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LATEST NEWS
FOR TIPS ON RECENT ALBUM RELEASES GO TO
JULY - 2007
THE HUMAN VALUE will be releasing their brand new single ‘Hold of Me’ (Big Deal Records) in August, followed by their eagerly awaited 2nd album "Push And Pull" (Big Deal Records/Universal) in September. Their self titled debut album was released last year and although it had to be imported to Holland it still made a huge impact when we selected our ALBUMS OF THE YEAR for 2006. You can read the full review in our ALBUM REVIEWS section from November 2006. You can also have a listen to some of their new songs by going through AAPA`s MySpace and they were also featured in our NEW BANDS section in October 2006. Hopefully they will be doing some gigs throughout the rest of Europe soon.
The THE ENEMY have just released their debut album "We'll Live And Die In These Towns" (Warners) and are currently receiving a lot of praise over in the UK. Back in February their single 'It's Not Ok' entered the UK charts, and they have since been building up a very healthy following. The band are currently appearing at a lot of the summer festivals (Pukkelpop in Belgium being the closest for the Benelux region) but are due to play a gig at the Melkweg in Amsterdam in November (see our Gig Listings section for more details). See also the previous article about them in our NEW BANDS section from June 2007.
The SEX PISTOLS are to release a special 30th anniversary vinyl edition of their classic debut album "Never Mind The Bollocks...Here's The Sex Pistols" (Virgin) on Monday 29th October - The album will also include a 7" vinyl version of the track 'Submission'. In the lead up they are also set to re-release their four classic singles from the 70`s (also on vinyl): 'Anarchy In The UK' will be available from 1st October, 'God Save The Queen' (8th October), 'Pretty Vacant' (15th October) and 'Holidays In The Sun' on 29th October. "Never Mind The Bollocks...Here's The Sex Pistols" was our album of the year in 1977 - You can also check out our annual selections since the late 60`s - > HERE
NEW SINGLE RELEASES: On 20th August, THE ORANGE LIGHTS will be releasing a new single, ‘Click Your Heels’ through Blackbird Records on 20th August 2007. The band from Newcastle came to our attention with their debut single ‘Let The Love Back In’ (which was included in the AAPA monthly playlist for July), Their debut album "Life Is Still Beautiful" is set to be released on 10th September. See also previous article in our NEW BANDS section from March 2007. KAISER CHIEFS will also be releasing a new single on the same date - 'The Angry Mob' is the 3rd single to be taken from their album “Yours Truly, Angry Mob” and is backed by an exclusive track 'Telling Me To Go'. The band will be appearing at both the Pukkelpop (B) and Lowlands (NL) Festivals during August. You can also have a listen to selected songs from both bands by going through AAPA`s MySpace
The shortlist for 2007`s MERCURY MUSIC PRIZE has just been announced. This is the album award that the artists themselves want, with ARCTIC MONKEYS winning the prize last year with their debut album "Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not" (Domino Records). Previous winners have also included Franz Ferdinand in 2004, PJ Harvey in 2001, Badly Drawn Boy in 2000, Pulp in 1996 and Portishead in 1995. This years shortlist includes Klaxons - “Myths Of The Near Future”, The View - “Hats Off To The Buskers”, Bat For Lashes - “Fur And Gold”, New Young Pony Club - “Fantastic Playground” and Arctic Monkeys - “Favourite Worst Nightmare”. From the 12 albums nominated we are tipping either Klaxons, Arctic Monkeys or Bat For Lashes (photo) to win! The eventual winner will be announced on 4th September in London. More info about the Mercury Music Prize can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Music_Prize
We understand that Dutch national music magazine OOR have just published a list of the Top 100 Albums from the past 50 years. Their list was compiled after they had asked the so called "musical specialists who work in the Dutch media" or those who are responsible for promoting the main festivals in Holland. Therefore we were a bit surprised (although not disappointed) to see that they finally had THE SMITHS "The Queen Is Dead" (1986 - Sire/Rough Trade) as their 5th best album! - There is nothing like trying to re-write history is there? You see, back in the 80`s those working in the Dutch media (and on radio) had little or no time for THE SMITHS and now they are suddenly claiming that they did. To which AAPA can only say; "Good of them to finally catch up!!" - Their article (in Dutch language) can be found at: http://www.oor.nl/news_details.asp?id=4372 - And equally amusing is that when you look at the current OOR list (which includes Radiohead, The Smiths, The Beach Boys, Nirvana & The Clash in their Top 10) and then go on and compare it to the "Top 10 Albums by OOR" that they published in 2004 (which is dominated by the likes of Bob Dylan, U2, The Rolling Bones & Queen) and you just have to laugh! ... and ask yourself whether there are too many dinosaurs employed in the Dutch music industry? (see additional article "Stuck in the 80`s" - > HERE) - As for the most impressive album(s) of the year since the mid 60`s then do yourself a favour and go check out our selection - > HERE
On Monday 6th August, STEREOPHONICS will be releasing a 2CD 10th Anniversary Edition of their debut album "Word Gets Around" (V2 Records) - The band from Wales who wanted to be MSP Mark 2 (but never really had the talent) still surprised a lot of people by being able to churn out so many albums for such a long time without being dropped? (Or maybe appearing almost every year at those V2 Festivals in the UK helped?) - And for all the songs they ended up recording, their best song still remains 'Local Boy In The Photograph', but the songs chorus ("The clock strikes back..." in a male voice versus "I take it back..." in a female voice) was in fact far too similar to the HOOP LA BABY song 'Start' back in 1996 when both bands actually played the same IN THE CITY festival in Dublin just before STEREOPHONICS got signed to V2 Records and the emergence of the internet. Odd that? ...
Maxïmo Park release a new single 'Girls Who Play Guitars' (Warp Records) on Monday 20th August, which is the follow-up to 'Books From Boxes'. The single will be available on CD, two x 7” coloured vinyl and as a download.
    
NEW ALBUMS: On Monday 6th August THE CORAL are back with a new album "Roots And Echoes" (Deltasonic Records). Then a week later on Monday 13th August, THE DEAD 60s return with their brand new album "Time To Take Sides" (Deltasonic Records) and ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI will release "Places Like This" (Polyvinyl / V2 / Co-op, depending on region). HARD-Fi are set to release their second album "Once Upon A Time In The West" (Atlantic) on Monday 3rd September, and then on 10th September SIOUXSIE SIOUX will be releasing her eagerly awaited solo album {we correctly predicted the title on 17th June!} which will be released by Universal and will be entitled "Mantaray" (see previous article at "06 - 2007") - More info on HARD-Fi and The DEAD 60s can be found below and earlier news can also be found under "06 - 2007"
PLACEBO will be releasing a new EP at the end of this month - "Extended Play '07" features eight tracks and will include three previously unreleased live songs ('Running Up That Hill', 'Pure Morning' & 'Infra-Red') as well as five classics (incl. 'Nancy Boy' & 'Every You Every Me') and is due out on 31st July.
This summer sees the 25th Anniversary of The Hacienda since the legendary Manchester nightclub first opened its doors back in 1982. Peter Hook (Hooky), the former New Order / Joy Division bassist and co-founder of the Hacienda is behind “Hacienda 25”- a series of very special events/projects to celebrate the life of the legendary club. Contrary to other reports, NEW ORDER have NOT split. More info on this event can be found at: www.myspace.com/Fac51TheHacienda
Originally planned by their record company Warners for a March 2007 release, GARBAGE, the post-grunge band from the mid 90`s, who's drummer Butch Vig was most famous for producing the likes of Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins and who are fronted by the Scottish singer Shirley Manson, are about to release their "Best of" collection entitled "Absolute Garbage" and it will be available from Monday 16th July. It was back in October 1995 that their self titled debut album (Mushroom Records/Almo Sounds) was released which included popular indie hits like Stupid Girl, Vow, Queer, Milk & Supervixen, but in the years that followed their popularity declined and in 2005 they even cut short their world tour. To a lot of people who were around during that period, GARBAGE appropriated large portions of British indie band CURVE's musical template to create their sound. Meanwhile, Butch Vig is currently involved in the production of the 2nd as yet to be released album by THE SUBWAYS (which incidentally will be the first British band that Vig will have worked with) - So in conclusion, GARBAGE, although popular with the MTV crowd, are a pop band, while CURVE were never a pop band. A full review of the highly recommended "The Way of Curve" (BMG / Anxious) by TerryA can be found in our ALBUMS REVIEWS 2005 section (from Summer 2005) and in our opinion is much more impressive than this release by Garbage - You can also find out more about the brilliance of CURVE by going through AAPA`s MySpace
Toni Halliday & Dean Garcia were the driving force behind CURVE (see also the above article about GARBAGE) - It was during the early 90`s that CURVE dominated the indie charts with their heavy beats and densely-layered guitar tracks. The Smashing Pumpkin's Billy Corgan is a huge fan, and on 3rd April 1998 he was also present at Curve's sold out New York City gig. A 2-CD retrospective entitled "The Way of Curve" (BMG / Anxious) summarised the group's output in 2004, before singer Toni Halliday announced, in early 2005, that she had left Curve for good.
   
NEW ALBUMS: On Monday 9th July, NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB will be releasing their debut album "Fantastic Playroom" (Island Records), while a week later on 16th July TINDERSTICKS are set to release the 2CD edition of "The Complete BBC Sessions" (Commercial Marketing). Then on 23rd July YEAH YEAH YEAHs are back with an EP "Is Is" (Polydor), and The CORAL return with a brand new album on 6th August with "Roots And Echoes" (Deltasonic Records or Columbia depending on territory)
CANDIE PAYNE is set to release a new single in August. 'One More Chance' is taken from her excellent debut album "I Wish I Could Have Loved You More" (Deltasonic Records) of which a full review can be found in our ALBUMS section (from 30th May 2007)
Inside The Smiths: A new documentary about THE SMITHS, as told by former rhythm section; Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke, is to be released on DVD this month (July 2007) and begins with the story of the band's origins in Manchester. Here, for the first time on film, they tell the story of their time in the group. Speaking with candour, honesty and humour, they offer a unique insight into the private life of the groundbreaking band. "Inside The Smiths" (Tib Street Films) tells the history of the band, and describes what it was like working with Morrissey and Johnny Marr. The documentary includes in depth interviews with the former Smiths as well as musician friends and fans such as New Order's Peter Hook, The Fall's Mark E Smith and Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley. Younger artists such as Kaiser Chiefs' Ricky Wilson offer their own unique insight into what made The Smiths so special.
PURESSENCE are to release a new album entitled "Don't Forget To Remember" (Reaction Records) in September. The highly rated Manchester band who used to have a deal with Island Records in the late 90`s will also be touring across the UK during September & October. You can find out more about them and have a listen by going to their My Space site at: http://www.myspace.com/puressence
In the build up to her sold out show during the Manchester International Festival on 7th July, news just in that PJ HARVEY is to release a brand new album on 24th September. "White Chalk" (Island) is the follow-up to her "Uh Huh Her" album which came out in 2004. See also previous info under Latest News "05 - 2007" and at our PJ section - > HERE - You can also find out more in the Dutch language at: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/PJ_Harvey
HARD-Fi hope to build on the success of their debut album "Stars Of CCTV" (Warners) from 2005 and are set to release their 2nd album, "Once Upon A Time In The West" (Atlantic Records) on Monday 3rd September. A full UK tour will coincide and they should also be making a return to the Benelux region (more details to follow)
JULY PLAYLIST NOW ONLINE
click here for PLAYLISTS
'Hold On', the brand new single by KT TUNSTALL is going to be played for the 1st time on BBC Radio 1 on 12th July on Jo Whiley's show... She was seen last weekend performing the song during Glastonbury. The single will also be included on her 2nd album "Drastic Fantastic" which is due for a September release. In the two and a half years since the release of her debut album "Eye To The Telescope" it has sold nearly four million albums worldwide, including more than 1.5 million in the UK alone. It was initially released in the UK on Relentless Records, and then the album was re-released in February 2006 over in the US on Virgin Records. See also previous info under - "06 - 2007"
THE DEAD 60s are set to release their new album "Time To Take Sides" (Deltasonic Records) on 13th August. The first single from the album, 'Stand Up', will have a digital release on 30th July, and will be in shops on 6th August which will coincide with a UK tour. They then tour France in September. You can also have a listen to selected songs from the band by going through AAPA`s MySpace
direct links for MUSIC NEWS (per month) for 2006 below...
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