Belated updates...

The blogspots been a little rejected as of late, sorry :/

It's ok, though, as there's good reasons, which will now take the form of a pie chart:

RELEASES
Darkest Season Vol.1 (2010) has been a complete success! All the bands pulled it out of the fucking bag and made a belter of a record:
Lavotchkin "Shower Of Bastards"; A none-more-perfect example of the Geordie fellas' perfectly honed rock&roll infused, Cursed inspired hardcore.
Prelude To The Hunt "Grudgebearer"; Literally the first thing put to record from these guys, and they may well have fucked themselves by putting out something this fucking great.  Probably not, though.  A sign of great things to come for those into their hardcore down-tuned and HEAVY.
HUSH "Necklacing"; right at the forefront of how good a year 2011 is going to be for Scottish Hardcore, this track brings the riffs and breakdowns like you would not fucking believe.  Best thing they've recorded so far, and only a hint at what they can do live.
Black Mass "Failure Hangs"; As Crusty, Evil, Blast-Beaty, short and Intense as you may ever hear.  Quite terrifying, to be honest.
Pariso 2011 The "Sooner Insignificant Better" 7inch is now up for pre-order, and it's really REALLY good!  The vinyl's coming in orange or green, and, for the lucky few, a very special purple/yellow/blue splattered vinyl.  If you pre-order this badboy, although not released until January, you'll get yourself an immediate download, to hear how good it actually is.
Horrors That You've Seen (2011) Re-releasing their first ep, "Death To The Snakes" with new tracks to give you a hint at what they're up to for next years "Breaking Hearts".  Check out 'Item 9' to see what you're going to be up against come March.
Notebooks (2011) "Merit/Privilige" has been recorded, in one ten hour shift, and if you dig around on facebook you can find a shit quality audio rip from a video taken in the studio which will literally blow you away.  Fuck if these guys are going to take you all by surprise come February.
Lavotchkin (2011) THIS; this is what excites me. Lavotchkin will be releasing a retrospective full-length in the new year, on Dead Dead Dead (!!!!!!!), and filled with tracks from all of their ep's/splits (Including the aforementioned 'Shower Of Bastards', & 2010's Crocus split and 'Widow Country' ep), as well as a nice few brand new tracks, recorded especially.  This is going to be soooooooooooo good, and I can not tell you how proud I am to be associated with this, let alone be putting it out.



SHOWS
So far booked for 2011: Brides/Notebooks Scottish tour; the Dead-Fest "Fuck Off, January" all-nighter, feat. Lavotchkin, Citizens, Prelude To The Hunt, Black Mass + more TBA; Brotherhood Of The Lake/Breaking The Day Scottish tour; The Plight/Lords (Only Scottish date!); Pariso Scottish tour (including a free Deathkill3000 show in Glasgow!); The Smoking Hearts (new singer + new songs = super fucking awesome); plus more still geting sorted.  2011 will be a great year for live music in Edinburgh, and Scotland in general.

WEBSITE
the 80's hip-hop themed Dead Dead Dead Music website is almost ready, and will take the form of blogs, reviews, shows & releases, as well as links to anything relevant, whether that be somewhere to buy stuff or just check out someone I think you should hear.  It'll be ready for January 1st.
So, yes, the BlogSpot will disappear shortly.  But no matter, 2011 is going to be amazing, which will kind of make up for it.

Releases n' shit

"Darkest Season Vol.1" is now up on the Big Cartel, and it's sounding awesome!  New tracks from Lavotchkin, HUSH, Prelude To The Hunt & Black Mass.  Each 7" comes with a download code so you can actually listen to it without carrying around that old gramaphone you might or might not have.
This really is a great little release; Limited to 300, hand numbered sleeves, Exclusive art from Jenna Lee Alldread, alternate covers, and of course four tracks of heavy, grindy, hardcore-y awesomeness.
http://www.deaddeaddeadmusic.bigcartel.com/
This is a release from myself & Fuck Happy Endings Records.

And as for releases that are on their way.....

Notebooks
Stirling's Notebooks have been pummeling out cracking shows all over Scotland for good little while now, and will be putting out their first EP, "Merit/Privelige" in February, along with a nice little tour to celebrate.  Get excited, these dudes are going to blow your socks off.  Seriously.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Notebooks/370170477509?v=wall

Horrors That You've Seen
Probably all mentioned before, but here it goes anyway:
HTYS are awesome.  They're playing with Dead Swans next weekend, and will be re-releasing their debut EP "Death To The Snakes" for the show, re-recorded and with brand new artwork, fucking lovely packaging, AND, 2 new tracks from their forthcoming album to give you a sneak peek of what to expect.
The album "Breaking Hearts" will be out in March, with artwork from The Ghost Of A Thousand's Tom Lacey, and an extensive tour to get out there and smash it around peoples faces.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Horrors-That-Youve-Seen/120074891336730

Pariso
"sooner Insignificant Better" 7" is up for pre-order now.  This is a seriously great record, and will be coming on a number of coloured vinyls, and a select few of you will be lucky enough to get some bloody lovely and VERY limited colourways, so get on it.
Not heard of them?  Very awesome, heavy, crushing, and above all Interesting, hardcore.
Check out the vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK2l-75FSDU&feature=player_embedded
This is a release form myself and Dog Knight Productions/Throatruiner Records/Tangled Talk Records/Brainache Records


Lavotchkin
Watch This Space.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/Lavotchkin

Fuck The Snow, it's not going to ruin everything (shows update)

Right, last weekends release shows were a bit of a shambles, Bastions got stuck down South, Prelude got stuck up North, and Lavotchkin got stuck in the 'Toon.  All down to the fucking snow.

alas, all was not lost, Horrors That You've Seen jumped on board for an impromptu Edinburgh set with HUSH, which, considering the blistering cold and lack of bands, was a decent llittle show indeed.  Even missing a guitarist (stuck in Wales), these guys are getting better every time they play, and are carving themselves a quality little set for their final show of the year with Dead Swans next weekend.  HUSH lost and gained a bassist last month, and he's got stuck right in, and they're sounding awesome.  Their new shit is HEAVY as fuck, can't wait for you all to hear it.

Glasgow was a complete shambles right up until the bands started; two seperate gigs got fucked over by the snow, and after much fucking around the bands from either show that could still make it got together for a free show which went down a treat.  Clocked Out, HUSH & Citizens were all on fucking great form, and provided what could easily have been a long-planned bill of excellence, rather than a salvaging of shows.
If you haven't heard of Citizens, check them out now http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Citizens/127012100651046

So, there's still two Darkest Season release shows left, and fuck if they're going to go ahead:
Friday 10th - Newcastle, Northumberland Arms with Lavotchkin, HUSH, Grace & End Reign
Saturday 11th - Leeds, Santiago's with Lavotchkin, Black Mass, HUSH & Prelude To The Hunt (yes, ALL FOUR bands from the split :) )
If you live anywhere neare these two cities, get on it, they're going to be awesome, and will be the last chance to catch any of the bands this year.

some Of My Best Friends Are Into Pop-Punk (Album Review)

Antillectual
"Start From Scratch!"
Lockjaw Records
2010
Quite possibly the busiest punk rock band to come out of the Netherlands, if not the only, Antillectual are on their third full length of their only five year life, as well as chucking out 2 EP's, too. Add to that a serious bunch of Euro and US tours, and you've got the makings of long-term veterans.

With 'Start From Scratch!', the three piece have come up with twelve honest and sincere, albeit slightly standard, punk songs, in veins running from Chuck Raegan (Album closer 'So Much More') to slightly heavier and faster fare on the likes of 'Our Hearts'.

Everything on here is well produced, and is going to more than hit the spot for those of you needing your politically minded pop-punk fix.  Antillectual are making an art of blending the most accessible of riffs with some Pavement-esque, college-rock lyricisms and humour, not in the least with tracks like 'some Of My Best Friends Are Meat Eaters'.

All in all, this is a solid album from some serious European pop-punk contenders.

General Updates n' That, Yeah? And some shit news about a good fucking band

So, the first release is well on it's way, with all four bands now recorded! 
Artwork is coming along nicely, and the date's set for final mastering of the tracks for vinyl.  This all makes me very happy.

If it keeps going as smoothly as it is at the moment, expect it to be excusively available on the Lavotchkin/HUSH mini-tour in December, whoop whoop!  There'll be a very limited run of colour, hand screen printed covers available on these dates too.

Last weekend was a good one, with The Ghost Of A Thousand, Lavotchkin, HUSH & Horrors That You've Seen tearing Bannerman's the kind of hole it hasn't seen in a LONG time.  Everyone, bands and fans, had a great night, followed by much debouchery at the Banshee Labyrinth afterwards.

There's plenty of stuff keeping me busy at the moment; The December split, getting involved in the new Pariso 7inch, which will be out in the spring through myself & Tangled Talk Records, and i'm well on my way to booking some really great shows in the new year, including a bunch of Scottish dates in January for the always awesome Axis Of, and Invisible Noise Brighton kids Brides, who've got some great new tunes on the way, along with some nice a bunch of shows coming together for February.

And of course there's the HTYS long player due in March, along with a good 10-14 date tour to spread the word that is....... Sorry, the title'sbeing kept a secret for now. 

(I'm also getting up to date with the ol' reviews, so there'll be two up by friday, huzzah!)

Right, onto the shit news: Stirling, Scotlands Notebooks suffered that most shit of things that can happen to a band.. They had cash, merch and passports stolen while playing a show.  This really is a shit thing to happen at any time, and it only ever seems to happen to bands who really need the merch and the cash it provides.  Notebooks were going to be recording for their first ep in December, and this was where the cash was going to go.  They're getting so good so quickly, and to suffer a setback like this is fucking heartbreaking.

Therefore, seeing as they're good friends of myself and the label, this is what's happening; from now until they get into the studio, 50% of all money from Dead Dead Dead merch sales will be going to the band, in the hope that we can help them get into the studio and get recorded before they lose their momentum, and before the opportunity passes to get some of this anger on record.

So, pick up one of the (Awesome) T-shirts from the DDDM Big Cartel, and not only get yourself in a cool as fuck tee, but you can be happy to know you're doing something good for a great young band that just got fucked over.
Check them out on facebook, or at www.myspace.com/notebooksband, and keep yourself updated on what's happening in their world.

Horrors That You've Seen

The first full signing for Dead Dead Dead Music is Edinburgh hardcore kids Horrors That You've Seen, and I'm pretty excited about it.

Since getting together earlier this year, HTYS played their biggest show to date with TRC & Lower Than Atlantis, and will next week be opening for the one off The Ghost Of A Thousand/Lavotchkin show in Edinburgh, as well as going on to support Trash Talk in Glasgow in November, and, as an official announcement, Dead Swans, Brutality Will Prevail & Mother Of Mercy on the Edinburgh show of their tour in December.  This is a big deal for such a young band, and is certain to be a great show for everyone.

Their first release is due in March, so plenty of time for them to get writing, and we'll maybe chuck an extra song or two on a re-release of their first, self-distributed ep 'Death To The Snakes', to give you all an idea of where they're going.  Trust me, it's a good place, and they'll be debuting a whole new set at next weeks show, so if you're around in Edinburgh, you need to come along.

This is great news for both HTYS and Dead Dead Dead, so make sure you follow the progress!

Check out the band on Facebook, Myspace and Band Camp.

Lavotchkin/Black Mass/HUSH/Prelude To The Hunt 7inch - December

If you haven't already heard, this will be the first release from Dead Dead Dead, and it's a fucking beast.  I'm joining up with Fuck Happy Endings Records in Leeds, and it's both of our first releases, so we thought we'd do it proper, like!

Lavotchkin - Truly awe-inspiring and riff-laden hardcore from Newcastle, these guys have done splits with Attack! Vipers! and Crocus, as well as releasing one of the years best ep's in Widow Country (reviewed here a while back).  There's plenty of amazing things in the pipeline for these guys, and I'm super happy to get the chance to be a part of it.

Black Mass - Recent Holy Roar signings, and brutal, grimey and evil hardcore/grindcore boyd from Leeds.  Making a name for themselves VERY quickly, these guys are going to make some proper waves, so catch them on tour in December, and then back up in Scotland in the new year.

HUSH - One of Glasgow's best bands.  Taking influence and inspiration from everything from Darkthrone and Burzum to anything on Deathwish, they don't really sound like anyone else, and, since forming in March, have played with Narrows, Throats, Maths, and most recently Black Mass and a fucking fantastic set supporting This Will Destroy You & East Strikes West, this is seriously intense, thinking-mans hardcore.

Prelude To The Hunt - The first available recording from these Aberdeen boys will be on this one, and it's fucking amazing.  Again, this is hardcore inspired by something much heavier and far more brooding, and there'll be some amazing stuff coming from these guys over the next few months, so keep your eyes peeled.

Now, although there's no title for the release yet, it'll be coming out in December, and will be available on the following tour - Lavotchkin/HUSH/Bastions!  This is going to be a mental bunch of shows!  One of which will be in Leeds with release-mates Black Mass, and another will be in Aberdeen with Prelude, and it'll be their first show.
Dates are:
Wed 1st Dec - Leeds, Lavotchkin, Black Mass, HUSH +1tbc
Thurs 2nd Dec - Edinburgh, Lavotchkin, Bastions, HUSH +1tbc
Friday 3rd Dec - Glasgow, Lavotchkin, Bastions, HUSH +1tbc
Sat 4th Dec - Aberdeen, Lavotchkin, Bastions, HUSH, Prelude To The Hunt
Sun 5th Dec - Newcastle, Lavotchkin, HUSH +2tbc

Keep popping back for details of supports and venues!