Wednesday 31 August 2016

LISTEN: August 2016 playlist!

Only one gig this month (though it was more of a family festival in central London where King Charles happened to be playing) but a lot of brilliant new releases, here's my playlist for August, featuring some of the music I've been enjoying this month! As I'm going back to uni in September, and Tigmus have a lot of shows coming up, I'll get back to going to lots more gigs, phew! I'm also seeing my favourites The Hoosiers this Saturday, and a special Bear's Den show for Amazon next week which should be cool!


1. Dawes When The Tequila Runs Out - probably the most exciting music news for me this month is that these guys are releasing their fifth studio album, We're All Gonna Die, on 16th September and this is the first track from it. A little unsure at first but I totally embrace the slight change in sound, and it's grown on me a lot! All the info about the album here

2. All Tvvins Thank You - I saw these guys supporting Twin Atlantic last month, and I'm digging their debut album IIVV, released this month. They're really fun live, and they're off on a 20+ date UK tour later in the year, looking forward to hopefully catching them at The Bullingdon in Oxford (dates and tickets here.)

3. Richard Walters U - Richard releases his new solo record A.M in October, and this is the stunning first release from it. Check out the Mahogany Session which recently debuted online. To launch the record, Richard plays shows in London and Oxford in October.

4. Fil Bo Riva Like Eye Did - while I don't always get chance to check out the music I'm sent my artists and their PR people, I was glad I took a listen to this track after finding it in my inbox. Love it! 

5. SG Lewis Yours - with two of King Charles' band members playing alongside SG Lewis I'm keeping an eye out on his music, and really enjoying the title track of his recent EP Yours. His biggest London headline show has just been announced, grab tickets for Koko in November here

6. Public Service Broadcasting Spitfire - after a friend introduced me to these guys a couple of years ago I've been keen to see them live, and despite writing a post about their big Islington charity gig I managed to let the show sell out before grabbing a ticket... holding out for some returns as it looks set to be a great show! At Eastbourne airshow earlier in the month I loved hearing this track played on the pier after the Spitfire had done it's display, a great touch (and a great track!)

7. Blossoms Blow - you have to have been living under a rock to have avoided hearing about these guys yet, particularly as their debut album reached number one in the charts when it was released earlier this month. Check out their performance at Reading Festival here

8. Dan Croll Swim - though I've come pretty late to Dan's music, only properly listening when I caught him at Bushstock back in June, I'm enjoying this recently released track Swim, the first taster of his upcoming record. 

9. Mumford & Sons Fool You've Landed (Baio remix) - it's been a couple of months since Mumford and friends released their Johannesburg EP, and they're just released some remixes of the tracks. Digging this track remixed by Chris Baio of Vampire Weekend

10. Tom Figgins Permafrost - finally some new studio recordings from Tom.... check out his whole Ghosts EP on Spotify, of which this is my favourite track. 

11. The Maccabees Spit It Out - with these guys announcing their split this month, it seems right to feature them in the playlist, with one of my favourite tracks from their latest album Marks To Prove It. They've hinted/promised some final shows, so hopefully I'll get to catch them live finally!

12. Jack Garratt BYSKB v2m2 (demo) - alongside the release of his latest single Far Cry, taken from his album Phase, Jack has debuted a demo of a new track.  

13. King Charles Ivory Road (Spotify Session) - the only gig I caught this month was Charles' solo acoustic performance at Spotlight on Seven Dials, and it was great hearing him close the set with my favourite track from the first record! Takes me back to when he performed the track to me in a field of thistles at Cambridge Folk Fest a few years ago (video).

Monday 29 August 2016

LISTEN: Tom Figgins releases 'Ghosts' EP

Exciting times as folk troubadour and all around lovely guy Tom Figgins topped off a run starring in a play at Edinburgh Fringe with the release of his latest EP (the first in a while), entitled Ghosts. It's a great reflection of Tom as a live artist, and captures the tracks I've come to love after seeing him play a few times over the last year or so. My favourite is probably Permafrost because it's a track I love hearing Tom and his band perform live, but I'm also digging the newer tracks! 


You can buy the EP on iTunes here for just over £3 (bargain!) or if Spotify is your thing, listen here.

Friday 26 August 2016

GIG NEWS: Public Service Broadcasting (Nov 2016)

When I was at an airshow a couple of weeks ago, the Spitfire had just flown over and suddenly I could hear the stunning track of the same name playing on the speakers along the pier. Spitfire is certainly one of my favourite Public Service Broadcasting tracks but it's hard to decide, as both of their records, the 2013 Inform, Educate, Entertain and last year's The Race For Space are incredible.

Because of the unfamiliar nature of their music, sampling from public information films, archive footage and propaganda alongside instrumental music, I'm really keen to see them play live. Well, that and I'm a big fan of the music! Luckily if I can fit the show around my lectures, I might get the chance soon, as tickets have just gone on sale this morning (here) for a really special show the guys are playing for Bowel Cancer UK. With special guests including comedian Ed Byrne, the show at Islington Assembly Hall is set to be a great night for an even greater cause.


The band have set up a JustGiving page for donations to the charity, if people are unable to attend the show and would still like to contribute. On the page, J. Willgoose, Esq., guitarist and songwriter of PSB, explains that last year when the band's tour dates were rescheduled, it was due to the diagnosis of his wife. Totally unexpected at just 33, she's completed the treatment and they're feeling positive, and want to do something to promote the work of the charity, particularly their Never Too Young campaign. 

Saturday 20 August 2016

LISTEN: Richard Walters - 'U'

Though the best content Richard Walters has been sharing online recently is photos of his adorable baby girl, his new track, modestly titled U, comes pretty close. The text-speak title almost undersells the beautiful track, which shows off Richard's unique vocals and is taken from his upcoming solo record A.M. Take a listen below...



A.M is released on 14th October and you can pre-order it on CD here. Richard plays launch shows for the record in London and Oxford with Dry The River's guitarist Matt Taylor aka Waylor as support for both, so they're set to be great evenings!

Friday 19 August 2016

WATCH: Benedict Benjamin - 'My Feet Have No Need for the Ground'

Although I saw him at a Sofar Sounds Oxford show last year, it wasn't until I caught Benedict Benjamin at another Sofar show a few months ago and took a punt on his debut album Night Songs (partly because it wasn't released yet properly) that I really got into his music. My Feet Have No Need for the Ground is one of my favourite tracks from the record, and it's performed beautifully by Ben and his band below at Soup Studio in London (also check out their performance of Thin Skin.)


Benedict Benjamin plays a London headline show at Sebright Arms on September 13th for Communion Music, with Amaroun supporting, tickets available here.

Wednesday 17 August 2016

ALBUM NEWS: Dawes - 'We're All Gonna Die'

After a few days away its back to blogging... and what brilliant news to share: Dawes are releasing a new album in a month on September 16th. We're All Gonna Die is fronted by the single When The Tequila Runs Out, a bit of a departure from the folk rock sound we've come to expect, but still pretty fun. Check out a video about the track below, and the full track/video on the band's Facebook here.


You can pre-order the new record in a load of different formats through the Dawes store here, and on iTunes here.

Tuesday 9 August 2016

WATCH: Dan Croll 'Maway' for TOMS

Somehow it's almost two months since this year's Bushstock Festival, a wonderful day of brilliant music headed by Communion in Shepherd's Bush. I was lucky enough to win tickets to the festival alongside access to a secret acoustic set by festival headliner Dan Croll in someone's garden for TOMS. Surrounded by the likes of Kev from Bear's Den, Bake-Off winner Frances, and actor David Dawson, I enjoyed Dan and his band playing us a superb set, what I heard was great, even if I could see very little! It's lovely to get a closer look at what was taking place in this video recorded on the day by TOMS, of Dan performing the track Maway (if a little sketchily!)


If you like what you hear... excitingly, during the festival Dan was signed to Communion, so hopefully there will be news of his second album pretty soon. If you're eager to hear the new music, they've just announced a headline show at London's Village Underground on 5th October, tickets available here!

WATCH: Tom Odell - 'Concrete'

I guess the video isn't actually *new* anymore, as it's been up on Youtube for almost a couple of months now, but seeing Tom Odell performing his track Concrete on the TV on Wednesday morning I presumed it was only just being released as a single. I was also reminded of how much I love the track, and wanted to share it - it's probably my favourite from his recent album Wrong Crowd


Tom Odell tours the UK in November, including two nights at O2 Academy Brixton, all the info and tickets here.

Friday 5 August 2016

WATCH: Fil Bo Riva - 'Like Eye Did'

I hadn't heard of Fil Bo Riva until I found this new video of his, for the track Like Eye Did, sitting in my inbox. It's no surprise I'm being sent PR for a singer-songwriter who is half-Italian, the amount I ramble on about Jack Savoretti! Fil Bo, or Filippo Bonamici, is also half-Irish, and dropped out of college in Berlin back in 2014, leading him to busk around the streets of the city. The surprising deep vocals reflect when I first listened to George Ezra years ago, and I'm really enjoying the track! There's also a live session recording of the track here which is pretty cool!


Fil Bo Riva's debut EP If You're Right, It's Alright is set for release on 23rd September, and you can pre-order it on iTunes here and grab this track straight away! He plays at The Lexington on 17th August, Facebook event here for more info!

Monday 1 August 2016

TOUR NEWS: Jack Savoretti (November 2016)

Great news to wake up to on a Monday... Jack Savoretti has announced a string of live dates in November, including the already announced huge show at London's Eventim Apollo (which it happens to be 100 days until, not like I'm counting!) If you haven't listened to Jack before I hugely recommend doing so, he's one of my favourite artists and he and his band are superb live performers. Start off with his latest record, the hugely successful Written In Scars.


Sign up to Jack's mailing list here to get access to the pre-sale on Wednesday, I assume general sale will be on Friday!