The Leaf Label: NEWS ARCHIVE FOR JANUARY 2009

New Year's sale on Leaf downloads
Published 9 January 2009 by BWL

We can bring you some New Year's cheer as we are capping all of our album downloads at a maximum of £4.99 (for high quality mp3s) and £5.99 (for FLAC) through our official download store, for the month of January. The offer applies to all available releases and commences today.

Don't forget that all downloads are DRM-free through our store.
The Leaf Label Shop

Nancy Elizabeth's UK shows
Published 20 January 2009 by BWL

As Nancy Elizabeth applies the finishing touches to the follow up to 2007's Battle and Victory album, we bring you news of a handful of live dates in the UK this February and March. Three of the shows are with legendary guitarist Peter Walker. More details on Nancy's second album very soon, but we expect to release it later this spring.

Meanwhile Nancy rejoins Adem's touring band later this month for some shows in Italy after a stint in the Fridge bassist's UK tour last year. The dates can be found on Adem's site.

The Wigan songstress will also join Essie Jain's band for the Scottish leg of Essie's tour, which can be found here.

Nancy has been recording with James Yorkston again for a new project due out in the spring, following her appearance on the Scotsman's most recent Domino album, When The Haar Rolls In. Susumu Yokota's new album, Mother (Lo Recordings), which is due out in February, also features Nancy's vocal talents (incidentally, another guest on this album is Efterklang's Casper Clausen!).

nancyelizabeth.co.uk
myspace.com/nancyelizabethcunliffe

Mon 2 Feb 2009: Cross Street Chapel, Manchester, UK (with Valgeir Sigurdsson and Danny Saul)
Tue 17 Mar 2009: Adelphi, Hull, UK (with Peter Walker)
Wed 18 Mar 2009: Taylor John's House, Coventry, UK (with Peter Walker)
Fri 20 Mar 2009: Miss Peapods, Falmouth, UK (with Peter Walker)
Sat 21 Mar 2009: Folkhouse, Bristol, UK (with Peter Walker)
Sun 22 Mar 2009: Cecil Sharp House, London, UK (with Peter Walker)
Fri 27 Mar 2009: Klondyke Bowling Club, Manchester, UK (Paddy Steer album launch, also with John Stammers & Klabakken)

Efterklang Announces North American Tour
Published 26 January 2009 by BWL

Danish collective Efterklang have announced a North American tour kicking off in Seattle this March. Following last year's highly successful first foray across the Atlantic, this tour includes the band's debut appearance at SXSW.

The touring band lines up as a seven-piece this time, including the four core group members (Mads Brauer, Casper Clausen, Thomas Husmer and Rasmus Stolberg) with Americans Peter and Heather Broderick, who were both members of the live band for their European and Chinese shows last year, as well as Daniel James from Canon Blue, signed to Efterklang's own label Rumraket. Both Peter Broderick and Canon Blue will play support at stages during the tour. More details below.

The dates in full:
Thu 5 Mar: Nectars, Seattle, WA , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Fri 6 Mar: Media Club, Vancouver, BC , CANADA (with Peter Broderick)
Sat 7 Mar: Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Sun 8 Mar: Bottom Of The Hill, San Francisco, CA , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Mon 9 Mar: The Cellar Door, Visalia, CA , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Tue 10 Mar: Spaceland, Los Angeles, CA , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Wed 11 Mar: Plush, Tucson, AZ , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Fri 13 Mar: Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Sat 14 Mar: Larimer Lounge, Denver, CO , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Mon 16 Mar: Opolis, Norman, OK , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Tue 17 Mar: Hailey's, Denton, TX , USA (with Peter Broderick and Human Highway)
18-21 Mar: SXSW, Austin, TX, USA
Mon 23 Mar: The Engine Room, Tallahassee, FL, USA (with Canon Blue)
Tue 24 Mar: The Earl, Atlanta, GA , USA (with Canon Blue)
Wed 25 Mar: Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC , USA (with Canon Blue)
Thu 26 Mar: DC9, Washington, DC , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Fri 27 Mar: First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Sat 28 Mar: Mercury Lounge, New York, NY , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Mon 30 Mar: TT The bears, Boston, MA , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Tue 31 Mar: tba, Montreal, PQ , CANADA (with Peter Broderick)
Wed 1 Apr: El Mocambo, Toronto, ONT , CANADA (with Peter Broderick)
Thu 2 Apr: Garfield Artworks, Pittsburgh, PA , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Fri 3 Apr: Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH , USA (with Peter Broderick)
Sat 4 Apr: Schubas, Chicago, IL , USA (with Peter Broderick)

Essie Jain European Tour
Published 27 January 2009 by BWL

Essie Jain begins a European tour in February, to promote her second album, The Inbetween. Based in New York, Essie played a handful of shows last year in Europe but this is her first proper tour. The Inbetween was released in November to widespread acclaim, and these shows will be her first in Europe since then. The album expands the horizons of her debut (We Made This Ourselves) with a broad spectrum of instrumentation and collaborators to embellish her stunning voice.

See videos of Essie playing live in Paris last year, recorded by Blogotheque here.

The dates:
Fri 6 Feb 2009: Jumbo Records (instore 5pm), Leeds, UK
Sun 8 Feb 2009: The Tunnels, Aberdeen, UK
Mon 9 Feb 2009: Stereo, Glasgow, UK
Wed 11 Feb 2009: The End, Newcastle, UK
Thu 12 Feb 2009: The Cube, Bristol, UK (with Tanya Tagaq)
Sat 14 Feb 2009: Cafe Oto, London, UK
Sun 15 Feb 2009: Grand Mix, Tourcoing, FRANCE
Mon 16 Feb 2009: Point Ephemere, Paris, FRANCE
Tue 17 Feb 2009: Epicerie Morderne, Lyon, FRANCE
Wed 18 Feb 2009: Le Ciel, Grenoble, FRANCE
Thu 19 Feb 2009: Kaserne/Rosstall, Basel, SWITZERLAND
Fri 20 Feb 2009: Bloom, Milan, ITALY
Sat 21 Feb 2009: Clandestino, Faenza, ITALY
Sun 22 Feb 2009: Lokomotiv, Bologna, ITALY
Tue 24 Feb 2009: Init, Rome, ITALY
Fri 27 Feb 2009: Steinbruch, Duisburg, GERMANY
Sat 28 Feb 2009: Hasenschaukel, Hamburg, GERMANY
Sun 1 Mar 2009: NBI, Berlin, GERMANY
Mon 2 Mar 2009: Skraen, Aalborg, DENMARK
Tue 3 Mar 2009: Trinitatis Kirken, Copenhagen, DENMARK
Thu 5 Mar 2009: Kuen, Köln, GERMANY
Fri 6 Mar 2009: De Kreun, Kortrijk, BELGIUM
Sat 7 Mar 2009: Maison des Musiques, Brussels, BELGIUM
Sun 8 Mar 2009: Video, Gent, BELGIUM
Mon 9 Mar 2009: Paradiso, Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS
Tue 10 Mar 2009: Cul De Sac, Tilborg, NETHERLANDS

Wildbirds & Peacedrums: New album and tour dates
Published 30 January 2009 by BWL

We are delighted to be able to announce the release of Wildbirds & Peacedrums' extraordinary second album, The Snake, on April 13. The follow up to Heartcore was recorded at the Soundtrack Of Our Lives-owned Svenska Grammofonstudion in their hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden. In addition to Andreas Werliin's invigorating percussion and Mariam Wallentin's mesmerising vocals, their sound is further enhanced with a range of instruments, including steel drum, piano, marimba and xylophones.

“This record is not the typical second album. You know – filled with a lot of doubts,” explains Mariam. “We only work from intuition, on instinct. We’re not looking for perfection in music, rather for life and feeling. We like to be more explosive!”

The album will be preceded by download single 'There Is No Light', which can be heard on the band's myspace page along with album track 'My Heart'.

Here is the video for 'There Is No Light', directed by Andreas Nilsson.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums - There Is No Light from Leaf Label on Vimeo.

The album will be available on Leaf in the UK and Ireland, Australia, Benelux, France and Italy (Haldern Pop Recordings will be releasing The Snake in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and it will available through Swedish label Caprice elsewhere).

Wildbirds & Peacedrums are currently in North America, touring with compatriot Lykke Li. The Swedish duo play a handful of low-key shows in Europe in late Feb/early Mar and then return to the States for SXSW. A full European tour will commence in April - more details to follow.

Fri 30 Jan 2009: First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA, USA (with Lykke Li)
Sat 31 Jan 2009: Sixth & I, Washington DC, DC, USA (with Lykke Li)
Mon 2 Feb 2009: Webster Hall, NY, USA (with Lykke Li)
Tue 3 Feb 2009: Music Hall, Brooklyn, NY, USA (with Lykke Li)
Wed 4 Feb 2009: Club Soda, Montreal, PQ, CANADA (with Lykke Li)
Fri 6 Feb 2009: Phoenix, Toronto, ON, CANADA (with Lykke Li)
Sat 7 Feb 2009: Metro, Chicago, IL, USA (with Lykke Li)
Sun 8 Feb 2009: Varsity, Minneapolis, MN, USA (with Lykke Li)
Wed 11 Feb 2009: Commodore, Vancouver, BC, CANADA (with Lykke Li)
Thu 12 Feb 2009: Hawthorne, Portland, OR, USA (with Lykke Li)
Fri 13 Feb 2009: Showbox, Seattle, WA, USA (with Lykke Li)
Sun 15 Feb 2009: Fillmore, San Francisco, CA, USA (with Lykke Li)
Tue 17 Feb 2009: Glass House, Pomona, CA, USA (with Lykke Li)
Fri 20 Feb 2009: Lille Vega, Copenhagen, DENMARK
Sat 21 Feb 2009: Voxhall, Århus, DENMARK
Tue 24 Feb 2009: Pusterviksbaren, Gothenburg, SWEDEN
Wed 25 Feb 2009: Parkteatret, Oslo, NORWAY
Thu 26 Feb 2009: Hulen, Bergen, NORWAY
Fri 27 Feb 2009: Strand (fd. Street) Stockholm, SWEDEN
Sat 28 Feb 2009: Crawdaddy, Dublin, IRELAND
Mon 2 Mar 2009: The Social, London, UK
Tue 3 Mar 2009: Casa 139, Milan, ITALY
Wed 4 Mar 2009: Centre Culturel Suédois, Paris, FRANCE
Thu 5 Mar 2009: Club 3voor12, DeSmet, Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS
18-21 Mar 2009: SXSW, Austin, TX, USA
Wed 1 Apr 2009: The Albert, Brighton, UK
Thu 2 Apr 2009: Norwich Arts Centre, Norwich, UK
Fri 3 Apr 2009: Arnolfini, Bristol, UK (with Dirty Projectors, Polar Bear & Lucky Dragons)
Sat 4 Apr 2009: Leadmill, Sheffield, UK
Sun 5 Apr 2009: Captain's Rest, Glasgow, UK
Mon 6 Apr 2009: Dulcimer, Manchester, UK
Tue 7 Apr 2009: The Luminaire, London, UK