Tik and Tok Announce the Release of Dream Orphans

After a 22 year lunch break they're back with a brand new 13 track album Dream Orphans. It's a musical journey from lo - fi ambient to full- on electronica and it's yours to purchase now from http://www.tikandtok.com. Go on, you know you want to!

Tik and Tok

When robotic act Plastic Joe and mime and music outfit Shock got together in 1980 the seeds of Tik + Tok were sown. Shock played at legendary venues at their height like the Hacienda, The Blitz and The Warehouse, became a key part of the New Romantic movement and recorded with Rusty Egan (Visage) and Richard Burgess (Landscape). Tik and Tok consisted of Tim Dry and Sean Crawford with Barbie Wilde, Robert Pereno, L.A. Richards and Carole Caplin.

“Mime was where we started. It was our chicken or was it our egg? We never wanted to be human! Then bit by bit we bought some music equipment so we could start to make our own little soundtracks for Mime ideas we had. We've always seen ourselves as being abstract visual artists who just happen to make music as well.” Tik

When Shock split soon after, Tik + Tok appeared everywhere from the Covent Garden Piazza to the 1983 Royal Variety Show, on countless TV shows and had key roles in 80's sci-fi creepfest Xtro. A young band called Depeche Mode supported them live, they released a series of cracking electronic singles on the Survival label and one album, Intolerance, shortly before disappearing from the music scene in 1984.

“A mix of everything that we liked musically at the time. Movies like Blade Runner too. Plus needing tracks that we could create a Mime piece to. Oh, and sex and Sci Fi too of course! We'd already got Vile Bodies so we kind of built side 2 of Intolerance around that. Side 1 of the album was geared towards a more 'Poppy' kind of stance, but deep down we were still wanting to be unearthly and quite weird musically. The pop stuff was fun to tart around to but I think that both of us now feel that we're quite glad that we didn't have a hit single. No 'Buzzcocks' or revival tours for us!” Tik

After 21 years away from the live circuit, Tik + Tok have reformed and re-emerged earlier this year at the annual Elektrofest festival whipping up a storm. Back to finish what they started, the time was perfect to communicate with the legendary Robots.

WAW: Electric Six- Danger! High Voltage

Happy Valentine's Day!

Instant Hit: Les Rita Mitsuoko- C'est Comme Ca

"C'est Comme Ça" was a big hit for the French group Les Rita Mitsouko in 1986. The single was released through Virgin Records and it was taken from their second album The No Comprendo which was produced by Tony Visconti. It remained as one of the biggest hits for Les Rita Mitsuoko. In 2007, Fred Chichin the original founding member died from cancer. 

The Killers Cover Joy Division's Shadowplay for the Upociming Ian Curtis Bipoic

The Killers have covered the 1979 Joy Division song "Shadowplay" for the soundtrack to the forthcoming movie about the life of the band's front man Ian Curtis. The movie, Control, is based on the book Touching From A Distance, by Curtis' widow Deborah who also co-produced the movie. She is played by Samantha Morton. The film was directed by famed music video director Anton Corbijn. As previously reported on nme.com, New Order have recorded the incidental music for the movie, and are also mooted to be re-recording a number of Joy Division tracks. The biopic is set for a September 2007 release

Arcade Fire Announce the Release of Neon Bible

Neon Bible is Arcade Fire's second full length album, due for release on March 5, 2007 in Europe and March 6, 2007 in North America. Rumors began on December 16, 2006 that the band may have their own label, after the Zane Lowe website was altered, to show Intervention - Arcade Fire (ArcadeFireMusic) from (Mercury). However, Neon Bible is scheduled for release by Rough Trade. The first single for the UK is "Keep the Car Running".

Air-Pocket Symphony

Air are set to release the follow-up to 2004's Talkie Walkie on March 6 on Astralwerks. The record is titled Pocket Symphony, features artwork by contemporary artist Xavier Veilhan, and was recorded with Nigel Godrich over the last year and a half. Both Air members, Nicolas Godin and JB Dunckel (aka Darkel), sing on the album, and Jarvis Cocker and the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon contribute vocals as well.

 

Dali's Car

Dalis Car was a musical group formed in 1984 by Peter Murphy and Mick Karn soon after Murphy and Karn left their former bands (Bauhaus and Japan, respectively) to the great disappointment of the numerous fans. They took their name from a Captain Beefheart song from his album Trout Mask Replica. 

Formed by former Bauhaus vocalist/ lyricist Peter Murphy and Japan bassist/composer Mick Karn. Some say that Dalis Car was doomed almost from the start and that the group nearly self-destructed itself, before it was disbanded.

“It was a particularly difficult project. We were two very different people.Socially we were fine, but no matter how good the idea of working together sounded, when it did come to work, we couldn't get on. However, I do think the end result makes for a very interesting album. Situations full of tension can often be the most creative. Perhaps due to our strong, opposing opinions, there's a certain strength to Dalis Car. I doubt if there will be a reunion.” Mick Karn

 

image courtesy of amazon.com

Their album, The Waking Hour, released in 1984, came in at more than thirty thousand dollars over the sixty thousand dollar budget given them by Virgin and Beggars Banquet. As a commercial failure, back then, the album produced one equally disappointing single,"The Judgement Is The Mirror" In musical styles it is post punk with oriental elements and folk. The painting on The Waking Hour cover is by Maxfield Parish, an American artist who used to paint happy psychedelic pictures just like for the food ads.

 

Update:
In August 2010, Peter Murphy announced on Twitter that he and Karn were planning to head into the studio in September to begin work on the second Dalis Car album. The project was cut short, however, as Karn had recently been diagnosed with cancer. He died on 4 January 2011, thus ending the reunion. The tracks they did record—including a re-working of "Artemis" from The Waking Hour with newly added vocals, guitar, and drums, and renamed Artemis Rise—were released on 5 April 2012 as an EP entitled InGladAloneness.

Source: Wikipedia (edit)

Fay Ray

Formed by Sheila McCartney (vocals, percussion), John Lovering (guitar), Owen Hughes (drums), Tony Travis (bass, vocals), and Jeff Taylor (wind), Fay Ray debuted in 1980 with the 7" single "Family Affairs" and three live tracks on the compilation 101 Live Letters. Named after famous photographer William Wegman's dog, Fay Ray faded into obscurity after its record label locked its second LP in the vault, refusing to release it once the group was dropped.

McCartney's voice resembled Siouxsie Sioux's, but Fay Ray had a more accessible pop sound than its post-punk peers. The group filmed two videos, "Modern Lovers" and "Heatwave" that received some airplay during MTV's early years and were revived by VH1 Classic in 2002.

The band was never able to catapult itself from its small cult following to a mainstream audience. Its 1982 debut album, Contact You, was a flop. Signed to Elektra Records, Fay Ray had just finished recording its follow-up when the company pulled the plug and kept the masters. Disillusioned, the group broke up. 

Interest in Fay Ray was revived when the band's records were discovered in used music stores by new wave collectors and shared via mp3 format over the Internet. However, the band's entire discography remained unreleased on CD.

The Shins- Wincing The Night Away

Wincing the Night Away, the third album by indie rock group The Shins, was released by Sub Pop Records on January 23, 2007. It is the band's final album under their current contract. Recording for the album occurred in James Mercer’s basement studio, Phil Ek’s home in Seattle, and in Oregon City with veteran producer Joe Chicarelli (Beck, U2). One single from this album, "A Comet Appears", was featured in the pilot of the new television show, Chuck.