Franz Ferdinand

Конечно перебор, им надо бы еще несколько альбомов выпустить, а потом уже можно говорить об их гениальности. Но, безусловно, сегодня, это главная рок-группа в мире.

Franz, Streets Collect Ivor Novellos

Franz Ferdinand, U2 and The Streets were amongst the winners at todays (May 26) Ivor Novello Songwriting Awards. Snow Patrol, Keane and legends Bob Geldof and Robert Smith of The Cure also picked up gongs.

Held at London's Grosvenor House Hotel, the awards, currently in their 50th year, aim to reward the talent of British songwriters and is one of the most respected ceremonies as artists and producers judge their peers.

Franz Ferdinand's breakthrough single ’Take Me Out’ won Best Contemporary Song, while Mike Skinner picked up the Best Song Musically And Lyrically award for his single ’Dry Your Eyes’. In attendance were Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty, one third of Keane - Tim Rice-Oxley and legends Robert Smith of The Cure, Duran Duran, Brian May of Queen and Lou Reed.

Accepting their award by text message from New York, Franz Ferdinand's manager explained:

"Thanks very much, we'd like to apologise for not being able to pick this up. We're in New York recording some more tunes, but if you give us a prize for one of them we promise next year we'll come and get it ourselves. This has a distinct value because of the quality of songwriting of the nominees:

"Pete [Doherty] and Mike [Skinner] are bloody good writers with a sense of lyricism. They know a good lyric is more than just a rhyme and noise. Nick and I aren't songwriters in the Tin Pan Alley sense, we write music to be performed by a particular group... Paul and Bob also make it a sound worth listening to."

The winners were:

PRS Most Performed Work – Britney Spears – ‘Toxic’
Best Contemporary Song – Franz Ferdinand – ‘Take Me Out’
Best Original Film Score – ‘Enduring Love’
Best Selling UK single – Band Aid 20 – ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’
Best Song Musically And Lyrically – The Streets – ‘Dry Your Eyes’
Best Original Music for Television – Rob Lane for ‘Blackpool’
International Hit Of The Year – U2 – ‘Vertigo’
International Achievement – Robert Smith, The Cure
Songwriters Of The Year – Keane
Album Award – Snow Patrol – ‘Final Straw’
PRS Outstanding Contribution To British Music – Duran Duran
Outstanding Song Collection – Queen
Special International Award – Lou Reed
The Ivors’ Special Award for Songwriting – Mick Jagger / Keith Richards

Franz Turn Down Live 8 Invite
30/2005

Scots waiters, er I mean indie-rockers Franz Ferdinand have turned down an invite to play Live 8, Bob Geldof’s big gig to raise awareness of the Make Poverty History campaign ahead of the G8 Summit to be held at Gleneagles, in their homeland.

Although they have already pledged their support for the campaign to stamp out inequality between the west and African nations, Kapranos and co have had to refuse the invite for the Hyde Park concert as their guitarist Nick McCarthy is getting married the same day.

Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper a source said “It’s really unfortunate timing. Nicks wedding has been planned for ages. The band really wanted to do their bit for the gig as they believe it’s a very important cause.”

No chance of moving the not quite as important wedding then?

Full details of the Live 8 spectacular are expected to be revealed tomorrow with appearances by Madonna, U2, Paul McCartney, Sting and The Spice Girls yet to be confirmed. A concert will also be taking place in Washington.

Franz “We’ve Written Our ‘Teen Spirit’!”

With a new record bubbling just under the surface, Franz Ferdinand have been speaking about some of the new tracks destined for their sophomore release, including their equivalent to Nirvana’s hit single, plus news of UK dates.

Currently mastering their new record in New York, lead singer Alex Kapranos explained that all is going well with the follow-up to their self-titled debut, and spoke about a new track ‘You Can Have It So Much Better’.

"On one song, Nick [McCarthy, guitarist] had this fantastically exciting chord progression — something like 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.' And he was playing it to me on the guitar, and it had me really excited.

You have to pounce on something when you get those feelings,” he told MTV, “So I ran upstairs, wrote a bunch of words, got Bob [Hardy, bass] and Paul [Thomson, drums] down into the room and bashed it out in a couple of hours. And now we have a song called 'You Can Have It So Much Better.' "

Just one of approximately twenty tracks Franz Ferdinand are completing in the Big Apple with producer Rich Costey, Kapranos also spoke about how this record, like the last, will have a subversively positive message.

"There was that trend in the '70s and '80s of back-masking,” he explained, “Where you'd put the most terrible satanic messages on songs, and we wanted to do the exact opposite, put the most positive thing we could think of as a backwards message. There's one…at the beginning of the second verse in 'Michael.' And we're going to do that on this album, too."

The band hope to have the album mixed within the next two weeks and on shop shelves by late September. He also helped clear up some of the confusion over which tracks will actually make the final cut but stopped short over what the record may be called.

"We were totally going to keep these songs secret, but we wrote out a set list when we played [the Royal] Albert Hall, and somebody took a photo of the bloody set list, so everybody knew what the song titles are,” Kapranos laughed. "Some of the titles are correct: 'Robert Anderson Is Christ'…'Evil and a Heathen' and 'Your Diary'.

"But a song like 'Radio,' that was a joke working title. It's still a song, but the title has changed," he continued. "And as for this song 'Wee Andy,' well, I have no comment on that one!"

"There is a title," Kapranos concluded. "I can't tell you what it is. I can't make any comment about the title whatsoever. I've got to keep some secrets!"

Franz Ferdinand confirmed today (June 2) that they will be playing two massive shows in Edinburgh this coming August. The band will play the city’s Princes Street Gardens, outside Edinburgh Castle, on August 30 and 31.

http://www.xfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=89383

FRANZ FERDINAND NEED YOU!

FRANZ FERDINAND have appealed to their fans to put together a new DVD.

The band contacted NME.COM inviting fans to contribute to forthcoming release by sending them JPEGS & MPEGS of themselves at FF gigs or MP3 & MPEG messages to the band.

Contributions should be sent to dvd@franzferdinand.co.uk and the entries will be judged by the band. The best will be featured on Franz Ferdinand’s first DVD.

“The deadline for contributions is June 20, so you better get your skates on!” explains the request. “Sadly we can't offer any money for images used, though you will have the glory of featuring on the DVD.”

http://www.nme.com/news/112560.htm

а КАКОЙ КАВЕР УНИХ ЗАМЕЧАТЕЛЬНЫЙ IT WON'T BE LONG!

Да, спасибо человеку, который сделал передачу про них. Жаль, что поздно было. Для первых 2х часов - неформат.

Какую передачу? Я что-то пропустил?!

По-моему в день питерского концерта по Эху. (Вторые два ч. классики рока)
Там ставили и It Won't Be Long.

ы... НУ ладно, я зато на концерте был :)

Doherty blasts Franz Ferdinand for 'rip-off'
05/06/2005

Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty has accused Franz Ferdinand of plagiarising a Ringo Starr song for their biggest hit, Take Me Out.

Doherty has blasted the Scottish group for stealing the same song structure as the former Beatle used on his 1972 hit Back Off Boogaloo.

He says: "Take Me Out's Ringo Starr, isn't it? It's exactly the same riff.

"What was it Oscar Wilde said? Amateurs borrow but geniuses steal."

Alex Franz Arrested As International Spy

During his recent visit to Russia, reports have emerged suggesting Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos was held by intelligence forces under suspicion of being an international spy.

Whilst trying to board a flight back from Moscow following their recent Russian shows, reports suggest that Franz Ferdinand singer Kapranos was stopped on suspicion of being a former MI6 agent who stole confidential missile info.

The drama all took place supposedly while his bandmates Bob Hardy, Nick McCarthy and Paul Thomson were being ushered onto their flight back to London. However, Kapranos was travelling under his mother’s maiden name Huntley giving him the same moniker as the former MI6 agent.

A mysterious unnamed source (possibly, himself, a double agent) speaking to the Star explained, “Alex protested his innocence, but the officials, initially, would not believe his story.

“Alex pointed out that the Huntley they were so concerned about was 42 – 13 years older than him – and they finally waved him on his way.”


Franz Ferdinand confirmed last week (June 2) that they will be playing two massive shows in Edinburgh this coming August. The band will play the city’s Princes Street Gardens, outside Edinburgh Castle, on August 30 and 31.

The shows will close this year’s T On The Fringe event, and The Arcade Fire will provide support on August 31. A special guest is still to be announced for the previous day. Tickets are on sale now and cost Ј25.

http://xfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=91581

Ну вы тут, конечно, говорите, что хотите: "главная рок-группа в мире", "суперальбом" и т.д., но я СВОИМИ СОБСТВЕННЫМИ ГЛАЗАМИ видел, как этот грёбаный Капранос давился дешёвым яблочным соком на пресс-конференции в двенадцать ночи после их выступления на этом самом Максидроме в Олимпийском!!! Я видел, как они играют и скажу честно - ничего ещё, но чтобы называть их "главной рок-группой мира", - того они явно не заслуживают! Очень правильно сказал Flaming Rain! Абсолютно с ним согласен - такие группы не будут слушать через сто лет, их просто забудут, а вспомнят Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Beatles - людей, которые играли М_У_З_Ы_К_У!!!
А теперь расскажу, как я попал на Максидром: так вот, я играл в ансамбле скрипачей с Муммий Троллем - да, именно так, перед 30000 аудиторией; а так как у меня был там знакомый журналист, я присутствовал практически на всех пресс-конференциях: Братья Гримм, The Servant, Thirteen Senses... Также я попал и на Franz Ferdinand: тем, кто не верит, сюда: http://www.grihan-guitar.narod.ru/PICT1062.JPG - это фотография, сделанная мной на мой же фотоаппарат Konica Minolta Dimage G500 на этой самой пресс-конференции. Как видите, я был в паре метров от вашего Капраноса. Впрочем, это моё личное мнение...

New Franz Ferdinand Tracks Appear Online

Following news of their upcoming Edinburgh Castle gigs four brand new tracks that may well be appearing on Franz Ferdinand’s hugely anticipated second album have surfaced on the internet.

The four new songs are ‘Evil And A Heathen’, the wonderfully titled, ‘Robert Anderson Is Christ’, ‘What You Meant’ and ‘You Can Have It So Much Better’ and we’re recorded live from Franz’ show at the B2 Club in Moscow on April 20.

The tracks can be found and downloaded now at acclaimed Franz Ferdinand fansite www.franzferdinand.org.

All four of the songs are expected to appear on Franz Ferdinand’s as yet-untitled second album, which the band are currently completing in New York with producer Rich Costey in his Avatar Studios.

Lead singer Alex Kapranos also recently commented that the band the only recently completed the track ‘You Can Have It So Much Better’ and reckons its their best yet.

"On one song, Nick [McCarthy, guitarist] had this fantastically exciting chord progression — something like 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.'” He explained, “And he was playing it to me on the guitar, and it had me really excited.

“You have to pounce on something when you get those feelings,” he told MTV, “So I ran upstairs, wrote a bunch of words, got Bob [Hardy, bass] and Paul [Thomson, drums] down into the room and bashed it out in a couple of hours. And now we have a song called 'You Can Have It So Much Better.’”

http://www.franzferdinand.org/

FRANZ FERDINAND REVEAL ALL ABOUT THEIR SECOND ALBUM

FRANZ FERDINAND have given NME.COM the exclusive comeback interview for their second record, revealing the inside story of making the follow-up to one of the most successful British debut albums in years.

The second record, due in September, will not have a title and will only be recognisable from the band’s debut by a change in colour scheme. Instead of dark brown, orange and cream, the second album will have a black, red and pale green cover.

Singer Alex Kapranos explained: “The whole point is that the album doesn’t have a title. We decided quite a while ago that we didn’t want to give any of the albums titles, they were just going to be called ‘Franz Ferdinand’.”

He added: “The albums are going to be identified by their colour schemes rather than a title. The contrast of different colours creates a different mood. We experimented with different combinations of colours and this one stuck. At one level they looked good together, and they capture the mood of this record quite well.”

The album has been recorded in a studio located Alex Kapranos’ home in rural Scotland, and was mixed at Avatar Studios in New York. The band are now finalising the tracklisting, and are choosing from 16 songs.

Songs played live like ‘Your Diary’ and ‘I’m Your Villain’ are competing for space against self-proclaimed “knockout punches” Franz have been saving like ‘Turn It On’ and ‘Do You Want To?’ – both potential comeback singles.

Other tracks expected to appear on the album include ’Outsiders’, ‘Walk Away’, ‘Eleanor, Put Your Boots Back On’, ‘You Could Have It So Much Better’, ‘What You Meant’, ‘Well, That Was Easy’ and ‘Evil And A Heathen’.

http://www.nme.com/news/112842.htm

Franz Ferdinand will release their second, self-titled album on October 4 in the U.S. The Scottish dance-rockers have also announced a month's worth of North American tour dates surrounding its release, beginning in Chicago on September 20 and winding up in Toronto on October 18. The band will play a two-night stand in Seattle on October 1 and 2. MTV.com reports the album's lead single will be "Do You Want Do?" and that the group will shoot a video in New York later this month.

http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=99766

Franz Ferdinand Comeback Single Revealed

Franz Ferdinand have finally unveiled details of their brand new, hugely anticipated comeback single and spoken about the (somewhat debauched) night out that inspired it.

According to a new interview with Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos, the new single to be taken from their second album will be entitled 'Do You Want To', which will hit shops on September 19.

Apparently the track was inspired by an eventful drunken night out (and the resultant hangover) in the band’s hometown.

“We all went to this party in Glasgow one night,” Kapranos told the NME, “The way people have conversations with each other at parties such as that is they don’t talk to each other because the music’s so loud, they just yell things in each other’s ears. When I came back later that night I was a wee bit steaming still and scribbled down some of the things people had been yelling in my ear. Some of them were really funny.”

“I had nothing to do the next day and I was quite comfortable, so I picked up the guitar and had this little riff that I quite liked and I started singing some of these things that people had been yelling at me the night before. Suddenly, it turned into this song.”

According to Kapranos the lyrics to 'Do You Want To' include the lines, “When I woke up tonight I said, ‘I’m gonna make somebody love me’/I’m gonna make somebody love me/And now I know now I know now I know that it’s you/You’re so lucky luck lucky”.

And the wonderful line “So here we are at the transmission party/I love your friends they’re all so arty, oh yeah”.

Alex explained that the lyrics are made up from “Lots of different offers for different kinds of things”, but is refusing to name and shame those involved, saying, “They didn’t all come from one person. I think some of the people wouldn’t want to be reminded of the things they were yelling in my ear that night and I’m certainly not going to mention any names, otherwise they’ll absolutely kill me. Or at least their boyfriends will!”

The album itself is nearly complete and the band are working on the final tracklisting and while recent live favourite ‘Your Diary’ has been dropped (to possibly become a future B-side) songs like ‘The Fallen’, ‘Walk Away’ and ‘Turn It On’ are all included.

“We’re just at the final stages of a couple of the mixes,” Alex continued, “The way we do it is to approach it like we’re making a compilation CD for a friend. You know how you put songs in a particular order and try different things out? There’s often a song you really like and are desperate to get in somewhere, but it never fits in somehow. When we did the first album there were a couple of songs we really liked that didn’t end up on it, like ‘Love And Destroy’”

It is also revealed that the band have redesigned the cover artwork for the new album, based around a black, red and green colour scheme, the cover now features a girl shouting the band’s name.

And (in another revelation for Franz fans) it’s been announced that the album will be released on October 3.

http://xfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=101385

FRANZ'S THOMSON BECOMES THIRD GUITARIST

FRANZ FERDINAND rocker PAUL THOMSON has stepped down from his drumming duties to become the Scots band's third guitarist.

The talented musician, who plays both instruments, originally agreed to become the TAKE ME OUT four-piece's drummer when he was told he could sit up high on stage.

A music industry insider says, "There are no hard feelings and the band haven't fallen out.

"But Paul's always wanted to be a guitarist and the boys decided they'd give him his chance now."

Thomson and his bandmates ALEX KAPRANOS, NICK McCARTHY and BOB HARDY have employed their drum technician ANDY to provide the beat for their forthcoming performances.

27/07/2005

На мой взгляд, группа явно перехвалена. Ну что такого в группе, у которой на дебютном диске 1-2 раскрученных хита (которые и вспоминаются-то с некоторым усилием), а остальное тянет максимум на заполнитель. А стиль... по-моему, те кто их нахваливает, просто не слышали или забыли гитарную новую волну конца 70-х - начала 80-х - The Smiths, скажем, или наше КИНО - у Цоя-то с этим получше будет :)

Franz Ferdinand renames 'Better' new album By Jonathan Cohen
Tue Aug 2

NEW YORK (Billboard) - After initially opting to self-title its second album, Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand has now opted to call the set "You Could Have It So Much Better ... With Franz Ferdinand."

The album will still be released as planned Oct. 3 internationally and the next day in North America via Domino/Epic. First single "Do You Want To?" will precede the album on Sept. 19.

The original plan was to have only the band's name printed on the new album cover, and to distinguish it from its similarly self-titled predecessor with a different color scheme.

Franz Ferdinand is gearing up for a handful of U.K. festival dates later this month, beginning Aug. 20-21 at the V Festival. A North American tour will begin Sept. 20 in Chicago.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050802/music_nm/franz_dc/nc:689;_ylt=AkFQFgE8vMYpnFZQVToyC...