Thursday 17 February 2011

Tatiana "Spider Web"



Tatiana's debut UK Single "Spider Web" released April 11th 2011, from the debut UK album "Spider Web" available from May 2nd 2011

"Spider Web" is the debut UK single by Polish superstar Tatiana Okupnik and is a perfect introduction to her individual style of power-pop and strong signature vocals. Produced by Denis Ingoldsby (N Dubz, Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Eternal) and Andy Murray (Gary Barlow, Craig David, Alicia Keys) at Granary Studio in Kent, the single has been remixed by Jeremy Wheatley (Leona Lewis, Skunk Anansie, Duffy, Corinne Bailey Rae, Pixie Lott).

Born in Lodz in Poland, Tatiana grew up listening to Led Zeppelin and the best of western rock and pop on cassettes recorded from Radio Luxembourg and the BBC and was inspired by great vocalists such as Chaka Khan, Janis Joplin, Tina Turner and Robert Plant “The thing that unites the artists I love is that they understand big, emotional musical vocals. I would like to think that the emotional impact of my voice is big like some of my idols”.

A former ballerina (Tatiana studied ballet at the National School of Ballet), when painful bones ended those dreams she focused her attention on her music. As the lead singer of the Polish band Blue Café she enjoyed platinum records and became a massive star in her homeland and toured throughout central Europe.

In 2006 Tatiana went solo and, in addition to graduating from university with fluent English, French and Spanish, she recorded an album in New York with jazz-funk legend Lenny White - ‘On My Own’ went gold on its 2007 release in Poland. Tatiana has also hosted two series of the Polish Dancing On Ice TV show and recorded a CD with Wyclef Jean.

The little girl who recalls having no shoes as a child and queuing each month for a ration of toilet paper (“we would have the paper on a chain around our necks; we called it the Polish Louis Vuitton bag”) has now cast her gaze to Britain. “Britain is the centre of European music. I love my Polish fans and, of course, I hope they love the new music, but I also hope I can reach out to a whole new audience here in the UK.” ‘Spider Web’ is the title track of Tatiana’s debut UK album; with the exception of the first single, the album was written and produced at Sarm West studios in London with Tim Hutton (Amy Winehouse, Bat For Lashes, Ian Brown and the man who, according to Andy Cato, “put the groove into Groove Armada”).

With nods to funk, jazz, soul and rock Tatiana has recorded “a classic pop album with great songwriting and a cool twist. I’ve put my heart and soul into it”. Her powerful voice is the common thread through a filmic record that houses the Latino and Eastern European influenced ‘World Of My Design’, singalong stadium pop (‘Supersize Love’ and ‘Poor Love’), smooth and summery jazz pop (‘Tranquility’ and ‘If I Was To Tell You’), funk (‘Bottom Line’), a Bassey-esque showstopper (‘Coming My Way’) and the laidback soul of (Been A Fool’).

Tatiana’s first UK performance will be at the Wardrobe Club in Leeds on March 3rd when she will premiere tracks from the album. Her powerful vocals and impressive range coupled with her massive stage presence make Tatiana and natural and passionate performer. "Performing live is what I love more than anything, and a big part of writing these tracks was imagining their live impact. These songs will really come alive in Leeds, and I can't wait.”

For more information about Tatiana, visit her website www.tatianaofficial.com

War Child Post Brits After Show Party!



Highlights from the 2011 War Child Brits after party at Indigo2 in London. Featuring interviews and music from Mark Ronson, Boy George, Katy B, Ms Dynamite, Temper Trap, The Bees and plenty more.

ABOUT WAR CHILD:
War Child is an international charity, founded in 1993 in response to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. A UN award winning charity, War Child works in the world’s most dangerous war zones including Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. War Child aims to protect children who are hit hardest by war and its consequences including street children, child soldiers and children in prison. War Child is a UK registered charity number 1071659

For further information on War Child please visit the website www.warchild.org.uk, follow them on Twitter @WarChildUK or become a fan on Facebook here

Tuesday 15 February 2011

The Plea "Praise Be" Featured in NME's Best Downloads This Week!!

The Plea feature alongside The White Stripes, The Strokes, Pendulum, James Blake and Noah And The Whale in NME's Daily Download;

"This Irish rock band have drawn comparisons to U2, with frontman Denny's vocals sounding an awful lot like Bono's. You can download 'Praise Be' (the band's "warm up" track to their first proper single due out this March) below. The song was recorded during sessions the band recorded with Chris Potter (who's previously worked with Blur, The Verve, and U2 themselves). "

Click here to see the feature on NME.com

Friday 11 February 2011

Temper Trap & The Bees join Mark Ronson to host post Brits Party in aid of War Child



Mark Ronson hosts the post BRITs Party – in aid of War Child

**NEW NAMES ANNOUNCED**

The Temper Trap & The Bees

JOINING Mark Ronson & The Business Intl

February 15th at Indigo2. Tickets from £15.

War Child and O2 are proud to announce more names to the line-up for this year’s biggest and best post BRITs event, the War Child post BRITs party at Indigo2.

Brit Award nominees The Temper Trap will perform live. The act, up for International Breakthrough Act at the BRITs, are to perform a one-off UK date to support War Child. Their “Sweet Disposition” track is one of the anthems of the last few years and they are rightly regarded as one of the world’s hottest live bands.

Festival favourites The Bees will be the first act to perform, the perfect band to start the party with hits including ‘A Minha Menina’ and ‘Chicken Playback’.

As previously announced BRIT Award Best Male nominee Mark Ronson and his band the Business Intl will deliver an all-star set of hits from his ‘Version’ and ‘Record Collection’ albums. Inviting some very special guests along for the ride.

Mark Ronson says: "Being asked to play the War Child post-Brits show is such a giant honour. And since I'm guilty of YouTubing the 2009 clip of Coldplay and Gary Barlow doing "Back For Good" for War Child at least 180 times, I know we better pull off some magical moments".

This intimate event is at the Indigo2 and will start at 10pm immediately following the BRIT Awards. War Child is supported for the evening by O2.

This party also celebrates the fifteenth anniversary of War Child’s 1996 BRIT Award for its first album 'Help' and 15 years of their unique work with music. To mark these 15 years, tickets to the event are priced from just £15.

War Child thanks O2 for making this possible.

In the last two years alone War Child has held events which have raised over £500,000 for their vital work with children suffering the most brutal effects of war. These events have featured The Killers, Coldplay, La Roux, Plan B, Madness and Kasabian, with special guest appearances from the likes of Bono, Gary Barlow, Al Murray and Noel Fielding.

For more information on War Child go to www.warchild.org.uk
Tickets cost £15 standing, and £30 reserved seating. O2 customers can get Priority Tickets* from 11am Monday 7th Feb, for further information visit www.O2Priority.co.uk.
Tickets go on sale to the general public at 9am Tuesday 8th Feb and can be booked through www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Monday 7 February 2011

Mark Ronson & The Business Intl host post BRITs Party in aid of War Child



Mark Ronson & The Business Intl
Ronson host the post BRITs Party – in aid of War Child
February 15th at Indigo2

War Child and O2 are proud to announce BRIT Award winner Mark Ronson is to host this year’s biggest and best post BRITs event, the War Child post BRITs party at Indigo2. Inviting some very special guests along for the ride.

This intimate event is at the Indigo2 and will start at 10pm immediately following the BRIT Awards. War Child is supported for the evening by O2.

BRIT Award Best Male nominee Mark Ronson headlines with his band the Business Intl to deliver an all-star set of hits from his ‘Version’ and ‘Record Collection’ albums.

Mark Ronson says: "Being asked to play the War Child post-Brits show is such a giant honour. And since I'm guilty of YouTubing the 2009 clip of Coldplay and Gary Barlow doing "Back For Good" for War Child at least 180 times, I know we better pull off some magical moments".

This party also celebrates the fifteenth anniversary of War Child’s 1996 BRIT Award for its first album 'Help' and 15 years of their unique work with music. To mark these 15 years, tickets to the event are priced at just £15. War Child thanks O2 for making this possible.

In the last two years alone War Child has held events which have raised over £500,000 for their vital work with children suffering the most brutal effects of war. These events have featured The Killers, Coldplay, La Roux, Plan B, Madness and Kasabian, with special guest appearances from the likes of Bono, Gary Barlow, Al Murray and Noel Fielding.

The post-BRITs party is a celebration of great live music and the power of music to change people’s lives. All ticket proceeds will go to aid War Child's work with children in war zones across the world. War Child is an official charity partner of the BRIT Awards.
For more information on War Child go to www.warchild.org.uk
Tickets cost £15 standing, and £30 reserved seating. O2 customers can get Priority Tickets* from 11am Monday 7th Feb, for further information visit www.O2Priority.co.uk.
Tickets go on sale to the general public at 9am Tuesday 8th Feb and can be booked through www.ticketmaster.co.uk

*Priority Tickets are subject to availability, terms apply.

Mark Waddington, CEO, War Child, says:
“This event is another sign of the amazing commitment from British music to support the vital work War Child does. We won a BRIT Award fifteen years ago for the ‘Help’ album, and since then artists have been standing up to say that children should not be the victims of war. It’s great to be a partner of the BRITs and we’re really delighted that Mark Ronson is hosting this special night. Music can really make a difference.”

Sally Cowdry, Marketing Director at O2 said: "
'We're really proud to be working with War Child for the third year. Two hugely successful years at O2 Shepherds Bush Empire is a tough act to follow, but we’re really excited to be bringing the experience to The O2 for the first time and are confident this will be our best year yet. It's always fantastic to be able to offer our customers Priority Tickets to the best gigs in the country but when it's for such a good cause it makes it that little bit extra special."

A Live Nation presentation
For accreditation please visit the Live Nation Press website http://press.livenation.co.uk/ and apply on line, please note tickets for this event are very limited


ABOUT WAR CHILD:
War Child is an international charity, founded in 1993 in response to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. A UN award winning charity, War Child works in the world’s most dangerous war zones including Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. War Child aims to protect children who are hit hardest by war and its consequences including street children, child soldiers and children in prison. War Child is a UK registered charity number 1071659

For further information on War Child please contact: 0207 916 9276, press@warchild.org.uk

ABOUT O2
• Telefónica O2 UK Limited is a leading communications company for consumers and businesses in the UK, with 22 million mobile customers and over 700,000 fixed broadband customers as at 30 September 2010.
• Telefónica O2 UK Limited is part of Telefónica Europe plc, a business division of Telefónica S.A. which uses O2 as its commercial brand in the UK, Ireland, Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic, and has 55.3 million customers across these markets.
• In 2006 Telefónica Europe acquired Be, the UK fixed broadband provider, and in October 2007 O2 launched its broadband service using the Be network.
• O2 is the naming rights partner of The O2, the world-class entertainment venue.
• O2 employs around 11,000 people in the UK and has 490 retail stores.
• In October 2010 O2 was voted the UK’s best mobile network by the readers of both What Mobile and Mobile Choice magazine.
• O2 was ranked highest in customer satisfaction for both UK mobile and fixed broadband customers according to the J.D. Power and Associates UK Mobile and Fixed Broadband Studies 2010.
• O2’s UK mobile network covers 99% of the UK’s population. O2’s 3G network covers over 84% of the UK population and is fully HSDPA-enabled, providing speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps for customers with an HSDPA-enabled device.
• Telefónica Europe also owns 50% of Tesco Mobile, which operates in the UK and Ireland, and 50% of Tchibo Mobilfunk in Germany.
• For further press information about O2 go to www.o2.co.uk/news

For all O2 enquires contact; Sally Beamand, Tel: 07734 096 300 Sally.beamand@O2.com

ABOUT LIVE NATION:
Live Nation’s mission is to maximize the live concert experience. Our core business is producing, marketing and selling live concerts for artists via our global concert pipe. Live Nation is the largest producer of live concerts in the world, annually producing over 22,000 concerts for 1,600 artists in 33 countries. During 2008, the company sold over 50 million concert tickets and drove over 70 million unique visitors to LiveNation.com. Live Nation is transforming the concert business by expanding its concert platform into ticketing and building the industry’s first artist-to-fan vertically integrated concert platform. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol LYV. For additional information about the company, please visit www.livenation.com/investors.

Friday 4 February 2011

Rob Cowen And The Dissidents Q's Track Of The Day!

"Thankfully avoiding the worst clichés of modern folk, The Heartlands' title track is a fairly simple, but irrevocably effective, example of more being more. Centred around a three-chord verse, it kicks off with a vengeance, with Cowen's fleeting lyrics offering a rather unfavourable view of urban life. Pounding drums and none-more-folky harmonies are omnipresent, while a subtle army of instruments are incorporated one by one during quiet bits/loud bits before it all escalates into a pummelling coda of 'we all need somebody to believe in/down in the heartlands'. Epic folk? Wave folk? Or just folk rock? You decide.

Where they previously were hovering close to New Jersey and stadium rock, it seems RC&TD have now taken a step towards the heart of new American folk, edging closer to the likes of Band Of Horses and Ryan Adams. They might have to endure a few comparisons to Scotland's Kassidy - although without the requisite Fleetwood Mac tag - but The Heartlands is the sound of an emerging talent combining the best of two worlds."

Click here to see the full feature on Q and click here to be a fan of Rob Cowen & The Dissidents on Facebook