Author: Paul Tunkin

After four years as one of the twelve IMPEL Music board members, Paul Tunkin representing IMPEL member Blow Up Songs stepped down from the board and did not stand for re-election along with Ryan Farley MD of Cooking Vinyl Publishing, who had also served on the board for four years. Paul commented that it had been a great honour to be part of the IMPEL team since its inaugural launch as a fully independent organisation in 2018 and that IMPEL continues to build a highly effective digital future for independent music publishers which he is proud to have had a hand in helping to shape. He stated that within the IMPEL membership there is an incredible wealth of expertise, talent with huge amounts of experience to draw from, that will continue to guide the organisation onwards and upwards. Paul will be continue to support IMPEL on various committees as a member representing Blow Up Songs. The two new board members were confirmed as Takuya Yamazaki, General Counsel of NexTone and Michael Hatjoulis, Head of Publishing at Manners McDade.

Sea Groove by Big Boss Man has been used in the new Netflix film I Used To Be Famous directed by Eddie Sternberg. It is streaming from today after its cinema launch a week ago. Sea Groove is taken from the debut album by Big Boss Man ‘Humanize’ on Blow Up Records. The song was written by Nasser Bouzida, Scott Milsom and Trevor Harding and is published by Blow Up Songs.

Blow Up Songs is pleased to confirm that we have four songs that feature in the forthcoming new film The Allnighter, directed by Aimee Graham. The Allnighter will receive its world premier at this years Cinequest in San Francisco (Aug 21st-24th).

The songs included in the film are:

“SEA GROOVE” Written by Nasser Bouzida, Trevor Harding, Scott Milsom. Published by Blow Up Songs Ltd. Performed by Big Boss Man (Blow Up Records)

“THE ALARM GOES OFF,YOU GET UP, YOU GET BY” Written by Ali Heath, Published by Blow Up Songs Limited. Performed by Ali Heath (Blow Up Records)                                  

“ALL I HAVE IS YOURS (INCLUDING YOU) ”Written by Erik Stein and Jon Boux, Published by Blow Up Songs Limited. Performed by Cult With No Name (CWNN Records)

“MAINS TO GO” Written by Justin Anderson, Adam Ficek, Lester Jones, Paul Harrison and David Rabjohns. Published by Blow Up Songs Limited. Performed by Mains Ignition (Tummy Touch Records).

The film stars Owen Beckman, Gretchen Lodge, Sylva Kelegian, David Koechner, Tiny Lister, James Russo, Alexandra Kenworthy, Jilon VanOve.

Cinequest link: https://tickets.cinequest.org/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=216999~a12ee803-7eae-437e-8208-1c4d52da2020&epguid=330ab4d6-45cd-4e3a-a87e-02c739b12dbb&

As announced today by Blow Up Records, Big Boss Man are to release two vinyl 7″ singles. Comprising of all new instrumental tracks that are slices of pure killer dance floor funk. All tracks written by founding members of the band, Nasser Bouzida and Trevor Harding and published by Blow Up Songs.

Pre-order the two 45’s in the following formats: Vinyl 7″ (limited edition 500 each single) shipping direct from the Blow Up Greedbag shop (shipping 23/09/22)
https://secure.greedbag.com/put/org/~f92a7bfb-b2c7-4238-8f97-6e0363c32398/productlines/item/~big-boss-man-2022-2x/

The two singles are as follows:
Cat number BU131
A Side – Juju Funk (Bouzida / Harding)
B-Side – Return Of Baron Samedi (Bouzida)

Cat number BU132
A Side – Double Groovy (Bouzida, Harding)
B Side – Trans-Pacific Express (Bouzida)

The four tracks that form the A and B sides will be released digitally, one track a month. starting with Return Of Baron Samedi on all digital services 15/07/22

We are pleased to announce that Vanessa Anne Redd has signed a worldwide publishing agreement with Blow Up Songs for the representation of her songs that includes all the titles for her recent solo albums alongside co-written songs for Rubicks and Six Years.

Vanessa Anne Redd is a London based British / German singer-songwriter. She released her third solo Vanessa Anne Redd record “Sweet Way Around” in 2021, following on from her critically acclaimed solo debut “Behind the Wall” and “Zumbo Waxes”. VAR makes raw alternative folk-rock, sweeping melodies mixing cathartic darkness and light. Her solo work is inspired by artists such as Syd Barrett, Holly Go-Lightly, Nico, Elliot Smith, Leonard Cohen, Billy Childish and Angel Olson. 

She’s received support from BBC Radio’s Steve Lamacq, Lauren Laverne, Janice Long and Radio X’s John Kennedy, along with a coveted Album of the Month recommendation by UK music magazine Loud & Quiet, and praise by magazines such as UNCUT, RnR and Clash Magazine. 

 She has previously released albums as part of electronic act Rubicks, and alt-folk duo Six Years, has toured the UK, Europe, Canada and the USA with the likes of Gary Numan and John Foxx and played SXSW and Canadian Music Week. 

Her music has been released through her co-owned label Sharp Attack Records and licensed to Universal, Mute, Modular DJ’s and Rough Trade compilations. It has appeared in fashion films (Valentino/Pam Hogg) and skate/snowboarding videos. 

Vanessa co-runs her own label Sharp Attack Records with long time collaborator Marc Makarov with whom she has been working co-producing acts on their label (Phoebe Coco/The Durrell Family). She also makes her own films and videos to accompany her own music. 

We are pleased to announce that Phoebe Coco has signed a publishing agreement with Blow Up Songs for the worldwide representation for the compositions of her debut album ‘My White Horse and I’.

Phoebe Coco is a London based British singer songwriter. With ‘My White Horse and I‘ (Sharp Attack Records) she invites you to step inside a unique world of sound and music, songs with lilting lyrics and mesmerising hooks; a whirlpool of voice, piano and electronica- ‘Somewhere between Electro-pop and whimsical alternative folk’ (Beatnik)

‘Phoebe Coco has just the thing’
Tom Robinson- BBC 6 Music
‘A sense of being slightly unsettled but utterly intoxicated at the same time, excited with a
certain amount of trepidation & everything is a bit mysterious’ ‘Effortlessly compelling’.
Adam Watson BBC Introducing Wales
Beautiful young artist
–David Preshaah Hoxton Radio
‘This is lovely – the laconic vocal puts me in mind of Anna Calvi in places, in others Oh Land.
Feels like a dark fairytale…’
Sarah Gosling

We are pleased to announce that Ali Heath has signed a new publishing agreement with Blow Up Songs for worldwide publishing representation for his forthcoming debut solo album When the Day is Done, to be released in 2022.

Ali is of course one quarter of Alfa 9, who Blow Up Songs has had a long relationship with as publisher for his and all bands writers for their three albums to date on Blow Up Records.

We are pleased to announce that Helicopter of the Holy Ghost songwriters, Billy Reeves, Crayola Lectern and Gavin Fisher have signed agreements with Blow Up Songs for worldwide representation of their songs of the album ‘Afters’. The highly acclaimed album which reached #14 Independent charts, #26 vinyl charts and was released by K-Scope Records in 2021.

The Helicopter of The Holy Ghost are Billy Reeves, Crayola Lectern and Mark Morriss

Billy Reeves formed The Audience for a bet in the mid nineties, fortunately meeting the fabulous Sophie Ellis-Bextor two days later at The Garage, Islington. (He won the bet seven months later). The band reached the dizzy heights of 12 in the LP charts. In 2000 he signed to Sony with the group ‘Yours’ but this project was violently curtailed by joy-riders that hit his Morris Minor at 99 mph (on the way home from promoting the first ever gig by the popular heavy metal band, The Darkness). A long coma, many operations and a housebound year ensued. In 2017 his brother gave him two mini-discs that had been saved from the wreckage, including demos of songs he had forgotten – due to crash-related amnesia. These songs were recently moulded into an album, ‘Afters’ by Reeves, Mark Morris, (solo artist and singer with the chart-topping guitar-janglers The Bluetones), Mark Peters (of Engineers – Rough Trade included his solo LP ‘Innerland’ in their best albums list of 2018), and Crayola Lectern (from Crayola Lectern/Zofff/la Momo/Departure Lounge and Damo Suzuki’s band up the Con Club in Lewes). 

The Helicopter of the Holy Ghost album Afters – in the media.

UNCUT: “…luxurious laments…dominated by a morose beauty. 8/10”

PROG: “Mark Morriss turns these melodic songs into something poetic…the result is a lovely album”

MOJO: “fittingly dreamlike…a deeply cryptic underbelly”

LOUDER THAN WAR: “merits repeated listens, weaving an indefinable spell”

THE QUIETUS: 

“Crayola Lectern’s playing… autumnal prog of (the) Canterbury Scene nodding to artists like Robert Wyatt or Bob Stanley’s ‘English Weather’ compilations”

GIDEON COE, BBC 6MUSIC: “mighty fine. The story is quite something; the record is quite something too”

ROBERT ELMS, BBC RADIO LONDON: “See, I told you it was good!”

THE WEE REVIEW, SCOTLAND “A dazzling debut, unique, compelling”

BIG ISSUE: “defies the odds, astonishing it was ever made”

POPIPTICA albums of the month: “Slowly rendered after a long period hidden away, Afters is a colourful but never pushy album to keep you company for many days yet to come”

GOD IS IN THE TV: “…a startlingly beautiful record. One that uncovers different elements and depths every time you listen. When you add together musical talents such as Crayola Lectern, Mark Morriss and Simon Raymonde and fold that into the melodies from over twenty years ago, you’re striking gold”

LP: ‘Afters’ available to stream/buy on very ltd vinyl or CD (K-Scope Records)

We are pleased to announce that Chris Anderson AKA Crayola Lectern has signed an agreement with Blow Up Songs for worldwide representation. This includes the two songs Slow Down and I Will Never Hurt which were recorded for the highly acclaimed Helicopter of The Holy Ghost album Afters (K-Scope Records).

Crayola Lectern’s critically lauded albums, The Fall and Rise of… (2013, Bleeding Heart Recordings) and Happy Endings (2018, Onomatopoeia Records) have been compared by the critics to Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, Burt Bacharach, Neal Hefti amongst a plethora of other notable film score composers.

The music is often emotive and textural with sophisticated arrangements, centred around the piano with a palette covering melancholia, with a pastoral/psychedelic flavour, through to exciting and tempestuous “adventure music,” which sets the imagination alight. Chris Anderson, the man behind the mask, also works with several notable music makers as a multi-instrumentalist and collaborator and his interests beyond Crayola extend to composing music to film.

We are pleased to announce that Aki Omori has signed a publishing agreement with Blow Up Songs for worldwide representation of her catalogue, which include co-writes with The Orb and Freaky Realistic.

Aki a London based artist was a vocalist for Freaky Realistic for the album Frealism on Polydor Records, the song Koochie Ryder was picked by actor Bill Nighy chose as one of his Desert Island Discs selection. Aki was later a featured guest vocalist for The Orb for tracks Once More which peaked at #38 on the UK Singles Chart and Centuries both taken from the album Cydonia (Island Records 2001) and also for the track Sail with The Orb.

Alex Paterson of The Orb commenting on Once More “Aki Omori used to sing with a band called Freaky Realistic and we hooked up a few years ago. For once, we actually sat down round the kitchen table and started writing the song – which is unheard of for me”.

Aki also worked with William Orbit for a time for the project Strange Cargo.