THE NEW THING BROADCASTS

PODCAST#001 is now available for downloading here, with tracks past and present chosen by David {n.t}. This is what you should be listening to.

CHRiSTMAS/////

A quick update for anyone still reading over the festive season;

The New Thing was at the Cave Club on Saturday, to experience an explosive set by Billy Childish and his band, and several hours of stomping psychedelic beat and garage. A full review should appear in the second printed fanzine, due out in January. Don't do anything in 2008 without it!

A happy Christmas to all our (Christmas-celebrating) readers. Remember, too many mince pies could cost you a new pair of drainpipes.

Watch this space when the wrapping paper has been swept up...

Goodnight & I Wish EP // clubs

Brandon Jacobs has announced that he will be recording an EP for his Goodnight & I Wish solo side-project. We don't have any more information on track listings or release details as of yet, but since Mr Jacobs owns a record label...

In other news, this week is a good one for live music in London. Today Electricity In Our Homes and ddd played at the Shout! night at the Old Blue Last, and on Saturday we're faced with a choice between The Horrors' Cave Club (with Billy Childish and the MBEs) and the second Exp. Circ. Club night in London. (We're going with Exp. Circ., for two reasons: it's free, and Ulterior are playing.)

Finally, on a minor note, the long-anticipated appearance by The Horrors on The Mighty Boosh took place tonight. It was a good episode, although however multi-talented Faris Badwan may be, acting doesn't seem to be one of his fortes.

More from The New Thing soon...

GOOD NEWS {ulterior};;BAD NEWS {boys of brazil}

So, on the one hand, Ulterior have announced their debut release: the 12" single 'Weapons', due out this month on DiscError recordings (DER 002), and backed with various remixes of the same song - keep reading for an exact release date as soon as we find out. On the other hand, Boys of Brazil have announced that they are 'on hiatus', presumably due to their continuing inability to find a replacement for recently-departed vocalist Patrick.

One thumb up, one massive thumb down. We'll see how it goes.

Hatcham Social;; NEW SINGLE//

Hatcham Social are busy. Only last week they posted a new track to their MySpace, an accompanied reading of selections from Lewis Carroll's poem 'The Jabberwocky'. Now they have announced the release of a new single on 18th February on Loog Records (home of The Horrors). The track, entitled 'So So Happy Making', is another typical Hatcham song: post-punk indie-pop, with influence from Josef K and The Smiths. It's produced by Faris Badwan, it's very good, and you can listen to it here right now. (The b-side of the single will be classic Hatcham track 'Berlin'.)

Band spotlight//S.C.U.M.

Categorising themselves as Punk/Visual/Gothic, the brilliantly named S.C.U.M. have been under the radar for a while now, but the last few days has seen the release of their first MySpace demo and its insanely good. 'Visions Arise', starting with a progressively fast intro, and leading into the mysterious, distorted sounding vocals of frontman Thomas, is strangely captivating, and the futuristic sounds coming out of their machines are mesmerising and create a frankly brilliant first song.

Having played at the 1234 Records gig last Saturday, and set for more concerts in the future, this group of fresh, raw and inspiring talent are a band to look out for. We can't wait for more tracks.

S.C.U.M. MySpace

Apologies//TNPS single//yet more Horrors news

We're sorry for a bit of a drought here over this busy week. Now we're back to normal and will be bringing you all the news that's worth reading.

To that end, These New Puritans have announced that they are releasing the Beat Pyramid version of 'Elvis' as a single in January to promote the album. The video, which can be seen here, shows a very nice aesthetic (even if it does seem a little familiar at times... 'Sheena', anyone?) and also proves that re-recording your early material need not be a mistake. Far from it. While on the subject of singles, the 'Reflective/Surface' release from Neils Children has been put back provisionally until late April of next year. We're thinking September 2011 for the final release.

Also this week, the Horrors gave an electric performance at Electrowerkz, London, on Wednesday with support from Electricity In Our Homes and Ipso Facto. As well as an all-new live version of 'A Train Roars' (we were right), they included in their set some fantastic new songs including 'Vision Blurred', 'New Ice Age', 'Stand Forward', and 'Three Decades'.

If you missed this amazing concert, you can still hear the new material before the release of the new album, due around March, by going to see the band play their NME Awards show at the Astoria in London on 16th February. Support for this is, perhaps, even better than the Electrowerkz show, with These New Puritans (promoting their debut album, due out in January) and Ulterior making noises before the horror begins. Tickets are fast running out - be there.

A review of the Electrowerkz gig will be in Issue #002 of the New Thing fanzine, out in the New Year. Keep your eyes peeled.

HORRORS NEWS

Faris Rotter has sent out a communication of the latest updates on The Horrors' new album and tour. He says that sixteen new songs are ready for the new LP, and about eight or nine will make the cut (making the average song length for the album longer than 'Strange House' - room for more experimentation?), as well as at least one cover.

Secondly, their set on Wednesday at their 'intimate homecoming' (as things like that are called) show at Electrowerkz will be a hugely different set to their most recent shows, including a song from 'Strange House' that has never been played live before... (our money is on 'A Train Roars'). The New Thing will be present, of course, and will bring you the news as soon as it reaches us. Watch this space for more updates.

DECEMBER//apology

A new month brings New Things. This month at our MySpace page we're celebrating an Electronic Christmas, with some exciting experimental noises.

And now, an apology. We still can't bring you reviews of the Violets LP or the Ipso Facto single. We have the Spider and the Flies 7", though. And it's very good. We'll be reviewing the other two as soon as we get our hands on them.

In other news, the first batch of fanzines have now been dispatched. The first ten people who asked for one will therefore be getting it in the next few days. Thanks for your continued interest and support!