A–Z Series
| A–Z Series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
The complete A–Z Series front and back covers mosaic
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| Box set by Ash | ||||
| Released | Every two weeks from 12 October 2009 until 27 September 2010 | |||
| Recorded | 2007–2010 Atomic Heart Studio, New York | |||
| Genre | Indie rock, alternative rock | |||
| Label | Atomic Heart Records | |||
| Producer | Ash, Claudius Mittendorfer | |||
| Ash chronology | ||||
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| Volume 1 compilation cover | ||||
Singles A–M
Released 19 April 2010 |
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| Volume 2 compilation cover | ||||
Singles N–Z
Released 27 September 2010 |
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| A–Z Series complete compilation | ||||
Singles A–Z Noyes Records Vinyl Compilation
Released 6 November 2012 |
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| Volume 1 | |
|---|---|
| Singles A-M | |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| MusicOMH |   |
| Gigwise.com |  |
| BBC | (positive) |
| Q | |
| News of the World | |
| Drowned in Sound |   |
| Contactmusic.com | (positive) |
| AllMusic | |
| Volume 2 | |
|---|---|
| Singles N-Z | |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Kerrang! | KKKK |
| Q | |
The A–Z Series is a series of singles by alternative rock band Ash. Consisting of 26 singles, each represented by a letter of the alphabet, the singles were first released on a fortnightly basis from 12 October 2009 until 27 September 2010 on 7" vinyl and through digital download. Along with the 26 primary singles the series also includes 21 B-sides, 13 remixes, 7 acoustic tracks and 2 live tracks which were sporadically released in various formats. The series was later released in various other formats, including two compilation CDs Volume 1 (singles A–M) released on 19 April 2010 and Volume 2 (singles N–Z) released on 11 October 2010, a compilation of all 26 tracks on three vinyl LPs was released on 6 November 2012 through Noyes Records and finally a compact cassette featuring 15 of the band's favourite tracks from the series was released for Cassette Store Day, titled Letters from Alphabet City.
The series spawned 6 radio singles; "Return of White Rabbit", "True Love 1980", "Space Shot", "War with Me", "Binary", and "Carnal Love".
The way people listen to music has changed, with the advent of the download the emphasis has reverted to single tracks. It hasn't helped that most people have forgotten how to make a decent album. I'm constantly disappointed with records I buy
The band's final conventional record, Twilight of the Innocents, was released on 29 June 2007. In an interview with News of the World, guitarist and vocalist Tim Wheeler spoke of this release and how it contributed towards the band's desire to release in a different way, mainly concerning the lack of support from their at-the-time record label Infectious—parented by Warner Music Group; "We'd never put so much into a record, because it was the first one we'd produced ourselves. We spent two years of our lives on that record but the label didn't support it all. It made us wary of putting ourselves in that position ever again. Right now, I can't see us ever returning to that way of working and putting out our music."
From this the band members themselves formed Atomic Heart Records, setting up headquarters in New York City, calling their new studio Atomic Heart. Band members Tim and Mark both moved to New York; "It was a dream of mine, ever since our first American tour in the mid-1990s, to live in New York", whilst drummer Rick resided in Edinburgh's Craiglockhart, commuting to the New York Studio on a regular basis and working in "intensive bursts". The announcement itself of the band's boycott on the album format came at the time of release for Twilight of the Innocents, which the band called "their final album"—sparking rumours over the possibility of Ash splitting up.
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Wikipedia