New Single “The Day I Died” Out August 17th

Forthcoming Album ‘All Night Cinema’ Released August 24th

With a little help from Elton John, Just Jack has hooked up with James Nesbitt for the video of his stunning new single “The Day I Died”, which was filmed in East London last week.

In the video, you can expect to see a scintillating and chilling performance from James Nesbitt, who received a phone call from Elton John requesting the actor to star in the video.

Watch video:

Elton adopted the role of ‘Casting Director’ for the video – after listening to the sentiments of the track, Elton decided that James Nesbitt was the only man for the role.

Just Jack himself makes a cameo in the video as a paramedic for the finale of the cinematic video.

“The Day I Died”, out August 17, 2009 is Just Jack’s second single from his impressive new album ‘All Night Cinema’ released August 24th.

The track is featured on the Radio One playlist and was Sara Cox’s ‘Record Of The Week’ last week.

The video for “The Day I Died” was directed by Ben and Joe Dempsey.

Buy Music:

Just Jack on amazon.co.uk

Just Jack on amazon.com

Just Jack Official Website
Just Jack MySpace
Just Jack on Twitter

Here’s the new video from Chicane – “Poppiholla”

Watch video:

The single is now on the A list at Radio One and the band have just announced a new date at the Forum in London on 12th December, 2009.

For more music and information, go to:

Chicane MySpace
Chicane Official Website

Jason Mraz’s album ‘We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things’ has stolen a march on the Top Ten and charted at No. 8 this week.

Released on January 5th the album has been propelled by the success of hit single “I’m Yours” and has been a main-stayer all over the radio.

Jason Mraz on amazon.com

Jason Mraz amazon.co.uk

Still playlisted on the Radio One A list “I’m Yours” has been bounding up the charts and has climbed up to No. 13 on the iTunes chart – it’s already sold over 3,500,000 copies worldwide.

Accompanied by his excellent live band, Jason Mraz sets out on a world wide tour at the end of the month, visiting the US, Europe and Asia en route.

The tour features a handful of special UK dates in April, showcasing tracks from his Top Ten LP.

Jason Mraz April 2009 UK tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

Fri 3rd MANCHESTER, Academy
Sun 5th LONDON, Hammersmith Apollo
Tue 7th BIRMINGHAM, Academy
Thu 9th DUBLIN, Academy

Some of these songs are so exuberant and effortlessly melodic they wouldn’t sound out of place on a classic Paul Simon or Stevie Wonder record. – Q Magazine

Jason Mraz Official Website
Jason Mraz MySpace

We have just a handful of bands for you to peruse, here on Band Weblogs. Don’t forget to click on the bands’ website links to learn more about them and to listen to their music.

5 Bands to watch in 2008:

1. The Rushes
The Rushes are Gerard, Dan, Joe and James. Most of them met studying in Leeds. James and Gerard are post-irish, pseudo-catholic-guilt-ridden brothers from Birmingham, Dan is from London and Joe is from Colchester. They like songs more than scenes and are currently near completion of recording their first album for Island Records with producer Victor Van Vugt (Athlete, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey). The Rushes will release the first single from the album, ‘Corners’, in March 2008. Other tracks to watch out for are the brilliant “Will You Won’t You” and “What You Waiting For” – the early demo’s of these songs were released last year and can be heard on the bands myspace.

The Rushes on Myspace
The Rushes Official Website

2. Parka
Hailing from Scotland but now based in East London, Parka have already toured with the likes of Switches, Foals, Boy Kill Boy and The Young Knives this year and amassed more and more supporters along the way. Their recent XFM Scotland session saw the band cover Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” and had the studio rolling about in hysterics by the time they got to the chorus. Parka have also been featured in the Hot New Ones in the NME chart on MTV2 with the angular video for previous single “If You Wanna?”. Parka prepare to release a brand new version of “Disco Dancer” on January 7th, 2008.

Parka on Mypace
Parka Official Website

The three bands below have had a single out in 2007, but we are feeling them for 2008 so have a listen:

3. The Courteeners
Liam Fray was known around the North West prior to the formation of The Courteeners as one of Manchester’s most promising and popular songwriters. Having tired of being unable to make the big sound that he yearned for on his own, he recruited fellow Middleton dwellers, Campbell (drums), Cupello (bass) and Conan (guitar). All known to each other since school days, (Campbell lived next door but one), the transition from solo singer to band was a short and seemingly pre-ordained transition. Early shows at D-Percussion and around the Manchester area saw the band build a fanatical local following in a very short space of time and their shows soon became must attend events in the city.

When the 500 capacity Academy 3 show sold out in July prior to the band signing a record deal or even releasing a note it was clear that they were on the verge of something very special. Tickets for their Academy 2 show (1000) in October sold out as they went on sale. The Courteeners made their first appearance in London in August, playing to another sold out room that saw the mania of their Northern shows translated into a Southern context. That gig saw the music industry fall for the band and “Cavorting” became an NME single of the week whilst mentions in the tabloids and plays on Radio One only served to increase the sense that something important was happening. The next single “What Took You So Long” is set for release January 14th, 2008.

The Courteeners on Myspace

4. The Ghost Frequency
Armed with shards of broken guitar and the acidic crunch of retro analogue synths, The Ghost Frequency came screaming out of North East London like a heart on fire. In a small besmirched bedroom, with a driving fascination with electronic sound and Post-Hardcore, Doran, Murphy, Barney and Ross began piecing ideas together 10 months ago.

An impressive plethora of diverse influences (from At The Drive-In and Dead Kennedy’s, to Dead Boys, Richard Hell and all things New York punk, to the raw driving 80’s synthesis of DAF and The Normal) began to encourage The Ghost Frequency’s fast and unforgiving sound. Coupled with a love for Electro Breakdance from Cybotron plus Spank Rock and MIA and the writings of Haruki Murakami, the amalgamation was set to completion by Doran’s unhealthy preoccupation with Kate Bush, and the arrival of drummer Ben.

The Ghost Frequency are: Doran (vocals / synth), Ross (guitar / synth), Ben (drums), Murphy (guitars) and Barney (synths / computers).

The Ghost Frequency on Myspace
The Ghost Frequency review on Band Weblogs

5. Malakai
Malakai are a two-piece band from Bristol, UK. They comprise of Gee (vocals) and Scott (music). Their sound is a mix of beats and samples, drawing on a wide range of influences from dub to sixties pop, all tied together by Gee’s distinctive voice.

Discovered by Geoff Barrow from the Bristol band Portishead, to date Malakai have released a limited-edition 12″ on Barrow’s Invada label, called ‘Fading World’. ‘Fading World’ was followed up by their debut EP 1 on Island Records in September 2007. The lead track from EP 1, titled “The Battle” was Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe’s “Single of the Week” for w/c 9th July 2007 and The Guardian newspaper featured Malakai as their “New band of the day”.

Malakai on Myspace
Malakai Official Website

A Thousand Suns is an up and coming band from South Wales, set to release their debut EP, ‘Destroy Create’. The three founding members Dan Greenall, Tom Latham and Joe Latham formed the band in 2006 (with the later addition of Super G on bass), and in the past year have played all over South Wales, sharing stages with bands such as Kill The Arcade, 12 Gauge Alliance, Working Class Heroes, Klay and Resonate.

‘Destroy Create’ was produced by Romesh Dodangoda (Kids In Glass Houses, Dopamine and The Blackout) and is set for release in December 2007, with a launch party at the Cardiff Barfly planned for December 5th.

I’m not surprised that A Thousand Suns has been getting airplay on BBC Radio One and BBC Radio Wales. I can hear hints of Muse and Metallica in their music, which is interesting, and the more I listen to their new EP, ‘Destroy Create’, the more it grows on me.

They’ve produced some excellent chord progressions and changes within songs. The drummer sounds great, and is an obvious influence to their sound as well. There’s no denying the high quality of musicianship within A Thousand Suns. If you like your rock heavy, and rock music that caters to long attention spans, then they are definitely a band worth checking out.

A Thousand Suns Official Website
A Thousand Suns on Myspace

By: Jenny May – Band Weblogs

The single and forthcoming album was produced by Steve Osborne (Doves, Elbow) and was mixed by Michael Brauer (Coldplay, Kooks). “Slowly” perfectly captures Grace’s trademark sound, boasting a rapidly infectious chorus.

Previous limited edition singles “Stand Still” and “Wonderful” received much praise including the former being included in The Sunday Times top 40 pop singles of 2006. Radio support for Grace has come from Jo Whiley and Zane Lowe at Radio 1 plus playlists at Virgin Radio and XFM.

Grace have recently performed live throughout the UK and their next show will be on April 25th at the Borderline in London.

Watch the video for “Wonderful” by Grace

“Going to be huge” – The Guardian

Grace Official Website
Grace on Myspace