Friday, 6 November 2009

The Grapevine Sessions

Man - great live shows really are like buses… you wait ages to be blown away and then get hit head first with a triple header! I’ve been kinda non-plussed of late with live stuff, until this week venturing to the Grapevine Sessions which was the first co-promote we’ve put on with our best friend Berkeley and the wonderful folk of the Bedford in Balham.

Alas in the end our own Ms Solvor Vermeer didn’t make it (Im not going into it but our thoughts are with you Solvor mate) but the three acts that did perform were just AMAZING.

It was great to catch up with Lee Macdougall again after a loooong time and he did a really nice stripped back set at the start of the night… His song “She” (from the white label we did that was doing the rounds on the evening) was great as was Joanna – still a great little pop tune. that was a mere appetizer though for what was in store

Michael Kiwanuka and Sharks Took The Rest absolutely took my breath away – Michael with his soul-y, bluesy folk and Sharks with their string led folk-tronica… honestly I cant remember the last time I got Goosebumps so many times in the same night (well I can but this isn’t really the forum for it!)

They were both utterly incredible and made for an amazing night.

Having been out of the live promotion game for a while I was a bit worried going into the event as to how it was going to turn out (would it be like Waynestock? Would I be reduced to standing on stage giving liquorice instructions to the gathered few?) but the place was absolutely packed and we thank each and every one of those in attendance from the bottom of our blackened hearts… the same goes for the artists themselves who as I say deserved every single clap, holler and handshake they got.

A great night – plans are afoot for a follow up (although having set such a high benchmark we need to make sure we meet up to expectation next time) so keep your eyes peeled.

Finally, I have one copy of the white label CD that was given out left, if you were there and didn’t manage to get hold of a CD drop me an email and ill get it out to you in the post (might get there by xmas!) strictly first come first served…

For now though check out just how awesome these guys are…


Michael Kiwanuka



Sharks Took The Rest


Lee MacDougall



Dont let anyone tell you live music is dead just yet...


Love
Lazy Ben x

Sunday, 1 November 2009

Lazy Acre in new compilation

So then our friends at the National Student Paper are doing a bumper new music magazine this month and are promoting it with an awesome download compilation. if you head on over to www.thenationalstudent.co.uk you can pick up your free copy from (i think) November 11th...

There are so many of my favourite bands on this compilation its untrue - check this little lot out:

1 Mat Riviere – FYH
2 funFUN – The trouble with Harry
3 Nodzz – Is She There
4 Curly Hair – High Fives, Low Fives
5 Loz Koleszko – Quack, Quack You’re Dead
6 Cougar – Digit Cleaver feat. Paul Smith of Maximo Park
7 Sharks Took The Rest – Isobel (demo)
8 Ace Bushy Striptease – Whirlwind Regulations (Bas mix)
9 Napoleon III – Zebra
10 Bear Driver – A Thousand Samurais
11 Smoke Fairies – Now The Green Blade Rises
12 Bobby Long – Dead and Done
13 Shoes and Socks Off – I’m a World Class Assassin
14 Swound – What’s Your Poison?
15 Kambodsja – Not All Evil Robots Are Murderers
16 Dials – Gloria Knudson
17 Keyboard Choir – Electrical Unity (edit)
18 Crocodiles – I Wanna Kill
19 Spokes – We Like to Dance and Steal Things
20 The Little Hands of Asphalt – Oslo
21 Solvor Vermeer – Hope
22 Kippi Kannius – The Comfort Of My Eyes
23 Dancer vs Politician – Ratcliffe Highway
24 Pagan Wanderer Lu – The Great British Public Becomes Self Aware
25 Blakfish – Economics

Seriously - Blakfish and Crocodiles?! Just immense.

ill twitter when the comp goes live so come be our follower (sounds like a bleedin cult) @lazyacrerecords

Saturday, 31 October 2009

Signed A Band? Oh yes we did

So hooray for us - the end of 2009 gets even busier with the news that we have just signed another new act. Theyre called My Little Pony, they sound like a cross between The Shins and Belle & Sebastian (oh Belle & Sebastion how we love you so even after all these years)

Unsurprisingly (given our recent output) these guys are Scandinavian and indeed spent most of this summer on the road in Europe with Sjur from The Little Hands of Asphalt.

They will be providing part four of the full stop to bad pop campaign at the end of November so keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime heres the video for their new single "The Capital of Norway"



In other news I am not ashamed to admit that I was 24 when I found out that a horse and a pony are not the same thing.

Shame on me

Friday, 23 October 2009

Solvor Vermeer - all kinds of exciting updates

So then lots to report...

1) Solvor will be the cover star to Novembers National Student magazine new music special... this goes out to a loooot of people so were really excited about this... well share images etc as soon as we get em

2) She will also be playing a live session and doing an interview on Londons Pulse Fm 3pm, November 10th. Tune in at ww.pulse.fm

More soon

Have a nice weekend everyone

Love
Ben and Sam
Team LA x

Tuesday, 20 October 2009

Oh dear oh dear oh dear

So weirdly as the rest of the world eyes christmas as the end line of a massive commercial fuelled sprint through Toys R Us, Ive just realised how mentally busy we actually are for the rest of the year (thats without the shoping and the new job, the anniversary that falls between it and seeing the family as well!)

Between now and when Big Red jumps aboard the reindeers, we have Little Hands and Solvor coming to London, were recording some TV sessions, some radio sessions, overseeing a bunch of interviews etc etc.

On top of that we have the build up to the release of Tessa Frith and Solvors debut releases in January, the Moggz album finally gets released, we have a festival to arrange, a series of gigs in Northampton to library to start running, Pipedream release their new EP and we need to book a tour for Kambodsja and Pipedream (together - sweet jesus is there a better rock bill taking shape for next year or what?! i think not! but then i would!)

So what the fuck you might ask am I doing sitting writing a blog about it all.

Panicking.

Anyway - must dash, all the new releases go to the digital aggregator today. Hooray!

Love Ben & Sam
Team LA x


PS

Why nto lighten your day with this little treat - I just found this on youtube (I havent seen it for years) and laughed so hard tea came out of my nose. This is an anti drugs educational video aimed at the under fives created by ourt very own MOGGZ. Indeed its soundtracked by his very excellent song "Hidin" and features a great performance from "Ole Doggy T"

Check it out

Monday, 19 October 2009

LAZY ACRE RECORDS MAKES OPEN CALL FOR BANDS

So yes - in addition to the stack of releases weve got in the pipeline at the moment we decided on the spur of the moment (IE we found some cassette tapes in packs of 5 for a quid each in Poundland yesterday) to do a little punky compilation release. Cassette only with a random tracklisting for each release.

These tapes will be sold exclusively through our website for the grand price of £2 each. Excellent

So if you would like to put your band (or indeed yourself if you are in fact a solo performer!) forward to be included in the project then please drop an email over to lazyacrerecords@gmail.com with TAPE COMP in the subject line.

Weve already started putting together some oddities / radio sessions / remixes / demos of the lazy acre roster - help us to fill in side two!

Love Ben & Sam
Team LA x

Friday, 16 October 2009

Lazy Acre Records Favourite Ryan Adams Moments

Man I Love Ryan Adams... In honour...







In the meantime 400 people viewed our myspace page today. I know that cos i clocked the number first thing this morning and then again just now. 400 might not be earth shatterin but seriously who the fuck is it?

Who are these peolpe? Its weird to find reviews of our records on German and Finnish and Japanese blogs and have no idea how they got there - I certainly havent sent them...

Makes you wonder if all this talk of technology might have something yet

hmm...

This Weeks News... Solvor Live, Reviews Round, James Magic live sessions and more

1) Reviews Round Up

Some kind words on our intrepid adventurers:

* The Little Hands of Asphalt @ Mondomix
* The Little Hands of Asphalt @ Shakespeares Sister
* Moggz @ The National Student
* The James Magic @ OAH
* The James Magic @ The National Student

* An Interview with Moggz

2) Solvor Vermeer showcase details


As mentioned previously Solvor plays an awesome showcase gig at The Bedford in Balham next month. Details are below: Flier attached!

The Grapevine Sessions presents:

Solvor Vermeer, Sharks Took The Rest, Michael Kiwanuka & Lee Macdougall

November 5th

The Bedford, Balham

Doors - 7.30 PM

FREE ENTRY!


Sharks Took The Rest are one of my favourite acts right now and the demos reaching of us Solvors soon to be completed debut EP are astounding… this should be a great night!


Check out more here

www.myspace.com/solvermeer

www.myspace.com/sharkstooktherest

While over for this gig we are also recording a live session for Balcony TV (all being well) and a live interview / acoustic session for Londons Pulse FM as well. treat.

In the meantime we send our best get well soon wishes to Ms Vermeer who is currently wandering around Oslo in earplugs having damaged her ears overdoing it with a glockenspiel in the studio… Imagine hearing that horrible ringy music from the end of the Apprentice 24/7 *Shudders* anyway I Digress,,,


3) The James Magic Live Session


We only just found this ourselves but you can listen to / look at pictures of The James Magics recent live session for BBC Hereford and Worcester right over here… http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/content/image_galleries/james_magic_session_gallery.shtml


In the meantime don’t forget you can download St Jimmys recent addition to the Full Stop to Bad Pop campaign over at www.fullstoptobadpop.blogspot.com for the grand price of nada


4) None Lazy Acre News…

Our friend Joel Bailey (a man in possession of a decent golf swing it must be said) plays the BBC Emerging Proms @ Camden Roundhouse October 26th – if your at a loose end go check him out, hes great. There are songs available on his website www.joelbaileymusic.com. Hes got a kind of Nizlopi playing John Mayer songs kinda vibe… we like a lot



5) National Student Magazine



Look out in The National Student Magazines November issues for a new music special featuring an interview with Solvor Vermeer, features on the Little Hands of Asphalt and Kambodsja, Lazy Acre Giveaways and maybe even a free LHOA and kambodsja MP3 as well…

Go hang around a halls of residence near you! alternatively, if u want to avoid being tagged as some kind of weirdo just check out www.thenationalstudent.co.uk

Thursday, 15 October 2009

The perils of technology

Ive been having major problems with my laptop - in that the screen is horribly cracked and i can only use it when hooked up to my TV... makes for interesting times... i am about ready to throw the thing at the wall. hateful technology

In better news I am currently listening to a new artist who i am looking to sign who I think you will be very excited by... Ive also spent the morning writing press releases and booking in some TV sessions for Sjur in December... good times

oh also Sam and myself have finally started cracking on with a new website which will hpefully be coming very soon - it should be very funky all told... keep your eyes peeled at lazyacrerecords.co.uk

A treat to warm your cockles this cold October day, Solvor Vermeer Live @ Kollenfestivalen last month. Treat.

Wednesday, 14 October 2009

Balcony TV and Sunny Day Real Estate

Good old Sjur (AKA THe Little Hands of Asphalt) has been invited to appear on Balcony TV in December which is very exciting...

I think were tying in some shows around the filming as well... Starting with The Bedford (Balham), December 7th, 8pm

More gigs coming so keep your eyes peeled but we are really excited about these shows...

In the meantime (and on a completely unrelated tip!) Ive been re-living my alt rock past with a brace of Sunny Day Real Estate re-issues... If by some weird co-incidence the reunion tour comes through your town head down there... these guys are truly immense

Im terrible at keeping secrets!

So im really struggling right now... Having received them over the last week Im really struggling to not share new Solvor Vermeer tracks with you – I will resist for now because all I have are unmixed demos but I should point out that the demos are frankly breathtaking…

The showcase November 5th should be an absolute treat… good times. Heres a flier for it!

In the meantime Lazy Acre signed up yesterday for a training session that should enable us to borrow some video kit to start a new monthly podcast series from the website…

Eyes peeled for the first instalment

Good times

Over and Out

Team LA x

Tuesday, 6 October 2009

Busy, Productive, Always Moving Forward

Well despite waking up (rather late) to find that the winter seems to have arrived early today has been a productive day. So far today I have:

• Written some press releases
• Put together a proposal for a new act im wanting to sign
• Caught up with some emails
• Got round to updating the myriad of sites we now seem to occupy
• Planned a series of gigs in some very cool locations (details to follow)
• Been told off for blabbing about some very cool but yet to be formally
announced plans for March (sshh!!)
• Designed a flier for Solvors show in a few weeks

All the while humming this little tune in my head:



While I think about it we have a new T Shirt widget now in the myspace… check it out and buy yourself something nice – what better way to keep out the cold!!

Pipedream Tour Cancelled

We are genuinely gutted to have to announce that the Pipedream Tour has been cancelled. We’ve been really badly let down by the guys they were supposed to be touring with, so instead the guys are coming over in March to tag a tour into their visit for the Lazy Acre / BBC Weekender festival happening in Northampton.

In the meantime the band release a new EP in a month – ill be adding a new track to the myspace this week.

Muchos L0ve

B

Monday, 5 October 2009

The Latest News

Greetings!

So then after a week recharging the batteries, swimming in the sea and eating a lot of ice cream and a week catching up - wading through hundred weights of emails and generally running round frantically - were back on the horse and have lots of exciting news to catch up - without further ado:


1) Sjur Hits The Road!

Sjur is out on the road in Europe with the excellent My Little Pony right now - tour dates at www.myspace,com/thelittlehandsofasphalt


2) New Pipedream EP out next month

Hot on the heels of the Let The Rumours Flow EP, which we released earlier this year we are super chuffed to announce the release of a new (self titled) four track EP of hard rockin awesomeness out october 22nd.

Recorded a couple of years back the tracks are a more rockin in nature but keep some massive radio groping chorusus - we are a little bit in love with these songs right now.

The EP will be available from itunes, play.com, amazon mp3 and tesco mp3 (every little helps and all that)


3) Tessa Frith album news

We took delivery of the master of Tessa's album last week and can report that it is both heartbreaking and beautiful in equal measure.

We've pencilled in a provisional release date for the album of january 4th 2010 - expect a single beforehand, but for the time being check out tracks now at www.myspace.com/tessafrith

4) Oh I forgot pipedream tour news!

We are very sad to announce that having been let down badly by the band we were supposed to be touring with, it looks like Pipedreams october tour will be postponed until the new year. The plan is that the guys will instead be coming over in March next year ahead of their appearance at the "Lazy Acre Vs BBC Weekender" themed festival happening in Northampton. This will be exciting to say the least.

The council are astroturfing the town centre for us goddammit!!



5) Finally Dont Forget Now...

- Solvor Vermeer (www.myspace.com/solvermeer) plays the Bedford in Balham, November 5th with Sharks Took The Rest and Michael Kiwanuka

- The James Magic EP is available to download for free www.fullstoptobadpop.blogspot,com along with free records from The Little Hands of Asphalt and Pipedream

- We are down to our last hanfdful of copies of 'Leap Years' (The Little Hands of Aspalt new album) so if you want one - get your orders in quick!

- You can come follow us on Twitter (@lazyacrerecords) and facebook ("benmainwaring lazyacrerecords")

Tuesday, 8 September 2009

The Little Hands of Asphalt - Updates

First up there has been a truckload of blog love for young Sjor of late... check out some of these glowing write ups!

TLHOA @ Heave Media
TLHOA @ The National Student
TLHOA @ Stranded In Stereo
TLHOA @ Red Hot Velvet
TLHOA @ Die Shellsuit Die
TLHOA @ Hot Jack
TLHOA @ Alice Tragedy

Next up Sjur played the Oya festival in Oslo with Wilco and Artic Monkeys - heres a great little track from the set...



Also, randomly, if you didnt know, sjur sings in Monzano as well who are pretty cool... heres some of there stuff



Bye Bye x