Bloc Party - Letter To My Son (2012)

In October 2007 it was announced that Bloc Party would release a new single 'Flux' on 13 November, just ahead of their end of year gigs. 'Flux' was also produced by Jacknife Lee, and was very different from previous singles released by the band, being more electronic-based, and to promore it a four-track remix CD was given away as a cover-mounted freebie with the 14 November 2007 issue of the NME. 'Mercury' was released as the first single from their third album 'Intimacy' in August 2008, with the Jacknife Lee and Paul Epworth-produced album being rush-released later that month. It was made available to download just 3 days after the release was announced, and when they later issued 'Talons' as a single, it had to be made freely available to people who had already downloaded the album as it only appeared on the CD version. An album of remixes of all tracks on 'Intimacy', imaginatively titled 'Intimacy Remixed', was released in May 2009, and the band undertook their first UK tour for nearly two years in October 2009, dubbing it "Bloctober". In July 2009, Okereke stated that the band did not have a current recording contract and had no obligation or pressure to release a new album in the foreseeable future, commenting that the release of a fourth album was on an indefinite timescale. 'One More Chance' was released as a stand-alone single in August 2009, following which the group went on a hiatus, with the members unsure as to whether they would carry on. During this period Lissack revived his project Pin Me Down, and also joined the live line-up of Irish rock-band Ash as guitarist and synthesiser player on their touring for the A–Z Series. Moakes formed the group Young Legionnaire with Paul Mullen, vocalist & guitarist of The Automatic, and William Bowerman, drummer for La Roux, releasing a single, 'Colossus' in August 2010, and Okereke released a solo album, 'The Boxer', in June 2010. Rumours throughout 2011 suggested Okereke had left the group to focus on solo work, but these were proved to be unfounded when they band reunited to start writing material for a fourth album, although they decided not to play live. They stated that they intended to release a new album in 2012, and in August of that year they released 'Four' on Frenchkiss Records, after it was made available to stream in its entirety for over a week preceding release. The album was recorded in New York City with Alex Newport, who had previously worked with At The Drive In and The Mars Volta, and peaked at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and number 36 on the Billboard 200. They have since released two more albums, 'Hymns' in 2016 and the brand new 'Alpha Games' this year, but the extra tracks on the singles dried up around 2012, so that's a good place to end this short series by one of the best indie bands of the early 2000's.    

Track listing 

01 Flux (single 2007)
02 The Once And Future King (b-side of 'Flux' 2007)
03 Emma Kate's Accident (b-side of 'Flux' CD2 2007)
04 Flux (JFK Remix) (free CD single given away with NME 2007)
05 Idea For A Story (b-side of 'Mercury' 2008)
06 Letter To My Son (bonus track on 'Intimacy' 2008)
07 Your Visits Are Getting Shorter (bonus track on 'Intimacy' 2008)
08 One More Chance (Original Version) (single 2009)
09 Straight Thru Cru (b-side of 'Octopus' 2012)
10 Mean (bonus track from 'Four' 2012)
11 Leaf Skeleton (bonus track from 'Four' 2012

Bloc Party - Atonement (2007)

Bloc Party's second album 'A Weekend In The City' was produced by Garret "Jacknife" Lee, and was released in February 2007, reaching the number 2 spot on the UK Albums Chart, despite the fact that it had been leaked on the internet the previous November. This album also marked the start of their chart success in America, with their single 'I Still Remember' being their highest charting American release, peaking at number 24 on the Modern Rock Chart. The band's first gig following the release of 'A Weekend In The City' was in Reading on 5 February 2007, being broadcast live on BBC 6 Music, and this was the first of many high-profile gigs that they played during 2007, including headlining on the In New Music We Trust stage at the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend in Preston, performing on the UK leg of Live Earth on 7 July 2007 at Wembley Stadium, and appearing at T In The Park, Oxegen 07, Glastonbury, and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. A short tour of Australia and New Zealand followed in August, and they rounded off their year by performing a set on 27 October at London's The Roundhouse with the Exmoor Singers, a London-based choir, as part of the BBC Electric Proms. Despite this busy live schedule, they managed to record enough new material to provide exclusive b-sides for all of the singles taken from 'A Weekend In The City', which were collected together on a fan-made CD called 'Another Weekend In The City', but for this second volume of Bloc Party rarities, all taken from 2007, I've also added in a cover of Nelly Furtado's 'Say It Right' that they recorded for Jo Whiley's radio show in the April. 

Track listing

01 England (b-side of 'The Prayer' 2007)
02 Version 2.0 (b-side of 'The Prayer' 2007)
03 We Were Lovers (b-side of 'The Prayer' 2007)
04 Atonement (b-side of 'I Still Remember' 2007)
05 Cain Said To Abel (b-side of 'I Still Remember' 2007)
06 Selfish Son (b-side of 'I Still Remember' 2007)
07 Say It Right (radio session for Jo Whiley 2007)
08 Rhodedendrons (b-side of 'Hunting For Witches' 2007)
09 Secrets (b-side of 'Hunting For Witches (Live)' 2007)
10 Cavaliers And Roundheads (b-side of 'Hunting For Witches (Live)' 2007)
11 Vision Of Heaven (promotional track for 'A Weekend In The City' on PureVolume 2007)

Bloc Party - Storm And Stress (2005)

Russell Lissack and Kele Okereke first met in 1998 in London, but when they bumped into each other again in 1999 at Reading Festival they decided to form a band. Bassist Gordon Moakes joined after answering an advert in NME, and drummer Matt Tong joined after an audition, and after going through a variety of names, such as Union, The Angel Range, and Diet, the band settled on Bloc Party in September 2003, a play on block party. In November 2003 they had their track 'The Marshals Are Dead' featured on a compilation CD called 'The New Cross' released by Angular Recording Corporation, and it then appeared as a b-side to their debut single 'She's Hearing Voices' on the then fledgling record label Trash Aesthetics. The band got their break after Okereke went to a Franz Ferdinand concert in 2003, and gave a copy of 'She's Hearing Voices' to both lead singer Alex Kapranos and BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq, who subsequently played the song on his radio show, labeling the track "genius", and invited them to record a live session for his show. The buzz generated off the back of the single led to another release, 'Banquet'/'Staying Fat', this time through Moshi Moshi Records, and to the eventual signing with independent label Wichita Recordings in April 2004. Bloc Party's debut album 'Silent Alarm' was released in February 2005 and was met with universal critical acclaim, being voted 'Album of the Year' for 2005 by NME, and reached number 3 on the UK Albums Chart, before being certified platinum. Singles from the album regularly made the top 20 on the UK Top 40 chart, and the band received positive reviews from critics in the United States after they toured there heavily in the 18 months that followed the release of 'Silent Alarm'. During July 2005, the band recorded two new tracks with 'Silent Alarm' producer Paul Epworth, which were released as the single 'Two More Years' / 'Hero', and both 'Two More Years' and former single 'Little Thoughts' were added to the re-issue of 'Silent Alarm as bonus tracks. Right from the start of their career, Bloc Party have been generous to their fans by including exclusive recordings on the flips to their singles, and this first of three posts collects them from their first release in 2004, up to their contribution to the 'Help' charity album the following year. 

Track listing

01 The Marshals Are Dead (b-side of 'She's Hearing Voices' 2004)
02 The Answer (b-side of 'She's Hearing Voices' 2004)
03 Staying Fat (b-side of 'Banquet' 2004)
04 Little Thoughts (single 2004)
05 Storm And Stress (b-side of 'Little Thoughts' 2004)
06 Skeleton (b-side of 'Helicopter' 2004)
07 Always New Depths (b-side of 'Helicopter' 2004)
08 Tulips (US single 2004)
09 This Is Not A Competition (previously unreleased 2004)
10 Two More Years (single 2005)
11 Hero (b-side of 'Two More Years')
12 The Present (from 'Help!: A Day In The Life' charity album 2005)