Saturday 30 April 2016

Ralph's Top 10 Blogged Band Chart - 30.4.16

OK bands you know the score .....

the more hits your blog gets by the fans ..... 

the higher you go .....

So Tweet it, Facebook it .....

Generally expose yourself .....


ralphslife.co.uk


                                         

Click here for the Ralph's Life website






Now Mr Snuggles and I have been sitting with our heads down counting the hits on each blog to see which band's got what place.



Tracks from the Top Ten Blogged Bands are played 
every Sunday 5-7pm on Radio KC as part of 
Ralph's Indie Show.









No 1: Ded Rabbit



Ded Rabbit
Comprising four brothers, Ded Rabbit are an Alt rock/Indie band consisting of: Eugene (vocals, rhythm guitar), Fergus (lead guitar), Donal (bass) and Eoin Gaine (drums). 2015 was their most notable year to date - with a number of well received EP releases, they continued to complete a number of high profile performances that should be on any UK band’s bucket list.









No 2: Feral Love



It's just over three years since Ralph checked out Liverpool's sublime Bird and then some time thereafter they took a bit of a hiatus before parting. However, Adele Emmas and Christian Sanford have re-emerged triumphantly like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes as the nascent Feral Love.


Emmas and Sanford spent a year in a damp, windowless basement studio writing, emerging only when they knew they'd arrived at the sound they'd been striving for.





No 3: Day Old Hate



Ralph's just got a sniff about a new single from Leeds based alt-rockers Day Old Hate called Don't Chase Me so he thought he'd share the news and the video with you.

“It’s important to not to get too hung up about the people that didn't or don't believe in you”, states vocalist Ollie Swift and it is this very sentiment that forms the basis of the newly released video for the single Don’t Chase Me










Franco and the Dreadnought is the pseudonym of Manchester born multi instrumentalist John Blaylock. It’s a winning combination of his heartfelt vocals, superb songwriting skills and his trusty Dreadnought acoustic guitar. 

He's no stranger to success and as a testament to the power of his musical ability, he was asked personally by Desmond Tutu to write a song celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela. The archbishop gave the song entitled "Inyaniso" (translation - "Truth") as a gift to Mr Mandela for his birthday.





No 5: The Phantoms




Formed in Edinburgh in 2012 by four school friends, ThePhantoms released their debut EP This Is How It Should Be in December 2013 and followed this up with a short UK tour.

They are influenced by the likes of Kasabian and Simple Minds and are Colin Simpson on guitar and vocals, Colin Mckillop on lead guitar, Zach Tarimo Goodhur on bass and Blair Cullen on drums. 








No 6: Bloch Eyot


Logo

The story of Danish born but UK living Nikolaj Bloch who now performs under the pseudonym of Bloch Eyot is as strange and tangential as it is fascinating and absorbing. It leads us to his current incarnation which he describes as, "A new musical journey."

Born in Denmark, his mother taught him Danish political folk songs on guitar from the age of 6. he then trained in classical piano at college, and when he left school he joined a touring blues band.











Long-time Ralph's Life favourites Duke and the Darlings will release a double A-side, Days of Wonder and The Click, on Saturday 14th May through Sweet Sweet Records.
Days of Wonder is a feel-good anthem about not feeling good; the on-point harmonies and saccharine delivery obscure the discontent towards a growing poverty gap in the UK. The Click closes the curtains, lights a few candles and looks inwards on being a twenty-something, and explores the accompanying paradox of being young and not being young with expressive orchestration and histrionic dynamics.




No 8: This Party



A chance encounter at a Smiths tribute gig in early 2015 led to the formation of Brighton's This Party, a band that fuse sharp basslines with infectious melodic hooks. 

Charismatic frontman Matt is as well known for his energetic on-stage performances as he is for his strong vocals.

New single Taste is two and half minutes of guitar driven indie rock. A clear statement of intent from a band that have very quickly established themselves as one of the UK's most exciting prospects.











The Velvet Rope cover art

In order to try and keep Ralph's burgeoning International readership happy whilst maintining the UK unsigned integrity, we're featuring The Velvet Rope, a gem of a new single release by Daniel Peterson whose heritage is Antipodean but current location is London.

He's also recorded a debut album about the restoration of friendly relations; interestingly entitled, Welcome To My House Bumblebee








No 10: Kidsmoke




Since Ralph last checked out Kidsmoke last year they released the immaculate Cut Yourself Loose which has racked up over 20,000 plays on Soundcloud, Spotify and other sources. Now, the Welsh Indie-Pop outfit have announced Heartache as their second single of 2016. Recorded by Ben Trow and mixed by Darren Lawson.










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Friday 29 April 2016

Duke and The Darlings



Long-time Ralph's Life favourites Duke and the Darlings will release a double A-side, Days of Wonder and The Click, on Saturday 14th May through Sweet Sweet Records.
Days of Wonder is a feel-good anthem about not feeling good; the on-point harmonies and saccharine delivery obscure the discontent towards a growing poverty gap in the UK. The Click closes the curtains, lights a few candles and looks inwards on being a twenty-something, and explores the accompanying paradox of being young and not being young with expressive orchestration and histrionic dynamics.

The band will play a range of shows across northern cities in celebration of the release.


 


Duke and The Darlings frontman and songwriter, Alex Reed, says that - "The new-found maturity in the songs, both compositionally and lyrically, reflect how I have tried to grow up to be a good human being with an open-mind as much as possible, and avoiding the incessant urge to stand out in a hectic world. 

The parts that we wrote to present the songs truly demonstrate that there is an inner-calm and certainty about how we approach our instruments now, too. We felt so much unity when writing these songs."


The tracks will be available to buy on iTunes, Spotify and other reputable online stores plus Ralph's already given Days Of Wonder a spin on Radio KC.

Duke and The Darlings are indie pop types, who keep on selling out gigs and no wonder with songs structured like classic pop, big melodies and catchy refrains, with guitar play and unconventional phrasings which catches the ears of those who like to stand at the back and nod. Are they writing the perfect pop songs...not quite, but they're pretty damn close.

Wednesday 27 April 2016

Ded Rabbit


Ralph's Life is delighted to be able to exclusively premiere the video that accompanies one of the tracks from the Double A Side single by Ded Rabbit both here in the blog and on the ralphslife.co.uk website.

They also have a track on the Ralph's Life CD for Rethink Mental IllnessThe video for Never Gonna Learn is available from now to watch here...






Comprising four brothers, Ded Rabbit are an Alt rock/Indie band consisting of: Eugene (vocals, rhythm guitar), Fergus (lead guitar), Donal (bass) and Eoin Gaine (drums). 2015 was their most notable year to date - with a number of well received EP releases, they continued to complete a number of high profile performances that should be on any UK band’s bucket list.





Notable achievements of 2015 include: headlining the Tbreak Stage on the Saturday night of T in The Park, Xpo North, Wide Days, SAMA nomination for ‘Best Live Act’, continued air play from BBCRadio 6’s Steve Lamacq and Vic Galloway and recent support from Sat Bisla’s Passport Approved show who have been airing a number of Ded Rabbit tracks on various station worldwide including KROQ (Los Angeles).

Originally from Yorkshire, Ded Rabbit moved to the Highlands in 1996 and through the isolation and a developing love of music, the brothers started playing music together about ten years ago. After moving to Edinburgh to study, they started working together in the studio, releasing their EPs Wash Away 2014, Wake Up In A Dream and Moving In Slow Motion in 2015 the brotherly unit found their recent partnership with Glasgow based Rocket Science Studios, who have recorded the likes of Texas and Bell & Sebastian. 

Tuesday 26 April 2016

This Party



A chance encounter at a Smiths tribute gig in early 2015 led to the formation of Brighton's This Party, a band that fuse sharp basslines with infectious melodic hooks. 

Charismatic frontman Matt is as well known for his energetic on-stage performances as he is for his strong vocals.

New single Taste is two and half minutes of guitar driven indie rock. A clear statement of intent from a band that have very quickly established themselves as one of the UK's most exciting prospects. 






In keeping with Ralph's love of doing things independently, the single is the first release to come from the This Party record label Moscow Lets Go.

Ralph will be spinning Taste on the Radio KC Indie Show on Sunday May 8th.





Produced by Junk Scientist (The Rakes, Larrikin Love), This Party's debut single Movie Nights was picked up by BBC Introducing South and featured by BBC 6 Music's Steve Lamacq throughout Autumn 2015. 

Movie Nights was selected by Gigslutz as their 'Track of the day' and featured by BBC Introducing South's Melita Dennett as a tip for 2016.

Upcoming live dates are...



Thu 09 Jun 2016The Green Door Store     Brighton


Thu 16 Jun 2016The Finsbury                   London

Saturday 23 April 2016

Ralph's Top 10 Blogged Band Chart - 23.4.16


OK bands you know the score .....

the more hits your blog gets by the fans ..... 

the higher you go .....

So Tweet it, Facebook it .....

Generally expose yourself .....


ralphslife.co.uk


                                         

Click here for the Ralph's Life website






Now Mr Snuggles and I have been sitting with our heads down counting the hits on each blog to see which band's got what place.



Tracks from the Top Ten Blogged Bands are played 
every Sunday 5-7pm on Radio KC as part of 
Ralph's Indie Show.







No 1: Day Old Hate



Ralph's just got a sniff about a new single from Leeds based alt-rockers Day Old Hate called Don't Chase Me so he thought he'd share the news and the video with you.

“It’s important to not to get too hung up about the people that didn't or don't believe in you”, states vocalist Ollie Swift and it is this very sentiment that forms the basis of the newly released video for the single Don’t Chase Me









Franco and the Dreadnought is the pseudonym of Manchester born multi instrumentalist John Blaylock. It’s a winning combination of his heartfelt vocals, superb songwriting skills and his trusty Dreadnought acoustic guitar. 

He's no stranger to success and as a testament to the power of his musical ability, he was asked personally by Desmond Tutu to write a song celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela. The archbishop gave the song entitled "Inyaniso" (translation - "Truth") as a gift to Mr Mandela for his birthday.





No 3: The Phantoms




Formed in Edinburgh in 2012 by four school friends, ThePhantoms released their debut EP This Is How It Should Be in December 2013 and followed this up with a short UK tour.

They are influenced by the likes of Kasabian and Simple Minds and are Colin Simpson on guitar and vocals, Colin Mckillop on lead guitar, Zach Tarimo Goodhur on bass and Blair Cullen on drums. 







No 4: Feral Love



It's just over three years since Ralph checked out Liverpool's sublime Bird and then some time thereafter they took a bit of a hiatus before parting. However, Adele Emmas and Christian Sanford have re-emerged triumphantly like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes as the nascent Feral Love.


Emmas and Sanford spent a year in a damp, windowless basement studio writing, emerging only when they knew they'd arrived at the sound they'd been striving for.






No 5: Bloch Eyot


Logo

The story of Danish born but UK living Nikolaj Bloch who now performs under the pseudonym of Bloch Eyot is as strange and tangential as it is fascinating and absorbing. It leads us to his current incarnation which he describes as, "A new musical journey."

Born in Denmark, his mother taught him Danish political folk songs on guitar from the age of 6. he then trained in classical piano at college, and when he left school he joined a touring blues band.











The Velvet Rope cover art

In order to try and keep Ralph's burgeoning International readership happy whilst maintining the UK unsigned integrity, we're featuring The Velvet Rope, a gem of a new single release by Daniel Peterson whose heritage is Antipodean but current location is London.

He's also recorded a debut album about the restoration of friendly relations; interestingly entitled, Welcome To My House Bumblebee








No 7: Kidsmoke




Since Ralph last checked out Kidsmoke last year they released the immaculate Cut Yourself Loose which has racked up over 20,000 plays on Soundcloud, Spotify and other sources. Now, the Welsh Indie-Pop outfit have announced Heartache as their second single of 2016. Recorded by Ben Trow and mixed by Darren Lawson.










No 8: Roman Nose




The last time Ralph checked out Roman Nose and gave them a spin on the Radio KC Indie Show was back when they did a collaboration with SAMA Best Electro winner Plum. They've been quiet of late, but I can assure you they're back with a bang in the form of the excellent new Jacked Up On Mercy EP to be released on Monday 28th March. The EP will be out on the band's own label Badly Built Records and will be available as a download.














Ralph's been spinning tracks on his Radio KC Indie Show on a regular basis by Blackburn band New York Tourists who are interestingly described as QOTSA meets Foals.

Their debut EP received rave reviews from some of the UK's most respected music media outlets and Chew Me Up, Spit Me Out was selected as one of BBC Intro's top 10 tracks of 2013. Support slots followed, with the band bagging appearances alongside the likes of The SubwaysThe ViewThe Sunshine Underground and The Buzzcocks plus a headline slot on the Alt Stage at Blackburn Festival.





No 10: Clay Gods




Following on from the release of their Stone Asylum EP back in 2014 and prior to the release of the upcoming Shadows And Noise album next year, Gloucestershire based Clay Gods have decided to celebrate the addition of drummer Max Ganderton to the band with the release of a double A Side single.

The hard-driving Cabin Fever in particular and the slightly lighter Looking For Jerusalem are the epitomy of doom-laden rock, lyrically and musically in the style of Liverpool's excellent Kynchinlay






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