808 State news 2011

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Another exclusive download has been added to the sounds section: Boogieman demo version from 2001.

An interview with Andy & Graham will be broadcast tomorrow, Saturday 19 November at 21:00 UK time on BBC Radio Manchester. The program will be available online for a week after that. Graham will also be guesting on BBC Radio 6 Music's Freakier Zone soon again.

808 State have announced a live date at the Village Underground in London for Friday 27 January 2012. Tickets are on sale now!

Out now:
MC Tunes vs 808 State: The North At Its Heights deluxe CD in Japan! Making of blog by Graham.
Pacific 212 (DFRNT Remix) very limited 12" vinyl. Forum.

High on Hope is a film which presents the real story behind what acid house meant in Northern England in the late eighties and early nineties. The documentary has already been premiered at several film festivals, winning best film in Barcelona's In-Edit festival. But whilst the film has been finished, there are still costs relating to licensing the music. Needless to say, the music features 808 State. For the film to be released on DVD and shown in independent cinemas, a small amount of money needs to be raised. Donate now.

The artwork of The North At It's Heights Japanese deluxe CD including eight bonus tracks has been revealed. Release date: 9 November 2011.

The tracklisting of The Art of the 12" Volume 2 has been confirmed to include two 808 remixes of 'Moments in Love'! Release date: 20 February 2012.

A dubstep cover version of Pacific State by DFRNT is being released on vinyl through LosBud. Release date: 7 November 2011.

The Acid Brass 2 CD including a cover version of In Yer Face is out now.

ZTT have announced The Art of the 12" Volume 2, another double CD compilation filled with rarities. The exact track listing remains under wraps, but an unreleased, early nineties 808 remix of Art of Noise's ‘Moments in Love’ will be among them! To appear 20 February 2012.
The remastered North At It's Heights Japanese deluxe album is still on track for a November release. All bonus tracks will be pressed onto the same disc as the original album, so this will be a single CD.

The Blueprint CD is released today in the UK. Also find a brand new 21st Anniversary version of Cubik by 808 State as a free download on the site index page!

808 State have been featured quite heavily on BBC Radio 6 this past week. You can still check out the shows as follows:
Graham as guest on Radcliffe & Maconie (until Wednesday 14 Sep).
Bjork feature on The First Time With... Bjork (until Sunday 18 Sep).
Four live tracks from the 1993 Town&Country gig on Gideon Coe (until Monday 19 Sep).
Also see the BBC review of the Blueprint album by Rob Hughes. More reviews in the forum.

Japanese news: As reported on the forum, the Japanese Metamorphose festival was cancelled on the day due to a Typhoon, but the Japanese fantastically managed to organise a replacement the same night at Club Unit in Tokyo. Pacific State was dedicated to Dan Sicko. The day before 808 were in studio Dommune for a live web TV interview. The audio can be found on the Radioshow page now. In other good news, apparently the Japanese deluxe CD of MC Tunes - North At It's Heights will finally be released after years of anticipation. It could be out as early as 9 November (HMV Japan). Discussion in the forum.

Blueprint news: The original release date of 6 September was pushed back two weeks to 19 September. The American release date might be a week earlier, Amazon are quoting 13 September. However as reported on the forum, Spotify UK users can already listen to the album now. Remember, you can still pre-order the CD at a very low price from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Radio news: Graham is guesting on BBC Radio 6 with Radcliffe & Maconie this Wednesday 7 September 2011 from 13:00 (UK time). Discussion.

Blueprint is released today digitally in the UK.

808 will be guests on Dommune Web TV streaming live from Tokyo this Friday 2nd September 19:00 Japanese time. Exact time: 19:30-21:30.

Pioneering Detroit techno journalist Dan Sicko sadly passed away this weekend, caused by a rare form of cancer. This photo shows Dan with the 808 State DJ's in 1997. Dan will be missed.

808 State are playing live at the Metamorphose festival in Japan on 3 September.

The tracklisting and release date of Blueprint were revealed today on ztt.com. The album includes 17 tracks, with revisited/unreleased reversions of In Yer Face, Timebomb, Cobra Bora, Nimbus, 606, Olympic, Metaluna/Compulsion and new track Spanish Ice. The booklet features interviews with Graham, Darren and Andrew by Paul Morley and a foreword by Paul Hartnoll from Orbital. Blueprint is set to be released on 05 September 2011, catalogue number SALVOCD051.

Graham Massey has revealed on the 808 State forum that the forthcoming compilation CD Blueprint will include various tracks spanning from Newbuild through to the Outpost era, some of which are re:workings and a couple are unreleased tracks! All signs point to a September release. More details to follow in the coming weeks. In other good news Graham also mentions that the MC Tunes 'North At It's Heights' Japanese deluxe CD is still on the cards.

It's almost 20 years to the day since 808 State performed at Cities In The Park, held in honour of Factory Records producer Martin Hannett, who had died earlier that year. Check out a cassette bootleg recording of that concert in the sounds section.

Fritz van Runte has created two redesigns of 808 State's Lemon for his forthcoming Redesigns CD. Also included on the album: Sisters Of Transistors & Beach Surgeons redesigns. You can sign up for this until 14 July. For more details see existingproposed.com.

Salvo are releasing a new Best Of 808 State 'Greatest Bits' compilation titled 808 State: Blueprint. It will include some reworkings, details are still secret but it's very exciting. Release date unknown as yet, could be this autumn. Discuss in forum.

The 808 State Radio Show archive is back on-line and a new download has been added: 22 February 1998.

Graham has been interviewed for 'Oldschool Renegades', the definite film about the golden age of house music. Dutch director Maurice Steenbergen (creator of the rave classic "Poing") started the project in late 2009 and has been conducting interviews through 2011.

The release is aimed for October 2011 in selected movie theatres and on DVD/Blu-Ray via Universal. There is also a possibility of a soundtrack.

Links: Teaser trailer introduced by Frankie Bones.
Oldschool Renegades site. Facebook page. Discuss on forum.

Out now: low priced double CD ' Back In The Box' compiled by Global Communication featuring 808 State's Sunrise. Available mixed or unmixed. Highly recommended.

Catalog numbers: BITBCD 05DJ (unmixed), BITBCD05 (mixed). Forum discussion.

Sad news that Barrington Stuart died suddenly yesterday of a heart attack. He featured on the track 10x10 amongst others and was part of the Gorgeous tour. Says Graham: "Anyone who caught the Gorgeous era 808 show will know what a big presence and warmth he had". This is a video from 1993 featuring him on stage. Forum discussion. Rest in peace Barrington.

In 1990, filmmaker Howard Walmsley was commissioned by ZTT records to make a short documentary film of Manchester rap artist Nicky Lockett aka MC Tunes. At the peak of his popularity, Tunes had 3 hit singles and a highly acclaimed debut album, The North at its Heights, in collaboration with innovative producers 808 State. An outspoken, controversial figure, Nicky was regularly featured on TV and radio, clocking up column inches in both music and tabloid press.

Somewhere along the way things didn't quite work out as planned. Tunes lost his record deal with ZTT and the project was shelved. In 2010 Walmsley decided to finally get the project off his desk. Much of the original media was damaged or decayed : Maxell weathers better than Sony, he can report.

However, tapes containing rough-cut working copies made over the years did survive, forming the archive foundation of this film. These gritty analogue images, some heavily distressed, intercut with interviews shot in 2010, form a montage spanning 20 years.

Featuring tracks from 808 State, Dust Junkys and the Ugly, interviews with co-conspirators, family and friends, this is a raw, uncompromising account of the life of MC Tunes.

Premiering at The Greenroom, Manchester, 13 April 2011 at 20:30. Forum discussion.

Out now: A strange 3-track vinyl bootleg entitled State 808: Narcossa. The b-side features Olympic (Euro Bass mix) and Reaper Repo. Note that this is not an official release.

Title: Narcossa, label: unknown ("Creed Records") [US], format: 12", Cat: STATE 009, release date: 21 March 2011. Follow discussion in the forum.

Out now: The ZTT Art Of The 12" double CD (Cat number SALVODCD213) featuring:

Cubik (Kings County Perspective),
MC Tunes - Dance Yourself To Death License To Thrill mix (previously unavailable on CD or vinyl),
Pacific 909 Mellow Birds Mega Edit and Bonus Bird Beats.

808 State will be playing a live date at the o2 academy in Glasgow on 14 May 2011. Forum discussion.

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2010 news archive.