arms and sleepers

EUROPEAN TOUR, 08 - 18 FEB

2012-01-24T14:43:00.004-05:00

Our short European tour begins on Wednesday, 08 February in Darmstadt, Germany. In addition to several performances in Germany, we will make stops in Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic. We look forward to returning to Europe for our 7th tour, and hope that you will be able to join us for one of the dates below.

Feb. 08 | DE-Darmstadt | Oetinger Villa
Feb. 10 | DK-Aarhus | Train (Post Fest)
Feb. 11 | DE-Hamburg | Haus 73
Feb. 12 | DE-Berlin | Schokoladen (early show)
Feb. 13 | PL-Poznan | Blue Note
Feb. 14 | CZ-Prague | Klub 007
Feb. 15 | DE-Bamberg | Morph Club
Feb. 16 | DE-Dresden | Thalia Kino
Feb. 17 | DE-Chemnitz | Weltecho
Feb. 18 | DE-Leipzig | Horns Erben

RSVP on Facebook and Last.fm.

Several winter specials are still available from our Big Cartel online shop, including 5 LPs for $30 (+ shipping) and 4 CDs for $20 (+ shipping). Our full discography (over 100 songs) is still available for only $10. All proceeds from these deals are donated to our fundraising campaign Music Against Hunger, as part of the UN World Food Program USA. For more info and to make a purchase, click HERE.

(photo credit: J M Lopez)

Thanks for reading, and see you soon.

A + S

SPECIAL HOLIDAY DEALS FOR A GOOD CAUSE

2011-12-26T14:41:00.004-05:00

We are happy to announce a few special holiday deals for the 2011-12 winter season. As has been the case lately, all proceeds will be donated to our fundraising campaign MUSIC AGAINST HUNGER as part of the World Food Program, a registered non-profit charity organization. We have three items for sale:

[1] Five LPs for $30 + shipping
[2] Four CDs for $20 + shipping
[3] Full discography download (over 100 songs) for $10

Every single penny will be donated and will help those most in need. Please consider buying one of these items by clicking the link below---thank you!

>>> http://www.armsandsleepers.bigcartel.com/category/music-against-hunger

(photo credit: J M Lopez)

FEB. 2012 EUROPEAN DATES ANNOUNCED!

2011-11-28T10:02:00.002-05:00

We are happy to announce a short European tour in February, 2012. Stops include Germany, Denmark, Poland and Czech Republic. More info below.

RSVP on Facebook >>> https://www.facebook.com/events/298127636876979
RSVP on Last.fm >>> http://www.last.fm/music/Arms+And+Sleepers/+events

50% off on Bandcamp and Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T13:41:00.003-05:00

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holidays here in the US, we are offering any purchase from our BANDCAMP page for 50% off with the discount code "blackfriday" (simply enter it at checkout). And in the spirit of being thankful for what we have (that is, something to eat), we will donate all the proceeds to our MUSIC AGAINST HUNGER campaign to help the ongoing humanitarian efforts in East Africa. Deal lasts until Monday, Bandcamp link is below. Thank you, and we wish you happy and safe holidays!

>>> http://www.wearearmsandsleepers.bandcamp.com/

NYC SHOWS: NOV. 11 + 12

2011-11-05T19:15:00.002-04:00

We have two upcoming shows in the New York City area, this Friday Nov. 11 and Saturday Nov. 12. These will be the last two performances of 2011 for Arms and Sleepers---we hope that you will join us! More info below.

FRIDAY, NOV. 11 - NYC
TRIBECA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (celebrating 15 years of Fake Chapter Records)
TICKETS HERE

SATURDAY, NOV. 12 - BROOKLYN
SPIKE HILL
TICKETS HERE

BOSTON SHOW - FRI OCT. 21

2011-10-20T16:45:00.002-04:00

Arms and Sleepers are playing at PA's Lounge in Somerville, Massachusetts tomorrow night - FRIDAY OCT. 21. Doors open at 8:30 pm, AAS on at 9 pm. 21+, $8. We don't play shows in Boston very often these days, so do come out if you're around.

More info here: www.paslounge.com

WE NEED YOUR HELP.

2011-10-17T11:08:00.001-04:00

To raise funds for the victims of East Africa's worst famine since the 1960s, we are offering our entire discography as a high-quality download for only $10. This includes all official releases, including from 2011. That's over 100 songs, making this less than 10 cents per song. Please head over to our Big Cartel page at the link below, and if you already own everything from us, consider telling your friends. This deal lasts until the end of November, and all proceeds will be donated to the World Food Program. Your help is much appreciated—thank you.

http://armsandsleepers.bigcartel.com/product/full-discography-download

NYC OCTOBER SHOW ADDED

2011-09-21T10:04:00.002-04:00

We've just added an NYC date for Monday, Oct. 10 (which is Columbus Day). AAS will be performing at the NYU Kimmel Center (Eisner & Lubin Auditorium), with Carissa's Wierd and Kayo Dot. This is an early show, starting at 6pm, and is open to public.

More info available here:

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=290488007634827

"TUSK" OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

2011-09-12T10:39:00.003-04:00

The official music video for TUSK, the first single from our latest full-length THE ORGAN HEARTS, is finally here! Watch it on Vimeo or YouTube below:

VIMEO >>> http://www.vimeo.com/28727239

YOUTUBE >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErggVPRMO4A

BIG BIG thanks to Javier of QB Media for spending countless hours working on this amazing video!

A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL: PANAMA

2011-08-30T10:16:00.004-04:00

Our latest EP, titled A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL: PANAMA, is officially released today! You can purchase it in FLAC, Lossless or 320-kbps MP3 formats directly from our Big Cartel online shop at http://www.armsandsleepers.bigcartel.com. You can also listen to the track In Memorium on our Thesixtyone page.

The EP features 5 new songs, clocking in at 18:24. The download also includes 4 alternative album covers. More information is available HERE.

Tracklisting:

01. The Cooler
02. The Pedestrian
03. In Memorium
04. Escape
05. From The City Of Lights

NPR Song Of The Day

2011-08-09T14:03:00.002-04:00

Our song I Sing The Body Electric from the latest full-length record The Organ Hearts is featured as the song of the day on NPR today. Check it out at http://www.npr.org/2011/08/09/139242443/arms-and-sleepers-into-the-void.

NEWS UPDATE JUNE 2011

2011-06-07T05:38:00.003-04:00

Hi there!

It's been a while since our last Blogspot update. As you may or may not know, we've been on tour since the end of March, and are continuing this adventure into June and early July. First, however, we'd like to sincerely thank everyone involved in our shows over the past 2 months. We have been extremely fortunate to meet some of the kindest and welcoming folks and to visit some truly beautiful places. Whether you came out to our show, helped organize it, did sound, lights, or merch, promoted it, or contributed in any other way, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It was a pleasure to perform for you, and these special moments will forever remain with us. We have tried to keep up a photo diary of our travels over on Tumblr---it's not completely up to date, but there is a lot of material there and we'll be adding more shortly. Check it out HERE.

So the 2nd leg of our world tour is now over, and we begin the 3rd leg in Asia this Thursday night in Singapore. Here are the exact dates:

JUNE 09 | SG-SINGAPORE | HOME CLUB

JUNE 11 | MY-KUALA LUMPUR | BLACK BOX

JUNE 12 | CN-CHENGDU | LITTLE BAR LIVEHOUSE

JUNE 14 | CN-CHONGQING | NUTS LIVEHOUSE

JUNE 16 | CN-WUHAN | VOX LIVEHOUSE

JUNE 17 | CN-SHANGHAI | YUYINGTANG

JUNE 18 | CN-BEIJING | MAKO

JUNE 19 | HK-HONG KONG | HIDDEN AGENDA LIVEHOUSE

JUNE 24 | PH-MANILA | B-SIDE

JUNE 25 | VN-HANOI | HANOI ROCK CITY

You can find more info and RSVP on Facebook HERE. We are extremely excited to kick things off in Asia for the first time ever!

The 4th and final leg of this tour will take place in early July in Canada. The dates are as follows:

JULY 03 | QC-MONTREAL | CASA DEL POPOLO

JULY 04 | ON-OTTAWA | ZAPHOD BEEBLEBROX

JULY 05 | ON-HAMILTON | THIS AIN'T HOLLYWOOD

JULY 06 | ON-TORONTO | HARD LUCK

So, still plenty of shows left to go---hope to see you at one of them!

*

Our latest full-length release, THE ORGAN HEARTS, was released on May 13 and is now available for purchase from various retailers. Best way to order is from Expect Candy's Big Cartel page, which is located HERE. You can also buy on iTunes HERE or Amazon HERE. The first single, Tusk, along with a Helios remix of the track, are still available on Expect Candy's Bandcamp page HERE. And, the upcoming EP, which will be free for all those that pre-ordered The Organ Hearts, will be released this summer.

*

That's it for now. More news are on the way, and we'll update you once we are back home from tour. Until then, enjoy the summer days and keep it cool.

a+s

NEWS UPDATE MAY 2011

2011-05-02T07:31:00.002-04:00

Hello,

We hope that you are doing well and enjoying the spring so far. We are currently on tour in Europe and wanted to quickly update you regarding a few things.

FIRST...

Our new full-length album, titled The Organ Hearts, is officially released on May 13 via Expect Candy. It will be available on CD + Digital (no vinyl plans as of right now, sorry!), and you can pre-order it HERE. All pre-orders include a free download of a new 5-song EP which will be released this summer. There are 2 weeks left to do this, so hurry up and place your order by May 13 if you'd like some free music in addition to the new record! (Also available on iTunes HERE).

The first single, Tusk, is available for purchase now via Expect Candy's Bandcamp page HERE. This includes a remix of the song by Helios (which is absolutely fabulous), and you can stream both tracks on Bandcamp now. The music video will be released in the coming weeks as well.

Don't forget to also check out our recent mini-album, Nostalgia For The Absolute, HERE. It is available only as a digital download except for a few remaining physical copies at upcoming shows. If you've downloaded this record without paying AND you liked what you heard, please consider purchasing it directly from us---it's the only way that we can continue making music.

SECOND...

The vinyl editions of Cinematique and From The Inland Sea are still available for purchase online via Ericrock. There are still some combo packs available for Cinematique (white + black LPs), as well as some colored LPs for From The Inland Sea. We do still have copies of both releases available at shows, but please note that we no longer have any Cinematique white LPs with us.

If you wish to make a purchase from our Big Cartel online shop, please note that we will not be able to ship your item(s) until early July when we return home from tour. If you wish to purchase downloads, we encourage you to use our Bandcamp page, which contains most of our releases in almost any format.

THIRD...

Finally, we want to thank everyone that's come to one (or more) of our shows so far. It's been really a pleasure playing for all of you, and we very much appreciate the support. We still have 2 months of touring left ahead of us in support of our new record(s), so please check our tour page HERE for all upcoming shows. You can also RSVP on Facebook HERE. Asian dates in June and Canadian dates in early July will be announced this week, so please stay tuned for that as well.

There are several live videos from recent shows that you can check out if you're interested. Here's a quick list:

Tusk (live from Brooklyn, NY, April 1):

Simone (live from Oudenaarde, Belgium, April 21):

80/20 remix (live from Dunk Festival, Belgium, April 24):

Matador remix (live from Hannover, Germany, April 28) >>> watch on Facebook

We've been keeping our Tumblr tour blog updated as frequently as possible---you can find pictures and words HERE.

*

Thanks for reading this update---'till next time!

a + s

EUROPEAN TOUR <<>> NEW SINGLE

2011-04-14T05:12:00.009-04:00

Today (14 April) marks the beginning of our 2-month long European tour. It all kicks off tonight in Heilbronn, Germany---we hope to see you at one of the upcoming shows! For a full listing of concerts and relevant details, please visit the official tour page HERE or the Facebook event page HERE.

Please note some important changes:

>>> We are now playing a house show in Wanquetin, France on Saturday, April 16. It is taking place at Plane Ari House, and more information is available on the Facebook event page HERE.

>>> There are now 2 UK shows planned for Sunday, April 17. The first is a matinee show @ The Well in Leeds, with a start time of 2pm. The second is a night show @ The Adelphi Club in Hull.

>>> The Glasgow show now has a new date and venue. It will take place on Monday, April 18 @ The Silence Machine Studios. You can see where it is on a Google map HERE. For more information, e-mail markmcglinchey(at)gmail(dot)com.

>>> The London show stays as planned: Wednesday, April 20 @ The Cricketers in Kingston.

You can follow our Tumblr tour blog with regular updates HERE.

And the new single Tusk from our upcoming full-length album The Organ Hearts will be available for purchase tomorrow, April 15! It includes a remix of the track by Helios.

See you on the road!

A + S

SPRING 2011 TOUR HAS BEGUN

2011-03-30T09:14:00.009-04:00

IT'S ALMOST TIME.

2011-03-24T00:38:00.002-04:00

Wait, is Arms and Sleepers going on tour or somethin'?

Yeah, they is. Next week marks the beginning of a 3-month long journey on North American and European soil---and more announcements for June + early July are on the way too. We're both thrilled and nervous, but more than anything, we can't wait to play for you again! It all gets underway this Wednesday, March 30 @ TT The Bear's in Cambridge. We do hope to see you there for what looks to be a great tour-kick off show, along with Those Wolves Actually Happened, Deleted Arrows and Plumerai. We heard everyone is going to be there, so you should too.

2 new shows were recently added: Hamden, CT @ The Outer Space on March 31, and Copenhagen, Denmark @ KB18 on 04 June. (Yeah, we switch up the date format to accommodate your continental needs---that's how we do.) The Krakow, Poland show on 05 May has been moved to a new venue: Pod Jaszczurami. Make note on your calendars.

Advance tickets for the Montreal show @ Casa Del Popolo on April 9 (w/ Caspian) are now available from Cheap Thrills and Phonopolis. You save 2 bucks when you buy ahead of time, so don't be lazy and head down to either shop.

The kind folks from Dunk Fest in Belgium made a little promo video for their awesome upcoming event 22-24 April:

We are extremely excited to be a part of this year's festival. We perform on the last day, Sunday 24 April, at 21:30. Full set times, tickets and other information are all available HERE.

Don't forget to follow our travels via the tour blog over at Tumblr! Facebook and Twitter pages will also be regularly updated.

Full information regarding the upcoming dates can be found HERE. RSVP on Facebook and Last.fm. We look forward to seeing you in the coming weeks/months---do say hello!

There are also some non-tour news...

Now is the last chance to order a copy of our recent DVD release. There are 10 or so copies remaining, and whatever is left after this weekend will be sold at the upcoming shows. If you want one, click HERE to purchase. 100% of the proceeds are donated to our Music Against Hunger charity fundraiser.

The Sunday in Bed Vol. 4 compilation, featuring our track The Inland Sea, is now available for purchase via Amazon. Released by Club Star Records out of Cologne, Germany, this comp features numerous artists including Caribou, Memory Tapes and Shawn Lee. Check it out!

Pre-orders for the CINEMATIQUE and FROM THE INLAND SEA vinyl are still being taken over at Ericrock. Bundle deals, special raffles, and lots of coolness going on, so be sure to scope it all out over at Ericrock's website.

Until March 30th, everything is 20% off on our Bandcamp page. Just enter the discount code "asmileinsofia" at checkout. We also have a special new Big Cartel page with bundle deals and other discounts, with the goal of raising as much money as possible to help us fund the beginning of our long journey. If you might be curious, click HERE.

(cover by Tim Beers)

Of course, we do also have some FREE music for you! Earlier this week, we released a free 3-song Digital EP as a thanks for helping us reach 4,000 "likes" on Facebook. You can download it HERE. We also put up a free music sampler on our Bandcamp page, with a total of 9 tracks. Take a look HERE.

There is more information about THE ORGAN HEARTS, our upcoming full-length record, over at the Expect Candy website. The first single, TUSK, will be released on April 15, just as the European leg of the tour gets underway.

NOSTALGIA FOR THE ABSOLUTE, our latest mini-album release, has received some kind reviews lately from Sputnik, SSG Music, Fields of Gravity, and, in German, Motor, Rote Raupe and Triggerfish. If you haven't purchased this album yet (digital download only), you can do so directly from us HERE.

And finally, not too long ago we did an interview with Kosovo 2.0 from, well, Kosovo! You can read it in 3 languages HERE.

Thank you for getting through this lengthy update and... SEE YOU ON THE ROAD!

a + s

NEW ALBUM ANNOUNCEMENT

2011-03-14T11:29:00.003-04:00

THE ORGAN HEARTS will be our 3rd full-length record and will be released on May 13, 2011 via Expect Candy on CD + Digital. Guest appearances include Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari on vocals and Philip Jamieson of Caspian on guitar. The album cover and tracklisting are below; the first single, Tusk, will be released on April 15, 2011 along with a remix by Helios. (You can watch the 2011 video teaser featuring short clips from the upcoming album HERE).

Tracklisting:

01. Kepesh
02. Tusk
03. I Sing The Body Electric
04. The Afternoon Child
05. A Smile In Sofia
06. Antwerp
07. Serie Noire
08. Reprise
09. Yesterday's Child
10. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
11. Atelier
12. Airport Blues

*

We can't wait to finally share this one with you!

a + s

CINEMATIQUE + FROM THE INLAND SEA VINYL REISSUES NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

2011-03-11T11:54:00.002-05:00

The long awaited Cinematique and From The Inland Sea vinyl editions are finally here! Brought to you by Ericrock, you can now pre-order each from their website. Special deals, combos, test press raffles, and other fun information is all available HERE. Hurry up—Cinematique LPs are limited to 300 copies, and From The Inland Sea LPs are limited to 500 copies, with the first 100 units on semi-clear vinyl. This latter release also features a bonus track not available on the CD version of the EP.

Nostalgia For The Absolute, our latest release, is available for purchase from our Big Cartel online shop or iTunes. The limited edition DVDs are still available HERE, with all proceeds donated to our Music Against Hunger charity fundraiser.

And don't forget to check out the upcoming tour dates HERE and RSVP on Facebook and Last.fm!

Have a great weekend!

A&S

SPRING 2011 TOUR STARTS IN 3 WEEKS!

2011-03-09T12:21:00.002-05:00

Yep, we'll be taking our new tunes for a spin beginning March 30th in Boston, and in full gear until the summer months! More shows to be announced, too. For all current dates, please visit our official tour page with all the venue and ticket info.

To help us raise some money for this tour, we've started a special pre-tour sale during the month of March. We've created a dedicated Big Cartel page for this, and you can check it out here: http://www.asmileinsofia.bigcartel.com. All deals available only until March 30th. Please take a look and help us spread the word about this sale!

NEW YORK FOLKS: you can buy advance tickets for the April 1st show at Littlefield in Brooklyn HERE, and save $2 from the door price!

Our Tumblr page will be the main place for daily reflections and thoughts from the road, so if you're interested in keeping up with that, subscribe to the blog HERE.

That's it for now---hope everyone is doing well!

NOSTALGIA FOR THE ABSOLUTE released today!

2011-03-04T12:34:00.003-05:00

Nostalgia For The Absolute, our latest mini-album, is officially released today. You can purchase it via ITUNES, or directly from us at BANDCAMP, where you can also stream the entire record. You can still get the bonus track "Rire Jaune" by the end of the day today when you buy from us.

Cinematique and From The Inland Sea vinyl pre-orders begin in less than a week! Check out the pre-order page on Ericrock's website, who is putting out both of these releases.

More music has been added to our Bandcamp page HERE, including Matador and Black Paris 86 bonus tracks.

If you're looking to buy our entire discography in high-quality MP3, Apple Lossless or FLAC formats, you can now do so at our Big Cartel online shop HERE. For $50, you get 91 songs from all 12 official releases!

Kris Johnsen of Emblem Studio in Portland, Maine recently completed screen-printing our Spring 2011 tour posters, which will be available for sale at all upcoming shows (until supplies last). This is a limited edition of 105, signed by Kris himself. You can check out the whole process, from beginning to end, on his website HERE. Highly recommended!

And finally, a cool little demo reel that we came across using our song "The Architekt":

DemoReel2010 - Christophe Dalpé DOP from Christophe Dalpé on Vimeo.

Much love,

AAS

NEWS UPDATE 2/25/11

2011-02-24T11:49:00.013-05:00

(you can also read/share this update HERE)

Hello!

Hope everyone has survived (is surviving) the cold winter months—for those of you in the northeast US, you know what we're talking about. Battered and bruised, this seems like it was one of the coldest and most treacherous winters in quite some time. Spring better be ready for us.

Since a lot is happening in the Arms and Sleepers camp these days, we wanted to send out another update with all the latest news.

// RELEASES

The DVD pre-orders have FINALLY shipped! We apologize for the delay, and thank you for your patience. You should have these neat little rascals on your doorstep (or mailbox) next week. We hope you enjoy it! Thanks to all who pre-ordered. For those who haven't ordered a copy yet, there are still a few available through our Big Cartel online shop HERE. All proceeds are donated to the World Food Program as part of our Music Against Hunger fundraising campaign, so you'll be supporting a good cause when you place your order.

*

Nostalgia For The Absolute pre-orders start today! See below for more details.

*

The first single from our upcoming full-length record is called Tusk (not Yesterday's People, as previously announced) and will be available exclusively through iTunes in April. It will feature a remix of the track by Helios as well. The new record drops in early May, but CDs will be available for sale on all European dates prior to the release date. More reason to come to one of the concerts this spring---just sayin'.

*

From The Inland Sea and Cinematique LPs will be available for pre-order soon, we promise! They will also be available for purchase at all upcoming shows.

*

A big thanks to everyone for helping us reach 4,000 "likes" on Facebook! The free, exclusive EP will be available for download in the coming weeks.

// NOSTALGIA FOR THE ABSOLUTE PRE-ORDERS

Release date: March 4, 2011

Nostalgia For The Absolute, our latest mini-album featuring 12 new songs, is now available for pre-order! It's not REALLY a pre-order, since you'll receive the download link as soon as you purchase it. However, you will also receive a bonus 13th track when you "pre-order" by March 4th, which is the official release date. After that, only the 12 songs will be available from our online shop, iTunes, Amazon and other online outlets. So, buy this release by March 4th and you'll get the additional bonus track as well.

>> CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER! <<

For our European friends, you can pay for it in Euros via Expect Candy's Bandcamp page HERE.

Tracklisting:

01. Crash
02. Lisbon
03. Croix Rouge
04. Lovers Arctic
05. Clayton
06. The Dying Animal
07. Nova
08. Rondo
09. Tonight We're Thinking Of You
10. The Hidden Sea
11. Quiet Camera
12. Night

13. Rire Jaune (available only through pre-orders, Feb. 25 - March 4)

// SPRING 2011 TOUR

There have been a bunch of updates with regards to our upcoming spring tour dates since the last time we spoke. More shows have been confirmed in the US and Europe, so please be sure to click HERE for all the most current information, including ticket links and venue info. You can also RSVP on Last.fm and Facebook. Please tell all your friends about these tour dates and help us spread the word as much as possible!

There are actually more shows still to be announced, including some exciting places we've never even dreamed of visiting. That's all we'll say for now. :)

*

The tour kick-off show will take place at TT The Bear's in Cambridge, MA. So for our Boston friends, here are the details:

Wednesday, March 30
TT The Bear's
10 Brookline St. (Central Sq. in Cambridge)
w/ Plumerai, Deleted Arrows (ex-The Cancer Conspiracy/Daughters), Those Wolves Actually Happened
18+ | $10 | 8pm doors
Presented by Extinguish

>> CLICK HERE TO BUY ADVANCE TICKETS! <<

We hope you can join us for this one---it'll be a kick ass night.

*

Congratulations to the following 5 folks for winning free concert tickets and merchandise as part of the recent tour raffle:

Fabienne from Berlin, Germany
Ralf from Hannover, Germany
Wojciech from Bielsko-Biala, Poland
Alexandru from Bucharest, Romania
Hamed from Glasgow, Scotland

Thanks to everyone that participated!

*

Recently, AZH Promo (the folks responsible for our upcoming shows in Ukraine) did a poster competition with the idea of creating a set of 3 unique but confluent posters, one for each show. We were completely amazed at the amount of talent exhibited, and definitely recommend you check out all the submissions. Click HERE for that.

// MISC.

As previously mentioned, all our releases are now available through Bandcamp. We also have high-quality MP3, FLAC and Apple Lossless download options available for our entire discography over at the Big Cartel online shop. We've recently added more music to our Thesixtyone page as well. For free music samplers (a total of 16 tracks---all for free!), click HERE.

*

Per Koro Records in Germany is currently doing a sale for most Expect Candy releases. You can find some really good deals, including Black Paris 86 CD for 4 Euro (!) and Matador Remixed LP for 6 Euro (!). Don't miss this sale if you're interested in either one of these releases!

*

In The Orchard Of Osiris, a compilation album featuring our track The Architekt, is available for purchase HERE.

*

Besides working non-stop on new music, we've also managed to put together a few remixes. Recently we did one for Helios and one for Actors & Actresses, and soon we'll have remixes for The One AM Radio and Ef as well. More info regarding how these will be released should be announced in the near future.

// CONNECT

Official (NEW!) | Blogspot | Facebook | Twitter | Last.fm | YouTube

// SHOP

Big Cartel | Bandcamp | iTunes

That's it from us, for now. As always, thanks for reading and continuing to support what we do. We look forward to seeing some of you on the upcoming tour dates!

Be well,

Mirza + Max

EARLY FEBRUARY UPDATE

2011-02-08T17:36:00.004-05:00

Hi there.

We've extended the tour raffle deadline until this Friday, Feb. 11. Click HERE to find out how you can be entered to win free concert tickets for the upcoming tour, as well as free, signed merchandise.

Recently, the folks at AZH Promo, who are setting up our upcoming Ukrainian shows, did a tour poster competition. The winning poster will be used for promoting the 3 dates in Ukraine. There were some quite amazing posters submitted---it's definitely worth a look. Check it out HERE. A big thanks to all the participants for their hard work!

The upcoming DVD release, Preventing Lead Poisoning in Young Children, will ship in about 1-2 weeks. We apologize for the delay. You can still pre-order a copy for $10 + shipping until tomorrow, when the regular price goes into effect ($12 + shipping). Get a copy for yourself HERE.

Per Koro Records in Germany is doing a sale that offers really low prices for the Black Paris 86 CD and Matador Remixed LP. Click HERE to check it out.

In The Orchard Of Osiris, a compilation CD featuring our track "The Architekt," is still available for purchase. You can get your hands on this cool little release HERE.

We've added more music to our The Sixtyone page. Click HERE to explore.

More shows have been confirmed for the upcoming spring tour dates. RSVP on Facebook or Last.fm.

Please remember to support our campaign to raise money for the UN's World Food Program by donating any amount HERE. Your contribution is tax-deductible and as little as $1 can feed 4 children in impoverished areas of the world! If you'd like to send money via PayPal for this cause, you can do that as well. Just send it to mramic1(at)yahoo(dot)com and add "Music Against Hunger" in the comments section. Thank you!

Finally, a cool video we came across using our song "This Place Was My Home..." from Cinematique:

Thanks for reading!

End of January update

2011-01-26T11:12:00.003-05:00

Hi.

Work on the new record continues. As always, the sound is changing and we are exploring new musical avenues—can't wait to share this bad boy with you! Before we release our 3rd full-length album in April, we'll have a mini-album for you in early March, titled Nostalgia For The Absolute. Tracklisting and pre-ordering info for that will be revealed soon.

A few things have changed and some new shows added to our upcoming spring tour. Ef will no longer be playing the 3 German shows with us (Cologne, Oberhausen, Bielefeld). These dates will still go on, so we hope to see you there regardless! A few new shows were recently added: 14 April in Heilbronn, Germany; 19 April in Glasgow, Scotland; and 9 May in Dornbirn, Austria. All the details can be found on our main tour info page.

The free concert ticket and merch raffle is still going on! You can be entered to win free tickets to any of our upcoming shows, as well as free signed CDs and posters. Click HERE and scroll down past the tour dates for more info.

Tickets for the Dunk Festival in Belgium are now available for purchase! Currently there are special discounted prices, so be sure to scope it out if you plan to attend. You can click HERE for that. We play on the last day of the festival, Sunday 24 April.

This is the last week for the Expect Candy winter sale! There are a bunch of discounted CDs and LPs, including the Black Paris 86 CD and Matador Remixed LP. Get them now if you want a copy of either or both—they're not going to be this cheap again anytime soon.

A reminder that all our music is now available through Bandcamp. Click HERE to check it out. Or, if you're looking for some free downloads, we have music samplers available HERE.

Finally, pre-orders for the upcoming DVD release are still being taken. Not that many copies remain, so make sure to reserve one for yourself before it's too late. This is a limited edition of 100, hand-packaged and numbered, with all proceeds donated to the World Food Program as part of our Music Against Hunger fundraising campaign.

Thanks for reading—hope everyone is doing well.

a&s

Free concert ticket & merch raffle!

2011-01-18T12:52:00.005-05:00

We're doing a raffle now through Feb. 18 where you can win 2 free tickets to any of our upcoming shows, a signed copy of the 3rd full-length, a signed screen-printed tour poster, and a high-quality download of Nostalgia For The Absolute ahead of the release date. In order to be entered into the raffle, you need to do the following:

- Make the poster image for our upcoming tour the main/default image on your Facebook profile and Myspace page until Feb. 18, and post the link to our Facebook tour event a few times until mid-February. That link is: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=145314632189056

- Once you've made the tour poster image your default image, send us a link to your profile at wearearmsandsleepers(at)gmail(dot)com

- Entries will only be accepted until Feb. 1. (EXTENDED TO FEB. 11!)

- No need to prove that you've posted the tour event link more than once—we'll trust your honesty.

5 names will be randomly drawn during the weekend of Feb. 19. The lucky winners will be announced the following week.

If you live in a place that we won't be visiting on our upcoming tour, we're sorry!

To see all upcoming tour dates, click HERE.

*

Pre-orders for the upcoming DVD release are still being taken HERE. This is a limited edition of 100 copies, hand-packaged & numbered, + all proceeds go to our World Food Program fundraiser. Reserve a copy for yourself now!

*

Our entire discography is now available in FLAC and Apple Lossless formats. Visit our Big Cartel or Bandcamp pages.

*

We recently did an interview for an online Polish magazine. If you speak Polish, you can read it HERE.

*

RSVP for the upcoming tour on Last.fm HERE.

*

And if you haven't seen our new official website, check it out HERE.

News Update 1/10/11

2011-01-10T13:27:00.018-05:00

(you can also read/share this update HERE)

Hi there!

We hope everyone is off to a good start in 2011! It's a new year, and so we have a bunch of new announcements. Let's get right down to it!

// UPCOMING RELEASES

We've been busy in the studio since the summer working on so much new music that our heads are spinning. It's been really complicated figuring out what's what and how to properly release the ridiculous amount of compositions that sound nothing alike, but there IS a plan and below you can find more detailed information regarding this year's release schedule.

Preventing Lead Poisoning In Young Children: a DVD by Arms and Sleepers
Limited edition of 100 | Release date: Feb. 8 | Pre-orders: TODAY (see below)

Nostalgia For The Absolute
Digital only | Release date: March 4 | Pre-orders: Feb. 25

Yesterday's People single
Digital only | Release date: April 1

3rd Full-Length (yet to be titled)
CD + Digital | Release date: April 29 | Pre-orders: April 8

Happy Birthday, Dear Leader.
Digital only | Release date: May 27 | Free with full-length pre-orders

Happiness
CD + Digital | Release date: Fall 2011

*

And we have some old releases FINALLY coming out on vinyl:

Cinematique
LP | Release date: Feb. 22 | Pre-orders: late Jan.
Limited edition of 300 | Hand-packaged & numbered

From The Inland Sea
LP | Release date: Feb. 22 | Pre-orders: late Jan.
Limited edition of 500 | Includes the bonus track "Diario 16"

*

Black Paris 86 CD is back in stock! This is the 2nd pressing, and this month only you can get it for a discounted price of 6 Euro (about $8) from Expect Candy's website. Click HERE to take advantage of this deal!

*

Finally, as already announced, we'll be putting out a benefit compilation for our Music Against Hunger fundraising project. A lot of great artists are involved, and we're very much looking forward to sharing this release with you. More info later this month.

Music Against Hunger: a benefit compilation
CD + Digital | Release date: Feb. 2011 | Pre-orders: late Jan.
Limited edition of 200 | Contributions by Helios, Caspian, Constants, The One AM Radio, pg.lost, etc.

// DVD PRE-ORDERS

Preventing Lead Poisoning In Young Children: a DVD by Arms and Sleepers

Release date: Feb. 8, 2011

Pre-ordering for the limited edition DVD begins today! Hand-packaged and numbered, this release features 15 videos, including music videos, album teasers and material from our live concert visuals. 100% of proceeds from sales will be donated to the World Food Program as past of our Music Against Hunger fundraising project. This release is extremely limited (only 100 copies available), so place your order today to ensure you get a copy. PLUS, by pre-ordering you save $2 from the regular price. All packages will ship in early February.

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER!

Tracklisting:

01. I was a climber | dir. by Michael Nelson
02. Butterflycatcher | dir. by Dado Ramadani & Arms and Sleepers
03. The Architekt | dir. by Ben Andrews
04. In The Empire Of Builders | dir. by Dado Ramadani
05. Matador Promotional Video | dir. by David Altobelli
06. Simone | dir. by Alex Zakharik
07. Dear Charles, My Muse, Asleep Or Dead | dir. by Dado Ramadani & Arms and Sleepers
08. The Motorist | dir. by Dado Ramadani
09. Runner Misplaced | dir. by Dado Ramadani
10. I am a strange loop | dir. by Dado Ramadani & Arms and Sleepers
11. The Architekt | dir. by Javier Benia
12. Lautlos | dir. by Dado Ramadani & Arms and Sleepers
13. Black Paris 86 | dir. by Dado Ramadani
14. 2011 Promotional Video #1 | dir. by Dado Ramadani
15. 2011 Promotional Video #2 | dir. by Dado Ramadani

Thanks in advance for supporting our campaign to raise money for people living in chronic hunger by ordering a copy of the DVD!

// SPRING 2011 TOUR

This spring, we'll be embarking on our most extensive tour yet. We'll be teaming up once again with Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari, who'll be singing, playing keys and talking sweet things to you from the stage. Needless to say, we're excited to have him along! We'll be promoting all the above releases, and bringing along with us lots of vinyl, shirts and hand-made goodies. We're very much looking forward to revisiting familiar places and catching up with old friends, and of course meeting new ones in parts of the world we have not seen before. There are still a few more dates to be announced, so the list below is incomplete. Do check back throughout the month as we post new events. If you are interested in helping us promote any of the dates below or have any questions, feel free to get in touch: wearearmsandsleepers@gmail.com

NORTH AMERICA

March 30 | MA-Boston | TT The Bear's
March 31 | CT-Hamden | The Outer Space
April 01 | NY-Brooklyn | Littlefield
April 02 | MD-Baltimore | Metro Gallery
April 03 | VA-Lynchburg | White Hart Cafe
April 04 | PA-Pittsburgh | Garfield Artworks
April 06 | IL-Dekalb | The House Cafe
April 07 | IL-Chicago | The Whistler
April 08 | NY-Rochester | The Keg
April 09 | QC-Montreal | Casa Del Popolo ^

EUROPE

April 14 | DE-Heilbronn | Club Mobilat
April 15 | FR-Lille | La Malterie
April 16 | UK-Leeds | Santiago's
April 17 | UK-Hull| Adelphi Club
April 19 | UK-Glasgow | Nice n Sleazy
April 20 | UK-Kingston | The Cricketers
April 21 | BE-secret show | e-mail for info: elodiesdt@gmail.com
April 22 | LU-Luxembourg | D:Qliq
April 23 | DE-Stuttgart | Café Galao
April 24 | BE-Zottegem | Dunk Festival *
April 25 | DE-Cologne | Subway
April 26 | DE-Oberhausen | Drucklufthaus
April 27 | DE-Bielefeld | Forum
April 28 | DE-Hannover | Feinkostlampe
April 29 | DE-Kiel | Prinz Willy
April 30 | DE-Hamburg | Haus 73
May 01 | DE-Leipzig | Paris Syndrom
May 02 | DE-Berlin | Levee
May 03 | PL-Sopot | Papryka
May 04 | PL-Poznan | Meskalina
May 05 | PL-Krakow | Pod Jaszczurami
May 06 | DE-Dresden | Scheune
May 07 | CZ-Prague | 007
May 08 | DE-Bamberg | Morph Club
May 09 | AT-Dornbirn | Schlachthaus
May 10 | AT-Vienna | Rhiz
May 12 | RO-Cluj | Gambrinus Live Stage
May 13 | RO-Iasi | Baia Turceasca
May 14 | RO-Bucharest | Club Control #
May 15 | RO-Craiova | TBA
May 16 | HU-Budapest | Szabad Az A
May 17 | SLV-Ljubljana | Menza pri Koritu
May 18 | Italy | TBA
May 19 | Italy | TBA
May 20 | CH-Luzern | Treibhaus
May 21 | DE-Frankfurt | Elfer Music Club
May 23 | GR-Athens | K44
May 24 | GR-Thessaloniki | Fuzz Bar
May 25 | MK-Skopje | La Kaña
May 27 | TR-Istanbul | Peyote
May 28 | RU-Moscow | Gogol
May 29 | UA-Kiev | Kinopanorama
May 30 | UA-Lviv | Kyiv Cinema
May 31 | UA-Chernivtsi | TBA
June 03 | LV-Riga | K. Suns Cinema
June 04 | DK-Copenhagen | KB18

^ with Caspian
* with Ef
# with Jenniferever

The main place for venue, ticket and all tour-related info will be HERE. Starting next week, we'll also be doing a raffle for free concert tickets and merchandise, so stay tuned for that.

The Facebook event page for the tour is now up and running. Check it out and RSVP!

Similarly, you can RSVP for the shows on Last.fm if you prefer that.

And finally, you'll be able to keep track of our travels via the Tumblr tour blog---we will do our best to post consistently!

// NEW OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Finally after years of website-absent existence, we have a new official home on the internets that we're very excited about! We owe an enormous thanks to Black Day Creative, who made it all happen seamlessly and who was an absolute pleasure to work with. If you ever need any web or other design services, be sure pay them a visit HERE.

The new website, along with out Facebook and Blogspot pages, will be the best online spots to stay properly updated on our latest releases, tours and other news. As mentioned before, we will NOT be using our myspace page much at all, so please don't rely on it for the most current information (or any information, as a matter of fact).

So, without further ado, here it is: http://www.armsandsleepers.com

// ONLINE SHOP UPDATES

BIG CARTEL IMPROVEMENTS
As in, now you can finally purchase our releases in FLAC and Apple Lossless formats! It took a while, but we finally got to it! The whole look of our Big Cartel store has changed, and you'll now be able to find package deals (including Matador Collection and Vinyl Collection) and multiple download options when purchasing. See for yourself HERE! More special bundle deals will be added in the following weeks.

EXPECT CANDY SALE
Our European label Expect Candy is currently doing an online sale for most of their releases. You can find a lot of cool records at a discounted price HERE, including Matador Remixed LP for 7 Euro (+ shipping) and Black Paris 86 CD for 6 Euro (+ shipping). The sale ends Jan. 29.

BANDCAMP
Yep, it's here! You can find almost all our releases on Bandcamp now. We will be honest and say that the prices here are discounted (there is a minimum, but you can choose what to pay). However, we encourage you to buy directly from us through Big Cartel because that is the most beneficial to our survival as musicians. The option is there though---so, if you cannot afford the actual prices (which is understandable these days), then please, head on right over to Bandcamp!

// CONNECT

Official (NEW!) | Blogspot | Facebook | Twitter | Last.fm | YouTube

// SHOP

Big Cartel | iTunes

Thanks for reading---happy 2011 and see you soooon!

Mirza + Max

Last update of 2010... Happy New Year!

2010-12-21T14:44:00.006-05:00

Hello hello,

Here's one last update before 2011!

We have several releases and tours planned for 2011, and we'll officially announce all the pertinent information in early January. Besides new releases (3 of them in the spring), we'll be releasing Cinematique and From The Inland Sea on limited edition vinyl in February, and Black Paris 86 will be again available on CD in April. We are also putting out a benefit compilation album with many wonderful artists, including Helios, The One AM Radio, Gregor Samsa, Ef, pg.lost, Aucan, Caspian, Constants, and others, to raise money for the World Food Program. This is scheduled for a February release. We'll also be releasing a DVD with our live visuals and music videos, in a limited edition of 100 hand-made copies. You can expect this to drop in late January.

BIG BIG tour news to be revealed in January as well.

A new website is on the way too, which will have everything you need to know regarding our 2011 plans. Besides this, the best places to follow us will be here on our official Blogspot, Facebook and Twitter. Please don't rely on our Myspace page anymore as we will not be updating it frequently in the new year.

*

We are currently working on making all our releases available in FLAC and Apple Lossless formats. You can expect this to appear on our Big Cartel page in January.

Arms and Sleepers tracks off of From The Inland Sea now have a new home on iTunes. Click HERE to check it out.

And for the folks that like to shop on eMusic, Matador is finally back up and available for purchase there! You could click HERE for that.

*

There are still 10 days left to buy something from our Big Cartel online shop and have 100% of the proceeds donated to the World Food Program. And in addition, we're now doing a special holiday sale until the end of 2010! EVERYTHING IS 20% OFF; just enter the promotional code "JUCHE" at checkout to get the discount.

For vinyl lovers: both Matador and Black Paris 86 LPs are nearing their respective ends. Not that many copies remain, and are sure to go in the first half of 2011. If you'd like to secure one for yourself, we recommend purchasing it now (esp. with the 20% discount!). Matador Remixed LP is still plentiful, so if you'd like to do some holiday vinyl shopping, just click HERE.

*

If you haven't seen the latest video teaser yet, it is now on Vimeo! Watch it below.

For more Arms and Sleepers videos, check out our YouTube page.

*

Finally, we're still aiming for 4,000 likes on Facebook! Though it doesn't look like we'll be able to reach this number by the end of 2010, as soon as we do, you'll get a free, exclusive download of a new EP! So suggest our Facebook page to all your friends, and the sooner we reach 4,000 likes, the sooner you get free music from us!

*

Happy New Year everyone---see you in 2011!

Another video teaser for twenty-eleven...

2010-12-13T10:12:00.001-05:00

12/10/10 update

2010-12-10T12:46:00.004-05:00

It's the end of the week, how nice! Is there anything as good as Fridays, except for Thursdays when you don't work on Fridays?

Well, something good is the MUSIC AGAINST HUNGER fundraiser that we are doing through the World Food Program in order to raise $10,000 to fight global hunger. For 3 more weeks, 100% of the proceeds from our Big Cartel online shop will be donated to this cause, so if you want to buy a gift for someone or just simply help out, please head over to our store HERE. Alternatively, you can just make a direct donation (tax-deductible) HERE!

To make things even better, we're doing a weekend sale where you get high-quality mp3s of 9 releases for FREE when you buy any vinyl on our Big Cartel page. We'll send you the download links as soon as you place the order, and the vinyl will ship next week.

*

As we release more information regarding new releases and tour plans, we should let you know that the best place to follow us is either here, on our Facebook page, or by signing up for our mailing list. You can do so by sending an e-mail to wearearmsandsleepers(at)gmail(dot)com with the word "Subscribe" in the subject line. Easy, right? By signing up, you'll get some special things like exclusive downloads, pictures and advance listens. You can also follow us via Twitter HERE.

If you haven't seen our first 2011 video teaser yet, you can watch on YouTube or Vimeo (below).

We also uploaded some pictures from our home studio to our Flickr page.

And here's some information regarding our January releases:

In January we'll be putting out 2 very special limited releases. The first will be a hand-made and packaged DVD containing a lot of our live visuals and music videos. The working title is "Preventing Lead Poisoning in Young Children: a DVD by Arms and Sleepers." It will be limited to 100 copies, hand-numbered, and all proceeds will be donated to the World Food Program. So, you can watch our visuals at home while your money is helping those in need. Pre-ordering will begin in a few weeks, and will ship in late January. Here's one of the videos that will be included on the DVD:

The second release will be the benefit compilation album, as part of our Music Against Hunger campaign to raise $10,000. We will confirm all the artists participating in this project soon, but there will be new/rare tracks by Helios, Gregor Samsa, Constants, Ef, pg.lost, and Aucan, remixes by The One AM Radio and Arms and Sleepers, as well as a live recording of a Caspian song. This will be a limited edition of 200 CDs, hand-made and packaged, and shipped at the same time as the DVD. Again, all proceeds will be donated to the World Food Program. More information regarding all this coming soon!

*

A reminder that if you want to download some of our music for free, you can visit THIS PAGE for some music samplers and individual song downloads.

*

Finally, we are still trying to get to 4,000 "likes" (or fans) on our Facebook page by the end of the year. This will help us communicate easier and with more people regarding all the wonderful things that we have in store for you in 2011. And as a thanks for your efforts, we will release a free, exclusive Holiday EP containing all new songs. BUT, this happens only if we can get to 4,000! So, go to our Facebook page and click on "Suggest to Friends" right below our main picture, and spread the word!

*

And finally finally, check out this awesome video using our song "The Paramour":

*

Have a good weekend everyone!

a&s

2010-12-06T11:06:00.002-05:00

Hello friends,

Looks like 2011 will be a busy year for us! We'll be posting regular updates throughout the next few months with news on upcoming releases and tours, but for now you can watch a short video teaser below:

Remember that we'll also release a free Holiday EP if we can reach 4,000 fans on Facebook by the end of 2010. Suggest our page to all your friends, and if we can get to 4,000 likes, we'll post a link to download a free, exclusive EP! Click here to participate.

There are still a few weeks left to be part of our fundraising campaign to raise money for the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP) when you purchase any of our music on Big Cartel. 100% of all proceeds are donated when you buy something from our online store, but this lasts only until Dec. 31, 2010. Click here to buy something and support a good cause! If you'd simply like to make a direct donation or to find out more about what we are trying to do, you can visit our page on the WFP website here.

For an insightful explanation of why all of us should donate to help those in need, read Max's short story here.

For fans of free music, you can check out this page to download some free music samplers or various individual tracks.

Alright!

A&S

More free music = more good!

2010-11-10T10:19:00.006-05:00

Hello hello.

Our second music sampler is now available for free download! It features 8 songs, one from almost every release:

01) Moscow Pop [from "bliss was it in that dawn to be alive"]
02) Lights & Alarms [from "self-titled"]
03) Ankara (A Memory) [from "Cinematique"]
04) Greetings From Tokyo [from "Black Paris 86"]
05) Matador [from "Matador"]
06) Van Buren [from "From The Inland Sea"]
07) Leon (Instrumental Version) [from "Matador Alternate Versions/B-Sides"]
08) The Architekt (Lymbyc Systym remix) [from "Matador Remixed"]

Click HERE to check it out (as well as the first free music sampler), and enjoy!

We've reached 3,000 likes on Facebook! Thank you very much for your support. Please continue spreading the word—1,000 more and everyone gets a brand new EP for free! Just click on "Suggest to Friends" right below the photo on our Facebook page HERE.

Please also remember to support our Music Against Hunger fundraising campaign, aimed at raising money for the UN's World Food Program which helps hungry people throughout the world. More info about the benefit compilation album that we're releasing will be available soon, but meanwhile you can either donate through our page on the WFP website located HERE, or buy anything from our Big Cartel store HERE and 100% of the money will be donated to this cause until the end of this year. Any amount is extremely helpful, so please think about participating! Thank you!

Lots of stuff happening here, but we'll keep quiet about it for now. We'll post much bigger news updates about 2011 activities soon. For now, enjoy the free music!

a&s

FOLLOW US ON:

MYSPACE | BLOGSPOT | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE | LAST.FM | TWITTER | FLICKR | iLIKE

HELP US REACH 4,000 FANS ON FACEBOOK AND GET FREE, EXCLUSIVE, NEW MUSIC!

2010-10-26T10:42:00.003-04:00

Matador Remixed LP sale for a good cause!

2010-09-17T09:41:00.004-04:00

Now until Oct. 1: purchase Matador Remixed LP and get a free download of 9 releases in high-quality mp3 format! That's a lot of music for $13 + shipping, isn't it? PLUS, all proceeds go toward our MUSIC AGAINST HUNGER project, aimed at raising $10,000 to fight global hunger. So, you get music for cheap and you also help make a difference in the world. Visit our BigCartel online store HERE to take advantage of this deal!

"The Architekt" Official Music Video

2010-09-06T17:33:00.002-04:00

Directed by Ben Andrews.

Interview with the director + footage from the video premiere in Luxembourg:

The Architekt Music Video---coming soon!

2010-07-22T11:26:00.001-04:00

MUSIC AGAINST HUNGER: please read

2010-07-22T09:58:00.002-04:00

Hello,

we hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. We wanted to let you know about a new project we've started, called In The Empire Of Builders. The sole purpose of this project/organization will be to raise money through various programs for groups and individuals in need of aid (financial or otherwise).

Please check it out and join the group on Facebook, and recommend it to your friends.

Our first fundraising campaign is called MUSIC AGAINST HUNGER, with the goal of raising $10,000 through various music events and projects. This money will be donated to the World Food Programme (WFP) to help fight world hunger. If you don't know anything about this issue (which we didn't either until recently), you really should spend 15 minutes on this website. The fact that over a billion people on this planet are currently hungry and that every 6 seconds a child dies from hunger, is reason enough to do something. And something, no matter how little it might seem to us, is so much better than doing nothing.

We thought that using music for this cause is the perfect way to go. We're currently planning a benefit album with various artists, a benefit concert in Boston, Massachusetts in December with a bunch of local bands, and a house concert series, private events with Arms and Sleepers performing modern-classical pieces. We hope that through these events and projects, we'll be able to raise $10,000 (and hopefully more). What can that amount do to help world hunger? Well, $1 feeds 4 school children in developing nations, so you do the math. If you'd like to help out in any way, you can get in touch with us via e-mail: intheempireofbuilders@gmail.com.

Please visit our campaign page on WFP's website. This is much like our Kickstarter project page. You can join to stay updated, spread the word, or start donating, if you're so inclined (donations are tax deductible). Help us make this project a success---we can't do it alone.

You can also sign the petition against hunger HERE.

To start things off, we're going to donate all the proceeds from our music and merchandise sales on BigCartel to this campaign until the end of 2010. That means the entire amount you use to purchase music directly from us (minus the shipping costs) will go toward helping fight world hunger. The previous deals still apply, so buy something, anything, and you'll be part of making a difference in this sad global problem. To purchase, click HERE. This will also apply to our upcoming releases in 2010---as long as you purchase directly from us, the money will be used for this cause.

***

Why are we doing this? We're not trying to be heroes, but we don't want to be sleepers either. We've seen poverty through our travels, we've experienced financial hardships ourselves, but to know that 1 billion people are hungry is absolutely sickening. When you are hungry, you can't focus on anything---we are so privileged to be able to get food whenever we want that it's easy to forget how big of a problem this is for so many people on this planet. We've always wanted to make a positive influence in the world with our music, but we certainly have not done enough. Making a living doing what we do has proven incredibly difficult, but it doesn't compare to something like this at all. In the end, we are artists, and what we really care about is making music. We'll pass along the money to those that need it the most, and we hope you'll join us in our efforts.

Thank you for reading.

News Update // July, 2010

2010-07-05T17:23:00.001-04:00

Click HERE to read our latest news update!

Quite a collection...

2010-07-01T00:11:00.001-04:00

this from Luke in Ireland.

NYC + BOSTON SHOWS IN JULY

2010-06-28T17:19:00.004-04:00

We'll be playing 2 shows in July, NYC + Boston, featuring live vocals by Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari. Here are the details:

Sunday, July 11, 8pm // ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL (2nd Stage)
196 Allen Street // NYC, NY // between Houston & Stanton
FREE entrance

VENUE WEBSITE
RSVP ON FACEBOOK
RSVP ON LAST.FM

Monday, July 12, 8pm // MIDDLE EAST DOWNSTAIRS
472 Mass Ave // Cambridge, MA // with Why? and Josiah Wolf
$12adv/$14dos // ADVANCE TICKETS

VENUE WEBSITE
RSVP ON FACEBOOK
RSVP ON LAST.FM

All the up-to-date info can be found on our MYSPACE + FACEBOOK pages.

Pics from the North American tour w/ Caspian uploaded!

2010-06-24T10:44:00.002-04:00

Click HERE to check it out!

Spring 2010 European Tour: pictures, reflections, thanks

2010-06-17T16:22:00.000-04:00

Hey there!

We finally uploaded some pictures to our new flickr account---the first album contains a bunch of photos from our last European tour that took place May 5 - June 5. We'll be posting photos from previous tours as well, all in due time.

We wanted to sincerely thank everyone involved with this last tour for helping us along the way. Despite going through some serious ups and downs ourselves, the people around us were always unbelievably kind, generous and warm. The European folks have always welcomed us with open arms, and this last experience was no different. Really, a big thanks for being a part of this tour, one way or another---we do hope to see you again.

We also wanted to thank Ben Karis-Nix for joining us on this tour. Ben provided vocals, played keyboards and guitar, and did some additional percussion as well. He learned 25 songs in a short amount of time and had only a week of rehearsals with us. We're grateful for his hard work and patience with us---this man kept it cool the entire tour, which was impressive. Thank you Ben, we're grateful for everything you did for us. Make sure to check out his own music and other projects here: http://www.benkarisnix.com

This was definitely the craziest tour we've ever been a part of; it pushed us physically and mentally to the edge. Some of the drives we made were fucking intense, and were done with little and sometimes no sleep at all. We've played about 90 shows in the last 5 months, spread over 3 tours, and for every single one of those shows, we've done everything ourselves: driving, managing, selling merch, setting up our gear as well as visuals, etc. Combine that with no sleep and visits to countries where we sometimes felt completely culture shocked, and what have you is a serious test of inner strength. No, we're not some kind of heroes for pulling this off---but, we wanted to share with you a little bit of what we went through. These pictures are the first part, and we'll also post a more detailed diary for those interested in reading about some of these crazy stories. Needless to say, by the end of this tour we reached an exhaustion level that I don't think we've experienced before. But, totally worth it when thinking back about all the places we saw and the amazing people we met---we can honestly say that this tour had a truly profound effect on all of us.

This concludes months of touring in support of "Matador" and some of the other releases we've had in between. We're not sure when we'll be back on the road again, but most likely not for a while. There are some other things we want to shift our focus to, but this doesn't mean we'll stop making music. A new album will be in the works soon, and we'll keep you updated with what we're up to. Again, thank you so much for supporting Arms and Sleepers; there are never enough words to express our gratitude, but we do thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Spring 2010 European Tour: http://www.flickr.com/photos/armsandsleepers/sets/72157624156782641

Much love,
a&s

MATADOR REMIXED pre-orders available now!

2010-04-23T13:05:00.000-04:00

Pre-orders for the Matador Remixed limited edition vinyl are now up and running! First 100 copies come on clear transparent vinyl, and are only available from the link below (while supplies last). First 25 orders get a copy of the European Tour poster as well. All orders come with a free digital download code, and the vinyl ships prior to the official release date of May 28, 2010.

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER

We've posted a track from this release on our myspace page. It's the Nolens Volens remix of Twentynine Palms, and it is fucking good. Check it out HERE.

We can say one thing: this release is awesome and all the musicians contributing remixes did such a fantastic job. All these tracks are going to sound quite amazing on vinyl, so really make sure to get a copy for yourself. It won't disappoint, we promise. A big thanks to all our friends that helped make this release possible, we couldn't be happier with how it came out in the end!

And the official press release info...

********************
Matador Remixed
Out May 28, 2010 via Expect Candy
Released on limited edition vinyl and as a digital download

Matador Remixed is Arms and Sleepers' 11th release and the band's first remix album. It's also the 4th release in 6 months, a busy time period which has seen the band touring Europe and North America, completing a few remixes of their own, and putting out 4 releases including the second full-length album Matador, a split EP with The American Dollar From The Inland Sea, Matador Alternate Versions/B-Sides EP, and the aforementioned remix album. Arms and Sleepers return to Europe for a month-long tour in May, 2010 promoting this latest release.

Following up on the idea of close collaboration with other musicians and artists — something that was highly emphasized on Matador — Matador Remixed feels like a natural and obvious next step for Arms and Sleepers. The latest release features 9 remixes by other artists and friends, and 1 remix by Arms and Sleepers themselves. Uzi & Ari, Lymbyc Systym, Amanda Rogers, Boy In Static/The Consulate General, The American Dollar, Nolens Volens, Thisquietarmy, Elika and Bogadiga all contribute and help create quite a diverse album, from snippets of R&B and club music to more mellow singer/songwriter moments to hypnotic electronica and trip hop--induced tracks. By the end of 44 minutes, it's clear that Matador Remixed is fully capable of standing on its own as a complete piece of music, independent of Matador and highlighting each of the artists' exceptional compositional skills. Every single track presents a unique and tasteful approach to song craft, making for a satisfying and complete listen from beginning to end. The feeling of nostalgia that is present throughout Matador still remains, but this time seen through quite a different lens — in fact, 10 different lenses each looking into quite a different direction.

Matador Remixed limited edition vinyl is now available for pre-order through Expect Candy's website. The first 100 units come on beautiful clear transparent vinyl and all copies include a digital download code. Pre-orders ship before the official release date of May 28, 2010. The release will also be available via iTunes and other digital stores on that date. For more info and to pre-order the limited edition vinyl, CLICK HERE.

Tracklisting:

SIDE A

Matador (Uzi & Ari remix)
The Architekt (Lymbyc Systym remix)
Twentynine Palms (Nolens Volens remix)
Simone (Amanda Rogers remix)
Helvetica (The American Dollar remix)

SIDE B

The Architekt (The Consulate General vs. Boy In Static remix)
The International (Arms and Sleepers remix)
Kino (Thisquietarmy remix)
The Architekt (Bigadiga remix)
The Paramour (Elika remix)

****************************

MATADOR REMIXED info announced

2010-04-12T13:06:00.000-04:00

Our next release, Matador Remixed, will be available worldwide on May 28 via Expect Candy. It will be released in LP/digital format only, with the vinyl release limited to 500 copies and the first 100 units on clear transparent vinyl. Pre-orders begin on April 25 and will be filled with clear transparent vinyl until supplies last. We'll post a link where you can pre-order this release in the coming week.

**********

Tracklisting:

SIDE A

Matador (Uzi & Ari remix)
The Architekt (Lymbyc Systym remix)
Twentynine Palms (Nolens Volens remix)
Simone (Amanda Rogers remix)
Helvetica (The American Dollar remix)

SIDE B

The Architekt (The Consulate General vs. Boy In Static remix)
The International (Arms and Sleepers remix)
Kino (Thisquietarmy remix)
The Architekt (Bigadiga remix)
The Paramour (Elika remix)

**********

We'll post a track from this release on our myspace page when pre-ordering begins on April 25.

We'll have copies of the vinyl available on the upcoming European tour in May and early June, but if you want to get the clear transparent vinyl, those will only be available online from Expect Candy's website.

Thanks for reading!

NEWS UPDATE March 2010

2010-03-08T02:21:00.000-05:00

Hello,

It's time for the first update of 2010---we hope that everyone's doing well and that you're off to a fantastic beginning in this new year! We have a bunch of news to report to you, so this is a bit of a lengthy update...

EUROPEAN TOUR WRAP-UP

It's hard to believe that our European tour is now long finished, but we wanted to sincerely thank everyone involved for making this the most successful tour that Arms and Sleepers has ever been on. We played 25 shows, and almost all of them ended up being some of the best shows we've ever been a part of. The European audiences continue to be some of the most passionate, energetic and enthusiastic folks out there, and from the perspective of a small independent band that is constantly fighting through various obstacles, these shows were some of the most rewarding and memorable moments in our days as Arms and Sleepers. However, it's not just the audiences that made this experience special, but also the venues, promoters, booking agents, and all the other people involved. Never before have we been greeted with such kindness, generosity and warmth on such a consistent basis. It was overwhelming, and our heads did not have enough time to process it all---we're still thinking about it and trying to absorb as much as possible. No matter what happens to Arms and Sleepers in the future, these moments and people that made those moments possible will be some of the most precious things we've experienced as part of this band, and for that we are eternally grateful. A big thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and see you again in May!

KICKSTARTER

Thanks to you, we've achieved the goal of raising $2,500 to help Arms and Sleepers continue making music! This money comes at a time when we need it the most---paying back for previous debts but also funding future endeavours. To be honest, we were unsure whether we'd be able to raise this much money. Not that we doubted our fans, but times are tough for everyone and certainly our cause is not the most pressing issue in the world. We wanted to experiment with this and see if alternative ways of surviving from music are actually possible in today's utterly confusing and highly unfair music business. Thanks to you, we are reassured that some people do still care about independent, underground music, and are passionate enough about it to financially support small artists like us. Thank you so much for pledging to Arms and Sleepers through Kickstarter---we can't express enough just how grateful we are for your continued enthusiasm and willingness to help whenever help is needed. For those that pledged, you should have received a message by now letting you know that your order has been shipped, as well as a link to download the "Matador Alternate Versions/B-Sides" release. We hope that you'll like the items that you pledged for. Again, thank you thank you THANK YOU for supporting our cause!

MERCH STORE UPDATES

We have some new bundle deals available from our BigCartel merch store. 3 CDs for $20, 2 CDs + Matador t-shirt for $30, or high-quality mp3 downloads of 9 releases for $35. We now also have the "Matador Alternate Versions/B-Sides" release available for purchase as a high-quality mp3 download, and it will be up on iTunes soon as well. About 20 physical copies remain---if you want one, send us an e-mail (it's $8 + shipping). We'll ship out a few and save the rest for future special occasions. Finally, now until March 9th, if you buy any of our t-shirts online, we'll send you a free copy of the "From The Inland Sea" CD. Check out all this HERE. Even with Kickstarter, money is tight and any purchase you make directly from us always helps us out greatly. Thank you as always for continuing to support Arms and Sleepers.

UPCOMING TOURS

We have 2 big tours coming up. The first one takes place in North America from March 9 (this Tuesday!) until April 17. All dates except for the last one are with our good friends Caspian. We are excited to be sharing the stage with them night in and night out, and look forward to coming to a city near you. This will be the last full North American tour for us for a very long time, so if you're around for one of the dates below, don't miss out! The second one takes place in Europe from May 5 to June 4. We'll be playing some big festivals there, which we are very excited about! Here are the details (more dates to be confirmed soon, check our myspace page for updates):

March 9 - Washington DC @ Black Cat
March 10 - Harrisonburg, VA @ Blue Nile
March 11 - Johnson City, TN @ The Hideaway
March 12 - Nashville, TN @ The Muse
March 14 - Orlando, FL @ Will's Pub
March 15 - Jacksonville, FL @ Warehouse 8B
March 16 - New Orleans, LA @ Dragon's Den
March 17 - Shreveport, LA @ The Rustic Cowboy
March 18 - Houston, TX @ The Mink
March 23 - Tucson, AZ @ TBA
March 24 - Scottsdale, AZ @ Rouge Bar
March 25 - Los Angeles, CA @ Pehrspace
March 26 - San Diego, CA @ Che Cafe
March 27 - Pomona, CA @ Characters
March 28 - San Francisco, CA @ Hotel Utah
March 29 - Sacramento, CA @ The Hub
March 31 - Boise, ID @ Red Room
April 1 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Bar Deluxe
April 2 - Denver, CO @ 3 Kings
April 3 - Albequerque, NM @ TBA
April 5 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk
April 6 - Dallas, TX @ Lounge on Elm Street
April 7 - Kansas City @ Record Bar
April 8 - Mt. Vernon, IA @ The Orange Carpet
April 9 - St. Louis, MO @ Lemp Arts
April 10 - Champaign, IL @ Mike & Molly's
April 11 - Fort Wayne, IN @ The Dash In
April 13 - Toronto, ON @ Rancho Relaxo
April 14 - Montreal, QC @ Divan Orange
April 15 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall Studio
April 16 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Khyber
April 17 - Northampton, MA @ The Iron Horse (w/ Hadoken, A Troop Of Echoes)

RSVP on facebook

May 6 - Warsaw, PL @ Cafe Kulturalna
May 7 - Berlin, DE @ Friction Festival (Astra)
May 8 - Leipzig, DE @ Pop Up Festival
May 9 - Wroclaw, PL @ Wagon Club
May 10 - Krakow, PL @ Forty
May 11 - Prague, CZ @ Modra Vopice
May 12 - Brno, CZ @ Melodka
May 13 - Ostrava, CZ @ Templ Club
May 14 - Krnov, CZ @ Kofola Music Club
May 15 - Trebic, CZ @ Klub B
May 19 - Luxembourg City, LU @ D:Qliq
May 24 - Duisburg, DE @ Steinbruch

RSVP on last.fm

Most up-to-date show information can be found on our myspace page.

UPCOMING RELEASES

The "Matador Remixes" album will be out on vinyl/digital in May via Expect Candy. We got some sweet remixes by Boy In Static/Consulate General, Lymbyc Systym, The American Dollar, Amanda Rogers, Uzi & Ari, Nolens Volens, Thisquietarmy, Jatun, and Elika. More info about pre-ordering and other release info coming your way soon.

We've done a few remixes ourselves. We'll be putting up our remix of Consulate General's (aka Boy In Static) track "Make A Church Movie" and Tape Deck Mountain's (Lefse Records) track "80/20" on our myspace page soon for you to hear!

The vinyl edition of our split EP with The American Dollar "From The Inland Sea" has been slow coming, but it is on the way. Expect it in late spring/early summer via Ericrock.

Work on our 3rd full-length album has begun, and we hope to have it released in the fall. This one's going to be very different from the last few releases, to say the least. We'll post some short clips and video teasers at some point in the near future.

SPREAD THE WORD

Myspace
Facebook
Last.fm
YouTube
Twitter

SHOP

BigCartel
iTunes
Lala
TheSixtyOne

**************************************************************

Thanks for reading, and hopefully see you soon at one of the upcoming shows!

Be safe.

a&s

Holiday sale + final update of 2009

2009-12-17T15:17:00.000-05:00

We wanted to thank everyone for supporting Arms and Sleepers in 2009. Whether it was by purchasing a CD or t-shirt, coming to a show, spreading the word to friends, or pledging money through Kickstarter---we sincerely thank you and wish you very happy holidays!

The last orders of the year will be shipped on Dec. 23---after that, we won't be able to ship any items from our online store until Jan. 25, 2010. This does not apply to digital orders, however.

The Matador alternate versions/b-sides release, which is limited to 100 copies, will only be available on the upcoming European tour and online through Kickstarter ($15 pledge option). We encourage you to use Kickstarter to get some other cool items as well---we're halfway to our goal of raising $2,500 by Feb. 15, 2010, but time is slowly ticking away. If you pledge today, you won't be charged anything yet, but only if the goal is reached in February.

We're doing one final sale of the year. Purchase anything over $5 from our online store and get a discount code for 50% off your next purchase from us. Yep, just place the order by Dec. 23, 2009 and we'll e-mail you the code that you can use at checkout next time around and save 50%. Remember that you still get a free download of From The Inland Sea with a purchase of the new Matador t-shirt, so you could get all that + 50% off next time around! Click HERE for our online store.

The European tour begins on Dec. 28 in Luxembourg. We'll be playing a show almost every day for a month, so if you see your city on the tour schedule, please stop by and say hello! We'll be playing many songs off Matador and From The Inland Sea, as well as some older tunes and songs that we've never played live before. Full schedule can be viewed on our myspace page. You can follow us here on Facebook or Twitter as we venture across mainland Europe and the UK.

Happy Holidays and a happy New Year!

Max & Mirza

NEWS 11/18/09

2009-11-18T12:33:00.000-05:00

UPCOMING RELEASES IN DECEMBER

From The Inland Sea --- pre-orders being take now!

Yes, our 2nd full-length album has just been released and a lot of you are still waiting for your CD/vinyl pre-orders (which will be getting to you very soon!), but we do already have another release to announce. We're releasing a split EP with our good friends in The American Dollar titled "From The Inland Sea." It contains 3 new tracks by each band, and will be released in CD, LP and digital formats. The vinyl edition will contain a special bonus track which is a collaboration between the two bands, BUT, if you pre-order the CD version you get this song as a free download way ahead of the vinyl! The official release date is Dec. 15, 2009, but CD pre-orders are being take now HERE. The CD will ship on Dec. 14; vinyl pre-orders are still TBA. We've uploaded a new song from the split called "The Catcher Elsewhere." You can listen to it on our myspace page.

Matador alternate versions/b-sides EP

In addition to the split, we're also releasing an EP of alternate versions and b-sides from Matador. This will be a very limited hand-made edition and will mostly be sold on the European tour in January, but we will make it available online starting on Dec. 24. No fancy pre-ordering or anything, it'll just pop up on our myspace page and you'll be able to buy it if you'd like. The EP will contain alternate versions of the songs Matador and Simone, as well as more stripped down versions of Kino. We'll also have 2-3 b-sides that never made it onto the album.

MATADOR

Pre-orders are being shipped now, if you haven't received your copy of the CD or vinyl yet, please be patient---it will be in your hands very soon. Thank you very much to all that pre-ordered---the colored vinyl is almost out, and CDs have sold quite well thus far. We appreciate your support, it means a whole lot as we can't do this without you!

Matador is now available on iTunes if you'd like to check that out.

If you haven't ordered yet and are interested in doing so, visit our myspace page for all the info.

RADIO

We are currently in the midst of a radio campaign for Matador. We're trying to reach the CMJ charts and need you help to do it! Please CLICK HERE to see a full list of radio stations and their respective phone numbers. If you see one near where you live, please call in and request a song from Matador!

UPCOMING TOUR DATES

In support of the split release with The American Dollar, we'll be playing a few shows together in December on the east coast. The CD will be available at these shows.

We'll also be heading out for a full European/UK tour at the end of December and January in support of "Matador." Most dates will be with Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari, who'll be singing on our songs and also opening as a solo act. If you live overseas, don't miss these shows---it'll be a very rare opportunity to catch us playing many of our songs with live vocals.

Full dates are below.
____________________

Nov. 21 - Portland, ME @ SPACE (w/ El Ten Eleven)

*

Dec. 9 - Allston, MA @ Great Scott (w/ The American Dollar)
Dec. 10 - Worcester, MA @ Ralph's Diner (w/ The American Dollar)
Dec. 12 - Wilkes Barre, PA @ River Street Jazz Cafe (w/ The American Dollar)

*

Dec. 28 - Luxembourg City, LU @ Exit07 (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Dec. 29 - Gent, BE @ Video (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Dec. 30 - Hull, UK @ Delphi Club (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Jan. 1 - Bristol, UK @ Start The Bus (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Jan. 2 - Brighton, UK @ Freebutt
Jan. 3 - London, UK @ George Tavern (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Jan. 4 - Lille, FR @ La Malterie (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Jan. 5 - Karlsruhe, DE @ Jubez (w/ Saxon Shore)
Jan. 6 - Frankfurt, DE @ Ponyhof (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Jan. 7 - Dornbirn, AT @ Schlachthaus (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Jan. 8 - Luzern, CH @ Treibhaus (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Jan. 9 - Lausanne, CH @ Bleu Lezard (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Jan. 10 - Bamberg, DE @ Morph Club (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Jan. 11 - Oberhausen, DE @ Drucklufthaus (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Jan. 12 - Kiel, DE @ Prinz Willy (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Jan. 13 - Hamburg, DE @ Haus 73 (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Jan. 14 - Hannover, DE @ Feinkost Lampe (w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari)
Jan. 16 - Magdeburg, DE @ Projekt 7
Jan. 17 - Berlin, DE @ NBI
Jan. 18 - Poznan, PL @ Pod Minoga
Jan. 19 - Prague, CZ @ Modrá Vopice
Jan. 20 - Nurnberg, DE @ Muz
Jan. 21 - Dresden, DE @ Scheune
Jan. 22 - Leipzig, DE @ Paris Syndrom
Jan. 23 - Stuttgart, DE @ Cafe Galao

All the latest updates will be posted on our myspace page.

KICKSTARTER

We've started a project through Kickstarter called "Arms and Sleepers go on tour, continue to release new music and try to stay alive!" Basically, we're trying to raise $2,500 by Feb. 15, 2010 to fund a lot of the projects we are involved with and to help us stay out of debt. We've spent a lot of money in order to continue releasing music and touring, and it's getting more and more difficult to stay financially alive. We're turning to you to help us stay on track---you can donate anywhere between $1 to $500, and there are a lot of cool deals involved (signed old and upcoming releases, rarities, even a new song written just for you!). Help us reach our goal---you can view a little video and read up about what we're doing by clicking here.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading all this. We have a lot of exciting things coming up to finish off the year and also planned for the first half of 2010. Expect plenty more releases and touring in the spring, and as always, thank you for continuing to support Arms and Sleepers!

xoxo

Max & Mirza

_

Buy:

BIG CARTEL

iTUNES

Follow us on:

MYSPACE

TWITTER

FACEBOOK

YOUTUBE

LAST.FM

iLIKE

NEWS UPDATE 10/27/09

2009-10-27T05:02:00.000-04:00

More updates!

MATADOR PRE-ORDERING IS STILL UNDERWAY!

If you haven't reserved a copy of the CD or vinyl yet, now is the time! All CD versions (US, EU, Japan) will be shipping out within the next 2 weeks, so it's coming to you very soon! The North American CDs are looking fantastic, and the hand-made lyrics sheets turned out great as well! You can view pictures and place the order HERE. Remember---the lyrics sheets are limited to 100 copies and are available only if you place the order online!

There are only a handful of Matador gold vinyl copies still available. There are also only a 100 total of these, so if you want one, we strongly encourage you to get one now! You can place the order HERE.

We've seen a bunch of online leaks of Matador already (actually, a lot), and this obviously WAS expected and IS ok, but we encourage you to purchase the album in any format IF you enjoy it after downloading & listening. The amount of time and money that was spent on this release means that it will take quite a while for us to break even, and we're not even going to talk about making money to support ourselves---that seems to be very far, far away. Anyway, we're fine with this right now---we wanted to make the best piece of music that we could at this point, we think we did, and we are excited to share it with you. Now, even if you don't spend a cent on Matador---don't worry about it! Times are difficult for many right now, and we certainly could be much worse off then we are. All we ask is that you do something in return---come to a show, tell your friend about the band, offer to put up a poster or two if we come through your city or town, etc. Anything really helps, and it doesn't always have to involve money! ... Aaaaaaand that concludes that.

RECENT PRESS

We've had a bunch of press coverage for Matador in the past month. Here are some links if you are interested in reading/watching:

1. We were in the latest issue of the Improper Bostonian (The Music Issue), in the section "Great Acts To Follow---Ten Bands That Rock." Pick up a copy (it's free!) if you are in the Boston area, there might still be a few around!

2. Boston Phoenix feature

3. Matador review in Boston's Weekly Dig

4. Another Matador review

5. Interview with the Boston Band Crush

6. Video interview with WeArePostRock

BUTTERFLYCATCHER ON A COOKING SHOW?

Yep, our song "Butterflycatcher" from the Black Paris 86 album was recently featured on the Swedish cooking show "Niklas mat." You can watch it HERE (the song appears at about 26 minutes into the second episode).

NEW MERCH STORE---FINALLY!

We now have a proper merch store, thank goodness! CHECK IT OUT!

There are restocked t-shirts, special deals and high-quality mp3s of our earlier releases & self-released EPs now available for purchase directly from us! We'll be adding new stuff soon, including the split release with The American Dollar (CD + LP). We are currently running 4 special deals:

#1 Buy The Motorist CD and get a FREE poster
#2 Buy the Black Paris 86 CD and get a FREE postcard set
#3 Buy The Motorist t-shirt and get FREE high-quality mp3 downloads of S/T, Lautlos EP, Holiday CD/DVD and BP86 Vinyl Edition Bonus Tracks
#4 Purchase high-quality mp3s of 6 of our releases for just $15!

The link for the Specials Deals section can be found on the right at our merch store, or just click HERE.

Help support independent music and buy directly from us! As always, we greatly greatly greatly appreciate your support!

SHOWS

A big thanks to all of you that came out to our recent shows! We had a great time on the road and look forward to coming back to a lot of the same places! We unfortunately will not be doing the west coast run in November as originally planned due to some unforeseen circumstances, but a short December tour with The American Dollar and a full EU/UK tour in January with Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari are both still on! Here are the upcoming dates that we know for sure:

Nov. 21 - Portland, ME @ SPACE (w/ El Ten Eleven) ** Last.fm event page

Dec. 09 - Allston, MA @ Great Scott (w/ The American Dollar, Henry Gale, Hadoken) ** Last.fm event page

Dec. 10 - Worcester, MA @ Ralph's Diner (w/ The American Dollar) ** Last.fm event page

Dec. 12 - Wilkes Barre, PA @ River Street Jazz Cafe (w/ The American Dollar) ** Last.fm event page

EU/UK tour happens Dec. 28 - Jan. 23 --- we'll be posting dates on our myspace page very soon!

________________________________________

Thanks for reading all this and continuing to follow Arms and Sleepers in general---stay warm for the upcoming winter months!

xoxo,
a&s

_

Follow us on:

MYSPACE

TWITTER

FACEBOOK

YOUTUBE

LAST.FM

iLIKE

RECENT PRESS: The Improper Bostonian, The Boston Phoenix & more!

2009-10-20T16:45:00.000-04:00

We are in the latest issue of the Improper Bostonian (The Music Issue), in the section "Great Acts To Follow--Ten Bands That Rock." Pick up a copy (it's free!) if you are in the Boston area!

We've also recently been featured in the Boston Phoenix: click here to read

There's a short review of "Matador" in Boston's Weekly Dig:
click here to read

Another review of "Matador" is available here.

Finally, you can read an interview we did with the Boston Band Crush here.

"MATADOR," THE NEW FULL-LENGTH ALBUM FROM ARMS AND SLEEPERS

2009-09-28T05:23:00.000-04:00

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW!

Arms and Sleepers are a duo of comprised of Max Lewis (Boston, MA) and Mirza Ramic (Portland, ME). Formed in 2006, they have produced multiple albums, EPs and hand-made releases, most notably the Bliss Was It In That Dawn To Be Alive EP (Fake Chapter, 2006) and the well-received Black Paris 86 (Expect Candy, 2008). Following an intense touring schedule in 2008 and 2009 that included appearances in the UK, Europe, and North America and saw the band opening for the likes of Asobi Seksu, The Books, Her Space Holiday, Cass McCombs, Lymbyc Systym, This Will Destroy You and Caspian, Max and Mirza took a break to focus on a new proper full-length in the summer of 2009. The result is Matador, featuring contributions from numerous musicians, including Tom Brosseau (Fat Cat Records), Shelley Short (Hush Records), Ben Shepard and Catherine Worsham (of Uzi & Ari), Philip Jamieson (of Caspian), Mona Elliott (of Travels), Adam Arrigo (of The Main Drag), and Matt Lajoie (of Cursillistas).

Matador is an album studded with varying themes and textures. The synergy between a haunting sonic mix and delicate, ethereal lyrics yield an ambitious, precise whole. Maintaining consistent intensity and energy, the music and artwork both reflect the moodiness behind the concept of the album, which can be summarized as a reaction to the surroundings and circumstances Max and Mirza found themselves in throughout the past two years. Matador also finds the duo expanding on their sound, reaching for a new and fresh direction. Vocals are more prominent throughout the album than with previous releases, and the band ventures into new soundscapes, incorporating an expansive array of instruments. The result is a cinematic and hypnagogic mix of rusts, antique grays and olive greens which evoke an eerie nostalgia - memories of places you’ve never been and things you’ve never seen.

Matador will be released in North America by Fake Chapter, Europe & the UK by Expect Candy, and Japan & rest of Asia by Friend of Mine.

Tracklisting (CD editions):

01. Orly
02. Matador
03. The Architekt (STREAMING ON MYSPACE NOW!)
04. Twentynine Palms
05. Helvetica
06. The International
07. Simone
08. Kino
09. Words Are For Sleeping
10. The Paramour
*
11. L-Orizzont (EU/UK CD version bonus track)
11. we're all Paris now [pt. 2] (Japan CD version bonus track)

Tracklisting (vinyl edition):

SIDE A
1. Orly
2. Matador
3. The Architekt (STREAMING ON MYSPACE NOW!)
4. Twentynine Palms
5. Simone

SIDE B
1. Helvetica
2. The International
3. Kino
4. Words Are For Sleeping
5. The Paramour

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW!

North American customers:
CD Digipak, 10 tracks
First 100 pre-orders come with a hand-made & numbered lyrics sheet
Ships mid-October, official release date Nov. 17, 2009
PRE-ORDER HERE

European customers:
CD Digipak, 11 tracks
Includes the bonus track "L-Orizzont"
Ships late November, official release date Nov. 27, 2009
PRE-ORDER HERE

Japanese customers:
CD Jewel Case, 11 tracks
Includes the bonus track "we're all Paris now (pt. 2)
Ships early November, official release date Nov. 11, 2009
PRE-ORDER HERE

Vinyl lovers:
12" LP, includes free download coupon
- Limited edition of 500; first 100 units are pressed on gold vinyl
- All pre-orders will be filled with colored vinyl while supplies last! If you would like standard black vinyl instead of the colored version, please indicate this in the comments section of the paypal checkout.
- All pre-orders will be entered into a raffle to win 1 of 5 test presses, chosen randomly before pre-orders end on Nov. 17. The winning test press will be signed by A&S and will include a very special ONE-TIME ONLY hand-made packaging design!
PRE-ORDER HERE

WATCH THE MATADOR VIDEO TEASER HERE!

2009-09-25T18:11:00.000-04:00

Hello!

It's been a while since our last update. We hope everyone's had a good, healthy and restful summer. Below is a bunch of news concerning our upcoming releases and touring schedule. We have a busy few months ahead of us, so please stay updated through our myspace page HERE. Ok, here we go...

NEW FULL-LENGTH ALBUM

After months of hard work, we have finally completed our second full-length album and the follow-up to Black Paris 86. It is titled Matador, and contains 10 new tracks. Here is the tracklisting:

01. Orly
02. Matador
03. The Architekt
04. Twentynine Palms
05. Helvetica
06. The International
07. Simone
08. Kino
09. Words Are For Sleeping
10. The Paramour

Matador will be released worldwide via the following record labels: Fake Chapter (USA/CAN), Expect Candy (EU/UK), and Friend of Mine (JAPAN). The European and Japanese CD versions will each contain a bonus track, while the North American version will come with a hand-made & numbered lyric sheet for the first 100 pre-orders. Matador will officially be released in November, but pre-orders will be up shortly through the respective labels and our myspace page. The vinyl version of the album will be available in November as well, in a limited edition of 500 and the first 100 units in colored vinyl. More information about all this coming your way very soon!

We were fortunate enough to have been able to work with some truly talented artists on this album. It was our goal from the beginning to collaborate with as many people as possible, but more specifically people that we really respect musically and thought could greatly contribute to our humble little ideas. The result has far exceeded our expectations, and we can't thank enough the following artists for their amazing contributions: Tom Brosseau (Fat Cat Records), Shelley Short (Hush Records), Ben Shepard and Catherine Worsham of Uzi & Ari (Own Records), Philip Jamieson of Caspian (The Mylene Sheath), Mona Elliott of Travels, Adam Arrigo of The Main Drag, and Matt Lajoie of Cursillistas.

To get a little taste of Matador, you can do the following right now:

1. Listen to "The Architekt" on our myspace page
2. Watch the short video teaser featuring a part of "Kino" on Vimeo (directed by the very talented David Altobelli).

Enjoy!

To celebrate the release of Matador, we'll be holding a very special CD release show in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We'll be performing alongside our friends in Junius and Metavari, and will also be joined by Boston's Thunderhole. Advance tickets are highly recommended (see link below). Here are the details:

Wednesday, Oct. 7
Middle East Upstairs (472 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Sq.)
8pm doors, 18+
$9 adv / $10 day of
Venue website
Advance tickets
Last.fm event page
Facebook event page

We hope that some of you can join us!

OTHER RELEASES COMING THIS FALL

In addition to Matador, we'll be putting out a split release with our good friends in The American Dollar. It is titled From The Inland Sea, and will contain 3 new tracks by each band. Ericrock (who released the Black Paris 86 double vinyl) will be putting out a vinyl version of the album, which will contain a very special bonus track as well, featuring a collaboration between the two bands. From The Inland Sea will be released in December, and pre-orders will be up in late November.

We have plenty more planned releases coming your way, but we won't bug you with those just yet! We are staying busy though, so expect much much more from us!

UPCOMING TOURS

We'll be on the road for much of the next 6 months. The first leg of our North American tour begins this Thursday night in Brooklyn, and we'll be previewing a bunch of the new material live. We'll be announcing more US shows a bit later, including a full west coast run in November and a short tour with The American Dollar in the first half of December. We'll be back in Europe in January, and are planning our first trip to Japan in February! We are making every effort to play anywhere we can, and hope that you can make it to one of these shows.

Fall 2009 North American Tour---1st leg (almost finished):

Friday, Sep. 25 - Hendersonville, NC @ Black Bear Coffee
Saturday, Sep. 26 - Forest, VA @ The Good Cherry
Tuesday, Sep. 29 - NYC, NY @ Cake Shop
Thursday, Oct. 1 - Camden/Rockland, ME @ Camden International Film Festival

2nd leg:

Wednesday, Oct. 7 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs (CD Release Show)
Thursday, Oct. 8 - Winooski, VT @ Monkey House
Friday, Oct. 9 - Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo
Saturday, Oct. 10 - Toronto, ON @ Rancho Relaxo
Monday, Oct. 11 - Hamilton, ON @ Casbah Lounge
Tuesday, Oct. 12 - Fort Wayne, IN @ Cinema Center
Wednesday, Oct. 13 - Muncie, IN @ Village Green Records
Thursday, Oct. 14 - East Lansing, MI @ SCENE Metrospace
Friday, Oct. 15 - Jamestown, NY @ Mojo's

3rd leg:

Oct. 27 - Nov. 21
Dates will be posted on our myspace page soon!

Winter 2009-10 European + UK Tour:

Dec. 27 - Jan. 14
w/ Ben Shepard of Uzi & Ari
Dates will be posted on our myspace page soon!

MERCHANDISE + iTUNES

We had some issues with the PayPal links not working on myspace, so we've moved our merch store over to our website where everything is working fine! CDs, t-shirts, postcard sets, and other merchandise are available HERE.
As always, your contributions help us greatly in continuing to make music and to tour, so if you haven't had a chance to buy The Motorist EP or a t-shirt, please check these items out! Also, don't forget that Cinematique is available on iTunes---get it HERE. Additionally, our self-titled EP from 2007, which has been sold out for a while now, is now available digitally through CD Baby HERE.

FINALLY...

We now have a Twitter account! Follow us HERE.

Also check out our artist page on the following websites:

Last.fm
Facebook
YouTube
iLike

And of course the best way to stay up to date is through our myspace page.

*********************************************************************************

Thank you for reading this far. We greatly appreciate your continued support, and hope you will enjoy all the new music we have in store for you---until then, please be well!

xo
a&s

NEWS 4/30/09

2009-04-30T15:09:00.000-04:00

Hi there!

It's been a while since we have posted a full update. For the past 3 months we've been touring extensively, so we're glad to be home and thinking about writing new music and being involved with exciting new projects. Here are some news regarding future releases, re-releases, touring, and all that.

CURRENT
We still have copies of The Motorist EP available directly from us. For those of you that don't know, we self-released a mini 5-song EP in February just before our 6-week US tour, entirely hand-packaged and also hand-numbered. This is a limited edition of 300, and contains all new music that's a small taste of our upcoming releases. SO, if you don't have one yet and want one, visit our myspace page and purchase it for $6 + shipping. You'll be happy you did!

ALSO, we have just put up t-shirts, postcard sets, and posters up for sale on our myspace page. You'll find new and old t-shirt designs (all on American Apparel), various posters from previous shows and tours (more coming soon!), and 3-piece postcard sets. Cool, right?

FURTHERMORE, Cinematique is now available on iTunes! You can also find it through CD Baby here. AND FOR THE VINYL LOVERS: we will be re-releasing Cinematique on vinyl in a special limited edition of 300 copies! First 100 will be on red vinyl, the rest on standard black. Packaging will still be hand-made and hand-numbered, like the CD versions in the past. We are expecting to have these available in June, so check back for news on that!

FUTURE
Bliss Was It In That Dawn To Be Alive, our debut EP, is now mostly sold out, but we will be re-releasing a vinyl version of that as well in the fall. Expect bonus material and expended artwork--we'll keep you updated.

A new EP containing mostly piano/modern-classical compositions will be released over the summer. This will be similar material to Cinematique, though this time we will be working with a string quartet and more piano-based work. We'll keep you updated on this as well!

The follow-up to Black Paris 86 is currently under construction and we'll be hard at work over the summer to bring you brand new material in the fall. We're very excited about these new songs and can't wait to share them with you, but we are still a long way off!

SHOWS AND TOURING
We have some shows coming up in May and June, but we'll mostly be show-less over the summer while we work on new material. Here's what we know for sure:

May 15 - Buffalo, NY @ Sugar City
May 16 - NYC, NY @ Pianos (w/ The American Dollar)
May 22 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs (w/ Her Space Holiday)
May 30 - Somerville, MA @ The New Armory (w/ the Books, Caspian, and more--special audio/visual event where each group performs 10 minutes of music to a short film)
June 25 - Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bear's (w/ Tiny Wipers, Balmorhea, Henry Gale)

We expect to be fully back on the road in the fall to support our new releases. Europe, North America, and Japan are all in the works, and we'll keep you posted on that!

OTHER
We have updated our YouTube page. There are some new live videos available, so check it out when you get a chance HERE.

Also, there are a bunch of interviews/show reviews/etc. that have taken place over the past few months while we've been on the road, so if you're into reading that kind of stuff, here are some links:

TOKAFI
EAST BAY EXPRESS
DENVER EXAMINER
SEATTLE SHOW GAL

Thanks for reading, and as always, thanks for your continued support!

Cheers,

a&s

MYSPACE
LAST.FM
YOUTUBE
FACEBOOK

NEW RELEASES & UPCOMING TOURS

2008-12-30T17:16:00.000-05:00

Hi there!

Hope everyone is doing well. We have a bunch of exciting news to share with you, so here’s an update on many fronts…

FIRST & FOREMOST…

We want to sincerely thank everyone that has supported us in the year 2008. Whether you came to a show, bought a CD, let us crash at your place, helped us promote our music, left a nice comment somewhere on them internets---whatever it might have been, we really appreciate your contribution and enthusiasm! Without your support it would be difficult to continue releasing music and touring, and, well, we’re still here, so thank you!

NEW RELEASES

Several releases are being planned for 2009. In February, our first ever 7” vinyl will be released to the world via Ericrock. It’s titled “The Motorist” and will be limited to 500 copies. It will include:

4 new tracks
4 videos to accompany each track (download code will be included with every copy)
Free MP3 download with a purchase of the 7”

More info on this, including pre-order details, will be coming your way very soon.

Following this, our new yet-to-be-named full length album will be released in May. We’ll have more details about this soon as well.

At some point early next year, we will also be self-releasing our follow-up to “Cinematique,” with mostly piano and ambient compositions. It will be hand-packaged and most likely limited to 100 copies. Expect it MAYBE in February around the time that the 7” is released, if all goes according to plan (which it never does…)

UPCOMING TOURS & SHOWS

We’re going to try and play as many shows as possible in as many countries as possible next year. So far, we have a short European tour and a long US tour lined up, with some Northeast dates in between and more US touring to be announced for late spring. We are also working on some Japan dates hopefully in the summer, and further European and North American touring in the fall. Here’s what we know for sure thus far:

European Tour (w/ Lymbyc Systym, Jan. 2 – 12):

Jan. 2 – Frankfurt, Germany @ Elfer Club
Jan. 4 – Fulda, Germany @ Kulturkeller
Jan. 5 – Koprivnice, Czech Republic @ Nora Club
Jan. 6 – Vienna, Austria @ B72
Jan. 8 – Bolzano, Italy @ Bunker
Jan. 9 – Luzern, Switzerland @ Treibhaus
Jan. 10 – Hannover, Germany @ Feinkost Lampe
Jan. 11 – Berlin, Germany @ NBI
Jan. 12 – Cologne, Germany @ Tsunami Club
Jan. 17 – Duisburg, Germany @ Steinbruch (w/ Pg.Lost)
Jan. 18 – Siegen, Germany @ Vortex (w/ Pg.Lost)

Northeast Tour (w/ the Baltic Sea, ) & other shows:

**NEW** Jan. 27 - Cambridge, MA @ WMBR 88.1 FM (live on Pipeline @ 9pm)
Jan. 28 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott (also w/ Henry Gale & The White Mountains)
Jan. 30 – Portland, ME @ SPACE (also w/ Hadoken)
Jan. 31 – Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo (also w/ Thisquietarmy & Depost Through The)

Feb. 5 – Brooklyn, NY @ Monkey Town (w/ the American Dollar, Elika)
Feb. 6 – Annandale-on-Hudson, NY @ Bard College

Feb. 14 – Somerville, MA @ PA’s Lounge (w/ Travels [CD release], Animal Hospital, Mary Page)

“The Motorist” US Tour:

Feb. 19 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
Feb. 20 – Norfolk, VA @ the Boot
Feb. 21 – Richmond, VA @ the Triple
Feb. 22 – Asheville, NC @ New French Bar (w/ Somni Suite)
Feb. 25 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Nightlight (w/ Andrew Weathers)
Feb. 26 – Athens, GA @ Go Bar (w/ Bambara)
**NEW** Feb. 27 - Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn (w/ A Fight to the Death, The Killer and the Martyr)
**NEW** Feb. 28 - Pensacola, FL @ Sluggo's
March 1 – New Orleans, LA @ Circle Bar
March 2 – Baton Rouge, LA @ Red Star Bar
March 4 – Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
March 6 – Prescott, AZ @ Raven Café
**NEW** March 7 - Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
March 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Eagle Rock
**NEW** March 9 - San Diego, CA @ Pink Bar
March 10 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Crepe Place
March 11 – San Francisco, CA @ Hotel Utah
March 12 – Eugene, OR @ Sam Bond’s Garage
March 13 – Seattle, WA @ Holy Mountain (w/ Joy Wants Eternity, The Apple War)
March 14 – Spokane, WA @ Empyrean Coffeehouse (w/ The Apple War)
March 15 – Portland, OR @ Holocene
March 16 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux (w/ Mirah)
March 17 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court (w/ Mirah)
March 18 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
March 20 – Austin, TX @ SXSW (details TBA)
March 21 – Austin, TX @ SXSW (details TBA)
**NEW** March 24 - Lexington, KY @ C.P.R.
March 25 – Pittsburgh, PA @ WPTS 92.1 FM (interview + performance @ 9pm)
March 25 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Brillobox
March 26 – Rochester, NY @ the Bug Jar
**NEW** March 27 – Jamestown, NY @ Labyrinth Press (8:30pm)
**NEW** March 27 - Jamestown, NY @ Mojo's (10pm)
March 28 - Philadelphia, PA @ TBA

More dates will be confirmed soon, so please do check our myspace page for all the latest info.

CURRENT RELEASES/MERCHANDISE

As you may know, Black Paris 86 double vinyl has officially been out since the end of October. There are a handful blue vinyl copies still left, and available directly from Ericrock's website. The blue version is limited to 100 copies and comes with an additional artwork insert that is hand-numbered. We’ll be taking the remainder of these (about 15) on the European tour in January, so if you’d still like to get one, order it now!

If you are in the Boston area and would like one, the black vinyl copies are available at most Newbury Comics stores. We’d love you if you purchased it there because it helps us keep it in stock for a while longer, and it’s nice to have vinyl available at record shops!

Our first-ever release, “bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,” is down to a handful copies as well. If you’d like to get one, please visit Fake Chapter's website, or you can buy it directly from us. There are talks about doing a vinyl version of this release with a bonus song and additional artwork, but this won’t be for a while. We’ll let you know when/if we get closer to this.

We have some new t-shirts. Both the old design and a new design have been printed on American Apparel t-shirts and will be available at all upcoming shows, and from our website in the very near future.

And one more thing… We recently did an interview with the German online magazine Tokafi. It’s available here.

Ok, that’s about it. Thanks for reading, and we hope to see you at one of the upcoming shows!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

a&s

MYSPACE
LAST.FM
YOUTUBE
FACEBOOK

The final show...

2008-12-01T11:53:00.000-05:00

... of 2008, that is. If you can, please join us this Thursday night, Dec. 4, in Cambridge, MA. We are performing at TT The Bear's, and go on first at 9pm sharp. Here are the details:

Thursday, Dec. 4
TT The Bear's (10 Brookline St., Cambridge)
Doors @ 8:30pm, we go on @ 9pm
$9, 18+
w/ Eksi Ekso, Josh Reichmann, Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains

More info on our myspace page.

If you did not get our most recent release at the last show (Black Paris 86 2xLP), there will be more available. The blue units are almost gone, however, so this will be your last chance to get them before we head over to Europe.

REMEMBER, we go on first and hit the stage at 9pm SHARP!

Hope to see some of you there,

a&s

UK tour begins this Saturday, Sep. 27!

2008-09-23T23:56:00.000-04:00

BOSTON SHOW THIS SUNDAY; UK TOUR; VINYL/MERCH

2008-09-12T11:02:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update on upcoming shows/tours, vinyl, merch, and the meaning of life.

BOSTON SHOW THIS SUNDAY NIGHT, SEP. 14

We'll be performing with the Lymbyc Systym and This Will Destroy You this Sunday night at Harper's Ferry in Allston, MA. Tickets are $10, and we go on at 9pm. Here are the details:

Harper's Ferry
158 Brighton Avenue, Allston, MA
Sunday, Sep. 14, 8pm doors
$10, 18+
VENUE WEBSITE
ADVANCE TICKETS

FALL 2008 UK TOUR

We are excited to anounce the dates for our first ever UK tour. All shows are with Brighton's Jacob's Stories:

Sep. 27 - The Cavern, Exeter
Sep. 28 - The Chameleon, Nottingham
CANCELLED Sep. 29 - Ivory Blacks, Glasgow
Sep. 30 - Royal Park Cellar, Leeds
Oct. 1 - The Retro Bar, Manchester
Oct. 2 - Taylor John's House, Coventry
Oct. 3 - The Dublin Castle, London (we start @ 7:30pm sharp!)
Oct. 4 - The Prince Albert, Brighton (early show @ 2pm)
Oct. 5 - Fighting Cocks, Kingston

There might still be a venue change for one or two of these dates, so check back on our myspace page for the final details.

VINYL

Pre-orders for the limited edition Black Paris 86 double vinyl are being taken now. First 100 copies are on blue vinyl and come with an additional artwork insert. All pre-orders will be shipped at the end of September and will be entered into a drawing to win 1 of 5 test presses. The official release date is Oct. 28, but we will have copies available on the UK tour. For full information and to reserve a copy, head over to Ericrock's website.

MERCH

We will soon have t-shirts, posters and postcard sets available for purchase online. They will be posted on both our myspace page and our new website. Check back soon!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

And finally, thanks to all of you who came out to one of our shows or helped out in any way this summer. We greatly appreciate it and hope to see you again soon!

Take care,
a&s

North American tour + BP86 vinyl pre-order begins TODAY!

2008-08-07T10:24:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update to remind you that our North American tour begins tonight in Cambridge, MA. For the full tour schedule, please visit our myspace page.

Today also marks the start of the Black Paris 86 limited edition double vinyl pre-order. For all the info and to reserve your own copy, please visit Ericrock's website here.

Also available from the Ericrock website are a few copies of the 4th and final edition of Cinematique. Most copies will be sold at our upcoming tour, but we've put aside a small amount for sale online. Go here for more info.

And that's about it. Hope to see some of you soon!

Take care,
a&s

VINYL, TOURING, OTHER STUFF

2008-07-13T14:45:00.000-04:00

Hello,

It's been a while since the last update, so there are a lot of things to catch up on. I guess we'll just get going...

VINYL
We are really happy to announce that Black Paris 86 will be released on vinyl in September. This has been in the works for a while, but finally things have come together (thanks, Caleb & Ericrock). This will be a limited 2xLP edition of 500, with bonus tracks (including a never-before released song) on side D. The first 100 copies will be on blue vinyl, hand-numbered, and will include an additional insert. Pre-ordering begins on Aug. 7th from the Ericrock website and will ship in September.

SUMMER 2008 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

After a break from touring, we are back on the road starting Aug. 7. This will be a fairly short tour, but we hope that some of you will be able to make it out. Most of the dates are confirmed and listed below, but there are still a few that we are working on, so check back for updates.

North American Tour:

Thursday, Aug. 7 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs w/ Cass McCombs
Friday, Aug. 8 - Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
Saturday, Aug. 9 - Norfolk, VA @ the Boot
Tuesday, Aug. 12 - Greenville, SC @ Reverb
Wednesday, Aug. 13 - Atlanta, GA @ Eyedrum
Thursday, Aug. 14 - Asheville, NC @ Rocket Club
Friday, Aug. 15 - Bloomington, IN @ Cinemat
Saturday, Aug. 16 - East Lansing, MI @ (SCENE) Metrospace
Sunday, Aug. 17 - Chicago, IL @ the Hideout w/ Birthmark (NOT an early show as previously advertised - start time @ 8pm)
Wednesday, Aug. 20 - Toronto, ON @ the Horseshoe Tavern
Thursday, Aug. 21 - Rochester, NY @ the Bug Jar
Friday, Aug. 22 - Syracuse, NY @ Metropolis
Saturday, Aug. 23 - Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo w/ Elika, Thisquietarmy, Apillow
Sunday, Aug. 24 - Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox w/ Some day, all this will have to be fixed

If anyone is interested in hanging up a few posters in one of these cities, please get in touch with us at wearearmsandsleepers@gmail.com and we’ll send you some. As a thanks, we’ll put you + a friend on the guestlist for that show.

FALL 2008 UK TOUR

We are very excited to announce that we’ll be making our first trip to the UK for a 10-day tour, Sep. 26 – Oct. 5. There are still a few details being worked out, but we can tell you that we’ll be visiting places such as London, Brighton, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, and more. Exact dates will be posted very soon.

T-SHIRTS + CINÉMATIQUE

We will have new and old t-shirts in stock starting in August. You will be able to purchase these both at our shows and online through our website. Also, the 4th edition of Cinématique will be available starting Aug. 7th, at shows and online (more info on this as we get closer to the date), and will be limited to 50 copies. This will probably be the last edition of this album, so if you want a physical copy, make sure to get it in August. Cinématique will also be available digitally in the coming weeks, and we’ll keep you posted on this as well.

NEW MUSIC

We have begun work on our follow-up to Black Paris 86. Things are moving slowly, but they are moving. We’ll keep you updated on our progress.

IF YOU HAVEN’T YET…

… Checked out our page on YouTube, Facebook and Last.fm, please do! We have added many videos to YouTube, and we’ll be adding more in the near future, including new live visuals and performances. And as far as Last.fm is concerned, they have started a new program called Artist Royalty, through which all artists on Last.fm get a cut of profits made from ads, depending on the number of plays. It’s quite an amazing feature, geared toward giving independent artists a share of what usually is grabbed up by major labels and corporations. So, please visit our page (and all your favorite underground artists), and continue supporting independent music!

AND FINALLY…

The Black Paris 86 CD is now available in select record shops in Europe (distributed by Cargo Records Germany) and North America (distributed by StickFigure). In the New England area, it is available at most Newbury Comics locations (distributed by Ericrock). You can also still find copies of the CD at most online retailers, or you can download it at iTunes. So there!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As always, thanks for your interest in what we do, and for your continued support. We hope to be very active for the remainder of the year both in terms of touring and writing/releasing new music, so please stay in touch!

Thanks for reading, and take care.

a&s

Arms and Sleepers on YouTube & Facebook!

2008-03-27T09:39:00.000-04:00

We created a new page on YouTube, which is still a work in progress, but it's getting there. We'll be adding more videos soon, so please check back.

We also updated our Facebook page, so check that out and become a fan if you're signed up. You can also join our Facebook Group here.

More updates soon!

A&S on YOUTUBE
A&S on FACEBOOK

Back from the road; local shows coming up

2008-03-04T21:39:00.001-05:00

We returned from our short US/Canada tour last week. Thank you to everyone that helped out along the way--the shows were great and we hope to come back to a lot of these places again in the future.

We are currently pursuing some new projects that have been on the back burner for a while, and it looks to be a very busy rest of the year for us. A few remixes, side projects, short movies, and sound installations (as well as more touring, of course!) are all beginning to take shape--more info on all of this coming your way soon. Until then, there are 3 local shows that we will be a part of. Please join us if you're around:

Friday, March 7 @ TT THE BEAR'S (Cambridge, MA)
w/ School of Language, Cyanide Valentine, The Cold War

Tuesday, March 11 @ GREAT SCOTT (Allston, MA)
w/ Olafur Arnalds, Helios

Wednesday, April 9 @ PA'S LOUNGE (Somerville, MA)
w/ Mise En Place

As always, thank you for your continued support!

Take care everyone,

a&s

Winter 2008 US/Canada Tour

2008-02-06T12:41:00.000-05:00

Hello,

we're getting ready to hit the road again! Next week we start a mini US/Canada tour, playing a handful of shows in the northeast and the midwest, and a few shows in Quebec and Ontario. We have been rehearsing some new songs and working on new visuals, and we're really excited to play this material live. The new setlist will include songs from almost all our previous releases, as well as a never-before released song that is the beginning of what will eventually become our next full-length album (most likely a double-CD release). More on that later. For now, we hope that you can make it to one of the shows below--check our myspace page for more details. Begin tour:

Feb. 13 - Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bear's
Feb. 14 - Portland, ME @ Geno's
Feb. 15 - Burlington, VT @ Wasted City Studios
Feb. 16 - Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo
Feb. 18 - Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox
Feb. 20 - Chicago, IL @ the Empty Bottle
Feb. 21 - Dekalb, IL @ the House Cafe
Feb. 22 - East Lansing, MI @ (SCENE) Metrospace
Feb. 23 - Rochester, NY @ Boulder Coffee

Thanks for reading and for your support!

Love,
a&s

European Tour Journal

2008-01-21T19:38:00.000-05:00

We are back from Europe. The tour went really great, and we thank everyone that was involved in making it a success: Niels from Selma Travels, Tobi and Uli from Coraille, all the promoters, clubs and venues. A big thanks also goes to all of you that came out to the shows, some of these were really the best shows we've ever been a part of, and we thank you for that. Our tour mates, Birthmark, were an absolute pleasure to share the stage with; make sure to check out their music here. We have a tour blog for you below, documenting our travels for the past 3 weeks. Enjoy!

Day 1 - Frankfurt & Offenbach, Germany

We arrived to Germany on a high note after a wonderful flight with Lufthansa. Besides the free alcohol of which we took advantage for 6 hours, we had the best flight attendant ever--he never stopped smiling!

We headed straight to the venue after being picked up by our driver #1, Uli. The van was enormous, and it came with a bed in the back as well as a TV with Playstation joysticks but no actual Playstation. Oops.

A short drive and we were in Offenbach. Not the greatest venue in the world, but the show went well, and we were introduced to how things work in Europe: load-in, snack, set-up, sound check, dinner, show, load out. There was always a nice dinner (and nice hosts) waiting for us, and I think that made all the difference in the world to a little band like us.

Day 2 - Bremen, Germany

The drive to Bremen was uneventful. The club was in an old factory building, and consisted of many different rooms. We managed to take a cool band photo in one such room...

Set-up time...

And dinner...

Day 3 - Munster, Germany

Munster, a beautiful little university town, was one of the highlights of the tour. The show was amazing, and the venue provided us with the best food we've ever eaten on a tour (though Bosnian food in St. Louis comes at a close second). The sound system was brilliant, and our sound guy, Holga, was a man who knew what he was doing. After the show, a techno party broke out, which was interesting. Much time was spent at the merch table this night, as people just wouldn't stop buying CDs. That was very nice. All in all an amazing night.

Day 4 - Hamburg, Germany

We played at a small and very smoky venue in Hamburg. Our host, Niels, brought us some fresh pineapple and salami and cheese sandwiches for the pre-sound check snack. Despite some initial technical difficulties (the club was right underneath the train tracks, so our power converter kept killing the power), the show went very well and there were a lot of people. After the night was over, we headed to a local bar for a few more beers. Everything happened quickly--so quickly that there are no pictures.

Day 5 + 6 - Berlin, Germany

We played a New Year's Eve show at a vegan cafe in Berlin. This night was a lot of fun. First off, I learned my lesson that vegan soup is not enough to take care of large quantities of beer and wine. Second, there is nothing better than eating a tasty Doner (a Turkish Gyro) at 6am. Third, Berliners know a thing or two about fireworks. Fourth, celebrating the new year in Berlin is highly recommended to anyone looking for something to do at the end of this year. The show was good, though the sound system was awful. We finished at 11:45pm, just in time to experience the crazy fireworks. After that, drinking and dancing continued into the night, until we finally made it to our host's place at about 7am. The next day we slept in late, and saw a bit of the city during a rainy and foggy night.

Day 7 - Heilbronn, Germany

We drove for a little over 7 hours from Berlin to Heilbronn in southern Germany. At the club, we were greeted by Sergej, the promoter, host, and cook. He made us a delicious vegetarian stew, which we downed like nobody's business. The show was very well attended, and besides a few technical glitches here and there, we played a good set. After the show, we stayed with Sergej and his girlfriend, chatting late into the night since Sergej happened to be from Bosnia as well. Very nice people...

Day 8 - Basel, Switzerland

After a delicious breakfast, we got on the road heading toward Switzerland. We had to rearrange some things in the van since the Swiss border can be tricky when it comes to merchandise (as they're not a part of the EU, they can charge you high taxes on all merch being brought into the country). Having hidden our t-shirts and CDs, we marched into Switzerland and got to the venue with no problems. Basel proved to be another highlight of the tour: besides being a beautiful city, the club prepared for us another amazing dinner (not to mention a cheese, olive, and fruit platter waiting for us as we arrived), the sound system was fabulous, and the sound guy definitely one of the best we've ever had. The show was again well attended, plenty of merch sold, and we even got time to be tourists for a few hours and check out the city...

Day 9 - Neuchatel & Lausanne, Switzerland

We had a day off in Switzerland so we went to Neuchatel and Lausanne in the French-speaking part of the country. In Lausanne we met Fanny, a local promoter who offered us a place to crash. We stayed up very late again, drinking beer and listening to music. It's amazing how much you can learn about strangers you've just met in a matter of few hours--and how you might not ever see them again (or at least not for a while). I guess that's something that comes with touring--you meet so many nice people that help you out greatly, and than the next day--see you later! All the emotions aside, this part of Switzerland was quite beautiful, and below are some pictures to prove it...

Day 10 + 11 - Genova, Italy

After hiding our merch again, we headed for Italy. This meant that we had to cross the Alps, which was an amazing sight, and a scary drive. Despite the tight roads and poor visibility, cars were passing one another constantly. Our tall van felt particularly vulnerable, but that did not bother our driver #2, Tobi. He took care of business and after a few hours of climbing the mountains, we made it to the tunnel where we crossed into Italy. The drive down was pretty spectacular as well; the pictures below don't really do the Alps justice...

Tobi and Max

Our show in Genova that night was ok. Very bad sound system, but a lot of people and a good response. We ended the set early with some noise cause the speakers were driving us absolutely crazy. The show ended with a DJ set featuring all grunge music. I asked the DJ if he could play something more recent, and he gave me Sonic Youth's "Dirty"... which came out in 1991. Nice. The load out was not easy: there were ton of people all around our van, as well as folks conveniently hanging out by the exit door. It was also raining hard. Finally we made it to our host's place, a small apartment on one of many hills in Genova, crowded with apartment buildings and tiny roads that lead to them. I have no idea how our van made it up there; I have no idea how any cars make it up there. Anyways, the night ended with a game of cards and figuring out the night's merch sales...

We had the next day off, so we headed into the city...

The invincible van

Day 12 - Milan, Italy

Day 13 - Strasbourg, France

Our first and only show in France was good. Pierre, our promoter, host and sound man, was very nice and greeted us with some beer and chips. The dinner was another great vegetarian stew with cheese and wine, and of course baguettes. We played well, and the following morning, explored the city a bit.

Day 14 - Esslingen, Germany

A short drive to the border and we were back in Germany. The show in Esslingen took place inside a museum, and was my favorite show of this tour. A lot of people showed up, and everyone was quiet while we played. That was really cool, since usually we play in rowdy clubs where people are drinking and talking. The audience was great, we played a good show, and in the end sold a lot of merch. The dinner was again excellent, and everyone was really nice. It was really a perfect show, and a perfect setting for our music...

Day 15 - Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

Luxembourg was a lot of fun. A really great city, and really nice people. As soon as we arrived to the venue, about 6 people were waiting to help us unload all the equipment. Fred, the owner, is a really cool guy, and treated us very nicely. The stage was on the second floor, and the band bedroom and bathroom (including a washer and a dryer) on the third. We even had a whole fridge full of beer just for us. Wow, I think we were getting really spoiled at that point. Anyways, the show went really well, the crowd was very receptive, and the night ended late with the bartender serving us shots with absinth. Hm. I forget how many of those I had... The next day we got up early to do a radio interview, and than spent some time walking around the city. Absolutely beautiful.

Birthmark and A&S

Day 16 - Wurzburg, Germany

This day was a crazy one. After about an hour and a half of driving, we remembered that we forgot a crucial piece of equipment in Luxembourg. We had to go back, which already made us late, and than--traffic everywhere! We made it to Wurzburg about 10 minutes before the show was supposed to start, with a lot of people patiently waiting outside. We loaded in quickly, ate the dinner in record time, and got the show going. We played a good set, and it was all over before we even knew it.

Day 17 - Leipzig, Germany

East Germany was cool. The venue in Leipzig was a 100-year old movie theater that's been kept up to this day. A really amazing place, it was a truly memorable show with the most people we've ever played in front of. This was another perfect setting for us, especially since there was a huge screen for projections. Our promoter and host, Tobi, was another very nice guy who took good care of us and showed us a great time in Leipzig.

Day 18 - Dortmund, Germany

We drove to Dortmund for the final show of the tour. It was a pretty good night, and afterwards we had to return all our equipment and pack up, since our flight was an early one. We didn't go to bed until 2, and had to get up at 5 to drive 3 hours to the airport. That was a tough drive, and I have no idea how Tobi managed to stay awake. We were afraid that our flight would be cancelled since there was a huge snowstorm in the northeast, but we made it back on time, despite a very rough landing in Boston through heavy snow. That was a very long day indeed; thankfully I had a car buried in snow to shovel out as soon as I got back... And c'est tout!

Thanks for reading!

BLACK PARIS 86, HOLIDAY CD/DVD, EUROPEAN TOUR, US TOUR

2007-11-23T14:54:00.000-05:00

Hello,

We have a lot of exciting news to share with you!

First, BLACK PARIS 86, our debut full-length album, is now available for pre-order directly from us! Just go to our myspace page to reserve a copy today. The CD comes with a sticker, and will ship on Jan. 15, 2008. It will also be available from other stores in the US early next year, while Europe will see the release next month. As of today, Black Paris 86 is available at most digital stores, including iTunes, so head over there if you can't wait until Jan. 15th!

This record is really our first complete piece of music, containing 2 tracks from "bliss…" and 10 never-before released songs. A lot of work went into making not just the music, but the artwork as well, both of which we hope you will enjoy. We've been waiting for over 9 months to see the official release of this album, so we're very excited to finally be able to share it with you!

Here's a little info about the record:

LABEL: Expect Candy Records
FORMAT: CD, jewel case
TOTAL RUN-TIME: 48 minutes

"Black Paris 86 is a tight, intense record, showing a young band at a stage you wouldn't expect it to be on yet. Connected to different kinds of music, from ambient-influenced indie rock to calm, sometimes hypnotic music with dozens of other styles flowing in, the album shows the development the band has made in the past year, resulting in a unique and original style."

Tracklisting:
01. Greetings From Tokyo
02. A Mission To Prague
03. Lausanne
04. Black Paris 86
05. Seems (If Ever)
06. 71 Fragments Of A Chronology Of Chance
07. Warm
08. I Was A Climber
09. Butterflycatcher
10. Like A Typewriter From A Moving Train
11. Rooftops/Lanterns
12. we're all Paris now (pt. 3)

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!

Second, we're releasing a very limited HOLIDAY CD/DVD package that will contain 4-5 new songs and footage from our summer 2007 US tour. There will be 40 copies available, all hand-made and with holiday-style packaging, making it the perfect gift from yourself to yourself (or someone else too!). Pre-orders are being taken now from our myspace page, and will be shipped on Dec. 24, 2007. Reserve a copy today before it's sold out!

Third, our EUROPEAN TOUR is coming together, with confirmed dates below. We will regularly update our myspace page with new dates, as there's still a bunch more to come! We will be touring with Chicago's Birthmark, which is Nate Kinsella's (Joan of Arc, Make Believe) solo project. On this tour we will have the third edition of "Cinematique" available, but if you are dying to get a copy and will not be in Europe, e-mail us and we'll arrange something. The dates so far:

27.12.07 D-Offenbach, Rotari
28.12.07 D-Bremen, Nook
29.12.07 D-Munster, Gleis 22
30.12.07 D-Hamburg, Astra Stube
31.12.07 D-Berlin, Hans Wurst
02.01.08 D-Heilbronn, Club Mobilat
03.01.08 CH-Basel, Hirscheneck
05.01.08 I-Genova, Checkmate Club
07.01.08 I-Milano, S'Agapo
08.01.08 F-Strasbourg, Molodoi
09.01.08 D-Esslingen, Villa Merkel
10.01.08 LUX-Luxembourg, D:Qliq
11.01.08 D-Wurzburg, Cairo
12.01.08 D-Leipzig, UT Connewitz
13.01.08 D-Dortmund, FZW

Finally, we are very happy to announce that we will be working with MARY JONES MANAGEMENT for future US bookings. You can check out their website here. They represent artists such as Tom Brosseau (Fat Cat Records, Loveless Records) and formerly Asobi Seksu (Friendly Fire). We will do a short Canadian/US tour in mid-February, and the routing so far looks like this:

Feb. 13 – Cambridge, MA
Feb. 14 – Portland, ME
Feb. 15 – Burlington, VT
Feb. 16 – Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo
Feb. 20 – Chicago, IL
Feb. 21 – Dekalb, IL @ the House Cafe
Feb. 22 – East Lansing, MI @ (SCENE) Metrospace
Feb. 23 – Buffalo, NY

We will have more show confirmations soon!

And that about sums it all up. We hope that everyone is having good Thanksgiving holidays, and we hope to see you soon at one of our upcoming shows!

Love,

arms and sleepers

www.myspace.com/armsandsleepers
www.armsandsleepers.com
www.expectcandy.com

ARMS AND SLEEPERS ILIKE PAGE!

2007-11-16T00:22:00.001-05:00

Buy CDs and other goodies directly from us!

2007-10-09T12:39:00.000-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen,

you may now purchase our CDs and other goodies such as t-shirts and posters directly from us online. On our myspace page we have set up a mini-store, sort-of, where you can buy all this stuff using PayPal or by sending in a mail order. Though shipping is a bit more expensive if you're outside of USA, this is the best way to support an artist - by buying things directly from them. So don't hesitate--come check it out.

See the magic at www.myspace.com/armsandsleepers

yours,

a&s

this and that

2007-09-05T11:01:00.000-04:00

Dear people,

We have returned home after 5 weeks (and change) of shows throughout the States. It was a long and tiring tour, but overall a great time for all. We'd really like to thank everybody that helped us out on this tour: you know who you are. We met some really fascinating and talented people, caught up with old friends, and heard some excellent new music. A big thanks to all the bands that were really nice to us: again, you know who you are. It seems like a lot of times other bands are so unwelcoming because there is a sense of competition and rivalry. But there are also those that don't feel like that, and to you we are grateful, because there is nothing like being 3,000 miles away from home and sharing jokes with other fellow musicians. Another big thanks goes to the people that offered us their couch/floor to sleep on, food to eat, and wireless internet to use. Really thank you--you are all wonderful people. Finally, a thank you to Nice Promotions for doing an excellent job with press, Fake Chapter for always being there for us, Matt for doing a beautiful job with "Cinematique" artwork (for the second time!), and Dado for his beautiful visuals. HVALA!

So, the tour is over, and we're not sure when we'll be touring the States like this again. Next year we will be taking our silly laptops, keybords, and projectors overseas to Europe and Japan. We are heading to Europe at the end of December and for the first few weeks in January for a 3-week tour, playing shows with Chicago's Birthmark (Nate Kinsella's solo project). We'll be going to the UK and more continental Europe again in May and June, and (hopefully) Japan in July. The dates for the first European tour will be posted soon(ish).

This all will be in support of our forthcoming debut full-length release, "Black Paris 86." It comes out in Europe and Asia on Nov. 23, on Germany's Expect Candy Records. The US release date has not been set as of yet, however the record will be available on iTunes and emusic starting on Nov. 23. We will be holding CD release shows in both Boston and NYC in December, so stay tuned for updates on that.

The "Lautlos EP" and the 2nd edition of "Cinematique" are both sold out at this point. The S/T Milkweed Records release is also sold out from us, and we heard that there are only a few copies left at Milkweed's online store. We are not planning on doing more runs of these releases, except for "Cinematique," which will be available at the European tour in December/January.

"bliss was it in that dawn to be alive" is still available at Fake Chapter's online store, and some other places, too.

We have a few shows scheduled for November, including a mini-tour with the most excellent Elika, Thisquietarmy, and Project Skyward, and a New Jersey show celebrating Fake Chapter's 11th anniversary! Head over to our myspace page for more information.

Take care,

arms & sleepers

2007-07-24T10:38:00.000-04:00

Summer 2007 US tour dates

2007-07-04T20:43:00.000-04:00

Here's the full schedule:

July 19 – Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bear’s
July 20 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground
July 21 – Norfolk, VA @ the Boot
July 22 – Greenville, NC @ Spazzatorium Galleria
July 24 – Chapel Hill, NC @ the Night Light Club
July 25 – Atlanta, GA @ ISP Space
July 26 – Baton Rouge, LA @ North Gate Tavern
July 27 – New Orleans, LA @ Dragon’s Den
July 28 – Houston, TX @ Super Happy Fun Land
July 29 – Austin, TX @ the Parlor
July 31 – Denton, TX @ J and J’s Pizza
Aug. 1 – Wichita, KS @ the Electric Snake
Aug. 2 – Denver, CO @ 3 Kings Tavern
Aug. 4 – Prescott, AZ @ the Raven Cafe
Aug. 5 – Phoenix, AZ @ Casablanca Night Club
Aug. 7 – Penngrove, CA @ Black Cat Bar
Aug. 8 – Long Beach, CA @ the Que Sera
Aug. 9 – San Francisco, CA @ Edinburgh Castle Pub
Aug. 10 – La Grande, OR @ the Gadfly
Aug. 11 – Eugene, OR @ Diablo’s DTL
Aug. 12 – Seattle, WA @ High Dive
Aug. 13 – Moscow, ID @ KUOI 89.3 FM (performance + interview) - 12pm
Aug. 13 – Missoula, MT @ Venue TBD
Aug. 15 – St. Louis, MO @ Lemp Arts
Aug. 16 – Dekalb, IL @ the House Cafe
Aug. 17 - TBD
Aug. 18 – Minneapolis, MN @ Terminal Bar
Aug. 19 – Minneapolis, MN – Radio K 106.5 (interview) - 3pm
Aug. 19 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
Aug. 20 – Lansing, MI @ Replay Entertainment Exchange
Aug. 21 – Columbus, OH @ Skylab
Aug. 22 – Nashville, TN @ Venue TBD
Aug. 23 – Blacksburg, VA @ WUVT 90.7 FM (performance + interview) - 4pm
Aug. 23 – Charleston, WV @ the Empty Glass
Aug. 24 – Lynchburg, VA @ Venue TBD
Aug. 25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Soundfix Records
Aug. 26 – Oswego, NY @ WNYO 88.9 FM (performance + interview) - CANCELLED
Aug. 26 – Boston, MA @ Private Show (e-mail for more info: wearearmsandsleepers@yahoo.com)
Aug. 27 – Orono, ME @ WMEB 91.9 FM (interview) - 9:30pm

We hope to see you at one (or two) of these shows!

Love,

arms

2007-06-14T21:42:00.000-04:00

There is a new review of "bliss..." by 30music.com. They had some nice things to say about the record. You can read it HERE.

2007-06-05T20:08:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since we last updated this blog. A lot has been going on, as usual. First off, thanks to everyone who came out to our shows on the last tour. We greatly appreciate it, and hope to see you again over the summer! A 5-week US tour begins on July 19th in Boston, and you can see all the confirmed dates HERE. Check back for updates, as new dates are being added daily.

If you didn't get a chance to buy "Cinématique" on the last tour, don't worry! We are doing another limited edition of 30, with the same hand-made packaging and artwork by MLJ of Cursillistas. In addition, a new tour EP is in the works, and will be available along with "Cinématique" during the summer tour.

Some new videos have been posted on our myspace site, including Dado Ramadani's short video "Nereus." Dado also makes all our live visuals, and is actually coming on tour with us to do some live video magic. Check out his website HERE.

We'll have more updates soon. Thanks for reading.

Love,

arms

Which way to Knoxville?

2007-04-22T14:30:00.000-04:00

Hi folks,

We have been on tour for just over a week now, and have been taking plenty of pictures documenting our travels. Currently sitting in a "European Cafe" in Houston, TX waiting for a band of Borats to perform live as we munch on our "European" fries, we finally have some time to post pictures. So here goes it:

Not even a Noreaster could prevent Arms and Sleepers from performing at Starbucks.
note: thanks to whomever took the time to draw this.

If you're ever in Delaware, we'd recommend not staying at the Poynter Inn. Their definition of "efficiency" must have been cramped, cold, putrid smelling and overpriced. In other words, it was a real classy place.
note: although it doesn't look that cramped here, keep in mind that this is a life-size picture.

Virginia was windy, and their highways must have been paved with gold after paying a $12 toll. What are we back in Massachusetts or something?

We rolled into Greenville, NC and decided to sell some of the scrap gold we had lying around in the car. And perhaps even purchase a gun.

After we sold the scrap gold and got some quality firearms, it was time for authentic Italian pizza at an authentic "Pizzaria."

We showed up at the venue, and were greeted by this guy. His name is Jeff, and we're pretty sure that he's Jack Black's cousin, Jeff Black. No but really, Jeff is an awesome guy, and if you're ever in the Greenville area, check out his space at Spazzatorium Galleria.

Spazzatorium was located between a hippie church and this place.

After all of this, we felt like talking to God. Unfortunately, we didn't have his number. Then we found out that he's in the book.

Although God was really busy, he was generous enough to show us where the afterlife is. Apparently it's located in the Ballroom of a Hampton Inn.

Here's Max making a new friend in Atlanta. At first he was a little stiff, but after a few drinks he wouldn't shut up about how boring his job is.

In Alabama we made an appearance at "Club," and what a time we had at "Club"! If you've never been to "Club" before, we highly recommend it, because there's no club quite like "Club."

Ah, New Orleans. Here's a picture of our new buddy, Louis Armstrong Sachmo (at least that's what he introduced himself as).

Our merch table.

Welcome to Texas, the home of highways and fast food.

And of course the home of class. After finding a hair in their burger, these fine Texans decided it would be classy to leave their leftovers on the table (at a fast food restaurant).

Ok, so here goes our crazy Texas story: we were trying to find a clean and reasonably priced hotel after a show in Houston. Unfortunately, all we found were crack dens and ladies of the night. So we tried to go toward the airport, where we knew there would be plenty of hotels. And there were, however, it just so happened that there was a basketball conference (I thought basketball was a game, not a panel discussion) and all the hotels were sold out. So we decided to take an exit onto a different highway. What we found were more highways with toll exits such as the one below that led to other highways, and so on, and so on. The tolls were of course malfunctioning, and there was nobody there. In fact, there was nobody on any of these highways either. It was dark, and we were lost. In Texas, of all places. We thought this was possibly Area 52, as there was literally no soul on the road and no signs anywhere. This must be where they engineered the half-monkey half-man that we all know as Dub-ya. Anyways, we were lost for about 2 hours and finally found a room at about 3:30am. So our advice to you if you're thinking of visiting Texas: don't.

And that's it for now. We'll have more for you fine folks very soon.

Love,
arms

Guests & Ghosts

2007-04-09T22:04:00.001-04:00

Hi all,

We have so many exciting news to share with you that we don't even know where to begin! Well, how about this:

Our new self-titled EP is officially out tomorrow, April 10th on Milkweed Records. It contains 6 songs, and is hand-painted and numbered. This release is limited to 100 copies, so make sure to stop by the Milkweed website and grab a copy for yourself!

This Wednesday we begin our 3-week long US tour. Please come out if you can! The dates are:

April 11 – Boston, MA @ Bulfinch Yacht Club
April 13 – Saratoga Springs, NY @ Skidmore College
April 14 – New York City, NY @ Piano’s
April 15 – Evesham, NJ @ Marlton-Starbucks
April 16 – Norfolk, VA @ Relative Theory Records
April 17 – Greenville, NC @ the Spazzatorium Galleria!
April 18 – Charleston, SC @ 52.5 Records EARLY SHOW @ 5PM
April 19 – Atlanta, GA @ ISP Space
April 21 – Houston, TX @ Super Happy Fun Land
April 22 – TBA (Texas)
April 24 – New Orleans, LA @ the Green Space
April 25 – St. Louis, MO @ Lemp Arts
April 27 – Chicago, IL @ Ronny’s
April 28 – TBA (Iowa)
April 29 – Minneapolis, MN @ Radio K (nowlikephotographs) live on-air
April 29 – Minneapolis, MN @ the Hexagon
May 1 – Columbus, OH @ the Distillery
May 2 – Dayton, OH @ the Nite Owl
May 3 – Charleston, WV @ the Empty Glass
May 4 – Pittsburgh, PA @ the Shadow Lounge
May 5 – New York City, NY @ Aloft
May 6 – Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bear’s

For details on all the shows, visit our myspace page.

And that is not all: to go along with the tour, we are self-releasing a very limited 11-song album, titled “Cinématique.” There are only 30 copies available, and will be sold exclusively at our shows in April and May. The CD artwork and packaging are entirely hand-made, courtesy of MLJ from Cursillistas. Check out his work here. The material on this release is a bit different from our other work, but we are extremely happy with how it came out and hope you will enjoy it as well. So grab a copy of it while you can at one of our shows in the next few weeks!

For those of you that are not satisfied with just the silly ol' audio discs, we'll have t-shirts, posters, and buttons for sale during the tour as well. So come see us after the show: just go toward the bright light!

Hope to see you all soon.

Love,
arms

contest

2007-02-02T13:32:00.000-05:00

PlugInMusic.com is currently holding a contest with a chance to win a copy of our debut "bliss was it in that dawn to be alive" and a limited edition poster! 5 lucky winners will be randomly chosen, so sign up by March 1st to participate. Go here for more info.

NEWS NEWS NEWS

2007-01-24T00:02:00.000-05:00

our debut EP bliss was it in that dawn to be alive is now available through Fake Chapter Records, as well as iTunes, emusic, Amazon.com, CD Universe, CD Quest, and other online stores. grab a copy if you haven't yet!

we are in the midst of booking a US tour in support of our recent release. we'll be on the road in April and May, so please check back for confirmed dates.

we are also planning a limited EP release on Milkweed Records, which will be out in March and available from us during the tour. more info on this soon.

finally, we are in the process of redesigning our website, which should be finished in the coming month. in addition, we will be posting our live visuals somewhere on the web in the near future. a lot of people seem to be interested in learning more about the projections that we use, so if you would like to get in touch with our live visuals guru Dado, contact us at wearearmsandsleepers@yahoo.com and we will forward your e-mail to him.

and that is all for now.
take care everyone,
arms & sleepers