JAMES : NEWS ARCHIVE MARCH 2008
Update 31.3.08
Oneofthethree has an exclusive first in-depth review of the Hey Ma album.
Update 28.3.08
The new official James website has been launched this evening. In addition to the standard news, gigs and discography sections, it has a potted history of the band written by Larry, the first part of an interview with Kirsty Pheasant (goldmother to forumites), lyrics for the album and a James game where you have to identify songs and can win signed artwork or guestlist tickets for the upcoming tour.
Tim Booth has intimated in an interview with the Yorkshire Evening Post that Sit Down won't be played at the forthcoming dates, and that the set will be based around the new album Hey Ma. In other media news, the Independent, Q Magazine and Uncut have reviewed the album, Q Magazine lists Oh My Heart in its 50 Essential Tracks for the month and Uncut Magazine features a back-cover advert for the album.
Update 27.3.08
Tickets for the Hoxton gig go on sale at 9am this morning. Details have been sent out to members of the James mailing list.
The Manchester HMV (Monday April 7), Murcia (Friday May 2) and Coimbra (Saturday May 10) festival dates in May have been confirmed and additional dates in Braga (Portugal) in the Municipal Park on Sunday May 11 and Athens (Eject Festival) on Sunday June 29th.
Amazon are running a contest for an all-expenses paid trip to the Murcia festival.
From tomorrow, the band will be previewing each day a track from the new album on the official website.
Update 25.3.08
James have announced a warm-up date at Hoxton Square Bar And Kitchen next Monday, March 31. Ticket details are unclear at present, but are likely to be exclusive to James mailing list. There is a competition for a pair to be won on the band's official myspace. The band's site is being advertised on the UK frontpage of the myspace site.
Update 23.3.08
Two good pieces of press for the band over the weekend in The Times and the Sunday Mail (in Scotland) and the first view of a new press picture.
In the Sunday Mail interview, Tim expressed his views on the controversial Hey Ma cover : "The image is amazing because we are a race with nuclear weapons and the ability to destroy ourselves - yet in many ways we're the emotional and moral age of a baby. So a baby playing with a loaded gun seemed the perfect metaphor for the world."
Read the articles in questions and others from recent weeks in the Article Archive.
Update 20.3.08
James songs from the new album Hey Ma are finding their way onto radio and the web.
Hey Ma has been donated to the group Help For Heroes for use in a video campaign detailing the events soldiers face in warzones in Iraq and Afghanistan. The video can be viewed on youtube by following this link.
Waterfall was played on Janice Long's Radio 2 show early this morning - the song is about 50 minutes in. The listen again link should be valid for about a week
Update 15.3.08
The HMV website is listing a James in-store gig and signing at their Manchester Market St store on April 7 at 12.30pm, the day of the album launch. According to the site, wristbands will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis one per person from 8am on the morning.
Larry Gott has spoken to XFM regarding the controversy relating to the sleeve and how James are planning to manage the album advertising in light of the ban on the artwork. For a transcript of the interview, click here.
Update 14.3.08
In an interview with Mad, the trade website, Darren Hughes, creative head at the Love agency, responsible for the Hey Ma artwork and the revised daisy logos said that the idea behind the controversial cover was to show the “boldness and curiosity” of gun culture “to engage in the debate”.
Hughes told the website “You need only to have a passing acquaintance with the headlines to be aware of the unfolding horror show of gun culture amongst kids in the UK. Whilst the media are quick to show condemnation and, in the governments barricading of not just our airports but now our train and bus stations and schools with metal detectors, armed police and dogs, their strong armed ‘climate of fear-inducing’ response.
“But we seem less able, less curious to raise the vital question, as to what has brought our country, our culture our kids to be so taken with guns?”
Alternative artwork is being prepared for the advertising campaign to satisfy JC Decaux, the media company, which refused to post the "offending" posters.
Update 13.3.08
JAMES NEW ARTWORK BANNED SHOCKER - The Sun are reporting that advertising executives have banned the new James album cover from advertising billboards because of fears relating to the baby and gun being on the sleeve. James are steadfastly refusing to change the cover.
Update 12.3.08
James now have an official Facebook group.
The tracknames being touted by several music sites are not totally correct. Upside Down is simply called Upside, and Of Monsters And Heroes And Men is called simply Monsters And Heroes And Men.
Update 10.3.08
According to the festival's blog site, James are scheduled to play the Queima das Fitas in Coimbra, Portugal on Saturday 10 May. There has been no official confirmation of this as yet from the band.
Update 9.3.08
The Portuguese music site Blitz has reported that James have signed up to play the Super Bock Super Rock do Porto festival on Friday 4 July. There has been no official confirmation on either the festival or the James official site.
Update 3.3.08
The official James myspace site now has the final version of Whiteboy available to listen to. It would appear that the version played by Radcliffe and Maconie last week was a demo version of the song.
Meanwhile, upcoming Manchester band The Courteeners feature a snippet of Tomorrow on the live b-side to their recent 7" single What Took You So Long? The track is on the one-sided etched picture disc or is available on itunes.
James' producer Lee Muddy Baker's band, My Federation, who are supporting James on their April tour, release their debut album "Don't Wanna Die" on April 7, coincident with the release of Hey Ma.