Monkey Love Records News

Tuesday, 18 November 2008

The end of November sees two of our favourite artists playing live in two very different places.

First, on Friday 21st, Girl In A Thunderbolt will be supporting Sargasso Trio @ Take 5 in Norwich.

Both acts on the bill are fantastic live and make sure you get there early, as this event takes place in a cellar so expect an intimate atmosphere with a big sound!

A map to this venue can be found here.

Then on Saturday 22nd hop on a plane and shoot over to Belgium (unless you already happen to be there) where Jellica will be playing as a part of 'More Bits' in Alken.

We don't really know much about this event, but if you can read Belgian then click here where you can find out more info about directions, transport and the other acts on the bill.

Or just click the image below.



Live music! YEAH!

Monkey Love x

Sunday, 19 October 2008

Our friend Jellica has his latest release, 'With Love From Grandma' out now on individualist sound label, Retinascan.

This EP is available as a 3" CD-R with some fantastic artwork by Alanna Hauser, get your copy by clicking the image below or check out his MySpace to hear what it sounds like!



Keep it lo-fi,

Monkey Love x

Thursday, 25 September 2008

This weekend's Clutter City Market @ Norwich Arts Centre is hosting two of our lovely artists, along with the marvellous array of stalls selling all manner of hand-made goodies, artwork, clothes and music from independent vendors.



sonofsam will be playing a full live looping set from 12pm followed by Girl In A Thunderbolt @ 1pm, click the poster for more details!

Keep it cluttered,

Monkey Love x

Monday, 08 September 2008

Brighten up your September as this month sees two of our lovely artists playing live!

Girl In A Thunderbolt will be playing on Wednesday 10th @ Norwich Arts Centre as a part of 'The Broken Piano Show'. This event is "an eclectic cabaret of music and words featuring the fierce and beautiful music of Girl in a Thunderbolt, guileless Essex-based poet Jo Overfield, Domestic Goddess Yanny Mac and the musical talents of Dic York." Sounds fab! More info can be found here.

Then, on Thursday 11th @ The Flea Pit, 'Club Moist' brings you Yout [Franck Hopkins]. Expect "laptop jazz-tinged soundscaping" and "a maturity and sensitivity that the usual beats and bleeps crowd would give their right mouse buttons for." Joining our young whipper-snapper on the line-up are Fazzini and O Yuki Conjugate.

Go and enjoy,

Monkey Love x

Tuesday, 05 August 2008

sonofsam's shiny new EP, 'And it came from the skies...' is now available in CD and digital download formats.

This EP is a 4-track trip inspired by lo-fi 8-bit sounds and live instruments including guitars, keyboards, drum programming, Gameboy, vinyl scratching and various other percussion noises.

This release also includes a re-hash of the track 'i got essays to write' which recently featured on the

Tuesday, 15 July 2008

sonofsam was shocked when someone asked if they could play one of his tracks on the radio. He was even more shocked when the request was from the BBC!

The request was for the track 'but i got essays to write' and the request was from Radio 6 Music's 'Introducing with Tom Robinson' show.

A massive thanks to Tom for playing the track and much love to Peter for the great intro!

You can listen again to the full show on the BBC iplayer here.

For full listings of the show click here, or just click the image below and find it for yourselves.

Monkey Love x

Sunday, 13 July 2008

Wow! It's been soooooo long since our last news update, how time flies! You turn your back for a minute and 2 months passes you by.

A mixture of some behind the scenes tweaks and a well needed holiday or two have lead to a massive gap where the news used to be! But fear not young Monkey-news readers, we're back and have many tales to tell!

Since we've been gone we have had word from both Robberriff and sonofsam to say they have completed new releases that will be coming very shortly.

Robberriff will be releasing a 10-track official bootleg album entitled 'Chillerriff' and sonofsam has a 4-track EP entitled 'And it came from the skies...' ready for your listening pleasure.

So, keep your eyes peeled 'cos we've heard them and they sound great!

Finally, a massive congratulations to Kellie The Eagle for poppin' out a brand new bouncing baby boy! Whoop whoop!

Much love,

Monkey Love x

Wednesday, 07 May 2008

Part 3 of the living room tour of America is here!!! Along the way Red Cassette and The Challenge of Feral Green have made many friends and played music in random people's homes.

Here's a little taster of what's been happening...



To see some more of these performances head over to Youtube or click this link to find audio/visual joy.

Now for Part 3...

Penn station, New York. Subway is easy again. Apart from heavy bags make turnstiles fucking awkward. Another problem, but a solution is found. We buy tickets for train and go get pizza. It's fine. A man sits to our left who seems to have nothing but distaste for the world. His expression is a mix between 'when did I get here?', 'who are you?' and 'I have discovered chewing live wasps hurts'. We get the train, we sit in the quiet carraige by accident. Narurally we are not quiet. Angry looks ensue. For some reason my normal articulation expires and it would seem my control of volume is also lost. I talk loud and swear for 45 mins. Sorry. We talk about the music business. Bas teaches me it's best not to insult or start fights with people who want to help you. As alien as this concept appears to me, I take it on board. Lesson to learn.

We get picked up in Pennsylvania by Bill & Peg, Bas' girlfriend's parents. They are friendly and help us with their luggage...The drive is a pleasant one. Peg, who recently completed a bus tour of monuments clues us in on the local area, some history and some society background all delivered in an informed manner. Bill drives and has a dry wit, often adding to Peg's tour guide his own foot notes.

We get to their house around 11. It's large. I am told that it was built in the 1700s and that it's possible that George Washington stayed here. I wish for his room.We have lentil soup (finally something which has grown from the earth and not a factory floor!) Bill offers a beer. I cannot refuse. It's cold. It's Yeungling. He asks if I like it....I do. He tells me it's froms the oldest brewery in the US. 'They've had time to get it right' I say. He smiles. I pass the Yeungling test.

The next day we are introduced to the car. It's questionable. It's fairly old. It has a dent in the bonnet where a tree once was. The clutch is extremely dodgy. But it has chraracter.

The next day we get up around 9. We have breakfast load the car and leave around 11. We hit the road listening to Crosby, Stills and Nash. It's a good feeling, we get slushees and Doritos for the road too. After many wrong turns and missed exits, I still consider my navigational skills as second to none. We get on the 611 route pretty much all the way to Stroudsburg PA. We stop for lunch at a roadside bar. It has real bikers, tattoos, beer battered fries, very large club sandwiches and more 'warm' shrimp than you can shake a stick at.

The view of the mountains and the river are incredible. I see two eagles flying together.

We arrive in Stroudsburg PA late afternoon. The car gets royaly screwed by the hills around there. We kind of make it up their driveway. We are greeted at the door by a bare chested man. He tells us he is working on his bathroom. Hence the nipple exposure. He introduces himself...he is Chris. He offers us cigarettes and beer. I cant refuse, Neither can Bas. We sit and chat for a bit and wait for Diane to come home.There's a moment of, 'Oh my God I am in a complete stranger's house in the middle of nowhere. But I am sure on Chris' part there was 'Oh my God I have two random strangers in my house' so it works out. Balance bubba!..Diane gets in around 9. We sit and chat and watch TV. Chris is a big NY Yankees fan, the Yankees have their own channel....you do the math.

Both Diane and Chris are really nice and make us feel very very welcome. The next day we play disc golf......

Next time in part 4: Bas in a river in his underwear.

Sunday, 20 April 2008

Howdy folks! I know it's been a while coming but here we go...part two. It carries on straight from the last one cos that's how it's written in my diary:
After much more than my pain threshold of tack and witless comedy we pay up and leave.

Two bottles of water, one coffee, NO plastic bag and two paper bags then a walk. We sit in central park on a rock. I begin this diary. Bas relaxes but makes me aware of his inability to live in the moment, bless him. We talk a bout things we left at home. We slowly begin to understand the complexities and subtleties in our differences, our situations and our loves. We go silent, I think about Donna (my girlfriend)...I miss her, but I am safe in the thought of an embrace when I see her next. I cradle myself in that thought for a while. My comfort.

Plan of action: Back to guest house => get bags => taxi to east village => beer => do a radio show.

The first two parts of the plan go swimmingly. The taxi was the first hurdle. We flag one, he pulls over, stops, waves at us confusingly which apparently translates into 'I am not picking you up, I will however stop in the way of where you want a taxi to stop, that WILL take you where you want to go'. Fuck he was helpful. We move. Another driver! Some luck! He asks where we wanna go, we tell him. His answer is some sort of wave. Luckily we are familiar with the New York cabbie 'I cant be arsed to do my job' hand gesture. Another driver emerges from the same...BAR!...He too asks our destination, he says ok, he tells our previous destination enquiror "lets go". I am confused and perplexed. The subtlety and nuance of the cabby is a precious things it seems. An uneasy balance that's easily toppled. We have managed to keep this 'bone china' equilibrium and keep New York transport safe for another day.

We arrive in the east village. We can see the radio station. We head to a bar. Bas is attracted to purple. It's a kind of siren to him, if he was a ship he would be sunken now. What he thought was a bar was infact a closed restaurant. We go back over the street to an actual bar. We sit and have two Brooklyn Lagers. It seems they have managed to tap the 'Tommy-gun essence' and served it in Fl Oz. A marvel of fruity tang.

We head over the road. The radio station. It's in a shop front. I couldn't help but think of Northern Exposure. We have a couple of glasses of Red Wine. It's nice...this surprised me as I don't normally drink wine, but I was in a 'yes' to free drink no matter what it is mood. I play three songs with the traffic and crowds passing by. I enjoy playing, it's a good atmosphere. I play '3 Plays', 'Washed Ashore' and 'Thin King Twice'. The radio station is East Village Radio, the show is Two for Tennis with Tim 'Love' Lee and Mike...sorry can t remember his surname.

So, the first show was a success, the guys at the station were super nice and very welcoming. Thanks for having us guys!!!

More tomorrow people...x

Monday, 14 April 2008

Ok this is part one of my tour diary...I have only been here two days and I have already written like 7 pages in my diary. Here's the lowdown:

A friend of mine, Bas planned to do a liviing room tour of the US. This means asking anyone he knows on myspace or whatever and asking them if they want him to play in their houses. People said yes. He asked me to come too. I said yes. Here is the first few moments...

7th April

Disorganised morning. My usual. Panicked blank mind, do i need this?, have i got those? Just leave...what I haven't got I will have to do without.

Check in. Made simple and sweetened with sugar, helps when dealing with powder faced adolescent girls. All of which are slightly sexual. Our guitars will have to go the luggage separately, I kiss her (guitar) and wave goodbye. ’See you on the other side’. Departure lounge...

Both sandwiches toasted please. Table 21. Bas’ phone glued to his ear, spreading some love before he leaves. Boarded for boredom. 7 hours of nothing ensues... 3 films all become one fanciful flair of fickle falses. One flight lady makes us smile and thanks us for ’being awesome’, truly this is an American experience. Have we arrived? 7 hours in a long room. Did we really go anywhere?

Immigration was simple after they raped my DNA and gene pool via my virgin fingertips.

First taxi ride through New York. Lights, cars, tolls. Very much home from home so far. Driver hardly talks apart from requesting the fair and singing to his CD. The guest house is great...my ’mezzanine bunk’ bed is comfortable and elevated.

We ask for directions to ’places’, we get brilliant noodle soup, which I apologise for not finishing, and our first beer. I manage to make sense of the subway trains, which makes me feel cosmopolitan and ready for the world.

23:30: Enter McGee’s. Pseudo Irish man serves us 2 Samuel Adams. Our second beer in the US. Tasty. Always thirsty for more. Loud sports on a millions screens of verying sizes and success’. An interview with a losing manager of basketball team last a lifetime. His expression says it all. No questions you can ask will be answered more articulately than the look on his face. Another beer. More conversation, home to bed, read. Dark Now.

9th April (time is lost by time zone)

Early morning. The ’Bas machine’ requires constant fuel so I am informed...I join him for ’second breakfast’. Back at hotel we work on rehearsing songs together. My ability to learn vocal parts are questionable. After some ’me time’ in the loo I emerge victorious and capable, zooming through the song. We stay long after check out time in our room playing and singing at the behest of our inn keeper: a friendly somewhat ’old school’ bohemian. His lifestyle includes ’sex art books’, new age woodern masks mounted on walls and elderly couples practising ballroom dancing in his living room. All this is achieved with the addition of a bluetooth headset. But a very welcoming and sweet guy.

Being in New York made my stomach hurt... this was mostly due to the added meat and fat content that is ten fold my normal amount of both or either. With this in mind we go for lunch. I spy a diner with my ’hustle & bustle’ radar. Unfortunately it was clearly malfunctioning, it took us to the ’Stardust’. Essentially a hive of villainous performing arts students who all wanted to be Shirley Temple or Doris Day, as staff. Bas is very excited by all this and as far asI can see can't contain his excitement, it is shown to me in the form of ’yipping’, ’woos’ and even the evil deed of flirting somewhat with ’miss Shuki’, a tree trunk legged harlet waitress with the grace of my inner thigh after an intense rash. Smooth. We both eat what is basically choleserol arranged on a plate, served to us by ’Mr Showtunes Capital of the World’. With root beer too.

I have to go as I am being thrown out of the library...they are at capacity...will contact again soon! bye bye.

Sunday, 13 April 2008

Last week Norwich Arts Centre hosted a Monkey Love Records label showcase.

We're not gonna harp on about how successful this event was or how amazing all the music was over the course of the evening or how you missed out if you didn't make it along.

We're just gonna post some pictures from the night and thanks all those who came, the Norwich Arts Centre for letting us play and Ryan for helping us sound great.

In the aftermath there were a couple of reviews from the evening for sonofsam and Four Annas, which can be found in the image section on their artist pages, many thanks to Simon Parkin for his wonderful words.

Finally, well done to Judith for answering our special Monkey related question correctly and bagging herself a couple of free tickets.

Monkey Love x

sonofsam



Four Annas



Kellie The Eagle



Red Cassette



Robberriff

Sunday, 23 March 2008

The day is Saturday, the date is the 29th March 2008 and the event is Broadcasting...Monkey Love Records @ the Norwich Arts Centre.

This event showcases sets by Red Cassette, Kellie The Eagle (formerly Joy Tourette), Robberriff, Four Annas / Mia and the Lawless (formerly Little Red Box) and sonofsam! Live sets will run from 20:00 until 23:00 with Beatbrew DJs and VJs in the bar 'til 01:00.

With a late bar and a great variety of music, this show will guarantee something for everyone!

We have 2 pairs of tickets to give away for this fantastic gig, all you need to do is answer this simple question;

What is the collective noun for a group of monkeys?

When you have your answer send it over to Sam with your name and contact details and if you are one of the lucky ones we will let you know.

Good luck banana-faces!

Monkey Love x

Sunday, 16 March 2008

Some of the more observant of you out there may have noticed the almost unmentioned name change of the artist formerly known as Joy Tourette.

Well, we thought we would wait until we had all her upgrades fully installed before we announced the arrival of the one and only queen of the skies, Kellie The Eagle!

Many of you out there have asked me; "Why the name change?", and to be honest, I don't really know. All I do know is that since the name change she has been played on BBC Radio 6 twice and made Outline Magazine's 'Track of the Month', which is a pretty good return on a name change, maybe we should all try one!

Joy Tourette maybe gone, but she is certainly not forgotten and will remain with us until the end of time in the form of the 'Cassiopeia' EP, which is available as Limited Edition CD and digital download from the Monkey Love Shop.

You can also see Kellie The Eagle playing live at the end of month @ the Norwich Art Centre, more info can be found here.

Monkey Love x

Friday, 14 March 2008

Kellie The Eagle's 'Cassiopeia' is 'Track of the Month' in this month's Outline magazine.

This track appears on the 'Cassiopeia' EP that Kellie The Eagle recorded under the guise of Joy Tourette and is available as a Limited Edition CD in the Monkey Love Shop.

Outline also gave a preview of our upcoming show by announcing;

"Monkey Love Records aurally say "Ta-dah, this is our tuneful armoury" when they present a showcase of their label favourites at the NAC on the 29th, including Red Cassette, Kellie The Eagle, Four Annas, Robberriff and sonofsam, all acts being of hugely high calibre...I like the way they la, la, la."

Many thanks to Emma for her wonderful words. More info on this event can be found by clicking the image below.

Stay tuned banana fans,

Monkey Love x

Wednesday, 12 March 2008

Norwich Arts Centre was the place to be last weekend as it hosted the debut Clutter City Market, a new, alternative market selling one-of-a-kind goods from clothes and jewellery to music and art. We were there with the fab products from our shop.

There was an impressive turn out by the people of Norwich and the vendors showed a high degree of quality in the work they were selling. There was also great tasting food and live music all day!

If you fancy coming down to the next one or have some cool stuff you want to sell visit the Clutter City website for more details,

Monkey Love x

Tuesday, 19 February 2008

Clothing company, Mathematics, have joined the Monkey Love revolution with the introduction of a brand new and exclusive t-shirt in two fantastic colours. Mathematics say,

'some people will tell you that Mathematics is the science of numbers, enlighten these people, and look totally cool, with this t-shirt.'

Best just do what they say, you can find these t's in the Monkey Love shop or by clicking on one of the images below.

Monkey Love x

 

Saturday, 09 February 2008

Norwich Arts Centre kicks off February with a 2-month "celebration of the D.I.Y. ethic."

"D.I.Y. is an exhibition of designs, text and artwork from record labels, art collectives and publishers involved in D.I.Y. production, exploring the contemporary infrastructure for self-promotion, the platform for cultural specialisms, and the appeal of the hand-made object."

Sounds pretty good!

The event is running from Monday 4th February to Saturday 22nd March and includes work from the following D.I.Y. collectives; ilyaandemilia projects, Arcadian Collective, Harvest Time, MV & EE, Stop/Sharpening/Your/Knives,Undereducated, Motive Sounds, 2+++, Touch and Cabanon Press.

This jamboree of all things 'hand-made' has a diverse line-up of music, visual arts, spoken word and written word artists that culminates on the 29th March 2008 @ Norwich Arts Centre with all Monkey Love Records' artists playing live! We'll tell you more about that later.

For full event listings and links to all collectives taking part in D.I.Y. visit the Norwich Arts Centre website

Monkey Love x

Friday, 08 February 2008

Mark Radcliff and Stuart Maconie have chosen the Sargasso Trio's 'She's a Women' to be a part of this week's "Pick 'n' Mix" selection on their show.

For those of you who don't know,

"each week, Mark and Stuart will pick four new tracks and it's down to you to vote for your favourite. The winning track will be played every day the following week."

This means that if you click over to their BBC webpage you can vote for Sargasso and give them the opportunity to be played all week on Radio 2! Now, wouldn't that be nice...

Support independent music, your vote counts.

Monkey Love x

Sunday, 27 January 2008

Kellie The Eagle got her first taste of BBC radio with the airing of the track 'Metal Bird' on Tom Robinson's 'Introducing...' show.

Big thanks to Tom for playing the track, although he did get the name of the track wrong, don't worry Tom, we forgive you!!!

You can listen again to the full show on the BBC player or you can download an edited podcast version (which still includes 'Metal Bird') here.

For full listings of the show, which includes tracks from Rich Davey, Teeth! and Speed Hearse, click here, where you can also vote for your favourite [Kellie The Eagle] track [Kellie The Eagle]...*cough*.

Or just click the image below and find it for yourselves.

Get VOTING,

Monkey Love x

Saturday, 12 January 2008

Paintings and prints from the brain of the magnificent Phil Corbett will be exhibited @ the Bodhi Gallery from the 25th-30th January.

It looks like this event will be a fantastic showcase mixing East London's brand new cultural centre with Phil's twisted-cartoon-creature-style illustrations. What a perfect combination!

Also, you might want to check out Bodhi's Manga Library while you are there, sounds like it might be fun.

Monkey Love x

Saturday, 12 January 2008

The very nice people over @ Future Radio have kindly sent us a copy of Joy Tourette's interview from the 20th November 2007.

It was her first radio appearance ever, which is one more than me, and she dealt with it impeccably, even remembering to plug her latest release, Cassiopeia. Plus you'll get to listen to some her tracks in-between her wonderful articulations.

Click this link or the image below to experience Joy, quite literally.

Monkey Love x

Friday, 04 January 2008

Red Cassette has exploded onto the MySpace homepage with a live video performance of his quirky little number 'Thin King Twice'. He says,

"OK so, i am on the uk myspace homepage under cool new videos! The bribes have finally paid off (cool new videos...lets hope noone notices it was added a year ago! ha ha) Thanks to you all for your kind words about my hair and music..the hair has changed now i am afraid tho. But carry on discussing its fun."

To know more about Red's hair or to continue reading this blog click here.

To check out the video click here.

Cheers Jana and Will,

Monkey Love x