Bill Bruford – Banging On

17th March 2022

Over the past 50 years Bill Bruford has been one of the most original and innovative drummers across multiple genres. Making A Song and Dance: A Complete Career Collection is a 6CD Boxset that charts some of the many highlights of Bruford’s incredible career and is released on 29th April through BMG.

From early steps with progressive legends YES and a quarter of a century in King Crimson, to ground-breaking jazz fusion leading his own Bruford and Earthworks projects, Bill Bruford has always wanted to explore his chosen discipline to the full – and then push the boundaries further. This desire to challenge convention has created some breath-taking moments and made Bruford the drummer-of-choice for collaborations with leading musicians around the world.

“My interest was with the broader discourse on drums and drumming, rather than any notions of success or fame,” says Bruford. “The latter I could do little about but, in the 1960s, the former was wide open and meaningful contribution seemed everywhere possible. The context in which the first track in the set was conceived bears almost no relationship to the context in which the last was, four decades later.”

Pre-order here: https://billbruford.lnk.to/MASDPR

“There was a big premium put on the notion of difference. I wanted to sound different to contemporaries like Carl Palmer (ELP), Brian ‘Blinky’ Davison (Nice) or John Bonham (Led Zeppelin). I figured if I hadn’t heard it before, the other guys in the band probably hadn’t either. Thinking up interesting things to do on a drum kit was my reason to exist. I also thought that was what they were paying me to do. I didn’t care much what the critic, commentator or musicologist thought, and that was to remain my lodestone, my modus operandi for many years.”

For this anthology Bruford has selected tracks from across his whole career, comprising works from some 23 different artists and bands over a 40-year period. “I’ve deliberately avoided forcing them into industry categories such as ‘progressive rock’, ‘fusion’ or ‘jazz’,” Bruford adds, “on the grounds that most of the music I’ve been associated with fits very poorly into such straight-jackets – round holes and square pegs come to mind.”

The 6CD boxset Making A Song and Dance: A Complete Career Collection includes tracks from YES, King Crimson, Bruford, Bill Bruford’s Earthworks, his work with iconic global guitarists Al Di Meola, Steve Howe and Kazumi Watanabe and collaborations with keyboardists Patrick Moraz and Michiel Borstlap and many others. The package also includes a detailed biography, written by Bruford, featuring rare and unseen photos. The outer box artwork, gatefold CDs and booklet have been designed by Bruford’s long-time artist and graphic designer Dave McKean.

Making A Song and Dance: A Complete Career Collection

Track Listing:

THE COLLABORATOR disc One

Yes – I’ve Seen all Good People

Yes – Heart of the Sunrise

Yes – And You & I

King Crimson – The Great Deceiver

King Crimson – Fracture

King Crimson – One More Red Nightmare

King Crimson – Starless

U.K. – Nevermore

disc Two

King Crimson – Frame by Frame

King Crimson – Neal and Jack and Me

King Crimson – Heartbeat

King Crimson – Waiting Man

Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe – Brother of Mine (Radio Edit)

King Crimson – Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream

King Crimson – Larks’ Tongues in Aspic: Pt 2

King Crimson – Three of a Perfect Pair

King Crimson – Man with an Open Heart

King Crimson – Elephant Talk

King Crimson – Indiscipline

King Crimson – Big Funk

PianoCircus feat. Bill Bruford & Colin Riley – The Still Small Voice

THE COMPOSING LEADER

disc THREE

Bruford – Seems Like a Lifetime Ago: Pt 1

Bruford – Seems Like a Lifetime Ago: Pt 2

Bruford – One of a Kind: Pt 1

Bruford – One of a Kind: Pt 2

Bruford – Palewell Park

Bruford – Joe Frazier

Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – It Needn’t End in Tears

Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – My Heart Declares a Holiday

Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – Downtown

Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – Pilgrims’ Way

Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – Temple of the Winds

Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – Candles Still Flicker in Romania’s Dark

Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – Nerve

Bruford, Towner, Gomez – Thistledown

disc FOUR

Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – Beelzebub

Bruford-Levin – Original Sin

Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – Revel Without a Pause

Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – Triplicity

Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – The Sound of Surprise

Earthworks Underground Orchestra – Speaking in Wooden Tongues

Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – Modern Folk

Bill Bruford’s Earthworks – White Knuckle Wedding

Earthworks Underground Orchestra – Footloose and Fancy Free

Earthworks Underground Orchestra – Thud

THE SPECIAL GUEST

disc FIVE

Roy Harper – Grown Ups are Just Silly Children

Roy Harper – Hallucinating Light

Chris Squire – Lucky Seven (Single Edit)

Chris Squire – Silently Falling

Al Di Meola – Calliope

David Torn – Voodoo Chile

Kazumi Watanabe – Andre

Kazumi Watanabe – Small Wonder

Steve Howe – The Inner Battle

Buddy Rich Big Band – Lingo

Pete Lockett’s Network of Sparks feat. Bill Bruford – Prism

PianoCircus feat. Bill Bruford & Colin Riley – Achilles Feel

THE IMPROVISER

disc SIX

Moraz-Bruford – Galatea

Moraz-Bruford – Symmetry

PianoCircus feat. Bill Bruford & Colin Riley – Stalling Between Two Fools

King Crimson – No Warning

Moraz-Bruford – Flags

Moraz-Bruford -Split Seconds

David Torn – Previous Man

David Torn – Three Minutes of Pure Entertainment

Bruford-Borstlap – 16 Kingdoms of the 5 Barbarians

Bruford-Borstlap – Stand on Zanzibar

Earthworks – With Friends Like These…

Bruford-Borstlap – Low Tide, Camber Sands

Bruford-Borstlap – Kinship

Making A Song and Dance: A Complete Career Collection is released as 6CD Boxset on 29th April through BMG.

Pre-order it here: https://billbruford.lnk.to/MASDPR

https://billbruford.com/

Facebook @Bill Bruford

Kristine Leschper – Zooming Out

16th March 2022

Music News

Kristine Leschper releases a video for “Blue,” a standout from her debut solo album, The Opening, Or Closing of a Door, out now via ANTI-.

Of the track Leschper says: “There’s a disconnect between the music and lyrics, probably because the original demo of this song sounded like a medieval funeral dirge. So the words still have an unsettling quality, but the musical backdrop eventually morphed into this sexy disco track; I like the push and pull of that, it feels like the dissonance between adds a complexity to both elements. Sharleen is a masterful choreographer, she was the glue that held this piece together. You can see how the professional dancers embody the smooth music, whereas my character is more representative of the uneasiness in the lyrics. Jake Lazovick was incredible to work with as always, the end result grappling with and emphasizing the uncanniness of it all, as if in a dream.”

Out of chaos, the universe emerged, and from chaos a person can emerge, too. Kristine Leschper isn’t being hyperbolic when she describes a sensation of “being born” when a culmination of events, both personal and global, catalyzed in her “an understanding of how to relinquish control in a big way, and from that, a new sense of connectedness, transition, and impermanence.” She explains her desire to cultivate work in the spirit of the New World Poets, where in the words of June Jordan there exists “a reverence for the material world that begins with a reverence for human life, an intellectual trust in sensuality as a means of knowledge and of unity.”

Leschper’s The Opening, Or Closing Of A Door, due March 4 via ANTI/Epitaph, is a paean to the sensory world. It’s the first Leschper has released under her given name, having retired the moniker Mothers after eight years of performing and releasing music under it. Though both projects are guided by Leschper’s idiosyncratic approach to songwriting, they couldn’t sound more different. While Mothers drew inspiration from the stark, skeletal sounds of post-punk and contemporary folk, Leschper’s new work is practically baroque, integrating an array of synthesizers, strings, woodwinds, and over a dozen percussive instruments. “Earlier work didn’t involve recording as part of the writing process, recordings were simply made as a document of something that had been written and rehearsed. I have since discovered a deep affection for home recording and sound exploration, finding that I thrive in those rabbit holes of texture, timbre, rhythm, which can add so much complexity to the emotionality of a composition.”

The at-home recording process gave Leschper freedom to set her personal ethos to music divorced from the pressure of an audience. As she worked on The Opening, Or Closing Of A Door, the constellation of ideas that had guided her personal transformation began to cohere into something communicable through music. “My pleasure lives in the poetics of democracy — in the liberatory words of June Jordan, in the humanitarian performances of Bread and Puppet Theatre. Puppetry, like poetry, is a distillation of complex ideas into absolute essentials. With these songs, I wanted to explore themes of longing, encouragement, connectedness, these things that are both straightforward and complex, ubiquitous and vital. It is the foundation of our personal lives that extends broadly into our political lives. I wondered, what might a love song to my friends look like? What might a love song to myself look like?”

“Figure and I” offers a response to that very question. “There are two distinct characters in the song, representing the severance between self, or soul, and body,” Leschper explains. “It is about learning how to love the body and the spirit, how to combine the two.” Inspired by the samba artist Nelson Cavaquinho, Leschper programmed a drumbeat and quickly tracked a hand clapping pattern to accompany it, a rhythmic feature that recurs throughout the album. “The accessibility of hand clapping as an instrument was really exciting for me, and I’ve long been interested in the symbolism of hands representing work, or community, or offering, or holding and being held. Using this fundamental sound-making device makes me feel rooted in a deeper sense of time because of the historical longevity of hand clapping in folk traditions around the world.”

Hand clapping also characterizes the lush sonic landscape of “Picture Window,” where Leschper aimed to create a sensory space vast enough to encompass the fleeting whimsy of childhood. It felt appropriate to include a flamenco palmas pattern, as the sound of palms slapping together reminded Leschper of the hand clapping games children play. “I grew up in a small town in Georgia, so summertime meant crickets and cicadas, the way they phase in and out of each other, and the swirling movement of pollen on the water,” she says. “I built this song in layers, beholding always the backdrop of the south, the warble of head rising off the scalding pavement.”

Every song on The Opening, or the Closing of a Door is best described as a love song. Leschper calls the cavernous, organ-led “Ribbon” as a “song of encouragement,” one that offers a path away from isolation. “If you give me the sign/ I’ll take my knife to the ties of/ Your ribbons holding something/ Like a light inside,” Leschper coos, steadfast as a mourning dove over an arrangement that chirps and trills with the pointed inclusion of flute. Those arrangements were made in collaboration with Sammy Weissberg, whose unique orchestration meshed seamlessly with Leschper’s vision for the project. “Sammy was approaching the music quite visually, even theatrically. He expressed this desire to visualize the chamber arrangement sections as a ‘character’ who steps into and out of frame, bringing their own sonic landscape with them”. Longtime collaborator Matthew Anderegg wrote “All That You Never Wanted,” the only track on the album not penned by Leschper. The perky, sing-song delivery of a single phrase repeated over and over again recalls a commercial jingle. “For me, the song feels like a rumination on consumerism, and ultimately a rejection of it. The form reinforces the content, with the repetition of the main phrase reading almost as an advertisement.”

If we are to consider The Opening, Or Closing Of A Door as an encapsulation of Leschper’s metamorphosis, no song addresses it more vividly than “Compass,” an ode to those who have helped her sustain a life. As cymbals crash into the outro, Leschper’s singular voice is joined by a group of accompanists, among them members of her immediate family and a few close friends, whose amateurish singing offers the kind of warmth and comfort only found in the people we love most. Here, Leschper returns to that hearth, basks in it, and gives thanks.

“Lately my work centers on exploring joy in its wildness and complexity, the complicated ways that this joy intersects with an imperfect world,” Leschper says. “Circularity has become a major part of my belief system, the lens through which I watch the world — observing cycles helps me make sense of my universe, both internally and externally. Popular culture loves to tell us stories about the importance of ‘growth’, personal growth, economic growth, what have you. It’s very linear. In work, as in life, I am making a conscious effort to center myself around something antithetical to that, because linear growth just doesn’t exist in nature. If you zoom out far enough, everything is cyclical, everything is in a stage of transition! It becomes impossible to ignore the vast network of systems we inhabit, that we are in relationship with each other at all times.”

This Animation
Picture Window
Figure and I
Blue
A Drop In That Bucket
Writhe and Wrestle
Carina
Stairwell Song
All That You Never Wanted
Ribbon
Compass
The Opening Or Closing Of A Door
Thank You

WEBSITE | BANDCAMP | SPOTIFY
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DARKHER – Beautiful And Darkly Doomy

16th March 2022

Mainly Metal

DARKHER are now premiering the bitter-sweet video single ‘Love’s Sudden Death’ taken from the beloved Northern English doom act‘s sophomore album “The Buried Storm”, which has been chalked-up for release on April 15.

The black and white clip ‘Love’s Sudden Death’ was filmed on location at Long Dike Moor, which lies between Hebden Bridge and Haworth in West Yorkshire – and is also very close to Top Withens, the moorland that inspired the Brontë Sisters’ novels and poetry.

Video credit
Filmed and edited by The Video Witch

DARKHER comment: “The third single taken from ‘The Buried Storm’, is titled ‘Love’s Sudden Death’ and it takes the shape of a dark romantic ballad, which was heavily inspired by the mood of an ancient landscape”, writes the enigmatic Jayn Maiven “Dramatic, beautiful, and sometimes bleak, the emotions evoked by Long Dike Moor appear to perfectly mirror the feelings captured within the song.”

Darkness treads light as a feather. The voice of despair gently wafts through the air. Delicate pain wrapped in radiant beauty pierces the heart slowly yet without hesitation. The sinister yet beguiling images that DARKHER aka Jayn Maiven paints with her ethereal vocals, guitars, and added strings conjure iridescent cinematic scenes in which it becomes hard to tell whether there lies beauty in darkness or if it is the other way around.

With her sophomore full-length “The Buried Storm”, the guitarist, composer, lyricist, and producer has clearly succeeded to even improve the beloved alchemic musical formula that was firmly established on DARKHER‘s debut album “Realms” in 2016. Her mostly eerie and at times even outright sinister sonic storytelling comes refined on every level and with sharpened contrasts that reflect the ongoing learning-process of their creator.

DARKHER were conceived as the sole brainchild and solo-project of Northern English singer and guitarist Jayn Maiven in 2012. The dark and melancholic yet also massively heavy sound on the self-titled debut EP “Darkher” (2013) combined with the distinct vocals of the shy pre-Raphaelite beauty caused an audible buzz – particularly in the doom scene and brought DARKHER a quick record deal, which led to the following EP “The Kingdom Field” (2014) appearing via Prophecy Productions.

Despite not even having an album out, DARKHER were invited to prestigious festivals such as Roadburn in Tilburg, The Netherlands and Prophecy Fest in the Cave of Balve, where the English delivered widely celebrated performances. In 2016, the highly anticipated debut full-length “Realms” was finally released to much praise from critics and fans alike. Press compared DARKHER‘s music with a wide range of highly individual acts such as CHELSEA WOLFE, ESBEN AND THE WITCH, SÓLSTAFIR, LOREENA MCKENNITT, and PORTISHEAD.

Jayn’s long-time musical collaborator, Christopher Smith, who already contributed to previous releases and joined her band for live shows, returned once again to record drums on “The Buried Storm”.

“The Buried Storm” gives shape to the darkness lurking at the edge of consciousness, hidden from plain sight but patiently biding its time to strike out at the heart. DARKHER have delivered another frightening masterpiece that easily transcends musical boundaries with its broad appeal to friends of dark sounds regardless of genre. “The Buried Storm” captivates its listeners with deceptive sweetness – only to bind them tightly within a thorn-spiked nocturnal beauty forevermore.

Line-up
Jayn Maiven aka Darkher – vocals, guitars, bass

Guest musicians
Christopher Smith – drums
Arianna Mahsayeh – cello
Melanie Chaplin – cello
Lambert Segura – violin
Ludvig Swärd (FORNDOM) – cello and background vocals on ‘Lowly Weep’
Daniel Land – background vocals and additional guitar on ‘Fear Not, My King’

Written, recorded & engineered, produced & mixed by J. Maiven
Mastered by Michael Zech at The Church of Sound Studio, Germany

Photography featured on LP & Digipak by Kathryn Pogue & J. Maiven
Photography featured in the Artbook edition by Ludvig Swärd & J. Maiven

Layout by by Alexander Trinkl (Irrwisch Art Design)

Pre-sale link
http://lnk.spkr.media/darkher-the-buried-storm

Available formats
“The Buried Storm” is available as a 36-page hardcover 2CD artbook incl. 3 acoustic versions of album tracks, limited gatefold LP silver vinyl, gatefold LP black vinyl, and on Digipak CD.

Links
www.darkher.net
www.facebook.com/darkhermusic
www.instagram.com/darkhermusic

The Struts – Bursting Back

16th March 2022

Music News

British glam rockers The Struts return to the UK in July for a long-awaited run of headline shows. Currently on tour in the USA, they will also be appearing at a number of European festivals this summer.

Lead singer Luke Spiller comments, “We are bursting with excitement to be coming back to our home country to see you all once more. It’s been far too long and we are more than ready to make up for lost time. Can’t wait to make some more amazing memories with you all!”

Tickets available here

‘The Homecoming Tour’
July 12 – Nottingham – Rock City Nottingham
July 13 – Birmingham – O2 Institute Birmingham
July 14 – London – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
July 18 – Bristol – O2 Academy Bristol
July 19 – Manchester – O2 Ritz Manchester
July 20 – Leeds – Stylus

European Festival Dates
July 2 – Skanevik Blues Festival – Skanevik, Norway
July 8 – Bospop Festival – Weert, Netherlands
July 9 – Mad Cool Festival – Madrid, Spain
July 16 – Lollapalooza Paris – Paris, France
July 21 – Deichbrand Festival – Cuxhaven, Germany
July 23 – Skansen – Stockholm, Sweden

Formed in Derby, England, in 2012, The Struts have found themselves massively embraced by some of the greatest icons in rock-and-roll history. Along with opening for Foo Fighters, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Guns N’ Roses, the UK-bred four-piece band was handpicked by Mötley Crüe to serve as the supporting act for their last-ever performances.

Releasing their debut album Everybody Wants in 2016 and second album YOUNG&DANGEROUS in 2018, they’ve toured incessantly since their formation, including worldwide headline shows and major festivals such as Lollapalooza, Reading and Leeds, Summersonic and Download.

TICKETS ON SALE HERE

The Struts – The Official Website of The Struts

INTO A CIRCLE – Opening New Doors

15th March 2022

Music News

Arriving after an extended hiatus, the original line-up of Paul “Bee” Hampshire and Barry Jepson, are back together and very pleased to present a new glimpse of their first new material for some 34 years.

Originally penned in the mid-80s and long before the dawn of the internet, “Mercenaries” finds the literate London band return with a track that emphasises that old adage that the pen is always mightier than the sword.

As Into A Circle say:

“”Mercenaries” is about the power of the word and how books can shape a person, and their ideals, in both constructive ways and destructive ways.”

With themes of literature, philosophy and religion often visited throughout the band’s oeuvre, “Mercenaries” marks a welcome return to true Into A Circle territory. As personal as it is evocatively potent, the single finds Bee unearthing memories of his childhood at a faith school and reflecting on how those experiences would ultimately influence his rebellious later years.

As Bee says “As a young child, I attended a very religious school where each kid was given a personal bible. In the beginning, was the word! In my mid-teens, I put down the bible and picked up books by Brion Gysin and William Burroughs, whose mission was to cut up, rub out the word, lift the veil and explore the power and message behind the word.”

INTO A CIRCLE – “MERCENARIES” – OUT NOW

With Into A Circle earning a reputation for their visual innovations during the latter years of their 80s period, the release of “Mercenaries” is fittingly accompanied with a striking official video. Directed by Mark Jordan (a longtime friend of the band), the video holds a candle to revolutionary writers such as William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin, while also paying homage to Throbbing Gristle trailblazer Genesis Breyer P-Orridge; all of whom have played a pivotal influence on Into A Circle.

As Bee says of the video:
“Burroughs and Gysin showed me that there were different doors to perceive and grasp alternative interpretations but Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, and the people around them, like Peter Christopherson and David Tibet, took me through those doors. The photograph of Robert De Grimston appears because the writings of the Process Church still thrill and confound me as much as the writings in the Old Testament do.”

With a *special guest* appearance at Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival 2022 already confirmed for 29th October, new single “Mercenaries” is a tantalising preview of much more to come from Into A Circle’s long overdue reunion. Standby for further news from Into A Circle very soon.

http://www.intoacircle.com

Laveda – Stunningly Dark And Beautiful

15th March 2022

Music News

Born out of untamed anger and frustration at the cruel state of the world, “bb” taps into a universal mood: its downcast melodies and restless guitar lines speak to the collective sense of agitation and boredom we’ve all experienced over the past two years.

Weaving together an ansty mesh of gossamer vocals, driving ‘90s guitars and a steady drum beat, the track was first penned in September 2020 when vocalist Ali Genevich found herself increasingly restless in the face of the seemingly never-ending pandemic.

Feeling disheartened by the “depressive daily routine” of being stuck inside with no social interaction — and even less inspiration to write songs — Genevich locked herself in her bedroom with a guitar when “bb” took its first breath and stirred to life.

Speaking of the inspiration behind the track’s moody sound, Genevich says:

“In the winter of 2020, every day really started to feel the same for me. The pandemic seemed to be getting just as bad as when it began back in Spring and like everyone else all I had been thinking about was the possibility for life to feel normal again. For a while I was just thankful that most of my friends and family were in good health and that we were able to keep ourselves afloat in such a crazy time, but of course that’s not all I was feeling. Both Jake and I felt like the past year had been so wasted.”

After sharing with collaborator Jake Brooks (vocals/guitar/synths) the duo instantaneously decided to record a demo of the track at home, before getting friend and collaborator Scoops Dardaris on-board for production duties at Philadelphia’s Headroom Studios.

With shoegaze-inspired rhythms and wallow-in-your-bedroom-worthy hooks, “bb” is as self-aware as it is sulky: touching on the inevitable guilt that comes with feeling forlorn whilst knowing that, somewhere, somebody else has it worse.

Genevich adds:

“The lyrics describe the racing thoughts you have while drinking alone, thoughts about how the world is unfair and there’s nothing you can do about it. You might try to pull yourself out of a dark place only to wake up to one even darker. It sounds sad, but it’s not. It’s just reality, and sometimes it’s ok to be angry with the way things are.”

Founded by duo Ali Genevich (Vocals/Guitar) and Jake Brooks (Vocals/Guitar/Synths), Laveda released their polished and ethereal debut album in 2020. As complex as it was colourful, What Happens After saw the band compared to the likes of The Sundays and My Bloody Valentine and attracted glowing praise across the US and beyond.

NYC’s Look At My Records! lauded the two-piece as “a young band with a fully realised voice and perspective,” while Toronto-based music blog Ohestee also praised the release, writing: “Jacob Brooks and Ali Genevich explore the great yawning unknown. From the freedom and uncertainty that rests at your fingertips or the distant and possibly desolate future, they capture adolescent restlessness with big walls of sound and a dreamy melodious warble.”

Floating through an sublime landscape of adolescent angst, throwback guitar lines and dreamy vocal melodies, “bb” is an auspicious first glimpse into Laveda’s second full-length LP. Recorded in the summer of 2021 in Los Angeles, the follow-up album features Laveda’s full live band, including Dan Carr (Bass) and Joe Taruone (Drums), and production by What Happens After collaborator Dylan Herman (Beck, Pynkie). The record is set for release on VT/NY-based label PaperCup later this year.

With a prestigious slot at SXSW on the cards for Laveda later this Spring, the band will be kicking off a 7 date US tour in Boston at the end of the month.

USA LIVE DATES 2022

LAVEDA X COUCH PRINTS

MARCH TOUR

Feb 28 (Monday)

Boston, MA (CONFIRMED @Obriens with Corner Soul, Couch Prints, Laveda)

Mar 1 (Tuesday)

New Haven, CT (HOLD with Glambat, The Problem With Kids Today, Couch Prints, Laveda @ Cafe Nine )

Mar 3rd (Thursday)

Providence, RI (CONFIRMED at as220 with Rather Nice, Pomegranate Tea, Couch Prints, Laveda)

Mar 4 Friday

New Brunswick, NJ /

Asbury Park, NJ

(CONFIRMED @ Gios Basement w/ Flycatcher, Down & Outs, Couch Prints, Laveda)

Mar 5 Saturday

Philadelphia, PA (CONFIRMED @ The Dolphin w/ Lizdelise, Cheeky, Couch Prints, Laveda)

Mar 6th Sunday

Washington, DC (CONFIRMED at the Pocket with Moon by Moon, Couch Prints, Laveda)

More dates to follow.

Tickets on sale here: https://www.lavedaband.com/shows

LAVEDA RELEASE NEW SINGLE: “bb”

OUT 4 MARCH 2022, VIA PAPERCUP MUSIC

STREAM ON SOUNDCLOUD HERE

PRE-SAVE HERE

https://www.lavedaband.com

THE CLOCKWORKS – Potent Post Post Punk

14th March 2022

Music News

On 18th March, Galway’s finest – THE CLOCKWORKS – will return with their first new music of 2022: “Endgame”.

The track is cut from what will be the band’s debut collection of songs, the eponymously-titled: ‘The Clockworks’ EP, which will be released on 1 April, via It’s Creation Baby.

Loosely inspired by the Samuel Beckett play of the same name, “Endgame” is as literary as it is biting literal; it’s a song that grapples with the paranoia of losing your edge as the crushing cogs of time roll-on.

“We’re post punk // Post truth // Post Europe // Post Youth // Post modern // Post faith and God // and Post post too…” jibes frontman James McGregor in a loquacious tirade.

PRE-SAVE HERE

As self-effacing as it is cannily self-aware, the song’s complex character-driven narrative delivers a state-of-the-nation address from the shoes of joe public, while providing opportunity for a steely-eyed stare into the mirror.

Delving into the themes at play in “Endgame”, James McGregor says:

“The idea for the lyrics was to have this character who’s a bit obnoxious playing a game of pool at the pub, and as the song progresses we get to peel him back and see that the game he’s playing is really against himself. The title, apart from relating to the game in the song, is a reference to Beckett’s play Endgame, which we thought touched on the themes/ideas/feelings of the song. I also liked the way that Beckett’s play had a through line of a chess game, like this song has a through line of a game of pool.”

A staple of The Clockworks live canon for some time, “Endgame” has been reworked several times since the band’s inception. While its words and sounds have evolved as its creators have too, its febrile chorus has always remained a constant. Completed in 2022, the end result is a dark and relentless development that plays a hand of ruthless pop hooks and builds towards a blindsiding crescendo; a resolute winner from a band that are always seemingly three-moves-ahead.

With words by James McGregor, “Endgame” was recorded at Crouch End Studios by The Clockworks. It was produced & mixed by Michael Rendall alongside the band and Assistant Engineer Callum Parker.

“Endgame” is a potent first signal of what to expect from the band’s upcoming s/t debut EP. Fusing intense post punk sounds with snarling kitchen-sink observations, ‘The Clockworks’ EP will feature four new tracks in total including “Money (I Don’t Want To Hear It”, “Feels So Real”, “The Temper” and of course “Endgame”. ‘The Clockworks’ EP arrives on 1 April via It’s Creation Baby.

‘THE CLOCKWORKS’ EP – TRACKLISTING
1. Endgame
2. Money (I Don’t Wanna Hear It)
3. Feels So Real
4. The Temper

THE CLOCKWORKS – NEW SINGLE: “ENDGAME” – OUT 18 MARCH, VIA IT’S CREATION BABY
PRE-SAVE HERE

TAKEN FROM ‘THE CLOCKWORKS’ EP – OUT 1 APRIL

Formed in Galway and now living in London, The Clockworks are James McGregor (Vocals/Guitar), Sean Connelly (Guitar), Damian Greaney (Drums) and Tom Freeman (bass). Making a unanimous decision to find their break in the UK capital, it proved a good one. Relocating in 2019, the quartet were signed by the legendary Alan McGee almost overnight.

Impressing audiences across Europe with exhilarating sets at festivals including Eurosonic and Electric Picnic, a huge support slot at Sefton Park (Liverpool) with Kings of Leon, and a notable televised appearance on Sky 1’s Soccer AM; plus a number of UK support shows with The Reytons earlier this year, The Clockworks are now preparing to hit the road for a number of US & European shows and summer of festival appearances inc. the Alan McGee-curated Creation Day Festival and The Great Escape. Full dates and details can be found below.

THE CLOCKWORKS – 2022 TOUR DATES

MARCH
25 – LONDON, UK – Moth Club

MAY
7 May – BELFAST – Voodoo (supporting The Reytons)
10 May – DUBLIN – The Grand Social
12 May – BRIGHTON – The Great Escape Festival
16 – PARIS – The French Esplanade
17 – LILLE – L’Aeronef (supporting Sprints)
20 – AMSTERDAM – London Calling Festival
28 May – WOLVERHAMPTON – Creation Day Festival

JULY
22 JULY – STEVENTON – Truck Festival

https://www.theclockworks.band/

BERRIES – Gearing up

14th March 2022

Music News

Grappling with themes of insecurity and isolation, the gritty new track combines tight instrumentation with jagged riff-roaring melodies.

Calculated and convulsive in equal measure, “Wall of Noise” comes as a taste of the band’s debut album, which is expected for release this Summer.

Chewing through twangy vocals, angular guitar lines and a guttural garage-grunge feel, BERRIES cultivate a craggy landscape of layered noise-rock that is evocative of the “noise” that so many of us constantly find pervading our own thoughts. Pelting us from all angles with their meticulously frenetic sound, the band explain of the track:

Lyrically the song gives a nod to how self-doubt and how solitude can heighten and affect these feelings. Feeling lost or confused can produce the noisiest thoughts in your mind and that’s what we wanted to convey in this song.”

And, while its lyricism might deal with notions of self-doubt, the track marks a clear, confident and calculated next step in the band’s development.

Citing The Breeders, Sleater Kinney, Wolf Alice and Biffy Clyro as a handful of the artists amongst their inspirations — ‘Wall of Noise’ arrives as the band gear up for the release of their debut album this Summer. Hinting at what to expect of their forthcoming record, BERRIES say:

“‘[Our debut] record will explore many themes: mental health features heavily, feeling overlooked and sexism, alongside songs about growth, strength and rising above all of the negativity and noise around us. The majority of the songs are based on personal experience”

Having signed to Xtra Mile Recordings in November of 2020, BERRIES are Holly (guitar/vocals), Lauren (bass) and Lucie (drums). Cutting their teeth on the live circuit and with a range of early singles over the past few years and months, the band have gained critical acclaim.

Alongside this early support, the band have also played an assortment of notable live shows including slots alongside Cherry Glazerr and Porridge Radio at Electric Brixton, a headliner at London’s The Grace and gigs in support of Frank Turner in Nottingham and Liverpool.

Bringing their biting take on noise-rock back to the UK live circuit once more, BERRIES are embarking on a UK tour supporting label-mates Pet Needs this Spring, and will make a guest appearance at Buswell & Nyberg’s one-off orchestral show with Xtra Mile Recordings at EartH Hackney later this month. Full live dates and details are below..

BERRIES – 2022 TOUR DATES

-MARCH-

31 – MANCHESTER – Gullivers*

-APRIL-
01 – NOTTINGHAM – The Bodega*
02 – BRISTOL – The Louisiana*
*w/ Pet Needs

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

PATHOLOGY – Ripping It Up

14th March 2022

Mainly Metal

Gore-fueled death metallers PATHOLOGY released their 11th studio album, The Everlasting Plague, last fall via Nuclear Blast. The band have released the music video for “Procession For Mangled Humans”.

Pathology comments: “We’re proud to announce the release of our brand new music video for “Procession Of Mangled Humans” from The Everlasting Plague. Enjoy the video and we’ll see you on the road!!!”

The Everlasting Plague was recorded earlier this year at Sharkbite Studios. The album was produced by Zack Ohren who also handled engineering and mixing. The demented priest sometimes seen gracing the cover of other PATHOLOGY albums makes a reappearance here as an apex zombie ripping the flesh from his fellow dead man as he ascends to the top of a demolished city. Long-time artist companion Par Olofsson returned to the PATHOLOGY fold to design the piece.

The Everlasting Plague is available in the following formats:

CD Jewel Case

Re-Agent Green Vinyl

CD + T-Shirt Bundle

Order your copy of The Everlasting Plague, here: http://nblast.de/Pathology-TEP
Below is The Everlasting Plague, tracklist:

A Pound Of Flesh

Perpetual Torment

Engaging In Homicide

Procession Of Mangled Humans

Viciously Defiled

Diseased Morality

Submerged In Eviscerated Carnage

Corrosive Cranial Affliction

As The Entrails Wither

Dirge For The Infected

Death Ritual Deciphered

Decomposition Of Millions

News (pathologyband.com)

Chief State – Something Great

14th March 2022

Music News

Vancouver, BC pop-punks Chief State are back with a new single titled “Team Wiped” off their just-announced upcoming debut full-length ‘Waiting For Your Colours,’ which will be released via Mutant League Records on July 1.

The follow-up to the band’s 2021 stand-alone single “Metaphors” and 2020 breakthrough EP ‘Tough Love,’ ‘Waiting For Your Colours’ is the culmination of 5 years of relentless hustle (not to mention a ton of blood, sweat, and tears).

0v3na4b

Purchase Chief State merch: https://www.mutantleaguerecords.com

Pre-orders for the album will be launching soon.

The journey to get here began with frontman Fraser Simpson, who at an impasse in his life, decided on a whim to leave his home in the UK for Japan in 2014 and eventually move to North America to form a band via Craigslist, where he connected with Nik Pang, Chris Kavanagh, Justin Pham and Joseph Soderholm to create Chief State.

Uncertainty, longing, a search for meaning, and assessing life choices make up the themes on the new album, which chronicles closing out your 20s
at a crossroads and examining where we belong, our place in the world, and allowing ourselves the time to figure it all out.

Simpson says, "There’s definitely a coming of age theme on the new album. We're asking ourselves: What am I looking to get out of life, out of being in a band? What joys do I want to pursue and where do I want to place my energy moving forward? We've come to the realization that we all need to stress less on the things we can’t control and enjoy more of what we have, what we can control and the journey itself."

Collectively the band members spent their young adult lives struggling mentally, emotionally and financially, in pursuit of their dreams, but the grind appears to have paid off, as Chief State is now on the cusp of something great!

With an ever-growing legion of fans in their corner, a reputation for stellar live shows, and a new album’s worth of kickass songs in their arsenal, 2022 is shaping up to be the year of Chief State.

Track Listing:

Continental Drift

Team Wiped

Out For Me

Wasting Away

Drown

Burning Out

Losing Sleep

22 Reasons

Kills The Love, Haunts The Free

Sakura

https://www.facebook.com/chiefstate

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Monthly Archives: March 2022

Bill Bruford – Banging On

Pre-order here: https://billbruford.lnk.to/MASDPR

Pre-order it here: https://billbruford.lnk.to/MASDPR

Facebook @Bill Bruford

Kristine Leschper – Zooming Out

Kristine Leschper releases a video for “Blue,” a standout from her debut solo album, The Opening, Or Closing of a Door, out now via ANTI-.

WEBSITE | BANDCAMP | SPOTIFYTWITTER | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK

DARKHER – Beautiful And Darkly Doomy

DARKHER are now premiering the bitter-sweet video single ‘Love’s Sudden Death’ taken from the beloved Northern English doom act‘s sophomore album “The Buried Storm”, which has been chalked-up for release on April 15.

The Struts – Bursting Back

British glam rockers The Struts return to the UK in July for a long-awaited run of headline shows. Currently on tour in the USA, they will also be appearing at a number of European festivals this summer.

Tickets available here

TICKETS ON SALE HERE

INTO A CIRCLE – Opening New Doors

Arriving after an extended hiatus, the original line-up of Paul “Bee” Hampshire and Barry Jepson, are back together and very pleased to present a new glimpse of their first new material for some 34 years.

INTO A CIRCLE – “MERCENARIES” – OUT NOW

Laveda – Stunningly Dark And Beautiful

Born out of untamed anger and frustration at the cruel state of the world, “bb” taps into a universal mood: its downcast melodies and restless guitar lines speak to the collective sense of agitation and boredom we’ve all experienced over the past two years.

Tickets on sale here: https://www.lavedaband.com/shows

THE CLOCKWORKS – Potent Post Post Punk

On 18th March, Galway’s finest – THE CLOCKWORKS – will return with their first new music of 2022: “Endgame”.

‘THE CLOCKWORKS’ EP – TRACKLISTING1. Endgame2. Money (I Don’t Wanna Hear It)3. Feels So Real4. The Temper

BERRIES – Gearing up

Grappling with themes of insecurity and isolation, the gritty new track combines tight instrumentation with jagged riff-roaring melodies.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

PATHOLOGY – Ripping It Up

Gore-fueled death metallers PATHOLOGY released their 11th studio album, The Everlasting Plague, last fall via Nuclear Blast. The band have released the music video for “Procession For Mangled Humans”.

Chief State – Something Great

Vancouver, BC pop-punks Chief State are back with a new single titled “Team Wiped” off their just-announced upcoming debut full-length ‘Waiting For Your Colours,’ which will be released via Mutant League Records on July 1.

Stream the new single “Team Wiped” here: https://orcd.co/0v3na4b

Purchase Chief State merch: https://www.mutantleaguerecords.com

Newsletter

WEBSITE | BANDCAMP | SPOTIFY
TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK

‘THE CLOCKWORKS’ EP – TRACKLISTING
1. Endgame
2. Money (I Don’t Wanna Hear It)
3. Feels So Real
4. The Temper