First things first, congratulations to Snow Patrol who achieved their first piece of well deserved success with a pop hit. Watch the video for 'Run' here and go investigate his Reindeer Section (DiS Profile) project if you fancy something beautiful to give to a loved one.
http://www.snowpatrol.net/.

Onto Keane the piano-saturated, guitarless, three-piece from Battle in Sussex. You're bound to have heard of them as they've been a wee bit over-hyped of late, as the 'new Coldplay'. We didn't help matters by tipping them for big things in 2004. The weight upon their young pale shoulders must be immense. However, they've got a few great willowy tunes to tickle your love one with this Valentines. They're also currently on tour, in support of their sweeter than sweet single 'Something Only We Know' (Click here to see the video) which is released on Monday Feb 16th. They have released two previous singles on Fierce Panda, 'Everybody's Changing' and 'This Is The Last Time'.
13th Leeds Joseph Wells
14th Newcastle University
16th Glasgow King Tut's Wah Wah Hut
17th Liverpool Academy 3
18th Manchester Roadhouse
19th Nottingham Rescue Rooms
20th Bristol Louisiana
7th March Manchester Carling Apollo Supporting Travis.
8th March Manchester Carling Apollo Supporting Travis.
http://www.keanemusic.com.

Much-like Keane, Thirteen Senses have had a fair bit of hyperbole bestowed upon their three pairs of young, pale, Cornish shoulders. Half the nations A&R sheepishly blasted down to Cornwall to check them out. Elbow's manager began to look after them and after a bidding war, they signed to Mercury. They've since had Jo Whiley and Lamacq in particular bashing their tunes onto the nations airwaves. And again, words like 'new, play, cold' have inscribed on their halos.
They release their debut single 'Thru The Glass' on 1st March 2004 as a strictly limited edition CD and seven inch. And then go out on a headline tour in March.
4th Truro Bunters
6th Bristol Louisiana
7th Manchester Roadhouse
8th Leeds Cockpit
10th London 100 Club
11th Southampton Joiners
12th Wolverhampton Little Civic
13th Glasgow King Tuts
Check out the video for 'Thru the Glass': Here!
http://www.thirteensenses.com

The Stills, we're a bit obsessed with this lot 'round these parts. 'Lola, Stars and Stripes' is our single of the week, out this week. Check out the E-card with some samples from the album Here. The amazing album 'Logic Will Break Your Heart' is released February 23rd via 679 (or you can get it now on Import). We caught up with this guys this week and a feature is forthcoming. They're also currently on tour:
13th Wolverhampton Little Civic
14th Glasgow Stereo
15th Manchester Night & Day
16th Buckhamshire Uni+ British Sea Power
17th Leeds Joseph Wells + The Kaiser Chiefs
18th London 100 Club + Bloc Party
http://www.the-stills.co.uk.

Azure Ray are two ladies, playing beautiful romantic music. Check out some audio tracks from the album of 2003 contender 'Hold on Love' here. They play a Drowned in Sound-recommended tour which begins this evening:
13th Birmingham, The Sanctuary
14th Exeter, Cavern Club
16th Manchester, Life Cafe
17th Glasgow, Nice N Sleazy
18th Nottingham, The Social
19th London, Lock 17 (Dingwalls)
http://www.azureraymusic.com.

Also on Monday, M.Craft, who played his first ever live show at our Brave New Ideas launch last week, releases mini album 'I Can See All Tonight'. Check out his webpage for some audio samples. M.Craft is playing a residency every Tuesday this month, at Catch 22 in East London.

That's our pick of the bunch. We could probably go on for ever, post below any of your current lovesome faves and recommendations, plus what's going on your valentines compilation tape/cdr? I'd write mine here but I suspect she's reading...