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LOS CAMPESINOS!

‘A GOOD NIGHT FOR A FISTFIGHT’

LIVE AT ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL

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After 6 years of playing on stage together, with over 450 shows notched into our collective bedposts and 1 previous (failed) attempt at a live recording in Seattle, ‘A Good Night For A Fistfight’ becomes our (Los Campesinos!) first official Live Album.

On December 15th, 2012 at Islington Assembly Hall, London, we played a 21-song set in front of a sold-out crowd of 800 people to both celebrate our time with and mourn the departure of Ellen Campesinos! as a member. It also marked the first time we were joined onstage by Aleks Campesinos! since her departure from the band to return to her studies, 3 years ago.

Peppered with charming mistakes onstage and unfunny heckles from a dangerously drunken crowd, the recording is an unedited 91-minute (!) document of a set that draws upon songs from all 4 of our studio albums and beyond, making up the closest we are ever likely to get to a ‘Greatest Hits’.

‘A Good Night For A Fistfight’ appears in the form of 21 downloadable 320kbps MP3s and is available for pre-order, for just a fiver, NOW at loscampesinos.bigcartel.com (alongside a variety of new Los Camp! ephemera).

As a tiny taster of that night, we’re making ‘We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed’ available to download FOR FREE, while anyone who pre-orders will immediately receive a download of ‘Baby I Got The Death Rattle’ (the final song of the ‘set-proper’ from that night) also.

Following this release, we’ll be headed into the studio this June to record our 5th studio album.

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Big news!

Something’s going on down at LC!HQ…

Before burrowing away to work on their fifth album, Los Campesinos! have bestowed yet another new song upon us, to add to the handful of recent Heat Rash tracks. “A Doe To A Deer” marks the continuation, after last year’s “Kindle A Flame In Her Heart” of what will hopefully become an annual tradition; the LC! Christmas song. With songwriting and hooks as good as the ones displayed here, it’s baffling how Los Camp! still remain as divisive as they are.

News roundup of the day:

• There’s going to be a remake of Jumanji. Yep, our childhoods are dying, one remake at a time.
• Ellen Campesinos! has departed Los Campesinos!, making her the fourth member to leave the band in the past few years. Her farewell blogpost is quite lovely and getting me all emotional.
• Kevin Smith is making Clerks III. YAY! It’s going to be his last film. BOO!
• Michael Caine has said a few words about the apparently ambigous ending to The Dark Knight Rises.
• Hipster wet dreams are coming true: Arcade Fire are in the studio with LCD Soundsystem supremo James Murphy.
• Wanna see some brand new footage from Iron Man 3? Here’s the Japanese promo for it.
• Jamie xx DJed a Boiler Room session t’other night, and it was quite excellent. Give it a listen here
• Jessie Ware plus Katy B, with a homage to Aaliyah? Sounds good to us.
• Rejoice! Kristen Wiig is going to be in Anchorman 2.
• Not yet sick of zombies? Still like hearing “Gangnam Style”? Well, “The Dancing Dead” is for you.
• In case you’d forgotten, 30 Rock is ending very soon. Here’s something to drive it home even further.
• Frank Ocean’s been nominated for six Grammys, whilst Justin Bieber has exactly zero nominations. One-nil for decent music eh?

Yep, it’s that time again. It feel concurrently like 2011’s Mercury Prize ceremony occurred both just yesterday and aeons ago, but it’s been a year since PJ Harvey picked up the prize for Let England Shake, becoming the first artist to win the prize twice. That album was the expected winner from pre-nomination hype to the second before the envelope opened, but this year there doesn’t seem to be much of a clear-cut front runner. We’ll take a look at who could and should get nominated… (as a reminder, only British and Irish albums released between 12th July 2011 and 11th September 2012 qualify for nomination)

The Mercury panel rather like their token selections, resulting in the handful of jazz, classical and fringe nominations every year (hello there Gwilym Simcock). They also love to throw a massive seller or two in the mix as well (hello there Adele’s 21), so you can expect Florence + The Machine’s Ceremonials and Ed Sheeran’s + on the final list, and with her ubiquitousness at both Olympic ceremonies this summer, it’s highly likely Emeli Sande’s name will pop up somewhere. Kate Bush’s Fifty Names For Snow fills the veteran and comeback criteria, so would be a decent bet for nomination if not victory, if there are any gamblers out there. Its connection with its parent film of the same name, as well as its prescience could earn Plan B’s iLL Manors a nod; selecting a socially-concious “state of the nation” record would certainly give the Mercury a dollop of relevance.

It’ll certainly be a crime to see Laura Marling left off this year’s shortlist. Her third album A Creature I Don’t Know was one of the highlights of 2011 and Marling’s strongest album to date. The same could be said of both Los Campesinos!’s Hello Sadness and Johnny Foreigner Vs Everything by (unsurprisingly) Johnny Foreigner; both were hailed as the bands’ best albums so far by fans and critics alike (apart from one notorious downmarket magazine) and are certainly deserving of nomination. However it’s unlikely either will appear on the final list, purely because it’s rare to see an album of this breed of indie rock nominated by Mercury. More straightforward indie albums like The Cribs’ In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull, The Maccabees’ Given To The Wild, The Vaccines’ Come Of Age or The Futureheads’ Rant! are far more likely to pop up on the shortlist, though whether they’re deserving is another question (The Cribs and The Maccabees probably don’t, The Vaccines’ album has only been out a week, so it’s hard to tell, The Futureheads might get a nod for the bravery and quirk of releasing an acapella album).

Judged on early hype, Alt-J seem to be most people’s choice for An Awesome Wave, although that may just be through sparsity of a top-tier, clear-cut winner. The Cambridge quartet do seem like standard Mercury fare, like Everything Everything last year, but it’s hard to see them winning the whole shebang. The same goes for a fair few potential nominees released in 2012; Django Django, The Twilight Sad, Islet, Bloc Party, 2:54, Pulled Apart By Horses, Richard Hawley, Hot Chip, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. Seeing any of those names amongst the nominees would be expected (although choosing Bloc Party for Four would be baffling), but it’s hard to see how they’d win.

When it comes to choosing a winner, only two albums stick out for us. Jessie Ware’s debut album Devotion has received near-universal praise from all quarters, finally giving us a British popstar who’s not boring as all hell who also has several bucketloads of talent. To be quite honest, she deserves nominating for “110%” alone. Our other pick would have to be The xx’s sublime Coexist. Following up their Mercury-winning self-titled debut was always going to be a challenge, but they seem to have pulled it off with aplomb. Eleven perfect songs that retain the band’s style but advances their sound, Coexist is very likely a contender for album of the year and only just sneaks into the list of possible nominations, being released on the last eligible day. Should Coexist win the prize, the London three-piece will be the first group to win the Mercury twice; an astonishing feat considering this is only their second album, where as Radiohead are still waiting for their first win, after 15 years and six nominations.

So there you have it, a brief guide to what to expect when the official nominations are released next Wednesday. Who do you think deserves to win?

NEW/// LOS CAMPESINOS! - TIPTOE THROUGH THE TRUE BITS

Here’s a slightly unexpected surprise. A new Los Campesinos! track, not related to their stuttering Heat Rash project, and no sign of a new album so far, “Tiptoe Through The True Bits” sees the ever-evolving seven piece continue down the road they started on with Hello Sadness; funereal pace, mournful guitar picking, lyrics that pack a hefty emotional punch; the brass augmentation that featured regularly on 2010’s Romance Is Boring makes a welcome comeback here too. It’s one more heartbreak anthem to add to the constantly growing LC! arsenal, but is it too much to ask for something a little more up-tempo next?

“Tiptoe Through The True Bits” is available to download for free.

Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
Soundtrack to growing up
My parents were on the whole a bit crap when it comes to the Eighties . Not from drugs; my mum was on the other side of the world and my dad revealed to me he managed to melt a vinyl of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, which I can never forgive him for. But they pulled it together for this song, which is one of my first music memories. Dad with a beer in his hand, down on one knee and dancing to this with me. He still does it now when we get drunk at family reunions.

My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade
Becoming an emo kid
It’s the winter of 2006 and I’m watching Top Of The Pops, ready to eagerly soak up the normal RnB/dance chart shit. On come My Chemical Romance, clad in their faux military gear and deathly pale make up, and the marching band beat begins. This is it, I think. This moment sparks years of too much eyeliner, hanging round in the square in town looking miserable and only-Gerard-Way-can-understand-me angst. Sometimes, I bring out the Meg Massacre photos for a good laugh

The Smiths - This Charming Man 
Began listening to decent music
Where would I have been if my friend hadn’t put The Best of The Smiths on my iPod for me? I shudder to think. There is something about Marr’s jangly guitars and Morrissey’s voice that is just perfect on this song. I discovered The Smiths late, when I was about 17 and, like the previous emo kid stage, this sparked years of too many vintage jumpers, hanging around parties drinking wine in the corner looking miserable and only-Morrissey-can-understand-me-angst (a stage that is still ongoing I reckon).

Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!
Soundtrack all the exams and summers
If I could pick the entirety of LC!’s back catalogue then I would because their lyrics are so witty and they just sing about everyday things like thinking it’s a good idea to dance in a fountain when you are drunk. I think I’ve listened to LC! more than any other band over the past summers and Gareth, Kim, Rob et al have been there with all my made up romances, pre-festival excitements, kissing the wrong person at parties, getting too drunk, break ups and just being really bored. But this song in particular reminds me of being locked in a room revising for GCSEs, AS and A Levels, listening to this song and fantasizing about all the summer fun we are going to have. Of course, summer is never really as good as you remember it when you get nostalgic and listen to songs like this.

Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
I first heard this song on the MTV “scripted reality” series The Hills. Its catchy/dancey lyrics caught my attention right away and I quickly downloaded Franz Ferdinand’s three albums. I was hooked. Franz Ferdinand have been my favorite band since 2009 and this song really hit home due to the lyrics “No you boys never care How the girl feels”. This song can relate to both boys and girls; boys are confusing to girls and girls are confusing to boys. Because of this song/band, my favorite type of music is alternative rock and Brit-pop. Before hearing this type of music, I’d listen to Kiss 108 and everyone knows that’s not real music anymore. You cannot stay in a bad mood when listening to Franz Ferdinand’s songs. They’re so uplifting and elegant.

Trapped Under Ice - Stay Cold
I started listening to hardcore because of an ex-boyfriend. He was always angry and he said this music helped to release your anger. He and I would always fight and I was sick of it so I downloaded Trapped Under Ice’s whole Stay Cold album. The first song I listened to was the title track; the lyrics “You can’t hurt me anymore/I stay cold forevermore/So alone/But you can’t hurt me anymore” meant so much to me. It taught me that you don’t need a relationship to be happy. You don’t have to let someone in. You can be by yourself and be okay. I understood why my ex listened to that music. After that, I downloaded a bunch of hardcore songs. Hardcore kids stand for something and they come together because they have no one else because no one understands why they’re cold-hearted.

The Beatles - Come Together
Yes, the typical first Beatles song. I was watching Across the Universe, a musical that used Beatles tracks. It goes without saying that these covers weren’t as good as the originals but the lyrics were gained an extra something; they were simple, yet lovely. “Come Together”’s lyrics didn’t make much sense to me, along with many other Beatles’ songs, but who doesn’t love The Beatles? I am now a Fab Four fanatic. My room is covered in Beatles’ posters and I’ve gotten a few of my friends to get into them as well. I have 110 songs of them on my iPod. In my opinion, no one can ever compare to The Beatles. Even the songs that don’t make sense are wonderful. The Beatles have showed me that older music is good too. I love artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and Frank Sinatra because of The Beatles.

Skrillex - Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites
This is the first electronic dubstep song I’ve ever listened to. At first I wasn’t a fan because I thought a good song had to require lyrics. Dubstep and electronic songs helped me get through depression because I love to dance and these types of songs are great to dance to. The fact that dubstep songs have little to no lyrics helps you because you don’t have to think about anything, you just flow with the music.

Aerosmith - Walk This Way
I’ve been listening to Aerosmith since I was in a car seat. They’re my dad’s favorite band. When I became a teenager, I asked my dad if I could borrow his Aerosmith CDs; the rock legends has opened up the door to classic bands such as Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, and Metallica. On June 26th I’m seeing Alice Cooper/Iron Maiden because of this type of music.

LISTEN/// USHER & YOUNG JEEZY VS. LOS CAMPESINOS!

Possibly the most unexpected mash-up of the year, but the juxtaposition between Usher’s super slick “Love In This Club” and LC!’s lo-fi “The Year Punk Broke (My Heart)” really works, and is sure to set R&B-loving indie kids into rapture.

Continuing their march into the wider conciousness of the music world, Los Campesinos! release “Songs About Your Girlfriend” as the third single from Hello Sadness. The video sees the seven piece looking rather dapper in a strip club, which I believe is rather hard to do.

In a nod to the good old Top 40 of the pop charts, here’s what you, the loyal Hitsville faithful, voted as your tracks of 2011…

1. Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers
2. Bombaby Bicycle Club - Shuffle
3. Nicola Roberts - Beat Of My Drum
4. Los Campesinos! - By Your Hand
5. White Lies - Bigger Than Us
6. The Horrors - Still Life
7. Childish Gambino - Freaks & Geeks
8. Elbow - Open Arms
9. Arctic Monkeys - The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala
10. Jay-Z & Kanye West - Otis
11. Rihanna - We Found Love (ft. Calving Harris)
12. The Vaccines - Wreckin Bar (Ra Ra Ra)
13. Metronomy - The Bay
14. Warpaint - Billie Holiday
15. Beyonce Countdown
16. Childish Gambino - Bonfire
17. Bon Iver - Perth
18. Patrick Wolf - The City
19. Nicola Roberts - Lucky Day
20. The National - Exile Vilify
21. Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out
22. The Joy Formidable - Whirring
23. Youth Lagoon - Montana
24. Yuck - Get Away
25. M83 - Midnight City
26. Nicki Minaj - Super Bass
27. Death Grips - Spread Eagle Across The Block
28. Beyonce - Run The World (Girls)
29. Dananananaykroyd - Muscle Memory
30. College - A Real Hero
31. SBTRKT - Never Never
32. Wugazi - Sleep Rules Everything Around Me
33. Low - Try To Sleep
34. Lady Gaga - Judas
35. Rizzle Kicks - Down With The Trumpets
36. Friendly Fires - Hawaiian Air
37. The Chapman Family - Kids
38. Mellowhype - 64
39. Jamie xx - Far Nearer
40. Noel Gallagher - The Death Of You And Me

Just missing out on the Top 40 were the likes of Radiohead’s “Lotus Flower”, Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games”, “Trembling Hands” by Explosions In The Sky and, erm, “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction… not sure how to explain that one.

You can listen to the list in full on Spotify (minus one or two tracks that aren’t available). Enjoy!