Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Oh man, long absence! At this rate this is turning into a 6-monthly digest - and after a flurry of activity from Gruff as well.

Anyway, this is all old news BUT you get all the information in one handy bite-sized out-of-date post.

Hotel Shampoo
The album has now been officially released, so make sure you spend your hard-earned cash on some shampoo-related goodies here. If you're the kind who likes to try before they buy (kinda takes the fun out of it but hey) you can stream the album for free from Gruff's website.

The album was launched by Gruff taking over a Blackpool hotel on February 13th. Obviously. I've linked to that just to show you what you missed. You banana.

Next single from the album is 'Sensations in the Dark' which has a, er, slightly more... freeform video than 'Shark Ridden Waters'. BUT it does have multiple Gruff Rhys'. One in a pork pie hat, playing a trumpet. Always a bonus.

WATCH!



Then watch Gruff explain how he wrote 'Sensations in the Dark' on The Guardian website which also has a rather fabulous interview with him. Someone in the comments remarked that Gruff is 'like Columbo with a keyboard and a guitar'. Made me laugh...

And, lo-and-behold, a tour!
17 Feb, St Phillips, Manchester
18 Feb, The Kazimier, Liverpool
19 Feb, St Paul's Church, Cambridge
20 Feb, Arts Centre, Norwich
21 Feb, Glee Club, Nottingham
22 Feb, Cadogan Hall, London
25 Feb, Palace Theatre, Bridport
26 Feb, St Georges Church, Brighton
27 Feb, Glee Club, Birmingham
28 Feb, St Georges Hall, Bristol
04 Mar, Paris Le Cafe de La Danse
05 Mar, Vevey Rocking Chair
06 Mar, Vienna Flex
08 Mar, Frankfurt Brotfabrik
09 Mar, Schorndorf Manufaktur
10 Mar, Brussels Rotonde Botanique
11 Mar, Amsterdam Paradiso
12 Mar, Rotterdam De Unie
14 Mar, Cologne Gebaude 9
15 Mar, 20359 Hamburg Imperial Theater Hamburg
17 Mar, Copenhagen Loppen
18 Mar, Stockholm Strand Club
19 Mar, Malmo Debaser Malmo
26 Apr, Tokyo, Japan, Club Quattro
27 Apr, Osaka, Japan, Club Quattro

Pity he hasn't made it back over to the USA after having to cancel his LA show. I know a few people who would adore it if Gruff did a proper tour over there.

All that typing! I'm gonna go have a lie down.

Hotel Shampoo (and 'Separado!')

Always the way, when I can't get to a computer there is bucket-loads of news. All Gruff related at the moment...

New album/single/video/mini tour/art installation



Phew! Gruff's new album, Hotel Shampoo, is out February 14, 2011 on Turnstile. He did a sneaky little art installation in Chapter (check out the video above) to promote it.

Track listing
Shark Ridden Waters
Honey All Over
Sensations In The Dark
Vitamin K
Take A Sentence
Conservation Conversation
Sophie Softly
Christopher Columbus
Space Dust #2
At The Heart Of Love
Patterns Of Power
If We Were Words (We Would Rhyme)
Rubble Rubble

Check out his website, Gruffington Post for artwork and news as it happens. Also recommend following Gruff and his label Turnstile on Twitter.

The first single from the album is 'Shark Ridden Waters' which you can order on vinyl here and which has a swanky video. Where Gruff looks like Mr E stealing my fantasy car (sounds like a dream I once had).



There'll be a mini-tour to preview the album (list below from http://www.turnstilemusic.net/) but I'm hoping that he'll tour fully next year as I can't make any of these. Mostly because they're not in this country... Some/most are probably sold out by now. Whatever, I don't care. I'm not bitter.

Wed, 10th Nov Teater Grob , Copenhagen
Sat, 13th Nov Town Hall Theatre, Galway 0035 3915 86540
Sun, 14th Nov The Empire, Belfast 02890 323 744
Mon, 15th Nov Sugar Club, Dublin 08187 193 00
Mon, 22nd Nov Whitworth Gallery, Manchester 01618 321 111
Tue, 23rd Nov Vic Bar, Art School, Glasgow 08448 472 487
Fri, 26th Nov Toynbee Studios, London 08444 771 000
Mon, 29th Nov Point Ephemere, Paris free
Tue, 30th Nov Bitterzoet, Amsterdam 0031 2042 12318
Wed, 1 Dec September Gallery, Berlin 0049 3061 101313

I'm wondering, though, if this is the soundtrack to 'Separado!' that he was talking about...?

Seperado!
Talking of Seperado, the DVD is released, er, yesterday! Order now!