BUY IT EXCLUSIVELY ON ITUNES NOW /// eMusic, 7digital, Amazon, HMV etc from 25/01/10
Brainlove's own Stairs To Korea (aka William Vaughan) releases his second single on Monday January 11th, 2010. It's a soaring, impassioned indie-pop anthem called "All Of Your Friends". The Sweeping The Nation blog describe it thus: "a fiercely intelligent chronicle of the human condition by means of dialled down anthemics, DIY electronics and a smart guitar line.... Vaughan has already demonstrated he has enough ideas to make an extended go of bringing fresh life to man-with-guitar ideals."
The home-made video, above, was premiered over at The Line Of Best Fit this week, and features Will cavorting around Iceland, Primrose Hill and London Zoo with his twin brother Magnus.
The cover and artwork feature a photograph by Internet Forever's Heartbeeps (as seen on the banner below).
The single is out January 11th via iTunes, eMusic, 7digital etc. You can keep up with all things S2K via his Twitter or Facebook, or by following Brainlove.
"Your New Favourite Band Is Here" - BBC Introducing
"Still hanker after the glorious days of Postcard Records? We might have just found you your new Edwyn Collins. Sunshine filled ramshackle indie-pop at its very best" - The Line Of Best Fit
"Equipped with a tender voice and pure talent in creating so many sounds with only one pair of hands, this man is the latest in our eternal hunt for shonky heartfelt interesting pop music."- Muso's Guide
PAGAN WANDERER LU - POCKETS IN SHROUDS EP, INTERNET FOREVER REMIX, NEW ALBUM ANNOUNCED FOR '10
To wrap up an amazing 2009, Brainlove Records is to release a final EP by one the label's mainstays, Cardiff's Pagan Wanderer Lu. The lead track is one of the closing trilogy of songs from Pagan Wanderer Lu's album"magnum opus" (Plan B Magazine) "Fight My Battles For Me".
"Pockets In Shrouds" is an acoustic folk song, on the very Christmassy subject of death. The song features Laura and David from PWL's sometime backing band The Volunteers, who add scratchy Dirty Three inspired violin, and angelic backing vocals. Piano, violin, plucked strings and pretty harmonies carve out an oblique and engrossing story. "Pockets in Shrouds is a song about betrayal by someone who has died," explains Regan, "and how their death freezes all that went before into a narrative with a happy beginning, not so happy middle, and an ambiguous end. From the point of view of the person at the coffinside there's no more closure to be had, no reconciliation other than through the fantasy of bringing the person back. It is based on true events."
As part of the activity around "Fight My Battles For Me", Pagan Wanderer Lu recorded videos and live sessions to accompany each song on the record. For "Pockets In Shrouds", Pagan Wanderer Lu went to Tinkinswood Burial Chamber to record a live session out in the Welsh countryside. The results can be seen here and the rest of the films are here.
PWL also recorded some live sessions at the London's legendary Dreamtrak Studios. An impromptu band was put together featuring Oli Horton from A Scholar & A Physician, Laura and Chris of Internet Forever, Will "Stairs To Korea" Vaughan, and John from Thee Oracle and Brainlove. Those sessions are included on the EP, along with an Internet Forever remix of "2.0///The Bridge Of Sighs".
A new album "European Monsoon", is currently being mixed and mastered, and is set for release in Spring 2010.
POWERHAUS! Fresh from two stunning sets at Iceland's Airwaves Festival, Brainlove is proud to announce the release of Mat Riviere's debut single on December 7th 2009. The track, entitled FYH, is a powerful, time-stretched earworm that announces an exciting new UK artist.
FYH will be available for free, with a download bundle also available for those who need more containing a Napoleon IIIrd remix, a Dreamtrak remix, a live version from Iceland Airwaves 2009, and a brand new b-side. The video, directed by Michael Page, and a stream of the track are available now via our FYH page here, and listen to more Mat at his MySpace - here.
AERONAUTS AHOY
CORRBLIMEY!
Watch the amazing We Aeronauts healing hearts with their beautiful songs over at BBC Oxford... and watch this space for details of more Aeronautical goings on.
STAIRS TO KOREA WEEK!
YESYES!Stairs To Korea's infectious debut single "Boy Bear It In Mind" is now out there in the world. It's available to buy online exclusively from iTunes right now, and from eMusic, 7digital, Amazon, Play etc as of next Monday. So if you happen to have an iTunes account, you can get it for 79p or something right now. That's less than a can of coke at Victoria that is.
The awesum video, featuring cameos from all kinds of BRNLV affiliated bands, is online at YouTube and Vimeo - please take a minute to leave a rating & fave & comment if you wanna help the video scale the dizzy heights of the YouTube charts.
The release party is at White Heat tomorrow night, with Kid Carpet and Curly Hair playing also. The lovely Huw Stephens premiered the track on his Radio 1 show last week, and the press response has been very positive so far - see the nice quotes below. Amazing Scenes My Friends! Onwards!
IN HUW MUSIC WE TRUST / KEYBOARD WIRE
YIP! In case anyone missed the online excitement about this on Twitter, here's a reminder that for the next few days you can Listen Again to this week's Huw Stephens show. It features Brainlove favourites Internet Forever and the first UK radio play for Stairs To Korea. And a conversation about yoghurt. Amazing scenes: In Huw Music We Trust.
Also: Keyboard Choir have a track on this month's Wire Tapper #22, the covermount CD on the esteemed The Wire magazine. It's a track from their recent Electrical Unity EP. The EP is available to download for free from last.fm in conjunction with Brainlove and The Independent Online.
And lest we forget, it's Brainlove Club tonight, and we have a three-way record release party coming up too at WHITE HEAT. Awesum!
NEW MUSIC GOODNESS THIS AUTUMN FROM BRNLV
We are happy to announce some new releases towards the end of 2009. Two very exciting new albums by Kippi Kaninus and Mat Riviere are coming out on ltd. edition CD release; a new 27-track survey/compilation entitled Fear Of A Wack Planet; and the debut single from Stairs To Korea. You can pre-order the CDs now and get them as soon as the stock comes in, or pick them up from your local record shop soon.
WE AERONAUTS WIN GREEN POLL
WE AERONAUTS have been voted the best of 430 hopeful bands to win the 2009 Green Poll to open the main stage at Green Man Festival. An eight-strong folk pop arkestra from Oxford, theirs is a joyful, melodic, pastoral sound that makes feet move and spirits lift.
They got through two highly competitive rounds of public voting, and were then hand picked as winners at a special live show with peformances from 6 finalists. The music industry panel included representatives from Bella Union, Clash Magazine and Moshi Moshi Records.
The band have had a great 2009, with support coming from Huw Stephens and Bethan Elfyn on Radio 1, plaudits from CMU Daily, BBC Oxford and The Fly, and shows in front of packed out audiences at Club NME, Brainlove Festival and a euphoric recent performance at legendary underground arts space The Shunt Lounge.
They will release their debut EP in Autumn 2009 on Brainlove Records. 'The House On Ash Tree Lane' from the EP is is here and is available free to the first hundred people to click!
More tracks and videos are up at MySpace and a rousing rendition of their anthemic 'Chalon Valley House Band' can be seen here.
Quotes from the judges are as follows:
"We Aeronauts exhibited the greatest character of the assembled finalists... the togetherness, the energy and spirit of We Aeronauts really shined, even through only four songs. They're clearly developing still - it'll be fascinating to see what they can achieve." - Mike Diver, Clash Magazine
"We Aeronauts have an authenticity about them, a genuine joy in their sound. The songs and performances are all strong, a kind of pleasing hybrid of the Beautiful South and Fanfarlo. To open the mainstage at Green Man, we all felt the band exuded the right vibes. Fun, positive, uplifting, with a good pop/folk sensibility, they leave the audience with smiles outside and inside." - Simon Raymonde, Bella Union
STAIRS TO KOREA DREAMTRAK SESSION / WE AERONAUTS REACH GREEN POLL FINAL / BRNLV @ SHUNT FILMS
MOLY! New BRNLV artist Stairs To Korea has done a Dreamtrak Session (whilst mixing his forthcoming single 'Boy Bear It In Mind' at the legendary Dreamtrak studio in Dalston).
FLAMING NORA!We Aeronauts have made it to the final of the Green Man Poll, and playing live at Camden Monarch on July 23rd to a panel of three. The prize is to open the festival... if you're in London, come down and DANCE! INFO
Also! There are films of performances by Gaggle, Mat Riviere, PWL, Keyboard Choir, Napoleon IIIrd, We Aeronauts, Stairs To Korea and Curly Hair are all live on the blog thanks to our man Dan Marner. Click here to watch...
SHUNT PICTURES AND FILMS / PARTYNICE MAGAZINE THROW NICE PARTY
Gosh! The Shunt Lounge shows were just wonderful. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who played and everyone helped out and came along, and especially to Hannah Ringham who made it all possible.
Click here to see Sonny Malhotra's photos of the Friday night, and click here to see some videos of performances taken by Dan Marner. More will be added over the coming weeks.
BRAINLOVE ANNOUNCES TWO NIGHTS AT SHUNT SPACE IN LONDON
Blimey! A really special one, this. We've been wanting to put something together at the amazing Shunt Lounge for ages, and our chance has finally come this July 2nd & 3rd.
For the uninitiated, Shunt is a labyrinthine network of vaults and tunnels under London Bridge station that's used as an art and music space, with all kinds of nooks and crannies with interesting things going on, a theatre, a cinema and an amazing bar. The space is closing due to development work in September, so this is a great excuse to come and see Napoleon IIIrd, Keyboard Choir, PWL, Mat Riviere, Stairs To Korea, We Aeronauts, Thee Oracle and Gaggle play live at Shunt before it's gone... have a look at the Facebook Event for details.
PAGAN WANDERER LU BLOG WEEK AT THE INDEPENDENT ONLINE
Cripes! All this week Pagan Wanderer Lu is blogging for The Independent Online's Independent Minds network and giving away tracks from his back catalogue. See it here - paganwanderer.livejournal.com.
The 'Fight My Battles For Me' CD is in all rad indie stores and web shops now... so, have a look, have a read, check back throughout the week, share the page, and of course - buy the record!
PAGAN WANDERER LU ALBUM RELEASED ON CD
Pagan Wanderer Lu's amazing new album Fight My Battles For Me is released on CD via Cargo Distribution on June 15th. Plan B magazine have described it as "a magnus opus", and Huw Stephens has called PWL "a breath of fresh air". This album is one of the most musically intriguing and lyrically labyrinthine you'll hear all year. Get it from iTunes, eMusic, 7digital and Amazon now, or from your local indie record shop. And check out the almost-finished 15 films project to find out more...
KEYBOARD CHOIR RELEASE FREE EP
The Electrical Unity EP is the amazing new collection by Keyboard Choir, released in June '09 as a free download by Brainlove Records, in partnership with The Independent Online and last.fm. The band will blog daily about each track at The Independent's Independent Minds Livejournal community.
The EP features three brand new compositions, two live versions recorded at last.fm/presents session, and an edited version of Electrical Unity, the epic closing track from the band's acclaimed debut album Mizen Head To Gascanane Sound. The album is in the shops now via Cargo Distribution. Get it from Amazon, Play, eMusic, iTunes & all good MP3 stores and independent record shops.
BRNLV FSTVL 09 has now been and gone. It was a huge success - easily the best show we have put on since the label began in 2004. The excitement and spirit created by the performers and the audience was inspirational, and the day felt like it embodied everything the label is intended to represent. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who came and everyone who was involved.
WOWZA! PWL plays The Gentleman's Game at Dreamtrak, with Laura Wolf of Internet Forever on drums, Oli Dreamtrak on bass synth, Will from Stairs To Korea on Trombone, Chris Alcxxk from Braindead Collective and Internet Forever on 'bone, and me (John from BRNLV & Thee Oracle) on guitar. The film is part of PWL's 15 Films project.
The album is in the shops on CD in June, and out now digitally on iTunes, eMusic, 7digital & Amazon. Favourite this shit, y'all!
Hello lover! It's exciting times here at Brainlove. New releases, new bands, a new line of Brainlove trainers (really), and lots of exciting summer events going on - so here's a short update for you from Brainloveworld...
CLUB NME // WHITE LIGHT RESIDENCIES
GOSH! We're also running a BRNLV room every Friday night at Club NME in London, and booking some great gigs at our White Light residency. The next BRNLV vs White Light show features some very special guests at The Lexington on June 26th (#screwglasto). For more info on all this join our London Events Group on Facebook.
NEW RELEASES // OUT NOW
WOW! Pagan Wanderer Lu's long-awaited album "Fight My Battles For Me" is out now digitally, with a CD release to follow in May (buy links below). He's been busily carrying various projects to celebrate, including making 15 films, carrying out a mass interview with lots of amazing musicians, and doing a stunning Dreamtrak Session at the famed London studio.
Also out now is A Scholar & A Physician's AAA-side debut single She's A Witch... see the hit YouTube video HERE. It's digital-only, and an album follows this summer.
CRIKEY O RLY? Brainlove will be releasing several new artists in 2009.
Kippi Kaninus (above, left) from Iceland is an organic-electronica (organitronica!) artist who's previously worked with Amiina and toured with Múm; Stairs To Korea (above, right) is a dizzyingly inventive one man "krutt" pioneer with an easy knack for earworm pop and lyrical hooks; Mat Riviere (above, middle) creates sparse but intense songs, heavy on atmosphere and melody; and We Aeronauts are a folk arkestra/supergroup from Oxford that at times sound like a younger, breathlessly excited sibling of Arcade Fire.
All of them will be on the 2009 Brainlove compilation FEAR OF A WACK PLANET, and there'll be more releases from all of these artists this year.
BRNLV TRAINERS
Our friend Luke from LR ROCKETS asked us if we wanted a line of Brainlove Trainers made up. Obviously we were all HELLYEAHZ. And so now you can buy them!
