroom
5th June - Vancouver, BC, Commodore
6th June - Seattle, WA, Showbox
8th June - San Francisco, CA, The Fillmore
9th June - Pomona, CA, Glasshouse
11th June - Los Angeles, CA, Henry Fonda Theatre
13th June - Mexico City, Mexico, Lunario
15th June - Austin, TX, Antones
16th June - Dallas, TX, The Loft
18th June - Birmingham, AL, Bottletree
19th June - Atlanta, GA, Variety Playhouse
20th June - Carrboro, NC, Cat s Cradle
21st June - Washington, DC, 9:30 Club
22nd June - Philadelphia, PA, T L A
24th June - New York, NY, Webster Hall
25th June - Boston, MA, Somerville Theatre
26th June - Montreal, QUE, La Tulipe (10:30 curfew)
27th June - Toronto, ON, Lee s Palace
29th June - Columbus, OH, Wexner Center Ohio State University
30th June - Pittsburgh, PA, Mr. Smalls

Looks pretty good huh? Hope you noticed the Mexico date, we have not forgotten you. Don't forget the Paris, British and Irish dates too, here's a quick reminder:

16th April - Paris, La Maroquinerie
21st April - Newcastle, Academy 2
22nd April - Manchester, Club Adademy
23rd April - London, Shepherd's Bush Empire
24th April - Leamington Spa, The Assembly
25th April - Sheffield, The Leadmill
26th April - Glasgow, The Barrowlands
29th April - Belfast, The Stiff Kitten
30th April - Dublin, Andrew's Lane Theatre

Also as the album release draws nearer and you can express your excitement by preordering the record from HERE in the UK and HERE in North America.

Finally, if you have a free minute today, you could vote for French Navy to be record of the week on one of our favourite radio shows by emailing the subject 'vote camera obscura french navy' to radcliffe.maconie@bbc.co.uk

Speaking of French Navy, you can see the video for it HERE or on the Jocknroll blog (okay, we added that the last bit - The Cat)

Phew. Thanks for reading

The band xx"

Camera Obscura - French Navy video

Camera Obscura's "French Navy" is out as a single on 4AD on Monday 13th April, followed a week later by the album "My Maudlin Career". Meanwhile, here's the fabulous video for the single:



Now, wasn't that good? I feel all warm and tingly now.

The Cat
=^..^=

Comic Relief - Jocknroll Style @ ABC 2/Horse

Now there's a line-up you'd sell your Granny to see. Enjoy. Give generously.

Horse will also be treading the boards in June in support of her latest album "Coming Up For Air"

6 June: Fat Sams, Dundee
12 June: The Bush Hall, London
13 June: Queen's Hall, Edinburgh (tickets on sale now at www.queenshall.net)

Camera Obscura's Maudlin Career

The new album from Camera Obscura - "My Maudlin Career" - will be released on the seminal 4AD Records label (www.4ad.com) on CD, vinyl & digital download on April 20th.

This is the fourth full-length offering from Glasgow's finest purveyors of literate, melodic pop. It is the follow up to the critically acclaimed "Let's Get Out Of This Country" album. And it is their best yet.

The title track is available NOW on i-tunes, or you can hear it HERE or get it for free HERE (subscribe to mailing list for download).

Camera Obscura will perform at the South By Southwest Music Conference* in Austin, Texas in March before heading to New York for a show at the Bell House in Brooklyn with special guest Laura Cantrell.

The band will also play some UK dates in April:
23 April - Shepherd's Bush Empire, London. Tickets on sale 10th Feb 9am HERE**.
26 April - Barrowlands Ballroom, Glasgow. Tickets on sale 12th Feb 9am - Phone 08444 999 990 or go HERE.

* Other Scottish bands confirmed for SXSW so far include Come On Gang!(Edinburgh), Dananananakroyd (Glasgow), Flood of Red (Glasgow), FOUND (Edinburgh), The Hazey Janes (Dundee), Healthy Minds Collapse (Fife), Nacional (Glasgow), Pearl and the Puppets (Glasgow), The Pictish Trail (Anstruther), Primal Scream (Glasgow), The Proclaimers (Edinburgh), Sandi Thom (Edzell), Twin Atlantic (Glasgow), The Vaselines (Glasgow), We Were Promised Jetpacks (Glasgow) and Astrid Williamson (Shetland Islands).

** If you thought the current ticketing system for gigs was bad, then READ ON.