Tuesday 10 July & Wednesday 11 July 2007


Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, London

A Great Independent Label Celebrates

For the first time ever we picked our Record Label of The Year. It was an easy decision for us to make following a period in which Bella Union released no less than 6 albums that appeared in our Best Albums of 2007 list. But there was a little more behind the decision than that. No other UK record company has come close to signing and promoting so many distinctive, original, quality acts from around the world. No other major UK independent label has done more in encouraging press access to its acts through the provision of album and live performance review opportunities (and especially to online magazines like Shakenstir). And all this achieved in just ten short years culminating in a magnificent 24 month period of musical diversity, adventure and excellence. So it’s no surprise that Bella Union is celebrating big-style in 2007.

Showcasing The Best

In 2006/7 we covered many new Bella Union acts including: My Latest Novel, Howling Bells, Midlake, The Kissaway Trail, Fionn Regan, Stephanie Dosen, The Dears, Robert Gomez, along with more established acts such as the Dirty Three and Francoiz Breut. It’s a mind-boggling array of talent and therefore not surprising that the label’s 10th Anniversary celebrations revolve around its artists, and their music.

The Royal Festival Hall To Host Celebration Shows

On the 10th and 11th July the Bella Union 10th Anniversary Celebrations kick off at the newly renovated Royal Festival Hall, the centre-piece of London’s formidable South Bank Centre overlooking the river Thames. For anyone interested in the very best contemporary rock and folk music, these 2 shows promise to be the gig highlights of the year.

10th July 2007 Royal Festival Hall

Howling Bells. This four-piece band from Australia wow audiences wherever they play. We saw them perform in Manchester and liked them so much we went to see them again the following week in Liverpool. The band has been supporting The Killers on an international tour and will be returning to the UK to play this and several festival dates. The band released one of our albums of the year and proved to be one of the best live bands around at the moment - not to be missed.

Fionn Regan. I saw this young singer/songwriter from Ireland play in Liverpool after listening to his brilliant debut album. If you like Damien Rice, you’ll love this guy.

My Latest Novel are from the UK and released a very special and highly original album last year, followed by a string of fabulous live shows. We saw them play in Manchester and was blown away.

Beach House from the USA is the label’s latest signing and from what I’ve read sound like a great prospect.

11th July 2007 Royal Festival Hall

Midlake from the USA released one of the most acclaimed albums of 2006. I saw the guys play in Manchester in front of a capacity audience. The band’s album is great but performed live it’s even better.

The Dears from Montreal, Canada are an indie rock band who write the most beautiful and melodic songs. The band supported Keane to strong acclaim in 2007.

The Kissaway Trail from Denmark is another very new signing that is already making waves here in the UK right now. The band’s new album will feature in our best of year and has already received wide media acclaim. We recently caught a live show in London and can’t wait to see them again.

Stephanie Dosen is a singer/songwriter from the USA and after seeing her twice perform live in as many weeks we’re convinced that she’s one of the best around at the moment. Her new album is understated and stunningly beautiful. Another must-see!

Show Details

Tickets for the 2 shows are £15-20 each. Phone 0870 380 0400 to book. More details available at www.southbankcentre.co.uk

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BELLA UNION - A Short History

Cocteau Twins, an iconic band who had been making music since 1980 when they signed a long term deal with the legendary 4AD label, started Bella Union in 1997 as a place to release their own music and collaborations. Shortly after setting up the label, the band broke up. “Seemed like a good idea at the time to continue with the label, even though none of us had any idea what we were doing. That was probably its strength! “ says co-founder and now label boss Simon Raymonde. Bella Union, as you might imagine, given its owner’s artistic credentials, is a label where acts are allowed to develop without interference. From the early successes with Dirty Three, (the trio of Bad Seeds’ Warren Ellis, Jim White and Mick Turner), Francoiz Breut and The Czars, the label began to flourish and develop a strong reputation.

Eclectic signings from several different genres showed that this was not a specialist boutique label as some pigeonholed it. Kid Loco, Meat Beat Manifesto, Nanaco, Josh Martinez all worked with heavy bass, beats, cut-up sounds, hip hop and dub stylings; Laura Veirs, a Seattle-based singer songwriter, works in folk/country roots, never better expressed than on the breakthrough album CARBON GLACIER; Lift to Experience, the Texan trio rode into Europe with their spiritual and apocalyptical space-rock, on the back of their extraordinary debut THE TEXAS-JERUSALEM CROSSROADS.

Explosions In The Sky whose elegant, yet intensely powerful instrumentals, unleashed on the album THE EARTH IS NOT A COLD DEAD PLACE, brought them in front of a large and adoring European audience. The Dears who came over late in 2004 with a fierce reputation for amazing live shows, released the album NO CITIES LEFT and the 6 piece Canadian band has been on fire ever since. 2006 proved to be a big year for the label, with My Latest Novel starting the year off in style with 9/10 review in NME, Midlake’s THE TRIALS OF VAN OCCUPANTHER racking up close to 100,000 sales, Howling Bells making a breakthrough in UK, and Fionn Regan releasing the very fabulous END OF HISTORY.

With Bella Union now in its 10th Anniversary and some special events to come throughout the year, the introduction of Robert Gomez (“the first truly great album of 2007” ANDY GILL The Independent) the wonderful new Explosions In The Sky album; new signings Stephanie Dosen, Beach House; and The Kissaway Trail about to be launched, this staunchly independent independent looks like becoming the label we all have been looking for since the demise of 4AD in the 90s…

Jim Moran