F-POP! Propaganda. Click For Infos.
Comrades,
The most exciting record release of the year is almost upon us as The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart prepare to unleash their debut album upon the world a week next Monday. It’s called simply, with a justifiable degree of self-confidence, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, and it contains ten of the best pop songs you’ll ever hear, including the singles “Come Saturday” and “Everything With You”. It’s already been named one of the five albums to watch out for in 2009 by Pitchfork and we’re naturally very proud to be releasing it in the UK and Europe. It’s available for pre-order from us now on CD or beautiful 12″ vinyl LP for the princely sum of £10 (UK) or £10.50 (Europe) by paypal to ministryoffinance@fortunapop.com
Equally exciting in its own way is London’s very first international popfest which we’ve been busy organising with our friends Spiral Scratch and WIAIWYA records. Over four venues in as many days from Thursday 26th February to Sunday March 1st we’ll have over twenty bands, films, late night dancing, a pop quiz, fanzine and record stalls… endless pop fun in fact.
Some of the bands confirmed to date are Comet Gain, Colin Clary (of the Smittens – and friends!), Liechtenstein, Milky Wimpshake, Zipper, Julian Henry and Harvey Williams playing the songs of The Hit Parade and Another Sunny Day, The School, Pocketbooks, Action Biker, The Loves, The Middle Ones, Help Stamp Out Loneliness, Allo Darlin’, Tender Trap, The Pete Green Corporate Juggernaut and Betty and the Werewolves.. and we’ve still got a few goodies to announce.
The first batch of early bird tickets at £15 sold out in a matter of days, and there are now only eight remaining £20 season tickets left. Some of the venues are so small that there will be no individual day tickets available, so if you want to see the whole of London Popfest 2009 buy your season ticket NOW from here.
Finally, it’s your last chance to participate in our little clearout for the month of January and grab a bargain to beat the winter blues and the carrot crunch, with our special offer of a lucky dip of six Fortuna POP! albums for the amazing price of £12. You could get anything from The Lucksmiths or The Would-Be-Goods to Club 8 or Ladybug Transistor, but I’m sure you’ll agree that whatever you get it’s an amazing deal. Details on how to pay are here. The price includes shipping in the UK… if you’re outside the UK please e-mail us and we’ll work out a cost.
Hasta luego,
El Presidente
*** LONDON POPFEST AHOY! ***
Thursday February 26th sees the start of the first LONDON POPFEST, a gathering of indiepop fans, bands, clubs and labels. Over the weekend more than 20 international bands will be playing in 4 venues, London’s finest indie clubs will be spinning the tunes, stalls will be selling the best of up and coming (and already up and come) POP music, and there’ll be a whole lot more besides
THE BANDS
Action Biker (Sweden) – sweet melancholy from Swedish electro pop princess
Betty and the Werewolves – all girl (apart from the boy) headrush garage pop on Damaged Goods
Colin Clary and friends (The Smittens) (US) – bright, cheerful pop tunes by America’s indiepop wunderkind
Comet Gain – semi-shambolic rambling Kill Rock Stars stalwarts playing a greatest hits set
Help Stamp Out Loneliness – Siouxsie glamour coupled with poppy Stereolab tunes
Julian Henry (The Hit Parade) – the first Hit Parade set in over 15 years from the Sarah records star
Liechtenstein (Sweden) – all-girl Mo-dettes-inspired pop with killer tunes
The Middle Ones – gigglesome and utterly charming anti folk from heirs to Marine Girls crown
Milky Wimpshake – love songs for punk rockers… think Buzzcocks, Undertones, etc
Pocketbooks – girl/boy harmonies, joyful handclaps from the new Belle and Sebastian
The Pete Green Corporate Juggernaut – jangly catchiness and intense railway enthusiasm
The School – girl-fronted 60s influenced sugary jangles from Elefant records stars
Tender Trap – the legendary Amelia Fletcher and band play punk rock for girls
Gregory Webster (Razorcuts) – acoustic set from Byrds and Buzzcocks loving indie legend
Harvey Williams – ex-Another Sunny Day man gets ready to murder everyone again
The Loves – pop psychedelia and C86 indie with a dash of Jack Daniels and beatnik cool
Zipper (Spain) – The Spanish intweesition strikes again. If you like Heavenly, you’ll love this band
Allo Darlin’ – Uke-wielding indie-folkster plays indisputable girl-pop masterpieces
… with more to be announced.
THE VENUES
The POPFEST is happening over four days at different venues around London:
Thursday 26 February | Brixton Jamm, 261 Brixton Road, London SW9 2LH | map
Friday 27 February | The Buffalo Bar, 259 Upper Street, London N1 | map
Saturday 28 February (alldayer) | The Macbeth, 70 Hoxton Street, London N1 6LP | map
Sunday 1 March | The Salmon & Compass, 58 Penton Street N1 9PZ (corner of Chapel Market) | map
THE POPFEST TRADITION
The first TWEEFEST took place in New York in 1995, headlined by the MAGNETIC FIELDS, this metamorphosised into POPFEST two years later with January shows in both New York and Los Angeles. These were organised around an online community, rather than any local or national scene, and so gathered together an international crowd, who knew each other well, but more often than not had never met. The last 12 years have seen POPFESTS spring up all around the US each one an intimate event that people travel miles and miles to attend, and be a part of something
So here we are with our first little London POPFEST: four days of running around this brilliant city celebrating some amazing bands, meeting some old friends for the first time, swapping records, tapes and fanzines, drinking, dancing and, well, you know… doing what people do at festivals. Roll on February! We can’t wait to meet you all.
THE HARD SELL
POPFEST passes give you unlimited and priority entry to all four days of the London POPFEST
Buy your passes now from www.wegottickets.co.uk/f/576.
There are a limited number of £20 passes available now.
*** BE TRUE TO YOUR SCHOOL – A Fortuna POP! compilation ***
It’s finally out – our Be True To Your School compilation with 25 Smash Hits from the vaults of Fortuna POP! in a dead posh digipak with a booklet with pics of the bands and ramblings and everything. Here’s the full tracklisting:
1. Y Sun Over Discordia / Discordia
2. Home / Finlay
3. Oh Katrina / Tender Trap
4. Blinky / Sodastream
5. Itsuko Got Married / Bearsuit
6. Catchy Monkey / Mark 700
7. Take It To Fantastic / Cannonball Jane
8. You’re The Prettiest Thing / The Chemistry Experiment
9. Xs and Os / The Loves
10. Yvonne / micktravis
11. Rob A Bank / The Butterflies Of Love
12. Dialling Mitt / Spraydog
13. I’m A Tiger / International Strike Force
14. TK1 / Twinkie
15. Talking Backwards / Fanfarlo
16. T-Shirt Weather / The Lucksmiths
17. Work’s All Right (If It’s A Proper Job) / MJ Hibbett
18. Fallen Angel / Taking Pictures
19. Between Delta And Delaware / Airport Girl
20. Starving Hungry In Tescos / Mogul
21. Dialling Tone / Milky Wimpshake
22. The Walk / The Aislers Set
23. Too Old / Would-Be-Goods
24. You Can Hide Your Love Forever / Comet Gain
25. Small Music / Homescience
Pretty cool huh? And the best part is that it’s only £5! If you want to order one here’s the lowdown…
BY POST: Send a cheque, postal order or IMO made payable to ‘Fortuna POP!’ to 4 Mayfield House, Rushcroft Road, Brixton, London. SW2 1LD. UK.
BY PAYPAL: Use our PayPal address ministryoffinance@fortunapop.com
For orders in Europe but outside the UK, please add 50p per item ordered. Outside of Europe, please add £1.00 per item ordered.
“An amazing roster… dive straight in to these nuggets of pop perfection and appreciate the label for all it’s done for us.” (Drowned In Sound)
“The Fortuna POP! and Track and Field labels have given me more musical pleasure than just about any other labels in the past decade and the POP! legacy is laid out here to see. One for the year-end best ofs, I think.” (SoundsXP)
“It oozes authenticity reminiscent of ‘Nuggets’, the great proto-punk-psych compilation series. If you can’t enjoy this, despite its flaws, you are a bad person.” (CMU Daily)
“If the idea of a library full of undiscovered, indie pop gold appeals to you – and it should – then this is Motown Greatest Hits volumes 1,2 and 3 for your hungry little mind.” (Artrocker)
“A mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous, of bedroom pop glory (from both the guitars and samplers divisions), DIY sonic wreckage, classic songwriting and cackhanded tomfoolery.” (Fire Escape Talking)
“As befits any indie label worth its salt, there’s often an almost wilful stylistic schizophrenia to the catalogue, which reflects the taste of its founders as much as its audience. And that’s how it should be; the sleevenotes themselves are enlightenment enough on that one. Credit crunch be damned: music is (almost) its own reward – if you’re true to it.” (Record Collector)
*** NEW LUCKSMITHS ALBUM FIRST FROST ***
A trip across Bass Strait this past winter to Tasmania has yielded First Frost – The Lucksmiths’ finest and most eclectic album to date. Camped out in the wilderness, the band was free to explore and expand the musical palette, and with all four members contributing songs, the end result is an expansive 14-song offering bound to surprise anyone who thought they had The Lucksmiths pegged as sounding too much like The Lucksmiths…
Opening cut, the Kinks-y “The Town and the Hills”, sets out some of the album’s central themes, examining the distance (geographical and metaphorical) between city and country, while “California in Popular Song” is a sweet slice of sun-kissed pastoral pop complete with sweeping strings and a throaty low-down guitar; combine this with some gentle fingerpicking and Tali White’s pensive vocal, and it’s already become your new favourite Lucksmiths song! Meanwhile, recent live hits, the jangly “Good Light” and the surprisingly glam-rockin’ “A Sobering Thought (Just When One Was Needed)” — the latter concerning a late-night drunken escapade at a public swimming pool — both receive a fine rendering on First Frost . Elsewhere on the album, The Lucksmiths’ familiar strum is traded in for brief dalliances with a disorderly fuzz pedal, a choir of misplaced mittens, and a bird that just wants to know why you got drunk. Intrigued…?
First Frost is available in the shops from November 1, distributed by the kindly folk at Cargo. It’s also available RIGHT NOW to order from us, the kindly folk at Fortuna POP! for £10, ordering details here http://www.fortunapop.com/records/buy.html
(You can read more about the recording process for First Frost and how the mice in the studio got involved in guitarist Marty Donald’s recording diary here http://www.messandnoise.com/articles/3325911)
*** NEW FIVE SONG WIMPSHAKE EP ***
The new EP from Newcastle’s fun-loving bedroom anarcho-syndicalists – a credit crunch busting value for money five songs long with covers of songs by The Yummy Fur and The Isley Brothers as well as three fizzing punk-pop originals.
A potent mixture of fizzing pop tunes, punk attitude and protest folk Milky Wimpshake have released numerous singles and compilation tracks on assorted indie labels since forming in 1993, along with three albums, 1998’s “Bus Route To Your Heart” released on singer Pete Dale’s own legendarySlampt label, 2001’s “Lovers, Not Fighters”, issued on the ultra-hip Troubleman Unlimited label (Erase Erata, Rogers Sisters) in the States, and 2005’s “Popshaped”, the latter two both on Fortuna POP! in the UK and Europe. For many Milky Wimpshake are the spiritual godfathers of the now-thriving North-East music scene, and as überlord of the Slampt label Pete was responsible for launching a hundred fanzines and as many bands, Kenickie included. Futureheads guitarist Ross Millard has paid respect to the band in the pages of NME and on Sky Sports Soccer AM!
This EP features 3 fizzing new original tunes: punk love song “One Good Use For My Heart”; the self-explanatory “(Show Me The Way To) Anarchy”; and the nonsense poetry of “Milky Cliché”; plus a medley of the old music hall number “If You Want To Know The Time Ask A Policeman” andThe Yummy Fur’s “Policeman”; and a recording of a live favourite, their cover of The Isley Brothers’ “This Old Heart Of Mine”. All adhere to the classic Milky Wimpshake sound – buzzsaw guitar (thinkRamones, Buzzcocks), simple bass, garage-y drums, throwaway but intelligent and humorous lyrics – and will be warmly received by their many fans and new listeners alike.
Again, in the shops soon but available from us NOW for £3, ordering details here http://www.fortunapop.com/records/buy.html
*** NEW-ISH SOUNDS ***
Fortuna POP! last batch of releases are still available for you to order…
HAYMAN, WATKINS, TROUT & LEE (CD ALBUM £10)
“The best bluegrass band ever” (The Lipster)
From the first jangle of banjo, its sentimental heart beats strongly and beautifully. A soft melancholy prevails, cut from the same sentimental cloth as the songs of the Proclaimers. Mesmerising observations emerge, too, with the wryly-titled Fine Young Cannibals boasting the best: “The filter fell loose from the skin/ And stuck to the prettiest lip anyone has ever kissed/ I’ve been waiting all day for this. (Guardian – **** stars)
Hefner’s Darren Hayman contributes four originals, including Dirty Tube Train, on which barnyard instrumentation details a daily dose of sexual temptation somewhere on the Northern line. Dave Tattersall’s Bethnal Green sounds like a cardigan-clad 1980s Scottish indie band covering Lucinda Williams’s Am I Too Blue?. Two surprisingly affecting Townes Van Zandt covers complete this rather special little record. (The Sunday Times – **** stars)
This super group project (of sorts) has put together a very appealing album… this is no mere pastiche; there is a distinct Bethnal accent to this music that enables it to be funny and touching without straying into dodgy or gauche territory. (Kruger)
This is intimate music, ballads of mundane domesticity to make you smile, songs about love, shandy, calling in sick, Calor gas stoves, and unrequited, commuter-lust on the tube train. In little ways, I’m reminded of the Violent Femmes, the first Incredible String Band album, Country Joe and the Fish, Leadbelly and Lonnie Donegan, but the band does have a unique sound all of its own. (Tasty)
Hayman, Watkins, Trout & Lee dishes up invigorating slices of country and bluegrass, fresh from the depths of East London with wickedly funny, witty lyrics. HWT&L is an acquired taste, but if you fancy something a bit different, it’s really not a bad place to start. (Subba-Cultcha)
A lovely record filled with sweet tunes and pretty melodies. Hayman, Warkins, Trout & Lee’s debut is a cheerful and lovely collection of traditional, cover and original tunes that flow cohesively to create an upbeat and lively album that’s great listening if you’re feeling a bit down. (Room Thirteen)
Miraculously, the whole thing works rather well. Hayman’s ever-tremulous voice is backed up by gentle ukelele and plenty of off-kilter sentiment, and this, we guess, makes it anti-anti folk, or something. (New Noise)
THE BOY WHO COULDN’T STOP DREAMING – CLUB 8 (CD ALBUM £10)
“Exquisite, perfect creamy dreamy pop, classic sunny Swedish minimal pop. Karolina Komstedt’s voice is perfect, perfectly beautiful, she has the ability to gently melt just about everything with her perfect perfect beautiful voice. Classic sensual creamy sunny breezy indie pop that just really is perfect. Classic beguiling St. Etienne, Cardigans, Whipped Cream style indie pop and a just right in every way mix of melancholia and sunshine – gloriously good. This is just perfect simple clever dreamy indie pop. Beautiful, you really need to go find it.” (Organ)
“Focused on the melancholy pop that is their forte, Karolina Komstedt’s breathy vocals are very much to the fore on these ravishingly pretty melodies. These songs about love and the fleeting nature of existence pack an emotional punch. (**** Q)
“it throbs to the pulse of deliciously bittersweet guitar melodies, a lifelong passion for The Smiths and even a shaking of Latin percussion” (**** Metro)
“Hushed vocals soar dreamlike through the glacial-pop of Club 8’s oeuvre; shoe gazing, 60’s girl bands and a penchant for Belle & Sebastian worshipping Rule the waves, a perfect partner to the sheer wonder of Asobi Seksu!” (SubbaCultcha)
“And no wonder he couldn’t stop dreaming, if he was listening to this album. After a four-year absence, Sweden’s Club 8 provide the dreamiest dreampop imaginable, with Karolina Komstedt’s feather-light voice placed delicately over Johan Angergard’s gently evolving backing tracks.” (4 Stars, The Sunday Times)
“The kind of sweet Swedish pop that makes references to the Concretes, Camara Obscura and Belle and Sebastian kinda unavoidable, and their sixth album is assured,classy and, in Whatever You Want and When I Come Around, home to at least two choruses that hit you like a sunbeam. Delicious.” (Buzz)
“A gorgeous offering from Swedish duo Club 8… cool and melodic ditties, ranging from classy 60s pop ballads to the more upbeat slices of pop. File under: Yummy.” (AllGigs)
“Club 8 are on sparkling form here, seemingly having absorbed a little bit of extra pop-nous, a la Peter, Bjorn And John while the sugary finish of Karolina’s vocals, brings to mind Saint Etienne chanteuse Sarah Cracknell or Dubstar at their most angelic. This is comedown music imbued strangely with the ghostly groove of the swinging Sixties. Themes of loss and death are beautifully rendered, as melancholic as the pale winter sunlight.” (NARC)
“An absolute bundle of Scandinavian indie-pop brilliance from start to finish… the vocals are beautiful from Karolina Komstedt, weaving a dreamy pop way around the instrumentation with nods to bands like The Concretes, St Etienne, Joy Zipper and Husky Rescue as reference points. I’m so glad that i’ve been blessed with this album, it’s really wet my appetite to hear more. (The Beat Surrender)
“Six albums in and the Swedes of Club 8 are showing no signs of dipping in quality. The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming is another album of delightful female fronted indie pop… listen carefully and you’ll see it’s a gem.” (Russell’s Reviews)
“They do this well, the Swedes. Clean guitars, vocals like water over ice, frictionless.” (Plan B) “An album that sounds like warm breath steaming up frosty windows, fairy lights reflected in faraway eyes, and smiles going distant and dreamy whilst ice cubes melt into vanilla vodka.“ (Kitten Painting)
“The duo of Karolina Komstedt and Johan Angergård have seemingly given us the Summer album of the year. Err…six months too early. Fey, filigree pop music of the highest caliber… the finest 60s-influenced, acoustic-led pop south of the arctic circle… exquisitely delicate and melodically seductive.“ (BBC Music)
“Club 8 hark back to the glory days of C86 indie-pop: ‘The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming’ recalls the summery guitars of Sarah Records and Simon and Garfunkle harmonies. Jaunty beats, cheerful strumming and a dose of Neil Young’s more pastoral side: a derivative mixture, yet one that will fill the gap until the next Belle and Sebastian release.” (Is This Music?)
CAN’T WAIT ANOTHER DAY – THE LADYBUG TRANSISTOR (CD ALBUM £10)
“The finest baritone warble in indie rock, unfailingly catchy pop tunes and perfectly pitched melancholy ballads… the Ladybug Transistor’s best work equals the best pop music made at any time in the past 50 years.” (All Music Guide)
“Six albums in, Can’t Wait Another Day develops the Ladybug’s earlier indiepop and psychedelic sounds towards a sound which is more classic baroque pop, with a glorious melancholic lilt and the sort of impressive crooning you thought was lost decades ago… it strengthens their reputation as purveyors of intricately arranged and stately pop songs. (SoundsXP)
“Forty minutes of Pop in its most beguilingly classical, sparklingly emotional form.” (Miwsig)
“A surprisingly mature collection, all playful guitar lines and smooth saxophones. Gary Olson’s baritone is worthy of the late Lee Hazlewood while other tracks find the middle ground between Burt Bacharach and Belle and Sebastian” (Uncut)
“Brooklyn’s The Ladybug Transistor have been playing their elegant, lovelorn pop since 1995. Their latest sees strings and brass adding lushness to songs of heartache. File next to Belle & Sebastian, The Magnetic Fields and The Go-Betweens”(Q)
“Newcomers will enjoy Gary Olson rounding his vowels like an indie pop Scott Walker, and hearing organs and warm guitars roll by like 1960s beauties. Long-term fans will envelop themselves happily in the album’s soft loveliness” (The Guardian)
TO ORDER THESE MINOR GEMS IN A SEA OF MEDIOCRITY…
BY POST: Send a cheque, postal order or IMO made payable to ‘Fortuna POP!’ to 4 Mayfield House, Rushcroft Road, Brixton, London. SW2 1LD. UK.
BY PAYPAL: Use our PayPal address ministryoffinance@fortunapop.com For orders in Europe but outside the UK, please add 50p per item ordered. Outside of Europe, please add £1.00 per item ordered.
