Updates from LCMDF ‘Take Me to the Mountains’

‎Le Corps Mince de Françoise are back with a new single, video and uk live dates including Ja Ja Ja in Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, London on 29 September.

‘Take Me To The Mountains’ will be released 12 September in digital format, along with remixes by The Orb, Mad Decent, Dj Skeet Skeet, MVSEVM and Get Well Soon. More information on their website and Myspace.

LCMDF — Take Me To The Mountains from Ja Ja Ja on Vimeo.

Fionn Regan’s New Album 100 Acres of Sycamore Out Now

“Breathtakingly beautiful” CD of the Week, Sunday Times
“Starkly beautiful…. a dark delight” 4/5 Mojo
“Glimmering piano and velvety strings” 4/5 The Guardian
“Dramatic and ravishing, ‘100 Acres..’ is some achievement” 4/5 Uncut

The album is not just one of the year’s most beautiful, incisive albums, it’s also the young singer-songwriter’s most personal statement yet. “’My previous record ‘The Shadow Of An Empire’ was me looking out of a window at the world,” he says. “With this one, it’s a clear look in.” And there’s plenty to see. It’s a tale of “mad, wild love – there’s a central, epic love story, that spans time — it’s the story of a couple dancing between the gutter and the chandelier.” says Regan.

Self-made for little-to-no money, Regan’s debut ‘The End Of History’ (2006) launched him to an international audience, earning a Mercury Music Prize nomination and gathering a string of big-name fans, from Lucinda Williams to Rhys Ifans, who has a tattoo of Regan’s lyrics about his person. His second album, ‘The Shadow Of An Empire’, seemed to be a bit of self-sabotage, the young Irishman, having been hailed as “Folks new Pied Piper” went electric, with an album that while critically acclaimed, confused some of his fans who were searching for something to sooth the soul. “Looking at it now, I think I wanted to kick up some dust…” But ‘The Shadow Of An Empire’ was a necessary step. “If my last record was a chrysalis,” says Fionn, “100 Acres Of Sycamore is the butterfly.”

The butterfly began to emerge when Regan returned from touring, in a wilderness period that saw him travel on a pilgrimage of sorts to Deia, Majorca. A chance meeting with actress Anna Friel in Valencia, and a conversation about Robert Graves’ book The White Goddess, led Anna to invite Fionn to stay at her home in the ancient village, and most of the album was written there “being in Deia was like waking up inside the walls of a dream, as a place it had a profound effect on me” he says “the silver deposits in the mountains give them a luminous glow in the moonlight, I stayed up for days on end” says Regan. “I went to the edge in my head to a certain extent, and I documented it. These songs are essentially the wings which stopped me from falling to the rocks at that time.”

12″ Vinyl available from the Heavenly Emporium
Digital download available from iTunes

View his tour dates on the Heavenly Live page.

The Head and the Heart Deluxe Editon and European tour dates with My Morning Jacket

Breathtakingly ambitious – Uncut 4/5
Tub-thumping ballads drip with sincerity…heartfelt – Q 4/5
Let them into your head and let your heart fall for them – The Fly 4/5
Likely to prove as contagious over here as they have done in America – The Independent 4/5

Recorded March 12, 2011 at Shove Chapel in Colorado Springs as part of the Fuel/Friends Chapel Sessions, these tracks will appear on the deluxe version of their debut album out on Heavenly Recordings.

HVNLP85 Deluxe edition — The Head and The Heart ‘Chapel Session bonus tracks’ by heavenlyrecordings

Available from:
The Heavenly Emporium
Digital download from iTunes

Also check out their new video Cats and Dogs on Youtube

The Head and the Heart announces European tour dates with My Morning Jacket

Seattle’s The Head And The Heart have announced details of a run of U.K. dates in November supporting My Morning Jacket. They recently supported Death Cab For Cutie on their U.K. tour, performed alongside My Morning Jacket at Somerset House in London and played a sold-out London headline show at Bush Hall.

The full list of dates is as follows:

NOVEMBER
2nd Glasgow ABC
3rd Birmingham Institute
5th Leeds Academy
6th Manchester Academy
7th London Roundhouse
8th Bexhill De La Warr Pavilion

Tickets for the shows are priced at £16 (except London where they are £20) and will be available via www.gigsandtours.com; except Glasgow – www.pclpresents.com.

Sea of Bees Gnomes 10″ Out Now

Sea of Bees is proud to announce the release of her new single ‘Gnomes,’ through Heavenly Recordings, the third to be taken from her critically applauded debut album ‘Songs For the Ravens.’

‘Gnomes’ is quietly disarming, propelled by a characteristic child-like vocal, wrapping intimate musings against a backdrop of rhythmic guitar riffs. It is alluring in its mysterious and fragmented beauty and a clear album highlight. ‘Gnomes’ is accompanied by a remix by a Tunng remix – the folk experimentalists contort the original, chopping the vocals in amongst Eastern strings, both urgent and exhilarating. ‘Don’t Fear The Reaper’ is a cover of Blue Oyster Cult and sees Sea Of Bees collaborate with Neal Casal who once again showcases his fine craftsmanship, having been a key member of Ryan Adam’s The Cardinals. To round off the EP ‘With Or Without You’ is a delicate, wistful cover of the U2 classic.

HVN223 — Sea of Bees ‘Gnomes’ E.P by heavenlyrecordings

Having supported Smoke Fairies and John Grant earlier this year and headlined a Heavenly showcase tour, Sea of Bees has already gained notoriety for her live performance, her hypnotic and eccentric musical charms brought to the fore when she takes to the stage. It is therefore with great excitement that we announce a full U.K headline tour in July, as well as festival appearances at Glastonbury, Truck Festival and Port Elliot Festival.

****Q ****Artrocker ****Epoch Times ****Gay Times **** The Independent ****Daily Mirror **** Mojo

Order the vinyl from the Heavenly Emporium

Digital download from iTunes

Caught by the River presents Books on Music

Our dear friends from Caught by the River have put together some fantastic publications on music. We thought you’d like to have a look at a few.

Music Book Reader: A beautifully presented guide to their favourite music books by the like of John Niven, Gaz Mayall, Andy Childs & Chris Watson to name a few…

Remembering Gene Clark: The remembrance ‘zine to mark the twentieth anniversary of the passing of Gene Clark (May 24, 1991). Here’s a compilation CBTR has created to remember his brilliance in song writing.

Remembering Roger Eagle: to mark the eleventh anniversary of the passing of the mighty Roger Eagle (May 4th)