City, Town and Country: a three day residency with Darren Hayman

We're very excited to announce a three day residency with Darren Hayman at the The Betsey Trotwood in January - we'll be announcing special guests shortly for each night, who will all be incorporating the evening's theme in to their set.

City, Town and Country A three day themed residency with Darren Hayman.

Monday 18th: City with Dearbhla Minogue and one more TBA City themed songs from "We Love The City" and others

Tuesday 19th: Town with Deerful and one more TBA Town themed songs from "Local Information". "Pram Town" and others

Wednesday 20th: Country with Maia Sofia and one more TBA Country themed songs from "Essex Arms", "Great British Holiday EPs" and others

Tickets are available from WeGotTickets

We'll be announcing the final support for each evening in January - we're very excited and know you'll be in for a treat...

In the meantime, here's a wonderful video review of Darren's Florence record from The Guardian's Alexis Petridis.

The Smittens on tour with Owl & Mouse

The Smittens are heading over from Vermont to play a week of shows in the UK and Norway. Joining them will be Owl & Mouse, playing in support of their debut album, Departures.

Catch Owl & Mouse and The Smittens here: July 3rd: Cardiff – Four Bars at Dempsey’s [Owl & Mouse only] Tickets July 4th: Brighton - The Hope & Ruin (w/ King Of Cats, Moscow Centre) Tickets July 5th: Leeds - Wharf Chambers (w/ The Seven Inches) July 6th: Oxford - The Library (w/ Jess Hall) July 7th: London - The Shacklewell Arms (w/ Tigercats) Tickets July 8th: Moss, Norway July 9th: Bergen, Norway July 11th & 12th: Indiefjord, Bjorke, Norway (w/ The School, The Just Joans and more)

Tigercats

We're very excited to announce that Tigercats are back! Following the success of their debut album Isle Of Dogs in 2012, they'll be playing a show for us on Saturday the 24th of May, at The Shacklewell Arms in London to preview material from their upcoming album before they head over to Spain to play the Primavera festival. Support comes from Fika favourites Fever Dream and Mammoth Penguins.Tickets are available now from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/269947.

TIGERCATS Tigercats return for their first London show in almost a year having completed recording the follow up to 2012’s debut album “Isle Of Dogs”.

Tigercats are a band from East London who make pop music with guitars, keyboards and drums. After previous band Esiotrot shambled to a halt, songwriter Duncan Barrett sought a leaner, lither framework for his open-hearted songs. He asked his brother and long-time producer Giles to join on bass, who was soon followed by Jonny on drums, Laura on keyboard and Paul on guitar. After early singles on Haircut Records and WeePop, their debut album Isle of Dogs was released in 2012 on Fika Recordings and Acuarela Discos. In their short life Tigercats have played across most of Europe, including sets at Primavera Festival, appearances on Spanish TV (RTVE Radio3) and Indietracks. Across innumerable mini-tours they have shared stages with: Allo Darlin’, the Wave Pictures, Darren Hayman, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Standard Fare, Let’s Wrestle, the Lovely Eggs and Milky Wimpshake, amongst others. They recently completed their first trip across the pond and toured the USA and Canada with labelmates the Smittens and Making Marks in spring 2013, culminating with a headline appearance at NYC Popfest. They played End of the Road Festival last summer with the likes of Belle & Sebastian, Dinosaur Jr and Sigur Ros, and they are currently working on their second album, which they hope to have out in time for summer 2014.

“Tigercats are a very, very good band. The kind of band that make you want to be a teenager again, so they can be your band.” The Sunday Times

“there’s something unconsciously authentic about Tigercats... this could be a band to listen to obsessively” Drowned In Sound

“Their songs betray no ulterior motives of forced cool, only an enthusiastic young band in love with making songs. Excellent, alive, and bright.“ Artrocker

tigercatsband.com

FEVER DREAM If post-punk bashed heads with shoegaze - you'd probably end up with a band that sounds like Fever Dream. Frantic shreds of guitar over that bass sound held together by tight as drumming. Easily one of the best live bands around at the moment.

“Taking inspiration from the noisy 90s, ie: Sonic Youth, Pavement and My Bloody Valentine they create intriguingly varied tracks. They range from gushing dream-pop melancholia on ‘This Waste’ to scuzzy, guitar and skewed rhythms on ‘Poyekhali!’ and messy, snarly post-punk on ‘Suspense’ – think Ride meets Fidlar.” This Is Fake DIY

feverdream.co.uk

MAMMOTH PENGUINS Infectious, scrappy lo-fi indie rock from Emma, Mark and Tom. They're a 3-piece indie-pop/alt-rock band from Cambridgeshire.

facebook.com/MammothPenguins

Stanley Brinks & The Wave Pictures

We're thrilled to announce that Stanley Brinks & The Wave Pictures will be playing at The Shacklewell Arms on Tuesday 27th August! Support on the night comes from Freschard. This show is a sneak preview of their upcoming album, out on Fika Recordings early 2014 and tickets are now available to purchase from WeGotTickets. We're happy to have the capable hands of Scared To Dance joining us on promotional duties for the show too!

Stanley Brinks is the current identity of André Herman Düne, formerly of the French folk rock band Herman Düne. He has recorded and played shows in Europe, the UK and the US under various other names such Ben Dope, Ben Haschish, Klaus Bong, John Trawling, Lord Stanislas.

Since leaving Herman Düne in December 2006 he has been championed by the likes of Jeffrey Lewis (who wrote a song about how Herman Düne were better when André was still in them) and in 2012 he collaborated with The Wave Pictures for their debut joint release. The follow up album is due to come out on Fika Recordings next year.

Stanley Brinks will be joined by The Wave Pictures as his backing band for this show. The Wave Pictures are David Tattersall, Franic Rozycki and Jonny “Huddersfield” Helm. Formed in 1998 when Franic and David lived in a village called Wymeswold, the band played with several drummers until Jonny became a permanent member in 2003 replacing Hugh J Noble. In the beginning the band learned to play together by covering Jonathan Richman songs.

They have released a twelve studio albums to critical acclaim and played numerous sessions on BBC 6 Music, Radio 1 and Xfm. Their new album, City Forgiveness, will be out in October on the Moshi Moshi label.

Freschard is the musical vehicle for the solo artist Clemence Freschard. She writes songs deftly combining folk music, urban daydreams, acoustic sounds and electronic programming.

Growing up in a farm in French Burgundy, she moved to Paris at the age of 18 where she baked pies and cakes in a café. There, a local musician and regular customer called André Herman Düne wrote a few songs for her to sing.

In 2004 she moved to Berlin, where she recorded her first LP Alien Duck with a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds. Her second album Click Click, recorded in 2006, features a drummer (Leo Bear Creek) and electric guitars by Stanley Brinks. On her third album, Moonstone she plays the drums herself. She works as a sound engineer and records her friends’ music. She also has a calypso cover band with Stanley Brinks, called Kreuzberg Museum.

Fika Recordings 'Barely Legal' North American Tour 2013

We've been back in the UK for a few days now from our 8 day tour around the East Coast of Canada and the USA with The Smittens, Tigercats and Making Marks. Readjusting to normal life has been somewhat tricky - I'm seriously missing getting on the road and venturing to a new city, stopping off a swim in a river on the way, or just chilling outside the motel until 5am with 14 of the best people I've had the pleasure to work with on Fika. Thankfully, Jørgen, drumer for Making Marks, filmed much of the trip and edited it down to the wonderful video below. Have a look and see what you missed out on. See you stateside in 2014 maybe?

On Tour!

In less than two weeks Fika Recordings are heading out on tour across the USA and Canada with Tigercats, The Smittens and Making Marks, ending up at New York Popfest. It's our first venture across the Atlantic, so please tell your friends, come down and have a dance and bring some pocket money to buy some records! Tigercats + The Smittens + Making Marks May 25: Taverne L’inspecteur Épingle, Montreal QC May 26: The Monkey House, Winooski VT May 27: Radio, Somerville MA May 28: Charm City Artspace, Baltimore MD May 29: Clown Can Country Club, Philadelphia PA May 30: Church Of Abraham, Richmond VA May 31: The Velvet Lounge, Washington DC June 1: Spike Hill, Brooklyn NY (The Smittens and Making Marks - afternoon show) June 1: The Bell House, Brooklyn NY (Tigercats - evening show)

Making Marks are also appearing at this summer's Indietracks festival and we're curr Jul 25-27 Indietracks, Derbyshire

Don't worry if you're in the UK though, there are plenty of Fika related shows coming up!

Darren Hayman has announced a monthly residency at the Vortex in Dalston, London. July features Witches and Bugbears; August is Sun Sea and Lidos. May 25: Now We Are Festival, West Bromwich July 11: Vortex, London Aug 8: Vortex London

Victoria and Jacob, the latest signings to Fika, are bringing their lush electronic pop to you as well... May 17: Old Blue Last, London (free show) May 25: Now We Are Festival, West Bromwich June 25: The Portland Arms, Cambridge July 24: 10 Feet Tall, Cardiff July 25-28: Secret Garden Party Festival, Cambridgeshire August 11: The Lexington, London (Album launch show with Azure Blue [SE], Cosines and Hong Kong In The 60s)

Fulhäst isn't going to miss out either, he's playing... June 28: Empty Shop HQ, Durham July 21: Buffalo Bar, London Aug 5: tba, Brighton

and finally Cosines will also be heading off to West Bromwich to join Darren Hayman, Victoria and Jacob, and many many more, after a last minute show with Seapony May 16: The Lexington, London (with Seapony) May 25: Now We Are Festival, West Bromwich

Making Marks on tour

Making Marks are off on tour around Germany and France supporting Allo Darlin'. Catch them at the dates below below! 17.11.12 – Lido, Berlin (DE) 18.11.12 – TBA, Jena (DE) 19.11.12 - Blaue Fabrik, Dresden (DE) 20.11.12 – Astra Stube, Hamburg (DE) 21.11.12 - Die hängende Gärten, Köln (DE) 22.11.12 - Workshop of Dorian Rollin, Ribeauville (FR) 23.11.12 - L’Internationale, Paris (FR) 24.11.12 - Le Rouge, Lille (FR)

You can buy their debut 7" single Ticket Machine from the Fika Recordings webshop.

Moustache Of Insanity [RIP]

Sad news people - Moustache Of Insanity are calling it a day. Moustache Of Insanity were one of the bands that made me want to start this label and I was overwhelming excited when Bill and Nik said yes to putting out a cassette on Fika this time last year. They've been an utter pleasure to have on the label and their Album Of Death was one of my favourite albums of last year, released here on sexy blood red vinyl and with our friends at Pull Yourself Together on CD.

All afternoon I've been thinking back over the gigs I've seen them play. Some have been truly shambolic; some have sounded rather professional; all been fantastically fun: they've never failed to make me grin, dance and giggle like an overexcited toddler. From the sticky, sweaty, bloody full band show in Brixton for the album launch, to the acoustic set in the workshop tent at last year's Indietracks festival, playing a blinding set earlier this month at The Lexington, to a truly chaotic set in a basement in Hackney with The Wave Pictures.... I've loved every single minute. Nik, Bill, thank you both!

So before Bill gets time to get back to being a full time Dad and bass player with Allo Darlin, and Nik launches his solo gameboy project, there are a few chances to see them play live together. 26 Jan - The Book Club, London 3 Feb - The Others, London 4 Feb - The Victora, Birmingham 10 Feb - Silver Bullet, London 1 Mar - The Cellar, Oxford 16 Mar - Singapora Lounge, Rochester

You can still buy their LP from us here - every copy comes its own photograph of them fooling around somewhere, a personalised message, a tea bag of death and a cake recipe, all on a delicious smelling slab of blood red vinyl. Go buy it before they're gone forever x

Happy Christmas Kittens

Just a quick thank you to everyone that came to our party/gig last night at The Betsey Trotwood to see Darren Hayman, Enderby's Room, Owl & Mouse and Rob Hillfield play. It was a free gig but we tried to guilt you in to donating some money to the Haworth Cat Rescue - and you did. We raised £150.05, which will feed a lot of kittens this Christmas. Thanks also to Julia for making the sublime vegan Christmas cake and decorating it for Fika Recordings.  

Christmas In Haworth launch show

On the 7th of December we're hosting a launch party for the release of Darren Hayman's Christmas In Haworth EP. Julia, who provided the vegan Christmas cake recipe, will be bringing a cake and I'll be baking some mince pies for the night. Entry is free but we are asking for a donation - everyone involved is doing this for free so all proceeds will go directly to the Haworth Cat Rescue.

Darren will be supported by Enderby's Room, Owl & Mouse and Rob Hillfield. They'll all be playing acoustically and unamplified. Hopefully see you at The Betsey Trotwood on Wednesday!