art pop

The origins of New Zealand's Verlaines can be traced back as early as 1979, with the group's founder Graeme Downes took direct inspiration from fellow Dunedin group, the Clean to form a band of his own. It wasn't until 1981 that the group made their first public appearance with their initial five-piece line-up. The band have so far released seven full-length albums on three different labels, one mini album, three singles and two compilations.

'Not The Weapon But The Hand', the new album from Steve Hogarth and Richard Barbieri. The album will be officially released on K Scope on the 27th February 2012. Hogarth is best known as the frontman of Marillion, the progressive rock legends that he joined in 1989, following spells in The Europeans and How We Live. In addition to the 12 albums Marillion have released in this time he has also recorded and toured as a solo artist, under the name h.

Read more about Steve Hogarth & Richard Barbieri on Last.fm.

Stuart Thornton
Max Hammond
Richard Ford
Tom Nolan http://www.myspace.com/theoxygenindex The Oxygen Index are an indie band based in Manchester. After forming in early 2009, the band picked up buzz from early shows with songs such as Rivers and Honestly being live favourites. One of these shows included a slot supporting The Answering Machine at their album launch in summer 2009. The band continued to play live shows, including notably at In The City Fringe Festival, and a number of dates around Manchester.

Interpol's lead singer and guitarist Paul Banks released a solo album under the name Julian Plenti, and has written and performed under the Plenti moniker for several years, according to a source close to the situation. While the album was recorded recently, some of the songs were written more than ten years ago. He's done a lot of work with Niall Darcy, with whom there has been a long time mutual admiration.