The sound of Footsteps
So! A brand new song has gone up on our MySpace and its melancholic summery vibe is sure to please. The Aluminum Group called the song “tender and calliope-like”, which I am very happy about since I am a huge fan of the band.
As someone who doesn’t like to listen to their own songs much, I am finding Footsteps almost too listenable! This is absolutely a good sign, right?
Apologies!
I’m sorry to report that we had to cancel all of our June gigs due to Christopher’s ongoing ill health. Hopefully he’ll be able to play some keyboard parts by next month, ready for our HDIF gig.
But we haven’t been sitting about, no. We’ve been cooking up a whole batch of new songs and, as I write, Tim is putting the finishing touches on the three that we recorded at the weekend. Expect to see some activity on our MySpace page soon.
Gig, Weds 28th May - DEATHDISCO at Notting Hill Arts Centre
This coming Wednesday we are playing Alan McGee’s DEATHDISCO. We’re the first band on, onstage at 9.30pm.
Here is the key information: Entry is FREE until 8pm, and £5 thereafter. So, come early.
More info at the Notting Hill Arts Centre website.
Please come and see us, and say hello!
London and Oxford in The Same Week
We are going to be busy next week! On Tuesday the 1st of April we’ll be supporting the excellent NOW at the Vibe Bar on Brick Lane, London. The gig will be FREE ENTRY all night. Here is some info from the venue website:
Tuesday 1st April
HEAD & ARM
More a continually evolving collective than a band, ‘NOW’ claim to make pop music while managing to incorporate 11 minute soundscapes, dainty electronica, thumping techno, and all-out samba throw-downs. They have collaborated with Krautrock legend Damo Suzuki (Can) and supported bands such as Faust, Tunng, Psapp, Rothko, Plaid, A Hawk and a Hacksaw amongst others. Their album ‘Frisbee Hotpot’ is out now on Pickled Egg recordings. Live they are hugely enjoyable, their myriad of influences brought together by a strong rhythmical heart to create astoundingly catchy and inventive 21st century pop music. Currently they are an eight-piece.
7.30pm - 11.30pm — FREE
Then, two days later…
Thursday 3rd of April
SWISS CONCRETE
On Thursday, we’ll be doing our FIRST EVER HEADLINE SHOW at the Bullingdon Arms, a pub on the Cowley Road in Oxford. The lovely people at Swiss Concrete are putting this gig together, and the lineup is a peach. Come early because you should listen to main support group My Sad Captains. If you live in Berkshire, Hampshire or Oxfordshire, you really ought to come. Entry is £4 on the door or £3 in advance at WeGotTickets.com.
Here is Swiss Concrete’s rather silly flyer (click for bigger):
Riffs & Fragments
What a nice flier, eh? Come catch us at Riffs & Fragments on Friday 14 March at Christ Church and Upton Chapel, Lambeth (map). The sublime Télégramme à Jane, who we supported in Paris, will also be playing so make sure you don’t miss them.
Doors are at 8:00pm, entry is an extremely reasonable £2.
February Fortuna POP!
Our next gig will soon be upon us - Friday 22 February is really not that far away. And it looks as though Fortuna POP! has assembled a fine evening of electronic loveliness. Playing alongside us are: The Keyboard Choir, Champion Kickboxer and The Leaf Library.
Tickets are now available at WeGotTickets.
Live in Paris
We’re very excited to announce our first show outside the UK and, indeed, outside London! We will be playing with the wonderful Télégramme à Jane on 23 February 2008 at Le Vieux Léon in Paris. It looks like a lovely little venue.
Tim and I have both never been to Paris before so we are double excited and plan, with Christopher, of course, to make a little holiday of it.
Come and see us at Le Vieux Léon, 18 rue de La Grande Truanderie. Merci mille fois to Télégramme à Jane for organising this!
More acts confirmed for Scaledown
Two more performers have been added to this week’s Scaledown line-up:
Mark Norton - Although best known for his saxophonic talents with the mighty Gene Drayton Unit and a host of other bands, tonight Mr Norton will be leaving his horn at home and entertaining us with a sparkling spoken word set.
Martin White - Mr White has played at Scaledown both solo and with his Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra. We welcome him back as he returns with more accordion and ukulele masterpieces of mirth.
Having seen Martin White (better known to us as The Accordion Man) live before, I know that you’ll be in for a treat. Come along this Friday for an evening of variety and interest in central London!
More on Scaledown
Some more acts have been announced for the Scaledown gig on 25 January at the King & Queen. Here are the details:
Mark Braby, Andy Coules and Dan Whaley present the latest in an ongoing series of genuinely alternative after-office live entertainments.
Admission is free to members (show your membership card) otherwise sign in for membership. Donations, to the performers, will be sought.
Featuring live performances from (in no particular order):
Hong Kong In The 60s - Taking their cue from old Oriental pop, classic AM radio and the baroque melancholy of groups like Blonde Redhead and Broadcast. The band play hypnotic lullabies through a filter of cheap keyboards and guitars.
John Ellis - Founder member of classic punk band The Vibrators and ex-Strangler, Mr Ellis will be playing at Scaledown his superb electro soundtrack pieces using a looping pedal, ebow, and laptop.
dogs&stuff - Back in July of 2006 dogs&stuff first played at Scaledown, now they’re back to delight us with their quirky, left-handed tales of the world’s lesser known bi-beasts, dirty earthy colours, shiny things and plantlife.
+ more to be confirmed
Sounds like a good night.
New Year’s Round-Up
Cheers! Hong Kong In The 60s is one this month! You can help me celebrate with a nice honey and lemon to soothe this dreadful flu.
What with Christmas and New Year and so on, we never got round to telling you about our gig with Misty Roses (brilliant - Sunny Intervals was lovely too); or when we were played on FM radio in Montpelier, France, by Babes In Boyland; or to show off our new song Shadow Of The Bear which is on our MySpace and Last.fm pages; or about the gigs we have lined up for 2008!
Our first show of the year will be Friday 25 January for Scaledown at The King & Queen (1 Foley Street, London, W1P 7LE). Expect good Resonance FM-style stuff here. We’ll give more details when we have them.
Also, we’ll be playing a Fortuna Pop! night in February and Twee As Fuck in April, supporting Fanfarlo.
We can guarantee that these gigs will be exciting as we’re working on a new, high-concept live set. Ambitious! Atmospheric! Please come and see!
La Merienda
Hey! We were played on the radio in Spain! Thanks goes to Agustín Fuentes for playing us on his show, La Merienda, on Radio Extremadura.
Agustín had emailed us a few months ago, asking for a CD, and he was very complimentary about our music on his programme. While talking about us, he mentioned Stereolab, Broadcast and Japanese pop so we’re pretty happy.
You can tune in to La Merienda at 18:07 CET, download shows or subscribe to the podcast. It’s a lovely mix of indie pop and, I think, ideal dinnertime listening.
Misty Roses coming soon
I hope everyone is keeping Sunday 18 November free in their diaries because we’ll be supporting the wonderful Misty Roses at the Enterprise in Camden. Also supporting is Sunny Intervals (Andy from Pocketbooks’ solo project) who Tim will be helping out on some guitar duty.
Misty Roses last came to these shores on tour with Patrick Wolf and the duo are sure to wow (woo?) us again with their dark and sensual Morricone-esque sounds. We’ve been listening to their album Komodo Dragons for that lamp-lit, late-night mood and can highly recommend it. Really, we’d be going to this gig even if we weren’t playing it. And so should you.
The Enterprise is right next to Chalk Farm tube. See www.poplookandlisten.co.uk for more information.
All © Hong Kong In The 60s, 2007
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