latest news as of 15-06-04
08-11-04
Sorry for
lack of updates, big website overhaul due soon...
In the meantime please come and see the rescheduled ZU gig in Edinburgh
tomorrow (9th November at Subway, doors 7.30pm). They were the best gig
we had last year, so don't miss them this time. More soon...
15-06-04
We have some special offers on in our mail-order catalogue just now, only valid until 30th June: buy any 2 CDs, get £2 off the total; buy any 3 CDs get £4 off the total; buy any 4 CDs, get £6 off the total; buy any 5 CDs, get £8 off the total, etc - this offer will normally be valid on mrw44 CDs only, but for a limited period we'll extend it to ALL items in the mail-order catalogue - please note payment must be received by 30th June! So be quick, especially as most CDs are in very limited quantities!
Also, we have a list of second-hand CDs for sale, really really varied stuff at all sorts of prices (from £1 to to £12) - translate: from very crap stuff we really need to get rid of to good stuff we are reluctant to sell but might have to sell because we need money quickly. Check it out here. Same deadline for orders and payments: 30th June, after which we will just take them all to the local record shop and see how much they give us for the whole lot (please note we only have one copy of each). We can also work out a discount if you want to buy several CDs at the same time.
09-06-04
Just back
from an exciting but exhausting tour, photos and stories once we have
fully recovered...
But for now we'll just announce the next few gigs we are promoting in
Edinburgh:
Friday 2nd July: Cylob at the Subway, 7pm
Friday 9th July: The Hidden Hand + Macrocosmica at the Subway, 7pm
Sunday 11th July: Mignon at the Subway, 7.30pm
Monday 13th September: Damo Suzuki at the Subway
Please check back in the next few days for more info and ticket availability...
01-06-04
You can order our next 2 releases (Monster Party, and Jad Fair & Strobe Talbot) directly from us in advanmce of their release date. Check our catalogue page for details and other special offers for the Alleschwindel album and all previous releases.
24-05-04
Here is the full schedule for the Fair Schwindel tour, all shows now feature Jad Fair, Gilles V. Rieder and Lumberob, with support from Alleschwindel, plus an additional act on certain shows:
Tuesday 1st
June - Edinburgh, Studio 24 (mrw44 gig) (+ Sacred Heart Losers)
Wednesday 2nd June - Stereo, Glasgow (mrw44 gig) (+ Aether Flux)
Thursday 3rd June - The Georgian Theatre,
Stockton-On-Tees
Friday 4th June - Star & Garter, Manchester (Pop
Art vs Industry gig) (+ Vinny Peculiar)
Saturday 5th June - The Cube
Cinema, Bristol (+ Eftus Spectun)
Sunday 6th June - the Port Mahon, Oxford
Monday 7th June - the Water Rats Theatre, London (Track
and Field gig) (+ Scout Niblett)
31-03-04
We are proud
to announce another exceptional mrw44 show:
KHANATE + GUAPO + Entropy + Usurper
Sunday 23rd May at Studio 24, Edinburgh
And yes, it is James Plotkin's Khanate, and
yes, it is the Guapo we've been going on
about for 3 years, coming to Edinburgh at last!!!
more details and ticket info soon...
An update
on the Fair Schwindel tour...
Tuesday 1st June - Edinburgh, Studio 24
Wednesday 2nd June - Stereo, Glasgow
Thursday 3rd June - The Georgian Theatre, Stockton-On-Tees
Friday 4th June - tbc
Saturday 5th June - The Cube Cinema, Bristol
Sunday 6th June - tbc
Monday 7th June - London
All shows
will feature Jad Fair & Lumberob, and
Alleschwindel, plus extra special guests
to be announced soon on certain dates... Tbcs are just that, still to
be confirmed, interested promoters get in touch ASAP! (claire at mrw44.freeserve.co.uk
seems to be working ok at the moment)
23-03-04
Jad Fair and Lumberob (Rob Erickson from Half Japanese) are coming to our shores early June, and will be playing a short UK tour with Alleschwindel.
Reminder: our favourite heaviosity unit Giant Tank are supporting French Toast tonight at the Subway, doors 7.30pm, you don't want to miss this, for the first time in nearly a year they will be playing an entirely new set.
Oh, and - thanks to all those who turned up for the Damo Suzuki gig and helped make it a fantastic night - you'll be glad to hear all 3 sets were recorded and might be available for you to listen to some time soon...
21-03-04
I think we have a hex with email just now... our rescue email address (the sublive one) seems to be playing up as well now, who can you trust these days???? right, if you need to get in touch about important matters and both the other addresses have failed, I suggest you temporarily try info at mrw44.co.uk, it is usually a bit slower to get to us, but it's always been more reliable, and delays are the worst I've encountered so far, nothing's ever been completely lost (fingers crossed!!!), and there at least we know who to shout at if it happens to be down, heh Pete :)
Watch this space as it might change again :)
(Oh, and while I'm there, DO NOT automatically add our different email addresses to your mailing-lists when we've not asked for it, thank you for showing what we think is some basic respect, and ask if we're interested first, or use a Yahoo! group invite, or something that leaves us the choice).
14-03-04
We will have a stall at All Tomorrow's Parties on Sunday 28th March, we'll be outside the Vic bar all afternoon, come and say hello (and buy some CDs!).
08-03-04
The next mrw44 night is this Friday, 12th March, at the Subway; mrw44 night not so much for the music as for the spirit... As you might know we have relocated to Musselburgh, ie. in East Lothian, and over the past year or so we've also met loads of interesting people from East Lothian (from Fisherrow to Dunbar via Haddington, Prestonpans, Longniddry, North Berwick, Fenton Barns and more), so we decided it was a good occasion to have an East Lothian theme night... What's an East Lothian theme night like then? Well, apparently it's loads of fun and might contain some strong language, so you've been warned!
Entertainment
will be provided by the following performers:
* Preston Pfanz and the Seaton Sands playing
surf instrumentals.
* East Lothian's frank exponent of Sinatrocities Fenton
Barns singing some rather blunt songs about sex and life in East
Lothian.
* and - as you should expect - Alice Tyneside Tavern
of Alleschwindel fame. Already known for
lines such as "See the majesty of Torness - Our local nuclear fortress..."
(listen to "I Came from the East" on the sounds
page or, even better, buy the CD, "Is This Schwindel?" available
from us or the band at gigs, and soon available more widely), she'll probably
make you chuckle at the very least when you hear her (specifically written!)
songs about East Lothian...
Discounted Damo Suzuki tickets: The East Lothian night will also be the last occasion when you can buy discounted tickets the Damo Suzuki gig the following week, for £5 each instead of the normal £8 - and yes, you can buy as many as you wish, we've got about 100 left with us, but could probably get more back from tickets agents if needed - so feel free to buy loads for your friends as well, and just let us know in advance in case you want 20 or more, so that we make sure to have enough tickets ready on the night, and we might also give you further discounts if you're bringing a large party along, we just want it to be as busy as possible for what promises to be one of the best nights this year - a one-off you wouldn't want to miss, also being the first Badgewearer reunion in over 4 years!
New mrw44 release! We have now finalized the details of our next release, which should follow soon after Alleschwindel: mrw4406 is an album by Monster Party entitled "Haunted House", and we will be co-releasing it with U.S label Public Eyesore. More info on that soon...
19-02-04
Our next
release
is
a mini-album (on CD) by Alleschwindel, entitled
"Is This Schwindel?", and you can pre-order copies now directly
from us for £6 p&p included.
It
will also come out as a 10", we will keep you posted when it is ready.
You can listen to extracts
in the sounds section.
Alleschwindel also have a website at http://www.alleschwindel.com - go and play the Schwindel game!
From tomorrow onwards (Random Number gig), we will have a number of discount tickets for the Damo Suzuki night available to sell at our Subway gigs, so if you buy one off us now, it's only £5 instead of £8!!!
The dedicated website for the Subway gigs still has loads to be added, but it is pretty much functional now for listings and booking details, check it out at http://www.sublive.co.uk
Talking about the Subway gigs, we are planning a series of tribute nights, the first one most likely being a tribute to the Residents, but also others in mind (Throbbing Gristle, Can, and more, feel free to make sugestions), so if you think you could come up with an interesting cover version of one or more Residents songs, please let us know...
Also, for those who remember the legendary Soundtrax nights, we intend to launch a regular night based on the same principle: we are looking for bands ready to write and perform a live soundtrack to a short film or a film extract of their choice; but also bands to improvise a soundtrack to a film on the night itself; and to ideally make the interaction go both ways, people who are ready to provide visuals to a set music piece, VJs, etc... so if that's your kind of thing, there again get in touch with us. (claire at mrw44.freeserve.co.uk)
10-02-04
Busy-ness,
busy-ness...
Here are some of the questions we've heard recently - we've taken the
time to give you a few answers, hope this is satisfactory enough... click
here to read more.
Q: I placed
an order via your catalogue page, but haven't heard anything since.
Q: I sent you a message but never heard back from you, is it normal?
Q: I contacted you regarding a gig at the Subway, I don't know whether
you consider that as an urgent query or not, but I'd like to know what
the score is.
Q: What happened to 44 Strings? Have you abandoned the idea?
Q: What happened to Nimrod 33 / Aether Flux? (and is that promised release
gonna come out soon?)
09-02-04
That's better now - I like it better like this.
04-02-04
I'm sick
of that colour scheme, aren't you???
I'll get that changed when I have a minute.
04-02-04
We have updated our mail-order section with loads of CDs of The EX and a couple of recent Scorn CDs as well.
Also, plenty of gig related news - as most of you probably know by now, we are booking gigs at the Subway Cowgate in Edinburgh, check current listings at our temporary diary page here (pending the launch of a dedicated website).
Our personal
recommendation of the moment is:
Unnecessary
Surgery
+ Hex, Tuesday 17th February at the Subway,
69 Cowgate, Edinburgh, doors 7.30pm, entry £4 / £3 before
8.30pm.
Don't forget there are loads of other gigs too (including Random Number, Moniack, Fuck-Off Machete and more), so check the diary page for details. More info will come soon, with full band descriptions, watch this space for updates!
You can also drop us a line (claire at mrw44.freeserve.co.uk) to be added to the specific Edinburgh gig mailing-list that will keep you posted about all that's going on... and you will also be entitled to special discounts or even free entry to some of the gigs.
Also, an exciting prospect as we are putting on Damo Suzuki in Edinburgh as part of his Never Ending Tour - it's on Friday 19th March at Studio 24, doors are at 7pm, please come down early as Damo Suzuki will be playing 3 different sets on the night, one with the members of Badgewearer reunited for the first time on over 4 years, one with the members of Alleschwindel, and one with everyone onstage together!...
After the
end of the gig, you will also be allowed to stay and enjoy our free Krautrock
club night which will run until late in the night (up to 3am if you wish).
Some time in January 2004
Well into 2004 already... well, let's get back to 2003 for a minute...
LABEL RELEASES: not much happening in 2003 I'm afraid, it was a bit too hectic for us on a personal level, also the usual let-downs (should have got used to it by now), but loads of interesting things being worked on at the moment for early 2004: mrw4404 (not the one planned originally, but a brand new one) at the pressing stage, mrw4405 (which you probably know by now) for good, mrw4406 which should be a complete surprise to everyone, and more to come which we cannot talk about yet, oh and 44 strings as well somewhere too... that is unless things go weird again and we have to change our plans - but at least by not announcing anything officially we're not committing ourselves too much - and not disappointing people!
So for now we'll just have to apologize for past let-downs, as some of the releases that had been announced quite a while in advance never happened, for various reasons - which is why I will never announce another release again until it's been completely confirmed and back from pressing... too many variables otherwise, you never know with these bands who suddenly get better offers from bigger labels and decide to go for that instead (fair enough), while others stop playing altogether; that's not counting people who get so busy with another band that they leave their earlier projects behind, or even artists who become Doctors - no no, we're not pointing at anyone in particular ;) - and start redefining their priorities in life...
But now I think we've got a hold of a bunch of very reliable and motivated people, and you'll no doubt hear about them a lot in the near future. Oh, and did I mention they make great music too, and are funny and sexy on top of that, which can only help!
BANDS / ARTISTS UPDATES: some news - good or bad - from some of the bands who've appeared on our compilations in the past (at least the ones who keep in touch and bother letting us know what they're up to):
Guapo have a new album entitled "Five Suns" just out on Cuneiform Records, and it's one of the most amazing things ever!!! they're also working on another 2 albums which should also come out on different respected labels in 2004. Oh and they have a brand new website - yet another one! - so check that out for updates and extracts from all their albums, including the latest one... and we're still hoping they'll make it to Scotland some time this year for a gig.
Giant Tank are still going their own way, playing some gigs in and around Edinburgh, distributing propaganga, (unvoluntarily) breaking instruments and bassists, etc. They've got a new bassist - yet another one! well we're talking about the newest one who joined in December, will he break the current record of 3 gigs inside the Tank before breaking down??? Check their website for more info and updates.
Nimrod 33 hasn't given any signs of life in the past few months, we believe he may have become a monk or something - or maybe just a Doctor.
Aether Flux are still occasionally gigging in and around Glasgow and still - after nearly 3 years - working on the "Don't Do Kids Drugs" release, which will hopefully see the light of day some time this year, or maybe next year... Their website is broken at the moment, but we'll make sure they get it back running ASAP.
Hex are now even bigger and better and noisier with the addition of a second guitarist. They regularly play locally, and are always keen on invites to play either in Scotland or further afield, so if you want them to play a show, get in touch! Their website is here.
Late Night Foreign Radio are back working on a new set after a long hiatus while their bassist was away abroad. Expect to see them back on the live scene soon...
Black Sun have an album out on Over Records. Check their website here.
March of Dimes isn't currently doing anything as such, but Scott plays in Sons and Daughters who seem to be doing quite well, with loads of gigs with Franz Ferdinand and the like, a US tour, and an album out on Badabing! Records. Check their website for full details.
Death Cat will never exist again, but Rob now plays in a (completely unrelated) band called Park Attack. Steven has been hiding for the past couple of years and we do not expect to ever hear from him again.
Opaque are back with a slightly changed line-up and doing their usual diy thing on their own label, and still involved with the Consume peeps, check their site for updates.
Milgram
were meant to be recording a new album with Bob Weston, we haven't heard
from them in a while though, so not sure how it all went after that...
Oh and you can still get a hold of their amazing previous album "Subversion
Standard" on Red
F Records.
22-12-03
Very quick update before catching a flight, more in the New Year (new releases, new CDs added to mail-order section, etc), but most urgent is gig related news: launch week-end of our gigs at the Subway Cowgate, with Uncle John & Whitelock, My Electric Love Affair, Paravion, Rutabaga and Sepopeplel. Dates and details about these gigs and others in the temporary diary section.
Oh, and in
case you haven't heard yet, we're putting on Damo Suzuki at Studio 24
in March, playing with members of Badgewearer (!!!!) and Alleschwindel
- more info about that soon...
25-11-03
Loads of gig news... We are organizing a last minute show in Glasgow for DEERHOOF, it's at the 13th Note Cafe in Glasgow on Wednesday 10th December, 9pm, and it's only £4 to get in, so make sure to come early as it will probably be packed.
Please remember that Deerhoof are also playing with The EX at Studio 24 in Edinburgh and it's an over 14s gig! so bring your wee brothers / sisters / cousins / kids... For those who wish to come to the Deerhoof Glasgow gig but would also like to see THE EX in Edinburgh the night before, if you get in touch with us NOW, we'll give you a substantial discount for the Edinburgh gig.
Also - the
Edinburgh show with THE EX and DEERHOOF is only part 1 of our 2-day "Go
East" live event E>W, part 2 being
with MICK HARRIS at The
Bongo Club a couple of days later. For full line-up details, links
to individual websites, maps and ticket info, please check our live
page.
20-10-03
We are organizing a two-day end of the year live extravaganza, with details just confirmed (please note change of date and venue for The Ex):
The
Ex + Deerhoof
+ Alleschwindel + Giant
Tank
Tuesday
9th December 2003 at Studio 24, Calton Road, Edinburgh
doors 7pm (gig finished by 11pm), age 14+
Mick
Harris (Scorn/Quoit) + David
Jack + Giant Tank + Vinyl Vandal
Thursday
11th December 2003 at the Bongo Club, Moray House, Edinburgh
doors 8pm (gig finished by 11.30pm), age 18+
Tickets for
those two shows will be on sale shortly. More info here soon...
17-09-03
Giant Tank finally have a website, and it's pretty damn good too! parts of it are still under construction, but it's looking quite good already, with tons of stuff to listen to, read or look at...
The next
Giant Tank gig will be as part of Psychiatric
Records' Cranial Health night at Stereo in Glasgow, on Wednesday 29th
October. Other acts confirmed for the evening are the Sunday Herald's
"Scottish jazz musicians of the year" George Burt & Raymond
MacDonald and the mysterious Rutabaga who apparently "sound like
Sun Ra and the Daleks battling for control of the Galaxy". Hmmm...
*scratches head*
25-08-03
MRW44 HQ have moved to Musselburgh. The Edinburgh address for label correspondance stays the same. But we're still still busy unpacking boxes, so please be patient if you haven't heard from us in a while. If there is any urgency though, or you think we may have forgotten about you completely, you can always contact us again as a reminder.
We've got
a couple of gigs confirmed:
Sunday 21st September at the 13th Note Cafe in Glasgow,
an
afternoon show featuring Mountain
Men Anonymous from Wales and mrw44 bands Aether
Flux and Hex.
Another gig
we're involved in, featuring the mighty Nimrod 33
Christ + Slowloris + Nimrod 33
tuesday 14th October at Cabaret Voltaire, Blair Street, Edinburgh
7pm - 10pm (early start!), £5 / £4 / £3 (see details)
the
first 50 people through the door will receive a free
Nimrod 33 3" CD.
19-07-03
Some exciting news (for me anyway) as The Ex are planning a UK tour for December; if this goes ahead, we will try and make sure they stop in Scotland...
More exciting news for the end of the year as we will be releasing "Don't Do Kids Drugs" (new and extended version) by Aether Flux.
We are working
on the new photo section, with loads to be added
soon.
25-06-03
Back after some computer-related problems...
We have just received mrw44 t-shirts, black with the white mrw44 logo at the front. They will be available to buy directly from me (look out for someone already wearing one) on Friday and online in our sail order section (£7).
Also back in our catalogue, the Zu live in Helsinki CD and studio album Igneo.
We now have
a dedicated 44 strings
website, giving you all the details about the project, which has now been
extended and could include up to 444 strings, which should amount to over
7 hours of bass in total!!! The submissions are open and deadline for
material is 31st October; all interested bassists should check out the
website for full guidelines.
18-05-03
Thanks to everyone who turned up at either of the ZU gigs, which were both exceptional (despite a sub-standard Giant Tank performance in Glasgow). For those who didn't have enough money on the nights themselves, or didn't make it and are now regretting (as you should be!), we have a few copies of the ZU live in Helsinki CD left to sell for £10 each, contact us via this page if you want us to put one aside for you (they are going quickly).
If you are a bass player and would like to be involved in our bass-only compilation (which should now be extended and called 444 strings), contact us now as we will be releasing the full submission guidelines later in the week. Deadlines for material should be September/October 2003.
We do not have any more gigs planned in Edinburgh; our next gig should be in Glasgow, but probably not until August.
In the meantime, I would urge you to go and catch our wee favourites Aether Flux at Stereo, Glasgow, on Saturday 24th May, for a night they are organizing under the title "Opal the Drone", which will feature live sets from Matt Elliott (Domino Records, ex-Third Eye Foundation), Aether Flux, and Matt's cello player Chris (ex-Movietone).
For those
avid of new sounds to download, I would also personally recommend our
latest discovery Guanoman.
23-04-03
The HEX album is now (officially) out. You can read some reviews here.
You can get a copy in Edinburgh or Glasgow's Avalanche and Missing for the very reasonable price of £5.99. More places should carry it on mail-order soon, we will add details of those as soon as everything is up-to-date. You can also obviously get it directly from us in our sail-order section or at gigs.