AEOABITAP debut EP.

An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump have unveiled the details of their first release: the four-track These Sins EP. The release contains Bird favourites 'Lights Out', 'Saints Don't Cry', 'The Past Between Us', and '100%', and is out on 7" vinyl and digital download on December 8th. 'Lights Out' will be released as a promotional digital single on 17th November, with the launch party the day before at 93 Feet East (with The New Thing DJs). The EP, meanwhile, can be preordered from the Birds' MySpace now. With the media spotlight growing after the band's recent appearance in NME, this one's sure to sell out.

KASMs album.;

Another small piece of news: KASMs have reportedly recorded their debut album. More details to follow as they surface.

EIOH delay.

Bad news: the next Electricity In Our Homes single on 4AD has been pushed back to a January release. Good news (for Americans at least): they're due to play South By South West in Texas next March.

Hatcham Social album.;

News on Hatcham Social's debut album: it's been recorded and mastered, it's called You Dig The Tunnel, I'll Hide The Soil, it's produced by Tim Burgess and Jim Spencer, it'll be released in February or March 2009, and there'll be a single out before the end of the year. The band are also set to play the South By South West festival in Texas next year as part of a wider American tour, possibly taking in the Coachella festival. Good news all round. Also, keep your eyes on their MySpace for a new track in the next week or so...

REVIEW. Ipso Facto: Six & Three Quarters/Circle of Fifths

This double A-side both continues and develops the eerie psychedelic grooves which Ipso Facto have been ploughing recently. The swirling bass and organ and the monochromatic lyrical hallucinations of debut single 'Harmonise' are still present and correct on A-side 'Six and Three Quarters', but nothing remains of that langorous lifelessness for which they were criticised: the addition of some jaunty rhythms from Samantha Valentine and the much-improved Victoria Smith make this music to march to, a triumphant parade of dark shapes and dreams. The synth and melodica-backed AA-side 'Circle of Fifths' also maintains an underlying groove which grips from the outset and stops the eerie melodies from sliding into lethargy. The Krautrock legacy of shuffling tribal rhythms hasn't been lost on Ipso Facto; that, coupled with some top-notch songwriting and breathlessly confident vocal stylings from Rosalie Cunningham, contribute to what has to be of the best singles of the year thus far.

'Six and Three Quarters'/'Circle of Fifths' is out on Mute Irregulars on Monday. Ipso Facto support The Last Shadow Puppets this autumn; support dates for legendary post-punk band Magazine are rumoured to be in the pipeline for next February.

Belated EIOH news.

Just noticed:

'we are now a three piece band and have scrapped all of our old material and written (and are writing) new songs. we are recording a new 7" single next monday to be released on 4AD in the next couple of months. we are aranging some uk and european dates also for the near future.'

Sorry for taking our finger off the pulse. We can, however, let you know that the single is 'Silver Medal in Gymnastics', and it's been produced by John Linger. More to follow.

Ipso Facto Video / Bird Pump EP

1. Ipso Facto, who release their next single 'Six & Three Quarters' on the 20th, have unveiled its promotional video. A gang of monochromatic psychedelic ghosts march forth around the four-piece, who for once are the most colourful people in the room.



2. An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump have announced details of their debut EP, recorded with Rory Attwell of KASMs. It's out on the 1st December, and a mini-tour to promote the record should follow. Before that the Birds can be caught playing all around London, including a support slot for S.C.U.M and a Dice Club show, and are also in this week's NME (twice).

The Horrors - 'Shadazz'.

'The world hasn't seen them for a couple of years...' - it's the introduction to the live Suicide B-side rather than The Horrors' offering, but it applies equally to the latest single from everyone's favourite NME cover stars of 2006. After a long wait, and with surprisingly little fanfare, The Horrors have released their latest single. It's the first in a series of EPs by various artists on the Blast First Petite label paying tribute to Suicide, the New York no-wave originators whose Alan Vega apparently turns 70 this year. Future releases are due to feature Suicide contemporary Lydia Lunch, Bruce Springsteen (who'd have thought?), Liars, Effi Briest, and S.C.U.M (with their cover of 'Wild in Blue'), but this, the first, will be the most exciting to those who've been waiting with bated breath to find out what The Horrors sound like after a year spent immersing themselves in experimental electronics.

The clues were all there: the collaborations with S.C.U.M and Ulterior, the Set Up Club, Spider and the Flies... The 'Shadazz' cover sounds a lot more like the esoteric instrumental piece 'Gil Sleeping' than any other track on their Strange House debut. A dub bass groove and solid drumbeat form a spine for some barely-there distorted slide guitar and a shower of flickering synthesizer noises, but overall this is firm Suicide territory: dark and eerily catchy, but above all as minimal as possible. Faris Badwan's screaming days are over: the frontman is cool and snarling, taking an uncanny angle on Alan Vega's restrained ferocity while firmly retaining his own voice. Whether they'll keep that up when we hear their own work is another matter, but for now there are more shrieks from Vega on the B-side (unreleased Suicide track 'Radiation') than on Badwan's 'Shadazz' vocal line.

A special mention is due for Nik Void's 'Rocket U.S.A.' cover, the second B-side track, which combines laconic Flying Lizards vocals with a great pulsing synth line and provides a good reminder of Suicide's influence on every single dance act since the late seventies, but all in all that and 'Radiation' are just further incentives to find out for yourself what The Horrors are up to, and to get a taster of their new sound (due in album form in the new year). They're in the process of casting off their immature garage rock sound and looking forward to new territory: 'Count In Fives' this isn't, but that can only be a good thing at this stage.

N/C 'I'm Ill' video

Here, in all its glory, is the new 'I'm Ill' video from Neils Children, directed by Stephen Campbell and featuring SKIPtheatre.



The single is out on 20th October on the band's Structurally Sound label.

Micron 63 single details.;

Here are the full details for the release of Micron 63's first single. 'Death Is Colder Than Love' will be released on 7" vinyl on 20th October, with 'Anatomy of No Escape' on the B-side. There'll also be a digital EP to download, featuring remixes by Ulterior/Zlaya, Factory Floor, and Killit. A sample of the A-side and the whole of the B are available to hear at myspace.com/micron63. As the next release from the DiscError label, we're pretty excited about this one; both sides display the collective's distinctive collision of techno melody and driving industrial beats. Micron 63 play with labelmates Ulterior on the 22nd, and apparently have something special planned to launch the single, so keep your ears glued open.