03/08/08
More good news from the IAC website. "The Girl Who Broke Her Own Heart" is now no. 18 on the KIAC Big 50 radio chart and no. 2 in the Alternative Modern Rock chart. At the same time, Not Lame have sold out of the album 3 times already and it's a similar story with CDBaby (who are selling the album on MP3 format now too!). The album is also available as an MP3 download at PayPlay, E-Music, Napster and Amazon.
The response has been so good, that I'm thinking of re-releasing the album later in the year when I'm not so caught up in studying and can do a proper tour to support it. More news to follow as soon as I've finished writing this dissertation!
02/07/08
New review just in from RootsAndBranches.com and it's a bit of a corker. A snippet - "There's not a duff track here, but special attention should really be directed at the title track which is both reminiscent of and as good as anything on Sgt Pepper...". Also, I've just uploaded "The Girl Who Broke Her Own Heart" onto a US website called Independent Artist's Company and within 3 days it has made the top 50 (from around 100,000 songs) in their radio playlist. It's a good site, so take a look if you get a chance. Finally KoolKatMusic are now selling the CD in the states; which is good, as CDBaby has currently sold out and Not Lame are running out fast. I'm shipping more over asap, and in the meantime you can always buy the album from here.
29/06/08
Oh, the hecticness! If you're not interested in the Euro final tonight you can hear me live and acoustic on the BBC at around 9.15pm GMT. If you miss it you can 'listen again' all week... The album is now available from Not Lame, the USA's foremost Powerpop site. They've given the album pride of place on the front page and a fantastic review, which'll be up on this site asap. Well worth checking out!
28/05/08
So you can now buy the album (a few days before the official launch!) here. It's also already up on iTunes; there are no excuses! It should be in Crash and Jumbo (for all you Leeds people) from next week. Thanks to those of you who came along and supported me at the IPO festival. I ended up doing a couple of solo sets, but it all went really well especially at the Cavern Pub. If I get invited back next year I'm definitely going to get a full band together again, but this year it proved to be impossible - I've been sooooo busy.
18/05/08
The "Shop" pages of the site are undergoing a makeover at the moment - there are still a few little glitches; but you'll be able to buy the new album from this site as either a CD or MP3 download within the next week. In the meantime look below for streaming options!
15/05/08
Want to hear the whole of the new album online? Go to Amplifier Magazine where it's 'Album of the Week' this week. There should be a review up on the same site soon. If you would rather hear some of the tunes live (or get your hands on a CD copy of the album a week ahead of the release date) then come along to the International Pop Overthrow Festival on May 25th: We'll be playing the Cavern Club at 2.30pm and the Cavern Pub (opposite) at 8.15pm. If you can't make it along, then you'll finally be able to buy the CD from June 2nd from this site and from CDBaby and NotLame in the States. Hopefully there'll be a mini tour to promote the album later in the summer but that's going to involve a lineup change, so no dates as yet.
22/04/08
The eponymous Russell of Russell's Reviews has given the album his seal of approval "I urge you to check out this album" he says. As if you need any urging... Oh and in a blatant attempt to 'get down with the kids' you can now download a free Captain Wilberforce ringtone of "The Girl Who Broke Her Own Heart" by texting 'Captain Wilberforce' to 69937. If you live in America that is. Not sure it works anywhere else yet, but Myxer.com are working on it right now, even as I type. Let me know what happens if you do, I'm intrigued.
11/04/08
And another, from the 'under new editorship and vastly improved' Vibrations magazine. It seems the album "reeks of pop confidence"! Well, there's worse things it could reek of...
06/04/08
Another review just in, from Toxic Pete. He really loves it.
03/04/08
Well the launch gig was excellent: thanks to everyone who came along. I really enjoyed playing and was bowled over by the standard of the other acts even though I'd suspected they were going to be good. I should also thank everyone who took the trouble to download the album from Leeds Music Forum; a pretty successful venture by any standards. Some of you have already emailed with your comments on the album, which have been universally positve, so cheers. (This is getting like an Oscar speech, so I'll knock the 'thank yous' on the head there!) Onto the live shows - the next ones will be at the International Pop Overthrow Festival on May 25th, which is turning out to be an annual event for me. The full Captain Wilberforce band played at last year's gigs and went down particularly well, so I'm hoping to do the same this year. It's a week long event across 3 venues in the centre of Liverpool, with at least 50 bands all playing for free, so try and get along if you can. A new review of 'Everyone Loves a Villain' is up on Melodic.Net - the synopsis? 4 stars and "A very good album". More to follow...
22/03/08
The first couple of reviews are in - read about how it's not as good as The Super Furries or the Flaming Lips here or alternatively how it's an "essential recording" here. I've also stuck a couple more photos up on the gallery pages - cheers to Nick for those! Finally just a reminder of the launch tomorrow at The Primrose. It's all go round here you know!
16/03/08
Remember - register with Leeds Music Forum and you can download the album free from today until March 30th!
15/03/08
The CDs have arrived - yay! They look amazing and I can't even spot any typos (there's always one!). Now begins the long arduous process of sending them out to reviewers, radio stations etc. The release date is set for June 2nd, but as you know - if you've been keeping up - you can download the full album on mp3 from tomorrow by clicking here. On the gigs front, apart from next Sunday (see below) the full band will once again be playing the The Cavern Club as part of this year's International Pop Overthrow Festival. The festival runs from Tues 20th to Mon 26th May and we'll be playing twice on May 25th. Times to follow. I've now uploaded two of the new songs on my MySpace page - "The Girl Who Broke Her Own Heart" and "No Strings Or Ties". Comments are welcome... And finally, you probably all missed my brief appearance on Yorkshire Radio last week, so I've stuck it up here.
09/03/08
Just updated the lyrics page with all the songs from the new album. Which is available online in 7 days...
29/02/08
Can't wait to get the cds back from the manufacturer - the artwork looks amazing (thanks Rob!) Also just got the first soundbite - "it sounds like one of the best albums Squeeze never made" - The Beat magazine: Comparisons to Difford and Tilbrook are always welcome! The acoustic gig to celebrate the album download launch is on March 23rd at The Primrose - The lineup is looking great - Captain Wilberforce headline and there's support from Joseph Dunwell, Tom Attah and The French Defence. All the supports are worthy of the entrance fee alone. Doors open at 7.30pm. We'll be finishing at around 10.45, before the last bus goes, but the bar is open til late.
12/01/08
2007 wasn't the year it was supposed to be. The new album should have been mixed, then released: There should have been launch tours and reviews... irritatingly, it wasn't to be. Oh well. 2008 is already looking much better. For a start the album is finally mixed - I'm listening to it as I type and with all due modesty, it's ace. The songs are the best I've written and the production is as good as I could have dreamed of. So, I suppose you'll want to get your hands on it? Easy. I've decided to do a two staged release. If you want the songs as mp3s, you'll be able to download them free (for a month) from March 16th - just register with Leeds Music Forum and check out the sticky topic - I'll email you directions to the free download site. Then from June 2nd you'll be able to buy the ltd edition CD from record stores. Excited? I am...
