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artist · alpinestars
release · less vegas
year · 1999
genre · lo-fi
label · faith & hope
catalogue · fh12007
website · www.faithandhope.co.uk
date · 30-jul-2005
quality · alt-preset standard
source · vinyl
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a1 raygun 7:23
a2 easycom 5:09
b1 interlaken 5:10
b2 buttondown wind 5:05
playtime · 00h 22m 47s
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alpinestars are glyn thomas and richard woolgar.glyn and richard
first met in 1995 when they were in separate bands that shared the
same rehearsal space. once they met they realised they had more in
common with each other than they did with their own bands and quit
their respective groups and briefly formed maxim, their own
"little electro group with full drums and bass".
luckily their friendship lasted longer than the band. their break
came in february 1999 when in glyn's words they were "sitting
around on (their) backsides doing nothing and thinking about what
(they) were gonna do".
a local club promoter was looking for a live act to play before
the djs on his monthly club night, and a 'friend of a friend' who
was aware of maxim, suggested glyn and richard. the promoter of
manchester's 'homoelectric' club gave the unnamed pair a week to
put together an hour-long live set. by the skin of their teeth
(they finished mixing just 20 minutes before their performance)
the duo pulled it off and the crowd's response left them
"pleasantly shocked" as to the night's success. 'homoelectric'
offered glyn and richard a monthly residency to play their
atmospheric blend of warm liquid beats. three days after that,
without a demo and still unnamed the pair were offered a deal with
faith & hope.
the shell-shocked duo came up with the name 'alpinestars' after an
old mountain bike that richard had. alpinestars vinyl debut came
in august 1999 with the release of the limited edition 'less
vegas' ep, track 3 'interlaken' was the most requested track on
steve lamacq's radio 1 evening session. two more limited edition
releases followed: 'silicon chick' ep, which came out at the end
of 1999, and march 2000 saw the release of the third ep,
'kitzbuhel weekend' which earned an nme single of the week, this
was their last vinyl only release.
the year 2000 saw alpinestars picking up accolades such as nme's
number 1 dance tip for 2000, a steve lamacq single of the week and
manchester evening news band of the year. in 2000 the band took
their live show on the road with impressive supports for death in
vegas, doves and saint etiennne, as well as creamfields, reading,
leeds and glastonbury. in july 2000 amidst much touring activity
they released their first proper commercial single, '77 sunset
strip'. this critically acclaimed 45 scored an nme single of the
week and preceded their equally well-received debut album:
'b.a.s.i.c' ('beginner's all-purpose symbolic instruction code')
released 18 september 2000. the album includes a quartet of
re-worked tracks from their set of sold out eps and met with much
media acclaim, described as 'brilliant' (nme), 'inspired
electronica' (q) and 'mesmerising' (select).
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