In the news this week: Alessi’s Ark, Leisure Society, Joanna Newsom, Jim O’Rourke, Animal Collective, Panda Bear, UK Festival Awards, Molina and Johnson, An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump, Tim Burgess...

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Alessi’s Christmas Crackers

London chanteuse Alessi Laurent-Marke aka Alessi’s Ark is planning a Christmas show with a difference. Held at London’s Luminaire venue on December 10, Alessi’s Christmas Crackers boasts a performance from the hostess herself plus a handpicked supporting cast of friends. Kruger caught up with Alessi to chat present swaps and how 2009 has been for her.  

I hear there’s going to be a present swap at your Christmas show; how is that going to work?

Everybody will bring a present and then they’ll get a different present. I’ll probably have a suitcase or something where you just make sure you go home with a present that isn’t the one that you bought. We’re hoping that something great will come out of it, like maybe you put in a pair of socks and you leave with a box of Nesquik or something. An upgrade!  

You’ve got a comedian on the line up, were you trying to make the show a bit different from normal gigs?

Yeah, well my family and I, we really like comedy. My dad and my sister are pretty funny anyway and they also work in comedy so it seemed like an Alessi family affair would be to incorporate a bit of funniness. So, it’s a friend of my dad’s – Matt Tiller – and he’s from Plymouth originally but now he lives in Manchester. He kind of sums up the week in songs, so it’s musical but funny.  

How’s 2009 been for you?

It’s been pretty good! The record (Notes from the Treehouse) feels pretty old because I recorded it about two years ago but it came out this year, so that’s really nice to know that its listenable.  

What would you say your high and low points of the year have been?

It feels really good to have found like-minded people here. When I left school, I didn’t really have any friends apart from my family; I had a few but not that I’d play music with. This year feels like a year of finding kindred spirits that aren’t across the world. Festivals were fun, and playing shows with these nice people.

Low points... I’m not with the label I was with anymore. Although that feels like a good thing! The people were really nice but the music just got lost there. I’m definitely glad the music is free from the belly of the beast.  

What have you got planned for the New Year?

I’m excited about a new EP I’ve been recording called Soul Proprietor. I’ll probably self release it in February. It’s a mixed bag of live recordings I did at the studio with the band, as it exists live and then I did some songs in a separate session with a gang of musicians from Brighton who consist of some bands who are quite formidable in their own right like Leisure Society.

www.myspace.com/alessisark

[RD]

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Afternoon. How are you?

Excellent.

So, this weekend was pretty awesome. I headed down to London on Thursday to say hi and bye to a few friends, most notably Kruger's NY correspondant of sorts, Miss Steph Price. We tore London up, it's true.

Friday night was the ULU date for Shred Yr Face 3. I love Shred Yr Face. Three awesome bands, one killer line up, excellent merch, and a great ethos behind it (and also a rad opportunity to get drunk and dance like a dick).

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In the news this week: Paloma Faith, Animal Collective, Grateful Dead, Art Brut, Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now, Sky Larkin, Race Horses, Jimi Alexander & The Satellites, Richard James, Allo, Darlin’, Horse Feathers, The Crookes and much more...

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Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?

Theatrical Hackney oddball Paloma Faith is set to release her new single ‘Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?’ just in time for Christmas.

Available on 21 December through Epic,  the single is to be backed with Paloma’s reworking of David Guetta’s chart topper ‘Sexy Chick’ (retitled ‘Sexy Minx’ by Paloma), as performed earlier in the year in a Live Lounge session for Radio 1. Having held coveted slots on TV shows such as Jonathan Ross and Later... with Jools Holland and the knowledge that her debut album has achieved gold status, Paloma is set to end the year on a high with four sold out shows across the country. After a well deserved break, she’ll be back on the road again for a fortnight in March, kicking off in Dublin’s Vicar St venue on the 16th. Tickets available here.

www.palomafaith.com/gb/

www.myspace.com/palomafaith

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Bury St Edmunds boys Thee Vicars have been let loose on the world! Ever keen to see what scrapes and situations the lads get themselves into, we've asked them to take photos of their adventures and write us a wee diary while they're at it. This time, the guys find themselves in Amsterdam... 

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OMFG!!! OK, so if you've been a loyal reader of Kruger for the last couple of years then you may well remember Holy Hail. The Kruger lads made a little trip Stateside near three years ago and met Cat, Kev and co. in a downtown New Yoik rehearsal space.

They've been in the magazine, they've released through the Kruger Single's Club and I even spent a month of my life driving them across Europe in a shaky van when they toured with Bonde do Role.

This is when Holy Hail met my parents...

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