The new record by Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six is released today, exclusively through the band’s online shop.
Available in 10” Vinyl, CD and Download.
On general release (via iTunes, etc) on 8th April.
News Stories about Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six
Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six “Live At The Dancehouse Theatre” now on sale
Now on general release, “Live At The Dancehouse Theatre”, the new album from Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six.
The seventeen-track album was recorded live at a packed out show at Manchester’s beautiful Dancehouse Theatre on Saturday 5th February, 2011. The album sleeve features photography from local photographer Gordon Jackson and the names of audience members present on the night.
Described by Louis as the band’s “most joyful, energetic and honest album to date” the record is now on general release.
We hope you like it.
Get Religion!
“Get Religion!”, the new studio record by Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six, is now on general release as both a download (from places like iTunes, etc) and as a carbon-neutral full-colour davinci presentation CD pack with eight-page booklet and original artwork by A. Valliard.
The six-track mini-album features all the hallmarks that have made the band so popular on the UK alternative circuit: the vocal sparring of Alison Cegielka’s mellifluous soul tones and Louis’ broken-bagpipe growl, treading a tightrope over The Bedlam Six’s muscular rhythm section, grand piano, electric guitar and one-man trombone army. As well as the usual songs of love, lust and loathing, the record also resumes the story of Matilda the cat-killer (a projected ten-song narrative running through all the band’s releases, begun in their first album) with the eponymous heroine now blossomed into a jail-bound debutante.
John Otway and The Bedlam Six
Manchester Dirt-Swing outfit Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six team up with their hero to create a new live album at the Dancehouse Theatre on Saturday 5th February, 2011.
It has been a busy year for the Manchester band, releasing the album “Found Drowned” in February, followed by the controversial single “Mother” (later included in Drowned In Sound’s top singles of 2010). They also played shows with rock behemoths Motörhead, jazz legends Sun Ra’s Arkestra and musical inspirations The Blockheads, before gaining national notoriety with their seedy lounge version of Take That’s “Relight My Fire”, commissioned by the BBC.
But all that is nothing compared to what they have planned. Not content to mark the release of their new record with a conventional gig, they have instead asked one of their musical heros, the anarchic John Otway, to join them for a special live recording session in The Dancehouse Theatre – a stage more famous for ballet than rock & roll.
“I first saw John Otway when I was sixteen,” says Barabbas, “he tore open his shirt, head-butted the microphone and put his head through the ceiling… to say he inspired me would be a criminally gross understatement – he was THE reason why I became a performer… I’m absolutely thrilled to finally be sharing a stage with him.”
This isn’t just a dream project for Louis though; the band are also keen to use the event as a gesture of thanks to their fanbase. Last year, members of the mailing list were asked what songs they’d like the band to play at the show and the band have since been busy rehearsing up old material and obscure covers. They have also announced that everyone present at the Dancehouse show will get their name added to the record’s liner notes and receive a free signed copy of the album upon release.
“The cyclical nature of it all is very appealing to me” says Louis, “this new record sums up the band in a way that our past releases don’t… I feel like it’s got a lot of truth in it. The decision to mark its release with a show in an old fashioned theatre, scripted in part by the audience and doubling as the next release, seemed very apt – a snapshot of The Bedlam Six on the first date of a Europe-wide tour at the beginning of a new decade. To then add to that mix a performance by the man who got me started in this business is the final piece of the puzzle – it just makes the whole thing perfect. One thing is certain: it’ll be a hard show for us to top!”
Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six with special guest John Otway will take place at The Dancehouse Theatre in Manchester on Saturday 5th February, 2011. Tickets are £10 on the door and £8 advance. The show begins at 8pm. “Get Religion!” will be on general release from Monday 7th February.
Debt at the Dancehouse
On Saturday 16th October 2010 – as Manchester’s In The City delegates nurse their wine-hangovers and fringe promoters stack up the unused chairs – Debt Records will throw open the doors of the beautiful Dancehouse Theatre for its annual live extravaganza.
For one night only, the Northern Ballet School’s sumptuous art deco headquarters will be transformed into a hub of independent music and performance, brought to you by Manchester’s cooperative imprint Debt Records.
Debt is a label ready to admit that the music industry is currently in a condition whereby live performance is, for the first time since the formation of EMI in 1931, the only dependable way in which a artists can realistically and sustainably ply their trade. What better place then to hold this independent label’s annual party than in the splendour of a 1930s proscenium arch auditorium?
The timing is not insignificant. The three day ITC conference that precedes Debt At The Dancehouse is a world famous music industry event that will facilitate (albeit naively) many local bands being seduced into performing for no pay by fringe promoters promising them the attentive ears of hungry and sympathetic industry representatives (who, in reality, will all be half a mile away in a hotel getting drunk). Debt Records is not opposed to the ITC conference – indeed a number of Debt associates are taking part and Debt’s technical director Dan Watkins is on the team recording the event – but this showcase will be an antidote: an evening of exceptional entertainment free from agenda or artifice.
The Debt Records team believes that no space should be ignored when planning a concert. They have to date performed and organised shows in museums, churches, libraries, olive groves and derelict buildings but, for their yearly label celebration at least, they prefer to be old fashioned: a theatre is the proper place for an evening’s entertainment, especially in a time when the world outside seems so uncertain.
According to BBC Manchester, last year’s Debt At The Dancehouse elicited “a general feeling of bonhomie”. This is precisely the sentiment musical performance should be associated with rather than the commonly accepted posturing of the recorded industry. It is with a spirit of inclusion – as well as independence – that Debt Records is run. Come see for yourself on 16th October 2010.
The line-up is as follows:
John Fairhurst – “As gripping as it is totally different” – The Guardian
Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six – “Excellent in every way” – BBC 6 Music
Becca & The Broken Biscuits – “Thoughtful, emotional music that cuts to your heart and feeds your soul” – BBC Manchester
Red Tides – “Music that sounds like the last day of summer, like shadows creeping across golden fields, like the echoes of a time long past finding their way into modern-day dreams” – Manchester Music
Richard Barry & The Chaps – “A talent that Vivian Stanshall would roll around in flames for” – 3 Weeks Magazine
Alabaster dePlume – “Absolutely stunning, evocative, confusing, tragi-comic. I felt like laughing and crying – I didn’t know whether it was poetry, music or theatre, all I know is that it was wonderful” – Shambala Review
Hannah Miller (from Moulettes) – “Complex & beautiful… Intriguing & unique” – Mojo
Plus a special Debt Supergroup to close the night…
£5 advance; £8 on the door.
Tickets available in person from the box office (0161 237 9753) and online.
We hope to see you there!