Riffed

Jack White has followed up the release of new album 'Lazaretto' with a tour. The tour consists of three UK dates :

17 Leeds, First Direct Arena

18 Glasgow, SSE Hydro

19 London, O2 Arena

Tickets for these dates will go on sale Friday 13th June at 9 am GMT. We assume many fans will be setting their alarms to purchase these before they sell out, which they will, and fast. Jack White is also playing at Glastonbury later this month, which we anticpate to be a spectacle. 

Purchase tickets via : http://www.stereoboard.com/jack-white-tickets?utm_source=bing

RIFFED x

There are many albums set to be released this year that we at RIFFED cannot wait for. From this huge number of forthcoming albums, we collated a list of the top 5.

5 Childhood - Lacuna

Indie rockers Childhood plan to release their debut album 'Lacuna' on the 12th of August this year. Previous releases such as Solemen Skies and Falls Away provide solid evidence that Lacuna will be a storming debut album from the London lads.

4 Jaws - Be Slowly

Brum boys Jaws have announced debut album 'Be Slowly' will be released this September and we expect this to be huge. As EP's such as Milkshake are anything to go by, Be Slowly will be one heck of an album.

3 The Courteeners - TBC

News has become apparent Liam Fray and the lads are planning to release a new album in August. Not much else has yet been said but this news has certainly got us at RIFFED extremely excited.

2 Spector - TBC

Fred, Jed, Tom and Danny plan to follow up their debut album 'Enjoy It While It Lasts' this year with a new album and we seriously cannot wait. Well they're making us wait a while aren't they... But we expect this new album to top their first as singles such as Decade of Decay and Reeparbahn are sounding fantastic.

1 Royal Blood - TBC

Brighton rockers Royal Blood are set to release their debut album and we qoute 'around August time'. We are huge fans of Mike and Ben and expect this to be a contender for album of the year. It's bound to be huge.

We hope we've gotten you as excited as we are for these forthcoming releases. It's set to be a huge year for albums. Enjoy.

RIFFED x

News has come apparent this week, that from September, certain shows and DJ's will be axed. These shows consist of 'Phalice', Phil Taggart and Alice Levine, Edith Bowman and Ally McCrae and Jen Long to name but a few.

Many are displeased with this news. The new music club, presented by Phil Taggart and Alice Levine Monday-Thursday from 10pm-Midnight and is an oppurtunity for new artists to recieve airplay, is one show to be axed as part of the cuts. Although both Phil and Alice have both been awarded their own shows. Ally McCrae and Jen Long, who present a similar show, BBC's Introducing, where new and young acts recieve airplay, have also been axed by the radio station. Another presenter we are sad to see go is Edit Bowman, wife of Editors lead singer Tom Smith, has been axed by Radio 1 and from now on will only present her show on BBC Radio 6.

What are your views on Radio 1's cuts?

RIFFED x

RIFFED have collated a list of the top 5 young/new artists for 2014. We're expecting big things from the following, and don't be surprised if they do reach the top of the industry by the end of this year. 

5. The Brookes

We recently did an 'Introducing...' interview with The Brookes and now they have made it into our Top 5 Artists To Watch For 2014 list. A Libertines/Oasis/Miles Kane-esque band, a real Britpop/rock gem. We are tipping them to become huge.

4. Childhood

Indie band Childhood have just released their debut album 'Lacuna' and following previous single releases such as 'Solemn Skies', we were expecting this to be a cracker and we weren't let down. Expect Childhood to propel even further forward as a band in 2014.

3. Catfish and the Bottlemen

The Welsh lads have stormed into the media spotlight recently with releases such as 'Kathleen' and 'Rango' and we don't expect them to step out of the spotlight anytime soon with their debut album 'The Balcony set to be released on the 15th September.

2. Johnny Lloyd

The former Tribes frontman has gone solo since the split of the Camden band, but this hasn't affected his brilliance. He was our single of the week with 'Pilgrims' from his forthcoming EP also titled 'Pilgrims', which we cannot wait for. Expect more from Johnny very soon and a tour, we tip him to have a fantastic 2014.

1. Royal Blood

Recently supporting Arctic Monkeys at Finsbury, and having played Glastonbury and with Reading and Leeds to name but a few the Brighton rockers are becoming a household name, but we saw them when they weren't so popular. There was 20 or so people at the Fruit in Hull and it was free entry, yet now look where they, the duo keep on propelling further and further forwards but we expect them to go even further. The best is yet to come from Mike and Ben.

We hope you enjoyed reading our top 5 list of artists we tip to have a brilliant 2014 and we sincerley hope you give them a listen if you haven't yet done so.

RIFFED x

This week, news has become apparent that radio stations could possibly be using youtube playlists with the most hits to play whilst on air. This news is quite shocking as many believe radio presenters should play tunes that they think people will want to listen to. But this also spells bad times for the young and new music industry. The reasons for this are that young and new artists will not be able to recieve the airplay they deserve as they're unheard of as of yet therefore their music will not recieve many hits on Youtube resulting in no air play and therefore resulting in the demise of the young and new music industry, in the worst case scenario. 

You wouldn't expect huge radio stations such as BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6 and Xfm to be playing their music of Youtube playlist hits, would you? And we at RIFFED sincerley hope this news is not true for the welfare and the future of the music industry.

RIFFED x 

We caught up with Bath triplets The Family Rain and asked them a few questions. We recieved some answers that will excite all you Family Rain fans out there. 

1 We've heard you're releasing a track named 'Hunger Sauce', coming out on the 28th July? Tell us a little about that?

Although our album came out early this year, we were ‘Hungry’ to get some of the stuff that we have written since the album was recorded.

As the tracks go, we really wanted them to sit next to each other with a definite connection so the extended play has a sound of its own.

We recorded it with Tom Dalgety who recorded our first single ’Trust Me…I’m a genius’ it was wicked to go back into the studio with him,

he has definitely put some ingredients into ‘Hunger Sauce’ that will excite the pallet. We have been listening to allot of different things to get ideas

from Harry Neilson to MGMT.

2 You made your new video yourselves, is that true? How and why did that come about?

Yes it is, we have made a few of our past videos, and with Hunger Sauce we are going to make one for each song. We have worked with a few

music video directors on various other videos, which was great, but feel like the best people to express our music in video form is ourselves.

The ‘You should be glad you’ve got a man’ video took a while to figure out and film, but once we and the logistics sorted out it was a case of driving around

and thinking of the best places to have as a background. We didn’t pay for any location, there was a lot of blagging and white lies.

The main inspiration was the single point perspective film directors like Stanley Kubrick and Wes Anderson.

The look was definitely Wes Anderson inspired.

3 Can we be expecting a new album in the near future?

At the moment we are just writing, not for any specific reason or deadline, just because we like to. When we have a collection of songs that we think work well together we will see what happens.

4 Are you looking forward to your 'Bad Weather' tour?

MASSIVELY!! It is going to be amazing to get out and play some of these new songs, and it is our first tour since the release of our album, judjing by the one off shows we have done

this year this tour it is going to be good fun. We have a few tricks to show off which will make it an interesting ride, Fingers crossed its bad weather.

5) And finally... Who's the biggest joker of the band ?

Well to be honest with you. I’m pretty fucking hilarious.

We would like to say a huge RIFFED thank you to The Family Rain for the  interview, and you've certainly got us all very excited. 

Keep your eyes peeled for more from The Family Rain on their Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/thefamilyrain

And

Follow their Twitter under the handle : @thefamilyrain

And

visit their webpage : www.thefamilyrain.com

Purchase 'Bad Weather Tour' tickets via : http://www.seetickets.com/tour/the-family-rain

RIFFED x

London lads Childhood announced their debut album 'Lacuna' is set to be released on August 11th this year. We at RIFFED are huge Childhood fans and like you out there cannot wait either. Previous EP's imply that 'Lacuna' will be a storming debut album from the indie rockers of the South. Huge hit 'Solemn Skies' will be on their debut album, a track that really projected Childhood onto the scene. Lacuna's released was announced via twitter and got many fans jumping around with joy and we don't blame them. Also to coincide with the album release in August, the lads have announced an Album launch gig at Oslo, Hackney in London. Tickets are selling fast so if you're interested to go see them smash their homecoming gig, get them whilst you still can, 

Pre-order 'Lacuna' on iTunes : https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/lacuna/id882137615

Purchase tickets for Childhood's album launch gig here : https://parallellines.ticketabc.com/events/childhood/

Follow Childhood on Twitter or 'like' their Facebook page for more information on tours and releases :

Twitter : https://twitter.com/childhoodUK

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/childhoodband

RIFFED HQ x

This week Brum boys Jaws announced their debut album 'Be Slowly' is set to be released on September 15th this year. Jaws announced this exciting news on their twitter page and were greated with jubilant replies from many fans. We at RIFFED are extremely excited for the release of 'Be Slowly' as EP's such as 'Milkshake' are anything to go by, it's bound to be a classic. Expect a few old classics to be on the album such as 'Gold' and also new single release 'Think Too Much, Feel Too Little', but also expect Jaws to showcase some newer material. Coinciding with the album announcment Jaws uploaded title track 'Be Slowly' to Soundcloud and was also meeted with many fantastic replies and it's no surprise as to why, another vibey, groovy anf funky tune by the Birmingham quartet that grasps you within the vibe and makes you feel careless for two minutes or so, Jaws have this effect with many of their songs making them a class act. Also, some more exciting news. Jaws announced a tour to coincide with the album release, the 'Be Slowly Tour'. If the lads are coming near you we strongly advise you go see them. We can't wait for September now. 

Find tour dates at ; http://www.musicglue.com/jaws/ and pre-order the album there too, or you can pre-order on iTunes at : https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/be-slowly/id881158737 ;

You can also find tour dates and more info on Jaws Twitter and Facebook pages :

Twitter : https://twitter.com/JAWSJAWSJAWSSS

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/JAWSJAWSJAWSJAWS?ref=profile ;

RIFFED HQ x

Johnny Lloyd this week made a return to the scence when he released two songs from his upcoming EP 'Pilgrims'. The former Tribes frontman uploaded 'Dead Beat' and the EP title track 'Pilgrims' and was met with a fantasticly positive response to his new material. 'Dead Beat' is a slow but powerful song, it grasps you within and doesn't let you leave. You sense a feeling of despair throughout, and meaningfulness portrayed via the strong and powerful voice of Johnny Lloyd. 'Pilgrims' is also as fantastic, maybe even better. The EP title track offers an excellent vibe throughout, a real groove, you find yourself lost within the sound. "I've never loved somebody like you" you subconsciously end up singing at the top of your voice throughout, a very catchy and very groovy tune. You sense hints of Tribes throughout, and how much we miss them. This and 'Dead Beat' as surprising as you'll find it, make you forget about it for 10 minutes or so, yes they're that good. Johnny should soon be releasing the 'Pilgrims EP' and is currently on tour and we shall expect more dates in the near future as he has returned back to the scene in style. We can't wait to hear more. If you would like to listen to 'Dead Beat' and 'Pilgrims' by Johnny Llyod, follow the link : https://soundcloud.com/johnnylloydmusic?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=twitter If you would like to view Johnny's Facebook page and 'like' it, for information on tour dates and releases, follow the link : http://www.facebook.com/johnnylloydmusic RIFFED HQ x

The Reading and Leeds 2014 lineup has been annnounced, almost completley and it is one that is certainly raising a few eyebrows. 

Queens of The Stone Age, Paramore, Arctic Monkeys and Blink-182 headline. We begin with Queens of The Stone Age, who are bound to be heard from miles beyond each Reading and Leeds festivals site with their powerful sounds, to some an engineered racket, but for others, a pain in the ears. Paramore were also announced as headliners and will headline with Queens of The Stone Age in a joint headline act this year, although some aren't too best pleased. Paramore with their American punk rock presence is not one that many R and L goers are a fan of, but festivals are for everyone and the punk lovers across the UK will be loving this. Next to be announced as headliners were Sheffield quadret Arctic Monkeys, although this isn't the first time they've headlined, The Monkeys being announced pleased pretty much the whole nation, sparking huge ticket sales for this years festivals. Prepare for a brilliant evening whether you are at Reading or Leeds when the Arctics headline. The Final headliners for this year are Blink-182, another punk rock band but one more people are a fan of, making their long awaited return to British festivals. Blinks announcment resulted in split opinions, some pleased, some not so much. 

The headliners have not only splitted opinions on this years campers, the rest of the line-up has to. Acts like Peace, Bombay Bicycle Club, Gerard Way, The Courteeners, The Kooks and Royal Blood to name but a few have got plenty of people jumping out of their seats. But, acts like Macklemore and Disclosure have got them sat back down again. Many people believe Reading and Leeds is a festival for rock and alternative music, therefore aren't willing to take Macklemore and Disclosure's announcments with a pinch of salt.

Finally, we move on to the up and coming artists who will be showcasing their talents on the festival republic stage. Keep your eyes pealed for young Nottingham artist Saint Raymond, as well as Indie band Wolf Alice, Drowners, Catfish and The Bottlemen, Darlia and Circa Waves and many others. Headling the festival republic stage are mad rockers Palma Violets, joined by Band of Skulls and Augustines, who will all be attempting to boost their fanbase and get themselves in the limelight amongst others. 

Whether the line-up pleases you or not Reading and Leeds 2014 is sure to be a cracker, if you're going or just watching at home, we hope you enjoy. RIFFED HQ x