2018-10-27 ALBUM REVIEW - BLEEDING HEARTS "The Rules of Division" (2018)

Bleeding Hearts "The Rules of Division"
Release date: August 3rd, 2018
Running time: 49:25, 11 tracks

I’ve been a Bleeding Hearts fan from their very beginning. I own their long deleted three early albums and I have posted a lot of news about them. Moreover, I reviewed their fantastic previous album “Folk’n’Glory”. Around 2013 Mark “Madfiddler” Knight left the band and they tried to find a replacement on fiddle. Apparently their search was not successful and Bleeding Hearts decided to follow as a four piece band sans fiddle. Once the kings of the British fiddle punk scene together with the mighty Levellers, Bleeding Hearts were forced to “drop” the fiddle. Anyway, they didn’t leave their anarcho folk punk.

Would Bleeding Hearts be able to keep their place at the British festival band scene? Foxie and his band mates have always been a hard-working band and his songwriting has never let us down. Then, the answer should be YES, they are still at the forefront of that scene. However, the obvious proof would be a new album. “The Rules of Division” is out and even if the stakes were high, the final result is a fine album.

A couple of drinking songs are some of the best moments on the album. “Down the Hatch” is the Bleeding Hearts’ answer to Christy Moore “Delirium Tremens”. Great work by Ewan on mandolin. No fiddle? So what! British folk punk at its best. “Whiskey is the One” is an ode to Jack Daniel’s. One of the catchiest songs on the album, it keeps the spirit of their earlier sound too.

More faves, tracks 1 and 6. “The Devil’s Mosh” showcases a new excellent sound based on a perfect balance between mandolin and electric guitar, while “Pleasure Hive” insists on that new sound adding a lot of la-la-las to sing along.

Other interesting numbers are “Cool Cats” (a different number that gets a club from the 50’s treatment), “Don’t Call this Love” (brilliant mandolin and woahs on a song that reminds me of the early songs written by Levellers member Simon Friend), “Common Man” (an upbeat song with a Pretenders vibe) and “This Nature” (a number with a passage that reminds me of Red Hot Chili Pepers and a great guitar work). Finally, the fast-paced (folk) punk anthem “Tory Attack” is the evidence that Bleeding Hearts’ attitude has not changed.

For those who still love physical CDs, the album comes in a jewel case with a 12 page booklet together with the lyrics to all of the songs. “The Rules of Division” album launch gig will take place on Saturday 17th November at Katie Fitzgeralds in Stourbridge.

Tracklisting:

01 - The Devil's Mosh 5:42
02 - Cool Cats 3:18
03 - Common Man 3:35
04 - Don't Call This Love 5:11
05 - Tory Attax 4:11
06 - Pleasure Hive 4:57
07 - This Nature 4:04
08 - Three Wise Monkeys 3:21
09 - Down the Hatch 4:30
10 - Whiskey Is the One 5:05
11 - All Fall Down 5:29

 
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Review by Kinksmarkham

2018-07-10 VIDEOS: TORTILLA FLAT AND BLEEDING HEARTS

The latest additions to our YouTube channel. Subscribe!

Tortilla Flat - Dirty Old Town (Live)



Bleeding Hearts - The Devil's Mosh



Bleeding Hearts - Pleasure Hive

2018-07-03 VIDEOS - BLEEDING HEARTS, THE GREEN DUCK AND THE O'REILLYS AND THE PADDYHATS

The latest additions to our YouTube channel. Subscribe!

Bleeding Hearts - Whiskey is the One




Green Duck - Way Up



The O'Reillys & The Paddyhats - Irish Way

 

2016-10-30 ALBUM REVIEW - FOLKLAW "Smokey Joe" (2016)

FolkLaw "Smokey Joe" Fiddle of Eigth Records FO8R01CD
Release date: June 28, 2016
Running time: 43:26, 11 tracks

FokLaw is a fiddle fronted folk rock band from the Cotswolds, England. The band was founded by Nick Gibbs and their first album “Nations Pride” was released in 2010: “Nations Pride” was a debut solo album which launched the FolkLaw project. A collection of self-penned songs from Nick on fiddle, vocals and guitar, with Gaz backing on percussion". Both Nick Gibbs and Gaz Hunt were old members of the British fiddle folk punk band Beeding Hearts. Little by little, FolkLaw evolved into a full band and they have released another two studio albums “The Tales that They Tell” (2012) and “Smokey Joe” (2016), and a live album, “Live at TreeFest” (2013). The current line-up is Nick Gibbs (vocals, fiddle and keyboards), Bryn Williams (vocals, guitar), Martin Vogwell (vocals, bass, mandola, guitar) and Gaz Hunt (Vocals, percussion)

Although musically FolkLaw are more folk rock than folk punk, lyrically the band was “anger at the world”. However, on this new album FolkLaw show a “real passion for life in the lyrics”. I daresay that they have followed the same evolution that Oysterband did. Quite a few tracks from “Smokey Joe” have that intimate atmosphere from the Oysterband's last albums, particularly on my fave numbers “Waterboys of England” and “Gloucester Boys”, but also on numbers like “Forever and a Day” and “Cradle to the Grave”.

The only song where the Bleeding Hearts’ shadow could be felt would be “My Town Revisited”. This song belongs to the FolkLaw’s early years and it was already included in their debut album. The new version would be very different from the original version though.

Anyway, there are three songs with an upbeat approach that everybody will enjoy: “I Made Them”, “My Time” and “Mad Fiddler”. The last one is my favourite track on the album. When I read the title I thought that it was a sort of tribute to Mark Knight a.k.a. MadFiddler. Mark has played his fiddle with Tricks Upon Travellers, K-Passa, BlueHorses and Bleeding Hearts. That’s what the band says about this song: "Whether this song was inspired by Mad Fiddler Mark Knight or not, we'll probably never know! He's a mean fiddler mind you... we remember seeing him spinning round on the spot while fiddling for K-Passa in Gloucester Guild Hall, and he took over from Nick in the Bleeding Hearts in 2010... ...but he's not Scottish and he hasn't got a sweetheart in Tiree ...yet!"

The title track “Smokey Joe” is an amazing bluegrass infused number and a highlight on the album too.

“Smokey Joe” has been released on the band’s own label “Fiddle of Eight” Records. It comes on a 4 panel digipack and, even if a booklet is not included, all of the lyrics and liner notes can be found at the band’s website. “Smokey Joe” was recorded and mixed by Lyndon Webb, who also recorded and produced their previous album where he played mandolin and guitars too. In fact, Lyndon usually joins FolkLaw for the big headline gigs on mandolin and guitars. Another difference with previous albums: Bryn Williams has written three songs on “Smokey Joe” (tracks 5, 10 and 11).

If you like fiddle driven bands, try FolkLaw’s latest work “Smokey Joe”.

Tracklist:

01. Smokey Joe 3:38
02. I Made Them 3:58
03. Waterways of England 4.09
04. Talk to Me 4:08
05. Gloucester Boys 4.15
06. Lorelei 4:09
07. Mad Fiddler 3:21
08. My Town Revisited 4:10
09. Forever and a Day 5:15
10. My Time 3:45
11. Cradle to the Grave 2:38

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Click to buy:

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Review by Kinksmarkham

 

 

2016-03-24 VIDEO - BLEEDING HEARTS "Caravan Song 2016"

The new video for a revamped and new recording of ‘Caravan Song 2016’ is out there now doing the rounds. The new video features an updated version of the evergreen and ever popular ‘Caravan Song’. The video depicts some of their favourite exploits from last year and gives a flavour of what a Bleeding Hearts gig is like, amongst other things. Helpful for those of you who know them, and those of you not presently in the Bleeding Hearts fanclub who may yet get to know them a bit better.

Bleeding Hearts - Caravan Song (2016 version)

BLEEDING HEARTS - WINTER NEWS

(Source: the band's mail-out and the band's website)

1. STUFF

"That was the year that was 2013. So, quicker than downing a pint at closing time, the new year and 2014 is here and upon us. We have some plans by the way - the first of which is recording a new CD demo, which represents the 4 piece sans fiddle line-up and some new tunes. Well mostly new. 

Said recording is done and dusted, mixed and mastered with the tunes being "Blackberry Riot", "Their World", and "Partisan".

Then we will get it out there to venues and festivals and stuff. We hope to post something up soon - probably via our facebook page because it means I don't have to do owt. Please go visit and say hello because I am told it's the new way to communicate, this social media thing. Me, I still prefer a pint in a pub and a chat.

Hopefully we will look at doing a low-budget lo-fi video to go with one of the tunes. Probably "Blackberry Riot". Why? Because we and it are fashionably un-cool and behind the times. Even though it is still in the news. If you know what the song is about you will know what I mean.

Some more gigs would be nice, and a helpful hand of acoustic gigs to break us in nicely, so check out the gig page regularly 'cus we have a plan. Did I say that already? Oh hum.

We are well excited about 2014 'cus it adds up to 7 and that is supposed to be lucky innit, and as everyone knows we are a well lucky band mostly, Glad 2B Alive and all that. We’re cooking on eco-gas now and raring to go...

2. PARTISAN - THE NEW ACOUSTIC(ISH) ALBUM

It's on hold for the time being. No cash. Sorry."

3. GIGS

1st March: The Horseshoes, 2 Heath End Road, Nuneaton UK (acoustic)

15th March: The Wheatsheaf, Leighton Buzzard, UK

8th April: Mouth & Music, Boars Head, Kidderminster, UK (an acoustic kind of 'folk all stars' bash)

26th April: Fighting Cocks, Stottesdon, UK

9th May: Vreschen-Bokel Germany

10th May: Hambergen, Germany

22nd June: Harborne Festival, Harborne, Birmingham, UK

28th June: Dodford Inn, Dodford, Bromsgrove, UK

15th November: The Wheatsheaf, Leighton Buzzard, UK

NEWS - BLEEDING HEARTS - SPRING 2013

Bleeding Hearts Newsletter

Foxie's Rant
(always slightly different it just looks & sounds the same)

Gigs & Stuff

We have been doing our best to get some gigs lined up, and yippee, one or two nice festivals have duly arrived and are now up on our "Attack" page – that's otherwise known as gigs to you. We are still dangling the iron in the fire and hope to get some more come in so keep an eye out.

Nick Gibbs who used to be a full-time member of 'The Bleeders' will be joining us on fiddle for some of these festivals because, as you know, we still have a vacancy for permanent fiddler.

Partisan - The New Acoustic(ish) Album

The much anticipated (by us) acoustic(ish) album is still under development, although Ewan is getting an increasingly bigger pedalboard to match my own. I say acoustic as that is the plan but there may be the odd dash of plugged-in soundwaves in there somewhere. We can't help ourselves.

We have enough songs, and have done some pre-production but as we are going for stripped down versions of the songs, there is actually quite a bit of re-writing going on and that experimentation is holding us up. That and whatever Ewan is on as he comes up with his trippie hippie riffs, I dunno, Morris Dancers eh?! As ever at The Bleeders camp, things move slowly.

Folk'n'Glory

Oh yeah, it's received rave reviews in Rock'n'Reel and Froots as well as a multitude of other mags and online sources... you can still buy it from us even though stocks are reducing and we have no intention of re-pressing. Just ask, email, or buy online or at a gig of your choice.

Forum

Contact 'keeping it nice since 1972 Ewan Porter hyphen Stevens' if you wanna tell him a story... you can do this via our Facebook which a google reveals is 'bleedingheartsonline' apparently, or just email him at: Ewan@bleedinghearts.co.uk. If that don't work, grab him in Lichfield High Street........ sorry Brownhills, or in the pub somewhere... he likes Old Speckled Hen.

Thatcher

You may be surprised that I have not banged on about ding dong you know what. I'd rather just recite the words of my boyhood hero Billy Bragg:

"This is not a time for celebration. The death of Margaret Thatcher is nothing more than a salient reminder of how Britain got into the mess that we are in today. Of why ordinary working people are no longer able to earn enough from one job to support a family; of why there is a shortage of decent affordable housing... of why cynicism and greed became the hallmarks of our society. Raising a glass to the death of an infirm old lady changes none of this".

That said I did have rather a lot of whiskeys the day she died and thought about what she did to the Miners, The NHS, local democracy, our communities, about what happened at Hillsborough, her support for Pinochet the fascist, her condemnation of Mandela and her support for Apartheid. Yeah, what a British hero. RIP? More like good riddance.

I don't apologise for my views nor am I interested if anybody disagrees with me. The reporting of her death has hardly been balanced with the media and so-called leaders of the left saying what a wonderful woman and great Prime Minister she was. Nope, I am with Scotland on this one - she is a home wrecker and the reason the Scots will divorce us, that's her lasting legacy.

That's all for now!

Foxie

Gigs 2013

27 April: The Wheatsheaf, Leighton Buzzard, UK
(www.thewheatie.co.uk)

22 June: KatieFest Stourbridge Folk & Beer Festival, Halfpenny Green Airport, Stourbridge, UK
(www.katiesfest.com)

17 August: Forever Sun Festival, Dorchester, Dorset, UK
(www.foreversun.co.uk)

6 September: An Sibin, Darmstadt, Germany

7 September: Siegen Festival, Siegen, Germany

13 September: Green Meadows Festival, Peterborough, UK (Cancer Benefit)

21 September: Roscoe Rooms, Scarborough, UK (Animal Rights Benefit)

7 December: Dogfest Festival, The Black Market, Warsop, Notts, UK

8 December: Dog & Partridge, Marchington, UK (Acoustic)

BLEEDING HEARTS - LOOKING FOR A FIDDLER

(From the band's mailing list)

"WE NEED A PERMANENT FIDDLE PLAYER

First of all, this is a plug - but for us!

So if you know anyone, please point this out to them, or if you are a fiddler yourself, and would like to apply - email me: foxie@bleedinghearts.co.uk

Hopefully, you/they/them will know what we are all about. But just in case - those with tory tendencies might be best advised not to apply, although we are an equal opportunities un-employer.

Mark has been helping us out since the middle of last year and does it with a BIG smile on his face, and while we love him lots, he is already heavily committed (not in an insane way) to other stuff and married to work (fool). And when a band has plans for gigs, tours, songwriting, recording etc it is always best to have someone who is involved in that on a permanent basis to be part of the whole. It's much nicer innit all-round.

So - can you HELP?!

C&N MANAGEMENT

Paul and Marcus gave us a big hand last year and we are deeply grateful to them for all of their assistance. However, they now need to concentrate more on earning their own crust, so we are back standing on our own 8 feet, hopefully 10, like the puppies we are off a lead. We wish them both all the best!

PARTISAN - THE NEW ACOUSTIC(ISH) ALBUM

The much anticipated (by us) acoustic(ish) album, although Ewan is getting an increasingly bigger pedalboard to match my own. I say acoustic as that is the plan but there may be the odd dash of plugged-in soundwaves in there somewhere. We can't help ourselves.

We have enough songs, we are getting recording dates together, we are trying to accumulate some mobile recording gear (a toughie with no money) so we 'hope' to be in a position to have a finished product later this year. This of course depends on a) getting a fiddler to play on it although there will be some fiddle free tracks b) whether we have the money to press it - right now that may be the biggest challenge of all.

FOLK N GLORY

Oh yeah, it's received rave reviews in Rock n Reel and Froots as well as a multitude of other mags and online sources... you can still buy it from us even though stocks are reducing and we have no intention of re-pressing. Just ask, email, or buy online or at a gig of your choice.

FORUM

Contact 'keeping it nice since 1972 Ewan Porter hyphen Stevens' if you wanna tell him a story... you can do this via our Facebook which a google reveals is 'bleedingheartsonline' apparently, or just email him at: Ewan@bleedinghearts.co.uk. If that doesn't work, grab him in Lichfield High Street... sorry, Brownhills, or in the pub somewhere... he likes Old Speckled Hen.

That's all for now!
Foxie

GIGS 2013

9 March: Sitwell Tavern, Derby, UK
(www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sitwell-Tavern/182871790960)

17 March: Dog & Partridge, Marchington, nr Burton, UK - 4pm early start
(www.facebook.com/SundayClubAcoustic)

27 April: The Wheatsheaf, Leighton Buzzard, UK
(www.thewheatie.co.uk)

22 June: KatieFest Stourbridge Folk & Beer Festival, Halfpenny Green Airport, Stourbridge, UK
(www.katiesfest.com)"

NEWS - BLEEDING HEARTS

FOXIE'S EVER SO NICELY RE-BRANDED 'RANT' AKA THOUGHTS OF AN ANGRY PHILOSOPHER:


Sounds nothing like any of my other rants... promise

1. NEWS

Those of you who follow us closely... yeah, I know it's hard to believe it's true that some of you do - but I am told by the man who counts the website and facebook hits that some of you do... anyway we do have some new news:

1.1 Lizzie has left the band due to unforeseen personal circumstances. We wish her well and we are currently auditioning her replacement. In the meantime, Mark 'madfiddler' Knight has rejoined the fold until we can find a permanent bow merchant. So, if you think you're suited to what we do and can attack those fiddle strings... get in touch.

1.2 Bleeding Hearts are soon to start working with a nice couple of chaps called Paul and Marcus at CN Management - who will be 'managing' us. Yes, that is most definitely hard to believe because if you ask my boss at work he thinks I am the hardest person he has ever had to manage. So, we prefer to call it a mutually beneficial partnership. Anyway, their management company will, from now on, be responsible for the business end of what we do; so we can concentrate on making the music and getting pissed. We are really excited about this development!!!! Yarp!

1.3 As part of our 're-branding' exercise we are henceforth to be considered 'Anthemic Folk'. It's the same as punk-folk-rock but easier to sell I am told (-:

2. FOLK N GLORY

Folk 'n' Glory is 11 tracks long. Having been done 1,2,3,4, stylee all together in a room through hot valves straight to our budget pc - and it's got a lo-fi charm all of its own. We went for that 60s/70s vibe with band in a room having fun feel and we thinks that's exactly what we've got. Folk 'n' Glory has quite a retro feel to the music and artwork, which we think you'll be pleased with, we are. Deffo folkier than Politics and on a par with fiddle-punkin' 'Propaganda' for that soundscape to the revolution Foxie is planning every day. Yay, that's getting closer too by the way...

It's received rave reviews in Rock n Reel and Froots as well as a multitude of other mags and online sources... we hear that one mag didn't like it much so we were gonna' send them a horses head through the post but it didn't fit into the jiffy bag so I didn't bother.

4. WE IS ON I-TUNES ETC ETC.

Yeah, you know we are, go check it out or do it the old fashioned way and visit our 'DOSHSWAP' page or come to a Bleedin' gig.

5. FORUM.

Contact 'keeping it nice since 1972 Ewan Porter hyphen Stevens' if you wanna tell him a story... we wish he would tell us one 'cus that blog of his is a bit out of date (like I can talk with my lax attitude towards this website).

6. FINALLY.

CN Management will be working on 2013 gigs that will be posted up as soon as stuff starts getting confirmed, so until then, we hope to see some of you, all of you, new friends, old friends, lost friends at a gig soon, when they eventually happen, so don't be strangers!

Foxie
xx

GIGS 2012

5 October: Odins Rock Club, Commonwealth Road, Garnlydan, Ebbw Vale, Wales

10 November: The Wheatsheaf, Leighton Buzzard, UK
(www.thewheatie.co.uk)

And for 2013..... 5 January: Katie Fitzgeralds, Stourbridge UK
(www.katiefitzgeralds.co.uk)


(more gigs will be posted if/when/as they come in)

 

BLEEDING HEARTS - MARCH 2012 NEWSLETTER

"Sounds like all my other rants but has new bits interjected to confuse you

NEWS

Well, we don't seem to have much news really, it's actually tuff trying to get gigs this year here and abroad as folks are keeping their money in their wallets and ain't booking the really expensive bands like us, or the really cheap bands like us. So if you are a promoter or booker reading this - we am waitin' for ya call.

We did the first gig of the year at The Wheatie, funnily enough we did the last gig of last year at The Wheatie 'n' all. We love that place and it was a great gig - one chap, a lubberly chap called Paul has kindly posted a review on our furumcumblogcumchatpage so go check it out - we have and he says really nice things about us and we didn't even have to pay him, that's the kind of review we like. I note there was a bloke in the audience who was wearing a 'Brian' t-shirt, just like my pj's, so we did the song just for him hahahah.

I continue to write new songs in little cloud bursts and we are gradually introducing them to the set and including more from Folk 'n' Glory too so that we can reflect where we are now as a band. Fear not, we will include those random oldies too that made us the non-superstars that we are.

If you ain't heard them yet, we have Blackberry Riot, Chains, Uncool, Down The Hatch, and Lost. And there are about 5 others we ain't started on yet.

I would also like to announce that Gel's tackle is working and Ellie gave birth to a boy recently. Gel wanted to call him Isambard after that engineer bloke Brunel who built all the railways - but as it was Ellie that registered the birth, common sense prevailed and she named him George. Good luck to all 3 of them and it explains why Gel has been like a zombie with a hangover of late.

Ewan would like to report the death of his chickens thanks to an errant neighbour's dog and he was right cut up about it, he clucked all the way to the Wheatie and even refused a pickled egg from the chippie before the gig.

Gaz has nowt to say just now 'cus he don't do 'smalltalk' and Lizzie needs a mobile coffee machine now she's taken to actually drinking the stuff on stage in defiance of alcohol.

FOLK N GLORY

Folk 'n' Glory is 11 tracks long. Having been done 1,2,3,4, stylee all together in a room through hot valves straight to our budget pc - and it's got a lo-fi charm all of its own. We went for that 60's/70's vibe with band in a room having fun feel and we thinks that's exactly what we've got. Folk 'n' Glory has quite a retro feel to the music and artwork, which we think you'll be pleased with, we are. Deffo folkier than Politics and on a par with fiddle-punkin' 'Propaganda' for that soundscape to the revolution Foxie is planning every day. Yay, that's getting closer too by the way...

It's received rave reviews in Rock n Reel and Froots as well as a multitude of other mags and online sources... we hear that one mag didn't like it much so we were gonna' send them a horses head through the post but it didn't fit into the jiffy bag so I didn't bother.

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

It seems there is no holding Georgie boy back from his relentless attack on people's income and his napalming of the public sector and public services. Of course aided and abetted by Dave and Nicky boy the 'I will do anything for a bit of power' saddo.

All in all I think things will get worse before they get better as they blame our ills on Europe, the workers, the unions or just about anybody but the bloody Bankers who caused it.

I expect more attacks on workers rights in the Social Chapter, and it seems they are now moving in for the kill on national bargaining in the public sector - so those who deliver our services can see even further declines in their income and wider regional variations in wealth to put them on a par with the 'private sector'. And just what bit of the private sector would that be? The top earners? Not on your nelly. They want to make the NHS, Civil Service and Councils riper for privatisation and smash the unions. All in YOUR name. If you voted for that, shame on you. Be careful what you wish for and let's hope you never need to go to hospital and don't have the wedge 'cus their Health reforms are coming like it or not.

It seems we are heading for a big altercation with the chariots of capitalism in the summer. Bring it on and remember to fight the good fight you gotta do it with a song just to really piss 'em off.

WE IS ON I-TUNES ETC ETC.

Yea, you know we are, go check it out or do it the old fashioned way and visit our 'DOSHSWAP' page or come to a Bleedin' gig.

FORUM.

Contact 'keeping it nice since 1972 Ewan Porter hyphen Stevens if you wanna tell him a story.

FINALLY.

We are working on 2012 gigs and have a few irons in the fire that will be posted up as soon as stuff starts getting confirmed, so until then, we hope to see some of you, all of you, new friends, old friends, lost friends at a gig soon, when they eventually happen, so don't be strangers!

Foxie

xx

GIGS 2012

28 April: Katie Fitzgeralds, Wollaston, Stourbridge, UK

(www.katiefitzgeralds.co.uk)

5 May: A Weekend At The Bridges, The Bridges, Ratlinghope, Shropshire - with John Cooper Clarke, Miles Hunt

(www.katiefitzgeralds.co.uk)

4 June: The Wheatsheaf, Leighton Buzzard, UK - Jubilee Bash 3pm

(www.thewheatie.co.uk)

16 June: Odins Rock Club, Commonwealth Road, Garnlydan, Ebbw Vale, Wales (support to Dumpys RN so be early D.O. 8.00pm)

7 July: Lichfield Arts Festival, UK

(www.lichfieldarts.org.uk)

14 to 15 July: Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, TUC event, Dorset, UK

(www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk)

10 to 11 August: Germany tbc

24 to 25 August: Hambergen Open Air Festival, Germany

2 September: Burston Strike Festival, TUC event, Norfolk, UK

(www.burstonstrikeschool.org.uk)

30 Oct to 4 November: Halloween Acoustic Tour, Germany TBC

10 November: The Wheatsheaf, Leighton Buzzard, UK

(www.thewheatie.co.uk)

(more gigs will be posted if/when/as they come in)"

 

BLEEDING HEARTS - NEWS AUGUST 2011

"1) NEW ALBUM - Folk 'n' Glory - Now Released!

If you wanna hear a sample, visit our 'NOIZE' page, then if you wanna buy it, visit our 'DOSHSWAP' page.

On our 'DOSHSWAP' page you can pay by cheque, cash or paypal/debit/credit card - just scroll down the page to find it.

For the trendier kids amongst you who have long since ceased to deal with hard copy albums, we also have direct links to i-Tunes and Amazon right at the bottom of our 'DOSHSWAP' page. (See 6 below)

Nice.

It's all rather quite good... and so say all of us...

2) TORCHWOOD

Is it just me or does anyone else think the American version of it is just plain too slow, dumbed down and shite!? Roll on the new series of Dr Who. The footie season is back with us too and no doubt my team 'Wolves' will endeavour to ensure I get more sleepless nights and final whistle induced stress this season again.

3) NEW PICS: Check 'em out.

Our new promo pics are on our 'PIX N MIX' page... thanks to Andy for the promo pics... we owe you a pint or three.

4) BACK TO THE CD BUSINESS...

Folk 'n' Glory is 11 tracks long. Having been done 1,2,3,4, stylee all together in a room through hot valves straight to our budget pc - and it's got a lo-fi charm all of its own. We went for that 60's/70's vibe with band in a room having fun feel and we thinks that's exactly what we've got. Folk 'n' Glory has quite a retro feel to the music and artwork, which we think you'll be pleased with, we are. Deffo folkier than Politics and on a par with fiddle-punkin' 'Propaganda' for that soundscape to the revolution Foxie is planning every day. Yay, that's getting closer too by the way...

5) RIOTS

Oh yeah, I have something to say... but I will keep it short.

Martin Luther King said something like "riots are the language of the unheard". This last week has seen rioting of a type and scale never seen before in England. I believe this is history in the making and we probably have not seen the last of it. The unheard have certainly been heard now, but sadly their words have no cohesion or direction and their cry will be ignored in a wave of political spin, propaganda and lies about criminality being the only trigger and propaganda-ised news stories about teaching assistants and graphic designers etc being arrested and sentenced as if to justify that no disaffected youth took part.

The root causes will go uninvestigated and continue to fester in this 'Daily Mail' version of England we seem to have inherited since May 2010. Tottenham (75% cut in youth service budgets, one of the highest unemployment rates in London, regular police stop & search of black youth), kicked off for a reason but that reason seems to have been lost in the shouting and rhetoric.

But I have a simple question... what has happened to make people feel it is ok to loot, burn and destroy their own community or hurt, maim or kill others to achieve no end but self-gain? I fear this question will never be answered and all we will continue to get is soundbites from Tory millionaires et al about gangs, criminals, rubber bullets, army and water cannon.

We have witnessed a move from the political riot to outrage without purpose or direction, born of the excess of our capitalist consumer driven society. A society that sees politicians and bankers looting the nations wealth - yes I use the word looting, as I see no difference except theirs is a different kind of violence - while the police and the media make whoopee with bungs for stories that take any sense of public duty or moral guardianship to the lowest level possible. At the same time violence is sanitised and made acceptable as we bomb and invade other countries for dubious reasons and to control oil.

And then we wonder why people at the lowest levels of society decide to take something for themselves and use a language they can relate to and the media watch - violence.

It does not make it right of course but I hope we do learn some lessons and start to understand that while our Governments look after their rich mates, cut our public services, starve education, export our jobs and offer nothing in return to the most disadvantaged, an LCD TV seems a small price to pay. The Government want to thank their lucky stars it never turned into a mass focused and political demonstration like in Libya or Egypt... now that would be something to take to the streets for.

Oh, ps, has anyone noticed like me that the initial police response smacked of political jockeying?

6) WE IS ON I-TUNES ETC ETC.

Those of you who are missing our earlier albums will be pleased to hear they are now on Spotify, as well as being available to download from iTunes, Amazon MP3, Play, 7digital, and many other fine vendors of digital music.

Note: you can no longer get hold of our old albums either by purchase or free mp3 download. If you want to get your mitts on the old stuff you will sadly have to visit Spotify or i-Tunes etc.

If this pisses some of you off, we apologise for that but gigs, touring (the van is always in one state or another of disrepair) recording and producing stuff costs a lot of wedge and we just can't afford to give it away for free anymore. You might have noticed that our gig calender is a little thin this year too and that makes matters worse.

If you cannot afford to buy anything due to unemployment or low wage... and love us loads... contact (me) Foxie and I will email you some mp3 stuff for free... provided that you are genuine and not a freeloader.

7) FORUM.

Or blogspot as it is now called. Ewan 'keeping it nice' Porter hyphen Stevens will be doing future blogs as he is the dude with the notebook, pen and GPS camera with 'cake' and 'puppy' settings.

8) FINALLY.

After finishing the album which was some quite intense work for several months, I felt a little burnt out, but the fire is starting to burn again and I am getting some new snippets of ideas for songs... always good to have a Tory Government for this purpose.

Plus, we have a 'B' sides collection of tracks too that we plan to record later in the year with a couple of surprises thrown in for good measure. Keep an eye out for that! I want to call it 'Worcester Sauce' as it will be a recording in Worcester and its saucy, trust me you'll have to run with this idea...

Finally finally... As you may see, we don't have many gigs this year, so all the more important you say hello when we do play a gig. This is a rebuilding year for us, so the album and promo of it has to be a priority. We already have some nice reviews coming in and it has been interesting to see what people make of our home-grown-produced album.

So far the verdict seems to be 'best thing we've ever done'. Which is good, no it's better than good it's effin great! So if you ain't got 'Folk 'n' Glory' yet, please buy it and see what it's all about.

We'll see where all this reviewing of the album and planning for 2012 takes us, and hopefully the new album will mean more gigs in the future... so fingers crossed.

We hope to see some of you, all of you, new friends, old friends, lost friends at a gig soon, when they eventually happen, so don't be strangers!

Foxie"

http://www.bleedinghearts.co.uk

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REVIEW - BLEEDING HEARTS "Folk'n'Glory" Self-released 2011

Bleeding Hearts "Folk'n'Glory", self-released
Release date: June 2011
Running Time: 47:41, 11 tracks

Anarcho folk punk, British fiddle punk, Festival folk punk... I don’t know which is the right label. Anyway, I’m talking about those excellent British Levellers type bands: Tofu Love Frogs, Tricks Upon Travellers, Bleeding Hearts … Among them, Bleeding Hearts have always shined. Their debut album, “Fly in The Face of Fashion” is a true gem that every music fan should get. Foxie and his mates have followed a more coherent career than the Levellers: Bleeding Hearts are not living on their first album, but they have not got the recognition that they deserve.

The band has had some ups and downs. Their fiddler left the band somewhere in 2008. Fortunately, they found a great replacement: Mark “Madfiddler” Knight (Tricks Upon Travellers, K-Passa, Bluehorses ...) Due to other commitments, Mark was obliged to leave Bleeding Hearts and he was not able to record their last album, “Folk’n’Glory”. But once again the band found the best replacement, the Welsh fiddler Lizzie Prendergast (Bluehorses founding member).

I feel that “Folk’n’Glory” is probably their best album since “Fly in the Face of Fashion”. “Bombs of Deception” is a top-notch song, better than many Levellers songs. “Drinking Song” is another catchy song with a contribution by Madfiddler. “Folk’n’Glory” is slightly different from what they had done till now, but it’s one of the best moments of the album A mid-tempo song, then they shift to an upbeat tune and finally a live in studio ending (“Sing with Me, Oooooh This is England my Home, Ooooh This is England Land of Folk’n’Glory”.

“Fakebook” features their own rocking rendition of “Gravel Walk” and I find that “Something I Can Never Me” is the best track of the album. The song sounds different, maybe it’s Lizzie’s influence on the songwriting and those tribal backing vocals. I love this track.

“We’re All in This Together” runs more than six minutes, a slow number that features a great mandolin work by Ewan. Brian is a fast punk-folk number that could have made on The Levellers “Letters from the Underground”, but it has been written by Foxie. And “In the Name of The People” is a reggae that shows the versatility of the band.

Bleeding Hearts sound is probably at its peak now. Foxie, Gaz and Gel have been joined by two excellent musicians, Lizzie (fiddle) and Ewan (mandolin) whose contributions are essential to the band’s sound. Foxie has made an awesome job as producer with a low budget. If Bleeding Hearts have been able to record “Folk’n’Glory” on their own and to get this result, one is wondering what they could have offered us with a better studio and a producer like Al Scott or Pat Collier.

If you enjoy the Levellers early albums, then you should buy Bleeding Hearts “Folk’n’Glory”. And if you are a Celtic punk fan, but have never listened to any British fiddle punk band, “Folk’n’Glory” is a good start. A band that says in the liner notes “Go out, form a band an rebel!” is worth hearing, isn’t it?



Tracklist:

1 - Concept: Economocracy 2:07
2 - Bombs of Deception 4:00
3 - Drinking Song 3:46
4 - Folk'n'Glory 4:37
5 - Fakebook 5:02
6 - Something I can Never Be 3:34
7 - We're All in This Together 6:30
8 - Brian 2:56
9 - Modern World 4:23
10 - In the Name of the People 5:17
11 - Ballad of the Fallen Soldier 5:30

http://www.bleedinghearts.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/bleedingheartsonline
http://www.facebook.com/BleedingHeartsOnline

Click to purchase:

http://www.stuarthamilton.co.uk/hearts.html

Review by Kinksmarkham



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SAMPLER JULY 2011

01 - BLEEDING HEARTS - Bombs of Deception (from "Folk'n'Glory") 3:58
02 - BLEEDING HEARTS - Folk'n'Glory (from "Folk'n'Glory") 4:35
03 - RAIN IN SUMMER - Berdiri dengaan kebanggaan mu (demo) 3:55
04 - NESS - Astures (from "Nesspegando") 5:33
05 - NESS - Balboa (from "Nesspegando") 3:55
06 - NESS - Balcón (from "Nesspegando") 3:17
07 - NESS - Fiesta (from "Nesspegando") 4:56
08 - RUSTY NAIL - Trainyard Pubs (demo 2009) 5:29
09 - RUSTY NAIL - Deadbeat Daddy Docket Day 3:29
10 - RUSTY NAIL - Open Ground (from "Boozers, Bastards and Bard") 3:55
11 - THE ROYAL PIPER - Dancing with Myself (from "Dancing with Myself") 4:53
12 - NOT ENOUGH ROPE - Twice Halfway Around the World (from "Fingerpistol") 3:23
13 - NOT ENOUGH ROPE - My Way (from "Fingerpistol") 4:34
14 - NOT ENOUGH ROPE - Paying Off My Radials (from "Paying Off My Radials") 5:25
15 - A.K.A. RUM CURRENCY NEW PROJECT - Cane Cutter's Lane (demo) 3:29
16 - PA DE RAL - Pa de Ral (from "Pa de Ral") 4:12
17 - PA DE RAL - El caçador de cançons (from "Pa de Ral") 6:53



1) BLEEDING HEARTS (England)


Our favourite British Folk Punk band. They have just released their new album. Stay tuned for the review.

http://www.bleedinghearts.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/bleedingheartsonline
http://www.facebook.com/BleedingHeartsOnline

Members:

Steve Brown a.k.a. Foxie - Vocals, electric guitar
Gaz Hunt - Drums, backing vocals
Gel Newey - Bass, backing vocals
Lizzie Prendergast - Fiddle, vocals
Ewan Porter-Hyphen-Stevens - Mandolin

Discography:

"Fly in the Face of Fashion" (13 tracks, 2001)
"Anarcoustica" (10 tracks, 2002)
"The Merchants of Propaganda" (11 tracks, 2003)
"Bose Liebe" (EP, 2005)
"Politics & Love, Sex & Understanding" (2006)
"Red, White, Blue and Green" (13 track Mp3 live album, 2008)
"Folk'n'Glory" (11 tracks, 2011)

Click on the title to buy the CDs


2) RAIN IN SUMMER (Bandung, West Java, Indonesia)

The second track from this Indonesian Celtic punk band.

http://www.reverbnation.com/sihujanpoyan
http://www.myspace.com/raininsummerpunkjava
http://id-id.facebook.com/pages/Raininsummerpunk/148291631867240

Members:

Az-war Sidick - vocals
Si Rambon Summer - Guitar & back. vocals
Sule - Guitar & back.vocals
Adjie Hadhian - Guitar & back.vocals
Vai Andika - Drums


Discography:

Demo tracks


3) NESS (Astorga, León, Spain)

A Spanish band blending Celtic music with hard rock, ska, etc.

http://nessastorga.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/interness
http://www.musikaze.com/interness
http://www.lastfm.es/music/Ness+Astorga
http://es-la.facebook.com/people/Ness-Astorga/100001048113422

Members:

Luis «La Rubia» - Drums
Carlos «Voces» - Keyboards, vocals
Carlos «Fuelles» - Accordion, vocals
Carlos «Kurowski» - Electric guitar
Carlos «Charlie» - Bass
Carlos «Primo» - Pipes and flutes

Discography:

"Ness-pegando" (4 track demo, 2009)



4) RUSTY NAIL (St.Louis, Missouri, USA)

This band has evolved from an acoustic band to a fully Celtic punk rock band. Their second available will be available soon.

http://www.rustynailstl.com
http://www.myspace.com/rustynailmusic
http://www.reverbnation.com/rustynailmusic
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rusty-Nail/337423642224

Members:

Alvy Caby - Vocals, mandolin, guitar
Chad Ross - Dulcimer/Banjo/Accordion/Guitar
Chris Otto - Native American Flute/Irish Whistle
Kelly LaRussa - Violin
Trey Garson - Drums
Tony Hall - Bass
Nate Neff - Electric guitar

Discography:

"Ounce and Half of Whiskey" (13 tracks, 2007)
"Boozers, Bastards and Bards" (forthcoming CD, 14 tracks, 2011)



5) AL GONZALES a.k.a. THE ROYAL PIPER (Highland Mills, New York, USA)

Al Gonzales is an ex-New York policeman. He is the only American piper that has played for the English Queen.

http://www.theroyalpiper.com
http://www.reverbnation.com/algonzales
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-RoyalPiper-Al-Gonzales/201775303187156

Al Gonzales - Pipes

Discography:

"Dancing with Myself" (11 tracks)

"From my recent CD. A remake of the Billy Idol classic featuring me on the Highland Pipes. Special thanks to The Shots for backing me on this track."



6) NOT ENOUGH ROPE (Perth, Australia)

This Australian band is no longer active. Anyway, a worth hearing band.

http://www.allthingsweb.com.au/ner/welcome.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Enough_Rope

Members:

Matt Galligan - Vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin
Matt Kealley - Drums, percussion, harmonica, vocals
Todd Lynch - Accordion, piano organ, didgeridoo
Byron Mavrick - Lead guitar (original member)
Adrian Conti - Bass, acoustic guitar, mandolin (original member)
Mike Lane - Bass, acoustic guitar, mandolin
Steve Bow - Sound guy

Discography:

"I'll Tell You When I See You" (4 track EP, 1996)
"My Way" (3 track EP, 1998)
"Fingerpistol" (12 tracks, 1998)
"Paying Off My Radials" (17 tracks, 2001)


7) A.K.A. RUM CURRENCY'S NEW PROJECT (Cairns, Australia)

Ex-Blaggard and Rum Currency artist will be joined by Will Swan ad Owen Thomas in his new project. Check his website for more details.

http://blaggard.wordpress.com

Members:

a.k.a. Rum Currency
Will Swan (ex-Rumjacks)
Owen Thomas (Catgut Mary)

Discography:

Blaggard "Can't Write Can't Play Can't Sing" (8 tracks, 2006)
Blaggard "Warm Stout" (9 tracks, 2007)
Rum Currency "Can't Take You Anywhere" (14 tracks + 5 extra tracks, 2010)


8) PA DE RAL (Terrassa, Catalonia, Spain)

A folk-rock band from the Barcelona area with a Celtic twist.

http://www.myspace.com/paderal
http://www.reverbnation.com/#!/paderal
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pa-de-Ral/55870453785
http://www.paderal.blogspot.com/

Members:

Jordi (Sansa) - Drums
Montse Brugueras (Moon) - Vocals
Xavi Carreras (Tankerman)- Bass
Cris Biete - Acoustic guitar
Oriol Avila (Lin) - Electric guitar
Raquel Vila (Key) - Fiddle
Pol - Electric guitar and banjo

Discography:

"Pa de Ral" (5 track EP, 2010)


DOWNLOAD:

http://www.mediafire.com/?xpcpc84d6z1w34w


.

BLEEDING HEARTS - NEWSLETTER JULY 2011

"FOXIE'S BLEEDING BAND NEWS


NEW ALBUM - Folk 'n' Glory - Now Released!

If you wanna hear a sample, visit our 'NOIZE' page, then if you wanna buy it, visit our 'DOSHSWAP' page. You can pay by cheque, cash or debit/credit card (for cards/Paypal see link at the bottom of the 'DOSHSWAP' page). Nice.

It's all rather quite good... and so say all of us...

Check out our new promo pics on our 'PIX N MIX' page too... thanks to Andy for the promo pics... we owe you a pint or three.

NEXT GIG:

15 July: Hole in the Wall Festival, Hopton Court, nr Ludlow, UK

VISIT www.holeinthewallfestival.co.uk or better still, come along on the day and see us play!

BACK TO THE CD BUSINESS...

Folk 'n' Glory is 11 tracks long. Having been done 1,2,3,4, stylee all together in a room through hot valves straight to our budget pc - and it's got a lo-fi charm all of its own. We went for that 60's/70's vibe with band in a room having fun feel and we thinks that's exactly what we've got. Folk 'n' Glory has quite a retro feel to the music and artwork, which we think you'll be pleased with, we are. Deffo folkier than Politics and on a par with fiddle-punkin' 'Propaganda' for that soundscape to the revolution Foxie is planning every day. Yay, that's getting closer too by the way...

We is on i-Tunes

Those of you who are missing our earlier albums will be pleased to hear they are now on Spotify, as well as being available to download from iTunes, Amazon MP3, Play, 7digital, and many other fine vendors of digital music.

Note: you can no longer get hold of our old albums either by purchase or free mp3 download. If you want to get your mitts on the old stuff you will sadly have to visit Spotify or i-Tunes etc.

If this pisses some of you off, we apologise for that but recording and producing stuff costs a lot of wedge and finally this year we have just broken 'even' after 16 years and we just cannot afford to give stuff away any more; especially as our own costs have rocketed over the last 12 months and we plan another release later this year/early next year.

If you cannot afford to buy anything due to unemployment or low wage... and love us loads... contact (me) Foxie and I will email you some mp3 stuff for free... provided that you are genuine and not a freeloader.

The forum

Or blogspot as it is now called. Ewan 'keeping it nice' Porter hyphen Stevens will be doing future blogs as he is the dude with the notebook, pen and GPS camera with 'cake' and 'puppy' settings.

Finally

We have a 'B' sides collection of tracks too that we plan to record later in the year with a couple of surprises thrown in for good measure. Keep an eye out for that! I want to call it 'Worcester Sauce' as it will be a recording in Worcester and its saucy, trust me you'll have to run with this idea...

Finally finally... As you may see, we don't have many gigs this year, so all the more important you say hello when we do play a gig. This is a rebuilding year for us, so the album and promo of it has to be a priority. We'll see where that takes us, and hopefully the new album will mean more gigs in the future... so fingers crossed.

We hope to see some of you, all of you, new friends, old friends, lost friends at a gig soon, when they eventually happen, so don't be strangers!

Foxie
xx


GIGS 2011


15 July: Hole In The Wall Festival, Hopton Court, nr Ludlow, UK
(www.holeinthewallfestival.co.uk)

2-4 September: Festival, Germany tbc

7 October: Germany tbc

8 October: OctFest, Area 51, Hilden, Germany
(www.area51-hilden.de)

12 November: The Wheatsheaf, Leighton Buzzard, UK
(www.thewheatie.co.uk)

26 November: Katie Fitzgeralds, Wollaston, Stourbridge, UK
(www.katiefitzgeralds.co.uk)

(more gigs will be posted if/when/as they come in)"


STAY TUNED! THE REVIEW IS COMING SOON!

.

BLEEDING HEARTS - NEWSLETTER JUNE 2011

Folk 'n' Glory - Release Date: 25th June 2011!

It's so close we can touch it, so we hope to have it back from the CD plant by 25th June in time for our return to The Wheatsheaf. This will make The Wheatie its unofficial UK launch date. Shhhhh, spread the word. Get your hands on it first by coming to the gig. You have been warned.

Announcement:

We will be playing at Hole In The Wall Festival, Hopton Court, nr Ludlow, UK on the 15th of July.
VISIT www.holeinthewallfestival.co.uk or better still, come along on the day and see us play!

BACK TO THE CD BUSINESS......

Folk 'n' Glory is 11 tracks long. Having been done 1,2,3,4, stylee all together in a room through hot valves straight to our budget pc - and it's got a lo-fi charm all of its own. We went for that 60's/70's vibe with band in a room having fun feel and we thinks that's exactly what we've got. Folk 'n' Glory has quite a retro feel to the music and artwork, which we think you'll be pleased with, we are. Deffo folkier than Politics and on a par with fiddle-punkin' 'Propaganda' for that soundscape to the revolution Foxie is planning every day. Yay, that's getting closer too by the way...

We is on i-Tunes

Those of you who are missing our earlier albums will be pleased to hear they are now on Spotify, as well as being available to download from iTunes, Amazon MP3, Play, 7digital, and many other fine vendors of digital music.

The hidden mp3s of all our albums will soon sadly be removed, meaning the only way you can get hold of them will be via other online sources in exchange for your readies.

The forum

Or blogspot as it is now called. Ewan 'keeping it nice' Porter hyphen Stevens will be doing the next story as he is the dude who took all the pics. Read about how we got re-acquainted with those lovely guys in The Oysterband at Poyenberg here...

Finally...

We have a 'B' sides collection of tracks too that we plan to record later in the year with a couple of surprises thrown in for good measure. Keep an eye out for that! I want to call it 'Worcester Sauce' as it will be a recording in Worcester and its saucy, trust me you'll have to run with this idea...

Finally finally...

As you may see, we have not many gigs this year, so all the more important you say hello when we do play a gig. This is a re-building year for us so the album and promo of it has to be a priority. We'll see where that takes us, and hopefully the new album will mean more gigs in the future... so fingers crossed.

We hope to see some of you, all of you, new friends, old friends, lost friends at a gig soon, when they eventually happen, so don't be strangers!

Foxie


.