For those of you who’ve been here a while, you’ll also have been following the ever changing release date for The Crimea’s new album. From an early 2005 release to an early 2006 release, it wasn’t looking good. Apparently the UK version should be out next month but for the three extra tracks on the US version you were looking at a longer wait. Not anymore. Tragedy Rocks V.2 US has just been released to iTunes and Yahoo! Music’s download engines. Didn’t see that coming, did you? Yes, US fans can now get their hands on the full album for only $9.27 (?5). The rest of the world, on the other hand, may have to wait a while longer. iTune’s is refusing to even list the album to anyone outside the US, and even though Yahoo! Music Engine users can not only view the album details but also listen to 30 second clips of each track, unfortunately it seems that’s all, as I’m getting some weird “error code: 8″ after entering credit card details and it’s refusing to charge me and give me the damn songs. Eh well. Someone may want to inform Warners and any other record label that this shall only go to further the trade in illigal MP3s due to eager rest-of-world fans wanting to hear the thing. Realy, it’s not hard to hit record in a WAV recording program and convert the outcome to fully unliecensed MP3s. So if anyone in the US would care to oblige, the address is christopher@inaudible.co.uk.
UPDATE: Seems loads of online music download stores have the album up, and have done since the 13th, but still no luck for us non-US citizens. Your best bet is to find a technically savy American for a copy, or wait until the CD release. But if you do have the pleasure of living in States, try Wal-Mart’s online store. No crazy program to download, and you can listen to clips straight from the site (and that goes for everyone, 14 x 30 second clips = 7 minutes of Crimea goodness even if we can’t get the whole thing). Also of note is the fact that every site seems to have preview clips from different parts of the songs. Now, I’m not suggesting anyone do this, but if you’re lucky you could just go round the different sites collecting clips, stick em together in a sound editing program and come up with a pretty much complete song/s. They may be of dubious, alternating quality and frankly sound like something pulled out a dustbin, but this desperate lowly english boy does not care one bit. Anyone up for it?
And if you’ve read the latest mail out (if you’ve not got it, sign up to the new mailing list on the official site), you’ll have noticed the list of UK tour dates grow even larger. The gigs page has never been so crammed with Crimea gig goodness. Included is a very special gig in the Enterprise, Camden (home to The Crimea’s very first three gigs) on October 13th to celebrate John Peel day. I’ve gotta go now and hit things, see if i can’t h4×0rz me a copy of the album. In the meantime, read this. highly amusing.

The Crimea on tour - UK dates
The band use their new Warner Bros. mailing list (sign up via official site) to get some tour info out.
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Continuing their quest to play your home town while you’re not there; The Crimea have released their October UK tour dates on their official website. Included is my home town, York, while I’m at uni in Aber, Mr Jon’s home town London while he’s at uni in Bristol, no doubt the Puncture Bunny’ll be out of Leicester on Nov. 14th… Meh, at least Lucifer should get a look in. If you do know anyone in town for any of these dates, leave a comment. No one else does anymore…
Also, please leave a comment if you know a better title than Tragedy Rocks (US) (UK) for what’s turning out to be a very different release from the one the yanks are getting. See that on the right? It ain’t Davey standing on a log in the middle of New Orleans a big pond, oh no, it’s some new album artwork. Check the band’s official photo blog for the bigger picture. Oh, and this: Charismatic gap-toothed Davey is, once more, charismatic gap-toothed Davey!! Obviously Andy S. just noticed this too.
Random piece of vaguely inresting music for the day: something I found via The Love Bus’s (see: J. Parker) website. A clip of Fly by Lecia. I’ve chopped off the first half cos, frankly, it drags on a bit. But the second half rocks. Check out her official site for the full video for the song, and clips of god knows what else. Which reminds me, only two days left to enter the Project Winterhaven competition. And trust me when I say all entrants currently stand a very large possibility of winning stuff.
And while we’re at the useless link stage, if you’ve got access to the Discovery Channel then please watch American Chopper in about 25 minutes. Really, that plug was just an excuse for me to do this: Oohhhohohhhh, YES! …. Never mind…

Hot, hot off the press: new tour dates. They’re off around the NY area of the USA touring with Austrailia’s Youth Group. That’s a band, not some scout thing.
Also hot, but not in a good way: The UK release of Tragedy Rocks - someone’s just let me know the tracklisting. White Russian Galaxy, Lottery Winners On Acid, Opposite Ends, Baby Boom, Girl Just Died, Losing My Hair, Bad Vibrations, The Miserabilist Tango, Gazillions Of Miniature Violins, Someone’s Crying. Which would be almost as good as the US release, with the exception of Here Comes The Suffering (Ching) being left off. But the good thing is the release date has been moved forward a day to October 17th *woohoo* (actually I just messed up the original date, like it’s ever gonna get moved forward officialy). Note to self: must learn difference between forwards and backwards.

Don’t have much for you today, just a single Tragedy Rocks review. At least it’s a good one. Click more or visit the New Beats site to see what they say.
Speaking of which, CD Universe have the album listed for what we in the UK like to call a fiver. ‘Course here, we pay that for penny sweets. And is about how much you’d bet on that release date being right.
Just noticed the band’s a featured artist over at Curt Mangan.com, keep refreshing til you see the boys in blue.
O’er in the Big Easy the gap’s blocked and the waters receding, so here’s to the House That Used To Be A Ship. Oh how they wish they were. That’s for all of you who weren’t around when Murry The Hump were. No I’m not taking the piss, just taking advantage. I still assume the lack of recent hits is to the greatness of the official site.
BESTIVAL! Tomorrow, Crimea, JD stage, 9.30, no water, etc…
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The PJW album competition now has a closing date, all entries must be in by midnight on Thursday 15th September. And if you haven’t entered, you’re really missing out on some cool music memorabilia, apparently they’re the three last Don’t Look At The Monkey albums available anywhere. Hell, I can’t even find my own copy, and PJW only have one between the lot of em. See a few entries below for comp details.

This Friday at approximately 9.30pm The Crimea land on the JD Set Lounge stage at the Isle Of Wight’s Bestival for their final festival apperance of the year. For details on that and a few more rumored shows, check out the gigs page. And remember, rumours are just that. True until they don’t happen.
Making their way onto the band’s MySpace profile are the final three tunes from the Live In St Louis recording. This week you’ll be treated to Baby Boom, Lottery Winners On Acid and Someone’s Crying, along with all the usual updates from Davey & co.
Now I’m usually quicker than this, but anyway, as it’s still pretty topical… Hurricane, by the Little Blue Crunchy Things. And I do hope that’s their tele. Not that it’s fun to make fun of pirates, like, especially those who’ve lost all their booty. But if you are thinking of monetary aid, please make sure it goes to people who actually need it. A country that spends $177 million (?96m) daily on shooting people probably don’t. Bail out already.

Live At St Louis pt2/one more festie/we love you New Orleans
Curtosey of MySpace, this one, so add them as a friend via the band’s MySpace profile to recieve more.
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Andy Parker has some photos of the band playing the Windmill Brixton on August 22nd acompanying a review of the show on his homepage.
Jon Birch’s pics of the same gig are also on the images page of this site, and give a first look at Joe’s new hairdo. Aww. It looks like my hampster.
MSN Spaces member Realpeggi has some snaps of the band at the Bar Academy on August 25th.
Jo Spencer sent me some from the Reading Festival on the 28th, check em out on the images page too.
Efestivals also have some photos from Reading by Karen Williams, and just this second have also stuck up a review of the show. Hit more to read it.
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