The Strange Death of Liberal England – Drown Your Heart Again Album Release

The Strange Death of Liberal England‘s new album DROWN YOUR HEART AGAIN is out on Monday 13th September and has some amazing reviews:

“Completely brilliant” NME
“f***ing brilliant” Playlouder
“This is brilliant” Unpeeled
“Drown your heart again is a stirring, brilliantly British Album” The Fly

The album is available for pre-order from Amazon, HMV, iTunes etc. The band will also be playing with an orchestra for Southsea Fest at the Kings Theatre around 5pm. Can’t be missed, but if you do they will be touring through October and November:

OCTOBER * Mon 11 Leeds Milo * Tue 12 Aberdeen The Tunnels * Wed 13 Dundee Dexters
* Thu 14 Sunderland Plugged In * Fri 15 Glasgow Maggie Mays * Sat 16 Bathgate Attic
* Sun 17 Inverness Hootananny * Mon 18 York Stero * Wed 20 Liverpool Masque
* Thu- 21 Sheffield Hub * Fri 22 Leicester Fire Bug * Mon 25 London Lexington
* Tue 26 Bristol The Lanes * Wed 27 Birmingham The Flapper * Thu 28 Manchester Ruby Lounge
* Fri 29 Exeter Time Piece * Sat 30 Truro Wig and Pen
* NOVEMBER * Mon 1 Cardiff Buffalo Bar * Tues 2 Brighton The Hydrant * Wed 3 Stoke Sugarmill

Watch the new video for the song ‘Rising Sea’ featuring much of our loved city:

Also, watch this short film about the making of the album:

Game of SKATE Photos

Photographer Rob Luckins got in contact with Strong Island the other day, Rob shot a load of photos at the recent eS Game of SKATE competition and sent a bunch over. Check the photos below, lots more after the drop (the Read More link), as they say. Be sure to check Rob’s website for loads of great photography.

www.welcometothedarkslide.co.uk

Read More…

Wedgewood Rooms @ Southsea Fest

GOLDHEART ASSEMBLY – 23.00 – 23.45
http://www.myspace.com/goldheartassembly
English psychedelia, pitch-perfect harmonies, found sounds and surprising twists and turns, the band have just announced tour dates with Band of Horses.

THE XCERTS – 22.15 – 22.45
http://www.myspace.com/thexcerts

THE XCERTS fresh from the US where they have been recording the follow-up to 2009’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘In The Cold Wind We Smile’. The first fruits of their labour, single ‘Slackerpop’ will be released on 7th June through Xtra Mile Recordings (Frank Turner, Reuben, Far…) with the album following later in the year.

LITTLE FISH – 21.30 – 22.00
http://www.myspace.com/littlefishmusic
Oxford based garage due coming back to our shores after a busy year of tours with Alice & Chains, Them Crooked Vultures and an album release.

BLEECH – 20.45 – 21.15
http://www.myspace.com/bleech
Bleech formely known as Slummin Angels are a young, promising, fresh band from East London. Their energetic live performances and loud indie tunes have been compared to the likes of The Subways & The Pixies.

MEGAPHONIC THRIFT – 20.00 – 20.30
http://www.myspace.com/megaphonicthrift
Cap’n caught these Norwegian noise makers at The Great Escape and fell in love with them. They will take your ears away with them, but it’ll be worth every minute. TOP SSF PIC!

PURE REASON REVOLUTION – 19.15 – 19.45
http://www.myspace.com/purereasonrevolution
“A giddying array of sonic delights…packed with huge riffs and rich vocal harmonies.” – Rocksound 8/10

Desparado Beer is not only one of the sponsors for Southsea Fest, but are also kindly donating to the Strong Island Birthday Party Raffle. Cheers to Andy at Desparado Beer for hooking us up. ANother great prize is added to the pile.

Strong Island Birthday Party at The Belle Isle, Southsea

For all your support over the last 2 years we’d like to say a little thank you and invite you to a bit of a bash on the 30th of September. Our good friends at The Belle Isle have agreed to let us hold a little social at their bar on Osborne Road and we’d love it if you could join us. I’ve been extremely busy as of late and finding it hard to keep you all up to date on this, sorry.

The main things to know are on the flyer below, and the things I’d really like to mention are all the people who have kindly agreed to donate to our Raffle, or helped us out with prints/tees/drinks etc. Current shout outs are as follow. Sorry if I missed anyone, just shout back at me and I’ll get it sorted.

The Belle Isle / Bored / Portsmouth University / Claire Sambrook / Desperados Beer / Ian Parmiter / Rob Trigg / Wallspace gallery / Head Hairdressing / FarkFK / Southsea Fixed Gear / James weaver / Diana Goss / Caleigh Illburn / Cat Vaughan / Steve Bomford / Owain harris / Miki Organic / Candice @ Inksquatch / MyDogSighs and more to come. Prizes include tee shirts, drinks, hair cuts, photo shoot, art, prints, photography and more besides.

There will be limited FREE Strong Island Ice Teas on arrival, as well as a few small freebies. I’ll post a sneak peek of the very first Strong Island tee shirt that will be available in the raffle and also to purchase on the night. We will also reveal a very limited collaboration tee design with When We Were Kids designer Rob Trigg. Pet Sounds will be providing the background music with a Strong Island VS Pet Sounds Playlist.

Sorry it’s brief. I’m hectic at the moment. We’ve also moved over from our old Facebook Group and started a new Facebook Page. Keep up with everything happening and more information on our Birthday Party over HERE. Look forward to seeing you all and hopefully putting some faces to names.

Artwork : Tristan Savage

Did I mention?

So it turns out there are quite a few people out on their bikes this coming month and what with Southsea Fest coming up on the 18th September I’m definitely in the mood for a little light refreshment at The Bridge Tavern and a casual cycle along the seafront and back to help me shake off the hangover on the 19th. I might even end up at Spice Island for a cheeky tipple after. I reckon I’ll get to the Bridge Tavern for a bout 12pm and set off around 2pm after some lunch. Give me a shout if you’re in the area. Nudge nudge. Wink wink.

Bestival is just round the corner, literally.

Okay, so it’s not this island, but for 3 days of the year a huge amount of Strong Islanders head over to the Isle of Wight for Rob Da Banks Bestival extravaganza. For the past 6 years the Southsea contingency has gone from strength to strength, and this year is no exception. Dozens of us will be taking to the ferrys next Friday to get well and truly involved.

Local mad cats Brendon & Morgan will be closing the Bestival up nicely in The Cabaret Tent at 1.30am playing a Silent Disco alongside New Young Pony Club. If you’ve got any strength left get yourself down there and finish up nicely with some local reppin’. Also to boot Krywolf are playing. I don’t have the full details on that, but check it once you get your timetable and make sure to head over.

Rob Da Bank posted a little clip the other day showing the lay of the land over at Robin Hill. The Main Stage has moved again, and the old Bollywood set up has returned. The Rizla Arena has now gone, but is made up for with the extended Arcadia Presents where the original Main Stage used to be. There are also some brand new fields and areas that are typically Bestival. Can’t wait. check the video out HERE.

Photo : Hellomatt

Your Twenty Four No.06 : Rusty Sherriff

Today’s Your Twenty Four contributor is local artist, DJ and photographer Rusty Sheriff, the 24 hours in question contained his and his girlfriend’s fifth anniversary and the Pompey Beer Festival.

Check out all the past Your Twenty Four posts HERE. We are still looking for more contributors, get in contact with us at contact@strong-island.co.uk if you want to be involved with Your Twenty Four.

Check the first of the 24 photos below, the rest can be seen on Rusty’s Flickr HERE with descriptions of what was going on:

Breaking More Waves & Southsea Fest

The Breaking More Waves blog is a great resource for finding out about new and breaking local, national and international bands and artists and they popped up a post the other day previewing some of the acts appearing at this month’s Southsea Fest. Well worth checking out and figuring out who you might want to see play on the day.

breakingmorewaves.blogspot.com

Herbal & PhinFilms August Update

That time of the month again with the new monthly video update from Herbal Skateboards and PhinFilms.

Warning: be prepared for swearing, apple pie and the lack of street spots on Hayling Island.

Pet Sounds Weekly Playlist – Sub Pop

“We’re not the best, but we’re pretty good” So runs the strap-line on the Seattle label’s homepage. From being instrumental in the beginnings of grunge, putting out early records by Mudhoney, Soundgarden and of course Nirvana, to signing American Indie successes The Shins, Sebadoh and Hot Hot Heat to a forward looking roster including Fleet Foxes, Avi Buffalo and Beach House, there’s certainly plenty of evidence to support the second part of that self-effacing mission statement. This is just a sample of what the much loved label has had to offer so far. Check it out on Spotify HERE and grab all the other Pet Sounds Weekly Playlists HERE.

01 About A Girl – Nirvana
02 Bandages – Hot Hot Heat
03 Your Protector – Fleet Foxes
04 Smokey Taboo – CocoRosie
05 I Am John – Loney, Dear
06 Turn On Me – The Shins
07 The Distance – Dntel
08 Soul And Fire – Sebadoh
09 Rolling Sea – Vetiver
10 Grip Like A Vice – The Go! Team
11 Cue The Strings – Low
12 Used To Be – Beach House
13 By Your Side – Beachwood Sparks
14 Pagan Angel And A Borrowed Car – Iron & Wine
15 Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) – Postal Service

Strong Island on BBC Radio Solent

Paul will be interviewed about Strong Island on BBC Radio Solent a little after 10am this morning, talking about how SI began, what we do, aspects of modern local community, our plans for the future, etc. Must not swear!

You can now listen to it again on the BBC Radio Solent website HERE. It starts at 0:35:35. I’m not sure if the walk on song was directed at us though….

Salsa at Fin’s

If you fancy trying a little evening salsa since the demise of Havanas, why not pop round to Fin’s Cafe Bar at 106 Palmerston Road in October and enjoy their free salsa night. It’s a small, intimate venue and salsa nights are from 8.30pm on 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd October. Pop in and see what they have to offer.

You can grab a bite to eat whilst there if you fancy it.

PS Join their Facebook group Fin’s Cafe Bar and you could win one of 200 free home-cooked British meals being offered as part of British Food Fortnight running from Sept 18th.

King of Southsea 2010 – Video

This is a great little video by Mike King showing some of the highlights from the weekend’s King of Southsea BMX competition at Southsea Skatepark. The riding looks to have been ridiculously good, the flatland as always is something special too, hard to even begin to comprehend the balance involved.

I still feel like going for a bike ride!

So it turns out there are quite a few people out on their bikes this coming month and what with Southsea Fest coming up on the 18th September I’m definitely in the mood for a little light refreshment at The Bridge Tavern and a casual cycle along the seafront and back to help me shake off the hangover on the 19th. I might even end up at Spice Island for a cheeky tipple after. I reckon I’ll get to the Bridge Tavern for a bout 12pm and set off around 2pm after some lunch. Give me a shout if you’re in the area. Nudge nudge. Wink wink.

New Tom Photos

Bored manager, skateboarder and photographer Tom McCaughan has had a bit of a website redesign and has been adding loads of new photos recently. Check below for a quick glimpse and then click on tomtimewaster.wordpress.com to see more.

Live Paint Jam

The live paint jam in the garden of Little Johnny Russells went off on Saturday with a strong turnout and some awesome artwork being produced. At the same time there was also an indoor market in the bar. Below are a load of photos from the day, be sure to click on Read More link below to see them all.

Read More…

6by4 – Call for Entries

To celebrate their 30th Anniversary Art Space Portsmouth is hosting ’6by4′ a secret postcard exhibition in GASP (Gallery Art Space Portsmouth). All proceeds will help support future Art Space projects and initiatives.

CALL FOR ENTRIES:
This is a great opportunity for young and emerging talent to be shown alongside mid-career and established artists. Additionally, it is a great chance for art lovers and collectors to purchase a hidden gem!

The brief is simple. All entries (up to a maximum of 3 per person) must be on card, 6 by 4 inches (15 x 10cm) and can use any medium including drawing, painting, photography and collage. There is no theme and challenging submissions are welcome. Sign and print your name on the reverse (otherwise it will not be a secret!), date it and add a title. Please include your contact details and e-mail address on a separate piece of paper, and post to:

’6by4′, Art Space Portsmouth Limited, 27 Brougham Road, Southsea, Hampshire PO5 4PA

THE CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES IS MONDAY 11TH OCTOBER 2010.

All details here.

Lost Handbag

Liz accidently left her handbag at The Little Johnny Russells last night. For a while it was tucked next to the DJ booth besides Gentle Bren. If anyone has grabbed it or handed it in anywhere we’d greatly appreciate any help. The LJR boys are burning me the CCTV disc so hopefully that will help. It basically has everything in it. All cards, purse, house keys, car keys, phone, you name it. Thanks for reading. Tristan.

Pet Sounds Weekly Playlist – Instrumentals Vol. 1

Something a little different from the Pet Sounds boys this week. Charlie explains. “I started compiling an instrumental playlist a couple of weeks ago and ended up amassing more than 50 tracks, when Tim and I tried it at the Dog we did all night. Probably far too many to digest in one go so I thought I’d do one for now and maybe follow it up in a couple of weeks with Vol. 2

Some absolute banging staples in here, Green Onions, possibly the most complete and perfect song ever written, the origin of Bittersweet Symphony, The Beastie Boys flexing their chops, a soulful cover of a Mamas and Papas tune, arguably the Small Faces finest moment and a guaranteed floor-filler from RJD2, still remember Bren dropping that on me years back, plus a fucking mean groove from Young-Holt Unlimited that defies you to stay still. Not least, the very song that represents our chosen path, the wonderful and odd Pet Sounds by Brian, where we borrowed our name from.”

Head over to Spotify to listen to this weeks offering and check out the past playlists HERE.

01 Intro – The XX
02 Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys
03 Green Onions – Booker T & The MGs
04 The Fly – David Axelrod
05 69 Police – David Holmes
06 Wah Wah Man – Young-Holt Unlimited
07 Glad – Traffic
08 California Dreamin’ – Baby Huey & The Babysitters
09 Spandex Man – Mr Scruff
10 Coffee In The Pot – Supergrass
11 Ghostwriter – RJD2
12 G.B.H. – Death In Vegas
13 Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake – The Small Faces
14 Sabrosa – The Beastie Boys
15 The Last Time – The Andrew Oldham Orchestra

Pompey Beer Festival – The Other Side

Now I’ve been to quite a few Beer & Cider Festivals in my time, but none quite so rawkus and damn right hilarious as last weekends Pompey Beer Festival at The Guildhall. With daft hats from the mechandise stand and Skull Splitter as standard the evening was off to an interesting start. Tony winning a bottle of Courvoisier on The Price is Right was pure scream fuelled entertainment for the whole room and the level of Golf putting skills was something to behold.

We’ll all definitely be going again next year and of course it’s not all about the fun & games, or wearing silly hats, but it does help take the edge off some interesting tastes that’s for sure. Check out the rest of the night over at my Flickr.