Prescription PR Press releases

Joseph Arthur announces new, two act, record: 'The Ballad of Boogie Christ'

Prescription PR — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:19:03 +0000

Album release: The Ballad of Boogie Christ by Joseph Arthur
Release date: 9 September 2013
Label: Real World Records
Listen: on Real World Records site

“Joe is one of those rare writer-performers where you get the sense, whatever your belief, that something greater is being channeled through his music and voice. Like Patti Smith, Grant Lee Phillips, Thom Yorke, he trances, and the voice, the meaning, becomes bigger than him, bigger than a few pop chords or words strung together. It touches something very deep and universal.” — Michael Stipe from REM (for the LA Times)

Joseph Arthur returns to Real World Records to release The Ballad of Boogie Christ - a new high point in his critically acclaimed, Grammy-nominated career that has spanned nine full-length albums and 11 EPs. The double album is release by Real World Records (for the world outside of America/Canada) 9th September.

Growing up in the '70s and '80s in Akron, Ohio, Joseph Arthur's musical life started off like many others, with mandatory piano lessons. But once he realized he could use the piano to conjure up his own musical worlds, he took to the instrument and began writing songs, eventually playing in bands while in high school. Days after graduation, he moved to Atlanta with a band, playing bass and supporting himself with day jobs at a music store and tattoo shop.

At the time, Arthur aspired to be a world-class jazz or fusion bass player in the vein of the late Jaco Pastorius. But when a demo tape of Arthur's songs made its way to Peter Gabriel, it was the lyrics that attracted Peter, as he realized the talented songwriter was a great fit for his label Real World Records.

Within a few months Arthur was signed and Big City Secrets was recorded at Real World Studios with Marcus Dravs (Bjork, Coldplay, Mumford and Sons) producing the album, released in 1997. Two years later, Arthur recorded an EP called Vacancy, followed in 2000 by Come To Where I'm From, which features his signature song, 'In the Sun'. That track was covered by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and Coldplay's Chris Martin in 2006 on a charity single to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina, having previously been recorded a decade earlier by Gabriel for a Princess Diana tribute album.

After releasing 4 EPs called Junkyard Hearts, his third album, called Redemption's Son, came out in May 2002.

Big City Secrets, Come To Where I'm From and Junkyard Hearts have been released as part of the Real World Gold series of repackaged reissues.

Nominated for a best recording package Grammy for his 1999 EP Vacancy, Arthur is an accomplished painter, having displayed his works in galleries around the world (museumofmodernarthur.com).

The Ballad of Boogie Christ Acts 1 & 2

For every song Joseph Arthur has released, he's probably kept three others in the vault for safekeeping. Indeed, Arthur has been known to start working on a new album - or two - while simultaneously trying to finish another.

It was amid this abundance of riches that the Brooklyn-by way of Ohio-native began molding a collection of music under a single narrative thread: The Ballad of Boogie Christ, described by Arthur as "a fictionalized character loosely based on my own journey."

The Ballad of Boogie Christ has defied the odds to become another essential cornerstone of Arthur's robust discography. Encompassing sessions put to tape in upstate New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Arthur's own Brooklyn studio, the 12-song album showcases the artist's signature rich storytelling set to a diverse range of rock'n'roll.

"I don't know that there's a beginning, middle and end to the story, but there are definitely experiences, situations and perspectives that point in those directions," says Arthur. "I wanted to let the listener fill in some of the blanks without telling the whole story in a straight-ahead way."

The album begins with the surprising orchestral pop of "Currency of Love", on which Arthur unveils a passionate croon unlike any vocal performance he's ever given. From there, Boogie Christ offers epic affirmations on overcoming addiction (the seven-minute closer "All the Old Heroes"), anthems of open-hearted solidarity ("Wait for Your Lights", "It's OK To Be Young/Gone") and the kinds of slow-burning narratives ("Famous Friends Along the Coast", "I Used To Know How to Walk on Water" and a reimagined, hymn-like version of his standout, “I Miss the Zoo”) that have won Arthur a legion of fans around the globe.

Songs like "Black Flowers", "I Used To Know How to Walk on Water" and the title cut were recorded several years ago with help from the Band's legendary keyboardist Garth Hudson and bassist Catherine Popper (Ryan Adams, Jack White), while newer additions to the track list such as "Currency of Love" and "Saint of Impossible Causes" were crafted in Los Angeles with assistance from Chris Seefried (Fitz & the Tantrums, Lana Del Rey). Among the other guests on Boogie Christ are Ben Harper (Arthur’s bandmate in Fistful of Mercy), session drummer extraordinaire Jim Keltner, Joan As Policewoman leader Joan Wasser and composer Paul Cantelon (Oliver Stone’s W., Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell & the Butterfly).

"There are certain moments on the album that are just pop music and sugary," Arthur says. "I didn't want it to be this diatribe of heaviness, and it had been like that sometimes. I definitely wanted moments of relief within it, where you just get a good jam."

At the center of the project is the autobiographical "King of Cleveland," a classic story song that connects Boogie Christ the character with Arthur the flesh-and-blood artist. On it, the narrator apprentices alongside a big fish in a small pond, "playing blues in the back seats, from biker bars to limousines" -- much like Arthur did in his early professional career in Northeast Ohio. Says Arthur, "He's just starting to live the life he's imagined, playing roots boogie in the real America -- Ohio."

"I've heard David Bowie talk about how Ziggy Stardust and some other records were the beginnings of screenplays that he just never finished," he says. "I could really see this becoming something deeper and bigger than just an album.

"Chuck Prophet reminded me that there's always the Great American Novel," he continues. "And that really stuck in my head about Boogie Christ. That's what I've been wanting to achieve with this album. He encouraged me that it was okay to dream big."

“‘The Ballad of Boogie Christ’ is unlike anything I’ve ever done before. It’s a big production featuring horns and brass and living legends like Garth Hudson, Ben Harper, Jim Keltner, Joan Wasser and many others. It’s a concept album with a story arc about a man falling apart and coming back together in insanity and enlightenment. It’s a psychedelic soul record about redemption and what happens when you find it and lose it.

“It all came from words and poems like seeds that bloomed into songs which themselves fathered some of the richest music I’ve made in 17 years of putting together records. I can’t wait for you to hear it. This is the one I’ve been waiting for years to put out.” Joseph Arthur

Reaction

“When he was starting years ago, I was struck by the strength and visceral quality of Joe ... to connect to Expressionism, Art Brut, Basquiat and the Graffiti movement. I remember encouraging ... it has been great to watch its evolution. Joe is a really unusual, interesting and talented artist in music and art." — Peter Gabriel

“This guy is not wasting one element of the experience.” — Cameron Crowe, director

“I’d like to go with those people. I would like to be with those people. I think they’re probably doing things that I’m not.” — David Letterman

“…lush, poetic, squalling, spiritual, and strange. Just like life.” — Boston Globe

“A brooding bouquet of polyrhythms.” — David Hoekstra, Chicago Sun Times

“ …Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, and PJ Harvey are all great examples...Joseph Arthur proves he’s part of that elite group.” — Alternative Press

“A driven, visionary character… he might just be a genuine mad genius.” — The Guardian

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Atlanter - Vidde: out August 12 on Jansen Plateproduksjon

Prescription PR — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:53:33 +0000

Album release: Vidde by Atlanter
Release date: 12 August 2013
Label: Jansen Plateproduksjon
Listen: on Jansen Plateproduksjon site

Atlanter is Jens Carelius’ and Arild Hammerø’s new band project. They play rock inspired by desert blues bands and German krautrock and have a healthy appreciation for classic psych and prog. All this is done with a Norwegian twist and point of view, and is perhaps best described as Norwegian "viddeblues". Besides Carelius and Hammerø, the viddeblues ensemble Atlanter consists of Jonas Barsten Johnsen and Morten Kvam. Their debut album Vidde consists of 9 powerful, rhythmic-based songs, all written by the band and produced by Øyvind Røsrud Gundersen (Siri Nilsen, Jens Carelius, Hanne Kolstø).

Arild Hammerø from the band tells us about the music and the album: "Atlanter has an open-minded approach to playing music. The songs change from one concert to another, and we try to avoid a polished and rehearsed sound. I think everyone in the band enjoys this openness, that something new can happen on every song. We captured this feeling on the record too, and what brings it all together is that it is mostly based on very distinct rhythms. Playing with Atlanter is like dancing around a fire, there is an intense energy there. Our goal is for the audience to feel this energy too, so they can join in on the dance."

About the band

Jens Carelius has made a name for himself on the Norwegian music scene with the releases The First Songs (2008), The Beat Of The Travel (2009) and The Architect (2011). He has received brilliant reviews for all albums, especially the recent two, with mostly 5 and 6 out of 6 in most Norwegian newspapers. And, yes, in Norway, reviews are always out of 6. He has sold a great number of albums, and was also the opening act on the largest stage at the Øya festival in 2011.

Arild Hammerø released his debut album Dagen Som Gryr in 2008, which was well received by the Norwegian press. “Arild Hammerø is a folk singer who protects the heart-warming legacy of folk singers Lillebjørn Nilsen and Stein Ove Berg. Sensitive, lyrical and likeable”, wrote Norwegian newspaper Vårt Land. The album Flåte by Hammer & Hersk (Arild Hammerø and Daniel Herskedal) was released in 2012 and received good reviews. Arild is also a regular on guitar in the electronica duo Ost & Kjex, and participates on the album Cajun Lunch.

The rest of the band play a central part too, however, with Jonas Barsten Johnsen a young percussionist with a Masters degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music. He is/has been collaborating with amongst others: Frøy Aagre, Bendik Hofseth, Bendik Baksaas, Disaster in the Universe, Eivind Aarset, CCTV, Adam Rudolph and Bjørn Charles Dreyer. He is also a key player of the improv scene in Oslo with a focus on electronics, percussion and dance. He has played more than 100 gigs each of the last 3 years, including the most central festivals in Norway.

The band are completed by Morten Kvam who has played the string bass/electric bass and been an active musician in Bergen and Oslo within different genres such as jazz, rock, improvisation and folk music. He has collaborated with musicians such as Siri Nilsen, Terje Isungset, Per Jørgensen, Olav Dahle, Walter Thompson (US), Kevin Dean (CAN), Arild Hammerø, klezmer band Ot Azoi, Bugge Wesseltoft, Borge & Kvam, Polkabjørn and Kleine Heine, Push and Ine Hoem. He has also contributed on all Jens Carelius’ records and Arild Hammerø’s debut album.

Reaction

6/6 “a debut album that sounds downright grand and, pardon our French, fucking awesome.” – Groove.no
5/6 “a mountain plateau filled with violent rhythms and sudden turns… The album grows with every spin” – Gaffa.com
5/6 ”Mountain magic! Atlanter makes their debut with a blast, and equal parts of discipline and playfulness. “ – NRK P3

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The Style Council - 'Classic Album Selection' released by Universal

Prescription PR — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:19:42 +0000

Album reissues: Classic Album Selection by The Style Council
Release date: 15 July 2013
Label: Universal

Tired of the constraints of the Jam, Paul Weller shocked fans and the wider media world and broke up the most popular British band of the early '80s at the height of their success in 1982. Frustrated by The Jam’s musical direction, he wanted to explore more soulful, jazz and R’n’B paths in his music. He formed a new band with keyboardist Mick Talbot and created a loose collective of musicians, added according to the style of music they were intending to produce, known as Honorary Councillors. Using American musical influences filtered through a fundamental European style, which harked back to some of the early roots of Mod culture, the band created a string of classic singles and albums.

2013 marks the 30^th anniversary of the formation of the band and their first hit singles. This 6-album set features all the band’s studio albums as follows:

Introducing The Style Council

An extraordinary eclectic intro to the band - a round up of the first few British singles and b-sides.
Features the Jam-styled Speak Like a Child (UK no. 4 hit), the radical departure of Long Hot Summer (UK no. 3 hit) and the hard-hitting political Brit-funk of Money-Go-Round.

Cafe Bleu

The official debut album released in March 1984, reaching number 2 in the UK album chart.
An eclectic and ambitious album combining classic pop with jazzy/beat instrumentals and experimental theme throughout. Blue Note records were a big inspiration around this time.
Features top-5 hits My Ever Changing Moods and You’re The Best Thing as well as perennial favourite – Headstart For Happiness - three of Weller’s finest pop songs.

Our Favourite Shop

Another diverse collection for the second full-length album and an overtly political statement from Weller - lyrical targets included racism, excessive consumerism and the effects of self-serving governments!
No. 1 in the UK - the only Style Council album to reach that spot.
Features the top-ten singles – Shout To The Top and Walls Come Tumbling Down, as well as some of Weller’s best songs - Come to Milton Keynes, Boy Who Cried Wolf and Down in the Seine.
“I had a total belief in The Style Council. I was obsessed in the early years. I lived and breathed it all. I meant every word, and felt every action. Our Favourite Shop was its culmination.” Paul Weller 2006

The Cost Of Loving

Released in 1987, the album saw the group concentrating on a more extreme, urban-soul style, influenced by soul music pioneer Curtis Mayfield and by the contemporary House music scene of the time, including the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis sound.
Includes top-ten hit It Didn’t Matter.
Tracks from the album were included in the band’s surreal film Jerusalem.

Confessions Of A Pop Group

Probably the band’s most experimental and divisive album, with hints of Beach Boys, classical music (Weller was listening Debussy and Satie, amongst others around this time) and jazz influences.
Songs such as the nine-minute title track and the ‘Three Piece Suite’ of The Gardener of Eden, an avant-garde mix of classical and jazz stylings, were new territory for The Style Council, and an even more radical departure from the sound of The Jam.
Straight pop-oriented songs exist though – the hit single Life at a Top People's Health Farm, How She Threw It All Away and Why I Went Missing are regarded as lost Weller classics.

Modernism: A New Decade

Motivated by the underground club scene Weller chose another new direction for the last album – his take on the UK deep-house or garage scene.
Featuring the gospel-tinged Promised Land - the band's final single, Sure Is Sure, which went on to become a big bootleg dance hit throughout Europe and the instrumental - That Spiritual Feeling - one of the key cuts of the then-new acid jazz scene.
However upon its completion in 1989, it was rejected by the label Polydor, which led to the band breaking up. It was eventually released in 1998 on the box set, The Complete Adventures of The Style Council.

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Aztec Jazz: Tom Russell Live with the Norwegian Wind Ensemble

Prescription PR — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:51:49 +0000

Album release: Aztec Jazz by Tom Russell
Label: Proper Records
Release date: 1 July 2013

For over three decades and 28 album releases Tom Russell has continued to live up to his status as“one of our greatest songwriters of our time.” (Washington Post) His last two releases, Blood and Candle Smoke (2009) and Mesabi (2011), are considered his strongest composed works yet and were, in part, recorded with the groundbreaking roots band Calexico.

Years ago Russell and Dave Alvin, were tagged as the architects of what came to be known as “Americana” music, with their Merle Haggard tribute “Tulare Dust,” the record which initiated the Americana charts in America, and remained number one for a year. Aztec Jazz moves Americana into a new realm.

Aztec Jazz was recorded as a live concert in Halden, Norway in May of 2012 with the world-renown 32 piece Norwegian Wind Ensemble and guitarist Thad Beckman. Russell’s classic songs - St. Olav’s Gate, Nina Simone, Guadalupe, Stealing Electricity, Goodnight Juarez and others - are performed on acoustic guitars against a lush backdrop of oboes, trumpets, saxophones, French horns, trombones and percussion. This larger, ethereal canvas brings Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain to mind. The award-winning Swedish composer Mats Halling wrote the orchestral parts.

Tom Russell’s songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Doug Sahm, Nanci Griffith, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Dave Alvin, Joe Ely and others. He has written two acclaimed folk operas (The Man From God Knows Where and Hotwalker) and composed movie scores, including the songs for the new Monte Hellman movie The Road Nowhere. He’s also published five books, most recently 120 Songs of Tom Russell. His paintings are featured in Blue Horse/Red Desert: The Art of Tom Russell. Aztec Jazz moves Russell’s acclaimed song catalogue into newly charted territory.

For additional biography and photos go to http://www.tomrussell.com.

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The Allman Brothers Band's classic 'Brothers and Sisters' album to be reissued in July in remastered CD and vinyl formats

Prescription PR — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:16:54 +0000

Album reissue: Brothers and Sisters by The Allman Brothers Band
Release date: 8 July 2013
Label: Universal

Deluxe 2-CD and 4-CD Sets to include previously-unreleased rehearsals, jams, outtakes and live September 1973 recordings from Winterland.

When the Allman Brothers Band’s fifth album, Brothers and Sisters, was released on Capricorn Records in August 1973, the legendary southern blues-rock group had already achieved world-wide fame with their 1971 live album, At Fillmore East. This success was followed by the tragic loss of their founder, leader and musical visionary, guitarist Duane Allman, who died in a motorcycle crash on October 29, 1971. Arguably at the peak of their popularity, the band's album followed the release of the two-disc Eat a Peach, which came out on February 12, 1972; the last recording to include contributions by Duane.

While regrouping under the leadership of singer/organist Gregg Allman and guitarist/vocalist Dickey Betts — the last guitarist standing in a group noted for its dual leads — The Allman Brothers Band soldiered on with Brothers and Sisters, which turned out to be their most successful selling recording to date, spending five weeks at #1 and the first to achieve platinum status. To mark its 40th anniversary, the original classic recording — which includes such Allman standards as Ramblin’ Man, Wasted Words, Jessica and Come and Go Blues”—will be re-released in re-mastered form on both CD and vinyl, with deluxe two-CD and four-CD box sets that include previously unreleased rehearsals, jams and outtakes on Universal Music Enterprises.

“Brothers and Sisters documents a band reinventing itself and finding a new direction after a traumatic loss,” says UMe Chairman/CEO Bruce Resnikoff. “The two deluxe editions, through these previously unreleased rehearsals, jams and outtakes, offer a priceless glimpse inside that creative process.”

The album’s famous front cover features a photo of Vaylor Trucks, the son of drummer Butch Trucks, while the back sports a shot of Brittany Oakley, the daughter of bassist Berry Oakley. The gatefold pictures the entire Allmans family: band members, roadies, wives, girlfriends, children, dogs, all in a seemingly idyllic Southern setting, capturing the family nature of the project.

The deluxe two-CD edition of Brothers and Sisters includes the original remastered recording as well as previously unreleased rehearsals of Wasted Words, Trouble No More, One Way Out, I’m Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town and Done Somebody Wrong; outtakes of the instrumental Southbound, Double Cross and Early Morning Blues as well as the brand-new archival find, A Minor Jam. The four-CD set includes two discs devoted to a live performance at Winterland in San Francisco, Sept. 26, 1973, right after Brothers and Sisters’ release, featuring an introduction by Bill Graham and previously unavailable live versions of Done Somebody Wrong, Stormy Monday, Midnight Rider, Statesboro Blues, You Don’t Love Me (which includes Amazing Grace), Les Brers in A Minor, Blue Sky, Trouble No More and Whipping Post, along with two Brothers and Sisters tracks in Come and Go Blues and Jessica.

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James Brown: Best of Live at the Apollo - 50th Anniversary

Prescription PR — Fri, 31 May 2013 10:09:33 +0000

Album release: Best of Live at The Apollo - 50th Anniversary by James Brown
Release date: 24 June 2013
Label: Universal

This unique, 12-track album celebrates 50 years since the release of James Brown’s classic 1963 live album, Live At The Apollo, and showcases his many great performances recorded at the iconic Los Angeles venue. Brown, who would have reached his 80th birthday on 3 May 2013, first arrived at the Apollo in April 1959 as an opening act for Little Willie John, one of his idols. He wasn’t to remain an opener for long and “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business” would play the Apollo, Los Angeles more than 600 times during his career.

This title comprises 12 tracks from James Brown’s three landmark albums recorded at the historic venue: Live At The Apollo (recorded 1962, released 1963), Live At The Apollo Vol. II (recorded 1967, released 1968) and Revolution of the Mind: Recorded Live At The Apollo Vol. III (recorded and released 1971). Additionally, this set includes two unreleased tracks taken from the album, Get Down at The Apollo with The J.B.’s: Live At The Apollo Vol. IV – recorded in September 1972 but ultimately never released.

Personally funded by James Brown, the original, critically acclaimed Live At The Apollo, featuring the Famous Flames and the James Brown Orchestra, was first released in 1963 and became a cultural phenomenon, reaching No. 2 on The Billboard 200 album chart. In 2003 it was listed at No. 24 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time and in 2004, Live At The Apollo was added to the Library Of Congress’ National Recording Registry. Three tracks from this landmark recording, I’ll Go Crazy, Try Me and Night Train, plus the famous show introduction, are featured here.

Recorded in June 1967, Live At The Apollo Vol. II was released in 1968 and ushered in Brown’s new funky style with a larger, more sophisticated incarnation of the James Brown Orchestra, featuring Maceo Parker and led by Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis. This was Brown’s first live, double-LP set and charted at No. 2 on the R&B Album chart and Top 40 on The Billboard 200. Three tracks from this recording that feature on the new celebratory release are, the live hit single There Was A Time, Cold Sweat and Please, Please, Please, documenting the constant evolution of Soul Brother No. 1.

Revolution Of The Mind: Recorded Live At The Apollo Vol. III, a double-LP from 1971, is Brown’s third official live album recorded at the venue and features the backing band Fred Wesley & The J.B.’s. Revolution Of The Mind went to No. 7 on the R&B Albums chart and No. 39 on The Billboard 200. Three tracks from the album, the super-hot Sex Machine, Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved and Soul Power are featured on this best of.

Get Down At The Apollo with The J.B.’s was recorded for a potential double-album and was to feature the J.B.’s as well as James Brown Revue singer Lyn Collins. It was mixed for LP but its release was cancelled. Best Of Live At The Apollo includes two songs from the album, the instrumental Hot Pants Road and There It Is, in new mixes exclusive to this collection.

Track listing

Introduction to James Brown
I’ll Go Crazy
Try Me
Night Train
There Was A Time
Cold Sweat
Please, Please, Please
Sex Machine
Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved
Soul Power
Hot Pants Road *
There It Is *

Produced by James Brown

* Previously Unreleased

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Wiretree's fourth album, Get Up, to be released on 19 August

Prescription PR — Fri, 31 May 2013 09:49:52 +0000

Album release: Get Up by Wiretree
Release date: 19 August 2013
Label: Cobaltworks Music
Listen: on official site

Wiretree began as the solo recording project of singer-songwriter Kevin Peroni. After releasing the LP Bouldin in 2007, Peroni recruited other band members to solidify the project. The group released their sophomore effort Luck in 2009, which made its way to numerous year-end Best Of lists, labeled by Blurt Magazine as their “Best Kept Secret”. The band have since appeared at SXSW, featured on Austin City Limits and toured Europe. This year the band will play China’s biggest music festival, The Strawberry Music Festival, alongside acts like Deerhoof and Travis.

Wiretree’s mission statement for Get Up reads thus: unite diverse songs in a compatible way. Peroni, an Austin native, spent his life listening to music from the UK with The La’s, Radiohead, The Kinks all currying favour while sitting side by side US artists such as Grandaddy and Dylan. Each of these bands influenced what would become this beautiful patchwork album. Take Us Away beats like a Shins comedown, while elsewhere much of the album is guided by the power pop light of Big Star.

It was a conscious decision then to create an album that sounded homegrown and carefree, the general feeling being that too many modern albums are left feeling overly clinical, sterile and precise. The recording process itself was varied. Some songs were recorded live with the whole band (So Bold, To the Moon), other songs recorded alone (Marching Band, When You Were Young). The remaining songs were done in various studios, using different equipment and producers resulting in sonically different approaches to match the writing of each song. Peroni admits that when these new songs were birthed, it wasn’t with the intention of them becoming an album, which perhaps going someway to explain the resulting diversity.

Of the album, Peroni says:

“The album before, I tried using only one producer, I let the band members push the music to more of a rocking sound, and that was good for the time, but it made me want to get back to the roots of how I hear music in my head. I think this new album is one of the most revealing in terms of how I hear and create music in my head.”

For many, such diversity might signal a band yet to discover their true direction. But for Wiretree, now four albums in, their path couldn’t be more clear-cut; write the songs you want to listen to.

“There are traces of Britpop’s cool factor and The Shangri-Las’ lilt and sway” - Under The Radar

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The Dodos release 'Carrier' through Polyvinyl on 27 August

Prescription PR — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:33:23 +0000

Album release: Carrier by The Dodos
Release date: 27 August 2013
Label: Polyvinyl
Listen: on official website

San Francisco natives The Dodos announce the release of their new LP, Carrier, out worldwide on August 27 via Polyvinyl Records. The album will also be released by Dine Alone in Canada, Hi Note in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and China, P-Vine in Japan, and Jointt Corporation in Thailand. The album will be released on CD, LP (180 gram blue vinyl), cassette (limited edition of 100 white cassettes) and via all digital outlets. The first single Confidence is available for streaming and will see a digital release on May 21st.

The Dodos, comprised of singer and guitarist Meric Long and drummer Logan Kroeber, are also heading out on a full North American tour following the release of Carrier. Dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

When it came time for The Dodos to begin writing their fifth LP, singer/guitarist Meric Long wanted to start over. The uncertainty of the band’s trajectory as well as the unexpected passing of guitarist Chris Reimer (formerly of Women) brought about a reassessment of things within the band, and in particular Long’s songwriting.

“Chris was a huge influence on the way I think about guitar, songwriting, and music in general,” reveals Long. “Seeing how he could transform and shape sound with an electric guitar inspired me to explore more tones and use those tones to begin writing a song.”

In need of a different vantage point, Long began writing words before music for the first time, enveloping himself in silence rather than sound. When it came time to set these lyrics to music, Long started writing with only his electric guitar in hand - another first. The focus on this instrument was due in large part to the time Long spent with Reimer. And so, when he began to formulate the tracks that would ultimately comprise Carrier, Long employed two principles he inherited from Reimer: patience to let a song develop and a judgment-free enthusiasm for sound.

The album was recorded in the band’s hometown of San Francisco, allowing for less time constraints and a more pressure-free experience than past out-of-state sessions had afforded. Although John Vanderslice’s Tiny Telephone studio was initially selected for its analog-friendly setup, the duo were happy to find themselves working within a supportive community of like-minded musicians that included engineers Jay and Ian Pellicci, both of whom assisted in the production of Carrier, as well as the Magik Magik Orchestra, which appears on several tracks. As a result, the album The Dodos crafted is refreshingly sincere: no computers, no gimmicks; just eleven songs that are beautiful and solid and true and honest.

For a band briefly in flux, it’s clear now that The Dodos’ outlook on the future has never looked more certain.

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Jane's Addiction: Live in NYC - album / DVD out 8 July

Prescription PR — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:10:23 +0000

Album /DVD release: Jane’s Addiction: Live In NYC
Release date: 8 July 2013
Label: Capitol / UMC

From the beginning, Jane's Addiction have thrown the most unique parties in rock, mixing a fierce musicality with theatrical flair onstage. 2012 saw the band — who’ve always outrageously combined electricity, sex and danger — return to the stage in support of their acclaimed album The Great Escape Artist (Capitol Records).

Live in NYC was filmed in New York City at Terminal 5 on December 29th, 2012 during a special run of North American shows—called “Theatre of the Escapists”- with the band performing in intimate venues, most of which are classic theatres. The alternative rock pioneers — frontman Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins, along with Chris Chaney on bass — captured this immersive theatrical experience on tape and are making available via Live in NYC on multiple formats.

“We chose to play as many of the great theatres that we could find because we wanted to immerse the audience in a unique experience unlike any they have ever seen at a rock show,” said FARRELL in the band’s tour announcement. “Expect an orgy of musical and visual delights. We like orgies, and hope you do too.”

The album will be released on the following formats: Digital, DVD and Blu-ray (running time 69 mins), DVD & CD, CD – both with 12 page booklets and sticker and also double vinyl LP – which is the first live vinyl release since 1987's self-titled on Triple X Records.

Track list

Whores
Ain't No Right
Just Because
Ted, Just Admit It...
Been Caught Stealing
Irresistible Force (Met The Immovable Object)
Up the Beach
Ocean Size
Three Days
Mountain Song
Stop!
Encore: Jane Says

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Metallic prog-rock band Arthouse Hours release 'All for One' on July 22

Prescription PR — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:51:19 +0000

Album release: All for One by Arthouse Hours
Release date: 22 July
Listen: on Bandcamp

Hailing from St Petersburg, Russia, Arthouse Hours set about creating their breed of metallic prog-rock in 2010. Their ascent to the forefront of the city’s alternative music scene was a swift one, in the wake of a first mini-album release (View of Notre Dame) in 2011. Putting the stress of several line-up changes behind them, the band formerly know as Arthouse In Your Waking Hours locked themselves away in their own custom-built studio, charged with the task of writing and recording their sophomore record. All For One is the brutal result. Armed with a hefty cannon of Russian-born riffs, Arthouse Hours step take a giant step towards worldwide recognition with the UK release of the album on July 22.

Citing multi-era heavy rock, prog, industrial and metal influences such as Yes, Converge, Godflesh and The Fall of Troy, Arthouse Hours wield a steady hand at the production desk too, always careful to allow space for them to nod towards their heritage whilst administering their own force on the proceedings. On tracks like Away they are tormented (“Every season, like a prison”), during Heavily Assaulted, they openly burn bridges (“Relegate beloved ones… I can be alone”), whilst on Like This they find solace in Closure (“Farewell my dear friend”).

Thematically, the album centres around an individual under stress. Our protagonist goes through a break up with the object of his desire. He has conflicting thoughts on this, that frequently turn to dreams. He later questions whether he has actually experienced loss, instead acquiring something that is much bigger - a realization dawns that life must go on. On it goes.

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