February 2012
10 posts
3 tags
The economics of being a Cornish indie pop band
It’s been an amazing week for new releases (and festival announcements) but hopefully not getting too lost in all the noise are the excellent Cornish indie pop collective Fire Island Pines. We featured them on our second compilation - ‘Dry Route to Devon’ as well as inviting them to play at various aih nights. Generally we’ve been pretty smitten with their own breed of...
BEST FRIENDS: EP PRE-RELEASE PARTY →
bestfriendspartyhard:
WE HAD AN EXCELLENT TIME AND WE HOPE YOU DID TOO!
MASSIVE THANKS TO CLUB 60 FOR HAVING US, MAD COLOURS AND THE BLACK TAMBOURINES FOR KILLING IT, INCEST SOUND SYSTEM FT ANIMAL HOSPITAL (possible contender for name change?), GRANDCHILDREN OF NUGGETS DJS AND DOUBLE DENIM DJS FOR PLAYING BIG ONES….
Sweet pictures from the pre release/announcement party on Saturday,...
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aih011 // Best Friends - Throwing Up Photobook EP
As ever we are extremely honoured to announce our latest release. Best Friends are a Sheffield four piece that we’ve been fans of since their very first demos started getting posted around. Their debut EP was 7 tracks of garage surf pop that perfectly embodied hazy summer days and we’re pleased to say their second EP ‘Throwing Up’ is much more of the same.
Being suckers...
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Black Tambourines / floors forever tour
Today marks the first date of the Black Tambourines second national tour and if they’re coming anywhere near your city I urge you to head along as they’re playing with some great bands and they’re pretty ok themselves.
TONIGHT - Start the Bus / Bristol (facebook event) PRO: Free alcohol CON: if you’re not already planning to go, it’s probably a bit late
TOMORROW...
schmuckish
Unfortunately I’m studying for a degree alongside running the label and I’ve had the sudden realisation that my 12,000 word dissertation is due in really soon and I’m way behind. If you’re between 18-25, use Twitter and think that you could do with a £25 amazon voucher, please fill out my quick questionnaire, I will be eternally grateful! I have till tomorrow to get 200...
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PIZZAIH04 - The Major Leagues
Pizza number 4! The resolution is going well and I hope you’re all still looking forward to each Friday as much as I am.
This week’s free download/pizza combo comes from Falmouth four piece Little Leagues, originally from Barnstaple in North Devon. Last year I somehow ended up living with a man from Barnstaple, he cooked Sainsburys Basics Drumsticks 7 days a week and left skid marks...
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PIZZAIH03 - My Teen Idol
Last week I wasted half the blog post moaning about how the Pizza Club wasn’t a covers club. Sure…we’re releasing a great song this week, but first I just need to quickly get something off my chest. Art is Hard is not a purely Southwest based label, just because we’ve focused on bands and artists from the area where we live, it doesn’t mean we’re a members...
Belated thanks
I forgot to actually ever say it, but thanks to anyone who downloaded our special Movember comp that appeared on our Bandcamp during December. I actually rememberd to count up the donations and in total I raised £70 for prostrate cancer charity/research! In other news tomorrow is Pizza Club day, hope you’re all excited. It features someone from as far away from Devon as you can possibly get.
January 2012
5 posts
2 tags
Brostep, Guitars and Plymouth
I’m going to go out on a limb and say something really uncool…it feels as though there’s never been a worse time to be a fan of alternative guitar music. I’d firstly like to point out that this is coming from a purely Plymouth perspective and secondly that my opinion is probably worth as much as a bag of Iceland chicken wings.
Considering Plymouth is the biggest city in...
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PIZZAIH02 - Not a covers club
Incase you missed the annoucement two weeks ago, or you’re new around here (hi!) we’re going to be putting out a free release every other week in 2012 (crazy new years resolution). Two weeks ago we released Bos Angeles covering KEEL HER, and when we didn’t think aih affiliated bands covering each other could get much better…this dropped into our inbox.
Firstly...
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Our ninth release is a cigarette packet
Although the whole process has made us feel like an evil major (we’ve been sitting on this great EP since September) we’re very proud to finally announce the release of Gorgeous Bully’s first physical EP - packaged in a completely unique cigarette box format.
For any not aware of the prolific output of Gorgeous Bully aka Plymouth’s Thomas Crang, he crafts...
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The biweekly aih pizza club
I’m not sure whether it came from wanting to conceive the most ridiculous new years resolution ever or reading too much of the Alan Partridge biography but we have decided for the duration of 2012 we will put out a release every other week.
Yes you did read that correctly, 26 releases over the course of the year. Where’s the quality control I hear you cry. Well that’s the...
Thanks 2011, you ruled!
Considering this time last year we were just two releases (and 3/4 months old), it’s been a pretty great year! We’ve now fully recovered from an excessive Christmas in all departments, and on this note, sorry if you placed any orders in the last couple of weeks! With all the excitement of Christmas I totally forgot to mention AIH HQ was closing down for the holidays, but if...
December 2011
4 posts
Record shopping with Cycle Schmeichel
Today me and Rich headed into Weymouth for the annual post-Christmas record fair. Joining us was one half of Cycle Schmeichel, Ryan of Sad Goalkeepers and a dude called Cameron who sometimes interns for Big Scary Monsters. All in all it was fairly disappointing trip and I forgot to take any photos, but writing more pointless blog posts is my new years resolution… I bought two 7”...
art is cheap.
At the start of the year I promised myself the summer off. I knew I’d be back by the seaside and so badly wanted to spend my days laying in tall grass and - most importantly - doing absolutely nothing. June came around and after we both fell into our inevitable previous occupations, catching only a glimpse of that summer sun.
For the few days we did manage to chill, MAZES - A THOUSAND HEYS...
November 2011
3 posts
Bad form
Realised the link in the last post wasn’t actually linking to the compilation, apologies! You can get it from here.
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No Shave November
Being the cynic I am, I started November moaning to one of my housemates how Movember is stupid because lots of people just grow moustaches and don’t even raise money. Here we are 30 days later and I’ve grown a pathetic excuse for a moustache and only collected a measly £20 from my housemates….so I’m looking for your help.
Incase you’re not fully aware, November...
6 tags
Black Tambourines set to release new EP on AIH
Last November we gave birth to a circular shaped piece of plastic, one side of which played a thrashy surfy ditty about a guy called ‘Tommy’. Since that fateful day our love for the four Cornish self-proclaimed surf punks (who hate surfing) has grown to an overwhelming level.
So it is with great pleasure we bring you news of aih008, The Black Tambourines third EP ‘Chica’...
October 2011
6 posts
7 tags
New Black Tambourines Halloween download
It’s been about 9 months since we’ve heard anything new from our favourite southwest slackers The Black Tambourines…but by god it was worth the wait. ‘A Lot of Friends’ is four minutes of perfectly constructed grunge pop and is available for free download below, or from The Black Tambourines bandcamp where you can also grab their two previous EP’s.
Within the...
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Kinnie annouce debut album, free single and...
Bournemouth/Brighton based Kinnie the Explorer were featured on our very first release and although being quiet for most of 2011, they have finally revealed the work of a summer spent recording.
‘Scissor Dance’ is the first track made available from their debut album, which is due for release in early February and it shows a clear development in sound from their debut EP. Intricate...
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Finally a video for Tommy
Although it’s almost been a year since we released The Black Tambourines split single with Exeter’s New Years Evil, someone only just got round to making a video for the song, thankfully it was worth the wait. The video features a couple of live performances as well as a couple of shots of the boys hanging around Falmouth, check it out below.
The video was put together by Hampster...
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Don't Touch Me
It has come to our attention that The Black Tambourines aren’t the only tour de force garage troupe in our parts. Up step the Gentry Underground.
They’re a three piece from Winchester and have just released a 7” on their own label, Skinbag Records. It is probably the most DIY 7” I’ve held in a long time, as it seems to consist of various bits of photocopied A4 paper and includes a...
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September 2011
3 posts
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This weeks gigs
Only a couple of gigs going on this week with our bands, but there’s a couple of other notable ones in the Southwest. Going to try and make this a weekly feature, hit us up if you have any tips. The Black Tambourines - Thursday 15th September at the Bull and Gate, London w/ Wide Sea and The May Birds - Can’t say I’ve heard of the support bands but it’s not often...
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sorry if you follow us everywhere else
but we thought we should probably let you know we’re throwing a party for our sixth release and it’s going to be in plymouth and totally radical. It’s also in freshers week, make of this what you will but if you’re to turn up in a smurfs outfit on your way to a foam party, we’re an accommodating bunch and we’ll still let you have free cakes if there’s any...
August 2011
3 posts
13 tags
Happy birthday to us, new release news!
It is with great excitement we can finally announce our sixth release, Dry Route to Devon. 365 days ago we announced our first (and now sold out) compilation Brink of the Clouds and we thought, what better way than to celebrate a year of staying up late and trying out this whole label thing than to put out another compilation.
For Dry Route to Devon we handpicked 11 bands and artists from the...
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July 2011
5 posts
5 tags
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Bos do tour, get robbed
Those who are following closely will know that our newest friends Bos Angeles headed off on a mini tour towards the end of last week. On Saturday night they were lucky enough to be able to play Tramlines festival in Sheffield sharing the stage with bands such as Milk Maid and Tall Ships.
It is with great sadness and dismay that we must share the news that just before midnight on Saturday (23rd)...
10 tags
Don't be too hard on yrself
Incase you didn’t know by now, we’re kind of in love with the Cardiff, but currently Yeovil based My Name is Ian. We dedicated a three part cassette club to him with our third release which included individual rescued charity shop cassettes, unique diary entries and signed photos (very last copy available in our shop.) So you’re kind of wondering how a release like that can be...
3 tags
changing homes
It’s always nice to receive demos and fully formed albums in the post and to receive the debut album of Plymouth based Collatone was no different. Well actually it was, it was a great pleasure to be one of the lucky 100 to receive what has fairly quickly made a large impression on me.
Although it’s pretty much the laziest thing you can do in music journalism, I’m going to put...
June 2011
3 posts
3 tags
Whatever it is you think you are
With the 5th aih release near on the horizon we thought we would interview Bewilder about their debut EP, the ideas and background behind the amazing zine that accompanies the release and Made in Chelsea amongst other things….
Who are Bewilder and how did you start? We are Thom Wilkinson and George Brooks. Well I guess we started being friends at maybe the age of eleven - Primary School...
3 tags
Biographies for boys
Just 6 days left to go until our fifth release, when the debut EP from Bewilder makes its way out into the big wide open world. Got the zines which accompany the release through today and they’re actually looking amazing! Bit gutted I wasn’t asked to contribute but it was probably for the best, in true Tumblr style I have decided to overlay someone elses words over a picture of some...
May 2011
2 posts
3 tags
aih006 // Bewilder - This Isn't Life, It's Just...
It gives us great pleasure to finally be able to announce the release of the debut EP from Southampton based Bewilder. ‘This Isn’t Life, It’s Just Stuff’ is a 6 track EP crammed with more nods to Kinsella, American sitcoms and post rock sensibilities than any humane band should be able to manage in 26 minutes. Despite being so full of reference points and influences the...
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Counting the fractures
It seems to be one of those unwritten rules of life that you will stumble across a seminal but HUGELY underrated band just as they split up. To make matters worse it often turns out this band have been playing up the road fairly reguarly for the past two years. This was certainly the case with Bournemouth’s Dutch Husband, a band with more than a nod to Malkmus and co’s slacker...
April 2011
2 posts
7 tags
clunk rewind clunk play clunk again
This week every single one of my evenings will be spent folding artwork and in a continuous state of clicking record, rewind, eject….not that I’m grumbling, I couldn’t be happier to be spending my evenings committing something as excellent as My Name is Ian’s third EP to tape.
Incase you missed the initial news, over the last three months we have been delivering tape...
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We'll make you a free mixtape...
….If you order anything from our store for the next week!
Mix CD’s will feature a mixture of other peoples cool stuff as well as stuff from our own bands; past, present and future. Each CD will come with handmade and hand drawn artwork and all completely individual. Pretty sweet right?
Above is the first one which we made for someone whose order we forgot to send out! Get yours...
March 2011
6 posts
explosions on the ceiling
Last night we were Huw Stephens’ ‘label of love’ for his BBC introducing show. It was our first batch of Radio One press, so were all round pretty excited for him wanting to play some of the songs we’d managed to fall in love with this past year. David did pretty well at the interview too. Good job David. Huw chose to play New Years Evil and Breathe Out so we put in a...
4 tags
Explosions on the ceiling
The EP is out tomorrow, managed to only get hold of my copy off rich yesterday, it’s a beautiful piece of musical magic. Here’s an acoustic version of Ride the Waves from before their interview on 6music at the weekend. Sure you don’t need any reminding, but you can download the EP version from our SoundCloud for free! dx
FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN, PARTY
Good day, internet. Tomorrow evening both N E W Y E A R S E V I L and THE BLACK TAMBOURINES will be playing The Victoria, Dalston at SCENE NOT HERD’s fantastic clubnight. Both David and I will be playing some of our favourite vinyl alongside INTERNET FOREVER and SNH themselves. It’s only £3 entry which is amazing for a Friday night in London. Come along!
NOW..
BREATHE OUT’s...