BA Newsletter 9.6.06

*After several years of relative dark horses taking it, THE ARCTIC MONKEYS have won this year's Mercury Prize. The Monkeys beat out RICHARD HAWLEY, EDITORS, MUSE, THOM YORKE, GUILLEMOTS and several others to take the award, which went to ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS last year. HMV reported that Richard Hawley's album saw the biggest sales spike as a result of the nominations.

*The lineup for this year's Pill Halloween show has been announced - LIFESTYLE will play as NEW ORDER, THE DAILY PRAVDA will take on SUEDE, and THE 8MM FUZZ will do their best ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN. All happening Halloween night at Great Scott.

*Sad news from radio-land - WOXY.com is folding after two years as an internet-only radio station. After trying several different fundraising options, they continued to come up short and have decided to pull the plug, barring the appearance of a generous benefactor. September 15th is expected to the last day for the station.

*OASIS will re-record their beloved b-side "Acquiesce" and release it as a proper UK single ahead of the release of their upcoming collection "Stop the Clocks". No release date has been given for the single yet.

*Promising sophomores HOPE OF THE STATES have split up, shortly after the UK release of their excellent second album "Left", which unfortunately will not be performed in front of any US audiences.

*Could THE KOOKS be the next UK band to make it big in the US? Following the lead of FRANZ FERDINAND, BLOC PARTY and ARCTIC MONKEYS, The Kooks ride into the US on a wave of favorable press and have already sold out 2 NYC shows and 1 LA show that are almost 2 months away.

*Ready Art Brut? ART BRUT have added more US tour dates, many of them with WE ARE SCIENTISTS, including October 2 at Fillmore in SF. They'll also do 2 NYC dates without WAS, October 18 at Warsaw and October 19 at Irving Plaza.

*DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE and TED LEO/PHARMACISTS will get together for a US tour this fall, stopping by Opera House in Boston on November 2, Providence Performing Arts Center on November 4, and Theater at Madison Square Garden on November 8.

*GOMEZ will be touring the US this fall, playing 3 dates in NYC (October 5-7 at Bowery), along with September 10 at the Berkeley Community Theatre and September 22 on Jay Leno. The "Five Me in a Hut" rarities & b-sides collection will be released on October 17 in the US.

*BATTLE will release their debut mini-album called "Back to Earth" on October 23 in the UK, and will include their previous singles "Tendency" and "Isabelle" but not "Demons".

*In this week's episode of "Over before it started", LES INCOMPETANTS have called it a very brief day, shortly after their aptly titled single "How It All Went Wrong" fanned out across the airwaves. Awhile back lead singer BILLY BELL was attacked in Camden and hospitalized, and following that stroke of bad luck, musical differences arose that caused the end of what I thought could have been the next FRANZ FERDINAND.

*On November 6th, MANIC STREET PREACHERS will release a bonus edition of their 1996 classic "Everything Must Go", with more than a full CD's worth of extra tracks ranging from demos to alternate takes to b-sides, and a DVD featuring video clips, live and tv performances and more.

*SOUTH will be at Mercury Lounge in NYC on October 14 & 15.

*In other Mercury Lounge news, FIELDS have sweetened the deal a bit by joining THE BLUETONES first of two shows at the club, on October 2. THE ISLES will support the Bluetones on the 3rd.

*THE MAGIC NUMBERS will give the Manics some comeptition on November 6th - that's when the band release their second album, "Those The Brokes". THE LONG BLONDES also release their debut that day.

*Chicago's THE CHANGES, who played the British Accents 6th Anniversary show at the Middle East, release their debut album on September 26, titled "Today is Tonight".

*Late singer-songwriter MATTHEW JAY's catalog will get a little bigger on September 24, the third anniversary of his death from a fall in London, when an untitled, unreleased track found on his home computer is made available for download. Head to www.matthewjay.com to find the track.

*Attention fans of PAUL WELLER and the Fred Perry line - Weller and the company have joined forces to create a limited edition polo shirt that quickly sold out of the first run, so they're making a few more to satisfy the demand. To sign up, go here: http://www.fredperry.com/paulweller/

*BOX CODAX, the side project of FRANZ FERDINAND guitarist NICK McCARTHY, release their debut "Only an Orchard Away" in the UK this week.

*THE CORAL are recording their 4th album right now at NOEL GALLAGHER's studio in Buckinghamshire.

*TAHITI 80 will make a rare apperance in Boston on November 20 at the Paradise Lounge.

*DINOSAUR JR add their name to the long list of bands who have had their equipment stolen in New York - the band lost a trailer full of gear recently and are hoping that other musicians might identify the missing gear. www.filter-mag.com has a full list of the lost instruments.

*THE RAPTURE will make their return to Boston at the Axis on All Saint's Day (November 1).

*SUFJAN STEVENS loves Jesus. Which is why, for the past 5 years, ol' Sufjan has recorded a handful of songs as a birthday present to his savior. Those songs will be compiled and released as a box set on November 13, just in time for your holiday shopping.

*Last Sunday's British Accents radio playlist can be viewed here:
http://www.spinitron.com/public/index.php?station=wmfo&month=Sep&year=2006&plid=3158

*You can download the entire show on your iPod or iTunes (ala a
podcast) by going to www.wmfo.org and clicking on British Accents
"last show" on the schedule page.