quête:lost dog street band

After dark country trio Lost Dog Street Band released its 2022 album Glory, bandleader Benjamin Tod decided it was time to retire the project. Tod, alongside his wife Ashley Mae (fiddle), had been working together as a band since 2011. “I came to terms with letting go of Lost Dog completely, which is how I evaluate a lot of things in general,” explains Tod. “Oftentimes when I'm trying to make a really hard decision, I go ahead and go through the process of mourning its death and accepting that I am going to lose it.” But just a month after recording a solo project in January of 2023, Tod felt an urge to revisit the project one more time. “I thought I was done with Lost Dog, but after recording my solo album, I looked over all the songs that I had ready for a new record. These were songs for my band. I had to admit to myself that I wasn't done with Lost Dog.” Though there was heartbreak at the prospect of the project coming to an end, its resurrection has meant all the more in this new context. “Benjamin and I, both individually and together, have been through some professionally grinding and demoralizing personal times over the past five years,” Ashley Mae explains. “To take a step back from that over the past year and realize, ‘Wow, we held it down and withstood that, and we survived that,’ was a really good, bright, shining moment. It was the high point during a demoralizing time.” As such, Survived is a saving grace, a phoenix rising from the ashes. “This record means everything,” adds Tod. “It just feels like salvation.”

"The acclaimed 2007 album reissued on 1LP clear vinyl. Taken from the original 2007 masters when Pete Doherty was at the pinnacle of his creative powers, ‘Shotter’s Nation’ followed in the footsteps 'Down In Albion’, the band’s debut album, and Doherty’s first album outside of his first band - the era-defining Libertines. Both were met with commercial and critical acclaim, breaking into the top 10 of the album charts.

‘Shotter’s Nation’ is unmistakably Doherty. Melodic, stark, catchy, raw, brilliantly unique - his music has always created an unflappable loyalty from his many fans, remaining timeless, yet still sending a nostalgic excitement through its listeners. The album also features four songs co-written by Doherty’s then-girlfriend Kate Moss who also regularly performed live with them.

The approach to the recording and release of the album was an escape from Doherty’s previous methods. Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur, Morrissey, The Cranberries) took over producer duties from The Clash's Mick Jones, and it was and his first album released by a major label, Parlophone."

Time spent drifting from the northwest to Mexico to New Orleans and now to Montana has kept her off of the industry's radar until recently. Now, following her Newport Folk Fest appearance, she opened concerts for Big Thief and the Deslondes. Her performances on the Western AF have combined to garner over 200k views with the tastemaker site calling her "the GOAT." Cavazos' fans include Esther Rose, Benjamin Todd (Lost Dog Street Band), Riley Downing, Chris Acker, and Luke Bell. She collaborated as a member of a band (called Sundown) with Alynda Lee Segarra (of Hurray For the Riff Raff) and Sam Doores (of The Deslondes), the latter of whom produced this album.

Grounded in a season of life that has been earned rather than borrowed, Benjamin Tod speaks with the ease of someone no longer running from himself. There is joy now - a steadiness that comes from commitment. With the recent arrival of his son and a deep well of new music on the horizon, Tod is firmly rooted in both purpose and possibility. That clarity is evident in Vengeance and Grace, the Lost Dog Street Band frontman's forthcoming and most expansive solo album to date. Conceived as a "dual-version" release, the project presents two parallel worlds: (Alone) is a stripped solo-acoustic version, along with its full band counterpart.

Together, the two versions form the full range of what Tod is capable of: restraint on one side, force on the other. At the core of Tod's writing is a simple conviction: music should serve something larger than the moment. His writing speaks to mind, body, and soul, shaped by faith, discipline, and a hard-earned understanding of consequence. The darkness that once defined him is neither denied nor indulged. It is understood and no longer in control. Today, Tod moves with a sense of calm that wasn't always there. He is grateful, settled, and intentional, continuing to follow the compass that's guided him from the beginning. Rooted in traditional country and folk, his work stands firmly in the modern music landscape, shaped by experience, restraint, and the life he's built around it.

"The acclaimed 2007 album reissued on 1LP clear vinyl. Taken from the original 2007 masters when Pete Doherty was at the pinnacle of his creative powers, ‘Shotter’s Nation’ followed in the footsteps 'Down In Albion’, the band’s debut album, and Doherty’s first album outside of his first band - the era-defining Libertines. Both were met with commercial and critical acclaim, breaking into the top 10 of the album charts.

‘Shotter’s Nation’ is unmistakably Doherty. Melodic, stark, catchy, raw, brilliantly unique - his music has always created an unflappable loyalty from his many fans, remaining timeless, yet still sending a nostalgic excitement through its listeners. The album also features four songs co-written by Doherty’s then-girlfriend Kate Moss who also regularly performed live with them.

The approach to the recording and release of the album was an escape from Doherty’s previous methods. Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur, Morrissey, The Cranberries) took over producer duties from The Clash's Mick Jones, and it was and his first album released by a major label, Parlophone."

Das vierte Soloalbum von Lost Dog Street Band-Frontmann Benjamin Tod, Shooting Star, ist eine Hommage an mehrere Jahrzehnte Country-Musik
durch Tods hochgeschätztes und ehrliches Songwriting.

Das vierte Soloalbum von Lost Dog Street Band-Frontmann Benjamin Tod, Shooting Star, ist eine Hommage an mehrere Jahrzehnte Country-Musik
durch Tods hochgeschätztes und ehrliches Songwriting.

Der gesellschaftliche Status Quo hält Abstand: Rules Of This Game starten mit ihrem "Electrative Rock" einen Genres- und Generationen-überspannenden Sound. Das Debutalbum kompiliert die digital veröffentlichten Singles! Das geniale Duo aus einem kleinen, rheinländischen Städtchen mit dem Kölner Dom in Sichtweite und bringen etwas Besonderes in die deutsche Musikszene ein: Was ist Electrative Rock? Eine ganz eigene Mischung aus alternativem Rock und EDM, gepaart mit ordentlich Punk-Appeal und einer Menge catchy Hooks. Dazu kommt eine Live-Performance, die hängen bleibt! Nach digitalen Veröffentlichungen mit über 500.000 Streams sowie rund 150 Konzerten in verschiedenen Ländern hat sich die Band eine eingeschworene Fanbase geschaffen. Egal ob auf diversen Festivals, bei Christopher Street Days oder als Club-Support für Dog Eat Dog, The Bollock Brothers oder Rantanplan, die Musik und die Botschaft von Rules Of This Game kommen bei einer Vielzahl von Menschen aus den unterschiedlichsten musikalischen "Revieren" an. So auch beim Essener Label Sunny Bastards, sonst eher auf Punk und Oi! spezialisiert. Aber es passiert schließlich nicht oft, dass eine Band schon beim Soundcheck einen Plattenvertrag angeboten bekommt, oder? Das Album enthält 12 Songs, die eine große Gesamtbotschaft ergeben: Hab niemals Angst davor, zu dir selbst zu stehen, dich auszudrücken und dich selbst zu verwirklichen! Herkunft, Geschlecht und sexuelle Orientierung spielen dabei keine Rolle, denn gegenseitiger Respekt vor der Individualität und den Bedürfnissen eines jeden Menschen gehören zu den Eckpfeilern einer offenen, demokratischen Gesellschaft. Die LP erscheint limitiert mit Poster und den Texten plus Download-Code mit zwei noch unveröffentlichten, brandneuen Bonus-Songs!

Der gesellschaftliche Status Quo hält Abstand: Rules Of This Game starten mit ihrem "Electrative Rock" einen Genres- und Generationen-überspannenden Sound. Das Debutalbum kompiliert die digital veröffentlichten Singles! Das geniale Duo aus einem kleinen, rheinländischen Städtchen mit dem Kölner Dom in Sichtweite und bringen etwas Besonderes in die deutsche Musikszene ein: Was ist Electrative Rock? Eine ganz eigene Mischung aus alternativem Rock und EDM, gepaart mit ordentlich Punk-Appeal und einer Menge catchy Hooks. Dazu kommt eine Live-Performance, die hängen bleibt! Nach digitalen Veröffentlichungen mit über 500.000 Streams sowie rund 150 Konzerten in verschiedenen Ländern hat sich die Band eine eingeschworene Fanbase geschaffen. Egal ob auf diversen Festivals, bei Christopher Street Days oder als Club-Support für Dog Eat Dog, The Bollock Brothers oder Rantanplan, die Musik und die Botschaft von Rules Of This Game kommen bei einer Vielzahl von Menschen aus den unterschiedlichsten musikalischen "Revieren" an. So auch beim Essener Label Sunny Bastards, sonst eher auf Punk und Oi! spezialisiert. Aber es passiert schließlich nicht oft, dass eine Band schon beim Soundcheck einen Plattenvertrag angeboten bekommt, oder? Das Album enthält 12 Songs, die eine große Gesamtbotschaft ergeben: Hab niemals Angst davor, zu dir selbst zu stehen, dich auszudrücken und dich selbst zu verwirklichen! Herkunft, Geschlecht und sexuelle Orientierung spielen dabei keine Rolle, denn gegenseitiger Respekt vor der Individualität und den Bedürfnissen eines jeden Menschen gehören zu den Eckpfeilern einer offenen, demokratischen Gesellschaft. Die LP erscheint limitiert mit Poster und den Texten plus Download-Code mit zwei noch unveröffentlichten, brandneuen Bonus-Songs!

Der gesellschaftliche Status Quo hält Abstand: Rules Of This Game starten mit ihrem "Electrative Rock" einen Genres- und Generationen-überspannenden Sound. Das Debutalbum kompiliert die digital veröffentlichten Singles! Das geniale Duo aus einem kleinen, rheinländischen Städtchen mit dem Kölner Dom in Sichtweite und bringen etwas Besonderes in die deutsche Musikszene ein: Was ist Electrative Rock? Eine ganz eigene Mischung aus alternativem Rock und EDM, gepaart mit ordentlich Punk-Appeal und einer Menge catchy Hooks. Dazu kommt eine Live-Performance, die hängen bleibt! Nach digitalen Veröffentlichungen mit über 500.000 Streams sowie rund 150 Konzerten in verschiedenen Ländern hat sich die Band eine eingeschworene Fanbase geschaffen. Egal ob auf diversen Festivals, bei Christopher Street Days oder als Club-Support für Dog Eat Dog, The Bollock Brothers oder Rantanplan, die Musik und die Botschaft von Rules Of This Game kommen bei einer Vielzahl von Menschen aus den unterschiedlichsten musikalischen "Revieren" an. So auch beim Essener Label Sunny Bastards, sonst eher auf Punk und Oi! spezialisiert. Aber es passiert schließlich nicht oft, dass eine Band schon beim Soundcheck einen Plattenvertrag angeboten bekommt, oder? Das Album enthält 12 Songs, die eine große Gesamtbotschaft ergeben: Hab niemals Angst davor, zu dir selbst zu stehen, dich auszudrücken und dich selbst zu verwirklichen! Herkunft, Geschlecht und sexuelle Orientierung spielen dabei keine Rolle, denn gegenseitiger Respekt vor der Individualität und den Bedürfnissen eines jeden Menschen gehören zu den Eckpfeilern einer offenen, demokratischen Gesellschaft. Die LP erscheint limitiert mit Poster und den Texten plus Download-Code mit zwei noch unveröffentlichten, brandneuen Bonus-Songs!

A resurgent Dog Meat Records is thrilled and proud to release a new album by a resurgent rock'n'roller and an old friend, PAT TODD and his band THE RANKOUTSIDERS. The seventh album by LA's finest rock'n'roll band comes some 36 years after the label's first dalliances with Pat, back when he fronted the legendary Lazy Cowgirls. The new album shows that Pat has lost none of his spark, that his voice and songwriting have only gotten stronger, and that he's got another killer band behind him, one that mixes classic '70s punk rock roots with country, blues and rock'n'roll in a manner that sits somewhere between Exile on Main Street and LAMF. The new album is highlighted as usual by Pat Todd's fantastic songs. A prolific writer with an eye on life in the margins - whether they be in small towns or the big sprawling city he has called home for 40 years - Todd routinely hits the mark where youth and the advancement of age find common ground in alienation and wilfulness. Pat knows that rock’n’roll is not necessarily a young person's game, and nor is it a glamourous one; the name he gave this band accurately points to where he and they are coming from. New originals like 'All We Have To Show', the horn-riffing rocker 'Living In A World of Hurt' and the raucous country-folk punker 'Goodbye to the World' are up there with anything he has ever written, and the Rankoutsiders play them even better than ever. Indeed, a couple of choice covers - a version of 'Hi Ho Silver Lining', sung by guitarist Nick Alexander and cut before Jeff Beck's unfortunate passing, and a version of David Johansen's old heartbreaker 'Donna' cut before word of Martin Scorsese’s Johansen documentary got out - shows by comparison to the original versions just how well these guys can crank it out. *** For over 20 years - from the early 80s to the early 00’s- Pat Todd fronted the undisputed Los Angeles roots-punk kings: THE LAZY COWGIRLS. Having landed in LA from the mid-west-meets-the south outpost of Vincennes, Indiana early in the decade, the Cowgirls sparked a new LA punk scene; their live album Radio Cowgirl was the first release on scene prime mover SFTRI -and ultimately inspired a resurgence of classic 1976 Ramones/Saints/ Heartbreakers-style punk that stretched across the US into Europe, Japan and elsewhere, inspiring bands like the New Bomb Turks, Oblivions, Teengenerate, Onyas and countless others. THE LAZY COWGIRLS were but a memory in 2006 when PAT TODD and the RANKOUTSIDERS’ 28 song double-disc debut, The Outskirts of Your Heart was released. Where most bands would have exhausted their creative gas to fumes with such an ambitious first release, this was only the beginning for the RANKOUTSIDERS. Prior to the new album Sons of the City Ditch, the RANKOUTSIDERS have released six full-length albums (yes, some are double discs) and over a dozen singles and EPs and have more releases queued up. Each and every one of them is a testament to Pat’s personal vision of raw, high energy rock’n’roll infused with elements of country and rhythm & blues, and documentary proof that the RANKOUTSIDERS are one of the hottest rock'n'roll bands on the planet. Indeed, it must be said the RANKOUTSIDERS truly are a band: energetically flanking Pat stage left is long-time guitarist and vocalist Kevin Keller; to the right is guitarist and founding member, Nick Alexander- the cool, calm and collected eye of the storm; bassist Steven Vigh holds the lower frequencies in check with steadfast authority, pushing the chorus to the next harmonic level, while drummer Walt Phelan drives the engine hard while keeping the band on the rails.

A resurgent Dog Meat Records is thrilled and proud to release a new album by a resurgent rock'n'roller and an old friend, PAT TODD and his band THE RANKOUTSIDERS. The seventh album by LA's finest rock'n'roll band comes some 36 years after the label's first dalliances with Pat, back when he fronted the legendary Lazy Cowgirls. The new album shows that Pat has lost none of his spark, that his voice and songwriting have only gotten stronger, and that he's got another killer band behind him, one that mixes classic '70s punk rock roots with country, blues and rock'n'roll in a manner that sits somewhere between Exile on Main Street and LAMF. The new album is highlighted as usual by Pat Todd's fantastic songs. A prolific writer with an eye on life in the margins - whether they be in small towns or the big sprawling city he has called home for 40 years - Todd routinely hits the mark where youth and the advancement of age find common ground in alienation and wilfulness. Pat knows that rock’n’roll is not necessarily a young person's game, and nor is it a glamourous one; the name he gave this band accurately points to where he and they are coming from. New originals like 'All We Have To Show', the horn-riffing rocker 'Living In A World of Hurt' and the raucous country-folk punker 'Goodbye to the World' are up there with anything he has ever written, and the Rankoutsiders play them even better than ever. Indeed, a couple of choice covers - a version of 'Hi Ho Silver Lining', sung by guitarist Nick Alexander and cut before Jeff Beck's unfortunate passing, and a version of David Johansen's old heartbreaker 'Donna' cut before word of Martin Scorsese’s Johansen documentary got out - shows by comparison to the original versions just how well these guys can crank it out. *** For over 20 years - from the early 80s to the early 00’s- Pat Todd fronted the undisputed Los Angeles roots-punk kings: THE LAZY COWGIRLS. Having landed in LA from the mid-west-meets-the south outpost of Vincennes, Indiana early in the decade, the Cowgirls sparked a new LA punk scene; their live album Radio Cowgirl was the first release on scene prime mover SFTRI -and ultimately inspired a resurgence of classic 1976 Ramones/Saints/ Heartbreakers-style punk that stretched across the US into Europe, Japan and elsewhere, inspiring bands like the New Bomb Turks, Oblivions, Teengenerate, Onyas and countless others. THE LAZY COWGIRLS were but a memory in 2006 when PAT TODD and the RANKOUTSIDERS’ 28 song double-disc debut, The Outskirts of Your Heart was released. Where most bands would have exhausted their creative gas to fumes with such an ambitious first release, this was only the beginning for the RANKOUTSIDERS. Prior to the new album Sons of the City Ditch, the RANKOUTSIDERS have released six full-length albums (yes, some are double discs) and over a dozen singles and EPs and have more releases queued up. Each and every one of them is a testament to Pat’s personal vision of raw, high energy rock’n’roll infused with elements of country and rhythm & blues, and documentary proof that the RANKOUTSIDERS are one of the hottest rock'n'roll bands on the planet. Indeed, it must be said the RANKOUTSIDERS truly are a band: energetically flanking Pat stage left is long-time guitarist and vocalist Kevin Keller; to the right is guitarist and founding member, Nick Alexander- the cool, calm and collected eye of the storm; bassist Steven Vigh holds the lower frequencies in check with steadfast authority, pushing the chorus to the next harmonic level, while drummer Walt Phelan drives the engine hard while keeping the band on the rails.

Dogstar – guitarist/vocalist Bret Domrose, drummer Robert Mailhouse and bassist Keanu Reeves – epitomize the quintessential Southern California storytelling rock band they’ve always been in their hearts, making deeply resonant music that literally comes from Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees. Nearly a quarter century after what seemed to be their final album, Happy Ending (released in 2000), Dogstar has reformed and taken a great creative leap forward, establishing an entirely new path. “Our earlier records were almost in the wrong decade,” says Robert Mailhouse. “Looking back, it’s almost like we started a Seventies band that somehow got lost in the Nineties. When everybody else was shouting, we were trying to tell stories because in Bret, we’ve always had a singer-songwriter in the Jackson Browne tradition. But people kept saying `grunge’ because of the times we were in – or maybe because of the clothes we were wearing.” “This music just sounds like us,” says Bret Domrose with a smile. “One of the things I love about this album is the variety of feel,” says Keanu Reeves. “Every song is not the same – you can hear our diverse influences and a lot of different tones here. And I feel like finally on this album, we’ve managed to take all those influences and our passion for playing together and once and for all turned it all
into Dogstar.”

Dogstar – guitarist/vocalist Bret Domrose, drummer Robert Mailhouse and bassist Keanu Reeves – epitomize the quintessential Southern California storytelling rock band they’ve always been in their hearts, making deeply resonant music that literally comes from Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees. Nearly a quarter century after what seemed to be their final album, Happy Ending (released in 2000), Dogstar has reformed and taken a great creative leap forward, establishing an entirely new path. “Our earlier records were almost in the wrong decade,” says Robert Mailhouse. “Looking back, it’s almost like we started a Seventies band that somehow got lost in the Nineties. When everybody else was shouting, we were trying to tell stories because in Bret, we’ve always had a singer-songwriter in the Jackson Browne tradition. But people kept saying `grunge’ because of the times we were in – or maybe because of the clothes we were wearing.” “This music just sounds like us,” says Bret Domrose with a smile. “One of the things I love about this album is the variety of feel,” says Keanu Reeves. “Every song is not the same – you can hear our diverse influences and a lot of different tones here. And I feel like finally on this album, we’ve managed to take all those influences and our passion for playing together and once and for all turned it all
into Dogstar.”

CHRISTIAN DEATH was formed by Rozz Williams in Los Angeles, California in 1979. Williams was eventually joined by guitarist/songwriter Rikk Agnew of ADOLESCENTS, James McGearty on bass and George Belanger on drums. This CHRISTIAN DEATH line-up was responsible for recording the band's iconic 1982 debut, ONLY THEATRE OF PAIN, widely regarded as the #1 American goth album of all-time. This exclusive double-LP version of OTOP commemorates its 40th anniversary- the first disc is the digitally remastered, original version of the album while the second disc is comprised of "Dogs" from HELL COMES TO YOUR HOUSE, four pre-Frontier demos, two studio demos made for a second Frontier Records' LP that never happened and two alternate studio mixes from OTOP. The gatefold LP jacket is printed in its original its black and metallic gold, includes a Colver collage poster and a hardcover copy of the photo book, ONLY THEATRE OF PAIN and all come in a hard slipcase. The oversized 12" x 12" book features rare and never-before-seen photos of CHRISTIAN DEATH as well as new interviews with photographer Edward C. Colver, the surviving band members, Frontier's Lisa Fancher and others. Colver befriended the band and followed them around in late 1981 and early 1982 at more than a dozen concerts as well as photo shoots in Rozz Williams' family home (used on the back cover and insert of ONLY THEATRE OF PAIN) and a session of now famous images at a Pomona CA cemetery. Info: Just as the theatrically-minded LA punk scene was beginning to give rise to such morbidly themed outfits as 45 Grave and the Flesh Eaters, an androgynous teenaged street performer named Rozz Williams (né Roger Painter) founded CHRISTIAN DEATH, one of the most prolific, enduring, and beloved gothic acts of all time. Williams' otherworldly groan can make "Only Theatre of Pain" difficult going for those that aren't the gothic faithful, but the loud/not-too-fast music (courtesy of ex-ADOLESCENTS guitarist Rikk Agnew and the walking-dead rhythm section of bassist James McGearty and drummer George Belanger) is appropriately doom 'n' gloomy, with inventive arrangements and clear sound - thanks to Frontier Records' go-to punk production legend, Thom Wilson- capturing the mood in full B-movie fidelity. The lyrics sacriligiously address horror topics and religion: they're overwrought (the backwards masking of 'Mysterium Iniquitatis' being one clever exception) but easy to overlook in the wash of inspired rock noise. The original lineup's recorded debut is a gem. Artists inspired by CHRISTIAN DEATH include Danzig, Craddle of Filth, Paradise Lost, Korn, Type O Negative, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson and Jane's Addiction. Press: "A depraved masterpiece, this was punk rock made poetic, subversive, and gracefully savage."- AV Club "The Gothic album to out-gothic all others" - Melody Maker "Only Theatre of Pain's influence should not be underestimated" - Record Collector Limited availability!

The Stooges are widely considered one of the greatest rock bands of all time and this comes across loud and clear on director Jim Jarmusch’s critically acclaimed documentary film ‘Gimme Danger’. GIMME DANGER: MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE is a 14-track collection curated by Jarmusch and Stooges frontman Iggy Pop, with a focus on the group’s first three albums. It includes The Stooges’ classics ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog,’ ‘1969,’ and ‘Loose,’ along with rarities ‘I Got A Right,’ ‘I’m Sick of You’ and ‘Asthma Attack,’ and songs by MC5, Iggy Pop’s pre-Stooges combo The Iguanas, & more. It’s one of those rare soundtracks that appeals both to the most discerning fan and also as an introductory to those less familiar.

Over nearly 20 years, Howlin Rain may have become the quintessential independent American rock ’n roll band: a steam-spitting Hydra of cranked guitars, kicking asphalt dust through a kaleidoscoping travelogue of desert motels and dives, volleying forth transmissions of sci-fi poetry from the blacktop veins of this cracked and aching country.

Now, in America 2021, capping these strangest and sorest of times, the band returns with The Dharma Wheel, a six-track, 52-minute dive into a joyous fantasy realm of exaggerated present.

“I wanted The Dharma Wheel to be a portal from our everyday world, the one from which you stand on hard ground and hold the album in your hands and peer into the artwork, and into another universe,” says songwriter, guitarist and vocalist, Ethan Miller. “You enter into that universe with your eyes and ears and mind and take a ride through free-form meditation on these ideas — from big, fundamental concepts about our existence right down to the grease that rolls down the arm of a pulp novel killer as he eats a gas station hot dog in an old Dodge in an alleyway.”

Lyrically, Miller has completed his evolution into a mushroom-plucking Whitman of the West, singing outlandish tales in a topographic blend of Humbead’s Revised Map of the World and an inverted U.S. where downtrodden bodhisattvas roam the back streets and moonless country roads.

“Down in Florida swamps, run by nature’s law, standing in the water, Eden gone. Two men loading rifles, beasts making time, they shot a boy from an orange tree and watched the colored birds take flight, watch the colors as they soar and dive.” — ‘Under the Wheels.’

The band, Jeff McElroy (bass, backing vocals), Justin Smith (drums/percussion, backing vocals) and Dan Cervantes (guitar, backing vocals), again sounds hardwired into Miller’s vision, building tracks that swagger and sway in response to his verse. Lending a hand this time around is the legendary Scarlet Rivera (Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue) on violin, and the endlessly inventive Adam MacDougall (Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Circles Around the Sun) on keys.

Songs were shaped via the blast furnace of endless gigs, then recorded often mere hours after the band slipped the stage.

“The captured sonic fact about this record is that it’s the sound of a band that rehearsed this material a lot and put a ton of work into its construction and was on the road a lot and recorded on days off in the tour schedule,” Miller says. “In some cases we were on stage on Saturday night playing these songs at quarter-to-2 in the morning and by Noon the next day we were sipping coffee in the studio playing them for the machine.”

Rivera’s violin is the first sound heard as the album dawns on the instrumental “Prelude.” Soon, the band joins, twirling the theme into a psychedelicized awakening. “Don’t Let the Tears” brings the boogie, with MacDougall’s madcap synth work and wah-wah guitars showering 70’s glitter upon a parquet dance floor of the mind. “Under the Wheels” and “Rotoscope” center the album with taut, compositional epics populated by murdering drifters and fuzz pedal explosions. The blue hour comedown of “Annabelle” meditates upon the weariness of lost love, with Rivera again amping the heartache via her violin strings.

“In the evening the trains go by, and shake the dust from dirty walls, sometimes I feel like a spider in an old mason jar, who threatens only convex light from down the hall. I’ve been lost to the world since the photos of the black hole, landed on my desktop screaming, perhaps the all and nothing all-in-one is just too much to take, for particles and matter that never found their way.” — ‘Annabelle’

The record closes with the 16-minute title track, a multi-movement suite which cycles from Crazy Horse-meets-Traffic jams through colossal, mass-moving funk stomp, eventually cresting and washing into a sing-along gospel lament.

The Dharma Wheel is an album of great depth, and one steeped in good vibes: a rich, glistening world of the ultra-vivid. As illustrated in Arik Roper’s cover art, the grand dharmachakra has been set in motion, churning off the California coast.

“We were trying to build a world big enough that the imagination won’t go soft on you after just a few listens and where our love for this music, and music in general — along with a good dose of audacity — create a magic carpet ride through the world of The Dharma Wheel,” Miller continues. “In pursuing that I think we also managed to make a record that has a lot of joy in it: the joy of playing music, the joy of experiencing music, the joy of storytelling and poetry, the kind of singular joy and extended ecstatic moment that only a real ‘band’ can express in just that way.”

And it’s this joy, this exuberance and dedication to the lines of cosmic expression — all centered in the exalted art of the everyday — that constructs the heart of the record. At its core, The Dharma Wheel is the triumph of a working band, a transmission from a never-paused before arriving for our strange, bruised, spectacular now.”

Over nearly 20 years, Howlin Rain may have become the quintessential independent American rock ’n roll band: a steam-spitting Hydra of cranked guitars, kicking asphalt dust through a kaleidoscoping travelogue of desert motels and dives, volleying forth transmissions of sci-fi poetry from the blacktop veins of this cracked and aching country.

Now, in America 2021, capping these strangest and sorest of times, the band returns with The Dharma Wheel, a six-track, 52-minute dive into a joyous fantasy realm of exaggerated present.

“I wanted The Dharma Wheel to be a portal from our everyday world, the one from which you stand on hard ground and hold the album in your hands and peer into the artwork, and into another universe,” says songwriter, guitarist and vocalist, Ethan Miller. “You enter into that universe with your eyes and ears and mind and take a ride through free-form meditation on these ideas — from big, fundamental concepts about our existence right down to the grease that rolls down the arm of a pulp novel killer as he eats a gas station hot dog in an old Dodge in an alleyway.”

Lyrically, Miller has completed his evolution into a mushroom-plucking Whitman of the West, singing outlandish tales in a topographic blend of Humbead’s Revised Map of the World and an inverted U.S. where downtrodden bodhisattvas roam the back streets and moonless country roads.

“Down in Florida swamps, run by nature’s law, standing in the water, Eden gone. Two men loading rifles, beasts making time, they shot a boy from an orange tree and watched the colored birds take flight, watch the colors as they soar and dive.” — ‘Under the Wheels.’

The band, Jeff McElroy (bass, backing vocals), Justin Smith (drums/percussion, backing vocals) and Dan Cervantes (guitar, backing vocals), again sounds hardwired into Miller’s vision, building tracks that swagger and sway in response to his verse. Lending a hand this time around is the legendary Scarlet Rivera (Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue) on violin, and the endlessly inventive Adam MacDougall (Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Circles Around the Sun) on keys.

Songs were shaped via the blast furnace of endless gigs, then recorded often mere hours after the band slipped the stage.

“The captured sonic fact about this record is that it’s the sound of a band that rehearsed this material a lot and put a ton of work into its construction and was on the road a lot and recorded on days off in the tour schedule,” Miller says. “In some cases we were on stage on Saturday night playing these songs at quarter-to-2 in the morning and by Noon the next day we were sipping coffee in the studio playing them for the machine.”

Rivera’s violin is the first sound heard as the album dawns on the instrumental “Prelude.” Soon, the band joins, twirling the theme into a psychedelicized awakening. “Don’t Let the Tears” brings the boogie, with MacDougall’s madcap synth work and wah-wah guitars showering 70’s glitter upon a parquet dance floor of the mind. “Under the Wheels” and “Rotoscope” center the album with taut, compositional epics populated by murdering drifters and fuzz pedal explosions. The blue hour comedown of “Annabelle” meditates upon the weariness of lost love, with Rivera again amping the heartache via her violin strings.

“In the evening the trains go by, and shake the dust from dirty walls, sometimes I feel like a spider in an old mason jar, who threatens only convex light from down the hall. I’ve been lost to the world since the photos of the black hole, landed on my desktop screaming, perhaps the all and nothing all-in-one is just too much to take, for particles and matter that never found their way.” — ‘Annabelle’

The record closes with the 16-minute title track, a multi-movement suite which cycles from Crazy Horse-meets-Traffic jams through colossal, mass-moving funk stomp, eventually cresting and washing into a sing-along gospel lament.

The Dharma Wheel is an album of great depth, and one steeped in good vibes: a rich, glistening world of the ultra-vivid. As illustrated in Arik Roper’s cover art, the grand dharmachakra has been set in motion, churning off the California coast.

“We were trying to build a world big enough that the imagination won’t go soft on you after just a few listens and where our love for this music, and music in general — along with a good dose of audacity — create a magic carpet ride through the world of The Dharma Wheel,” Miller continues. “In pursuing that I think we also managed to make a record that has a lot of joy in it: the joy of playing music, the joy of experiencing music, the joy of storytelling and poetry, the kind of singular joy and extended ecstatic moment that only a real ‘band’ can express in just that way.”

And it’s this joy, this exuberance and dedication to the lines of cosmic expression — all centered in the exalted art of the everyday — that constructs the heart of the record. At its core, The Dharma Wheel is the triumph of a working band, a transmission from a never-paused before arriving for our strange, bruised, spectacular now.”

In the past years, the multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and music enthusiast Jeff Özdemir had been focusing on organising the Live-Mixtape series in Berlin, inviting numerous artists to join him on stage for every single event. However, the year 2020 put an end to this for all the painfully obvious and obviously painful reasons. Undeterred, he instead put together the third instalment of the »Jeff Özdemir & Friends« series, working with singers, musicians and groups such as Knarf Rellöm & DJ Patex, F.S. Blumm, Joanna Gemma Auguri, Elke Brauweiler and Elmer Kussiac for an 18-track … Now, is this a compilation or an artist album? Well, why just either this or that when it can just be both at once? This is »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« after all, emphasis on »&«.

Released on Karaoke Kalk like its two predecessors from the years 2015 and 2017, respectively, »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« sees the man behind Kreuzberg’s 33rpm record store and the 33rpm Records label showcase his qualities as a people remixer, songwriter and versatile musician. He put together a collection of groovy tunes picking up on funk and afrobeat rhythms, introspective ballads, a musically channeled punk attitude, shoegaze sentiments, spoken word passages, drones, glockenspiel sounds, seriously fun experimentation and much more. Just like on the cover artwork - courtesy of Marion Eichmann, Özdemir’s favourite visual artist - everything here seems to discreetly exist for itself while being tightly connected to everything else at same time.

While artists like Ertan Doğancı, Désolé Léo, eng°n, F.S. Blumm and Zap have been long-term collaborators of Özdemir and were featured on previous instalments of the »Jeff Özdemir & Friends« series, new faces and forces also enter the mix. The melancholic »Love Letters« for example marks the first (though hopefully not last) collaboration with singer Joanna Gemm Auguri, while Knarf Rellöm & DJ Patex’s appearance has been dreamt of collectively but hasn’t been fully realised until now.

Whether it’s Désolé Léo’s French crooner soul, the lo-fi synth pop song »Bored« featuring former Commercial Breakup singer Elke Brauweiler or the many different sounds and styles presented under the name Jeff Özdemir: no decision is ever made between either that or this musical direction, but all are being joyfully enjoyed together. Thus, throughout its 70 minutes, the stylistic diversity of »Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3« does not once border on randomness. Instead, these sometimes very different songs are marked by a shared atmosphere - a direct result of these very different musicians approaching their studio time together less as a chance to make music but more of a chance to carefully listen to and interact with each other.

Just like you’d expect it from someone deeply connected with the local music community who also happens to run a record store, Özdemir is also the kind of person who’ll hand you the worn copy of a record he has just fished out from the bargain bin because he knows about its potential to change your life. The contributions by Vackrow (»Kleistpark«), Gebrüder Teichmann’s old band BeigeGT (»Disco«), and Otto von Bismarck (»Zu viele Erinnerungen«, produced by The Whitest Boy Alive’s Daniel Nentwig) do not even feature Özdemir, but are simply musical pearls that were (almost) lost in the shuffle of music history and unearthed for this very special occasion. That’s just what friends do, don’t they?

At a time when on every street corner, adolescent wannabe gangstas believed they had to tell everyone and their dog about their greatness and the inferiority of all others, there was a cadre of Munich-based Hip-Hop artists producing incredibly fresh and imaginative music, inspired, of course, by the golden era of the 90s. They played gigs in small clubs in front of some dozens of people, spread mixtapes and Eps and were celebrated by their friends and the rest of the scene. The world took no notice - until now ! Tramp Records, specializing in unearthing forgotten pearls of musical art, documents with "Golden Hits", an era of Munich underground Hip Hop which flew completely under the radar, spanning ten years from 2005 to 2015. The musical bandwidth and quality of the tracks is astonishing, but so much more could have been possible. Much of this music remained fragmented or unreleased for a host of reasons, families, stressful jobs, musical reorientation, and even lost hard disks... but one story has a happy ending! When Masta Ace had a live show at the legendary Atomic Cafe, Primatune's Fid Rizz was able to hand over a CD with demo beats. Unfortunately the CD was blank by mistake! But the curiosity of Masta Ace had been piqued, and he got back to him, the rest is history. Features of other stateside rap heroes like Wordsworth or Declaime followed.

The very best of this era, including tracks never before heard and ideas remaining fragmented, has now been compiled by Tramp Records to take you for a fascinating listening journey.

Hip Hop, as it was since it's inception in the Bronx, fresh and real, and made with passion by neighborhood kids spitting truth about life and the struggle!

Key selling points:

- including many unreleased songs
- the vinyl LP comes with a full album download code