Pop & Rock News

Players:
Oren Ambarchi, Crys Cole, Mark Fell, Will Guthrie, Arto Lindsay, Jim O'Rourke, Konrad Sprenger, Joe Talia, Ricardo Villalobos, Keith Fullerton Whitman

Mastered & cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, Berlin, April 2016

Photography by Estelle Hanania

Sculptures by Daniel Druet

Design by Stephen O'Malley

Hubris continues the exploration of relentless, driving rhythms heard on Ambarchi's Sagittarian Domain (2012) and Quixotism (2014). Where those records looked to Krautrock and techno for their starting points, the sidelong opening track here begins from the perhaps unlikely inspirations of disco and new wave, drawing particularly from Ambarchi's love of Wang Chung's soundtrack to William Friedkin's To Live and Die in L.A. Leaving behind the song-forms of these reference points, Ambarchi weaves a sustained and pulsating web of layered palm-muted guitars from which individual voices rise up and recede, eventually setting the stage for some lush guitar synth from Jim O'Rourke. Arnold Dreyblatt collaborator Konrad Sprenger contributes overtone-rich motorized guitar, pushing the piece into a satisfying intersection of shimmering minimalism and rhythmic drive that smoothly builds up until the entrance of Mark Fell's electronic percussion in its final section.

After a short second part, in which Ambarchi, O'Rourke and Crys Cole pay tribute to the skewed harmonic sense of Albert Marcoeur with a track built from layered bass guitar figures and abstracted speech, the long final piece pushes the concept of the first side into darker and denser areas. Joined by electronic rhythms from Ricardo Villalobos and the twin drums of Joe Talia and Will Guthrie, the layered guitars of the first piece are transformed into a raw and tumbling fusion-funk groove that calls to mind early Weather Report or even the first Golden Palominos LP. As this stellar rhythm section rides a single repeated chord change into oblivion, a series of spectacular events emerge in the foreground: first, aleatoric synthesizer burbles from Keith Fullerton Whitman, then slashing skronk guitar from Arto Lindsay, until finally Ambarchi's own fuzzed-out guitar harmonics take center stage as the piece builds to an ecstatic frenzy. Few artists could hope to include such an incredible variety of collaborators on one record and still hope for it to have a unique identity, but Ambarchi manages to do just that, crafting three pieces that emerge directly out of his previous work while also pushing ahead into new dimensions.

Francis Plagne

Players:
Oren Ambarchi, Crys Cole, Mark Fell, Will Guthrie, Arto Lindsay, Jim O'Rourke, Konrad Sprenger, Joe Talia, Ricardo Villalobos, Keith Fullerton Whitman

Mastered & cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, Berlin, April 2016

Photography by Estelle Hanania

Sculptures by Daniel Druet

Design by Stephen O'Malley

Hubris continues the exploration of relentless, driving rhythms heard on Ambarchi's Sagittarian Domain (2012) and Quixotism (2014). Where those records looked to Krautrock and techno for their starting points, the sidelong opening track here begins from the perhaps unlikely inspirations of disco and new wave, drawing particularly from Ambarchi's love of Wang Chung's soundtrack to William Friedkin's To Live and Die in L.A. Leaving behind the song-forms of these reference points, Ambarchi weaves a sustained and pulsating web of layered palm-muted guitars from which individual voices rise up and recede, eventually setting the stage for some lush guitar synth from Jim O'Rourke. Arnold Dreyblatt collaborator Konrad Sprenger contributes overtone-rich motorized guitar, pushing the piece into a satisfying intersection of shimmering minimalism and rhythmic drive that smoothly builds up until the entrance of Mark Fell's electronic percussion in its final section.

After a short second part, in which Ambarchi, O'Rourke and Crys Cole pay tribute to the skewed harmonic sense of Albert Marcoeur with a track built from layered bass guitar figures and abstracted speech, the long final piece pushes the concept of the first side into darker and denser areas. Joined by electronic rhythms from Ricardo Villalobos and the twin drums of Joe Talia and Will Guthrie, the layered guitars of the first piece are transformed into a raw and tumbling fusion-funk groove that calls to mind early Weather Report or even the first Golden Palominos LP. As this stellar rhythm section rides a single repeated chord change into oblivion, a series of spectacular events emerge in the foreground: first, aleatoric synthesizer burbles from Keith Fullerton Whitman, then slashing skronk guitar from Arto Lindsay, until finally Ambarchi's own fuzzed-out guitar harmonics take center stage as the piece builds to an ecstatic frenzy. Few artists could hope to include such an incredible variety of collaborators on one record and still hope for it to have a unique identity, but Ambarchi manages to do just that, crafting three pieces that emerge directly out of his previous work while also pushing ahead into new dimensions.

Francis Plagne

Camila created this EP whilst involving herself in circuit bending for the first time. The songs developed and grew over small, raw, noises or bizarre melodies from her self-built sequencers.

Submerged in building DIY circuitry, she was hypnotized by its relations to nature. Chemical elements, multi-coloured stones, material states rapidly changing into others. Each track on this EP presents her connections to these encounters, showing rough, odd, movements, sudden jumps of colour, and bizarre, deliberate rhythms.

It's noisy. It makes use of bright analogue melodies, and it contains vocals. It's exciting that it's brought together three labels, Lumen Lake, Schamoni Musik, and SVS Records, which will be collaborating for the first time to release a limited edition of 300 copies.

On her main project, Camila Fuchs, Camila has made appearances at Mutek Mexico, Ars Electronica, ATP Festival, MexFest London, Gottwood, and Dalston Music Festival. This is the first time she introduces us to her solo project.

Peripheral Minimal is welcoming Doric to their quarters. Doric is the moniker of the purist, Stathis Leontiadis (Human Puppets, Exetix, Plexiglas). Being involved in various avant garde/new wave music projects since 1996, intrigued by the 'all' analogue mentality of the late '70s - early '80s music field, he is passionately committed to vintage synths and machines, creating a very distinctive and specific style and considered by many as a "specialist". On this release,the main subject of the record is creative interplay. The first side (the "Asleep"side), includes songs, written by the artist alone, using sleep as a metaphor of loneliness and seclusion from the oppressive, everyday society that smothers anything unique under the struggle of daily routine. However, on the second side, Doric mutes his skeptic, internal monologue for a bit and collaborates with two very talented and like-minded artists, Pascal and Valisia Odell. Pascal (Foucault, Noisetoy, Ludmilla) is an ingenius multi-instrumentalist and an old friend of Doric and Valisia Odell (Phoenix Catscratch, Strawberry Pills, Father Breath) is one of the most charismatic voices in Greece, with a very distinctive and enchanting vocal hue.This friendship results to the second side (the "Awaken" side), a critical view of what our society translates into artistic and life success in general. A simplified formula that often leads to bury our most creditable truths, in order to become a pattern, easily readable and understandable by the masses.The overall essence of this record however concludes to a rather optimistic dream of a utopian reality,where everyone can create unobscured. The value of each effort can only be appreciated through time. Limited to 300, black copies with the distinctive "Doric" handmade artwork,a homage to the D.I.Y. Ethos, an infusion from the past but a promise of a future.

Review,

If you love contemporary minimal music, then you are certainly familiar with the Greek artist Stathis Leontiadis. With his bands Human Puppets, Exetix and Plexiglas this musician became one of the stars of the genre. Now he is back with Doric. With this solo project he already released a single and an album on Fabrika and a 10" on Domestica. The new release is once again a 10", this time on Peripheral Minimal.

Doric uses a special concept. The A-side is the so-called Asleep side and is about loneliness: music that sounds paranoid. Sleep Of Reason is almost unbearable, it's madness driven by minimal electronics. Everything is very danceable, but this is the dance of madness. The minimal sound comes straight from the 80s. Over My Dreamssounds a bit like the early Parade Ground. Simply great! Head Against the Wall (a title that needs little explanation) is slow and compelling.

The three tracks on the B-side are the Awaken side for which Stathis worked together with Pascal (Foucault, Noisetoy, Ludmilla) and Valisia Odell (Phoenix Catscratch, Strawberry Pills, Father Breath), two musicians who are no strangers in the Greek underground.

Exposing Vanity and Life In Reverse do not sound cheerful, but you hear a different dimensionn of Doric. The lyrics are about the malaise of the society we live in. Not that you will understand Stathis' words, but music is a language in itself.

Do not hesitate, just buy this!

The brand new studio album "Music Must Destroy" by the legendary RUTS D.C. Ruts D.C.'s glorious punk anthems and chart toppers Staring at the Rude Boys, Something That I Said, West One (Shine on Me) and Babylon's Burning still sound to this day livid with indignation, and the sonic needle is revved back into the red with the new single "Psychic Attack" that was released earlier this year to much critical acclaim, a pile driving three minutes and six seconds of unrelenting fury which is a mere snippet of this colossal new album. This, the first studio album since "Animal now" which was released in 1981 over 35 years ago is a varied collection of material that sends the istener through an outstanding journey that will not disappoint fans of the band. The title track 'Music Must Destroy', a healing and positive anthem which is sure to be a fist pumping classic at live shows. 'Golden Boy' which is the closest thing the Ruts will ever get to a ballad is a fitting and emotional tribute to the late Malcolm Owen. The Ruts D.C are back with a classic record, its been a long time coming and its been worth the wait.

People don't put this much of themselves into a piece of music just to show they can; to find out if they can, that's another question."
Greil Marcus on VEXX, Real Life Rock Top Ten

NME RADAR FEATURE : 'IF THERE'S A FEMALE ANSWER TO THE 'ANGRY YOUNG MEN MOVEMENT OF THE 50'S , IT MIGHT READILY BE FOUND IN OLYMPIA. THE WASHINGTON CITY HAS BIRTHED COURTNEY LOVE , KATHLEEN HANNA AND BETH DITTO, AND NOW IT BOASTS VEXX'S MARYJANE.

180 GM BLACK VINYL- 500 ONLY

Recorded immediately following on from their truly epic European tour last Summer, 'Wild Hunt' by VEXX is a deliriously hot-wired mini-LP. Showcasing the band utterly consumed in the moment, these six tracks blaze with giddy abandon, raging mere heartbeats away from oblivion.
Recorded by Hayes & Sam at Dub Narcotic in Olympia, mastered by Golden Mastering. This LP is a one-time pressing (on black vinyl) in collaboration with our good friends at M'Lady's Records, with incredible artwork drawn by Maryjane herself depicting the supernatural Wild Hunt in hot pursuit.
 

For the first time ever on vinyl! "Full Fathom Five" was wayback the first ever CD (cat# WM001) and DVD (cat#WM002) on Cluch's own label Weathermaker Music. Now is the time for the double LP-set (in gatefold sleeve) with a total playtime of 77:51.

"... This live album has been recorded in 3 different places, being Sydney in Australia, Pittsburgh and two times in Sayreville in the US. Out of these recordings they made a great best of setlist. This setlist includes a lot of songs from the 1995-2007 period of the band. Unfortunately they forgot to play some songs of their debut album and the great second album. I can't complain though, because the setlist is great, with loads of songs from their best albums like The Elephant Riders ('98) and Blast Tyrant ('04)!

This Maryland boogie groove-machine proves once again to be one of the best groove-rock bands out there! This band can be heavy and groovy at the same time as being easy-listening, bluesy and full with soul. There is no other band in the world with such a sound and that makes Clutch a unique band, which is best to be witnessed in a smokey and sweaty club. On almost all the songs their singer Neil Fallon has a crystal clear voice and the band boogies on in full gear!
The setlist is full with highlights, but especially the songs from Blast Tyrant are excellent. In 'Cypress Grove' the band goes wild on a long and raw jam, that ends in an explosive groovy end! In 'The Yeti' we hear a long drum solo, that goes on in some awesome freestyle jamming with loads of bluesy boogie groove. I can go on and on about some more highlights, but it's best you check this band out yourself. Preferably live on stage, where they are at their best!" - Metalrage

The seminal 1994 double album by the original PAINKILLER line-up BILL LASWELL, JOHN ZORN and MICK HARRIS on vinyl for the first time! Avant-jazz, grindcore, dub and ambient melt into eerie tracks of haunting atmospheres.

When PAINKILLER started in 1991, their first two albums "Guts Of A Virgin" and "Buried Secrets" (both released on extreme metal label Earache) were heavy attacks blending grindcore and free jazz that brought together the musical backgrounds of the three protagonists: drummer MICK HARRIS had just left grindcore legend NAPALM DEATH, JOHN ZORN explored new extremities with his NAKED CITY project while BILL LASWELL had as a member of roaring free jazz quartet LAST EXIT ( PETER BRÖTZMANN / SONNY SHARROCK / RONALD SHANNON JACKSON) proven that he was not only a visionary producer but also an accomplished bassist. But it is their 1994 double album "Execution Ground" that remains the opus magnum of the brilliant trio: ZORN's unmistakable shrieking saxophone, HARRIS' pounding drums and LASWELL's growling sub-bass lines were given heavy mixing desk treatment, resulting in extended tracks that are no less intense than their early works but display the full range of the musicians' skills. Soaked with reverb and delay, avant-jazz, grindcore, dub and ambient melt into eerie tracks of haunting atmospheres - even more so in the ambient versions of disc 2. Mastered and cut by RASHAD BECKER at D&M Berlin, "Execution Ground" is now available on vinyl for the very first time as 2x 180gr LP incl. a download code and insert in a limited edition of 500 items.

Finally now back in print and with a new price this classic album will always just keep selling. First volume in the infamous series dedicated to original punk rock and psychedelic rock from the fabulous sixties. With the Outcasts, Preachers, Split Ends etc.

Finally now back in print and with a new price this classic album will always just keep selling. Second volume in the infamous series dedicated to original punk rock and psychedelic rock from the fabulous sixties This was the first new Pebbles album that was released on BFD Records, in 1979. AIP Records issued this volume in CD format in 1992. Although having a different cover, the two formats are largely the same album. When AIP Records issued the early volumes of CDs, they omitted some tracks from the corresponding LP for the stated reason that they were already widely available on other anthologies.



[D] a4.The Electric Prunes: "Vox Wah-Wah Pedal Commercial",

Finally now back in print and with a new price this classic album will always just keep selling. Third volume in the infamous series dedicated to original punk rock and psychedelic rock from the fabulous sixties. When AIP Records issued the early volumes of CDs, they omitted some tracks from the corresponding LP for the stated reason that they were already widely available on other anthologies. In this case, the "bonus track" is omitted, along with "Soggy Cereal", by Mike Condello. The other tracks on the LP are included on the CD, although the opening cut has a different song name and a slightly different band name, and the order of the songs is different!! Track listings :





[F] 6.[Bonus Track] Unfolding: Prana (excerpt)

If The Fall truly is a cult band, then Slates both benefits from and reinforces such shrouded obsessions. In presenting these six particular songs as a 10-inch EP, the inherent and attractive difficulty of The Fall's sound is made physical, framing the urgency of their singles from this period (notably How I Wrote 'Elastic Man' and Lie Dream of a Casino Soul) alongside lengthy rumblings normally restricted to long players.

The tumbling and phased "Middle Mass" begins on an incredible high note, segueing into the snake-charm hypnotism of "An Older Lover Etc." "Slates, Slags, Etc." is built on stretched VU-inspired riffing, complete with ace feedback bleed that doubtlessly went on long after fade-out. Ultimately, it's the piercing chimes of guitar and marching drum grind of "Prole Art Threat" that elevates Slates beyond oddity. Truly one of Mark E. Smith's finest, busiest and most enigmatic performances, equally matched by a band at the peak of their powers.

Superior Viaduct's edition is the first time that Slates has been available on vinyl since its initial release in 1981. Liner notes by Brian Turner.

Rock and Roll has lost her way, that free spirited good time girl with an eye for a cheap drink and an ear for a tune settled down too early and now sits in Tesco behind a fake smile and too much makeup contemplating where it all went wrong. What happened to the energy - the edge - what happened to the ROCK

So it's left to three London reprobates Chris Carr (bass and Vox), Greg Baker (drums) and Martin Minz' Inman (guitar) to put things right. Introducing DIRTY FALCON - Long time compatriots and music scene misfits the band formed as a 3 piece in 2012 with 1 remit - "play it hard and loud". Fortunately the day jobs in Landscape Gardening and construction see this power trio only too happy to oblige and on balanced diet of grunge and 70s rock they're pretty regular when it comes to a belting out a tune. 
But this isn't mere imitation or flattery to deceive - this is a realisation of what made Rock so great in the first place - a drummer dropping bombs like Bonham, a singer ripping through vocal chords like the lives of a reckless cat and a guitarist stripping the whole scene back to bare wood with Sonics that echo the Rock Gods of old. This is the real deal - it's why kids start bands. It's why just maybe good lady "Rock" can hold her head up, tell the boss to "f@&, off" and start living again - who knows maybe her best years are still ahead of her...

repressed !

For this inaugural release the french label BFDM introduces two young promising producers aka The Pilotwings. Agorespace is an excursion, a trip where dark and killer drums meet with some soft melodies and primitive percussion.

Trance Beats is a wonky house track made up of hip-hop/jungle breaks and synthetic animal sounds, a powerful combination of tribal rhythm and creepy synths. On the same side comes Cavernes Magiques, a modern electronic tune where raw 707 jams gives way to Trippy dance pads, 90's influences. On the other side a strong techno track contrasted with bright synths called Cours-la-Ville, a dark and long exploration.

LP comes in printed innersleeve with lyrics

Was für ein Debüt! Mit ihrem ersten Album "Im Schwindel" setzte die Band Messer 2012 neue Maßstäbe für dichte, ausdrucksstarke Songs, die tatsächlich noch immer schwindelerregend sind. Was sie auf dem Nachfolger "Die Unsichtbaren" und der aktuellen Veröffentlichung "Jalousie" verfeinern, ist hier schon alles angelegt: Tiefer, düsterer Gesang und die lyrischen Texten von Hendrik Otremb, der minimalistische und doch ungeheuer mitreißende Sound, der irgendwo zwischen Post-Punk und Indierock wurzelt und doch schon hier einen ganz eigenen, düsteren Charme entwickelt. 2010 hatte sich die Gruppe in Münster formiert, neben Otremb zählten Bassist Pogo McCartney, Gitarrist Pascal Schaumburg und Schlagzeuger Philipp Wulf zur Urbesetzung, die "Im Schwindel" einspielte. Produziert hat Christoph Bartelt diesen Urknall, der für einen Erstling nahezu unverschämt grandios ausfällt

"Die Unsichtbaren" ist mehr als ein Zwischenschritt. Mit ihrem zweiten Album nach dem bahnbrechenden Debüt "Im Schwindel" (2012) setzte die Band Messer im Jahr darauf einfach noch einmal zum ganz großen Hieb an. Genauso scharf und dicht wie beim Erstling sind die Songs, die Mittel haben sich weiter entwickelt, die Stärken sind geblieben. Was Messer auch auf der aktuellen Veröffentlichung "Jalousie" ausmacht, ist hier schon gegenwärtig. 2010 hatte sich die Gruppe in Münster formiert, neben Sänger und Texter Hendrik Otremb zählten Bassist Pogo McCartney, Gitarrist Pascal Schaumburg und Schlagzeuger Philipp Wulf zur Urbesetzung, die auch das zweite Album einspielte. Koproduziert hat Tobias Levin, der als Musiker und Produzent seit den Tagen der Hamburger Schule die innovative, deutsche Independent-Szene geprägt hat wie kein Zweiter. "Die Unsichtbaren" blieben alles andere als unauffällig: Magazine wie Visions oder Spex feierten Messer dafür, gleichzeitig berichtete auch Medien wie die Taz oder Spiegel Online ausführlich - und zu recht begeistert.

Das selbst produzierte 'Spackos Forever' trieft nur so vor Energie, Spielfreude und Mut zum Ausbruch. Gleichzeitig bietet das Album eine breitbeinige Range von facettenreichen Songs, die sich nicht davor scheuen auch mal Gefühle zu zeigen oder über sich selbst zu lachen. Ob als brachial punkige Gäng ('Hey Haters'), clashig groovige Indieander ('Spackos Forever'), bekloppt dancige Diskochaoten ('Jesus Schmutzki'), charmant zynische Festzeltproleten ('Sauflied') oder melancholische Morgengrauen-Druffis ('So durch') Schmutzki bewahren sich ihre penetrant positive Einstellung und reißen dabei mit links die
Hütte ab. Im Herbst 2016 sind die drei Stuttgarter wieder auf großer Tour und werden
Deutschland zeigen, wer die Spackos sind.

Deluxe triple vinyl gatefold edition pressed on colour vinyl with printed inners.

Medium Medium's debut album, The Glitterhouse, was originally released on Cherry Red in October 1981. This reissue also features the Hungry, So Angry,' single version which was produced by Adrian Sherwood at Berry Street Studio in London.

In Sound International magazine Dave Henderson wrote prophetically, It could be one of the most important records of the type to emerge this year and will doubtlessly be revered as a classic after the group have long since departed.'

Also included is a selection of tracks from Cherry Red's 2001 Hungry, So Angry retrospective compilation album, the B-side of the band's debut single on Apt and a previously unreleased demo version of a song from the 1982 Sound-Products EP. It includes a bonus EP featuring previously unreleased tracks from the 2008 Village recording session. All of the various lineups of Medium Medium are represented.

Formed at the end of 1978 Medium Medium's self-described extreme dance music' had reviewers scrambling to draw comparisons with the band's contemporaries and find a label for its post punk sound.

Medium Medium's solid dance rhythms and chaotic, chiming guitar were superficially reminiscent of the Gang of Four and Talking Heads, but Rees's tangential sax playing and Graham's tape and keyboard interjections from the front-of-house mixing desk took Medium Medium in another direction.

Free-blown dubbed-up white funk' was how Max Bell described the sound in England's New Musical Express (NME). At the forefront of the post punk funk movement,' raved Cashbox in the U.S. Billboard magazine opined that this was post punk and post disco dance music.'

Lunapark is the trio of Burkhard Ballein, Klaus "Schlips" Gebauer, Reinhard "Zoppen" Benisch from Wuppertal, Germany. Formed in 1981 when the boys were dissatisfied with their surrounding musical environment. They packed their instruments and a cassette recorder and set off to create their own brand of Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW "New German Wave'). Their influences included The Beatles, Colloseum, Roxy Music, Frank Zappa as well as Sex Pistols, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Blondie and The Cure. Gefangene Vögel' ('Prisoner Birds') is their debut album released by Intakt Records, Stuttgart in 1982. Utilizing a simple set up of guitar, bass, drums, drum-computer, Korg MS-10 and Korg MS-20 they recorded 10 tracks that make up the album. Songs bridge the Belgian-type industrial and cold sounds with NDW quirkiness. In the vein of Sad Lovers and Giants, and Schleimer K they blend post-punk and new wave music with electronic influences. All songs are sung in German with monotone vocals and epitomized the urban Zeitgeist of the Cold War. All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl comes housed in a replica of the original jacket design, which features a drawing of birds on a grid. There are 4 different color versions of the screen printed jacket: blue, yellow, magenta and turquoise. Each LP includes a copy of the double sided 11x11 insert that was included with the original pressing with lyrics and photos.

Factory Benelux presents Random Textures, a new instrumental album by cult Manchester postpunk group Crispy Ambulance, now issued as a double CD set with 2015 album Compulsion added as a bonus disc.
Random Textures features material written by the band for a series of multi-media events in Manchester during 2015/16 and billed as the Subliminal Impulse Review. The producer is longterm collaborator Graham Massey of 808 State/Biting Tongues. After a few years of playing our Factory back catalogue it felt like time for a change,' explains frontman Alan Hempsall. The best way to force a change in our composing methods and move forward was for me to stop singing. We've always liked doing material that could be used as soundtrack music - albeit for fairly disturbing films. Random Textures is the sound of us spooking ourselves in our cellar studio.'
Companion disc Compulsion was originally issued in a limited edition of 500 vinyl copies to mark Record Store Day in 2015. In many respects it's the second album Crispy Ambulance might have recorded in 1982 after the release of seminal debut The Plateau Phase, with seven of the ten tracks written and performed live at that time. To these are added Rain Without Clouds, an outtake newly restored from the original multitrack masters, and remixes of Four Line Whip and WMTP.2 by producer-cum fifth member Graham Massey.
Almost uniquely, Crispy Ambulance has retained the same line-up since the group was originally founded in 1978: Alan Hempsall (vocals, keyboards), Gary Madeley (drums), Robert Davenport (guitars), Keith Darbyshire (bass).
Cover image by Paul Normann.

(7-inch) With their second vinyl release, 'Hidden Dragon', Shetahr has become part of the KRAAK rooster. Each song is a potential hit combining polished anger with naive childlike rhymes. Be Prepared, If You Dare to Crawl.

With their second vinyl release, 'Hidden Dragon', Shetahr has become part of the KRAAK rooster. Each song is a potential hit combining polished anger with naive childlike rhymes. Be Prepared, If You Dare to Crawl.

This trio is born out of the underbelly of the Bruxhells underground scene, and sound like that hellhole. It's the sound of the big city, raw, fast and wild. With their debut single and the hit song In the Woods of Africa they gave shape to the infamous crap wave revolution. Through their many energetic live shows, which blasted audiences away in Europe, they evolved into a tight unit writing short no wave songs based on poppy hooks. The ghost of Arto Lindsy and DNA is woven through their sound, if he would dance with the Beat Happening. Shetahr are ready to spit in your face on the moment that you find yourself unintended in the moshpit.

Mashuping the Hip Hop and the rock and the reggae and the Variete Internationales... A big Hip Hop Meltdown !

The Parrots release a 7' featuring the tracks 'No Me Gustas, Te Quiero' and 'Let's Do It Again'. Released on Heavenly Recordings, the tracks are taken from the band's forthcoming debut album, 'Los Niños Sin Miedo'. The tracks were recorded last September during the album sessions with Paco Loco at his studio in Cádiz. Having played a handful of raucous shows at this year's Great Escape Festival in Brighton and a storming set at The Crow's Nest at Glastonbury, the band return to the UK later in the summer for a run of shows.

Family*5, die Band um Peter Hein, Autor und Sänger der Fehlfarben, und Xaõ Seffcheque ist zurück. Wir erinnern uns: Nach ersten Singles und Mini-LPs veröffentlichten "Eff Fünf" 1985 ihr Debüt "Resistance", das nicht wenige Kritiker bis heute für das gelungenste deutschsprachige Album der frühen Achtziger halten. Danach kamen noch zahlreiche Kleinformate, Sampler-Beiträge und vier Langspieler. Die wurden zwar allesamt mit Lob überhäuft, dennoch schien nach "Wege zum Ruhm" 2004 die Sache erledigt. Schien. Denn 2015 fand man sich - auch für die Beteiligten selbst ganz unerwartet - wieder zusammen, und produzierte Anfang 2016 mit Ekki Maas im Musikkollektiv Eigelstein 13 Songs, die "Was zählt" zum besten Family*5Album seit "Resistance" machen! Meinen zumindest diejenigen, die in die Platte schon mal reinhören durften. "Was zählt" beinhaltet alles, was Family*5 immer schon auszeichnete: Kraft und Tempo des Punk, die Dynamik des Beat, souliges Stilgefühl, musikalische Vielfalt und exquisite deutsche Texte. Hinzu kommt eine bislang ungehörte Reife, die Vergangenes nicht leugnet, aber gleichzeitig die eigenen Grenzen wie auch jene der durch Erwartungshaltungen erstarrten Rezeption sprengt.

Factory Benelux presents Random Textures, a new instrumental album by cult Manchester postpunk group Crispy Ambulance, now issued as a double CD set with 2015 album Compulsion added as a bonus disc.
Random Textures features material written by the band for a series of multi-media events in Manchester during 2015/16 and billed as the Subliminal Impulse Review. The producer is longterm collaborator Graham Massey of 808 State/Biting Tongues. 'After a few years of playing our Factory back catalogue it felt like time for a change,' explains frontman Alan Hempsall. 'The best way to force a change in our composing methods and move forward was for me to stop singing. We've always liked doing material that could be used as soundtrack music - albeit for fairly disturbing films. Random Textures is the sound of us spooking ourselves in our cellar studio.'
Companion disc Compulsion was originally issued in a limited edition of 500 vinyl copies to mark Record Store Day in 2015. In many respects it's the second album Crispy Ambulance might have recorded in 1982 after the release of seminal debut The Plateau Phase, with seven of the ten tracks written and performed live at that time. To these are added Rain Without Clouds, an outtake newly restored from the original multitrack masters, and remixes of Four Line Whip and WMTP.2 by producer-cum fifth member Graham Massey.
Almost uniquely, Crispy Ambulance has retained the same line-up since the group was originally founded in 1978: Alan Hempsall (vocals, keyboards), Gary Madeley (drums), Robert Davenport (guitars), Keith Darbyshire (bass).
Cover image by Paul Normann.

14 rare and previously unreleased Punk and Post Punk tracks from the more obscure original Manchester bands of the time. The majority supported established acts such as the Buzzcocks and Joy Division and some went on to form legendary bands in later eras (Mike Joyce, The Hoax.) In the spirit of the DIY ethos of the punk era, most were recorded in small studios and released in limited pressings and have become a must have for the discerning punk collector.

On tour supporting their 12th studio album, Mondo Bizarro, the Ramones rolled into the Hollywood Palladium to a crowd of adoring fans. Featuring a grip of classic tunes like "I Wanna Be Sedated", "Rockaway Beach", and "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker", as well as new tunes like "Strength to Endure" and the amazing nod to Tipper Gore and her Parents Music Resource Center, "Censorshit". A great live broadcast from one of the legends of American punk rock.

Auckland, New Zealand' s Trust Punks' new album, Double Bind, aggressively consolidates their strengths as one of the most exhilarating young acts out there - blisteringly sharp, smart and spry. From the cold water surf of surging opener ' Paradise/angel-wire' , the band is on a tear through an Australasia that' s a precarious and nasty place for the young and the restless.

Whether they' re adopting the snarling id of suburban nationalists, or casting a harsh eye on the American way of life, incarceration and death (as on the incongruously sprightly ' Good Luck With That' ) theirs is a serving of wit and fury in equal measure.

They're also willing to turn the gaze on themselves, as bitter, discordant exorcisms give way to an unbearable sweetness. The stridency of Double Bind's opening 1-2 leads into the poignant jolt of 'The Reservoir' , as Alexander Grant pleads I'm not bold enough'. On 'Riding It Out' , Joseph Thomas grips crippling depression by the horns and rides it over a grinding Krautrock beat. Grant' s see-sawing melodies and Thomas' s belting rasp are Double Bind' s yin and yang - each a reminder of the challenging terrain post-punk was meant to stake out.

From Polvo to This Heat, from Can to Wire, from Stereolab to The Birth day Party - it's all in here, synthesized and absorbed into something new and hungry. In a time where there' s more vying for your attention than ever - more outrage, more distraction, more content - Double Bind ticks all the boxes. It' s angry for all the same reasons you are, but it' s also involving and intricate, a record to get lost in. And like the best records of its kind, it seeps into your brain, your feet, and your being.

Limited first indie store-only pressing of 400 on heavyweight pink vinyl. Sleeve has thick, reverse-board print..

Hot Salvation and The Audacious Art Experiment, once again team up to bring you the 4th LP from Leeds New-Wave underground mainstays COWTOWN. PARANORMAL ROMANCE follows on from 2013's incredible DUDES VS BAD DUDES.

Formed in Leeds 12 years ago, but like Gang Of Four, born in a variety of other places, Cowtown are made up by David Michael Shields (drums), Hilary Knott (keybass/vocals) and Jonathan Nash (guitar/vocals) and play econo, dynamic, over-stimulated rock music that embraces a heavily abridged history of rock n' roll. Serious about fun, the band are a firm favourite of BBC 6 DJ Mark Riley, performing music with an emphasis on positive expression and confronting collective anxieties, creating live shows that focus on what they enjoy and discarding the rest.

Picking up from 2013's Dudes Vs. Bad Dudes (released by TAAE and the band's own label City Hands) their latest offering is wildly economic, clocking in at 23 mins across 12 tracks. Drawing influences from bands like The Coneheads, Devo, The Bangles and The Breeders, as well as films such as Teen Wolf and Ghostbusters, songs are later distilled into their absolute fundamentals. It's not about what they want but what they need, with the delivery being as urgent and tightly wound as possible.

Paranormal Romance was recorded amidst the floods that swept through the city last winter by Matthew Johnson (Hookworms/Suburban Home) at the band's practice space, Tranquility Base and later mastered by Tom Woodhead (Forward Russia) with artwork by fellow Hookworms pal Jonathan Wilkinson a.k.a Idiots Pasture. The album encompasses the centralised DIY affair that Cowtown have come to epitomise as one of the longest running bands to come from the LS6 area. Jamming econo, recording econo and propelling themselves econo.

Multi-instrumentalist Graeme Jefferies is the given name of the fabled underground counterculture icon hailing from New Zealand, and his mainstay project, The Cakekitchen, has its roots firmly grounded in the pages of 1980's New Zealand garage storybook which featured countless innovative artists, all of which huddled under the umbrella of labels such as Flying Nun Records and Homestead Records. After performing in the revered gothic punk act, Nocturnal Projections, and after the collapse of his previous Flying Nun group, This Kind of Punishment, The Cakekitchen emerged as an amalgamation of gloomy and introspective post-punk and indie, with a stronger focus on structured studio songwriting and thoughtful compositional approach - producing some of the most expressive and unique music to come out of New Zealand during the early 90's.
Originally released in 1991 on Homestead Records, 'World of Sand' is the second full length album by The Cakekitchen, highlighting the first live line-up of the band featuring the drumming of Robert Key (Expendables / Lanky), and Rachael King (3Ds) on bass. This formation existed for roughly two and a half years and these compositions were considered by many to be the height of the groups' creative potential, with musical comparisons to the early material by This Kind of Punishment...pounding piano, maddening viola, numerous tape splices and oddball musical passages - along with several pieces recorded at home on a four track, lending a lo-fi, dark, and intimate feel to the album. Led by Jeffereies' distinct baritone voice, the album is layered, complex, and darkly beautiful.
Long sought after by collectors and fans alike, 'World of Sand' has been out of print and difficult to obtain since its original pressing in 1991. Dais Records is honored to reissue on vinyl in limited edition 'World of Sand' along with the The CakeKitchen's first LP (released the same year) 'Time Flowing Backwards', in remastered editions of 500 copies making these albums available once again to old fans while introducing these classics to new listeners.

Originally released in 1991 on Homestead Records, Time Flowing Backwards, the debut album by New Zealand post-punk outfit The Cakekitchen, coupling the entire self-titled EP material released by Flying Nun Records in 1989 along with 6 new songs recorded for the album.

Mastered at Abbey Road by Steve Rooke (who would later remaster The Beatles catalog), this debut full length would go on to solidify and promote the growing underground New Zealand rock scene and spawn a generation of devoted followers of Jefferies' exceedingly graceful, atmospheric, and poetic songs, led by Jefferies' unmistakable commanding baritone voice.

A diverse and inspiring album, 'Time Flowing Backwards' has been out of print and difficult to obtain since its original vinyl pressing in 1991. Dais Records is proud to reissue on vinyl in limited edition 'Time Flowing Backwords' along with the The CakeKitchen's sophomore LP (released the same year) 'World of Sand', in remastered editions of 500 copies making these albums available once again to old fans while introducing these classics to new listeners.

Multi-instrumentalist Graeme Jefferies is the given name of the fabled underground counterculture icon hailing from New Zealand, and his mainstay project, The Cakekitchen, has its roots firmly grounded in the pages of 1980's New Zealand garage storybook which featured countless innovative artists, all of which huddled under the umbrella of labels such as Flying Nun Records and Homestead Records. After performing in the revered gothic punk act, Nocturnal Projections, and after the collapse of his previous Flying Nun group, This Kind of Punishment, The Cakekitchen emerged as an amalgamation of gloomy and introspective post-punk and indie, with a stronger focus on structured studio songwriting and thoughtful compositional approach - producing some of the most expressive and unique music to come out of New Zealand during the early 90's.

Dragnet is arguably The Fall's best-known album. With the departure of Martin Bramah after Live At The Witch Trials, the band underwent yet another lineup shift in late 1979. Marc Riley switched to guitar and Steve Hanley joined on bass; the latter's signature basslines would become a major part of The Fall for the next two decades.

Opening track "Psykick Dancehall" strikes like an elusive, working-class anthem with its bouncy tempo changes and Mark E. Smith's unfiltered vocals raining down on the dance-floor. "Dice Man" takes its direction from disheveled beats, stuttering lyrics and asymmetrical phrasing. Somehow Dragnet manages to be even more lo-fi than The Fall's debut, yet reveals a cohesive sound and fierce songs that would further build the band's cult following.

Superior Viaduct's edition is the first time that Dragnet has been available on vinyl in the USA since its initial release in 1979. Liner notes by Brian Turner.