Number two in the series of six...the making of the video for 'The Prayer'
[Download] (100 MB) ¶ 10:58 PM 3 comments links to this post
Thanks so much to everyone who's visited BlocParty.net in the past year, and especially to the people who've helped out with the site recently. See you in 2007…it looks set to be the year of the Bloc!Any hardcore Bloc Party fans who manage to find some spare time amongst the festivities, feel free to contribute to the brand spanking new Bloc Wiki! (aka 'Made Of Facts'...it's the new project of the Always New Depths forum)
Also, a few more additions have been made to the BLAG PARTY covers project…check them out here. It's become a bit of an international affair, with entries coming in from Sweden, Australia and Bosnia. Keep them coming! Don't worry if your song's been covered – there's more than enough room for repeated tracks.
Labels: BlocParty.net
¶ 12:12 AM 5 comments links to this post
Self-aware, with a willingness to experiment. Lyrically astute, with a knack for producing beautiful, well-crafted compositions that stem from daily observations and world events. Hardly un-emotional. The Canadian indie-rock outfit, Metric, refuse to back down from their convictions, yet are not afraid to show that they are just like you and I - searching for truth and love in a vast world.
Way back in 1998, as the stars aligned, lead singer Emily Haines and guitarist James Shaw first met each other in Toronto and decided to form a band. After working with each other in Montreal, producing a collection of demos (Mainstream E.P.), they moved to New York City (where they famously shared flat space with future members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Liars) and teamed up with bassist Joshua Winstead and drummer Joules Scott Key.
Metric's first LP proper, 'Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?', released in 2003, earned them a loyal fan base on Canadian soil. However, it was last year's 'Live It Out' album that finally saw the band go international. This was thanks in no small part to 'Monster Hospital', (whose "I fought the war, but the war won" refrain has inspired mass pandemonium on many an indie dance floor) and the sublime candy-coated-Interpol sugar rush of 'Poster of A Girl'. Frontwoman Haines has even struck out on her own path as a solo artist with her recent album, 'Knives Don't Have Your Back', a must for fans of Metric and Emily Haines's otherworldly vocals.
If you're seeing Metric opening for Bloc Party on the upcoming U.K. tour and have yet to open your ears to them, your chance to be enlightened is coming near. Cheers to a bright band with an even brighter future.
Candi
Labels: Other_bands
¶ 1:08 AM 5 comments links to this post
Bloc Party know how to satisfy the completists...recordstore.co.uk is currently offering a special pre-order deal for the new single, 'The Prayer'. For £7 you get all three formats, two digital tracks and a Collectors Box (shown below) to store all the 7" singles from the new album. You can also go box-less for £5.
Details of 'The Prayer' were announced on BLOG PARTY a couple weeks ago, right here. There will be New! Tracks! across the formats: 'We Were Lovers' and 'England', plus a mysterious entity known only as 'Emma Kate's Accident' or 'Version 2.0' (depending where you read)...more info when available. Labels: Singles
¶ 10:11 PM 4 comments links to this post
For those who still need to buy presents, or want to get early dibs on the albums scheduled for release in 2007, BlocParty.net has teamed up with Insound to give you a 10% discount on your holiday purchases.
(Valid until 14/01/07)
Labels: Random
¶ 9:23 PM 1 comments links to this post
Check out a behind-the-scenes peek at the new video for 'The Prayer', exclusively on NME.com. ¶ 10:58 AM 3 comments links to this post
Always New Depths is back for good!
After a short hiatus, and a seemingly terminal death, the unofficial Bloc Party forum has been resurrected. You can access it here. Things are still a bit precarious, but at least it's a start. The old database has been lost, so everyone's going to have to sign up again unfortunately.
Labels: BlocParty.net
¶ 9:15 PM 11 comments links to this post
In 2005, Nick Peill was hardly living the rock star dream. He was a primary school teacher by day, but during the holidays and whenever else he could find the time, he retreated to his Warwickshire studio, located in his very own garden shed. This DIY, stripped ethic translates itself into the music of his band, who go under the appropriately organic name of 'Fields'.
Nick left the shed for the city and moved to London, where he met four individuals aiming for careers in music. Their background sounds like the plot of an indie-folk storybook. Keyboardist/vocalist Thorunn Antonia's father composed the Icelandic national anthem, but she found herself doing voiceover work. Drummer/vocalist Henry Spenner also had music in his blood: his father performed at the original Woodstock Festival. Guitarist Jamie Putnam was a music journalist and bassist/vocalist/keyboardist Matty Derham had been working as a hairstylist. Before Fields, Matty's best known contribution to the music world was perhaps Russell Lissack's infamous fringe, the 'Blochead'!
Straddling folk and electronica, pop and left-field, Fields caused a frenzy amongst eager record labels. Eventually, Atlantic snatched them up with the deal of allowing them to release material through their own Black Lab label. Fields' first single with Atlantic, 'If You Fail We All Fail', was released on 20th November, and they've recently been busy recording their debut album with legendary producer Michael Beinhorn.
Fields have outgrown the garden shed and are hotly tipped as one of the acts to look out for in 2007. They provide support for half of Bloc Party's UK tour next year (Metric provide the other half) so make sure to turn up early for a dose of rustic, occasionally creepy, songsmithery.
Casey
Have a field day:
MP3: [Brittle Sticks] [Charming The Flames] [Roll Down The Hill]
Video: [Brittle Sticks] [If You Fail We All Fail] [Song For The Fields]
Labels: Other_bands
¶ 11:06 PM 4 comments links to this post
From the kind people at iCast, here's the first (out of six) episodes of a Bloc Party Vcast:
[Download]
"They're lying like wounded soldiers on the battlefield. Perhaps the rock has got the better of them and they are finished". ¶ 7:39 PM 7 comments links to this post
Watch the brand new video for 'The Prayer' over on the BBC Radio 1 website now! Shot at Café 1001 in Shoreditch, East London, this is Walter Stern's first video in several years. He's previously directed seminal promos for The Verve's 'Bittersweet Symphony', Massive Attack's 'Teardrop' and The Prodigy's 'Breathe'.
So does it meet Walter Stern's usual high standard? That girl swallowing the guy's face is a bit freaky...
¶ 11:25 PM 10 comments links to this post
Just a quick note to let you know that AlwaysNewDepths.com, the unofficial Bloc Party forum, has unfortunately been sent to the retirement home. Basically, the guy who ran it hasn't got the time/money to maintain it at the moment, so he's had to close it down...here's his explanation. It's a bit of a shame really, but the official forum has been given a revamp, so you can engage in Bloc Party-related conversation over there for now.
P.S. BlocParty.net is now looking for a new forum to link up with, so if you've got phpBB experience and you'd like to create a new unofficial forum, email me here!
Labels: BlocParty.net
¶ 10:39 AM 25 comments links to this post
