New Selections — Death Valley Girls, Saturn and the Sun, Eiko Ishibashi, Hekla, The Soft Moon, An Eagle in your Mind, J Mascis, Cripple Bastards, Pig Destroyer
Some new singles and others I've been meaning to post. Enjoy.
(via Stereo Sanctity / Suicide Squeeze / YouTube)
Via Stereo Sanctity:
After recently announcing that their new album Darkness Rains is set for release on Oct 5th via Suicide Squeeze Records, Los Angeles doom boogie/dystopian punk/occult glam rockers Death Valley Girls have shared a new single & video entitled "More Dead".
Speaking about the new track, the band commented: "After having experiences with people we love struggling to stay alive, we believe the harder the battle, the less one is able to ask for help. We wanted to write a song about how important and necessary each person is, especially these days. We need numbers now more than ever to fight the good fight."
The video director Dylan Mars Greenberg went on to add “I wanted to create a video that dealt with a serious issue that affected both Bonnie and I but in an abstract way. I used animation to generate the concept of rebirth and the juxtaposition of aerial videography with dark environments to tell the story of the overworld and underworld fighting over a soul.
I should also mention we filmed with an iguana indoors but then he escaped into Bronson canyon. We all believe he is now very strong and happy in his new world.”
Rock n’ roll has always served as a means to elevate the fringe of society, though it’s accentuated the plights of the outcasts and misfits in different ways throughout the years. In its infancy, rock was a playful rebuttal against segregation and Puritanism. In the ‘60s, it became a vehicle for an elevated consciousness. In the years following the Summer of Love and the clampdown on Flower Power, that countercultural spirit adopted the aggravated and occasionally nihilistic edge of bands like The Stooges, Black Sabbath, MC5, and The New York Dolls. And then as the ‘80s approached, popular rock n’ roll turned into a relatively benign celebration of hedonism and decadence, but that contingent of dark mystics from the ‘70s who lifted the veil and used music as a means of rallying people to altered planes had left their mark. It was an undercurrent in rock that would never die, but would percolate in corners of the underground. Today we can see it manifest in LA’s Death Valley Girls.
Death Valley Girls feels less like a band and more like a traveling caravan. At their core, vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Bonnie Bloomgarden and guitarist Larry Schemel channel Death Valley Girls’ modern spin on Fun House’s sonic exorcisms, early ZZ Top’s desert-blasted riffage, and Sabbath’s occult menace. Their relentless touring schedule means that the remainder of the group is rounded out by whichever like-minded compatriots can get in the van. On their third album Darkness Rains, bassist Alana Amram, drummer Laura Harris, and a rotating cast of guests like Shannon Lay, The Kid (Laura Kelsey), and members of The Make Up, The Shivas, and Moaning help elevate the band from their rogue beginnings to a communal ritualistic musical force. On the surface level, Death Valley Girls churn out the hypercharged, in the red, scuzzy rock every generation yearns for, but there is a more subversive force percolating beneath the surface that imbues the band with an exhilarating cosmic energy.
Death Valley Girls’ second album Glow In The Dark was based on the concept that many of us are trying to become more enlightened, and you can tell by the way they ‘glow in the dark.’ Darkness Rains goes a step further, attempting to shift the consciousness of those that have not yet considered how we are all connected and how that relates to the way we view life beyond death. Those that ‘glow’ can use the songs on Darkness Rains as new chants—or they can be used for pure entertainment. “Songs come from beyond and other worlds, you just have to tune into the right radio wave signal to dial them in. Our signal happens to be in a 1970 Dodge Charger Spaceship,” says Schemel.
Album opener “More Dead” is a rousing wake up call, with a hypnotic pentatonic guitar riff and an intoxicating blown-out fuzz-wah solo underscoring Bloomgarden’s consciousness-rattling proclamation that you’re “more dead than alive.” The pace builds with “(One Less Thing) Before I Die”, a minute-and-a-half distillate of Detroit’s classic proto-punk sound. But at track three, Death Valley Girls hit their stride with “Disaster (Is What We’re After)”, a gritty, swaggering rager that takes the most boisterous moments off Exile On Main Street and beefs it up with Zeppelin’s devil’s-note blues. Darkness Rains retains its intoxicating convocations across ten tracks, climaxing on an astral plane with the hypnotic guitar drones and cult-like chants of “TV In Jail On Mars.”
“Learn from the stars and beyond! Be happy and thankful we got to live together on Earth at the same time! And death is just a shift—stay alive and awake,”Bloomgarden and Schemel respond when asked for a final thought on Death Valley Girls. “Embrace the darkness and don’t fear the Reaper.” Suicide Squeeze Records is proud to further the cause by releasing Darkness Rains on October 5th, 2018 on LP/CD/CS/ and digital formats. The first vinyl pressing is limited to 1,500 copies. Both the cassette and vinyl include digital downloads.
PRE-ORDER 'DARKNESS RAINS' HERE: http://smarturl.it/DeathValleyGirls
Death Valley Girls Tour Dates:
09-13 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriets *
10-03 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom **
10-04 - Tustin, CA @ Marty’s on Newport **
10-05 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah **
10-14 - Desert Daze Festival - Lake Perris, CA w/ My Bloody Valentine, Death Grips, Shellac etc.
10-18 - Riverside, CA @ Aurea Vista
10-19 - Las Vegas, NV @ Bunkhouse Saloon
10-20 - Phoenix, AZ @ Yucca Tap Room
10-21 - Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
10-23 - Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas
10-24 - Dallas, TX @ Regal Room
10-25 - Norman, OK @ Opolis
10-26 - Memphis, TN @ The Hi Tone
10-29 - Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery #
10-30 - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie #
11-01 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge #
11-02 - Cleveland, OH @ The Winchester #
11-03 - Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx #
11-04 - Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen #
11-05 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club #
11-07 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge #
11-08 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge #
11-09 - Boise, ID @ The Olympic #
11-11 - Chico, CA @ Duffy's #
11-13 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios #
11-14 - Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret #
11-15 - Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown #
11-16 - Seattle, WA @ Freakout Festival
11-17 - Eugene, OR @ Old Nicks #
11-20 - San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop #
* w/ L.A. Witch
** w/ Roky Erickson
# w/ Gymshorts
Links:
Death Valley Girls Facebook
Death Valley Girls Twitter
Death Valley Girls Instagram
Death Valley Girls Spotify
Death Valley Girls Apple Music
Death Valley Girls Bandcamp
Death Valley Girls Suicide Squeeze page
** w/ Roky Erickson
# w/ Gymshorts
Links:
Death Valley Girls Facebook
Death Valley Girls Twitter
Death Valley Girls Instagram
Death Valley Girls Spotify
Death Valley Girls Apple Music
Death Valley Girls Bandcamp
Death Valley Girls Suicide Squeeze page
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Saturn and the Sun: "In Love With The Extreme"
(via Modern Matters / iDeal Recordings / Soundcloud)
This is the title track to Saturn and the Sun's upcoming LP, which will be out September 21st via iDeal Recordings. Members Joachim Nordwall and Henrik Rylander also perform together as The Skull Defekts.
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Eiko Ishibashi: "Iron Veil"
(via Drag City / Bandcamp)
Via Drag City:
Amongst all this abject jet-setting and debauched gadding about, the music of The Dream My Bones Dream started to gather. Following the death of Eiko's father, she discovered photos from a time she knew nothing about: his childhood. Having never discussed this part of his life, he came of age during an infamous setting of recent Japanese history, the occupation of China's Manchurian region in the 1940s. In the light of this, questions about Eiko's lost family history took on a larger resonance. The Dream My Bones Dream imagines a past she never knew, those who raised her father and the environment in which is grew up in.
The music is richly conceived in cinematic arrangements with details referencing Eiko's grandfather, who worked as a railroad man in occupied territory. For Eiko, the train that ran through this rough terrain is now headed for her future, and only by accepting its past will she able to direct it through what is to come. Something to think about, yeah? We at Drag City are hopeful that this musical message will be blared down the main streets of Fascist Everytown USA - at least until they come to get us!
On The Dream My Bones Dream, as with Eiko's previous albums, the diverse sounds within the musical arrangement and the qualities of Jim O'Rourke's mix (off the couch and mixing again!) are crucial to the achievement. The Dream My Bones Dream is a record of exquisite musicality and deep emotions, a travelogue pointed towards a time hopefully better than the future we see coming down the line! Listen to the first single, "Iron Veil", now and pre-order the album for November 16th.
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Hekla: "Heyr Himna Smiður"
(via Phantom Limb / YouTube)
Via Phantom Limb:
Describing her sound as "minimalistic sci-fi", mysterious avant-garde musician Hekla has today released her uniquely beautiful debut album for solo theremin and voice Á, on Phantom Limb, a label run and curated by former FatCat Records, Thrill Jockey and Royal Albert Hall execs.
You can download and stream Á on Bandcamp, Apple Music, etc. It's also available on heavyweight 180g black vinyl here and at all good record stores.
After sharing the surreal and Gothic-tingled video for 'Ekki Er Allt Gull Sem Glóir' last month, Hekla has just released the Logi Hilmarsson directed video for 'Heyr Himna Smiður'. The track is Hekla's version of the classic Icelandic hymn by the late Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson.
Hekla has confirmed dates in Europe, including headline shows in London, Bristol and Berlin in October. Please note London venue has now moved from The Islington to Jazz Servant Quarters.
Tour Dates:
September 21 - Copenhagen, DK @ Festival of Endless Gratitude [tix]
October 15 - London, UK @ Jazz Servant Quarters * [tix]
October 16 - Bristol, UK @ The Cube [tix]
October 25 - Berlin, DE @ Ausland
December 13 - Berlin, DE @ Kantine am Berghain **
* w/ Ingrid Plum Trio
** w/ Kaufmann Frust, Indridi
A Berlin-residing Icelander, Hekla’s sparse, delicate, fractal music exists within these two worlds: dark and magical as Iceland’s permanight folklore; and (though beatless) as deeply sonic and intense as Berlin’s electronic scene. A long-term scholar of solo theremin, Hekla (shortened from her own name Hekla Magnúsdóttir) uses her instrument as an otherworldly and highly evocative Siren-call. A spectral, wailing, howling, lamenting yearning second-voice that underpins a soft vocal delivery... as if her studio had been haunted with a chorus of ghostly backing singers.
While a handful of reference points share a similar ground to Á - Colleen's interplay of voice and instrumentation; the richly immersive film score work of sadly passed fellow Icelander Jóhann Jóhannsson's; "grandmother of theremin" Clara Rockmore's close relationship with such a singular instrument; Julia Holter's intelligent and classically-aligned songwriting - Hekla's music still exists singularly. A one-off talent, emerging from no particular scene, ascribing to no particular rules.
As a creative tool, the theremin - bizarre, unique, and rarely heard - can be expressive, intuitive and highly adaptable. In Hekla's hands, her instrument covers an enormous range, from skittering birdsong of high frequency chirrups and chirps, to grinding, tectonic sub-bass. We are given the throbbing, apocalyptic dread of 'Muddle' and the baroque beauty of traditional Icelandic hymn 'Heyr Himna Smi∂ur' in sequential tracks on the album's A-Side. Appropriately, she also writes that the album title - Á - is similarly multifaceted in her native Icelandic: "a river is an á and also it means ouch like when you hurt yourself, and also when you put something on top of something you put it á (on) something."
The album was written and self-recorded by Hekla in her home studio in Berlin around her son's daycare schedule. Icelandic super-musician Mr Silla (a part-time múm member) guests on a number of tracks. Tallinn-based engineer Jose Diogo Neves - a stalwart of Icelandic and Portuguese music - mixed and mastered Á.
www.heklaheklahekla.com
www.phantom-limb.co.uk
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The Soft Moon: "Like A Father" (remixed by Imperial Black Unit)
(via Stereo Sanctity / Sacred Bones Records / YouTube)
(via Stereo Sanctity / Sacred Bones Records / YouTube)
Via Stereo Sanctity:
Following the release of his fourth studio album Criminal earlier this year via Sacred Bones, Luis Vasquez AKA The Soft Moon has announced the release of Criminal Remixed VOL. 1 and Criminal Remixed VOL. 2, co-released with Berlin-based record label, aufnhame + wiedergabe. Today sees the unveiling of the standout track "Like A Father", remixed by Imperial Black Unit. The Soft Moon will be playing two UK shows in November in London & Manchester.
Berlin-based French duo Imperial Black Unit transforms The Soft Moon’s “Like A Father“ into a dark EBM anthem, with an unique mix of old school sounds and their vision of the shape of Techno to come.
Both 12”s are limited to 1000 copies. The digital version will be released as an album and will be available on Bandcamp and via all digital platforms.
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An Eagle in your Mind: "Flows"
(via Bandcamp)
(via Bandcamp)
"Flows" is featured in AEM's Miraculous Weapons, which released June 1st, 2018. You can sample the album and purchase a digital copy here.
Via AEM:
An Eagle in your Mind announces the release of its new clip "Flows" on October 8th.
Minimalist and lush images for a renewed musical syncretism: it could be a post-war staging of Antigone, a Bollywood, or a futuristic cartoon of the 70's. It could be question of the suicide of Cleopatra or the flight of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden ...
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Via Sub Pop:
J Mascis has extended his international tour schedule to support Elastic Days with UK dates for early 2019. The newly added dates begin January 16th in Oxford at O2 Academy and end January 25th in Glasgow at St. Luke’s. These dates follow J’s previously announced North American tour dates which run November 7th through December 16th.
Nov. 07 - Vancouver, BC - Imperial
Nov. 08 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
Nov. 09 - Seattle, WA - Tractor
Nov. 10 - Bellingham, WA - Wild Buffalo
Nov. 14 - San Francisco, CA - Slim’s
Nov. 15 - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
Nov. 16 - Los Angeles, CA - Lodge Room
Nov. 17 - Denver, CO - Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox
Nov. 18 - Fort Collins, CO - Washington’s
Nov. 20 - Chicago, IL - City Winery*
Nov. 21 - Chicago, IL - City Winery*
Nov. 27 - Atlanta, GA - City Winery*
Nov. 28 - Nashville, TN - City Winery*
Nov. 29 - Louisville, KY - Zanzabar*
Nov. 30 - Detroit, MI - El Club*
Dec. 01 - Toronto, ON - Great Hall*
Dec. 04 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe*
Dec. 05 - Washington, DC - City Winery*
Dec. 07 - Brooklyn, NY - Rough Trade*
Dec. 08 - New York, NY - Public Arts*
Dec. 09 - Hamden, CT - Space Ballroom*
Dec. 12 - Providence, RI - The Met*
Dec. 13 - Boston, MA - The Sinclair*
Dec. 14 - Northampton, MA - The Academy of Music*
Dec. 15 - Portland, ME - Port City Music Hall*
Jan. 16 - Oxford, UK - O2 Academy
Jan. 17 - Bristol, UK - Thekla
Jan. 18 - Brighton, UK - Concorde 2
Jan. 19 - London, UK - Islington Assembly Hall
Jan. 20 - Nottingham, UK - Rescue Rooms
Jan. 22 - Liverpool, UK - Arts Club
Jan. 23 - Manchester, UK - Gorilla
Jan. 24 - Leeds, UK - Belgrave Music Hall
Jan. 25 - Glasgow, UK - St. Lukes
* w/ Luluc
Pre-orders for Elastic Days through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser Edition on clear vinyl with purple swirl (while supplies last). There will also be a new t-shirt design available.
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Cripple Bastards: "Non Coinvolto"
(via Earsplit PR / Relapse Records / YouTube)
Via Earsplit PR:
Recorded at the legendary Fredman Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström (At The Gates, Dark Tranquility), La Fine Cresce Da Dentro delivers eighteen tracks of inconceivable speed and brutality surpassing even their previous work. Over three decades in, the CRIPPLE BASTARDS outfit shows no signs of slowing down and continues to destroy unsuspecting eardrums with hate-filled, grind punk chaos!
CRIPPLE BASTARDS' La Fine Cresce Da Dentro is due out November 9th on CD, LP, and digital. Physical preorders are available via Relapse.com HERE and digital downloads/streaming services HERE.
CRIPPLE BASTARDS Tour Dates:
10/06/2018 Padiglione 14 - Collegno, IT
10/20/2018 Fabrik - Cagliari, IT
11/03/2018 Factory - Azzano Veneto, IT
https://www.facebook.com/cripplebastards
https://www.instagram.com/cripple_bastards
https://twitter.com/cripplebastards
https://cripplebastards.bandcamp.com
http://www.relapse.com
http://www.relapserecords.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/RelapseRecords
http://www.twitter.com/RelapseRecords
https://www.instagram.com/relapserecords
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Pig Destroyer: "House of Snakes"
(via Earsplit PR / Relapse Records / YouTube)
Sincerely,
Letters From A Tapehead
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