Newcastle labels Cabin Boy Cooperative and Distraction Records release Moira Stewart's debut album on Monday 14th April 2008. Moira Stewart formed late last year after inventing hair, the black colour used on bin bags, the feeling of resentment and the opposite of stamps. In a short space of time, their interactive live shows have became the stuff of legend, packing in audiences to witness live Twister, silly string, custard pies, glitter by the skipload, Batman costumes, more balloons than a Thanksgiving parade and the most innovative crowdsurfing that you'll ever witness. Its like if David Bowie starred in Bugsy Malone, re-written by Roger Hargraves.
But let's not forget the music: upbeat, fun, shambolic electro/guitar pop is the order of the day; think Hot Chip if they listened to The Orchids and The Field Mice instead of New Order, warm synths awash with indie guitar riffs and samples that Cassetteboy would be proud of. If 'Rave Binchy' was a musical genre, Moira Stewart would be pioneers. The songs have had NME staff writers wanting to join the band, A&R reps declaring their live shows as "the most fun I've had in years", Radio 1's Huw Stephens enthusiastically giving them repeated plays, and aspirational E4 yoof drama Skins will feature the band heavily in the new series airing in the Spring. Quirky, jerky, bonkers and brilliant, Moira Stewart's star is ascending, and it's shiny.
Minotaurs were never likely to be pigeonholed as just another guitar band. Bursting out of South Shields, the seaside town more famed for Saturday night scuffles than finely crafted mini-epics, they bring a mix of immaculate vocals, beautifully arranged songs and heartbreaking narratives that give an entirely new twist to the art form making them one of the most exciting bands around today. Fragile and delicate, yet completely compelling, they hail not only the return of the anthem but the return of hope. While their joyous live shows have been rightly acclaimed as a breath of fresh air for melodic folk-pop this EP lifts them head and shoulders above their peers, showing them at their self-consciously stunning best. Lead track 'Anyone Who Had A Heart' is bursting with understated emotion and is a stunning representation of the warmth and charm that makes Minotaurs so enchanting to both the listener and the audience. Forster's voice swings between arrogance and insecurity, innocence and insouciance while the music spirals unfathomably and the effect is truly breathtaking. Minotaurs have already overtaken their contemporaries in both creativity and song writing. Wowing packed 'sing along' audiences they have been loved and admired solely in the North East for too long, it's time to let the rest of the country in on the secret.
fakeindielabel is a record company and promotions racket set up in 2004 by indie-pop buccaneers Jennie and the Bets as an imprint for our self-released records, and as a way to bring our favourite bands to Newcastle.
Since then we've hosted shows by the likes of Deerhoof, Fonda 500, Sodastream, Stafraenn Hakon, Great Lake Swimmers, Shady Bard, Stinking Lizaveta, The Pony Collaboration, These United States, Capulet, Buen Chico, Chris T-T and The Butterflies of Love, as well as local luminaries Kubichek!, Spraydog, The Bubble Project and Beth Jeans Houghton.
As well as an EP, a CD single and a 7" by The Bets, fakeindielabel has expanded into a home for our friends' bands records too – releases have included the new Dressed in Wires album, 'Prettier Horse to Ride', the Minotaurs' Christmas single, Nev Clay's new album, and a 16-track compilation album 'Local Band Scene', featuring bands and artists the label have championed, such as Ever Since The Lake Caught Fire, Pale Man Made and Peace Burial at Sea.
Cabin Boy Cooperative, our boutique vinyl imprint, has released two split 7" singles, the first by the now defunct A Woman of No Importance and Shin Jin Rui, the most recent pairing Blackflower with Moira Stewart.
Early 2008 sees the release of the long awaited Minotaurs 12" EP Anyone Who Had A Heart, the debut album from Moira Stewart, Sweetness, Yes!, both through Cabin Boy, as well as a double album from Nev Clay, amongst other treats on fakeindielabel.
FIL/CBC BARGAIN BUNDLE!
We've some great releases coming up in 2008, so to clear out some room from beneath our beds we've decided to hold something of a sale here at FIL/CBC.
Four 7" singles, including the white and black vinyl versions of the Moira Stewart/Blackflower release, three CD albums, including the brilliant AWONI CD, and the Local Band Scene compilation, plus a couple of EPs - over thirty quid worth of records - spanning 56 songs - for just TEN POUNDS.
For more details, and to place your order, check the blog entry above.
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To celebrate its long-awaited reopening, the Tyneside Cinema brings you the rare chance to see THE WEEK THAT WAS, the new project of Sunderland’s Peter Brewis (Field Music, The Futureheads) in their debut Newcastle performance.
An expansive musical tribute to the sonic experiments of Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel and Tin Drum-era Japan, the band play alongside a specially-commissioned VJ collaboration from Benjamin Freeth (Surface Area) which uses vintage newsreel footage from the Tyneside’s early days as Newcastle’s News Theatre
FREE ENTRY Limited advance tickets available from: alt.vinyl (Thornton St, Newcastle) Tyneside Cinema Box Office: 0845 217 9909 Event starts 8.30pm prompt, latecomers will not be admitted.
