BLOW UP BLOG

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 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

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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

The Blow Up club returns to the USA this June 2011 vs. Club Leisure (SF), Club Underground (LA) & Club Lipstick (SAC). In under 3 mins here's a brief history of Blow Up in images 1993-2011: Press, Flyers & Blow Up label Releases:

(Music from the new Bongolian album 'Bongos For Beatniks' - out now on Blow Up Records).
More about the Blow Up club / press quotes here and press clippings here

Blow Up USA 2011 Poster by Galine

Join the new US facebook page for more event info: http://www.facebook.com/blowupusa - More Blow Up connections… http://www.blowup.co.uk

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

Blow Up is pleased to announce the first of a series of Birthday Shows to celebrate it's 16th Anniversary. Starting with two one-off shows on the East and West Coast of North America. More dates tba for 2010.

This Saturday 31st October - Hallowe'en special for Blow Up in its new basement venue at 4 Denmark St., with 60s horror flicks and creepy drinks. Expect the usual mix of orgasmic pop 60s mod soul new wave action from Blow Up DJs with some spooky soundtracks thrown in for good measure!

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