coxy's blog

Tellison are, without doubt, one of the best live bands around - I've just returned home from seeing them play Manchester's Roadhouse. Support was from Tubelord, The Maple State - who are each excellent - and Scholars, who I missed play.

It's the last tour for Ben, who plays in Tellison as part of the live line-up - but this just means that there's some exciting new stuff in the pipeline from Encyclopedia, which can only be a good thing!

I shot a whole roll of film and have no idea what I was doing with the flash / retro 60s manual camera combination. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pics next weekend.

Harry from The Old Romantic Killer Band takes a knife to his guitar.

Last night I went to Bring on the Dancing Horses (event listing: upcoming | last.fm | facebook) at The Retro Bar, Manchester. The Old Romantic Killer Band were headlining that night, with support from Arms at Last. I took my camera along and snapped some photos. My Arms at Last photos came out really crap, but I have a few good shots of TORKB.

There wasn't much of a turnout when Arms at Last were on-stage - not that it had anything to do with them, more the bad weather. Unfortunately, that just means they performed to a small crowd. I can't say I was particularly impressed with Arms at Last. What they did, they did reasonably well, but they just sound like a mix of everything else that's emerged from Liverpool over the past year or two - they don't carry anything special enough for them to stand out amongst the others.

By the time The Old Romantic Killer Band came to play, there was more of an audience and they seemed to get a better reaction. I was really looking forward to seeing TORKB play, especially since they had a new drummer in the line-up. I'd hate to think my blog is just turning into a fan-site for these guys, but I am truly impressed by the band - they're nice friendly people and play some really cool music. I hope they do well.

You can get a free TORKB track and four other free music downloads from Bad Sneakers Records by pointing your browser in the direction of badsneakers.co.uk/download and entering the password 'badsneaks'. You can also purchase their debut single 'You Don't Know How to Love' from Amazon from £1.99.

On a side note, I want to mention that faces in the crowd last night included music blogger Jamila of Fucking Dance and Matt of Hot Club de Paris - who was undoubtedly there to see Arms at Last, but it would be interesting to hear what he made of TORKB.

Tags: manchester, bring on the dancing horses, music, the old romantic killer band, hot club de paris, arms at last, liverpool, photos, flickr, bad sneakers records, you don't know how to love, download, free

What? First we hear of The Old Romantic Killer Band losing their original drummer and having to find a replacement, and now Vile Vile Creatures are in the same boat. What's going on with all the drummers this month? Pft.

Tomorrow I'm off to see Hot Club de Paris. They're playing at the Night & Day Cafe (excellent venue) and are supported by Sky Larkin and Elle S'Appelle - it's something to do with Channel M, Manchester's local TV station, and should be a good night. I'm looking forward to it anyway. It feels like it's been too long since I last went to a gig.

On a completely unrelated note; China - GET OUT OF TIBET!!

Tags: the old romantic killer band, vile vile creatures, hot club de paris, elle s'appelle, sky larkin, channel m, manchester, music, night n day, drummer, drums, china, tibet, get out of tibet

Sunday night I went to see Kings of Leon play live at Manchester Central (previously known as the G-MEX) for the third time since 2003. I was on the guestlist (+1) for the event because I was set to review it for Entertainment Manchester.

In short; it was absolutely amazing. I don't think I've enjoyed a gig so much in a long while - and I've never stopped playing their albums since I've come home. Be sure to catch my full review, which is set to appear on the site. I don't know if I'm happy with my writing, but practice makes perfect. Right?

If you haven't heard of Kings of Leon before now, you must've been living under a rock. Either way, I'm going to toss some free music downloads in your direction for you to enjoy. However, to support the cause, they're not MP3s and are actually OGG files. I suggest you find out how to play OGG files (iTunes users click here), because the quality of these files is simply superb.

You can pick up Kings of Leon material for fairly cheap nowadays, so don't shy of buying stuff if you like what you hear.

Downloads:
Kings of Leon - Spiral Staircase (OGG format, hosted on senduit.com | Mirror 1, Mirror 2)
Kings of Leon - Pistol of Fire (OGG format, hosted on senduit.com | Mirror 1, Mirror 2)
Kings of Leon - Charmer (OGG format, hosted on senduit.com | Mirror 1, Mirror 2)

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I've noticed that my blog seems to be very much music and technology related; that's good, right? I'm happy with that anyway, inter-dispersed with personal ramblings. Content.

So, what are you up to tomorrow night? If there's nothing to do, why not come to Manchester and attend Bring on the Dancing Horses. Headlining the night are Liverpool trio Elle S'Appelle who I've mentioned prior to this post and have been getting a lot of attention over the past few months - great news, since they were only formed in January 2007. Support from My Amiga.

Entry to Dancing Horses is £4, or cheaper if you're a student / have a flyer / OAP (really?!) or go by the name Dave Haslam.

Venturing further down south and Alcopop! (one of my favourite labels) are releasing Sam Isaac's debut single 'Sideways' in conjunction with Big Scary Monsters Records. Sam Isaac is another name that's getting a lot of attention of late and it's really refreshing to see a 'popstar' that's not been churned out by a record label and has found his way like any other band has done.

Alcopop! have also announced their 'Jingle Bells, Single Sale' which is basically a 'buy one, get one free' offer on their singles collection. If I didn't own all the releases already, I'd take advantage of this myself.

You can find their shop here, and also a link to their blog in the newly added 'Blogroll: Music' panel on this page - along with some other blogs you should check out.

This week I bought two signed copies of 'Free Love' - the debut single by Cage the Elephant. I found the band through In The City 2007 and love their music and style; it reminds me somewhat of Kings of Leon mixed with Louis XIV. The band are a five-piece signed to Relentless Records and have recently moved from Kentucky (USA) to London (UK) and have a few shows around the country. Check out their MySpace where you can hear their single, or buy it for £1.99 from recordstore.co.uk

Finally, here's a track for you to download - it's by a band called Fourteen Corners. These guys are from the Yorkshire-area and (from what I've seen) are a nice live band and all-round good guys. They would love to hear off you if you're a promoter or label in the UK. You can get in touch via their MySpace, which is also where you can hear more of their music.

Amazing. I've wrote an informative blog post where I had a photo taken by myself to relate to each bit of content. I'm getting good at this blogging thing - how many years did it take?

Downloads:
Fourteen Corners - The Walk Home (MP3 format, hosted on yousendit.com | Mirror)

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