Tapes and tapes and tapes and tapes and...

Hello all,

As you know, Unpop puts out a mixtape for each one of its nights, painstakingly "mixed" and with its tracklisting neurotically jumbled about. We've always loved this often unloved format (didn't Jack White give out about cassettes in an interview a few years back? anyhow, Meg's way cooler..), probably because of our formative music purchases being on tape and because we can still remember meticulously making mixtapes that you knew would help the morning walk to school as an angstified teenager far more bearable (this is not to mention the legendary nature of C81* and C86). We're pretty much always psyched to see new tapes being released, and I was really happy to pick up a new tape only compilation by Fierce Panda records called TAPE FEAR in the course of a brief visit to London town earlier this week. It contains some Unpop favourites like the Dum Dum Girls and Tennis and is basically a collection of new/newish American (mainly) lo fi indiepop and indierock with lots of awesome bands that I'd never heard before (Savoir Adore and Weekends to name but two). It's really poppy and fuzzy and suits the tape format down to the ground - get yrself a copy if you can (available from http://www.fiercepanda.co.uk/news.php?story=258, but it's a limited edition-er so be quick or be dead, friends!)

In tape making solidarity(é),
Unpop x

* Gotta give props to this - it has Scritti Politti AND Pere Ubu on it, ffs!

Mayday bank holiday special with Pat Nevin!

The New Year has passed by slowly, and not without its fair share of sunny days, grey days and outbreaks of random snowing or sleet. Fortunately, spring time can be trusted to be here in our temperate climate by about the end of April, which, luckily, is the time the next Unpop is on.

Unpop 7 will bring you all the things you've learned to love about the night - the free mixtapes, cakes, badges, the awesome tunes, the friendly atmosphere - and even more, in the form of special guest DJ PAT NEVIN!!

The capital letters indicate how really excited we are to have Pat spinning indie pop on the night, and this Radio 5 commentator/former footballer/general legend comes with an impressive dj-ing pedigree - he has played at pop discos to great success throughout the land for years, and his djing was considered one of the highlights of ATP's (Belle and Sebastian curated) Bowlie II weekender before Christmas.

So there. No excuse. Come along and celebrate the late-coming of Spring with your friendly neighbourhood dance party.

Expect to hear the likes of Belle and Sebastian, The Smiths, Pavement, Hefner, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The Royal We, Of Montreal, The New Pornographers, The Field Mice, Jens Lekman, Betty and the Werewolves, Orange Juice, 'Allo Darlin, The Wave Pictures and other pop classics