News

Apparently James is the first headliner ever asked to return to Bingley Music Live – and at festivalgoers’ request! – needless to say we were delighted to accept the invitation.

The band will close the Friday night (4th September) of the 3 day music festival held in Myrtle Park, and you can pick up a full weekend ticket for the absurdly reasonable cost of £49 (plus fees) – and there is an option to pay by installments too. See live page for ticketing links.

Many more bands to be announced in the coming weeks, keep an eye on the festival’s site for updates.

The band are delighted to be returning to Kendal Calling this year to help celebrate their 10th birthday – with a headline performance on Thursday 30th July.

Please note: this hadn’t been mentioned to us, but apparently the Full Weekend Tickets do not include Thursday and you’ll need to buy a Thursday Entry Ticket too (priced at £25 plus fees) – these are not Day Tickets though and require the Weekend Ticket as well.

If you already bought a Weekend Ticket separately, please be sure you use this link to get your Thursday Add-On without paying an additional postage charge.

Tickets are on sale now, see our Live page for links.

Delighted to announce the band are finally playing Delamere Forest! Yes yes, our hometown(ish) forest gig has come together at last. Join us on Sunday 5th July as James close the Forestry Commission’s 2015 programme of live music at Delamere.

Forest Live is an independent programme organised by the Forestry Commission to bring forests to new audiences without commercial branding or sponsorship. Income generated from ticket sales is spent on protecting, improving and expanding England’s forests and woodlands and increasing their value to people and wildlife.

Tickets will be priced at £42.50 (plus booking fee) and go on sale at 9am on Friday 30th January. Visit our live page for booking numbers and links – you can buy from the Forestry Commission’s box office.

Twenty years on, Laid and Wah Wah have finally been reunited, and will be reissued together as the band originally intended. The two albums were recorded simultaneously at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio in 1993; the band (and Eno) wanted to release them together, but their label (Mercury/Universal) weren’t convinced and held Wah Wah back until the following year.

Well Universal have finally seen the light and are reissuing the two as a pair, along with a selection of rarities, goodies and previously unheard material. On 23rd March, 4 versions will be released:

• Super Deluxe boxed 4-CD set containing Laid & Wah Wah, along with 20 previously unreleased recordings – including rehearsals, jams, demos, plus B-sides, radio sessions and live tracks – 68 tracks in total; along with a 56-page hardcover book (featuring an essay by by Phill Savidge and interviews with the band, rare photos and memorabilia), 4 button badges and 4 postcards [Amazon | James Shop]
• Deluxe 2-CD Laid set containing Laid plus a 19-track rarities disc and a 28-page version of the booklet [Amazon | James Shop]
• Laid on 2 heavyweight (180g) vinyl LPs, featuring printed inner sleeves and download code [Amazon | James Shop]
• Wah Wah on 2 heavyweight (180g) vinyl LPs, featuring printed inner sleeves and download code [Amazon | James Shop]

There will also be 500 numbered copies of each album on clear vinyl, available to pre-order NOW (while supplies last) from Universal’s The Sound Of Vinyl store. [Laid | Wah Wah]

Tracklistings are as follows:

4CD SUPER DELUXE LAID & WAH WAH BOXED SET: (Pre-order from our shop or Amazon):

CD1 – Laid

1. Out To Get You
2. Sometimes (Lester Piggott)
3. Dream Thrum
4. One of The Three
5. Say Something
6. Five-O
7. P.S.
8. Everybody Knows
9. Knuckle Too Far
10. Low Low Low
11. Laid
12. Lullaby
13. Skindiving

CD2 – Wah Wah

1. Hammer Strings
2. Pressure’s On
3. Jam J
4. Frequency Dip
5. Lay The Law Down
6. Burn The Cat
7. Maria
8. Low Clouds
9. Building A Fire
10. Gospel Oak
11. DVV
12. Say Say Something
13. Rhythmic Dreams
14. Dead Man
15. Rain Whistling
16. Basic Brian
17. Low Clouds
18. Bottom Of The Well
19. Honest Joe
20. Arabic Agony
21. Tomorrow
22. Laughter
23. Sayonara

CD3 – Rehearsals, Out-takes & Jams (previously unreleased)

1. Carousel (rehearsal demo of Say Something)
2. Unknown Track 8 (rehearsal demo)
3. Dream Thrum (rehearsal demo)
4. Chicken Goth (rehearsal demo)
5. Jam J (Additional Jam) (rehearsal jam)
6. You Were Born (Take 1) (early version of One of the Three)
7. Bruce Jam 1 (Mix 1)(early version of Knuckle Too Far)
8. Jam D / Rhythmic Dreams alt. (rehearsal jam)
9. Jam E (out-take)(rehearsal jam)
10. Jam 11 (Slow Jam – Grotesque/Angular) (rehearsal jam)
11. Jam 12B (Dreamy Later Singing) (rehearsal jam)
12. Jam P (Fabulous Melody But Unusual Bass) (rehearsal jam)
13. Jam P2 (Later)(rehearsal jam)
14. Jam Q (early version of Honest Joe) (rehearsal jam)
15. Jam R – Beefheart Jam (rehearsal jam)
16. Who Is Gospel Oak? (early version) (rehearsal jam)
17. Falsetto (instrumental version of Skindiving)
18. Jam 13 – Fast Marcus Has Mixed (rehearsal jam)

CD4 B-sides, Radio Sessions & Live

1. America (Live In The U.S. 9/92) (B-side of Sometimes)
2. Building A Charge (B-side of Sometimes)
3. Wah Wah Kits (B-side of Laid)
4. The Lake (B-side of Laid)
5. Seconds Away (B-side of Laid)
6. Say Something (New Version)
7. Assassin (B-side of Say Something/Jam J)
8. Laid (Acoustic 99x, Atlanta 26/2/94) B-side of Say Something – US promo CD
9. Low Low Low (BBC Session 27/9/93)
10. Sometimes (BBC Session 27/9/93)
11. Tomorrow (BBC Session 27/9/93)
12. Five-O (BBC Session 27/9/93)
13. Jam J (Arena Dub / Amphetamine Pulsate) 12″ remix
14. Jam J (Sabresonic Tremelo Dub / Spaghetti Steamhammer) 12″ remix

LAID DELUXE 2-CD SET (Pre-order from our shop or Amazon):

CD1 – Laid

1. Out To Get You
2. Sometimes (Lester Piggott)
3. Dream Thrum
4. One of The Three
5. Say Something
6. Five-O
7. P.S.
8. Everybody Knows
9. Knuckle Too Far
10. Low Low Low
11. Laid
12. Lullaby
13. Skindiving

CD2 – Bonus Disc – Live, Radio Sessions, B-sides, Rehearsal Demos & Jams

1. America (Live In The U.S. 9/92) (B-side of Sometimes)
2. Building A Charge (B-side of Sometimes)
3. Wah Wah Kits (B-side of Laid)
4. The Lake (B-side of Laid)
5. Seconds Away (B-side of Laid)
6. Say Something (New Version)
7. Jam J (New Version)
8. Assassin (New Version)
9. Laid (BBC Session 27/9/93)
10. Five-O (BBC Session 27/9/93)
11. Sometimes (BBC Session 27/9/93)
12. Say Something (BBC Session 27/9/93)
13. Low Low Low Low (BBC Session 27/9/93) (previously unreleased)
14. Tomorrow (BBC Session 27/9/93) (previously unreleased)
15. Dream Thrum (rehearsal demo) (previously unreleased)
16. You Were Born take 1 ( early version of One of the Three) (previously unreleased)
17. Bruce Jam 1 (Mix 1) (early version of Knuckle Too Far) (previously unreleased)
18. Carousel (rehearsal demo of Say Something)
19. Falsetto (instrumental version of Skindiving) (previously unreleased)

Laid 2LP Set on 180g vinyl (Pre-order from our shop or Amazon):

1. Out To Get You
2. Sometimes (Lester Piggott)
3. Dream Thrum
4. One of The Three
5. Say Something
6. Five-O
7. P.S.
8. Everybody Knows
9. Knuckle Too Far
10. Low Low Low
11. Laid
12. Lullaby
13. Skindiving

Wah Wah 2LP Set on 180g vinyl (Pre-order from our shop or Amazon):

1. Hammer Strings
2. Pressure’s On
3. Jam J
4. Frequency Dip
5. Lay The Law Down
6. Burn The Cat
7. Maria
8. Low Clouds
9. Building A Fire
10. Gospel Oak
11. DVV
12. Say Say Something
13. Rhythmic Dreams
14. Dead Man
15. Rain Whistling
16. Basic Brian
17. Low Clouds (2)
18. Bottom Of The Well
19. Honest Joe
20. Arabic Agony
21. Tomorrow
22. Laughter
23. Sayonara

From New York’s WFUV FM: “One of Manchester’s best-known bands, always marching to its own distinctive, unabashedly emotional beat, James has resolutely ridden the waves of its hometown’s ever-fluctuating punk, acid house, Madchester and Britpop phases.

“It was a triumphant James that visited FUV’s Studio A this fall to perform Moving On and Interrogation from La Petite Mort. They were proud of their 13th album which deftly plumbs the darkest recesses of deep loss and more uplifting moments of learning to move forward. I spoke to Booth and Glennie about the recording of what could have been a difficult album, given its subject matter, and Booth’s personal navigation of a tough time in his life. We also touched on James’ long, remarkable history and their experience working with legends like Factory Records’ Tony Wilson and producer Brian Eno.”

In the New York area tune in to 90.7 FM from 9pm. If you’re further afield or miss the broadcast, you can watch the live tracks and listen to the interview here in the WFUV archives.

Pleased to announce James have just been confirmed for Saturday 13th June at Isle of Wight Festival. Tickets are on sale now, visit the live page for links.

Join us at Scarborough Open Air Theatre on 22nd May 2015 – tickets on sale on Boxing Day at 9am;  you’ll find a range of numbers and links on our live page. Note the Sands Box Office (01723 364714), or SOAT (01723 81811) seem to have the lowest booking fees (just £2 per ticket for card sales, as opposed to Ticketmaster’s £5+).

Can you help…? Were you filming at the concerts at Meo Arena or Guimarães in Portugal? If you’ve got some good footage you’re happy to share with us, kindly e-mail a download link (dropbox, wetransfer.com or similar) to film[at]wearejames[dot]com. Thanks all.

Precisamos da tua ajuda! Estavas a filmar nos concertos do Meo Arena ou de Guimarães em Portugal?
Se tens boas filmagens que queiras partilhar connosco, por favor envia link por email (dropbox, wetransfer.com ou similar) para film[at]wearejames[dot]com. Obrigado a todos!

First festival confirmation for 2015 – the band will be headlining Bearded Theory, held at Catton Hall in Derbyshire, on Sunday 24th May. Tickets are on sale now, visit the live page for links.

Join us at 3pm on Thursday 27th, as the band play a couple of tunes and take questions at the magnificent and historic São Bento railway station in Porto. Free to attend and all welcome. Spread the word!