News: Glastonbury announce Emerging Talent Competition 2011

Glastonbury Festival have just announced their Emerging Talent Competition for 2011's festival, giving new unsigned bands across the UK and Ireland the opportunity to win a slot on the main stage. The winner will be in esteemed company - previous winners include Stornoway, We Have Band, the Golden Silvers, the Subways, Ellen and the Escapades and, erm, Scouting For Girls.

At BlackPlastic we are always getting contacted by new unsigned acts - Glastonbury's competition represents a fantastic opportunity to get some exposure so if you are a music maker then we strongly recommend you enter. All styles and genres are eligible and entrance is free and surprisingly hassle free - you simply need to enter a link to where your music can be heard.  It's worth noting you only have a week to enter - the closing date is 5pm Monday 17 January 2011.

BlackPlastic has been selected along with 39 other bloggers to help judge this year's competition and you will have to excuse our blushes as we gush a bit and confess how chuffed we are to have been invited to be associated with such a prize.

You can find details on how to enter along with the full list of blogs that are judging over at the Glastonbury Festivals site... Good luck!

BP x

Competition: Win tickets to see Agoria at Cable

We Fear Silence will be teaming up with the acclaimed Balance Series of mix CDs to bring the noise to Cable in London on Saturday 17 July 2010 and we have a pair of tickets to give away.

Agoria, fresh from releasing the rather nice Balance 016, will be headlining in a four hour back-to-back set with fellow Frenchman Oxia.  They will be joined by Jozif (of Wolf + Lamb) and Emerson Todd. In the bar will be Get Down Good with Tom Bulwer, Greg Sawyer, Jo Sayers and guest Jimpster.

To be in with a chance of winning simply drop an email with the subject line 'Cable competition' to [competition closed]. Please ensure you include your full name so we can add you to the guestlist.

Closing date is Thursday 15 July 2010 - good luck!

BP x

Competition: Win Tickets to 12 x 12 at the Scala

Following BlackPlastic's earlier post today we have a pair of tickets to give away to this Thursday's Red Bull Music Academy 12 x 12 event at the Scala in London.

So what is 12 x 12? Basically Red Bull have taken twelve legendary producers and musicians and twelve anthems and given each of them twelve minutes to perform their song - each of which has had a defining impact on London's musical landscape and club culture. Knitting all of this together are handovers from each producer to the next that will highlight the performers personal connection to the following act as well as visualisation courtesy of Hexstatic (for those that don't know, this is a. good. thing.)

Find details in the flyer here or head over to the Red Bull Music Academy website.

With a line up featuring Arthur Baker, Peter Hook, Robert Owens, Zinc, X-Press 2 and Roni Size it looks set to be an interesting evening. It's worth noting the proceeds go to War Child too.  Full line-up below:

• A Guy Called Gerald (London)
• Arthur Baker (London)
• Jazzie B (Soul II Soul, London)
• Martyn Ware (Human League, Heaven 17, London)
• MJ Cole (Prolific, London)
• Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order, Manchester)
• Robert Owens (Fingers Inc., London)
• Roni Size (Full Cycle, V Recordings, Bristol)
• Shades Of Rhythm (London)
• Shy FX & Stamina MC (Digital Soundboy, London)
• X-Press 2 (Junior Boy’s Own, Skint, London)
• Zinc (Bingo Beats, London) & Dynamite MC (Strong Records, London)

Tickets are £12 in advance and £15 on the door or you can win a pair here! The event is on from 8pm to 12am.

So what do you need to win tickets? It's a tight timeline so we will make it as easy as possible - simply drop us an email at competitions@blackplastic.co.uk or complete our contact form and use the subject 'I want to give Hooky a kiss' [competition now closed - thanks for your entries].  The event is on Thursday so the competition will close at 10am on Thursday 11 March.

The winner will be notified by email on Thursday afternoon so please check your email and check your spam filters!

BP x

Competition: Tickets to see Passion Pit in concert!

One of BlackPlastic's favourite little gems from last year was Passion Pit's totally infectious Manners album. By throwing everything AND the kitchen sink into their material they manage to cram as many joyful ideas into one song as many bands struggle to deliver in an album... And do so in a way that feels like Christmas and your birthday all at once.

Passion Pit are on tour in the UK next month and to celebrate we have a pair of tickets for the Nottingham gig to give away.  To be in with a chance of winning you need to be able to get to and from the venue on the night of the concert and answer this question:

What, accordingly to BlackPlastic's review of Manners, do Passion Pit smell like?

To enter drop us a note through the BlackPlastic.co.uk Contact Form or drop us a note at [competition closed] using the subject 'Passion Pit Competition'. The closing date is 4 March 2010 [competition now closed].

Most of the dates are sold out but Bristol, Norwich and Nottingham still have tickets available.

BP x

News: Seriously Social / Bugged Out 'Dream Party' Competition

BlackPlastic hearts Bugged Out almost as much as we heart dreaming up ridiculous party / 'high concept' night clubs and so it is with great joy that we heard about Seriously Social's dream party competition with Bugged Out.

The idea is simple - you've got £30,000 and Bugged Out DJ Johnny Burgess... the world is your oyster. Every idea is considered by a panel of judges before the best 25 go before a public vote. If your party idea is selected then you get to do it for real!

BlackPlastic has already entered... Expect photos if we win!

To give you some inspiration here is Johnny recounting his favourite ever Bugged Out night (it made BlackPlastic a bit emotional):

My favourite Bugged Out night. Daft Punk, Liverpool, 1998. 
From Bugged Out my most enduring memory is from 1998. It was the fourth birthday and we had tried to get Daft Punk to DJ at it. They had played for us since our first year but we kept getting vague 'maybe's and then a  'no' from their manager Pedro Winter. So we printed the flyers and posters with the existing line up and carried on with the promotion. Then the week of the show Pedro got in touch to ask if we would be interested in Thomas Bangalter coming over to play a live set. Thomas had just had the biggest club hit of the summer as Stardust with Music Sounds Better With You and also that Gym Tonic tune. Of course we were up for it. Then the day before the show Pedro rang again and said that Guy Manuel would like to come along too so perhaps we would be interested in squeezing Daft Punk onto the bill after all. So when people turned up to the club they were greeted with the news. There was no twitter back then and people didn't even check websites that often so we announced it with the words Daft Punk scrawled on the existing posters in marker pen! Thomas played Music Sounds Better With You live from the DJ booth and then him and Guy-Man started their DJ set with Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday. I think I had something in my eye at that moment. As it was a last minute booking I don't think we really paid anything other than their train fares and hotels so we left them a box set each of The Beach Boys Pet Sounds on their hotel beds as a way of saying thanks. Different times indeed...

To enter simply head over to the Seriously Social Facebook page, become a fan and submit your entry. Closing date is Monday but it only takes a minute.

BP x