Prog Nouveau

EVER THINK WHATS THE FUCKING POINT?

zxtapes:

Hello! This tape is limit to 25 only! If you want to reserve your copy then email me at ZXtapes@hotmail.com trades are also welcome as well.

Jon x

zxtapes:

This is how the Trojan Horse tape will arrive to ya’ll. Some self assembly will be required as it would fall apart in the post. I will make instructions for ya’ll though :)

Radio Chaneque: TrojanHorse

radiochaneque:

¿Qué más presentación necesita mas que es una banda de Manchester?

Contrario a lo que podríamos esperar sobre la música de este lugar, que principalmente se dedica a platicar cuánto llueve y lo triste que es la vida, TrojanHorse nos ofrece una mezcla única de estilos a la buena…

ALBUM IS NOW FREE, NEW WEBSITE, AND AUTUMN DATES 

The Official Bumph:

To celebrate their excellent self-titled debut LP reaching 10,000 plays on Bandcamp, Manchester’s four-headed prog rock beast Trojan Horse have announced both the launch of their new website and the availability of the album to download for FREE. 

Formed back in 2007, Trojan Horse’s success has been long overdue, the group’s strong belief in a DIY aesthetic finally paying dividends this year with the sold out launch of Trojan Horse in Manchester, support from BBC 6music and Drowned In Sound, support slots with the likes of Vessels and Beecher and appearances at breakthrough underground festivals Sounds From The Other City and Fat Out Fest as well as playing for Love Music Hate Racism. You can now catch up on all the latest ‘Horse news at http://trojanhorseuk.com including latest touring dates.  

Made up of brothers Nick (vocals/guitar,) Lawrence (bass/vocals,) and Eden Duke (keyboards/vocals) as well as drummer Guy Crawford, the prog-rockers have a slew of Autumn gigs coming up, including shows with Secret Chiefs 3 and Zun Zun Egui as well as a brace of London shows including the Transient Constellations all-dayer at Brixton’s Windmill. Trojan Horse are a force that seem to be only gathering momentum, their penchant for the diverse and bombastic forging together with ever more exhilarating results, the next instalment set to be an EP to be released before the end of the year. For now don’t miss your chance to download, for free, one of the finest albums to come out of Manchester this year.  

For more info go to http://trojanhorseuk.com.  

 
So yeah, that’s about it. We’re now not charging for the download of the album as we would rather people have it than not, and if people like it loads, then we encourage them to buy the physical copy. Its that simple.

The WONDERFUL new site was done to our exact spec/drawing on a piece of paper by the hugely talented and infinitely patient Mark Lyons, hit him up for more work as he’s really great at what he does, and hugely helpful through every step of the process.

So yeah, thank you all for your continued support, and enjoy the fruits of our collective labour for NOWT, as we are nothing without you cheering us on.

Love and shit

Nick, Eden, Guy, Lozz

TH

Forthcoming Tour Dates: 

17/9 WINDMILL, BRIXTON, LONDON 

24/9 TOWN HALL PUB, ECCLES, SALFORD MUSIC FESTIVAL

25/9 THE WILLOWS, SALFORD MUSIC FESTIVAL

28/9 THE 229, EUSTON, LONDON

12/10 THE BASEMENT, YORK

19/10 SUPPORTING ZUN ZUN EGUI, RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER

20/10 SUPPORTING CIRCLES/SECRET CHIEFS 3, ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD

29/10 WE ARE THE NIGHT, FELL FOOT FOREST, LAKE WINDERMERE, CUMBRIA

toriabrightside:

[CALLING ALL GIRLS WITH ‘SICK PUPPIES’ - I need you for a project made for and from entertainment/wrath/truth.]

What a bunch of wankers.

For 3 rather unpleasant nights, Scams had the pleasure of supporting teenage black-phase style band Sick Puppies in Germany. Somehow, they’re pushing half a million facebook fans; if it was within my power, I’d make sure each and every one of those fans knew what they were really like.

With a rotting, smoking, grumpy old tour manager and ideas wayyy beyond their station, it was as though the band were deliberately pushing the level of the problems for us up and up each night. There is far too much to even go into, but with a team of 10 completely unnecessary human beings (one of whom was responsible for SOUNDCHECKING the band) and an oversized tourbus in which to career them around Europe, their £60,000 tour and 200 euros a night was losing them money hand over fist.

I had a peek around the dressing room, noticing ample food and drink which, as tradition seems to state, is shared equally between the bands. On this occasion perhaps, equally between the members of both our crews. The aforementioned rotting manager was very quick to stand, back to the fridge and arms raised in a barrier-like fashion, much as a child may do with a sandcastle or Christmas stocking saying “This is ours.” I left at this point.

During the Sick Puppies (awful) set, and upon nipping back to said dressing room to get some vods, some Australian unnecessaries positively barged me out of there screaming “GET AAAT! THE BAAND ARE ABAAT TO COME OFF!” Needless to say, it was not their place - and one step away from ‘don’t look them in the eye’ as though they were a band of gorgons.

After more drama than a blog entry should contain, the tour manager, when rudely helping himself to a cigarette from Redfern told us how “we would understand when we headline a show.” Not only is this a condescending statement, exaggerated hugely when coming from one of those subjects who clearly was once in a band, never made it, and never admitted to himself that he never made it, but in addition is an insult to knowing who you’re touring with. Scams were headlining shows a mere 4 nights down the line - one of my biggest regrets in LIFE is not mentioning to this guy how they were getting paid more than the 3 Sick Puppies not only per show, but per band member.

Nothing on stage could be moved to accomodate the support act - I think at one point we were bollocked for moving a cardboard box about 3 inches to the left, later to discover that the role of the box was to contain an electric fan which airwhipped the bassist’s hair as she played. I should have predicted the outcome of an attempt to photograph the album signing; “Don’t take pictures of them when they’re all sweaty!” …right.

On the final night, the merch stand which German-speaking Tori usually mans was forced completely out of the room and allowed, by Sick Puppies near the toilets… although Scams did in a way get them back by setting up their own ‘guerilla’ merch table outside and outselling the pricks by far, (“Zee small band iss better zan zee large band”) I feel it’s necessary still to somehow publicize their attitudes in order to amuse others, and hopefully inform their fans of the vicious little chihuahuas they really are.

The review below is a damn good read… I suggest you give it a minute of your time. Unfortunately for them, Scams’ tour team exceeded the funny eye’d soundcheck trolls, electric fans and wheezing managers - they brought a writer, and a photographer.

The sign above is a genuine Sick Puppy original, stolen from the door of their dressing room on the second night.

“I’ll show them Sick Puppies. I have puppies down my top that are sicker than they’ll ever be.”

Sick Puppies play the sort of low-grade schlock-pop-metal that’s forgettable most as soon as it snoozes from the speakers. One of their set’s most memorable early parts is, ironically (but not, you suspect, in the way that was intended), a couple of interpolated bars from Rage Against the Machine’s “Bulls on Parade”, as played over the PA at the start of the set at the beginning. The rest sounds much like falling through a timewarp and landing in the Cathouse toilets some time in 2002.

“The first song you might have heard by Sick Puppies was a ‘Free Hugs’ video on YouTube,” gushes the singing guitarist with the suspiciously expensive-looking coiffure, optimistically. ‘Free Hugs’, it turns out, is also the legend emblazoned on the band’s t-shirts, presumably because they were being charged by the letter and figured ‘Creepy Potential Sex Offender’ would take up too much space.

It seems somewhat churlish to dwell on the group’s rather precious delusions of grandeur w/r/t sharing (or not) their dressing room and ample rider with their support band and associates, but i am conveniently somewhat churlish and will therefore dwell on same, having first repressed my urge to force them to eat the whole fucking lot on the spot in a scene reminiscent of Mrs Trunchbull from ‘Matilda’ forcing the little fat kid to consume an entire chocolate cake after he tentatively admires it.

By the time the band make their second or third exhortation to come to a post-show session where they will autograph their new record ‘Tri-Polar’, and then launch into a ball-squeezingly predictable sanitisation of a brilliant pop song (Destiny’s Child’s “Say My Name”), no doubt to chin-stroking murmurs of approval from rockist bores everywhere, then following up with a truncated romp through sixth-form battle-of-the-bands staple “Killing in the Name”, it’s all become a little much.

Towards the close, the aforementioned Toni & Guy model implores members of the crowd to grab the person nearest them, “even if they smell of piss”, which “they probably do - it’s a rock’n’roll show”, an appeal that seems a bit at odds with their monastic aversion to tobacco smoke, which apparently said vocalist is very highly-strung about. Hey, rock’n’roll tho, right? Maybe they conclude their madcap touring stints by sacrificing some artichoke hearts to Satan, and possibly throwing a couple of Kleenex boxes out of a hotel window. Sick indeed!

The ‘bi-’ in bipolarity traditionally refers to the mental extremes of intense depression and mania experienced by sufferers. One wonders what the third pole identified in Sick Puppies’ album title could refer to. My guess would be a sort of deadened, mediocre numbness somewhere between the two, like Spinal Tap’s David St. Hubbins’ “lukewarm water”. Nothing could be more apt.

- Simon Kitto

meinhof:

The only problem i’ve had this weekend whilst playing shows with Ravachol was a bit of sexist misogyny thrown into the mix - in London when we got to the venue a pair of older guys made a couple of lewd comments to me, which is fine i guess, it happens, but when we played our set, someone actually grabbed my ass which wasn’t cool. i couldnt do anything about it as i had my back to them and was mid song and i was also a bit shocked as it was unexpected. I would like to think that it was a one off thing as i didnt think there was that sort of behavior apparent in the community of people i am involved with. Its interesting though as i read a debate about girls in music (the sort of screamo/hardcore scene i guess) recently and though there’s not as many girls as there are men, some men seem to think we are equally represented and have fair and non sexist treatment, i think it was implied that sexism phased out a few years ago, but i dont believe thats true at all. i think that it definatly exists, and the fact that i was effectively “groped” during my third show, technically our first proper show as the first two were in a private gallery and a house show respectively, is proof of things to come maybe? Does a woman have to be a tough cropped haired androgynous female to not get treated like a cow at a cattle auction? we dont need to be poked, touched or prodded. im right there, you can see me, i exist.

Girls get a hard enough time as it is, we dont garner quite as much respect as the men doing the same things, people will always ask the man i’m with a question that should have been asked to me, if a man is doing something then its “manly” and “normal”, if a girl is doing it its “cute” or “different”.  If a guy is running a DIY label or promoting shows or Playing in a band then its normal, you know, but when a girl does it its twee. A girl that buys records - garnered her music taste from her boyfriend. A girl at a show - probably there to find a new boyfriend/try it on with the band. A girl in a band shirt? - belongs to her boyfriend. I know this is a bit of a blanket assumption but i think a lot of people feel like this, and a lot of girls experience this. We dont get a completley fair deal, no matter what any man tells you. For every few guys that are awesome i meet there is always going to be one that thinks as your a girl your not quite capable of whatever it is that your doing. and then every now and again a stray sexist, like the anti girls on tour brigade. HELLO!? this isnt spring break, not every girl you meet is a “slut” and its a disgusting way to think about it.

This is a subject very close to my heart and i have, for many years, hated the way girls are pitted against one another, we are made to compete with each other for attention, by the media, by society, by sheer nature of finding a mate and having the best display of feathers. its bad enough, but then add in the men that add to this difficulty of being female by keeping us just below the respect level.

There are a lot of girls in the country doing a lot of hard work behind the scenes, in front of the scenes, girls who own the keys to the venues you play at, making sure you get fed at shows,  making art and music and writing, girls putting out records, promoting shows, making your merch. I hope soon men realise this and give us a bit more credit that doesnt involve groping us or telling us if we are aesthetically acceptable to them.

dont get me wrong, i love the “scene” im part of, i get to meet so may wonderful people but there a few that ruin it for me a little or are a little ignorant to what its like being a girl in it all. 

(via meinhof-deactivated20111225)

officialbeastieboys:

Good people, unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control, the “clean” version of our new album, The Hot Sauce Committee pt 2 has leaked. So as a hostile and retaliatory measure with great hubris we are making the full explicit aka filthy dirty nasty version available for streaming on our site. We hope this brings much happiness, hugs, and harmony. Enjoy Kikoos for life!

Thank you,

The Management

From The Kites Of San Quentin: Japanchester: A MCR benefit show for Japan.14th April

fromthekitesofsanquentin:

Tomorrow is the day, and we ask all of you to come down and show some support.

Curated by Nick Duke from Manchester Prog fiends TROJAN HORSE and featuring a stellar line up, and of course 100% of the money raised will be going straight to the Red Cross releif effort for Japan. Big’s to Jay…