Pop-tastic Danes Alphabeat have announced a string of 2010 UK tour dates for April in support of their new album (which Jess reviewed here).

Tickets are on sale now, priced at £12 each, except for London which is £14 a ticket.

Sunday 18th April 2010 – Norwich Waterfront
Monday 19th April 2010 – Leeds Stylus
Tuesday 20th April 2010 – Newcastle Northumbria Uni
Thursday 22nd April 2010 – Edinburgh Picturehouse
Friday 23rd April 2010 – Glasgow ABC
Saturday 24th April 2010 – Manchester Academy 2
Sunday 25th April 2010 – Oxford Academy
Tuesday 27th April 2010 – Brighton Concorde 2
Wednesday 28th April 2010 – London Koko (£14)
Thursday 29th April 2010 – Bristol Anson Rooms

Back in 2008, Alphabeat were a chirpy, if not annoying sextet hailing from Denmark who sung about “the word that’s on your lips”, yes, FAS-CI-NA-TION, while appearing on the family-friendly T.V slots of Richard and Judy and Loose Women. Hmm, no, I wasn’t much of a fan of the quirky Danish pop act back then, and admittedly, I wasn’t expecting great things from their upcoming second album, ‘The Beat Is…’, either.

Well, I wouldn’t say I stand corrected, but, let’s just say, I am super surprised by the six pieces’ new record. It would appear that Alphabeat have decided to drop the cutesy pop façade of ‘08, and have instead turned to embracing rawer 90’s electronica and dance Eyeball Paul would be beyond proud of. Yes, to be honest, I am really quite impressed by this unexpected change of direction, and Alphabeat undeniably do it with skill, readers.

Think the house beats of Snap! when listening to the super ‘Rhythm is a Dancer’-esque track that is ‘Hole in the Heart’, and the rounded, soulful Thea Austin vocals of ‘Heatwave’. The jagged vocal-cuts of the latter track, along with ‘Always Up With You’ emit a particularly 90’s vibe and would swim perfectly among Ibiza dancefloors overtook by laser lights and misty smoke machines.

Still, this album isn’t all about the era of Saved by the Bell and Pogs – hints of the 80’s, for example, are still audible amid tracks such as ‘DJ’, where frontlady Stine Bramsen starts to sound like a young, ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ era Madonna. ‘Q&A’, meanwhile, may be a little slower paced but, coming along quite late into the album, it’s much appreciated among the previously intense rave synths.

To conclude, ‘The Beat Is…’ is an extremely nostalgic album, successfully harking back to the glory days of Ministry of Sound and Kevin and Perry. Really, Alphabeat take on the genre of dance surprisingly well. I used to dislike this band. I found them sickly sweet, and to be frank, I couldn’t stand their cheesy 3 minute pop gems. Yet, ‘The Beat Is…’ succeeds in breathing a whole new life into Alphabeat. They’ve matured, grown up, and have took on a sector of the electro genre that not many artists are combating at the moment. ‘The Beat Is…’ is different, and oddly, despite it’s 90’s influence, does not discharge a sense of being out-of-date at all.

Watch the official video to ‘The Spell’ (which samples classic 90’s track, ‘Get Serious’ by Cut ‘N’ Move), below.

Following on from the amazing lineups of the past two years, the Mencap Little Noise sessions are back again this November to raise more money for the mental disability charity.

The lineup is almost complete, with a string of pretty amazing performances scheduled. Personally, I’m most excited about Editors day, along with the pop-tastic Alexandra Burke, Mika and Newton Faulkner days – all of the shows have great talent and with the promise of special guests, I say you should hop on down to Union Chapel to check out some great music. Head on over to the Little Noise Sessions website for more answers to your questions.

The artists so far announced include:

Monday 16th November
Editors
The Maccabees
Bombay Bicycle Club
Everything Everything

Tuesday 17th November
Alexandra Burke
Alphabeat
Marina and the Diamonds
VV Brown

Wednesday 18th November
Mika
Paloma Faith
Alex Gardner
Daisy Dares You

Thursday 19th November
Richard Hawley
I Blame Coco

Friday 20th November
Lostprophets
The Blackout
Egyptian Hip Hop

Saturday 21st November
Taio Cruz
Tinchy Stryder
Chipmunk

Sunday 22nd November
Florence and the Machine
Golden Silvers
Erik Hassle
Ellie Goulding

Monday 23rd November
David Gray
The Low Anthem
Lisa Mitchell

Tuesday 24th November
Newton Faulkner
Scouting for Girls
Little Comets
Stornoway

Alphabeat, possibly my favourite Danish pop act of recent times, have announced a string of UK shows as they continue their UK domination.

Tickets are on sale now.

Monday 26th October 2009 – Glasgow, Classic Grand
Tuesday 27th October 2009 – Newcastle, Academy 2
Wednesday 28th October 2009 – Preston, 53 Degrees
Thursday 29th October 2009 – Bristol, Thekla
Saturday 31st October 2009 – Manchester, Club Academy
Sunday 1st November 2009 – Leeds, Cockpit
Wednesday 4th November 2009 – London, Heaven

Alphabeat: Boyfriend
Cheesy, classic pop from the Danish geniuses. Nothing too complicated, nothing too mould breaking.

We Are Scientists – Impatient
Who doesn’t love this New York duo? Another sterling video from them featuring lots of hair.

Hanson: MMMBop
Now, who doesn’t love this? Simply, pure pop magic.

Quickly stepping up in the world, those Danish popstars Alphabeat have announced a brand-spanking new tour for October and November.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow, Friday 13th June at 9am.

Monday 20th October – Liverpool Academy
Tuesday 21st October – Newcastle University
Wednesday 22nd October – Edinburgh Liquid Rooms
Friday 24th October – Glasgow ABC
Saturday 25th October – Manchester University
Monday 27th October – Norwich Waterfront
Tuesday 28th October – London Shepherds Bush Empire
Friday 31st October – Bristol Anson Rooms
Saturday 1st November – Plymouth University
Sunday 2nd November – Southampton Uni
Monday 3rd November – Brighton Concorde 2
Wednesday 5th November – Oxford Carling Academy
Thursday 6th November – Northampton Roadmender
Friday 7th November – Sheffield Leadmill
Sunday 9th November – Coventry Kasbah
Monday 10th November – Nottingham Trent Student Union
Tuesday 11th November - Leeds Met Uni

The Pigeon Detectives, Fratellis, Zutons and CSS have all been announced to be headlining their own three night UK and Ireland tours for MTV as part of their “Brand Spanking New” tours. Some of the best names and up and coming names in the music biz will be making their way around the country, playing venues smaller than they normally do. So be sure to get your tickets when they go on sale on Friday (7th March) at 9am.

The Pigeon Detectives / The Metros / The Rascals
Monday 28th April – Cambridge Junction
Tuesday 29th April – London Islington Academy
Wednesday 30th April – Liverpool Academy

The Fratellis / The Ting Tings / Alphabeat
Sunday 27th April – Cambridge Junction
Monday 28th April – London Islington Academy
Tuesday 29th April – Liverpool Carling Academy

The Zutons / One Night Only / The Script
Sunday 4th May – Cardiff University
Monday 5th May – Glasgow ABC
Tuesday 6th May – Dublin Academy

CSS / The Futureheads / MGMT
Monday 5th May – Cardiff University
Tuesday 6th May – Glasgow ABC
Wednesday 7th May – Dublin Academy

iTunes have announced 10 days of gigs starting next Thursday as part of their iTunes Live series. All the gigs will be available to download from iTunes after the 10 day festival is over. Last year’s festival was a bit later in the year, but were a significant success – dare I say it, but this years gigs aren’t anywhere near as impressive – I mean, come on, Nizlopi headlining? Tony Christie? Really?

The gigs will take place from February 21 to March 2 at AIR Studios, Lyndhurst Hall, London. The artists will play acousticcally for what is sure to be some very special evenings. Tickets cannot be bought, and are only available from the iTunes Live website as part of a ballot..

Thursday 21st February – Jose Gonzalez, Charlene Soraia, Julian Velard and Stephanie Dosen
Friday 22nd February – Nizlopi, Soweto Kinch
Saturday 23rd February – Alphabeat, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong
Sunday 24th February – Billy Bragg, KT Tunstall, Foy Vance, Leo Abrahams
Monday 25th February – Daniel Merriweather, Estelle, Tawiah
Tuesday 26th February – Charlie Winston, Natalie Clein, Tom Baxter
Wednesday 27th February – Laura Marling, Mystery Jets
Thursday 28th February – Jason Mraz, Ron Sexsmith
Friday 29th February – TBC
Saturday 1st March – Roisin Murphy, Tony Christie
Sunday 2nd March – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Spiritualized

Photo of Roisin Murphy is taken from her myspace.

Sometimes when you go and see a band you have the mis/fortune of seeing a support act who are actually just as good as the band you’ve paid out to see – tonight at Oxford’s Carling Academy was just that, when Alphabeat eclipsed Palladium’s headlining set.

My first night back at the Carling Academy since its costly refurb, I was impressed at just how nice it had turned out – no more whiffs of the loo if you’re near the front of the stage. Still, the nicer surroundings didn’t help the first band up sound any better, The Anydays. Sounding like a reasonably competent Battle of the Bands winner, they were reasonably strong, however had a sensation of going through the motions, and frankly, not that memorable.

Next up were a band I’d been waiting to see for a considerable length of time, Alphabeat. The Danes who I profiled at the weekend didn’t disappoint, putting in a fine showing, even though the crowd was rather meagre. Performing as if their lives depended on it, what they lacked in words they more than made up for with their enthusiasm. Rattling through the majority of their self-titled debut album, they managed to get everyone humming along, even the drunk guy behind me conceeded at the end that “they’re pretty f***ing good”. Indeed they were Rory, indeed they were.

Finally came the big moment, Palladium. I’d previously seen them support the Thrills last summer, and had a series of brilliant songs, which still are brilliant. However, the rest of their album material does sound very much like filler to go between such pop-greats as “High 5″, “Happy Hour” and “White Woman”. Peter Pepper was distinctly untalkative, and the rest of the band seemed a bit hurt at the low attendance, but if we’re honest, it’s a Monday night in January – is it really going to be packed? Ending with a new song wasn’t their brightest idea, instead penultimate “Happy Hour” was my personal highlight, and one that almost got the whole crowd going. Well, some people take some warming up, others were so drunk they danced all the way through.

They’re certainly ones to watch, but after tonight Alphabeat are a better bet for me.

After the jump: More photos.

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It seems that Scandanavians currently have one of the best music scenes around at the moment, managing to have some of the most diverse, and interesting, acts around at the moment. Denmark’s Alphabeat are set to take over the airwaves in 2008 with their unique brand of camp, over-the-top pop which makes the Scissor Sisters look tame.

Perfectly danceable, lyrically strong, and quintessentially Danish in sound, they have some of the best tunes since the Scissor Sisters with a much more European feel, and a hint of flashbacks from the 90’s too. Their self-titled debut came out last summer in Denmark, and is out this May in the UK, but is one of the most varied collections of music I’ve heard in a while – a really great album.

Fans include the Sun, the NME, and a fair few blogs and online news sites, and they have the same management as Mika – and we all know how big Mika has become, love it or hate it.

They’re currently on tour with Palladium around the UK, and I’ll be going to see them on Monday night in Oxford – expect a full review on Tuesday.