Just got confirmed as support for
Fuck Buttons at the
Black Box Christmas bash. This has made me rather happy.
I'll be doing a one man show - laptop, effects and microphone: fuzzy karaoke / live remixing of my own material (+a dash of improvised noise).
Here's the official promo material doing the rounds (just in case you're interested in reading promo bumpf):
The Strange Victory + Black Box Christmas Party with special guests
FUCK BUTTONS
+ DJ's Jeff Doherty + Stuart Watson + BEW
SATURDAY 19TH DEC 09
THE BLACK BOX, HILL ST, BELFAST
TICKETS £10 AVAILABLE FROM WWW.BLACKBOXBELFAST.COM
DOORS 8PM - LATE
Immediately after forming, Fuck Buttons started to play live whenever possible, soon amassing a dedicated cult following throughout the UK. Time Out magazine described the band's live sound as "adrenaline pumping, ear purging slab of towering, pristine noise…" The duo signed to All Tomorrow's Parties-affiliated ATP Recordings in 2007, and released a limited-edition 7" single named "Bright Tomorrow", which received complimentary reviews from such sources as Drowned in Sound, Pitchfork Media (who described it as "something like the sun rising over the ocean... then going supernova"), Mojo (it became their #1 Mojo Playlist Single for that month).
Combined with an upsurge in reviews of their live performances at the Supersonic, Truck and Portishead-curated ATP festivals in the second half of 2007, this attention resulted in Fuck Buttons being included in many end of year newspaper, magazine and online articles predicting them as a 'Hot Tip' for 2008. These included New-Noise, who said that "rarely have two men sounded so much like the end of the world" and British newspaper The Observer, which called their sound "A joyous racket of swirling atmospherics and percussive gunfire" in an article highlighting them in a new wave of intelligent, literate British pop music.
They started the year with a tour of slightly larger UK venues, supported by label-mate Alexander Tucker. This was done to build anticipation for their debut album, Street Horrrsing, which was released on March 17. Recorded by John Cummings of Mogwai and mastered by Bob Weston of Shellac, it was promoted through festival appearances (including a slot at this May's ATP vs Pitchfork festival) and a North American tour with Caribou. The band have also started to receive some airplay from mainstream BBC Radio stations, whose DJs often struggle to think of an alternative moniker to announce in place of the band's full name.
Early reviews of Street Horrrsing were very positive; it was named Underground Album of the Month by Mojo Magazine, who called it "A 50 minute melange of iridescent synths, psychedelic drone, distorted vocals and tribal rhythm." Pitchfork Media awarded it with an 8.6 out of 10 rating and honored it by placing it in with their "best new music" section. Positive reviews also featured in The Times, The Observer, The Wire, NME, Rock Sound, Kerrang!, Uncut, Mojo, The Sydney Morning Herald, and many other music publications and websites. It was also chosen for the shortlist of The Guardian's First Album awards.
In September 2008 the second single from Street Horrrsing was released in the form of a 12"/Digital release of "Colours Move" backed by an Andrew Weatherall remix of "Sweet Love For Planet Earth". The single was launched at London's Rough Trade East where both Fuck Buttons and Weatherall performed on Monday 1 September.
In September and October 2008 they supported Mogwai on tours of the UK, USA and Canada. A limited split EP was sold during this tour, containing a Mogwai remix of "Colours Move" and Fuck Buttons' cover of Mogwai Fear Satan.
In 2009, the band appeared at the Australian All Tomorrow's Parties event, alongside acts such as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Spiritualized.
The band have released their second album, Tarot Sport in October 2009. It has been well received with Rock Sound giving it an 8 out of 10 rating and hailing its consistency ""the continuity gluing them together confirms a genuine full-length article to brandish at all those gun-jumping ‘The album is dead’ doomsayers.""
Labels: belfast, bew, flyer, gigs, links
