A Very Cherry Christmas party

Ah, it’s been a busy old week. As I’d mentioned, The Lovely Eggs and Schwervon gig on Tuesday was magnificent. On Wednesday and Thursday I was very busy with uni work. All was going well, I had a lot to do but was running to schedule. I had a number of important things to do on Friday, a lot of seminars to go to and forms to drop off, but unfortunately on Thursday night I started with a migraine, I hoped it would be gone by Friday morning but, of course, it hadn’t, I had to cancel all my appointments (I could barely send the e-mails so making my way into town seemed a very bad idea!) I then spent the rest of what should have been a productive day trying to get ridof the migraine and panicing about everything I was missing, also I was worried it wouldn’t ease off in time for the Cherryade Christmas party on Saturday. Luckily, by Friday afternoon I’d started to feel much better and so was up bright and early on Saturday to go into town and get last minute bits for the Christmas gig. I still wasn’t feeling quite right so went home and had a nap in the afternoon before Adam picked up Jimmy from the Bobby McGee’s from the bus station and brought him back to Cherryade Towers.

It was lovely to see Jimmy, we haven’t seen him in ages and it’s always great to catch up! Unfortunately Eleanor couldn’t be at the gig because she was at a fashion show in London showing some of her wonderful dresses, she’s a very talented dress maker!

Jimmy managed to add plenty of new pictures to his latest project ‘Elvis and the ladies’ (pictures of girls holding a Lego Elvis) that night managing to get pictures with most of the leading ladies of the Manchester music scene who were there that night, all the photos are on Facebook if you want to see them!

I went and changed into my fairy outfit (it has to get worn as much in December as possible cause I love it and can’t wear it the rest of the year! Anyway, once I was ready and had prised Adam away from the snooker we all set off to Café Saki to be there for the soundcheck and setting up.

Soph was already there and had everything under control. Soph is incredibly organised and just generally amazing, the night would never have happened without her!

Anyway, all the bands turned up, soundcheck went ahead and we were ready to get started on time. Only problem was that it was still a bit quiet though this was soon remedied as lots of people arrived just in time. Rebecca (looking lovely in her newly made elf outfit, she’s incredibly creative!) kicked off proceedings by reading her beautiful Christmas poem before explaining the rules of Christmas song bingo (everyone got a bingo card with names of Christmas songs on it which they had to tick off if they heard the songs while we were djing between bands, prizes for a line and full house!) and then introduced Jimmy who played a brilliant solo set and everyone loved him, who doesn’s? He asked Lauren from Shrieking Violets and Marble Krusher to join him with a bit of impromptue trumpet playing on ‘There’s A Place’ and played a selection of favourites and new songs and got the night off to an awesome start!

Next came The Shrieking Violets who played a really lovely set, they’ve got some beautiful songs and are great musicians too, I love Natalie’s distinctive voice as well! After that came Doris and the Jumpers, they seem to get better every time I see them, their songs are amazing and they shone despite a few sound issues, especially impressive was April’s dressing as a parcel for the performance of their Christmas song with Natalie Shrieking Violet on violin. Unfortunately, it all got a bit quiet after Doris and sadly there weren’t many people left to watch the last band of the night, The 10p Mixes, who played a wonderful set mixing their own songs with a selection of festive covers including Christmas Is Cancelled (originally by The Long Blondes) and Fairytale of New York, those who stuck around were in for a real treat!

Adam and I played Christmas songs between bands and for a little bit afterwards before packing up at about 1.30am.

I’d like to thank Soph for making the whole night happen and generally being a brilliant friend and organiser, Dave and Kirsty Under Achievers for letting us have our Christmas party downstairs at their fab night, Rebecca for compering and reading her poem, Jimmy McGee, Shrieking Violets, The 10p Mixes and Doris and the Jumpers for performing and everyone who came down to watch! We had a great time!

Christmas love,
Rach Cherryade xxx
Ps advent update: December 14th chocolate tree and a picture of Hello Kitty dressed as Santa in fake beard and all!

A Very Cherry Christmas party

Hi Cherryaders!

The Cherryade Christmas party in collaboration with Under Achievers Please Try Harder is nearly upon us so here are the details, hope lots of uyou can make it, it’s going to be amazing:
Where? Café Saki, Rusholme, downstairs
When? Saturday December 12th 9pm-3am
What? The Christmas party of the year with Christmas bingo, an all night Christmas disco, lots of Christmas treats and a present from Santa for everyone who comes and live performances from the following bands (stage times are subject to change)
11.15pm The 10p Mixes
10.45pm The Shrieking Violets
10.15pm Doris and the Jumpers
9.30pm Jimmy from The Bobby McGee’s (solo set)
9.20pm Poetry reading by Rebecca Willmott

Also, there’ll be the usual brilliant Under Achievers djs upstairs if all the festive cheer is getting a bit much for you! All for only £4!

Copiesof A Very Cherry Christmas vol. 5 will also be available on the night. All of the artists performing on the night have tracks on the compilation. You can find out more about the album here:
www.cherryademusic.co.uk/buyavcc5.html

Lots of Cherry Christmas love,
Rach Cherryade xxx
www.cherryademusic.co.uk
p.s. Dec 9th advent calendar update: chocolate teddy with bow and a picture of another teddy lying down next to some presents.

A Very Cherry Christmas volume 5

Cherryade is delighted to celebrate reaching its 30th release with the fifth in our annual ‘A Very Cherry Christmas’ festive compilation series.

The previous 4 volumes have featured specially recorded seasonal tunes from some of the best bands around, including A Smile and A Ribbon, Das Wanderlust, The Bobby Mcgee’s, Misty’s Big Adventure, The Lovely Eggs, Little My, Dawn of the Replicants, Paul Hawkins, True Adventures, Fever Fever, Applicants, Hotpants Romance, The Deirdres and many, many more. Over the last four years, ‘A Very Cherry Christmas has become something of a festive institution, with tracks from every compilation receiving extensive airplay from the likes of Radio 1’s Huw Stephens, Rob Da Bank, Steve Lamacq and Bethan Elfin, 6 Music’s Tom Robinson and Mark Riley and XFM’s Jon Kennedy, as well as a number of other dj’s all over the world and reviews in Plan B and The Independent.

So, A Very Cherry Christmas vol. 5 has a lot to live up to, and we’re delighted to say it doesn’t disappoint! Boasting 25 festive treats from some of the best bands around today, 21 brand new tracks and 4 favourites from the first 4 volumes, including The School, Das Wanderlust, Persil, Shrag, Allo Darlin’, The Bobby McGee’s, The Lovely Eggs, Mia Vigar, The Gresham Flyers, Foxes, Sparky’s Magic Piano and many, many more, it may be the best in the series so far and is sure to still sound as fresh and exciting in July as it did on Christmas day, and it’s a bargain too, beats novelty socks and jumpers any day!

You can order A Very Cherry Christmas 5 now direct from us at:
www.cherryademusic.co.uk/buyavcc5.html
The album will also be available to buy in all good record shops and on Itunes (distributed by Cargo) making it the first volume of A Very Cherry Christmas to be available outside the Cherryade website. However, the Cherryade website is the only place you can buy all 5 amazing compilations together for the bargain price of just £18 + £2 p and p!

Here is the track listing:

1. The School - Let Me Be the Fairy on Your Christmas Tree Tonight

2. Das Wanderlust - Someone To Pull Crackers With

3. Allo Darlin’ - Space Christmas

4. The Lovely Eggs - Tyrannosaurus Rex For Christmas

5. The 10p Mixes – Christmas Number One

6. Fever Fever - Little Drummer Boy

7. Detox Cute & The Beauty Junkies – Unhappy New Year

8. Sparky’s Magic Piano – The Escape From Aled Jones

9. Persil – Dear Santa

10. Mia Vigar – What The Hell

11. Tiger MCs – The Way That You Arrived

12. Hearts!Attack – It Was Christmas That Killed Us

13. The Gresham Flyers - Mistletoe Misadventure

14. Foxes – Christmas Songs

15. The Bobby McGee’s - Sub Santalales

16. Shrag - Stop the Revelry

17. The Hi-Life Companion - Brockweir Winter Reverie

18. Doris and the Jumpers - Murder under the mistletoe

19. Humousexual - Come Take My Hand In Winter

20. Shrieking Violets - Jethro (Song For)

21. Rebecca Willmott - A Christmas Echo

22. The Pocket Gods - KFC (kentucky fried christmas)

23. Master Solo - The last Xmas of Achiebald Sterling

24. Everett True – A Christmas Tale

25. Marble Krusher – Summer Toys (Winter version)

To celebrate the release of the album we will be hosting a very special Christmas party at Cafe Saki (in conjunction with Under Achievers Please Try Harder' on December 12th from 9pm with live performances from The 10p Mixes:
www.myspace.com/the10pmixes
a solo set from Jimmy from The Bobby McGee's:
www.myspace.com/thebobbymcgees
and Shrieking Violets:
www.myspace.com/shriekingviolets
plus a santa's grotto with Cherryade goodies for everyone who attends, the return of Christmas song bingo, an all-night Christmas disco and lots of mince pies, candy canes and other goodies, absolutely not to be missed!

What reviewers have said:
‘Continuing a welcome tradition from the mighty Cherryade Records, it now feels like Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without this annual compilation.’
Martin Kendrick for Noize Makes Enemies

‘This compilation is the best thing to happen to Christmas since sprouts – I should point out that I love sprouts!’
Artrocker

‘It’s that time of year again when the people at Cherryade reach into bulging Santa’s sack and pick out assorted shiny aural trinkets. This DIY music compilation of fiercely independent artists is the perfect gift for kids who miss John Peel’s Festive Fifty.’
God Is In The Tv

‘You’d have to be a very hard-hearted Scrooge McDuck not to welcome the arrival of the annual Christmas compilation from everyone’s favourite DIY label Cherryade Records.’
Lobster Quadrille

‘Probably the most indie label in Europe, Manchester-based DIY-label Cherryade Records have got into the spirit over the last 4 years with A Very Cherry Christmas, an annual compilation that brings together some of the most DIY and indie performers who, in a parallel universe, would be no. 1 on Top of the Pops.’
The Independent