This is a sensational return to form. I'm up & down with Joanna (listeners to the Radio Show may recall my getting completely lost in the 3 disc 'Have One On Me' release - in a good way), and this is def an UP. Perfect 'recording' from Albini and a BEAUTIFUL vid from Paul Thomas Anderson. Yep, she's pulled out the big guns for this one.
This is the title track from the new album which is out now on Drag City.
Tour dates for USA & Australia (+ anything else you might need) are here-
Vera Bremerton is pretty much impossible to write about save to say that she will do anything to try and make you feel
Brilliant video from Maya Art as well.
One live event (although she plays events in London regularly)
and at last you can all hear and buy her music at Bandcamp. Keep an eye out for the piece entitled 'Then All These Curses' - still the most astonishing music I have played in the Radio Shows (it's on 'Elemental').
Well it's been two years since I posted about the Beatles from Hell Cambridgeshire! Drugs, exploitation, bikes, horror, cult films, vintage beauties are all present and correct, as is their secret weapon - SONGS!
Anyway the new album - The Night Creeper - has been out for two months on Rise Above Records ffs! And, they've been on the road for 2 months as well -
then they're off here
and later they're going here
Right, just time for this classic from last year
Oh and check out their web site - a brilliant design
I've played this band's music in the radio shows but didn't realise what a wonderful video artist Stefano is. This is beautiful (and so is the sentiment). Stick with it - doesn't go where you quite expect...
Bravo Stefano Santoni.
Now look at what their music does to other directors. This starts with Jodorowsky occult/catholic flirtations, but once the illuminati chicken boat-plane arrives all bets are off...
Erika Errante B directed that one!
The current album is 'Perfect Laughter' (via the Woodworm & Santeria labels)
Yep individually painted
Last few dates of their current mini-tour (sorry these three lines will NOT fit in damnit) -
We love DOOM at Toby Towers. Greening & Bagshaw ARE DOOM. They were the groovers in mark 1 Electric Wizard, and then created the ultimate dread of Ramesses. So we're delighted to see them back together again in this supergroup - get ready for a thorough drubbing...
That's better.
The self-titled debut album is out now on Rise Above Records. Check out the Ltd Edition vinyl...
and they'll be playing their first live date at Roadburn next year (Lee is curating)
Tour videos. I have to watch loads, and they're so formulaic - you know the drill - bars; flipping the bird; smokin; not-funny comedy bits...so imagine my surprise when this little work of art exploded in front of me. It's absolutely beautiful!
First rule of tour vids should be to show what the band saw, and not what they did? This one's particularly surprising as the band shot it themselves with excellent direction by Manuel Jesus. Great work.
Anyway, they're from Nantes but could easily fit in with the Italian occult prog scene.
Their new album 'Wisdom Whisper' is coming out 13th November on the excellent Howlin Banana label.
and I have found one gig (with Sycamore Age - another act we have played in the radio shows)
New single from a band I've loved for years. This is supposed to be a lyric video but actually turns out to be a design classic!
It's available digitally at the usual places.
The forthcoming album is to be called Desire's Magic Theatre.
They are currently on the road in the USA with Ghost until the end of October, and a quick trawl of social media suggests that they are tearing the place apart. This doesn't surprise me as their live show is incredible and Americans do appreciate a good live band.
Remaining dates and ticket links are here - http://www.purson.co.uk/tour-dates/
Now as Rosalie rather hogged, albeit justifiably, that video here is the whole band.
Fronted by the frankly staggering Jill Janus, this lot keep knocking the ball out of the park with their vids. This new one's a perfect retro-horror concoction
Well done Phil Mucci.
Esoterica; melody; occult science and bong-rips...mix in a cauldron and you get this amazingness
Anyway the new album is out now on Napalm Records
See my post about The Shrine for live dates (what a tour that's gonna be!). Now let's go back to their debut for a reminder of a) why walking around hell in a leotard can be a great idea and b) what an incredible voice Miss Janus has (if you don't know this - wait for the "Let the witches in" bit when she will freeze your blood)
This is a club night based in Digbeth/ Birmingham UK dealing with oscillations/ kosmische/ radiophonics/ low-end psych...all monochromatic futurist punishment. But check out the lighting design!
How about that for a brain-fryer.
Good work Film Ficciones.
Next performance is this Saturday (10th October) at the Centrala Gallery.
STOP PRESS - performance cancelled unfortunately.
Keep an eye on their facebook page for the next trip.
Thin pickings lately so let's have this one from a few years ago. Very slow build with a bunch of forest-bound arkastrites, but when it kicks off we're driving on the motorway of the universe
All I can find is a coupla dates for this lot -
17/10/15 - Headrow House, Leeds w/Richard Formby
24/10/15 - The Trades Club, Hebden Bridge w/Sauna Youth
Well The Shrine can do no wrong as far as I am concerned. I stumbled across them way back when Sir Chuck Dukowski had taken a shine to them and produced that incredible first single. The following demo was incredible - there was a period long ago when punk met hardcore met metal and it was a golden era when the great punk lie was thrown out of the window (together with all the dumb-arse journalists) and folk just ROCKED. We now know that it was the return of Proto. The Shrine mainline that era, that feeling, and they can fuckin' JAM. Finally we have a vid that does them justice...
I would just add that their beast of a drummer was a very talented singer-songwriter as well! I hope he's still doing that. Anyway the new album is 'Rare Breed' and is out 30th October in Europe but 15th January in N America! Apparently the American version will have additional tracks...here are all 3 of their albums so far
They tour relentlessly so...
Some of those are with Clutch and Corrosion of Conformity, and yes that is a 5 day stint on Motorhead's motorboat!
Then it's over to Europe for this
and then back to the USA for this incredible package
Unfortunately Coolrunnings nabbed it first but if ever there was a band deserving of this album sleeve - it's The Shrine-
Goosebump-inducing majesty from this new band (with a lot of previous form)
Their debut album, I / [TIME], comes out this Friday on Laser's Edge Records, and I have been sat on the promo for ages - that's gonna change after I finish typing this!
You can pre-order here http://www.lasercd.com/cd/i-time
Gigs to follow, and if they can pull this off live then we may have found a worthy new owner for Pink Floyd's light show!
I stumbled over these guys back in 2012 and was hooked from the get-go. Their two singles ROCKED and FUNKED and GROOVED, and were rinsed in the radio show. They were based in Amsterdam back then, in a labour-of-love studio. Two guys who REALLY knew their grooves (heck their label was called Music with SOUL Records) and who'd persuaded a Portuguese maniac to do vocs. Then the visuals started to appear, and oh brother. Here they are rocking out in the broom-cupboard on Sun Ra's spaceship
Immense knowledge in the percussion. Proper rockin' the middle. Total belief out front - perfect!
Here they are out Booshing the Boosh; channeling King Khan's garageness; and with screams worthy of The Sonics!
Looks like they have blown up during my absence, which is great, so they're still playing festivals in the UK (and a little Europe) this month (with rave reviews in their wake)
Their first album was released last year on Soundway Records
A brilliant Norwegian garage rock outfit who lace their music with power-pop hooks. What I didn't realise is that they make great vids. How can it be that I missed this one
and here's a whole film dealt with in under 4 minutes - with a beauty of a song!
They have a single/ EP out 'Tell Me Why' on Jansen Plateproduksjon, and they are playing Gutterball 15 in Oslo this very weekend
I wanted to keep these two hidden until the return of the Radio Show but they are so ridiculously brilliant that I'm just gonna have to post this. Ok, think Neil Young back when he was living on pints of Tequila and cheeseburgers...now spike that Tequila with some hallucinogenics and joy and...
BOOM!
and just check this out
Stunning aren't they?
The 'Kind of Blah' (oh how Miles Davis would have laughed) album is out now on Audio Antihero
and I have just heard that they are doing a super-limited edition cassette run of Frog's debut
So get yourself over to https://audioantihero.bandcamp.com/music
Another singer-songwriter! His first album floored me back in 2012 and was rather caned in the Radio Show. He's just a cut above all the others. He throws the first hook at you straight away, and then pours out melodies and great lyrics until you just have to submit. He references Dylan and Neil Young but I'd add Power Pop. Well he's finally back with a killer single and a great video (with 'Barry').
I'm a bit late with this one (what a surprise!), but there's supposed to be a second album called 'Flying Machine' out on D Set Records. I cannae find it. I've also missed his UK tour...so, other than that video this is a pretty useless post really...
I was absolutely stunned by this fella's last album, The Fact Facer, so as the release date of the new one approaches I was wonderin' "Can he possibly top that?"
OH YES
Lovely vid as well.
His name is Emil Amos, and he's the drummer from OM! The new album is 'Fall of Man' and it's coming out on Thrill Jockey Records 13th November.
The touring band are currently on the road in the States (with Earth!!!)
Aug. 30 - Richmond, VA - Strange Matter
Aug. 31 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle (back room) Sep. 1 - Atlanta, GA - EarlSep. 2 - Orlando, FL - Will's PubSep. 3 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed JacksSep. 4 - Birmingham, AL - SaturnSep. 5 - Nashville, TN - Stone FoxSep. 6 - Bloomington, IN - The BIshopSep. 8 - Madison, WI - FrequencySep. 9 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street EntrySep. 10 - Chicago, IL - Bohemian National Cemetery
Just in case you thought that first Vid was a fluke...
Ha ha I've always loved that Metal understands, and celebrates, it's own futility. Guests there included Red Fang, Toxic Holocaust, and Mudhoney as well which seriously raises the cool bar!
The album came out on Relapse late last year, and just check out this T Shirt
They're on tour all over the place but Canada/US dates for Sept/Oct are here
I don't know too much about this lot except they're Russian; they have a thing about birds; someone on the album is called Blue Fog Magpies (!!!); and they write stunning songs -
The vinyl is out on Follyphone records (+ all the usual digital malarkey)
I am a bit late with this one but this vid HAS to be posted. Lightning Bolt can do no wrong here at Toby Towers anyway, but teaming their jet-propelled bowel-quake with a video wherein retro games console stars take steroids and go on a platforming rampage through a lysergic planet is absolute genius!
See?
Excellent animation by Lale Westvind.
The new album 'Fantasy Empire' is out on Thrill Jockey
There's a European Tour starting in November (cue the usual formatting shambles)-
Nov 11, 2015 Leipzig, Germany - IFZ
Nov 12, 2015 Vienna, Austria - Fluc
Nov 13, 2015 Milan, Italy - Leoncavallo
Nov 14, 2015 Rome, Italy - Init Club
Nov 15, 2015 Bologna, Italy - Locomotiv
Nov 16, 2015 Dudingen, Switzerland - Bad Bonn
Nov 17, 2015 Lyon, France - Grrrnd Zero
Nov 18, 2015 Barcelona, Spain - Music Hall
Nov 19, 2015 Toulouse, France - Connexion
Nov 20, 2015 Reims, France - La Cartonnerie
Nov 21, 2015 Utrecht, Netherlands - Le Guess WhoNov
22, 2015 Kortrijk, Belgium - Sonic City Festival @ De Kreun
Nov 24, 2015 Dublin, Ireland - Hangar
Nov 25, 2015 Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
Nov 26, 2015 London, UK - Electric Ballroom
Nov 27, 2015 Prestatyn, UK - ATP Nightmare Before Christmas @ Pontins
Dec 01, 2015 Copenhagen, Denmark - Jazzhouse
Dec 02, 2015 Gothenburg, Sweden - Folk
Dec 03, 2015 Oslo, Norway - Bla
Dec 04, 2015 Stockholm, Sweden - Kagelbanan
Ok and let's finish with a blast from the past and another great vid
Well, if ever a vid fitted with the track this is the one. Put this on full screen, crank the volume and this will fry your mind...
The sorta Kraut-Funk that David Cunningham, PIL and This Heat were considering at the end of the 70's but rinsed through dance-tech. Wonderful stuff. The album is called '54 Synth-Brass, 38 Metal-Guitar, 65 Cathedral' and was released on Rocket Recordings back in March 2015, and the vinyl is beautiful
There's a new album 'Everybody's a fuckin' expert' coming out on Editions Mego in September and a UK/ Europe tour as well (being booked now promoters). So, here's a flying dog.
You need really good sound for this one. It's full-on Italian Occult drone shit. Two air organs firing frequencies at each other and creating 3rd voices, high, low, & all over the place. Alvin Lucier is the master of this sort of thing, but this track is a beauty.
Here is Brion Gysin's dreamachine. Switch the lights off - fire these two up and have a blast.
So now you know.
The cassette was released on Yerevan Tapes late last year but is out of print currently :-(
Oh I forgot to mention La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela who also did awe-inspiring drone work, and created Dream House which I have posted about before.
It has always been a secret dream of mine to sneak morris dancers down the front of a gig and create a Morris Pit. These dudes have beaten me to it. Regardless of whether you like the music or not this video is utter genius - watch it all - you'll see what i mean. "Fuck you i'm covered in tits" has to be the greatest lyric I have ever heard as well.
Ok here's the album that it is from and gig details. I'm sure this lot have played with Aldershot's mighty XII Boar...
More great garage rock (with a soupcon of pub rock no less), and this time from Northampton
Their fourth album 'Garage Punk For Boys' came out last October on their own Cravat Records - although was brought to my attention by Dirty Water Records, who were, I think, distributing this beauty.
Everything else you need to know, including live dates, is here.
It came out on the excellent Dirty Water Record label last October but this footage is too good not to post. 4 track EP on 7" or download - go grab a copy.
Are all French bars this cool? They all seem to be....
And what a wonderful album to return to. It's UK Psychedelic - beautiful to the point of being slightly scary. The sort of music that sound-tracked horror or occult movies in the early 70's. I love it.
It's a vinyl only release ltd to 250 on Mega Dodo Records - which means it will sell out fast. There're a further 250 digipack versions as well. Released 14th September 2015 but beware the pre-orderers!
