Category: Music News

Speech Debelle has ditched her label and slated them for poor sales.

The rapper, who won the Mercury Prize this year, blamed Big Dada for the record not selling well saying “I was disappointed in the people I was working with. I wasn’t on a big label and the machine wasn’t there”.

However we at Crossfire are huge fans of Ninja Tune and Big Dada and the people who work there and bring up the likes of Blockhead, Roots Manuva, Toddla T, Ghislain Poirier and Thavius Beck, and we know they work as hard as any label out there.

Looks like sour grapes from Debelle. Let’s see if her next album, on another label, sells millions…

It’s a classic tune, but have you ever seen pigs, penguins, bears and a Swedish Chef sing Bohemian Rhapsody? No? Well now you can:

There may well be a new album by The Strokes on the way.

Nikolai Fraiture of the band wrote on his twitter that he and the band’s manager went to look at studios in New York, ready for a recording session in January.

Julian Casablancas, who has recently put out a solo album, also stated that the band were due to get together in January. Watch this space.

Blood Red Shoes will play some new songs in London this Wednesday [25th].

The duo will play a set at the Cro Bar in Soho and entry is on a first-come, first-served basis. They have said the new album is heavier than the last and they’re looking forward to showing it off. To remind you of what they’re about, check the video below.

It was a strange one to witness on a on a Monday night in a cold London Town but LA’s OG hardcore act Germs flew into town to the Water Rats last night and they tore the place up good and proper.

Fronted by actor Shane West playing the role of Darby Crash who died from a heroin overdose in 1980 the band fueled by the original line up of smiley guitarist Pat Smear, bassist Lorna Doom, and bonkers drummer Don Bolles. played a 40 minute set with no security people in front of a sweaty, raucous crowd.

Look out for a live review this week and of you were wondering how this all came about after so long then check out the trailer to the film What We Do Is Secret here.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre are streaming their new album in its entirety online.

The album, titled Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?, is set to be released on January 1st 2010 and can be heard in full at the official site. The tracks are uploaded to YouTube so get set for a weird ride! Here’s a taster:

Pulled Apart By Horses have revealed dates for their new UK tour.

The band, who will be curating an “Xmas Alldayer Show” at the Cockpit in Leeds on December 5th, will hit the following dates in December:

3rd – High Wycombe, Bucks New Union
5th – Leeds, The Cockpit (Xmas Alldayer Show)(5)
15th – Glasgow, Captains Rest
16th – Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete’s
19th – Southend, Chinnerys

Always one to support Doomtree, Crossfire had to let everyone know about a new mix by Paper Tiger.

The Minneapolis producer and DJ is starting a series of mixes and has kicked things off with a 28 minute mix of 80s Electro, perfect for all the B-Boys out there. Right click and save the mix HERE and get those Ray Bans on, we’re going back in time!

We can officially announce today that Crossfire has been invited as part of the artist committee to curate at The Camden Crawl 2010.

Each year the Gaymers Camden Crawl evening line up is selected by an esteemed panel of music industry tastemakers comprised of radio DJs, club promoters, journalists, record companies and musicians representing a broad spectrum of genres and we (somehow) have been asked to host a venue for another explosive Crossfire party alongside the likes of Warp Records, 1234, Bella Union, Rough Trade and many more.

Click here for the full line up of hosts for next year’s event that will be happening on the Bank Holiday weekend of May 1st and 2nd 2010. Every venue in Camden will have various established and upcoming bands, DJ’s poets for you to cruise past with your passes that get you into every show. Some venues host huge acts, others host unsigned stuff, but every venue’s line ups are picked by the curators.

So what happens next? Well, we have nominated 50 artists that we would ideally like to play in our venue (to be revealed soon) and these include legends such as the Sex Pistols and Madness to upcoming bands such as Chickenhawk, Drop the Lime, Pulled Apart By Horses and established acts like Torche, Gallows, Mastodon, Les Savy Fav, Black Lips and more. The artists we have requested are then confirmed as being available or not and then all of the artist committee bunfight for the bill they want from the available acts that are pooled into a pot. Much fun!

Get your earlybird tickets if you are keen before they sell out and we will update you on our plans once we have figured out what sort of a night we will be curating. Rest assured though it will be one of the most explosive nights we will ever put on for you, so spread this good word as we are stoked!

Gallows are back in London to play a Vice Presents night on December 18th with Lovvers, Rolo Tomassi and Male Bonding. Check the flyer for all details.