This one has been doing the rounds for a week now, but we forgot to report on it, so here goes. London label Fierce Panda, legendary in indie circles for releasing the early singles of many subsequently major selling artists, including Supergrass, Ash, Coldplay and Keane, has said that it will stop signing new bands for one single/EP deals, concentrating instead on its more conventional album releases. Label boss Simon Williams says he wants to concentrate on album projects and developing his business in other ways, presumably building on Fierce Panda's global reputation for discovering new music, and the recent launch of Fierce Panda Canada.
The label's final single only release will be Dead Disco's 'Automatic' on 14 Aug, preceded by Dead Kids' 'Dead Wife Pills' out on 31 Jul - definitely a bit of a 'dead' theme going on there.