Releases
Ceremony - Zoo CD / LP instores March 6
Ceremony are a punk band from Rohnert Park, California, just outside of San Francisco. Their three albums on the Deathwish and Bridge 9 labels are widely seen as the most compelling, unusual and progressive hardcore of the last five years.
For their Matador debut Zoo, produced by John Goodmanson (Blood Brothers, Sleater-Kinney, Girls, Weezer), the band have refined their jagged sound while continuing to pursue themes of exurban alienation and confinement.
Zoo explores punk and post-punk traditions: the rhythm section remains as tense and propulsive as ever, while guitarist Anthony Anzaldo moves with ease from ringing power chords to stealthy leads reminiscent of Gang of Four and The Cramps.
Ross Farrar’s future primitive vocals sometimes recall Pink Flag or Metal Box, ranging from a melodic howl to a muttered incantation. The result is gripping and indelible.
On February 7th, Ceremony make their Matador Records debut with “Hysteria” 7” b/w a cover of The Urinals’ “I’m A Bug” on limited edition 7″ vinyl.
Alternative Press “Band to Watch 2012”.
March 6th, along with their full length Matador debut, Zoo, the album’s next single, “Adult” will be on shelves backed with the non-album original song “Start Over”.
In collaboration with Hardcore Gig Volume and Le Poisson Rouge, Ceremony have put together what’s bound to be one of the most insane shows of this nascent year… matinee style. Feb. 4th Ceremony will be performing songs from ‘Zoo’ (including “Hysteria“) as well as your favorites at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC
along The Rival Mob, Hoax and others.
Ceremony are: Anthony Anzaldo (guitar), Ross Farrar (vocals), Jake Casarotti (drums), Andy Nelson (bass, guitar), Justin Davis (Bass).
Ceremony don’t have a myspace, Twitter, or Facebook, but you can find them at www.ceremonynyhc.com
“A perfect punk band.” – Fader
“Ross Farrar just vomits out what’s been bugging him.” – Punk News
“Ceremony have created an astounding album that should be heard by all fans of angry music. The riffs will crush you, the drums will tenderize your inner ears, and the lyrics will have you screaming feelings you never knew you had. Just be sure you don’t listen to it around anybody you dislike; you might just end up
kicking their ass.” – Sputnik Music on Violence, Violence
“One of the most exhilarating and uncompromising bands in hardcore punk today.” – Big Cheese
For their Matador debut Zoo, Ceremony have worked with John Goodmanson (Blood Brothers, Girls, Sleater-Kinney, Weezer) to refine their jagged sounds while continuing to pursue themes of suburban alienation and confinement. A biography, written by vocalist Ross Farrar, further details the observations that have lead to the album’s focus on society and humanistic reactions: “Most of the stuff has to do with people” Ross says, “how we treat each other, and our ever increasing
ability to hurt one another, as well as unconditionally love.”
As explored in the lyrics, we live in an age with more available to us than ever before, both our physical and virtual worlds are being turned into ever more zoo-like environments with access to things beyond our immediate locale within almost instant reach. The music of Zoo explores punk and post-punk traditions: the rhythm section remains as tense and propulsive as ever, while guitarist Anthony Anzaldo moves with ease from ringing power chords to stealthy leads reminiscent of Gang of Four and The Cramps. Ross Farrar’s future primitive vocals sometimes recall Pink Flag or Metal Box, ranging from a melodic howl to a muttered incantation. The band rate this as their “first fully comprehensive sounding record”, with the results both gripping and indelible.
Tracklisting:
Hysteria
Citizen
Repeating The Circle
World Blue
Quarantine
Brace Yourself
Adult
Hotel
Ordinary People
Nosebleed
Community Service
Video
Willis Earl Beal - Evening's Kiss instores Feb. 21
XL Recordings is pleased to announce the signing of Chicago singer / songwriter Willis Earl Beal. His full length recording Acousmatic Sorcery will be out March 20th via the label’s new imprint, Hot Charity.
“Evening’s Kiss”, b/w the exclusive track, That Later Parade, out Feb. 21st, is the first official look at the singer who has drawn a good deal of ink in his local press—According to the drawing on his website, you can call him and he’ll sing to you.
Take a listen www.thefader.com to premiere single, “Evening’s Kiss,” a simple song that owes as much to the acoustic indie of Elliott Smith or Mt Eerie as it does to the Chicago blues of Big Joe Willliams and Sonny Boy WIlliamson.
“Every little piece of art that Willis Earl Beal (no website), an under-underground singer-songwriter from Chicago, has released into the world so far has given those who happen to see or hear it a little, fleeting glimpse into his emotions, humour, desires and earnest nature.” – Dummymag
“Willis Earl Beal is headed for hugeness, of that there’s no doubt.” – Factmag
“He’s kind of like Jandek meets the real-life, male, soul-stirring version of Audrey Tautou’s Amélie in the film of the same name – all about mystery and with just as alluring a backstory as the French enigma.” – NME
Selections:
Evening’s Kiss
b/w
The Later Parade
SBTRKT - Wildfire Ltd Ed 12" Instores Feb. 21
This is the long awaited 12” release for Wildfire from SBTRKT, taken from his self-titled album released June 28, 2011.
With only 1000 copies available worldwide, this pressing features the original single, an instrumental version, and the Drake OVO remix.
Selling out shows across the globe, including Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal late last year, 2012 spring tour dates are forthcoming, including appearances at SXSW and Coachella.
Best Album of the Year lists include Pitchfork, iTunes, Filter, KCRW, Magnet, Spin, Stereogum & more
Visit www.sbtrkt.com to check out video and for upcoming tour dates.
Selections:
Wildfire (feat. Little Dragon)
Wildfire (Instrumental)
Wildfire (OVO Remix feat. Drake)
Critical Praise for the Debut
“One of the best acts I’ve ever seen doin’ it.” – Drake
“Crisp and forward looking.” – NY Times
“Best Beats of Summer 2011.”- NPR Music
“SBTRKT is ultimately a colorful and highly enjoyable future-pop record, an extension of bass culture but not indebted to it. The other crucial thing is that the album is actually quite accessible, which is something that’s eluded similar post-bass projects.” – Pitchfork
“Finally became a phenomenon in 2011. But that fist-pumping takeover also helped popularize “postdubstep,” a headier alternative led by the masked man known only as SBTRKT. Here’s the thing, though: On the U.K. producer’s canny debut, his fusion of underground bass (“Pharoahs,” “Go Bang”) and instinctual dance pop (“Wildfire,” remixed by Drake, “Something Goes Right,” “Right Thing to Do”) hit just
as hard as any wobbling bass drone.” – Spin – Best Dance Album 2011
Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It - Instores Feb. 21
Perfume Genius is Mike Hadreas, a Seattle songwriter whose jarring 2010 debut album, Learning, was called “an album of rare, redemptive beauty…one of the most uniquely endearing and quietly forceful debut albums of recent years”, and established him as one of the most singular songwriters around today.
His new album, Put Your Back N 2 It, is much more universal, addressing intimacy, power, family, secrecy, and hope not just through his impressionistic lyrics, but the music itself, which is as lush as Learning was stark. It’s a gorgeous soundtrack for anyone trying to keep it together in everyday life, and moving forward.
Recorded by Drew Morgan and John Goodmanson, this sonically beautiful, more approachable album will connect with more people directly.
New threepiece touring line-up will be hitting many North American markets for the first time. He is confirmed to return to Canada April 7th Montréal ( Le Divan Orange), April 8th Toronto (The Drake Hotel), and April 18th Vancouver (The Biltmore).
Debut video “Hood” premieres January 18th.
Huge press already confirmed: Out, Interview, Huffington Post “Gay Voices,” Spin feature, Pitchfork feature, more.
For more information, please www.matadorrecords.com
“If anyone can make a tortured lamentation of society’s reluctance to relinquish heteronormativity sound like a lullaby, it’s Perfume Genius.” – Interview
“Exquisite.” – Pitchfork
Tracklisting:
Awol Marine
Normal Song
No Tear
17
Take Me Home
Dirge
Dark Parts
All Waters
Hood
Put Your Back N2 It
Floating Spit
Sister Song
Ceremony - Hysteria 7" available Feb. 7th
On February 7th, Rohnert Park, California’s punk rock crew Ceremony make their Matador Records debut with “Hysteria” b/w a cover of The Urinals’ “I’m A Bug” on limited edition 7″ vinyl.
March 6th, their full length Matador debut, Zoo hits stores, as does the album’s next single, “Adult”, backed with the non-album original song “Start Over”.
Zoo, the band’s fourth LP, recorded with producer John Goodmanson (Sleater-Kinney, Blonde Redhead) promises to “refine their jagged sound while continuing to pursue themes of exurban alienation and confinement.”
In collaboration with Hardcore Gig Volume and Le Poisson Rouge, Ceremony have put together what’s bound to be one of the most insane shows of this nascent year… matinee style. Feb. 4th Ceremony will be performing songs from ‘Zoo’ (including “Hysteria“) as well as your favorites at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC along The Rival Mob, Hoax and others.
Alternative Press “Band to Watch 2012”.
Ceremony don’t have a myspace, Twitter, or Facebook, but you can find them at www.ceremonynyhc.com
“A perfect punk band.” – Fader
“Ross Farrar just vomits out what’s been bugging him.” – Punk News
Fucked Up - Year Of The Tiger Instores February 7th, 2012
Since 2006, Fucked Up have been releasing a 12” single each year for the Chinese New Year. Named after the beasts of the Chinese Zodiac, the sprawling, 10-15 minute-long epics have been among the band’s most acclaimed material and were the first releases to expose them to non-punk audiences.
Keeping with tradition, for 2012 Fucked Up release “Year Of The Tiger”, an anthemic progressive rock masterpiece featuring guests Jim Jarmusch, Annie-Claude Deschênes and Austra. Also included is a 24-page illustrated children’s book with the lyrics to “Year of the Tiger” and an MP3 download.
It was produced by Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells) during the sessions for last year’s critically acclaimed rock opera David Comes To Life.
The 15-minute long track features the band’s familiar layers of guitar and roaring vocals, taken to a new level with the addition of piano, Jarmusch’s dark recitations and Deschênes’s gorgeous crescendos, in this menacing but uplifting story about the predation of p r e d a t o r s .
The B-side “ONNO” is a 22-minute long palindromic drone.
$1 from the sale of each record will be donated to the Save The Tiger fund – remember, we’re next.
David Comes To Life was one of the most critically acclaimed album of 2011, hitting everyone’s year end lists, including the #1 album of the year at SPIN Magazine. The band are on the cover of the December / January issue on newsstands Dec. 16th. Additionally, DCTL was named the Billboard #6 album of the year.
Dec. 20th will be the band’s last performance of the year with a benefit show at Toronto’s Great Hall. They will be back on the road in the new year and will stop by Jimmy Fallon on Feb. 22nd.
Monday Dec. 12th, the band performed “Jingle Bells” on Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations”.
- For more information, please visit www.matadorrecords.com
Liftoff - Sunday Morning Airplay - CD instores Feb 7
Fort Knox Recordings presents “Sunday Morning Airplay”, the debut release from Washington DC’s, Liftoff.
On the album, Liftoff take flight on a blissed-out journey drenched in acid-soaked melodies and 808 beats. Escape into the void and join them on their infinite quest for endless summers and higher states.
Featuring 13 songs for the new flower power generation, Liftoff invites you to sing along with their psychedelic campfire songs amidst strawberry fields and marshmeadows.
Guitar/Singer/Songwriter Steven Albert (Fort Knox Five and Thunderball) leads the band with vocal pipes so tender and true they send one’s astral projection straight to the year the music died. Coupled with the haunting harmonies of Johnna Raskin (aka Miss Johnna M of Thunderball and Speedy Consuela), you’d swear they were a brother/sister act, if not The Mamas and The Papas!
But that’s just the icing. The cake is layer upon layer of textures, lo-fi samples, drum loops, acoustic instruments & sound effects, played, produced and mixed by the inimitable Steve Raskin (Fort Knox Five and Thunderball) who, for this album, seems to have been working from a higher plane.
Throw in Rob Myers (Fort Knox Five, Thievery Corporation, Thunderball, See-I and International Velvet) for a little mood filtering, string strumming, the obligatory sitar riff, and you have a recipe for one heady trip.
Interestingly, this is an album that almost never was! All of the tracks were started with such innocence, daring, and musical curiosity that little attention was paid to data protection. Drives were lost, entire systems were wiped clean; nothing but a stereo mix remains of the entire recording session!
The songs were built, dreamt and tracked in the dawn of the new millenium, and finally realized this year. The result is nothing less than Fort Knox Recordings’ very own version of “Smile”.
So light up and tune in to “Sunday Morning Airplay” and lose yourself in the dreamy lo-fi glow of Liftoff.
To preview music, visit www.soundcloud.com
For more information, please visit www.fortknoxrecordings.com
“I had Saint Etienne dreams of chillwave proportions. The band is a new collaboration of Steven Albert, Steve and Johnna Raskin (of Speedy Consuela), and Thievery Corporation’s Rob Myers. Together they don’t just create sounds; instead, they lay out rich soundscapes that recall the aforementioned Etienne,
Calexico (by way of Ennio Morricone), and Portishead.” – The Vinyl District
“Sunday Morning Airplay is a gorgeous record that breezes on by whether its with vocals of ambient passages, sitars or beats. This is an album that washes over you and soothes your mind as it progresses through each of its thirteen songs.” – Pop Stereo
“Creating psychedelic soundscapes that move between various altered states, Liftoff is not to be missed.” – Brightest Young Things
“Impressive and expansive soundscapes, trippy vibes, and a diverse sound palette all contribute to making Liftoff’s Sunday Morning Airplay a great record. A perfectly named band with a perfectly named album; it’s almost as if this was all supposed to happen.” – First Coast News
Tracklisting
Autumn
Summer’s Shown
Off Yer Feet
Shine
High Sis
EmilyMaryAliceKatherine
Kool It Man
The Morning
Nothing is Something
Right on Track
Marshmeadows
Feathered Up
Song for Sharon
Mark Lanegan Band - Blues Funeral instores February 7th, 2012
Mark Lanegan Band releases Blues Funeral on February 7th 2012, Lanegan’s first album since 2004’s Bubblegum. It was recorded in Hollywood, California with Alain Johannes and features guest appearances from Josh Homme, Greg Dulli and Jack Irons.
Mark Lanegan has sung with Screaming Trees, Queens Of the Stone Age, The Twilight Singers, The Gutter Twins, Soulsavers and Isobel Campbell. He resides in Los Angeles and has two dogs.
Mark will be touring Europe heavily in the early spring followed by North American dates and festival appearances throughout 2012 with late night TV performances TBA.
Confirmed features in Magnet & Self titled with additional coverage in Rolling Stone, Spin, NY Times, LA Times, Relix, American Songwriter, GQ, Nylon, UTR, Bust, Blurt, AP, Eastern Surf & V Man
US import CD and 2 LP configurations with limited edition grey vinyl (w/ free MP3 coupon).
Prior to the album, ‘The Gravedigger’s Song’ will be released as a 7” grey vinyl single b/w a exclusive remix of ‘Burning Jacob’s Ladder’, which was briefly featured in a trailer for the Rage video game earlier in 2011.
For more information, please visit www.4ad.com.
Selections:
The Gravedigger’s Song
Bleeding Muddy Water
Gray Goes Black
St Louis Elegy
Riot In My House
Ode To Sad Disco
Phantasmagoria Blues
Quiver Syndrome
Harborview Hospital
Leviathan
Deep Black Vanishing Train
Tiny Grain Of Truth
The Big Pink - Hit The Ground (Superman) instores Jan. 31
Future This, the second album from The Big Pink just released to critical acclaim, was named after a skateboard company’s slogan from the 80s, is an apt title.
Hot on the heels of the album’s release comes the infectious ‘Hit The Ground (Superman)’, a track that bares all the hallmarks of a future Big Pink classic. Making sense of Robbie half-joking “use anthems as our armour”, ‘Hit The Ground (Superman)’ is also the first track where both Robbie and Milo co-wrote lyrics.
Taking it a verse each at a time, they penned it after spending a long, perfect evening with their closest
friends, a night neither wanted to end.
With the genesis for the new album stemming from the band deciding to not rush in, instead utilising their time to toy with some new studio equipment they had acquired to help them experiment more with their music making. It was with the excitement that came with making beats so successfully that the impetus they
needed to get started in earnest on album two came.
Over the summer of 2011, with ideas flowing, they worked with producer Paul Epworth (Adele, Florence & The Machine, Friendly Fires) to help them match their high ambitions. The end result does exactly that, adding more shades to The Big Pink palette, rewarding both them and listener for their patience. Future This commands attention throughout with its genius gently sinking in like all good records should; “A formidable comeback,” says NME.
Like ‘Stay Gold’ before it, ‘Hit The Ground (Superman)’ was given its premiere by Zane Lowe on his Radio 1 show in the coveted Hottest Record In The World slot. The track is released on 12” and as a download accompanied by remixes.
“Future This is full of towering anthems with buzzing guitars accompanied by squelchy synths and pummeling breakbeats; it’s the brighter-sounding successor to 2009’s A Brief History of Love, which sent the British press into overdrive.” – The National Post
“Two gigantic opening cuts, “Stay Gold” and the Laurie Anderson-checking “Hit the Ground (Superman),” feature shuffling machine beats stacked to the clouds, waves of digital distortion and an ooey-gooey shout-along chorus aiming for the seats behind the cheap seats…The first Big Pink record long outlived its expected shelf life, this will do the same.” – Toronto Star – Ben Rayner’s Reasons To Live
“Produced by Paul Epworth (Adele, Bloc Party) and mixed by Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails), Future This begins with two enormous ripples of positivity: the big beat-blasting “Stay Gold” and “Hit the Ground (Superman),” which packs a Laurie Anderson sample, a clobbering piano riff akin to “No Diggity” and arguably their biggest chorus next to “Dominos,” marking an immediate shift in tone for the Londoners.” – Exclaim
Matador Intended Play 2012 LP sampler instores January 17th
Matador Records & True Panther Sounds 2012 Intended Play Sampler hits shelves this January 17th.
This (insanely) budget-priced vinyl sampler showcases new tracks and now-classics from Matador/True Panther circa 2011-2012, and much like the Cherry Red sampler from which this LP finds inspiration, is destined to rank at #1 on all retail charts.
Featuring unreleased tracks from: THE YOUNG (Austin, TX – Matador debut Spring 2012), CEREMONY (Oakland, SF – Hysteria 7” coming January 2012, LP March), LEE RANALDO (of Sonic Youth, from Between the Times & The Tides, March 20 2012), PERFUME GENIUS (sophomore album, Put Your Back Into It, February 2012), STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS (unreleased track from Mirror
Traffic sessions) … and the newest addition to the True Panther roster, TANLINES (Mixed Emotions, March 2012).
The album also features 2011 favorites, GIRLS (from album-of-the-year-contender Father, Son, Holy Ghost on True Panther), KURT VILE (from Smoke Ring for May Halo DELUXE), ESBEN & THE WITCH (Hexagons EP, first time on vinyl) & COLD CAVE (exclusive re-mix/re-master from CHERISH THE LIGHT YEARS favorite).
Revisit your favorites from 2011, and get a preview of 2012 from your friends at Matador Records & True Panther Sounds for less money than you would spend on rolling papers.
For more information, please visit www.matadorrecords.com
Tracklisting:
THE YOUNG – Don’t Hustle For
Love*
KURT VILE – Life’s A Beach
GIRLS – My Ma
CEREMONY – Hysteria*
TANLINES – Brothers*
LEE RANALDO – Off The Wall*
FUCKED UP – Into The Light
ESBEN & THE WITCH – Hexagons II
PERFUME GENIUS – Dark Parts*
COLD CAVE – Confetti (radio edit)
STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE
JICKS – Polvo*
*unreleased
The Big Pink - Future This instores January 17th, 2012
Bright and early in 2012, The Big Pink return with their sophomore offering, Future This, the follow up to their magnificent debut, A Brief History Of Love.
Available on US import CD and LP pressed on pink vinyl for the initial run (with MP3 download coupon). Both formats feature large sticker with artist name and title and include foil krinking.
Produced by Paul Epworth (Adele, Bloc Party, Primal Scream) and mixed by Alan Moulder (U2, NIN, Depeche Mode)
Running in at ten tracks in 45 minutes, Future This commands your attention throughout. Opening with its first single, ‘Stay Gold’, a track written about doing what makes you happy, so immediate you could be forgiven for thinking they’ve not been away.
The album is paced perfectly, with future live anthems (‘Rubbernecking’, ‘1313’, ‘Jump Music’), counterbalanced with a set of songs that show a more subtle side: ‘Hit The Ground (Superman)’, (currently streaming at Pitchfork and in rotation at Radio 1), ‘Give It Up’ and title track ‘Future This’.
Each song has its own message, mostly positive, and helps highlight Robbie’s progress as both a lyricist and singer. By the time you reach album closer – the mournful ‘77’ – it’s already demanding repeat visits.
With graffiti a recurrent theme, the band wanted the finishing touches to Future This to lie with the celebrated artist KR (the man behind Krink), who by using his distinct paint style to ‘krink’ the album’s sleeve, gives a fresh update on the legacy of 4AD record design.
Future This sounds like an album they’ve enjoyed making; showing they still have a hunger, are still delivering on that early promise and are always looking forward.
Press features are set to run in Rolling Stone, Spin, Q, Mojo, and major newspapers across North America with a Spring tour and major US festivals confirmed for 2012.
For more information, please visit www.4ad.com
Named after a skateboard company’s slogan from the 80s, it’s an apt title. The genesis for this new record stems from the band deciding to not rush in, instead utilising their time to toy with some new studio equipment they had acquired to help them experiment more, and it was with the excitement that came with making beats so successfully that the impetus they needed to get started in earnest came.
Over the summer of 2011, with ideas flowing, they worked with producer Paul Epworth (Adele, Florence & The Machine, Friendly Fires) to help them match their high ambitions. The end result does exactly that, adding more shades to The Big Pink palette, rewarding both them and listener for their patience. Future
This commands attention throughout with its genius gently sinking in like all good records should. The album is completed by celebrated artist KR (the man behind Krink) using his distinct paint style to ‘krink’ the album’s sleeve and give them a fresh update on the legacy of 4AD record design.
Prior to the release of Future This comes the infectious ‘Hit The Ground (Superman)’, a track that bares all the hallmarks of a future Big Pink classic. Like ‘Stay Gold’ before it, ‘Hit The Ground (Superman)’ was given its premiere by Zane Lowe on his Radio 1 show in the coveted Hottest Record In The World slot.
Selections:
Stay Gold
Hit The Ground (Superman)
Give It Up
The Palace
1313
Rubbernecking
Jump Music
Lose Your Mind
Future This
77
Howler - America Give Up instores january 17th, 2012
From the city that brought you the Replacements and the ears that brought the world The Strokes and The Smiths, Rough Trade Records is excited to announce the forthcoming debut album from Howler, America Give Up on January 17, 2012.
Howler is the brainchild of 19-year-old frontman Jordan Gatesmith. Last winter Gatesmith had been playing guitar for the Minneapolis band, Total Babe but the overwhelming desire to create his own songs, in his own band, prompted him to hole up with his laptop and guitar and within weeks he had written the tracks that became the genesis for the band’s debut EP This One’s Different.
Almost as quickly he found the people to play them with. Joining Jordan in Howler are Ian Nygaard (guitar), France Camp (bass), Max Petrek (keyboards) and Brent Mayes (drums).
The band began playing in Minneapolis and it wasn’t long before Rough Trade Records founder Geoff Travis heard about Howler, saw them play, and signed them to the label. This sudden onslaught of attention began in the UK, with glowing praise from the NME and BBC radio, followed by a month long U.S. tour, and the recording of America Give Up. “Irreverent and drenched in the classics” is how Travis describes them.
They will begin a New York residency during release week and then a full U.S. / Canada headline tour starting March at SXSW through April 2012.
Dec12th Rolling Stone premiered the brand new video for Back Of Your Neck.
The band has just announced dates for the new year, including March 27th at Vancouver`s Media Club, April 5th in Toronto at The Drake Hotel and April 6th in Montreal at Le Divan Orange.
Begining January 9th the album will be streaming at NPR as part of their First Listen.
Currently on the cover of The Fly, the band will soon grace the cover of NME.
For more information, please visit www.howlerband.com
“Believe the hype…2012 could be theirs”. – NME
“Howler (is) a delightfully disaffected surf-punk quartet… If a handful of promising MP3s are any indication, there’s a high ceiling for these little punks.” – The Onions’ AV Club
“…plays like an experiment to balance the loud and dirty qualities of Hüsker Du and the Replacements with the poppy hooks of the Ronettes and Shangri-Las.” – CMJ
“…Even in the venue’s notoriously shabby confines and with rainwater pouring in through the ceiling, Howler burned bright….(they) tore through their eight-song catalog, including all five EP tracks and three new ones just to confirm that the EP was no fluke. As on record, live the band may be a bit rough around the edges, but they play with an uncommon confidence.” – Minneapolis City Pages
Howler is the brain child of Jordan Gatesmith. The 19 year old picked up the guitar only 5 years ago, and learned quickly. After being the guitarist for several regionally successful projects, Jordan felt like it was time for his voice to be heard, and wanted to write and sing his own songs. He has always had a natural
affinity towards early 60’s American rock and pop songs, as well as 80’s punk, he makes these influences his own.
Jordan claims to be terribly A.D.D. and needs to be working all the time. Fortunately for music fans he is not medicated for it, so he is constantly creating. After starting a new band each week for about 2 months straight Howler became the clear standout, and offered up the This One’s Different E.P. Jordan decribes
Howler as “an 80’s punk band cleaned up just enough so you could stick a corsage on it and take it to prom.” His vocals sound like a slightly twee Lux Interior, while his guitar skills remind one of Lou Reed on Transformer. Howler’s overall sound can be described as a cross between the Cramps and the Replacements, with a dash of VU. Jordan has since been joined by Max Petrek on keyboard, Brent Mayes on drums, and most recently the great Ian Nygaard on guitar.
Adele - Live At The Royal Albert Hall Blu-ray / DVD instores Nov. 29th
XL Recordings is pleased to announce the release of Adele’s “Live At The Royal Albert Hall” concert film.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD, the package features the entire 90 minute, 17-song set from her Sept. 22nd performance at the historic British venue.
Live At The Royal Albert Hall also includes the mini documentary,You, Me and Albert featuring behind the scenes and backstage footage shot throughout that day.
In addition to a 16 page booklet, both packages also contain an exclusive live audio CD of the entire show.
This is the first time fans will be able to hear all of Adele’s hits and most beloved songs on one CD/DVD. Included are the #1 single “Rolling In The Deep”, the global smash “Someone Like You”, “Set Fire To The Rain”, her stunning covers of Bonnie Raitt’s “If I Can’t Make You Love Me” and The SteelDrivers “If It Hadn’t Been For Love”, and the track that started it all, “Chasing Pavements.”
It has been an incredible year for Adele. Her sophomore release “21” is the biggest selling album in the world this year with 12 million copies sold and counting. The disc has eclipsed the 700,000 sales mark in Canada and has been #1 on the Soundscan chart for 23 non-consecutive weeks since it’s release in late February.
Touring globally in support of 21, including sold out appearances in Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver, Adele has received rave reviews for her live performances and “Live At The Royal Albert Hall”, recorded at the height of this amazing year, showcases exactly why she has become one of the most sought after live performers in the world.
Vocals by ADELE. Miles Robertson – Keys & Melodica, Robert Derrick Wright – Drums, Ben Thomas – Guitar, Sam Dixon – Bass, Tim Van Der Kuil – Guitar, Banjo & Lap Steel Guitar, Kelli-Leigh Henry- Davila – Backing Vocals, Sharleen Linton – Backing Vocals, Strings arranged by Rosie Danvers and performed by Wired Strings.
For more information, please visit www.adele.tv
Live acclaim for Adele
“All Adele had to do was open her mouth, and no further explanation or proof was needed as to why she is one of hottest singers of the day. Less than two weeks past her 23rd birthday, the woman legally known as Adèle Adkins regaled all ages, shapes and persuasions with the singular magnetic force of her voice and songcraft”. – Toronto Star
“Even in such a large room, Adele’s voice soared with a rich, fluid sound that filled the ACC all the way to the rafters. She was helped by the packed house, whose voices echoed back to her all night. For an artist who has become famous for singing about heartbreak, Adele sure knows how to lift a crowd. She makes sorrow look and sound like something gorgeous”. – The National Post
“What Adele gave to the sold-out Greek crowd was entertainment pure and simple, the old-fashioned kind that combines humor, good cheer, honesty, drama, emotion and the occasional double-fingered gesture to punctuate the end of a song. Over the course of 16 tracks — the singer presented Los Angeles with a disarmingly open and, at times, thrilling, show”. – LA Times
“21 manages to blend pop, soul, R&B and country in a masterful way, but It was clearly evident Tuesday night it’s Adele’s genuine persona and her empowering message that make her a true pop star”. – Vancouver Sun
“Adele is a winning combination of awkwardness and aplomb. But as soon as she started to sing, she was fully in command of a big, supple, emotive voice, joining the lineage of British soul and pop singers like Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, Alison Moyet and Annie Lennox”. – New York Times
Blu-ray / DVD / CD Selections:
Hometown Glory
I’ll Be Waiting
Don’t You Remember
Turning Tables
Set Fire To The Rain
If It Hadn’t Been For Love
My Same
Take It All
Rumour Has It
Right As Rain
One And Only
Lovesong
Chasing Pavements
I Can’t Make You Love Me Make
Make You Feel My Love
Someone Like You
Rolling In The Deep
The Big Pink - Stay Gold 12" instores Nov. 29th
The Big Pink return with ‘Stay Gold’, the first new track to appear from their forthcoming second album, Future This, which is due for release in January 2012.
‘Stay Gold’ was given its world premiere by Zane Lowe when he played it as his Hottest Record In The World on Radio1 and shows the band have lost none of their verve in their time away from the spotlight. Listen to an exclusive interview with Milo on the Radio 1 www.bbC.co.uk
Written with references to both an article from the late-60s by Stanley Kubrick in Playboy and Robert Frost’s Pulitzer Prize winning poem, ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’ (which also featured prominently in the book and subsequent film, The Outsiders), ‘Stay Gold’ is about finding things that make you happy. In Milo’s case, that was graffiti when he was a kid; a subject that runs through the artwork for their forthcoming second album.
The accompanying video was directed by rising star Ollie Murray, who recently made his solo directorial debut with the excellent promo clip for ‘Still Life’ by The Horrors.
Selections:
Stay Gold (Album Version)
Stay Gold (AraabmusiK remix ft.
Danny Brown)
Stay Gold (AraabmusiK remix
instrumental)
Guided By Voices - The Unsinkable Fats Domino 7" Instores Nov. 22nd
Guided By Voices are set to release their brand new album, ‘Let’s Go Eat The Factory’, in January 2012.
The album is preceded by a limited edition 7” single and digital download, ‘The Unsinkable Fats Domino’ / ‘We Won’t Apologize For The Human Race’, released through Matador on November 22nd.
After December 20th, the digital download will no longer be available.
Reuniting their classic line-up of Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Greg Demos and Kevin Fennell last year, this will be the first new music the band has put out since 2004’s ‘Half Smiles of the Decomposed’.
GBV reformed for the Matador Records 21st birthday Las Vegas celebrations in October 2010. The Dayton, Ohio five-piece, got together their 1993-1996 line-up, widely regarded by fans as the band’s best, for the event.
For more information, please visit http://robertpollard.net/
Inspired equally by jangle pop and arty post-punk, Guided by Voices created a series of trebly, hissy indie rock records filled with infectiously brief pop songs that fell somewhere between the British Invasion and prog rock. After recording six self-released albums between 1986 and 1992, the Dayton, OH-based band
attracted a handful of fans within the American indie rock underground. With the 1994 release of Bee
Thousand, the group became an unexpected alternative rock sensation, winning positive reviews throughout the mainstream music press and signing a larger distribution deal with Matador Records.
Despite all of the attention, the band never changed their aesthetic, continuing to record their albums on cheap four-track tape decks and thereby limiting their potential audience, yet that devotion to lo-fi indie rock helped Guided by Voices maintain a sizable cult.
Selections:
The Unsinkable Fats Domino
b/w
We Won’t Apologize For The
Human Race
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