BJÖRNHORN is the first solo album by Swedish, renowned bass player
Johan Berthling (known for his work with ensembles such as Tape, Time
is a Mountain, Fire!, Goran Kajfeš Suptropic Arkestra)
Meticulously recorded by Daniel Bengston at Studio Rymden, and produced by
Berthling together with Alex Zethson, it is a startling solo album of raw and warmsounding double bass. It contains the original suite 'BJÖRNHORN', as well as a
stunning rendition of Charlie Haden's 'For Turiya'.
Joining the dots between Brazilian musical culture and the sonic melting pot that is New York City, Saidera are a trio on the rise. They’ve already released a pair of critically acclaimed, carnival-ready singles on Brooklyn’s Let’s Play House label and are now ready to make their debut on Leng Records.
The band’s roots can be traced back to a trip that Lemonade band member Alex Pasternak made to Brazil in 2014. While DJing at a house party in the bohemian Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Sta Teresa, Pasternak was left gobsmacked when a mysterious local singer/sambista Vadinho Freire, grabbed the mic and started freestyling lyrics and melodies over his set. Realising their instinctive musical connection, Pasternak and Freire decided to work together on some music, with New Yorker Le Chev joining them to complete the Saidera trio.
Now based in Rio and California, the group’s sun-soaked sound – which they describe as “samba disco-Afro melody” – is a cross-cultural stew in which infectious Brazilian percussion, colourful synth sounds, glistening guitars and celebratory vocals combine to create magical, life-affirming musical moments.
‘Luzes Da Cidade’, their first outing on Leng, encapsulates all that’s good about the Saidera sound and the trio’s approach to music. The song is about identity and connection and in its original form is languid, loved-up and joyous, with acoustic and electric guitars, Portuguese vocals and Korey Riker’s gently breezy flute solos rising above a squelchy synth bassline and energetic, sweat-soaked samba drums.
The song’s main mix comes accompanied by a wonderful instrumental pass featuring more extensive solos by Riker, and Saidera’s own remix of ‘Luzes Da Cidade’ – an extra-percussive, breakbeat-tinged fusion of hazy deep house, energetic samba and sunset-ready synth-disco that will delight DJs and dancers alike.
To round off the EP, Saidera has delivered a brand new “Uprockin Dub” of debut single ‘Deixa Tudo Fluir’, this time with female vocals from Irina Bertolucci taking the lead. Brilliantly kaleidoscopic sonically, with dub delay-laden vocals, guitars and flutes, it’s a superb, life-affirming Balearic reggae interpretation of a now familiar favourite. If you’re not singing along with the chorus after your first listen, we’d be very surprised.
Experimental elements of Baroque and Chamber Pop make up this indie
rock band from Phoenix, Arizona - Emby Alexander creates a focused
aesthetic through thoughtful craft of self-produced music, art, and film
Even while constantly seeking out new textures, techniques, and feelings, SOARS
ERA epitomizes the Emby Alexander vibe. Consummate explorers and
overachievers, the four-piece have swum further than their already wild farthest
reaches and established a new spiritual psychedelic home.
'The Present Is A Foreign Land' ist ein ausgereiftes und vollendetes Werk mit 12 Tracks, die komplett von den Brüdern James und Matty Veck-Gilodi in Eigenregie geschrieben und eingespielt wurden. Inhaltlich drehen sich die emotionalen Songs um Themen wie das Impostor-Syndrom, dem Überwinden schwieriger Lebenshindernisse und der Selbstfindung. Für die Produktion zeichnet Mike Horner (Hot Chip, Jess Glynne, YONAKA, u.a.) verantworlich. Die erste Singleauskopplung heisst 'Going Clear', ein ehrlicher und verletzlicher Song, der einmal mehr James' unverwechselbare Stimme mit emotionalem Text vereint, der direkt aus dem Herzen zu Herzen geht. Neben dem neuen Album kann man sich auch auf Liveshows der Jungs in diesem Jahr freuen, u.a. beim Slam Dunk Festival im Sommer neben Alexisonfire, The Wonder Years und Meet Me At The Altar.
'The Present Is A Foreign Land' ist ein ausgereiftes und vollendetes Werk mit 12 Tracks, die komplett von den Brüdern James und Matty Veck-Gilodi in Eigenregie geschrieben und eingespielt wurden. Inhaltlich drehen sich die emotionalen Songs um Themen wie das Impostor-Syndrom, dem Überwinden schwieriger Lebenshindernisse und der Selbstfindung. Für die Produktion zeichnet Mike Horner (Hot Chip, Jess Glynne, YONAKA, u.a.) verantworlich. Die erste Singleauskopplung heisst 'Going Clear', ein ehrlicher und verletzlicher Song, der einmal mehr James' unverwechselbare Stimme mit emotionalem Text vereint, der direkt aus dem Herzen zu Herzen geht. Neben dem neuen Album kann man sich auch auf Liveshows der Jungs in diesem Jahr freuen, u.a. beim Slam Dunk Festival im Sommer neben Alexisonfire, The Wonder Years und Meet Me At The Altar.
Reggae Film Star is Damien Jurado's 18th full length studio album and
the second on his own record label Maraqopa Records
25 years since his debut album Waters Ave S. came out, Jurado is more prolific,
driven and creative than ever. The twelve mystical songs on Reggae Film Star are
gorgeously cinematic and feature a rich production and diverse sonic textures.
Reggae Film Star was produced by Damien Jurado at Sonikwire in Irvine, CA, with
invaluable help from the dream team of multi instrumentalist Josh Gordon and
recording engineer Alex Bush. The album was mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling
Sound.
Yet another chapter in the ongoing Alexander Robotnick saga. Electronic wizard Maurizio Dami licensed his second single in 1983 on Materiali Sonori ‘club series’ Fuzz Dance. After the surprising and astonishing success of the debut - Problèmes D'Amour – Robotnick became a sort of cult figure even in the United States and soon was labeled as a forerunner of the electro movement.
Erstmals auf Platte: Die beiden Alben 'Wood, Brass & Steel' (1976) und 'Hard & Heavy' (1980) und damit die gesamte Diskografie der Disco-Formation Wood, Brass & Steel mit Doug Wimbish (bass) und Skip McDonald (git), die später mit Keith LeBlanc die Sugarhill Records-Houseband bildeten, bevor sie mit Adrian Sherwood Tackhead gründeten. Angereichert mit 5 bislang unveröffentlichten Aufnahmen eines nie erschienenen, dritten Albums. Mit den oft gesampelten Tracks 'Funkanova' (DJ Sneak, The Bucketheads, Black Science Orchestra), 'My Lady' (Pete Rock), 'My Darling Baby' (Erykah Badu), dem Ronnie Laws-Klassiker 'Always There' sowie der Extended Version von 'Welcome To The Party' (bislang 12inch-only). Remastered von den Original-Mastertapes.
Wood Brass and Steel waren die letzte und berühmteste Hausband der von Sylvia und Ehemann Joe Robinson geleiteten Labelgruppen All Platinum und Sugarhill Records, doch dieses Album wurde nie zuvor auf LP-Vinyl veröffentlicht. Die Musiker nahmen die Songs "Hey That's What You Say" und "A Love of My Own" auf, und als das Astroscope-Label von All Platinum sie als 7"-Single veröffentlichte, wurden sie zu Wood Brass and Steel. Die Gruppe vervollständigte dann dieses Album, das 1973 auf Astroscope LP5002 erscheinen sollte, aber nie veröffentlicht wurde.
Die Besetzung der Gruppe zu dieser Zeit ist nicht ganz klar, aber mit Sicherheit gehörten Harold Sargent, Bernard Alexander alias Skip McDonald (er nahm auch unter vielen anderen Kombinationen dieser Namen auf), Herman Tudi White am Bass und Otha Stokes am Saxophon und an der Flöte sowie Randy Bost an der Trompete dazu. Doug Wimbish und Craig Derry stießen zu dieser Zeit zur Band und sind zumindest an einigen, möglicherweise aber nicht an allen Titeln beteiligt.Die Band veröffentlichte zwei weitere hervorragende Alben: "Wood Brass And Steel" auf Turbo von 1976 und "Hard n Heavy" für Sugarhill im Jahr 1980. Wimbush, McDonald und der spätere Schlagzeuger Keith Le Blanc unterstützten die meisten Aufnahmen auf dem Sugar Hill-Label und machten anschließend eine lange und erfolgreiche Karriere im Musikgeschäft als Plattenkünstler und Session-Spieler.
Second full length album from the Hamilton, ON punk/hardcore band fronted by Alexisonfire vocalist George Pettit. - Have shared the stage with Cancer Bats, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Fucked Up and more - Festival plays at Heavy Montreal, Pouzza Fest, Beaus Oktoberfest and more - Received a sync deal for their track ‘Punks at the Gym’ in the Amazon original series ‘The Boys’. They were also filmed and appeared in the episode.
"Insane and heavy beats by the og don Pixelord featuring great remixes by an all-star line-up comprising Dj Ride, Dj Pound, Starkey and Dranq!
Like a lightning bolt in the middle of a dark sea, PIXELORD has returned once again from the frozen lands to shock and disquiet the tides of Futuristic Bass Music. Perhaps the best thing about Russian electronic music godfather Alexey Devyanin's PIXELORD project returning to SATURATE! for this "Demonslayer" release is not simply the exciting and hard-hitting beats contained within, but the simple fact that it shall be offered on delicious, glorious VINYL. An artifact for all time, perhaps to be found in future wastelands by those who would consider this "Demonslayer" to be the VanHelsing (or perhaps Trevor Belmont) of the 21st century bass music scene.
The last decade has seen PIXELORD riding the wave of forward-thinking bass music, and always staying at the crest, and 2020 is no different. "Doomguy" comes tearing straight in with menacing, distorted synth weaponry, assaulting with ballistic beats (even some nods to Junglism) until finally bestowing some glittering melody atop the fray, showing that not only is Alexey an elder-statesman of the genre, he's still the eager bass monster that explores his own depths. The depths are again evident in "Pain Elemental" where the vibe is established immediately, and only delves deeper into the slightly-detuned bass signals and ominous creeping atmosphere. The melodic elements are no longer here to sooth, they are newly charged laser beams that sear the flesh, scorching the eardrums.
This foreboding, demon-dispatching vibe is indeed present throughout this entire release, as you enter the "Bonus Stage" of this deadly game, where the aggression does not abate, and the bass plays backseat to the synth bell sonic geometry on display. The drums especially feel the wrath of PIXELORD on this track, where some impossibly tortured tambourines take a beating, and the chopping and relentless reorganization of the rhythm keeps you churning with intensity. The title track brings the "wild style", even though the drums are less frantic, the bass frequencies and laser blasts from our protagonist, the ever-ready "Demonslayer", are sure to dismantle any submissive subwoofer in range.
"BFG" rounds out this collection in a disheveled fashion, dishing out low frequency divebombs and squelches, whilst otherworldly transmissions from synth realms afar come leaping in trying to assert their dominance, only to be eaten alive by daemonic bass and telluric currents of seismic drum activity. An utterly destructive end to this tale… BUT WAIT, IT GETS WORSE! We have here on hand SATURATE! stalwarts DJ Ride, DJ Pound, DRANQ and big daddy STARKEY on remix duty, who all take the tracks down their own rabbit holes to parts unknown, with equal aplomb. The result is equal in intensity and aggression, but the textures by which this is conveyed are wholly transformed and re-imagined skillfully.
All this on one slab of gorgeous VINYL. No demon shall stand a chance against PIXELORD's battalion of beats and bass."
Inspiriert von der Black Lives Matter Bewegung formuliert der britische Pianist und Komponist Alexis Ffrench seine Lebensaufgabe: Mit klassischer Musik möchte er für eine Gesellschaft der Vielfalt, Gleichheit und des gegenseitigen Respekts eintreten. Auf seinem Album "Truth" bringt er seine Vision zum Erklingen. "Was ist meine Aufgabe in der Welt" - diese grundlegende Frage versucht der britische Pianist und Komponist Alexis Ffrench mit seinem Album "Truth" für sich zu beantworten. Die Frage geht für den Sohn jamaikanischer Einwanderer auf den Tod von George Floyd zurück. Schockiert sah Alexis Ffrench das Video von Floyds Ermordung durch einen Polizisten am 25. Mai 2020. Ungläubig und überwältigt setzte er sich an sein Piano und begann zu komponieren. Musik zu schreiben, war der Weg für Alexis Ffrench mit den Bildern umzugehen. "Nach der Trauer kam die Wut, dann die Hilflosigkeit", erklärt er, "Ich fragte mich, wie ich als Musiker an den Protesten teilhaben könne, weil ich in dieser Zeit in der Pandemie isoliert war. Ich begann auf meine eigene, kleine Weise am Klavier. Es war Aktivismus für mich selbst, denn ich musste mich beteiligt fühlen, und es war mir wichtig, mit meiner Musik die Hoffnungen und Ängste zum Ausdruck zu bringen und andere zu ermutigen, ihre eigene Stimme zu erheben." Alexis Ffrench verfolgte die Berichterstattung über die weltweiten Demonstrationen der entstehenden Black Lives Matter Bewegung und untermalte die Szenen protestierender Menschenmassen mit Musik. Das Stück "Walk With Us (For Black Lives Matter)" veröffentlichte er bereits 2020 als Single. Andere Kompositionen aus dieser Zeit bilden die Grundlage für sein Album "Truth".Sein Engagement für mehr Vielfalt und Chancengleichheit durchzieht die Karriere von Alexis Ffrench wie ein roter Faden. Zusammen mit dem Princes Trust unterstützt er ein Programm, das Kindern aus besonders benachteiligten Familien Zugang zu Musikunterricht ermöglicht. Zudem hat Alexis Ffrench, der selbst aus finanziell bescheidenen Verhältnissen kommt, zusammen mit dem Sony Music UK Social Justice Fund ein jährliches Stipendium für People of Color an der Royal Academy of Music ins Leben gerufen. Auch er konnte nur dank eines Stipendiums dort studieren und war damals einer von nur zwei Schwarzen Studierenden in seinem Jahrgang. Alexis Ffrench vergleicht sich jedoch nicht mit einem Politiker, der Kraft seines Amtes Veränderungen herbeiführt. Sein Medium ist die Musik und sein Ziel, Menschen über alle Vorurteile hinweg zusammenzubringen, schlägt sich in seiner ganz eigenen Art des Komponierens nieder. "Meine Kompositionen sind kurz und wie ein Popsong strukturiert, weil ich so mit meinen Melodien die größte Wirkung erzielen kann", erklärt er. Seiner Vision, möglichst viele Menschen mit seiner Musik zu verbinden, ist er seit seinem Sony-Debütalbum im Jahr 2018 in großen Schritten nähergekommen. In Großbritannien ist Alexis Ffrench nicht nur ein Medienstar und kann Top 30 Charts-Erfolge feiern, er ist auch einer der meist-gestreamte Pianisten weltweit. Mit "Truth" hat Alexis Ffrench seine künstlerische Vision nun weiter gefasst. Das Album mag zwar aus Gefühlen der Trauer, Verzweiflung und Wut geboren sein, es ist jedoch von einer ungebrochen positiven Vision für eine Gesellschaft der Gleichheit, Vielfalt und des gegenseitigen Respekts getragen, die Alexis Ffrench mit den sanften Tönen seines Pianos in den Raum malt.
Tiptoe between the toadstools of Liverpool’s city parks, and amongst the foliage you might find a Strawberry Guy, contemplating his next chord-progression. Composing hi-fi symphonies from within his humble abode, the Welsh-born songwriter is ready to share the fruits of his labour with debut album Sun Outside My Window. A timeless vista of ethereal balladry looking towards 19th Century musical maestros and works of art, it brings new meaning to the term ‘Modern Classic’ and is the most optimistic of lockdown records yet.
“It’s about seeing the simple things in life and them making you happy,” tells Alex Stephens, the Guy behind the Strawberry. “I remember this day when I was really down… looking out the window, the sun beaming in was beautiful, it made me want to go outside – it was simple but made me so happy in that instance.”
A one-man impressionist, painting majestic soundscapes, Strawberry Guy blends truthful lyrics with lush arrangements to conjure new emotive worlds. Inspired by composers of the Romantic period, or Debussy, Ravel, and other classical artists of the 1800s, his wonderland moves like a Monet painting where arpeggios dance between meadows of dazzling dynamics and dramatic key changes. As former keyboard player of The Orielles and Trudy and The Romance, the light through his floor to ceiling windows has caused a dramatic Greenhouse Effect and now ripening on solo terms, his innocent uploads of ‘Without You’ and ‘F-Song’ comfort 2 million Spotify listeners a month. ‘Mrs Magic’ has received 40 million streams, landing at #13 in its chart and countless fan-created videos have appeared on YouTube. “Throughout history composers have tried to capture emotion, painting their own impressionist pictures with musical brush strokes… I guess I’m just trying to do the same and people enjoy that,” he suggests modestly.
Named by musical friends Her’s after his impeccable taste in milkshakes, Strawberry Guy upturns ‘bedroom artist’ perception, as each idea is crafted into a widescreen wonder where vocals tag-team instrumentals and countermelodies flourish within the Georgian walls of his Liverpool flat’s small space. “I want it to sound like I’ve squeezed an 80-piece orchestra into my room, and for listeners to wonder how all those strings got there,” he says. “Working on the 4-part harmonies, the orchestra became real; I began believing in myself.”
Imitating nature’s effect on emotion, like 70s songwriters, or the fantastical soundtracks accompanying vibrant scenes in the Japanese animated Studio Ghibli films and video games, landscape is brought to the fore. Monet’s picturesque Meadow at Giverny features as the album’s accompanying artwork – perhaps a reminder of the rural Welsh countryside views through his childhood home’s window; “I was inspired by how calm and peaceful the image felt. Its painted lines show real-life scenes in a magical way, which to me reflects my music.”
Just as the first Strawberry Guy EP Taking My Time To Be offered a slowing down for the soul, Sun Outside My Window is musically unhurried, written and recorded over 2 years. “Recording as a lone berry meant I could run with my emotions in the moment and deliver something true; it would have been an entirely different album had it been recorded in a studio,” he says.
Modern Classic? Only time will tell. For now this Guy’s happy-sad world is here to get the juices flowing and with, pandemic permitting, a US tour in 2022, life looks a whole lot sweeter. Until then, take it slow, be at one with the wilderness and remember, when life gives you lemons, swap them for Strawberries.
When words trail off at the beginning of claire rousay’s »everything perfect is already here«, ornate instrumentation is waiting to fill a void left by the breakdown of language. Yet it becomes clear as we trace rousay’s collaged sonic pathway that breakdown, of meaning and also of melody, is also a place to rest. everything perfect… is made up of two extended compositions that cycle between familiarity and unknowing. There are seemingly infinite ways to feel in response to these pieces of music, which shift tone across their languid duration, earnest like a familiar song but unbound from the emotional didacticisms of lyrical voice and pop form.
rousay builds a fluid landscape around the acoustic contributions of Alex Cunningham (violin), Mari Maurice (electronics and violin), Marilu Donovan (harp), and Theodore Cale Schafer (piano), whose respective melodies weave gently in and out, sometimes steady, sometimes aching, sometimes receding altogether in deference to less overtly musical sounds. That is, percussive texture in the form of unvarnished samples and field recordings: the rattle and rustle and the stops and starts of life unfurling, voices sharing memories nearly out of reach, doors closing, wind against a microphone. Everything comes from somewhere in particular, possessing the veneer of the diaristic, but sound’s provenance is secondary here and so these details become tangled and fused. On this release I hear such details not as individual ornaments or stories but the collective architecture of the greater composition. It’s an architecture that is not quite formed and thus full of openings out to the world unfolding.
“The world unfolding,” that’s a kind way of saying change, movement, loss, transformation. Things rousay here indexes, not without shards of desire or pain, still somehow what I hear is coarse peace in the in-between. These two pieces sweep you away and then bring you to earth, but which is which, anyway? Where am I now? What is different outside of me? What is different inside of me? Um. I think. everything is perfect is already here, like the answers to these questions, is loose and beautiful in surprising ways.
The music guides a certain experience of the world around. In claire’s music there is this marriage—not just a pairing or juxtaposition but an interrelationship, an eventual confusion—of song/texture, narrative/abstraction, figure/ground. Everything comes from somewhere in particular but not just the voices, the field recordings, the what is being said or meant, what matters is the where you are now. There are so many ways of anchoring oneself in the present, some have to do with fantasy or storytelling and some with accepting what is.
These two compositions find peace between these modes. They sweep you away and then bring you to earth, but which is which, anyway? Their mode of feeling is inquisitive. Where am I now? What has changed outside of me? What has changed inside of me? The music, like the answers to these questions, is loose and beautiful in surprising ways.
Tibor Kocsis doesn't take a minute to introduce himself on his first EP for 030303 records; he presents himself with a slap in your face from the very first second. Title track Delta Ophiuchi is heavy duty dancefloor material... reminiscing of the very best of K Alexi Shelby's early works, just a little more focused and to the point maybe - an instant rush and an instant classic! Second track Nekorb is a little sweeter and more for the after hours. The remaining 3 tracks keep that same flow; a wonderful blend of Chicago, psychedelic British acid house and electronic minimal wave.
Cardiff alternative rock duo James and the Cold Gun are pleased to announce the details of their debut EP False Start, set for release on April 29th 2022 through Gallows' label Venn Records and Seattle-based label Loosegroove Records, owned by Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam) & Regan Hagar (Malfunkshun, Brad, Satchel). False Start is available to digitally pre-order now, with a vinyl release scheduled for the summer: https://orcd.co/falsestartep Speaking of the new partnership between the band and Loosegroove Records, the influential indie label that was founded back in 1994, which has issued records from acts such as Critters Buggin, Malfunkshun, Weapon of Choice and Devilhead, and was the launching point for Queens of the Stone Age’s debut album in 1998, Stone Gossard said: “I heard James and The Cold Gun’s ‘Long Way Home’ on KEXP last year and thought this band fricken rocks! Who are these upstarts?! "This new track, ‘It's Mutual’ takes it to another level. Totally unhinged and letting it all hang out. Loosegroove Records is thrilled to be working with James and the Cold Gun on this new EP with a future full-length coming soon.” On 'It's Mutual', James Joseph said: "It's a song that embodies the feeling that you get when you hit a stalemate in a relationship, that feeling when you're both sat together but neither person is able to speak. We've all had those awkward silent car journeys where there has been an argument or something isn't right but we can't even chat about it. Next time you have an awkward car journey, grab the aux and chuck some Cold Gun on." James Biss adds, "We wrote these songs for False Start in our flat in 2020 during the pandemic and our first time playing them live as a band was to record them. It was pretty mad recording live around our drummer, hearing the songs played loud with real drums for the first time after months of being stuck inside writing them on the computer. Recording with Adrian Bushby was a dream though, he was bopping around the control room and egging us on to play louder and harder, he's technically the first person we ever played in front of." Taken from the EP, lead single 'It's Mutual' is out now: https://orcd.co/itsmutual The band have rapidly been building support from some of rock’s most respected taste-makers, including Kerrang! Magazine, Rock Sound, Punktastic, Dead Press, Running Punks, BBC Introducing Wales, Deezer’s Hot New Rock playlist, Triple J’s Short Fast Loud, Apple Music’s New In Rock, Beez at Mosh Talks on Twitch, Alex Baker at Kerrang! Radio, John Kennedy at Radio X, and Daniel P Carter on the BBC Radio One Rock Show.
Combining power pop and street rock with a sour but raw power, Kiss Disease sign with Svart Records! Kiss Disease’s praised self-titled EP from 2020, together with their fierce performances, sparked a wide interest in the underground circles. Encouraged by the fantastic feedback, the band took a conscious risk and began recording their debut album with no record deal in sight. Soon after hearing about this, Svart Records struck a deal with the band, whose brave blend of power pop, street rock and catchy choruses is only becoming more multifaceted and personal. Kiss Disease’s debut album, titled You Met Me at a Strange Time, is based on the raw and sour force displayed on the garage punk EP from last year. On the other hand, the band wanted to expand their sound to a grander and more versatile direction. The guidelines were sought from the worlds of power pop and protopunk. “The core of our album is formed by a strong group effort. The songs were written both together and by everyone on their own, with the whole band having a say on their final form. This time we took influences from a wider spectrum, and it’s precisely this lack of a clear guideline that made us pursue a more emancipated and personal version of our sound”, says the band’s lead guitarist Alex Stöd. The band’s sound has evolved greatly in the last year. You Met Me at a Strange Time is diverse, fierce, sensitive, and surprising, all at the same time. According to singer/guitarist Ella Laine, an existential transformation of some sort took place amid album’s creation: “For me personally, this album embodies some sort of turning point between adulthood and the craziness of adolescence, a place where you sit up and take notice of first yourself and then the people around you. Difficult and untold situations are squeezed from between the lines in the lyrics, revealing both everything and absolutely nothing.” The first single Season Creep took a while for the song to be born since the band’s style was expanding from straightforward punk songs towards a more melodic expression.
Love At Leeds is the realization of many dreams for Mikey Erg
A lifelong music obsessive, growing up in the early 90's,there was one sound he'd
always hoped to capture on his recordings. The sound of Steve Albini. Steve's
credits include The Pixies, PJ Harvey, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant and of course
Nirvana's 3rd LP In Utero, One of Mikey's absolute favorite records. Mikey had
never in his 20 plus year recording career ever gotten to make a fully analog
recording. Love At Leeds was the perfect time to rectify all of that. Using the
group of musicians that helped him realize his debut solo LP Tentative Decisions
(Jeff Rosenstock, Alex Clute & Lou Hanman), He Headed out to Chicago to make
this dream a reality. Recorded and Mixed in only 5 Days, Love at Leeds is a swift
25 minute long grunge-pop tour de force. Once the album was complete, Steve
and his trusty razorblade compiled the master mix reels and sent the band on
their way. The tapes then made the journey to Hollywood, California to the
legendary Bernie Grundman Mastering facility to be mastered and cut straight to
lacquer disc by Chris Bellman (Frank Zappa, Neil Young, Kenny Dorham, Pearl
Jam).
CHIWAX proudly presents Steve Bug & Gemini - The Lost Trax (12")
This collaboration happened in 2000 when Spencer was touring in Europe.
While having some days off in Berlin, Alex Lindblad from Backroom Entertainment suggested Steve to invite Spencer to his studio.
Now almost 22 years later, we are deligthed to release this historical session!
Many thanks to Steve, Spencer & Alex!
