Category: Blog

Congratulations to our own  David Woodcock  – with 52% of the vote – winner of this week’s BBC Radio 6 Music Rebel Playlist with his next single ‘Relatively Single Man’ from  his self-titled debut album  – thanks to everyone who voted!

Ahead of the release of their fourth album (September 1st 2014 on Blow Up) Big Boss Man have been busy filming two new videos in Bristol. The first, and album title track ‘ Last Man On Earth ‘, sees the band as never before as (almost) unrecogniseable mod zombies stalking the streets of post-apocalyptic Bristol with a cameo from guest vocalist Princess Freesia. Director and photographer Marcus Way takes us behind the scenes… The new Big Boss Man video for Last Man on Earth concept was born from an idea created by the band, after discussing the details and the feel of the track, a post apocalyptic/mod zombie theme was decided. We had some simple webcam footage from Princess Freesia recorded and sent from Australia, for the vocal track which was to be inserted into a retro TV set in a 60’s style room shot on location in a vintage furnishing warehouse in Bristol, now for some zombie action. After a couple of hours of the band tearing up and dusting down their best mod zombie threads and attempting to poke scary contact lenses into their eyeballs, Scott, Nass, Des and Trev, in full undead garb, hauled musical instruments down disused railway tracks to an area of heavily graffitied warehouses in South Bristol. I directed them to distort their reanimated corpses as people went past on their evening runs and walks with their dogs. The Big Boss Men played the part wonderfully shaking heads and dragging feet like the crazed living dead they were. To complete the changeover we needed an extra scene to take us from the relative comfort of our suburban house out into the streets crawling with the undead, I devised an old style news report with actor Mike Bidmead, the TV crackles into an important news report that takes precedence over the original programming. The song stops and all eyes and ears turn to the TV to hear of the horror! To complete the feel of change and shutdown I shot the full moon passing through the night, time lapses of boiling, moody, cloud filled skies and a series of time lapses of Oxalis triangularis (Love Plant/False Shamrock) closing down. The final scene has the gang of rotting zombies sensing the viewer and moving toward them preparing to tuck in! The very final shot is a 7 hour, night to day time lapse overlooking Bristol, the final moments, life rushing before your eyes before you slip away, only to return as something abominable. As always it was a pleasure to work with Big Boss Man and I believe we have created something with just the right balance of horror and kitsch to entertain! Check out the  final video for ‘Last Man On Earth’ here  • Stills courtesy of Marcus Way at  marcusway.com

David Hemmings spotted near Blow Up! (c.1966) Must be fate… our current venue of choice The CLF Art Cafe (aka The Bussey Building) in Peckham features in the opening scenes of the film of the same name Blow Up … we’re back there this Saturday !

We’re pleased to announce the launch of our all new Blow Up online shop ! We’ve teamed up with Greedbag so you can now buy all your Blow Up releases on all formats in one place online as well as posters and T-Shirts, plus there’s a new rarities section including the original promo posters pictured above – available to buy for the first time! Vinyl & CDs:  All* Vinyl & CDs now come with free MP3 Download  More » Posters & Rarities:  See what we’ve found in our warehouse – including rare promotional posters (pictured above), limited vinyl and more!  More » MP3s & WAVs:   You can now get your downloads directly from us – choose from MP3s or lossless WAVs  More »

Thank you to everyone who made it to the Blow Up 20th Anniversary last week and to all the bands Baltic Fleet, Trans, Big Boss Man and DJ’s who performed. It was great to see so many old faces from far and wide – it was a blast! On Facebook : Loading photos by Blow Up . On flickr :

Tickets on sale now from: See Tickets  •  Resident Advisor  •  Gigantic  •  Ticket Web  •  WeGotTickets  •  Stargreen Click here for more info event here BIG BOSS MAN A Hip Hammond hybrid of 60’s and 70’s drenched R’n’B, Funk, Latin, Jazz, Soul and Pop. Big Boss Man are currently in the studio putting the final touches to their fourth album due out this year on Blow Up Records, and alongside brand new tracks expect such classics such as ‘Sea Groove’ and ‘Party 7’ which have won them fans worldwide. Their last album ‘Full English Beat Breakfast’ was described as:  “Effortlessly hip”   **** – Echoes   “Their best album yet”  **** – Record Collector   “Big Boss Man are back and groovier than ever”   Clash   Big Boss Man Facebook BALTIC FLEET Described as ‘psychedelic post-punk krautrock’, GIT-Award winner and Liverpool Music Awards Nominee (Best Album ‘Towers’, 2013) Baltic Fleet is the moniker of multi-instrumentalist and DIY producer Paul Fleming (ex-Bunnymen) who recently returned with his second album ‘Towers’ which was described as: “Immense. Fleming has upped the ante on an already stellar debut”   Rough Trade Shops ‘Album Of The Week’ & ‘Albums Of The Month’ “A sublimely cinematic blend of kosmische musik, dream pop”    9/10 Subba-Cultcha “One of the finest records from Liverpool in years”   Liverpool Echo  “Fascinating, soulful electronica”  Mojo Baltic Fleet Facebook TRANS We’re pleased to announce that Bernard Butler and Jackie McKeown’s new project TRANS will be playing on February 15th. They will shortly be releasing their second EP on Rough Trade Records. TRANS Facebook

BLOWUP.CO.UK This year saw the  Blow Up Club   launch a brand new residency at The Bussey Building in Peckham, London and in October the club reached it’s 20th Anniversary ( read more ) – we’ll be celebrating officially on  Saturday 15th February 2014 . Over at  Blow Up Records , 2013 saw  Baltic Fleet   win this year’s Liverpool GIT Award, be nominated for Liverpool Music Awards Album of The Year (along side Miles Kane and Ian Skelly) and perform at Yoko Ono’s Meltdown.  more / listen… After a long haitus  Alfa 9  returned with the stripped back West-Coast influenced second album Gone To Ground and swung back into live action.  more / listen… 2013 also saw two debut releases for new signings  Daiquiri Fantomas  and  David Woodcock . Sicilian experimental duo  Daiquiri Fantomas  released their debut album ‘MHz Invasion’ this August, including the fantastic ‘Moogchile’ described as ‘ Air meets John Barry ‘.  more / listen…  Essex-based singer-songwriter  David Woodcock  released his debut single ‘Same Things’, and the ltd. 7″ ‘Tease’  more / listen… Whilst  Fay Hallam  continued her UK & European tour dates in support of last year’s ‘Lost In Sound’  more / listen… Meanwhile both Big Boss Man and The Bongolian have been touring around Europe, whilst The Bongolian returned for two storming sets at  Blow Up  this October and December. BLOW UP 2013 TRACK HIGHLIGHTS ON YOUTUBE “Immense” ROUGH TRADE SHOPS ALBUM OF THE WEEK & AN ALBUM OF THE MONTH “Exceptional motorik beats”   NME “A sublimely cinematic blend of kosmische musik, dream pop” 9/10 SUBBA-CULTCHA “Something very special indeed” CRACK MAGAZINE “One of the finest records from Liverpool in years” LIVERPOOL ECHO AN ALBUM OF THE YEAR: LOUDER THAN WAR, VIVE LE ROCK, CRACK MAGAZINE, LIVERPOOL ECHO, RESIDENT RECORDS & MORE. .. BALTIC FLEET   Following on from the critical success of the second album  ‘ Towers ‘ , this April  Baltic Fleet won Liverpool’s GIT Award  (other nominees included Clinic, Dan Croll, Stealing Sheep and Wave Machines), and was invited to play the opening night of  Yoko Ono’s Meltdown this June  at London’s Southbank Centre: “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. Flawless electronic melodies, breezeblock beats and an effortless futuristic edge” Although  Baltic Fleet  is essentially the solo recording project of Paul Fleming, his live band have since played around the UK and Europe, shows including  Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia ,  Soundcity ,  Sheffield Sensoria , Norwich S&V. This year they’ve played with  Public Service Broadcasting  (caught in action performing ‘ The Wilds ‘ and ‘ Toire De ‘),  Hookworms  and The Portico Quartet   more … OUR TOP TRACKS:  Headless Heroes ,  Frosklia LISTEN: Towers  – 2nd album ( YouTube  |  Download/Buy )  Baltic Fleet  – debut album ( YouTube  |  Download/Buy )  Read more “A fascinating combination of sounds, drawing from the last half-century of electronic music” Shindig! “Like John Barry who’s just taken delivery of a new Moog. Very filmic”  RADCLIFFE & MACONIE, BBC 6MUSIC “You wouldn’t blink if someone told you it was from the Sheffield-era Warp label. Or Air”  The Guardian New Band Of The Day DAIQUIRI FANTOMAS   This August  Daiquiri Fantomas  released ‘ MHz Invasion ‘, the debut album from the Sicilian experimental Avant-Pop duo Marco Barrano and Dario Sanguedolce. A mainly instrumental cocktail of ideas with a Retro-Futuristic flavour, encompassing Prog, Sci-Fi movie soundtracks & Kosmische ( youtube album sampler ). Single ‘Moogchile’ described as ‘Air meets John Barry’ receiving spot plays on BBC 6 Music from Don Letts, Gideon Coe, Radcliffe and Maconie and Chris Hawkins and Huey Morgan on BBC Radio 2.  more … OUR FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Moogchile ,  Logarhythm LISTEN: MHz Invasion  – debut album ( YouTube  |  Download/Buy )  Read more “A pillow of jangly guitars and sweet harmonies. A beautiful record”  Shindig! “A sublime mix of 12-string led summer-breeze pop, an outstanding melodic soundtrack of skilfully crafted songs”  8 Out of 10  – Vive Le Rock “The Stoke songsmiths are back, and it’s been well worth the wait”   CLASSIC ROCK AN ALBUM OF THE YEAR: VIVE LE ROCK, PODROPHENIA, ACTIVE LISTENER, POP JUNKIE ALFA 9   After a long haitus  Alfa 9  followed their highly acclaimed debut with ‘ Gone To Ground ’ a much more stripped back affair, the most recent single from which ‘El Morocco’ was playlisted for 4 weeks on  BBC 6 Music  (1.9 million listeners UK & Worldwide) (other singles receiving numerous spot plays). They now have BBC Radio sessions  under their belt for  6 Music ,  BBC Stoke  and BBC Liverpool . The band have swung back into live action with dates up and down the UK including the  Annual Liverpool Psych Fest  and a support for  Poltergeist  in December  more … OUR FAVOURITE TRACKS:  El Morocco ,  Seedless LISTEN: Gone To Ground  – 2nd album ( YouTube  |  Download/Buy )  Then We Begin  – debut album ( YouTube  |  Download/Buy )  Read more ” [A] match made in heaven hark back to when pop music had a whole heap of soul and backbone! Addictive stuff ”  4 STARS – BLUES & SOUL “An immediate pleasure, and wonderfully seductive”  SHINDIG! “Time-defying soul”   9/10 VIVE LE ROCK AN ALBUM OF THE YEAR: VIVE LE ROCK & PODROPHENIA FAY HALLAM & THE BONGOLIAN   Fay Hallam and Nasser Bouzida  AKA ‘ The Bongolian ‘ met when both playing a live show at Blow Up, and they soon discovered that they both shared a serious passion for 60’s Hammond Beat and Soul. On ‘ Lost In Sound ‘, their first collaboration, they immersed themselves in the music they both love, from Bossa Nova, heavier 70’s grooves, Latin and Northern Soul, with a choice of classic instruments including old Rhodes, Wurlitzer and Hammond C3 keyboards and other vintage equipment, mixing in some analogue synths. The album was released to critcal acclaim and Fay Hallam continues to tour the album in both the UK and Europe with more dates lined up for 2014 more … OUR FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Dancing ,  Freefall LISTEN: Lost In Sound  – debut album ( YouTube  |  Download/Buy )  Read more “A great little pop record”  STEVE LAMACQ, BBC 6MUSIC “Essex has a bit of form when it comes to delivering maverick pop geniuses with a gift for mixing a smidgeon of music hall with a dash of 60s pop and creating inspired, but intelligent tunes” BRANDISH.TV DAVID WOODCOCK   David Woodcock  is a singer song writer based in his hometown of Southend-on Sea, who recently signed to Blow Up in 2012 and he has just finished recording his debut album, due for release early 2014 A pianist and prolific writer, with a strong local following around the pubs and clubs of Southend, he has been building up a solid songbook of sharp lyrics and great melodies that are have been distilled into his debut  more … OUR FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Same Things LISTEN: Same Things  – debut single (Y ouTube  |  Download/Buy )  Beggars Can’t Be Choosers / Tease  – 2nd single (Y ouTube  | Download/Buy )  Read more October 16th  this year marked exactly 20 years to the day when doors opened to the Blow Up club for the first time. Since then it has become a bona-fide legendary club night, being at the centre of the early to mid Nineties Brit Pop explosion, cited as the catalyst and birth place of the Brit Pop scene and influencing the style and sound of a generation. Blow Up was voted as  No.4 in Time Out’s Top Ten Clubs of the 90s , one of ‘ 5 Classic Clubs of Out Time ‘ by Vox Magazine (alongside The Blitz Club and Shoom) and as ‘The club that changed the world’ by Melody Maker. More recently Blow Up appeared in  Time Out’s London Calling  which described the club as “the breeding gournd of the Brit Pop sound” and in NME’s Original’s  Top Ten Britpop Moments . From its origins at The Laurel Tree, Camden Town (1993-1996), to Soho venues the Wag Club (1996-2001) the Metro Club (2002-2009), and through various London venues since (2009-2013), Blow Up is one of London’s longest running club nights. We’ve hosted events in Europe, and further afield, with events in USA, Russia and Japan, whilst the Blow Up club compilations (‘Blow Up A-Go-Go!’ and ‘Blow Up presents Exclusive Blend’) have proved popular worldwide. See more:  Blow Up press here  and flyers in the  Blow Up scrapbook here There is nowhere else quite like Blow Up, and in many ways it’s still unique. ‘Blow Up may be inspired by the ’60s,’ wrote Time Out years ago, ‘but their night could run and run.’ It looks set to do just that. Time Out London, January 2009  “Year after year, Blow Up just seems to get better”   The Evening Standard  No.4: Time Out’s Top Ten Club’s of The 90s  “The club that changed the world”   Melody Maker   “This is the night which spawned a thousand bands, inspiring fashion designers and stylists to recreate the look for the mainstream”   The Guest List  “Legendary”   Time Out, Evening Standard, NME  The Roxy, Blitz Club, Shoom, Syndrome & Blow Up: Vox Magazine’s 5 Classic Clubs of our Time  “The London clubland institution”   The Guardian Guide

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM BLOW UP!! Read on below for what’s been happening in 2013 at Blow Up featuring: BALTIC FLEET  /  ALFA 9  /  DAIQUIRI FANTOMAS  /  DAVID WOODCOCK   /  FAY HALLAM  and… 20 YEARS OF BLOW UP Need an antidote to the Festive cheer?  Here’s  little melancholy indie-pop video for Christmas  from Sweden’s  Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck  shot a few days ago in Stockholm. COMING UP in 2014 – Stay Tuned : FEB. 15th – BLOW UP 20th ANNIVERSARY feat. STEREO TOTAL + BIG BOSS MAN *Just Announced*

October 16th this year marked exactly 20 years to the day when doors opened to Blow Up for the first time.  Celebrate our Anniversary with us this February when we’ll be taking over two floors at The Bussey Building! More TBA soon but there’s a limited amount of early bird tickets on sale today  from:  See Tickets   •   Resident Advisor   •   Gigantic   •   Ticket Web   •   WeGotTickets  •  More info BLOWUP.CO.UK CLUB: • LABEL:  • ALL: