A–Z Series

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".

Background and recording

Split from Infectious Records

The band's final conventional record, '' Twilight of the Innocents'', was released on 29 June 2007. From this the band members themselves forme
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.

Recording at Atomic Heart Studio

Upon entering the studio, the band recorded "Survivor", later titled "Ichiban", "Coming Around Again" a cover of Carly Simon, a Beach Boys cover of "Do You Wanna Dance?". Soon after several early titles of tracks surfaced on the band's official website, including "Survivor"—now titled "Ichiban", "Prypiat" which was written originally for Twilight of the Innocents, however wasn't finished in time to make the album, "Return of White Rabbit" which at the time Tim Wheeler supposedly joked about being their comeback single, "Nouvelle Adventures" which features both Tim and Mark on bass guitar, "No Face (Jesus Christ)", "Daedalus", as well as "Hospital Song" and "Lay Down Your Arms" which were both originally intended for Twilight of the Innocents. Soon after more titles were leaked, including "Space Shot" and "Tracer (Without You)".

In ''NME'', vocalist and guitarist Tim Wheeler stated ''"We wanted to be the first people to do it like this"'' also saying, ''"I think it'll be great for our fans waiting every two weeks knowing they're going to get a song and wondering what it'll be like. It'll be fun"''.Ash to release 26 new singles in a year
NME, 20 May 2009 Bassist Mark Hamilton also spoke of the merits of releasing in an alternative way; ''"we thought we'd come up with a different model where we never really had to be actually be away, that might work better. That was one of the reasons. We had the freedom when launching our own label as well, to try something different, so we're going to give it a go. I think if it works, a lot of people might copy it."''INTERVIEW: Ash
eastmagazine.co.uk, 1 October 2009

Artwork

Each single is assigned a specific colour and letter A–Z, prequel track "Return of White Rabbit" features the upside down stylized as ʁ, representing the rabbit. The front of each single simply shows the letter followed by the band's logo below, whilst on the back the track name is shown. The coloured artwork has also been used for the promotion of their A–Z Tour, with each colour representing a place and a letter of the alphabet, similarly the band through thei
forum
and the assistance of their webmaster have allowed fans to create their own avatars and use emoticons in the A–Z style. Almost all of the artwork for the series was created by Post 98 Design and Modo Productions, with the exception of the cassette ''Letters from Alphabet City'' which was created by Elisa Dalla Tor and handmade "Return of White Rabbit" and "War with Me" CD singles which were created by the band.

Release

The 26 singles of the ''A–Z Series'' were released once every two weeks through both digital download and 7" limited edition vinyl. The opening to the series was a free download "Return of White Rabbit", released on 18 May 2009, promoting the track were three music videos, an animated one created by Big Button, a home-made one — following the 'White Rabbit' around New York City, and a live footage video, filmed by fans at Thekla in Bristol. The first single to be announced for release was "True Love 1980", opening the series on 12 October 2009, with subscription to the series itself opening on 5 October 2009.

The band in October 2009 confirmed that only the first half of the ''A–Z Series'' were "set in stone", with mastering taking place, and the artwork, pressing and release dates confirmed, however the second half of the series would at the time be decided once the series had been launched, with the band holding a then total of 44 tracks recorded, and plans to re-enter the recording studio again in late 2009, ''"the first six months are set in stone, but the second half is still flexible. It's nice to have that kind of freedom"''.

Digital downloads

The digital subscription for the ''A–Z Series'' is offered worldwide, however the United Kingdom service differs to the rest of the world. The subscription service in the United Kingdom is provided by 7digital, with the fortnightly single released on a Monday, and other non-subscription UK downloads through 7digital, Amazon, Play.com, HMV, iTunes and other download services providing the tracks on the day before subscribers. The rest of the world service is provided by Topspin, the band have not used Topspin in the UK as they wanted each single to be chart eligible.

The digital subscription service was set to launch originally on 5 October 2009, however was delayed and launched two days later on 8 October 2009.
A free download of 'pre-A-Z' single "Return of White Rabbit" was launched digitally on 18 May 2009, whilst the ''A–Z Series'' was celebrated on 14 October by the release of the original 'extended mix' and an 'Atomic Heart' mix of "Return of White Rabbit", available for free download throug
sneakattackmedia.com

Limited 7" vinyl

Subscription for the 7" singles opened on 6 October 2009; the vinyl, whilst costly for both the band and customer, was something the band demanded, as with previous singles whilst still signed, the band ensured all their singles were released on 7-inch vinyl. The singles were each limited to 1000 copies and were each collectors' items; the complete vinyl subscription cost £130, or £140 including a special box to store them all in. The vinyl subscription service was provided by Recordstore.co.uk, whilst other retailers would also be given a small number of the singles, to sell at each release. Steve Wheeler of Recordstore commented on the partnership with Ash as "being chosen by an innovative and popular band like Ash is testament to the quality service that Recordstore.co.uk provide forward-thinking labels and artists"

Compilation CD

The band released two compilation CDs of the series: Volume 1 covered the letters A-M and Volume 2 the letters N-Z. The compilations were released on CD, limited CD/DVD and digitally. Some fans criticized the band's choice to release a CD, pointing out its similarity to an album, but bassist Mark Hamilton responded that it was always their intention and it was about making the ''A–Z Series'' available for everyone.

On 24 February the Japanese version of ''Volume 1'' was announced, featuring two disks, unlike the standard UK one-disc version, with the first disc holding the A–M singles and 7 B-sides; "Return of the White Rabbit", "Coming Around Again", "The Creeps", "CTRL-ALT-DEL", "Do You Feel It?" and exclusively "Kamakura" and "Disenchanted" with the second disc featuring 14 remixes, acoustics and already digitally released B-sides "Lay Down Your Arms" and "Gallows Hill". The CD was released earlier than the UK version, on 7 April 2010.

On 28 July 2010 RecordStore.co.uk announced the second compilation—''A–Z Volume 2'' for a release on 11 October 2010. The release unlike ''Volume 1'' did not include any acoustic tracks, remixes or a DVD, and only had three bonus tracks as opposed to the previous five due to the length of Single Y "Sky Burial". The full track listing was revealed on 6 August 2010, with the three new B-sides being "Spellbound", "Nightfall" and David Bowie track "Teenage Wildlife". The Japanese ''Volume 2'' also included two exclusive B-sides—"Running to the Ocean" and "Midnight in the Garden".

A is for Ash

''A is for Ash'' is a film documentary of the band's A–Z 2009 tour from Aldershot to Zennor. It was directed by Josh Klezkin and produced by the members of Ash. The documentary features interviews from Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray of Ash, as well as featuring BBC
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