| MAY 2009 Can you believe that it's actually here? Can you even comprehend the enormity of this situation? Do you even have the faintest idea what I'm talking about???? I am very proud, honoured and just a little humbled to announce yesboyicecream's release of the new (and utterly brilliant) album by New Zealand's finest independent popular beat combo, The Bats...The Guilty Office will be available in all self-respecting record shops around our most European of continents from June 1st...do support your local shops. Distributed by Cargo Records. If you simply cannot wait that long, you can pick up a copy directly from the band on their European Tour, who will be happy to sell it to you with good grace, charm and a secret handshake for a reasonable price. 21st May - London - Windmill Brixton (sold out!!) presented by Stolen Recordings 22nd - London ICA as special guest of Crystal Stilts 22nd - Bats at Twee As Fuck after-party gig, The Victoria 23rd - Nantes/France - The Spoutnik Bar 25th - Clermont-Ferrand - Le RatPack 27th - Madrid - La Pequeña Bety with Motel 3 28th - Barcelona - Primavera Sound festival 30th - Hamburg - Nachtasyl Theatre with Cats On Fire 1st June - Göterburg - Kning Disk CD Release Party 2nd - Malmö - 21 years late @ the Pickwick Pub 4th - Berlin - Bang Bang Club with Early Days support 5th - Dusseldorf - Pretty Vacant 6th - Amsterdam - Winston with Charlie Ash support. 7th - Rouen - The Emporium Galorium 8th - Paris - La Mécanique Ondulatoire with The Chiltons 9th - Frankfurt - Dreikönigskeller If you won't be able to make any of these dates, you can still luck out by picking up a copy of the album for the recession-proof sum of 10 euro (including postage & packaging) directly from the yesboyicecream shop. And, if you still aren't convinced, you can hear an MP3 of my favourite song from the album and watch a hastily-assembled video of everyone else's favourite here And, finally, for good measure, here's a review... Review from Artrocker Magazine The Bats The Guilty Office (yesboyicecream) Now on their seventh album, The Bats have been an alt-indie staple in the US for ages, succeeding there far more than in their homeland New Zealand. Or here. From the opening of 'Countersign', it's clear the Bats are twee as fuck; the guitars jangle and shuffle drums punctuate in a girl group style, rolling nicely in and out of snare fills. In Robert Scott's vocals I can't help but think of the Pastels or Preston School of Industry, nonchalantly and warmly delivered. There's a constant and wonderful mix of lo-fi guitars, warm shiny guitar solos and melancholy melodies. 'Satellite' has metallic vocals shining over a ride cymbal, softly accompanied by female harmonies; the result is a song that cruises through you, picking you up and transporting you into some kind of slacker-pop paradise. Throughout the writing is of a high standard. 'Steppin' Out' sits atop the Elephant 6 collective types such as the Ladybug Transistor, Dressy Bessy and the Apples in Stereo, all sharing a warm and progressive take on the past glories of West Coast American music yet the Bats nail the symphonic/lo-fi use melodic mix succinctly, showing the Guilty Office to be this year's alternative pop album. Jonathan Falcone |
| JANUARY 2009 In 2009, we will mostly be... 1. Trying to use blogs, bulletins, and email to tell more people about what yesboyicecream is up to during the year with releases, bands and positive lifestyle choices. Effective communication shall be the bullseye on our personal development dartboard for 2009. We had previously bet the house on the internet being a fad - predicting it would be overtaken by wireless etch-a-sketch by 2007 - but it seems it's here to stay. So, we're now trying to smoothly sidle up to it without coming over too desperate. Obviously, maintaining a blog represents quite a departure from our previous corporate communication policies - we only acquired our first mobile phone two months ago and that still feels very wrong. However, if this exercise helps more people get their listening gear around the music we believe you really should be listening to, then it's a sacrifice worth making. Nonetheless, if it becomes clear that no-one's actually reading anything we've written, we reserve the right to get bored very quickly, pack up our things and go home. Until then you can read the damned thing here It goes without saying that we are particularly excited about the following..... Secondly, there should - really, really should - also be a new EP from DC's finest The Positions at some point in the new year on yesboyicecream. This will, hopefully, present itself as a perfectly-formed 10" EP. What we've heard so far suggests that this may be the release that finally secures Ivan Ramiscal the Nobel Prize for Pop. And not before time. And not before time. |
| SEPTEMBER 2008 If you live in North America, you should know this... Recent yesboyicecream releases by Soda Fountain Rag (It's Rag Time!) and Michael Knight (I'm Not Entirely Clear How I Ended Up Like This) are now available to purchase through Darla (www.darla.com) and other US shops. Also available digitally from iTunes & Amazon, etc. Excellent music, beautifully housed. Samples and excerpts of reviews (good and bad) are available from:
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| JULY 2008 It's been a long time since this page has been updated. For anyone who has been staring unblinkingly at the site since the last entry, I'm sure it's been a long, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time. It's time to spill the beans. Not literally, obviously. If you haven't yet purchased Michael Knight's "I'm Not Entirely Clear How I Ended Up Like This" or Soda Fountain Rag's "It's Rag Time!", you have until the end of this month to do so. After this point, all and any smiles in a two-mile radius of the internet will be turned upside down, by force if necessary. No excuses. You have been warned. The good news is that there are lots of other very good reasons for buying both albums, besides their very attractive packaging. Here are some beautifully articulated ones for buying Michael Knight's latest full-length audio child. And here's a small selection of the praise recently lavished on Soda Fountain Rag's It's Rag Time. If you don't live in Dublin, and it is entirely reasonable to assume you don't, you will have missed the Soda Fountain Rag/Michael Knight double header in Whelan's in March. This also featured the rather fine powerpop stylings (and meta-banter) of So Cow. Thankfully, for anyone who wants to sample some of what they missed or if you just want to relive the GREATEST NIGHT OF YOUR LIFE, archives exist. Here's a couple of youtube links from the gig, of SFR playing Don't Kill The Clowns and of Michael Knight playing Coronation Street. More things happening soon. In the meantime, check out the low, low prices in the ybi shop. |
| JANUARY 2008 Another year over and a new one just begun as 2007 succumbs to 2008. yesboyicecream can think of no better way to wish the world a happy new calendar year by announcing the release of the spectacularly brilliant debut album by the musical universe that is Ragnhild Hogstad Jordahl's Soda Fountain Rag. Following previous releases on Anorak, Cloudberry, & My Honey in 2007, And for the more frugal of you, some information... If, in the past couple of years, you have found yourself greedily eyeing our releases, bemoaning the fact that you have to your name just over half the stated price of a particular record, here's something to cheer you up... ALL 2006 & 2007 RELEASES are almost HALF-PRICE for probably the next couple of weeks or so...go to our SALE page for more info. From this page, you can also pre-order the first of two fantastic albums planned by yesboyicecream in 2008 (It's Rag Time! by Soda Fountain Rag) and gaze longingly at the cover of the second imminent arrival: the astonishing new record by Michael Knight - I'm Not Entirely Clear How I Ended Up Like This. |
| Pre-2008 News |
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