Bleeding Knees Club and Brown Brogues – live on Wednesday 29th February


 
Bleeding Knees Club have won hearts and minds through a reckless live reputation and, on the recorded front, with a swag of super-catchy tunes on their debut EP “Virginity”. Notoriously hard-to-impress UK music bible NME fawningly named them as one of the 50 Best New Bands of 2011, and fresh London singles label Noir snapped them up for a one-off 7”. Catch them for free at Shopkeepers while you can!
 
Click play above to listen to ‘Nothing To Do’ by Bleeding Knees Club.
 
Bleeding Knees Club | Bleeding Knees Club on Facebook | Brown Brogues

Nation of Shopkeepers Associated Festival : Beacons 2012 – First Acts Announced – New Site

The Nation of Shopkeepers associated festival Beacons, in the Yorkshire Dales, announced the initial acts this morning, including Roots Manuva, Ghospoet, Junior Boys, Factory Floor and Shopkeepers DJs! Buy tickets at the link below, and if you have a Regulars Card you can get a discount. They’re also doing an ace deposit scheme!
 
We’re really excited to see Rodney Smith aka Roots Manuva on the Beacons line-up this year. Following the release of last year’s 4everrevolution – his most powerful work since Run Come Save Me – the UK hip-hop legend will be bringing his innovative sound to the Yorkshire countryside this summer. And one of UK hip-hop’s rising stars will also be playing. The Mercury Music Prize-nominated Ghostpoet will be laying down his laconic beats and baritone drawl and you’ll get the chance to see why Factory Floor have made a fan of Joy Division / New Order’s Stephen Morris and had the likes of Pitchfork and Quietus touting them for bigger things.
 
Beacons is a three-day, four-night festival and for a short period, tickets are available at just £60 for the weekend, including camping (£55 for students and Regulars Cards holders). A limited number of early bird weekend tickets are available now. Tickets will be available to purchase from the Beacons Festival website, HMV, Seetickets, Gigantic, Leedstickets.com, Jumbo Records and Crash Records.
 
Beacons Website | Beacons on Facebook | Beacons on Twitter

Pale Seas, Arbeia and The Spirit of John – live on Wednesday 7th March


 
A lovely night of weird folky stuff with three smashing acts. Expect hear lots of hushed whispering and open toes sandles, most likely there’ll be some beard action going on too.
 

Click play above to listen to ‘Sleeping’ by Pale Seas.
 
paleseas.com

Dutch Uncles – live on Thursday 8th March


Click play above to watch the video for ‘Face In’ by Dutch Uncles.
 
Dutch Uncles need no introduction to Leeds, they have the winning formula of great disjointed pop songs ala Josef K, ESG and the jerky playfulness of Friendly Fires or The Maccabees, this is their SXSW warm up so come down and feel free to show some love.
 

Click play above to listen to ‘The Ink’ by Dutch Uncles.
 
dutchuncles.co.uk

Young British Artists and PEACE – live on Wednesday 21st March


 
2 hot young bands who featured high up in the NME’s 100 bands to watch in 2012, which might mean nothing to a lot of people as most of the bands wont even be around in 2 months time, but we’ve had both these bands on before at Nation and they are genuinely exciting!
 

Click play above to listen to ‘BBLOOD’ by PEACE.
 
youngbritishartists.co.ukpeaceforeverever.co.uk

Umberto – live on Friday 23rd March


 
We are proud to announce a special DJ performance by Umberto (Not Not Fun) who will be bringing to Leeds his take on vintage soundtracks, Goblin influenced Italian horror themes and weird and wonderful music from all 4 corners of the planet.
 
umberto.bandcamp.com/

Bos Angeles – live on Wednesday 4th April


Click play above to listen to ‘Beach Slalom’ by Bos Angeles.
 
We’re loving these super slackers at Nation headquarters, fans of Best Coast, Real Estate, Woods and Spectrals, reverb, skateboarding references, funny name, its all there. Prepare to hear loads about these lot, oh they’re playing Beacons in August too!
 

Click play above to listen to ‘Days Of Youth’ by Bos Angeles.
 
bosangeles.bandcamp.com

Runaround Kids – live on Wednesday 11th April


 
George Garthwaite, Jack Winn and Rob Burnell are Wakefield’s Runaround Kids. They play fast and have gained a strong following across the North for their live shows, including support slots with Jeffrey Lewis and Dinosaur Pile-up. Their first EP Kiss Chase was released on Philophobia Music last year and will be followed by a split EP with The Compression later this year.
 

Click play above to listen to ‘Linked Arms’ by Runaround Kids.
 
runaroundkids.com

Willis Earl Beal – live on March 3rd


 
Recently signed to XL Recrdings label Hot Charity, Willis will be doing a handful of low key UK shows, this is his first trip to the UK so its his first time in Leeds. Expect him to be quite the buzz this summer!
 
Willisearlbeal.com

The Milk – March 16th


 
R’n'B-rockabilly-soul quartet, who pack a punch harder than Eddie Cochrane. Produced by Brad from Nextmen and having huge similarities Pauls Boutique era Beaties’ is no bad thing. Expect to see them at every festival this summer, let the good times roll!
 
The Milk Website | The Milk on Facebook | Guardian New Band of Day