Author: Paul Tunkin

We managed to grab a few shots of Baltic Fleet at the closing night of this year’s Liverpool Sound City – more over here on Flickr . Plus there’s a nice write up of the show thanks to Louder Than War here

Baltic Fleet is confirmed to play at the opening night of Yoko Ono’s Meltdown Festival at Southbank Centre as Liverpool’s GIT Music Award winner on June 14th 2013 as part of Meltdown Future Sounds…

“Yoko Ono has long been a supporter of new music, and this year’s Meltdown offers two new acts an opportunity to play the festival, including this year’s GIT award-winner, Baltic Fleet”

Set Times Approx: 6pm & 10pm

more: Event Info | Facebook Event

Alfa 9 will be playing live for Record Store Day in Music Mania in Stoke followed by a headline show at The Sugarmill on Saturday 20th April.

We’re pleased to announce that Blow Up Records’ Baltic Fleet was named the winner of the Liverpool’s GIT Music Award 2013 last night at Liverpool’s Leaf on Bold Street, receiving his award from the Liverpool Echo’s Peter Guy, The Quietus’ John Doran and Q Magazine’s Andrew Harrison….

“The judges believe that Towers captured the sprawling vitality of contemporary music and married this to a sonic landscape which is indicative of its birth; Northern working class cities which thrive on industry and making things happen. Flawless electronic melodies, breezeblock beats and an effortless futuristic edge”

Merseyside’s premier music prize, The GIT Award plays host to 12 shortlisted artists who compete for the £1000 prize and the chance to play Yoko Ono‘s Meltdown Festival at London’s Southbank Centre. The shortlist was then decided by a 12-strong judging panel comprising respected music industry figures including BBC 6 Music presenter and son of John Peel, Tom Ravenscroft, the editor of rock and pop music bible Q Magazine, Liverpool-born Andrew Harrison, Matt Wilkinson, NME‘s new music editor, leading UK music website,The Quietus‘ editor, John Doran plus the cornerstones of Liverpool’s music and arts scene. The twelve nominees were: Baltic Fleet, Barberos, By The Sea, Nadine Carina, Clinic, Conan, Dan Croll, John Heckle, Jetta, Tyler Mensah, Stealing Sheep, Wave Machines

Read more about: Baltic Fleet and Towers

More photos from Friday’s awards on on Flickr and Facebook

We headed up to Liverpool on Friday to see our very own  Baltic Fleet  named the winner of the ‘Scouse Mercury Prize’ aka  Liverpool’s GIT Music Award 2013.  Baltic Fleet’s Paul Fleming  received his award from the Liverpool Echo’s Peter Guy, The Quietus’ John Doran and Q Magazine’s Andrew Harrison. Here’s what they said…. “The judges believe that Towers captured the sprawling vitality of contemporary music and married this to a sonic landscape which is indicative of its birth; No rthern working class cities which thrive on industry and making things happen. Flawless electronic melodies, breezeblock beats and an effortless futuristic edge” Baltic Fleet said ” Can’t explain how much this means. An amazing night for Merseyside culture. Respect to everyone involved who made it happen.  Best City in The World” Merseyside’s premier music prize,  The GIT Award  plays host to 12 shortlisted artists who compete for the £1000 prize and the chance to play  Yoko Ono ‘s  Meltdown Festival  at London’s  Southbank Centre .  The shortlist was then decided by a 12-strong judging panel comprising respected music industry figures including BBC 6 Music presenter and son of John Peel,  Tom Ravenscroft , the editor of rock and pop music bible Q Magazine, Liverpool-born  Andrew Harrison ,  Matt Wilkinson ,  NME ‘s new music editor, leading UK music website, The Quietus ‘ editor,  John Doran  plus the cornerstones of Liverpool’s music and arts scene. The twelve nominees were: B altic Fleet, Barberos, By The Sea, Nadine Carina, Clinic, Conan, Dan Croll, John Heckle, Jetta, Tyler Mensah, Stealing Sheep, Wave Machines The Justice Collective won the Inspiration Award for their Christmas No. 1 and tireless work in supporting the fight for JFT96. Tyler Mensah won the People’s Choice Award.  More photos on Flickr and Facebook

After Friday’s GIT Awards in Liverpool we headed across to Stoke-On-Trent to see Alfa 9 celebrate Record Store Day on Saturday in their hometown with an instore gig at their local record shop Music Mania playing tracks from their new album ‘Gone To Ground’ followed by a headline show at The Sugarmill. More photos on Flickr and Facebook

We’re pleased to announce today that Baltic Fleet has made it into the GIT Awards 2013 shortlist.

The GIT Award celebrates and promotes the best of Merseyside music, and the shortlist provides a snapshot of the year in music, recognising artistic achievement across a range of genres. Here are the 12 artists that have made this year’s GIT Award shortlist read more about the awards here

Read more about Baltic Fleet’s 2012 second album Towers here

Alfa 9 ‘s second album ‘ Gone To Ground ‘ is released today! The band have signed the first 100 copies , but they’ll only by available from the official Blow Up / Alfa 9 shop – click here to order yours! The album is available from all good stockists including Amazon.co.uk and to download from stores including iTunes … More stockists here… Plus you can buy their other releases, including other limited goodies. There are even a few copies of their first album ‘ Then We Begin ‘ on vinyl signed by the first line-up.

Alfa 9 went down a storm last Saturday at This Feeling at what was their first gig in 4 years. They made a few friends along the way! The band have 2 dates lined up in their hometown Stoke, and will be back in London in 2 weeks time to support Cornershop live dates here … More photos from the gig on Flickr and Facebook …

We’re pleased to announce that Alfa 9 will be playing their first live show in over four years. The band – Ali Heath, Leon Jones, Phil Mason have expanded the line up to include John Bradbury on drums (who replaces Andy Vernon) and Chris Hillman on bass for the forthcoming live dates which are as follows:

Sat 9th Mar. • LONDON at Queen Of Hoxton (This Feeling) – on stage 9pm
Sat 23rd Mar. • STOKE-ON-TRENT at Fat Cats, Stoke-on-Trent (Octopus Club)
Thur 28th Mar. • LONDON supporting CORNERSHOP 229 The Venue W1
Sat 20th Apr. • STOKE-ON-TRENT at THE SUGARMILL