Tuesday 16 March 2010

falling in love again..

.. and this time it's with Cheltenham.

sometimes i still wake up in a cold sweat thinking of last october, when i had to cancel the hallowe'en show in Cheltenham due to an unfortunately intense bout of flu, missing one of Sam Isaac's last shows in the process. thankfully, they're forgiving folks, and i'm heading back there to the Frog and Fiddle this Sunday (21st), alongside Oxygen Thief, Jim Lockey and many more. i'll be on early evening (6.30ish), but things kick off as early as 4.30 in an all-dayer manner.

other gigs!: Reading with Chris T-T/2000 Trees
next wednesday (24th), i'll return to the Oakford in Reading alongside Chris T-T, who this week celebrates his album launch, Love Is Not Rescue, which i make his seventh studio outing. mad. pick it up from Banquet Records for just £7.99. The gig itself, meanwhile, is free.
http://www.banquetrecords.com/cttlove;jsessionid=41820C908C6BFED515EBBCE8A3DD0D1E

not only that, i'm also confirmed for this year's 2000 Trees festival just outside of Cheltenham, which runs from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th July. i'll be on early on Friday, and if last year's Thursday night performance is anything to go by, it's going to be a blast. the ticket link is below, and also confirmed for the weekend are the aforementioned Lockey & Thief, plus Chris T-T, Frank Turner, Metronomy, 65daysofstatic, And So I Watch You From Afar, Subways, Bombay Bicycle Club and Xtra Mile's Crazy Arm, plus more TBC.
http://www.twothousandtreesfestival.co.uk/tickets.php

Oh, and the Dawn Chorus too, whose latest single was all over 6Music and is ace. which brings me to..

choose your own adventure: only you can save 6music
yes. i'm hopping on the bandwagon a little late, but there's still time to save BBC's best digital music station, 6Music. if you have something to say about the axeing of what is essentially a good starting point for many new bands around the country (as well as being the only station prepared to give Steve Lamacq more than an hour a week), then please do email through to trust.enquiries@bbc.co.uk and let them know why.

plus: a thanks
i received word a few weeks ago that 2008's mini-album This Is Not What You Had Planned recently sold-out. Thanks to all of you who continue to inexplicably pick it up even eighteen months on. it should be back in stock shortly, if you're waiting. i think that's it.

keep safe.
ben.

Sunday 7 March 2010

don't hold your breath

so you might have noticed there was no free mp3 in the utter write-off month that February became.

well, notice no more, it's here:

Hold Your Breath (2010 version)
just over three years on from the original's initial release, this is an updated version, originally recorded as a b-side before i realised exactly how many b-sides i have recorded now. so here it is, all yours, to relive days gone by.

so i guess that takes care of February.. we are in March though, so it's time to offer something else: an alternative version to the upcoming album version of 'Toil'. three versions of this song exist - the full band version from the upcoming album, the version that starts as a cover of Jay Z's '99 Problems' which will likely never see the light of die for obvious copyright reasons, and this acoustic-only version. it's a little more personal than the 'proper' one, if decidedly no-frills, but it's worth a free punt nonetheless..

Toil (alternative version)

Love to all.
b. x