Russell Lissack

Ash and Bloc Party Russell Lissack being bitten by the predator.

Russell Lissack

Ash and Bloc Party guitarist bitten by lion. Russell Lissack has had to be rushed to hospital during a trip to South Africa after being bitten by the predator. Apparently Lissack was playing with a lion cub at an animal sanctuary when it attacked him. The guitarist has been touring South Africa with Ash playing gigs in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The animal reportedly drew blood leaving a deep wound we will bring more details as they arrive. It appears that Lissack was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated and have a tetanus booster but that was not the end of the drama. A spokesperson for the band told our source after being treated the hospital had to be sealed off after the deaths of two men from an unidentified virus in an unrelated incident. To add insult to injury on their return to the hotel the car the band were travelling in was involved in the band was involved in a crash but luckily no harm came to any passengers. The band releases the second of its two compilation CDs on October 11.

Ash to release Carnal Love

Ash to release Carnal Love. A gloriously, heart wrenching ballad soaked in Tim Wheeler’s rich croon, Carnal Love revisits that winning Ash formula ‘ a soaring guitar riff matched with Wheeler’s effortless melodies. Another solid pop classic in the thrilling progression of the A-Z series. Beginning with a clutch of UK warm up dates ‘ see www.ash-official.com for details ‘ Ash kicked off their festival season with a headline performance on the John Peel stage at Glastonbury and will wrap it up by headlining the Festival Republic Stage at Reading / Leeds on Friday 27th August (Leeds) and 28th (Reading). Meanwhile the A-Z series continues a pace. Recent single Binary ‘ letter Q – saw Ash dig through their archive to compile the accompanying video, unearthing footage from their lost DIY slasher movie featuring Coldplay, Dave Grohl and Charlotte Hatherley. The video ‘ Slashed Part 1 – rapidly spread across the blogosphere even turning up on Coldplay’s facebook page. Slashed Part 2, featuring another handful of rock’s good and the great, will arrive later this year. Throughout the campaign Ash have collaborated with artists including Russell Lissack from Bloc Party – who joined them on their recent tour on keyboard and guitar ‘ and Emmy The Great. A-Z Vol 1 is available now – with limited edition CD/DVD formats featuring an A-Z tour diary filmed last autumn.

Pin Me Down debut album and free download

Pin Me Down

Pin Me Down is a musical collaboration between Bloc Party guitarist Russell Lissack and vocalist Milena Mepris (formerly of the electro-punk band Black Moustache). The pair met several years ago when Milena’s old band supported Bloc Party in New York. Having discovered a shared love of guitars and 80s artists such as Kate Bush, Cyndi Lauper and New Order the pair decided to explore new frontiers together. Pin Me Down fuse energetic pop melodies with razor-sharp guitar sounds – creating ‘apocalyptic pop’ as Mépris likes to call it. Pin Me Down follow-up their free download single of last month (Time Crisis) with a brand new single (Treasure Hunter) and debut album, both released on Monday 19 April. The new single will be available on limited edition 7′ and Download. The eponymously titled debut album was recorded by Alex Elena and Daniel Lingren in London and New York throughout the course of 2009.

The album’s track listing is as follows;

Cryptic
Treasure Hunter
Boy Who Cried Wolf
Ticking
Oh My Goddess
Pretty In Pink
Curious
Time Crisis
Meet The Selkirks
Everything Is Sacred
Fight Song

The album is available to pre-order now exclusively from the band’s website as a digital album, CD and deluxe edition including bonus vinyl, t-shirt, badges and tote bag,

http://pinmedown.net/

The band will be touring in the summer with club shows and festival dates (details to follow).