Aidan made a promotional film for the new Arab Strap CD reissues . . .
The new, expanded, deluxe CD versions of The Week Never Starts Round Here and Philophobia are available now from Chemikal Underground.
On Friday the 17th of September, Aidan John Moffat, Aidan Moffat & The Best-Ofs and Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat will be performing at the Paisley Arts Centre, Paisley (near Glasgow). Yes, that’s right – Aidan supported by Aidan, supported by Aidan! Three different sets and three different set-ups that represent the past, present and future! He may also be doing this in other cities in the near future – we’ll keep you posted.
Information and tickets are now available here.
. . . possibly. It may well have already sold out of its first run but there will be more on the way. The new anthology, edited by Rodge Glass, features a short story by Aidan and many others. You can find out more about it HERE.
Aidan was recently a guest of Mogwai on their new monthly podcast for Radio Magnetic. Aidan plays a few tunes and previews two tracks from his forthcoming mini LP. You can listen here.
The Arab Strap box set, ‘Scenes Of A Sexual Nature’, is available now!
The set includes:
* LP of Week Never Starts Round Here replete with artwork modifications reflecting Aidan’s original ‘vision’.
* 2LP of Philophobia with revised sleeve artwork incorporating lyric/book effect.
* Bonus 2LP featuring Arab Strap’s first two Peel Sessions, rarities/tracks from old singles etc. and a live version of ‘Girls Of Summer’ from Chemikal’s 5th Birthday Party, complete with John Peel’s introduction.
* The bonus 2LP also includes ‘Daughters of Darkness’; a previously incomplete and unreleased track, recently finished in Chem19 by Aidan and Malcolm exclsuively for this box set.
* A CD of live BBC material: Arab Strap’s first ever concert at King Tuts in October 1996 and their live performance at T In The Park, July 1998.
* A CD featuring tracks from all of Arab Strap’s WNSRH and Philophobia-era EPs.
* A data disc featuring MP3s of all the vinyl only tracks and movie files for videos ‘Here We Go’ and ‘(Afternoon) Soaps’.
* A complete replica of Arab Strap’s original ‘green frog’ demo cassette as sent to Chemikal Underground in 1996.
* Full, exclusive sleeve notes by both Aidan and Malcolm.
* A full colour poster featuring press clippings/reviews/Strap-related Falkirk hysteria.
* A numbered certificate. individually signed by Malcolm and Aidan.
So, in summary: 5LPs, 3CDs, 1 cassette, 1 poster, 1 signed certificate, over 70 tracks, only 1,000 made, a lot of hard work, a great deal of excitiement…
You can buy it from the Chemikal Underground Store or a record shop near you now! SOLD OUT!
The new Aidan Moffat & The Best-Ofs single is now available on 7” and download! Side A is Knock On The Wall Of Your Womb, a complete reworking of the album track, Lullaby For Unborn Child, while the B side is Aidan’s new short story for children, The Lavender Blue Dress. The 7” is VERY limited, and if you buy it from the Chemikal Underground online shop you’ll also receive their exclusive digital version which includes the single as mp3s, the video (SCROLL DOWN!) plus live versions of the single tracks recorded at Aidan’s recent gig at the Luminaire in London! Buy it online here: http://shop.chemikal.co.uk/acatalog/CHEM122.html
Look what we found on YouTube… with thanks to SleekitCuts!
Here’s the video for the new Aidan Moffat & The Best-Ofs single, Knock On The Wall Of Your Womb, to be released on the 28th of September. Scroll down for details!
As part of his regular Vice blog, Aidan has this week chosen to offer a song. You can read the introduction and download the song HERE. It’s called Smash The Mystic Industry and isn’t available anywhere else!
How To Get To Heaven From Scotland is reviewed over at FRESH DEER MEAT.
And there’s an interview with Aidan at THE QUIETUS.
ALSO: Aidan’s column for Vice this week takes the form of a short story! You can read it HERE.
Other news… Lullaby For Unborn Child is currently being ‘remixed’ for a possible single release in April or May and the B-side will apparently be a children’s story written and read by Aidan!… and hopefully there should be some UK gigs in May plus a small tour of Japan!
More reviews and interviews coming in for the Aidan Moffat & The Best-Ofs album…
Online:
You can read Aidan’s track-by-track breakdown of the album for Drowned In Sound HERE.
And he’s also been interviewed by (the excellent) Emmy The Great too - GO HERE.
There’s a special Valentine’s edition of his I’m No Expert advice column HERE.
There’s a review on THE QUIETUS too.
In print:
There are are interviews in the current Time Out and Clash magazines… and this week’s NME gives it 8 / 10!
And there’s probably loads more that we’ve missed too.
If you want to know more about the limited edition board game version of the Aidan Moffat & The Best-Ofs album, you can either go over to THE QUIETUS or go to our online shop and find details there. Word is they’re selling pretty fast through pre-orders so you should probably get a move on if you want one…
You can now download the ‘radio version’ - i.e. with the swear-word removed - of Big Blonde ABSOLUTELY FREE! There’s a catch though. The mp3 is the prize in the new How To Get To Heaven From Scotland online board game. It’s a bit like snakes and ladders, and when you land on a ‘snake’ you’ll be able to hear a track from the new album as a consolation for being sent back a few squares. It also includes comments and a voiceover from Aidan too. You can find it RIGHT HERE.
The album, How To Get To Heaven From Scotland by Aidan Moffat & The Best-Ofs, is released on February 14th. Some comments so far:
“His disjointed pop vignettes and ruminative lullabies are underpinned, as ever, by excellent reflections on affairs of the head, hind quarters and heart.” PLAN B
“Utterly compelling. The perfect album for your bloody valentine.” ALTERNATIVE ULSTER [8/10]
“...a timely, very tuneful reminder that there’s more to Valentine’s Day than those tired Hallmark clichés.” THE LIST [4/5]
“...twelve truly affecting tracks which stay just on the right side side of romance.” THE FLY
And you can read a more comprehensive review over at GOD IS IN THE TV.
More when we get them…
Aidan will also be appearing in the press here and there and we will endeavour to keep you informed. So far we know there will be a Valentine-themed interview in this week’s (8th February) Scotland On Sunday, but all you non-Scots can find it online HERE.
Aidan also donated a Valentine’s poem to The SKINNY too.
Aidan has just begun what will hopefully become a weekly blog over at viceland.com. The column is called A Good Thing To Lose and in it Aidan will attempt to experience as many new things in life as he can then share it with you. These could be as simple as buying The Sun newspaper or watching Mamma Mia!, but could also include a trip to a fortune teller and even a seance. The first experience he tackles is a male sex toy and you can read all about it HERE.
Part 2 is up now - a review of Mamma Mia! You can find it HERE.
Enjoy!
We’ve also now added Aidan’s 2 new columns (this one and I’m No Expert) to the LINKS PAGE.