Cargo Records UK

Gnod : Interview

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:45:00 +0000

Gnod are a Manchester based collective who have had a slew of reissues on Rocket Recordings recently. I caught up with Paddy and Chris to find out a bit more on the band - catch them on tour in Europe now!

Let's have some introductions, who are you and what do you play?

Paddy (various sounds)
Chris (chaosmonger)

Have you been in or are currently in any other bands?

P: Been in a few yes, im not so much in loads of bands now but got a few collaborations n projects on the go.Gnod keeps me busy.
C: Yep, I've been in two previous bands, The Sonar Yen & Stranger Son of WB,the latter which Paddy was in which was the first time we played together. I'm currently putting stuff out as Dwellings and have just done some stuff with Mike O'Neill (who was the frontman of The Sonar Yen) for a Tesla Tapes release.

Your tumblr shows that you're currently touring - how's it all been going?

P: Shaping up nicely this tour, played a few stonking gigs and had a bit of drama in brussells with a pissed up stage invader and some bust equipment. Business as usual really.

C: Very well. It's always a great feeling to be out on tour.

Do you enjoy touring?

P: Love it.

What's the best food a promoter has given you so far?

C: The best food I have had at a show has been in Copenhagen. Not any one particular dish but many different salads, curries, pastas, etc. You can't beat a good buffet.

Really enjoyed your show with Goat last year - I was wondering what your most memorable gig to date is?

P: Our last Brussells show is probably shaping up to be pretty memorable for all involved.

C: Playing at the 1st Gesamtkunstwerk at Islington Mill this year.

What about the most memorable show you've seen?

P: for me Faust in Manchester at Future Everything Fest around 5 years ago, epic, scary, funny and chaotic as fuck.

C: The ones I see before going to sleep.

I was wondering where the idea come from to combine the two Tamed Records LPs into the 'Chaudeland' CD compilation on Rocket Recordings?

P: it was something Rocket were keen to see happen so we went with it. Its great that its out there in a complete format.

I read 'Chaudelande' was recording in Normandy - how was that? Do places and enviroment influence your songwriting at all?

C: We had a few dates early on in the 2011 tour and Gilles (Tamed Records) told us his friends had a studio near Cherbourg so we decided to put down some tracks. We had an ace time there, the vibe was good and I think that shows on the recordings.

Can you tell me a bit about 'Genocider'? Love that song...

P:Glad you like it, its a bonkers track we've not played in years. A lot of fun to play live and like most Gnod stuff it developed over many shows and peaked at Chaudelande. Usually when that happens we stop playing that track. Genocider burnt itself out pretty fast after Chaude.

I've seen Butthole surfers, kraut rock and 'space rock' get mentioned in reviews of your work - what do you make of these comparisons? Do you think they're accurate?

P: MMmm i think some of our stuff can be compared to these things yeh. We do a lot of different shit, we get bored easily and are constantly searching for new sounds. Chaudelande was recorded 2 years ago or more so we have moved away from those tracks and that sound quite a bit.

Do you prefer playing or recording?

P: Either or are fine with me. Touring is great, playing 20+ shows in a row is great way to develop your shiz.

C: I enjoy doing both.

Tell us about Tesla Tapes - is this your own label?

P: Tesla Tapes is an outlet for all Gnodheads past & present and also an outlet for people who's music we buzz off. lots of people we've linked up with on the road, down Islington mill, jammed with etc. For me its been great hearing positive feedback from people about certain tapes because i know theres so much great music lying around various Gnodbods hard drives & tape recorders to trawl through. I think the first 4 tapes set the scene as to the type of vibe Tesla is about and its been great hearing stuff we get sent for possible future tape because I think others have picked up on that vibe.

Record Store Day is this weekend - what's your take on this event?

P:I think its a great idea, there should be more. Its a chance for an independent shop to do something a bit different too, get shows on & have a bit of a party vibe in the shop, open it up a bit more.

C: I think the idea is good but I'm not sure if I'm down with what it has turned into.

Which stores did you go to when you first started buying records?

P: When i first started buying music wen I was a kid I was living in Ireland so travelled to Dublin with mates to go Freebird records,HMV and Tower records. I was always totally overwhelmed but always loved the train journey home listening to new tapes on the walkman.

C: Woolworths. Then I started going to second hand & independent record shops when I started listening to metal.

What did you buy there?

P: Loads of stuff, things that stick in my memory are Crass feeding of the 5000 & a Public Enemy bootleg and Beastie Boys -same old bullshit on tape. There were loads of bootleg tape shops in Dublin at that time so I used to come back with tons of stuff.

C: Metal to begin with, thrash and death metal. The Earache stuff and the floridan death metal bands. Then I stopped buying vinyl for a good few years. When I started buying vinyl again my tastes had broadened massively. My first vinyl record was AC/DC – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.

Where do you go now?

P: Piccadilly Records, King Bee, Vinyl Exchange all in Manchester and a lot of shops on tour. we get taken to shops by promoters which is dangerous but great. I love one in particular in Brussels, Veals & Geeks.

Is there anything Gnod have coming up that we should look out for?

Yes we have plenty of projects on the go, there will be more Tesla action , we have a split in the works with The Cosmic Dead, collabs between Druss(Tesla) & Russian vibe unit Love Cult who run the Full of Nothing label from Karelia.

We have some great shows coming up at Gesamtkunstwerk night at Islington Mill, playing on a bill with Vatican Shadow on 31st May and hosting and Opal Tapes V Public Information event on 5th July. Also we will have a Tesla Tapes showcase at Sounds from the other City Fest in Salford on 5th may. Busy busy and its all good.

C: We're going to Ibiza after some UK shows with Author & Punisher in May too.

Steev Mike Artists Interview : Cherie Lily & Aleister X

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:44:00 +0000

Steev Mike has had two debut releases so far this year, the first by Cherie Lily, the second by Aleister X. We caught up with both artists to find out a bit more about them.

Your new EP 'Dripping Wet' follows your debut single 'Werk' on Steev Mike, I was wondering as a fairly new project is there a message you wanted to get out there?

- Yes! By creating high-energy dance music, I'd like to inspire people around the world to move! My two passions are fitness and music, so I merged them together and created a genre called Houserobics, high-energy dance music with the main purpose to get you excited to get sweaty!

You've got a few mixes of 'Dripping Wet' of "Do Your Thing Girl" on the new EP - would you ever take on remixing other people's work? If so who?

- Yes, I love remixing other people's work and working on remixes of my work! I'm currently working on new remixes with Vjuan Allure and Jonte' Moaning, who are both featured on my The Dripping Wet EP!

What was the setup for recording 'Dripping Wet'?

- I worked in my own studio in New York City, with Richie Beretta at Sevensound Studios in New York City, Vjuan Allure of Washington D.C., and Derek "DJA" Allen of Mad Decent in LA! It was a definitely a cross-country collaboration!

Do you prefer playing or recording?

- I love them both! I love the feeling I get when I create new music and I also really enjoy the act of performing my creation live! I love the creative process in the studio and the act of presenting the final product on the stage! It's all exhilarating.

I read you had a release party for the new EP at Santos Party House - how did it go?

- The Dripping Wet EP release party was incredible. We had a fantastic line up with DJs Richie Beretta, Vjuan Allure, and Andrew W.K. and performances by myself, Cazwell, Miss Guy, Hussle Club, Mila Jam, and Radio Musik! It was a night full of energy and excitement! It was an absolute blast!

You've done a few benefit shows for charities based in NYC, one for Hurricane Sandy relief I believe and PROS/PERSIST, how important is it to you to be involved with your local community in this way?

- I love giving back to my community. It's an honor and I'm always happy to help out. It feels good to give back to those who support you and to be able to offer something to those in need.

What are you most proud of so far in your involvement with these benefits?

- A lot of the benefits I've been honored to be a part of were for New York or the LGBTQ community. I'm proud to be a New Yorker and a supporter of the LGBTQ rights movement. I'm grateful for the support I've received from both New York and the LGBTQ community worldwide. It's a blessing to be able to give back in anyway possible.

I saw your fitness schedule on the website - I was wondering does your work as a fitness instructor springboard the music you write and visa versa?

- Yes, 100%. I'm constantly listening to dance music in my classes and then thinking of ways to continue making the most exciting music to listen to in my classes in the gym and on the dance floor at the club. I love the way both my passions work together!

What do you have planned for 2013?

- In 2013, I'll continue touring with Andrew W.K., performing in his live band as well as performing as much as possible worldwide with my Cherie Lily project! I'm also looking forward to completing my first full-length album. I'm really excited to give the world some more Cherie Lily music!

Find copies of 'Dripping Wet' here

Find copies of 'Werk : The Remix EP' here

Cherie Lily Facebook Website Twitter

There's a strong history of great bands dressing up Cramps, Mummies, Kiss, Bowie the list goes on – what does it mean to you to create an image and persona for being on stage/writing music?

It means I spend far more money and time on make-up than I had before.

I read somewhere you're originally from the UK? What made you move to the states?

Probably all the gun violence, and the availability of Dr. Pepper at EVERY corner shop, deli, and convenience store. And you know, the UK…I just got sick of all the rain, and free healthcare. I DO miss the Scotch Eggs, though.

Were you ever in any bands in the UK?

Yes, I was in Simply Red.

The video for 'LAX' from your new album is pretty wild, can you run us through it?

Well, it’s on Youtube. Once you press the little right-pointing triangle on the bottom left of the player, it will play. The square button is stop, but enough boring technical talk. I tried to capture the vibe of what lies beneath the surface of LA, while everybody around me is flaking out and/or completely breaking down, except my pilot mate, Tommy. Spot-on, he was. Cheers Tommy, thanks mate!

I read you produced the songs for 'Half Speed Mastered' - do you have a background in producing or are you learning as you go?

I’ve been producing obscure works since the early ‘90s. I started with experimental production cuz that shit’s so easy. Then I got into the actual art of song craft. I actually studied audio production at university. I’m a music man and I have golden ears.

Would you produce anyone else's work if the opportunity came up?

Definitely. I needs to get paid. I’ve actually been working with some artists already. A German dude, calls himself Acoustic Masturbator; like Michael Hedges meets ‘90s Hawkwind. Then there’s the brilliant Tiny Tim-meets-Destiny’s Child stylings of Lexapro Girls. But they’re prone to severe mood swings, depression, social detachment, and frustration resulting from loss of libido, and can be very to difficult to work with.

To my ears at least there's something otherworldly in what you do and I can't put my finger on it, the videos morphing from real life to video games, the music and even the name with a link to Aleister Crowley - is this something you're interested in?

Yes, I’m very much interested in morphing, and all other worlds. Initially I attempted to link my name to Alistair Cooke, but spelled it wrong. Go figure.

How did you end up working on Steev Mike?

There’s a fine line between fate, luck, and blackmail.

What's been the most memorable show you've played?

Definitely the show in Calgary, AB where all these kids (read legal-age of consent) up front-and-center were running their hands up my robe, stroking my inner thighs, and all three legs during the entire show.

How would you spend your ideal day off?

Probably kickin it on Thong Beach, on a cloud of titties, just totally maxin out and chillin and gettin fucked-up. Keepin it real on chaise lounge by the pool.

What's planned for 2013?

Mostly intensive deprogramming. Also, continue my 5 year quest for booking agents, some self-released EPs, and hopefully a nice piece of whatever I can get.

Find copies of 'Half Speed Mastered' here

Find copies of 'Bangers and Beans' here

Aleister X Facebook Website

Nite Jewel : Interview

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 09:48:00 +0000

Nite Jewel has been turning heads with her ethereal pop songs since her debut 'Good Evening' in 2008. We got a chance to catch up with her after Secretly Canadian reissued the record recently - so here it is one second with Nite Jewel...

For the uninitiated let's have a quick introduction of who you are and what you do...

I'm Nite Jewel I make music

I remember when 'Good Evening' first came out - track "Suburbia" was my jam of the summer, can you tell me a bit about that song?

Suburbia was written in regards to some suburban family members. The initial chords are strange and dissonant so it opens up and rollicks when you get to the chorus

There's a strong history in music of great husband and wife bands - do you find anything unique about working with your other half when writing music, compared to say working by yourself or friends?

I write almost always by myself initially and Cole joins me at some point later in the process (although on "one second of love" we wrote some songs together from the start). I'd say it doesn't matter that we're married per se, mostly that we've been working on music together for years and years consistently and that enables psychic communication.

Did you get to use sophisticated tools whilst recording your second album 'One Second Of Love' compared to 'Good Evening'? I was wondering if you'd ever go back to recording anything on 8 Track?

"One Second of Love" was recorded on tape actually, with 12 tracks instead of 8.

Would you ever record for another artist?

Yes

Do you prefer playing or recording?

I like both for different reasons

What's the most memorable show you've played?

Some of my first Nite Jewel shows here in LA and performing Kraftwerk's computer world at the Ford Ampitheater in LA

What's the most memorable show you've seen?

Really can't say.

You initially self-released 'Good Evening' - if you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice from this experience what would it be?

Meaning, if I could give myself advice about releasing it? I don't know, I thought I did a pretty good job considering I had no idea what I was doing. Ignorance is bliss I wouldn't tell my old self anything.

I read you're into remixes - are there any songs you would like to play around with?

I like remixing a lot. it's super fun. always wanted to remix an Autechre song from oversteps.

How did you come to work with Julia Holter on "What We See"?

Dublab asked us to do a song together.

Who shot that video? It's beautiful...

Jose Wolff and Delaney Bishop

You've done Sound and Video Installations, do you find making work for exhibitions lend ideas to songs and visa/versa?

Haven't done an installation for years. At the time I was doing them it had some overlap with Nite Jewel, but very little.

I was wondering which/if any visual artists you look up to?

Walter Demaria

What do you have planned for 2013?

New album!

Nite Jewel WEBSITE FACEBOOK TWITTER

Reissue of 'Good Evening' (Secretly Canadian) is in all good record stores now!

Scott & Charlene's Wedding : Interview

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:43:00 +0000

Happy New Year everyone! To get things under way for 2013 we have an interview with Craig Dermody of Scott and Charlene's Wedding for you. Here we find out more about the reissue of his well loved second album 'Para Vista Social Club' and what he has in store for the months ahead.

Craig! Good to meet you! Let's start with talking about 'Para Vista Social club' which was reissued by Critical Heights this year, how did you come to work with the label?

A friend of ours put us onto to Critical Heights and they listened to our Bandcamp page and emailed us. I was pretty impressed with their label and I love a lot of the records that Fire records have put out.

What do you make of all the positive feedback the reissue has had lately? Do you pay attention to reviews at all?

I get a massive kick out of all the feedback and positive reviews that have been coming in. Critical Heights are always sending me stuff and they get super excited too. I had such modest intentions with that record so its a massive surprise that its still kicking along.

I read Twerps and Family Portrait helped record 'Para Vista Social Club' - what was the set up? How was it work together?

I think that was a bit of a miscommunication on that one. During the making of Para Vista Social Club I was yet to meet my drummer and member of Family Portrait. The Twerps were a massive part in inspiration for the record and we were always playing together and hanging out from the beginning of our bands but we didn't work together on the record.

Do you prefer playing or recording?

Both! I actually think I like the writing process the most but I love playing and recording just to be hanging out and smashing beers with my good mates.

What's the most memorable show you've played?

Hmmmm, I really loved a show where the Twerps were playing at a house party and at the end I got up and played a bunch of my songs with them backing me. It was super fun!

Best gig you've ever watched?

Tough one! There was an amazing band called Young Professionals who burnt short but bright in Melbourne. They're last show was a wild affair in a a Brunswick warehouse. This year watching Woods at Williamsburg music Hall and The Babies at the The Knitting factory were really inspirational occasions too.

When you started Scott and Charlene's Wedding did you have a goal in mind for what you wanted to get out of this project?

It was simply a project for me to vent personal through music in heart on sleeve kind of way.

You're based in New York now – were you there during the hurricane over the summer?

Yeah, I was working in Soho as the Hurricaine hit and got stuck in the city for the night. (I live in Brooklyn). It was an eery night and the days that followed were quite apocalyptic in downtown, where the power didn't return for a week. While we were quite unaffected in Brooklyn (mostly) it was interesting to see how quickly regular life can break down even in a city as resilient as New York.

Is there anything you miss from back home?

Friends and the bands! The slower lifestyle, I miss having nothing on and just chilling out. I also miss my best friends dog.

How does being in a band in NYC differ from Australia?

NYC seems to lack the amount of great bands that are happening in Australia. Less people go to shows in general here (NYC) too. It's harder for sure but I love the town.

Have you found that your new surroundings influence your song-writing at all?

I've always been influenced by my surroundings in my song writing. There's a bunch of New York references in the new record.

Who shot the video for "Footscray Station"? It looks like it was a lot of fun...

Well that would be Jack Farley on an old camera someone left at our house. For the most part it was just me and him and a bike and me yelling "Ok, now I'm going to do this, you'd better get it!"

I read you paint as well - do you find painting springboards ideas for your music and visa-versa?

They're pretty seperate entities but I do paint a lot of pictures of girls, just like I write songs about girls.

Are there any painters you look up to?

I'm unfortunately not so clued in with painters. I do love Alejandro Jodorowsky but not too much other stuff off the top of my head.

First pressing of 'Para Vista Social Club' features the infamous 200 hand-painted covers you did that people seemed to really love - I was wondering what some of your favourite records covers are?

Well, the Mountain Man one I used for the re-issue stood out for me. There were a bunch of other really funny sexual ones that still kind of kill me. What was I thinking! ha ha

What's next for Scott and Charlene's Wedding - any new releases or projects we should keep an eye out for?

Critical Heights is about to re-issue a 5 song EP we did for Night People and Bedroom Suck earlier this year. It should be out around Feb and then look out for singles for the new record in March and the new record to drop in May.

Thanks!!

You can find copies : Critical Heights Cargo

Cold Pumas : Interview

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:48:00 +0000

Cold Pumas have just released their debut album 'Persistent Malaise' on Gringo/Faux Discx. I got a chance to catch up with Patrick from the band to find out a bit more about them, their recent tour and where you can exchange your soul with the devil for a bowl of soup near their home town Brighton...

Let’s start with introductions who’s in the band and what do you play?

Dan Reeves (guitar), Oliver Fisher (guitar), Patrick Fisher (drums, singing)

Have you been in or are currently in any other bands?

Dan is 100% The Soft Walls, Oliver is 50% Tense Men. I am nothing, right now. Previously we've been in (collectively) Tyler, An Emergency, Tropics, The Light Sleepers, Jon Shoe and Fancy Jersey, Oh Hell No

You guys are from Brighton - did you know you’re right by Chanctonbury Ring? It’s a circle of trees and if you run round it in an anti-clockwise direction the devil appears and offers you a bowl of soup in exchange for your soul! Have you been?!

I have not. In terms of the offer: A Yorkshire Provender seems fair, but Covent Garden would need something like a rosemary focaccia thrown in. Apparently "the Ring is also rumoured to increase fertility in women who sleep underneath the trees for one night". It seems like a very convoluted place.

After 4 years together what made you decide to release your debut album now?

We'd probably been waiting to do the deed for a while, but it never seemed right for a variety of reasons - mainly musical, but it wasn't part of some grand schedule from way back when to have done it this year.

What was the setup when you made the album?

To sum it up in irritating "sound nuggets" (which as a phrase is beyond irritating itself): Jon Hannon. Organic farm-style shop. Four-to-five hats. A week in January. Big Asda. Spaghetti Junction. Horses. Freezing temperatures. Rayleigh. Canvey Island. Southend. Lorra laughs. Back of the net. (Now throw up)

Did you record it yourselves or was there someone else on hand for that?

The Jon Hannon of above, no doubt.

Do you prefer playing or recording?

I actually probably like writing songs the most, but it's less reliable than either playing live (which if it's awful is mercifully rarely more than a dreary half-hour of an utter lack of conviction) or recording, (which at least is realizing something with the majority of its collective parts already in place and with time to tweak them). But ultimately the idea of something utterly new being coiffured into a beautiful melody is what I'm in the game for.

What did you want to achieve with ‘Persistent Malaise’?

It's already been described in a tabloid slur as 'achieving nothing', which in a sense is fine, if you really think what that means - regardless of what a conversely pallid shock-phrase it may have intended to be. I think for an album to set out to 'achieve' anything implies a contrived cynicism, although I suppose maybe that's mere semantics, but it is a notion that seems to attest to the lack of weight given to subtlety, ambiguity and the understated in these tepid times.

How did you come to work with Gringo / Faux discx for the album?

Well, Dan is the "head-honcho" / "The lude dude" at Faux Discx and him and Matt (Gringo) had just popped out the Sauna Youth album together, so a re-visitation to that partnership was always a possibility. Then Conan, Italian Beach Babes' own "hombre impossible" said "I do" and the rest is history.

You recently went on tour with Sauna Youth how was it? Any particularly memorable shows/people/places?

It was disconcertingly pleasant, ultimately. It wasn't intentionally that way, and we even tried christening some of the gang as Mr Grog and The Dude Extreme, but all we ended up to show for it was a cheeseboard, four nights at mothers' houses and sufficient bedding. Still, it was all the fun of the fair, as they say.

Do you remember the first show you played as Cold Pumas?

I'm pretty sure both were fraught with failure. Depending on which legend you believe, it was either at Raggs' barn party (no.1?) or at the Westhill Hall in Brighton, where we returned to play our album launch, yon four years later (whenst upon some sports-crust-cider-hound graffitied the lavatories to mass consternation).

What are some shows you’ve seen that made an impression on you?

Recently, and not just for the sake of bros-before-shows, I'd say our friends Vision Fortune whom we played with twice on the week of the SY tour. It was the first two shows I'd seen where they'd slowed the strobe down enough that I could watch without feeling woozy, and it was magnetic.

Who did the cover of your album?

The wonderful artist Flo Brooks (flo-brooks.tumblr.com) whom has also painted possibly the first and last portrait of the three of us in the inner sleeve.

What’s next for Cold Pumas?

A dalliance across the water, somewhere, anywhere, I hope. Meanwhile whichever music that naturally follows suit into the new year.

Any other projects or releases coming up we should keep an eye out for?

I will recommend of course The Soft Walls, Danny's solo jaunt, which is amassing more and more positive response as the days past. We, as an awkward family, are all very proud. LP out now on Tough Love and all that.

Cold Pumas Facebook Website
Find copies of their album by clicking here

Cargo's End of Year Lists 2012

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 13:01:00 +0000

Here at Cargo we wanted to make our End Of Year List for 2012 really special. Although we didn't quite have the same budget as John Lewis, we did manage to find a snowman for our own Christmas ad. He was given £300 for a journey starting here in Parsons Green going across the UK to buy his other half a present, only to find him next morning keeled over outside our office with £2.41 to his name along with a stern email from Shepherd's Bush Holiday Inn saying he's never allowed back, we're still waiting for an explanation.

Now the year is drawing to a close we'd like to share with you some of our highlights. We saw the return of PiL, X-TG, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mission Of Burma, Burial, Guided By Voices and Redd Kross. Debuts from Raime, Cooly G, DIIV, JETS as well as soundtracks 'Drive' (Cliff Martinez) and 'Eraserhead' have all made for an exciting year. We were also thrown a few curve balls, nothing however struck like a bolt from the blue quite like a mysterious collective from Sweden, there's a lot to celebrate from the last twelve months but 2012 has certainly been the year of the Goat.

Sean Archer
Goat - World Music (Rocket Records)
The Men - Open Your Heart (Sacred Bones Records)
Julia Holter – Ekstasis (RVNG Intl)
Allo Darlin’ – Europe (Fortuna POP!)
Laurel Halo – Quarantine (Hyperdub)
Dean Blunt And Inga Copeland - Black Is Beautiful (Hyperdub)
Geoff Barrow & Ben Salisbury - ‘Drokk’ Music Inspired By Mega-City One (Invada)
Julian Cope – Psychedelic Revolution (Head Heritage)
Beak > - >> (Invada)
Malka Spigel - Every Day Is Like The First Day (Swim)
The Soft Moon – Zeros (Captured Tracks)
Raime – Quarter Turns Over A Living Line (Blackest Ever Black)
X-TG - Desertshore/The Final Report (Industrial)
Jim Jarmusch & Jozef Van Wissem - The Mystery of Heaven (Sacred Bones)

Joe Bangina
Albums
Dabke : Sounds of the Syrian Houran (Sham Palace)
Radio Paradise: Mike Cooper (Johnny Kafta's Kids Menu)
Geoff Barrow & Ben Salisbury - Drokk : Music Inspired By Mega-City One (Invada)
Kink Gong - Remix Series Box (PPT)
Under The Carpet - Self titled (Ruptured)
Indonesia Pop Nostalgia (Sham Palace)
Liliane C - Lullaby for Monsters (Amygdala)
Beak > - >> (Invada)
Shalabi Effect - Feign to Delight Gaiety of Goods (Annihaya)
Dariush Dolat Shahi - Electronic Music, Tar and Sehtar (Dead Cert)
Fhloston Paradigm - King Britt Presents Fhloston Paradigm EP (Hyperdub)
Raime - Quarter Turns Over A Living Line (Blackest Ever Black)
Myrninerest - “JHONN,” UTTERED BABYLON (The Spheres)
Porest - Plebian Crawl (Stream via WFMU by clicking here)

Gigs
Tarek Atoui "Visiting Tarab" @ Hyde Park
Cage Centenary @ Albert Hall
Kink Gong @ Oto
BAO+ (Mazen Kerbaj / trumpet - Charbel Haber / e.guitar - Sharif Sehnaoui / e.guitar - Eddie Prevost / percussion) @ Oto
Elraas & Munma - Metro Al Medina

Pierre Couquet
XTG – Desertshore/The Final Report
The Soft Moon – Zero
Colin Stetson & Mats Gustafsson – Stones
Okkultokrati – Snakereigns
MYRNINEREST - “JHONN,” UTTERED BABYLON

Darren Crawford
Causa Sui - Pewt’r sessions 1-2 (El Paraiso)
The Wedding Present – Valentina (Scopitones)
John Foxx And The Maths - The Shape Of Things (Metamatic)
Public Image Ltd – This Is PiL (PiL Official)
Goat - World Music (Rocket Records)
Cut Hands - Black Mamba (Very Friendly/Susan Lawly)
X-TG - Desertshore/The Final Report (Industrial)
Beak > - >> (Invada)
Pauline Oliveros - Reverberations: Tape & Electronic Music 1961-1970(Important)
Bonus Skor (Laura J Martin/ Mike Lindsay) - Bonus Skor (Static Caravan)

John Dryland
Warrior Soul – Stiff Middle Finger
Dogs D’amour – Graveyard Of Empty Bottles MMXII
Donnie Vie – Wrapped Around My Middle Finger
Redd Kross – Researching The Blues
Bonafide – Ultimate Rebel
Micki Free – Tattoo Burn
Casablanca – Apocalyptic Youth
Spys – Behind Enemy Lines (Rock Candy Reissue)
Teri DeSario – Caught (Rock Candy Reissue)
Angel – On Earth As It Is In Heaven (Rock Candy Reissue)

Craig Gogay
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! (Constellation LP / CD)
Guided By Voices - Let’s Go Eat The Factory (Fire Records 2LP / CD)
The Men - Open Your Heart (Sacred Bones LP / CD)
The Wedding Present - Valentina (Scopitones CD)
Weird Dreams – Choreography (Tough Love LP / CD)
Giant Giant Sand – Tucson (Fire Records 2LP / CD)
DIIV - Oshin (Captured Tracks LP / CD)
Opossom – Electric Hawaii (Fire Records LP / CD)
Bailterspace – Strobosphere (Fire Records LP / CD)
Arc In Round - Arc In Round (La Société Expéditionnaire LP / CD)
The Soft Moon - Zeros (Captured Tracks LP / CD)
Chelsea Wolfe - Unknown Rooms : A Collection of Acoustic Songs (Sargent House LP / CD)
One Day I'm Going To Soar – Dexys
Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man
Grown Unknown - Lia Ices

James Jacob
1.    Teen Daze – Four More Years
2.    The Cads – Lessons: Illustrated
3.    Rosie Taylor Project – Twin Beds
4.    Maribel – Reveries
5.    DIIV – Oshin
6.    Now Now – Threads
7.    Archers Of Loaf – White Trash Heroes
8.    Pinback – Information Retrieved
9.    Stumbleine – Spiderwebbed
10.    Weird Dreams – Choreography

Kimberly Powenski
Albums
1. Slug Guts 'Playin' In Time With The Deadbeat' (Sacred Bones)
1. Goat 'World Music' (Rocket Recordings) Madscene 'Blip' (Siltbreeze)
1. Madscene 'Blip' (Siltbreeze)
1. Sibylle Baier 'Colour Green' (Orange Twin)
1. The Men 'Open Your Heart' (Sacred Bones)
1. Blank Realm 'Go Easy' (Bedroom Suck/Siltbreeze)
1. Sonic Youth 'Smart Bar Chicago 1985' (Goofin)
1. Toy Love 'Live At The Gluepot (Goner)
1. Hasil Adkins 'Evening Shadow Road' (Mississippi)
1. Cheater Slicks 'Reality Is A Grape' (Columbus Discount)
1. Ex-Cult 'Ex-Cult' (Goner)
1. Ty Segall 'Twins' (Drag City)
1. Tyvek 'On Triple Beams' (In The Red)

Shows
Yussuf Jerusalem - L'inattendu, Paris 11th February
Goat - The Lexington 19th October
Black Time - The Others 29th June
Country Teasers - Power Lunches 26th January
Ty Segall - The Dome 2nd August
King Tuff - Shacklewell Arms 11th September
Mikal Cronin - Shacklewell Arms 11th June
Hunx & His Punx - Birthdays 14th May
Excepter - Cafe Oto 24th July

Johnny Scarr
Danny Brown - XXX (FGRLP005V)
Raime - Quarter Turns Over A Living Line (BLACKESTLP001)
Pauline Oliveros - Reverberations: Tape & Electronic Music 1961-1970 (IMPREC352CD)
Ilaiyaraaja - Fire Star : Synth-Pop And Electro-Funk From Tamil Films 1985-1989 (BC003LP)
Dean Blunt And Inga Copeland - Black Is Beautiful (HDBLP012)
Élg -Mil Pluton (ALT06.5 / H017)
Jason Lescalleet ‎– Songs About Nothing - Erstwhile Records (ErstSolo 003-2)
Richard Dawson ‎– The Magic Bridge - Box Records (BOXREC002)
DJ Rashad ‎– Teklife Volume 1 - Welcome To The Chi -Lit City Trax (LCTRAX001)
Lil Ugly Mane ‎– Mista Thug Isolation (Self-released)
Age Coin ‎– Perceptions Posh Isolation – Posh Isolation 087

Luke Younger
The Burrell Brothers – ‘The Nu Groove Years’ CD (Rush Hour)
Raime – ‘Quarter Turns Over A Living Line’ CD / LP (Blackest Ever Black)
King Britt Presents Phloston Paradigm – ‘Chasing Rainbows’ 12” (Hyperdub)
Etat Brut – ‘Mutations Et Protheses’ CD / LP (Sub Rosa)
Élg – ‘Mil Pluton’ LP (Alter / Hundebiss)
Josephene Foster – Blood Rushing CD / LP (Fire Records)
Richard Youngs & Luke Fowler – ‘Yellow Gardens’ 7” (Fourth Dimension)
Francis Bebey – African Electronic Music 1975 – 1982 CD / LP (Born Bad)
Legowelt – ‘The Paranormal Soul’ CD / LP (Clone Jack For Days)
Dream 2 Science – ‘Dream 2 Science’ 12” (Rush Hour)

Beak >> Winter Tour Dates 2012

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:10:00 +0000

Beak are about to embark on a European tour in support of their album and split 12" on Invada Records.

Full tour dates as follows:

•    15 November // Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK
•    16 November // Deaf Institute, Manchester, UK
•    17 November // Stereo, Glasgow, UK
•    18 November // Whelan’s, Dublin, Ireland
•    21 November // Lexington, London, UK
•    24 November // Le Temps Machine, Tours, France
•    25 November // BBmix festival, Paris, France
•    30 November // La Rontonde, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
•    01 December // Le Guess Who Festival, Utrecht, Holland
•    02 December // Sonic City Festival, Kortrijk, Belgium
•    04 December // Bi Nuu, Berlin, Germany
•    05 December // Gebaude 9, Cologne, Germany
•    06 December // Le Romandie, Lausanne, Switzerland
•    07 December // Kilbe Im Exil at Moods, Zurich, Switzerland
•    12 December // Babylon, Istanbul, Turkey
•    19 December // The Exchange, Bristol UK

PiL : News

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 09:15:00 +0000

PiL are about to embark on a tour of North America and Canada in support of their latest album 'This Is PiL'.

Just as they get ready to hit the road new single 'Reggie Song' from the record is set to come out October 1st. To mark this release the troupe recently made their first appearance on British TV in 20 years for BBC Two's "Later With Jools Holland" with a live version of 'Reggie Song'. In addition to performing the single PiL are set to play another song live for Jools Holland Friday, 28th September.

In other PiL related news NME is celebrating its 60th Birthday and featured John Lydon on the cover of the milestone edition of the magazine. This special edition of NME is in the stands now - to read more on this feature click here.

Tour Dates are as follows:

10/3 - Orlando, FL Firestone Live
10/5 - Miami, FL Grand Central
10/6 - Ybor City, FL Cuban Club
10/8 - Washington, DC 9:30 Club
10/9 - Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
10/11 - Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
10/12 - Clifton Park, NY Upstate Concert Hall
10/13 - New York, NY Hammerstein Ballroom
10/15 - Boston, MA Royale Boston
10/16 - Montreal, QC Corona Theatre
10/18 - Toronto, ON The Opera House
10/19 - Detroit, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre
10/21 - Chicago, IL House of Blues
10/22 - Minneapolis, MN Mill City Nights
10/25 - San Francisco, CA Regency Ballroom
10/26 - Reno, NV Knitting Factory
10/28 - Los Angeles, CA Club NOKIA
10/29 San Diego, CA House of Blues
10/30 - Tempe, AZ The Marquee
11/1 - Dallas, TX Granada Theater
11/2 - Houston, TX Scout Bar
11/3 - Austin, TX Fun Fun Fun Fest

Find copies of single 'Reggie Song' here : Vinyl CD Digital
Find copies of album 'This Is PiL' here : Vinyl CD Digital

Visit PiL's official Website Facebook Sound Cloud Twitter

Chains Of Love : Tour Dates

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 08:07:00 +0000

Chains Of Love are going on tour in support of their new album 'Strange Grey Days' on Manimal Vinyl that came out earlier this year.

Take a listen to 'Strange Grey Days' here
Find copies of the album here

Full tour details as follows:
26/09 : UK London - Hoxton Square Bar + Kitchen
27/09 : UK Manchester - Trof Fallowfield
28/09 : UK Edinburgh - Sneaky Pete's
29/09 : UK Sheffield - Bungalows + Bears
30/09 : UK Cardiff - The Undertone
1/10 : UK Southampton - Joiners
2/10 : UK Brighton - Sticky Mike's Frog Bar
3/10 : FRANCE Paris - Petit Bain
4/10 : BELGIUM Brussels - Bar Du Matin
6/10 : BELGIUM Diksmuide - 4AD
8/10 : GERMANY Berlin - Schokoladen
9/10 : GERMANY Hamburg - Molotow
10/10 : GERMANY Cologne - Sonic Ballroom
12/10 : GERMANY Munich - Rausch + Toechter
13/10 : GERMANY Offenbach - Hafen 2

Chain And The Gang : Tour Dates

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:05:00 +0000

Chain And The Gang will be playing a handful of dates in the UK soon in support of their new album 'In Cold Blood' on K Records

Dates as follows:
Monday 29th October - The Kazimier, Liverpool
Thursday 29th November - The Shipping Forecast, Liverpool
Friday 30th November - The Lexington, London

DIIV : Tour Dates

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 08:21:00 +0000

DIIV (Captured Tracks) are coming to the UK for a slew of dates in November including a few shows opening for The Vaccines.

Wednesday 14th November - London, The Garage
Thursday 15th November - Plymouth, Plymouth Pavillions *
Saturday 17th November - London, Alexandra Palace *
Monday 19th November - Leicester, De Montfort Hall *
Tuesday 20th November - Manchester, Deaf Institute
Wednesday 21st November - Manchester, The Apollo *
Thursday 22nd November - Liverpool, Liverpool University *
Friday 23rd November - Doncaster, Doncaster Dome *
Sunday 25th November - Glasgow, 02 Academy* - sold out
Monday 26th November - Glasgow, 02 Academy*
Tuesday 27th November - Newcastle Upon Tyne, 02 Academy Newcastle*
Wednesday 28th November - Leeds, Brudenell Social Club*
Thursday 29th November - Birmingham, 02 Academy*
Friday 30th November - Bournemouth, 02 Academy Bournemouth*

* W/The Vaccines

You can find copies of their new album 'Oshin' here

Susanna : Tour Dates

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:45:00 +0000

Susanna is hitting the road after receiving glowing reviews for new album 'Wild Dog' (Rune Grammofon):

"Limpid-voiced, open-hearted, musically idiosyncratic and touched with mystery." NY Times (US // "Wild Dog's autumnal mysteries are alluring indeed." 4/5 stars Mojo Magazine (UK) // "Her best album yet." 4/5 stars Jazzwise (UK) // "A stunning collection of eclectic songs." Prog Magazine (UK) // "If there were any doubts that Susanna is a world-class singer/songwriter, Wild Dog should put them to rest." All Music (US) // "Originals only on Norwegian songbird's splendid latest" 8/10 Uncut Magazine (UK)

Tour Dates as follows:

11th October - St George's, Bristol
12th October - Howard Assembly Rooms, Leeds
13th October - Holywel Music Room, Oxford
15th October - Warwick Arts Centre, Warwick
16th October - St Luke's, London

Susanna Website Facebook Twitter Soundcloud
You can find copies of 'Wild Dog' here

Sauna Youth : Interview

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:36:00 +0000

London's four piece Sauna Youth have just released their debut album, I caught up with Boon to find out more on 'Dreamlands'. Not only is this a brilliant look in to one of the city's favourite live bands - but for those not based in London this interview is abound with great reference points for what's going on currently in our area's underground music scene and a few other things too...

For the uninitiated tell us who you are and what you play...

We have Mince on Bass, Pines on Guitar, Ecke who sings and uses a sampler and Boon who sings and plays the drums. These are definitely our real names just like Darby Crash (RIP) or Poly Styrene (RIP) or Lemmy Caution (Not RIP.....big up Black Time)

'Sauna Youth'- tell us about the name!

We stole it from a book by Joe Cole, who was friends with Henry Rollins and went on tour with Black Flag. His memoirs ‘Planet Joe’ essentially reads as an alternate take on Rollins’ interesting, caffeinated but doom-laden time on the road. JC's version is full of acid-fried hi-jinks and is much more entertaining.

Did you approach recording 'Dreamlands' differently to your previous releases, if so how?

Instead of just recording it the once, we recorded it 3 times. This doesn’t show in the sonic quality of it though, more the overall feel. It definitely feels better. Whereas things have come together fairly swiftly before, this one was a right pain in the arse to complete. We’re all happy with how it turned out though. We still didn’t pay more than £100 for the actual recording but we did have it mastered and the lacquers cut by people that knew what they were doing, that was more than £100.

How did you come to work with Gringo / Faux Discx?

Dan from Faux Discx was aware we were recording the record and he asked if him and Matt from Gringo could help us putting it out. They had previously put out the Hookworms 12” together which had worked out great. It’s been really good as they’re not into cutting corners on things and are both trustworthy and organised people.

Who made the image for the cover?

We did with the help of our friend Owen Richards who took the photos for us. We wanted to make an image that was referential, and that was also a vague tribute to the area that birthed the ideas on the record. My favourite thing about it is how weedy our equipment looks and of course, the massive pile of dirt behind the drumkit.

What are some of your favourite record covers?

I really like Minutemen record covers, they’re not necessarily the most striking but they nearly all have some heavy references within them that makes them so intertwined with the band that they could only be those images. All of Iggy Pop's records look great, especially Lust For Life, but not 'Skull Ring' - that's the one that has Sum 41 on it. Hilarious.

How was playing Supernormal Festival recently?

It was great, Mince had been there most of the weekend soaking it up but the rest of us didn’t arrive till the Sunday. I thought this might mean we wouldn’t enjoy the ‘full experience’ but in the short time we were there we managed to do a whole lot. There were a ton of people we wanted to see there, a ton of great food, a ton of coffee, Woolf played an Elastica cover, there was obnoxious cool noise in a barn and when we actually played it was good too. Definitely want to go next year. Espresso martinis and free, yet foul-tasting ale.

If you could play on any bill who would the line up be?

I would like to play Time Travelling Gathering Of Friends, an impossible trans-temporal event which I just made up. On the bill would be Dragnet era- The Fall - even though MES would absolutely hate us- Crash The Pose circa 2005? at their drunkest peak, Glenn Branca doing some big guitar orchestra thing, Raw Prawn from Melbourne 2012, Hookworms from Leeds 2012 or actually maybe just any V festival ever, so I wouldn’t have to watch any bands after we played. FYI Boon and Ecke's other bands (Tense Men, Feature) are playing a show on the 22nd September that's raising money for the Healthy Living Club (a dementia charity) with Vision Fortune, Domestic Blitz and Weird Menace.

What are some of your favourite new bands?

Satellites Of Love, Omi Palone, Edible Arrangements, Soft Walls, Golden Grrrls, that Violent Reaction 7” Ellis/Static Shock Records just put out is great. Slowcoaches, Sun Sister, Sharm El Shakes, Bushwalking. Diat from Berlin, Raw Prawn or pretty much any band on RIP Society.

If you could go anywhere on holiday, where would you go and what would you do?

I personally would go to north Wales and go see my brother. Ecke: I would go to Malta and lie on a rock in the middle of a bay and maybe swim every now and again and then eat loads and loads of food and do that every day for about 3 weeks.

Sauna Youth have also given an insightful run down of each track from their new album 'Dreamlands' on This Is Fake DIY (see below), which Boon was happy for us to share here as well.

You can find copies of the album here.

Town Called Distraction
We like telling stories, either lyrically or literally. I originally wanted to include a reading list with the record but then forgot about it until I had printed 1500 sheets of A3 paper (twice) and then had to make an excuse to myself why it was a bad idea, possibly because it was going to have ‘Mrs Dalloway’ by Virginia Woolf in it and I wasn’t sure if it actually did have any relevance at all to it. Thinking about it now though, I’m pretty sure it does... especially the last song, Hairstyles. The piece of music in Town Called Distraction is both 100% completely improvised and is also 100% completely fabricated and has never been played, that means it is 200% music. It is also 100% a story and also 100% a song, so… it is using around 400% of your brain when you listen to it. How we did this is anybody’s guess… I think because we collaborated with so many people on it, it took on a life of it’s own, just trusting them implicitly as no one had, or wanted, to create a specific idea of how it would turn out. I has definitely cost us a lot in free records to give to people though. There was a version of it that was only using about 85% music total, like some drones and a few field recordings… it drifted along quite nicely but the two times I listened to the whole thing I actually fell asleep. When we first started creating the idea of our town, The Mountain was still in the band and he works as an engineer planning roads and other such seemingly simple but in fact intensely complicated structures… So we devised a brief outline of the town, including population (1,478), major structures and a vague layout and he was going to plan and draw it up in AutoCad or whatever and this was going to be the inside of the gatefold sleeve we were going to get when we pressed the record. This unfortunately didn’t happen.

Planned Designs
Tried to write a song using just one chord and failed… Wrote this while I was still painting a lot, I really like Rembrandt (especially the later self portraits), Lucien Freud and Jenny Saville, I suppose they’re definitely in the mainstream of art but you can’t deny the skill they have in executing their dissections of the human form in oil. I also used to work as a playworker in Brighton and hilariously enough my only post-school qualification is a GSCE equivalent in play. You wouldn’t believe the amount of theory involved in the link between our development and our ability to play and I’m a firm believer that restricting ourselves, or others, a chance to discover their world through playful interaction has an extremely negative effect. I also was reading Nabakov’s ‘Lolita’ and being both amazed and generally made to feel quite uncomfortable by the beautiful language he uses to tell the ugly, complicated story of Humbert Humbert’s and Lolita’s relationship. It’s all that kind of stuff filtered through metaphors and just straight up stealing lines and used to try and talk about the benefits of reclaiming the space around you to use as you wish, eg. Skateboarding or Arts Festivals.

Snapback
Pines was listening to a lot of Dr. Feelgood around the time that he wrote this, and surprisingly it did used to be a bit more languid and a lot longer but it’s not anymore. I seem to remember listening to my mum’s 7” collection around this time and discovering Cliff Richard’s “Willy and the Hand Jive” and thought it’d be great to have a similar song based around the notion of a dance, “The Snapback”, now I don’t know what this dance would entail, I never got that far but I’m sure it would’ve been great and not to do with masturbation. Writing the lyrics involved the age old tradition of talking about walking around city streets thinking about yours/someone else’s life within a fictional framework of a made up town that acts as a metaphorical foil but trying not to talk about walking around city streets thinking about yours/someone else’s life because everybody has written a song about walking around city streets thinking about yours/someone else’s life.

PSI Girls
This began as a foray into poetry… which was then annihilated by the need to write some lyrics for a song. We were up in Nottingham playing for Joe C and he sorted us out some free recording time in exchange for recording a cover for him for a tape he was putting out. So we recorded a cover of ‘Radio Tay’ by The Scrotum Poles, which was brilliant. We also decided to record this song Pines had demoed but none of us had learnt, or written words for… so while The Mountain and Mince were learning it, I was writing it. Only later did it become apparent what it was about, which might be a good way of explaining what it actually is about. The guys played it very well, I did some terrible vocals takes and we called it a day and nothing ever happened to those recordings (sorry Joe) but we had learnt a new song, which was great.

Viscount Discount
My friends were getting married and I was going with them on a weekend trip to Calais to go camping and pick up all their booze for the reception and meal, etc… I had had quite a busy week at work preceding this and was looking forward to not being the organisational lynchpin of the jaunt, I just had to be in London at their flat for a certain time with a bag of clothes and that was it. Due to this I failed to think about the fact that because Calais is in France and France is not in the UK I needed to have my passport to cross the border between the two, so I hadn’t brought my passport. This was realised within approximately 5 minutes of arriving at my friends house, when he comically asked if I had brought my passport, hur hur, etc… I replied I hadn’t and immediately left the flat to go back down to Brighton to go get it. On my 2 hour journey back home I re-organised my trip, my friends would go on ahead to catch their ferry, I would forfeit my place on this one and booked another leaving from Dover at 6am the next morning and to get there would travel by train from Brighton to arrive in Dover, via a bunch of places, at around 1:00am and the 5 hours between I would figure out when I got there. I bought a 6 pack of beer to help with the 5 hour layover in Dover and my train ticket, using my railcard to get a much needed discount as the minimal cost of the initial trip was ‘racking up’ as they say. Things were going ok, I was pleased I would still make it to Calais. On the final leg of my train journey, not far from Dover just after midnight a ticket inspector checked my ticket and my railcard and saw that it was out of date, he then proceeded to charge me for a second full priced ticket from Brighton to Dover, which was not cheap. He was a champion. I then got to Dover, walked around for a bit finished my last beer, found the port, found a bus shelter, got out my sleeping bag and bedded down for about 3 hours on a bench. Got up, got a coffee, got on the ferry and arrived in Calais just in time for lunch.

Hairstyles
Alice in Wonderland is a fantastic book and it has obviously had a large impact and influence over a great many creative endeavors, this being one of them. When we first started playing this song we would play it last and I would use a loop pedal on my vocals for the ending, after a few attempts of trying to get it sort of in time I realised that would involve practice and patience, two things we were incapable of back then. So we would just try and make it sound as obnoxious as possible and it’d go on for ages, this was great for us, not always the audience. We don’t do this anymore but we tried to re-create it on the record for posterity but had to cut it down because we suddenly became the audience whilst listening back and it was no fun. Instead we made an infinite loop of some nice feedback to finish the whole record off. I like how the words came out on this one and I think it’s a good summary of the overall themes contained within the record. This IS the stupidest party I have ever been to in all my life.

Slug Guts : Interview

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 11:23:00 +0000

Australia's Slug Guts have just released their third album on Sacred Bones and about to embark on a US Tour - I got a chance to ask Jimi and JD from the band about the new record, upcoming shows, pigs heads and Italo disco...

Slug Guts, you’re on your third album, following the band’s history it’s gone through a few changes can you give us a rundown of who are current members…

Slug Guts is and will always be..whether they like it or not:
JD
Nick kuceli
Joe Alexander
Falco
Jimi Kritzler
Cameron Hawes
Lee Parker
Albert
Mike Spyros

There’s quite a bit written about Slug Guts have you found any misconceptions of your band? What do you think people don’t know yet?

JD: we are all virgins

Jimi: We are compulsive liars looking for a good time.

What’s the best/worst thing about living in Australia?

JD: not enough clothes shops, beer is too exxy and you cant get purp surp over here

Jimi: Best: You can get away with anything here with minimal repercussions. Worst: When you do get caught they have introduced this thing since the 1920's called the legal system.

From what I’ve read so far ‘Playin’ In Time With the Deadbeat’ has been received really well, did you expect that kind of a reaction? Do you care really what people make of your records?

I know it's a total cliche for a band to say "I don't read my reviews man" but that is bullshit, every band reads at least one review. The one review I read said it was the best record since 'Funhouse' so I stopped reading the other reviews. As far as caring about what people/critics make of the record, essentially critics are just average people with a computer and a moderate ability to string a sentence together and compare your record to a record which was released previously. To care about one persons opinion on yr record which has taken you a year from recording to seeing it on record shelves is the equivalent of caring what a stranger thinks about yr choice of menu entre. It is none of their business.

Can you tell me a bit about the song “Moving Heat”? It's a real standout track on the record for me

JD: hate that song shoulda left it off the album, jimi was going through a dance hall phase and everyone was listening to italian disco at that time

Jimi: Best song on the album. JD was going through a "I hate Jimi and Falco" phase because we were spending band money on horrible shit and writing alot of songs, one of which was "Moving Heat" I have Italo disco icon Gianni Rossi to thank for the inspiration.

I wanted to ask about the dedication of the album to Brendon Annesley - how did he fit into Slug Guts? I really enjoyed Negative Guestlist, do you have any idea what's going to happen with NGL now?

Jimi: If you don't mind I might avoid going into the personal aspect of mine and other members of slug guts personal relationship with Brendon. I will say he was one of a kind, intensely prolific, talented and had impeccable taste. He also was a completely unique individual. His relationship with slug guts extended anywhere from telling us a song was shithouse or a song was great to putting out our live record on Negative Guest List Records. Negative Guest List is still being run by Marriah Geles, Brendon's girlfriend, who also co ran NGL Records from the start. She is finishing releasing all the records they had planned to release before Brendon died. His death pretty much ended a really amazing time in what was a typically bleak city.

What was the recording setup for ‘Playin’ In Time With the Deadbeat’?

JD: 2 guitars 1 bass, 1 baritone sax and drums recorded over 2years then smack mixed in berlin for extra crunch also gotta mention we have 2 different drummers on that record Lee Parker and Joe Alexander

Jimi: All of the above, except drugs in berlin did not alter the mix. I mixed the entire record alone (with the engineer) and then presented it to the band who all hated it and blamed the mix on drugs. I believe JD's exact quote was "it sounds like it was mixed while you layed under a blanket of drugs". I think it sounds like it was mixed whilst I was laying under sheet metal. We recorded the record over two tours in a really awful suburb of melbourne called Broadmeadows but managed to record the entire record for free except for our engineer Todd and we only paid him because we love him. The album was made as i said over two tours, it was a strange, hazy time and fairly rushed but I think it perfectly encapsulates how fucked up our lives were at the time.

Where did the idea come from for the album cover?

We bought six pigs heads and drove out to a creek where I grew up and all stood in the blazing hot summer sun for hours until we got the right picture. We then took the pigs heads and carcasses and laid them all on a friends veranda so when he got home he would find them unfortunately (as per usual) Falco took it a step too far and threw a pigs head through the front window. The particular friend, whose house it was didn't speak to us for a very long time.

What are some of your favourite album covers?

JD: denudes - heavier than a death in the family, puffy areolas, tubular bells etc

Jimi: Coloured balls-- Ball Power, Stooges- Funhouse, Gun Club- Fire of Love, Lost Animal- Ex Tropical, Johnny Thunders- So Alone, Circle Pit-Honey 7"

I love the primitive approach to the “Scum” video – where was it shot, who made it?

JD: in spring hill brisbane our hometown under cam hawes house by our filmmaker friends adric watson and sam dixon they are making a horror movie soon

Jimi: It was the last time all six of us were in the same room. I miss Falco alot…despite everything.

How did the Hozac single for “Stranglin’ You Too” come about?

Jimi: Todd from Hozac asked us to be apart of it and we like Hozac Records alot and once he said Puffy Areolas, Uv Race, Black Lips and Straight Arrows were all involved it seemed like we were in good company.

You’re about to do a US tour – van music, what do you listen to?

JD : DANZIG, Cro-Mags. John Joseph spoken word, Creedence Clearwater Revival

Jimi : Gianni Rossi, DAF, Coloured Balls Les Rallizes Denudes, Whitehouse (to punish our tour driver Mike Spyros), Danzig, Alu. Rolling Stones, Stooges, Danzig, Rocky Erickson, Danzig, Canned Heat, Danzig.

Gonerfest is coming up – any bands you’re really looking forward to seeing? Bearing in mind I’m seething with jealousy…

Oblivians. We are only there for one night so I guess they are the only band that we will get to see.

Will you come and visit us in Europe?

Our people are talking to other people to make sure that people like us (Slug Guts) make it to Europe in early 2013.

How would you spend your ideal day off?

JD: drinking beer wasting money or clothes shopping

Jimi: Compared to most people I walk by, my busiest day is the equivalent of their greatest holiday. I don't know how to answer this question. I sound like an asshole.

What do you want to achieve in Slug Guts?

JD: we just want to put out good records and party and not get bashed by tough cunts

Jimi: I really want Sacred Bones to respect us as artists as well as people……I am actually pissing myself.

Anything else you want to add that I haven’t asked?

Jimi: You write eloquent and incisive questions that depict a multi faceted interest in both the personal and musical inner workings of the band. Unfortunately you chose Slug Guts.

You can find copies of their new album by clicking here

Dan Melchior : Interview

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 08:28:00 +0000

Dan Melchior has a new album due out on Northern Spy at the end of this month. All proceeds from the first pressing will go towards helping to fund his wife's cancer treatment as they're in the US, unfortunately trips to the hospital don't come cheap. Here's Dan in his own words on the new songs -- you can find copies of 'The Backward Path' at all good music shops from September 24th - preorders are also available here.

Dan Melchior! Do you want to give us a feel for what your new record ‘The Backward Path’ is about and how it’s helping your wife Letha…

Hello Kimberly!
Well, the new record has at least four songs on it that deal in a fairly direct way with my wife Letha's situation (she has cancer). The record company, Northern Spy is donating all the money from the first pressing (after recouping manufacturing costs) to help with paying for her treatment.

Can you tell us about the guests on your album, how did you come to work with them and what did they contribute to ‘The Backward Path’?

I just reached out to people I felt would contribute something really - something that I couldn't do myself. I have met everyone in person who contributed, apart from Sam Hillmer and Ela Orleans. I think their contributions really lift the whole thing - especially the voices of Haley (L Fohr) and Ela. There's a poignancy I don't think I could have achieved alone.

Did you paint the cover? I’m guessing because I’ve noticed birds come up a lot in your visual work – what’s their significance to you?

Yes, I painted it. I'm not sure what their significance is really. I've wondered about it a lot. I just love birds! My second best friend is a bird.

What are some of your favourite record covers?

I like all sorts. Not really the kind of thing I turn out on the whole - I like very simple ones, but I just sort of get 'urges' about what my sleeves should look like, and usually go with the first idea. I would say the cover of Prince Buster's 'The Message dub wise' is one of my favourites. I like Can's 'Tago Mago' too.

Can you tell us about the track steaming on soundcloud “All The Clocks”?

It's one of the songs on the album that's explicitly about my relationship with Letha. It's just sort of explaining how much support she has give me over the years. All I'm doing now really is doing my best to support her in the same way.

How did you come to work with Northern Spy for this album?

This is the second one I've done with them. 'Catbirds and cardinals' was on that label too. I signed a two record deal with them.

Do you have any shows/benefits coming up to support ‘The Backward Path’?

Not at the moment, but I probably am going to have to start getting some put together soon (benefits I mean). Letha is going up to NY this week, to find out if she will be accepted for a drug trial up there. If she is, we will have to move up there for four months, which is obviously going to be very expensive.

Are there any other ways people can donate to help Letha?

Yes, there is a place where you can send donations http://melchiorfund.blogspot.com/
People can buy records from me here direct http://danmelchior.net/
and Letha's artwork here http://lethamelchiorsart.blogspot.com/
There is also this page http://jump-arts.org/

You’re originally from the UK, now you live in the US what do you miss and what don’t you miss about blighty?

I miss a lot of things. Mainly the sense of humour. I say a lot of things over here that people consider to be very 'mean' - they can't tell that it's just what the English consider a sense of humour. Luckily Letha is used to me by now.

Are you allowed to vote in the US at all? Have you been following the ‘campaign trail’ for the upcoming election? It’s looks pretty full on from here– one major issue I noticed Obama is being slammed for by Romney is healthcare, from your and Letha’s experience do you think Obama should be given more time to liberate the US healthcare system?

No, no voting for me. I just have a green card, I'm not a citizen. I have been watching it all though. I do not want to contribute a scathing essay to your blog about the generally moronic level these things are on over here. Yes, I think Obama is clearly the only sensible choice for anyone who isn't a gun toting, exceptionalist loony with no understanding of what's in their own interests. He is trying to do something!

What do want to achieve with your music in the future?

Just to keep going really. To keep going and progressing, or regressing. Moving anyway, in some direction or other.

Are there any current bands you find interesting? Anyone you’d like to rave about?

There are things I like. The Satanic Rockers 45 on Quemada , the last FNU Ronnies album, Kraus, Roach Clip, a lot of stuff that Little Big chief has been putting out. Various stuff on the break dance the dawn, and Kye labels - - - and of course the Pheromoans, Ela Orleans, Circuit des Yeux. I like U.S Girls too.

How would you spend your ideal day off?

Well, I don't have a job at the moment - - a day off is a day off from the hospital. I'm boring, I like drinking a couple of beers and watching television.

Is there anything else coming up you’d like to share here? Records? Shows?

I have a collaboration with Russell from the Pheromoans and Letha coming out on Siltbreeze, under the name The Lloyd Pack. It's a 33rpm 7 inch. I may play a festival in Boston in Nov. Not sure yet.

Allo Darlin Tour Starts Today!

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 16:33:00 +0000

Allo Darlin' are starting thier tour today, the dates are as follows catch them if you can!

31 Aug - The Hop, Wakefield
1 Sep - The Silk Mill, Derby
2 Sep - The Station Pub King's Heath, Birmingham ALL AGES
3 Sep - Subside, Birmingham
4 Sep - Fleece, Bristol
5 Sep - Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle
6 Sep - Queens Social Club, Sheffield
7 Sep - Deaf Institute, Manchester
8 Sep - Kazimier, Liverpool
9 Sep - Blackburn Art College, Blackburn ALL AGES
10 Sep - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
12 Sep - The Haunt, Brighton
13 Sep - King's College, LondonSee

Find copies of their new single 'Northern Lights' here

Dead Skeletons Tour Dates

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:40:00 +0000

Dead Skeletons(A Records) are hitting the road this month for a slew of shows across Europe.   See below to check if they're coming to a town near you.

20 Sep 2012    DE    Berlin, Kater Holzig
21 Sep 2012    DE    Hamburg, Reeperbahnfestival
22 Sep 2012    SE    Stockholm, Strand
23 Sep 2012    DK    Copenhagen, Pumpehuset
27 Sep 2012    IRE    Dublin, The Button Factory
28 Sep 2012    IRE    Cork, Triskel Arts Centre
29 Sep 2012    UK    Liverpool, Psychfest
30 Sep 2012    UK    Leeds, The Library
02 Oct 2012    UK    Birmingham, Ballroom
03 Oct 2012    UK    London, Corsica Studios
04 Oct 2012    PL    Cartaxo, Centro Cultural Do Cartaxo
05 Oct 2012    ES    Madrid, Nasti Club
06 Oct 2012    ES    Barcelona, Sidecar
07 Oct 2012    ES    Valencia, Excuse Me

Dead Skeleton's debut album 'Dead Magick' came out at the beginning of the year, you can find more information on the release here

Goat : Interview

noreply@blogger.com (KP) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 13:47:00 +0000

We're really excited to offer an interview with Sweden's Goat. One of the members in the collective answers some questions about magic, their new album 'World Music' and worship....

What is your definition of magic?

I don´t know. A mere concept I suppose, like all other concepts. Even that which is or seems to be a supernatural phenomena occurs within the same basic space. What´s looking. The eternal seer never changes regardless of circumstance. There are of course people who deal with magic and I am one of them. But I do not wish to delve deeper into this matter.

Your biography reads; “Legend has it that for centuries, the inhabitants of the village of Korpolombolo were dedicated to the worship and practices of Voodoo.” Can you tell us anything about these events?

Not really you´ll have to use your imagination.

In your understanding of these spiritual practices I wanted ask what you’ve learned from them. Imagine I’m your average person on the street who has no knowledge of these things, what can you tell me that you’ve discovered or experienced that falls outside scientific explanation, I don’t know if I’m a believer but certainly curious that there’s more to things around us than meets the eye…

I learned that to understand yourself fully is to understand everyone else. Our mistaken perceptions of what reality is might be different from person to person but the perceiver is the same - the nature of reality. There is no division anywhere we were just taught there was. Where do you or anyone else end, or begin for that matter? Is it at birth vs death? These are all just someone else´s ideas and not my experience at all.

How did the Goat collective come to work together?

We were brought up in this tradition and the people in the orkustra come and go as they please. A shared interest in the occult & grimness in general.

Was the song writing collaborative for 'World Music', or is there a main songwriter for Goat?

There is no one way with the Goat. Some songs are just excerpts of longer jams/ rituals. Some songs are made from a riff or rhythm, some songs are just very very old songs from the tradition in new versions.

What's the first type of music that made an impression on you?

The music played at the Gatherings of worship while I was growing up I guess. Long drone like sounds and chanting.. That and when I borrowed the Shadows in the deep LP from Mange in 7th grade.

When did you have that ‘I can do that moment’ and start playing music?

Actually I can´t recall such a moment. I guess that was never a question for me, whether I could or could not play music. I just picked up a guitar at my friend’s house as a kid, started playing and never quit. It´s the same today. The instrument I prefer to play might have changed but my disposition is the same, I just play for my own sake basically. Because of the joy Goat brings to me & my kindred!

How would you describe the music scene in Sweden?

Like everywhere more or less. A couple of good bands and a whole lot of bands that I´m the wrong person to appraise or make judgements about.

Are you much of a record collector? If so, any prize possessions?

Yes Kenneth Higney´s - Attic demonstration. True occult madness!

Thanks for chatting to us – is there anything you want to add that I haven’t asked?

No. Thank you.

Goat will be making it over to the UK for three shows later in the year. Catch them if you can - 19th October - Lexington, London // 20th October - Star and Shadow Cinema, Newcastle // 21st October - Supersonic Festival, Birmingham //

Goat's 'World Music' is out now through Rocket Recordings at all good record stores. You can also find copies here.

Angel vinyl reissues from Rock Candy

noreply@blogger.com (Cargo Records UK) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:51:00 +0000

LIMITED TO 500 COPIES WORLDWIDE, ON BEAUTIFUL 180gm VIRGIN WHITE VINYL. EXACT-TO-ORIGINAL ARTWORK AND INSERTS. SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS:

Angel - Angel

AND THEN there was Angel. If there was one band that should have reached the heights of superstardom then surely it ought to have been Angel. Meticulously assembled as part of an advanced master plan to create the perfect rock ‘n roll animal, Angel’s manifest destiny revolved around two key components: that’s killer musicianship and killer looks. Seasoned players all, their arrival on the Los Angeles rock scene certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons in a world crying out for something fresh, original and very different.
Based in Los Angeles, and signed to the irascible Casablanca label (home to Kiss and Funkadelic). Angel’s debut album was issued in 1975 and received instant approval from anyone hip to the trip. Musically the focus was firmly on a sort of pioneering seventies mash-up of progressive and melodic hard rock, spearheaded by the extraordinary operatic vocals of Frank DiMino and the wildly dexterous keyboard virtuosity of Gregg Giuffria.

Produced by Englishmen Derek Lawrence (Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash) and session guitarist extraordinaire Big Jim Sullivan, the album is treasure trove of surprises and includes several songs that have since gone on to become standard bearers in the star spangled world of melodic-rock mayhem. For categorical proof look no further than the straight from the hip attack of ‘Rock & Rollers’, ‘On And On’ and, arguably the greatest pomp-rock creation of all time, ‘Tower’, a pumping behemoth of a track with keyboards and guitars locked in mortal combat. No home should be without a copy.

FULLY REMASTERED, LIMITED 500 PRESSING VIRGIN WHITE VINYL WITH ORIGINAL DOUBLE SIDED INSERT AND JAPANESE STYLE OBI STRIP

Track listing: Tower; Long Time; Rock & Rollers; Broken Dreams; Mariner; Sunday Morning; On & On; Angel (Theme)

Click here to get the LP
Click here to get the CD

Angel – Helluva Band

THERE HAVE been many great bands that didn’t receive the level of recognition due to them, but none have been more deserving than Angel. Cruelly denied the opportunity to bask in the spotlight of success, Angel’s story is a tear-jerker in the grandest tradition. A great band, astonishing musicianship, sensational songs and a stunning stage show but for some reason doomed to cult status, maybe because they were - in effect - wildly ahead of their time and far beyond the realms of previously known parameters.
‘Helluva Band’ was Angel’s second album, and a record that took their brand of adventurous pomp-rock to astonishing levels. Unafraid of throwing everything and the kitchen sink into their music, they reached a new level of achievement which allowed every member of the band to excel at their craft. Singer Frank DiMino in particular, unleashes one of the definitive vocal performances of the era, an ostentatious operatic style that thrilled audiences back then and still continues to make its mark to this day.
Originally issued in 1976,and produced by British ex-pats Derek Lawrence and Big Jim Sullivan in Los Angeles, the albums contains a clutch of 24 Karat showstoppers, including the epic ‘Feelings’, ‘Mirrors’, ‘Pressure Point’ and ‘The Fortune’, a progressive pomp-rock watershed with all the trimmings you might reasonably expect from such a genre defining band. Absolutely essential.

Track listing: Feelin’ Right; The Fortune; Anyway You Want It; Dr. Ice; Mirrors; Feelings; Pressure Point; Chicken Soup; Angel Theme

FULLY REMASTERED, LIMITED 500 PRESSING VIRGIN WHITE VINYL WITH ORIGINAL JAPANESE STYLE OBI STRIP

Click here to get the LP
Click here to get the CD

Angel – On Earth As It Is In Heaven

Fully restored track sequence and rare Japanese mix. Exact to original artwork with gatefold sleeve and poster.

IT WAS a brilliant concept. Five immaculately coffered musicians dressed in virginal white and playing a flamboyant combination of progressive pomp rock with all the genre trimmings that you could possibly desire. Their stage show was equally as breath-taking, taking in everything from holograms to spectacular magic stunts. It was as if PT Barnum himself had formed a rock band and created the ultimate spectacle.
‘On Earth As It Is In Heaven’ was Angels’ third album and showcases the band expanding their horizons by taking a more directly melodic hard rock path, but one with hooks and riffs to the fore. Just because the music was harder and edgier, isn’t to say that they had abandoned their progressive roots altogether as Gregg Giuffria’s keyboard work will testify.
Produced by seasoned sound man Eddie Kramer (Hendrix, Zeppelin), the songs here display a raw edge that provides guitarist Punky Meadows with a platform to unleash some of his best riffs, whilst vocalist extraordinaire Frank DiMino soars to new operatic heights. Songs such as ‘Can You Feel It’, ‘Cast The First Stone’ and ‘White Lightning’ explode with a sense of urgency that suggests the band were scaling new heights of creativity and feeling all the better for it. Oh, and check out the band’s logo – it reads the same upside down, back to front and in a mirror.

ORIGINAL JAPANESE RELEASE 1ST MIX AND TRACK SEQUENCE. FULLY REMASTERED, LIMITED 500 PRESSING VIRGIN WHITE VINYL IN HEAVY GUAGE GATEFOLD COVER WITH ORIGINAL POSTER INSERT AND JAPANESE STYLE OBI STRIP.

Track listing: Can You Feel It; She’s A Mover; You’re Not Fooling Me; That Magic Touch; Big Boy (Let’s Do It Again); White Lightning; Telephone Exchange; On The Rocks; Cast The First Stone; Just A Dream

Click here to get the LP
Click here to get the CD

Interview: Frijsfo Beats label boss DJ Oslek

noreply@blogger.com (Cargo Records UK) — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 13:47:00 +0000

Since 2008 independent label Frijsfo Beats has been releasing quality, bass heavy music, mutant hybrid forms of garage, dubstep, house, drum and bass and a lot more besides. As well as past releases from underground icons Geiom and Ed DMX and a brand new release from Brackles' elusive brother Martin Kemp, the label has a reputation for digging up new and talented producers, most notably Sully, who went on to release his debut album 'Carrier' for Blackdown's Keysound label last year. This Saturday they're celebrating their fourth birthday with a live stream direct from Frijsfo HQ, with live sets from Lewis Hunter and Point B, and DJ sets from Geiom, Sully, Martin Kemp, 2snide and label boss DJ Oslek. We caught up with Dave Oslek earlier this week to talk.

"Rushing releases through doesn't make sense to me - it isn't going to be as beneficial to the artists if you don't take the time to present their music to people properly," he begins when I ask him about the relatively small number of releases from the Frijsfo camp so far. "There's also the fact that a lot of the artists I work with are perfectionists and spend far too much time finishing their music -or not finishing, in some cases! Plus I manage the label on my own, so there has to be a pace I can keep up with."

This personal touch is perhaps what makes the label feel so unique. "Some of [the artists], especially on the first couple of records, I just know because I went to school with them or met them at raves and clubnights I organised or went to as a teenager - I was producing music myself back then but I'd always hassle certain people for their latest productions... this is how I first heard the music of Sully and Sneer (aka Innasekt as a duo)." I suggest that the label's distinctive sound is partly a result of these close and personal connections, and ask whether it's also a result of him simply releasing music that he likes rather than a conscious decision to maintain a 'Frijsfo' vibe. "A lot of people say that to me, and yeah it is definitely intentional. Having said that I think it is quite a broad aesthetic that will continue to develop as the artists produce new styles and evolve... I like that we've been able to bring in other styles and tempos and it will still sound like Frijsfo Beats. It's exciting and a good environment for producers to be in if they're interested in experimenting with different styles of music."

But he hasn't let geographic or social contraints restrict him to releasing music made by his mates. "As well as plenty from the UK... Frijsfo Beats has released music from Italy, Norway, Venezuela, Spain, Canada, Australia... Guys like Kuoyah and Buzzin10 are great examples of why it is worth listening to all the demos you get sent as a DJ, they just sent me music that fits Frijsfo Beats perfectly." This had lead to releases not just from unknown bedroom producers, but also established figures Ed DMX and Geiom. "I still feel incredibly privileged to be working with Geiom actually, he's genuinely one of the best producers in the game. ...But seeing as I knew very little about the music business when I started Frijsfo, I've learnt loads from everyone I've worked with. People like Geiom and Ed DMX do show you the kind of level you need to be at with your production, artistry, professionalism, and work ethic if you want to last in music." And Martin Kemp, who went mysteriously quiet after a string of incredible twelves on Blunted Robots, has also recently been added to the Frijsfo Beats stable. "It's thanks to Kamal (Geiom) really, he sent me the track 'German Salad' and a remix he'd done of another one of Martin's unreleased tracks, 'Terr'. 'German Salad' sounded like it had been made for Frijsfo, there's nothing like it about... and the remix is a bit special, (watch out for it next month on the next Geiom EP, in August)."

Although connections like this would have been impossible before the internet, and all Frijsfo Beats releases are available to download, Dave is, like many of his generation, fascinated by releasing and collecting vinyl. When I ask if he has any regrets, the first thing that comes to mind is "I was born too late to be able to run a label when it was all vinyl," half-jokingly. But there's also a serious side to all of this. "I've been a record collector and a DJ since I was a teenager, and even today most of the music I buy is vinyl. When it is mastered, manufactured, and played properly, no format sounds better. I love it. Having said that, I really enjoy doing the digital-only releases and I think it is better for artists that more of their music gets heard on top of any vinyl they do, because vinyl can take quite a long time to do."

It may take a long time, and Dave may be hesitant to rush releases, yet Frijsfo shows no signs of slowing down. "I don't like to plan releases too far ahead but coming up in the next few months are more EPs from Buzzin10, Geiom, Martin Kemp, as well as the first new material from Kuoyah in a long while, some other stuff I don't want to announce yet... plus there Geiom's new album later in the year which is sounding absolutely incredible, I think its going to be a game-changer..."

The Frijsfo Beats 4th birthday stream will start at 3pm tomorrow afternoon, and they plan to go on throughout the entirety of the evening. For connection details check frijsfo.com on the day.

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USELESS EATERS to release new album on Manimal Summer/Fall (Jay Reatard, Jack White + Ty Segall)

noreply@blogger.com (Cargo Records UK) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:26:00 +0000

Useless Eaters is a Nashville based project fronted by 22 year old multi-instrumentalist Seth Sutton.

Having conceived this project at the age of 17, he had Jay Reatard as his bass player on his first tour and performed at Third Man Records as well as across the central USA and East Coast.

Once involved in several side projects, Sutton makes Useless Eaters his pet project having already released a slew of singles and an 3 LPs between 2009-2011.

The latest yet-to-be titled 4 song 7"/EP is planned for this Summer and an LP later this year via Manimal. He is currently preparing for a summer tour with Ty Segall and White Fence.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Aufheben Pre-order + UK Competition Ticket Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Cargo Records UK) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 10:33:00 +0000

The Brian Jonestown Massacre are back with new album Aufheben on Anton Newcombe’s own ‘a’ Recordings.

Click Here to Pre-order new album ‘Aufheben’ on CD and 2x180gram Coloured Vinyl

In celebration of the new album, the band have announced a huge worldwide tour (full details below!)

We also have an extremely special competition lined up!

Cargo Records are giving you the chance to win a pair of tickets to 3 dates on their UK leg. 1 pair of competition tickets will be available for the London (Shepherds Bush Empire), Manchester (Ritz Ballroom) and Birmingham (Academy 2) legs of the UK tour.

For a chance of winning all you have to do is prove just how big a BJM fan you really are!

Take as many pictures as you want with you and your beloved BJM goodies (CD’s, Vinyl LP’s, Posters, T-shirts, Tickets, etc) from now until the release of new album Aufheben (April 30^th) and post them here in our BJM competition thread. Be sure to include details of the gig you wish to attend (London, Manchester, Birmingham). As soon as the 30^th Rolls around we’ll announce the competition winners on our Facebook and contact participants directly via private message on facebook. Happy snapping!

CLICK HERE TO UPLOAD YOUR PICS TO THE THREAD

The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Worldwide Tour

DATE	VENUE
11/06/12	Berlin - Lido
12/06/12	Groningen - Vera
13/06/12	Rennes - L’Étage
14/06/12	Toulouse - Le Bikini
16/06/12	Spain - Azkena Rock Festival
17/06/12	Montpellier - Le Rockstore
18/06/12	Zurich - Abart
19/06/12	Bologna - Bolognetti on the rocks
20/06/12	Dudingen - Bad Bonn
22/06/12	Aarhus - Vox Hall
23/06/12	Copenhagen - Amager Bio
24/06/12	Oslo - Rockerfeller
25/06/12	Helsinki - Tavastia
26/06/12	Stockholm - Strand
28/06/12	Amsterdam - Bitterzoet
29/06/12	Nijmegen - Doornroosje
30/06/12	France - Le Rock Dans Tous Ses Etats
01/07/12	France - Eurockennes
03/07/12	Clermont - Ferrand, La Coopérative de Mai Cap
04/07/12	Paris - Le Trianon
06/07/12	Scotland - T in the Park
07/07/12	London - Shepherds Bush Empire
08/07/12	Manchester - Ritz Ballroom
09/07/12	Birmingham - Academy 2
11/07/12	Tel Aviv - Barby

Click Here to Pre-order new album ‘Aufheben’ on CD and 2x180gram Coloured Vinyl

Competition Terms and Conditions.
1. 1 pair of competition tickets to be won per entrant.
2. Competition closes 6pm on 29/04/2012. Uploaded content after this content will not be considered for the ticket giveaway.
3. Competition winners chosen by Cargo Records and announced on April 30^th 2012.

Keysound Recordings - Exclusive Competition: Transition Mastering Dubplate Experience + Personalised LHF 10"!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:13:00 +0000

After a steller 2011, a heap of praise from the likes of FACT Magazine, Resident Advisor, and The Quietus and with the release of LHF's stunning 26 track full length debut 'Keepers Of The Light' imminent, there has never been a better time than now to expand your musical knowledge for all things KEYSOUND. Check out our interview with Keysound supremo, Martin 'Blackdown' Clark below!

The lads have also given Cargo a very tasty EXCLUSIVE competition package.

To celebrate the release of LHF's 'Keepers Of The Light' on double CD, all pre-orders will be entered into a special competition draw to win a one of a kind 10" LHF dubplate, cut with your choice of LHF tracks. What's more, you'll be able to view the whole process as you are cordially invited to the seminal Transition Mastering Studios (home of Hyperdub, Planet Mu, DMZ & of course Keysound). Here you'll be able to see your tracks cut to order and view the whole process first hand.

You won't be finding that anywhere else!

CLICK HERE to pre-order and enter competition.

Chris (C): Tell us a bit about the label, how it came to be set up, the struggle (if any) of setting up and the labels overall intentions within your market.

Martin (M): Keysound Recordings started seven years ago, like most labels – out of necessity. Dusk and I were making music inspired by our London surroundings, and had been since 2001. Those surroundings had included the nascent dubstep and grime scenes as well as multicultural London. In the spirit of pirate radio, when we found no outlet for our music we went DIY and set up our own imprint. For many years it was just that – an outlet for our own productions. But after our debut album we became empowered to release music that inspired us. That accelerated trajectory is how we find ourselves here today.

C: How have your initial intentions changed over time as you have moved forward with the label? (Have your priorities changed, have you had to compromise any of your initial goals?)

M: I think change over time is important. I also think zero compromise of your goals is important too. Sometimes these are opposing forces, sometimes they pull together. My favourite labels, the ones I believe or believed in most are always headstrong, they knew who they are and were determined to go in their own direction, to put clear water between themselves and the pack. That’s where the bar has long been since set to.

The way I see Keysound in 2011/2012 and beyond, is like a field. Not a grassy green field, but in the physics sense. You have several dimensions that make a volume and within that volume you have interactions. I see the dimensions for Keysound artists being like the genres and flavours we have in common: jungle, grime, UK garage, UK funky, dubstep, hip hop, juke and so on. Not all the members of the Keysound family have all of the same influences, obviously, but there’s both space to operate in your own way but also a connectedness within the field to others. For example Dusk and I, Visionist, DVA, Logos and Balistiq Beats all reference grime for example, often in different ways. Sully, Damu, Vibezin, Burial, Amen Ra (LHF), Dusk & I reference UK garage, each in our own way. And so on with techno (Kowton, Skream, Dusk), dancehall (Balistiq Beats, myself), desi beats (Dusk & I, No Fixed Abode (LHF)), jungle (Sully, Double Helix (LHF)) and so on.

C: There’s been a rich tradition of ‘unknown’ producers when it comes to dubstep music. With LHF’s double disc ‘Keepers of The Light’ nearing release, the air of mystery surrounding the shady collective is still in evidence. Are you worried that the mystery surrounding the collective will dissipate?

M: LHF are dense contradiction, like a Mobius strip that deceives the eye. Even if you thought you’d begun to know a bit more about LHF it would only lead you to realise you in fact know less – trust me this happens to me daily. I’ve found it futile to attempt to tame or define LHF. The more you shine a light towards their darkness the more you notice strange entities scuttling towards the shadows.

C: Was the album pressed on the more accessible CD format to counter this?

M: The album is designed to showcase a hint of the hundreds if not thousands of tracks from the LHF archive and present them to the world. LHF are not an easy, palatable proposition, they don’t slip down like a nice cosy cup of coco, so you need a little to introduce people to their world gently. It’s limitless, really.

C: In honour of the release of the new album, Keysound are hi-jacking Room 3 of Fabric in April. With LHF scheduled to perform what precautions are you taking to maintain the groups’ anonymity?

M: Certain clan members DJ, certain clan members strictly operate in a production capacity – this has long since been established. Just because you are seeing some members in front of the decks does not mean you know who from the clan are lurking in the shadows, watching on.

This stuff makes me laugh though. People wanted to know Burial’s name, they found out – then what? What more of true importance did they really know? Did they really actually know more about Mala than Burial back when Mala’s real name was available in the fine print of vinyl releases but Burials wasn’t? What of any importance did any of this actually tell anyone? It’s all a big red herring to me, it’s what artists are really saying that matters – their day to day details are mostly irrelevant.

C: Cargo Records & Keysound have teamed up to present a Killer competition for one lucky fan.

Not only will the competition winner receive a one off 10” dubplate of their favourite LHF album songs, but you’ll be able to see your selected tracks cut to vinyl at Transition Mastering Studios in South London, home of mastering to (among others) Keysound, Hyperdub, DMZ, Burial, Planet Mu & Digital Mystikz!

This is a one off piece and will not be replicated anywhere else! Any words of encouragement?

M: Dubplate have played a pivotal role in the dissemination of upfront underground frequencies, across multiple ages, from reggae to dub to dancehall, from jungle to UK garage, grime and dubstep. But changes in the nature of digital recording and distribution, not to mention the recent demise of the Technics 1210 deck, have endangered their existence. Lots of people talk about having “bare dubs” but they really mean unreleased music. Yet actually cutting a dubplate, getting it mastered and written onto a 10” acetate at Transition is a wonderful experience. You hear the sound being shaped, you see the lathe in action and there’s this wonderful smell of fresh acetate. Most of all, your track gets that warm vinyl sound, with a touch of crackle, the harsh top frequencies rolled off and any unbalanced frequencies rebalanced. And you can then build a physical connection with it in the mix.

On top of this you get the warm Transition hospitality, the place where Loefah, Mala, Coki, Skream, Kode9 and more have gone over the years to get their dubs cut and enjoy the banter with Jason and Leon (“LD”) Transition. This is a wonderful experience, tucked away down a side alley in south London and one Keysound is really excited to share with people. You learn a lot about sound and frequencies there. You also learn a lot about the right way to go about things.

Pre-orders on the new full length are now up - click here to pre-order.

Competition Terms & Conditions:

By pre-ordering the LHF Keepers of The Light 2CD album, you are automatically put into a draw to experience 1x day out at South london's Transition Mastering and receive 1x personalised LHF 10" cut to spec with tracks of your choosing.
If you cannot attend the Transition Mastering experience, your exclusive 10"record will be posted to you.
The winner will be selected at random and announced on the 2nd April via Cargo Records Facebook. You shall be contacted by Cargo Records using the e-mail you place the pre-order with.
Competition Closes 09:30am, 02/04/12. Pre-orders after this time will be supplied but no longer valid for the competition deal.
Travel costs to Transition Mastering, South London, are not included.
Competition winner will be in full contact with both Cargo and Keysound to finalise their competition package.
Competition winner consents to promotional images/interviews taken on the day.

The Lovely Eggs On Tour!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:38:00 +0000

The Lovely Eggs -On Tour!

The Lovely Eggs have decided to treat us all and are embarking on a nationwide tour this May which culminates in a free show in London at the Old Queens Head.

Dates:
THURS MAY 3RD The central Bar, NEWCASTLE
FRI MAY 4TH Fishtank, DURHAM
SAT MAY 5TH The Grand, CLITHEROE
SUN MAY 6TH Sounds From The Other City Festival @ The Salford Arms, SALFORD
MON MAY 7TH The Continental, PRESTON
TUES MAY 8TH Fibbers, YORK
WEDS MAY 9TH Nice n Sleazys, GLASGOW
THURS MAY 10TH The Third Door, EDINBURGH
FRI MAY 11TH The Adelphi, HULL
SAT MAY 12TH The Sound House, LEICESTER
SUN MAY 13TH The Labour Club, NORTHAMPTON
MON MAY 14TH Port Mahon, OXFORD
TUES MAY 15TH The Cornerhouse, CAMBRIDGE
WEDS MAY 16TH Green Door Store, BRIGHTON
THURS MAY 17TH The Old Queen's Head LONDON (free gig!)
FRI MAY 18TH The Croft BRISTOL
SAT MAY 19TH Buffalo Bar CARDIFF

Tickets for all shows can be found here, here and here!

For anyone not aqquanited with the Eggs' cute indie pop pick up a copy of latest album Cob Dominos and rejoice! Instant smiles guaranteed!

Black Spiders - Exclusive New EP Competition: Signed Artwork + CD's!

noreply@blogger.com (Cargo Records UK) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:42:00 +0000

You lucky lucky people! Cargo favourites Black Spiders are back with the killer 'KISS tried to Kill Me EP'. Featuring lead track KISS Tried to Kill Me, from their huge debut record 'Sons of The North' and including 3 other tracks from the final album sessions, 'Somebody's Fault Not mine', the previously digital only 'Sons of The North' and Stooges cover 'Search & Destroy'. Check out our interview with Pete ( Lead vocals / Guitar) below!

The lads have also given Cargo a very tasty EXCLUSIVE competition package.

There will be a limited number of signed EPS available on pre-order only and if that's not enough, all pre-orders will be entered into a special competition draw to win 1 of only 5 EXCLUSIVELY SIGNED KISS TRIED TO KILL ME PRINTS. You won't be finding that anywhere else! Anyone can win! All orders will ship a little before release date and competition winners will receive their art in the post with their CD.

Winners will be announced via Cargo's facebook page so like us to see if you've won!

Chris Cargo (C):The ‘Kiss Tried To Kill Me’ EP is the final instalment of the Sons of The North Chapter for Black Spiders. Considering the success of this period, was this a hard decision to make?

Pete Black Spiders (P): Not at all, we had always had in mind that this would possibly be a solo release of some sort, as it’s probably the most commercial sounding track on the record. It was just having something to hang it on that was the issue, as we’d toured so much, just another tour would have seemed trivial. It seems a good segue to the next step for us.

C:Why was ‘Kiss Tried To Kill Me’ Chosen to front the new EP?

P: Besides being one of the most well received tracks we’ve done, it has a great visual and a good way for us to have a nice little collection of EPs to go along with the album. The track will also be used to help promote the release of the album in North America and as they are both released around the same time, it makes perfect sense.…

C:The EP is once again released on your own label Dark Riders. How do you manage label responsibilities with band responsibilities? Are there any plans for other bands to join the label?

P: Label responsibilities are easy when you are working with the right people, once you get a good flow going it’s a smooth ride… We have no plans to release other bands as yet on Dark Riders, but never say never….

C: It’s as easy to identify a Black Spiders Song from the crunching riffs as it is from the uniquely styled artwork for each EP / Album. Was this a conscious design decision?

P: We happened to have a very talented artist in the band and all of us have a great imagination. We did consciously start to think about how our branding would go on our first release and we have kept building with the styling over the releases… I think we have a pretty recognisable logo now.

Black Spiders from James Sharrock on Vimeo.

C: You’re currently recording material for the follow up to your debut full length ‘Sons of The North’. What practices have you undertaken this time round? Are you approaching the recording of the record differently?

P: I think we probably are, yes. We’ve been working on ideas over the last year or so and have even played a couple of the new song ideas live at shows and they seem to have gone down well. With the success we received from ‘Sons’ it would be wrong to not look at that as a template and go from there. We have a varied bunch of song ideas that will just hopefully broaden the bands appeal.

C: 2012 sees you heading onto the road again for a number of huge dates! Jager tour in April with Skindred and Therapy? and dates in May with Irish Rockers Thin Lizzy. How did these come about? How important is playing live to a band like Black Spiders?

P: We were going to forego any kind of touring this year until the next record was done, but the Jager 2012 Tour was something we wanted to get involved in because Jager have been great supporters of Black Spiders from the beginning and helped with the release of our first 2 EPs. It’s also a great tour to be on and with it being only £5 a ticket, it’s probably the best value tour of 2012.

Who wouldn’t want to play a tour with Thin Lizzy, it’s a no-brainer…. We have a good agent. The word of mouth on Black Spiders spread through our live show and this is really how all bands should be measured.

C: Cargo are offering the chance to win 1 of 5 exclusive signed art prints of the new artwork for ‘Kiss Tried To kill Me’ to fans who pre-order the record before its release on the 16th April. As well as this, anyone who pre-orders the album through cargo records will receive a signed copy of the album whilst stocks last! Any words on this to your fans?

P: The artwork prints are very exclusive and not for sale, so the deal that we’re offering through the Cargo website is pretty awesome. The fans love signed copies of our releases, so this offer is pretty special too and it comes at a great price. They will probably be a limited number of these signed EP copies, so it’ll be first come first served.

Pre-orders on the new EP are now up - Click here to pre-order!