BLOW UP BLOG

Blow Up Easter Special: Sulk + Fractures + David Woodcock + Thee Attacks + Powersolo with Blow Up DJs

Blow Up's new monthly West London residency at Ginglik in Shepherd's Bush, continues with the BLOW UP EASTER SPECIAL on THURSDAY 5th APRIL (please note that we're usually the First Friday of the month - moved forward to Thursday for Good Friday). We've FIVE live bands for you this month: SULK, FRACTURES, DAVID WOODCOCK, THEE ATTACKS (dk) and POWERSOLO (DK). Plus of course Blow Up DJs Paul Tunkin & Ian Jackson (and the occasional guest) 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. ....

A celebration from the other side of Pop where the Kinks, Bowie, Blur share the dancefloor with current newcomers Pete & The Pirates, British Sea Power and Metronomy, all alongside Swinging Soundtracks & TV Themes (The Italian Job to Barbarella), 60s Exotica & Electronica (Jean-Jacques Perry), 60s Club Soul (Motown, Stax etc.), Northern Soul, Beat, Mod Jazz, French Pop (Jacques Dutronc, Bridget Bardot) and New Wave (XTC, Wire).

More info: blowupclub.com • Facebook Event • Map
Tickets £6 adv. from: Stargreen.com • We Got Tickets • Gigantic • SeeTickets • Ticketweb Connect: Facebook • Twitter • mySpace

Sulk live at Blow Up

SULK Under the rainy skies of London, the shining sounds of Britpop, Shoegaze and Psychedelia are back in bloom. Locked up in the back room of an east end gallery stirring up 90s inspired sonic harmonies, this five-piece's influences are less worn on their sleeves, than branded on their hearts. Bands such as The Stone Roses, Suede, Ride and The Verve are wholly evident, but this isn't nostalgia for old time's sake. It's a whitewash of powerful prettiness; with sun-drenched vocals, ethereal guitars and pounding drums, rooted in 90s vibes but with its eyes to the future...

"Epic, stadium-indie guitars, baggy beats and trippy lyrics, this Suede-meets-Oasis number sets Sulk far above other 1990s revivalists" The Independent, November 2011

Fractures live at Blow Up

FRACTURES "Reminiscent of Supergrass circa 'I Should Coco', Britpoppy [and] drenched in London" NME, 2011 "The kind of indie band that has become all but extinct in recent years" NME ones to watch 2012

David Woodcock live at Blow Up

DAVID WOODCOCK David Woodcock returns to Blow Up after his show at the club's 18th Birthday in November and will be heading up from the town of outstanding talent Southend-On-Sea. Expect great songs delivered in Dave's own inimitable Essex style. Best described as the closest thing to a knees-up with Chas'N'Dave and The Kinks' Ray Davies!

Thee Attacks (dk) live at Blow Up

THEE ATTACKS (DK) Fresh from their stint at SXSW and signed to hip Danish label Crunchy Frog are Thee Attacks...

Powersolo (dk) live at Blow Up

POWERSOLO (DK) Also signed to Crunchy Frog and first on tonight are Powersolo...

Blow Up Christmas Party, Firday 2nd December 2011: The Bongolian + Thee Faction Blow Up DJs

The 2nd of Blow Up's new monthly West London residency at Ginglik in Shepherd's Bush, and just in time for Christmas! Always guaranteed to get the party going is BIG BOSS MAN's Nasser Bouzida aka THE BONGOLIAN & his band, with support from THEE FACTION.

Plus of course 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. ....A celebration from the other side of Pop where the Kinks, Bowie, Blur share the dancefloor with current newcomers Pete & The Pirates, British Sea Power and Metronomy, all alongside Swinging Soundtracks & TV Themes (The Italian Job to Barbarella), 60s Exotica & Electronica (Jean-Jacques Perry), 60s Club Soul (Motown, Stax etc.), Northern Soul, Beat, Mod Jazz, French Pop (Jacques Dutronc, Bridget Bardot) and New Wave (XTC, Wire).

More info: blowupclub.com • Facebook Event • Map

Tickets £6 adv. from: Stargreen.com • We Got Tickets • Gigantic • SeeTickets • Ticketweb

Connect: Facebook • Twitter • mySpace

THE BONGOLIAN   THE BONGOLIAN will be playing tracks from his eagerly-awaited 4th album 'Bongos For Beatniks' released this May - a wildly eclectic rare groove fusion of Funk Soul Hammond Beat Jazz and a Sci-Fi Boogaloo. The first single from the album 'The Riviera Affair' was a BBC 6music Lunchtime Love and if you listen to Craig Charles you will have heard more than a few spins on his show too: "A bakers dozen of gems. Bongo powered grooves at their very best. Preston Epps eat your heart out" SCOOTERING 'RECOMMENDED' "Mightily funky. Part mod, part Sergio Mendes, very swingin" TIME OUT live this year at the Blow Up Easter Special:   'Bongos For Beatniks' album sampler:

THEE FACTION Blistering, visceral socialist R&B with an explicit political agenda:   As good as Slade Alive. Yes, THAT good Chris Roberts, The Guardian

I love this new album. I've be playing this quite a bit and I'm going to play it to death, its absolutely brilliant. …Its official. The bongolian. My new favourite band. You heard it here first Craig Charles Funk Soul Show

AVAILABLE NOW from BLOW UP on CD:   & VINYL: 

& all good stores including: Cargo Collective store around the UK / JBs / Dusty Groove (USA) / Norman / Phonica / Piccadilly / Rough Trade / Sister Ray / Sounds Of The Universe / amazon.co.uk / hmv & more…

BUY/DOWNLOAD all 4 Bongolian albums from:    

'Bongos For Beatniks' The Bongolian

THE BONGOLIAN releases his long-awaited 4th album 'Bongos For Beatniks' this May. The album continues the musical journey where 2007's Outer Bongolia left off, bringing us back down to Earth possibly via France circa 1967 via 2011, in a wildly eclectic rare groove fusion of Funk Soul Hammond Beat Jazz and a Sci-Fi Boogaloo.
PRE-ORDER on CD: or on lovely Vinyl LP:

The first single from the album 'The Riviera Affair' was recently featured on BBC 6music Nemone's Lunchtime Loves (alongside plays from Gideon Coe and Craig Charles) and was also Sky Sports Soccer AM's track of the week.

"A bakers dozen of gems. Bongo powered grooves at their very best. Preston Epps eat your heart out" Scootering 'Recommended Listening'

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Blow Up Easter Special 2011

Following February's sell-out HMV Next Big Thing night, Blow Up returns to its one-off events with an Easter Special at Madame JoJo's on Thursday 21st April. This will be the first of several larger club events for 2011 in the UK and abroad featuring special live guests.

Playing live: THE BONGOLIAN who will be releasing his 4th album 'Bongos For Beatniks' in May and SILVERY who's recent single 'Two Halves Of The Same Boy' has been going down a storm on 6music. Plus, just addeded SPECIAL NEEDS return after a five year hiatus and will be joining the bill for the Easter Special.

Plus resident Blow Up DJs Paul Tunkin & Ian Jackson will also be spinning their trademark mix of Orgasmic Pop / 60s Mod & Soul / New Wave. Expect to hear a selection of British Pop from Beatles to Bowie to Blur alongside 60s Soul, Garage, Ska, Beat, Latin Soul, Swinging Soundtracks, YeYe and Psychedelic Pop Electronique.

Event info: BLOWUPCLUB.COM • FACEBOOK.COM/BLOWUP • FACEBOOK EVENT • Madame JoJo's

Advance Tickets: stargreen.com • gigantic.com • wegottickets.com • seetickets.com • ticketweb.co.uk • hmvtickets
In person: Stargreen Box Office 20/21A Argyll Street London W1F 7TT (Oxford Circus)
Sister Ray 34-35 Berwick Street, London W1F 8RP (Oxford Circus / Piccadilly Circus)

The Bongolian 'Bongos For Beatniks' THE BONGOLIAN blends elements of Funk, Soul and Jazz with grinding percussion and heavy Bongo rhythms, resulting in dirty percussive bongo driven Funk and Spaced-out Latin Soul. His releases have become recordbox essentials for DJs, finding a wide appeal from Dance and Hip-Hop to rare groove and funky 45s fans, and to date The Bongolian and his band have toured USA, UK and Europe. The Bongolian releases his 4th album 'Bongos For Beatniks' on May 9th, and the first single 'The Riviera Affair' was a recent Lunchtime Love on Nemone's BBC 6music show. "Nasser Bouzida is a man with talent to spare. A Latin-flavoured jazz-funk odyssey" Q Magazine "Forget your preconceptions, this is the REAL incredible bongo band" CLASH "Mightily funky. Part mod, part Sergio Mendes, very swingin" TIME OUT

Special Needs Just added to bill! SPECIAL NEEDS. Special Needs return after a five year hiatus and will be joining the bill for the Blow Up Easter Special. On January 1st 2011, the band announced via Facebook that they had reformed with Nicholas Bukowski (formerly of The Rocks) replacing Neil Allan on drums, and after playing several London shows this year they will now be playing at Blow Up's Easter Special. The band played Blow up promoted shows at The Metro Club back in 2002, and during the mid-noughties recorded for Alan McGee's Poptones label and signed to Mercury Records. "Pure-bred pop class" ★ ★ ★ ★ NME "Very special indeed" What's On in London 'Album Of The Week' - 4 out of 4 "Mixing shambolic indie-rock with dashes of doo-wop harmonies and girl-group backchat, they sound alternately like wide-eyed and legless dreamers, and impassioned, vainglorious self-believers" The Independent On Sunday "Full of punk self-belief, angular guitars and most remarkably, a perfect pop sensibility" The Sun 3.5 out of 5

Silvery 'Railway Architecture' SILVERY are an eccentric London four-piece whose music has been described as anything from Artrock, to Glam to Britpop. Lead singer and songwriter James Orman immerses us in a unmistakeably English world of Victoriana and wit. This show follows a headline spot at Club NME @ Koko in January, and comes just before the release of their new single 'Two Halves Of The Same Boy'. Playlisted on BBC 6Music (15/1/2011) the third from their critically acclaimed second album 'RailwayArchitecture'. SILVERYTHEBAND.COM "Exhilarating art-pop from band bordering on greatness" ★ ★ ★ ★ UNCUT "Hunt down this album" ★ ★ ★ ★ Artrocker "Genius twisted pop. A truly original pop masterpiece" ★ ★ ★ ★ BIG CHEESE "Stylish, literate and witty but properly hook-aware" TIME OUT

The Bongolian 'Bongos For Beatniks'

The sleeve for the Bongolian's 4th album is finally revealed! 'Bongos For Beatniks' will be released on Monday 9th May, but if you can't wait that long you can download the first single 'The Riviera Affair' which was recently featured on Nemone's Lunchtime Loves on BBC 6music (she also interviewed Nasser before his BlowUp/HMV show in February), alongside support plays by Gideon Coe and Craig Charles. The track is also Sky Sports Soccer AM's track of the week.

The album is also featured in Scootering Magazine's 'Recommended Listening' this month alongside an early review of the album, an interview with The Bongolian and a live review of February's Blow Up/HMV show.

Stay tuned as from next week the album will be available to pre-order, with some limited edition bundles.

DOWNLOAD THE RIVIERA AFFAIR:   CONNECT: