| Heaven knows I’m Miss Rebel now |
[Feb. 21st, 2006|01:01 pm] |
The revolution has now started in earnest. Pretty soon Mr Doherty and his band of mockney junky wannabe copyists will be hung upside down in Hoxton Square being pelted with rotten veg. Already guilty counterrevolutionaries are hiding their Razorlight albums under floorboards, and Richard Ashcroft is considering relocating to South America under an assumed identity. It is all just a matter of time, and you, my Popshevik friends, have the chance to be part of making it happen.
Phase one of the process is complete. First there was our double gift to the nation – Largs Hum/Cloudbusting by Swimmer One and Blue Skies/Rainy Skies by the Sweethearts. See what the critics have had to say about these:
Swimmer One:
“Definitely something VERY interesting going on here...” Playlouder
“A fizzing electro-pop nugget that simmers with insanity” High Voltage
“Majestic and bouncy in equal measure” Kitten Painting
The Sweethearts:
“Blue Skies is a simple pop song that cynics would describe as being twee, yet to the rest of us is pure bliss in a polka dot dress and alice band” Drowned in Sound
“Twee. But I kinda like it.” Vanguard Online
“Twee” CMU Daily
So there it is. Unanimity! You can decide for free if you agree about the twee by just going to http://www.dogboxrecords.co.uk/release.htm
To celebrate the release of these gems, we had a little party, and the New Pop Revolution Essential Gig No. 2 was even more packed and even more successful than its predecessor (er, the Essential Gig No. 1).
The Sweethearts stole everyone’s hearts, filled them with sherbert, wrapped them in ribbons and gave them back. They didn’t wear polka dot dresses, but they were certainly pure bliss. Oh, and quite twee, too.
The last time I saw Swimmer One, they were great. This time they were bloody sensational. Brooding, sweeping, sometimes thunderous, occasionally quite odd, but always absolutely pop.
I’ve gone on about Luxembourg so many times you’ll be sick of it. This, though, was one of their finest performances yet, featuring a new song, “Sick of DIY” which, even judging from one listen, has top ten solid gold smash written all over it.
And the Boyfriends lived up to all the hype. They are as good as everyone says. If anyone tells you they jangle, tell them to listen properly. They make a right racket, and no mistake.
Oh, and some bloke called Morrissey turned up. I didn’t see him (I’m always looking in the wrong direction when exciting stuff happens), but he was there alright. He caught a bit of Swimmer One’s set as well as Luxembourg and the Boyfriends. He may or may not have shaken his booty to the wonderful disc spinning of those lovely Ducks, and he certainly left with a copy of Luxembourg Vs Great Britain in his back pocket (where the gladioli used to be).
If you’re reading this Morrissey, thanks for coming, and if you need a warm-up for your tour, we’re looking for bands for Essential Gig No.3. If you’re interested, we’d even go so far as to buy a fax machine so you can talk to us about it.
Watch this space. The revolution is still just beginning.
Lisa
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| the pups are loose |
[Feb. 13th, 2006|03:19 am] |
We're proud to present two new free MP3 singles for your pleasure, available now right here:
BOX6
Swimmer One - Largs Hum / Cloudbusting
“Fizzing electro-pop nuggets that simmer with insanity..." - High Voltage
BOX7
The Sweethearts - Blue Skies / Rainy Skies
"Think of splashing in puddles and missing the last bus home..." - Take Your Medicine
Download now. Pop matters.
alex.x |
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| the new pop revolution |
[Jan. 27th, 2006|11:56 am] |
Well, it's been a while, but we haven't been idle. Oh no...
2006 is the year where we take things up a level. We felt our way in with a double-headlining gig on January 12th featuring Luxembourg and The Boyfriends - an outstanding success, as this review testifies. Saturday February 18th is our next essential gig - a fully realised version of the January one, if you like - featuring The Boyfriends (whose debut single, I Love You, is released on Boobytrap on Monday 13th), your favourite band Luxembourg, Edinburgh electro duo Swimmer One and York's The Sweethearts. It takes place at Metro on Oxford Street, London.
Doors open at 7.30pm, with The Sweethearts taking to the stage for the very first time just before 8pm. Entry is £5 or £4 with a copy of this flyer:
The gig is also a launch party for two download singles we're releasing on Monday 13th February:
BOX6 - Swimmer One: Largs Hum / Cloudbusting
BOX7 - The Sweethearts: Blue Skies / Rainy Skies
All four tracks will be available as free MP3s on our website. Don't say we don't do anything for you. Largs Hum has already been played twice by Gideon Coe on BBC 6Music, so please feel free to email him and request repeat spins. Again, more soon...
Incidentally, we're currently redesigning the site, following its relocation to dogboxrecords.co.uk. Expect a shiny new kennel very soon...
Pop music is there to be reclaimed, people.
Alex.x |
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| The Moment's Upon Us |
[Nov. 13th, 2005|10:24 pm] |
Dogbox are proud to announce that Luxembourg Versus Great Britain is unleashed onto an unsuspecting world, savaging complacency, and cocking its leg to wee on mediocrity. This contender for single of the year (don’t believe us – check out http://www.soundsxp.com/2540.shtml for proof) is available from our website (www.dogbox.co.uk/buy.htm) or from selected record shops nationwide, including:
replay, bath
avalanche, glasgow
piccadilly, manchester
rpm, newcastle
rounder, brighton
record collector, sheffield
tempest, birmingham
crash, leeds
rough trade, covent garden, london
selectadisc/sister ray, berwick street, london
Get down there. And if your local record shop doesn’t have it in stock, ask them why.
Meanwhile, we’d like to offer a big wet doggy kiss to everyone who came to the Windmill in Brixton last night and made our co-promotion with those lovely Duck ladies such a roaring success. Thanks also to the four bands, Neat People, The Bridge Gang, The Boyfriends and Luxembourg who were all quite wonderful and helped us raise heaps of cash for St Barnabas Hospice.
Love,
Lisa
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| The Dog And Duck Disco Party |
[Oct. 26th, 2005|06:26 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | indescribable | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Fall Heads Roll | ] |
Dogbox Records in association with our friends at Duckie Music have great pleasure in presenting the Dog and Duck Disco Party.
Having decided that this is the type of social activity you might want to be part of, four questions will no doubt be springing to mind:
WHEN?
Saturday 12th November
WHERE?
The Windmill, Brixton
WHAT?
The mighty Luxembourg, Glastonbury 2005 heroes The Boyfriends, kennel noisepop wonders The Bridge Gang and Neat People, who are taking it upon themselves to put the sex back into Essex. Plus celebrity DJs, cake and all the usual.
WHY?
Because we want to, and to raise money for St Barnabas Hospice.
Here's the flyer....
I really don’t know what more we could do to persuade you…..
Love,
Lisa
xxx |
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| Luxembourg 4 Great Britain 0 (After Extra Time) |
[Oct. 20th, 2005|01:06 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | luxembourg versus great britain, of course | ] |
We’ve been very patient. You’ve been very patient too. Now the time is upon us.
Britain’s best unsigned band, Luxembourg, will be releasing their second single “Luxembourg Versus Great Britain” on Dogbox on 14th November. The CD single, which also includes the genius B-sides “The Exhibitionist” and “About Time” will be available to buy from our website as well as from carefully selected retailers nationwide. The critical plaudits have already been raining in:
“Common People levels of erudite lyricism and fabulous festival-hugging anthemics”
Planet Sound C4 Teletext
“A glorious call-to-arms”
Sounds XP
“Oozes class”
High Voltage
Let’s hope that this time round, the head-in-the-sand types who have all the power in this business (you know the sort – the ones who think that singing “Your shoulders are frozen, oh you’re an explosion” over a backing track nicked from a Wonderstuff B-side represents The Next Big Thing) wake up to genuine songwriting class.
As part of the build up to this release, with our friends at Duckie Music, we’re putting together a charity event. The line-up will be fantastic, we promise you. Watch this space for further details.
Love, hope and (possibly) remuneration,
Lisa
xxx |
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| Lost Dogs |
[Sep. 30th, 2005|10:02 pm] |
Well, it’s been quite some time. I can’t really say why. I suppose me and Katie just kind of momentarily forgot that we were supposed to be running a record label. Anyway, we’ve remembered now.
A lot’s happened since the last Dogbox News. There was an election, if you remember that. Tony Blair won, which was better than Michael Howard winning in the same way as your whole family dying is better than your whole family and your pet guinea pig dying. There was Live 8, where Bob Geldof helpfully explained to us that there are people living in horrible places who don’t have anything to eat. This seemed to be weighing heavy on his mind last time I saw him buying patisserie in Waitrose on the Kings Road. And Antony and his merry band of Johnsons won the Mercury Prize. Don’t even get me started.
What’s been happening with the kennel, then? Well, luxembourg (officially Britain’s best unsigned band, according to industry sheet CMU Daily) have continued to delight audiences, scare critics and leave industry folk cold. I gather they’re in the studio as we speak, although what they’re doing remains to be seen. We're talking to the lovely boys at the moment about the possibility of a new Dogbox release. Who knows?
The Bridge Gang have become THE most incendiary band on the London scene, with the best hair and legs anywhere. We were completely beside ourselves yesterday when we heard them on the radio. Lovely Gideon Coe, on 6 Music, named their Pangs of Guilt (available from a canine themed website near you) Download of the Week. “A marvellous racket” said Gideon. “We love you, Gideon” said me and Katie. He’s like your cool uncle. Except we don’t have a cool uncle. Our only uncle is Uncle Graham, who likes Queen and hang gliding.
Mitten continue to make some people swoon and some people want to abrade their own private parts. Apparently, they’ve recorded some new material, but they haven’t sent us a copy yet, presumably holding out for Sony BMG. Even if you’re not convinced by their Dogbox download single, go see them. They WILL win you over. They’re playing at a disco organised by our friends at the Angular Recording Company at The Old Blue Last in Great Eastern Street on 7th October.
Finally, the sad news is that the Cowboy Shooters are no more. Ice had left. He told me he was going to join the Arctic Monkeys. I tried to explain they’re not real monkeys, and they’re not from a polar region, but he wouldn’t listen. The rest of the band have been amusing themselves playing Katie Melua songs in the style of Mudhoney to bemused West Country pub goers, but that can’t go on forever.
Watch this space. There will be more news soon, because Me and Katie are getting the record mogul bug again.
Lisa
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| Cry Havoc And Unleash The Dogs of War |
[Mar. 21st, 2005|03:26 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | Glorious | ] |
| [ | music |
| | The Rocks - I won't need you when you're dead | ] |
Today sees the release of the debut singles by the latest puppies in our litter. Both Pangs Of Guilt/Sarah’s Brother by The Bridge Gang and Slob From The Record Shop/No More Weeping by Mitten are available to download for free from our website. They are the musical equivalent of all the fox hunts in the country simultaneously setting their now underemployed hounds on that podgy freak from Keane.
Early indications are that the critics agree with us that both bands are something to be reckoned with. Of the Bridge Gang, SoundsXP said “Jonathon Richman exuberantly covering The Pixies…Please sir, can I have some more” while Vanity Project said Mitten were “Unsettling but utterly fascinating”.
Since both bands are pretty new, you probably won’t have seen either on stage. This is where Whippet Up, the second dogbox records night, comes in. The event happens on Sunday 3rd April at the Dublin Castle in London’s fashionable Camden. A place where it is still possible to get henna tattoos and find dismembered bodies in bin bags. Fortunately, neither of these things will be happening while we’re in charge. Instead, you’ll get:
Luxembourg (“good, innit?” – Huw Stevens, Radio One)
The Bridge Gang (“the stuff of legends and throat lozenges” – The Stereo Effect)
Mitten (“Mysteriously brilliant” – God Is In The TV)
Plus Djs and nice cake.
The traps open at 7.30pm and it’s only £4.50 with the flyer below. What could be a better use of a Sunday night? It’ll be just like Crufts, without the canine choreography or the audience full of Daily Mail readers. Our only regret is that the Cowboy Shooters won’t be playing as well. Ice claims to be suffering from metrophobia, which means he has a panic attack if he goes anywhere with an all night garage or a bus that runs more than twice a week. Hmmm.
Anyway, lots of love, and see you on 3rd April.
Lisa
xxx |
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| Come One, Come All... |
[Mar. 18th, 2005|03:48 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  breathless | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Apollonia 6 - Sex Shooter | ] |
Quickie from Katie here. Check out our flyer!
Be sure to print and come along! Lise'll be back with more news on Sunday...
xxx |
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| just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water... |
[Feb. 28th, 2005|04:54 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | there's gonna be a riot... | ] |
| [ | music |
| | bis - eurodisco | ] |
Glory be! it's some Dogbox news!
hello, Katie here with the latest update from our particular trap on the greyhound track that is the world of pop!
where to start? hmmm...
New Arrivals
I suppose the biggest news is the arrival of two lovely new acts in the Dogbox kennel:
Mitten
and The Bridge Gang
Both of whom are thoroughly lovely, and can be explored further in the 'Kennel' section of our website: http://www.dogbox.co.uk
On March 21st we shall be releasing download only singles by both bands, details of which can be found in the 'Product' section. Rest assured they will both wow you in the now established Dogbox tradition!
Out and About
The second Dogbox Records night is taking place in the Dublin Castle on Sunday 3rd April! Yes my lovelies, you too can spend an evening with Luxembourg, Mitten and The Bridge Gang - wonderful bands all!
What more could you ask for? A name for this monumental event? Well pens at the ready...
we want to see Whippet Up shining out from your diary pages.
Old boys network
in all the excitement here at Dogbox HQ, don't think we've forgotten Luxembourg and the 'Shooters!
The Luxemboys are busy playing gigs up and down the country, check out your next fix here: http://www.luxembourgweb.co.uk/intheflesh.htm
Also there are vague rumblings of a forthcoming single from their bad selves. Whether or not this will be on Dogbox, i cannot say! Needless to say we're excited for the boys either way, and can't wait to hear it!
As for those pesky Cowboy Shooters down in Devon, business continues as usual. Hopefully we should have a downloadable single from them soon, in the meantime they've been busying themselves touring local village halls and have thus far managed to complete two out of nine gigs! Were the NME really interested in the anarchic guerilla antics of young bands, the 'Shooters would be on the cover forever!
gasp, what a lot of info to unload all at once! ah well, i never said i was organised - hence my usually leaving this stuff to lise!
Anyway, we'll be back with further info about the downloads and the Dogbox night nearer the time, until then please keep checking the site for updates and stay gorgeous!
mwah!
Katie
xxx |
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