As you would expect from the month that saw E6 finally freed from its pre-release limbo state, a lot happened in March and here are the highlights. There may be one or two things unmentioned, because I've mostly focused on the things that resulted in material being shared here at the Archive. This all leads up to a zip file containing some of the more interesting social media dispatches by the band and those associated with them. This might be the largest amount of Instagram related memorabilia in a single month since I started collecting. No complaints here ;)
Please note that if you just want the goodies, scroll down to the bottom because there's an awful lot of writing in between here and there. You'll be sick of the sound of my typing...
Please note that if you just want the goodies, scroll down to the bottom because there's an awful lot of writing in between here and there. You'll be sick of the sound of my typing...
Let's start things off with Ed, who appeared via the phone on the Sound Lab UK at the beginning of March.
On the 2nd of the month the band flew to Poland to play a launch show for Polish fans, and to record a radio session for Radiowa Trójka the following day. I learned something new from their trip, namely that Poland has its own version of the popular American comedy show Saturday Night Live. Tom, Elliott and Justin showed up as musical guests for the evening on the programme and performed Papillon and a brand new song, Violence.
Also on the 2nd, Editor released a short video of the band un-boxing VI OLENCE to increase the hype, and make the jealousy in those of us itching for a copy develop into a darker shade of green.
Also on the 2nd, Editor released a short video of the band un-boxing VI OLENCE to increase the hype, and make the jealousy in those of us itching for a copy develop into a darker shade of green.
The 4th of March saw the band begin their run of three UK dates at Birmingham Town Hall and luckily for us, GaryUK was in the crowd for the first two gigs. Our people are everywhere. Next stop was Manchester Cathedral before winding up in London at the Clapham Grand
The band released a six song sampler as a taster for their new record on the 5th of March. It was essentially a single MP3 from each of their albums, and the tracks given away for free were:-
Magazine
Ocean of Night
A Ton of Love
Papillon
Smokers
Bullets
I'm in a bit of a bind here because although the band gave these songs away for free, I still feel uneasy posting a link to the zip file. It's officially released material which I ordinarily don't touch at all, and I'm still occupying a space filled with low-level paranoia because of the 3FM concert disaster this month. More about that a little later. All I will say is that if you go their official Twitter account and scroll down to their March 5th entries you can find it there.
After so long with no plumbing issues (we were so close!), VI OLENCE finally emerged 2 days ahead of schedule on the 7th of March. I'd toyed with the idea of doing some kind of a review here at the Archive, but on reflection I just feel like there's no point. It would only be an addition to the noise that already surrounds this. The danger of the internet, and print in general, is that if it's written down then it immediately has an air of validity. It simply has to be true. However, just because you read one person's take on it doesn't mean that's the final word, and thankfully we live in a digital age where you can actually stream music and check it out for yourself. An album that means nothing to one listener could in fact be the collection of songs that changed somebody else's whole opinion of who Editors are. You just never know.
What I will say is that as with every Editors record, almost a month since it was released and everyone has had a chance to hear most of it live, this would actually be the best time to state your opinion about VI OLENCE rather than on the day it came out. In my opinion, you need to live with it for a month and hear it delivered from the stage before you truly know it.
On this topic, now that the album is out and we have a track listing here's something to mull over; what became of the missing titles?
On this topic, now that the album is out and we have a track listing here's something to mull over; what became of the missing titles?
Harder
It Came From the Quiet (formerly He Comes from the Quiet)
A Part of Me
The Wind on the Water
Sketches 1 - 6
Justin's Sketches
At least two of those titles were being floated around during the Crear sessions for In Dream. Also, is it possible that Harder has been renamed and is in fact Violence? There's always unanswered questions with this band.
The 7th of March also found Tom, Justin and Elliott playing an acoustic session at NME headquarters, and fulfilled another engagement with Jo Whiley on Radio 2. Ed also made a solo phone call to Radio City Talk as part of the promotional slog.
On the 8th The Italian Pop Kids got a treat when the band's recorded slot on Ossigeno was aired on RAI 3. It saw the band performing Smokers, Blood and Violence in front of a studio audience, as well as chatting with the host, Manuel Agnelli. We actually ended up waiting an extra two weeks to see the performance of Blood because the producers decided to hold it back until the season finale. Was it worth the wait? Oh yes. It was.
Also on the 8th, Tom appeared on Radio Suffolk.
3FM hosted the band in a military museum for an intimate acoustic gig in front of an audience of competition winners on March the 8th. It was another in their occasional series of sets performed in unusual locations and was a lot of fun to watch and listen to. 24 hours later, however, things took a turn for the horribly familiar here at the Archive.
Also on the 8th, Tom appeared on Radio Suffolk.
3FM hosted the band in a military museum for an intimate acoustic gig in front of an audience of competition winners on March the 8th. It was another in their occasional series of sets performed in unusual locations and was a lot of fun to watch and listen to. 24 hours later, however, things took a turn for the horribly familiar here at the Archive.
On the 9th of March, I received my first ever breach of copyright notice on my Vimeo account. I recorded and shared this gig with the small group of fans that regularly visits the blog, or so I thought. Somewhere along the line the folks at 3FM became aware of it, contacted Vimeo directly to object and that was that. It was nuked immediately and I was sent a letter informing me of my transgression. As with YouTube, this was partially due to my continuing woeful lack of knowledge concerning music rights and who owns what etc, as well as my own naivety in believing that the Archive is frequented purely by a small number of Editors fans. I was reminded again that other people are watching, and they will intervene if they feel that their interests are being compromised. To those people I would say this;
I'm trying to rip anyone off and I'm not the threat you perceive me to be.
My only interest is sharing the material with fans of the band, who are predominantly the people that are aware of and visit the blog. The idea of something like the 3FM show sitting unwatched on a shelf somewhere is abhorrent to me. It was a great gig that was obviously put together by that station with a lot of effort and care, they even went to the trouble of filming it, but what good is that if nobody can see it? There's an obvious level of simplicity to my thinking here but that's how I view this situation.
I'm trying to rip anyone off and I'm not the threat you perceive me to be.
My only interest is sharing the material with fans of the band, who are predominantly the people that are aware of and visit the blog. The idea of something like the 3FM show sitting unwatched on a shelf somewhere is abhorrent to me. It was a great gig that was obviously put together by that station with a lot of effort and care, they even went to the trouble of filming it, but what good is that if nobody can see it? There's an obvious level of simplicity to my thinking here but that's how I view this situation.
Berlin was the next destination as they performed a radio slot on the 9th March for FluxFm, while Elliott and Tom appeared as guests on MTV Germany, 10th March 2018. There were acoustic performances at each of the stops.
As well as providing an artist playlist for Bethan Elfyn on Radio Wales on the 10th March, Mr Smith stopped by Absolute Radio on the 11th.
As well as providing an artist playlist for Bethan Elfyn on Radio Wales on the 10th March, Mr Smith stopped by Absolute Radio on the 11th.
The band went on to Paris to play at the Hard Rock Cafe for RTL2 on the 13th, as well as giving an interview to Hotmix Radio which made me wince ever so slightly.
Tom appeared on RadioX with longtime band supporter, John Kennedy on the 14th, and they played the Sportpaleis in Antwerp on the 17th March as part of their series of European dates.
Gloom at the Louvre
There was an Alcaline Les News Featurette with Tom on the 21st, a gig in Paris at the Olympia on the 23rd, an interview with Justin and Elliott on RadioQ the day after, before they played Cologne on the 25th and were captured for posterity by another friend to the Archive, Sven.
On the 26th they showed up for a second time on the Dutch TV show The World Keeps Turning, where they played Magazine accompanied by some camera work and lighting that caused migraines and nausea all around the world. Ah, the many colours of international vomiting. It's a beautiful thing. The following night, they returned to the Ziggo Dome.
To my absolute delight there were more travel documents from Mr Lockey, but this time with a twist. As well as some airport shots he also shared photos of the backstage areas at venues on the European tour in his ongoing "Corridors" series. This man is creativity made flesh. And beard.
In among everything that's happened, Hideo Kojima quietly chose this moment to come out as a hardcore Editors fan who'd been into them since The Back Room. If that doesn't blow your mind, then you're probably not a gamer and have no idea who this guy is. If you have played on a console in the past, then you'll be as awestruck as I was to know that the guy who created Solid Snake is an Editors fan just like the rest of us. Nerdgasm.
In closing, there was an abundance of Editors goodness on the socials this month, and quite a lot of it is available here. There are, however, two unresolved issues. There's an acoustic radio session that was recorded for Radio Fritz on the same day as the FluxFM session that has yet to be released. So keep your eyes and ears peeled for that one. Hopefully they won't keep us waiting too long for it. The other piece of unfinished business is just what Mr Rezvani filmed while he attended the Ziggo Dome show in Amsterdam? You know it's going to be good, whatever it is.
In closing, there was an abundance of Editors goodness on the socials this month, and quite a lot of it is available here. There are, however, two unresolved issues. There's an acoustic radio session that was recorded for Radio Fritz on the same day as the FluxFM session that has yet to be released. So keep your eyes and ears peeled for that one. Hopefully they won't keep us waiting too long for it. The other piece of unfinished business is just what Mr Rezvani filmed while he attended the Ziggo Dome show in Amsterdam? You know it's going to be good, whatever it is.
download here or download here
For all of Editors previous Instagram posts, go here.
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
