Annika Line Trost is best known as one half of Berlin punk-cabaret outfit Cobra Killer, and on this solo album she retains many of the hallmarks of that band. The album is littered with trashy exotica samples twisted into jaunty retro pop, but some of the shoutier, in-your-face tactics are abandoned in favour of outright tunefulness and wistfully gloomy euro-croon. Perhaps the most unexpected move Trost makes here is covering Will Oldham – not once but twice. First up is a fairly straight version of ‘Black’, and then, to close the album, Trost recycles Oldham’s lyrics to ‘Madeleine-Mary’, incorporating them into the mournful ‘Filled With Tears’. It’s surprisingly haunting stuff that rounds off a far more varied, three-dimensional album than you might expect.

Gemma Ray provided the soundtrack to forthcoming British horror movie 'Mum and Dad' starring Perry Benson. We've seen it and it is fucked. Watch this space for release news...

In the meantime, go here :

where you can comment on forthcoming single "Hard Shoulder" being pick of the week by 6Music's Nemone.

Seasick Steve has been nominated for Best Live Act at this years Mojo
Awards.  Please vote for him here:

http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2008/05/mojo_honours_list_shortlist_an.html

He's up against Zeppelin, Neil Young etc.

But here's the thing: Seasick dragged his old bones through every
stinking festival and shit-hole venue (lots of nice ones too though) in
Europe last year , blowing peoples minds. So that'll be a nice little
pay-off for the hard graft, and it means we won't feel so guilty for
standing at the side of the stage with a cattle prod and a paramedic
during the 4th Glastonbury appearance of the weekend.

April 28th: Congregation - Feel Like Crying (7" and download).

May 12th: Congregation - (s/t CD album).

May 19th: Gemma Ray - Hard Shoulder (7" and download)

June 3rd: Gemma Ray - The Leader (CD album)

Today marks the beginning of the Year of the Rat! The Chinese are on to something here because we just heard that Seasick Steve's Dog House Music has gone SILVER in the UK! 60,000 and counting.

To see what all the fuss is about, tune in to BBC 2's The Culture Show from last Saturday evening, where he exposes his wares.

'I saw this guy on TV on News Eve? What was his name again?'Yup, Seasick helped us welcome in 2008. Check out the performance below.

Victoria Yeulet and Ben Prosser, a gang of two from London, are Congregation. Their debut album gets the Bronzerat special treatment. Release date TBC....................................

http://www.myspace.com/congregationband

MERRY NEW YEAR!!! News from the front....there's a good chance you hear it here first!

Seasick Steve hits the charts! Number 84 with a bullet! But Top Ten Indie once more and kicked Radiohead off the Number 1 spot on Amazon.....tidy darts!

You will be able to hear a magic Seasick Steve session on Colin Murray's Radio 1 show at 11pm on the 7th of January 2008. You'll be able to see him on BBC 2's Culture Show on February 8th.

Tickets for his January Uk tour are fast selling out, so you'll need to be super quick with those. He tours Australia in March folks. See the gig section.

What a great year for Seasick Steve. Kicked off by Jools Holland Seasick and his merry men (The Missisipi Drum Machine and the Three String Trance Guitar) snowballed to every festival in the UK. Word of mouth dragged kids and adults alike to his foot stomping shows.

So many Highlights it is difficult to pick one, winning the MOJO Award for Best Breakthrough Act confirmed that we weren't alone in belief of Steve. The Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, thanks too the thousands of people that turned out in the rain that day. Thanks to those DJ's that championed him Charlie Gillett and Andy Kershaw and Rob Da Bank. Lets raise a bottle of Thunderbird to 2008