tubanytt uke 14

NYHETER UKE 14 - 2013
MUDHONEY
VANISHING POINT
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mudhoney-mn0000509223
Sub Pop
SPCD1020 / SP1020
0098787102024 / 0098787102017
Mark Arm og de andre i Mudhoney gir seg aldri! Bandet oppsto i sin tid fra
asken av legendariske Green River og ble på slutten av 80-tallet grungens
virkelig gudfedre, en merkelapp de selvsagt hatet.
Bandet feirer i år 25-årsjubileum og låter mer enn noen gang som seg
selv på Vanishing Point, deres første album på fem år.
CD/LP
http://youtu.be/akAp4czl1yc http://youtu.be/qreEZ6oNB3A
“Mark Arm’s savage wit is on full display, as he scrapes himself against all manner of modern irritations …it’s hard not to admire how their perennial piss-takes
are subtly deepening and how their saturated superfuzz always sounds so good.”
4/5 ALLMUSIC “Vanishing Point proves the quartet is still a thrilling proposition,
in love with the simplicity of mayhem and volume.” BBC
BLEACHED
RIDE YOUR HEART
Dead Oceans
DOC082 / DOC082LP
CD/LP
0656605138220 / 0656605138213
Bak Bleached står søstrene Jennifer og Jessie Calvin som i ungdomsåra
reiste over åsen fra San Fernando Valley og hang på L.A.s legendariske
punkklubb The Smell. Her møtte de og så band som No Age, Abe Vigoda
og The Icarus Line, og ble inspirert til å starte sitt eget, Mika Miko.
Det ble utgivelser på bl.a. Kill Rocks Stars før bandet ble oppløst og
søstrene Calvin startet Bleached, et band som i likhet med forgjengeren
bruker referanser fra klassiske band som Ramones og Fleetwood Mac,
og presenterer sin versjon av moderne garasjerock.
Bleached spiller i Bergen og Oslo i slutten av mai.
http://youtu.be/5dnhszniNUk
http://www.facebook.com/HelloBleached
THE BESNARD LAKES
UNTIL IN EXCESS, IMPERCEPTIBLE UFO
Jagjaguwar
JAG207 / JAG207LP
0656605220727 / 0656605220710
CD/LP
The Besnard Lakes er ledet av ekteparet Jace Lasek og Olga Goreas,
og har siden 2003 gitt oss episk indierock med sterke shoegaze-trekk og
referanser til classic rock. Begge deres to siste album, gjennombruddet
…Are the Dark Horse, og …Are the Roaring Night, ble nominert til Polaris
Music Prize, og Until in Excess… er et nytt sterkt album fra montrealbandet.
For fans av My Bloody Valentine, Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire og lignende.
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/14793-people-of-the-sticks/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Besnard_Lakes
Tuba Records - Karl Johansgt. 6 - 0154 Oslo - Norway
Tlf: +47 2201 0000 Fax: +47 2201 0001 tuba@tubarec.com www.tubarec.com
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NYHETER UKE 14 - 2013
RILO KILEY
RKIVES
Little Record Company
LRC008
0634457579521
CD
Rkives er en lenge etterlengtet samling med rariteter og uutgitte spor
fra Rilo Kileys karriere. Ledet av Jenny Lewis og Blake Sennett ga
bandet ut fire album og en rekke EP-er og oppnådde både sukess hos
kritikere og fans. Rkives er den første utgivelsen som bærer bandets
navn siden 2007s Under the Blacklight, og gis ut på bassist Pierre
DeReeders label Little Record Company.
Dobbel LP-versjon er ventet i slutten av april.
http://pitchfork.com/news/49413-rilo-kiley-announce-rarities-comp-rkives/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rilo_Kiley
GENERATIONALS
HEZA
Polyvinyl
PRC255CD / PRC255LP
0644110025524 / 0644110025517
Fengende gitarpop med hint av både Drums, Phoenix og MGMT fra
New Orleans-duoen Generationals. Spoons Jim Eno er hentet inn
som produsent på Heza, deres andre album.
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/14733-spinoza/
CD/LP
http://www.facebook.com/generationals
LUXURY LINERS
THEY’RE FLOWERS
Western Vinyl
WV105 / WV105LP
0656605464220 / 0656605464213
CD/LP
Etter å ha gitt ut Freeclouds i 2011 dro Carter Tanton på turné med
The War on Drugs og ble senere medlem av Lower Dens. På veien
med sistnevnte skrev Tanton en rekke låter og de presenteres her på
They’re Flowers under navnet Luxury Liners.
“...his indie-seraphim voice is not of this world — set in the same alpine
reverb where Jim James of My Morning Jacket lives.” ROLLING STONE
“...he’s one of the best singer-songwriters in the country today.” NPR
http://www.facebook.com/LuxuryLiners
Tuba Records - Karl Johansgt. 6 - 0154 Oslo - Norway
Tlf: +47 2201 0000 Fax: +47 2201 0001 tuba@tubarec.com www.tubarec.com
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NYHETER UKE 14 - 2013
GUN OUTFIT
HARD COMING DOWN
Post Present Medium
PPM060LP
0724101966514
Gun Outfit kommer fra Olympia, WA, en by hvor musikkscenen i mange
år var preget av K Records-band og riot grrrl-bevegelsen. Byen var
også basen til Nirvana og Gun Outfit er langt nærmere dem i sound enn
Ks twee-skrangling. Andre referanser er Meat Puppets og Dinosaur Jr.
Hard Coming Down er deres tredje album.
LP
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/14877-flyin-low-maria/
PSYCHIC TWIN
STRANGERS
Polyvinyl
PRC259
0644110025975
Psychic Twin er en nystartet duo som her debuterer med syveren
Strangers. De spilte nylig en rekke konserter på SXSW og har fått
omtale i blekker som Fader og Stereogum.
New wave/electronica/pop.
http://youtu.be/erkqspQxjTY
7”
http://www.facebook.com/PsychicTwin
THEM
BELFAST GYPSIES
Cherry Red
CRREV49
5013929434929
Them fortsatte som kjent karrieren uten Van Morrison og tok det uoffisielle
navnet The Belfast Gypsies. De møtte notoriske Kim Fowley og med han
i produsentstolen spilte de inn et par singler for nystartede Island Records,
samt dette albumet som av forskjellige grunner kun ble gitt ut i Sverige.
Her reutgitt med seks bonusspor.
CD
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Them_(band)
Tuba Records - Karl Johansgt. 6 - 0154 Oslo - Norway
Tlf: +47 2201 0000 Fax: +47 2201 0001 tuba@tubarec.com www.tubarec.com
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NYHETER UKE 14 - 2013
FORHÅND 5. APRIL
TODD RUNDGREN
STATE
Esoteric Antenna
EANTCD21018 / EANTCD1017
2CD/CD
5013929471733 / 5013929471832
Tracklist:
Imagination
Serious
In My Mouth
Ping Me
Angry Bird
Smoke
Collide-A-Scope
Something From Nothing
Party Liquor
Sir Reality
Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of the eagerly awaited new studio
album by the legendary Todd Rundgren, “State”.
Todd’s latest musical vision is a contemporary fusion of rock, soul and electronica that is
at once danceable, ground-breaking, spiritual, challenging and infectious. State continues
the tradition of boundary-breaking works from this visionary genius, and its finely crafted
songs once again push the creative envelope.
As a songwriter, video pioneer, producer, recording artist, computer software developer,
conceptualist, and interactive artist, Todd Rundgren has made a lasting impact on both
the form and content of popular music.
With the release of his new album State, Todd will tour in support of the release beginning
in April in the USA and then continuing in Scandinavia, Benelux and the UK in May / June
and throughout the remainder of 2013.
Tracklist disc 2 - Deluxe Digipack 2 Disc Limited Edition
Todd Rundgren & The Metropole Orchestra: Live At The Paradiso, Amsterdam 11th November 2012
Another Life, Hello, It’s Me, Pretending To Care, Flamingo, Frogs, If I Have To Be Alone,
Love In Disguise, Love Science, Mammon, Fascist Christ, We Gotta Get You A Woman,
Bag Lady, Can We Still Be Friends?, Fade Away
FORHÅND 5. APRIL
THE POSTAL SERVICE
GIVE UP (DELUXE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
Sub Pop
SPCD1045 / SP1045
2CD/3LP
0098787104523 / 0098787104516
•
•
•
•
•
Much-beloved, long-distance collaboration between Ben Gibbard
(Death Cab For Cutie) and Jimmy Tamborello (DNTL)
10th Anniversary Edition will include the original 10-track album along with
15 bonus tracks (including the 2 brand new songs “Turn Around” and “A Tattered
Line of String,” a previously unreleased live recording, and every other official
recording the band has ever released--as well as cover versions of
Postal Service classics by The Shins and Iron & Wine)
Commemorated by the first live Postal Service dates in a decade.
Shows will be announced as they are confirmed.
Give Up was certified platinum in the US last year just shy of 10 years from its
original February 9, 2003 release. Led by the single “Such Great Heights,”
the landmark album peaked at #114 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart and
has sold 1,067, 087 copies in the US to date.
After Nirvana’s Bleach, Give Up is the second-biggest selling album in
Sub Pop’s nearly 25-year history.
Tuba Records - Karl Johansgt. 6 - 0154 Oslo - Norway
Tlf: +47 2201 0000 Fax: +47 2201 0001 tuba@tubarec.com www.tubarec.com
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NYHETER UKE 14 - 2013
FORHÅND 5. APRIL
CHARLES BRADLEY
VICTIM OF LOVE
Daptone
DAP031CD / DAP031LP
0823134003125 / 0823134003118
CD/LP
*Since the release of 2011’s award winning debut, ‘No Time for Dreaming’, Charles
Bradley has transformed from a rising star in the Daptone galaxy into a bona-fide
headliner, now affectionately known across the globe as “The Screaming Eagle of Soul.”
Tracklist:
1 Strictly Reserved For You
2 You Put The Flame On It
3 Let Love Stand A Chance
4 Victim Of Love
5 Love Bug Blues
6 Dusty Blue
7 Confusion
8 Where Do We Go From Here?
9 Crying In The Chapel
10 Hurricane
11 Through The Storm
*The popularity of ‘No Time For Dreaming’ resulted in an appearance on ‘Later With Jools
Holland’ in 2012 and such glowing reviews as:
-Lead 4/5 boxed review in Mojo : “The grit and gusto of Otis Redding, the raw power of
James Brown, the smoulder and shudder of James Carr, together they make an
intoxicating sound.
-Lead 4/5 review in Q Magazine: “There’s a new/old soul man on the block. ‘No time for
dreaming’ has the gritty feel of the real thing, a man who has known mostly hard times and
tells it with a pleading, throaty roar and blood-curdling scream worthy of James Brown.
A real find.”
*Bradley and writer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Thomas “TNT” Brenneck returned to
Dunham studios and recorded the most exciting Daptone release to date, Victim of Love.
On this album, Bradley moves past his “Heartaches and Pain” to the great promise of
hope and love. Though quite at home among the music that has affirmed Daptone as the
world’s #1 authority on Soul Music, Victim of Love proves to be a genre-bending
masterpiece, picking up where the early 70’s Temptations left off and edging boldly
forward into psychedelic soul exploration.
FORHÅND 12. APRIL
ESTHERORKESTER
HEI
Aspén
ASPEN006
7090018810510
CD
Fredag 12. april slipper kommer EstherOrkester med nytt album og språkdrakt!
Tracklist:
1. Gjennomfør En Drøm
2. Allting Blir Sang
3. Husk Å Pust
4. Vår
5. Burde
6. Modig
7. Så Langt
8. Ka Veit Vi?
9. Hurra
10. Stolleiken
11. All Kan Si Hei
EstherOrkester feirer våren med utgivelse av sin tredje plate, sin første på trøndersk og
på det trønderske labelet Aspén. Bandet har tidligere fått ros for sin lekenhet, et smittende
nærvær og tekstlig godteri, og følger nå opp med en musikalsk verden som åpner enda
mer opp mot det dønn ærlige og smårufsete vakre.
12. april kommer albumet med den passende tittelen ”Hei”.
Tuba Records - Karl Johansgt. 6 - 0154 Oslo - Norway
Tlf: +47 2201 0000 Fax: +47 2201 0001 tuba@tubarec.com www.tubarec.com
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NYHETER UKE 14 - 2013
FORHÅND 12. APRIL
BORN RUFFIANS
BIRTHMARKS
Yep Roc
YEP2319 / YEP2319LP
CD/LP
0634457231924 / 0634457231917
Tracklist:
1. Needle
2. 6-5000
3. Ocean’s Deep
4. Permanent Hesitation
5. Cold Pop
6. Golden Promises
7. Rage Flows
8. So Slow
9. With Her Shadow
10. Too Soaked To Break
11. Dancing On The Edge Of Our Graves
12. Never Age
Born Ruffians gave fans a taste of their new material on New Year’s Day when they
posted a stream of new song “With Her Shadow”. The Ontario-based four-piece are
excited to reveal details of their upcoming third long-player, Birthmarks, which will be
released in the United States on April 16th by Yep Roc. The twelve-track album was
written and demoed over the past three years and was produced by Roger Leavens
at Boombox Sound in Toronto.
A key ingredient to the creation of Birthmarks was a remote farmhouse in rural Ontario.
The band wanted to return to the days spent writing their debut, Red, Yellow & Blue
when they lived together and “whenever we had an idea we could work it out right there
that moment.”
While some of Birthmarks was born on the farm, many of the songs were conceived long
before. Luke Lalonde would write and demo constantly on his laptop, at home and on tour:
Toronto, Montreal, Midland, Australia, France, Germany… everywhere.
Several songs were realized during the recording process in the studio. “We don’t want to
tell you about what we think we sound like,” says the band’s Mitch DeRossier. “We can tell
you that this record will sound different. These songs lived with us, toured with us,
got drunk with us and made our ears ring. Now, we get to hit the road and start making
your ears ring.”
FORHÅND 19. APRIL
JUNIP
JUNIP
City Slang
SLANG50045 / SLANG50045LP
4250506806415 / 4250506806422
CD/LP
“In our case, it’s never simple.” José González is describing the entire process – writing, recording,
life – that went into the creation of Junip, the upcoming, self-titled album from the band he fronts
alongside drummer Elias Araya and keyboardist Tobias Winterkorn, due for release on 22 of April
2013 on City Slang. “All the ups and downs were very ‘Junip,’” he adds, “so titling it with our name
seemed appropriately iconic. It’s truly a band album.”
Tracklist:
01. Line Of Fire
02. Suddenly
03. So Clear
04. Your Life Your Call
05. Villain
06. Walking Lightly
07. Head First
08. Baton
09. Beginnings
10. After All Is Said And Done
The distinction is important in Junip’s case, whose evolution has been a long, strange trip, indeed.
The group actually formed in 1998 in Gothenburg, Sweden, but Junip didn’t actually release its acclaimed first album, Fields, until 2010. That delay stemmed largely from the success of González
as a solo artist. The renowned singer-songwriter found international acceptance with his individual
albums, 2003’s Veneer and 2007’s In Our Nature, which went on to sell over a million albums worldwide; audiences were captivated by the stark combination of González’s uniquely haunting voice and
sinuous acoustic guitar on hits like “Crosses”and “Down The Line,” and distinctive interpretations of
covers like The Knife’s “Heartbeats.” They were startled and beguiled, then, by hearing González in
Junip’s band context, and one with such a propulsive, experimental bent: sprawling away from the
stark folk aesthetic of González’s solo efforts, Fields teemed with driving motorik rhythms, psychedelic atmosphere, and dense synth textures.Junip avoided the protracted evolution of Fields, however,
and as a result resounds with immediacy. “With Junip, and this album in particular, it’s not the kind
of stuff that ends up on my solo recordings,” González notes. After touring extensively in the wake
of Fields, Araya, González, Winterkorn found themselves gelling as a unit like never before, able to
access uncharted new sounds and emotions with newfound fluidity. “We’d press ‘record’ when we
started jamming, and end up with a pretty complete song structure when we finished,” González
explains.
Tuba Records - Karl Johansgt. 6 - 0154 Oslo - Norway
Tlf: +47 2201 0000 Fax: +47 2201 0001 tuba@tubarec.com www.tubarec.com
6
NYHETER UKE 14 - 2013
FORHÅND 26. APRIL
AKRON/FAMILY
sub verses
Dead Oceans
DOC078CD / DOC078LP
0656605137827 / 0656605137810
CD/LP
It was a century ago when I first saw Akron/Family perform, in the tiny back room of a bar
in Brooklyn that held perhaps 20 people. Akron sat in chairs on a small stage festooned with red
velvet and small theatre light bulbs, their plentiful gadgets and musical toys littering more than a few
tables – always seemingly on the verge of collapse. The young men awkwardly held their guitars in
their laps or gently played drums/percussion, apparently trying not to knock anything over (to disastrous results) mid set. Cables and extension cords laced through their legs, they proffered a sort
of delicate, improvisational experimentalism, laced with occasional rock grooves, but most
extraordinarily, often punctuated with beautiful 4 part harmonies.
Time passed, and I recall seeing them at a sold out show somewhere in Europe and thinking
“Wait! This is fucking Led Zeppelin!” - and that is a huge vote of approval. They sounded nothing like
LZ of course, but something about the supercharged commitment and force of the sound evoked a
similar full blooded ROCK, albeit with an adventurous, skewed bent and a marked tendency to let
things suddenly collapse into utter chaos then snap back just as quickly into focus in a moment of
pure, unabashed sonority. Absolutely thrilling, stunning, and great fun, too.
More time passed, and they worshiped at the throne of late period Beatles, filtered through
the lens of their own idiosyncratic tendency to mash things up and change atmosphere/context in
an instant. Now even more time has passed, and we find them rocking (still rocking) but now in a
skittering kaleidoscope. The shards of music styles and influences flung through the speakers from
all directions, congealing for a second, then just as quickly dissolving into something new and unexpected. They’re amphetamine crazed jugglers of sound and texture, but there’s always those vocals,
rooting the thing in a deep and satisfying place.
It seems to me lots of groups these days view the whole history of music as fair game for
their palette, but most of it seems like playing dress up to me, and certainly it exists in inverted commas. But there are no inverted commas in the world of AK. They’re inside the music, grinding it, fighting it, chewing it, digesting it, then spewing it up to the sky in a multicolored spray of endless sound
and love. - Michael Gira | Swans
Tracklist:
No Room
Way Up
Until The Morning
Sand Talk
Sometimes I
Holy Boredom
Sand Time
Whole World Is Watching
When I Was Young
Samurai
FORHÅND 26. APRIL
WOLF PEOPLE
FAIN
Jagjaguwar
JAG230 / JAG230LP
CD/LP
0656605223025 / 0656605223018
Tracklist:
Empty Vessels
All Returns
When the Fire is Dead in the
Grate
Athol
Hesperus
Answer
Thief
NRR
Recorded in a beautiful and isolated house in the Yorkshire Dales, Fain is the sound of a band at the peak
of their creative powers. It’s an honest and natural album that allow sits stories, its melodies, its themes and
structures to breathe. The album draws on more traditional English and Scottish folk melodies than anything
they’ve done before, but not straying from the drop-out fuzz-rock route they’ve made their own, the influences
are vast – British rock bands like Groundhogs, Dark, Mighty Baby and Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac
are evident in the swirling and distorted guitars throughout Fain, along with the 60s revival folk of Fairport
Convention, Nic Jones, and Trees. Additionally they have looked towards Scandinavian’s rich psychedelic
tradition both new and old – you can hear the likes of Mecki Mark Men, Mikael Ramel and contemporaries
Dungen. You can even hear the band’s teenage forays into hip-hop in the drums of “Thief” and “Athol.”
It rained constantly throughout the recording process and the house was so packed with gear and
recording equipment the band were forced to sleep in tents and caravans parked outside. Whilst performing, they could look out into the vast countryside and catch sight of buzzards, hares, curlews and hundreds
upon hundreds of crows and gulls. The fire was on permanently, overnight and throughout the day. A serene
experience that informs every track on the album. It was mixed and finished in the equally rainy London, with
additional performances from Olivia Chaney on piano and backing vocals, plus Nic Kearey and Rachel
Davies of Stick in the Wheel and Various (XL). Jace Lasek (The Besnard Lakes) recorded backing vocals
in Vancouver remotely for All Returns.
As evidenced by the first single “All Returns,” Fain is more lyrically focused than anything they’ve previously recorded.. The song tells the story of a dream Jack Sharp (guitars/vocals) had during which an
acquaintance had looked into his eyes and seen into his soul whilst calmly describing his faults and inner
demons, a truly cathartic experience. However, says Sharp, his life is largely “too banal” for material and
he largely draws upon snapshots of history to furnish him with the ideas for lyrics. Stand out track “Thief” is
taken from various stories of highwaymen that had been made famous by broadsheet ballads and plays – the
likes of Charles Peace, William Nevison, Jonathan Wild and Jack Sheppard. He delivers this story in first
person, almost as if he is playing the part of a complete degenerate with little or no conscience or morals.
As Sharp says, “It’s like a form of tourism. You can visit but not live in the mind of an appalling human being
Tuba Records - Karl Johansgt. 6 - 0154 Oslo - Norway
Tlf: +47 2201 0000 Fax: +47 2201 0001 tuba@tubarec.com www.tubarec.com
7
NYHETER UKE 14 - 2013
FORHÅND 26. APRIL
CAYUCAS
BIGFOOT
Secretly Canadian
SC256 / SC256LP
CD/LP
0656605025629 / 0656605025612
Tracklist:
Cayucos
High School Lover
Will “The Thrill”
A Summer Thing
East Coast Girl
Deep Sea
Ayawa ‘kya
Bigfoot
Cayucas: Pronounced “ky-yook-us”, is the monikered homage to a sleepy little seaside town in San
Luis Obispo County, California. That town, Cayucos, has hardly changed in the last 50 years, a far cry
from the gentrified tourist traps parading showily down the nearby coastline. In the early 1960s,the
surfing craze hit. There was one bar around which local kids congregated back then, the site of
helpless crushes and fights and games of pool, a place whose jukebox soundtracked innumerable
teenage years as breezy summers rolled into mild winters and back around again. The bar has since
disappeared, but as Zach Yudin, the man behind the name, will tell you, the place still holds on tight
to its propensity for dreamy, lazy, bonfire-lit nights worth getting moony-eyed about.
Cayucas’ debut album bears little resemblance to the sound of modern California that’s been so
omnipresent over the past few years. Instead, Bigfoot possesses flirty rhythmic sensibilities both
snappy and sparkling, a rosy, near-tropical warmth, and a loose and conversational feel that position
you right in the line of Yudin’s wry gaze.
Having moved to Japan for a year to teach, he became inspired by the country’s love of electronic
music. He started writing Daft Punk-style material while he was out there, and experimenting with
the vinyl sampling that would form a crucial component of Cayucas’ early sound–old rock albums by
bands like the Beach Boys, the Tornadoes, and the Animals. Although he has since set aside the
synthesizer, this braiding together of proto-pop group classics fed directly into the album.
Bigfoot was recorded up in the chilly Pacific Northwest–in Oregon, with Secretly’s Richard Swift in
charge of production. It’s the result of Swift and Yudin’s symbiotic working relationship, and positivity
one of its brightest qualities, even when recalling missed opportunities–there’s no space for downcast
vibes here. “High School Lover” is perhaps Bigfoot most quintessential song; centered around a chiming rhythm ripe for shimmying, and a tale that sums up Yudin’staste for his own personal nostalgia.
After working at a local independent jazz label for a couple of years, he’s now making music fulltime, rehearsing with his new band for Cayucas’ first live shows, running along the Venice Beach
boardwalk, and hitting a certain bar each night to play pool, hang out, and listen to the Beach Boys.
Some places don’t change.
FORHÅND 3. MAI
STILL CORNERS
STRANGE PLEASURES
Sub Pop
SPCD1035 / SP1035
CD/LP
0098787103526 / 0098787103519
Tracklist:
The Trip
Beginning to Blue
I Can’t Sleep
All I Know
Fireflies
Berlin Lovers
Future Age
Going Back to Strange
Beatcity
Midnight Drive
We Killed the Moonlight
Strange Pleasures
Greg Hughes, the driving force behind London’s Still Corners, is not one to rest on his laurels. Despite the critical plaudits hurled at the band’s 2010 debut Creatures of an Hour (“indulgently
seductive” opined NME; “an astounding debut” purred Drowned in Sound), Hughes is blessed with
the kind of inexorable ardor for refreshing and sharpening his muse that is common to expert sculptors of elegant pop music. “I’ll never be satisfied with any of it, I need to keep trying new things,”
he concedes. “Still Corners is The Enterprise, for me.”
Riding that insatiable kinesis over the last two years has resulted in Hughes, along with
singing accomplice Tessa Murray, fashioning Strange Pleasures, a devastating sophomore album
which is destined to usher Still Corners to a deserved place at dream-pop’s high table. The album
was captured in Hughes’ Greenwich studio, with the protean multi-tasker handling all the instruments
and penning most of the lyrics. Where its predecessor soared on sugared layers of shoe gazinginfused retro-futurism, Strange Pleasures proffers a leaner, more acute extrapolation of ’80s-suffused
song and studio craft, navigating a sinuous trajectory between velveteen Angelo Badalamenti noirpop torch song sophistication, ethereal Cocteau Twins beauty and the glacial, mellifluous territory
mapped by Modern English, The Cure and The Passions.
For Hughes, an Austin native whose plans to move to Brooklyn were sidetracked when he
fell in love with an English girl (Tessa, that is) and London’s worldly charms, the new album is more
than just a stylistic progression from Creatures of an Hour. “Musically, Creatures... was soft and
relaxing but it was a massively cathartic record for me. I was destroyed after being in a relationship;
it’s all in there, suicide… all that stuff. I needed to calm my soul and Creatures... did that for me.
Strange Pleasures is more of an adventure out toward the open seas. It’s an exploring type of
record: strange new lands, strange new love…”
Presaged by the soaring “Fireflies” single (Pitchfork’s Best New Track of 9/28/2012),
Strange Pleasures brings the Still Corners story up to date.
Tuba Records - Karl Johansgt. 6 - 0154 Oslo - Norway
Tlf: +47 2201 0000 Fax: +47 2201 0001 tuba@tubarec.com www.tubarec.com
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NYHETER UKE 14 - 2013
FORHÅND 10. MAI
MIKAL CRONIN
MCII
Merge
MRG475 / MRG475LP
0673855047522 / 0673855047515
CD/LP
Mikal Cronin’s self-titled debut from 2011 was all about endings: The end of college, the
end of a serious relationship, and the end of his time in Los Angeles, where he grew up.
So it’s no surprise that his sophomore release MCII—and first disc for Merge Records—
is all about new beginnings.
Tracklist:
1. Weight
2. Shout It Out
3. Am I Wrong
4. See It My Way
5. Peace of Mind
6. Change
7. I’m Done Running from You
8. Don’t Let Me Go
9. Turn Away
10. Piano Mantra
“Since the first record came out, my life has changed quite a bit,” Cronin says, referencing
his move to San Francisco and tours with Ty Segall as well as with his own band.
“I was presented with a whole new slew of problems and situations that I was trying to work
through.” “Am I Wrong” and “Shout It Out” dissect his fears over a new relationship, while
“I’m Done Running from You” and “Weight” find him freaking out about what it means to
grow up in the 21st century.
Recorded in late 2012 by Eric Bauer at Bauer Mansion in San Francisco (except for “Don’t
Let Me Go” which was recorded by Cronin at home), MCII includes guest appearances by
K. Dylan Edrich (viola and violin on “Peace of Mind” and “Change”), Charles Moothart
(drums on “Change” and “Turn Away”), Ty Segall (guitar solos on “Am I Wrong” and “I’m
Done Running from You”), and Petey Dammit (slide guitar on “Peace of Mind”). Other than
these few exceptions, Cronin played all of the instruments. “It all makes total sense to me,
but when I step back, it sounds kind of schizophrenic,” Cronin says.
“Hopefully it all sounds enough like me to make sense.”
FORHÅND 10. MAI
SMALL BLACK
LIMITS OF DESIRE
Jagjaguwar
JAG208 / JAG208LP
CD/LP
0656605220826 / 0656605220819
Tracklist:
Free At Dawn
Canoe
No Stranger
Sophie
Breathless
Proper Spirit
Only A Shadow
Limits Of Desire
Shook Loves
Outskirts
Limits of Desire is Small Black’s most accomplished album yet. It’s a crystalline realization of a sound they’ve been building toward since their self-titled EP in 2009. Now a full-time four
piece, Josh Hayden Kolenik (keys, vocals), Ryan Heyner (guitar, keys, vocals), Juan Pieczanski (bass, guitar) and Jeff Curtin (drums, percussion), the band have moved way beyond the
hazy home recorded sound of their previous releases toward a full-fledged, but still self-produced,
clear approach. Where 2010’s New Chain was a lesson in maximalist pop, Limits of Desire finds
the band trimming their sound to the essentials, yet hitting new and unexpected heights with the
addition of live drums, electric guitar and trumpet to the existing Small Black palette.
Tonally the songs sweep and glide over lush keys, bolstered by lyrics that illustrate the
semi-abstract moments of lost opportunities and misread signs, hinted at by the cover image.
The title track whirls softly, and channels luminaries Tears for Fears and The Blue Nile, anchored
by Pieczanski’s punchy bass as Kolenik sings: “Otherlives droned/ farfrom the grasswhere Ilay/
each eye stared out the oppositeway.”As much as the record is about looking for deeper connections, it’s also about avoiding real life, if only for a moment—getting out of your own head just long
enough to calm down and find perspective.
“Free At Dawn” and “No Stranger” do what fans have come to love Small Black for, only
better. They’re smart pop bangers tinged with a specific brand of melancholy that slowly build
to night-affirming climaxes. While “Breathless” ups the tempo, over synth stabs, with lyrics that
tackle apathy and uncertainty with catchy grace: “I’m standing in tomorrow’s way/ future’s fine/
least it seems okay.” It paints a concise portrait of a generation struggling with unlimited freedom
and malaise.
The band builds on a rich history of synth pop by making a thoroughly modern album, on
both the front and back end. One that seeks out cohesion, connection and calm in a world that
won’t sit still. Limits of Desire doesn’t attempt to provide any solutions, but coming to terms with
not finding the answers feels infinitely more fruitful.
Tuba Records - Karl Johansgt. 6 - 0154 Oslo - Norway
Tlf: +47 2201 0000 Fax: +47 2201 0001 tuba@tubarec.com www.tubarec.com
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NYHETER UKE 14 - 2013
FORHÅND 24. MAI
BURZUM
SOL AUSTAN, MANI VESTAN
Byelobog
BYE011CD / BYE011CDS
0803341393653 / 0803341398313
CD
Limited digipack/standard jewel case
Tracklist:
1. Sol austan
2. Runar munt bu finna
3. Solarras
4. Haugaeldr
5. Fedrahellir
6. Solargudi
7. Ganga at solu
8. Hid
9. Heljarmyrkr
10. Mani vestan
11. Solbjorg
Sol austan, Mani vestan is the 11th album from Burzum and a return to a purely electronic
and instrumental expression. “Sol austan, Mani vestan” is different from all the older
albums, and yet similar to all of them, and is in style more than anything similar to the
oldest ambient music of Burzum, like the tracks “Tomhet”, “Han som reiste” and
“Channelling the power of Minds into a new God”. “Sol austan, Mani vestan” is inspired by
and made for the “ForeBears” movie by Marie Cachet and Varg Vikernes, where much of
the Scaldic music from “Sol austan, Mani vestan” appears, only in unmastered form,
as a soundtrack.
Burzum says of the new album: “Sol austan, Mani vestan” will feature almost an hour of
instrumental electronic music, that can best be described as relaxing, slow-paced, contemplative and very much original. And of the concept Burzum says; I have still not been able
to leave behind the Pagan religious-spiritual concept of a descent into darkness and the
following ascend back into the light; the Pagan initiation, the elevation of man to the divine,
the enlightenment of the mind, the feeding of the elven light in man.
FORHÅND 24. MAI
COCOROSIE
TALES OF A GRASSWIDOW
City Slang
SLANG50050 / SLANG50050LP
CD/LP
4250506806514 / 4250506806583
Tracklist:
01. After The Afterlife
02. Tears For Animals
03. Child Bride
04. Broken Chariot
05. End Of Time
06. Harmless Monster
07. Gravediggress
08. Far Away
09. Roots Of My Hair
10. Villian
11. Poison
Tales of a Grass Widowʼ is the fifth album from the cross-disciplinary performance artists,
now signed to City Slang for European release. Entitled “Gravediggress” the song is representative
of the albumʼs theme: transformative ecstasy in the face of harmful neglect. It tells the story of an
imagined conversation between an abandoned child and an outcast old woman. The young girl asks
the Gravediggress to bury her love in the ground for safekeeping - “Gravediggress dig me a hole I
can bury, all of my love in, all of my holy.” With a wistful pump organ introduction, Bianca imparts the
entreating childʼs words, and Sierra, in haltering, but clear tones sings for the old woman. Their voices blend and overlap, suggesting the woman and child are the same person. Simple piano chords
accompany their vocals, with chimes and a marching drum rhythm composed of beat box from
CocoRosieʼs longtime collaborator, Tez.
Produced in association with Valgeir Sigurðsson, ʻTales of a Grass Widowʼ features eleven
songs and, in keeping with prior compositions, synthesizes electronic and organic music conveying a
compelling futuristic, return-tonature sound. Further details of the album are to be announced soon.
Now in their 10th year, the sisterʼs continue to find expression in progressively ambitious
projects, which expand beyond writing, recording and touring their own music. In 2012, they choreographed “Nightshift,” a dance production and “Soul Life,” an opera both staged at the Donau Festival
in Krems. Bianca held a solo exhibition of her artwork in NYC and the sisters performed at Londonʼs
Meltdown Festival curated by their friend and sometime collaborator Antony Hegarty.
This spring, along with theatre director Robert Wilson the duo unveil their work on a production of “Peter Pan” by the Berliner Ensemble and will be performing in Paris under the curation of
Laurie Anderson. Later this year Bianca Casady launches ʻGirls Against Godʼ - an arts and letters
print publication. Linked to this project, Bianca and Sierra Casady have founded the Future Feminists
with Antony Hegarty and performance artists Kembra Pfahler and Johanna Constantine. The groupʼs
platform is to “free society and protect the planet from the corrosive effects of patriarchal belief
systems”. The songs in ʻTales of a Grass Widow,ʼ touch on CocoRosieʼs personal response
to the groupʼs feminist mission.
Tuba Records - Karl Johansgt. 6 - 0154 Oslo - Norway
Tlf: +47 2201 0000 Fax: +47 2201 0001 tuba@tubarec.com www.tubarec.com
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