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Savages at Liverpool Sound City. Picture by Nathan Barnes for Key Production.

A couple of weeks ago, we popped up to Liverpool for Liverpool Sound City 2013.  We saw loads of brilliant bands, including Savages (above), TOY, Bastille, AlunaGeorge and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. All of them blew us away, and it was inspiring to see people getting excited about the hundreds of smaller independent and emerging bands.

To see what we got up to in Liverpool, head over here.

Well, we’ve just about recovered from this epic trip, and tomorrow, we’re doing it all again! Key Production is heading down to Brighton to take in the sights and, most importantly, sounds of The Great Escape. We’ll be saying hello to a few of our friends (The Skints, Drenge, Temples, Big Deal, Young Husband, Crushed Beaks, Houndmouth, Dingus Khan, Ruen Brothers, Dinosaur Pile-Up and Parquet Courts) and listening to some exciting emerging artists (Tribes, Chvrches, Wolf Alice, Swim Deep and Dark Horses). It’s going to be fun!

Keep an eye on @keyproduction to see all the trouble we’ll be getting ourselves into.

Pictures by Nathan Barnes

It’s a sad week for live music.

On Saturday 4^th May, The Bull and Gate – a legendary pub and music venue in the heart of North London – finally closed its doors after 40 years.

Some pretty spectacular bands, such as The Manic Street Preachers, The Sex Pistols, Coldplay and Blur, have graced The Bull and Gate’s modest stage over the years, but the pub’s new owners will be shutting down the stage and turning the space into a kitchen.

Key Production has a lot of history with The Bull and Gate – it’s just down the road from our office, and we’ve had countless parties and after work drinks there. So, when we heard our beloved pub was being sold, we wanted to say goodbye to it properly. After a little bit of thinking, we came up with the perfect send off: a huge farewell gig, in conjunction with the Camden New Journal, featuring the brilliant Kentish Town band Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, with all proceeds going to charity.

And on Friday 12^th April, that’s just what we did! The event sold out incredibly quickly after we announced it, which was brilliant but unsurprising – the venue is beloved by everyone in London, as are Kitty, Daisy and Lewis.

Key’s very own Nick Herrmann kicked things off with his band Late Arrivals Club. Their Americana-tinged folk pop managed to pull in a considerable crowd from the bar, and by the time the band had finished their set, the audience was warmed up and ready for the main event.

And what an event! Kitty, Daisy and Lewis practically tore the place down with their explosive rock and roll, as if they didn’t want to see The Bull and Gate pass into the wrong hands. Between songs, Kitty took to the microphone to explain the band’s connection with the historic venue: “It’s just across the road from our home. It’s an honour to play here and we’d like to see it saved.”

The room was overflowing, the audience involuntarily spilling into the bar as Kitty, Daisy and Lewis played ferociously long into the night. Drinks spilled. Sweat poured. Cheers filled the air.

The farewell party was a huge success: everyone had a chance to say goodbye, we were treated to two great shows, and all the money raised was donated to pensioner lunch clubs across the borough.

But despite all this, the night was ultimately bitter-sweet. As we danced to the frenetic rhythms of Kitty, Daisy and Lewis well into the early hours, there was no escaping the sad fact that it would be for the last time.

The Bull & Gate was truly one of London’s greatest venues, and it will be sorely missed.

Watch Late Arrivals Club performing ‘Power Cut’.

Watch Kitty, Daisy and Lewis performing ‘Don’t Make a Fool Out of Me’.

Malcolm Middleton – one half of legendary Scottish duo Arab Strap and celebrated solo performer – is set to re-release his superb 2002 solo debut this June, on vinyl for the very first time. Amazing, right? What’s even more amazing is that it’s crammed full of exciting bonus material.

While 5:14 Fluoxytine Seagull Alcohol John Nicotine may have proved something of a mouthful to say when it first came out on CD, it was certainly a hugely affecting listen, with scores of critics tripping over themselves to lavish praise on Middleton’s mournful debut. Key Production is immensely proud to be manufacturing the reissue for Chemikal Underground – a limited run of 750, which will include:

- The original album on heavyweight double vinyl.

- 10 track single LP of original acoustic recordings.

- 15 track CD of bonus material.

- Signed and numbered 12″ x 12″ artwork/lyric sheet.

- Data disc that includes all the audio on 320kbps MP3s & the ‘Crappo The Clown’ short film by Martin Smith.

Malcolm’s tour starts Monday 29^th in Edinburgh. Details here.

www.malcolmmiddleton.co.uk

www.chemikal.co.uk

Only about 12 hours to go!

Everyone here in the Key Production office is trembling with excitement. Record Store Day is our favourite day of the year – there’s nothing we love more than waking up bright and early, trotting down to our beloved local record store, and spending all of our savings on bundles and bundles of delicious vinyl.

If, for some bizarre reason, you’ve never heard of Record Store Day, this is what the official website has to say for itself: “Record Store Day came into being in 2007 when over 700 independent stores in the USA came together to celebrate their unique culture. The UK followed suit and 2013 will see the sixth celebration of the UK’s unique independent sector. This is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists across the globe make special appearances and performances. Festivities include performances, meet & greets with artists, DJ’s, in store quizzes and many other events.” You see? It’s awesome!

Unsurprisingly, we manufactured quite a few of the exclusive releases you’ll be rummaging through tomorrow. Keep an eye out for an exclusive Nick Cave picture disc, a limited edition Dark Dark Dark 10″, the Pulp and Soulwax ‘After You’ remix, some Brian Jonestown Massacre hand-numbered purple vinyl, and the new Wire double LP, plus loads more. For a full list of releases, head over here.

So make sure you all set your alarms! You don’t want to miss out on all the special events and releases. I’l be cruising by The Sound Machine in Reading and Oxford’s Truck Store.

Oh, and we’ve lovingly made you a Spotify playlist, which features many of our friends who have new releases tomorrow.