03 March 2007
McAlmont and Butler will be
playing the Manchester vs Cancer gig on March 30 at the Manchester News
Arena.
Besides David, Bernard and Mako Sakamoto, the expanded band line-up
will include Andy Rourke (The Smiths) on bass and an additional drummer
in Steve White (Paul Weller).
Playing with Andy is a first but Steve White played on Bernard's
sessions for the soundtrack to 'The James Gang'.
Should be an amazing short set and 'Yes' will surely be the highlight...
Tickets available here.
05 August 2006
More updates... 'Speed' has
picked up Single of the Week in The Sun (4/9/06) and a brilliant
review on spin.com!
David is also appearing at The
Jazz Cafe on August 21 and don't be surprised if Mr Butler gets up
for a few
tunes... Tickets on sale now via the link above.
David and Bernard will also do another session, this time for xfm on
August 22, which should be 3 songs.
Finally don't forget 'Speed' will be available next week via iTunes in
the UK and US.
28 July 2006
Hope you all caught the session
this week on BBC2 where David and Bernard
played acoustic versions of 3
songs: 'Oh What A Year', 'Goodbye' and 'Speed'.
Please don't ask us when the
other two songs will be released as there is no
plan to at present, although
"band" demos exist for both.
They'll be at it again next
Monday July 31 on 6 Music, so watch this page
for listening details.
25 July 2006
Some updates and session news...
Firstly the release of the vinyl has gone back to August 21st, sorry.
The download release is still
August 7.
David and Bernard are doing 3 acoustic songs on Tom Robinson
this Tuesday 25th on BBC Radio 2
at about 10pm. They are also booked to do an xfm session on
the 21st August and a 6 music one
around the same time. More details on these as they come
to hand.
XFM have daytime playlisted 'Speed'. To quote Mr Butler: "(This)
is wonderful and far more rewarding
than any radio I have ever received. Some amazing things being said to
introduce it when I've heard it...
People are obviously getting the spirit of this release".
Indeed they are....
20 July 2006
ROUGH TRADE RECORDS PRESS RELEASE
McAlmont & Butler
New Single “Speed”
Released 7th August 2006
(donwload) | 21st August 7"
Format: Download + Ltd. Ed. 7”
Vinyl
Order
the 7" from the Rough Trade store!
The release of ‘Speed’ a new
single by McAlmont & Butler on Rough Trade Records reflects
a deviation away from the way the music industry tends to work these
days. Contrary to usual
practice the release of this single is not part of a promotional
campaign for a forthcoming album,
nor is it released in support of any tour dates.
Recorded in 2003, McAlmont &
Butler were on the verge of releasing the single themselves
(and in fact haven’t made any recordings since, such has been the
strength of their feeling that
this track should be the next step for them). However, upon
hearing the track Geoff Travis
straight away offered to release it on Rough Trade – feeling it
deserved immediate release on
its own terms and not necessarily with the familiar, wider album
picture and mechanics that are
usually involved.
Featuring David McAlmont’s
impassioned vocal delivery and Bernard Butler’s trademark guitar work
and thrilling production, weaved into the classic single format -
it’s simply a great and memorable
song that stands up on its own two feet.
Rough Trade Records has a
history of supporting its artists, encouraging creative freedom and not
being afraid to break with tradition and this, we’d like to think,
represents the latest example.
Although there are no tour dates
to coincide with neither the singles release, nor an album to follow,
this doesn’t detract from the song’s merits. Instead, perhaps consider
it a refreshing antidote to the
way the system tends to work these days.
‘Speed’ will be released as a download and on limited seven inch vinyl
in a plain sleeve.
McAlmont & Butler’s last
album release was ‘Bring It Back’ (released in 2002 on EMI) which
featured
the singles ‘Falling’ and ‘Bring It Back’.
Photographs by Sebastian
Lewsley.
13 July 2006
A preview of 'Speed' is now up here...
27 June 2006
The release of the new Mcalmont
& Butler single 'Speed' will be on August 7 on Rough Trade
and will be on 7" (backed with 'Speed' instrumental) and iTunes.
"Can you feeeeeeeeeeeeeel it?"
Watch this space... and MySpace.
07 May 2006
The interview from 2003 is now on
the interview page. Again, please forgive the quality,
especially the darkness of the picture. We hope the answers will be
interesting enough
for you not to notice!
05 May 2006
Not something new, but something
quite interesting: 2003 footage of David, Bernard and
band in rehearsal. This is lo-fi, mostly shot by David as he was
singing, but we hope you'll
like it. It's a large file, so allow it time to load in either WMP or
Quicktime (recommended).
Click on the screen shot below:
A video interview from the same time will follow soon and be on the
interview page.
24 October 2005
David's new solo album is out
now, 'Set One You Go To My Head', featuring 12 glorious
covers of classic standards both old and not so old.
The album can be easily bought from Amazon UK, simply click on the
cover picture below:
04 February 2005
David now has hi s very own
website www.davidmcalmont.co.uk,
also watch out for his
upcoming solo album, which we will also feature here.
22 December 2004
Well, it has been a while since
we brought you some news but here's an update from David:
"I've had a very quiet year, conceiving my new project. I've
completed the recording of an album
which is being prepared for release next year. In the
meantime enjoy David McAlmont and David
Arnold's's exclusive track free with January's edition of Mojo"
(see below).
David also played a showcase gig with his band (3 piece
comprising keys, drums, guitar and double
bass) at the Paradise By Way of Kensal Green which was a star studded
event attended by the likes
of David Arnold, Rhys Ifans, Tommy D and Bernard Butler amongst others.
Oh and course the other half of this dynamic duo has spent the year
crafting another masterpiece with
some other guy in a band called The Tears.
A single and album will appear in early 2005.
18 December 2003
Bernard will be performing with
Bert Jansch at
Glasgow’s Barrowlands on January 23, 2004, as part of the
prestigious Celtic Connections
festival. Tickets are available by phone, post or in person from The
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2
Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3NY (0141 353 8000) or check
out www.celticconnections.com for further details.
09 December 2003
The "incomparable McAlmont &
Butler" will be playing a short acoustic set at XFM's Winter Warmer
for the homeless charity Shelter. For more details, please go here.
01 December 2003
A couple of shots from the studio
where David and Bernard recently recorded the songs
'Speed' and 'Freaks' for their next album...
18
November 2003
A Bert Jansch TV Special featuring
Bernard will be broadcast this Friday, 21 November,
9pm-10pm on BBC4. It will be repeated later that night at
12.35am-1.35am, and again
on Saturday night at 1.05am-2.05am.
Also look out for David McAlmont on Later... with Jools Holland, he'll
be appearing as part
of Courtney Pine's band soon.
In other news Bernard is set to produce the next Libertines album as
reported in the NME,
but the details of when this will begin are not yet clear. At present
both Bernard and David
are finishing off initial songs recorded at RAK Studios for the next
M&B album.
Finally Bernard is guesting with a
former Britpop fave at their London show just before
Xmas which should be great fun... watch this space to find out more
about this in the
coming days...
08
November 2003
Bernard and David
will enter RAK studios at the beginning of November to commence
recording what will be the
follow-up to 'Bring it Back'. The process has been an arduous
one for the duo given current
musical climates and general record company attitudes
but they are ready to put their
newly minted tunes to tape. They have enlisted the services
of producer Mike Hedges
(Yes, You Do, assorted Cure & Banshees et al) to co-produce
with Bernard. Initially two
songs will be recorded, the drama-laden 'Freaks' and the glam-
stomp 'Speed', with more to
follow at a later date. As ever, drummer Mako Sakamoto will
be on board. A further 13 songs
are in the can, tunes both Bernard and David are
immensely proud of and these will
form the core of the next album.
Bernard has also been doing some
producing, last week doing two songs with the very
talented The Veils. The songs are
'The Wild Son' and 'The Valleys of New Orleans' and
Bernard loves them both. An album
is on the way early next year...
20 October 2003
The golden tones of David McAlmont are featured on 'Bless The
Weather' on the new
Courtney Pine album
'Devotion'. You'll likely find
this in the jazz section of your
local
CD shop.
In other news Bernard was a guest at Emm Gryner's recent London show,
where he
played a cover of Lucinda Williams' 'I Just Wanted To See You So Bad'
with Emm.
Bernard also
turns up on two new releases by Sophie Ellis Bextor. The first is the
single 'Mixed Up World'. Bernard is on the track 'The Earth Shook The
Devil's Hand'.
The second
is her new album 'Shoot From The Hip', on which Bernard is on 'I Am Not
Good At Not Getting What I Want'.
13 October 2003
More
appearance news!
This week on Wednesday the 15th Bernard will play the Rough Trade 25th
Anniversary
show as part of The Hidden Cameras, led by the very talented Mr Joel
Gibb at the
Neighbourhood, Acklam Rd ( formerly known as Subterranea). More info here.
More news on other appearances will be posted here soon, stay tuned...
03 September 2003
Concert
appearance news:
1. Bert Jansch's 60th birthday
concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on
Saturday November 8 2003 (020
7960 4201 or www.rfh.org.uk for
tickets).
2. Two-hander' at Barrowlands in
Glasgow(part of Celtic Connections
festival)
on Friday January 23, 2000.
01 August 2003
We apologise for the very late notice and incovenience to fans that
may be traveling in but due to Bernard being ill the show at The
Verge
tonight has been cancelled.
28 July 2003
The venue for the M&B show this Friday night (August 1) is as
follows:
The Verge
147 Kentish Town Road
London NW1 8PB
Enquiries: 020 7229 5269
The band should go on around midnight.
26 July 2003
Another M&B show is coming up on August 1... Watch this space for
details, which will also be posted on the Yahoo Group.
For those that have asked. the cover played by M&B at the King's
Head
on July 18 was 'I Just Wanted To See You So Bad' by Lucinda Williams.
The original can be found on her debut album.
23 July 2003
An excellent review and some great pics of the recent show at the
King's Head can be found here.
Many thanks to Peter George.
11
July 2003
David
and Bernard (plus possibly some band members or guests) will
be
playing a one-off acoustic show next week on Friday 18 July. Bernard
said
they will be "playing a mix of old and new, whatever really"... This
will
be
a great chance to hear some of the soon to be recorded next album in
raw,
acoustic form... The show is at:
<>Downstairs
at the King's Head
Crouch
End Hill, Crouch End
London,
N8 8AA
Venue
phone: 0208 340 1028
£6
to get in
Doors
8:30pm with bar 'til 1am...
M&B
slot will probably be around 10/10:30 pm.
09
June 2003
Bernard
and
David are in writing and demo mode at present, with 15 new songs
ready to
record,from
the dramatic 'Midnight' to the stomp of 'Oh What a Year'.
The demos
sound
great and this will be an album of many colours, with
hues deeper
and more soulful than 'Bring It Back'.
The
recording
will take place at Rak studios, where some of 'The Sound
of...' was
recorded, and will carry on through July. An early 2004 release
is
anticipated...
In the
past
couple of months, David has been in Australia for a while
getting
inspired
(!) and M&B will also be doing a track for the forthcoming
Rough Trade
anniversary compilation. David is also doing a track for the
next Craig
Armstrong album, a version of 'One Day I'll Fly Away',and also
doing some
work with highly regarded UK jazz/hip-hop saxophonist
Courtney
Pine.
Bernard
has
been doing some production for The Libertines including their
next single
'Don't Look Back Into The Sun', a reworking of the album track
'Death On The
Stairs' plus a version of The Beatles 'Eight Days A Week' for
a TV ad. A
little known fact is that Bernard produced the first Libertines
single 'What
A Waster'/'I Get Along' but wasn't credited for it!
Another
production
for Bernard was The Veils' single 'Guiding Light' as well
as an album
track for them. The single will be out in July and they are about
to go back
into the studio to record the 2nd single. All of this was done at Rak
Studio 2 for
Rough Trade with Nick Terry engineering.
Bernard
also
did the incidental music for Channel 5 which has just finished
a 3 month
run,
as well as a piece for their upcoming arts campaign... and as
if this
wasn't
enough, he's been doing a bit of writing with some other
people but
more on this a bit later...
Bernard's
fave
records at present include: Four Tet, The Tyde, The Detroit
Cobras, Adam
Green, Stars, The Hidden Cameras, Don Letts Presents The
Mighty Trojan
Sound, Royal City, Devendra
Banhart,
Northern State.
And some
oldies:
Laura Nyro 'Gonna Take a Miracle', Aretha Franklin 'Aretha
Now', Brian
Eno & David Byrne 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts'.
08
April 2003
Here's
some info on an event David will be appearing at soon:
The
Film Music of Spike Lee & Terence Blanchard
with
special guests Dianne Reeves, Floetry and David McAlmont
Monday
21 & Tuesday 22 April 7.30pm
Barbican
Centre, London
Tickets
15, 20, 25 and 30 pounds
www.barbican.org.uk/onlyconnect
This
unmissable concert, hosted by Spike Lee, will feature music from his
soundtracks
alongside specially-edited images of his finest films. Spike's
long-time
musical collaborator, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, will be joined
by
his jazz ensemble and full chamber orchestra to recreate the music from
many
of Spike's films including Malcolm X and his latest, 25th Hour. They
will
be joined on-stage by a host of special guest singers including Blue
Note's
Dianne Reeves duo Floetry, who mix hip hop, rap and R'n'B with spoken
word,
and singer David McAlmont.
11
March 2003
It has
been
a quiet couple of months for McAlmont and Butler publicly, but they
have been
hard
at work and are halfway through writing their new album, which
they are set
to begin recording very soon.
We here at
m&b.com
HQ have heard two of the demos, 'Midnight' and 'Speed', and
can report
that the sound is simple but with a lot more depth and emotion... Both
songs
are majestic
and are sure to please fans and maybe even win some new ones.
More
reports
on progress will be forthcoming, as well as a new competition very soon.
Stay tuned!
04
January 2003
Bernard
has
come up with his traditional best of list for 2002... Here they are, in
no order...
Albums:
1. BETH
GIBBONS
& RUSTIN MAN "OUT OF SEASON"
2. JOHNNY
CASH
"AMERICAN IV:MAN COMES AROUND"
3. LEMON
JELLY
"LOST HORIZONS"
4. BAXTER
DURY
"LEN PARROT'S MEMORIAL LIFT"
5. DOVES
"LAST
BROADCAST"
Songs:
1.SUGABABES
" ROUND ROUND"
2.THE CORAL
" DREAMING OF YOU"
3. JUSTIN
TIMBERLAKE
"LIKE I LOVE YOU"
4. BADLY
DRAWN
BOY "SILENT SIGH"
5. RED HOT
CHILI PEPPERS "BY THE WAY"
He is
particularly
partial to the Beth Gibbons album and the Johnny Cash American
Series on the
whole...
A happy
new
year to all!
21
December 2002
Seasons
Greetings
to all!
If you go
to
the Competition page you'll have a chance to win an ultra-rare box set
of 7" singles...
More details
there, good luck!
Also on
Hogmanay
(New Year's Eve), McAlmont & Butler are playing a free show in the
Glasgow city centre
for CLYDE FM.
They go on just after midnight aparently... Details are a bit sketchy
on
this and you do need
tickets even
though it's free. Certain quarters say tickets are no longer available
but the station say otherwise,
it may be
best
to ask around...
13
November 2002
In
addition
to the Marquee date below McAlmont & Butler will do an acoustic show
for charity
at the Kings Head Crouch End (2 Crouch End Hill N8 8AA Tel: 020
83401028)
on December
13. It will be a special show as after the M&B set Bert
Jansch will also do a set.
We don't have
any additional details yet so best call the pub for more info...
... And
this
just in from XFM :
For your
information,
the Sound gig goes out as an hour long special
between 8-9
on XFM this coming Saturday night (Nov. 16).
11
November 2002
McAlmont
and
Butler will be playing a special Christmas show on December 17
at the
Marquee
in Islington. It promises to be a very special show. Tickets are
£12
plus booking
fee and doors open at 19:30.
You can
buy
tickets on-line, direct from the venue here
.
23
October 2002
Upcoming
promotional
appearnaces and live dates:
OCTOBER
23 Live
Floor Show, Glasgow - "Bring It Back" performance filming
25 Pop
Factory, Wales - "Bring It Back" tv performance
26 Wave
105 - midday, live radio, 2/3 tracks
27
Jackie
Clune show, BBC London - afternoon, time tbc
28
Liquid
News - BBC Choice, interview
29 XFM
Session with Zoe Ball - 2 tracks live
30 John
Daly Show, Belfast - live performance tx 1/11
31 GMTV
- time tbc
31 XFM
sponsored show at Sound (XFM will be giving away tickets to this)
NOVEMBER
09 Ned
Sherrin Loose Ends show Radio 4 - 1 track and interview
15 BBC
Children In Need - live performance approx 1 a.m.
More
details
as they come to hand...
01
October 2002
McAlmont
&
Butler have covered the Take That song 'Back For Good' for the
soon
to be released
NME War Child
album '1 Love'. More detials can be found here
...
24
September 2002
In
addition
to the dates below, David and Bernard will play the Savoy in Cork,
Ireland
on September
27 (Friday).
The next
single
is 'Bring It Back', out on October 28. The extra tracks across the
formats
will be 'Like
This', 'Young Generation', 'Bring It Back' (Extended Mix) and 'Zoom'
(from
the
'Re-Covered'
TV show). More news soon...
18
August 2002
September
and
October tour dates and venues below:
SEPTEMBER
28
DUBLIN Ambassador Theatre
30
GLASGOW QMU
OCTOBER
01
MANCHESTER MDH
02
LIVERPOOL Stanley Theatre
03
LEEDS Cockpit
05
SHEFFIELD Leadmill
06
CAMBRIDGE Junction
07
LONDON Shepherds Bush Empire
09
BIRMINGHAM Academy 2
10
BRISTOL Anson Rooms
11
NORTHAMPTON Roadmender
13
PORTSMOUTH Wedgwood Rooms
14
BRIGHTON Concorde
09
August 2002
A message
from
Pop for those in the UK...
DO YOU
WANT
TO COME AND SUPPORT McALMONT @ BUTLER ON A NEW CHANNEL 5
MUSIC SHOW
CALLED "POP" ON MONDAY 12TH AUGUST.
WE HAVE 50
PAIRS
OF TICKETS TO GIVE AWAY TO FANS WHO ARE OVER 18, LIVELY
AND FUN TO
TAKE PART IN THE STUDIO AUDIENCE AND HAVE A FEW DRINKS.
TO GET YOU
FREE
TICKETS PLEASE CALL LENA ON 07941 329229
IF YOU ARE
ONE
OF THE LUCKY ONES YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE TIME AND LOCATION
DETAILS.
01
August 2002
Well,
we're
up, albeit a day or two late and not fully finished yet. Most things
only
need a touch-up and
a tad of info
or an image added though so check back over the next few days to see it
all come to completion.
Also don't
forget to join the Yahoo
Group where you get all of the latest gossip, rumours, gig news and
whatever
else pretty
much before you'll see it anywhere... else except maybe here...
Just a
quick
mention that David and Bernard will be on Top of the Pops on August 09
if you're in
the UK.
Other
important
live dates coming up:
August
03:
G.A.Y. @ The Astoria
August
10:
Oxford Zodiac
August
12:
London Virgin Megastore 6pm
August
13:
London Scala (sold out!)
August
15:
HMV Manchester acoustic set
August
16:
T on The Fringe @ Edinburgh Liquid Room
August
17:
V2002 Chelmsford
August
18:
V2002 Stafford
More dates
to
be announced soon for September/October.
Questions
and
comments to info@mcalmontandbutler.com...
