2012; will the world end? We doubt it, but so much shit is sinking we’re determined to stay bouyant so that the madness isn’t detrimental to our health. To that end, we retreated to Ghost Town Studio where we sicked, sweated and shivvered with Ross Halden to get fresh with Tranquility Base Parts 1 & 2. Hopefully they’ll be in your ears sooner rather than later.

Look below for info about our first show of the year on Friday 27th January at The Polish Club in Bradford. The day after, Fellow of Music Andy Abbott (aka That Fucking Tank / Nope) will be filming us play live in the depths of the University of Bradford.

NO HANDS / FUN AND GAMES – FRIDAY 27TH JANUARY

University of Bradford and TLMC presents, ‘Fun and Games’ – a night of innovative, playful and leftfield approaches to technology and games with live music and performances from …

RUNNERS
Vintage Synth-wielding Krautrockers from Leeds (Dummy Records).
http://longdistancerunners.wordpress.com

CIRCUIT BEN
Intriguing sounds wrangled from Circuit Bent toys and instruments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF_LjCaxZZA

HAGMAN
Leeds experimental noise improvisation using cheap bat detectors and more.

BUTTON MASH COLLECTIVE
providing music-themed live gaming.
http://www.facebook.com/ButtonMash

+ More including Free Software produced techno and 8 Bit sounds, Youtube DJing and the usual fun and frolics of No Hands DJs embracing the gaming/techno theme.

Part of No Hands club night at The Polish Parish Club, Edmund St, Bradford. Starts at 8pm goes on until late. Free Entry downstairs with £4 suggested donation for bands upstairs.

Facebook event info: https://www.facebook.com/events/185286351568770

Leeds Guide Preview: http://www.leedsguide.co.uk/review/preview/runners/20121

Photographic evidence of RUNNERS covering MINOR THREAT at Label Love Leeds – Our Band Could Be Your Life (19th November 2011 @ Brudenell Social Club). Thanks to everyone for making the entire day completely heart-warming and full funs! Photo by Bart Pettman. Keep your ears peeled because the entire gig was recorded so tracks from all the bands who played may or may not be made available…

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=178838358866547

Label Love is an organisation set up in the wake of the London riots, to raise funds for record labels affected by the [PIAS] distribution warehouse blaze: http://cognitivedissonancerecords.com/labellove/

Saturday 19th November sees a fundraiser with a difference taking place in aid of Label Love at Brudenell Social Club. Subtitled ‘Our Band Could Be Your Life’, the gig takes its name from Michael Azzerad’s seminal history of the ‘80s American indie underground. Since Label Love’s aim is to promote independent music, ‘Our Band Could Be Your Life’ provides an excellent starting point as a celebratory chronicle of the beginnings of the indie DIY scene. A diverse cast of 13 local bands will perform short cover sets of those featured in Azerrad’s book, plus one or two of their own songs. Come on down and join us in celebrating Leeds’ finest offerings!

:: FULL LINE-UP :: (bands in the order they appear in the book)

BLACK FLAG :: HUMANFLY
http://humanfly.bandcamp.com/

MINUTEMEN :: DOUBLE MUSCLE
http://doublemuscle.bandcamp.com/

MISSION OF BURMA :: WOODERSON
http://wooderson.bandcamp.com/

MINOR THREAT :: RUNNERS
http://wearerunners.bandcamp.com/

HÜSKER DÜ :: SHARK TEETH (formerly Blood Oranges)
http://wearebloodoranges.bandcamp.com/

THE REPLACEMENTS :: IDEA SHOWER
http://soundcloud.com/idea-shower/sets/the-layman

SONIC YOUTH :: DOWNDIME
http://downdime1.bandcamp.com/

BUTTHOLE SURFERS :: GRANT K. FENNELL
http://grantkfennell.bandcamp.com/

BIG BLACK :: BLACKLISTERS
http://blacklisters.bandcamp.com/

DINOSAUR JR. :: VACANT KISS (formerly Insect Guide)
http://soundcloud.com/vacant-kiss

FUGAZI :: COWTOWN
http://cowtown.bandcamp.com/

MUDHONEY :: THE BIG HORSE BAND
(feat. members of Pulled Apart By Horses and Stalking Horse)
http://www.pulledapartbyhorses.com/
http://stalkinghorse.co.uk/

BEAT HAPPENING :: THE BLANCHE HUDSON WEEKEND
http://www.squirrelrecords.co.uk/the-blanche-hudson-weekend

+ charity prize raffle
+ more tba

:: AFTERNOON CRAFT FAIR :: 12.30pm – 4pm
Get down early to bag yourself some tasty bargains from Leeds’ most delectable independent record labels/zinesters/crafty folk. Including:
// BREW RECORDS (http://www.brewrecords.net/)
// BEST ENEMIES RECORDS (http://bestenemiesrecords.tumblr.com/)
// MUSICAL MATHEMATICS (http://blog.musicalmathematics.co.uk/)
// IDIOT’S PASTURE (http://idiotspasture.co.uk/)
// LINS WILSON (http://hiddenrosehandmade.blogspot.com/)
+ special limited edition screenprints by twoducksdisco on sale
+ CAKE!
+ more tba

For further details/press enquiries contact: labelloveleeds@gmail.com
Artwork by Cameron Steward (http://twoducksdisco.blogspot.com/)

RUNNERS – MONTHLY MARATHON #14

R. KELLY – Bump’nGrind
T.L.C – Waterfalls
SALT N PEPA – Whatta Man
OUTKAST – Spottie Ottie Dopalicious
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT – Everyday People
Bone Thugs N Harmony – The Crossroads
R. KELLY – I Believe I Can Fly

Monthly Marathon # 14 was compiled by Leon Carey, October 2011.

Each Monthly Marathon Mix will be something in the region of 30 minutes at 320 kbps mp3 quality, and we will remove tracks if requested.  We encourage you to buy the releases you love, just as we do. Downloads should take approximately 3 or 4 minutes at 70 kbps. You can also stream the mixes from our Facebook page and from Soundcloud.

First of all we have a few gigs on the horizon starting with this Thursday at Wharf Chambers, Leeds with Zun Zun Egui and Azores.  It would be great to see plenty of friendly faces down there for what will be good times and good tunes. The other shows have recently been posted; so I won’t bombard you with dates and words. Baffling…

Instead listen to this.  Summer has left; so I wanted to bring a little wasted summertime vibe to this mix.  I’ve either had too much time on my hands or I’m a fucking crackpot.  You decide.  I haven’t asked permission to do anything to these songs and who’s said I have.  They’re liars.  If someone should take offence to me posting this mix I apologise profusely and will gladly take it down.  Afterall, I’m only having a bit of fun.

From the tracklisting you can see who these people are.  If you’ve never heard of them, here’s today’s lesson.  Not from me.  I’m tired and should be in bed.  Just search for them.  You’re on a computer. 

It’s late.  I’m writing this in aqua and it’s hurting my eyes.  Enjoy! x

First up, we’ve made a new RUNNERS site at Bandcamp, where you can listen to our tunes, buy them (and download others for free!), buy our t-shirts, etc… http://wearerunners.bandcamp.com

Next up is an administration apology to everyone expectantly awaiting the arrival of the next Monthly Marathon – confusion over whose turn it was to mix resulted in none of us making one for September. Ooops… Sorry! Monthly Marathon mixes will be back on track ASAP!

Looking back to the summer (yup, it’s all grey and damp now), Leeds Guide published an article on the Sony/PIAS warehouse fire and its effect on Leeds bands (including us).

We’re ready to move on from that mishap, chin up (etc)… we’ve started to gather a fair stack of new material since we’ve found home at Tranquility Base – hopefully we’ll get an mp3 or two up soon.

Three home town shows and a DJ set to announce…

Thursday 20th October – Zun Zun Egui, RUNNERS +1 more [£5]
@ Wharf Chambers, 23-25 Wharf Street, Leeds, LS2 7EQ
Facebook events page

Saturday 29th October – RUNNERS + more t.b.a.
@ Fox & Newt, 9 Burley Street, Leeds, LS3 1LD

Thursday 10th November – New Villager, RUNNERS, Bear Mask [£7]
(part of the run up to Constellations Festival with Wild Beasts, Yuck, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, etc)
@ Brudenell Social Club, 33 Queens Road, Leeds, LS6 1NY
Luna Tickets link

Thursday 10th November – Golau Glau exhibition launch with RUNNERS (DJ set) and Hookworms (live)
@ Test Space, Unit 2-4, Melbourne Street, Leeds, LS2 7PS
Golau Glau exhibition launch featuring ‘HENRY (The Methods Of Ethics 2011)’ (exploring the history and future of ethical hedonism through a mixture of music, visuals, created and found sounds and treated field recordings) and PUBLIC INTEREST (a sonic work/book, dealing with threatened and extinct public libraries. The book will be published in November 2012 by Valley Press and the initial phase of the sonic work will debut at the exhibition).

Unfortunately, the Beacons Festival site flooded on Thursday 11th August and the authority deemed the site unsafe for the public, cancelling the festival. Our thoughts go out to Ash and all the team who worked so hard to establish what was looking to be a really great weekend. A last minute fundraiser (free entry, donations welcomed) for the festival has been arranged at The Brudenell Social Club on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th August. The line up consists of bands due to play at Beacons, featuring Mazes, Eagulls, That Fucking Tank, Brown Brogues, Hookworms, Juffage, Wonderswan, Echo Lake, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Blood Oranges and more. Go here for full information on the fundraiser. RUNNERS will be playing last at 10pm on Sunday evening. Along with our new tshirts, we’ll be selling copies of our Starting Line 12″ now limited to just 90 copies after the fire at the Sony DADC / Pias warehouse. Dummy and Norman are the only other places with copies of the 12″, act quick if you want to get one!

We are gutted to announce that the vast majority of our Starting Line 12″s released just last week on DUMMY Records were destroyed by a fire at the Sony DADC / PIAS Warehouse in Enfield, London. The 3-storey 20,000 square-metre building was burned to the ground on 8th August during riots following the shooting of Mark Duggan by armed police. Clearly, there is more at stake than home entertainment, and we feel it would be selfish to be angry about our records being lost along with so many others. PIAS is the UK’s largest independent home entertainment distributor for record labels such as Domino, Warp, 4AD, Thrill Jockey and many other small labels, as well as film distributors such as BFI and Artificial Eye. To get an idea of the scale of what’s been destroyed, the BFI  alone has lost in excess of 120,000 units.

As a tiny drop in the ocean, we’re not so harshly affected as many, but it seems pretty much agreed that this is going to have a large knock-on effect in the independent community, with the smaller labels feeling it worst. We’re glad that nobody was hurt, and our best wishes go to everyone who is going to feel the extra pinch in these already uncertain times.

However, we feel that we have no right to lay all of the blame upon society’s poorest. Instead of condemning their actions, we would rather think about the climate which has led to such events and ways to stop this from furthering a right-wing agenda.

Keep yr brains about you! Peace!

If you’re after the Starting Line 12″, DUMMY might have a few copies left, Norman Records have a box,  and we have a handful available at shows until they’re all gone too. Digital copies of the Starting Line 12″ can be purchased from shop.dummymag.com or stream it here.

In the meantime, we’re looking forward to escapism through seeing loads of good music, partying and playing at Beacons Festival this weekend. We play second to last on Sunday 14th August at 9:30pm on the Heslaker Stage and you’ll hear some new songs!

Stay positive!

NEW! Twitter – @_RUNNERS

First batch of RUNNERS t-shirts available for £8 at shows

Sizes S/M/L by Continental – Fair Wear Foundation, Confidence In Textiles

RUNNERS – MONTHLY MARATHON #13

NICOLAS JAAR – Problems With The Sun
MORPHOSIS – Silent Screamer
GERY RYDELL – Careless
EGYPTRIXX – Liberation Front
KEVIN GORMAN – Shakey Metallic Beats
FUTURE BEAT ALLIANCE – Grey Summer
VENICE CALYPSO – Drifting
ROMAN LINDAU – Slow Dope Original Mix
SIR STEPHEN – NY Boogie

[0.00] Nicolas Jaar‘s album ‘Space Is Only Noise‘ came out in February 2011 on Circus Company Records. At 19 he’s a young one, hailed as a talented dancefloor brain of the future by Seth Troxler. Strange then, that ‘Space Is Only Noise‘ isn’t the floorfiller you’d maybe expect. Brimming with musicality, meticulously crafted and wholeheartedly weird as it sifts and drifts through beautifully instrospective and understated melodramatic meanderings. >>> I like to listen to this mid-afternoon on a Sunday with a newspaper, cake and coffee.

[3.40] Morphosis, aka Rabih Beaini was born in Lebanon, moving to Venice in the mid 90′s to make music. More recently, his label Morphine has released raw cuts from the likes of Shake, Madteo and Hieroglyphic Being. ‘Silent Screamer‘ is the first track from the 2011 Morphosis album ‘What Have We Learned‘, released on the duly highly regarded Delsin Records. The album is the result of a few days of jams and happy accidents. Scorched and ambiguous analog on the periphery of techno, buzzing synths modulating and fizzing through filters into vacant frequencies distinct with rushes of life. >>> I like to listen to this a lot, at any time of day.

[9.40] ‘Careless‘ by Gery Rydell is from the ‘Colombage‘ compilation EP released by Mike Denhert‘s reliable Fachwerk Records in 2009. Super-stripped back minimal house with fluffy cloud and sunbeam synths dribbling into the wave-washed horizon. >>> I like to listen to this and imagine any dark holes of Leeds as gloriously empty beaches late at night.

[14.46] Egyptrixx‘s ‘Bible Eyes‘ was released in March 2011, the first full album on Night Slugs Records. It’s jammed with hot n’ sticky tactile bangers that get right under the skin, scratch that itch, make you twitch. Toronto DJ/producer David Psutka craftily stacks synth on synth, tweaking the N’th dimension into intricate disorientation and playful headfuckery whilst retaining open, stark minimal house vibes. One of the best releases of the year for sure. >>> I like to listen to this to get amped up for going out.

[20.50] Kevin Gorman‘s ‘Shakey Metallic Beats‘ appears on the ‘Mikrowave 12‘ EP released by his Manchester based label Mikrowave in 2009. The 12″ has remixes by Peter van Hoesen and Pendle Coven‘s MLZ, but this track is the stand out for me – acid jacking techno with tweaking highs. >>> I like to listen to this in warehouses.

[26.05] ‘Grey Summer‘ is one of two techno propellers from a Future Beat Alliance 12″ earlier this year, in anticipation of a full length on Berlin’s Tresor Records. The label is responsible for releases by the likes of Juan Atkins, Bam Bam, Eddie ‘Flashin’ Fowlkes and loads more goods. That’s not to say that Matthew Puffett doesn’t deserve his own accolades, releasing his bright and breezy techno on A-list dance labels Delsin and Rush Hour since 1996. This new stuff is darker than his usual offerings but retains a sense of optimism. >>> I like to listen to this on gloomy Tuesday’s.

[33.28] Raw and repetitive filtered, rotating flashlight synth lines guide the way over deep bass, rhythmic bounces. ‘Drifting‘ by Polish producer Venice Calypso appears on ‘Synesthesia #1‘, the first of five limited compilation releases on Senseless Records with artwork by Song (olfacoception // smell) / Gloom. >>> I like to listen to this at 3am on Wednesday’s when I should be in bed but accidentally find myself up and drinking cheap Chardonnay.

[38.39] Roman Lindau is another of the Fachwerk Records selection. ‘Slow Dope Original Mix‘ is the last track on his ‘Contraste‘ EP released in 2010. Elongated breaths of eased delight teased gently into heat-hazed dub space, whilst gently skipping white noise hi-hats gradually focus from the mist and grumbling bass sine. >>> I like to listen to this anywhere between 4 and 7am on Sunday morning’s.

[42.00] As a long-time lover of all things Not Not Fun, I’ve been grabbing their new adventures that skirt loosely around dancefloor territory with all the funds I can muster. 100% Silk 12″ release number seven sees Sir Stephen dropping smiling rainbows of joyous house that bounce neatly with an early 90′s optimism before the final track ‘NY Boogie‘ takes the party through the streets and back to the bedroom. >>> I like to listen to this in headphones / houseparty.

On top of this month’s Monthly Marathon mix, we were asked to put together an exclusive mix for Dazed & Confused’s online presence – read some words and listen to the RUNNERS exclusive Dazed Digital mix here.

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RUNNERS – MONTHLY MARATHON #12

DUSTIN WONG – Infinite Love 8 (Infinite Love)
MIST – Dead Occasion / Ovary Stunts (House)
MONOTRACT – There Are Hard Days I Can’t Forget (Xprmntl Lvrs)
BLANCK MASS – Chernobyl (Self Titled album)
SHIPPING NEWS – Antebellum (One Less Heartless To Fear)
ETIENNE JAUMET – Entropy (Entropy EP)
DEBRUIT – Nigeria What (Spatio-Temporal EP)
WARSAWWASRAW – A Cat Only Has Nine Lives (Chaajoth)
CASSINI-HUYGENS – Mission to Saturn (vimeo link)

Monthly Marathon #12 was put together by Toby, July 2011.

I had heard nothing of Dustin Wong‘s solo output prior to RUNNERS playing with him in leeds earlier this year.  However, his rep from Ponytail suggested that the show was going to be something special.  Surrounded by an arc of loop and effects pedals, Wong came across as a genuinely friendly figure whose character complemented his series of precisely looped, densely layered and uplifting compositions. The material he played is apparently a soon-to-be-released album, and whilst Infinite Love is great, I reckon the newer material is even better! A+

Mist is a collaboration between Jon Elliot of Emeralds and Sam Goldberg who, amongst other projects, records as Radio People. Given how much I enjoy Emeralds’ most recent album, I was pretty excited to hear this and surprised by the fact I actually prefer it to Emeralds’ output. The more focused and aggressive approach on this album helps prevent the sort of mid-record lack-of-drive slump that makes me look to change the disc.

Back in the early second half of the first decade of the second millennium, Load Records seemed to be doing a lot more than they are now. They put out Monotract‘s Trueno Oscuro record, which introduced me to the band and made me hunt out their previous outing which this song is lifted from. Monotract are one of the few bands alongside contemporaries Sightings and Air Conditioning that I still find myself revisiting due to the well weighed out ingredients of static wash, actual riffs and excellent vocal delivery. There are hard days indeed.

Benjamin John Power is one half of Fuck Buttons and all of Blanck Mass. His new solo album kinda makes me think he is the one who does most of the leg work in Fuck Buttons. The album is brimming with drone filtered Vangelis / Jarre space adventures and is probably my favourite album of the year thus far as I’m a sucker for journeys through the space void.

Read about the video and an intervew with Eoin on DUMMY.

If all that HD depth is too much for you, here’s the audio on Soundcloud:

And whilst we’re at it, here’s a recent RUNNERS remix of a Juffage track, which you can only get as a download if you buy the 12″ version of his album Semi-Circle, released 6th June 2011 on Function Records.