Monday 6 December 2010

December 2010 Newsletter

[0] STA Welcomes... Feldberg



Meet Reykjavik pop-rock duo Feldberg, the newest addition to Iceland’s enviable canon of internationally acclaimed acts and the latest additions to the Smalltown America family. Consisting of singer Rósa Birgitta Ísfeld and multi-instrumentalist Einar Tönsberg, Feldberg first came together in 2008. Einar had recently returned to Iceland from London and was looking for a vocalist to record ‘Running Around’, a song he had written for an advert for an Icelandic shopping mall. “It was a lovely accident”, explains Einar. “I needed a vocal, somebody to do a female vocal. I called up my friends and they all said ‘You have to call Rosa.’ She was at my studio ten minutes later and she hasn’t left.” Rósa adds: “It was really comfortable from the very beginning, like it was destiny. I felt like I should stay once I was there. It’s kind of like a relationship without the romance.”



Feldberg will be thawing our frosty, winter hearts with their gorgeous melodies from December 13th on debut single 'I'm Not Thinking Of You' available on iTunes, before then you can watch the video for the single right now on Vimeo. The debut album is out early next year - it's a delight - you'll love it!

[1] MPFree - Fickle Public



Free Download - Fickle Public - 'Adam Hocing'

At last! Issued in response to popular demand, we present previously-unreleased and dusted-down recordings by Elgin/Glasgow screamo/math outfit Fickle Public for the second album that never was. Fans of the four-piece - fondly remembered for their fusion of Dischord song structure and smart pop hooks - have been patiently awaiting these songs, cheekily bundled together as 'Greatest Hits', which are finally being made available as a digital release on December 13th accompanied by an artwork booklet designed by Christopher Rainbow from photography by Tim Smith.



1. Adam Hocing
2. Non Stop Hot
3. San Diego Hair (Fickle Public Know The Score Version)
4. Revel Revel
5. Winning

Fickle Public were Alan Ferguson (vocals/guitar), Jim Butterly (guitar), James Cameron (bass), Lewis Gale (drums)



In Their Own Words: We recorded these songs back in 2005/2006 with the expectation that they would end up being part of our follow-up album to ‘Bucko’. Unfortunately, we never got as far as making the album and the band ended up splitting up toward the end of 2006. Winning and Revel Revel came from the original session in 2005. Non Stop Hot, Adam Hocing and San Diego Hair were recorded later for a split EP with Distophia – again this never materialised. 
 
However, here we are five years later and the tracks are finally going to see the light of day. I’m sure if the band had stayed together then these tracks would sound markedly different. We’re just glad that people can finally have the chance to hear what our second album may have sounded like.

[2] LaFaro - Ripping Up Europe



Our very own eight legged riff machine LaFaro are still on tour - supporting postHC heroes Helmet across Europe and loving every second of it. The LaFaro Van blew up earlier in the week and is still in a Berlin workshop, see them in rented accomodation in the following cities:

DEC 5 Glace Annecy w/ Helmet - Le Brise, FRANCE
DEC 6 La Laiterie w/ Helmet - Strasbourg, FRANCE
DEC 8 Roehre w/ Helmet - Stuttgart, GERMANY
DEC 9 Werkstatt w/ Helmet - Cologne, GERMANY
DEC 10 Elysee Montmarte w/ Helmet - Paris, FRANCE
DEC 11 Astro Lab w/ Helmet - Orleans, FRANCE
DEC 12 Le Grand Mix w/ Helmet - Tourcoing, FRANCE
DEC 14 Vooruit w/ Helmet - Ghent, BELGIUM
DEC 15 SCALA w/ Helmet & Fighting With Wire - LONDON
DEC 16 Club Academy w/ Helmet & Fighting With Wire - MANCHESTER

[2] ASIWYFA: European Tour, Xmas Shows and VERY Special Announcement



*Tune in to ASIWYFA's Twitter/Facebook at 21:00 GMT this evening to find out some very special Christmas news for ASI-uber-fans. REPEAT - 21:00 06/12/2010*

The first issue of our ASIWYFA vinyl disappeared in picoseconds, we've just put the last batch up on pre-order, these will ship w/c 13th December. The band are on overdrive right now so, if you're in the following cities you really should get along to:

DEC 9 De kreun - Courtrai, Belgium

DEC 10 Effenaar - Eindhoven, NETHERLANDS

DEC 11 Club Bitterzoet - Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS

DEC 12 Kleine Freiheit - Osnabrück, GERMANY

DEC 13 Comet - Berlin, GERMANY

DEC 14 Hafenklang - Hamburg, GERMANY

DEC 15 Tower - Bremen, GERMANY

DEC 23 The Hideout - Warrenpoint, IE, IRELAND

[3] FWW - Lil' Xmas Treats



With the second album wrapped up last week in Nashville - our intrepid explorers square up to label buddies LaFaro in London, Manchester and Glasgow - followed by some home grown riffology for Christmas.

DEC 15 Scala w/ HELMET - LONDON
DEC 16 Club Academy w/ HELMET - MANCHESTER
DEC 17 Cathouse w/ HELMET - GLASGOW
DEC 22 Stiff Kitten - BELFAST
DEC 23 Nerve Centre - Derry/City Of Culture 2013

[4] More Than Conquerors Get Busy...



Wired from a sell out support slot with Jimmy Eat World show in Belfast the lads have finished work on their second EP and are delighted to be sharing the stage with labelmates ASIWYFA in Warrenpoint 23rd December, that particular show is going to be messy people.

[5] CMCS & Illness Play Nice...



Label buddies join forces for an awesome Weather for Airstrikes Christmas Show in Brighton.

[5] Calling All Public Service Broadcastees



As Smalltown America Records marks it's 10th birthday next year we're looking for any bands that had a song on the Public Service Broadcast compilation series to provide a sentence or two of where they are and what they are doing for inclusion in a forthcoming project. For more details get in touch with ash@smalltownamerica.co.uk - if you know anyone that was in one of these bands and can give them a holla on our behalf - please do!

All that remains to say is thanks so much for all your support this year - we all really appreciate it, thanks as always for reading and we'll see you in 2011.

Team STA

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