Home / News /
Not so intimate: Bloc Party announce 2009 dates
Those boys from the Bloc, they be touring. Well, in early 2009. And only a bit: a pair of dates in Glasgow, Manchester and Wolverhampton. Londoners need to wait until April, unless they've a further announcement up their sleeves.
What they do have planned is a new single. 'Talons' is out on October 20 courtesy of Wichita (including the last ever Phones remix, as we reported last week), and third album Intimacy is available online now. For a price. On the topic of 'doing-a-Radiohead-but-not-really', Kele Okereke had this to say to XFM last week:
"We don't live in a world where things are given to people for free… Radiohead were in a very specific position - they didn't have a record deal and they could do what they wanted. We have an obligation to sell records because we're contractually obliged to Wichita to sell records and not give them away. I'm not entirely sure I'd want to either"
And here's those dates. Tickets? On sale September 26.
January
24/25 Glasgow Academy
27/28 Manchester Apollo
30/31 Wolverhampton Civic
April
11 London Olympia
Video: Bloc Party, 'Talons'
From the archive
-
'We're contractually obliged to Wichita Records....
to sell records and not give them away'.
Just as well. You can't even give their last two albums away.
-
HAHAHAHAHAHA.
Just saw something funny on the t.v.
Cant fucking wait to see them again.
-
dont think much of this new single
bass is good, but it seems to be the only thing in the song :(
-
where the fuck
is the olympia?
-
glasgow academy?
could be worse i suppose.
-
i think
bloc party are a very talented band, but is it just me or does kele have the same vocal hook in every song?
-
i agree with you
yes i do, sings the same melody over and over again. i think it's because he's not a brilliant singer and relys on yelping a lot, which in itself is fine, many a vocalist has done that but it fucking grates me now with bloc party.
-
Kentish Town 30/09/08
Hi. If anyone might have 2 spare tickets for the Kentish Town gig that they'd be willing to sell at face value plus booking fees etc could you mail me please. It's along shot but hope springs eternal and all that.
-
prices...
would've cost me £28.30 for a ticket, i love bloc party....
but for a show at the civic that kind of costs?
it's just not worth it, i've seen them enough times already. i might pay that cost for a bigger band, but i don't think they're worthy enough of nearly 30 quid.
big shame...
-
Remember when Bloc Party were not utterly, horribly, terribly shite?
Whatever happened to that young band who had so much promise? They used to belt out songs like Tulips, Skeleton, Banquet and Staying Fat. Their last two pieces of work; Weekend In The Shity and Intimacy are the most contrived and flabby pieces of guff I have heard in a long time. That song M-m-m-m-m-mmmmmm-mercury just f*cking stinks. I had the misfortune to see them at Leeds this year, they were so bad I went to watch the Alkaline Trio instead.....
-
im fed up of people saying this
can some one please give me an example of him "recycling melodies"? he does have a particular melodic style, but so does bjork and so does a bunch of singers. what does the vocal hook in this song sound like then?
-
bloc party are the best they ever have been
i for one am really excited about seeing how they are going to do their new songs live
-
^^here here
and all that
-
the vaguely tuneful
yelping he does on every other one of their songs
-
bjork is an amazing singer
kele is not
-
they have actually gotten better
it feels like they have found their own identity and i excited to see where they go with it.
-
but the melodies are not the same
just because he has a distinctive vocal style does not mean he is recycling melodies. if you cant actually display examples of this what is your point? he is a very
-
he is one of the most original british voices of the last 10 years
his timing, range, delivery and tone is impeccable. irrespective of what u think of their music that is undeniable
-
i guess so yes...
but he sings flat live a lot of the time, none of what you mentioned makes him a good singer in my opinion.
but you're right you do know instantly it's kele singing when you hear a tune of theirs.
but his lyrics are terrible and he does sing very similar melodies in all of their songs.
-
if you cant actually display examples of this what is your point?
and i cant be arsed to listen through my bloc party catalogue to offer you exact examples.
i dont really have a "point" as you say it is just my opinion.
-
the fact that a lot of people
share the same opinion means their must be some element of truth to it. not that it's fact but you know what i mean.
-
thats fucking bullshit mate
you make a point and the you cant substantiate it. Why bother? Also i've seen bloc party live on a few occasions and that swordoftruth is right he is an incredible singer. ive never heard him sing out of tune and while his is no Morrisey he is a better lyricist than most of other bands out there. he writes songs about things he is passionate about, thats clear. how do you know he is a bad lyricist if you dont even know their music? dont believe everything you read you fucking idiot
-
superman you are a fucking tool
if you are just listening to what other people say as criticism and then just respouting you really are a fucking idiot im sorry. why even bother commenting on a band if you dont know their music?
-
^^^^^^ this
you don't like them thats fine. but dont accuse them of something that they are not. he is a fine singer and thats indisputable
-
calm down
are you in bloc party? pair of pricks.
i like the band, i have all their albums, i like the fact he writes lyrics from his heart about things he's passionate about, i just dont think the end results are that good. sorry. it is my opinion.
i also think they've got worse as time has gone by. they launched their new album with mercury!? a fucking dogshit excuse for a song let alone a come back single. now talons is the new single which just sounds like a bloc party b side. i personally dont think they have gone from strength to strength like great bands should.
my opinion is also that his vocal style makes a lot of his vocal lines sound the same. i have seen and heard many other people saying the same thing, but i have not come to that opinion because of them this is because there is an element of truth to it.
-
also
i typed in bloc party live in youtube and this was the first clip i looked at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geFpyg5KCbU
"all the young people look the same" is pretty much the first line of the song and is sung flat! this is the first fucking clip!
now i dont think he's a bad singer, he doesnt sing flat all the time, singing by it's nature is very rarely perfect and many singers are great because of their imperfections.
the fact is i dont like the way he sings and it is a fact he sings flat quite a lot!
-
woweee
read below you mardy bitch
-
it might be your opinion that his vocals sound the same but it isnt actually true
"all the young people" sounds nothing like the vocal in talons do you have ears? if anything he has pilfered the hook from an 80's synth pop song, thats the first thing i thought...you are entitled to your opinion if you dont like that band but i watched that clip and he is singing perfectly in tune...do you kind of dont really have an argument. also you said that you own all their records but dont know what any of their songs are called? you are just some lame hater...i call bullshit buddy
-
you are an idiot who cant read
i didnt say i didnt know the names of any of their songs i said i couldnt be arsed to listen through my bloc party records to give you exact examples of melody similarities.
and i didnt say the "all the you people" line was a melody he's used before i said that in that live version it was flat, AND IT IS! if you dont agree then you're deaf too, making this entire debate pointless.
are you 13 or something? you're a fucking twat
-
and it isnt my opinion that he's flat
in that live version, it is a fact that he sings that line flat.
-
oh my god, are u fucking dickhead or something?
so he sings one line flat in the whole song, ive been watching radiohead footage on youtube and thom sings flat all the time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13EQ4wILyfA
its a fucking live performance, singers deviate in tuning all the time, in the same way guitars go fractionally out of tune all the time. its part of the live performance, do you even know that? have u even been to a live gig. you dont really have an argument, why are u bothering to perpetuate this. you made a claim, it was refuted. just deal with it you fucking cunt -
your responses
are priceless.
it's like you've only read every other sentence of each of my replies.
you cant compare guitar strings going out of tune, which is a mechanical failure of sorts, to someone singing out of tune, which is someone not controlling their voice perfectly. you simply cant compare those two things. you could compare someone singing out of tune to someone simply playing the wrong note on a guitar, hitting the wrong fret...that is comparable to someone not hitting the note perfectly when singing.
i have definitely been to more shows than you. i can say this with absolute certainty because judging by your posts here you're still a child and i am unfortunately not.
anyway, all of the points you've got so angry in replying to, culminating in calling me a cunt! i had actually covered and a lot of the times agreed with you in previous posts of mine, but no you carried on with your rants regardless.
we can agree to disagree on whether kele is a great singer or not, that is fine. but you're arguing my reasons for not liking his vocals has been fucking priceless and very amusing. so thanks.
-
sorry dad
:)
-
a forward thinking band
i prefer intimacy to silent alarm - yeh i said it.
and the second half of AWITC is better than the first - yeh i said it.fuck this hate
-
GO TO YOUR ROOMS!!!
BOTH OF YOU!
-
the same melody for every song
yup...i call it the blue light schematic
the line "you are the bluest light" can be sung over any bloc party song. ANY bloc party song.
in terms of music theory, if the song's root key is in a minor, he hits the minor 6th note of the scale going down to the fifth. if it's a major, then the major 4th going down to the third. kele obviously isn't thinking about that at all, but man, he's just plain lazy. if you need some actual examples, i can give 'em:
Like Eating Glass - "like eating"
Helicopter - "are you hoping for a miracle"
Positive Tension - "ever, ever escape"
Blue Light - "you are the bluest light"
So Here We Are - "i made a vow, to carry you home"Hunting For Witches - "hunting for witches"
Waiting for the 7:18 - "seven eighteen", "blackberries"
I Still Remember - "I still remember, how you looked that afternoon"Biko - "this world isn't kind to little things"
Signs - "in my dreams i see you again"i could go on, but i think everyone's fallen asleep now. good to get this off my chest though, it's been bugging the shit out of me.
Comments
- Post a new comment on this article