Suche:self self

Underground rock festered and splintered as it spread through the U.S. in the mid-’90s, the alternative boom giving rise to microcosmic regional scenes singularly focused on feral powerviolence or screamo songs about breakfast. Boston’s Karate emerged as a force that could grip a national youth movement whose disparate tastes still commingled in the inky pages of fanzines overflowing with florid prose and on concert calendars for volunteer-run DIY spaces, community centers, and bowling alleys. In this world, Karate’s music was an enigma, one equally inviting to sneering punks and highfalutin indie-rock aficionados.Their 1996 self-titled debut, issued on Southern Records, set the standard.

Lasooing together white-knuckle posthardcore tension, sharply focused slowcore serenity, and resplendent jazz complexity, Karate eschewed settling in any one definiable style. But they certainly used the language of punk to get their point across; occasionally, guitarist Geoff Farina abandons his warm, hushed cadences for a hoarse shout that made him sound ragged, intensifying an aggression that burst out with every snaggletoothed guitar riff or drum snap that went off like canonfire.

Few followed their path—but who could keep up? Karate could make pensive moods blossom into feverish rollicking (“What Is Sleep?”), gracefully tip-toe around aggressive punk explosions without getting bent out of shape (“Bodies”), and stretch out

slowcore’s quietest reveries till their reflective notes sound ripped from an improvisational jazz session (“Caffeine or Me?”). Karate formally introduced the trio as a vital part of an independent U.S. punk scene stubbornly flowering in the face of the major labels’ ’90s harvest.

In the most literal sense, globally renowned whistler Molly Lewis makes her gorgeous
and curious compositions out of thin air.
New entrees into the Exotica canon; sprawling, would-be Spaghetti Western scores;
and a dash of Old Hollywood glamour - the whistle-led songs on her debut EP ‘The
Forgotten Edge’ are as complex, delicate and indelible as anything performed with
viola or piano.
“Whistling is like a human theremin,” said Lewis, an Australian native who’s spent the
last several years in LA and whose performances there and around the world are
changing any preconceived notions of whistling by the room-full.
That’s not to say Lewis is all serious and snooty about the craft. Quite the contrary.
Her sense of humour is witty, self-deprecating and zany. She’s as likely to reference
the slapstick Leslie Nielsen film series ‘Naked Gun’ for music video concepts as she
is a classic piece of noir cinema.
Look no further than the equatorial and breezy opening cut ‘Oceanic Feeling’, a
lovely walk across the flotsam-sprinkled sands in the rum-pumping vein of Les
Baxter. Meanwhile, the title track - and really, the entire collection here - is a loving,
albeit rather haunting, salute to one of Lewis’s heroes, the Italian composer and
musician Alessandro Alessandroni, whose whistle and guitar you hear on the title
theme of Ennio Morricone’s ‘A Fistful of Dollars’. Lewis and her ensemble create
classic cinema for your mind.
Her own love for the artform began when, around the age of twelve she was given
the CD ‘Steve ‘The Whistler’ Herbst Whistles Broadway’. Something contained in it
clicked. “It wasn’t that I was immediately obsessed, but I knew it was something I
could do well,” Lewis said.
The daughter of a musician mother and a documentary filmmaker father who often
focused his films on niche communities and topics, Lewis recalls watching a
television documentary with her parents about The International Whistlers
Convention in Louisburg, North Carolina. “My dad said, ‘If you ever make it into the
competition, I’ll take you there’,” Lewis said. Turns out, there was no bar to entry, just
a small fee. And so, several years later, she and her father travelled to the
convention. New to the form, Lewis didn’t take home one of the bigger prizes but they
were awarded the prize for Whistler Who Traveled The Greatest Distance. “We really
just used the trip to drive around the United States,” she said.
After studying film in Australia, Lewis moved to Los Angeles to be close to the film
industry. There, her circle of artist friends grew naturally and with providence - her
unique talent drawing more and more recognition. And over the last few years,
Lewis’s Café Molly events at LA spots like Zebulon, Non Plus Ultra and The Natural
History Museum have become fabled, elegant happenings with appearances from
guests like John C. Reilly, Karen O and Mac DeMarco.
Recorded with a crack team of friends and musicians during 2020’s quarantine, ‘The
Forgotten Edge’ is rife with incredible performances from Thomas Brenneck (Sharon
Jones & The Dap-Kings / Budos Band), Joe Harrison (Charles Bradley, Lee Fields),
Eric Hagstrom (Brainstory), Abe Rounds (Meshell Ndegeocello, Andrew Bird, Blake
Mills), Leon Michels (El Michels Affair), Gabriel Rowland and Dave Guy.

Within Melbourne’s burgeoning cinematic-soul scene, which includes
breakout acts Surprise Chef and Karate Boogaloo, mysteriously sit
The Pro-Teens.
Helmed by prolific drummer and percussionist Hudson Whitlock, who also
plays in both aforementioned bands, this breakaway studio project involves an
interchangeable collective of incognito, Melbourne-based, esteemed instrumentalists playing under outlandish pseudonyms such as “’Dead Honest’ Dean
Amazing” and “Libby Clique-Baite”.
Symbolically led by keyboardist “Snooch Dodd”, new album ‘I Flip My Life Every
Time I Fly’ is the latest musical concoction from Whitlock’s eccentric brain,
marrying the soul/funk roots of sample culture with the principles of boombap hip hop.
Incorporating the colourful comic book stylings of MF DOOM and Kool Keith,
or the dark and exotic flavours of Gravediggaz and The Wu-Tang Clan, The ProTeens also take cues from their composing heroes Galt MacDermot, Richard
Evans and Marc Moulin.
The Pro-Teens bop, zip, whip and fling on this phantasmagorical journey - an
unorthodox patchwork of cinematic soul, hip hop-guided funk breaks, vivid instrumental textures and film score-esque moods.
The Pro-Teens work on the same analogue recording model adopted by the
tight-knit College Of Knowledge label, self-recorded and produced with the ragtag crew of musicians putting tracks down live to tape in crammed attic studios
and sharehouse recording spaces.
The first limited pressing of ‘I Flip My Life Every Time I Fly’ was released on the
‘College Of Knowledge’ imprint in late 2020. It was one of the highlights of the
year at Mr Bongo HQ who loved the concept and felt this tripped out masterpiece from Melbourne needed to be heard well beyond those lucky enough to
have bagged those limited first copies.

Robert Jon & The Wreck are back and ready to tear up the UK and Europe
all over again with their new record, Shine A Light On Me Brother.
The impressive new album, written and recorded during the COVID pandemic,
and self-produced by Robert Jon & The Wreck, is set to release 3 September,
2021. Robert Jon & The Wreck is comprised of Robert Jon Burrison (lead vocals
and guitar), Andrew Espantman (drums and background vocals), Steve Maggiora (keyboards and background vocals), Henry James (lead guitar and background vocals), and Warren Murrel(bass and background vocals). They will take
the new album on tour in September/October 2021 AND February/April/May/
June/July 2022.
Robert Jon & The Wreck has been writing songs and releasing albums since the
band’s conception in 2011. During this time, this quintet of follicular proficient
gentlemen has been busy fine-tuning their sound playing to packed houses
across Europe and the United States.
The band has been received with accolades and raving reviews for years now,
from nominations of “Best Rock” and “Best Blues” and winning the title of
“Best Live Band” at the Orange County Music Awards in 2013, to numerous top
10 chart placement on Southern Rock Brazil’s Top 20 Albums to being praised
as “Classic and fresh at the same time” by Rock The Best Music, “Raising the
bar for the Southern genre” by Blues Rock Review, and “keeping the history
of classic 60’s and 70’s rock alive for newer generations” by Blues legend Joe
Bonamassa.
“A classy re-bore of well-trodden southern rock tropes by an Orange County
quintet with impeccably realised contemporary commerciality. Born of Allmans
and Skynyrd, but box fresh for 2000.” - Classic Rock Magazine
“Full of Eagles like guitar riffs and on infectious groove.” - Blues in Britain

Over the past 16 years, Rebelution has had nearly everything a band could
ask for: chart-topping albums, hundreds of millions of streams, a GRAMMY
nomination, even their own festival in Jamaica.The only thing they haven’t
had, it seems, is time.
“When COVID hit, we found ourselves in uncharted territory,” says frontman
Eric Rachmany. “Suddenly we were just sitting still, which was a completely
new experience for us.”
Difficult as it was to leave the road behind, pressing pause proved to be a blessing in disguise for a band that has emerged from lockdown with their most
captivating, eclectic record to date: ‘In The Moment’. Recorded remotely in the
midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the collection is deliberate and wide-ranging, infusing the quartet’s soulful, exhilarating brand of modern reggae with
addictive pop hooks, alt-rock grit, and hip-hop grooves.
The performances here are bold and self-assured, and the production is equally ambitious, drawing on swirling reverb and trippy delay to create an immersive sonic universe that’s both futuristic and vintage all at once. Strip away the
intoxicating atmospherics, though, and what remains is a work of profound
reflection, a probing, revelatory meditation that balances joy and introspection
in equal measure as it contemplates the meaning of time and invites us to sit
back, slow down, and live ‘In The Moment’.
Includes guest appearances by Busy Signal, Kabaka Pyramid, Durand Jones, and
Keznamdi.
coverage out in reggaeville worldareggae niceup Print: Rock at
Night Magazine
Radio plays for “Old School Feeling” on BBC Radio 2 David Rodigan, The Random Reggae Show Swindon 105.5 Swindown FM and Vibes FM Reggae My
Limits

More than any other album in the canon of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, 1958’s Moanin’ — featuring the great drummer with trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, pianist Bobby Timmons, and bassist Jymie Merritt —was the perfect crystallization of the band’s bluesy, soulful sound, and it still stands today as perhaps the most quintessential hard bop recording of all-time.

Originally self-titled, the album was later renamed Moanin’ due to the popularity of Timmons’ unforgettable opening track. The album also introduced several indelible Golson compositions that would become standards of the jazz songbook including “Along Came Betty” and “Blues March.”

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

Paladin were a British progressive rock band which released two albums during their short existence (1970-1973). They played in venues across the UK as they worked to develop their sound, performing a mix of rock, blues, soul, jazz, and Latin music. In 1971, Paladin entered the Olympic Studios in London to record their eponymous self-titled first album. The reviews were good, but the sales were disappointing. The album comes across as a smorgasbord sampling of what the era had to offer with a few original twists and turns. As diverse as it is, Paladin’s infectious rhythms and strong melodies pull the album together, and the excitement never lets up.

Paladin is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on silver coloured vinyl.

• 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
• GATEFOLD SLEEVE
• LIMITED EDITION OF 1000 INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED COPIES ON SILVER COLOURED VINYL

Michael Mayer’s latest EP, Brainwave Technology, comes at you purposeful, stealthy and sly. It’s a glorious left turn for the redoubtable producer, one that sees his typically lean and lithe productions buffed to a metallic, futurist sheen. There’s a gleam in the eyes of tracks like “Brainwave Technology” and “Alpha” that speaks of serious fun, of the intersection of the pleasure zone and the frontal lobe.

“Brainwave Technology” itself is informed by Mayer’s deep dive into the thorny terrain of artificial intelligence, transhumanism and posthumanism. Inspired by reading German philosopher Richard David Precht, Mayer found himself heading down the “proverbial rabbit hole,” as he describes it, “watching hours of YouTube material by self-proclaimed prophets of these ‘inevitable’ changes to come.” Never one to be taken in by the egotist’s dance, Mayer’s cynicism about the whole endeavour is tempered, a little, by the deeper questions that these figures gesture towards: “Is it really an evolutionary step that man and machine become one? Or is it rather a marketing plot by Silicon Valley billionaires?”

On “Brainwave Technology”, Mayer plays the charlatans at their own game, turning their logic against them by exposing the fruitiness of their ‘visions’. “I chose irony as my sword with which I chopped off some quotes from some of those batshit crazy prophets and self-promoters,” he explains of the drooling psychobabble he drops in the track’s lacuna. There’s a sense of humour here – how could you not laugh at these hungover egotists? – but there’s levity too, a sense that Mayer’s using sound to expose the contradictions and double-speak at the heart of these half-formed ideas. It’s a Burroughsian tactic, to slice into the heart of the voice to see what hidden truths surface.

It was Burroughs, too, who once said that “when you cut into the past, the future leaks out”; Brainwave Technology cuts into the logic of the futurologist to leak out the messiness of modern reality. On “Alpha” and “Gamma”, Mayer seems to conjure up the stark, ominous music that’d soundtrack a science fiction reinterpretation – or preinterpretation – of our modern malaise, all funereal wreaths of electronic noise and clatterboxing beats. As the EP resolves with “Device For The Young At Heart”, Mayer’s questions are piling up: “Do we want to become immortal and live on as a download? Do we really give up on Earth and put all our effort into colonising Mars?” There are no answers, of course, but plenty of imaginings-to-be. Brainwave Technology soundtracks both dystopian and utopian possibilities of what could come next.

New York City 4-piece deliver a modern blues rock masterclass on their feisty debut album.

“A timeless classic rock sound that revels in lean riffs and raw emotion.” – Afropunk

In an age where artistic merit is awarded to those who shout the loudest, Dakota Jones pride themselves on an unwavering ability to leave a lasting impression. Spearheaded by Tristan Carter-Jones fierce and unashamedly uncensored songwriting, the band’s fast-growing reputation as formidable live act has stamped Dakota Jones with the hell-hath-no-fury power of Chaka Khan, the wild spontaneity of Janis Joplin, and the honey-dripping sensuality of Marvin Gaye. Their debut album’s message of proud black heritage and triumphant queerness manifests itself in Carter-Jones’ ability to challenge norms of adulthood and femininity as she takes a deep dive into some of life’s most visceral emotions.

Tristan Carter-Jones: “I’m a black, queer woman expressing myself through love and music. Some folks still find that to be a transgressive act in and of itself. I work to fight that idea. I write a lot about my
Continued over…
sexuality and the ways in which I express it. Songs about sex and love bounce back and forth between songs about heartache, hangovers and self-medication, and the pleasure and pain of truly finding yourself. I don’t think we get to hear these things from a woman’s mouth as often as we should.”

Serving as an instant tone setter, the album opens with the line "Stretch marks from growing pains" with Carter-Jones lamenting the woes of adjusting to adulthood on lead single ‘Did It To Myself’ - her husky and commanding vocal instantly asserting its place in the spotlight. The atmosphere soon turns steamy on the flirtatious title track ‘Blacklight,’ whilst fantasising over a modern-day Bonnie & Clyde love affair the funk-laden ‘We Playin Bad Games’ packs a punch with its tale of free spirits entwined in a haze of late-night revelry.

Elsewhere, stories of caustic heartache twist the knife into wounded blues guitar riffs on ‘Like That’ and ‘Black Magic (That Power)’, in which Carter-Jones’s stoical voice never once faulters as she mourns the memories of a previous flame. Personal prayer ‘Lord Please’ recites empowered words of reassurance, and solidarity in the face of injustice erupts into a rallying cry for change on the classic sounding ‘Noise’ – written as a reaction to the 2016 US election. “I woke up after the election feeling pure panic and fear in my body,” remembers Tristan. “I wanted people in a place of privilege to stand up for what I was feeling, stand up for injustice, stand up for all of the things we need to change as a country. I wanted their rage, and I wanted their noise.”

Finally, the band’s tender tropes of togetherness eventually boil into gritty, guitar-slung balladry on hidden bonus track, ‘California,’ where, knees buckling under the weight of past trials and tribulations, Carter-Jones sets out on one final journey of self-discovery, hastily pulling out from reality and leaving only a dust cloud in her wake.

Production comes courtesy of the Grammy-winning John Wooler, ex Virgin Records A+R and founder of the Blues label Pointblank who has worked with everyone from John Lee Hooker and John Hammond to Isaac Hayes and Van Morrison. The album also features a wealth of hugely talented and accomplished musicians, including backing vocalist Kudisan Kai, former backing vocalist for the likes of Elton John, Chaka Khan, Anita Baker, Natalie Cole, Beck, Sting, Mary J. Blige and Jill Scott. Also present; Grammy winning keyboardist Jon Gilutin, who has spent years working with some of the industry’s most respected and iconic artists including Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Lady Gaga, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Jackson Browne, Celine Dion, Bonnie Rait and Carole King. You’ll also hear the talents of acclaimed guitarist Michael Toles. Most well-known for being a part of the Stax Records group The Bar Kays, and for his contributions on famous records by Issac Hayes, Al Green, BB King, Johnny Taylor, Rufus Thomas, Albert King to name just a few.

Dakota Jones are a rising funk, soul and blues rock band from Brooklyn, New York City. Comprising of Tristan Carter-Jones (vocals), Scott Kramp (bass) Steve Ross (drums), and acclaimed musician Randy Jacobs (guitar) - former member of Was(Not Was) who has recorded for Seal, Bonnie Raitt, Tears for Fears, Elton John and many others. Though Carter-Jones and Ross first met in 1999 whilst at primary school, the band formed years later following a series of home jam sessions in 2016. The band’s collective alias originates from Carter-Jones’s middle name, ‘Dakota’. Dakota Jones have since released a string of acclaimed singles and EPs as well as received international attention for their track, ‘Have Mercy’ after it featured on Netflix’s 2019 film, Always Be My Maybe starring Ali Wong and Randall Park – and now after years of hard work and determination, the band are finally set to reveal their long awaited debut album. “We’d been regularly releasing EPs, waiting for our chance to come, and wondering what that would look like,” says Carter-Jones. “We didn’t realise until we started making this record that we needed to stop waiting for some break to come along, and just do it ourselves, independently.”

“Black Light really dives into a place of funk soul and everything that comes with it. There’s joy and dancing, sleek guitar licks and funky bass slaps. There’s pain and longing, and there’s the feeling of relief when you come out of that place and find your joy and purpose again. Black Light is my story.”

Southern Avenue Announces New Album, ‘Be The Love You Want’. Out August 27 via Renew Records/BMG, produced by Multi-Grammy Winner Steve Berlin

(Memphis, TN) – Memphis soul powerhouse Southern Avenue has announced the release of their third full-length album. BE THE LOVE YOU WANT was produced by multi-GRAMMY® winner, Steve Berlin (Los Lobos, Deer Tick, Susan Tedeschi, Jackie Greene), and co-produced by Ori Naftaly. The album, arriving via Renew Records/BMG on August 27, 2021, is preceded by today’s release of the sultry first single, “Push Now,” available at all DSPs and streaming services.
BE THE LOVE YOU WANT is Southern Avenue’s most ingenious and personal effort thus far. Since their inception, the band has produced a wide-ranging collection of original music – predominantly co-written by Israeli-born guitarist Ori Naftaly and powerhouse lead vocalist Tierinii Jackson – that links them to their home city’s glorious past while at the same time, demonstrates their ambitious intent to evolve Memphis music to contemporary effect.

BE THE LOVE YOU WANT sees Southern Avenue teaming up with artists like multi-GRAMMY® award-winning pop superstar Jason Mraz and certified Platinum producer Michael Goldwasser from Easy Star All-Stars on “Move Into The Light” for a churning, funk-blasted burner. Besides writing with him on the first single, the band also collaborated with Cody Dickinson from North Mississippi Allstars for the song “Heathen Hearts.” The songwriting core grew within the band as well, as drummer Tikyra Jackson and bassist Evan Sarver collaborated to co-write “Let’s Get It Together” and “Pressure.”

The band brilliantly bridges the power of Memphis soul with jamband liberation, gospel blues, and R&B to craft their own timeless brand of American music. The ambitious sonic approach expertly complements BE THE LOVE YOU WANT’s rich themes of self-love, self-empowerment, personal accountability and the desire to push through towards something greater in life.

Rage, confusion, despair, self-deception, and introspection Madi Diaz cycles
through the full spectrum of emotions on History Of A Feeling,
her debut on ANTI-.
It’s an album that undeniably marks Diaz’s status as a first-rate songwriter, a
craft she’s spent years refining, and one wherein Diaz establishes herself as an
artist capable of distilling profound feelings with ease.
Diaz pulls from a range of folk, country, and pop leanings she is as much influenced by Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna as she is the sonics of PJ Harvey
and directness of Kathleen Hanna. On History Of A Feeling, the Nashville based
songwriter comes to terms with the dissolution of a meaningful relationship.
By the end of it, she wills herself into a self-reflective state where she doesn’t
hate herself for being so heartbroken.
The songs on History Of A Feeling, are the most direct and introspective songs
Diaz has ever written. In the few times she’s gotten to perform them live in
front of an audience, Diaz describes the experience as one where she feels
acutely present even though she’s singing about emotions that started to take
root years ago.
It’s relatable to anyone who has experienced heartbreak and great change in
some manner, and this profound sense of intimacy and camaraderie she seamlessly weaves into the songs was important to her.
“I wanted it to sound conversational, like I had just walked over to your house
and we’re sitting and at the end of your driveway talking just like we’re hashing it out in the same way that you’d call a best friend at one in the morning
because you needed to talk about what just happened.”

Runnner's Always Repeating yearns for a sense of place. The project of the now LA-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Noah Weinman, Runnner's poignant reflections on the isolation and anxiety caused by a sense of rootlessness radiate with wit and charm. Self-produced and recorded wherever he called home at the time, Always Repeating documents this cycle of looking back and moving forward, of alienation changing to reconciliation. For Weinman, Runnner is primarily a solo endeavor with an ever - expanding musical community of musicians collaborating on his albums and shows, which at times have been known to feature up to a 7-piece live band (he also has a burgeoning career as a producer, notably working on Skullcrusher's critically-acclaimed debut EP for Secretly Canadian). Weinman completed Always Repeating last fall in Western Massachusetts and Woodstock using a mobile studio set-up. He played the majority of the instruments himself, including guitar, bass, trumpet, banjo, piano and synth. The goal was to create the perfect balance of intimate and melancholy songwriting through the lens of hi-fi/lo-fi dynamics, inspired by his favorite artists like Bon Iver, the Microphones, and Julien Baker. The 10-track collection is composed of five re-recorded versions of songs that appeared on Runnner's 2017 debut, Awash, and 2020's One of One EP. Although the songs were written over the course of three years, all find Weinman grappling with the same thing: feelings of uncertainty about his life. Always Repeating ultimately tells the start of Weinman's journey as Runnner, and his cyclical feelings of being connected and then disconnected from the world over and over again.

After the release of ‘Kuarahy’ concurred with the blast of the worldwide pandemic and all the consequences it has generated, WHITE STONES - Martín Mendez’s project (OPETH’s bass player) - are ready to launch their second record.

When WHITE STONES released ‘Kuarahy’ they became the first Spanish band signed to Nuclear Blast Records, cementing their first album as an unprecedented milestone. Now, with ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’, the band returns with a more compact sound, having been hard at work ensuring the utmost attention to every detail for a result that is even better than the first record.

The topics covered on this second album draw on the feelings that Martín himself affirms he has lived through during the lockdown imposed by the covid-19 pandemic. “I started it very calmed in March when »Kuarahy« was released and the lockdown started. I wrote the new record and it just flowed so well. It’s my point of view, of the feelings I had during the lockdown period, in this weird year. I took advantage of the moment and I feel excited about it”, reveals the musician.

The most outstanding musical elements on this new record are the disparate genres that manage to co-exist. There is an element of aggression, that can be seen rearing its head in an instrumental frenzy, as well as soft and delicate intricacies that develop an atmosphere which surrounds the listener. There are distinct dynamics among the songs, with interludes allowing the listening to take a breath and appreciate what they’re hearing.

The writing process of ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ has been pretty similar to the previous ‘Kuarahy’ but with some clear changes. Martín composed all of the instrumentals for the album but, as he says, “I’ve left sections open to the interpretation of each of the other musicians, both in the drums and in the vocals. Eloi wrote the lyrics this time and we then workshopped them together whilst working out the vocal parts to get the final result in the studio”.

WHITE STONES once again recorded at Farm Of Sounds Studios (Barcelona), owned by their singer Eloi. They were satisfied with the sound of ‘Kuarahy’ and the experience of the recording of that album and the comfort of making everything with their own tools made it all easier. “Everything has been ‘homemade’ because it’s a way of working and a philosophy I like. You have more control and you can better enforce your ideas”, Méndez explains -who also created the cover for ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ together with Sandra, his partner for many years.

The final mix and mastering of this second album was done by Jaime Gómez Arellano at Orgone Studios (UK) because the band were more than satisfied with the work he did on ‘Kuarahy’ and they wanted to repeat that great experience. Eloi, as the singer and also the guy who recorded the music sent to Orgone Studios, acknowledges “the recording had more experience and a better sound quality because we made better decisions during the pre-production thanks to a higher level of self-awareness of ourselves as a band. Jaime knew us better too, so that simplified the process and in turn helped to make »Dancing Into Oblivion« as good as it can be”.

The line-up has been enhanced with the participation of the multifaceted Joan Carles Marí Tur on drums (who also plays in other bands like FACE THE MAYBE). The guitar solos were the job of Joao Sassetti (who was already a member of the touring line-up of WHITE STONES). Sassetti lives in Portugal and he couldn’t be in the studio in Barcelona, so he recorded his solos and digitally sent them over for integration into the final songs. The recording of the instruments has been more organic and as Boucherie says. “The original sound has been retained as much as posible in each and every element” and it has brought a natural/raw touch for ‘Dancing Into Oblivion’ just as the band had hoped and expected.

Born in Naples, educated in New York and now residing in Paris, drummer Francesco Ciniglio combines spotless drumming facility with substantial compositional flair, and has the capacity to move, reflect and express through his music. An in-demand sideman, Ciniglio has collaborated with Wynton Marsalis, Shai Maestro, Aaron Parks, Dayna Stephens, Seamus Blake and Tony Tixier. Following his debut solo solo release ('Wood', with Parks and Joe Sanders), Ciniglio returns as leader for his Whirlwind debut, 'The Locomotive Suite', a set of compositions for sextet that combine a personal metaphor of resilience with snapshots of his formative familial influences. Barcelona-based Raynald Colom (trumpet), fellow Paris emigrée Matt Chalk (alto) and Matteo Pastorino (bass clarinet) take the frontline duties, with Frenchman Alexis Valet on vibraphone and rising star Felix Moseholm on double bass.

Thyrfing emerged from the ever-growing underground scene in Sweden
back in 1995.
After seven full-length albums and numerous live performances all over the
world, the band have gained a strong following over the years and an exquisite
standing within the metal scene.
They are considered one of the top bands within the so-called Viking/pagan
metal genre - but on the other hand, Thyrfing are so much more with their truly
outstanding and self-contained musical offering.
The name of the band is taken from the sword “Tyrfing” in Norse mythology - a
cursed blade that appears in several tales and myths. Ever since the start, the
mythology has played a huge part in the scenery and imagery of the band’s
music and lyrics, something which is still intact today.
‘Vanagandr’ (an alternate name for the wolf creature known by the more familiar Fenrir) is a celebration of the tales and stories of Scandinavia - the track
‘Undergangens lankar’ is a conceptual piece focusing on Vanagandr/Fenrir and
a track that carries the spirit and hallmarks that make Thyrfing so unique.
‘Dop dem i eld’ is both the opening song on the album and the first video, one
of two produced for the band by Patric Ullaeus (Dimmu Borgir, Europe, Arch
Enemy). A powerful, heavy, and aggressive track packed with groove and melody. Elsewhere ‘Tr ldomsord’ is regarded as possibly the band’s most intense
song to date, whereas ‘Jordaf rd’ closes the album in epic fashion - a mournful
and moody longing for the end to come. The perfect way to end the album!
Co-recorded and co-produced by Jakob Herrmann (In Flames, Machine Head,
Evergrey) in Top Floor Studios, Gothenburg, with the renowned Jacob Hansen
(Volbeat, U.D.O., Katatonia) looking after the mix and mastering, all of which
ensures at ‘Vanagandr’ sounds massive!
The art concept was executed perfectly by Niklas Sundin of Cabin Fever Media
(ex-Dark Tranquillity) who reconnects with the band once again (he also did
the “Vansinnesvisor” album back in 2002.)
‘Vanagandr’ is the first release via the band’s new record label, Despotz Records. Who recently also signed over the rights to the band’s first four albums
Thyrfing (1998), Valdr Galga (1999), Urkraft (2000), Vansinnesvisor (2002) and
have announced exclusive physical re-issues are in the making.
“... a successful voyage into an oaken woods where death metal, traditional
thrash, and Scandinavian folk commingle harmoniously” // John Serba, Allmusic
“This album gives you an epic feel, and that’s the big strength of Thyrfing,
their music can do something like that to you.” // folk-metal.nl

Thyrfing emerged from the ever-growing underground scene in Sweden
back in 1995.
After seven full-length albums and numerous live performances all over the
world, the band have gained a strong following over the years and an exquisite
standing within the metal scene.
They are considered one of the top bands within the so-called Viking/pagan
metal genre - but on the other hand, Thyrfing are so much more with their truly
outstanding and self-contained musical offering.
The name of the band is taken from the sword “Tyrfing” in Norse mythology - a
cursed blade that appears in several tales and myths. Ever since the start, the
mythology has played a huge part in the scenery and imagery of the band’s
music and lyrics, something which is still intact today.
‘Vanagandr’ (an alternate name for the wolf creature known by the more familiar Fenrir) is a celebration of the tales and stories of Scandinavia - the track
‘Undergangens lankar’ is a conceptual piece focusing on Vanagandr/Fenrir and
a track that carries the spirit and hallmarks that make Thyrfing so unique.
‘Dop dem i eld’ is both the opening song on the album and the first video, one
of two produced for the band by Patric Ullaeus (Dimmu Borgir, Europe, Arch
Enemy). A powerful, heavy, and aggressive track packed with groove and melody. Elsewhere ‘Tr ldomsord’ is regarded as possibly the band’s most intense
song to date, whereas ‘Jordaf rd’ closes the album in epic fashion - a mournful
and moody longing for the end to come. The perfect way to end the album!
Co-recorded and co-produced by Jakob Herrmann (In Flames, Machine Head,
Evergrey) in Top Floor Studios, Gothenburg, with the renowned Jacob Hansen
(Volbeat, U.D.O., Katatonia) looking after the mix and mastering, all of which
ensures at ‘Vanagandr’ sounds massive!
The art concept was executed perfectly by Niklas Sundin of Cabin Fever Media
(ex-Dark Tranquillity) who reconnects with the band once again (he also did
the “Vansinnesvisor” album back in 2002.)
‘Vanagandr’ is the first release via the band’s new record label, Despotz Records. Who recently also signed over the rights to the band’s first four albums
Thyrfing (1998), Valdr Galga (1999), Urkraft (2000), Vansinnesvisor (2002) and
have announced exclusive physical re-issues are in the making.
“... a successful voyage into an oaken woods where death metal, traditional
thrash, and Scandinavian folk commingle harmoniously” // John Serba, Allmusic
“This album gives you an epic feel, and that’s the big strength of Thyrfing,
their music can do something like that to you.” // folk-metal.nl

Hassle Hindsight if a new sub label of Hassle Records, created to facilitate the occasional one off re-issues of releases and records from the past that the people at the label have loved and still love. Having already reissued Reef's debut 'Replenish', Kerbdog's self titled and the critically acclaimed 'On The Turn', and Skindred's much loved 2007 album 'Roots Rock Riot' - the latest release comes from UK industrial rockers Pitchshifter, with their fan favourite album 'dot, originally released in 1998.

Runnner’s Always Repeating yearns for a sense of place. The project of the now LA-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Noah Weinman, Runnner’s poignant reflections on the isolation and anxiety caused by a sense of rootlessness radiate with wit and charm. Self-produced and recorded wherever he called home at the time, Always Repeating documents this cycle of looking back and moving forward, of alienation changing to reconciliation.

For Weinman, Runnner is primarily a solo endeavor with an ever-expanding musical community of musicians collaborating on his albums and shows, which at times have been known to feature up to a 7-piece live band (he also has a burgeoning career as a

producer, notably working on Skullcrusher’s critically-acclaimed debut EP for Secretly Canadian). Weinman completed Always Repeating last fall in Western Massachusetts and Woodstock using a mobile studio set-up. He played the majority of the instruments himself, including guitar, bass, trumpet, banjo, piano and synth. The goal was to create the perfect balance of intimate and melancholy songwriting through the lens of hi-fi/lo-fi dynamics, inspired by his favorite artists like Bon Iver, the Microphones, and Julien Baker.

The 10-track collection is composed of five re-recorded versions of songs that appeared on Runnner’s 2017 debut, Awash, and 2020’s One of One EP. Although the songs were written over the course of three years, all find Weinman grappling with the same thing: feelings of uncertainty about his life. Always Repeating ultimately tells the start of Weinman’s journey as Runnner, and his cyclical feelings of being connected and then disconnected from the world over and over again.

Birgit Minichmayr captures the imagination and holds centre-stage on
‘As An Unperfect Actor: Nine Sonnets by William Shakespeare’. This
won’t come as a surprise to people in the German-speaking world,
where the Austrian actor is well-known from countless appearances on
TV and a substantial filmography. Perhaps equally unsurprising is the
deep experience she can bring to Shakespeare: as an ensemble
member of the Burgtheater company in Vienna, she has repeatedly lived
out the searingly dramatic lives of the Bard’s characters, notably the
daemonic anger of Lady Macbeth, the sadness of Ophelia and even the
uncomfortable truths of the Fool in King Lear.
What might be more of a surprise, however, is the exhilarating musicality
she shows on this, her first complete album as a vocalist. One could
have predicted the crystal clarity, meaning and intent in her words - the
desolation in her voice in “the very birds are mute... the leaves look pale”
in Sonnet 97, for example. And yet there is more, much more, not least
Minichmayr’s uncannily instinct to find artful and felicitous ways to shape
musical phrases.
Composer/ pianist Bernd Lhotzky has provided a wonderful array of
musical contexts. As Minichmayr says: “He got so deep into the meaning
of each sonnet, his music made it different every time. And we talked a
lot about the colour, the meaning of each poem.” The opening track, ‘My
Mistress’ Eyes (Sonnet 130)’ is a masterfully deft piece of gender-fluid
irony. In the poem, a man is describing possibly the ugliest woman he
has ever seen - while also declaring that she is the one he loves.
Lhotzky gives us an acerbic version in that most male-led of dances, the
tango, complete with bandoneon, in which the words are sung by... a
woman. Minichmayr then gives a masterclass in how to end a song as
she hits, holds and nails the words “false compare” with triumphant
fearlessness.
Throughout the course of the album, we are magically transported to
new musical and emotional places. As Minichmayr says: “Through
singing, through just doing it, I was able to find deep love, or deep
sadness. I was really touched by it.”
One of the secrets to this album’s success is Lhotzky’s wish to find
melodies which have a certain ease and straightforwardness about
them. He says that he approaches all music - whether he is listening to it
or writing it - with one simple and direct question: “What story is this
telling me?” Lhotzky is known for his work in the field of early jazz, but
the range here is far broader, with allusions to such examples of fine
songwriting as Brassens, Robert Plant and James Taylor.
LP pressed on 140g black vinyl.

Raised on a healthy diet of The All-American
Rejects and All Time Low, Australian-born With
Confidence have made quite a name for
themselves in the world of pop punk with over 125
million streams across their first two albums and
multiple headline tours throughout the US, UK,
Australia and Europe.
For their upcoming self-titled album, the band will
be shedding a bit of their adolescent “get out of my
hometown” skin, opting in for a more adult, altpopinspired sound that draws influences from
everything from The 1975 to The Strokes.
The new album will be a follow up to the band’s
sophomore entry, ‘Love & Loathing’, which
debuted at #3 on the Independent Record Label
Chart and #4 on the LP Vinyl Albums Chart, selling
over 7,500 copies in the first week.
For fans of Neck Deep, State Champs,
Waterparks.
LP pressed on ‘Bone’ coloured vinyl.