Johan Hedberg (Suburban Kids With Biblical Names) remix

So the 'debut' 7" single from Making Marks is out on Monday the 15th, and not content with two wonderful tracks on the vinyl, we've added a bonus remix track to the download. It comes courtesy of Johan Hedberg, ed half of Sweden's Suburban Kids With Biblical Names [Labrador Records]. Johan describes it as "sample based laid-back"; it makes us think of Ace of Base! With such a great remix, it only seemed fitting that we made a video for it too! http://vimeo.com/fikarecordings/ticketmachineremix

You can buy the Ticket Machine 7" now from http://shop.fikarecordings.com/album/ticket-machine and get an immediate download of Ticket Machine, Like Spinning and Johan's remix.

Making Marks - Ticket Machine

Making Marks start their UK tour tomorrow and we've released the video for their 7" single Ticket Machine to celebrate! It was filmed in Oslo and features archive footage from the 1946 short film, The Bus Driver. http://vimeo.com/fikarecordings/ticketmachine

Making Marks UK Tour Sep 2012 Thursday 13th: Undertone, Cardiff Friday 14th: Zanzibar, Liverpool Saturday 15th: The Victoria, Birmingham (w/ Tigercats) Sunday 16th: The Lexington (free afternoon show as part of The Hangover Lounge, w/ White Town) Wednesday 19th: Underbelly, Hoxton, London (w/ The Rosie Taylor Project and Owl & Mouse) Thursday 20th: Caboose Cafe, Ramsgate

The 7" is now available to pre-order. It'll be available in the shops on the 15th October, as well as on iTunes, Spotify etc. Buy from us and there'll be a very special bonus track remix of Ticket Machine from another Scandinavian Fika Recordings favourite...

BBC Radio 1: Huw Stephens' Label Of Love

This week we were delighted to be asked to join Huw Stephens on his BBC Radio 1 show to talk about Fika Recordings and play some tunes from the catalogue. You can listen again here:

Here's what we played: Tigercats - Harper Lee Lisa Bouvier - Andreas Red Shoe Diaries - Ice & Snow Moustache Of Insanity - We Need More Awesome Darren Hayman - Photos Like Postcards The Smittens - First Bus Making Marks - Hard To Be Good

Making Marks

Making Marks

The newest addition to Fika Recordings is Making Marks from Oslo, Norway. After 5 years as My Little Pony, they've slimmed down to a 4 piece to become Making Marks. They've gigged with the likes of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Asobi Seksu and Marit Larsen, toured extensively around Europe and the USA, including appearances at SXSW.

The debut single from Making Marks, Ticket Machine, will be released by Fika Recordings in October 2012 on 7" vinyl. They'll be in the UK playing some shows in September - full details to come.

We're celebrating our new signing by giving away a sparkling example of the joyous, sweet pop songs you can expect coming from Making Marks. So go download Hard To Be Good, watch the video, and keep your eyes peeled for more coming soon!

http://vimeo.com/fikarecordings/hardtobegood

Making Marks

"upbeat, lovely soulful indie pop. Think Belle & Sebastian sprinkled with Motown, jazz, and far more instruments, including the banjo, classical strings, brass and the glockenspiel. What keeps [them] an indie pop band as we know it is frontman Ola Innset’s serene, Paul Simon-esque voice" MTV

"Citing Neil Sedaka and Chris Isaak and possesing the gift of tenderness like Belle & Sebastian, Making Marks, [are] rich and varied, with strings, trumpets and electric guitars" Rolling Stone

"Wonderful twee-like qualities makes them sound like one of those legendary Labrador bands that have been perfecting this craft for years and years" Panic Manual

Free "Burning Streets Of Rome" download from The Smittens

To celebrate the upcoming release of The Smittens' album on Fika Recordings in July, we're giving away a track for free! Burning Streets Of Rome is the lead single (out as a download on June 23rd, flanked by two brand new b-sides) from the album, to provide you a taster of what to expect. There's a video we'll be revealing shortly too. And if all that unveiling wasn't enough, we'll be previewing a track at a time from the album over on the Fika Recordings shop.

So, for now, download and enjoy Burning Streets Of Rome...

Tigercats - Harper Lee video

There's a brand new single from Tigercats, with a brand new video to go with it. http://vimeo.com/43298802

Darren Hayman, fresh from shooting videos for The Wave Pictures and Shrag is the man behind the camera for this one. He says "One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was every time you get a new instrument or toy, record everything you do on it for the first few weeks. I got an HD camera and before reading the manual I made a video for Tigercats. There is nothing quite like the excitement of discovery, stumbling upon ideas. I wanted to make a rock video as though I were someone who'd never seen a rock video before."

Harper Lee / Cats Run Free 7" out 23rd July 2012.

Tigercats - Full Moon Reggae Party video

Tigercats have a new single coming out in April, followed a week later on the 9th by the official release of the Isle Of Dogs LP, and to get you all excited for it, they've made an awesome video. Singer/guitarist Duncan of Tigercats spent many many days locked away drawing and animating this, so hopefully you'll enjoy it! http://vimeo.com/37688129

The single is out on Fika Recordings on the 2nd of April, and comes with two b-sides, both featuring Owl & Mouse. Nude With Dogs will be familiar to some of you from their live shows, while Everywhere is a stupendous cover of Fleetwood Mac's classic. They'll be available from the Fika Recordings shop and the usual digital retailers.

Tigercats - Isle Of Dogs LP due April 9th

We hope you've been enjoying the advent calendar we've been hosting with Darren Hayman. So far we've had 42 songs available to download for free - including appearances from The Wave Pictures, the song writing debut of comedian Josie Long, a track featuring Bedders from Madness and plenty of Fika Recordings favourites. Today's offering includes two songs from Bill Botting (of Allo Darlin', The Secondary Modern and Moustache Of Insanity) and from Fika Recording's latest artist, Tigercats. All of which means we can announce... ... on April 9th, we'll be releasing Isle Of Dogs, the debut album from Tigercats. Yeah! It'll be coming out on Fika Recordings on 12" vinyl, and there'll be the usual Fika related treats included. More details once I figure them out. In the meantime, head over and download their Christmas song! Woo!

Buying the Christmas In Haworth EP

Just a quick post to let you know you can pop into your local record shop and pick up a copy of Darren Hayman's new EP, as well as buying it online from us here or from Darren here. Norman Records [online] Pebble Records [online] Rough Trade [London] Spillers Records [Cardiff] Piccadilly Records [Manchester] Resident Music [Brighton] Avalanche Records [Edinburgh] Violet & Claire [Japan]

Christmas In Haworth advent calendar

In celebration of Fika Recording's last release of the current year, the Christmas In Haworth 10" EP, Darren and myself have put together a Christmas treat for you. On the first of December we'll be launching an online advent calendar. Every day, from the first to the twenty-fourth, we'll be posting up an mp3 or a video that you can download for free. There'll be videos and songs from Darren himself, some current and future Fika Recordings artists will be contributing, as well as a number of very special guests and friends, including The Wave Pictures, Tigercats, MJ Hibbert and many more we can't reveal quite yet... We're kicking it all off now with a free download of The Christmas Wars from the Christmas In Haworth EP. Head over to the website to download, and keep an eye out for something special next Monday to mark the official release of the EP.

Christmas In Haworth - an online advent calendar from Darren Hayman, Fika Recordings and friends