Athlete (band)

Athlete (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Athlete



Img_capt = Athlete performing in 2008
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Deptford, London, England
Genre = Indie rock
Alternative rock
Years_active = 1999–present
Label = Parlophone (UK)
Astralwerks (USA)
URL = http://www.athlete.mu/
Current_members = Joel Pott Carey Willets Steve Roberts Tim Wanstall
Past_members =

Athlete are an English indie rock band formed in Deptford, London, comprising Joel Pott (lead vocals and guitar), Carey Willetts (bass and backing vocals), Stephen Roberts (drums and backing vocals) and Tim Wanstall (keyboards and backing vocals). Recently, the quartet have recruited Jonny Pilcher of Weevil as a live guitarist.

History

Early beginings and "Vehicles & Animals" (1999-2003)

Friends since the age of fourteen, Athlete took their wide ranging influences such as Grandaddy and The Flaming Lips and started jamming and practicing in the basement of The Bear, a pub which was converted into a church and sandwich bar, on Deptford High Street in 1999. They began recording there, before sending demos out. Signing with Regal Recordings, they released their first single in February 2002. The band came to prominence in 2003 with their debut album, "Vehicles and Animals", producing popular singles such as "You Got the Style" and "El Salvador". The album earned a Mercury Music Prize nomination and went on to sell over 250,000 copies. They played their first live session on UK radio on the Dermot O'Leary Show, BBC Radio 2.

Mainstream success and "Tourist" (2004-2006)

Their second album, "Tourist", reached Number One in the UK Album Charts in its first week, following the huge success of single "Wires". The song was brought around when the lead singer's newborn baby was rushed to intensive care after a premature birth, and in 2006 it won them the Ivor Novello Award for "Best Contemporary Song". In the UK charts, the band has frequently been frustrated by singles just missing out on top 40 placings, due to inconsistent support by music television channels and radio stations. For instance, certain songs, such as "Wires" and "Half Light", were played up to 10 times a day on larger UK radio stations, yet other singles such as "Westside" and "Tourist" received little to no radio play whatsoever, fueling talk of radio stations deciding who becomes a major player in the pop music franchise.

Development with "Beyond the Neighbourhood" (2007-present)

On 10 June 2007, it was announced that the title of their third album would be "Beyond the Neighbourhood". [ [http://www.athlete.mu Athlete.mu] ] . The album was mixed by Ben Allen and Michael Brauer, who also worked on "Tourist". Released on 3 September 2007, "Beyond the Neighbourhood" was a self-produced collection of low-key songs, viewed as a disappointment by some [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2159002,00.html Beyond The Neighbourhood album review] from Guardian Unlimited] , and an interesting sidestep by others [ [http://www.stv.tv/content/out/music/album_reviews/display.html?id=opencms:/content/out/music/album_reviews/AthletexbrxBeyond_The_Neighbourho_200709 Beyond The Neighbourhood album review] from stv.tv/music] . It entered at #5 on the UK album chart.

They embarked on tours of the UK in late 2007 and early 2008 in support of the album. It has also been announced that they will play during the 2008 TT motorcycle racing festival on the Isle of Man. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/isle_of_man/7336024.stm BBC News Online] - Rock band Athlete announce TT gig]

Discography

Albums

# "Vehicles and Animals" – (April 7, 2003) #19 UK
# "Tourist" – (January 31, 2005) #1 UK
# "Beyond the Neighbourhood" – (September 3, 2007) #5 UK

ingles

Compilations

Athlete tracks have appeared on the following compilation CDs:

In popular culture

*"Chances" from "Tourist" was used in the 2006 Russell Crowe film "A Good Year"
*"Wires" is the theme song for The Learning Channel's show "Diagnosis X"
*"El Salvador" is in the movie "The Last Kiss" with Zach Braff
*"El Salvador appears on the 2 CD set "Top Gear: Seriously Cool Driving Music"; inspired from the BBC 2 TV show.
*"Tourist" is used in the Adidas commercial "Impossible is 0" featuring Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas. [ [http://www.gilbertology.net/2007/03/06/gilberts-story-impossible-is-0 Gilbert’s Story - Impossible is 0 | Gilbertology.net ] ]
*"Street Map" is heard in the first episode of the third season of CW's "One Tree Hill"
*"Flying Over Bus Stops" is heard in the second episode of the second series of Dirty Sexy Money

ee also

* Joel Pott
* "Live from London" (iTunes)

References

External links

* [http://www.athlete.mu/ Official website]
* [http://www.themusiczine.com/live.php?id=14 TheMusicZine live review]
* [http://www.themusiczine.com/feature.php?id=13 TheMusicZine interview]
* [http://www.myspace.com/athlete Myspace site]
* [http://comfortcomes.com/?page=reviews&id=1894 Hurricane Review]
* [http://www.ccmpatrol.com/index.php?id=80 Athlete, "Beyond the Neighbourhood" Review]
* [http://comfortcomes.com/?page=reviews&id=1942 Beyond The Neighbourhood Review]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/image_galleries/events_athlete_20071018_gallery.shtml Athlete gig gallery on BBC Norfolk]
* [http://comfortcomes.com/?page=reviews&id=1989 Tokyo Review]
* [http://www.caughtinthecrossfire.com/music/interviews/5061 Interview with Caught In The Crossfire]
* [http://www.soundfires.com/reviews/139 Soundfires.com review of Tokyo]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Athlete — An athlete is a sportsperson in a general sense or specifically a competitor in track and field athletics (track and field) events.Athlete may also refer to:*Athlete (band), an indie rock band from London *ATHLETE (robot), or All Terrain Hex Limb …   Wikipedia

  • Athlete (EP) — Infobox Album | Name = Athlete Type = EP Artist = Athlete Released = March 4 2002 Recorded = 2001–2002 Genre = Britpop Length = Label = Regal Records Producer = Victor Van Vugt, Bird Bush Athlete Reviews = * BBC Music… …   Wikipedia

  • Tokyo (Athlete song) — Infobox Single Name = Tokyo Caption = Artist = Athlete from Album = Beyond the Neighbourhood A side = B side = Accidents Happen Released = November 19 2007 Format = 7 , CD Recorded = Genre = Indie rock Length = 3:32 Label = Parlophone Writer =… …   Wikipedia

  • Hurricane (Athlete song) — Infobox Single Name = Hurricane Caption = CD cover Artist = Athlete from Album = Beyond the Neighbourhood A side = B side = Lest We Forget 09/05 Speyside Released = August 27 2007 Format = 7 , CD Recorded = Genre = Indie rock Length = 3:13 Label …   Wikipedia

  • Iliotibial band syndrome — Infobox Disease Name = PAGENAME Caption = DiseasesDB = 32612 ICD10 = ICD10|M|76|3|m|70 ICD9 = ICD9|728.8 ICDO = OMIM = MedlinePlus = eMedicineSubj = pmr eMedicineTopic = 61 eMedicine mult = eMedicine2|sport|53 | MeshName = MeshNumber = Iliotibial …   Wikipedia

  • The Central Band of the Royal British Legion — Unreferenced|date=November 2006 Infobox musical artist Name = The Central Band Of The Royal British Legion Landscape = Img capt = Background = group or band Origin = London, England Genre = Military Music Years active = 1944–present Label =… …   Wikipedia

  • Quench (band) — Infobox Musical artist Name = Quench Img capt = Quench Img size = Landscape = Background = group or band Origin = England Genre = Rock, Alternative, Emo, Punk/Pop Years active = 2001 present Label = Elevation/ICC Associated acts = Doug Walker,… …   Wikipedia

  • Beautiful (Athlete song) — Infobox Single Name = Beautiful Artist = Athlete from Album = Vehicles and Animals Released = 4 November 2002 Format = 7 , CD Recorded = ? Genre = Alternative Length = 3:47 Label = Parlophone Producer = Victor Van Vugt, Fonda 500, Athlete Reviews …   Wikipedia

  • Haunts (band) — Infobox musical artist Background = group or band Name = Haunts Img capt = Haunts promo shot Years active = 2007 – Present Origin = North London, Hertfordshire, England Genre = New wave Rock Label = Black Records Current members = Banks Alex… …   Wikipedia

  • Drag (band) — Drag Origin Brisbane, Ireland Genres Alternative rock New wave Years active 2000–present Labels Dew Process …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”