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A-Z Series (Ash)
Encyclopedia
The A–Z Series was a series of single format releases by alternative rock band Ash
. The series consists of 26 singles, released through digital download and vinyl every fortnight beginning on 12 October 2009 and ending 27 September 2010, with two compilation CD's Volume's 1 & 2, released on 19 April and 11 October 2010, and multiple sporadically released b-sides, remixes and acoustics. The series spawned 6 radio singles; "Return of White Rabbit", "True Love 1980", "Space Shot", "War With Me", "Binary", and "Carnal Love".
, was released on 29 June 2007. In an interview with News Of The World
, guitarist and vocalist Tim Wheeler spoke of this release and how it contributed towards the band's desire to release in a different way, mainly concerning the lack of support from their at-the-time record label Infectious
- parented by Warner Music Group
; "We'd never put so much into a record, because it was the first one we'd produced ourselves. We spent two years of our lives on that record but the label didn't support it all. It made us wary of putting ourselves in that position ever again. Right now, I can't see us ever returning to that way of working and putting out our music."
From this the band members themselves formed Atomic Heart Records, setting up headquarters in New York City, calling their new studio Atomic Heart. Band members Tim and Mark both moved to New York; "It was a dream of mine, ever since our first American tour in the mid-1990s, to live in New York", whilst drummer Rick resided in Edinburgh
's Craiglockhart
, commuting to the New York Studio on a regular basis and working in "intensive bursts". The announcement itself of the band's boycott on the album format came at the time of release for Twilight of the Innocents, which the band called "their final album" - sparking rumours over the possibility of Ash splitting up.
, a Beach Boys cover of "Do You Wanna Dance". Soon after several early titles of tracks surfaced on the bands official website, including "Survivor" - now titled "Ichiban", "Prypiat" which was written originally for Twilight of the Innocents, however wasn't finished in time to make the album, "Return of White Rabbit" which at the time Tim Wheeler supposedly joked about being their comeback single, "Nouvelle Adventures" which features both Tim and Mark on bass guitar, "No Face (Jesus Christ)", "Daedalus", as well as "Hospital Song" and "Lay Down Your Arms" which were both originally intended for Twilight of the Innocents. Soon after more titles were leaked, including "Space Shot" and 'Tracer (Without You)".
In NME
vocalist & guitarist Tim Wheeler
stated "We wanted to be the first people to do it like this" also saying, "I think it'll be great for our fans waiting every two weeks knowing they're going to get a song and wondering what it'll be like. It'll be fun". Bassist Mark Hamilton also spoke of the merits of releasing in an alternative way; "we thought we’d come up with a different model where we never really had to be actually be away, that might work better. That was one of the reasons. We had the freedom when launching our own label as well, to try something different, so we’re going to give it a go. I think if it works, a lot of people might copy it."
stated in interview with News of the World
"I've got a book of Pantone
tints and I've tried to match every track as closely as possible to the colour that's in my head when I think of the song." The coloured artwork has also been used for the promotion of their A-Z Tour, with each colour representing a place and a letter of the alphabet, similarly the band through their forum and the assistance of their webmaster have allowed fans to create their own avatars and use emoticons in the A-Z style.
. The first single to be announced for release was "True Love 1980", opening the series on 12 October 2009, with subscription to the series itself opening on 5 October 2009.
The band in October 2009 confirmed that only the first half of the A–Z Series were 'set in stone', with mastering taking place, and the artwork, pressing and release dates confirmed, however the second half of the series would at the time be decided once the series had been launched, with the band holding a then total of 44 tracks recorded, and plans to re-enter the recording studio again in late 2009, "the first six months are set in stone, but the second half is still flexible. It’s nice to have that kind of freedom".
, with the fortnightly single released on a Monday, and other non-subscription UK downloads through 7digital, Amazon
, Play.com
, HMV
, itunes
and other download services providing the tracks on the day before subscribers. The rest of the world service is provided by Topspin, the band have not used Topspin in the UK as they wanted each single to be chart eligible.
The digital subscription service was set to launch originally on 5 October 2009, however was delayed and launched two days later on 8 October 2009.
A free download of 'pre-A-Z' single "Return of White Rabbit" was launched digitally on 18 May 2009, whilst the A–Z Series was celebrated on 14 October by the release of the original 'extended mix' and an 'Atomic Heart' mix of "Return of White Rabbit", available for free download through sneakattackmedia.com.
Subscription for the 7" vinyls opened on 6 October 2009; the vinyls, whilst costly for both the band and customer, were something the band demanded, as with previous singles whilst still signed, the band ensured all their singles were released on 7-inch vinyl. The vinyls were each limited to 1000 copies and were each collectors' items; the complete vinyl subscription cost £130, or £140 including a special box to store them all in. The vinyl subscription service was provided by Recordstore.co.uk, whilst other retailers would also be given a small number of the vinyls, to sell at each release. Steve Wheeler of Recordstore commented on the partnership with Ash as "being chosen by an innovative and popular band like Ash is testament to the quality service that Recordstore.co.uk provide forward-thinking labels and artists"
On 24 February the Japan
ese version of Volume 1 was announced, featuring two disks, unlike the standard UK one-disc version, with the first disc holding the A–M singles and 7 B-sides; "Return of the White Rabbit", "Coming Around Again", "The Creeps", "CTRL-ALT-DEL", "Do you feel it?" and exclusively "Kamakura" and "Disenchanted" with the second disc featuring 14 remixes, acoustics and already digitally released B-sides "Lay Down Your Arms" and "Gallows Hill". The CD will be released earlier than the UK version, on 7 April 2010.
On 28 July 2010 RecordStore.co.uk announced the second compilation - A-Z Volume 2 for a release on 11 October 2010. The release unlike Volume 1 does not include any acoustic tracks, remixes or a DVD
, and would only have 3 bonus tracks as opposed to the previous 5 due to the length of Single Y 'Sky Burial'. The full full track listing was revealed on 6 August 2010, with the three new b-sides being "Spellbound", "Nightfall" and David Bowie
track "Teenage Wildlife
". The Japanese Volume 2 would also include two exclusive b-sides - "Running to the Ocean" and "Midnight in the Garden".
to Zennor
. It was directed by Josh Klezkin and produced by the members of Ash. The documentary features interviews from Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray of Ash, as well as featuring BBC
DJ Steve Lamacq
, Emmy The Great & Ian Wright
amongst others, as well as live performances on the A-Z tour of Spaceshot and Arcadia
, acoustic performances, the final days of recording the A–Z Series in New York and behind the scenes at some of the TV, radio and other media appearances.
The documentary was released onto Region 0 DVD
, limited to 5000 copies, released on 19 April 2010 in the A-Z Volume 1 CD compilation.
During the course and after the A-Z tour the band released four short webisodes onto Youtube
and NME.com
, which acted as promotions for the complete documentary, featuring some footage that would be used in A Is For Ash, and some exclusive content. The trailer for the complete documentary was released on 3 March 2010.
, which will be sporadically released over the course of the A–Z Series. To-date the three radio singles from the A–Z Series - "Return of White Rabbit", "True Love 1980" and "Spaceshot" have all been accompanied by a digital EP
- The Rehash EP and Space Reshot EP, both of which are collections of remixes by Snitch Brothers, Jaymo & Andy George, Pete Doyle, Timothy Allen
, Loverush UK An acoustic
EP, featuring 7 of the A-Z singles will also be made available on 19 April 2010.
From 7 October 2009 Ash used NME.com
to host a four-part web series of tour videos, directed by Josh Kletzkin. The videos would serve as tasters for the DVD release 'A is for Ash'. Episode 1 featured rehearsals in London, behind the scenes at Live from Studio Five
, amongst other interviews. Episode 2 shows the A-Z Tour, from Aldershot
to Carlisle
, with Episode 3 taking Dundee through to Jersey, and Episode 4 covering the remaining dates.
The opportunity to win "True Love 1980" test 7" vinyl's and handmade "Return of White Rabbit" CD promo's began with the release of "True Love 1980". Later in November, NME offered the chance to win more test prints of "True Love 1980", "Joy Kicks" and "Arcadia" followed in January 2010 with "Space Shot" test vinyls. NME also offered the chance to win a free subscription to the A–Z Series. Similarly a free subscription to the A-Z series was offered every night of the A-Z Tour in 2009 - with show fliers containing a unique code - a raffle would then take place and the winning flier holder would be given a free subscription - giving the fliers value.
Opportunities to win tickets to all varieties of Ash performances were also given - including exclusive radio sessions with Kerrang!
Radio XFM
and tickets for Absolute Radio on 15 April 2010 - tickets were also offered in a Music-News.com competition. Festival appearances such as Hop farm festival
and Truck Festival 2009. Tickets to dates on the 2009 A-Z tour were also offered, as well as 2010 European dates.
Merchandise competitions included a Valentines day t-shirt draw, a chance to win a "Return of White Rabbit" t-shirt, an exclusive limited Atomic Heart Studios staff t-shirt and the opportunity to design a t-shirt which would be sold throughout all of the 2010 shows around the world, and have their winning design sent to them in a special frame. Other creative competitions included remixing single "Binary" the band choose the Argyle Raver Pornographic as the winning remix, and to direct a music video for b-sides to the A–Z Series.
With the 2009 A-Z Tour the opportunity for a one-on-three meet and greet was given for fans similarly in 2010 the chance for fans to win a dinner-date with the band at any stop on the UK tour was given. On the same tour the chance for local bands to support Ash was given - asking that those interested emailed a myspace link and list of gigs previously played.
, The Herald
,
M Is For Music, News Of The World
, Billboard
, Kerrang!
, NME
, East Mag, TUFS, culturedeluxe.com, Sport.co.uk, Randomville, Media Wales
, MusicRadar
, Counteract Magazine, Stereoboard, and Bunch.tv.
Radio sessions and interviews included Kerrang!
, XFM
, Absolute, and BBC 6 Music
. Televised
appearances included appearances on Live from Studio Five
broadcast on Five on 15 October 2009, BBC
E24, The Friday Show, Children In Need
and Sky Sports
Soccer AM
. Several songs of the A–Z Series were also used on various TV adverts - "Physical World" was used for BBC
's coverage of the Formula 1 Qualifying, whilst "Spheres" was used on Film4
and "There Is Hope Again" was used during Sky Sports
coverage of England
vs Hungary
on 11 August 2010.
Concorde 2 on 3 June, Portsmouth
Wedgewood Rooms the following day and two dates at the London Bloomsbury Ballroom on 6 and 7 June 2009. At the performances they showcased new material, including "Space Shot", "True Love 1980" and "Return of White Rabbit".
Most notably of the bands touring antics during the A–Z Series was their 2009 A-Z Tour. The tour consisted of 26 dates across the United Kingdom, with each tour location based around the alphabet
, choosing town's, cities and villages which correspond with letters A-Z. The tour began in Aldershot
and ended in Zennor
, gaining significant press coverage because of its uniqueness. Planning the tour bassist Mark Hamilton told eastmagazine.co.uk that the band looked for alternatives to the usual places they would visit on tour; "We told our agent that we don’t want to go to the cities we would usually hit on a regular tour. Then he came back with a bunch of dates, but he had quite a lot of work to do on this. But that was good; it was good to make him actually work." going on to say "There were a number of venues we told him to change, saying, ‘We usually play there, so get us something different".
In 2009 the band also played dates in their native Ireland - Dublin and Belfast
. It wasn't until March 2010 that the band began touring again, playing dates in Tokyo
, Japan
New York, USA and eventually onto a conventional UK tour circuit.
The band announced a full UK tour soon after, scheduled from 13 May 2010 in Paris
, France
through Amsterdam
in Holland, Cologne
, Hamburg
, Munich
, Stuttgart
, Frankfurt am Main, Neuhausen ob Eck
and Berlin
in Germany
, Oslo
in Norway
, Aarhus
in Denmark
, Vienna
in Austria
, Zurich
in Switzerland
, Brussels
in Belgium
and ending at Hurricane Festival
in Scheeßel
on 20 June 2010. Parts of this tour were rescheduled, however the majority of dates were completely canceled, with the band citing personal reasons for this decision which they did not take lightly.
After originally being rumored to be playing a number of dates with The Automatic
, it was instead announced that Ash and We Are Scientists
would be playing a number of co-headline shows in Australia
.
on an acoustic studio re-recording of single "D" - "Tracers".
Ash
Production
Additional musicians
Art
, instead of enlisting another member, however the band had not ruled out either recruiting a completely new member, or reuniting with former guitarist Charlotte Hatherley
in the future, with Tim stating "I do miss her as a friend on tour" as well as stating "It could be good to get someone in for extra guitar and keyboards and add some layers" whilst Charlotte in interview with NME
simply said it would be a "possibility in the future" and that her and Tim regularly talk despite her having left the band in 2006.
Tim Wheeler and Emmy The Great
performed the track "Tracers" acoustically on a number of occasions in 2009, and for the 2010 release of A-Z Volume 1 an acoustic re-recording of "Tracers" was included featuring Emma-Lee Moss. The collaboration came after Emmy The Great covered "Burn Baby Burn
" as a b-side to the single "First Love", famously including the backing vocals "shit! You're a shit! You're not a shit! Lick my shit".
On 16 March Russell Lissack
was announced as the bands touring guitarist and synthesizer player for their tour dates in New York
, Japan
and the United Kingdom
, Tim Wheeler stated on the bands website; "We first met at the South By South West in 2005, we’d heard he and Kele Okereke met when Russell was playing Ash songs at a party, so we've always felt that connection with him. We've loved Bloc Party since their first single and have always really admired his guitar playing." This came after Russell's band Bloc Party
went on hiatus at the end of 2009, NME quoted Russell saying "as soon as they called me I was really excited".
reacted positively "a weirdly effective funk-pop song" Kerrang!
also praised the release saying; "they're only doing singles now, if this new humdigger of a tune is anything to go by, then it will be a decision well made" whilst The Irish Times rated the track 3/5, whilst The Times said regarding the single "...this revelatory rump-shaker, triggering pleasure sensors we didn't even know we had".
Bands such as New Found Glory
and Young Guns have criticized the band in Rock Sound
magazine, with New Found Glory posting an apology after Rock Sound supposedly twisted their words.
Mark Beaumont wrote on BBC Music
"they’ve lost none of their melodic punch since Girl From Mars fell to Earth" and praised the consistency of singles A-M "the most remarkable thing about the A-Z project is that, thus far, every track really is worthy of being a single." David Welsh of MusicOMH
poked fun at the similarities between the conventional album of compilation, however was very positive of the release as a whole "Their subsequent fresh approach and retreat from the album formula appears to have reinvigorated the Downpatrick threesome with a new sense of purpose and, quite curiously, resulted in one of the best albums of their long and illustrious career"
Paul Brown at Drowned in Sound
described the release format as "While they haven’t quite reinvented the wheel with these songs, they have certainly pumped up its tyres and given it some shiny new hubcaps", speaking with praise of singles A ("True Love 1980") through till H ("Space Shot"); "So great are the high points of the collection that it’s a shame that it starts to run out of steam slightly towards the end", yet with final single of the half M ("War With Me") he believed it "revives things at the death with a grand piano motif and yet another mega chorus". Ben Walton of Contactmusic.com
believed the singles lack of cohesion as a compilation was the A–Z Series main strength; "Ash have been set free to sprawl however they see fit across genre boundaries" going onto favor tracks such as "Arcadia" and "Neon", also calling "Dionysian Urge" "one of the best songs Ash have ever delivered".
Phil Mongredien of Q magazine
criticized the similarity between a compilation of singles and the conventional album, writing; "its not obvious how this format differs from the peaks and troughs of a regular album, high points largely canceled out by the more workaday material", however noted the albums merits as "Arcadia" and "Joy Kicks Darkness", Jon Bye of Gigwise.com
was critical of the direction taken in some of the singles which use synthesizer parts advising the band to "stick to the rock and roll you're good at" however praised the synth laced "Arcadia", comparing it to Muse
.
Magazine rated the compilation of singles N-Z 4/5 praising "they've lost none of their melodic abrasive songwriting genius" recommending the highlights of the 2nd half to the series as "Sky Burial", "Binary" and "Physical World". Andy Fyfe of Q Magazine recommended "Binary", "Dare to Dream" and "Carnal Love", rating it 3/5 - the same rating given as Volume 1.
Ash (band)
Ash are an alternative rock band that formed in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland in 1992. The band has sold 8 million albums worldwide.-Band beginning, Trailer and 1977 :...
. The series consists of 26 singles, released through digital download and vinyl every fortnight beginning on 12 October 2009 and ending 27 September 2010, with two compilation CD's Volume's 1 & 2, released on 19 April and 11 October 2010, and multiple sporadically released b-sides, remixes and acoustics. The series spawned 6 radio singles; "Return of White Rabbit", "True Love 1980", "Space Shot", "War With Me", "Binary", and "Carnal Love".
Background and recording
The way people listen to music has changed, with the advent of the download the emphasis has reverted to single tracks. It hasn't helped that most people have forgotten how to make a decent album. I'm constantly disappointed with records I buy— Tim Wheeler, June 2007
Split from Infectious Records
The band's final conventional record, Twilight of the InnocentsTwilight of the Innocents
Twilight of the Innocents is the fifth and final studio album by Ash, released on June 29, 2007 in the Republic of Ireland and July 2, 2007 in the United States and the United Kingdom...
, was released on 29 June 2007. In an interview with News Of The World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
, guitarist and vocalist Tim Wheeler spoke of this release and how it contributed towards the band's desire to release in a different way, mainly concerning the lack of support from their at-the-time record label Infectious
Infectious Records
Infectious Records is a record label whose bands have included Ash, Local Natives, Symposium, My Vitriol, Seafood, The Paradise Motel, General Fiasco and The Subways. Infectious was established by Korda Marshall after leaving RCA, and became part of Marshall's Mushroom Records UK operation in the...
- parented by Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
; "We'd never put so much into a record, because it was the first one we'd produced ourselves. We spent two years of our lives on that record but the label didn't support it all. It made us wary of putting ourselves in that position ever again. Right now, I can't see us ever returning to that way of working and putting out our music."
From this the band members themselves formed Atomic Heart Records, setting up headquarters in New York City, calling their new studio Atomic Heart. Band members Tim and Mark both moved to New York; "It was a dream of mine, ever since our first American tour in the mid-1990s, to live in New York", whilst drummer Rick resided in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
's Craiglockhart
Craiglockhart
Craiglockhart is a suburb in the south west of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying between Colinton to the south, Morningside to the east Merchiston to the north east and Kingsknowe to the west...
, commuting to the New York Studio on a regular basis and working in "intensive bursts". The announcement itself of the band's boycott on the album format came at the time of release for Twilight of the Innocents, which the band called "their final album" - sparking rumours over the possibility of Ash splitting up.
Recording at Atomic Heart Studio
Upon entering the studio the band recorded "Survivor", later titled "Ichiban", "Coming Around Again" a cover of Carly SimonCarly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
, a Beach Boys cover of "Do You Wanna Dance". Soon after several early titles of tracks surfaced on the bands official website, including "Survivor" - now titled "Ichiban", "Prypiat" which was written originally for Twilight of the Innocents, however wasn't finished in time to make the album, "Return of White Rabbit" which at the time Tim Wheeler supposedly joked about being their comeback single, "Nouvelle Adventures" which features both Tim and Mark on bass guitar, "No Face (Jesus Christ)", "Daedalus", as well as "Hospital Song" and "Lay Down Your Arms" which were both originally intended for Twilight of the Innocents. Soon after more titles were leaked, including "Space Shot" and 'Tracer (Without You)".
In NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
vocalist & guitarist Tim Wheeler
Tim Wheeler
Tim Wheeler is the Northern Irish guitarist, songwriter and vocalist for the rock band, Ash. He formed the band with Mark Hamilton and they were originally called Vietnam. Wheeler can be seen playing a Korina Gibson Flying V in almost all of Ash's music videos...
stated "We wanted to be the first people to do it like this" also saying, "I think it'll be great for our fans waiting every two weeks knowing they're going to get a song and wondering what it'll be like. It'll be fun". Bassist Mark Hamilton also spoke of the merits of releasing in an alternative way; "we thought we’d come up with a different model where we never really had to be actually be away, that might work better. That was one of the reasons. We had the freedom when launching our own label as well, to try something different, so we’re going to give it a go. I think if it works, a lot of people might copy it."
Artwork
Each single is assigned a specific colour and letter A-Z, prequel track "Return of White Rabbit" features the upside down stylized as , representing the rabbit. The front of each single simply shows the letter followed by the bands logo below, whilst on the back the track name is shown. "Each colour really represents the way I hear each song," WheelerTim Wheeler
Tim Wheeler is the Northern Irish guitarist, songwriter and vocalist for the rock band, Ash. He formed the band with Mark Hamilton and they were originally called Vietnam. Wheeler can be seen playing a Korina Gibson Flying V in almost all of Ash's music videos...
stated in interview with News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
"I've got a book of Pantone
Pantone
Pantone Inc. is a corporation headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, USA. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System , a proprietary color space...
tints and I've tried to match every track as closely as possible to the colour that's in my head when I think of the song." The coloured artwork has also been used for the promotion of their A-Z Tour, with each colour representing a place and a letter of the alphabet, similarly the band through their forum and the assistance of their webmaster have allowed fans to create their own avatars and use emoticons in the A-Z style.
Release
The 26 singles of the A–Z Series are released once every 2 weeks through both digital download and 7" limited edition vinyl. The opening to the series was a free download "Return of White Rabbit", released on 18 May 2009, promoting the track were three music videos, an animated one created by Big Button, a home-made one — following the 'White Rabbit' around New York City, and a live footage video, filmed by fans at Thekla in BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. The first single to be announced for release was "True Love 1980", opening the series on 12 October 2009, with subscription to the series itself opening on 5 October 2009.
The band in October 2009 confirmed that only the first half of the A–Z Series were 'set in stone', with mastering taking place, and the artwork, pressing and release dates confirmed, however the second half of the series would at the time be decided once the series had been launched, with the band holding a then total of 44 tracks recorded, and plans to re-enter the recording studio again in late 2009, "the first six months are set in stone, but the second half is still flexible. It’s nice to have that kind of freedom".
Digital downloads
The digital subscription for the A–Z Series is offered worldwide, however the United Kingdom service differs to the rest of the world. The subscription service in the United Kingdom is provided by 7digital7digital
7digital is a privately held digital media delivery company based in the United Kingdom, offering downloadable music, video and movies to customers primarily within major European markets...
, with the fortnightly single released on a Monday, and other non-subscription UK downloads through 7digital, Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, Play.com
Play.com
Play Ltd., trading as Play.com, is a Jersey-based online retailer of DVDs, CDs, books, gadgets, video games, DRM-free MP3 downloads, and other electronic products, as well as clothes and accessories. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rakuten Group....
, HMV
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
, itunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and other download services providing the tracks on the day before subscribers. The rest of the world service is provided by Topspin, the band have not used Topspin in the UK as they wanted each single to be chart eligible.
The digital subscription service was set to launch originally on 5 October 2009, however was delayed and launched two days later on 8 October 2009.
A free download of 'pre-A-Z' single "Return of White Rabbit" was launched digitally on 18 May 2009, whilst the A–Z Series was celebrated on 14 October by the release of the original 'extended mix' and an 'Atomic Heart' mix of "Return of White Rabbit", available for free download through sneakattackmedia.com.
Limited 7" vinyl
Our vinyls are strictly limited collectors items and are something we really wanted to do as we've always demanded our singles are released on 7". Even when previous labels didn't want to release them we forced their hand. The box when complete is worth price, it's a very sexy piece.
We always said we were going to do A-Z compilations. Those who feel duped / ripped off can get off their soapboxes, my heart bleeds for you... We're just past the 1/3 mark of the A-Z and the bonus tracks are only just starting to trickle out to subscribers. We've publicized the sheer quantity of tracks that have been recorded. These are all going to get used. This has been the most prolific writing / recording period of our career and we love the diversity of the output. We're under no illusions that not everyone's going to like every song / direction but hopefully we'll cover all bases by the series' end.— Mark Hamilton on the subject of release format, February 2010
Subscription for the 7" vinyls opened on 6 October 2009; the vinyls, whilst costly for both the band and customer, were something the band demanded, as with previous singles whilst still signed, the band ensured all their singles were released on 7-inch vinyl. The vinyls were each limited to 1000 copies and were each collectors' items; the complete vinyl subscription cost £130, or £140 including a special box to store them all in. The vinyl subscription service was provided by Recordstore.co.uk, whilst other retailers would also be given a small number of the vinyls, to sell at each release. Steve Wheeler of Recordstore commented on the partnership with Ash as "being chosen by an innovative and popular band like Ash is testament to the quality service that Recordstore.co.uk provide forward-thinking labels and artists"
Compilation CD
The band will release two compilation CDs of the series Volume 1 which covers the letters A–M on 19 April 2010 and Volume 2 which covers the letters N–Z. Volume 1 will include the single "Return of White Rabbit" as well as four new previously unheard tracks, with a total of 18 tracks. Volume 2 will likely mimic this with a similar amount of exclusive material. The compilation will be released on CD, limited CD–DVD and digitally. Some fans criticized the band's choice to release a CD, pointing out it being very similar to being an album, however the bassist Mark Hamilton responded saying it was always their intention and that it was about making the A–Z Series available for everyone.On 24 February the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese version of Volume 1 was announced, featuring two disks, unlike the standard UK one-disc version, with the first disc holding the A–M singles and 7 B-sides; "Return of the White Rabbit", "Coming Around Again", "The Creeps", "CTRL-ALT-DEL", "Do you feel it?" and exclusively "Kamakura" and "Disenchanted" with the second disc featuring 14 remixes, acoustics and already digitally released B-sides "Lay Down Your Arms" and "Gallows Hill". The CD will be released earlier than the UK version, on 7 April 2010.
On 28 July 2010 RecordStore.co.uk announced the second compilation - A-Z Volume 2 for a release on 11 October 2010. The release unlike Volume 1 does not include any acoustic tracks, remixes or a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, and would only have 3 bonus tracks as opposed to the previous 5 due to the length of Single Y 'Sky Burial'. The full full track listing was revealed on 6 August 2010, with the three new b-sides being "Spellbound", "Nightfall" and David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
track "Teenage Wildlife
Teenage Wildlife
"Teenage Wildlife" is a song written by David Bowie in 1980 for the album Scary Monsters . Running at almost seven minutes, the song was the longest track on Scary Monsters, and Bowie's longest composition since "Station to Station" four years prior in 1976.Aside from "Ashes to Ashes", "Teenage...
". The Japanese Volume 2 would also include two exclusive b-sides - "Running to the Ocean" and "Midnight in the Garden".
A is for Ash
A is for Ash is a film documentary of the bands A-Z 2009 tour from AldershotAldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
to Zennor
Zennor
Zennor is a village and civil parish in Cornwall in England. The parish includes the villages of Zennor, Boswednack and Porthmeor and the hamlet of Treen. It is located on the north coast, about north of Penzance. Alphabetically, the parish is the last in Britain—its name comes from the Cornish...
. It was directed by Josh Klezkin and produced by the members of Ash. The documentary features interviews from Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray of Ash, as well as featuring BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
DJ Steve Lamacq
Steve Lamacq
Steve Lamacq , sometimes known by his nicknames Lammo or "The Cat" is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio stations BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2.-Early career:He was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire...
, Emmy The Great & Ian Wright
Ian Wright
Ian Edward Wright, MBE is a retired English footballer turned television and radio personality.Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal, spending six years with the former and seven years with the latter. With Arsenal he has lifted the Premier League title and both major...
amongst others, as well as live performances on the A-Z tour of Spaceshot and Arcadia
Arcadia
Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...
, acoustic performances, the final days of recording the A–Z Series in New York and behind the scenes at some of the TV, radio and other media appearances.
The documentary was released onto Region 0 DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, limited to 5000 copies, released on 19 April 2010 in the A-Z Volume 1 CD compilation.
During the course and after the A-Z tour the band released four short webisodes onto Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and NME.com
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, which acted as promotions for the complete documentary, featuring some footage that would be used in A Is For Ash, and some exclusive content. The trailer for the complete documentary was released on 3 March 2010.
Other releases
Amongst the core 26 singles will be a large amount of studio b-side'sB-Sides
B-Sides is an iTunes-exclusive album from the Coventry Trio The Enemy, consisting of ten songs that were B-sides to the single releases from their debut album We'll Live and Die in These Towns.-Track list:#Fear Killed the Youth of Our Nation...
, which will be sporadically released over the course of the A–Z Series. To-date the three radio singles from the A–Z Series - "Return of White Rabbit", "True Love 1980" and "Spaceshot" have all been accompanied by a digital EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
- The Rehash EP and Space Reshot EP, both of which are collections of remixes by Snitch Brothers, Jaymo & Andy George, Pete Doyle, Timothy Allen
Timothy Allen
Timothy Allen is an English photographer best known for his work with indigenous peoples and isolated communities around the world.- Early life :...
, Loverush UK An acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
EP, featuring 7 of the A-Z singles will also be made available on 19 April 2010.
Video
The band worked with a number of directors and companies to produce music videos for the A–Z Series, a selection of the singles - the radio singles were given higher budgets for promotion and consequently the band worked with such people as Nico Jones on "Return of White Rabbit" and "Binary" - who also directed the initial A-Z teaser trailer which previewed many of the upcoming singles. Director Daniel Garcia worked on the music videos for "True Love 1980" and "Space Shot" whilst Alex Turvey directed "Carnal Love" and Alex Beck directed "War With Me". Many of the non-radio singles also have low budget videos for them - Josh Kletzkin directed "Joy Kicks Darkness", "Arcadia" and "Tracers", KINo sequenced the video for "Neon", whilst singles such as "Pripyat" and "Ichiban" use material not specifically created for Ash.From 7 October 2009 Ash used NME.com
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
to host a four-part web series of tour videos, directed by Josh Kletzkin. The videos would serve as tasters for the DVD release 'A is for Ash'. Episode 1 featured rehearsals in London, behind the scenes at Live from Studio Five
Live from Studio Five
Live From Studio Five was an early evening, British magazine programme which was produced by Sky News for Channel 5. The show was presented by Kate Walsh and a line-up of other co-presenters during its run. It consisted of interviews and discussing topical issues, with an emphasis on showbusiness...
, amongst other interviews. Episode 2 shows the A-Z Tour, from Aldershot
Aldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
to Carlisle
City of Carlisle
The City of Carlisle is a local government district of Cumbria, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Carlisle, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Brampton and Longtown, as well as outlying villages...
, with Episode 3 taking Dundee through to Jersey, and Episode 4 covering the remaining dates.
Competition
Throughout the A–Z Series the band orchestrated various competitions on both their NME content area and on their official website. One of the first competitions launched coincided with the release of"Return of White Rabbit", the band asked fans to come up with a back-story to the songs title, "where is the white rabbit returning from?" - which would then be judged by the band, with the winner receiving a rare "Return of White Rabbit" handmade promo CD. "Why has the White Rabbit been away?" was the basis for the second competition and the final of the three "Return of White Rabbit" competitions to win handmade promo's asked fans to design White Rabbit related art/photos and videos.The opportunity to win "True Love 1980" test 7" vinyl's and handmade "Return of White Rabbit" CD promo's began with the release of "True Love 1980". Later in November, NME offered the chance to win more test prints of "True Love 1980", "Joy Kicks" and "Arcadia" followed in January 2010 with "Space Shot" test vinyls. NME also offered the chance to win a free subscription to the A–Z Series. Similarly a free subscription to the A-Z series was offered every night of the A-Z Tour in 2009 - with show fliers containing a unique code - a raffle would then take place and the winning flier holder would be given a free subscription - giving the fliers value.
Opportunities to win tickets to all varieties of Ash performances were also given - including exclusive radio sessions with Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
Radio XFM
Xfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
and tickets for Absolute Radio on 15 April 2010 - tickets were also offered in a Music-News.com competition. Festival appearances such as Hop farm festival
Hop Farm Festival
Hop Farm Music Festival is an annual music festival at The Hop Farm Country Park in East Peckham in the English county of Kent, created by Festival Republic founder, Vince Power...
and Truck Festival 2009. Tickets to dates on the 2009 A-Z tour were also offered, as well as 2010 European dates.
Merchandise competitions included a Valentines day t-shirt draw, a chance to win a "Return of White Rabbit" t-shirt, an exclusive limited Atomic Heart Studios staff t-shirt and the opportunity to design a t-shirt which would be sold throughout all of the 2010 shows around the world, and have their winning design sent to them in a special frame. Other creative competitions included remixing single "Binary" the band choose the Argyle Raver Pornographic as the winning remix, and to direct a music video for b-sides to the A–Z Series.
With the 2009 A-Z Tour the opportunity for a one-on-three meet and greet was given for fans similarly in 2010 the chance for fans to win a dinner-date with the band at any stop on the UK tour was given. On the same tour the chance for local bands to support Ash was given - asking that those interested emailed a myspace link and list of gigs previously played.
Press attention
The band gained significant media attention surrounding the A–Z Series. With interviews and other coverage running through newspapers and magazines such as The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Herald
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...
,
M Is For Music, News Of The World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
, Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, East Mag, TUFS, culturedeluxe.com, Sport.co.uk, Randomville, Media Wales
Media Wales
Media Wales Ltd. is a publishing company based in Cardiff in Wales. As of 2009 it was owned by the Trinity Mirror Group. It was previously known as the Western Mail & Echo Ltd.-History:...
, MusicRadar
MusicRadar
MusicRadar is a website for musicians. It covers information pertaining to artists and music, special features, product news and reviews, music lessons and a social network service in the style of Facebook and Myspace...
, Counteract Magazine, Stereoboard, and Bunch.tv.
Radio sessions and interviews included Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
, XFM
Xfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
, Absolute, and BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music is one of the BBC's digital radio stations, was launched on 11 March 2002 and originally codenamed Network Y. It was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years....
. Televised
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
appearances included appearances on Live from Studio Five
Live from Studio Five
Live From Studio Five was an early evening, British magazine programme which was produced by Sky News for Channel 5. The show was presented by Kate Walsh and a line-up of other co-presenters during its run. It consisted of interviews and discussing topical issues, with an emphasis on showbusiness...
broadcast on Five on 15 October 2009, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
E24, The Friday Show, Children In Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
and Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
Soccer AM
Soccer AM
Soccer AM is a British Saturday-morning football-based comedy/talk show, predominantly based around the Premier League...
. Several songs of the A–Z Series were also used on various TV adverts - "Physical World" was used for BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's coverage of the Formula 1 Qualifying, whilst "Spheres" was used on Film4
Film4
Film4 is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned and operated by Channel 4, that screens films.-Programming:...
and "There Is Hope Again" was used during Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
coverage of England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
vs Hungary
Hungary national football team
The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation....
on 11 August 2010.
Live
The band embarked on a 4 date UK tour consisting of performances at BrightonBrighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
Concorde 2 on 3 June, Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
Wedgewood Rooms the following day and two dates at the London Bloomsbury Ballroom on 6 and 7 June 2009. At the performances they showcased new material, including "Space Shot", "True Love 1980" and "Return of White Rabbit".
Most notably of the bands touring antics during the A–Z Series was their 2009 A-Z Tour. The tour consisted of 26 dates across the United Kingdom, with each tour location based around the alphabet
Alphabet
An alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...
, choosing town's, cities and villages which correspond with letters A-Z. The tour began in Aldershot
Aldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
and ended in Zennor
Zennor
Zennor is a village and civil parish in Cornwall in England. The parish includes the villages of Zennor, Boswednack and Porthmeor and the hamlet of Treen. It is located on the north coast, about north of Penzance. Alphabetically, the parish is the last in Britain—its name comes from the Cornish...
, gaining significant press coverage because of its uniqueness. Planning the tour bassist Mark Hamilton told eastmagazine.co.uk that the band looked for alternatives to the usual places they would visit on tour; "We told our agent that we don’t want to go to the cities we would usually hit on a regular tour. Then he came back with a bunch of dates, but he had quite a lot of work to do on this. But that was good; it was good to make him actually work." going on to say "There were a number of venues we told him to change, saying, ‘We usually play there, so get us something different".
In 2009 the band also played dates in their native Ireland - Dublin and Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. It wasn't until March 2010 that the band began touring again, playing dates in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
New York, USA and eventually onto a conventional UK tour circuit.
The band announced a full UK tour soon after, scheduled from 13 May 2010 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
through Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in Holland, Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, Frankfurt am Main, Neuhausen ob Eck
Neuhausen ob Eck
Neuhausen ob Eck is a town in the district of Tuttlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and ending at Hurricane Festival
Hurricane Festival
The Hurricane Festival, also just Hurricane, is a music festival that takes place in Scheeßel near Bremen, Germany, usually every June. It is promoted by German private music television channel VIVA, which belongs to Viacom, the MTV Network's parent company, as of 2004...
in Scheeßel
Scheeßel
Scheeßel is a municipality in the district of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Wümme, approx. 10 km northeast of Rotenburg, 45 km east of Bremen, and 70 km southwest of Hamburg....
on 20 June 2010. Parts of this tour were rescheduled, however the majority of dates were completely canceled, with the band citing personal reasons for this decision which they did not take lightly.
After originally being rumored to be playing a number of dates with The Automatic
The Automatic
The Automatic , are a Welsh rock band. The band is composed of Robin Hawkins on vocals, bass and synthesizers, James Frost on guitar, synthesizers, backing vocals and occasional bass, Iwan Griffiths on drums and Paul Mullen on vocals, guitar and synthesizer - since 2007...
, it was instead announced that Ash and We Are Scientists
We Are Scientists
We Are Scientists is a New York-based indie rock band that formed in Berkeley, California in 2000. Originally formed of Keith Murray on drums, Chris Cain playing bass guitar and Scott Lamb providing vocals and guitar, before Michael Tapper became drummer and Keith became vocalist and guitarist...
would be playing a number of co-headline shows in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
| Tour dates of The A–Z Series | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Town/City | Country | Venue | Support | |
| 19 October 2009 | Aldershot Aldershot Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council... |
England | West End Centre | Panama Kings | |
| 20 October 2009 | Bradford Bradford Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897... |
The Gasworks | |||
| 21 October 2009 | Carlisle, Cumbria | The Brickyard | |||
| 23 October 2009 | Dundee Dundee Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea... |
Scotland | Fat Sam’s | ||
| 24 October 2009 | East Grange, Forres | The Loft | |||
| 25 October 2009 | Falkirk Falkirk Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow.... |
Behind The Wall | |||
| 27 October 2009 | Gloucester Gloucester Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham.... , Gloucestershire Gloucestershire Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean.... |
England | Guildhall | ||
| 28 October 2009 | Hastings Hastings Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900.... , East Sussex East Sussex East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:... |
Crypt | |||
| 30 October 2009 | Ipswich Ipswich Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell... , Suffolk Suffolk Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east... |
Corn Exchange | |||
| 31 October 2009 | Saint Helier Saint Helier Saint Helier is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St. Helier has a population of about 28,000, roughly 31.2% of the total population of Jersey, and is the capital of the Island . The urban area of the parish of St... |
Jersey Jersey Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and... |
St.Helier Havana Club | ||
| 2 November 2009 | Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the... , London |
England | The Peel | ||
| 3 November 2009 | Loughborough Loughborough Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University... , Charnwood Charnwood (borough) Charnwood is a borough of northern Leicestershire, England. It is named after Charnwood Forest, which it contains. Loughborough is the largest town in the district and serves as the borough's administrative and commercial centre.-History:... Leicestershire Leicestershire Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire... |
University | |||
| 4 November 2009 | Milton Keynes Milton Keynes Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes... , Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe.... |
Pitz Club | |||
| 6 November 2009 | Newport Newport Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent... |
Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²... |
Tjs | ||
| 7 November 2009 | Oldham Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester... , Greater Manchester Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the... |
England | Castle | ||
| 8 November 2009 | Plymouth Plymouth Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound... , Devon Devon Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with... |
Hippo | |||
| 10 November 2009 | Queen's Park, London | Corrib Rest | |||
| 11 November 2009 | Rotherham Rotherham Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of... , South Yorkshire South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield... |
The Vault | |||
| 12 November 2009 | Swansea Swansea Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands... , Wales |
Wales | Sin City | ||
| 14 November 2009 | Tunbridge Wells, Kent Kent Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of... |
England | Forum | ||
| 16 November 2009 | Upper Norwood Upper Norwood Upper Norwood is an elevated area in south London, England within the postcode SE19. It is a residential district largely in the London Borough of Croydon although some parts extend into the London Borough of Lambeth, London Borough of Southwark and the London Borough of Bromley. Upper Norwood... , London |
Gipsy Hill Tavern | |||
| 17 November 2009 | Ventnor Ventnor Ventnor is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies underneath St Boniface Down , and is built on steep slopes and cliffs leading down to the sea... , Isle of Wight Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent... |
Winter Gardens | |||
| 19 November 2009 | Worcester Worcester The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the... , Worcestershire Worcestershire Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region... |
Dive Bar | |||
| 21 November 2009 | Exmouth Exmouth Exmouth is a town in Devon. It may also refer to:Places*Exmouth Peninsula in Southern Chile*Exmouth, Western AustraliaPeople*Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth , a British naval officerShips... , East Devon East Devon East Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Sidmouth, and the largest town is Exmouth.The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Honiton with the urban districts of Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Ottery St. Mary, Seaton, Sidmouth... |
Pavilion | |||
| 22 November 2009 | Yeovil Yeovil Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140... , Somerset Somerset The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the... |
Orange Box | |||
| 23 November 2009 | Zennor Zennor Zennor is a village and civil parish in Cornwall in England. The parish includes the villages of Zennor, Boswednack and Porthmeor and the hamlet of Treen. It is located on the north coast, about north of Penzance. Alphabetically, the parish is the last in Britain—its name comes from the Cornish... , Cornwall Cornwall Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of... |
Village Hall | |||
| 25 November 2009 | Dublin | Ireland Ireland Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth... |
Button Factory | Panama Kings | |
| 26 November 2009 | Belfast Belfast Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly... |
Belfast Spring and Airbrake | |||
| 18 December 2009 | Darlington Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001... |
England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... |
Inside Out | ||
| 20 March 2010 | Dublin | Ireland Ireland Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth... |
7UP, St Andrews Lane | Republic of Loose | |
| 3 April 2010 | New York City New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... |
America United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Santos Party House | ||
| 6 April 2010 | Tokyo Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family... |
Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
Daikanyama UNIT | ||
| 7 April 2010 | Shibuya, Tokyo Shibuya, Tokyo is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km².... |
Tower Records | |||
| 17 April 2010 | London | England | Record Store Day Record Store Day Record Store Day is an internationally celebrated day observed the third Saturday of April each year. Its purpose, as conceived by independent record store employee Chris Brown, is to celebrate the art of music... , Acoustic session, Rough Trade East |
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| 19 April 2010 | Southampton Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest... |
Acoustic HMV HMV His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone... session |
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| 19 April 2010 | Southampton | Southampton University | El Raccoon | ||
| 20 April 2010 | Cambridge Cambridge The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the... |
Acoustic Fopp Fopp (retailer) Fopp is a chain of retail stores selling music, film, books and other entertainment products in the United Kingdom.-History:From its origins as a one-man stall in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1981, it expanded to a chain of over 100 branches throughout the country in 2007... session |
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| 20 April 2010 | Cambridge | Junction | Violet Bones | ||
| 21 April 2010 | Norwich Norwich Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom... |
Acoustic HMV HMV His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone... session |
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| 21 April 2010 | Norwich | Waterfront | Blighters | ||
| 23 April 2010 | Birmingham Birmingham Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a... |
Irish Centre | The Parlotones The Parlotones The Parlotones is a rock band based in Johannesburg, South Africa. They have achieved multiplatinum-selling status in their home country. They experiment with their sound and various structures in their songs, incorporating the typical doo-wop or traditional folk structures. The Parlotones are... |
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| 24 April 2010 | Leeds Leeds Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial... |
Metropolitan | |||
| 25 April 2010 | Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne... |
O2 Academy | |||
| 27 April 2010 | Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... |
Scotland | O2 ABC | What The Heroes Say | |
| 28 April 2010 | Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... |
England | O2 Academy 2 | The Parlotones | |
| 30 April 2010 | Bristol Bristol Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007... |
O2 Academy | |||
| 1 May 2010 | Brighton Brighton Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain... |
Concorde | |||
| 2 May 2010 | Oxford Oxford The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through... |
O2 Academy | |||
| 4 May 2010 | London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... |
Electric Ballroom | |||
| 5 May 2010 | Northampton Northampton Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is... |
Roadmenders | |||
| 6 May 2010 | London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... |
Koko | Infadels | ||
| 13 May 2010 | Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... |
France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
Point FMR | ||
| 14 May 2010 | Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population... |
Holland | Sugar Factory | ||
| 15 May 2010 | Cologne Cologne Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the... |
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
Luxor | ||
| 16 May 2010 | Hamburg Hamburg -History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808... |
Logo | |||
| 17 May 2010 | Berlin Berlin Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union... |
C-Club | |||
| 19 May 2010 | Oslo Oslo Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King... |
Norway Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... |
John Dee | ||
| 20 May 2010 | Aarhus Aarhus Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark... |
Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... |
Vox Hall | ||
| 22 May 2010 | Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... |
Germany | 59:1 | ||
| 23 May 2010 | Vienna Vienna Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre... |
Austria Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the... |
Flex | ||
| 25 May 2010 | Zurich Zürich Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich... |
Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
Abart | ||
| 26 May 2010 | Stuttgart Stuttgart Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million .... |
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
Roehre | ||
| 27 May 2010 | Frankfurt am Main | Batschkapp | |||
| 28 May 2010 | Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union... |
Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... |
Botanique | ||
| 18 June 2010 | Neuhausen ob Eck Neuhausen ob Eck Neuhausen ob Eck is a town in the district of Tuttlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.... |
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
Southside Festival Southside Festival The Southside Festival, also just Southside, is a music festival that takes place near Tuttlingen, southern Germany, usually every June. It is promoted by German private music television channel VIVA, which belongs to Viacom, the MTV Network's parent company, since the end of 2004... |
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| 20 June 2010 | Scheeßel Scheeßel Scheeßel is a municipality in the district of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Wümme, approx. 10 km northeast of Rotenburg, 45 km east of Bremen, and 70 km southwest of Hamburg.... |
Hurricane Festival Hurricane Festival The Hurricane Festival, also just Hurricane, is a music festival that takes place in Scheeßel near Bremen, Germany, usually every June. It is promoted by German private music television channel VIVA, which belongs to Viacom, the MTV Network's parent company, as of 2004... |
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| 27 June 2010 | Glastonbury Glastonbury Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census... |
England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... |
Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The... , John Peel Stage |
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| 1 July 2010 | Bwcle | Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²... |
The Tivoli | The Hutts & Revurb | |
| 6 July 2010 | Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle... |
England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... |
The Nines | Switchboard Spectacular | |
| 7 July 2010 | Preston | England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... |
53 Degrees | ||
| 11 July 2010 | Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross is one of 32 council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee City, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Stirling, Argyll and Bute and Highland council areas. Perth is the administrative centre... |
Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... |
T In The Park T in the Park T in the Park is a major British music festival that has been held annually since 1994. It is named after its main sponsor, the brewing company Tennents. It was originally held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire but since 1997 has been held at a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire... , Red Bull Bedroom Jam Futures Stage |
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| 1 August 2010 | Queensland Queensland Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean... |
Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
Splendour in the Grass | ||
| 30 July 2010 | Naeba Naeba is a stratovolcano on the border of Nagano and Niigata prefectures in central Honshū, Japan. It is about from Tokyo. It was active between 200,000 and 800,000 years ago. It is made of primarily andesite.-References:*... |
Japan | Fuji Rock Festival Fuji Rock Festival Fuji Rock Festival is an annual rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The 3 day event, organized by Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it the largest outdoor music event in Japan... |
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| 3 August 2010 | Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... |
Australia | Metro | We Are Scientists We Are Scientists We Are Scientists is a New York-based indie rock band that formed in Berkeley, California in 2000. Originally formed of Keith Murray on drums, Chris Cain playing bass guitar and Scott Lamb providing vocals and guitar, before Michael Tapper became drummer and Keith became vocalist and guitarist... (co-headline) |
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| 4 August 2010 | Melbourne Melbourne Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater... |
Billboard | |||
| 17 August 2010 | Belfast Belfast Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly... |
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west... |
Belsonic 2010 | ||
| 19 August 2010 | Gampel Gampel Gampel is a former municipality in the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.It was an independent municipality until January 1, 2009, when it merged with Bratsch to form Gampel-Bratsch.-Coat of arms:... |
Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
Gampel Festival | ||
| 21 August 2010 | Kempische Steenweg, Kiewit Kiewit Kiewit is a parish and township within the northernmost section of the Dutch speaking Belgian municipality of Hasselt. It borders on the municipality of Zonhoven to the north and Genk to the east, with Kuringen, a part of Hasselt, to the west.... |
Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... |
Pukkelpop Pukkelpop Pukkelpop is an annual music festival which takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium in mid-to-late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland—between a dual carriageway called Kempische Steenweg—in the village of Kiewit, approximately 7 km north of Hasselt... |
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| 26 August 2010 | Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... |
England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... |
Manchester Academy 3 | ||
| 27 August 2010 | Leeds Leeds Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial... |
England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... |
Reading and Leeds Festivals Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm... |
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| 28 August 2010 | Reading Reading, Berkshire Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London.... |
England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... |
Reading and Leeds Festivals Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm... |
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Personnel
Over the course of The A–Z Series Tim Wheeler took on much of the production work himself, assisted by Cladius Mittendorfer who worked with the band on previous albums "Meltdown" and "Twilight of the Innocence" as a studio engineer and later a producer, and Ash members Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray. Musically the band collaborated with few others; a saxophone player - Daniel Rouleau on "Do You Feel It?" a b-side released on A-Z Volume 1, Pete Moses, James Levy and Eric Feigenbaum who provided backing vocals on "Return of White Rabbit" and "Ichiban", and later Emma-Lee Moss of Emmy The GreatEmmy the Great
Emma-Lee Moss , known by her stage name Emmy the Great, is a London-based singer-songwriter. She has released two albums, First Love and Virtue.-Early life:Moss was born in Hong Kong to an English father and a Chinese mother...
on an acoustic studio re-recording of single "D" - "Tracers".
Ash
- Tim Wheeler - Vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, piano, & programming - Mark Hamilton - BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, backing vocals on "Ichiban" & "Return of White Rabbit" - Rick McMurray - Drums and percussion
Production
- Tim Wheeler - ProducerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, additional engineerEngineerAn engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,... - Cladius Mittendorfer - Co-producer, engineer, mixing
- Mark Hamilton - Co-producer
- Rick McMurray - Co-producer
- Brain Thorn - PianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
assistant - Kabir Hermon - Piano assistant
- Mike Marsh - Mastering of A-Z Volume 1
Additional musicians
- Eric Feigenbaum - backing vocals on "Return of White Rabbit" & "Ichiban"
- James Levy - backing vocals on "Return of White Rabbit"
- Pete Moses - backing vocals on "Ichiban"
- Daniel Rouleau - saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
on "Do You Feel It?" - Emma-Lee Moss - guitar, vocals on "Tracers (Acoustic)"
Art
- Nico Jones - A-Z Volume 1 Photography
- Post 98 - A-Z Volume 1 Design and layout
- Modo Production Ltd - A-Z Volume 1 Design and layout
- Steve Timmis - Web Development and Maintenance. Digital Distribution
Live
For 2009 live performances, many new tracks simply used a backing trackBacking track
A backing track is an audio or MIDI recording that musicians play or sing along to in order to add parts to their music which would be impractical to perform live.-Uses:...
, instead of enlisting another member, however the band had not ruled out either recruiting a completely new member, or reuniting with former guitarist Charlotte Hatherley
Charlotte Hatherley
Charlotte Franklin Hatherley is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. She initially came to prominence as guitarist and backing vocalist for alternative rock band Ash. Since departing Ash in 2006, she has found success as a solo artist...
in the future, with Tim stating "I do miss her as a friend on tour" as well as stating "It could be good to get someone in for extra guitar and keyboards and add some layers" whilst Charlotte in interview with NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
simply said it would be a "possibility in the future" and that her and Tim regularly talk despite her having left the band in 2006.
Tim Wheeler and Emmy The Great
Emmy the Great
Emma-Lee Moss , known by her stage name Emmy the Great, is a London-based singer-songwriter. She has released two albums, First Love and Virtue.-Early life:Moss was born in Hong Kong to an English father and a Chinese mother...
performed the track "Tracers" acoustically on a number of occasions in 2009, and for the 2010 release of A-Z Volume 1 an acoustic re-recording of "Tracers" was included featuring Emma-Lee Moss. The collaboration came after Emmy The Great covered "Burn Baby Burn
Burn Baby Burn (song)
"Burn Baby Burn" is a song by Ash, released as the second single from the Free All Angels album on 2 April 2001, reaching number 13 in the UK singles chart. It was released as a single CD and as a 7" vinyl, and was also released for the first time on DVD format...
" as a b-side to the single "First Love", famously including the backing vocals "shit! You're a shit! You're not a shit! Lick my shit".
On 16 March Russell Lissack
Russell Lissack
Russell Dean Lissack is an English musician best known as the lead guitarist of London based indie rock band, Bloc Party. Lissack is also in the electronica band Pin Me Down; a duo of himself and Milena Mepris...
was announced as the bands touring guitarist and synthesizer player for their tour dates in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Tim Wheeler stated on the bands website; "We first met at the South By South West in 2005, we’d heard he and Kele Okereke met when Russell was playing Ash songs at a party, so we've always felt that connection with him. We've loved Bloc Party since their first single and have always really admired his guitar playing." This came after Russell's band Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...
went on hiatus at the end of 2009, NME quoted Russell saying "as soon as they called me I was really excited".
Singles A-M (Volume 1)
The first single from the series "Return of White Rabbit" received fairly mixed reactions, with the band showcasing a more unfamiliar electronic side of the band, however NMENME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
reacted positively "a weirdly effective funk-pop song" Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
also praised the release saying; "they're only doing singles now, if this new humdigger of a tune is anything to go by, then it will be a decision well made" whilst The Irish Times rated the track 3/5, whilst The Times said regarding the single "...this revelatory rump-shaker, triggering pleasure sensors we didn't even know we had".
Bands such as New Found Glory
New Found Glory
New Found Glory is an American rock band from Coral Springs, Florida. Formed in the summer of 1997, founding members were lead vocalist Jordan Pundik, guitarists Chad Gilbert and Steve Klein, bassist Ian Grushka and drummer Joe Marino...
and Young Guns have criticized the band in Rock Sound
Rock Sound
Rock Sound is a British magazine which champions rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, whilst also giving coverage to more well known acts.-History:...
magazine, with New Found Glory posting an apology after Rock Sound supposedly twisted their words.
Mark Beaumont wrote on BBC Music
BBC Music
BBC Music is a team working in the department of Audio and Music Interactive at the BBC. Responsible for the BBC Music website - the portal site to music content across the BBC website....
"they’ve lost none of their melodic punch since Girl From Mars fell to Earth" and praised the consistency of singles A-M "the most remarkable thing about the A-Z project is that, thus far, every track really is worthy of being a single." David Welsh of MusicOMH
MusicOMH
musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...
poked fun at the similarities between the conventional album of compilation, however was very positive of the release as a whole "Their subsequent fresh approach and retreat from the album formula appears to have reinvigorated the Downpatrick threesome with a new sense of purpose and, quite curiously, resulted in one of the best albums of their long and illustrious career"
Paul Brown at Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
described the release format as "While they haven’t quite reinvented the wheel with these songs, they have certainly pumped up its tyres and given it some shiny new hubcaps", speaking with praise of singles A ("True Love 1980") through till H ("Space Shot"); "So great are the high points of the collection that it’s a shame that it starts to run out of steam slightly towards the end", yet with final single of the half M ("War With Me") he believed it "revives things at the death with a grand piano motif and yet another mega chorus". Ben Walton of Contactmusic.com
Contactmusic.com
Contactmusic.com is a Leeds UK based entertainment magazine/webzine. The site was launched in April 2000 by a small team and has now expanded to 12 fulltime staff and many freelance contributors from across the globe...
believed the singles lack of cohesion as a compilation was the A–Z Series main strength; "Ash have been set free to sprawl however they see fit across genre boundaries" going onto favor tracks such as "Arcadia" and "Neon", also calling "Dionysian Urge" "one of the best songs Ash have ever delivered".
Phil Mongredien of Q magazine
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
criticized the similarity between a compilation of singles and the conventional album, writing; "its not obvious how this format differs from the peaks and troughs of a regular album, high points largely canceled out by the more workaday material", however noted the albums merits as "Arcadia" and "Joy Kicks Darkness", Jon Bye of Gigwise.com
Gigwise.com
Gigwise.com is an online music magazine that features music news, photos, album reviews, music festivals, concert tickets, and a community forum. Founded in 2001, the magazine is based in the United Kingdom....
was critical of the direction taken in some of the singles which use synthesizer parts advising the band to "stick to the rock and roll you're good at" however praised the synth laced "Arcadia", comparing it to Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
.
Singles N-Z (Volume 2)
Mark Griffiths of Kerrang!Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
Magazine rated the compilation of singles N-Z 4/5 praising "they've lost none of their melodic abrasive songwriting genius" recommending the highlights of the 2nd half to the series as "Sky Burial", "Binary" and "Physical World". Andy Fyfe of Q Magazine recommended "Binary", "Dare to Dream" and "Carnal Love", rating it 3/5 - the same rating given as Volume 1.
Sales and chart performance
As of December 2009 the vinyl subscription sold out, with only limited amounts of past and future vinyls available on the bands official website and other various stores.| Letter | Title | Chart Positions | Radio single | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
UK IND UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered... |
UK DAN UK Dance Chart The UK Dance Chart is a chart compiled by The Official Charts Company from sales in record stores and digital downloads. Although the chart does not currently receive any airplay on the radio or television, the chart can be viewed on the BBC Radio 1 and The Official Charts Company website.Digital... |
|||
| "Return of White Rabbit" | – | – | 31 | ||
| A | "True Love 1980" | 148 | 12 | 31 | |
| B | "Joy Kicks Darkness" | 171 | 16 | – | |
| C | "Arcadia" | 114 | 13 | – | |
| D | "Tracers" | 140 | 8 | – | |
| E | "The Dead Disciples" | 139 | 11 | – | |
| F | "Pripyat" | 165 | 17 | – | |
| G | "Ichiban" | 176 | 18 | – | |
| H | "Space Shot" | 129 | 16 | 22 | |
| I | "Neon" | 120 | 11 | – | |
| J | "Command" | 131 | 12 | – | |
| K | "Song Of Your Desire" | 104 | 6 | – | |
| L | "Dionysian Urge" | 106 | 8 | – | |
| M | "War With Me" | 114 | 9 | – | |
| Letter | Title | Chart Positions | Radio single | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
UK IND UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered... |
UK DAN UK Dance Chart The UK Dance Chart is a chart compiled by The Official Charts Company from sales in record stores and digital downloads. Although the chart does not currently receive any airplay on the radio or television, the chart can be viewed on the BBC Radio 1 and The Official Charts Company website.Digital... |
UK ROCK UK Rock Chart The UK Rock Chart usually refers to the Top 40 Rock Singles and the Top 40 Rock Albums Chart compiled by the Official Charts Company from physical record sales in British retail outlets with larger than average genrespecific sales.... |
|||
| N | "Dare To Dream" | 87 | 8 | – | – | |
| O | "Mind Control" | 101 | 5 | – | – | |
| P | "Insects" | 99 | 8 | – | – | |
| Q | "Binary" | 103 | 7 | – | – | |
| R | "Physical World" | 96 | 7 | – | – | |
| S | "Spheres" | 91 | 9 | – | – | |
| T | "Instinct" | 65 | 5 | – | – | |
| U | "Summer Snow" | 91 | 7 | – | – | |
| V | "Carnal Love" | 78 | 5 | – | – | |
| W | "Embers" | 79 | 7 | – | – | |
| X | "Change Your Name" | 84 | 10 | – | 1 | |
| Y | "Sky Burial" | 87 | 14 | – | 2 | |
| Z | "There Is Hope Again" | 92 | 14 | – | – | |
Releases
There will be a total of 26 singles in the A–Z Series, and an undetermined number of b-sides. Not all of the singles will be radio singles; the ones that are will most likely be accompanied by a music video. The title of each release will be revealed the Wednesday after the previous release and is being referred to as 'Ash Wednesday'.| Letter and Colour |
Song | Release | Details | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Return of White Rabbit" | 18 May 2009 Free Digital Download, Handmade limited CD 8 June 2009 - 1000 Limited vinyl Gramophone record A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove... 14 October 2009 - Extended & remix versions |
Three different artworks were made available, each individual piece of artwork has been hand created by the band themselves, Rick’s pack of playing cards, Tim’s apocalyptic bunny rabbits and Mark’s day-glo stencils. The single was released as a free download on ash-official.com on 18 May. The track itself was penned by bassist Mark Hamilton. The band confirmed that the track is a 'prequel' to the series itself. On 14 October the band released the original full version of "Return of White Rabbit" which lasts for 6:24, as opposed to the original 3:56 cut, along with this was an 'Atomic Heart' remix, both were made available as free downloads on Sneak Attack Media. | The music video for ROWR debuted on 12 June, the music video was conceived by 'Big Button' and has an animated story to it; a boy who becomes jealous of another boy making advances on a girl he has feelings for, struggling to contain his feelings he eventually acts, crashing a car, taking his and the other boys life in the process. "Ash wanted to get away from the standard performance video in favour of something a little more interesting. As a result, Big Button was given free reign and concocted a dark tale of jealousy and horror wrapped in an accessible cartoon coating" The second video created for ROWR titled 'NYC Rabbit' was directed by Karen Lord and features Nickolas Kimbrell as 'the white rabbit', the video shows what a "typical night in NYC New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... is like for a jolly ol’ rabbit", the third video promotion for ROWR is a live version of the track, filmed at Thekla, Bristol Bristol Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007... were the band asked their audience to film the track on personal cameras. |
|
| "True Love 1980" | 12 October 2009 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital Download |
Confirmed on 20 May by NME NME The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles... that the series would begin in September, giving the band the chance to promote the series, 'Return of the White Rabbit' was intended as a prequel to the series itself. The track is reported to be heavily centred around the use of synthesizers and keyboards Keyboard instrument A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... . The track was premiered live on the bands June 2009 tour dates. A remix by Tiësto Tiësto Tijs Michiel Verwest, , known as Tiësto , is a Dutch musician, DJ and record producer of electronic dance music. Although he has used many aliases in the past, he is best known for his work as DJ Tiësto... was released onto Myspace Myspace Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors.... prior to the tracks actual release on 22 July 2009 The track itself was premiered on Steve Lamacq Steve Lamacq Steve Lamacq , sometimes known by his nicknames Lammo or "The Cat" is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio stations BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2.-Early career:He was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire... 's 6Music radio show on Monday 24 August |
The band shot the music video for "True Love 1980" in Portland, Oregon Portland, Oregon Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States... , the video was directed by Daniel Garcia, with acting from Meredith Adelaide. The video was added to music video stations NME NME The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles... TV and Bliss Bliss (TV channel) Bliss is a British music television channel owned and operated by CSC Media Group . It launched in March 2006 and has been advertised as Total Chill-out Classics. The channel plays classic pop songs and music from the 70's, 80's and 90's, along with hours dedicated to love songs and power ballads... on 9 September 2009, and was added to the bands official website on 15 September, whilst a making of video was added to NME on 12 October 2009. |
|
| "Joy Kicks Darkness" | 26 October 2009 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
The track was announced as the third single in the series on 14 October on the bands official website and is said to be a blistering rock anthem built around one of Ash's trademark choruses. Featuring some incredible six-string heroics from Tim and, as you'd expect from someone who's been a virtuoso player since he was just 13, an amazing guitar solo. A 30 second clip of the track was added to amazon.co.uk on 17 October, whilst the track was premiered live on 19 October, at their performance in Aldershot Aldershot Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council... . |
The video was filmed across the A-Z tour, using live and behind the scenes footage. It was directed by Josh Kletzkin. | |
| "Arcadia" | 9 November 2009 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Announced on 4 November 2009 as 'C'. Prior to the announcement and release News of the World News of the World The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations... described Arcadia as Driven by Rick's thumping drum beat and underpinned by a driving piano, it's a riot of blazing guitar parts and colossal hooks |
A budget music video was filmed on the A-Z Tour, the video features various Arcade game Arcade game An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers... s being played by the band. The video was directed by Josh Kletzkin. |
|
| "Tracers" | 23 November 2009 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Originally titled "World Without You", News Of The World leaked a synopsis of the track; Tracers combines the trio's wall-of-sound with a lovelorn lyric that sees Tim warn: "It's better to have sweet dreams about her, than forget it all in the morning." The track was notable performed acoustically with Emmy The Great Emmy the Great Emma-Lee Moss , known by her stage name Emmy the Great, is a London-based singer-songwriter. She has released two albums, First Love and Virtue.-Early life:Moss was born in Hong Kong to an English father and a Chinese mother... at a number of tour dates in 2009. |
Two budget music videos were shot for Tracers, both directed by Josh Kletzkin. The first music video features guitarist & vocalist Tim Wheeler playing besides a beach, with a funfair Funfair A funfair or simply "fair" is a small to medium sized travelling show primarily composed of stalls and other amusements. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is... and pier. The second music video is a live acoustic video of Tim and Emma-Lee Moss of Emmy The Great Emmy the Great Emma-Lee Moss , known by her stage name Emmy the Great, is a London-based singer-songwriter. She has released two albums, First Love and Virtue.-Early life:Moss was born in Hong Kong to an English father and a Chinese mother... performing the song in a small room. |
|
| "The Dead Disciples" | 7 December 2009 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
One of the heaviest A-Z singles thus far, comparable to material from the bands album Meltdown, the song is also the first Ash song to use a double-kick drum. The Dead Disciples was written on a festival trip in September 2007 to Córdoba, Spain Córdoba, Spain -History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy... , with the lyrics making references to Irish writer and poet James Joyce James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century... and Greek Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece... myth Daedalus Daedalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a skillful craftsman and artisan.-Family:... . |
A music video for The Dead Disciples has been created however has yet to be released. | |
| "Pripyat" | 21 December 2009 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
The songs title is a reference to Prypiat, Ukraine Prypiat, Ukraine Pripyat is a ghost town near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Kiev Oblast of northern Ukraine, near the border with Belarus.... , an abandoned city after the events of the Chernobyl disaster Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow... , which lyricist of the song Tim Wheeler describes as a lost citadel and the loneliest place on the planet. Prypiat was written and demoed originally for previous album Twilight of the Innocents Twilight of the Innocents Twilight of the Innocents is the fifth and final studio album by Ash, released on June 29, 2007 in the Republic of Ireland and July 2, 2007 in the United States and the United Kingdom... . |
The music video samples photographs from Robert Polidori Robert Polidori Robert Polidori is a photographer known for his architectural studies and frequent contributions to magazines and books.-Biography:... 's book 'Zones of Exclusion: Pripyat and Chernobyl'. |
|
| 'Ichiban' | 4 January 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Ichiban was the first A-Z track to be performed live, appearing at concerts in 2008 for the bands 1977 shows. | The music video contains footage from the British 1961 monster film Gorgo. | |
| "Space Shot" | 18 January 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
The track was performed live for the first time at Brighton Brighton Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain... Concorde 2 in June 2009. For Children in Need Children in Need Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long... "Spaceshot" was televised on 20 November 2009, along with "Shining Light" and "True Love 1980", and was confirmed as letter 'H' on Jonathan Ross' radio show on 28 November. The single will be the second 'radio single' from the A-Z series. |
Daniel Garcia - director of the video for previous radio single "True Love 1980" returned to direct. The video has a science fiction Science fiction Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities... narrative, making reference to Star Wars Star Wars Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year... , following a pilot escaping with a blindfolded person, pursued by soldiers and soon by space craft. The video was premiered on Myspace Myspace Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors.... on 10 December 2009. |
|
| "Neon" | 1 February 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Neon was the 27th song written in the A-Z series. It is considered the spiritual successor to earlier A-Z track "Arcadia". Neon is described as a song about chance. Neon was remixed by Beat Cave - the remix was released exclusively on the Japanese A-Z Volume 1 CD. Neon was performed in studio for Livestream and The Music Slut two days after release on 3 February 2010 for the first time. Without a fourth member present in the band the synthesizer and piano parts in Neon are provided by a prerecorded backing track. | The music video uses photographs taken and sequenced by KINo of the band in their New York studio, whilst a woman journeys around New York City. | |
| "Command" | 15 February 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Command was acoustically covered in the A-Z Volume 1 acoustic bundle. | ||
| "Song Of Your Desire" | 1 March 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
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| "Dionysian Urge" | 15 March 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
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| "War With Me" | 29 March 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl 90 Handmade limited CD Digital |
The song was premiered on BBC6Music's 'Ash Wednesday' celebrations on 17 February, and was the 3rd 'radio single' of the A–Z Series. The band handmade 90 limited edition CD single versions of the track, 50 of which were awarded to new subscribers, whilst the rest were given away in a competition. | The video was shot sporadically over 3 weeks, in China Town on 6 February 2010 and The Hamptons. Tim Wheeler was originally meant to be in the back of a 60's Mercedes Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG... in one of the scenes, however it broke down on route to the shoot, instead they used a Jaguar Jaguar The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico... . The video was directed by Alex Beck. |
|
| "Dare To Dream" | 12 April 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Dare to Dream was premiered on 11 April 2010 on the bands website. The track was remixed by Mogwai Mogwai The word mogwai is the transliteration of the Cantonese word 魔怪 meaning "monster", "evil spirit", "devil" or "demon".-Mogwai/Mogui in Chinese culture:... ; 1000 limited remix vinyls were also made available to celebrate Record Store Day Record Store Day Record Store Day is an internationally celebrated day observed the third Saturday of April each year. Its purpose, as conceived by independent record store employee Chris Brown, is to celebrate the art of music... . The remix was available digitally to all those who had subscribed by 12 April 2010, free of charge. |
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| "Mind Control" | 26 April 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
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| "Insects" | 10 May 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
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| "Binary" | 24 May 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Binary was announced on 14 April, and played for the first time on Rory McConnell Rory McConnell Rory McConnell is a DJ and radio presenter for BBC Radio 1. He currently presents the Northern Ireland edition of BBC Introducing, a regionalised radio programme transmitted Belfast from 00:00 to 02:00 on Sunday night/ Monday morning.-Biography:... 's BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock... show. Binary is the 5th radio single from the A–Z Series. A Facebook Facebook Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as... campaign was created to try and get 'Binary' into the UK Top 40 UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... . Bloc Party member and at-the time touring Russell Lissack Russell Lissack Russell Dean Lissack is an English musician best known as the lead guitarist of London based indie rock band, Bloc Party. Lissack is also in the electronica band Pin Me Down; a duo of himself and Milena Mepris... remixed the track under the alias CO-PILOTS, it was made available on 25 May 2010. |
The first music video was directed by Nico Jones of production company Big Button - who also produced 'Return of White Rabbit' and 'The A–Z Series Trailer'. The video was shot in New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... on green screen Green Screen The Green Screen international wildlife film festival is held annually in Eckernförde, Germany. The festival shows full-length and short nature documentaries about animals in their natural habitat. It is the only festival of its kind in Germany... and then sent over the Atlantic to Birmingham Birmingham Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a... for editing and post-production. The video has a science fiction inspired theme. The video was released on 27 April 2010 and has received airplay on Q and NME TV NME TV NME TV is a British music television channel owned and operated by CSC Media Group . This is a similar arrnagement to its radio station, NME Radio, which is operated by DX Media. The channel replaced Minx on 22 November 2007... . A second music video was released on 20 May 2010, exclusively on Youtube YouTube YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos.... the video features long awaited footage from Slashed Slashed Slashed is a low budget independent horror film, financed and directed by Ash and written by Jed Shepherd. The film was shot in 2002, purely on a video camcorder when Ash were on tour in the United States supporting Coldplay - who subsequently appeared in the movie as detectives, along with various... - an independent horror flick staring Ash, Coldplay Coldplay Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a... and Dave Grohl Dave Grohl David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures... , amongst others. It was originally shot in 2002, but was unreleased due to never being finished. |
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| "Physical World" | 7 June 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Physical World was announced on 26 May 2010, it was originally coloured green, but later changed to light pink. | ||
| "Spheres" | 21 June 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Spheres is the only track in the A-Z series where the singles letter - S - corresponds with the title. It was mentioned originally in April 2009 by Mark Hamilton, and later in June 2009 a photo of Tim recording the tracks piano part was posted on ash-official.com. | ||
| "Instinct" | 5 July 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Instinct was officially announced on 23 June 2010 and was originally a light blue as opposed to brown. It was the highest charting of the A-Z series, peaking at #65 in the UK Singles Chart. | ||
| "Summer Snow" | 19 July 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Summer Snow was announced on 1 July 2010 by Recordstore.co.uk. It originally corresponded with the colour purple. Summer Snow was first mentioned in a studio update by Tim in June 2009. | ||
| "Carnal Love" | 2 August 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Carnal Love was the sixth radio single from the series, it was announced on 25 June 2010. Originally 'V' had a lime-green artwork colour. | Preview photographs of the video shoot were posted on the bands website on 22 July 2010. On 22 July 2010 an interview was posted on the bands Youtube YouTube YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos.... with director Alex Turvey talking about the upcoming video. The music video was made available on 27 July. The video was intended by Tim and director Alex to have a perverse theme, using a lot of visual references to sex. Lily Vanilli was hired to prepare the cakes for the video shoot. It features sexually shaped deserts being prepared and served to Tim, who slowly eats course after course, before being covered in custard, fruits and rubbed up and down. |
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| "Embers" | 16 August 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Embers was announced on 18 July 2010, along with its re-imagined artwork colour, originally a light grey it was changed to orange. Embers is one of the more punk-guitar driven tracks of the later half of the A-Z series. It looked set to hit an all time high for an A-Z single in terms of chart positions, hitting number 23 in the UK midweek official chart update, before finishing at #79. | ||
| "Change Your Name" | 30 August 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Change Your Name was announced on 18 July 2010, with a sample available on Amazon.co.uk the same day. The track was written by drummer Rick McMurray, and first mentioned on the bands website on 18 May 2009. The song charted at number one in the UK Rock Chart. | ||
| "Sky Burial" | 13 September 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
Sky Burial was announced on 18 July 2010. An instrumental, it is the longest track of the entire A-Z series standing at 10:18, and will be comparable to previous album's title track "Twilight of the Innocents Twilight of the Innocents Twilight of the Innocents is the fifth and final studio album by Ash, released on June 29, 2007 in the Republic of Ireland and July 2, 2007 in the United States and the United Kingdom... ". It charted at number two in the UK Rock Chart. |
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| "There Is Hope Again" | 27 September 2010 1000 Limited Vinyl Digital |
There Is Hope Again was announced on 18 July 2010. A 30 second sample was added to Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and... the same day. It was hinted on the bands website ash-official.com that fans should keep an eye on Sky Sports Sky Sports Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland... regarding the final single. Z's corresponding artwork colour was originally a light blue. |
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B-Sides
| Song | Date | Release | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Lay Down Your Arms" | 22 December 2009 | Free digital download | Free digital download for all those subscribed to the A-Z Downloads and Vinyl collection. The track was written and demoed for Twilight of the Innocents, however never made the record stage. The track was given as a thank you to fans for subscribing and bearing with the band through the various problems with releasing earlier singles in the A–Z Series, including postal strikes and the band's distribution supplying various online retailers with the incorrect audio files, resulting in some fans experiencing sound quality issues. It lasts 3:43 |
| "Gallows Hill" | 15 January 2010 | Free digital download | Second free b-side to the A–Z Series, released to all those subscribed to the A–Z Series before 14 January 2010. The song is named after Gallows Hill in Downpatrick Downpatrick Downpatrick is a medium-sized town about 33 km south of Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the county town of Down with a rich history and strong connection to Saint Patrick. It had a population of 10,316 at the 2001 Census... . It lasts 3:43 |
| "Night Terrors" | 2 March 2010 | Free digital download | Third free b-side to the A–Z Series, released to all those subscribed to the A–Z Series before 25 February 2010. Ash's official site describes the track as: "Musically this dark and menacing memorial merges spiky new-wave punk guitars with uptempo disco beats, overdriven synthesizers and a chorus hook that would kick Dr. Who into a parallel universe." It lasts 3:50 |
| "Empire Of Sand" | 27 March 2010 | Free digital download | Fourth free b-side to the A–Z Series, released to all those subscribed to the A–Z Series before midnight Thursday 25 March 2010. It is described on the band's official site as: Strap yourself in for a haunting ghost ride through the nihilistic mind of Richard Wilson McMurray. Empire of Sand is a deeply honest introspection of the crushing void experienced as one's foundations crumble around a devastating life event. It lasts 3:18 |
| "Coming Around Again" | 19 April 2010 | A-Z Volume 1 CD | Cover of Carly Simon Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work... , the Ash version was premiered on East Village Radio East Village Radio East Village Radio is an Internet radio station which broadcasts from a storefront studio in the East Village of Manhattan, in New York City. EVR serves both as a voice for the local downtown cultural scene and as a forum for the community at large... on 30 March 2010. |
| "The Creeps" | |||
| "CTRL-ALT-DEL" | Written by Rick McMurray | ||
| "Do You Feel It?" | |||
| "Kamakura" | 7 April 2010 | A-Z Volume 1 CD (Japanese Edition) | The two track were made available for free at UK April/May 2010 performances on limited handmade CD's, they were not made available online due to contract reasons. |
| "Disenchanted" | |||
| "Pirates Are So 2004" | 4 May 2010 | Free digital download | Fifth free b-side to the A–Z Series, released to all those subscribed to the A–Z Series before midnight 29 April 2010. |
| "No Heartbreaker" | 1 June 2010 | Free digital download | Sixth free b-side to the A–Z Series, released to all those subscribed to the A–Z Series before midnight 1 June 2010. In addition, released as a free download on 10 November 2010 as part of the Shepherd's Bush Empire Free Download EP |
| "Lights Out" | 6 July 2010 | Free digital download | Seventh free b-side to the A–Z Series, released to all those subscribed to the A–Z Series before midnight 6 July 2010. |
| "Midnight Militia" | 28 July 2010 | Free digital download | Eighth free b-side to the A–Z Series, released to all those subscribed to the A–Z Series before midnight 28 July 2010. |
| "Replicants" | 24 August 2010 | Free digital download | Ninth free b-side to the A–Z Series, released to all those subscribed to the A–Z Series before midnight 24 August 2010. |
| "Nouvelles Aventures" | 22 September 2010 | Free digital download | Tenth (and final) free b-side to the A–Z Series, released to all those subscribed to the A–Z Series before midnight 22 September 2010. |
| "Teenage Wildlife" | 11 October 2010 | A-Z Volume 2 CD | |
| "Spellbound" | |||
| "Nightfall" | |||
| "Running to the Ocean" | 11 October 2010 | A-Z Volume 2 CD (Japanese Edition) | |
| "Midnight in the Garden" | |||
Remixes
| Song | Date | Release | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Return of the White Rabbit (Jaymo & Andy George Remix)" | 12 October 2009 digital download 7 April 2010 CD |
Rehash EP A-Z Volume 1 CD (Japanese Edition) |
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| "True Love 1980 (Loverush UK! Remix)" | |||
| "True Love 1980 (Pete Doyle's Rocksolid Remix)" | |||
| "True Love 1980 (Timothy Allan Remix)" | |||
| "Space Reshot (Pete Doyle's Rocksolid Vocal Mix)" | 18 January 2010 digital download 7 April 2010 CD |
Space Reshot EP A-Z Volume 1 CD (Japanese Edition) |
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| "Space Reshot (Snitch Brothers Vocal Remix)" | |||
| "Space Reshot (Snitch Brothers Instrumental Remix)" | |||
| "Space Reshot (Loverush UK! Dubstrumental)" | |||
| "Space Reshot (Pete Doyle's Rocksolid Instrumental Mix)" | |||
| "Space Reshot (Loverush UK! Club Mix)" | |||
| "Neon (Beatcave Remix)" | 7 April 2010 | A-Z Volume 1 CD (Japanese Edition) | |
| "True Love 1980 (Vince Clarke Remix)" | |||
| "Dare to Dream (Mogwai Mogwai The word mogwai is the transliteration of the Cantonese word 魔怪 meaning "monster", "evil spirit", "devil" or "demon".-Mogwai/Mogui in Chinese culture:... Remix)" |
12 April 2010 | 1000 Limited vinyl Free digital download |
1000 Vinyl copies were pressed to celebrate Record Store Day, it was also made available for free for subscripers of The A–Z Series. |
Acoustic
| Song | Date | Release | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| "True Love 1980 (acoustic)" | 19 April 2010 digital download |
A-Z Acoustic Download EP | Acoustic studio tracks |
| "Joy Kicks Darkness (acoustic)" | |||
| "Arcadia (acoustic)" | |||
| "Tracers (acoustic)(featuring Emmy the Great Emmy the Great Emma-Lee Moss , known by her stage name Emmy the Great, is a London-based singer-songwriter. She has released two albums, First Love and Virtue.-Early life:Moss was born in Hong Kong to an English father and a Chinese mother... )" |
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| "Spaceshot (acoustic)" | |||
| "Command (acoustic)" | |||
| "War With Me (acoustic)" | |||
Live tracks
| Song | Date | Release | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Space Shot (Live)" | 17 April 2010 digital download |
Free digital download | Live tracks recorded on the bands 2009 A-Z Tour, used in the "A for Ash" tour documentary on A-Z Volume 1. |
| "Arcadia (live)" |
External links
- Official A-Z Page on ash-official.comAsh (band)Ash are an alternative rock band that formed in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland in 1992. The band has sold 8 million albums worldwide.-Band beginning, Trailer and 1977 :...