Wednesday, 20 August 2014

Fragile Creatures


Fragile Creatures EP
Brighton seems to be producing a wealth of musical goodness of late and Fragile Creatures are pushing their way to the forefront of that trend after an enforced hiatus due to tragic circumstances. After a successful start to 2013; including starting to record an album, David Vatchnadze, their mentor and founder of Indie record label DNVMusic sadly passed away.

They're now back and releasing an EP of four carefully crafted, pop-tastic guitar driven tracks on August 31st as a follow up to their debut, double A side single Dear Michael/She Makes Me Nervous.










This Fragile Creatures EP should see them riding high on the current wave of poppy guitar bands with four well produced and extremely catchy tracks, the first of which is the EP's title track Fragile Creatures. It's stylish guitar and smooth vocal make for easy listening, especially on a sunny August day like today. 




Next up is the aptly titled Sunshine with slight shades of The Cure in the intro and it's an upbeat, bouncy track that's guaranteed to be a Fragile Creatures fans favourite. 

Stowaways is a moodier, more stylish rendering, and closing track End Of The World (For Two) with its dark lyric embedded on a paradoxically light and airy musical arrangement giving it a very late 60's Beatles feel.













Fragile Creatures are  Adam Kidd (vocals/guitar), Aaron Neville (keyboards/vocals), Tom Alty (guitar/vocals), James Crump (drums), Adam Whittles (bass) and they will be playing the following dates...







April 23






Saturday, 16 August 2014

Ralph's Top 10 Blogged Band Chart - 16.8.14

Visit Ralph's profile on Pinterest.

Ralph's Pinterest
                                                

                                                    OK bands you know the score.....

the more hits your blog gets by the fans..... 

the higher you go.....

So Tweet it, Facebook it.....

and generally expose yourself.....






Now Mr Snuggles and me have been sitting with our heads down counting the hits on each bands blog to see who's got which place.  

So here it is.....

The Top Ten Blogged Band Chart .....








No 1..... Wullae Wright


Displaying Superhero-finished.jpg
Ralph's previously blogged Wullae Wright and it's proved to be the most well read of any over the last couple of years. Needless to say it was good news when Wullae Wright got in touch to say he was releasing 'Superhero' as a single. The story of the song is no less poignant than Wullae Wright's plaintive vocal which, overlaid on subtle acoustic guitar with an orchestral background is just as heart wrenching as the single's message. 








Back in October of last year it was with a heavy heart that Ralph reported on The Invisible Ray, an album that was to be the swansong of The Low Countries (mainly comprised of Nigel Parrington and Els D'hooge). Ralph had a chat with Nigel at the time and he reported that he felt 'all songed out'.




No 3.....Villiers




Ralph's been keeping an eye on Lancashire lads Villiers for a bit now and, with the imminent release of a Double A Side single (You're Not Alone/Nowhere Left To Run) as a follow up to the excellent 'Dancer', this seemed as good a time as any to spread the good musical word. They're very much in the same mould as London electro boys Thumpers or Resonate from Sheffield, but with a bit of a mean and moodier edge as shown on 'Dancer'.










Sonic Hearts Foundation - 'Afterlife'

Seeing as Ralph's heading on a road trip home soon, it's about time a few Scottish bands were featured. The first being Sonic Hearts Foundation from Glasgow, who Ralph gave a spin on last Sunday's Indie Show on Radio KC. They're releasing a new Single 'Afterlife' on August 11th and it's a follow up to their critically acclaimed 'Into Forever' EP.








Photo: Our EP Howlin' is out now and available for download on iTunes and amazon worldwide
UTRRalph's featured Birmingham band Broken Witt Rebels a couple of times now on his Radio KC Indie Show and always to some great feedback, so it was with great interest that he checked out their newly released EP Howlin'.

Released this week, it's five tracks of bluesy, gutsy and downright nasty rock 'n' roll in the style of Bad Company or Family from back in the day. Lean, mean, punch you in the face and buy you a drink after tunes, proper music for grown ups.







No 6....Jane Allison


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It's no secret Ralph's a fan of crowdfunding and when he heard that Welsh singer songwriter and actress Jane Allison Stanness would be releasing her debut solo Americana album “Just Another Girl” under the name Jane Allison using Kickstarter it was time to investigate.













Ralph's recently been listening to a lot of 'proper' music for 'grown ups' and in this category comes the recently released EP King Of Crows by Sheffield band Braver Than Fiction. It's a collection of four live tracks that set off vocalist Mel's bluesy infused vocals against some snazzy Steampacket-esque Hammond organ-ising.









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Ralph doesn't usually put blogs out on a Friday, what with the weekend being sacred and all, however when he heard that The Bedroom Hour were releasing their new album Hinterland on the 11th of July he made an exception and wound up the turntable.

There's a couple of old favourites on there in Nocturnal and Heart Will Haunt, but it's the new material that intrigues.








No 9.....TITORS INSIGNIA 




Photo: It's Finally Here Folks, 

Our long awaited 2nd album "GET YOURSELF A NAME" is set to be released via any digital download site on 11.08.14 and hard copys to follow

recorded at JARAF HOUSE STUDIO and cover Sleeve photo by Legendary Photographer BRIAN CANNON your gonna love it.

Track Listing - GET YOURSELF A NAME

1. Kiss like a Rattle snake
2. Lay it on the Line
3. Closing Time
4. Wake up Wake up
5. Forgiving Kind 
6. I Need the Real Thing
7. Movin on
8. Beg, Plead & Pray
9. Get yourself a Name
10. Born this Way (but that's ok)
11. The Sky's The Limit

We would like to thank every one who has supported T.i over the past 6 years we have been rocking the country and a Special Thanks to 

Angelica Fenney for Hair & Make-up & for all her hard work in managing us through blood sweat and tears, and a broken down car on the way to a scotland gig.... lmfao xx

John Kettle from Jaraf House Studio for producing the epic songs and giving us the opportunity to record a few of his own & his wife Virginia Kettle songs we have recorded with him tracks 1, 5, 6. and all the Coffee we made for him but not like slutch (he says in a wigan voice)

And to the brilliant famous photographer Brian Cannon for taking the album sleeve shot & Noreen Osborne for Modeling for it, its gonna blow your minds..also Brian and having the patients to ways around for a 3 hours late band member, there's always a story when it comes to a Titors Event...

Jp Braddock from Formation Audio Post Production & Mastering

Location of sleeve, the sleeve was taken in the cinema bar in St. Helens. A massive thanks to Kev & Andy for letting us use there venue. Quality lads. 

Also to our sponsors Classy Cuts, Mandy Shandy Miller & Anarchy Tattoo Studio, Ste Cliffe for making us look the part and supplying us with great tattoos.. x
x

Thanks 

Much Love & Peace

T.i

Well it's finally here, St Helens band TITORS INSIGNIA are releasing Get Yourself A Name - their long awaited,11 track follow-up album to Fair City Riots tomorrow. It includes their rock it out classic track Beg, Plead and Pray which featured on the Ralph's Life CD for mental health charity Rethink.











No 10..... Kat Healy 


Ralph's been a fan of Edinburgh singer/songwriter Kat Healy since hearing her track 'The Haunting' which featured on her debut album back in 2012, Be Still Gentle Kind. The good news is she's releasing a new five track EP today (11th August) called When You Are Gone on digital download and a limited edition CD. Once again it's produced by Gary Boyle at Edinburgh's Depot Studios and it coincides with tour dates commencing in Glasgow on the 14th of August and onwards until Stuttgart in December.

Thursday, 14 August 2014

Titors Insignia


Photo: It's Finally Here Folks, 

Our long awaited 2nd album "GET YOURSELF A NAME" is set to be released via any digital download site on 11.08.14 and hard copys to follow

recorded at JARAF HOUSE STUDIO and cover Sleeve photo by Legendary Photographer BRIAN CANNON your gonna love it.

Track Listing - GET YOURSELF A NAME

1. Kiss like a Rattle snake
2. Lay it on the Line
3. Closing Time
4. Wake up Wake up
5. Forgiving Kind 
6. I Need the Real Thing
7. Movin on
8. Beg, Plead & Pray
9. Get yourself a Name
10. Born this Way (but that's ok)
11. The Sky's The Limit

We would like to thank every one who has supported T.i over the past 6 years we have been rocking the country and a Special Thanks to 

Angelica Fenney for Hair & Make-up & for all her hard work in managing us through blood sweat and tears, and a broken down car on the way to a scotland gig.... lmfao xx

John Kettle from Jaraf House Studio for producing the epic songs and giving us the opportunity to record a few of his own & his wife Virginia Kettle songs we have recorded with him tracks 1, 5, 6. and all the Coffee we made for him but not like slutch (he says in a wigan voice)

And to the brilliant famous photographer Brian Cannon for taking the album sleeve shot & Noreen Osborne for Modeling for it, its gonna blow your minds..also Brian and having the patients to ways around for a 3 hours late band member, there's always a story when it comes to a Titors Event...

Jp Braddock from Formation Audio Post Production & Mastering

Location of sleeve, the sleeve was taken in the cinema bar in St. Helens. A massive thanks to Kev & Andy for letting us use there venue. Quality lads. 

Also to our sponsors Classy Cuts, Mandy Shandy Miller & Anarchy Tattoo Studio, Ste Cliffe for making us look the part and supplying us with great tattoos.. x
x

Thanks 

Much Love & Peace

T.iWell it's finally here, St Helens band TITORS INSIGNIA are releasing Get Yourself A Name - their long awaited,11 track follow-up album to Fair City Riots tomorrow. It includes their rock it out classic track Beg, Plead and Pray which featured on the Ralph's Life CD for mental health charity Rethink.

The sleeve picture is the work of none other than the near legendary photographer, graphic designer, art director, video director and band manager Brian Cannon, whose best known work was the cover for the Oasis debut album Definitely Maybe...quite a coup for TITORS INSIGNIA!



You can pre-order the album by clicking HERE...



Photo courtesy of AliKat Photography



  1. Kiss like a Rattle snake
  2. Lay it on the Line
  3. Closing Time
  4. Wake up Wake up
  5. Forgiving Kind
  6. I Need the Real Thing
  7. Movin on
  8. Beg, Plead & Pray
  9. Get yourself a Name
  10. Born this Way (but that's ok)
  11. The Sky's The Limit





Photo: NEW TITORS LOGO, WHAT YOU THINK FOLKS.....BRITISH & PROUD...

Photo

Wednesday, 13 August 2014

Stand Up To Stigma - Time To Change



Now it's no secret Ralph's always up for a laugh and that he has a soft spot for raising mental health awareness after the Ralph's Life CD, so it's no surprise that when he heard there was a project in St Helens using comedy to help end mental health discrimination he quickly checked it out. 






The Stand Up To Stigma project in St Helens is funded by Time To Change and they have established a Comedy Course in conjunction with The Comedy Trust alongside a number of events in the offing that are aimed at ending mental health discrimination through public interaction and the medium of laughter. 







What's the connection between Ralph and mental health? Well depression is called Black Dog and there's a big black dog in a very funny video by Time To Change called Wolfpack. That and the Ralph's Life CD to raise funds and awareness for Rethink Mental Illness of course!





Time to Change is England’s mental health anti-stigma programme run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness and funded by The Department of Health, Comic Relief and Big Lottery Fund.  The programme is distributing grants to local community-led projects as part of its drive to improve public attitudes and behaviour in relation to mental health.







Stand Up To Stigma, which is led by people with mental health problems, will use the grant to establish meaningful and open conversations with others in the local area. The aim is to bring people who don’t have mental health problems into social contact with those who do. 

Evidence suggests that this kind of contact is one of the most effective ways of breaking down stigma and discrimination.




Displaying Stand Up To Stigma Email Flyer 250614.jpgThe project will run a series of short stand up comedy courses that use a variety of creative techniques to help develop the skills and confidence of people living with mental health problems. 


Each course will culminate in four comedy events taking place in local libraries across St Helens, where course participants will engage audience members through their stand up routines and one to one conversations which will enable them to talk about their mental health issues. The Stand Up To Stigma project will be delivered in partnership with Addaction, St Helens Mind and St Helens Council.






Stand Up To Stigma comedy events are the finale to the six week comedy course involving people with lived experience of mental health issues. The events will showcase the routines written and performed by the budding comedians and will be introduced by Liverpool stand-up, Sam Avery. There will also be a chance to chat to the participants about their own experiences after they have performed. So please do come along, have a laugh and help to ‘stand up to stigma’. Comedy events are free. 

As said, Ralph's always up for a laugh, so I've joined up too! The relevant expression is - 'bricking it'.




Update:

Having just 'broken my bones' on evening two of the six week course by doing three minutes of 'comedy' material that I'd written, I can only say that I have the utmost respect for anyone that gets up on stage and performs stand up. As Sam Avery was quoted as saying - 'it's easier to become a Jedi'. 



Update:


The six week course is long gone and I've since performed a couple of times in St Helens. The second of which was in front of over 50 people in Central Library where the project finale will be taking place on January 16th.  There's 120 tickets available for that one from this link (word on the street is there's only 20 left) and they're free!


If you want any more info call a mental health helpline & choose the relevant option - For OCD, press 1 - repeatedly...if you're co-dependent...get someone else to press 2.



I'm here all week...however here's a video of the wife killing it at the big Stand Up To Stigma Finale in St Helens Library on January 16th...







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Here's just a few pictures of the Stand Up To Stigma Comedy Event in Newton Le Willows Library...it was a tremendous success with both the performers and the crowd enjoying a great afternoons entertainment and afterwards, discussions about mental health issues.
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