Live Performance Of “Love Will Tear Us Apart”

“Probably one of the weirdest gigs I’ve ever done” – Peter Hook

Peter Hook Supports New Order Tribute With Live Performance Of “Love Will Tear Us Apart”

Peter Hook, legendary bassist for New Order, Joy Division, Revenge, Monaco and now Freebass, performed with London band DETACHMENTS at a children’s charity event hosted by The Salford Foundation Trust. The group played a vibrant version of “Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Joy Division at a benefit luncheon on Friday November 27th. Probably one of the weirdest gigs I’ve ever done” – Peter Hook

DETACHMENTS will have two New Order covers featured on the albumCeremony – A New Order Tribute to be released February 20th 2010 by 24 Hour Service Station. A portion of proceeds from the sale of the album will benefit the Tony Wilson Award – a grant program established by The Salford Foundation Trust in memory of the Factory Records and Haçienda night club founder.

FEATURED ARTISTS

Ceremony – A New Order Tribute

• DETACHMENTS
• The Cloud Room
• SUNBEARS!
• Kate Havnevik
• POCKET
• Kites With Lights
• John Ralston
• XOXO
• Rabbit In The Moon
• Jah Division
• The Beauvilles
• GD Luxxe
• The Dark Romantics
• Jimmy Oakes
• The Bedford Incident

and many more!

Love Will Tear Us Apart – LIVE – Detachments & Hooky @Salford Foundation Trust 2009

Italian musician Stefano Panunzi0, creates an atmospheric Art Rock sound pitched somewhere between the elegance of David Sylvian, Talk Talk and No-Man and the rock sensibility of Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree. Now he has moved on with a new band: Fjieri.

Ten years in the making, Fjieri’s debut album Endless represents the satisfying conclusion to a meticulously executed labour of love.

The band, led by Stefano Panunzi and Nicola Lori, are joined by an impressive cast of guest musicians, including Mick Karn, Tim Bowness, Peter Chilvers and Porcupine Tree members, Gavin Harrison and Richard Barbieri.

Co-produced by Barbieri, the album artfully combines Ambient and Progressive Rock influences to create a sophisticated sound that incorporates delicate atmospherics, rich melodies and hard-hitting riffs.

Track listing

• 1. A Reality Apart
• 2. A Big Hope
• 3. Ad Occhi Chiusi (Vocals by Andrea Chimenti)
• 4. Marcinelle
• 5. Breathing The Thin Air (Vocals by Tim Bowness)
• 6. Endless (Vocals by Tim Bowness)
• 7. Soul Eaters (Vocals by Haco)
• 8. The Breath Of The Earth
• 9. Lotus Flower

For audio samples go to http://www.myspace.com/fjieri

Stefano Panunzi

Tour Dates Announced

• 10/31 – PA’s Lounge – Somerville, MA
• 11/10 – The Zodiac – Baltimore, MD (w/ Blood Warrior)
• 11/11 – Kung Fu Necktie – Philadelphia, PA (w/ Blood Warrior)
• 11/12 – Union Hall – Brooklyn, NY – (w/ Blood Warrior)
• 11/16 – The Social – Orlando, FL (w/ Stellastarr*)
• 11/17 – Whirlyball – Atlanta, GA (w/ Stellastarr*)
• 11/18 – Local 506 – Chapel Hill, NC (w/ Stellastarr*)
• 11/19 – Rock n roll hotel – Washington, DC (w/ Stellastarr*)

Drink Up Buttercup

After a spectacular series of shows at this years CMJ, Drink Up Buttercup are not resting on their laurels. They’re heading out on tour playing shows with Blood Warrior and Stellarstarr*.

To celebrate, Stereogum are giving away a free download of the Andrew WK remix of Drink Up Buttercup’s new single Even Think.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

“they turn into the bastard sons of Shane MacGowan and Tom Waits, pounding on garbage cans and deftly mixing theatrical swagger with plenty of punk-rock ‘tude. Not many bands can mix homemade percussion, three-part harmonies, a melodica, and some opera training (no lie—lead singer James Harvey can bust out the vibrato when called upon), and make it all sound like this much beer-soaked, unpretentious fun” –Andy Hermann, Metromix New York

Drink Up Buttercup signed with Yep Roc Records and their first offering is the single ‘Even Think’, a fast-paced fist-pumper, driven by frenzied organ arpeggios and swelling vocal harmonies reminiscent of the sound of Brian Wilson re-imagining The Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat – all recorded and mixed in less than 24 hours as a lo-fi gift for their fans sonically unique from their other recorded material. If this is the kind of studio magic that is conjured in less than one day you won’t believe your ears when you get to hear the full length coming in early 2010 recorded by Philly’s veritable go-to guy, Bill Moriarty (Dr. Dog, Man Man) and mixed by Rusty Santos, the man responsible for the sound that graced Panda Bear’s Person Pitch.

The single is backed by an all new alternate version of the live performance fan favorite “Heavy Hand,” and this digital 45 can be downloaded for FREE at Yep Roc’s site. And for all the vinyl junkies out there the 7” only version will feature a cover of the Buzzcocks classic “Why Can’t I Touch It.” Expect two amazing reworks of the single courtesy of electro-pop meastro Cale Parks and renowned party-starter Andrew WK.

Drink Up Buttercup is truly the story of hard work and dedication. There was no stumbling upon an album deal, they earned it the good old-fashioned way by working their backsides off for it. This year alone they released a 7” (Sosey&Dosey/Farewell Captain) on Kanine Records (Grizzly Bear, Chairlift), recorded an entire full-length album, all while playing 60+ self-booked shows. They’ve shared the stage with the likes of Bishop Allen, The Fiery Furnaces, Tune-Yards, Clues, Marnie Stern and Free Energy and if you were lucky enough to catch them live at SXSW, New York’s After The Jump or the countless other shows, consider yourself a member of a privileged club because it won’t be as exclusive for too much longer.

Always planning the next trip, Drink Up Buttercup will be hitting the road again introducing more people to the onstage fracas of fretboards, drumsticks, elbows, metal lockers, mannequin heads, and trashcan lids thrashing through the air. Yet somehow avoiding serious injury to themselves, and always leaving the audience exhausted but eager for more in fashion that The New York Times declares “mesmerizes and clobbers live.”

Dave Stewart (keyboards) and Barbara Gaskin (vocals) are English musicians who have been working together since 1981, when their first single ‘It’s My Party’ reached number one in the UK. Since then they have built a reputation for creating intelligent pop music. The duo release their music on their own independent Broken Records label and occasionally perform live concerts.

Prior to playing at Tokyo’s TLG club in 2001 Dave & Barbara compiled and mastered a personal selection of rare and unreleased tracks.

The album was originally sold in a limited edition to the audience at Tokyo’s TLG club in 2001 and has not been available since – the music remains unchanged from the Japanese edition but the artwork has been redesigned and now includes new sleeve images by artist Mike Inns, photos from the duo’s personal archive, full track credits and extended sleeve notes by Dave Stewart. The CD ships in a 4-page colour Digipak with a 12-page colour booklet. Musical contributors include Andy Reynolds (guitar), Jakko Jakszyk (guitar), Porcupine Tree / King Crimson drummer Gavin Harrison and Annie Whitehead (trombone).

The compilation was sold in a strictly limited edition under the title of ‘TLG Commemorative CD’ to TLG concertgoers and has not been available since. The music remains unchanged from the Japanese edition but the album now features a completely new design by artist Michael Inns and a 12-page colour booklet containing photos from the duo’s personal archive, full track credits, new text and song notes by Dave Stewart.

Track Listing

1. Transylvanian Blue Suede Hooves (Subterranean Homesick Blues extended mix) (B. Dylan arr. D. Stewart)

2. René and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War (P. Simon)

3. Shakin’ All Over (2001 Rough mix) (J. Kidd)

4. Give Me Just A Little More Time (R. Dunbar / E. Wain)

5. McGroggan (1995 Remix) (D. Stewart)

6. When The Warcry Comes (D. Stewart)

7. Fear Is The Thief (D. Stewart)

8. Hold On To The Chain (D. Stewart)

9. Roads Girdle The Globe (1991 Remix) (A. Partridge)

10. Henry & James (1996 Remake) (D. Stewart)

11. The Curve Of The Earth (D. Stewart)

12. Painter Man (E. Phillips / K. Pickett)

13. Your Majesty Is Like A Cream Donut (quiet) (D. Stewart)

14. Ads Infinitum (D. Stewart)

(Total running time 66 minutes 35 seconds.)

Dave Stewart says: “After the long delay in releasing our recent album Green and Blue we wanted to keep the ball rolling and get more material out there for our listeners. Barbara and I really enjoy the music in this collection so we decided to make it available as an interim release while we work on new songs for our next album.”

"No opportunity necessary" from "Time and a Word" Nov 69

“The Lost Broadcasts”, a DVD now available from Voiceprint, contains early television appearances of the Yes band between 1969 and 1971 with the band showcasing tracks from their first three albums. Among the rarities here are unseen takes as well as footage that has not been seen or properly presented since they were filmed around 40 years ago. The DVD consists primarily of live performances in both black & white and color, and provides a fascinating view of the band from their formative stages through their breakthrough with “The Yes Album”.

2008 was an important year for Yes. It was the year in which the band celebrated its fortieth anniversary. The band, still led by founder Chris Squire, toured America with the latest line up to bear the name of this rather special band of musicians. 2008 was also important for another reason, as towards the end of the year, whilst looking for footage for an entirely different project, a researcher unearthed the footage that is now included on this DVD

Yes first came together under the name Mabel Greer’s Toyshop, a name rather in keeping with the previous year’s “Summer of Love” ethos. However, by 1968, the name was beginning to lose its shine. The final line up of Mabel Greer’s Toyshop included Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Peter Banks, Tony Kaye and Bill Bruford. The name change from Mabel Greer’s Toyshop to Yes came in August 1968 when, following a couple of days rehearsing at the Lucky Horseshoe cafe in Shaftsbury Avenue, the band played their first gig as Yes at the Mersea Youth Club in Essex, although the first recorded actual billing of Yes at a gig was a two-show stand at the famous Marquee club some two days later on the 5th of August.

The reason for the name Yes, I hear you ask? Well according to Peter Banks it was instantly recognisable, extremely positive and more importantly looked big on posters advertising the band’s gigs. Between August and the end of December 1968 the band played fifty-five gigs throughout the length and breadth of the country. One special gig, however, on the 26th of November gave Yes a taste of what lay just around the corner for the band, when they were added to the bill of Cream’s farewell performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The band were bottom of the bill under Rory Gallagher’s Taste, John Hiseman’s Colosseum and, of course, Cream. Despite being incredibly nervous, the band acquitted itself well and from here on things moved quickly. The band were invited to record a session for John Peel’s Top Gear show in January 1969, the first of many recorded for the BBC, and shortly after secured a recording contract with the giant Atlantic Records label.

Over the coming months the band recorded their debut album – the epnymously titled “Yes” (not to be confused with ‘The Yes Album’ from two years later). The album featured a mix of covers and original material which was fairly representative of the bands live set at this time and was released in July of 1969. The band by now had started performing gigs overseas and from the fifty five concerts performed by Yes in 1968 the band performed a hectic two hundred and three concerts in 1969 and also managed to fit in a number of TV appearances both in the UK and Europe, including the first appearance featured on this DVD filmed for the German television programme ‘Beat Club’ in November 1969.

The tracks performed here are No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed, Looking Around and Survival. Of the three tracks Looking Around and Survival were from the first Yes album and No Opportunity was a Richie Havens song the band had worked up for live performance and would feature as the opening track on the bands second album Time and A Word which would be released in July 1970. Only No Opportunity would be featured in the actual broadcast from this mini live set and was duly broadcast on the 29th of November 1969. In fact an interesting aside is that this particular edition of ‘Beat Club’ was the penultimate edition to be filmed in black and white. The show would change to colour after the final show of the year on the thirty first of December.

The set performed by Yes on this occasion would have been a cut down version of the bands live set, and Jon Anderson introduced the numbers, although he forgets which camera he is on whilst introducing Looking Around, much to the amusement of the rest of the band. The performance is a tight concise and well disciplined one proving that the live work undertaken by Yes in 1969 had sharpened up their musical skills no end. More importantly in terms of footage available from this period very little has survived making this small but historically important piece of film of the original line up of Yes all the more important.

The next clip featured here is a colour clip of the band performing Time And A Word. The performance is a lip synched performance as was the norm for many television programmes of the time and the band seem to be enjoying themselves performing the title track of their second album. Despite the good natured performance however there was an underlying tension which had arisen during the recording of Time And A Word. Peter Banks is featured here in possibly one of his last TV appearances with the band he helped to form. Just over seven weeks after this performance Peter Banks was sacked from Yes following a gig in Luton on the 18th of April 1970. Time And A Word the final album to feature Peter as a member of Yes was released in July 1970 by which time Peter’s successor Steve Howe was installed as the guitarist in Yes where despite a few periods where he has chosen to play with other bands such as Asia and GTR he has remained ever since

The next section of footage comes from another ‘Beat Club’ appearance filmed on the 19th of April 1971. The two tracks featured on the programme which was aired on the 24th of April were I’ve Seen All Good People and Yours Is No Disgrace however researchers recently found a second take of Yours Is No Disgrace which is slightly faster than the original take. This second take has remained in the vault until now as it was decided to use the first take rather than the slightly faster retake.

Following on from these TV performances Yes would finally break through with their third album, The Yes album and, following more changes in lineup, which saw Rick Wakeman replacing Tony Kaye, the band would go onto even greater success with albums such as Fragile, Close To The Edge & Tales From Topographic Oceans in the seventies through the eighties with albums like 90125 and Big Generator, and then to the bands most recent studio album, Magnification, which was recorded with a full orchestra in 2001

The band, despite short periods of inactivity and a great many changes in personnel (which has seen Chris Squire as the only constant throughout the bands history), have weathered the storms of fashion and commercial whims and released almost twenty studio albums and a number of live albums in the period 1968-2008. Yes have also remained hugely popular in the live arena and are still able to fill some of the largest arenas worldwide to audiences both young and old.

The performances featured on this DVD however are from the very early days of the band. You could say from a time “Before and Beyond” their massive success; but the spark of what made them the massively successful band they became is visible here for all to see and hear.

Blacklist Announce Shows, Including Debut Performances On The West Coast

• 11/04 – Union Hall – Brooklyn, NY (w/The Mary Onettes)
• 11/14 – Nomad – Los Angeles, CA
• 11/15 – The Knockout – San Francisco, CA
• 11/19 – Death By Audio – Brooklyn, NY (Veil Veil Vanish)

Blacklist

To listen to Blacklist is to listen to people who have chosen to stand in opposition. Complex and modern themes are wound tightly inside impressionistic lyrics, available to be unravelled by the curious listener or ignored by those who find themselves moved primarily by the force of the music. The band’s debut LP, Midnight Of The Century, is raw ambition mixed with raw power. Mixed by Ed Buller (Suede, Slowdive, Pulp, White Lies) and mastered by Howie Weinberg (Muse, Jeff Buckley, Iron Maiden, U2, Nirvana), it is a potent dose of rock and roll maximalism.

When the revolutionary Victor Serge coined the idea of a midnight in the century, he was referring to the dark pact between two of the cruelest tyrants the world had ever seen. And yet Serge is perhaps best known for his rambunctious, stubborn attitude in the face of such darkness: “the course is set on hope,” he wrote. It is precisely this marriage of extremity to romantic optimism that characterizes Midnight Of The Century — not just in the realm of ideas, but musically as well. Despite its density of sound and shadowy atmospheres, the record is the soundtrack to an uplifting journey that is as personal as it is universal. It is also a fitting manifesto announcing the arrival of Blacklist.

Hailing from Brooklyn, Blacklist is one of the flagship bands of painter Pieter Schoolwerth’s Wierd Records imprint. The band creates atmospheric modern rock music that has been described as anthemic, darkly romantic, and “a much-needed anomaly” (Other Music) in NYC’s music scene. They are sometimes classified as part of the post-punk revival, though the sound is generally more dense, sonically incorporating elements of shoegaze and heavy metal with coldwave. The members often cite influences like My Bloody Valentine, Motörhead and Black Sabbath alongside bands like The Comsat Angels, Wire, Killing Joke, and The Sound.

“In a way it’s a little bit schizophrenic, well, not schizophrenic, but dual. We enjoy listening to metal and playing metal-ish kind of stuff, but at the same time we are also listening to the post-punk bands and our performance incorporates both as well as many other elements” is how singer/guitarist Josh Strawn describes it. Drummer Glenn Maryansky continues, “I tell people live we are like the Lively Art bands were – sort of in-between Ride and The Cure’s Faith. We feel a connection to the French Wave scene. We love that over-the-top production that the metal bands have but also the sophisticated spirit of Joy Division and early Cure stuff. There’s denseness and this druggie quality to it but also this smartness and attention to detail”.

That attention to detail is part of what has brought critical acclaim to Blacklist’s live show. Metromix, who cites the bands as a MUST SEE during this week’s CMJ says: “after hearing the shimmering guitars, crisp drums and dramatic, Goth-y vocal tics of Josh Strawn on the band’s new single “Flight of the Demoiselles,” you might be tempted to break out the Cult’s old “Love” album—or anything by Bauhaus”

AWARD WINNING CULT DIRECTOR TAKES RISKS ON DIRECTION OF The Prairie Cartel’s video “No Light Escapes Here.”

Prairie Cartel

Award-winning Chinese director Peng Lei (an accomplished filmmaker/animator whose clay animation film “Beihai Monster” from 2006 was a hit in the Chinese indie-film world and has won numerous awards) discovered The Prairie Cartel’s music online and reached out to them about wanting to direct their video for “No Light Escapes Here” from their forthcoming debut release “Where Did All My People Go” . This is such a surreal, psychedelic urban-yeti dance trip.

As Peng explained to the lads, “The reason I wanted to direct this video was that I’m impressed with the lyrics and understand that they’re about trying to express yourself artistically in an oppressive communist regime.” Musically he also felt connected, Peng Lei is a member of New Pants, one of the most revered bands in China’s contemporary music history who formed in 1996 – their early sound was influenced heavily by new wave and early punk rock, particularly the Ramones. And in a true punk rock fashion, Peng takes a huge risk by using Mao all over the video.

View the video here:  No Light Escapes Here

The Prairie Cartel unleash their debut full length

“Where Did All My People Go”

• Double Wax package Released November 17th on Long Nights, Impossible Odds
• Distribution by Burnside & Ioda
• Digital release date: October 27th, 2009
• In stores: November 17th, 2009
• Record Release Party Thursday November 5th in Chicago

Please Join The Prairie Cartel at their record release launch including a special live performance by The Prairie Cartel, unleashing new material from their debut album

AT

• Disappear Here @
• Angels & Kings New York, NY
• Plus Resident DJs Members Only AV and Heaven Malone

Download a free MP3 Where Did All My People Go?

For 10.5 months of the year there is little else to do in Chicago besides drink heavily. The Prairie Cartel started as an excuse for Scott Lucas (Local H), Blake Smith and Mike Willison (both ex-Caviar) to do this in Mike’s basement while playing their favorite records. Albums on DFA, Matador, Wax Trax, Modular and Creation were all in heavy rotation during those dark months except when the whisky came out and it went all Ummagumma on them. The obligatory, possibly illegal, and definitely messy DJ gigs followed. Warehouses and lofts trembled before their can’t-mix, won’t-even-try-to-mix majesty. They developed a reputation for sets that were somehow gloriously disheveled but still extremely satisfying. After a particularly delirious night behind, on top of, and in front of the decks in London where some teeth got chipped, a little blood got spilled, and the local authorities threatened to pull their passports, they decided the timing was perfect to pick their instruments back up and go home to cut a record.

They bought a couple of used microphones, a bi-polar Mac, and locked themselves back in Mike’s basement. For a long time. maybe longer than what is considered healthy by normal people. Empty bottles and pizza boxes piled up. Beards grew, got cut, and grew again. Creatures with tails scurried in shadowy corners. Friends and family became worried. But then 2 EPs suddenly emerged in quick succession to unanimously positive reviews and doors began to open for them. They got asked to put a song in the Grand Theft Auto video game. Then they got asked to create an entire channel for the hand-held version, achieving every artist’s dream of cornering the market in sound tracking virtual third-person deals of digital drugs.

So, with all things taking its course, rather than emerging to tour and possibly killing this creative streak, they decided to ride it out in their tiny room until somebody cracked. The exhilarating result of this is Where Did all my People Go.

From the warped raw warehouse party-provoking opener “Keep Everybody Warm” The Prairie Cartel start off their debut by giving everybody a shout out, “And what you gotta do, is keep yourself together. Keep everybody warm.” Emerging from the Chicago Urban underground TPC blur the line with their delectably industrial yet funky directions. Taking it further is their cover of “Homicide” recorded by British punks 999 in 1978.

Sequenced in a continuous mix, the second tune in, “Suitcase Pimp” keeps the dirty rock alive with it’s seedy sleazy guitar line and gutter-nonsense lyrics: “Can I kick it can I lick, if I lick it if I lick will you like it?” While “Jump Like Chemicals” rhythm guitar hooks are gritty, sexy, and contagious.

From the Giorgio Moroder meets Modern Lovers groove of “Cracktown” to the WTF Ian Curtis frenetic freak out of “Fuck Yeah That Wide”, Where Have All My People Gone captures the anarchy and spirit of a mid-western band giddy to warp their electronics with the necks of their guitars. And they’ll wet your sonic palate even further with their hypnotically catchy chorus in “Lost All Track of Time”. You’ll even find a bit of Ambient layered with texture and chaos on “Magnetic South”. So Enjoy what the Prairie Cartel sound like now, the band just discovered Pink Floyd and that’s just the icing.

Where Did All My People Go is a slurry blast through Disco, Indie, Punk Rock and Electro, (depending on what they were ingesting at the time) and plays like an unruly house party that is more about sloppy kissing and jumping up and down and less about that one dude nobody invited getting into fights.

Where Did All My People Go is set for release on November 17th on Long Nights, Impossible Odds

TRACK LISTING:

• KEEP EVERYBODY WARM
• SUITCASE PIMP
• LOST ALL TRACK OF TIME
• CRACKTOWN
• BEAUTIFUL SHADOW
• HOMICIDE
• NARCOTIC INSIDIOUS
• TEN FEET OF SNOW
• JUST LIKE CHEMICALS
• NO LIGHT ESCAPES HERE
• COBRASKIN BRIEFCASE
• BURNING DOWN THE OTHER SIDE
• MAGNETIC SOUTH
• FUCK YEAH THAT WIDE
• THE GLOW IS GONE

Music From a Walled Garden, the new solo album by Dirk ‘Mont’ Campbell.

Mont was founder member and main composer of the experimental rock group Egg (1969-1972). The CD is a sequel to his 1996 solo work Music from a Round Tower, which was placed third in the International Green Dolphin Critics’ Awards for that year, and continues his exploratory style of composition introducing rare non-western instrumental performance directly into western harmonic and formal structures. Musical contributors include Barbara Gaskin (vocals) and Julia Bishop of Red Priest (violin & viola). Mont’s performances include a wide variety of folk winds, strings and percussion, and keyboards.

This work is Ambrosia for the ears – but make no mistake, this is no rock album – it’s traditional folk music with a twist, ut I make no excuses for including it on Rock Rebels. It is superbly performed and produced, this is music with extraordinary integrity.  It’s lovely to hear those strange timbres play things which sound quite natural to them, although they are from such far-away lands and cultures: the harmonies and rhythms are beguiling. Once again, Mont has produced a beautiful, imaginative and thoughtful work with flashes of the humour that belie his ’serious composer’ persona. All power to Dirk ‘Mont’ Campbell, one of the UK’s unsung musical geniuses.

Elaborate, beguiling and multi-faceted, Music From a Walled Garden is presented as an almost continuous sequence… there are many contrasting juxtapositions of material, presenting surprising twists and turns en route – you never quite know where the music will go next.

Mont Campbell says:  “In the mid-1970s I began to develop an interest in folk tradition and, increasingly, non-western music. Starting with the Balkans and moving through Greece and Turkey into the middle East, and then India and the far East, I gradually discovered a vast Aladdin’s cave of entirely new musical ideas and instrumental sounds. Since that time I have been learning and gestating these various forms of musical expression, and introducing them into western-style composition. I enjoyed writing the music and I hope you enjoy listening to it.”

Music From a Walled Garden (56 minutes) ships in a full-colour Digipak with a 12-page booklet containing track notes, photos and musical information by Mont Campbell. The CD is released on November 20th 2009 and may be pre-ordered now from the Egg Archive online store, operated by Burning Shed.

Tracks

1  Afrasiab (7:15)
2  Armadillo Mythology (2:06)
3  Glass Butterflies (6:09)
4  The Edge of Sleep (1:12)
5  Zeno’s Phantom Island (4:53)
6  The Salmon of Wisdom (3:39)
7  Provlepsi (8:51)
8  The Almanac of Azarquiel (2:21)
9  Calakmul (7:12)
10  Oecinial Reckoning (5:28)
11  Pibroch for the Midwinter Sun (3:00)
12  Sunrise Over Firle Beacon (2:26)
13  (Bonus track) Star Trek Theme (1:23)

The band who formed in 2002, came together as a foursome of childhood friends and kindred sprits and went on to release three critically acclaimed albums; the first Capture/Release in 2005, followed by Ten New Messages in 2007 and Klang (2009). Both the October UK tour and American dates are cancelled and full refunds will be given to ticket holders.

A statement from the band reads:

“The Rakes have always been very adamant and proud of the fact that we give 100% to every gig we’ve ever played. If we can’t give it everything then we won’t do it. That was the rule we set ourselves from day one.

After much deliberation we have come to the shared conclusion that we can’t give it 100% anymore and regret to announce that The Rakes are calling it a day. We are sorry to let down all the people who were coming to see us on the UK & US tours.

“Writing your own obituary is a surreal thing to do but we want to give particular thanks to our much-loved fans, all the great people we’ve worked with over the years, our management and loyal record label. We feel privileged to have had the opportunity to write music together and perform around the world. Genuinely, thanks for the good times…. That was one hell of a party! But now, we really must get some sleep.

The Rakes were a spindly – framed quartet rising from the rented rooms of North London. They wrote songs unfashionably political and shot through with humour.

The Rakes inturn were chaotic, charming, sublime and ridiculous. The Rakes were Alan Donohoe – Vocals, Matthew Swinnerton – Guitar, Jamie Hornsmith – Bass, Lasse Petersen – Drums.

The Rakes 3rd and final full length album KLANG is set for US release on ITUNES Tuesday October 27.

Produced within the four walls of a former DDR radio station in East Berlin, ‘Klang’, has been available as a UK import since March. It’s been over two years since their previous album, ‘Ten New Messages’ (2007) and The Rakes have created their freshest, most innovative album to date.

Reuniting with a fresh new perspective, The Rakes confronted the processes necessary in completing this album with careful composure.

For starters, the song selection process was much more stringent and selective, with the overall sound focused around rawness and energy. “The second album was all about trying to expand the sound,” guitarist Matthew Swinnerton admits. “Working with producers like Brendan Lynch and Jim Abbiss. This one was in the opposite direction. That very, simple direct thing. Doing it in two weeks, a song a day, not embellishing things at all and just capturing ‘a performance.”

But perhaps the most captivating change for The Rakes that truly defines Klang is relocating to a fresh environment to record and produce the album in a Bauhaus designed ex-Soviet radio station in Berlin that was converted into a studio. Berlin, a scene filled with musical triumphs and countless musical rebirths allowed the band to write what they deem to be “their strongest songs to date.”

“The London music scene is so dull right now – it’s like wading through a swamp of shit. We just wanted to be somewhere more inspiring,” said Rakes singer Alan Donohoe. “Someone suggested Berlin. It didn’t take long for everyone to agree, we packed our bags and moved here just like that. We love it.”

The band spent much of the year darting back and forth between their home city and this fresh, seductive new location taking the four lads on an adventure that ignited a sense of gang mentality among the band, living in an apartment on Karl Marx Allee and seeking out new thrills together in a seemingly lawless, unique environment proffered by the German capital.

RIP the Rakes – they’ll be sorely missed.

Formerly the front-man of Preston School Of Industry, and guitarist, singer and founding member with Pavement, Scott Kannberg returns to our turntables with his first solo album, The Real Feel, credited to his long-running nom-du-rock, Spiral Stairs.

“I guess Spiral Stairs is my name now,” he laughs. “It had been so long since the last Preston School Of Industry album, it made sense to call this a Spiral Stairs record. Everybody knows me as Spiral, it’s weird when someone calls me ‘Scott’. I’m not sure anyone knows who Scott Kannberg is.”

Despite the pseudonym, however, The Real Feel is, lyrically, Spiral’s most personal and honest recording yet, the songs’ loose, late-night vibe, soulful ache and charmingly vulnerable optimism very much shaped by his experiences in the years between the last Preston School Of Industry album, 2004’s Monsoon, and today.

an album heavy with haunted blues and bruised soul

It’s an album heavy with haunted blues and bruised soul, with a soused late-night ambience that perfectly fits both its scuffed and sad-eyed ballads, and its more strident rockers. ‘Wharf-Hand Blues’, closing the first side, is a standout, with stricken slide guitar and ghostly backing vocals, and Spiral’s smouldering, sad refrain of “What was wrong for you / might’ve been right for me”; the lyrical, pedal steel-gilded country of ‘A Mighty Mighty Fall’ is a sunnier glide, and easily charms. Foot-stomping opener ‘True Love’ and the brooding, blistering ‘Subiaco Shuffle’ rock out with the ragged glory of Neil Young and his Crazy Horse, unkempt and heartfelt, while the sunshine jangle of ‘Cold Change’ offers more of the lilting, beguilingly-unkempt pop Spiral’s spent a career perfecting.

“People who’ve heard the album told me they weren’t expecting it to sound the way it does,” says Spiral. “It’s been a few years since the last album, and I’ve heard a lot more music in that time, and been influenced by it. I was listening to Richard Thompson’s Shoot Out The Lights a lot, and mid-period Fleetwood Mac, and Bob Dylan records from when he was in his mid- to late-thirties. I was listening to those records at home, with my guitar in my hands, and thinking, I want to write songs with that same weird vibe.”

While the album sounds like the work of a group playing in simpatico, camped out in the studio together some way past midnight, the recording sessions actually spanned months and oceans. Spiral first recorded the bare tracks with some of his former bandmates in PSOI, including bassist Matt Harris and drummer Darius Minwalla, before hooking up with friend and fellow Seattle-ite Jon Auer (The Posies, Big Star), who helped Spiral record further overdubs and background vocals, and added touches of organ and mellotron to the proceedings. Next, Spiral took the tapes with him to Australia – where, of late, he’s been spending his winters – and recorded further instrumentation and backing vocals with friends out there. (He has become so enamoured with Down Under that he will soon be emigrating there, and marrying his Australian fiancé).

Spiral ascribes the five year delay between Monsoon and The Real Deal to the personal upheavals he experienced after touring the last Preston School Of Industry album, experiences which fed the mood and lyrics of these new songs. “I split up with my wife,” he says, “and went through some dark times here in Seattle. I had some songs written, but I just never really got out of my doldrums enough to get it together. It’s weird how five years can go by so quick: a lot of shit went on.”

Spiral wrote the songs for The Real Feel during this period, in Seattle and in Australia. “I was just playing music with these guys, making up these songs. It’s a more personal record than I’ve made before; they’ve all been personal, but this one’s pretty dark. The song material was very emotionally-tinged, very personal, all about what’s been going on with me. I knew that I wanted to deal with what was going on, what with my break-up, and the lost years after that. I wanted to deal with that in the songs.”

The result is an album that’s dark and potent, vulnerable and unflinchingly honest, an album unafraid to rock and to roll. Spiral describes it as having an “Australian” sound, and says it reminds him of the Bad Seeds and the Go-Betweens. Cathartic and powerful and uplifting, it’s the sound of Spiral making sense with that which makes no sense, making peace with his demons, and celebrating the life that follows. Certainly, despite the emotions that fuelled the record, making The Real Feel was an experience that proved entirely positive for Spiral.

“This is the best record I’ve ever made,” he says. “I spent so long on it that, once I finally listened back to the completed record, it was exactly how I wanted it all to be; that was a good feeling. There were moments in the last five years when I thought I didn’t want anything to do with music anymore… But you hear a good record, and it pumps you back into it again. It takes a lot to make a record, but it feels so great, and makes me want to make another, real quick.”

Dulcima the new album from Rhys Marsh and the Autumn Ghost

Following on the success of the critically-acclaimed debut album, ‘The Fragile State Of Inbetween’, Rhys Marsh returns with ‘Dulcima’, his second Autumn Ghost album in the space of a year.

From the provocative saunter of ‘In The Afterglow’, via the requiem-esque ‘Divide In Silence’, the snake-charmer’s swagger of ‘Nine Times Beautiful’, and the deceptively-innocent lilt of ‘You’ll Never Fall’, to the full-on prog assault of ‘In Dark, In Light’, this is a dark affair through-and-through, which, while still retaining much of its predecessor’s melancholy, barely surfaces from its intense and often dense soundscape.

‘Dulcima’ was written and recorded simultaneously, over the course of seven months, in Trondheim, London and New York. The city atmosphere was an important influence in these songs, as they helped to harness the urgency that Marsh wanted to capture. Another important facet of this album is that, like his debut, many of the songs feature elements from the initial demo recordings. It’s this spontaneity and energy that further sets ‘Dulcima’ away from its peers.

Alongside his long-standing rhythm section of Jo Fougner Skaansar (double bass) and Takashi Mori (drums), this album also features the heavy-handed help of Mattias Olsson (Änglagård), Ketil Einarsen (Jaga Jazzist), Trude Eidtang (White Willow) and Lars Fredrik Frøislie (Wobbler).

‘Dulcima’ comes in a beautiful six-panel digipak, complete with lyrics.

• 1. In The Afterglow (5:12)
• 2. The Frightened Souls (5:03)
• 3. Divide In Silence (4:35)
• 4. Nine Times Beautiful (8:10)
• 5. The Safety Of All You Know (10:04)
• 6. You’ll Never Fall (4:22)
• 7. Surrendered (5:57)
• 8. In Dark, In Light (9:36)

credits

• Rhys Marsh — voice, guitars, piano, mellotron, rebab, orchestrations (1-8)
• Trude Eidtang — voice (1, 2, 4, 8 )
• Jo Fougner Skaansar — double & electric basses (1-8)
• Mattias Olsson — drums, celeste, orchestron, mellotron (1, 4, 6)
• Anna Giddey — violin (2, 7)
• Natalie Rozario — cello (2, 7), orchestration (2)
• Takashi Mori — drums (2, 5, 6, 8 )
• Ketil Vestrum Einarsen — flute, spektrals (4)
• Gaute Storsve — electric guitar solo (5)
• Timbre Cierpke — harp (7)
• Lars Fredrik Frøislie — hammond, moog, autoharp, celeste (8)

Recorded from October ‘08 to April ‘09 by Rhys Marsh at Autumnsongs, Trondheim, Norway; Takashi Mori at Studio Bosco, Shiga, Japan; Mattias Olsson at Roth Händle, Stockholm, Sweden; Lars Fredrik Frøislie at The Pig Farm, Hønefoss, Norway; Christian Paulsen at Battlefront Studio, Asker, Norway; Gaute Storsve at Ignored Studio, Oslo, Norway; Konrad Snyder at Castle Recording Studio, Nashville, USA; Ketil Vestrum Einarsen at Vibe Studios, Oslo, Norway

Produced & mastered by Rhys Marsh at Autumnsongs

The Rakes: reinvented their sound

Produced within the four walls of a former DDR radio station in East Berlin, The Rakes are set to release their third album, ‘Klang’, digitally on October 20th in the US.

The album has been available as a UK import since March. It’s been over two years from their previous album, ‘Ten New Messages’ (2007), and a debut, ‘Capture/Release’ (2005), that was compared to the fame of The Libertines, While the past two years have witnessed a series of transformations in the UK, where no one smokes in pubs anymore, everyone’s on Twitter, and those 22 grand jobs in the city are definitely NOT alright, musically speaking, most bands who emerged alongside these post-punk/new-wave Londoners have ceased to exist.

The Rakes have managed to stay strong through this period of great change and have witnessed some new changes of their own – reinventing their sound, and creating their freshest, most innovative album to date.

US TOUR DATES:

• 10/31 – The Roxy – Los Angeles, CA
• 11/01 – Slim’s – San Francisco, CA
• 11/03 – The Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT
• 11/04 – The Bluebird – Denver, CO
• 11/06 – Triple Rock – Minneapolis, MN
• 11/07 – Double Door – Chicago, IL
• 11/09 – Mod Club – Toronto, Canada
• 11/10 – Petits Campus – Montreal, Canada
• 11/11 – Great Scott – Boston, MA
• 11/12 – Highline Ballroom – New York, NY

“A testament to the continuing power of this excellent, eccentric band.”

Reuniting with a fresh new perspective, The Rakes confronted the processes necessary in completing this album with careful composure. For starters, the song selection process was much more stringent and selective, with the overall sound focused around rawness and energy. “The second album was all about trying to expand the sound,” guitarist Matthew Swinnerton admits. “Working with producers like Brendan Lynch and Jim Abbiss. This one was in the opposite direction. That very, simple direct thing. Doing it in two weeks, a song a day, not embellishing things at all and just capturing ‘a performance.”

The Rakes have managed to stay strong...

But perhaps the most captivating change for The Rakes that truly defines Klang is relocating to a fresh environment to record and produce the album in a Bauhaus designed ex-Soviet radio station in Berlin that was converted into a studio. Berlin, a scene filled with musical triumphs and countless musical rebirths allowed the band to write what they deem to be “their strongest songs to date.”

“The London music scene is so dull right now – it’s like wading through a swamp of shit. We just wanted to be somewhere more inspiring,” said Rakes singer Alan Donohoe.

“Someone suggested Berlin. It didn’t take long for everyone to agree, we packed our bags and moved here just like that. We love it.” The band spent much of the year darting back and forth between their home city and this fresh, seductive new location taking the four lads on an adventure that ignited a sense of gang mentality among the band, living in an apartment on Karl Marx Allee and seeking out new thrills together in a seemingly lawless, unique environment proffered by the German capital.