BLOW UP BLOG

We headed up to Liverpool on Friday to see our very own Baltic Fleet named the winner of the 'Scouse Mercury Prize' aka Liverpool's GIT Music Award 2013. Baltic Fleet's Paul Fleming received his award from the Liverpool Echo's Peter Guy, The Quietus' John Doran and Q Magazine's Andrew Harrison. Here's what they said....

"The judges believe that Towers captured the sprawling vitality of contemporary music and married this to a sonic landscape which is indicative of its birth; Northern working class cities which thrive on industry and making things happen. Flawless electronic melodies, breezeblock beats and an effortless futuristic edge"

Baltic Fleet said "Can't explain how much this means. An amazing night for Merseyside culture. Respect to everyone involved who made it happen. Best City in The World"

Merseyside's premier music prize, The GIT Award plays host to 12 shortlisted artists who compete for the £1000 prize and the chance to play Yoko Ono's Meltdown Festival at London's Southbank Centre. The shortlist was then decided by a 12-strong judging panel comprising respected music industry figures including BBC 6 Music presenter and son of John Peel, Tom Ravenscroft, the editor of rock and pop music bible Q Magazine, Liverpool-born Andrew Harrison, Matt Wilkinson, NME's new music editor, leading UK music website,The Quietus' editor, John Doran plus the cornerstones of Liverpool's music and arts scene. The twelve nominees were: Baltic Fleet, Barberos, By The Sea, Nadine Carina, Clinic, Conan, Dan Croll, John Heckle, Jetta, Tyler Mensah, Stealing Sheep, Wave Machines

The Justice Collective won the Inspiration Award for their Christmas No. 1 and tireless work in supporting the fight for JFT96. Tyler Mensah won the People's Choice Award. 

More photos on Flickr and Facebook

After Friday's GIT Awards in Liverpool we headed across to Stoke-On-Trent to see Alfa 9 celebrate Record Store Day on Saturday in their hometown with an instore gig at their local record shop Music Mania playing tracks from their new album 'Gone To Ground' followed by a headline show at The Sugarmill.

More photos on Flickr and Facebook

Alfa 9's second album 'Gone To Ground' is released today! The band have signed the first 100 copies, but they'll only by available from the official Blow Up / Alfa 9 shop - click here to order yours! The album is available from all good stockists including Amazon.co.uk and to download from stores including iTunes ... More stockists here...

Plus you can buy their other releases, including other limited goodies. There are even a few copies of their first album 'Then We Begin' on vinyl signed by the first line-up.

Alfa 9 went down a storm last Saturday at This Feeling at what was their first gig in 4 years. They made a few friends along the way! The band have 2 dates lined up in their hometown Stoke, and will be back in London in 2 weeks time to support Cornershop live dates here ...

More photos from the gig on Flickr and Facebook...

Yesterday afternoon Alfa 9 dropped into BBC 6Music for a chat with Steve Lamacq about their new album 'Gone To Ground' - out March 11th.

Alfa 9's second album 'Gone To Ground' gets its official release on March 11th and the band will be signing the first 100 copies, but they'll only by available from the official Blow Up / Alfa 9 shop -  click here to pre-order to guarantee yours!

Plus you can buy their other releases, including other limited goodies. There are even a few copies of their first album 'Then We Begin' on vinyl signed by the first line-up.

Here’s what we've been up to at Blow Up in 2012... Blow Up Records releases included the critically acclaimed Baltic Fleet album ‘Towers’, ‘Lost In Sound’ from Fay Hallam & The Bongolian (their very first collaboration), meanwhile the year also saw the return of the mighty Alfa 9 who have been picking up some great early press for their second album 'Gone To Ground' which is out in March 2013. All three appearing in end of year polls for 2012. Sweden’s Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck returned with the single ‘Leaving For A Day’ and a last minute Christmas track ‘This Year’ and there were  two new signings to the label for David Woodock and Daiquiri Fantomas, so stay tuned in 2013 for releases from these!

The Blow Up club headed back to the USA twice this year, with shows in LA, San Francisco and Sacramento. And in October Blow Up took part in the annual Oxjam series of shows in Leicester. Plus our London residency in West London carried on from 2011 with live guests including Sulk, The Fractures, Thee Faction, Fay Hallam, David Woodcock, B-Movie....

Read more below....

BALTIC FLEET 'TOWERS'...

"Immense. Fleming has upped the ante on an already stellar debut,"
Rough Trade Shops 'Album of the week' & 'Albums of the MONTH'

"Exceptional motorik beats" NME

"A sublimely cinematic blend of kosmische musik and dream pop" 9/10 Subba-Cultcha

"Something very special indeed" Crack Magazine

"One of the finest records from Liverpool in years" Liverpool echo

"A wonderfully well rounded and complete album"
Louder Than War 'Album Of The Week' & an Album Of The Year

AN ALBUM OF THE YEAR: LOUDER THAN WAR, VIVE LE ROCK, CRACK MAGAZINE, LIVERPOOL ECHO, RESIDENT RECORDS & MORE...

More about Baltic Fleet here...

FAY HALLAM & THE BONGOLIAN 'LOST IN SOUND'...

"A match made in heaven. It's timeless and that's the secret ...addictive stuff" ★★★★ Blues & Soul

"An immediate pleasure, and wonderfully seductive" Shindig!

AN ALBUM OF THE YEAR: VIVE LE ROCK & 'DANCING' Podrophenia Single Of The Year

More about Fay Hallam & The Bongolian here...

ALFA 9 'GONE TO GROUND'...

"The Stoke songsmiths are back, and it's been well worth the wait" CLASSIC ROCK

"A beautiful record" SHINDIG!

EARLY ALBUMS OF THE YEAR: VIVE LE ROCK, PODROPHENIA, ACTIVE LISTENER, POP JUNKIE...

Read more about Alfa 9 here...

Advance tickets have now sold out for tonight. For those who wish only to attend the late night club session without seeing the bands there will be a VERY limited amount of reduced price tickets at £5 on the door from 11pm. This will only allow entry after the bands have finished playing, and again is strictly first come first served.

Stereo Total will return to Blow Up on February 8th 2013 for a one-off London show at The Macbeth. The 5th time our favourite electro-duo have played at the club who are flying in from Germany especially.

Plus Blow Up DJs Paul Tunkin & Ian Jackson spinning their trademark mix of Pop Stylism, 60's Soul, Beat, Garage, Funk, Ska, Soundtracks, Electronica, Library Music colliding with British Pop, Glam, Indie-Pop and New-Wave.

More info: blowupclub.com • Facebook Event • Map

Advance Tickets: SOLD OUT

Stargreen.com • We Got Tickets • Gigantic • SeeTickets • Ticketweb

Connect: Facebook • Twitter

This Year a brand new track from Sweden's Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck - a melancholy upbeat indie-pop Christmas song announced by the band to celebrate the 1^st Sunday of Swedish advent.

Read more: Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck / Facebook / Twitter

Finally! A brand new single from Swedish indie-pop 8-piece Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck. 'Leaving For A Day' will be taken from a new edition of their debut album 'Days Come and Go' which will shortly be rereleased in an expanded form to include additional tracks. 

The video is a compilation of footage filmed during the bands last visit to the UK, including a Rough Trade East in-store, an appearance at Dot-To-Dot Festival Bristol, a support slot with Camera Obscura at King's College, a show at the Blow Up Metro Club on Oxford Street and an acoustic session at the V&A.

Read more: Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck / Facebook / Twitter
Buy single on iTunes