Popping in for a coffee with all the Holy Roar bands...

.....aka 'what is going on at holy roar generally?'

This summer is the 'Summer of Vinyl' at Holy Roar. 4 vinyl releases - two on August 3rd and two on September 7th. First up on August 3rd is a split 7" between Rolo Tomassi and Throats. Rolo Tomassi have covered 'Headclouds/Reign of Low' (originally by Throats) whilst Throats have reworked 'I Love Turbulence' originally by Rolo Tomassi. This is a co-release between Holy Roar and Hassle records, with different packaging at each label. 500 copies, 250 at each label. Secondly is another co-label release between Holy Roar and BSM - a 4-way split 10" vinyl. Featuring new, exclusive songs from Shapes and Tupolev Ghost at BSM and Holy State and Brontide at Holy Roar, this is again limited to 500 copies, with translucent green vinyl at BSM and translucent purple vinyl at Holy Roar (250 copies each). I'm probably not even supposed to talk about the 10" officially, but Kev at BSM is being slack, so he can kiss it. These should be available to pre-order from Monday 29th June. Here's some pics of how the Rolo/Throats 7" will vaguely look -




September 7th we bring out the first Ghost Of A Thousand album 'This is where the fight begins' on 180gsm white vinyl (heavy), gatefold sleeve, all new artwork courtesy of Mr Lacey and a bonus cd within the packaging of 9 demos and b-sides. 500 copies again. There will be a pre-order only shirt with this. Which will look like this (but printed in silver ink on a navy blue shirt) -



Also on September 7th we launch 'New Roars on the Block' - a 4-way split 7-inch between Easy Hips, Dreamboats, Le Swing and Run Walk! This is four new bands that we think are amazing. There will be approx 300 copies of this (tbc). There will be a celebratory t-shirt to go along with it, in two colours. We will onyl be making about 25 of each colour. It will look like this -



Both of these will go up for pre-order on August 3rd. Also on this day there will be a big deal to be able to order all 4 new vinyl for a very special price, or for the mega flush, all four vinyls plus 1 or 2 of the new shirts.

So what else is going down?

Maths have nearly finished recording their album, which they are recording themselves. The process is slow, but having heard unmixed/no vocals tracks, we can say this will easily be the best Maths material ever. All the usual cliches - ie heavier/faster/more epic/more melodic. Hopefully this will be out in October.

Ergon Carousel have been writing like mad and are nearing their second recording session. Their debut cd from us is sold out, but is being reissued on tape soon. Plans are formulating for the release of their second batch of material, no release date is set yet.

Brontide drummer will has joined La Roux as session percussionist. Crazy times. It's not the end of Brontide though - but live performance may become a bit more sporadic for a bit.......make the most of them!!

Throats are writing towards a new ep which we hope to have out by the end of the year. They go on a mammoth tour in september with blackhole and the plight, as well as playing Offset festival and doing Europe with Tortuga in November.

Holy State have just been confirmed for the BBC introducing stage at Leeds Festival on the Thursday night. They have ALOT of gigs coming up this summer, as well as the split 10" on Holy Roar/BSM and a 4-way split 12" on Dance To The Radio Records which is out mid-july. That release should be awesome too because Das Racist are on it as well. The band are also writing towards a full ep which we hope to release by the end of the year.

Youves are playing a bunch of shows over the summer, before hitting the road again in the autumn for a possible co-headline tour. Their incredible debut mini-album in lavish packaging is still available here. There will be a free digital single/video out soon!

As well as all the bands mentioned we think you should check out Wreck of the Minotaur and Antares - when Antares put up fully recorded tracks soon (which we have heard unmixed) your mind will be blown.

THAT'S ALL FOLKS.

i made a stupid compilation for someone....

note included -

"Sorry for the silly compilation. It starts out all grind and power violence, before eventually getting sludgy/gazey, then has a momentary diversion into instrumental hip hop. Then things pick back up with jesus lizard inspired rock, more gaze-ing, some kooky acoustica before getting all classical in composition and intent. Enjoy?!?"

1. Insect Warfare – Mindripper (carcass grinder split version)
2. Agents of Abhorrence – Once a Bind
3. Shitstorm – Mince meat human
4. Hatred Surge – Domestic
5. Iron lung – white flag
6. Look Back and laugh – run silent run deep
7. Weekend Nachos – shot in the head
8. Enemy Soil – closet nazis
9. Maruta – the great delusion
10. Phoenix Bodies – Surfs up, surf city
11. Trash Talk – Dig
12. The Now – is that me or the other guy with 20 arms
13. Kylesa – Almost Lost
14. Tombs – Merrimack
15. Dr Who Dat? – Viberian Twilight
16. Young Widows – Old Skin
17. Fair Ohs/Pharoahs/Faroes – track 4
18. Gods and Queens – untitled 2
19. Pinebender – well calibrated moral compass
20. Woods – twisted tongue
21. Pygmy Lush – God condition
22. Mew – Half the world is watching me
23. Ghastly city sleep – hushing weight
24. Ocrilim – part 7
25. Johann Johannsson - Forlandia


ps i might write about some holy roar type stuff etc tomorrow!

wow sorry

really have ignored this blog too much. Well, bunch of Holy Roar type news so here goes and will really try to get back on the blogging shizzle, Twitter damn you!

We are working on a website overhaul. There should be a bunch of new and interesting features as well as the obvious aesthetic facelift. At this stage i'd rather not give away all the secrets, but at the bare minimum you will be able to buy mp3s direct from the site. There should be a bunch of features built into and around this concept that we find pretty exciting. No exact timeframe on this yet, but a summer roll out is the most likely, hopefully early summer.

In terms of our bands and releases, lets try and do a bit of a comprehensive run down....

- Youves start their mammoth uk tour on April 30th. They are filming a video next week and the 'Cardio-Vascular' mini album should be available from all good retailers, as well as us of course, on May 4th. Pre-orders will go out shortly before this date.

- Throats are in the midst of recording a new single, a drone-tastic depature/one-off. The only physical copies will be available with the band on tour in May. There is new t-shirts on the way, as well as the 'throatsofgold' club, where for a one-off payment, you will get all merch, cds/music that the band produce in a year as well as guestlist to gigs and exclusive rare mp3s and a club badge! This will launch today/tomorrow/weds. The band are currently working towards a new cd release for the Autumn around which a tonne of touring will happen. Go catch the band in May with the incredible Battletorn or with Gallows and Everytime I die!

- Brontide will have an exclusive limited-to-25 handscreened american apparel t-shirt available via us very shortly. These look awesome. This comes bundles with a 3 track ep that will also be available via itunes etc in the not too distant future. Buy the tshirt direct from us and get mailed the mp3s though! The band are playing loads of shows in may in support of this, before hitting the studio to record a song (their first fully proper recording) for a special 4-way split label 10" that will be out in august. Expect further touring to co-incide with that.

- Holy State are playing some cool shows at the moment and, like Brontide, have a nifty 'ltd to 25' american apparel t-shirt coming via us very very soon. This comes bundled with an exclusive physical musical surprise, you'll just have to order it to find out! The band are recording 3 songs on Wednesday for 3 releases - a special split label 4-way 10", a 7" with some big bands on a sweet label that has released Health amongst others in the past and a split 12" on a big label. I wish I could say more about these at this point, but i might actually get in trouble.

- Maths have started playing shows again and have written their full length. Recording is tentatively beginning now-ish, with a late summer release on Holy Roar looking the most likely.

- The night we are curating at Great Escape (TGOAT, Battletorn, Throats, Youves) marks the 'pre-release' launch of The Ghost of a Thousand 'This is where the fight begins' vinyl we are doing. Only 500 copies ever will be produced, gatefold sleeve, heavyweight white vinyl AAAAANNND a bonus cd within the packaging of 9 demos and rare tracks. Pretty good value. This will hit shops in in early september with a preorder deal or two going up in August.

- As well as great escape, It looks like Holy Roar bands will have a presence at some or all of these festivals - Supersonic, Offset, ZXZW, Live at Leeds, and a few others. Watch out for that, we will of course make a right noise about it.

- Finally it seems there's a bunch of new UK bands to get excited about - go check out - http://www.myspace.com/leswingleswingleswing , http://www.myspace.com/dreamboats666 , http://www.myspace.com/blackhearsebm , http://www.myspace.com/runwalk - we may be working with some of these, we may not.

My SXSW blog post!

So last week I disappeared to Austin, Texas for SXSW. I've never been before and really didn't quite know what to expect. Loads of people had told me about it and said they had loved it, but I got so much more than I could have hoped for. It was literally INCREDIBLE. It was possibly one of the best weeks of my life.

After catching a taxi to Heathrow with kev and ivano from bsm our journey began with a pint of guinness at Heathrow at 6am to celebrate St Patricks day. The flight left at 8.50am and we arrived in Houston texas early afternoon after a 10 hour flight. Time was passed by using the onbaord entertainment system to have battleships and othello wars, as well as mini-golf, films and tv. The crew from FTH/Hassle were onboard too as well as Micachu and some bands that looked indie.

We picked up our hire people carrier and drove to Austin, stopping on the way to be amused by their sweets, drinks, taco bell and dudes in cowboy hats. Ariived at the hotel which was wicked - pool, gym, starbucks int he looby and a really good room. I was sharing with peter white (co-rolo manager) and bean (joe tomassi bass). Went out for a drink with Peter, Mark Primary Talent, Mark Walker (kilimanjaro) and Al Smith (island records/data select party etc). We had the hugest ribs ever at a meat shack. Witness -



I ate 3 of the biggest ribs ever, after taco bell and stuff. I felt so full. We then walked to see White Denim play on a patio behind a little bar. Not bad for a first evening.

Awoke stupid early on Wednesday due to jetlag and had breakfast at a place called The Hideout - began a daily ritual (ie came here and had this every morning) of breakfast tacos (sound awful, taste incredible), cinnamon buns and big black coffees. Awesome.

We then collected our passes from the convention centre, which took ages and meant we had to go through 3 different queues. Bumped into Gallows, Finian 'rolo tour manager/sound man/organisational king', and Kev and Ivano bsm again. Most of us then went to see Anathallo who i noted seemed like a twee-slipknot. Ie lots of drums/instruments/members - but more on the side of interesting progressive indie. Good stuff.

After a quick lunch with Kev and Ivano I went to see Young Widows on my own. It was everyone elses loss - they fucking rocked. Missed the last song to go get Rolo Tomassi to their first gig. Shouldnt have bothered missing that song - obviously no-one else was going to be as prompt as me with the hotel lobby call! The first Rolo show was in a supposed lesbian bar away from the main strip. It went well despite the minimal PA and the location. There was a good smalll crowd of people who seemed like fans rather than industry and seemed excited to have Rolo there.

After driving back to the hotel me and Bean began our mammoth night at Red 7 for Hatred Surge, Mammoth Grinder, Iron Age, Bitter End, The Jonbenet and other lesser bands. Met a load of people, other from our crew turned up - awesome evening.

Thursday began with The Hideout again, before getting Rolo to the Kerrang/Guitar Hero show. My good friend Alice Thomas turned up and afterwards we went and saw Edie Sedgwick and DD/MM/YYYY - the latter of whom was really good. Simon Morley was also in tow for these. Me and Alice then went and saw Gallows play, which was really cool as they played amongst the audience, then a bit of Irepress who were really good too. I then remembered I was supposed to be at a meeting with Rolo Tomassis US lawyer and ran to the four seasons hotel for that. Free drinks again didnt hurt. Gin and tonic by the river. Then met Alice again for She Rides, who were kinda average. Saw some awful band called Fuckshovel too with Ed Tomassi, then bumped into Wez from FTH/Hassle and had a chat. Rounded out the evening with a bit of Tera Melos playing on the street.

Friday was breakfast as usual and then met Kev BSM to go to a seminar entitled 'Innovations in Digital Music' which was really informative and useful. Then met up with most of Tomassi and saw HEALTH who were totally amazing. Me and Joe Guitar Tomassi then went to the SPV records 'metal bbq and booze' party - which did exactly what it says - it gave us shit loads of free bbq and beer. Sweet. I then walked off the main strip to go and see Pygmy Lush do a 'quiet' set on the back garden of a small independent bookstore. There was sweet free beer too. I was kinda drunk after this. We loaded in gear for Tomassi for their late friday show, then i went and saw Tombs who were good and really fucking loud. I then went and saw Dixie Witch, Rwake and Black Tusk at Red 7. Red 7 was becoming the rockin' hang out of choice clearly. Tomassi then played a late show (1am) and went down a treat.

Saturday was the final day of SXSW. Obvious The Hideout was killer for breakfast, then I called into the American Apparel 'flea-market' and bought a t-shirt that was too small and a stupid pair of glasses, which I proceeded to wear all day. Im sure photographic evidence of those will crop up on facebook or something if you actually know me. Rolo then played the 'yorkshire' party (free gin and tonic!) then me and Simon Morley went and saw Pygmy Lush and Pinebender who were great due to playing all my favourite songs and then ending, upon the soundman telling them they had 2 minutes left, with a 13 minute dirge. Sweet. Rolo then played a 'british music aborad/mojo' party. More free beer.Hot Leg played and justin Hawkins watched Tomassi. Apparently the Proclaimers played too. I then had mexican - some kinda flour tortillas colour blue (!!!!) with pork, rice, beans, veg and an egg on top. Insane. We then tried to meet up with Diplo and his manager as Diplo is into Tomassi. It didnt happen, oh well. Some of us then went to watch HEALTH again, followed by Past Lives (ex blood brothers, rubbish) and AIDS Wolf (not very good). Then caught some rip-off of The Hives whilst waiting for Trash Talk who were the best hardcore band ive seen in ages. The vocalist kept doing backflips into the front row, there really wasnt enough people at the front for him to safely do backflips! Some American girl made me cover her whilst she pissed between two toilets. It was odd. I was drunk.

Afterwards I went with James Tomassi to get a hot dog, but accidentally brushed my hand against a bottle of 'Insane' sauce when i went to pay. Looking at my hand and not the bottle, I thought it was tomato sauce and licked it off my hand. Big mistake. It was the hottest thing ever. It felt like my throat was being raped by a hot poker. My eyes went bloodshot and i could still feel it an hour after the hot dog and can of pop. Too brutal. We then tried to get into MSTRKRFT and failed. So i went to bed.

Sunday we got up and drove back to Houston, ate loads on the way/at the airport (including a great cream cheese danish!) then caught our plane and arrive at Heathrow just after 7am. Goodbyes were said, and the most awesome trip ever was completed.

stocks, djs, levels, other random words for titles.

I'll be honest - Twitter is making me feel less inclined to blog. Anyone else feel like that? The thought process being - "why write shit tonnes on blog when i can get ideas and snippets of info out via Twitter?" More people probably read my twitter anyway. However I do also realise that this is systematic of technological progress and the continuing "lets get more lazy" vibes of humans in general. So here i am!

This week so far has been dominated by Rolo Tomassi - getting the new reissue preorders out (w/ help from new 'first ever' intern Max - check his blog ) - and all preparations for their impending descent upon SXSW. Work visas, money issues, travel, equipment etc etc etc. Mega props to Peter White (aka Rolo co-manager) on all this shit.

However, I did manage to do a ridiculous DJ set at the old blue last, shoreditch, London on Saturday. This is what I can remember of my setlist -

'Healer' - Torche
'Solid State Messiah (vs The Valve Viking)' - Holy State
'Oh My God' - Ida Maria
'Dont Save Us from The Flames' - M83
'Letting You' - Nine Inch Nails
'Haunted House of Rock' - Whodini
'Viberian Twilight' - Dr Who Dat?
'Sleepyhead' - Passion Pit

BREAK FOR GHOST FREQUENCY TO PLAY LIVE SET

'Prioritize' - Weekend Nachos
'Look at my eyes' - Orien
'The Fallen' - Suicide SIlence
'Hyperspeed (g force part 2)' - The Prodigy
'Jah War (Loefah remix)' - The Bug
'Bow E3' - Wiley
'One Manometer Away....' - The Locust
'What it look like' - Spank Rock

As you might have guessed, I was probably kinda drunk during the second half of the set. Erratic.


STOCK LEVELS UPDATE!

Rolo Tomassi 'digital history/beatrotter' 7" - 4 copies left!
Dananananaykroyd - 'Sissy Hit's - 13 copies left!
Ergon Carousel - 7 copies left!

None of these will be repressed - this is it, get on it or be forever upset at missing these sweet releases.

Right back to real work and the Skins soundtrack.....

FREE Holy Roar Records Spring 09 Sampler!

Download - http://www.holyroarrecords.com/uploads/holyroarspring09.zip

Tracklisting -
1. Brontide - Crunk Anansie
2. Youves - Big Arexic
3. Holy State - Repeat and Fade
4. The Ergon Carousel - Ironclad
5. the_Network - 500 pounds of idiot
6. Throats - Reign of Low (tape version)
7. Maths - Untitled Album Demo
8. Cutting Pink With Knives - Aylburton
9. Rolo Tomassi - Cirque Du Funk (4Music Session version)
10. November Coming Fire - Return of the Black Dog
11. Jealous - Ruins

Thank fuck that's January and February over. To celebrate we are giving you a free 11 songs spring digital sampler! No sign-up, no anything, JUST DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE RIGHT NOW. The sweet artwork was done by me (Alex). It's super cool. Expect to see more of our feline friend soon. So what's on it? Well Brontide and Throats rare tracks reprised from out-of-print tapes, brand new Youves and Maths songs, a CPWK b-side from the 'Populuxxe' sessions, a previously unreleased Rolo Tomassi radio session track, a rare November Coming Fire song and a new track from new faves Jealous. Amongst other stuff. Free. Great, huh?

The Rolo Tomassi preorder deal is now over. DONT email us asking where your order is. It stated when you ordered that this would be shipped early-to-mid March. The t-shirts are being made right now. We are doing it as fast as we can, it's the same with every preorder we have done so far. It's called a PREorder for a reason. Have you gathered im sick of people not figuring this out and bombarding us with emails?

A week recounted....

......this week has been insane. Im exhausted, am writing this in bed feeling like I could totally go back to sleep.

Monday - Data Select Party+Colour+faroes/phaores/fair ohs (fuck me Edward ex-cpwk - how do you spell it? Or is there no definitive?) @ old blue last

Tuesday - Ergon Carousel @ dublin castle

Wednesday - Blakfish+Adebisi Shank @ old blue last

Thursday - E4 night - My name is earl+big bang theory+skins+the inbetweeners, thank fuck i didnt do anything else.

Friday - Youves @ cargo

Saturday - crobar+emmy the great end of tour party in a fucked up location. It was like glastonbury+(im told) sxsw. Under a flyover. In west london. By a gypsie colony. Or something.

Today rolo tomassi play an instore @ puregroove records.

And interviewed (and 'employed') an intern. And rolo reissue preorders end. And lots of other stuff was made, discussed, packaged, sent etc etc

I have a feeling there will be no slowdown, howveer my wallet might have to dictate otherwise.