BLOW UP BLOG

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

In association with Record Club / Club Underground / Shake Appeal, Blow Up returns to California this October, with two 19th Birthday dates in Los Angeles at Club Underground and then San Francisco at The Monarch.

On Friday 26th October we're back with our friends at the excellent Club Underground at The Grand Star Jazz Club - LA's best indie night! Plus get your costume ready, as this week they'll be celebrating Halloween. Great Music, Candy, Costumes, Groovy Ghoulies, Spooky Photobooth, Horror Film Screening, Prizes & Halloween themed drinks!

And then on Monday 29th October we're back again in San Francisco at the lovely Monarch. Blow Up founder/DJ Paul Tunkin + rotating DJs Galine Tumasova (Shake Appeal) + Major Sean (Tailor Made, Club Leisure) + Liam Caton (Shake Appeal) and a special live performance by excellent The Bang girl group!

Plus as its our 19th anniversary party there'll be some Blow Up vinyl give aways at both events, so get down early!

Facebook links: Blow Up / Blow Up USA / RecordClubSacto / Club Underground / The Monarch

Twitter: Blow Up / Underground / Monarch

BLOWUPCLUB.COM

Blow Up SF: San Fransisco & Lost In Sound Launch

Mod Soul New-Wave & Britpop Action For Pop Stylists!

Blow Up returns to SF and to the Monarch with a great line-up of DJs from the SF scene: Carlos Perez (Tailor Made), Major Sean (Tailor Made, Club Leisure), Galine Tumasova (Shake Appeal) & Russel Quan (Teenage Dance Craze) and a live show from The Chuckleberrys.

Plus FAY HALLAM & THE BONGOLIAN Record Release Party! (Blow Up Records) This is a brand new collaboration between Fay Hallam (Makin' Time, The Prime Movers, Phaze) and Blow Up Records' Nasser Bouzida (The Bongolian).

Please note event is 21+.

More info: blowupclub.com • monarchsf.com • Facebook Event • Map
Connect: Facebook • USA Facebook • Twitter • mySpace

Blow Up feat. DC Fontana + Electric Stars + David-Woodcock

Blow Up's monthly West London residency at Ginglik in Shepherd's Bush with live guests this month DC Fontana and The Electric Stars. 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
Tickets £6 adv. from: Stargreen.com • We Got Tickets • Gigantic • SeeTickets • Ticketweb
Connect: Facebook • Twitter • mySpace

DC Fontana live at Blow Up

Turned-on music to shake your hips & pluck your heartstrings… DC Fontanaare on a mission.The 2012 edition of the band is fronted by Louise Turner while founding member Mark Mortimer plays bass & is one of the two main song-writers along with Scott Riley who used to play with Spectrum, the psychedelic off-shoot of the Spacemen 3.With producer Donald Ross Skinner (Julian Cope, Prolapse, Salad, Cud etc) at the helm the DCs delivered the kitchen-sink drama Six Against Eight after camping inside the famous Parr Street Studios in Liverpool where they had been invited to record by legendary Echo & The Bunnymen guitarist Will Sergeant, a fan of the band.

Electric Stars at Blow Up

THE ELECTRIC STARS Infectious melodies, lyrics that become part of your life & songs that you NEED to own! If there was a modern mash up of Stones/Who/Kinks/Beatles...This is what it would sound like!

David Woodcock live at Blow Up

DAVID WOODCOCK New Blow Up Records' signing David Woodcock returns to Blow Up as part of his monthly residency. 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!

Blow Up presents the album launch for Fay Hallam & The Bongolian's new album 'Lost In Sound' (Blow Up Records) with a rare live London show by the Mod Queen herself, with a brand new band line-up, and featuring special guest appearances by ex-Prisoners/ Prime Movers/ Phaze/ Solar Flares, bass-legend, Allan Crockford.

Blow Up's monthly West London residency at Ginglik in Shepherd's Bush with 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.

The Blow Up playlist includes classic tracks from both its past and present, from its Brit Pop era favourites, (the scene of which the club helped kick-start way back in 1993 in Camden Town) to the current new things tickling our fancy - the new Pop stylists putting the art back into pop alongside essential New Wave, Glam and indie classic cuts. All this alongside Blow Up's trademark mix of 60's killer dance floor tracks in the following genre's - 60's Swinging Soundtracks, TV Themes, 60s Exotica & Electronica, 60s Club Soul, Northern Soul, Beat, Mod Jazz, French Pop, Library Music and Ska. Bloody marvellous!

More info: blowupclub.com • Facebook Event • Map

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

Connect: Facebook • Twitter • mySpace

BLOW UP returns to Sacramento!  With Cellar Doors (San Francisco) live, DJs Paul Tunkin (Blow Up founder) & Roger Carpio spinning Pop Stylism, 60′s Soul, Beat, Garage, Funk, Ska, Soundtracks, Electronica, Library Music colliding with British Pop, Glam, Indie-Pop and New-Wave. Plus a light show by George Holden (a lightshow artist since 1966 and one of the pioneers in the field. He first worked with Abecrombe Lights featured by Bill Graham at the original Fillmore West and Winterland shows in San Francisco). Art by Galine Tumasova!

Event Info • Facebook Event
Facebook: Blow Up • Blow Up USA • Record Club • Townhouse Lounge

Blow Up's new monthly West London residency at Ginglik in Shepherd's Bush, continues with live guests this month B-MOVIE. Plus 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 for live show before 11pm £8 adv. from: Stargreen.com • We Got Tickets • Gigantic • SeeTickets • Ticketweb / Tickets for club only - entry after 11pm: £6

Connect: Facebook • Twitter • mySpace

B-Movie live at Blow Up

B-MOVIECult 80's New-Wavers B-Movie return for a one off show for Blow Up at Ginglik in Shepherds Bush on May 4th 2012, 30 years after the release of their most famous song. Expect all the classic early eighties post punk singles plus songs from their new EP, Echoes, out April 2012.Originally released in 1982, the single made the Top 10 in many European countries and reached #68 in the United Kingdom at the time.

In 2000 Uncut magazine released an album entitled Dawn of Electronica, a tribute to the early pioneers of electronic music, and alongside acts like Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, Art of Noise and Giorgio Moroder were B-Movie. 'B-Movie's Remembrance Day though it may might not have stormed the top 40 was quintessential synth pop: the lugubrious vocals and heroic gravitas, the stabbing keyboard as rhythmic device and air of icy melodrama/melancholia.' Echoes of this Nottinghamshire quartet's melodic post punk analogue synth driven sound can be heard in many indie and dance acts of today; American electro-punk indie band The Faint reworked Remembrance Day into Southern Belles in London Sing on their Wet from Birth album, and B-Movie's most famous song Nowhere Girl was remixed by Adam Freeland for the Future Retro compilation.

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 at Ginglik 2012

Blow Up's new monthly West London residency at Ginglik in Shepherd's Bush, continues with live guests this month THE WOLFMEN, BERMONDSEY JOYRIDERS and RKC. 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

The Wolfmen

Marco Pirroni and Chris Constantinou formed The Wolfmen in 2005. Marco (guitars) enjoyed extraordinary success with ADAM & THE ANTS and later worked with Sinead O'Connor. Chris (bass, lead vocals) previously led JACKIEONASSID and has worked with Adam Ant, Annabella Lwin(Bow-Wow-Wow) and Sinead O'Connor also. Zelig Preston Heyman (Massive Attack, Kate Bush) also features in the Wolfmen on percussion. Alongside their own work, the band is known for some surprising collaborations with artists ranging from LOU REED to DALER MEHNDI, the biggest selling artist Indian in music history. They've also covered Screaming Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You" with PRIMAL SCREAM for an ALEXANDER MCQUEEN catwalk show and co-written a few tracks on Sinead O'Connor's new album. Debut album Modernity Killed Every Night was mixed by Alan Moulder (The Killers, U2, Arctic Monkeys, Smashing Pumpkins), lead track "Cecilie" being A-listed on NME Radio for seven weeks in a row.

The Wolfmen's 2011 second album - Married To The Eiffel Tower - was produced by Courtney-Taylor-Taylor (frontman/songwriter with The Dandy Warhols) and Jacob Portrait (Queens Of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters)., winning massive radio support with spins from the likes of Dermot O'Leary (BBC Radio 2), Chris Hawkins (BBC 6Music), Don Letts, Sarah Kerr (BBC 6Music), Lauren Laverne, Gary Crowley and David Quantick.

"Dense stuff… Extraordinarily overstated… an unholy mix…" UNCUT

"Steeped in the space-age glam boogie of Bowie and T Rex with a bit of Iggy-in-Berlin thrown in… infernally catchy…" MOJO  

The Bermondsey Joyriders

Claiming all the credentials of a bonafide 77 super group, The Bermondsey Joyriders is a band pooling all the hard won experience and history of three veteran Punks...Gary Lammin,Martin Stacey,and Chris Musto.. Founder members Gary Lammin(Vocals/Guitar) and Martin Stacey(Bass) cut their teeth in the Joe Strummer produced 'Little Roosters' and Chelsea respectively..Whilst recent recruit Chris Musto (Drums) is a sticksman of some credenials..Having previously played with Johnny Thunders,Joe Strummer and Nico to name a few! At Blow up they will be playing their classic 1st album set and showcasing selected songs from their eagerly awaited forthcoming 2nd album 'Noise & Revolution',featuring ex MC5 manager / White panther party leader John Sinclair! Voted one of the Bands to watch in 2012 in 'Viva le Rock' magazine!

Adam Ficek RKC

RKC formerly known as Roses Kings Castles was first conceived in 2007, originally intended as an underground platform for Adam Ficek to air the songs that were too 'odd pop' for his band Babyshambles.

The initial eponymously titled album was released in 2008 on Adam's own label 'The Sycamore club' receiving cult critical acclaim. The Debut was followed a year later by the 'Apples & engines' ep and then in 2010 by the second long player 'Suburban Timebomb' at which point RKC had evolved into a six piece touring band, creating a much bigger noise...

"neat, Lovelorn lo-fi pop" NME

"'Adventurous, well crafted pop from ex-Babyshambler. Classic songwriting" UNCUT