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Latest news

 

January tour dates

New single - Waving Flags

From the Dales and the demimonde

New EP available online

Free download

Autumn dates

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Intimate cafe gig, change of Yeovil venue

British Sea Power will play an intimate show at a cliffside cafe on the Sussex coast on Friday, November 2. Tickets on sale from 9am on Friday, August 17. Click
here for details

The venue for the Yeovil gig on September 21 has changed. BSP will be the first band to play at the Orange Box. Tickets bought for the Ski Lodge will still be valid.

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Club Fandango show

A Fistful of Fandango, a week long series of shows at 229 in Great Portland Street, London, will be hosting British Sea Power on Friday, September 7. Support from Good Books and Pete and the Pirates. For ticket information, click
here

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LodeStar cancelled, new dates in Yeovil and Bradford

British Sea Power are sorry to announce that the LodeStar festival in Cambridgeshire, where the band were due to be appearing on September 1, has been cancelled, Full refunds will be made available from ticket purchase points. Please go to the
LodeStar website for details.

BSP will be playing two new dates later in the month. On Friday, September 21, they will be performing at the Ski Lodge, a 350-capacity venue under a ski slope in Yeovil, Somerset, and on Saturday, September 22, they will play at St George's Hall, an ornate Victorian concert hall in Bradford city centre. For more information on both these shows, go to the concerts page

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Two live dates for summer

British Sea Power will be performing at Lincoln University in July and the End of the Road festival in September. More details
here

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BSP to play concert inside cow

As part of the Great Escape Festival in Brighton, British Sea Power have announced they will be headlining in the Udderbelly Tent - a giant, inflatable upside down cow - on Saturday, May 19.

Three-day passes are available at an early bird discount of £35 if booked before 9am on April 2. More details here

The band are currently adding the finishing touches to the third album, having recently returned from recording sessions at Tregantle Fort.

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In the studio

Following rehearsal sessions at Tregantle Fort in Cornwall, the band are departing for Canada in November to record their third album. Former Arcade Fire drummer Howard Bilerman, who has recorded over 250 records for acts including Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion, will work with BSP in the studio. The band will also be playing a one-off gig at La Sala Rossa in Montreal on November 13. Visit the concerts page for more details

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Brighton show

British Sea Power will play in concert at the Pressure Point in Brighton on Thursday 12 October. This show has been arranged for BSP to further roadtest songs for their forthcoming third album. For ticket information and further details, visit the concerts page

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Leeds and Kendal stage times

We can reveal the following stage times for the festival gigs on July 29 and 30. For Across The Tracks, BSP will be on from 8-9pm and for Kendal Calling, 9.30-11pm.

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Intimate shows in England, Wales and Scotland

British Sea Power will be playing a number of intimate venues around the UK in August and September to break in the new songs from their third album. The venues include a fort on the river Mersey, a Leicester pub and a Polish ex-servicemen's club in Bristol. Visit the concerts page to find out if they are coming near you.

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Fort Rox update

The concert at Newhaven Fort on August 12 will run from 12pm to 6pm and include six bands in total, including Duke Spirit, The Research and My Latest Novel. Other acts TBA.

All ticket holders will also be entitled to £1 admission at Club Pod, Enigma, Ship St, Brighton. 10pm - 3am. First come, first served. 250 capacity.

Ticket and venue details here

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Summer festival dates

We can confirm the following summer festival performances from British Sea Power. Studio rumours say they like Pavement so much that they've set their songs to music. Why not visit the following locations to ascertain how these new compositions will shape up live on tour appearances:

15 July: Latitude Festival, Henham Park, Suffolk
29 July: Across the Tracks Festival, Leeds
30 July: Kendal Calling Festival, Kendal
12 August: Newhaven Fort, Sussex
27 August: Get Loaded in the Park, London
16 September, End of the Road Festival, Wiltshire

The concerts page has more details on all these events.

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Betjeman centenary

This year is the centenary of poet Sir John Betjeman's birth and British Sea Power were deeply honoured when Sir John's daughter, Candida Lycett Green, invited them to take part in the celebrations. The band will be making two special appearances.

On Monday, August 28, they will be playing at The John Betjeman Cornish Birthday Party at Polzeath, Cornwall, an event that will raise funds for the new Padstow Lifeboat Station.

On Sunday, September 10, they will be perfoming a poem to musical accompaniment at The John Betjeman Gala, at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London. Other participants will include such luminaries as Joanna Lumley, Jools Holland, Terence Stamp, Peter O'Toole, Dame Judi Dench and Edward Fox.

Go to the concerts page for more details on both these events

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Live in Sheffield

BSP will be appearing at The Plug in Sheffield on Saturday, May 27.

Click
here for more information

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Brighton and Nottingham dates

British Sea Power are to play two shows in Brighton in May as part of The Great Escape, a new three-day contemporary music convention.

The band will be performing at the Zap club, Kings Road arches, on 18 May, and will be playing a semi-acoustic set at the Hanbury Ballroom, St George's Road, on the 20 May.

BSP will also be headlining at the Dot-to-Dot festival in Nottingham on Sunday, May 28.

Go to the concerts page for more details on these gigs

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Betjeman documentary

The band have been filmed for a forthcoming BBC2 Betjeman documentary that will mark the centenary of poet John Betjeman's birth. BSP were interviewed by Griff Rhys-Jones and were filmed performing a freshly recorded cover version of the Betjeman poem-set-to-music The Licorice Fields At Pontefract, as featured on the Betjeman album Late Flowering Love.

The documentary is scheduled to be screened later this year.

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London all-nighter

British Sea Power are playing in London this Easter - on Thursday, 13 April, at the all-night Insomniacs' Ball. Also on the bill are Art Brut and The Pipettes, .

Go to the concerts page for more details

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Eamon flies free for Brakes glory

Due to the ongoing success of his other band, Brakes, British Sea Power keyboardist Eamon has now left BSP to pursue Brakes glory full-time. All remains fully amicable between the five men of BSP past and present. Further, it is not unlikely that Eamon will return for the BSP headlining slot at Glastonbury 2007.

In the meantime we all wish him well. Brakes are on tour with The Editors and Belle & Sebastian through January, February and March. For all Brakes dates, please go to www.brakesbrakesbrakes.com.

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Single with premier West Country hit-makers

The latest addition to the BSP recorded canon is a limited-edition, split seven-inch single, created in alliance with The Wurzels of Somerset. Side A: a Wurzels interpretation of BSP composition Remember Me. Side AA: BSP doing 1976 Wurzels top five hit I Am A Cider Drinker.

The single will be limited to a numbered edition of 1,966 copies - marking the year in which Adge Cutler first set the Wurzels sugar-cart rolling - and will only be available from the BSP shop and the merchandise stall at the band's November tour. The Wurzels will appear as special guests at the BSP show at London Forum on Thursday 24 November.

Here's what the good people at Mojo, NME and Drowned in Sound have to say:

"The art-rock Stakhanovites' take on the scrumpy anthem channels echoes of ages gone by, as heard in a weatherworn old cider barrel, while the Wurzels sound like The Archers' Grundy family in a scene supplied by Betjemen." Ian Harrison, Mojo

"One of BSP's pleasing qualities is their lack of nudge-wink irony, and so I Am A Cider Drinker is delivered in Christmas carol deadpan. On the flip, the old buggers get lashed up and turn Remember Me into a steaming slice of randy-as-a-mare music hall." Louis Pattison, NME

"I Am A Cider Drinker is nothing short of breathtaking, a slow burning ethereal epic complete with choral splendour and glistening spectoral atmospherics." Thomas Blatchford, DiS

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Tour update

It wasn't going to be, but it is in the end - Rock City is now the venue for the BSP show on Friday 25 November. Last-minute, wild-leather licence problems at the Festival Hall mean that we have had to shift the Nottingham show. Apologies about this alteration to events.

Beyond that, thanks to everyone who has attended the recent four UK BSP shows and made them such a joy. From seeing ships at sea off Barrow island and getting seadog-smashed inside the Canteen Media & Arts Centre, to enjoying the very best in expressive rock at Manchester Ritz, these concerts have been purest joy. Truly offering something for the upper and lower self, the tour has seen the BSP party learn all the harmonies for Accept's Teuton-metal classic Balls To The Wall and also pop into Glasgow's Hunterian Gallery to view the moving painting The Gypsy Fires Are Burning For Daylight's Past And Gone. And there's still more to come.

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Fisticuffs with Faust

BSP's collaboration with German band Faust at Hove Old Market turned out to be far from an experimental rock love-in.The bands' gig together ended with Faust singer Jean-Herve Peron punching bassist Hamilton in the face. It seems he was annoyed because BSP's drum spot was too avant garde and freeform. The rest of Faust were a credit to their Krautrock renown, but this most un-foward-thinking goon was a twerp of the first order.

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Club Sea Power tour of England, Scotland and Cornwall

BSP will be playing a Club Sea Power tour in November. The dates and support acts are as follows: Nov 17: Canteen Media and Arts Centre, Barrow (supported by Murray and the Skankers), Nov 19: Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow (supported by Field Music), Nov 20: Ritz, Manchester (supported by The Pipettes), Nov 23: Freebutt, Brighton (supported by Mary Hannon), Nov 24: Forum, London (supported by The Wurzels), Nov 25: Festival Hall, Nottingham (supported by The Reasearch), Nov 26: Brookes University, Oxford (supported by Electric Soft Parade), Nov 27: Carnglaze Caverns, Cornwall (supported by Morton Valence), Nov 28: Bierkeller, Bristol (supported by The Victorian Gentlemen's Club).

The band will also be playing at Reading University on Nov 18.

At each of the Club Sea Power nights, the band will be performing a b-sides set and a main set. Support bands will perform between the two BSP sets..

Events on the opening night of the tour at Barrow will commence at 6.30pm, when Terry Spurling of the Submarine Heritage Centre will give a talk on the tragic tale of Her Majesty's Submarine Perseus.

At Carnglaze Caverns, your ticket price will advance BSP in their selfless mission to eradicate death at sea - it is a benefit for the RNLI. And you will help them not only listening to pop, but also by drinking beer. Sharp's will be donating a portion of the sales of their Atlantic India Pale Ale to the cause. The evening's entertainment will commence with a performance by the RNLI brass band. All of this in a gorgeous cave - hewn by slate-miners and as featured on the cover of the Echo & The Bunnymen album Ocean Rain.

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BSP to play with Faust

BSP will be playing at a four-hour show with veteren German Krautrockers Faust at Hove Old Market on November 4. The band will not be playing their own material but will jam with the German band alongside marching bands, flugelhorn players, the Stella Maris Drone Orchestra and the Pipettes. Members of the audience are invited to bring along their own instruments.

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Reading, Eden and Leeds

Here are the stage times we have been given for the BSP festival and lifesphere appearances this weekend. Friday 26 August Leeds Carling Festival British Sea Power 18.45-19.30 Saturday 27 August Eden Project, Cornwall (with Ian Brown and Badly Drawn Boy) British Sea Power 19.25-20.10 Sunday 28 August Reading Carling Festival British Sea Power 19.00-19.50

Naturally, these times may subject to a bit of to-and-fro. The best thing to do is be there all day from 8am. That way you won't miss a thing.

BSP will be signing both flat and curved surfaces in the NME signing tent at Reading at 2pm. They also hope to be at the signing tent in Leeds at 3pm. However, this slot is dependent on travel time.Will they make it? Let's hope so.

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North American festivals and dates with The Killers

British Sea Power are playing at the following North American events: Thurs 29 Sept: Borgata Hotel, Atlantic City, NJ, (supporting The Killers). Fri 30 Sept: Jones Beach Theatre, Wantagh, NY (supporting The Killers). Sat 1 Oct: Across The Narrows festival, Staten Island, NY. Thurs 6 Oct: Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA (supporting The Killers). Sat 8 Oct: Download festival, Mountain View, CA, Mon 10 Oct: Portland, OR, Douglas Fir (BSP headline show), Weds 12 Oct Seattle, WA, Key Arena, Thurs 13 Oct: Vancouver, BC, PNE Coliseum

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DJ set at Top Man

In the most noteable funk-fashion linkage since Public Enemy freestyled at the Laurence Corner army-surplus and fancy-dress shop, British Sea Power are to DJ at Oxford Street Topman, from 4-7pm on Friday 19 August. If you would relish the chance to hear John Betjeman, Saxon and the twin Rolls-Royce turbojets of the Gloster Meteor sounding out among racks of colourful tank tops, then come on down.

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BSP festival times

Here are the times we have been given for BSP festival performances in the next couple of weeks. As you can see, these come at all angles of the clock, Haldern festival, Germany: 2:30am - 3:30am (ie at the end of the festival programme for Friday 5 August). Ben & Jerry's, Clapham Common: 3.25pm - 4:25pm Summer Sundae, Leicester: 8pm - 8.45pm Tartan Heart, Belladrum, near Inverness: 6.30pm - 7.30pm confirmed.

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In session on Radio 1

An all-new BSP session will be broadcast on Radio 1 on Wednesday 27 July.

BSP recorded three tracks live for the Zane Lowe show at the BBC's Maida Vale studio. The band arrived good and early, giving them time for a subsidised feed in the BBC canteen. Having enjoyed pastie, chips and beans for an affordable two pounds and then inspected the portraits of Pierre Boulez and Sir Adrian Boult in reception, it was time for BSP to start work.

As the BBC Symphony Orchestra rehearsed for the Proms in Studio 1, BSP recorded in the more modest Studio 4. There was little modest about the band’s performance however. But, as when buying clothes or a used car, it’s better to see for yourself. Why not tune the dial and have a listen? The BSP session will be broadcast between 7-9pm. There will also be an interview with the show’s live-wire New Zealander disc jockey.

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BSP on Isle Of Wight DVD

British Sea Power feature on the Isle Of Wight 2004 DVD, filmed live on stage at the Isle Of Wight Festival. The DVD features one track from BSP - Stretch And Flex With Ursine Ultra (aka Rock In A). That is right, BSP doing it with famous stage bear Ursine Ultra at one of the creature’s last appearances before being made involuntarily redundant. Several renowned BSP admirers can spotted in the front row and the BSP performance is real bright and breezy. Even so, think carefully before buying - notwithstanding guaranteed in-focus additional footage of Groove Armada, Steve Harley and Jet. Out now. Certificate: exempt from classification.

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German dates with der Killers

British Sea Power are delighted to be playing two German dates with The Killers. These shows follow directly on from two German shows with Adam Green.

Monday 4 July Hamburg Stadtpark (supporting Adam Green).
Tuesday 5 July Dortmund Soundgarden (supporting Adam Green).
Wednesday 6 July Berlin Postbahnhof (supporting The Killers).
Thursday 7 July Hamburg Docks (supporting The Killers).

British Sea Power's German advisors have suggested that, "British Sea Power can too wear some Max Factor and wooden earrings, then you can be British Sea Powder! But be careful not to eat too many kartoffeln or you will not be suited to this role on stage."

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Type and send for free BSP tickets

You can now register for a Smirnoff-sponsored event at Brighton Racecourse on Saturday 23 July. British Sea Power are playing a full and amplified set in one of the two rooms at the event. Entrance is free if your names is drawn in an amazing vodka-fuelled raffle draw. To put your name in the hat, please go to the following link and then follow your nose.

www.smirnoffexperience.co.uk

Even if you prefer a Cherry B or fine whisky malt from the Western Isles, do not hesitate to enter this jamboree. Entrance by e-mail will cost only a small parcel of electricity and on the night you won't have to pay for any electricity at all.

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British Sea Power at the festivals

Devotees of music without roof, will be delighted by the array of music festivals that British Sea Power are playing this summer. For newcomers to the form, these events typically feature a wide variety of bands and solo artists and the opportunity to purchase food, drink, clothing and other ancillary items. British Sea Power are playing at the following festivals.

14 July - Arezzo Waves festival, Italy
15 July - Some festival near Milan, Italy
5 Aug - Haldern festival, Germany
7 Aug- Ben & Jerrys festival, Clapham Common, London
12 Aug - Summer Sundae festival, Leicester
13 Aug - Tartan Heart festival, Belladrum, near Inverness, Scotland
26 Aug - Carling festival, Leeds
27 Aug - Eden Project, near St Austell, Cornwall (supporting Ian Brown)
28 Aug - Carling festival, Reading
9 Sept - Bestival, Isle Of Wight

BSP are particularly looking forward to the Tartan Heart festival, where we are second on the bill only to XXXXX, aka the mighty Proclaimers. Tartan Heart will take place in the centre of the wonderful Scottish Highlands. Fittingly, BSP plan to tailor their Tartan Heart appearance with emotive Caledonian trimmings - all the better to make clear that the name British Sea Power is nothing to do with imperial suppression and the foul deeds of that lard-arsed butcher, The Duke Of Cumberland. We say, Fuck you, Duke Mook, and let us sing for the memory of bonny Rona and Loch Shiel. BSP are also looking forward to playing at the Eden Project with whippet-kool Ian Brown. There is at least some chance that Mr Brown will see the BSP name as token of lumpen xenophobia. Even now, BSP are looking forward to the opportunity to say this is not the case and that they like reggae as well.

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Brakes album out now

Eamon from British Sea Power had made an album and it is out now. It is called Give Blood and is released on the Rough Trade label.

As everyone knows, Give Blood also features consistently satisfactory team playing from Bazzin Marc Beatty and the brothers Alex and Tom White. But it ain't just all men - Give Blood also features sensual, even erotic, guest vocals from The Pipettes and Liela Moss from The Duke Spirit. WARNING! Eamon sings on everything else.

Come and give money for Give Blood and help the glorious and triumphant repatriation of the man they call The Gypsy. You won't look daft - just the other week The Independent On Sunday confirmed that Give Blood is better than Miles Davis, Missy Elliott and Chet Baker and every bit the equal of Monteverdi.

 


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BSP live at Adventures In The Beetroot Field

There is a new klub nacht in toon and it is called Adventures In The Beetroot Field. Bearing a most similar name to BSP track Favours In The Beetroot Fields, this night is hot and heavy and never more so than on Friday 27 May. BSP will be playing live and also fitting in a DJ set. There will also be live sets from Brakes and Battle, among others. The venue is Electrowerks, Islington, London and the night runs from 9pm-4am. Tickets are £12.50 (£10 NUS) from www.ticketmaster.co.uk or from Rough Trade Covent Garden.

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New BSP single out 23 May

Please Stand Up has been chosen as the second single from British Sea Power’s Open Season album. It will be released in Britain on 23 May. The single will be available on CD, enhanced CD and seven-inch vinyl and all formats will feature unreleased B-sides sung by human voice.

Even now the BSP design bureau is working on the sleeve art for the single. Developing the recent BSP sleeve images of rampant stag and roaring bear, perhaps the new cover will feature rat, bat or cat. Wouldn’t that be grand? When the image has been mind-made and wrought to perfection, you will be the first to know.

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Open Season album released to rapturous reviews

British Sea Power’s Open Season album is out and making the critics shout. The second BSP LP was released on 4 April 2005 and was met by an almost endless series of positive press raves.

The album entered the UK albums chart at number 13. Unlucky for some, but not for the BSP bandits judging by the powerful press pumping the LP has summoned forth.

Open Season has been bigged to billy-oh by everyone from The Guardian to The Sun, the NME to MOJO. The Independent, The Sunday Times and The Independent On Sunday all awarded Open Season a maximum 5/5, while The Guardian, NME and Daily Mirror all made the record their album of the week.

“A marvellous album,” declared The Guardian. “You are struck by the thrilling sense of being drawn into a world not defined by standard rock iconography... A triumphant lesson in gracefully sweeping toward the mainstream with your imagination and mystery intact.”

Perhaps most pleasing of all was seeing Open Season appointed album on the month in leading ladies’ swank mag, Glamour. Reviewed in the May issue alongside sensational advice on EXTREME ORGASM MAKEOVERS, tasteful nudey shots of Kelis and Macy Gray, plus A FREE HAIRCUT, SPRAY TAN & COCKTAIL FOR EVERY READER, Open Season was ladled with praise:

“One of the key albums of 2005... it’s easy to see tunes as catchy as Please Stand Up becoming massive summer hits, but unravel the multi-layered, highly poetic lyrics and it’s apparent that these songs are more than hits, they’re classics in waiting.”

Well done Glamour and well done BSP.

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BSP single hits Top 20

British Sea Power single It Ended On An Oily Stage was released on 21 March and entered the UK singles chart at number 18.

The single was made Track Of The Week in the NME: "It Ended On An Oily Stage throbs with a very specific kind of abandon, one close to the dark melodic wonder of prime Joy Division or the perfectly mad pop of Sparks... a proud new dawn for this most uniquely British pop ensemble."

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New album released 4 April

The second British Sea Power album, Open Season, is released on 4 April. Already, the world's free press is proclaiming the album's virtue.

In the NME, James Jam reported that, "Open Season epitomises everything that is great about pop music right now. Literate, impassioned and full of tunes, it feels like the product of a band who know their time is finally now."

In the Independent On Sunday, Simon Price declared that, "On first, second, third, fourth and fifth listen, it will definitely be one of this writer's albums of 2005."

The majority of the album was recorded by Mads Bjerke (Spiritualized, Primal Scream, Girls Aloud) and mixed by Bill Price (Sex Pistols, The Clash, Sparks). Two tracks were recorded and mixed by Graham Sutton (The Delays, Bark Psychosis) and Phill Brown (Sly Stone, Led Zeppelin, Talk Talk).

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New single released 21 March

It Ended On An Oily Stage, the first single from the forthcoming British Sea Power album Open Season is released on 21 March. The single will be available on CD, enhanced CD and seven-inch vinyl.

Bargain hunters alert! On the HMV website, all three formats can be pre-ordered for a combined price of £4.00 only (including postage). Rest assured that pre-order purchases through the HMV site do count toward the Top 40. Pre-order at www.hmv.co.uk

The track listing for the three single formats is as follows. All B-sides are previously unreleased and we vouchsafe that all they are up to rigorous BSP B-side standards.

CD: It Ended On An Oily Stage/Green Grass Of Tunnel.
Enhanced CD: It Ended On An Oily Stage/ When I Go Out/Crystal Horse/It Ended On An Oily Stage [Video].
Seven-inch vinyl: It Ended On An Oily Stage/Do You Want To Be A Bird?

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BSP in session on XFM

British Sea Power are appearing on the Ian Camfield Music:Response show on Monday 21 March. BSP will start their slot around 7.45pm. You can vote for plays for the Oily Stage single on XFM at:
www.xfm.co.uk/sectional.asp?id=2360

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BSP on free Guardian CD

BSP track Be Gone, taken from the Open Season album, features on the free CD that comes with The Guardian on Saturday 12 March. The CD also has tracks by Bloc Party, Roots Manuva, Mercury Rev, The Kills and the sexy Kaiser Chiefs.