Listen to seashells; they know everything - Davey solo shows announced & news
I suspect they mean www.tarablaise.com. Well it’s not like there’s many others with the same name, is it?

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So… This place is deserted then. I’m currently spending my time doing a million things, well… playing video games, but it’s practically work. At least, I’m making money and cadbury’s cream eggs from it, if not much. But I have a real job interview soon too. So then I’ll have even *less* time for this place. Sorry guys. Tragedy rocks. Still, you’re not missing much, but there are a couple of things you and your blue dog need to know about.

Yup, two solo shows from Kernel Krok, Thursday 20th Nov (in two days time!) and Thursday 5th December, both at old Crimea utopian haunt The Enterprise, you know where, and if not, get outta here! Expect old skool tracks - Frog on a Stick, Bluster Boy, Lottery Winners, Oliver Twisted… maybe not; I can dream.

The other thing is the pantented super shiny all conquering Crimea Christmas Show. Should be at Fortress Studios in Shoreditch, London, on 17th December. I’ve said it before but really, if you’re expecting many more of these things you’re on something stronger than Davey’s ever taken, so it’s really one not to sit back and miss.

And that’s it. To think, this time in 2005 I was posting 8 updates a day, I guess youth doesn’t last. Still, you can still find you much more up-to-date Crimea news on both their MySpace page, Davey’s newly launched Facebook page, and of course the official Crimea website. Now be gone, and leave this place to dangle from a streetlight on an autumn afternoon. And who knows, you loved em once, maybe they’ll stun you enough to empty your cash kitty and fund Davey’s next song on the back of an envelope.

This little interview got lost in the all of the shuffle and way-hey of the summer U.S.  tour.   Here is the Planet Notion interview with Davey, originally published 07 July.  Amazing what one finds when one goes a-Googling.

If Leeds’ very own Mama Mia’s deepan 7″ margherita ain’t enough for you (and oh boy, it should be), then you can get your very own 48a Waiting Steps 7″ single right here too. I had the pleasure of collecting 10 of the big boys (for the princley sum of something like £40 I think) straight from Sister Ray Records in London this afternoon. Which is a damn good thing for you lot, as until then that seemed to be the only way of getting one, what with Townsend Records not appearing to have any stock (I do believe SR got the lot), and Sister Ray not listing it on their webstore. But thank god for superfans, eh?

Oh dear, there’s me putting my foot in it again. Townsend Records WILL at last be getting some 48a Waiting Steps 7″ singles in, hopefully early next week, Davey was just hella slow getting them to the kind people there. So if you’ve already ordered from them, or are still wanting a copy, please do check out their website www.townsend-records.co.uk as they are (and have been for many years) the primary online source for many Crimea releases.

That said, I still have a few copies left, so if Townsend Records ever run out there’s a few still available

Christopher

We’re gathering up the vigilantes again to deliver some good old fashioned mob-style justice.  Go to the Vodafone Live Music Awards nomination website here and type The Crimea in the ‘LIVE UNSIGNED’ catagory.  Vote early, vote often.    

Very cool words from the very cool Brooklyn Vegan blog.  They host a radio show on Sirius so fingers crossed that we hear some Crimea on the digital airwaves.  And tonight is the last U.S. show (for now!).  If you’re in the NYC area, drop by Goodbye BLue Monday and watch Davey and Joe play their acoustic set.

Massive thanks to eagle-eye Carla for finding these on YouTube…videos from the Crimea’s performance at McCarren Park in NYC last week.  Perhaps an even bigger thanks should go to YouTube user TangyGal, who is responsible for putting them on YouTube in the first place. So go and show her some love at the comments section. 

Reviews keep coming in for 48a.  Check out the 4.5 out of 5 stars given by Matthew Hirtes of UK Fusion. Massive!

And last but certainly not least - Martin (grand overlord of the US Street Team) has some photos from the NYC and Boston shows here.     Enjoy!!

The Tripwire is exclusively hosting the U.S.  release of Secrets of the Witching Hour.  Hey, ain’t no thing if you’re a Limey, Taffy, or Scot -you can still grab yourself a copy of the Yankee Doodle version because it’s free to all man and womankind for-ever baby.  Go on to the download page  at The Tripwire.

The US version features an updated tracklisting and spooky sweet interludes by Tywanna Jo Baskette, a siren from the deepest darkest South.  (A woman after my own heart)

So the Crimea have invaded the US at long last:  guns blazing, cannons roaring, gatlings cranked and ready for action. And all this on famished bellies as food rations are a tad scarce. Nevermind, reports from the front are that spirits are high. Huzzah!

The 48a Waiting Steps is getting some more radio airplay. Passport Approved, is a radio show on Indie 103.1 in Los Angeles that currently has The Crimea on their playlist.  The syndicated show plays in many markets across the U.S. as well as on MotoFM in Germany.

We’ve also been trying to get the word out to the US music blogosphere and to music critics.  We have an appearance here regarding the upcoming Los Angeles shows.  If you know of a good music blog (or music critic, for that matter)  that could use some Crimea awareness, let me know by dropping me a line at hmboswell@auxarcltd.com

How brilliant is this post from the Crimea MySpace page:

“48 Waiting Steps” on my radio show, The British Breakfast on WRIR 97.3FM Richmond, Virginia USA (www. wrir. org) this Saturday between 9-11am my time which is 2-4pm UK time.”

Oh feck…just looked at the time and it seems the show ended less than 10 minutes ago. grrrrrrrr. oh well. it’s great to know they’re getting some airplay in the US!

The Sun published this rather splendid interview with Davey on the 27  June.  And much to their credit, not a mention of Big Brother sex antics or Jordan’s boobs in any of it.  (Note: this is a PDF document)

Some U.S. Press release action in the house -CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS EAT YOUR HEART OUT 

“A new album is building buzz on music blogs for its upbeat sound,  wistful lyrics — and unusual price.” “WALL STREET JOURNAL

“Davey’s ability to create such delicious and bizarrely logical imagery through his lyrics proves to be one of the defining strengths of Secrets of the witching hour.” – The Guardian

“Husky soulful vocals and a mixture of lazy, hazy-day summer songs, bursts of heart-string yanking nostalgia and slow bittersweet melodies”  - NME  

The Crimea attempt to conquer the Americas by candlelight and chinese whispers with the official U.S release of their free album “Secrets of the Witching Hour” on July 14th 2008. Long before Prince, Coldplay, and the likes decided to give their music away for free, Back when Thom Yorke was still goin “MP.. what?”.The Crimea were the original pioneers of this revolutionary marketing concept. They became the first established band to release a ‘free album’ in late spring 2007, a landmark industry event which led them to appear in Q magazine’s “Top Five Moments That Changed Music History”, receiving global news attention from the Hindu Times to the Hollywood reporter, and everything in between. The Crimea are a cottage industry with global notoriety. By harnessing the all-encompassing, global reach of the internet, they have radically boosted their revenue streams through syncs, increased profile, and therefore increased live audiences and CD, merchandise sales to form the basis of a brave new business model that places the emphasis back squarely on artistic development and control.  

If you sit there and think,
Who am I?
How did I get here?
what is going to happen when I die?
You can scare the hell out of yourself
For all our science and philosophy
 Nobody actually knows what happens after the last gasp,
Where we go?
Or what we become?
After the last gasp

The above are the opening lines of “Secrets of the Witching Hour“. Released in the USA on July 14th for one week as a free download on Tripwire, then available to download for the duration of all time at www.thecrimea.net , The exclusive U.S.A version of the album has “tywanna jo baskette’ a mysterious songstress from the deepest darkest South, whispering spooky sweet nothings between the songs, The album is free to all, with nothing required from the listeners in return - not even an email address.Recorded above a sweatshop in East London, a crumbling house in Norwich and in the wilds of Latvia. The record was produced by the band over seven agonizing months, ably assisted by Dave Allen (The Cure).

The Crimea first came to light in 2004 when Davey gave a demo to the legendary John Peel who happened to walk past as Davey was sweeping the streets of Soho - John played all 11 tracks and a band was born. The Crimea have always asked people to stop and think, they have been blazing their own trail for years, get played when babies are born and people are buried.

“That could go on for another three quarters of an hour as far as I’m concerned” – John Peel  

“Secrets of the Witching Hour” has been creeping virally and stealthily into peoples conscious, the counter can only go up, Venice beach isn’t gonna know what hit it, the vikings are coming, the Dunkirk landings are going to look like the Boston tea party, “Secrets of the Witching Hour” is coming to America for all eternity, the Crimea perform the following U.S. dates: 

July 
12 NY Cake shop ; 13 NY Union hall;  14 NY Mccarren park 8pm,Bedford/north 12th entrance, outdoor East coast release gig/party; 15 Boston,  TT the bears; 16 LA, Tangiers; 17 LA Silverlake; 18 San Diego Epicentre; 19 LA Venice beach P zone, 8 pm, outdoor West coast release gig/party; 22 NY  Goodbye Blue Monday 

Most bands release things on Tuesdays.  Once again bucking conventional trends, the Crimea released their latest single ‘The 48a Waiting Steps’ on  30 June…a Monday, if you can believe it.  (Think of it as a gift to the common working man and woman out there who normally look upon Mondays with much dread.)    After an unscheduled run to Curry’s for some gear (no, not that kind of gear, we’re talking the proper electrical stuff), the release party got under way at legendary Sister Ray records.  Were you lucky enough to score one of 100 exclusive limited editions of the single, complete with the chickenscratch masquerading as lyrics personally hand-scrawled by Mr. Macmanus?  If you were, lucky you…because that means you probably got the chance to see them again at their secret gig later that evening.  (Tell us what you think/what you thought at the official Crimea message boards, why don’t ya?)But having reported all that it’s time to get down to some bidness.  Reviews!

• Room 13 is up first with a glowing bit of praise for the new single. It’s so nice that we’ll even forgive lovely Jim at Room 13 for misspelling Davey’s name (it’s not Davy as in the former Monkee). 
• Glasswerk aptly notes that ‘Davey Macmanus trembles over another epic short player…”
• Contact Music gave the single a respectable 7/10.
• Beat Surrender offers 3/5 More reviews are on the way so stayed tuned.

Or be sure to notify us if you see a kind word or two floating about that’s worth sharing. 

 The man Ledlin does it again. My new favourite Crimea fan was at The Enterprise on May 8th to video the whole thing, and Davey’s just upped the majority to his Youtube page. Long gone are the days when you just got a shitty cassette recording using some old headphones as a mic, or even my poor attempts at minidisc recording with excess base levels. Hell this guy even makes my dad’s MP4 recording digital camera redundant. It’s like there’s no use for me in the world no more Oh well, quality vid time Check the rest out at youtube.com/user/daveymacmanus.

And don’t forget, if you wanna see them there’s no better place than at Sister Ray records in London on this coming Monday (30th June). Not only will you get a chance to buy a hard copy of the new single and a special instore apperance but you’ll also get access to the evening’s secret gig with non other than old skool Crimea guitar goddess Julz Parker featuring one way or another. Meanwhile I’ll be stuck here praying to god the J meister’s doing his thing again as it’s the only way I’m gonna get to see owt. O spare room where for art thou?

Dear all those who are concerned

THe CRimea are trying to reach gold in the next week or so,, so we can put out a new press release next week,,, when our single comes out,,, I know that begging letters are a worrying thing

but if anyone hasnt downloaded “secrets of the witching hour” could you possibly go to www.thecrimea.net and download, its free

and if you are gifted with your tongue please tell anyone you see, and if you only communicate by computer like Stephen Hawkins, please email anyone you should wish asking them to download it

it’s free

thank you very much

davey