Our love affair with the new faces of 2010 continues at fast pace. Fresh off the heels of our sell out Memoryhouse show at The Social, we’re thrilled to announce a date with Active Child at one of London’s finest venues The Lexington on 26 July.

After spell-binding UK audiences with an intimate tour in May (including a TLOBF show in Cambridge), Pat Grossi returns with his biggest UK headline show to date at The Lexington. A live force not to be missed – alternating between harp and keyboards; a split second of Pat Grossi’s mesmerising, pitch defying vocal can seemingly spellbind anyone or anything that stands in its path.

Support comes from Phantogram, relative newcomers to the UK but causing quite a stir in their native US – the duo create vivid, beat-driven pop songs that can swagger and stun in a single moment. MOPP‘s full band live show is proving to be just as popular as his recorded tracks, having already supported bands like Chew Lips and being invited to open the NME Radar Tour in Glasgow with Everything Everything, Darwin Deez and Hurts, The Lexington is the latest stop in what looks like a highly successful 2010 for this young Scottish producer.

Monday, July 26 2010
The Lexington London N1
Doors 19:30 – 12am
Tickets £8 adv. [buy]

As you have probably noticed if you’ve visited The Line of Best Fit before, we are big supporters of Canadian Music. As such when we were approached by London promoters The Local and Canadian Blast to be media partners for their new venture we were delighted to say yes.

Prior to their takeover of Trafalgar Square to celebrate Canada Day on July 1st, on June 29th and 30th the “Canada” festival will take over 5 venues in London to present some of the best talent Canada has to offer, from the classical to pop via R&B, hip hop, folk and rock, with shows featuring TLOBF favourites such as Dan Mangan (freshly signed to Canadian uber-label Arts and Crafts) and Diamond Rings among others.

The full line up for Canadian Blast and The Local present “CANADA” is as follows:

29th JUNE:
Union Chapel: THE CANADIAN TENORS

30th JUNE:
229 : HAWKSLEY WORKMAN + JULLY BLACK + THE ART OF FRESH+RADIO RADIO (£8.00)
The Lexington : DAN MANGAN + ARTUR DYJECINSKI + THE MIGHTY LOW (£8.50)
The Black Heart : GHOSTCAT + DIAMOND RINGS + ELEPHANT STONE (£6.00)
The Wilmington : RUTH MINNIKIN + MAYOR MCCA + RAISING REDWOOD (£5.00)

We are giving away one pair of tickets for each of events on 30th June. To enter, simply fill in the form below clearly stating which venue you would like tickets for.

For those buying tickets you will also receive a code to download a track from each of the participating artists, compiled by TLOBF’s own Oh! Canada column. In addition, each ticket purchased counts as an entry into a prize draw to win a holiday for two to Canada, including a cross-country trip on VIA rail. Tickets will be valid for one venue onlyand can be purchased via – www.musicglue.com, seetickets and ticketweb. All venues have an 18+ restriction.

Keep your eyes on TLOBF for more content to do with the Canada festival and the artists involved in the coming weeks.

‘Canadian Blast and The Local Present CANADA’ the inaugural Canada-only music festival in London. In association with The Line of Best Fit and sponsored by: Canadian Tourism Commission, VIA Rail, Sleeman Beer and CIBC.

PLEASE NOTE:
Due to unforeseen circumstances Plants & Animals and Think About Life have cancelled their European tours and will unfortunately no longer be playing the festival. If you require a refund please contact the ticket vendor for details.

Last week we announced a brand new TLOBF Presents show featuring Memoryhouse, Treasure and Visions Of Trees which will take place at The Social, London on July 2. Today, we can announce that the final addition to the bill is the incredible How To Dress Well. Making the show even more exciting is the inclusion of live visuals from one Jamie Harley, who has made music videos for three of the four bands playing on the lineup. Not only that, the show will be the first time Memoryhouse and How To Dress Well will have played on a London stage. One not to miss then…

So the full line-up:

MEMORYHOUSE
VISIONS OF TREES
HOW TO DRESS WELL
TREASURE
+ TLOBF DJs JEN LONG & RICH THANE

More details over on the event page. Tickets are priced at £5 and are selling very quickly, pick one up here while you can. Check out the exclusive promo clip for the show below, plus three of Jamie’s latest videos.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Line Of Best Fit presents in association with Schmooze:

MEMORYHOUSE
VISIONS OF TREES
HOW TO DRESS WELL
PRIZES

+ DJ sets from Jen Long & thisaintnodisco

With live visuals from Jamie Harley

Friday, July 2nd 2010
The Social, London W1
Doors 19:30 – 12am
Tickets £5 adv. [buy]

ADVANCE TICKETS HAVE NOW SOLD OUT. AROUND 50 WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE DOOR TO PURCHASE AT £5 EACH.

Canada’s Memoryhouse have announced a very special headline show at The Social, London on July 2nd with support from Visions Of Trees, Prizes and How To Dress Well.

This one-off event will not only see live sets from some of the hottest new names in the blogosphere right now, but also feature stunning live visuals from video artist Jamie Harley.

Based in Paris, Harley’s deft touch marries sound and vision flawlessly. By using found footage, cross-processed with lucid colours and psychedelic imagery, the results are nothing short of breath-taking. A true visionary, Jamie’s recent work includes videos for Memoryhouse, How To Dress Well, The Forest & The Trees and Prizes.

Event page:

Facebook
Songkick
Last.fm

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Very pleased to announce that TLOBF and Cambridge based promoters Green Mind are joining forces once more for a collaborative show. May 17th will see Pat Grossi (aka Active Child) bring his astonishing lo-fi gospel pop to The Portland Arms, Cambridge. Tickets are on sale now priced at £5. Support acts will be announced shortly.

Active Child will also be playing a few other regional dates as well as three London shows including the annual Stag & Dagger Festival. Check his MySpace for details.

Look out for an exclusive Active Child “Art Of Noise” mix-tape later this week.

A dependable friend in these troubled and faddy times, Rough Trade Shops’ RoTa afternoons have been running like clockwork for 10 years now, every Saturday 4pm – 8pm and ALWAYS FREE ENTRY. TLOBF were asked to curate our first RoTa of 2010 this weekend, and suffice to say – we did it in style.

Causing a huge queue down the street before the doors were even open, the stellar lineup of The Last Dinosaur, Stairs To Korea, Yuck and the live debut of Summer Camp was the talk of the town. We’re still coming down from the sheer awesomeness of it all. Wonderful bands, a venue packed to the rafters with splendid human beings and not to mention the excellent DJing skills of the Transparent Blog crew.

Check out the wonderful shots taken by our resident photographer Paul Bridgewater below. If you were there, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below! Until next time…

The Last Dinosaur

Summer Camp

Yuck

Stairs To Korea

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE | LAST.FM | SONGKICK

A dependable friend in these troubled and faddy times, Rough Trade Shops’ RoTa afternoons have been running like clockwork for 10 years now, every Saturday 4pm – 8pm and ALWAYS FREE ENTRY. The first TLOBF curated RoTa event of 2010 will take place on March 13th as an “unofficial warm-up” to the Grizzly Bear and Memory Tapes shows happening either side of town later in the evening. Tempted?

BLOODY NOSE
In the words of omnipotent Star Trek space douche Q, “If you can’t take a little Bloody Nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It’s not safe out here. It’s wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it’s not for the timid.” So gird your loins, and don’t forget your cameras. You won’t want to miss this.

THE LAST DINOSAUR
The Last Dinosaur release their epic debut album “Hooray! For Happiness” on April 19th. Featuring a breathtaking collection of songs that flawlessly tie together lo-fi late night bedroom recordings with flourishes of sweeping post-rock and gorgeous strings. Think of it as a soundtrack to the film playing in your head; the greatest film never made.
www.myspace.com/thelastdinosauruk

YUCK
Barely a few months old and Yuck have already been picked up by Pitchfork and The Guardian. Formed from the ruins of Cajun Dance Party and signed to Transparent, the band met in the desert; Danny was wearing a Daniel Johnston T-shirt; Jonny was wearing an Animal Collective one. They bonded over iced-tea and a mutual love of J Mascis and decided to create their own freak scene. Yuck was born.
www.myspace.com/yuckband

STAIRS TO KOREA
Stairs To Korea is Will Vaughan, a frighteningly talented half-Icelandic multi-instrumentalist who crafts skewed pop music using an array of effects, synthesisers and a dinky white guitar. Sugar-coated harmonies meet bended brass lines and intricate guitar motifs in his unique paens to growing up, going out and getting lost in the 21st century. “Your New Favourite Band Is Here” – Huw Stephens, BBC Introducing
www.myspace.com/stairstokorea

+ DJ SETS FROM TRANSPARENT & TLOBF
www.transparentblog.com / www.thelineofbestfit.com

We’re slowly recovering from a heavy night on the sauce after our sister company – ILL FIT – celebrated Christmas in style last night at The Social. A truly star-studded affair with The Duke Spirit, Ryan Jarman from The Cribs, Josh Weller, Huw Stephens and Wichita Records all in attendance. Some great music from The Lost Levels and The Forest & The Trees who entertained the throng up ’till 1am. ‘Twas good fun indeed. But why stop there…. Let’s do it all over again!

Yes, along with London promoters The Local, we’re hosting the official TLOBF Xmas Party tomorrow night at The Rest Is Noise, Brixton (next to the Brixton Academy). Playing live, The Forest & The Trees – the incredible new signing to ILL FIT Recordings and a headline set from The Tailors – whose recent album Come Dig Me Up has received rave reviews left, right and centre.

We’ll kick things off at about 8pm and run until 1am. There will be DJ sets from both TLOBF and The Local and it’s FREE ENTRY all evening. Come on down and meet some TLOBF staff writers for some face to face chit chat, instead of all this Twitter nonsense. See you there!

The Rest Is Noise
442 Brixton Road, Brixton, London, SW9 8EJ
www.therestisnoisebrixton.com

We’re thrilled to be able to announce a very special, one off performance next year from The Willkommen Orchestra: an outfit made up of various members of Shoreline, The Leisure Society, The Climbers, Sons Of Noel and Adrian and The Miserable Rich.

The show, which takes place at Kings Place, London on 27th February 2010 will feature about three or four songs each from Shoreline, Sons Of Noel and Adrian, The Miserable Rich and The Climbers repertoires all scaled up and played by one big band – ie. The Willkommen Orchestra. Interestingly, it’ll be the first time any of The Climbers (a side project from Nick and Christian of The Leisure Society) songs have been played live, ahead of their debut album release in March.

It’s safe to say that 2009 has been the most successful yet for the Willkommen Collective; Sons Of Noel and Adrian have supported Laura Marling at Royal Festival Hall, Efterklang at the Barbican and doubled up with Shoreline for a tour with Mumford and Sons; The Leisure Society have gone from headlining the TLOBF Club Night in front of 100 people just over a year ago, to selling out shows left, right and centre – not to mention the Ivor Novello nomination and their debut album The Sleeper appearing in Rough Trade Shops end of year list for best album of 2009. *phew* – With the release of The Climbers album and new material from The Leisure Society in the pipeline, 2010 is set to be just as good.

An ever expanding co-operative – the Willkommen Collective is a group of like minded souls who gathered along the way when Shoreline’s Tom Cowan and Jacob Richardson from Sons of Noel and Adrian made their pilgrimage to Brighton’s pastoral, bohemian climes with the view to creating a self-sufficient musical alliance. After Cowan grouped a dozen musicians together to perform his music in Shoreline, many revealed themselves to be songwriters and used the ready assembled pool of musicians to realise their ambitions, resulting in countless wildly different projects utilising many of the same band members. Aside from the Collective’s welcoming nature, the name Willkommen pays homage to cellist and beard cultivator, Will Calderbank, who almost every group have in common.

Tickets for this amazing show are available now from the Kings Place website and are priced between £9.50 – £15.50 (depending on seat location).

As we’re the official media partner for this event, we’ll be bringing you exclusive mp3′s, interviews and competitions in the run up to the show. Keep your eyes peeled, and, if you’re worried about missing out on any breaking news – you can sign up to our weekly email based newsletter here.

Songkick page
Facebook page

The Arctic Circle in association with The Line Of Best Fit are incredibly excited to be announcing a very unique concert involving one of our favourite bands.

After many a celebrated concert in Hamburg, Amsterdam, Munich and Cologne, The Notwist & The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra will be playing at the Union Chapel in London on the 12th December.

The combination of a 20-piece orchestra with a 5-piece band from Bavaria, holds a lot more promise than the typical “Rock meets Classical” set up. Instead, old and new Notwist songs are elaborated upon to form extremely complex and intelligent orchestral arrangements that are sometimes moody and often happily insane but live up to high expectations.

The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra make music in their very own galaxy – a similar one to which Raymond Scott, Sun Ra or Bach and Beethoven must have once passed by.

These evenings celebrate a new interpretation and elaboration of the Notwistian songbook, which due to logistical reasons can only take place on a few very special occasions.

Last year, The Notwist released their album The Devil, You and Me via City Slang, for which the The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Glatzel, contributed important orchestral arrangements. The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra released their first album Take Off in May, on Notwist’s own label, Alien Transistor. Over the last two years the Munich based documentary filmmaker, Jörg Adolph, filmed the coming together of these two ensembles on stage and off. The DVD of the film Music, No Music will be available in stores from December, right on time for the tour.

Tickets for the show will go on sale this Friday 11 Sept at 10am. For further information visit: http://www.jointhecircle.net/

Need convincing? Watch the following clip of ‘Boneless’ below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photo credit: Susen Mueller

Day 3 of our Willkommen Week. Todays audio interview is with sometime member of Sons of Noel and Adrian, full-time singer songwriter Rowan Coupland. News reaches us that his set at the Willkommen Evening this Friday (12th June) at Union Chapel will see Rowan perform a suite of songs based around birth, life and death. He’ll be backed by a Willkommen choir and there will be lyric sheets for the audience. He plans to turn the Union Chapel into a reverberating sound cave. Sounds epic huh?

Hear what else Rowan has to say below, and remember (as if you need reminding) the TLOBF Sponsored Union Chapel show  is taking place THIS Friday (12th June). For more information and to purchase a ticket, visit the Arctic Circle website.

Audio Interview: ‘Rowan Coupland’
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Following on from yesterdays The Leisure Society audio interview and Sons Of Noel and Adrian live session, today Tom Cowan – one of the main guys responsible for Willkommen Records talks to Ben Eshmade about the history of the label and indeed one of the many bands he plays in: Shoreline.

Keep checking back all week for exclusive content from Sons of Noel and Adrian, Laish Quartet and Rowan Coupland.

Tickets are still available for the TLOBF Sponsored Union Chapel show that is taking place this Friday (12th June). For more information and to purchase a ticket, visit the Arctic Circle website.

Audio Interview: ‘Tom Cowan of Shoreline’
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Anyone looking for an excuse to go to the Willkommen evening at the Union Chapel this Friday night (12th June) seriously needs to download this exclusive recording which is, funnily enough, taken from a Sons Of Noel and Adrian set at the very same venue last June.

Brought to us by Arctic Circle, the guys behind the Willkommen evening that TLOBF are proudly sponsoring, enjoy ‘Kernow’, ‘Inside Olympia’ and a rousing rendition of ‘The Wreck Is Not A Boat’.

Keep checking back all week for more exclusive content from Sons of Noel and Adrian, Laish Quartet, Rowan Coupland and Shoreline. We’ll be featuring competitions and audio interviews from each of the bands playing on the 12th.

Tickets are still available for £10. For more information and to purchase a ticket, visit the Arctic Circle website.

Live Session: ‘Sons Of Noel and Adrian: ‘Live at Union Chapel 2008′
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Photograph by Sonny Malhotra

To coincide with perhaps the most exciting show TLOBF have been involved with so far (that being the Willkommen Records evening taking place at London’s prestigious Union Chapel on 12th June) we are running a special Willkommen Week featuring exclusive content from all the bands playing at the event.

To kick things off, we have an audio interview with Nick Hemming of recent Ivor Novello nominees The Lesiure Society. Ben Eshmade, the driving force behind the Willkommen evening caught up with Nick last week to chat about what the label means to him as an artist.

Keep checking back all week for exclusive content from Sons of Noel and Adrian, Laish Quartet, Rowan Coupland and Shoreline. We’ll be featuring competitions, special live recordings and indeed – more audio interviews from each of the bands playing on the 12th.

Tickets are still available for £10. For more information and to purchase a ticket, visit the Arctic Circle website.

Audio Interview: ‘Nick Hemming of The Leisure Society
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We are thrilled to announce that Scottish quintet and firm TLOBF favourites My Latest Novel are to launch their brand new album Deaths & Entrances at a special concert at Bush Hall, London on May 25th.

The show, which TLOBF have arranged in conjunction with The Moonshine Jamboree will also feature the folk-loveliness of Stars Of Sunday League and chamber pop favourites Left With Pictures and 4AD’s newest signings It Hugs Back. The world famous Bella Union DJs Carpet Byrne and Jupiter Bottleburst will be spinning tunes in between acts. An evening of sheer joy – guaranteed.

Tickets are on sale now priced at £8. Get yours here. Or, if you follow TLOBF on Twitter, you can get yourselves on the cheap list for £6! Just look at past tweets for info how.

For those of you that are itching to hear the new album, we posted an exclusive track ‘All In All Is All’ a few weeks ago.  Defiant and dramatic with soaring instrumentation and gorgeous harmonies – the song is a definite standout from an all round glorious album. Give it a listen here.

We will be announcing two support acts very soon, so keep your eyes peeled. For now, feel free to take guesses as to who they may be!

Deaths & Entrances will be released via Bella Union on May 18th. My Latest Novel will be touring the UK in full throughout May, check their website for further details.

White Denim, set to headline this months TLOBF club night

ILL FIT and ADVENTURES IN THE BEETROOT FIELD
present

ILL FIT 5:  SWEAT & BLOOD

WHITE DENIM (live)
THE GAY BLADES (live)
AIR FRANCE (DJ set)

+ ILL FIT DJs
+ free CDs, free shots and free, full and frank expression of views.

Good line-up, right?   Daaaaamn straight.

WHITE DENIM are doing a whistlestop tour of the UK;
THE GAY BLADES are settling in for a three week trek around the whole country (visit their MySpace for details) leading up to the June 8th release of their debut lp GHOSTS;
AIR FRANCE are over to host the party at St Etienne’s pair of Bloomsbury Lane shows and to remix a track from Fox Base Alpha and are staying to play this night too.

Now if this isn’t the coolest, hottest, sweatiest and dammit, sexiest night of the year so far, then I don’t know what is.

The summer starts right here.

We will of course be bringing for you a ton of swag, CDs, T shirts general loot as well as those stunning bands. Maybe even we will have the new free SIC mixtape, Listening Is Easy, for your delectation.   All new shit from SIC and close personal friends with a running order that will knock your fucking socks off.

Alas it ain’t free this time.  Don’t blame us.  But it’s £6 only.  It’s up to you but all I’m saying is.. Tickets here.

If you are thinking “that will sell out right away”, then I agree with you, smartypants

See you there.  Don’t bring a coat, it’s gonna be HOT as hell.

After a series of happy episodes at The Old Blue Last, ILL FIT (TLOBF’s club night) ups sticks and moves to an entirely new venue, the luxurious Scala, Kings Cross. A bigger room, a bigger stage – how better to fill it than with some of our favourite, music-making friends of ours?

Predictably, by the time The Leisure Society open up the night and break out of the stalls for the all-new ILL FIT  the place is bristling with TLOBF regulars, including the very slightly bizarre spectacle of a full-roster of TLOBF London-based photographers clustered around the stage. The show tonight concludes The Leisure Society’s debut UK tour, so obviously the band are on top form and fine voice. Playing a condensed set of album favourites ‘Save It For Someone Who Cares’, ‘Last Of The Melting Snow’ and ‘Love’s Enormous Wings’  they also toss in a cover of the Gary Numan classic ‘Cars’. Lucky.

Attendees are later treated to the first appearance from a super-brand-new band called Snowbird, a collaboration between heart-on-sleeve songstress Stephanie Dosen and Bella Union’s very own ex Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde. It’s a showcase of brand new songs with Simon on piano and Stephanie on vocals, a series of ideas thrown together in a few weeks, mostly over e-mail, I’m later told by Simon. Listening to how beautifully they’ve turned out in light of this could turn any songwriter green with envy. It’s fair to say though that although the performance is helped along in no small part by the richness and presence of Dosen’s voice, the material glimmers with little promises – simplicity itself, this collaboration was a very good idea. It could yet yield some very pleasing little gems. Stephanie’s between-song banter is entertaining and at times endearingly confused. She forgets what she wants to say, then remembers, then forgets. She switches from funny to nervous to flustered to suddenly in-control (was she playing with us?) and then eases into amazing vocal performances like some sort of schizophrenic angel.

TLOBF makes no secret of our love for Loney dear. Even despite our unashamed bias, it seems unfair not to emphasise just how underrated a live act they are. In a hushed venue,  without amplification, Emil Svanagen’s bone-china voice floats to the rear of the venue in a series of intimate, acoustic moments. Alone, Emil is able to explore these gentle troughs, thumbing ballads and singing into the dark, pausing to share thoughts with the audience. With the band he freely builds to blood-stirring crescendos, blossoming fully-fleshed, rousing melodies again and again.  The performance billows upwards, rolling and building but is never brash, it retains its delicacy throughout. The crowd are engaged, as a spotlight sweeps the audience, it’s cloudy eyes and big smiles all the way. An opportunity to attend one of these performances shouldn’t be lightly missed.

And so another ILL FIT comes and goes. Heartfelt thanks have to go out to the performers and attendees for helping to generate such a great atmosphere and fantastic night for us all. We look forward to seeing all of your bright and lovely faces at the next one.

The Leisure Society: ‘Cars (Gary Numan Cover)’

Snowbird: ‘Where Foxes Hide’

Loney dear: ‘I Am John’

Loney dear: ‘Meter Marks OK’

Huge thanks to Lucy Johnston for photographs 2,3,5-9 and Crazybobbles for photographs 1 & 4
HD Video footage kindly supplied by Crazybobbles

Sons of Noel and Adrian | Photograph by Owen Richards

It’s a busy busy time for the members of Sons Of Noel and Adrian. Not only are a moderate amount of the Brighton-based folk collective moonlighting with The Leisure Society on their (TLOBF Sponsored) UK tour, they’ve just announced a ten-date headlining tour of their own! Yes, the Sons – who are all a part of the hugely exciting Willkommen Collective (which in simple terms, is to folk what Broken Social Scene are to indie – only based in Brighton, not Canada) will be taking in all the major cities and towns throughout April, culminating with a homecoming show at the Pavillion Theatre in Brighton.

April
22nd: CANTERBURY - Orange Street Music Club 
TICKETS call 01227 760801 | FACEBOOK | LAST.FM 
23rd: LONDON - Indoor Picnic @ The Wilmington Arms - TICKETS | FACEBOOK | LAST.FM
24th: MANCHESTER - Red Deer Club @ Klondyke Bowls Club - TICKETS | FACEBOOK | LAST.FM
25th: GLASGOW - Nice n Sleazy - TICKETS | FACEBOOK | LAST.FM
26th: NEWCASTLE - The End Bar - TICKETS | FACEBOOK | LAST.FM 
27th: CARDIFF - Buffalo Bar - TICKETS | FACEBOOK | LAST.FM
28th: BRISTOL - Mothers Ruin - TICKETS | FACEBOOK | LAST.FM
29th: FALMOUTH - Miss Peapods - TICKETS | FACEBOOK | LAST.FM 
30th: WINCHESTER - The Railway - TICKETS | FACEBOOK | LAST.FM

May
2nd: BRIGHTON - The Pavillion Theatre - TICKETS | FACEBOOK | LAST.FM

In other news, the members of the Willkommen Collective (Sons Of Noel and Adrian, Shoreline, The Leisure Society) will be performing at a very, very special show at Londons Union Chapel on Friday 12th June. The collective will be joined by Sweet Billy Pilgrim plus other Willkommen artists yet to be confirmed. It is guaranteed to be an extra special night and will definitely not be your standard gig, oh no. There will be bands and artists performing all around the church, from the entrance hall to the balconies, the pews to the toilets (maybe). What’s more, the entire evening is being sponsored by TLOBF(!) – so expect competitions galore nearer the time of the show. Keep your eyes peeled for more info.

For now though, you can order your tickets here for £10.

Our dear friends The Leisure Society have today announced two very special things.

Special thing number 1:
They are set to play our TLOBF Club Night @ Scala on 14 April. Full details here.

Special thing number 2:
TLOBF have been chosen as official sponsors of their upcoming tour of the UK.

Yes, ’tis true. Look out for a daily tour diary, amazing competitions, interviews and whatever else we can think of in the meantime.

Tickets for the  tour are on sale now and being snagged very quickly. So act fast if you want a piece of the action. The eleven date tour is in support of their debut album The Sleeper, released 23rd March via Willkommen Records. Expect a ton of album cuts plus a few suprise cover versions along the way.

March
25th: BRIGHTON – Resident Records instore –  FREE! | LAST.FM
26th: LONDON – Luminaire –  TICKETS SELLING FAST! | LAST.FM
27th: BRISTOL – Louisiana – TICKETS | LAST.FM

April
3rd: MIDDLESBROUGH – Westgarth Social Club – TICKETS | LAST.FM
4th: LIVERPOOL – St. Bride’s Church – TICKETS : 0151 708 8815 | LAST.FM
5th: LEEDS – Royal Park Cellars – TICKETS | LAST.FM
9th: BIRMINGHAM – The Glee Club – TICKETS SELLING FAST! | LAST.FM
10th: MANCHESTER -The Ruby Lounge – TICKETS | LAST.FM
11th: GLASGOW – The Classic Grand – TICKETS | LAST.FM
12th: NOTTINGHAM – The Bodega - TICKETS
14th: LONDON – Scala* – TICKETS | LAST.FM | FACEBOOK

*supporting Loney dear

Don’t forget – The Leisure Society’s brand new single ‘Matter Of Time’ is released as a digital download on 16th March. It features two new tracks, ‘A Passing Thought’ and my personal favourite TLS track ‘Pancake Day’. Pre-order it here.

To give you an idea of what to expect on tour, check out this lovely rendition of debut single ‘Last Of The Melting Snow’ below…

Something In Construction and The Line Of Best Fit
in association with Live Nation and CAA
present

LONEY DEAR
SNOWBIRD (feat. Stephanie Dosen)
THE LEISURE SOCIETY
+ILL FIT DJ’s

@ SCALA, 275 PENTONVILLE ROAD, LONDON N1
14 APRIL 2009

DOORS: 7pm

After a string of successful parties in late 2008 at the Old Blue Last, ILL FIT is upscaling and is very proud to offer you a unique and extremely appetising banquet of music at one of Londons larger venues.

Loney dear are of course very close to our hearts, having released their UK debut on SiC back in 2006 and charming the pants off everyone who attended last years TLOBF Xmas party. They are back celebrating the release of their fifth album ‘Dear John’ with a full band show, fresh from an extensive tour of the U S of A. Expect great things. On support duties, we welcome Snowbird, a brand new and rather bewitching collaboration from Stephanie Dosen and Simon Raymonde (Cocteau Twins, Bella Union) playing songs of the old and new variety. As if that’s not enough, we also have the full lavishly appointed and luxuriously hand-tooled 8 piece version of The Leisure Society, a fast rising, Radio 2 and MOJO approved orchestral folk-pop band based in London, whose TLOBF sponsored tour will culminate at this very show.

We can only stress what a catastrophic mistake it would be to not turn up early and catch all of the acts.

Musical interludes will be provided by ILL FIT’s appallingly brilliant DJs.

It’s going to be, y’know, fun.

Find out who else is going via Facebook or Last.fm and plot to build a human pyramid in the crowd – a bottle of champagne goes out to anyone who makes it to three tiers. Plus everyone who signs up for the show by these means will get a FREE digital EP featuring exclusive tracks from all of the bands playing.

If you are looking to meet for a drink beforehand, then choose your pub wisely. We recommend The Ruby Lounge, about 50m up Caledonian Rd. Very nice it is too.

And if you have any suggestions for what tunes you think we should play at the show, then let’s hear them!

Scala
275Pentonville Rd
N1 9NL
£11.50 plus booking fee (buy tickets)

www.myspace.com/loneydear
www.myspace.com/snowbirdwatching
www.myspace.com/theleisuresociety

Look out for lots more TLOBF affiliated show annoucements coming very soon!

Tomorrow night (27th Jan) sees TLOBF and Brainlove Records join forces with WOMP (that’s Word Of Mouth Promotions in case you were wondering) who are putting on an evening of art and music at 93 Feet East in London’s Brick Lane. The Line Of Best Fit will be behind the decks spinning what will probably be tons of gay Scandi-disco (if I can get away with it) mixed in with all your favourite alternative anthems of the moment. Joining TLOBF will be John Brainlove of Brainlove Records (and occasionally TLOBF) who, if past experience is anything to go by, will be drowning the dance floor out with the sounds of Fuck Buttons and Atlas Sound. In other words: it’s going to be mega.

WOMP will be converting 93 feet East into a makeshift art gallery, showcasing some of the finest up and coming artists in the London area. That mixed with cheap drink offers, free entry and the previously mentioned ‘banging’ tunes, you’re in for a bloody great night. Come and join us why don’tcha..In the immortal words of our very own Peter Bloxham “this one’s set to go off like milk on a radiator”. 

TUESDAY JANUARY 27TH 
ART EXHIBITION AND DJs
93 FEET EAST 
TRUMAN BREWERY 
BRICK LANE E1 6QL

Yup – if you’re a regular around these parts you’ve probably already seen news of this around the site. If you’re more of a casual reader though, I am thrilled – yes THRILLED to tell you that Swedish indie pop superstar Loney Dear is flying over to the UK on Monday for a one off show, especially for TLOBF at London’s Old Blue Last in deepest, darkest Shoreditch.

We are all very, VERY excited about it. And you should be too. Why?

Well, not only do we have Emil playing an exclusive set of new material from his awesome new album Dear John. Supporting him we have ex-Boo Radley and all round decent bloke Martin Carr and the Dylan-mop top-Fender-Stratocaster-toting-jingle-jangle of Adam Donen & The Drought. Not to mention Bella Union Records behind the decks AND free shots, free cd’s, free vinyl, free badges, free love etc. It is going to be awesome.

For more info click here, here or here.

We hope to see you there, down the front, with a great big smile on your face. It is Christmas after all.

Download the new Loney Dear single ‘Airport Surroundings’ from here. And whilst you’re at it, you can pre-order the album for a credit crunch busting $10.

SIC & TLOBF.COM
present

ILL FIT III: Snow On The Tracks

A FREE party at London’s premier sweatbox, Old Blue Last, on Monday December 8th.

The theme this time is not clear to us yet. So maybe the theme is good times. Yeah. Big skyscraping, heart-fluttering tunes also. Goodwill to all men too. Ladies also. Goodwill and good times.

With livemusics from:

Loney Dear
No need to explain them. We are proud to say Emil will be exclusively unveiling songs from his new record, Dear John, out in the New Year as well as faves from his first four albums.
www.myspace.com/loneydear

Martin Carr
Next year I believe, Martin is being officially recognised as a National Treasure. The big brain, and bigger hair, behind Boo Radleys and Brave Captain, will be busting his (and Mary’s) Gene Clark-y Bob Dylan-y tunes all over the shop.
www.myspace.com/martincarrmusic

Adam Donen & The Drought
Well, Adam is down with the classics: Cave, Dylan, Cohen, Love. A big sound. Some very nice hellfire, pointy strings, jubilant horns and a shaking wall of sound. Have a listen to him here:
www.myspace.com/adamdonenandthedrought

+++ DJ sets from Carpet Byrne and Jupiter Bottleburst from Bella Union Records

So that is lots of good will and good times, right there. Also, maybe we will ask the bands to play a Bob Dylan cover. Also we will shake the tree and rustle up some special guests to come and play a Bob Dylan song.

And there is yet more:
free Jager shots for big, curly Dylan mops
free stuff
free CDs
free shots
free entry
free will
free speech*

Doors will open at 8pm and it runs til 12 or something.

And do remember that entry is FREE.
As a bird.

There is no guest list so do come early if you want in because as you may or may not know the room is no bigger than your very own bedroom and it will fill up pretty damn swiftly.

Join the Facebook Group here and tell us you’re coming!

Old Blue Last
38 Gt Eastern St, corner of Curtain Rd
Shoreditch
EC2A 3ES

ILL FIT will return in 2009.

www.thelineofbestfit.com
www.somethinginconstruction.com

*subject to availabililty

Andrew Bird

Any readers Stateside are in for a treat and a half in the new year. Loney Dear are to support their hero Andrew Bird on a full US tour in January and February. This will be the first ‘proper’ chance to hear new material from both acts’ new records – which are both out in the new year. Exciting times indeed. They’ve played shows together before and are big fans of each others work. Bird even supplying violin on Loney’s new record Dear John.

In other news, Loney Dear are also set to return to the UK in January for a full band show at a VERY special London venue. I’ve been sworn to secrecy for now, but lets just say that I nearly wet myself when I found out. It’s going to be a religious experience for sure. 

And REMEMBER – 8th December is our TLOBF christmas party at Old Blue Last, London EC2. It’s free entry and promises to be a mega night. Joining a solo Loney Dear will be Martin Carr of Boo Radleys fame, the awesome garage-folk-rock hybrid of Adam Donen & The Drought plus Bella Union DJs.. There will be more suprise guest(s) announced soon. Keep an eye out on the Facebook event page for all the latest additions.

Loney Dear solo dates:

December
08 – Old Blue Last, London (TLOBF CHRISTMAS PARTY w/ VERY special guests – FREE ENTRY)
10 – Mercury Lounge, NYC, NY (W/ MELPO MENE)
12 – Bellhouse, Brooklyn, NY (W/ MELPO MENE)

Loney Dear and Andrew Bird dates:

January
30 - Boston, MA The Orpheum

February
03 - Washington, DC The 930 Club
04 - Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
06 - Orlando, FL The Plaza
07 - New Orleans, LA House of Blues
12 - Austin, TX The Paramount Theater
13 - Albuquerque, NM The El Rey
14 - Tucson, AZ The Rialto
18 - Los Angeles, CA The Orpheum
19 - San Francisco, CA T

SIC & TLOBF.COM
present

ILL FIT II: Exile On Old Street

a FREE party at London’s premier sweatbox, Old Blue Last, on Monday November 17th

Dear ol’ dirty ol’ rock’n'roll this time. 
So, tight trousers, laser rainbows and unreasonably high spirits all round 
 
Livemusics from:
 
DISCOVERY ZONE
www.myspace.com/discoveryzoneband
The UK debut of Hollywood’s Gonzoid Rock slash Bionic Pop wunderkids.
Imagine, if you are able, dear reader, a titanic and somewhat lethal blend of The Melvins and The Beach Boys.
 
INNER CITY PIRATES
www.myspace.com/innercitypirates
From the valleys, a perkily deranged, and NME/Zane approved, garage band take on partay music.  
Y’all do like to party, doncha?   

RUBELLA
www.myspace.com/catchrubella
All grrrl 3piece, playing their 3rd ever show, and joining the dots tween YYYs and Babes In Toyland.
Going hell for leather to entertain you and drain you.

+ DJ SETS from SIC Unsoundsystem + Team TLOBF
Whom, you may safely assume, will be bringing the motherfucking noise and all the sleazy glamour you can swallow.

and there is yet more:
free Jager shots for hands with studded wristbands   
free stuff
free CDs
free shots
free entry
free bird*
free dog night*
All right now?

Doors will open at 8pm and it runs til 12 or something. 

And do remember that entry is free. 
As a bird.

There is no guest list so do come early if you want in because as you may or may not know the room is no bigger than your very own bedroom and it will fill up pretty damn swiftly.

Old Blue Last
38 Gt Eastern St, corner of Curtain Rd
Hoxditch
EC2A 3ES

ILL FIT will return 
on
Monday December 8th.
With Loney, dear + very very special fucking Xmas guests

*subject to availabililty

As we publish this interview, news reaches TLOBF that Dear John, the long-awaited new album from Swedish singer-songwriter Loney, Dear (Emil Svanängen, as he’s known to his nearest and dearest) is complete. The long, hard slog of home recording is over; countless versions of songs discarded in search of the perfect take. Emil is a self-confessed perfectionist. When we chatted back in July, he talked about the intense pressure he puts himself under when recording music. Svanängen takes the recording process extremely seriously, spending lonely hours crafting perfectly formed pop songs like a patchwork blanket, with little or no help from outsiders. Layers are added, tweaked and removed until the perfect version reveals itself.

In this exclusive interview, Emil chats for the first time about his new record, the recording process and the pressures of releasing an album for the first time under the scrutiny of a much greater critical eye. (His last release, Loney, Noir, was his major label debut but had been self-released the previous year.) Svanängen also hints, in his usual cryptic manner, at what the future has in store for Loney, Dear.

For those of you who are eager to see Loney, Dear return to the live circuit, we are thrilled to announce that Emil will be flying over to play a solo show at our ILL FIT club night at the Old Blue Last in London on December 8. What’s more, entry is totally free. Keep your eyes peeled on the site for more details.

Hi, Emil. Last time we spoke properly was at the Wireless Festival on the Bella Union bus. Maybe it was the first and last time you’ll ever play a show on a double-decker bus… how did you find it?
It was a wonderful night after all, but it felt like a mishap in the beginning! I really like Simon (Raymonde, Bella Union founder), who booked us, really really like, but at first it felt like a disastrous festival. But it turned out to be a nice memory.

Wildbirds & Peacdrums did a wonderful job of backing you up. I take it you guys are pretty good friends?
We are good friends now. Love them. I met Andreas the first time ever when he showed up for a tour with us in Glasgow. I just knew he was spectacular. We didn’t have to even practice before the tour.

That was last year, when Ola was busy with other projects?
Exactly. I’m happy he was, wouldn’t have met the wonderful Andreas otherwise.

Mariam too – she has a real talent.
Extreme talent.

So the new songs seemed to go down really well – especially “Titans”. That’s a personal favourite of mine. From what I’ve heard anyway.
You will love “Airport Surroundings”. I’ll have to send it to you.

Please do! I’m looking forward to hearing all the new songs. How is the album going? Still hard at work, I take it.
I’m finishing it every day.

Haha – for sure.
No, actually, it is close. I would say I won’t touch 8 or 9 songs out of 11.

I remember reading on your blog something about August 11 for a deadline! I take it that went out the window.
I know, it was the labels. They’ve been pretty slow on responding so this is more extra time for me. I was finished in some ways by the 11th, but the songs sound better to me now. Much better.

Ever the perfectionist…
I know. I thought a lot about what we were talking about at Wireless. I realised the problem is that I’m not a very good mixer and engineer. That’s why I have to spend all that time. I hope I won’t do any more changes now.

What I meant about the whole perfectionist thing, with “River Fontana” for example, is that the original version seemed so organic – it had a real charm to it. But you ended up rerecording and rereleasing the entire album as you became more savvy in the studio, more confident…
That is true. I love it now and didn’t love the old one, so for me it was an easy decision. The good thing about these modern times is that all the versions can coexist.

So would you say you prefer the remixed version? The “River Fontana Redux”, as it’s known.
It makes me feel good. Yes. I guess as a fan I might like the old one better.

How do your relationships with your friends and family change when you’re making a record? You obviously throw yourself completely into it and immerse yourself in the task in hand. Do people close to you find that difficult to cope with, or do they just leave you alone?
Actually, it’s a pretty open process. I tell everyone what I’m doing and everyone (say parents and girlfriend) knows about the snare drum and whatever is being done. I’ve been waiting for a mastering date for a while so I’ve become pretty lazy lately.

In terms of sound, what would you say Dear John sounds most like? Are you continuing with the Loney, Noir feel?
It’s darker. It’s meant to sound like you’re staring into a lamp, but with transparent red, blue, green, perhaps yellow plastics before the lamp, like dark but glowing colours.

Sounds interesting… so there are no “I Am John” moments of euphoria?
“Airport Surroundings” is joyous.

“The City, the Airport” part two, perhaps?
Like the long-haired big sister to the obvious cute younger sister of “I Am John”.

I take it it’s to do with last year’s constant touring schedule, constant airport surroundings?
No.

Oh!
It’s the airport surroundings you reach on a bike living close the aiport. It’s not me at the airport, it’s more of a feeling about other people leaving, I guess.

The only finished track I’ve heard – “Violent” – I think I said to you when I first heard it that it has a darker, more insular feel.
“Violent” is the strangest song on the album. I think you might like how it has grown since you heard it. A bit warmer and more “motherish” now. I really like the lyrics.

Speaking of lyrics, would you say there is a specific lyrical theme that runs throughout the record?
I’ve become a little more interested in the dream state, the underwater world. Not literally but somewhat close.

How have you found writing and recording this time around? It must be weird – even though it will be your fifth album, it will be your first in the public eye, so to speak, after the huge success of Loney, Noir. Do you feel any pressure?
Yes. A big pressure this time. But I knew that three years ago, even before Noir was released. So the big pressure has never been examined. But I’ve felt really bad about it and really needed to find the space, both in time and space, to finish it. I’ve learned a lot. I thought Dear John was going to be the crown of the records, but maybe it won’t be. It would be a great relief to get good feedback on the album. But it was the first one I made with the knowledge that anyone would listen. I started making songs for it even before Sologne was released properly back in 2006.

Dear John has always been there in the distance, hasn’t it.
Yes. I now have realised maybe it’s not that important to make the perfect album.

I think as an artist you will always find holes in your work, no matter how perfect something happens to be to someone else.
I have more reasons to live than that. What I admire about other artists isn’t that they have made five consistently great albums. I admire others for what they do live, or for a certain song.

I’ve never read much about your love for other people’s music. Who are your main influences?
At the moment, Wildbirds and Peacedrums, JS Bach – or at least thinking of him. With a lot of the artists or composers, I get much more from thinking of them than actually listening to them.

So you’re not one to sit and listen to other people’s music – you prefer to create your own.
Yes, I prefer to create it. It makes me like myself!

But as a songwriter, who did you look up to when you were starting out? Who made you want to start this journey?
My early inspiration was some Swedish jazz pianists. I really enjoyed the British Depeche/U2 music. Not all, but some parts really struck me as a kid.

So you were an ’80s kid like me? I grew up on Depeche Mode.
Actually, my friend Gustaf had a big brother listening to Depeche, Kraftwerk, Cat Rapes Dog, etc. I think the futurist thing struck me. And the melodies. I was crazy about tech stuff and felt drawn to the synth world.

There are some great electronic bands coming out of Sweden at the moment. Air France, the Tough Alliance, Studio…
They are amazing. I never listen to them but think of them a lot. What’s the thing with Studio? I’ve only heard a sampler.

They’ve just released a new record, Yearbook 2. It’s a collection of their remixes and stuff. It’s very good. Sounds like early Factory Records from over here. You know – New Order, etc…
Is it really that melodic?

They have a funny sound. Very progressive – the songs are often eight minutes plus and they grow like dance songs – but they have a real heart. You should check out the album from last year, Yearbook 1. I think you’d enjoy it.
I will. For the first time in history, there is more music than we have time for. That wasn’t the fact even ten years ago.

The internet has a lot to answer for!
Yeah, but I like progress.

Back to the album – your previous records have all been recorded with minimal input from others. Has it been the same this time round, or have you had a helping hand from the guys in the band?
All by myself.

Drums and everything?
Drums, yes. Some things felt stupid not to change, but it was a rough chance for me. Suddenly I was in a situation when flying with our instruments cost as much as my studio did, say £300. It made me start buying things instead of seeing money go away on overweight luggage. It’s been a super difficult transition. I really had my ways of working and I had a year of anxiety, not knowing every piece of the tools. I hated it. At times I really wished I had started working on regular stuff.

So you basically taught yourself how to play all these new instruments. Why not call on your friends?
Taught myself to play them again.

You kind of forgot how to play after being on the road for so long?
Yes. Why not call on my friends? I guess it kind of started in the situation of having to survive economically on making music. I didn’t want to get in a situation where I felt I didn’t own the record. I know it’s a bit strange. I hope it’s going to change. I won’t mix the songs I produce in the future, when I can afford to hire someone else’s ears…

So do you see a future after Dear John? You’ve said in the past that this wil be the last Loney record.
I’m trying to buy a double bass. It’s really difficult – you just don’t go to the gas station and buy one, not on eBay either. I hope I can find one. I got a room to rent and I’m hiring a friend to isolate it. That will be a nice new beginning for new music.

Surely Oskar has one going spare? Being the jazz king and all.
Oskar has started a company called Billy the Bike Broker. We’ll see what he can do – if he can be Billy the Bass Broker as well! Back to the records – this is interesting. Every time I finish an album, I feel like making the next one a really soft, really acoustic album. This is what I hope for again. I’m looking at the Dear John catalogue as a pentyk or whatever it’s called. Aaah, I just thought of the proper word – polyptyk. But pentyk is more specific! I see the five records as an entity that belong together. Maybe Dear John is the last album in that specific way. At least for a while. Think of the title, Dear John, kind of saying goodbye. You are going to love the cover picture. I had to call NASA in the States to get ahold of it!

So it’s not necessarily the end of Loney, Dear?
Definitely not!

Just of this particular group of albums.
Maybe not even that. I hope I’ve just got back into march speed and will get up in pace now, so nothing is to be said yet.

Would you ever consider recording an album in a more traditional sense? Heading into a studio with your band, with a producer and engineer at the helm?
Yeah, I would love that. I wouldn’t just go to a studio with the live band, but l’d love to work with someone else soon.

Are you still recording in your parents’ basement?
I got my first real home in December 2007, so most of what I have recorded since then (or not recorded, when I was slow) was done in Stockholm, where I am now. But this summer I did some in the house on the Sologne cover and in my parents’ basement as well. I hope I will do it all in Stockholm next time, in my new room – in a basement.

So where is the house on the Sologne cover? I always thought that was your parents’.
It’s around Gothenburg. Better keep it a bit secret.

Haha! Sure, else you’ll have all sorts turning up.
Ha! I don’t think so, but maybe? It was my grandparents’ house, but now it’s my parents’ second house or summer house. Rich Western civilization…

Away from the record and Loney, Dear in general, how does Emil Svanängen fill his days? What kind of stuff do you get up to outside of the music world?
It is actually difficult right now. I don’t know what I do! I read a lot, listen to books and interviews. I am very, very in between things.

mp3:> Loney, Dear: “I Love You (In With The Arms)”
mp3:> Loney, Dear: “The City, The Airport”
Both songs taken from Sologne, out now on Something In Construction records.

video:> Loney, Dear: “I Am John” (Live at Lowlands Festival 2007)

Click here to view the embedded video.

REMEMBER!!! THIS IS HAPPENING ON MONDAY NIGHT!

We will endeavor to make it a great night… Come along, we’d love to see you there!

SIC & TLOBF present

ILL FIT

a FREE party at London’s premier sweatbox, Old Blue Last, on Monday October 20th

featuring, in some order, live musical performances from our favourite new bands.

The Leisure Society www.myspace.com/theleisuresociety
Fireworks Night www.myspace.com/fireworksnight
Left With Pictures www.myspace.com/leftwithpictures
and help on the decks from
Air France (UK debut) www.myspace.com/theairfrance
+ SIC Unsoundsystem
+ Team TLOBF

and there is yet more:
free CDs, free giveaways, free shots, free fun, free thinking and quite definitely, free love.

Doors will open at 8pm and it runs til 11 or something.
And do remember that entry is FREE.

There is no guest list so do come early if you want in because as you may or may not know the room is no bigger than your very own bedroom and it will fill up pretty damn swiftly.

Old Blue Last
38 Gt Eastern St, corner of Curtain Rd
Hoxditch
EC2A 3ES

ILL FIT will return on Monday November 17th.

www.thelineofbestfit.com
www.somethinginconstruction.com

Photos by Sonny Malhotra. View them all here.

A double whammy ‘Introducing’ feature this week. Monday saw us bring Arrows Of Love to your attention and today sees a very special band indeed get the TLOBF treatment. We already told you how awesome Fireworks Night are back in July when we were lucky enough to catch their live show at the Wireless Festival. We were so impressed with their curious take on folk music in fact, that we even invited them to play at our club night ‘ILL FIT’ which just so happens to be taking place this Monday, 20th October at The Old Blue Last boozer in Shoreditch EC2. Full details and lineup can be found here – but for now we’ll just say that it’s free entry, there WILL be free shots and quite possibly, free love. You should come, really. It’s going to be great.

Fireworks Night are James, Nick, Rhiannon, Neil, Ed and Tim. Some of these questions were answered by James alone at the computer but they were all subjected to group discussion at dinner after an evening rehearsal. You can download an mp3 from their forthcoming EP A Mirror, A Ghost at the bottom of the page.

For people out there that have never heard of you. Give us three reasons why they should…

Can you recall the moment when you first decided you wanted to become a musician?
James: I don’t recall any particular ‘eureka!’ moment but I’m sure my parents would gladly tell you tales of me as a young child doing the tennis-racket-as-guitar routine along to videos of Buddy Holly. Then came my Queen phase… I think some was caught on video camera but we don’t talk about that…

Where do your songs come from? What’s your inspiration?
James: I always seem to write the music first so I guess they must begin with the simple pleasure of just playing the guitar or, less regularly and very badly, the piano. Why I am attracted to certain melodies or chord progressions I have no idea. Once the music’s done I begin with the lyrics which are where the process slows down. I try to write lyrics that hold my interest and that impetus must be inspired by the writers – of songs, books, poems, etc – that I admire. The actual subject matter of the songs comes from all over the place.

What was the first gig you ever played and was it a success?
The first gig this band played took place last summer and was in support of the excellent David Thomas Broughton at 93 Feet East in London. It seemed to go very well and represents something of a breakthrough for us.

What’s been your most memorable on the road story so far?
Last autumn, returning from a show supporting The Mules in Bristol, we stopped at Leigh Delamere services to get fuel, coffee and snacks. Another dented white sprinter van was parked close us in the nearly empty car park. This is usually a sign that there is another band in the vicinity. The band on this occasion turned out to be the Mercury Music Prize nominees Maps who, when both parties had finished their shopping, approached our van and inquired if we were a band. A certain amount of banter ensued during which they gave us a CD of their ‘new single’. After saying our farewells and returning again to the motorway the gift was given further inspection and turned out to be entitled  ‘Office Sluts’. Luckily our van was blessed with a CD/DVD player so we further investigated its contents. It turned out to be filth of the highest order and was, after some amusing and some rather unsettling scenes, thrown out of the sunroof.

How much artist control do you possess over your music? Are you interested in how the album looks and how you’re marketed?
James: We run our own label and make our own artwork and CD sleeves along with some amazing friends of ours so we have complete control. We are very interested in how things look and are presented and we try to do both as best we can.

What one piece of criticism has stuck in your mind and was it justified?
James: We haven’t really been reviewed much yet so we’ll just have to see… It has been pointed out to me that if I’m having a bad gig I can disappear into myself a bit. That is something I am trying to correct.

Who’s your favourite new band at the moment? Tell us a bit about them.
We all really love the music of our label-mates Left With Pictures. Their E.P Secretly is wondrous. We’re also very big fans of Eugene McGuiness who we had the pleasure to tour with last year. He is a lovely man and a brilliant songwriter.

Name your Top 5 records.
That would take all night but here are some records that we really like.
Ed: Sweet Warrior – Richard Thompson
Tim: Roseland NYC Live – Portishead
Neil: Fancy Blues and Rustique Novelties – Flipron
Rhiannon: Uneasy Listening – DJ Z-Trip
Nick: Drums and Guns – Low
James: Person Pitch – Panda Bear

What was the last book you read? Would you recommend it?
Nick: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Yes.
Tim: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. No. It is neither brief nor a history of time.
Rhiannon: Don’t Shoot the Clowns by Jo Wilding. Yes.
Ed: Novels in Three Lines by Felix Feneon. Yes.
Neil: 800 Years of Woman’s Letters by Olga Kenyon. Yes.
James: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. Yes.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
Nick: I had to dress up as a bear in a bowling alley in Swindon. My brother was my boss.

What one thing has caused you to waste your free time in the past 6 months?
James: Tim’s response to this question involved reference to the fairer sex. The actual word he used won’t be mentioned here lest it provoke amongst your readers a reaction that resembles the one it got from the rest for the band. It is enough to say that this was somewhere between laughter and tears.

What’s your poison?
Wine, Brandy, a certain ‘brandy style’ beverage.

We’d like you to make us a mix-tape. Pick five tracks with a theme of your choice.
James: Given our answer to the previous question we decided to make drinking the theme. The songs are:
‘Jackie’ – Jacques Brel
‘One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer’ – John Lee Hooker
‘One for My Baby and One More for the Road’ – Johnny Mercer
‘Love is Like a Bottle of Gin’ – The Magnetic Fields
‘The Piano’s Been Drinking (Not Me)’ – Tom Waits

Tell us a joke.
Ed: Five men walk into a bar. You’d think one of them would have seen it.

mp3:> Fireworks Night: ‘You, Holding’

Fireworks Night release A Mirror, A Ghost via Organ Grinder Records on 5th November.
Click here to pre-order your copy.

Fireworks Night on MySpace

No one likes to see someone blow their own trumpet… unless it’s Prince of course, but we thought we’d bring you some photos from our very first TLOBF Gig night. Held in the wonderful premises of The Portland Arms in Cambridge, a sell-out crowd were wooed by the the line-up of The Last Dinosaur, Victoria & Jacob and Vessels. Thanks to all the bands and everyone who came – it wouldn’t have been such a success without you!

Enjoy the photos by Valerio Berdini and Richard Thane below and we hope to bring you more nights as good as this in the future. Look out for our free show at The Old Blue Last in Shoreditch next week (20th October)! More details here.

The Last Dinosaur

Victoria and Jacob

Vessels

Bellafea headline the first in a series of TLOBF sponsored club nights

We are very, very excited to announce that The Line Of Best Fit are proudly sponsoring a brand new club night hosted by our good friends at A Badge Of Friendship promotions.

The regular night will run on the last Saturday of every month from the 25th October. Every month ABoF will treat you to a line-up of some of the best bands of the moment from the depths of alternative rock to the dizzying heights of the avant-garde.

Afterwards, ABoF and TLOBF will be hitting the decks along with an array of friends from websites, magazines and bands.

OCTOBER 25th @ THE LEXINGTON
BELLAFEA + SECONDSMILE + WINTERMUTE + ELKS
ABoF are back at The Lexington for another night of rock noise! In October we’ll be bringing you the wonderful indie-rock sounds of Chapel Hill, melodic off-kilter rock from Leeds and straight-up alternative rock from London. Yes, Southern Records’ Bellafea hit the capital to show us that they mean business along with Big Scary Monster’s Secondsmile, Leeds’ Wintermute and London’s Elks.

£7 on the door plus ABoF DJs
7.30pm doors, first band at 8pm – get there early and join the party!

The Lexington (formerly Clockwork)
96-98 Pentonville Road
London
N1 9JB

A brief history of A Badge Of Friendship
A Badge of Friendship are music promoters / DJs from London. The duo comprise of two former Glaswegians, Claire Lim and Paul McCallum, who met through their love of music.

Claire Lim began her love affair with music the tender age of 16 with the inception of her fanzine, Broken Violin, interviewing bands around Glasgow, the UK and Germany. This led her to Beggars Banquet, doing student promo part-time for the London based label. She also promoted DIY shows in Glasgow before heading down to London.

Paul McCallum’s foray into the music world began after becoming disaffected with university life, he decided to go on tour with his friends Biffy Clyro. He then had the opportunity to shoot two promos for Biffy Clyro and Aereogramme which featured on MTV. As a result, he took the band shots for Biffy’s first album and later followed Claire down to London where he shot photos for Fender Guitars.

In 2002, the pair decided to bring their music passion to the gig-going crowd of London town and, hence, A Badge of Friendship was born! As ABoF, they have since promoted shows in venues all over the city from The Vibe Bar to The Pool Bar, The Barfly to The Metro and The Fly to Sazarac (formely Clockwork).

ABoF has had the pleasure of promoting shows for the likes of Hell is for Heroes, Enablers, Antelope, The Paperchase, Blood Red Shoes and The Twilight Sad to name but a few. In addition, ABoF have also DJ-ed at events for DrownedinSound.com, at the Rock Sound Magazine 100th Anniversary and The Kerrang! Awards.