The Officially Unofficial Site of iLiKETRAiNS! http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com Sun, 12 Dec 2010 05:44:56 -0800 en-us As regular visitors will have noticed, GPL has been dormant for much of this year. I've been keeping the gigography ticking over, and once I've worked out how to add images to the site, the discography will be updated too. For up-to-the-minute I Like Trains news, please use their official website and/or the forum. http://www.iliketrains.co.uk/ http://www.iliketrains.co.uk/confabulation/ Rob http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=106 Sun, 12 Dec 2010 13:40:01 -0800 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=106 Dance to the Radio are releasing a special record for record store day. The only reason that this news is mentioned on this site is because it features a new track from iLT that will likely show up on LP2. Surprisingly, DTTR have made the track available to listen to right now. Check it out here. http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=105 Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:05:14 -0700 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=105 The NME has learned that David Martin has a fully recorded solo album that is ready for imminent release. The album is currently being shopped around to labels and has, according to an anonymous Warner Bros executive, started a major label bidding war. In a statement to NME, Martin stated, "I'm tired of all of Guy, Alistair, and Simon's baggage. They always want me to write about death and dead people. It's been really exciting for me to write about things that make me happy, like ice cream and crisps." True to his word, the album opener is a cover of Lily Allen's "Smile." Martin played a 30-second sample of the song and it is clear that this song was meant for Martin's trademark baritone. Other surprises on the album include a Spanish language song titled, "Mi Nombre Es David." The draft for the album's press release states, "On a recent tour with I Like Trains, Martin spent countless hours with his headphones on soaking up the Spanish language. 'I just believe that the Spanish language is so beautiful, I felt that one of my songs deserved this language.'" According to the release, the lyrics read: "Mi nombre es David. ¿Cómo estás ¿Dónde está el baño" Clearly, this is Martin's strongest statement on the need for human connectedness with his repeated questioning of "How are you?" While his baritone begs this question, his humanness shines through the song as he declares, even though he really wants to connect and know how you are doing, he is after all just a human who needs to find a bathroom. Martin cannot seem to get away from historical references as there is a very good chance that the "David" he refers to in the song is David, from the Bible. To get a feel for what you can expect from the album, NME was able to obtain the tracklist, listed below: 1) Smile 2) Twenty Five Good Deeds 3) Ice Cream & Crips 4) We Go Skipping in the Field 5) Happy Songs 2 (Even Happier) 6) The Honesty 7) Life is the Beginning 8) Mi nombre es David The proposed album artwork can be seen below. It should be noted that the big open space in the artwork is reserved for a picture of Martin, but currently no hi-res press picture of Martin smiling could be located and everything else was deemed inappropriate. http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=104 Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:34:52 -0700 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=104 During iLiKETRAiNS' session for BBC Raw Talent, they debuted a brand new song, A Father's Son. Dave explained that this performance was "the first time outside our rehearsal room" that they played the song. Fortunately, BBC's wonderful iPlayer makes it easy to find and rip these performances. The 128 kbps mp3's can be downloaded using the following links: 1) Intro 2) Sirens 3) A Father's Son 4) Interview 5) Sea of Regrets In addition, I created this smoking album cover for the mp3's. http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=103 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:40:58 -0700 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=103 This week is a big one for iLiKETRAiNS. To start things off, iLiKETRAiNS are playing a new studio gig for BBC's Raw Talent tonight from 8-10 local time. On the message board, Simon promised that a new song would be played during this broadcast. I hope to record the broadcast and offer it for download here once it is archived on the BBC website. More details will follow in the coming days. On Monday, Sea of Regrets is officially released, although many people have already received the single with the beautiful new b-side, The Spark. Additionally, Sea of Regrets will be used to soundtrack the season premier of CSI: Miami. Folks in the UK will not be able to see this broadcast. Check the message board as I will try to get a clip of iLiKETRAiNS' work up soon. And if that wasn't enough, iLiKETRAiNS will be playing new shows on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week. They begin their tour with a show in Liverpool, then off to Manchester, followed by a homecoming gig in Leeds and then Glasgow to cap off the week. More shows follow in the coming weeks. It's likely that new songs will be played during these gigs, so hopefully a few recordings will surface. Enjoy all of the exciting iLT action this week! http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=102 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 09:38:04 -0700 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=102 Early this morning, iLiKETRAiNS went live with the Sea of Regrets preorder. The single will feature both Sea of Regrets and The Spark and is set to be released on 12 October 2009. According to an email sent by the band, the new direction and sound of the band promises to be lighter and future-oriented. From the email: "I Like Trains are no longer in mourning. Though they still remember the past, gone are the black threads which adorned their funeral waltz along with songs of tragedy, despair, insanity and loss. Whilst the Leeds quartet made their name charting history’s forgotten heroes and injustices, there is only so long you can look backwards before you have to start looking to the future." Soon enough we will have our first taste of this new sound. http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=101 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:24:20 -0700 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=101 iLiKETRAiNS have announced the release of the Sea of Regrets single. It will be released in the UK on 12 October 2009. As of yet, there has been no announcement on when or where it can be preordered. Additionally, there has been no announcement of label or b-sides. Hopefully, this information will be released in the coming weeks. http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=100 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:30:16 -0700 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=100 While domain issues are being worked out with iliketrains.co.uk, a temporary home has been set up at iliketrains.dreamhosters.com. To access the message board, head to iliketrains.dreamhosters.com/confabulation. Feel free to add posts and comments as this information will not be lost when the final transition is made. If this site becomes unavailable in the near future that means the official site is back up. In this case, go to iliketrains.co.uk to access the site. http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=99 Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:44:04 -0800 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=99 The official iLiKETRAiNS site is down and will likely remain down for the next few days. Plans to fix the problems are underway. Messageboard data is intact and it will be running again in the near future. As more information becomes available, I will post here to keep you updated. http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=98 Mon, 02 Mar 2009 11:33:42 -0800 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=98 iLiKETRAiNS have announced their first festival gigs of the season. They are as follows: 01 May 2009: Classic Grand (Hinterland Festival) (Glasgow, Scotland) 02 May 2009: Cockpit (Leeds, England) 30 May 2009: Wave Gotik Treffen Festival (Leipzig, Germany) Additionally, the guys released two previously unavailable tracks, "She Dreams of Audis" and "Wendy House" as part of their 5 year anniversary celebration. They can be heard here. Finally, iLiKETRAiNS have played two new songs while out on tour, "We Were Kings" and "Divorce Before Marriage". One recording of "We Were Kings" has surfaced and can be heard along with the rest of the Paradiso gig here. http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=97 Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:14:35 -0800 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=97 iLiKETRAiNS have new gig dates for the new year supporting Sisters of Mercy: 22 February 2009: Ancienne Belgique (Brussels, Belgium) 23 February 2009: Ancienne Belgique (Brussels, Belgium) 24 February 2009: Paradiso (Amsterdam, Holland) 26 February 2009: Docks (Hamburg, Germany) 27 February 2009: Columbiahalle (Berlin, Germany) 28 February 2009: Alter Schlachthof (Dresden, Germany) 02 March 2009: Tonhalle (München, Germany) 03 March 2009: Gasometer (Wein, Austria) 05 March 2009: Schlachthof (Wiesbaden, Germany) 06 March 2009: E-Werk (Koln, Germany) 07 March 2009: Bataclan (Paris, France) Additionally, Voice of Reason has been featured in two UK adverts for the critically acclaimed film, The Wrestler: http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=95 Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:10:12 -0800 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=95 The Christmas Tree Ship EP has sold out at the iLT shop. It appears that you can still order the EP on recordstore, but is likely to be available for only a limited time as the EP seems to be selling fast. Recordstore is currently listing the EP as the 7th best seller for preorders. Additionally, iLiKETRAiNS indicated that there are a limited number of copies coming on the road with them and there are some reserved for record shops. Make sure to secure your copy as soon as possible as it does not appear that they will be around for too long. http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=94 Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:50:46 -0800 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=94 The band have announced the release of a brand new EP titled "The Christmas Tree Ship." The new release is set to hit shops on 24 November 2008. The EP is an instrumental that chronicles the mysterious disappearance of the schooner, Rouse Simmons, on Lake Michigan in 1912. While the physical release comes later this month, you can now purchase the EP digitally on iTunes and other digital outlets. Apparently, the EP was not set to be released until the 24th, but due to some mix-ups is now available. The Christmas Tree Ship EP will be released as a CD/DVD. The CD has the following tracklisting 1. The Christmas Tree Ship 2. South Shore 3. Two Brothers 4. Three Sisters 5. Friday - Everybody Goodbye The songs supposedly flow as one continuous song. The DVD portion of the release is one video that includes all 5 tracks. The EP is released by Fantastic Plastic and can be preordered now at iLT's shop or at recordstore. Order soon as the release is limited to 1,000 copies. For more information on the release, including seeing the artwork, go to The Christmas Tree Ship page. http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=93 Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:41:05 -0800 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=93 Two nights ago in Bucks, England, iLiKETRAiNS performed two new songs. One is tentatively titled "Hope" by Simon and the other does not have a title and was simply called "New Song." It is unclear whether either of these songs was the new song that was played on 24 September at Club Fandango. As no recordings or lyrics have yet to surface, we do not know what these songs are about. The band also played Progress is a Snake at this gig. http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=92 Sat, 18 Oct 2008 11:37:44 -0700 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=92 At a special gig at the 229 at Club Fandango, iLiKETRAiNS performed a new song. Early in the setlist, they performed Progress is a Snake. This performance was not totally unexpected as they have been playing the song at previous gigs; however, the performance of a brand new song was not expected. The song, tentatively titled "We Forget to Breathe," was played near the midpoint of the set. Currently, there is no known recordings or lyrics available for the song so it is to early to understand what the song may be about. http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=91 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:31:52 -0700 http://www.thisgreenandpleasantland.com/news_display.php?id=91