BEARPARK - WILDERNESS END - Pre-orders and pre-release exclusive

Bearpark's magnificent 'Wilderness End' is almost upon us.

It's now available to pre-order here and Nick and friends will be marking its release by joining Revere, who are also about to launch a new six-track vinyl EP 'Man of Atom', for live dates in London and Rotterdam. (This is coming out on new Dutch label Final 500 records and is also available to pre-order, from the Revere store)

Tickets for the Lexington, London N1 (23rd October) here and for Rotown, Rotterdam (26th November) here . These should be great nights.

Anyone who simply can't wait til then to get their hands on a physical copy of the album can get one direct from us in person - but only if you're able to get to Aberdeen next Saturday, 17th October. Following the success of last year's inaugural independent record label market, the event is returning to the Lemon Tree (for full details see here) and we will have a very limited number of cd copies available ahead of release date. The event will feature the usual mix of local luminaries such as Cool Your Jets and Fitlike Records along with Scottish indie royalty Chemikal Underground and Gerry Loves Records - to mention but a few.

An introduction to 'Bearpark' - and a look ahead to 'Wilderness End'

The debut single 'Boxers' is released today and is available as a digital download through all the usual platforms. It will be followed by the album 'Wilderness End' in the autumn. We thought it might be about time to find out a bit more about all things Bearpark - so here's the man himself:

I borrowed the name Bearpark from a remote village near Ushaw Moor, County Durham, home to my late Grandad. It's a quiet, windy place between moorland and collieries, where miners were born and no-one goes - it seemed strangely fitting. 

The songs on Wilderness End document a turbulent decade through the eyes of a rural Essex boy colliding with the glittering noise of London. This is mostly an album about the things we do when we're kettled in together, all doing our best and trying be happy. I think we are wild animals at heart, not designed to live in cities. But live in them we do, with strange consequences. There are unrequited love songs, songs about depression, songs about lashing out, looking out and the changes to ourselves that we don't even notice until we try to return home.

It blends the pastoral, hymnal Americana of The Low Anthem, Bon Iver or Wilco with the distorted romanticism of Ed Harcourt and Sharon Van Etten. There are touches of colliery brass and the sad synthiness of Radiohead and John Grant, all held together by a deep love of words. 

It's been a while in the making, because I spend a lot of my time playing keyboards with London band Revere, occasionally guesting with Gabby Young, and playing everything from guitar and piano to accordion and scissors for Scottish singer Kat Flint. Because I am a megalomaniac I initially planned to play everything; because I am part of an incredible scene in London (and a shit drummer) I leant on others - so Revere drummer Marc Rollins-McKie played drums; Revere frontman Stephen Ellis lent his celesta skills (and his celesta) and violinist Ellie Wilson played some violin. Then I enlisted the help of Kat Flint on vocals (she also designed the sleeve art). 

Like its songs, the making of the album itself was pulled from city to countryside and back again, written in many locations - from a remote recording studio in Invernessshire (while making Revere's first record) to London, via the sofas of friends, exes and parents. Produced by Dave Moore (Revere, Polly Paulusma, The Laurel Collective), the songs were recorded everywhere from my flat in Brixton to analogue wonderland Urchin Studios in London Fields (which houses an amazing 19th century pedal organ used on album tracks Turn Around Take a Bow and Little Black Holes).

I don't know where it's meant to live: in the city or in the country… or maybe somewhere in between the two, at the edge of the wilderness.

I hope you like it. 

Bearpark

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Nicholas Hirst is a London-based multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. He has spent most of the last few years playing with London band Revere and Scottish-born singer-songwriter Kat Flint (to whom he is also married). He was born in Essex and grew up between Colchester and Detroit, and now lives in Brixton, London.

GIGS! and plenty of them, too

We know it's been a bit quiet around here recently for reasons outwith our control, but hopefully normal service (ie, releasing, and talking about, music) will be resumed shortly. For now, a whole load of gigs are coming up, from almost the whole Albino / AlbTwo roster (more on the confusing label identity thing in due course)

The Blue Aeroplanes have announced their annual pre-Xmas show at the Fleece ALREADY! What this means in terms of wider Aero-related activity we can only begin to guess. Maybe the long-awaited cd release of Anti-Gravity is in motion. Maybe not. The enigmatic Mr Langley remains an enigma. For what it's worth, the only bits of gossip we've heard are (1) that the intention is still to release on cd, and for there to be a second disc of out-takes, rareties etc, maybe in a similar vein to Cavaliers disc 2.. and (2) that during a bit of downtime from Massive Attack, Angelo had been offering to contribute to new material... Both these morsels are a bit dated, however, so treat with due caution. Anyway, tickets, etc: 

THE BLUE AEROPLANES

£10adv | All Ages

Friday December 7 , 7:30pm

The Fleece, 12 St Thomas Street, Bristol. United kingdom.

Ticketweb

Bristol Ticket Shop (listed in alphabetical order, The Blue Aeroplanes) 

Seetickets

Next up, 13th June at the Scala, King's Cross. This will be a massive night. It's the launch night for Gabby Young's (flown the albino nest but still a big favourite of ours) sophomore album 'The Band Called Out For More' and support comes from the acoustic version of Revere, and from a rare-as-hens-teeth Kat Flint outing. Plus the excellence of the Magic Lantern, Jess Bryant and Fiona Bevan. Do Not Miss.

GABBY YOUNG AND OTHER ANIMALS w REVERE (acoustic) AND w Kat Flint 
13 JUNE | Scala | LONDON, UK
Click here for tickets and information

And, a whole summer's worth of opportunities to see Revere, who will be showcasing new tunes from the as yet untitled follow up to Hey! Selim. As inspirational as ever - don't let yourself get to September without catching them at one of these...

FIELD DAY FESTIVAL
02 JUNE | Victoria Park | LONDON UK - IE THIS WEEKEND!!
Click here for tickets and information

LATITUDE FESTIVAL
13 JULY | Henham Park, Southwold | SUFFOLK, UK
Click here for tickets and information

LARMER TREE FESTIVAL (Acoustic)
14 JULY | Larmer Tree Gardens, Salisbury | WILTSHIRE, UK
Click here for tickets and information

LARMER TREE FESTIVAL (Full band)
15 JULY | Larmer Tree Gardens, Salisbury | WILTSHIRE, UK
Click here for tickets and information

WOMAD FESTIVAL
27 JULY | Charlton Park | WILTSHIRE UK
Click here for tickets and information

STANDON CALLING FESTIVAL
04 AUGUST | Standon Lordship | HERTFORDSHIRE, UK
Click here for tickets and information

MOSELEY FOLK FESTIVAL
01 SEPTEMBER | Moseley Park | BIRMINGHAM, UK
Click here for tickets and information

Welcome to AlbTwo

AlbTwo is a record label. The stunted distant cousin / ugly duckling / black sheep of the Albino Recordings string of creative enterprises, it arose out of the need to release music by the brilliant Revere.

Since then we're very proud to have released music by eighties electro kittens Paw Paw; by storytelling folk songwright Kat Flint; by flame-haired jazzworldbluesrockgypsyfashionista chanteuse Gabby Young and her Other Animals; and most recently by cult Bristolian art-rock legends The Blue Aeroplanes.

This blog will be about these artists, the marvellous music they make and the stuff they get up to along the way. And occasionally about football.