News
09.11.07 - Flux
Bloc Party's new single 'Flux' will be available in shops this Monday 12th of November, but you can pre-order it now.
The single will be released on 2 x CD, 7" and 12".
CD1 (exclusively with NME issue dated 14th November)
01. Flux (JFK Remix)
02. Flux (Punx Soundcheck Remix)
03. Flux (Metal on Metal Remix)
04. Flux (GoodBooks Remix)
CD2
01. Flux (single version)
02. Flux (live at Madison Square Garden)
03. Emma Kate's Accident
7" (clear vinyl)
A. Flux (single version)
B. The Once And Future King
12" (clear vinyl)
A1. Flux (extended version)
B1. Flux (12" instrumental version)
B2. Where is Home (Burial Remix)
Pre-order exclusively from Recordstore.co.uk now »
Watch the video for Flux here »
Directed by Ace Norton, the video for 'Flux' was made over two days in Boston on the band's recent US tour with the performance troupe Kaiju Big Battel.
Some of the Kaiju (Japanese for 'strange beast') characters in the video are The Grudyin, Unibouzo, Vegetius, Gii and Steam-Powered Tentacle Boulder.
10.10.07 - Bloc Party contribute exclusive Diplo remix to Love Music Hate Racism campaign
Iconic music weekly NME and Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR) are spearheading a unique anti-racism campaign by bringing together a unique selection of artists to release an exclusive free double album.
Reacting against the BNP's active recruitment campaigning in schools using white power music, NME teamed up with LMHR to put together the album. The 29 tracks represent the unprecedented support of artists, labels and publishers who have given their time, and work for free.
Artists include Hard-Fi, Bloc Party, The Enemy, MIA, The View, Lethal Bizzle, New Young Pony Club, Fionn Regan, Seb Rochford, The Charlatans, Manu Chao, Billy Bragg, Babyshambles and many more.
The double album sleeve is available on the cover of the NME on sale October 17, with CD1 being given away free with that issue. The second CD is available for free download from a special NME.COM microsite featuring videos of recordings and photoshoots – and artist interviews – as well as the history of LMHR and Rock Against Racism (RAR).
To make the campaign even more powerful in the fight against racism in schools, NME has printed over 500,000 album sleeves which will be handed out in schools nationwide as a direct result of the fantastic support of the National Union of Teachers.
The whole project has been funded by NME and the NUT, but has been made possible by the amazing commitment of the artists, labels and publishers who have generously given their work for free. Essential to the campaign success is their consent to support the distribution in schools in a unique agreement to allow unlimited downloads of the double album via NME.COM/lovemusichateracism.
NME's head of marketing Nick New says: "This amazing album represents months of hard work from the NME and LMHR team, but frankly it would not have been possible without the efforts of the artists recording special tracks, and the labels and publishers bending over backwards. It's a testament to the good souls in the industry that we can all unite in this effort to stamp out something as insane as racism."
Among the 29 tracks featured on the album are a number of exclusives and specially recorded songs, including a collaboration between Babyshambles' Drew McConnell and Mercury award nominees Seb Rochford, and Fionn Regan.
NME editor Conor McNicholas says: "We heard about white power music being distributed to school and university students and wanted to hit back. We've been thrilled with the response from bands keen to join us and the result is not only a fantastic album, but one which we hope will help combat the growth of crypto-fascist organisations in the UK."
Love Music Hate Racism's Lee Billingham says: "Musicians - from Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie to The Clash and Steel Pulse to Rage Against the Machine and Public Enemy - have a fine tradition of solidarity, of undermining and openly opposing racism and fascism. This CD, the musicians on it, and the music fans getting involved in LMHR are building on that and continuing that fine tradition in 2007, when the need to unite against racism and fascist groups like the BNP is as great as ever."
NUT general secretary Steve Sinnott says: "One of the most important social issues our schools are facing is the rise of racism and political parties that promote fascist policies. These resources help schools and young people become aware of the damage that racist and fascist organisations and ideologies can do. I commend these resources to young people and schools - the NUT is proud to be associated with them."
The October 20 issue will have a special LMHR-themed cover, bringing together Lethal Bizzle, Babyshambles, Bloc Party, Dirty Pretty Things, The View and The Enemy. It will also carry a feature on the history of LMHR, a roundtable discussion with the artists about racism and the story of Rock Against Racism, the anti-fascist movement of the 70's that saw bands like The Clash fight back against the National Front.
The launch of the album will be supported by themed Club NME nights and artist appearances in schools around the country, as well as a number of other live events.
The covermounted Love Music Hate Racism CD is free with NME on sale October 10.
22.05.07 - Hunting For Witches
Bloc Party release the new single Hunting For Witches on the 9th July 2007 through Wichita Recordings. The single will be their third from the album A Weekend in The City released in February this year.
Hunting For Witches will include brand new B-sides recorded with Eliot James in London since the making of the album and will be available as a download featuring exclusive remixes by Fury666, Crystal Castles and Dave Pianka. The single Will be available on the following formats:
7" One
A1. Hunting For Witches
B1. Rhododendrons
7" Two
A1. Hunting For Witches (Live at Bristol Academy – 07/02/07)
B1. Secrets
CD
01. Hunting For Witches
02. Cavaliers and Roundheads
03. Uniforms (James Rutledge Remix)
15.02.07 - The World
Bloc Party, whose second album A Weekend in the City narrowly missed out topping the UK charts this week (it entered at No. 2 behind Mika) also hit the charts at No. 2 in Japan, Australia and Ireland. The album charted top 5 in Germany and Belgium, top 10 in France, Canada, Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong, top 20 in Holland, Sweden, Norway and Austria and top 30 in Denmark and Italy.
On top of that, the band also achieved a massive breakthrough in the US with a No. 12 debut on the album chart! A Weekend in the City has already sold over half a million copies worldwide, confirming Bloc Party as one of the UK's most successful international groups of recent years.
Talking about the new album's success Kele said "I'm overwhelmed and blown away by it, I can't really take it all in to be honest. You make the best record you can and you put it out there and you really don't know what's going to happen or how people are going to react. Then when you hear stuff like this it just makes you feel like it's all worthwhile and that it means something to people. That's the best thing really, not the chart positions so much... just knowing that we've made a record that means something to people.
15.02.07 - New UK Dates
Bloc Party have announced six further live dates to take place across the UK in April. The dates are as follows:
April
14 Glasgow - Academy
15 Wolverhampton - Civic
16 Plymouth - Pavilions
18 Blackpool - Empress Ballroom
19 London - Brixton Academy
20 London - Brixton Academy
Tickets will be available through Marshals in a special pre-sale which will begin on Thursday 15th February at 9am, and on general sale on Friday 16th February at 9am.
Tickets are £16.50 (£17.50 in London) plus booking fee. They will be available from 24 hour credit card hotline 0871 220 0260 or online: www.gigsandtours.com
10.01.07 - The Prayer
For your viewing pleasure, the great new video from Bloc Party for "The Prayer...
Windows Media Player
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13.11.06 - US Tour Announcement
Bloc Party have been forced to cancel a number of shows on their current US tour with Panic! At The Disco after drummer Matt Tong was admitted to hospital in Atlanta with a collapsed lung after last night's performance.
Doctors at the hospital in Atlanta say Matt is in a comfortable condition and not in any danger, he will however be staying in hospital for at least the next three days for observation and it's not clear at this stage when Matt will be fit to resume performing.
The band will definitely not be playing at the Charlotte, NC (Cricket Arena), Fairfax, VA (Patriot Center) and both New York Madison Square Garden shows in the coming week.
Further news when available...
12.11.06 - A Weekend in the City
Bloc Party release their second full-length album A Weekend In The City through Wichita on 5th February 2007. Produced by Jacknife Lee and recorded at Grouse Lodge Studios in Ireland. The album will be preceded by the single The Prayer, released 29th January 2007.
Upon release of Silent Alarm in February 2005, Bloc Party were catapulted into the global spotlight, gathering worldwide fans and critical acclaim, with the NME voting Silent Alarm "Album of the Year". They have gone on to sell over a million copies of the album worldwide.
A Weekend in The City is inspired by lead singer Kele Okereke's interest in what he calls "the living noise of a metropolis." On Weekend, the band captures every detail from ebullient to the mundane – of daily life in a modern city, and the quiet desolation that suffuses everything from commuting to casual sex, from going out on a Friday night to the long ride home in the early hours of the morning. These are songs desperate to understand the meaning that pulses under the moments of our everyday: there are bursting with tension, paranoia, sadness, love and an intense need for reason as to how city life has become so displacing.
The track listing for A Weekend in the City is...
01. Song For Clay (Disappear Here)
02. Hunting For Witches
03. Waiting For the 7.18
04. The Prayer
05. Uniform
06. On
07. Where Is Home?
08. Kreuzberg
09. I Still Remember
10. Sunday
11. SRXT
Bloc Party will be touring America throughout autumn. They return to tour the UK in January 2007, their first UK Tour since October 2005.
31.08.06 - Digital Music Awards
Bloc Party fansite - www.blocparty.net - has been nominated for best unofficial website award at the BT Digital Music Awards.
13.03.06 - Message From Bloc Party
Thanks to everyone who turned up for the UK Marshals tour. The band had a great time and we hope you all enjoyed the chance to hear some new material. We will see you all again in August. Hopefully we will be able to confirm more Marshals dates later in the year. All being well this will also include dates outside the UK.
To join Marshals (The Bloc Party Fanspace) visit www.blocparty.com/marshals.
