Oxford’s Fixers return with ‘Iron Deer Dream’, their first release of 2012, the year their musical visions will cement their reputation.

‘Iron Deer Dream’ features chiming guitars, soaring melodies, five part harmonies and lush production that sees the track fly. Fixers are a band with their gaze firmly on the stars, looking beyond the usual musical confines, searching for something much bigger. They aim to make music in their own musical world, where creativity rules. 

Live dates w/ Kaiser Chiefs
February: 2nd Derby Assembly Rooms, 14th Newcastle Academy , 15th Grimsby Auditorium, 18th Manchester Academy, 19th Folkstone Leas Cliff Hall, 21st Portsmouth Guildhall, 22nd Bristol Colston Halls, 23rd London Hammersmith Apollo.

Headline tour:
May: 11th Joiners, Southampton, 12th Cavern, Exeter, 14th Buffalo Bar, Cardiff, 15th Thekla, Bristol, 17th 02 Academy 2, Oxford, 18th Institute, Birmingham, 21st King Tuts, Glasgow, 22nd Cluny, Newcastle, 23rd Brundell Social Club, Leeds, 25th Aunt Annies,Belfast, 26th Whelans, Dublin, 27th Deaf Institute, Manchester, 28th Bodega, Nottingham, 30th Scala, London, 31st Arts Centre, Norwich, 1st Leadmill, Sheffield.

‘The Devil In Your Heart’ is a high five to the inconsolable in all of us, a celebration of triumph and relief, born through the eyes and ears of three musicians who had to go there to come back. ‘The Devil In Your Heart’ is the fist pumping new LP from London alt-rockers Zico Chain.

The result is a self-made and self-funded lap of honour, an achievement of truly epic proportions. Armed with their hard-earned formidable live reputation and their relentless DIY ethics, it’s almost impossible to imagine Zico Chain not climbing to the greatest heights and beyond in 2012.

February: 28 – Kingston, Fighting Cocks

March: 01 – Newport Pagnell, Watershed, 02 – York, Fibbers, 03 – Huddersfield, Parish, 07 Manchester, Dry Bar, 08 – Harlow, Square, 09 -   Weymouth, Finn’s Rock Pub, 10 – Nottingham, Rock City, 11 – London, Nambucca, 12 – Brighton, Hydrant, 13 – Birmingham, Flapper, 14 – Leeds, The Well, 15 – Derby, The Vic Inn, 16 – Coventry, Kasbah.

Blues Funeral, the new album by Mark Lanegan Band, is released on February 6th via 4AD. Lanegan’s seventh long-player in an illustrious and colourful career, it is his first solo output since 2004′s Bubblegum. Recorded in Hollywood, CA with Alain Johannes at his 11AD studios, Blues Funeral features appearances from numerous friends and collaborators including Jack Irons, Greg Dulli and Josh Homme.

A 7″ single of opening track, ‘The Gravedigger’s Song’, b/w new track ‘Burning Jacob’s Ladder’ is on sale now. To hear ‘The Gravedigger’s Song’, head to www.marklanegan.com.

To coincide with the release of Blues Funeral, Mark Lanegan will return to Europe for an extensive five-week long tour. The UK dates are as follows:

March: 4th – Bristol Academy, 5th – Manchester Academy 2, 8th – Belfast Mandela Hall, 9th – Glasgow ABC, 10th – Leeds Cockpit, 12th – Birmingham Library, 13th – London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire.

Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo puts out his first proper, song-oriented studio album this March and ‘Off The Wall‘ is the the first mp3 to be taken from Between The Times And The Tides, which you can hear now by heading to the Matablog.

Recorded with long-standing Sonic Youth producer John Agnello (The Hold Steady, The Breeders, Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile), the album is a shimmering melodic tapestry of rock sounds and is equal parts smart, confident and loose.  With lyrics plumbing Ranaldo’s childhood and adolescence, it’s a fascinatingly approachable song collection from one of rock’s greatest guitarists.  Ranaldo’s trademark alternate-tuning guitar work is at the forefront, but it is amplified by brilliant lead-work from Wilco’s Nels Cline on every track.  The all-star lineup also includes Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley on drums, Alan Licht on guitar, and John Medeski on keyboards. There are also cameos from original Sonic Youth drummer Bob Bert and producer and instrumentalist Jim O’Rourke.

Album pre-order link: http://store.matadorrecords.com/between-the-times-the-tides

I Like Trains have announced that they are currently in the studio working on their as yet untitled third album with Mercury Prize nominated producer Richard Formby. The band hope that Formby, best known for his recent work with Wild Beasts‘ on the albums ‘Smother’ and “Tiny Dancers”, can take them further forward as they look to push and evolve their sound already developed over the previous two albums.

The news follows the band’s recent unveiling of the epic video for the track ‘Sea Of Regrets’ which has racked up over 37,000 views within a matters of weeks.

White Hills latest album, ‘Frying On This Rock’, due out on March 19th, is their most energized and concise recording to date.  Recorded by Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Brian Eno, Swans, Herbie Hancock, Boredoms), the songs are bursting with a raw energy that has always been present but never showcased front and center like it is here.  Not to worry though, the loads of killer guitar work and fuzzed out psychedelia are still there.  Opening track ‘Pads Of Light’ is an under five minute scorcher but ‘I Write A Thousand Letters (Pulp On Bone)’ is a 15 minute track that reminds us why space rock gatekeepers like Julian Cope were very early supporters.

2011 was a banner year for White Hills, with their last album ‘H-p1′ topping several UK end of the year lists, and high profile appearances at ATP New York, Supersonic, and Roadburn as well as dates with the Flaming Lips and Sleep.

March Tour Date: 15th Cork Cyprus Avenue (IRE), 16th Dublin Crawdaddy (IRE), 17th Birmingham Birmingham Film Festival (UK), 18th Leicester The Musician (UK), 19th Bristol The Croft (UK), 20th Nottingham Bodega Social Club (UK), 21st Glasgow The Arches (UK), 22nd Leeds The Brundenell (UK), 23rd Liverpool The Kazimer (UK), 24th London The  Lexington (UK), 25th Utrecht Ekko (NL), 26th Haarlem Patronaat Small Hall (NL), 27th Paris Glaz’ Art (F), 28th Brussels Rotonde at Botanique (B), 29th Cologne Sonic Ballroom (D), 30th Leipzig UT Connewitz- Doom over Leipzig Fest (D), 31st Helsinki Kuudes Linja (FIN).

Grammy Award-winning vocalist Sinead O’Connor guests on track with reggae producer Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor, titled ‘How About I Be Me’, available now on iTunes. The track – a melodic dance-club reggae anthem told from the female perspective – was produced by Jamaican beatmaker Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor, and will be included on McGregor’s upcoming various-artists compilation, ‘Club Dance Riddim’, scheduled for digital release this fall.

This track represents the continuation of her longtime penchant for reggae, as she plans to collaborate with McGregor to produce additional reggae tracks with her during 2012.

Sinead O’Connor – How About I Be Me by PurplePR

Toddla T is very pleased to announce details of what some of his 2012 is to hold. Namely, that he is set to join the DJ staff at Radio 1 permanently with is own weekly show on Friday mornings 2-4am. He joins an influx of new music DJs including Skream & Benga, Charlie Sloth & Friction.

He’s also excited to be getting his own musical productions on the road with The Toddla T Sound. Check Toddla T’s website for details.

In 2009, Miike Snow released their self-titled debut album much to the acclaim of critics and fans around the world and went on to perform at sold-out shows and festivals across the world. Miike Snow’s ‘Animal’ found it’s way into movies, commercials, dance floors and hearts, to became the ode of a generation.  On March 26th 2012, Miike Snow are set to release one of the most highly anticipated follow ups, Happy To You on Columbia Records.

On their sophomore effort, Andrew Wyatt, Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg draw from some of the most influential moments in pop, rock and electronic music to create a sonically grandiose and haunting sound, an opus extending into the deep, dark and magical crevices of a wild imagination. Alongside all the fine-tuning and familiar sounds, Miike Snow’s new album also features full orchestras, brass sections and marching bands.

On making the new record and the evolution of Miike Snow’s sound, Pontus Winnberg states, “Before this album, we were an idea. This time we were a band. And this time, we had paid our dues – we’d toured in 27 countries for 18 months. When we came in to make ‘Happy To You’, we came in as a unit, and emotionally for us that makes a huge difference. And hopefully you can hear it.”

‘Ghostory’ is the anticipated third album from highly acclaimed New Yorkers, School Of Seven Bells. This returning album finds the band’s lineup evolved along with the music; formerly a trio, the band is now a duo: guitarist/producer Benjamin Curtis and vocalist Alejandra Deheza.

Recorded in-between tours, ‘Ghostory’ exemplifies a fervent progression of SVIIB’s growth as artists, preserving the common themes found on their last two releases but exposing them in different fashions. The familiar ethereal and enigmatic tones are omnipresent, surrounded by layers of influences from ‘80s pop, shoegaze and ambient electronic sounds. However, the complete album comes with a story in mind; the tale of a young girl named Lafaye and the ghosts that surround her life. “Everyone has ghosts”, says Alejandra Deheza; “They’re every love you’ve ever had, every hurt, every betrayal, every heartbreak. They follow you, stay with you.”

This detailed storytelling is evident from start to finish on the record, weaving a tale that moves between a fervent synthesized adventure and spacious lyrical euphoria. Tracks like ‘Love Play’ and ‘Show Me Love’ create a hauntingly indelible atmosphere that grab attention with the ambitious wordplay in the center of it all. Surrounding tracks like ‘Lafaye’ and ‘Scavenger’ entice the vibe of previous School of Seven Bells releases with their steadily dance-centric tempo and uplifting melodic progressions.