New blog

Running F&L was great fun but work / life got in the way.

Thanks for reading and check out my new blog:

http://alistairbeech.posterous.com/

Video: So Sick - Ne-Yo cries off Manchester gig

Los Angeles R&B star Ne-Yo tonight provided drama at Manchester's M.E.N Arena after aborting his near sell-out show half way through a headline set.

The self-proclaimed ‘smooth’ pop icon complained of illness after a couple of songs and appeared visibly uncomfortable, at one stage asking for patience from a loyal and fervent Arena audience.

The aborted set relied on backing tracks and audience vocals, with Ne-Yo even pushing out an unknown female singer from his own record label to placate a restless crowd.

By 10pm the singer and his dancing partners trundled off stage, leaving their bemused band charged with an awkward fill in. To his credit, Ne-Yo emerged teary eyed (quite a contrast to his gyrating antics some 10 minutes earlier) vowing to return to the city and finish the show at a later date.

After a similar walkout earlier in the current tour, we weren't totally surprised at Ne-Yo's cry off, captured on video below:



Read our full review of the gig for Manchester Evening News here.

Nights Out: Download Tramp! DJs Summer mix

Fondly remembered for their killer Bierkeller/Club North rave-ups, Tramp! DJs continue to head up some of the best Nights Out in Manchester and beyond.

Download the new mixtape from Will Tramp! and taste the summer vibes.

TRAMP! SUMMER LOVIN' MIX

DJ Kaos 'Love the night away' (Tiedye mix)
Phoenix - 'Lisztomania' (Classixx version)
Holy Ghost- 'I will come back'
Shit Robot- 'Simple Things' (Todd Terje remix)
Adonis- 'No Way Back' (Greg Wilson edit)
Morten Sorenson 'Start Something' (40 Thieves remix)
Permanent Vacation ft. Kathy Diamond 'Tic Toc'
Crazy P- 'Love on the line' (Unabombers vox remix)
Visti & Meyland ' Yes Maam' (All night long'
Walter Meego- 'Forever' (Escort Remix- Pete Herbert edit)
Florence and the machine- 'Rabbit Heart' (Leo Zero remix)
The Whitest Boy Alive - '1517' (Morgan Geist remix)
Bill Withers -'Who is he?' (Henrik Schwarz edit)
House Of House- 'Rushing To Paradise (Walkin' these streets)

Download Tramp's Summer Lovin' Mix here (70MB)

Tramp! on Facebook

Image courtesy of Sebastian Matthes via Flickr

Video: Joy Division get Caribbean steel band makeover

Via The Quietus, brilliantly filmed by Nick Abrahams as part of Jeremy Deller's Procession at the so far, so very good Manchester International Festival.



Read our NME.com opening report of MIF (featuring our thoughts on Kraftwerk and It Felt Like A Kiss) here.

More MIF coverage next week.

Competition: Win tickets for St. Vincent live in Manchester next week!

Falling and Laughing have teamed up with the fine chaps at Manchester's Night & Day Café to offer TWO tickets to see St. Vincent's show on Monday 13th July.

To win, simply email us with a ONE sentence explanation of why you should get to see St. Vincent for gratis. The most entertaining message will be added to the guest list for the show*.

St. Vincent's graceful new album Actor is out now on 4AD.

For your viewing pleasure... Lake Fever Session video:

* Competition closing date is 11.59pm on Sunday 12th July. The winner will be notified via email by midday on Monday 13th.

New Music Plea: Falling and Laughing needs you

Last.Fm is a great listening aggregator which charts your listening habits by 'scrobbling' tracks from a desired media player (it's a breeze with plug-ins for Spotify and Windows Media Player).

However, this week's artist chart from Falling and Laughing HQ scared us a tad. Two of the F&L Top 10 disbanded in the '80s, while only four albums from 2009 made it into our Top 20 listening. You could summarise some of the scrobbled artists as: best before, old-timer, Mojo magazine, senile or now working for the Co-Op.

F&L Top 20 artist chart: 28th June - 5th July

1 Mos Def 35
2 Bob Dylan 31
3 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band 26
4 Death Cab for Cutie 24
5 Orange Juice 23
6 Josef K 22
7 Jack Peñate 19
7 The Knife 19
9 David Bowie 18
10 Beyoncé 16
11 Steely Dan 15
12 The Low Anthem 13
12 Paul Weller 13
14 Roxy Music 12
14 Brian Eno 12
14 Metro Area 12
17 Brand New 11
18 Friendly Fires 10
19 Fever Ray 8
19 Kraftwerk 8

Where is the new breed? Why aren't we scrobbling more new acts?

If you're a brave new artist we want to hear from you. You can send your track to Falling and Laughing through Soundcloud, Last.Fm, or link via email. Have you shot an interesting video? Have you made a super-new version of a track you love? Hit send.

If you're trading in CD or vinyl, ask for a postal address. We can't reply to every submission but every track gets heard, and if we like it, we'll let you know.

Video: Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is The Move

Have Dirty Projectors written THE Alternative Pop anthem of the summer?