The Leaf Label: NEWS ARCHIVE FOR SEPTEMBER 2009

Polar Bear Join The Leaf Label
Published 1 September 2009 by BWL

We are delighted to announce that acclaimed British "dream jazz" outfit Polar Bear have swelled the ranks of The Leaf Label's international roster. The London-based group, led by drummer Sebastian Rochford (Acoustic Ladyland, Fulborn Teversham, Basquiat Strings) will release their fourth album on Leaf early next year.

Polar Bear's second album, 2005's Held On The Tips Of Fingers, was nominated for The Mercury Prize, and also made a list of '100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World' in Jazzwise magazine.

Alongside Seb Rochford, Polar Bear is Pete Wareham (tenor sax), Mark Lockheart (tenor sax), Tom Herbert (bass) and Leafcutter John (electronics/guitar). The group will be touring extensively in the UK this autumn as well as some dates in Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands.

http://www.polarbearmusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/sebastianrochford

The shows:
Fri 18 Sep 2009 The Rex, Toronto, ON, CANADA
Sat 19 Sep 2009 Lola Festival , London, ON, CANADA
Fri 25 Sep 2009 Croydon Clocktower, Croydon, UK
Mon 12 Oct 2009 Electric Theatre, Guildford, UK
Sun 25 Oct 2009 The Glee Club, Birmingham, UK
Tue 10 Nov 2009 de Singer, Rijkevorsel, BELGIUM
Wed 11 Nov 2009 Kavka, Antwerp, BELGIUM
Thu 12 Nov 2009 November Music Festival, 's-Hertogenbosch, NETHERLANDS
Wed 18 Nov 2009 Broomhill Sculpture Park, Barnstaple, UK
Thu 19 Nov 2009 The Phoenix, Exeter, UK
Fri 20 Nov 2009 Jazz Cafe, London, UK
Tue 24 Nov 2009 Band On The Wall, Manchester, UK
Fri 27 Nov 2009 Howard Assembly Room, Leeds, UK
Sat 28 Nov 2009 De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-On-Sea, UK
Sun 29 Nov 2009 Colston Hall, Bristol, UK

Goodbye Efterklang!
Published 3 September 2009 by TM

The release of Efterklang's Performing Parades live album and film on October 19 will mark a joyous but sad farewell to our Danish friends as they move to pastures new. The band have just signed to our old friends at 4AD for the world, and will release their third album proper in 2010.

The band have come on leaps and bounds since their self-released debut EP, Springer, in 2003 (which Leaf subsequently reissued following the release of debut album Tripper), and we wish the band all the best in their future endeavours. If the new songs they've been playing live over the last year are anything to go by, the next album is set to be their best yet. Rasmus, Casper, Mads and Thomas have been a delight to work with, and we will sorely miss their energy, creativity, professionalism and, above all, their music.

You can find the band's own announcement about the new deal here.

Performing Parades will be released as limited edition CD+DVD and 2LP/DVD packages.

The release will be followed on October 28 with their biggest UK show to date, with the Britten Sinfonia at the Barbican in London. More info and tickets here.

http://www.efterklang.net/home
http://www.myspace.com/efterklang

A Hawk And A Hacksaw Feature In Award Winning Film
Published 9 September 2009 by BWL

Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost of A Hawk And A Hacksaw took part in the filming of Housle last year. The short film, also featuring the music of the duo, picked up Best Picture at the Albuquerque Film Festival. The film was directed and produced by James Longmire who also directed the recent live videos of tracks from AHAAH's new album Délivrance which can be found here:
'I Am Not A Gambling Man'
'The Man Who Sold His Beard'

A Hawk And A Hacksaw begin their latest North American tour this weekend with Sam Johnson (trumpet) and Mark Weaver (tuba) completing the live band. All the dates can be found here.

Or watch on Vimeo.

http://myspace.com/ahawkandahacksaw
http://ahawkandahacksaw.blogspot.com
http://www.ahawkandahacksaw.co.uk
http://theleaflabel.com/ahawkandahacksaw

Nancy Elizabeth new video online and album shipping this week
Published 20 September 2009 by BWL

Nancy Elizabeth has released a video for her new single, 'Feet Of Courage', which is out today. Taken from Wrought Iron, the beautifully shot video was directed and filmed by Esther May Campbell and John Minton at the Portishead Open Air Pool earlier this summer. Campbell was also responsible for the BAFTA winning short film September, which was released this month in a deluxe DVD/CD/recipe book package, the soundtrack featuring Nancy Elizabeth and A Hawk And A Hacksaw.

You can watch the 'Feet Of Courage' video here:

Or youtube.

Buy the single (with remixes by Paddy Steer and Germ) here.

You can also pre-order Wrought Iron here now.

We will be shipping out physical copies of the album later this week, ahead of the official release date on Oct 5. If you order the vinyl version of the album you can get a free mp3 or flac download of the album immediately (just follow the instructions on the page). In addition, CD and LP orders will be delivered with a free copy of Nancy's 'I Used To Try' single on CD, while stocks last!

http://www.nancyelizabeth.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/nancyelizabethcunliffe
http://www.theleaflabel.com/nancyelizabeth