tubanytt uke 15

NYHETER UKE 15 - 2013
CHARLES BRADLEY
VICTIM OF LOVE
Daptone
DAP031CD / DAP031LP
CD/LP
0823134003125 / 0823134003118
The Screaming Eagle of Soul, Charles Bradley, gjorde i fjor det som av
mange regnes som en av de beste Øya-konsertene noensinne da han
røsket tak i Enga-publikummet på første tone og ikke slapp taket før han
og hans Extraordinaires forlot scenen en times tid senere. I år er det
Bergenfest og Norwegian Wood-publikummene som får oppleve Bradley, og da er hans nye album, Victim of Love, hans andre for Daptone,
perfekt oppvarming. Klassisk soul med en relativt bred referanseramme
fra klassisk James Brown og Sam & Dave-inspirerte saker via Superfly-era Curtis Mayfield til space funk à la George Clinton.
http://thecharlesbradley.com/
THE POSTAL SERVICE
GIVE UP – 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Sub Pop
SPCD1045 / SP1045
2CD/3LP
0098787104523 / 0098787104516
The Postal Servives Give Up er Sub Pops nest mest solgte utgivelse
noensinne (etter Bleach, ja), og har solgt i godt over 1 million eksemplarer
bare i USA. Ti år har gått siden duoen Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel) og
Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) ga oss albumet, og det må selvsagt
feires. Her slippes det i deluxe dobbel CD i en sjeldent omfattende digipak
og som trippel, farget LP, begge med 15 bonusspor, deriblant The Shins
og Iron & Wines versjoner av et par av låtene, samt to nye låter, lagt til.
http://pitchfork.com/news/49139-the-postal-services-give-up-reissue-will-contain-two-new-songs-and-much-more/
http://www.facebook.com/thepostalservicemusic
TODD RUNDGREN
STATE
Esoteric Antenna
EANTCD21018 / EANTCD1017
2CD/CD
5013929471832 / 5013929471733
Rockens gale professor, Todd Rundgren, har aldri latt seg binde av
tradisjonelle sjangergrenser, og beveger seg på sitt nye album, State,
mot et elektronisk funk-territorium. At han nær femti år ut i karrieren
fortsetter å eksperimentere sier det meste om mannens umettelige
oppdagertrang. Disk 2 på den doble digipaken består av en konsert med
Todd og The Metropole Orchestra live fra Paradiso i november i fjor,
og inneholder klassikere som Hello, It’s Me og We Gotta Get you a
Woman. Todd spiller på Rockefeller 1. juni.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Rundgren
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/todd-rundgren-mn0000936425
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 15 - 2013
GENE CLARK
HERE TONIGHT: THE WHITE LIGHT DEMOS
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gene-clark-mn0000194036
Omnivore
OVCD60
CD
0816651013746
Gene Clark ble først kjent som vokalist og låtskriver i den tidligste versjonen av The
Byrds før han forlot dem i 1966 til fordel for en solokarriere. Han ga ut en rekke
fantastiske album på egenhånd, sammen med The Gosdin Brothers, og ikke minst
med Doug Dillard. White Light kom i 1971 og er regnet som et av tidenes beste
singer/songwriter-album. Her en samling med demoer spilt inn i forkant av det.
Seks av låtene endte opp på White Light, to ble utgitt i forbindelse med reutgivelsen
av albumet i 2002, en har tidligere vært i en alternativ versjon på en Flying Burritossamling, og tre av låtene er tidligere uutgitte – tolv spor i alt.
”…treasure trove of 1970 song demos” 8/10 UNCUT
DIVERSE ARTISTER
ACID: MYSTERONS INVADE THE JACKIN’ ZONE
Soul Jazz
SJRCD266 / SJRLP266-1 / SJRLP266-2
2CD/2LP
5026328002668 / 5026328102665 / 5026328202662
Housemusikken oppsto i Chicago på begynnelsen av 80-tallet og på midten av årtiet
kom den såkalte acid housen som i stor grad oppsto via eksperimenter med Rolands
TB-303-modell. Her en samling med undertittelen Chicago Acid & Experimental
House 1986-93 med remastrede klassikere og rariteter som presenterer sjangeren.
Dobbel CD i boksformat og to doble sett LP-er i super-loud supreme audiophile
180g-pressinger. Begge med tilhørende science fiction-tegnserie som
forteller historien om scenen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_house
EVA CASSIDY
THE BEST OF EVA CASSIDY
Blix Street
G810206
0739341020681
2LP+CD
Dobbel 180g LP som gir oss 20 av Eva Cassidys beste spor, You Take My Breath
Away, Songbird, Time After Time, Fields of Gold, Imagine, Over the Rainbow osv.
Dette er den første Cassidy-utgivelsen på LP på over ti år og vil garantert
glede mang en vinylentusiast. Albumet medfølger på CD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Cassidy
DEAR READER
RIVONIA
City Slang
SLANG50040 / SLANG50040LP
4250506806064 / 4250506806118
CD/LP
Indiepop bygget i stor grad opp av vokal, piano og perkusjon fra Dear Reader på
Rivonia, hennes tredje album for City Slang. Medhjelperne på albumet inkluderer
Calexicos Martin Wenk og Earl Harvin fra Tindersticks.
http://youtu.be/iO2v9QXMlwk
http://dearreadermusic.com/
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 15 - 2012
CHILD BITE
VISION CRIMES / MONOMANIA
Joyful Noise
JNR112CD / JNR112LP
CD/LP
0656605760322 / 0656605760315
Pakkeløsning som samler Child Bites to relativt nylig utgitte EP-er, Vision Crimes og Monomania,
på ett brett. Eksperimentell hardcore. “…potent, concentrated evil... Their angular, jagged, rhythmheavy skronk reaches past postrock into the kind of terrifying lashing out you might remember from
Big Black and the Jesus Lizard.” CHICAGO READER http://youtu.be/UNLhuJjPHhA
THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL
SONDERKOMMANDO
Candlelight
CANDLE392CD
CD
0803341369337
Femte album ut fra black metallerne i The Meads of Asphodel. Inspirert av et besøk til Auschwitz
dro bandet hjem til England og skrev musikk inspirert av stedets hatefulle historie. Bandet har siden
sist anskaffet seg norsk trommis, André Kjelbergvik Thung, og selveste Mirai Kawashima
fra Sigh bidrar også. http://www.facebook.com/themeadsofasphodel
TOXIC HOLOCAUST
FROM THE ASHES OF NUCLEAR DESTRUCTION
Relapse
RR7222-2
CD
0781676722228
From the Ashes of Nuclear Destruction gir oss rariteter, B-sider osv. fra Toxic Holocausts
nå over ti år lange karriere, 22 låter i alt.
http://www.facebook.com/ToxicHolocaust
DIVERSE ARTISTER
FINDERS KEEPERS - MOTOWN GIRLS 1961-67
Ace
CDTOP1364
CD
0029667053921
Ace fikk i 2009 tilgang til Motowns arkiver og har siden det gitt ut en rekke gode samleplater med
gullkorn derfra. Nå avsluttes prosjektet med Finders Keepers, en 24-spors samling hvor halvparten er
tidligere uutgitte. Brenda Holloway, Martha and the Vandellas, Gladys Knight, The Marvelettes,
The Supremes osv. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motown
MILLIE JACKSON
THE MOODS OF – HER BEST BALLADS
Kent Soul
CDKEND391
CD
0029667239127
Samling på 20 spor som gir oss Millie Jacksons beste ballader. Inkludert er klassikere som
It Hurts So Good og fantastiske If Loving You is Wrong.
http://youtu.be/8c8cKm4qC9M http://youtu.be/bKFfO1gP_JM
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/millie-jackson-mn0000488859
BARBAROSSA
THE LOAD
Memphis Industries
MI0266S
7”
5060146094030
The Load er første single ut fra Barbarossa. Bak navnet står James Mathé, tidligere samarbeidspartner med bl.a. José Gonzalez.
https://soundcloud.com/memphisindustries/barbarossa-the-load http://www.facebook.com/Barbarossamusic
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 15 - 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 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 15 - 2013
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.
FORHÅND 26. APRIL
MELVINS
EVERYBODY LOVES SAUSAGES
Ipecac
IPC144
0689230014423
CD
ALL-STAR COVERS ALBUM FROM THE LEGENDARY MELVINS
Featuring Special Guest Stars: Mark Arm (Mudhoney), Clem Burke (Blondie), Scott Kelly
(Neurosis), Caleb Benjamin, Trevor Dunn (Fantomas, Tomahawk), JG, Thirlwell (Foetus),
Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Kevin Rutmanis (The Cows) & Tom Hazelmyer (Halo of Flies)
Tracklist:
1. Warhead (Venom)
2. Best Friend (Queen)
3. Black Betty (Original artist
unknown)
4. Set It On Fire (The Scientists)
5. Station To Station (David Bowie)
6. Attitude (The Kinks)
7. Female Trouble (Divine a.k.a. John Waters)
8. Carpe Diem (The Fugs)
9. Timothy Leary Lives (Pop-O-Pies)
10. In Every Dream Home A
Heartache (Roxy Music)
11. Romance (Tales of Terror)
12. Art School (The Jam)
13. Heathen Earth (Throbbing Gristle)
The Melvins return with a 13-track covers album titled “Everybody Loves Sausages,” which is set
for an Apr. 26 release via Ipecac Recordings.
“This record will give people a peak into the kind of things that influence us musically,” explains
Buzz Osborne. “We REALLY like all of these songs along with the bands who actually wrote this
stuff because first and foremost we are HUGE music fans.”
In a decidedly Melvins approach to a covers album, the band not only selected a unique assortment
of songs to cover, ranging from Roxy Music’s “In Every Dream Home A Heartache” to Queen’s “Best
Friend,” they also enlisted several friends to take part including Mudhoney’s Mark Arm joining them
for The Scientists’ “Set It On Fire” and Neurosis’ Scott Kelly pitching in on a cover of Venom’s
“Warhead.”
While the release is billed as a proper Melvins’ album (featuring the line-up of Osborne, Dale Crover,
Jared Warren and Coady Willis), there are a handful of songs recorded as the Melvins Lite incarnation of the band (Osborne, Crover and Trevor Dunn): “Female Trouble” (Divine a.k.a. John Waters),
“Timothy Leary Lives” (Pop-O-Pies) and “Romance By Tales of Terror” (Tales of Terror).
Tuba Records - Karl Johansgt. 6 - 0154 Oslo - Norway
Tlf: +47 2201 0000 Fax: +47 2201 0001 tuba@tubarec.com www.tubarec.com
5
NYHETER UKE 15 - 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
6
NYHETER UKE 15 - 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 15 - 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 15 - 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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