Поиск:pink city

To call Current Affairs a Glasgow band may initially seem misdirection. Though Joan Sweeney (ex-Rose McDowall’s Band, Aggi Doom, The Royal We) is a lifer, Sebastian Ymai (Comidillo Tapes, Pissy, Anxiety) came from Chile via York, recently relocating to Berlin in 2021, and new member Gemma Fleet (The Wharves, Order of the Toad, Dancer) alongside Andrew Milk (Shopping, Pink Pound) were persuaded to leave London for the ‘second city’ after touring through with previous bands. However, Glasgow is the heart and hub of the band’s music, musical life and the place where Off the Tongue was solidified and produced. Their current line up formed in 2020, but the four have been circling each other for years, touring and playing with their previous bands within the close UK network of DIY music. Stalwarts of their respective scenes they finally began working together through the creation of the Spitehouse collective – a project designed to promote Queer and female-fronted music through events mainly held at Transmission Gallery and Glasgow Autonomous Space, putting on many local and international acts (Sneaks, Sacred Paws, Still House Plants and Comfort amongst others). When an opening for a new bassist arrived, Gemma was the obvious compliment, the slogan of Spitehouse being the language of Current Affairs – “Everyone’s welcome, but don’t get it twisted.” Following on from 2019’s singles collection, Object & Subject, the wait for their debut full-length may belie the urgency of its sound. Songs that were written in pieces over a long time and distance, but fully formed in the instant of the recording room across just a few days by producer Ross McGowan at Chime Studio. Current Affairs’ song-writing process has always been collaborative. Songs are developed responsively, with each of the band’s members sending/bringing elements or hooks to each other, but practices being the place where the songs flesh out, structure and are fully realised. These new songs feel a little brighter than their previous offerings, yet still hold true to their propulsive and caterwauling sound. Still embryonic in the most exciting way that that can be. Current Affairs’ music straddles new-wave pop and gothic post-punk in the way that you should expect a Glasgow-Berlin band to do so: with grit and panache. Written from within the world of crumbling services, broken bonds and wounded spirits, Off the Tongue rolls off an ecstatic rage, filled with hope for you, them and everyone else. It’s a rallying cry away from hopelessness, forgiving your fears and laying them to waste. Their album holds a place for you to be angry and to be focussed. In lieu of having anything else, we’ve always got each other, and an uncertain future is open game for us too

Created In the heart of Athens, GA with their trusty- producer, Henry Barbe (Deerhunter, Drive By Truckers) You Know Who is an 11-song record that pushes the boundaries of modern country and rock n' roll music. The Pink Stones sound takes influence from recordings of George and Tammy, as well as J.J. Cale's self produced Tulsa sound. The record is also just as inspired by the windy city cuts of Curtis Mayfield, all styles that covers the band's sound in cigarette smoke and whiskey spills. The six piece band has utilized their performing chops to make a tight but soulful album with featured guests such as Nikki Lane, Jack Quiggins and Ryan Jennings (Teddy & the Rough Riders), John James Tourville (Deslondes), and Annie Leeth (Faye Webster). No strangers to friends and guests, this ramshackle unit formed together flawlessly to take the next leap into The Pink Stones deep sphere.

NOW Music is proud to present the next instalment in our ongoing ‘Yearbook’ series, NOW – Yearbook 1978; 85 tracks from a magical year in Pop! The 85 track special edition CD is housed in ‘hard-back-book’ packaging, including a 28-page booklet featuring a summary of the year, a track-by-track guide, a quiz, and original singles artwork. NOW – Yearbook 1978; 46 tracks on a 3LP set pressed on translucent pink vinyl - from a magical year in Pop!

Standing in a Greyhound Bus station, wearing a Sylvester t-shirt and huge duct-tape-covered glasses, Baltimore ’s Dan Deacon doesn't invoke the image of a composer to the other bus riders. The two suitcases he loads under the bus, which accompany him from city to city, hold the sweat-and-grime-soaked electronics that he uses to craft his raging, maxed-out party music and light show. After 12 tours and 300+ shows in little over 2 years, the gear is beaten and battered, but the show and the energy it produces is anything but.

Dan Deacon has garnered a reputation in the underground as an intense performer and classic showman. The table top full of pedals, a sine wave generator, vocoder and casio blasting through the PA, joined by a makeshift light board with various bulbs and green skull strobe light, make his all out dance-til-you-drop performance a complete experience.

But it isn't all fancy feet and bouncy beats. Deacon is a classically trained composer with a Masters degree in electro-acoustic composition. He has released 7 albums from 2003 to 2006, but those self-produced recordings do not contain the vocal-based experimental pop that he has fine-tuned in live performance. His latest full length, Spiderman of the Rings is the first album bridging the gap between party performer and genuine composer. A mixture of his live show dance anthems, intricate instrumentals and humorous monologues, 'Spiderman of the Rings' establishes Dan Deacon as a new type of entertainer in the contemporary underground.

Very Limited GREEN SKULL Vinyl.
Standing in a Greyhound Bus station, wearing a Sylvester t-shirt and huge duct-tape-covered glasses, Baltimore ’s Dan Deacon doesn't invoke the image of a composer to the other bus riders. The two suitcases he loads under the bus, which accompany him from city to city, hold the sweat-and-grime-soaked electronics that he uses to craft his raging, maxed-out party music and light show. After 12 tours and 300+ shows in little over 2 years, the gear is beaten and battered, but the show and the energy it produces is anything but.

Dan Deacon has garnered a reputation in the underground as an intense performer and classic showman. The table top full of pedals, a sine wave generator, vocoder and casio blasting through the PA, joined by a makeshift light board with various bulbs and green skull strobe light, make his all out dance-til-you-drop performance a complete experience.

But it isn't all fancy feet and bouncy beats. Deacon is a classically trained composer with a Masters degree in electro-acoustic composition. He has released 7 albums from 2003 to 2006, but those self-produced recordings do not contain the vocal-based experimental pop that he has fine-tuned in live performance. His latest full length, Spiderman of the Rings is the first album bridging the gap between party performer and genuine composer. A mixture of his live show dance anthems, intricate instrumentals and humorous monologues, Spiderman of the Rings establishes Dan Deacon as a new type of entertainer in the contemporary underground.

Arovane's acclaimed 2004 album »Lilies« has been out of print on vinyl for nearly 2 decades now. It finally gets a well-deserved reissue through the Berlin based Keplar label. The new version has been remastered by Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering and comes with a brand new cover artwork.

»Lilies« was a follow-up to »Tides« in every sense, exploring a trip to Japan and drawing on shimmering textures and the sort of melodies that you might need some time to recover from. There's a hugely evocative sense to these tracks, emotionally driven, free of complexity or conceit, piano melodies providing the central focus for a twilight cascade of light that seems perfect for the Tokyo skyline - just as the sun sets. It's an album that radiates warmth and vulnerability, fusing the technological might at the heart of each track (and at the heart of the city) with an age-old understanding that certain echoes of sound, small melodic changes and cushioned lullabies can imprint sounds on your mind like childhood memories - remembered forever. Like a dreamlike score, or maybe even an alternate soundtrack to »Lost in Translation« - the sort of music that intertwines with images and stays in your mind indefinately.

After coming back from Tokyo and completing the production of »Lilies«, Uwe Zahn disassembled his studio in the big flat in an old building in Berlin's Prenzlauerberg district and stored it away in boxes. He needed a break from making music. »Lilies« was the last album prior to a nine-year hiatus for Arovane, ending in 2013 with the release of »Ve Palor«.

Nachpressung: "Beach Umbrella" Vinyl (2LP Blue)! ,Pacific Breeze" dokumentiert die musikalische Explosion Japans in die Stratosphäre. In den 1960er Jahren erreichte die Nation ein Nachkriegswunder und Japan stieg zur zweitgrößten Volkswirtschaft der Welt auf. Blühende Tech-Exporte wie tragbare Kassettenabspielgeräte, funkelnde Videospiele und glänzende Autos boomten weltweit und pumpten japanische Taschen voller Yen. Der finanzielle Aufschwung Japans durchdrang auch die Populärkultur und brachte den City Pop hervor. Dieser neue Sound entstand Mitte der 70er Jahre und zog sich durch die 80er Jahre und kanalisierte die zeitgenössische Psyche des Landes. Es war anspruchsvolle Musik, die Japans Wohlstand widerspiegelte und einen Soundtrack für aufstrebende Urbanisten lieferte. City Pop verkörpert diese Ära. ,Pacific Breeze" ist eine fachmännisch zusammengestellte Kollektion von ausgesuchten Songs, die von seidigen, glatten Easy Listening Grooves über innovative Techno-Pop-Banger bis hin zu allem, was dazwischen liegt, reicht. Diese Musik wurde bisher noch nie außerhalb Japans veröffentlicht, mit dabei sind Schlüsselkünstler wie Taeko Ohnuki und Minako Yoshida, Haruomi Hosono und Shigeru Suzuki, sowie die Kultfavoriten Hitomi Tohyama und Hiroshi Sato und viele andere. Diese lang erwartete Veröffentlichung enthält auch neu in Auftrag gegebene Cover Paintings des in Tokio lebenden Künstlers Hiroshi Nagai, dessen ikonische Bilder des Resort-Lebens auf den Hüllen vieler klassischer City Pop-Alben der 1980er Jahre zu finden sind. Viele der wichtigsten City Pop-Protagonisten kamen aus der japanischen New Music-Szene der frühen 70er Jahre, wie Light In The Attic's gefeierte ,Even a Tree Can Shed Tears - Japanese Folk & Rock 1969-1973" Compilation, die erste Veröffentlichung der laufenden Japan Archival Series, zeigt. ,Pacific Breeze" versammelt nun einige der besten City Pop Stücke: aufregende Easy Listening mit mutierter Exotica, gekipptem Techno-Pop und dampfendem Boogie, der unter dem Neon-Glanz brodelt.

Nachpressung: "Beach Umbrella" Vinyl (2LP Blue)! ,Pacific Breeze" dokumentiert die musikalische Explosion Japans in die Stratosphäre. In den 1960er Jahren erreichte die Nation ein Nachkriegswunder und Japan stieg zur zweitgrößten Volkswirtschaft der Welt auf. Blühende Tech-Exporte wie tragbare Kassettenabspielgeräte, funkelnde Videospiele und glänzende Autos boomten weltweit und pumpten japanische Taschen voller Yen. Der finanzielle Aufschwung Japans durchdrang auch die Populärkultur und brachte den City Pop hervor. Dieser neue Sound entstand Mitte der 70er Jahre und zog sich durch die 80er Jahre und kanalisierte die zeitgenössische Psyche des Landes. Es war anspruchsvolle Musik, die Japans Wohlstand widerspiegelte und einen Soundtrack für aufstrebende Urbanisten lieferte. City Pop verkörpert diese Ära. ,Pacific Breeze" ist eine fachmännisch zusammengestellte Kollektion von ausgesuchten Songs, die von seidigen, glatten Easy Listening Grooves über innovative Techno-Pop-Banger bis hin zu allem, was dazwischen liegt, reicht. Diese Musik wurde bisher noch nie außerhalb Japans veröffentlicht, mit dabei sind Schlüsselkünstler wie Taeko Ohnuki und Minako Yoshida, Haruomi Hosono und Shigeru Suzuki, sowie die Kultfavoriten Hitomi Tohyama und Hiroshi Sato und viele andere. Diese lang erwartete Veröffentlichung enthält auch neu in Auftrag gegebene Cover Paintings des in Tokio lebenden Künstlers Hiroshi Nagai, dessen ikonische Bilder des Resort-Lebens auf den Hüllen vieler klassischer City Pop-Alben der 1980er Jahre zu finden sind. Viele der wichtigsten City Pop-Protagonisten kamen aus der japanischen New Music-Szene der frühen 70er Jahre, wie Light In The Attic's gefeierte ,Even a Tree Can Shed Tears - Japanese Folk & Rock 1969-1973" Compilation, die erste Veröffentlichung der laufenden Japan Archival Series, zeigt. ,Pacific Breeze" versammelt nun einige der besten City Pop Stücke: aufregende Easy Listening mit mutierter Exotica, gekipptem Techno-Pop und dampfendem Boogie, der unter dem Neon-Glanz brodelt.

"During the recording of TOTALLY, we were having a blast and the music just kept rollin' out so we decided to also put together a tasty EP. Guests Mario Lalli on STÖNER Theme and Greg Hetson of Circle Jerks and Bad Religion on our version of the Motorhead/Pink Fairies classic City Kids makes this EP extra sweet. Jump in and let's BOOGIE TO BAJA! If the name Stöner seems a little on the nose, well_ it is. Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri, founding members of the stoner rock legend Kyuss, are joined again by drummer Ryan Güt (of Bjork's solo band) and they've got dibs on the thick and dusty swinging grooves, returning as Stöner with their sophomore release "totally_" Stöner's love for their early inspirations (bands like Blue Oyster Cult, Kiss, Ramones, Blue Cheer, Misfits, Black Flag, The Stooges, MC5) result in big, groovy, sunbaked riffs that can cruise low and slow but then floor it and run all the red lights. Live, this is a band about the magnetism between the players, the groove, the loose vibe and straight up badass rock and roll_ Stöner are masters of their trade. With "totally..." Stöner is in its true form, getting together and having fun. Stöner's world is a colorful joyride, heavy of rock but not of head. The record cranks with vibes of classic hard rock, heavy blues, desert rock and psych rock jams - things that come organically to this trio Stöner can't help but express an abundance of punk rock rawness and passion for real rock and roll swagger. With two records, "Live at Mojave" and "Stoners Rule" (available on Heavy Psych Sounds), the latest release "totally..." sees the band realizing the chemistry of these old friends developing a statement of pure rock and roll fun.

LTD Violet Vinyl

"During the recording of TOTALLY, we were having a blast and the music just kept rollin' out so we decided to also put together a tasty EP. Guests Mario Lalli on STÖNER Theme and Greg Hetson of Circle Jerks and Bad Religion on our version of the Motorhead/Pink Fairies classic City Kids makes this EP extra sweet. Jump in and let's BOOGIE TO BAJA! If the name Stöner seems a little on the nose, well_ it is. Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri, founding members of the stoner rock legend Kyuss, are joined again by drummer Ryan Güt (of Bjork's solo band) and they've got dibs on the thick and dusty swinging grooves, returning as Stöner with their sophomore release "totally_" Stöner's love for their early inspirations (bands like Blue Oyster Cult, Kiss, Ramones, Blue Cheer, Misfits, Black Flag, The Stooges, MC5) result in big, groovy, sunbaked riffs that can cruise low and slow but then floor it and run all the red lights. Live, this is a band about the magnetism between the players, the groove, the loose vibe and straight up badass rock and roll_ Stöner are masters of their trade. With "totally..." Stöner is in its true form, getting together and having fun. Stöner's world is a colorful joyride, heavy of rock but not of head. The record cranks with vibes of classic hard rock, heavy blues, desert rock and psych rock jams - things that come organically to this trio Stöner can't help but express an abundance of punk rock rawness and passion for real rock and roll swagger. With two records, "Live at Mojave" and "Stoners Rule" (available on Heavy Psych Sounds), the latest release "totally..." sees the band realizing the chemistry of these old friends developing a statement of pure rock and roll fun.

Violet Vinyl

"During the recording of TOTALLY, we were having a blast and the music just kept rollin' out so we decided to also put together a tasty EP. Guests Mario Lalli on STÖNER Theme and Greg Hetson of Circle Jerks and Bad Religion on our version of the Motorhead/Pink Fairies classic City Kids makes this EP extra sweet. Jump in and let's BOOGIE TO BAJA! If the name Stöner seems a little on the nose, well_ it is. Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri, founding members of the stoner rock legend Kyuss, are joined again by drummer Ryan Güt (of Bjork's solo band) and they've got dibs on the thick and dusty swinging grooves, returning as Stöner with their sophomore release "totally_" Stöner's love for their early inspirations (bands like Blue Oyster Cult, Kiss, Ramones, Blue Cheer, Misfits, Black Flag, The Stooges, MC5) result in big, groovy, sunbaked riffs that can cruise low and slow but then floor it and run all the red lights. Live, this is a band about the magnetism between the players, the groove, the loose vibe and straight up badass rock and roll_ Stöner are masters of their trade. With "totally..." Stöner is in its true form, getting together and having fun. Stöner's world is a colorful joyride, heavy of rock but not of head. The record cranks with vibes of classic hard rock, heavy blues, desert rock and psych rock jams - things that come organically to this trio Stöner can't help but express an abundance of punk rock rawness and passion for real rock and roll swagger. With two records, "Live at Mojave" and "Stoners Rule" (available on Heavy Psych Sounds), the latest release "totally..." sees the band realizing the chemistry of these old friends developing a statement of pure rock and roll fun.

Pink Vinyl
Canadian producer Dylan Khotin-Foote has kept his Khotin alias going for the better part of a decade; the impressionistic electronic project shifts with the movements in his life. Sometimes it leads, like when the club-friendly grooves of 2014's Hello World immersed him in the heart of Vancouver's underground dance scene, and sometimes it follows, like 2018's Beautiful You, a downtempo salve for DJ fatigue His melodic sensibility and playful ear for atmosphere remain the rippling core of the project's fingerprint; whether beat-driven or ambient, a foggy smear or a dusted and pristine print, a Khotin track has a distinct and instantly recognizable swirl. During and after the 2020 release of Finds You Well, his second LP on Ghostly International, Khotin-Foote settled back into a slower vibe in his hometown of Ed- monton. Even before the pandemic, his pivots to softer production, and away from DJing, left him with fewer opportunities in Vancouver and club bookings overall, and as a self-identifying introvert, he was fine with that. But the change of pace did open space for Khotin-Foote to grapple with concepts of adulthood and career. At his lowest, he almost walked off this musical path altogether; instead, he doubled down on the craft _ the tone, pacing, and dynamism of new material _ arriving at a definitive full-length. With Release Spirit, Khotin releases himself from the pressure of expectation, fusing and refining everything we know about his music. The warmth and familiarity of Khotin's dreamy, dulcet style meet new ideas and frameworks, a natural progression, a modest revelation; Khotin confirms it is okay to move slowly and he's never sounded better doing it. The album title borrows from the "release spirit" mechanic in the video game World of Warcraft. When players die, they are prompted to release their spirit and return as ghosts to find their corpses and come back to life. Khotin sees it as a worthy metaphor for the impending change his return home presented and the resulting process of purging artistic expectations to find his creative self again. On this go- around, he is freer, more playful, and more intentional within his palette of warped synth, breakbeats, and piano sounds _ including the classic Casio SK-1 presets he's used since the start _ mingling with wistful samples, field recordings, and other abstract snippets. For the first time, he enlisted Nik Kozub to do the mix and assist with sequencing. Khotin-Foote has long worked with the Edmonton-based musician and engineer in the mastering phase, as well as their days co-running the label Normals Welcome, and this time was able to involve his ears earlier given their newfound proximity. "I think it's my best sounding record to date." We begin on "HV Road" or Happy Valley Road, where Khotin-Foote spent time during a family vacation in British Columbia's Okanagan Lake. His plans to record crickets at night are quickly foiled by his younger siblings; the cute exchange orients the listener to a core memory of sorts, setting the tone of universally understood warmth and wonder that has defined some of Khotin's most transportive tracks. Hazy percussion takes hold, and we are swept further into the wisp of "Lovely," a grooving, melodic standout built on the interplay between the beat and human voice-like hums. Khotin knows this zone well; equally suited for a reverie or a club warm-up. The bubbling atmosphere and absurdity of "3 pz" offer a cosmic/comic interlude and also speak to reflections on his family's move to Canada two generations ago, and the audio tutorials they used to learn English. "I can only imagine my grandpar- ents repeating some of the bizarre phrases." "Fountain, Growth" finds Khotin in collaboration with Montreal's Tess Roby (Dawn to Dawn) for the project's first-ever vocal track. Roby's soft cadence echoes atop spiraling air pockets of rhythmic production, lending a breezy, almost shoegaze pop feel. Throughout the single and the album, wind gusts between the compositional layers, akin to the roaming spirits of its namesake, curving around the birdsong of "Life Mask" and seamlessly reaching "Unlimited <3." The latter bumps in slow motion; disembodied whirrs from his Casio collide with 808 drums and sub-bass for a vibe that teeters on trap and instrumental hip-hop. Release Spirit rests in a dream sequence. Oscillating synth lines dance around the heartbeat of "Techno Creep," a hyperactive REM state before the digitized ambient sprawl of "My Same Size." In the final pass, Khotin imagines transcontinental travel from the glow of his screen. He recorded "Sound Gathering Trip" to soundtrack a genre of YouTube videos he's taken to that follows train routes through Europe and Japan. The scene is serene and moving; piano keys warble as static-filled sound design shimmers off the rails, from cityscapes to the countryside, an introspective ride through a world beyond his bedroom. It doubles as an apt parting image for Khotin's project as a whole: dreaming big but happiest when riffing on the details, shaping environments from the inside out. Over the last decade, he has stretched from his core in Edmonton, leaving a trace in Vancouver and beyond; but when all signs point home, he loops back to see it all from a different vantage, revitalized, refined, and free.

Nach der erfolgreichen "The Stadium Tour" von MÖTLEY
CRÜE mit DEF LEPPARD, bei der sie in diesem Jahr vor
über einer Million Fans in Nordamerika gespielt haben,
kündigt BMG die Veröffentlichung des limitierten Box-Sets
"Crücial Crüe: The Studio Albums 1981-1989" mit den
ersten fünf Platin-Alben von MÖTLEY CRÜE auf farbigem
Vinyl an: "Too Fast For Love" (weiß/schwarz Splatter),
"Shout At The Devil" (gelb/schwarz Splatter), "Theatre Of
Pain" (pink/schwarz Splatter), "Girls, Girls, Girls"
(cyanblau/schwarz Splatter) und "Dr. Feelgood" (Coke
Bottle Green/Oxblood Splatte). Die 5LP Box kommt in
einem edlen schwarzen Schuber

Erstpressung auf pinkem Vinyl. "Breaking The Balls Of History" ist das insgesamt zehnte Album von QUASI, das am zehnten Februar, zehn Jahre nach ihrer letzten Platte, erscheint. Drei Zehner, was sich mit den dreißig Jahren deckt, die sie zusammenspielen. Sam Coomes und Janet Weiss sind zu Ikonen des pazifischen Nordwestens geworden, und QUASI hat sich immer so beständig angefühlt - ihre dauerhafte Freundschaft so generativ, ihre Energie unendlich, jedes Album rauer und eingängiger und wilder und lustiger als das letzte. Aber wir haben uns geirrt, QUASI jemals für selbstverständlich zu halten. Eine Zeit lang dachten sie, dass das komplizierte "Mole City" von 2013 ihr letztes Album sein könnte. Sie würden mit einem großartigen Album abtreten und weiterziehen. Dann, im August 2019, krachte ein Auto in Janets Haus und brach ihr beide Beine und das Schlüsselbein. Dann kam ein tödlicher Virus über uns, und niemand wusste, wann oder ob Live-Musik, wie wir sie kannten, jemals wieder würde stattfinden können. "There's no investing in the future anymore", erkannte Janet. "The future is now. Do it now if you want to do it. Don't put it off. All those things you only realize when it's almost too late. It could be gone in a second." Während des Lockdowns standen die Straßen von Portland still, Flugzeuge verschwanden, wilde Tiere tauchten auf. Und mit der ausgelöschten Normalität kam ein unerwartetes Geschenk: ununterbrochene Zeit, Stunden am Tag, um Kunst zu machen. QUASI konnten nicht auf Tournee gehen, also hatten sie eine Idee: Sie taten so, als wären sie auf Tournee und spielten jeden Tag zusammen. Jeden Nachmittag verschanzten sich Sam und Janet in ihrem winzigen Übungsraum und kanalisierten die Verwirrung und Absurdität dieser fremden neuen Welt in Songs. Sie beschlossen, dass sie die Songs live und gemeinsam aufnehmen würden, um einen Moment einzufangen. Das unglaubliche Ergebnis dieser Sessions ist "Breaking The Balls Of History", aufgenommen in fünf Tagen und produziert von John Goodmanson. Hier sind zwei Künstler*innen in ihrer Blütezeit, jede*r ein menschlicher Fundus an musikalischem Wissen und Erfahrung, völlig unverwechselbar in ihrem Songwriting und Sound. In der QUASI-Form wird die Band alchemistisch noch größer als die Summe ihrer Teile. Mitten in einem katastrophalen sozialen und politischen Moment haben sie exquisite, melodische Songs geschaffen, die vor Wut, wildem Humor und Intelligenz nur so sprühen, angetrieben von einem großen, zerschundenen, pochenden Herzen. "A last long laugh at the edge of death", singt Sam zu Beginn des Albums, und dieser fröhliche Trotz - der genauso gut der Logbuch-Eintrag unserer Gegenwart sein könnte - gibt den Ton für die kommenden Songs an. Es klingt düster, und das ist es auch, weil es sich dem Moment stellt. Aber es ist auch eine Platte, die vor Energie, Vergnügen und Freude nur so strotzt.

It seems fitting that a trilogy of albums celebrating nature should conclude some eight years after its second chapter. Manchester-via-Todmorden based instrumental trio Plank’s first two LPs – 2012’s kosmiche-inspired Animalism and 2014’s more expansive and structurally disruptive follow-up Hivemind – enjoyed relatively quick gestation periods. However, Plank are firm believers in letting nature run its course, and so it is that their third LP Future of the Sea arrives early in 2023. “I always knew I wanted to make three albums inspired by nature” says Plank main-man David Rowe (synths / guitar). “Future of the Sea is another exploration into odd time signatures and traditional rock instruments alongside synths and electronics.”

“Future of the Sea is a celebration of the power and majesty of our oceans and how humankind has been destroying them through industrial scale fishing and global warming” says Rowe. “Rachel Carson put it more eloquently in her book The Sea Around Us: ‘It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.’” A post apocalyptic underwater city scape adorns the cover in an illustration by Jake Blanchard, whose work you'll also see on Richard Dawson's latest album 'The Ruby Cord'.
The synthetic nature of Plank’s sprawling rock odysseys feel at their most pronounced on Future of the Sea which leans to the band’s love of Pink Floyd era Meddle, Camel, film score composers like John Carpenter and Vangelis, 70s experimentalists Harmonia, 1980s King Crimson and 90s post-rock adjacent group Tortoise. In polyrhythmic dexterity if not heaviness, Plank also take some influence from Meshuggah, and it’s in their movement between the 16 minute final album track’s sections that it feels most prominent. They swerve from crunching stoner rock jams to more ambient spatial explorations, crescendoing progressive peaks, 80s synth pop and finally a crushing riff-laden finale.

15 years after the album’s release, ‘City Of Echoes’ is now
available in a deluxe 2LP edition, newly remastered by
Josh Bonati and featuring a full LP’s-worth of bonus
material, including original album demos, alternate takes,
and pieces originally only available on the rare ‘Pink
Mammoth’ EP.
‘City Of Echoes’, originally released in 2007 by Hydra
Head Records, marked a paradigm shift for Pelican.
Coming off the heels of the glacial ‘Australasia’ and their
even more expansive and acclaimed follow-up, ‘The Fire
In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw’, their third album is
a study in precision.
Inspired by their non-stop tour schedule following ‘The Fire
In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw’’s release, the
quartet composed ‘City Of Echoes’ to be a lean
powerhouse of non-stop melodic hooks and lurching
rhythms that reflected the energy of live performance.
Guitarists Trevor Shelley de Brauw and Laurent
Schroeder-Lebec trade crisp riffs that twirl in opposition
before thundering together in monoliths. The sheer
amount of potent interplay between the two, often
borrowing from disparate edges of rock and metal at a
whim before completely transforming, is mind-boggling.
Bassist Bryan Herweg and rhythm section compatriot /
drummer / brother Larry Herweg lock into a wider array of
grooves than ever before. Their considered bedrock
guides the band’s dynamics into some of the ensemble’s
most tender moments as well as their most ferocious.
Recorded by Andrew Schneider at Electrical Audio Cover.
Art designed by ISIS and SUMAC founder Aaron Turner,
with photography by Robin Laananen.
Also available to independent retailers on Translucent Blue
vinyl.

15 years after the album’s release, ‘City Of Echoes’ is now
available in a deluxe 2LP edition, newly remastered by
Josh Bonati and featuring a full LP’s-worth of bonus
material, including original album demos, alternate takes,
and pieces originally only available on the rare ‘Pink
Mammoth’ EP.
‘City Of Echoes’, originally released in 2007 by Hydra
Head Records, marked a paradigm shift for Pelican.
Coming off the heels of the glacial ‘Australasia’ and their
even more expansive and acclaimed follow-up, ‘The Fire
In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw’, their third album is
a study in precision.
Inspired by their non-stop tour schedule following ‘The Fire
In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw’’s release, the
quartet composed ‘City Of Echoes’ to be a lean
powerhouse of non-stop melodic hooks and lurching
rhythms that reflected the energy of live performance.
Guitarists Trevor Shelley de Brauw and Laurent
Schroeder-Lebec trade crisp riffs that twirl in opposition
before thundering together in monoliths. The sheer
amount of potent interplay between the two, often
borrowing from disparate edges of rock and metal at a
whim before completely transforming, is mind-boggling.
Bassist Bryan Herweg and rhythm section compatriot /
drummer / brother Larry Herweg lock into a wider array of
grooves than ever before. Their considered bedrock
guides the band’s dynamics into some of the ensemble’s
most tender moments as well as their most ferocious.
Recorded by Andrew Schneider at Electrical Audio Cover.
Art designed by ISIS and SUMAC founder Aaron Turner,
with photography by Robin Laananen.
Also available to independent retailers on Translucent Blue
vinyl.

Meg Baird’s songs are rarely made up of tidy stories. In fact, for Meg, mystery itself is often the
medium. With ‘Furling’, Meg’s fourth album under her own name, she explores the breadth of
her musical fascinations and the environments around them - the edges of memory,
daydreams spanning years, loose ends, loss, divergent paths, and secret conversations under
stars. ‘Furling’ moves through these varied spaces with the slippery, misty cohesiveness of a
dream - guided by an ageless, stirring voice that remains singular and unmistakable.
Since co-founding the beguiling and beautiful Espers in the mid-aughts amid Philadelphia’s
fertile underground music community, Meg’s solo recordings have constituted just a fraction of
her work.
Her first solo LP, the disarmingly out-of-time ‘Dear Companion’ (2007), saw her carve a quiet,
sunlit space away from the flickering swirl of Espers. Since her last solo releases, ‘Seasons on
Earth’ (2011) and ‘Don’t Weigh Down the Light’ (2015), Meg has lent thunderous drumming,
lead vocal, and poetry to Heron Oblivion (Sub Pop) on an album that garnered praise from the
New York Times and made Mojo’s Top Ten Albums Of 2016 list. She collaborated with harpist
Mary Lattimore on the mesmerizingly hazy ‘Ghost Forests’ (2018). She’s played drums with
Philadelphia scuzz-punks Watery Love (In The Red, Richie Records) and explored her deep
familial folk roots in the Baird Sisters (Grapefruit Records). She also contributed her vocal
arrangements to albums from Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, Will Oldham and Steve Gunn, and
toured with Angel Olson, Dinosaur Jr., Bill Callahan, Thurston Moore and Bert Jansch, among
others.
Yet ‘Furling’ is the album that most irreverently explores the span of her work and musical
touchstones. It showcases her natural tether to 1960s English folk traditions. But it also reveals
her deep love for soul balladry, the solitary musings of Flying Saucer Attack and Neil Young
shackled to his piano deep in the foggy pre-dawn, dubby Bristol atmospherics, the melancholy
memory collage of DJ Shadow’s ‘Endtroducing’, and the delicious, Saturday night promise of
St. Etienne.
‘Furling’ was primarily recorded at Louder Studios by Tim Green (Bikini Kill, Nation of Ulysses,
Melvins, Wooden Shjips). Additional piano and vocal recording were captured at Panoramic
Studios in Stinson Beach, CA with Jason Quever (Papercuts). It was mastered in Brooklyn by
Heba Kadry, who mixed Bjork’s ‘Utopia’ and mastered albums for Slowdive, Cass McCombs
and Beach House.
For all its adornments, ‘Furling’ remains deeply intimate. The entire album was performed by
Meg and her long-time collaborator, partner, and Heron Oblivion bandmate Charlie Saufley.
While her prior solo work hinted at more expansive horizons, ‘Furling’ explores the idea of Meg
Baird as a band much more freely. Venturing beyond the musical confines of fingerstyle guitar,
she plays drums, mellotron, organs, synths, and vibraphone over her piano and guitar
foundations. Her distinctive, simultaneously elegiac and uplifting vocals, meanwhile, connect
surreal dream montages, graft sunshine sonics to swooning mediations on romantic solidarity
in trying times, and weave odes to the simple gestures of friendship - and the loss of family and
friends.
This rich sound world makes the songs a varied bunch: ‘Twelve Saints’ mates Pacific sunset
ambience and Pink Floyd pastoral to a meditation on mortality and escape. The infectious and
kinetic ‘Will You Follow Me Home’ contemplates hope and longing through the looking glass of
a Jimmy Miller-era-Stones strut. And in the closing piece, ‘Wreathing Days’, language
disintegrates over tone clusters that feel somewhere between falling and flying.
‘Wreathing Days’ also reveals much about Meg’s mastery of contrast - situating the dear and
delicate adjacent to chaos. And while it’s true that some songs on ‘Furling’ grapple with
humanity’s existential unknowns in stark terms, they primarily revel in the mysteries that hide in
nature and humanity at their most ordinary. ‘Furling’ lives in the notion that whole universes of
experience, enlightenment, elation and ecstasy can bloom in these corners.