RETROSPECTIVE SOUNDTRACK PLAYERS NEW ALBUM 'IT'S A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS CAROL' OUT 24 NOVEMBER // CD, DOWNLOAD & LIMITED RED VINYL

It’s a Wonderful Christmas Carol is a brand new bundle of seasonal songs from the UK’s foremost (or only) purveyors of concept-folk-pop, The Retrospective Soundtrack Players. Good boys and girls who preorder will be gifted the early Christmas present of 'Every Time a Bell Rings an Angel Gets its Wings'.

Preorder the album on CD, vinyl and download from Xtra Mile Recordings, on CD or vinyl from Amazon or Banquet Records, and - finally - download straight from iTunes. Phew! You're being spoiled this Christmas!

The veritable shopping list of tracks for RSP's festive third album is below, including the live choir-like favourite 'No Man Is Poor Who Has Friends'. But you can listen to the suitably cynical 'Bah Hambug' right now here: 

Taken from the forthcoming album 'It's A Wonderful Christmas Carol' out 24th November 2014 on CD, download and limited edition vinyl. Pre-order: http://smarturl.it/RSPsXmas-XMR http://smarturl.it/RSPsXmas-Banquet http://smarturl.it/RSPsXmas-AmazonLP http://smarturl.it/RSPsXmas-AmazonCD http://smarturl.it/RSPsXmas-iTunes

It’s A Wonderful Christmas Carol features guest appearances from several artists from the Xtra Mile stable – namely Frank Turner, Ben Marwood and Chris T-T.

Tracklisting:
1. Theme from ‘It’s a Wonderful Christmas Carol’
2. I’m Sleeping this Christmas
3. It’s a Wonderful Life
4. Bah Humbug! Instant Grat for preordering
5. The Guardian Angel
6. The Ghost of Christmas Past (I’m a Coward) featuring Chris T-T
7. The Ghost of Christmas Present (No Ego) featuring Frank Turner
8. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (I Can’t Be Anybody Else) featuring Ben Marwood
9. Christmas Day
10. Every Time a Bell Rings an Angel Gets its Wings
11. No Man is Poor Who Has Friends

It’s A Wonderful Christmas Carol borrows themes of loneliness, greed, poverty and eventual redemption from the classic works of Dickens and Capra, weaving them into a new compendium of joyous and memorable songs that showcase the band’s unique voice and storytelling skill.

The band will be playing a few shows around the release: 

NOVEMBER

14 Southampton @ Joiners *
21 London @ Camden Monarch **

DECEMBER
07 Portsmouth @ Square Tower ***
12 Manchester @ Star & Garter ***
14 Swindon @ Victoria ***
18 Brighton @ The Brunswick ***
* with Solemn Sun / ** with Elliott Kozlik / *** with Chris T-T and the Hoodrats

Some words about RSP’s previous work:

‘Nihilistic and hopelessly romantic, Kyle Evans imitates Holden Caulfield perfectly...'  ROCK SOUND
'Less of a band and more of an art project... thoroughly enjoyable'  PUNKTASTIC
‘authentic, original and innovative gems… irresistibly catchy’  STEREOBOARD

www.therspuk.com / @theRSPuk / www.facebook.com/therspuk

XTRA MILE HIGH CLUB VOL. 5: SMOKIN' (SIGNED VS UNSIGNED) OUT 11 AUGUST 2014

Xtra Mile Recordings will release Xtra Mile High Club Vol. 5: Smokin’ (Signed vs Unsigned) - the fifth installment of the critically acclaimed label compilation series - on 11 August 2014. 

Split into two halves, this digital only compilation features almost every act on Xtra Mile Recordings’ roster on ‘Side A’ and an unsigned act of their choosing on ‘Side B’.

Showcasing the diversity of Xtra Mile’s musical leanings, Side A features the caustic title track from Transgender Dysphoria Blues by Against Me!; the cannonball barrage of Möngöl Hörde’s ‘Blistering Blue Barnacles’; the unmistakable roots groove of Sonic Boom Six’s ‘A Little Bit of Reggae’, and the unplugged wordplay of Ben Marwood’s ‘They Will Float Your Body Out To Sea’. You’ll get pop highs off of Rob Lynch, gruff bluntness from Beans On Toast, and synth-laden pop from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. You’ll hear from our newer signees like Billy the Kid and one of our oldest friends, Jamie Lenman. The whole spectrum.

Our acts are always discovering new music and ‘Side B’ - in keeping with Xtra Mile’s constant search and support for new and unsigned acts - comprises their recommendations of emerging artists. Included are the sublime Spring Offensive, The Lion & the Wolf, The Karma Party, Toucans, Grace Petrie & the Benefits Culture, Little Rob and The Mob and many, many more.

Joining the unsigned half of the compilation are International Departures who won the final spot with their track ‘Give Me Something’, voted for by our dedicated Xtra Mile Street Team from hundreds of entries sent to us last month. Like bumping into a dear friend unexpectedly, it turns out Henry Carden – formerly of Dartz! alongside William Anderson of current XMR band, Algiers – is the man behind International Departures.

The artwork is a snapshot taken of an active volcano and is in keeping with all previous plane/sky/space themed XMHC volume front covers. This naturally gave rise to the so-obvious-it’s-not-even-funny compilation title: Smokin’.

Look out for an XMR Hub feature which will include our bands’ reasons for choosing their unsigned counterparts and other fun Smokin’ related things.

The Xtra Mile High Club series, proudly shows off the breadth of talent on its eclectic roster. Welcome to the club… 

Full tracklisting is below:

Side A – Xtra Mile                                             

1. Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
2. Cheap Girls - Man In Question
3. Northcote - Counting Down The Days
4. Ben Marwood - They Will Float Your Body Out To Sea (Alternate Version)
5. Rob Lynch - My Friends and I
6. Billy the Kid - Yet
7. To Kill A King - Cold Skin
8. Algiers - Little Friction
9. Retrospective Soundtrack Players - Smart Girls For Talking, Morons For Dancing (Live) 
10. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - As Always
11. Mull Historical Society - Why Do They Go So Soon (Home Demo)
12. Beans On Toast - Sold Out Shows
13. Crazy Arm - Black Canyon
14. Jon Snodgrass - "Song For The Groom's Friend, the friend who is the actual guy conducting the ceremony” (Exclusive Version)
15. Chris T-T & The Hoodrats - A Beaten Drum (piano version, live at St Paul's Lifestyle)
16. Franz Nicolay & The Cut Ups - To Us, The Beautiful
17. Drag The River - Marooned
18. Sonic Boom Six - A Little Bit Of Reggae
19. Jamie Lenman - Shower of Scorn
20. Oxygen Thief - con.script.shun
21. Möngöl Hörde - Blistering Blue Barnacles

Side B - Unsigned

1. The Frankl Project - A Day At The Races
2. Failures’ Union - Hard To Sea
3. Kayleigh Goldsworthy - Tennessee
4. Quiet Quiet Band - Hunter's Moon
5. The Lion & the Wolf - Ghosts On Trinity
6. PJ Bond - I'm In A Bad Way
7. Spring Offensive - Speak 
8. Toucans – Welcome To Lovers House
9. CG Whitear - Tokyo Drizzle
10. International Departures - Give Me Something (XMR competition winners)
11. Sorren Maclean - Either Way (feat. Roddy Woomble)
12. Little Rob and The Mob - Oaths
13. Brunel - Score Sheet
14. Gasoline Heart - Love Let Her Go
15. Grace Petrie & The Benefits Culture - The Redundancy Hymn
16. Emilyn Brodsky - Someone Belongs Here
17. Jonathan Coody - I Just Gotta Know
18. The Karma Party - World War
19. CeCe - These Four Walls
20. Strange Planes - Sharpen Your Teeth
21. Samoans - The Moth

OXYGEN THIEF TO RELEASE NEW ACOUSTIC EP ON 24 MARCH // NEW SOLO AND FULL-BAND TOUR DATES

Oxygen Thief returns to his acoustic roots with new 5-track EP One Day This Will All Be Fields released through Xtra Mile Recordings on 24th March 2014.

Following his first full-band release Accidents Do Not Happen, They Are Caused in December 2013, Barry Dolan (AKA Oxygen Thief) has switched to his previous (dis)comfort zone of "one man genre" aggressive acoustic riffery. Armed with over an album's worth of new songs, he chose five to lead the charge ahead of a full record, likely to follow in the summer.

“Some of the tracks will end up being re-interpreted by the band in the same way that older ones were for ADNHTAC, while the rest will only be on the EP. In a way, I see the acoustic recordings as being the ‘proper’ versions of the songs, and anything we do with them later on will be embellishments. When we started the band, we agreed that I wouldn’t change anything about the way I wrote; all the songs would start out solo acoustic, I’d perform and record them that way, and we would then see where switching to electric guitar would take them.”

— Barry Dolan

Those buying the CD edition, or downloading directly from Xtra Mile Recordings, will receive two bonus tracks - a cover of 'Suckerpunch' by The Wildhearts ("my favourite song ever, containing my favourite riff ever" - Barry) and live favourite 'On Your Easy Marks, Get Set, Go', a tale of political frustration and ideological betrayal in the form of a furious singalong.

The new EP was recorded at The Old Blacksmith's Studios, where the full-band mini-album was birthed. It's a contrast from the early days of recording solo at home, the preferred studio for the three-way split EP ('!@*#' or 'Exclamation At Asterisk Hash') in 2009 with Ben Marwood and Jim Lockey, and Oxygen Thief's first foray with Xtra Mile. Since that frothing introduction, Barry has taken his furious steel-string slashing on tour with Frank Turner, Jamie Lenman, Ben Marwood, Jonah Matranga and punctuated festival lineups at T in the Park, 2000Trees and ArcTanGent.

Oxygen Thief has also announced a prized support slot, with full-band, for InMe in May, to add to Barry's solo shows in March and April.

InMe dates

MAY
09 Southampton @ Talking Heads
10 Plymouth @ White Rabbit
11 Bristol @ The Fleece
12 Birmingham @ The Flapper
13 Nottingham @ Rock City
14 Glasgow @ Audio
15 Sheffield @ Corporation
16 Manchester @ Sound Control
17 London @ Islington Academy

@oxygenthiefyeah / www.facebook.com/oxygenthief666 / www.oxygenthiefmusic.com