My Best Friend Is You. 1 March 2010 is the second album by English singer-songwriter Kate Nash, released in the United Kingdom on 19 April 2010 and elsewhere on 20 April.. Digital Spy. 12 February 2010 The album was originally going to be called Crayon Full Of Colour, Rock on the Streets.com, 12 February 2010 but changed its name due to similar song titles at the time.Paolo Nutini - Pencil Full of Lead On 13 April 2010, Kate appeared on John Kennedy's XFM show Xposure, where they did a track-by-track interview playing the whole of the album.

Singles

* "Do-Wah-Doo" was the first single from the album. Nash confirmed on her blog that she filmed the music video for the single on 18 February 2010; "I shot the video for Do-Wah-Doo last week on Thursday and it was so so much fun! The best fun I ever had on a video shoot. It stars a lot of my wonderful friends who are pretty much amazing. I wrote the treatment almost a year ago, it’s a love story set on a plane in the late 50’s, for some reason the idea has always been in my head.", Addict Music, 23 February 2010 Nash also posted some pictures of the video shoot, showing her and her friends (including photographer and close friend Wesley Goode, who starred in Nash's video for "Pumpkin Soup") on a plane. The music video was available from 4 March 2010. The single charted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and number 36 in Ireland. The single also received a considerable amount of chart success in European countries such as Belgium and Germany.

* "Kiss That Grrrl" has been confirmed as the second single release from the album.http It follows the 60s-girlband theme that her recent singles have had, and nods to Nash's fondness to girl groups such as the Shirelles, the Chiffons and the Ronettes. It is also a reference to the riot grrrl scene of the early 90's. It is yet to chart and will be released on June 28, 2010.

* A third single release has been confirmed, Nash said that it is likely to be either "Paris" or "Later On".Get the Sheet Music

Tracks

* "I Just Love You More" was made available on Nash's official website for free digital download. The song was previewed on radio station XFM, on which it received a mostly positive reaction from listeners.

* A demo version of "Don't You Want to Share the Guilt?" appeared as a B-side on the single "Merry Happy" from the previous album Made of Bricks.

* "I Hate Seagulls" and "Pickpocket" were both played at intimate venues in 2008 while Kate was still promoting the previous album. They were posted on YouTube and received many views before being confirmed as new tracks for the album.

* "Paris" reached number 187 on the UK Singles Chart due to strong download sales on the week of the albums release.

Reception

The album received mixed to positive reception from critics. Allmusic granted the album 3 stars out of 5, noting it sounded "professional" and compared the albums sound with Amy Winehouse's, yet also commented "the aim of much of seems to be simply getting Kate Nash airplay without worrying overly much about a musical backing that suits her songwriting." Andrzej Lukowski of Drowned in Sound denotes confusion on the album sounding "both indie and universal" and called the album "rather daring" for a "mainstream album". The Guardian granted four out of five stars, praising Nash' growth as an artist. The Irish Times named the album their "Album of the Week" and called it "a considerable step from its predecessor".

Artwork

The official artwork for the sleeve leaked on 17 March 2010 appearing first on Kuwaiti music blog Loft965.com., Loft965.com, 18 March 2010

On 9 April 2010, Nash took part in a timesonline.co.uk web chat. When asked a question about the albums artwork she replied:

"It's been pretty stressful getting all the artwork together on this album because I've cared so much about it and had so many ideas and wanted it to be perfect for my second record. I worked with a lady called Kate Gibb who does screen printing, we screen printed a bunch of photos and some of my own objects to create collages inspired by images that I collected and loved, they varied from the bauhaus art movement to punk and lo fi record covers because I love the simplicity in those. I've just got through all the final artwork and it was worth the hardwork because I love how it looks. I try to be as involved as possible in every single aspect of what I do so that it represents me properly and because it's fun and I care and I'm a control freak.", Times Online, 30 March 2010

Personnel

;Primary musicians

*Kate Nash – vocals on all tracks; guitar on tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12 and 13; piano on tracks 5, 9, 10 and 11; percussion on tracks 5, 9, 11 and 14; keyboards on tracks 5, 9 and 11; drums on tracks 7 and 8; synthesizers on tracks 10 and 14; organ on track 10; string arrangements on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6; production and mixing on tracks 8 and 14; engineering assistance on track 9; engineering and mixing on track 14; art direction

*Jay Malhotra – bass on tracks 2, 3, 6 and 7; guitar on tracks 4, 7 and 10; glockenspiel and ukelele on track 3; production, engineering and mixing on track 8

*Bernard Butler – synthesizers on 4, 9, 10 and 11; bass on tracks 1, 5 and 9; bongos on tracks 5 and 10; organ on tracks 5 and 12; acoustic guitar on track 5; production, engineering and mixing on all tracks except 8 and 9

*Elliott Andrews – drums on all tracks except 8, 9 and 14

*Brett Alaimo – guitar on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7

*Ian Burdge – cello on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 11 and 13

;Additional musicians

*Jon Jackson – guitar on tracks 2, 6 and 7; bass on tracks 4 and 10

*Bruce White – viola on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6

*Ali Dods – violin on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6

*Everton Nelson – violin on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6

*Louisa Fuller – violin on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6

*Sonia Slaney – violin on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6

*Sally Herbert – string arrangements on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6

*Ryan Jarman – violin solo on "My Best Friend Is You"

;Production personnel

*Richard Woodcraft – engineering on all tracks except 8 and 9

*Robbie Nelson – engineering on all tracks except 8 and 9

*Adie Kaye – engineering assistance on all tracks

*Chris Potter – mastering

;Additional personnel

*Mat Maitland – art direction

*Kate Gibb – artwork

*Clare Nash – photography

Chart performance

The album charted respectively at number 8 and 26 on the UK Album Chart and the Irish Albums Chart in its first week, however quickly dropped in its second week to number 39 and 40.

Tour

On her website, Nash announced she would be touring from May 26, 2010, till September 5, 2010.

References

Category:Kate Nash albums

Category:2010 albums

Category:Albums produced by Bernard Butler

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Artist/Band Information

Kate Marie Nash (born 6 July 1987) is an English singer. The Independent She had a UK #2 hit "Foundations" in 2007, followed by the platinum selling UK number 1 album Made of Bricks. She was named Best Female Artist at the 2008 BRIT Awards.

Her second studio album, entitled My Best Friend Is You was released in the United Kingdom on 19 April 2010 and in the U.S. on 11 May 2010, and spawned her second biggest chart hit to date "Do-Wah-Doo".http

Early life

Nash was born on 6 July 1987 in Brent, London, England, and grew up amidst Brit pop culture. She has an English father and an Irish mother who is a nurse in a hospice.httphttp She grew up in Harrow, North West London. Nash became interested in music as a child and learned how to play the piano at Sandbach School. She attended St. John Fisher School (in Pinner) and moved onto the St Joan of Arc Catholic School, Rickmansworth. She was taught guitar by teacher Saskia van Berkel. She studied Theatre at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in South London. She auditioned at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School but was rejected after falling down a flight of stairs, breaking her foot. During her recovery she was housebound and unable to move, so her mother bought her an electric guitar. Nash used this time to focus on her songwriting: she began to write some new songs, finish old ones and decided that she would book a gig at a local bar in Harrow called Trinity on Gayton Road for herself, to showcase her songs.

Music career

"Caroline's a Victim" (2005-2007)

Nash started her career in 2005. After several gigs, she uploaded her music to MySpace. She found a manager for herself before seeking producers for her music.

Nash's debut was a single, "Caroline's a Victim" / "Birds", produced and recorded in Iceland by Valgeir Sigurðsson and released through Moshi Moshi Records in February 2007. The release was limited to 1000 copies, and was available on only 7" vinyl. Due to demand another 1000 copies were made and sold out. CD-promo copies were produced for distribution to the press and DJs etc., and are occasionally available for sale. It is featured on the CD Moshi Moshi Singles Compilation. A video for the song was released, directed by Kinga Burza, and received airplay on MTV2. The B-side, "Birds", later featured on her début album, Made of Bricks. Both tracks have also been released as MP3 downloads.

Made of Bricks (2007-2008)

KateNash.jpgleftthumbNash performing in June 2007

In April 2007, Nash was signed to the Polydor offshoot Fiction Records.

Nash's second single and first through Fiction Records, "Foundations", which she co-wrote with producer Paul Epworth, was released on 18 June 2007 and reached number two in the official UK Singles Chart.

Following "Foundations", Fiction announced plans to bring forward the release of Nash's debut album to 6 August 2007. The album, Made of Bricks, produced by Paul Epworth, included many of the tracks she had been performing on her two nationwide tours.

The album was leaked to filesharing networks days before its commercial release, and received mixed reviews, with The Independent describing it as being in "pole position for worst album of the year." The album, however, was commercially successful and reached number 1 in the UK album charts.

During mid-2007, Nash performed at numerous festivals including Wireless Festival, Bestival, Electric Gardens, Glastonbury, Latitude, Reading and Leeds, Oxegen and T in the Park. She made her official TV performance début on Later with Jools Holland.

Throughout late 2007 and early 2008, she released three more singles from the album. "Mouthwash" and "Pumpkin Soup" both made the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart, and although fifth single "Merry Happy" didn't chart well in the United Kingdom, the song received limited success in other countries including the US and Canada. The album topped out at the number 36 position on the United States Billboard 200 chart on 26 January 2008.

In 2010 Made of Bricks was certified Gold in Germany. (German)

My Best Friend Is You (2009-present)

Frisky Mannish Kate Nash.jpgrightthumbNash at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

In late March 2009, Nash revealed that she was in the early stages of recording her second album. She was introduced by her boyfriend Ryan Jarman to Bernard Butler, the producer for Duffy's debut album Rockferry and a former guitarist for Suede. He began been working with Nash, working in the studio with her over a period of months and producing her second album. In August 2009, the pair worked on eight songs at RAK Studios for the album.

On 14 January 2010, Nash revealed that the second album was complete. On 11 February, a song from the album, "I Just Love You More", was available to download free from her official website.. NME.com. 11 Feb 2010

On 11 March 2010, Nash announced her nine-date North American tour that began on 26 April with the all-female travelling festival Lilith Fair to promote her new album My Best Friend Is You. Her opening act was Supercute!, a psychedelic pop teen girl trio from New York City.http She is also scheduled to take part in the 2010 V Festival.

The first single from the album was called "Do-Wah-Doo", and was released on 12 April 2010. The album was released on 20 April. The sound was described as completely different from her debut album and having a "Girl Group" sound, taking influence from Motown stars such as Diana Ross and The Supremes. Nash explained that maturity is the reason for the change in musical style. The album has been described as having a wide variety of sounds from wall of sound, Motown to No Wave and Riot Grrrl. As of 11 May, the album was number 6 in Germany and number 16 in Europe. As of 27 May, the album was at number 62 in the United States.

"Kiss That Grrrl" was confirmed as the second single release from the album and will be released on 28 June. The music video was uploaded to YouTube in early June,http and has been circling around music channels since. The song is currently awating information as to whether it will be playlisted on major radio stations or not.http

Other music career activities

Nash co-wrote a song titled "Almost Isn’t (Good Enough) Is It?" with Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players member Jason Trachtenburg for his 2009 album File Under Pop Male Vocal. http

As a side project in late 2009, Kate joined a punk band called The Receeders where she plays bass. On 17 December 2009, the band played a live gig on the stage of 93 East Feet.http Kate likes to refer to the band as her "side project" as she says for 2010 she will be mainly focusing on her solo material.

Nash is a founding director of the Featured Artists Coalition, a group that lobbies on behalf of musicians.

Personal life

Since early 2007, she has been in a relationship with Ryan Jarman, vocalist and guitarist of English indie rock band The Cribs.

In 2008, following intensive touring Nash had what she described as a "proper breakdown". The heavy workload and sudden fame lead to some drinking and apathy. Matters came to a head in Germany where day long beer drinking was followed by an argument with someone in her circle which ended up with Nash vomiting against a tree while in her pajamas prior to a gig. Nash credits "my friends, family and boyfriend" for her recovery.

When Nash moved into her own flat, her obsessive-compulsive disorder, which she had a mild cases of as a child, became worse. After a conversation with a friend Nash became a vegetarian, a lifestyle change which she credits with controlling the disorders.

On 2 September 2009, Nash began using her MySpace and Facebook pages to help spread the word of a young girl called Tilly who lost her hands due to Meningococcal disease. She used an auction on eBay to help donate money to the five-year-old girl's parents so that she can afford to have her very own pair of hands.

Discography

* Made of Bricks (2007)

* My Best Friend Is You (2010)

Awards and nominations

On February 20, 2008, she received a BRIT Award for Best Female artist.

References