Aiden Grimshaw announces tour dates!

With his excellent debut single Is This Love breaking its way into the Top 40, X Factor standout Aiden Grimshaw is fast on his way to establishing himself as one of the UK’s most exciting new male solo talents. With the kind of critical praise rarely afforded to the progeny of the ITV ratings juggernaut, Aiden is proving to be quite the dark horse, and going by the strikingly individual, beautifully crystalline synth-sounds of Is This Love, both his upcoming album Misty Eye and his tour look set to be a real treat.

Tickets for the tour go on sale this Friday (15^th), so if you fancy catching him live, be up bright and early at 9am to book tickets. Aiden’s UK-wide tour encompasses the following dates:

SEPTEMBER

19           Bristol O2 Academy 2

20           Nottingham Rescue Rooms

22           Northampton Roadmender

23           Bournemouth The Old Firestation

24           Brighton Concorde 2

26           Birmingham O2 Academy 2

27           Glasgow King Tuts

28           Leeds Cockpit

30           Manchester Academy 3

OCTOBER

01           Oxford Academy 2

02           London Scala

Lawson announce UK tour dates!

A couple of weeks back, we caught awesome new band Lawson at North London's Water Rats and were suitably impressed, but if you didn't manage to see them then or on any of the dates they spent supporting the Wanted on their arena tour, you can now see the lads on their very own UK headline tour. The dates are as follows, and you can expect both a rousing performance of excellent new single When She Was Mine and a top night out in general:

14th May - Glasgow O2 ABC2
15th May - Leeds Cockpit
16th May - Nottingham Stealth
18th May - Sheffield Leadmill
19th May - Manchester Deaf Institute
30th May - London KCLSU
31st May - Birmingham Temple

Rebecca Ferguson announces UK tour dates!

Love Rebecca Ferguson's classy debut single Nothing's Real But Love? Fancy some more of the uber-talented X Factor star? Well, you can catch her all across the country on her upcoming UK tour!

The full list of dates is as follows:

Mon 20-Feb       Manchester Bridgewater Hall
Tue 21-Feb        Gateshead Sage 1
Wed 22-Feb      Glasgow, Clyde Auditorium
Fri 24-Feb          Oxford New Theatre
Sat 25-Feb         Sheffield City Hall
Mon 27-Feb       Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
Tue 28-Feb         Portsmouth Guildhall
Thu 01-March     Birmingham Symphony Hall
Fri 02-March       York Barbican
Sat 03-March      Blackpool Opera House
Thu 08-March      Cardiff St Davids Hall
Fri 09-March       Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Mon 12-March     Bristol Colston Hall
Tue 13-March       London Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Nothing's Real But Love is released on the 20th November and she'll be performing the track live on the X Factor that evening too.

We can't wait!

The Swellers announce UK tour dates

Following up their critically acclaimed 2009 debut Ups and Downsizing, US pop-punk rockers the Swellers are hitting the UK this winter to help promote their new album Good For Me.

Lead single The Best I Ever Had is a classic bit of youthful Americana, big meaty guitar hooks colliding with a passionate, rousing chorus. For those that like their rock on the XL size, this'll be right up your street.

The Best I Ever Had is available to download on iTunes now, and the album's UK release follows on the 21st November.

The full list of tour dates is as follows:

Tues 29 Nov  Rescue Rooms   Nottingham
Wed 30 Nov  Cockpit   Leeds
Thu 1 Dec  King Tuts  Glasgow
Fri 2 Dec  Academy 2  Newcastle
Sat 3 Dec  Corporation  Sheffield
Sun 4 Dec  Academy 3  Manchester
Mon 5 Dec  Academy 3  Birmingham
Tues 6 Dec  Clwb Ifor Bach  Cardiff
Wed 7 Dec  Borderline  London
Sat 17 Dec  Peel   Kingston

My Morning Jacket tour the UK this week

My Morning Jacket's Circuital album was a real surprise favourite of mine this year; authentic, confident American rock, the way it should be done.

The high praise for the album speaks for itself - four stars across the board and a plethora of glowing quotes.

The band are touring the UK this week at the following dates:

Wednesday 2 November – GLASGOW – ABC

Thursday 3 November – BIRMINGHAM – Institute

Saturday 5 November – LEEDS – Academy

Sunday 6 November – MANCHESTER – Academy

Monday 7 November – LONDON – Roundhouse

Tuesday 8 November – BEXHILL – De La Warr Pavillion

They're also taking to the stage on the eternally popular Later With Jools Holland this week - if you haven't heard much of their material before, you're in for a real treat.

Rimmel London announced as official The Saturdays tour sponsor

This winter our favourite girls The Saturdays are certainly going to be getting the 'London Look' - they've just teamed up with Rimmel for their upcoming UK tour.

Speaking about the deal, the girls said: 'We all love experimenting with make-up looks, so when we heard that Rimmel London will be sponsoring our tour we were really excited. We all have Rimmel London in our make-up bags so they seem like the perfect fit to have with us on the road,’

It's not long to wait for the tour now and personally, we're already totally All Fired Up for it. Bring it on Sats!

Katherine Jenkins to release double A side single - Can’t Slow Down / Black Is The Colour

We're something of a fan of double A side singles. You don't get them much anymore but the real charm of them is that with double the amount of music, there's double the amount to like. Even the most ardent doubters are likely to find something to their fancy.


Of course, when it comes to Welsh opera star Katherine Jenkins, there's not a person out there that could say no to some of her delightful tones - as the new nation's sweetheart, there's an undeniable charm to Katherine that's increasingly rare these days.

Not only does she always seem resolutely the professional - but there's a carefree openness to her, she's remained grounded where so many of her contemporaries have turned into party animals.

Can't Slow Down is a lush piano ballad, accented with some really nice guitar bits. This is a real Katherine-does-pop moment that sounds like it's been written by Gary Barlow and produced by the X Factor team. In short, it's the kind of song that Christmas Number 1's are made of, and if anyone is due one one of those, Katherine seems like a logical choice - it was her after all that captured the hearts of telly viewers as she took to the Doctor Who Christmas special.

Black Is The Colour is the more operatic of the two tracks, a delicate Swan-Lake esque number that feels fluid, almost ethereal - the perfect match for Katherine's vocals.

Katherine's also just announced a heap of UK tour dates for January and February next year so there's plenty of chances to see the opera princess up close and personal.

Can’t Slow Down / Black Is The Colour is released on December 12^th
 

Football, etc announce December tour & album release

The prospect of music inspired by football sounds pretty intriguing to us – I mean, where would we be without New Order’s World in Motion?

But 90s pop classics aside, US band Football, etc have clearly taken to the subject matter with aplomb, even naming themselves after the game (though in their case it’s the American variety, but we’ll forgive them that.)

Football, etc purvey an angular, metallic brand of rock with the added bite of an empowered female vocal line. It's the stuff of dark underground indie nights and college radio, with throwbacks to early Strokes.

The band’s debut album The Draft is available on Amazon now.

Their UK tour dates are as follows:
Dec. 28, 2011 Ipswich @ The Swan
Dec. 29, 2011 Manchester @ The Castle Hotel          
Dec. 30, 2011 Dundee @ Kage                            
Dec. 31, 2011 Edinburgh @ Banshee Labyrinth                   
Jan. 2, 2012 Leeds @ Fox and Newt                            
Jan. 3, 2012 Nottingham @ J.T Soar                           
Jan. 4, 2011 Swansea @ Mozarts                                              
Jan. 5, 2011 Exeter @ The Cavern                               
Jan. 6, 2011 Kingston @ Fighting Cocks                     
Jan. 7, 2011 Brighton @ The Albert

Guillemots - I Don't Feel Amazing Now

I Don't Feel Amazing Now is a kind of meeting of worlds for the Guillmots. Epic in duration and packing those soul-wrenching, intense vocals from Fyfe Dangerfield it harks all the way back to the band's flamboyant beginnings.

It's real strength comes in its refined songwriter polish though, testament to Dangerfield's incredibly accomplished solo album.

Reedy, church-like string-synths shine in the backdrop, painting a picture of pastoral indolence. This is the Guillemots at their tranquil, whimsical best.

I Don't Feel Amazing Now is released on the 23rd October.

The band kick-off their UK tour later this month, with the full list of dates as follows:

October
Sun 30th PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms
Mon 31st BRIGHTON TOM – The Old Market

November
Wed 2nd EXETER Phoenix
Thu 3rd FALMOUTH Princess Pavilion
Fri 4th BRISTOL Trinity
Sat 5th LIVERPOOL Stanley Theatre
Mon 7th GLASGOW Oran Mor Auditorium
Tue 8th NEWCASTLE Riverside
Wed 9th BIRMINGHAM HMV Library
Thu 10th CREWE The Box
Sat 12th HULL Tokyo
Sun 13th LEEDS Cockpit
Mon 14th OXFORD O2 Academy 2
Tue 15th NORWICH Waterfront
Thu 17th LONDON KOKO

Guillemots - I Don't Feel Amazing Now by Guillemots

Example announces new UK tour dates!

Last month we reviewed Example's awesome new single Stay Awake - it's out at the end of the month and available to pre-order here.

Example has also just announced a 17 date set to sweep across the UK in November and December! Check out all the dates on the flyer above.