Younghusband first appeared in 2011 and this second LP has been a smoke stack on the road ahead since their 2013 debut ‘Dromes'. While that album defined a scene, this one sets them aside. ‘Dissolver' takes in a wide sweep of guitar music and focuses it into a precisely individual proposition; a sound unto itself that nonetheless garners comparisons with Elliott Smith, The Shoes, and Big Star. 

The quartet of Euan Hinshelwood, Joe Chilton, Adam Beach and Pete Baker emerged as one of a crop of so-called neo-psych bands. Under a canopy of reverb and phase, they could be heard hunting for escape routes from the played-out circus of British rock. No easy task in a country so cold, expensive and hostile to change, where bed-bound, infinite scrolls into the past are sometimes the only entertainment you can withstand or afford.

The band have struck well clear of the dying party and markedly expanded their horizons, assiduously refining their sound and pushing themselves beyond their previous work. They could have expected a struggle for orientation but instead circumvented the difficult second album cliché, producing something which feels utterly effortless. Each section of music rolls out of what came before in a shuttle of cause and effect, tension and release that tic-tacks back to the exhilarating opener ‘Waverley Street' and its invitation: "...the offer is open tonight".

Hinshelwood's songs are subtler and more nuanced this time, yet their choruses have been scaled up. They're so discreetly prepared and precisely placed that they seem to come out of nowhere: lily pads hitting an exponential breeding curve, exploding from the crystalline surface of the verses.

Confined in an expansive country villa, the group soon found the breathtaking beauty of the area little compensation for the almost complete lack of wheat-and/or gluten-free products and a severely limited selection of DVDs. Only able to record in scant free hours, the group often had no choice but to forgo their simple daily routines of sampling local gastronomic delicacies and honing their horse-riding skills in order to complete the album.

In spite of these obstacles, the ever-adventurous Vision Fortune have created their most sonically inventive work to date - sparse, yet incredibly detailed and precise - the percussion on 'Dry Mouth' was created solely from the sound of silverware chiming against fine china bowls of foie gras d'oie. 'Broken Teeth''s crooning vocals and amaretto-smooth bass lines, meanwhile, are juxtaposed with lyrical content concerning the difficulties of pursuing legal action against large commercial airlines, and the conflicting emotions that arise when presented with extreme financial comfort.

Given the difficulties Vision Fortune faced in the creation of Country Music, it is perhaps unsurprising that the album is both challenging, and rewarding, in equal measure.

TRACK LISTING

1: Blossom
2: Habitat
3: Dry Mouth
4: Cleanliness
5: Tita
6: Ties And Bound
7: Sandrino
8: Stalker
9: Drunk Ghost
10: Broken Teeth
11: New Jack City
12: Back Crawl Ii

“London electronica trio Eaux sound like Fuck Buttons on a comedown: all glacially moving synths and snowdrift vocals.” Q – '5 Songs You Must Hear'

When Ben Crook - one third of spectral electronic trio Eaux - describes his group's songs as "never finished, just abandoned" he's describing a creative process that burrows its way down and down until each track has to be wrenched away from their originator's hands, given the sheer amount of avenues that the three-piece manage to open up during conception. However Eaux's debut LP Plastics, out on ATP Recordings, also has the feel of abandonment to it, in the sense that to listen to it is to come across some long-lost gem, an unknown discovery amidst a box of records, an electronic album where influences past and present cancel each other out in stasis to create an album that exists in a timeless era.

Formed in London in early 2012, Crook, alongside Sian Ahern and Stephen Warrington, centre their foreboding towers of shadowed sound around the hypnotic release and repetition of techno; however, although Plastics does display minimalist tendencies, the group never allow their rhythmic patterns to become static, a heavily analogue approach to everything they do putting a very human face to this machine-made music.

Much of Plastics has evolved from live jams, the group holing themselves up in a personal rehearsal and studio space so that ideas form and bounce off each other. Having all come from more orthodox band set-ups, they found a freedom in experimenting with comparatively unfamiliar electronic technology, their limited knowledge of their tools meaning they could approach them with very little baggage. Ahern's vocal is another key element to the group's sound, offering a softer-edged, higher range than much of the simmering murmurs and oscillations rising and falling below her. Though aerial, sweeping through the likes of the Broadcast-esque ‘Movers and Shakers' and flowering above the pulsating after-dark drone disco of ‘Peace Makes Plenty', her voice largely works as another layer amidst what's a darkened but rich tapestry, an ethos of equality driving the group, all roles on a level with each other.

So it is that Eaux's music feels like it's trying to reach out from that clutter and acceleration of technology, tracks like ‘Evoke' pushing hard to find space away from their synthetic frequencies. Plastics, like its name suggests, is a collection of moulded, shaped forms; the result of collective electrical process. It's an album that takes in the bigger picture, with each component unable to do without any of the others.

TRACK LISTING

1. Head
2. Movers And Shakers
3. Pressure Points
4. Peace Makes Plenty
5. Sleeper
6. The Light Falls Through Itself
7. Blue Tunnel
8. Evoke
9. Zero Zero (CD Only – And On The Download That Comes With LP)

NME SXSW REPORT: “THE COLLECTIVE WHO BLEW OUR MINDS – IMAGINE YOKO ONO FRONTING BLACK SABBATH. IMAGINE EACH MEMBER OF THE BAND DRESSED LIKE A MEMBER OF KISS, FACEPAINT AND ALL. IMAGINE THEM PLAYING THE DRIVING MOTORIK RHYTHMS OF NEU! OR CAN, BUT SPEEDING THEM UP UNTIL THE WHOLE CROWD IS POGOING LIKE THEY DO AT THE BEST PUNK SHOWS”

The rock opera generally references the ambitious and occasionally bloated concept albums of seasoned big name artists. Rarely is it used to conjure a Pynchon-worthy fusion of high and low culture or a blurring of the lines between theater and music. But in the case of Toronto/Montreal art partnership YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN, rock opera carries all the latter connotations of the nexus between tradition and irreverence, performance art and unbridled noise. The duality of fusing Old World classicism with New World innovation goes to the very core of the group-their name is a melding of the Buddhist "terminator of death" deity with a song title by seminal stoner doom band Sleep. They describe themselves as "Noh-wave", a nod to both classical Japanese drama and the nihilistic art-punk scene of a pre-Giuliani New York City.

The yin-and-yang philosophy permeates every facet of YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN. The project centers around Alaska B and Ruby Kato Attwood, two art students with a mutual love of opposing forces-heavy metal's brutish assault with Japanese manga's cartoonish appeal, Boredom's experimentalism with Chinese opera, lofty schemes and low budget endeavors. The duo started out by building instruments out of found objects-once again highlighting their paradoxical nature by turning trash into art and rendering structured beauty out of detritus. Their performances veered more towards theater, with Alaska and Ruby constructing elaborate stage settings out of cardboard pasted with industrial-sized Xeroxed designs and donning elaborate Kabuki-style costumes and make-up. Such unorthodox ventures could repel the rock crowd, but YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN's debut album YT//ST dispelled any concerns that Alaska and Ruby didn't know how to lay siege with their instruments. Anchored by Alaska's unrepentant drumming-a blend of Melvins drummer Dale Crover's signature stomp and Einsturzende Neubauten's proto-industrial thud-and Ruby's soaring soprano, YT//ST took the narrative arc and keyboard foundation of Genesis' rock opera The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway and injected the psychedelic doom of Boris' Pink.

With their sophomore effort UZU, Alaska and Ruby continue their exploration of cultural dualities. While YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN has always provided an outlet for the core duo's celebration of their Asian heritage, the inclusion of auxiliary musicians and artists into the fold has reinforced one of the most crucial defining dualities of the group: the merging of diasporic and indigenous perspectives. This meeting of East and West is perhaps most visible in UZU's lead single "One". As the first YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN song to extend the songwriting credits beyond the core duo, "One" incorporates the indigenous upbringings of the extended group by leading off with a traditional Iroquois song. The introductory chant is a social song calling all people together, and is performed by people of the Mohawk tribe. From there, the band kicks into a driving guitar line and a vocal hook as sweet as any J-pop hit. Metal riffing, free-jazz cacophony, and meditative Eastern percussion patterns accentuate the song. In the hands of lesser visionaries, this kind of cross-pollination would sound like a schizophrenic genre mash-up. But YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN's appropriations never sound forced. Rather, it sounds like a celebration of the cultural collision of Alaska and Ruby's upbringing. The hybridization is evident throughout UZU--you can hear it in the operatic piano-and-vocal opener "Atalanta" segueing into the dynamic prog of "Whalesong", the Eastern melodies seamlessly melding into the synth arpeggio and guitar dirge of "Windflower", the musical storytelling tradition of "Seasickness Pt. 1" juxtaposing with the Heart-like classic rock gallop of "Seasickness Pt. 2", and the closing choir passage of "Saturn's Return" descending into Merzbow-esque white noise.

A project by Daniel Blumberg (Yuck, Hebronix) and Neil Hagerty (Royal Trux, Howling Hex)

Limited to 500 copies worldwide

Following the release of ‘The Best of the Howling Hex’ on Drag City in February and Blumberg’s Hagerty-produced debut as Hebronix, ‘Unreal’ (ATP Recordings) in the summer, Daniel and Neil locked themselves in a studio in Denver to create this special edition 7” single. Sharing vocal duties and lead guitar, and also working together on the release's accompanying artwork, this new collaboration brings together two truly original talents.

Whether as part of Pussy Galore, Royal Trux, The Howling Hex or solo, Neil Hagerty has produced some of the most unique and enduring records in American music, while 23 year-old Blumberg has already released five distinct albums under different names and various labels and continues to forge a consistently intriguing and evolving path.

Blumberg and Hagerty complement each other perfectly. Blumberg’s 'Bad Days' is of a piece with the Hebronix album but is even more immediate, with the musician at his melodic best. Hagerty’s ‘Eve's Child’ will delight all Trux and Hex fans and will be covered on the forthcoming Black Bananas album—the first time Jennifer Herrema and Neil Hagerty have collaborated since the end of Royal Trux.

The limited edition 7" is presented in a beautiful package with exclusive artwork which was also a collaboration between the two. Daniel’s distinctive drawings can be seen amongst Neil's wooden sculptures.Each track features Denver noise musician Charles Ballas who has previously recorded and played live with both artists.

"We predict many wonderful things for their dubbed-out, thoughtful and intelligent rhythms." - The Quietus

A common complaint of 21st century music is that, with the ability to create & communicate at its most accessible point in history, there is very little being said. In light of the myriad holes humans keep digging & falling into, music is in real danger of becoming pure advertising for the mundane & narcissistic. NEW WARfrom Melbourne, Australia are a tonic then, possibly an antidote, or perhaps something larger.

NEW WAR were sown several years ago with the dissolution of Seattle-based Kill Rock Stars act, Shoplifting. Singer Chris Pugmire & bassist Melissa Lock hibernated for a couple of years, then quietly re-emerged in Melbourne. Lock then reconnected with Steve Masterson, drummer for the infamous Bird Blobs(which she briefly played in) and mutual friend Jesse Shepherd, the Gainsbourgian keyboardist forSir.

The brief was simple and half-spoken: no repeating the past, no guitar, plenty of space for Shepherd's noir-drenched keyboard work & Pugmire's barbed, feverish lyrics, with primacy given to the Lock/Masterson rhythm section.

The band rehearsed patiently for over a year, letting songs appear and take their course, careful to not force anything. When the time seemed right NEW WAR emerged quietly; playing often as part of Melbourne's rich underground with fellow free-thinkers such as Lost Animal, Fabulous Diamonds, My Disco & Beaches. Word spread; they carved out a reputation as one of Australia's best, most intense live bands & were picked for several choice supports including Wire, The Gossip,Laughing Clowns, Jandek,Michael Rother's Neu!/Harmonia show Wild Flag, Deerhoof, EMA & Electrelane.

The band headed into Birdland Studios with producer Lindsay Gravina (Rowland S Howard), keen to capture the alchemy of their live show. The basic tracks were all recorded live to analog tape; with limited vocal, keyboard & percussion overdubs added later. The sessions were focused & brisk, with recording, mixing & mastering completed in 10 days.

Second single taken from the critically acclaimed third album ‘Slow Focus’, featuring PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED track ‘Royal Flush’

Four years on since they dropped 2009’s blistering Tarot Sport, Fuck Buttons’ Benjamin John Power and Andrew Hung are back with their third LP Slow Focus. Brainfreeze is the seocnd single from this critically acclaimed new album.

When Hung and Power get together a unique chemistry emerges and nothing else is allowed to interfere. As Power puts it: “The one fundamental rule remains: we are in the same room when we write. The rest is all fair game.” Fuck Buttons have never really stopped writing together in the time between albums. “The actual writing for Slow Focus began fairly soon after we stopped touring,” says Hung, with Power adding “If we've had any time off, it's been a few months, so though both albums might seem like two isolated events to everyone else, it doesn't seem as much so to us. They’re more like snapshots of an ever evolving mess.”

Fuck Buttons latest opus is the first record they’ve produced themselves; it’s an album that attempts insular resonance. Using repetition to create hypnotic and suggestive states, Slow Focus veers ever more wildly between these parameters; a whole mood-shift taking place to darker, more turbulent evocations – something suggested as much in the album’s title.

Four years after Fuck Buttons’ Benjamin John Power and Andrew Hung dropped the second of two of the most unparalleled electronic-driven albums in recent memory, with the hyper-acceleration of 2009’s blistering Tarot Sport, the duo return with a new album Slow Focus, their first self-produced record, and one that looks set to re-shape the landscape of the leftfield all over again.

Once again abiding by their fundamental rule that “we must always be in the same room when writing,” what Fuck Buttons have created on Slow Focus is something that feels more close-up than ever before, a first-person view through winding pathways set against a frequently aggressive and constantly evolving terrain. It’s an ominously shimmering mirage that could only have come from their own volition. “Slow Focus seemed like a very apt title when considering the sentiment of the music,” comments Benjamin John Power, “It almost feels like the moment your eyes take to readjust when waking, and realising you're in a very unusual and not a particularly welcoming place. We like to think that we create our own new landscapes, and with this it's a very alien one.”

You could argue this is the first album where the pair have really gone all in, taking control right down to producing it at their own Space Mountain studio. “We've used producers as safety nets in the past,” says Andrew Hung, “but we've always had a very specific idea of what our music should sound like and so it became about following the logical path.”

Between them, Fuck Buttons have been busy behind the scenes in the intermediate four years since Tarot Sport, but they were flung out into the perception of the global public last year when Danny Boyle opted to use their music in his breathtaking Olympics opening ceremony in London, after recommendations from techno veterans Underworld. Now they’re ready to face the limelight again in full, with a string of European festival dates coming up, including Primavera, Glastonbury and Green Man. It’s been a while since we heard from them, but Slow Focus looks set to further establish Fuck Buttons reputation as one of the most arresting electronic acts in the world today.

TRACK LISTING

1. Brainfreeze
2. Year Of The Dog 
3. The Red Wing 
4. Sentients 
5. Princes's Prize
6. Stalker 
7. Hidden Xs

London based musician and artist Daniel Blumberg was born in 1990. He joined? his first band Cajun Dance Party in 2005. After releasing one album on XL,? Daniel left the band and went to Nashville where, at 18, he worked with Mark? Nevers (Lambchop, Calexico, Silver Jews).

Two years later, Daniel formed a new? band Yuck, who released their self-titled debut album on Fat Possum in 2011 to ?widespread critical acclaim and toured worldwide with bands including Dinosaur Jnr, Teenage Fanclub and Modest Mouse.

Throughout this time, Daniel also? released a series of home-recorded cassettes, 7inch singles and books of? drawings which have been distributed worldwide by respected art book distributor? Motto.

In 2012, Daniel shut the door on the world and recorded a series of? demos and sent them to a man he thought would understand?Neil Hagerty of Royal? Trux and The Howling Hex. Two months later they were recording in a Denver? studio.

Hebronix is Daniel and his friends and the album is called Unreal.

PITCHFORK: “It's not too far removed from “Rubber” the slow-melting closer of what will be Blumberg's only album with Yuck. Whereas even Yuck's most stoned moments sounded fresh-faced and chipper, "Unreal" is more withdrawn and unwholesome-- possibly due to the production work from Neil Hagerty, whose career has kept squalid, seedy rock imagery intact. "I feel...unreal," Blumberg sighs, as whirring noises and offbeat drums clatter about, seemingly unaware of his presence. "Unreal" is the sound of someone braving a hungover morning alone and trying to get his bearings before dealing with the world at large again.”

Satomi Matsuzaki plays bass and sings, Greg Saunier plays drums, John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez play guitars. But what is Deerhoof really?

Hell if we know. Pitchfork went so far as to label Deerhoof as "the best band in the world." The New York Times described them as "one of the most original rock bands to have come along in the last decade." From their humble beginnings as an obscure San Francisco noise act, they've become one of indie music's most influential bands with their ecstatic and unruly take on pop.

Deerhoof has released 11 self-produced albums and continues to tour the world frequently.

"Deerhoof drummer Greg here to introduce you to our latest record: We've been called a lot of things, as you know. But pop has always marked the spot on the Deerhoof treasure map.
Pop = catchy
Pop = new
Pop = no rules
If you want to come dance or sing karaoke with Deerhoof, you don't have to ask twice.

We've just finished this sensational slice of Cuban-flavored party-noise-energy music. We called it Breakup Song. Just don't expect a bunch of Grammy¨-baiting sob stories, OK? In Deerhoof's thesaurus, freedom's just another word for feeling good again and raising hell and getting away with it. Stick with us and the bad guys with guns will never catch up..."

Ace new project signed to ATP featuring Cedric Bixler Zavala (Mars Volta, At The Drive-in), Mike Watt (The Stooges, Minutemen), Christian Eric Beaulieu (Triclops!) and Rachel Fannan (Sleepy Sun)!!

Anywhere began as a LA/SF collaborative project started by musicians Christian Eric Beaulieu and Cedric Bixler Zavala. Fresh off years of writing and touring as co-founder of Bay Area acid punk extremists Triclops!, Christian decided to immerse himself in the resonant universe of acoustic guitar and began performing solo under the moniker Liquid Indian. In early 2010 while in Los Angeles to perform at an art opening of mutual friend artist Sonny Kay, he befriended Cedric (singer of The Mars Volta) who was a DJ for the event. The two exchanged numbers and planned to record something acoustic rooted in the open tuning, eastern raga style Christian was delving into. Months later the pair met in Los Angeles, enlisted the mobile engineering talent of Toshi Kasai (Big Business) and tracked the new material in 2 days at The Melvins practice space in downtown Los Angeles. During that same visit Christian played live on "The Watt from Pedro Show" as the musical guest of Mike Watt (of The Stooges, fIREHOSE, Minutemen).

After the show before leaving San Pedro, Christian realized they needed bass for the recordings and boldly asked Watt if he'd contribute. Watt agreed immediately and a few months later delivered the entire projects bass tracks. Returning to San Francisco, Christian decided to reach out to vocalist Rachel Fannan, who had recently parted ways with Bay Area psych rockers Sleepy Sun and had relocated to Los Angeles. Having never met Christian before, Rachel generously contributed vocals to two of the songs, while Cedric performed vocals on three tracks leaving the rest to exist as instrumentals.

While searching for a label to release the album, Christian solicited the talent of SF psychedelic poster artist Alan Forbes. During a meeting to discuss art concepts, Alan revealed that he, along with his Secret Serpents business partner Justin Mcneal, had started a label called Valley King Records. They agreed to release a pair of singles as a series of limited edition silk-screened cover 7"s, all signed and hand numbered by Forbes.

The music captured on this material is an ethereal, resonant execution of what could be described as eastern acoustic punk. Likened to the voyeurism of Sandy Bull, Sir Richard Bishop, or Jack Rose style raga's reinterpreted at times with Drive Like Jehu, Minutemen punk velocity, other moments emotionally spiraling toward a haunting, ethereal beauty akin to Vashti Bunyan lost in the desert of a desolate western. Blending acoustic and minimal electric guitars with a multitude of percussion instrumentation, digital tabla machines, sci fi electronics and feedback, this avant garde collective of envelope pushing splatter artists have created a new presence. Modern mantras of electric silence that fuse consciousness into a recording of vibrant, transitional material, blending geographic as well as cultural diversity. The sound of stillness amidst chaos, light below the depths, dancing full circle into the center of what could only be called Anywhere.

ATP Recordings are pleased to announce the release of the second single (double A-side) from Tennis' fantastically received second album 'Young & Old'. The release will be on 7" vinyl picture disc limited to 500 copies.

The 7" will be backed with a new version of My Better Self exclusively recorded for the single, and the band's recently recorded cover of Tell Her No (originally by The Zombies).

The band of brothers known far and wide as Sleepy Sun don't sit still for long. Though they remain real and spiritual citizens of the Northern California hive that birthed the band in the latter half of the last decade, Sleepy Sun is a rambling band- a certifiably vagabond unit that built a reputation among American and European audiences as fine-tuned, ironclad locomotive and candy sweet heavy pop machine. Barnstorming the Great Plains....stealing afternoons from the unsuspecting on the European festival- go-round...hooking the uninitiated opening for the Arctic Monkeys, Black Angels, and Low Anthem, they've done yeoman's work, sparked the party, and made the music sound young again.

Sleepy Sun's miles, months, and days in the van are a tangible presence in Spine Hits, an LP of whimsy, restlessness, and urgency that leaps nimbly from landscape to landscape with ease, irreverence, and a catch-em-before-they-ain't changeling nature. For the most part, the sprawling Zeppelin-esque epics that defined much of Embrace and Fever have been traded in for a potent pop-compact framework. But never at the expense of the dodging, juking, and downshifting instincts that set their older long form pieces apart from a thousand other psychedelic drone warriors.

Recorded under the big skies of the California high desert with Queens of Stone Age and Eagles of Death Metal alumnus Dave Catching, the jams on Spine Hits are alternatingly precision whittled and moodily muscular. Matt Holliman and Evan Reiss' guitars adroitly move from steamroller heavy to beachside airy and bouncing to interstellar- tinkering with texture and dynamics like never before. Vocalist Bret Constantino sings with a road-toughened, husky soul yowl and hush that occasionally betrays a society-weary frustration but more often hints at a way out. The rhythm section of drummer Brian Tice and Jack Allen is a super - cohesive, tricky, and tough-as-hell unit that keeps the Sleepy train on track as it teeters, creeps and runs wild across the land.

To any seasoned Sleepy Sun listener the new destinations will be surprises and revelations. "V.O.G." hints at a backstage conspiracy hatched on the Arctic Monkeys tour - buoyant and tight as a wire. "Boat Trip" moseys with a Lou Reed offhandedness - a postcard from Brian Wilson's forgotten vacation with the Velvets. "Still Breathing" is an elegiac nod to the band's early alignment with the Verve's dreamworlds.

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: Sleepy Sun return with an album that struts along the indie-psyche-rock sidewalk. From the heavier sun-bleached guitar onslaughts to their more mellow moments the pace is wonderfully languid, all topped off with vocalist's Bret Constantino's soulful howl.

TRACK LISTING

1. Stivey Pond
2. She Rex
3. Siouxsie Blaqq
4. Creature
5. Boat Trip
6. V.O.G.
7. Martyr's Mantra
8. Still Breathing
9. Yellow End
10. Deep War
11. Lioness (Requiem)

Dave Mies and Aaron Mullan have been pals since junior high school. Starting in 1990, they literally taught each other how to play guitar, wood-shedding shoulder to shoulder. The first complete tune they could ever play start to finish was the Circle Jerks’ 'Beat Me Senseless'; soon afterward they took on Mississippi John Hurt's 'Payday'. Today they continue to refine a creole guitar language that is pretty much a two-man weave between those same disparate destinations.

After high school, the boys went in different directions for a while. Aaron was an early collaborator of freeform drum hero Chris Corsano; Dave fronted Baltimore band Blue Condors backed by Emo legends Colin Seven (Universal Order of Armeggedon) and Monica DiGialleonardo (Moss Icon). The ‘Firs reconnected in NYC in late 2001, where they recorded their self-titled debut. Released on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace!, ‘Tall Firs’ was a country-smeared and stripped-down work of song writing and atmosphere that fit in somewhere between the grungy nineties and the dust bowl of the nineteen thirties. The album that followed, 'To Old To die Young' included the addition of Ryan Sawyer on the drum stool, and produced the decidedly more rock-o'-clock feel of a fully electric outfit.

In 2009 Tall Firs fell in love with another band and spent the year on a resulting collaboration called Glass Rock. The band then took most of 2010 off, while Aaron toured playing bass in Hallogallo with Michael Rother and Steve Shelley. They got back down to business in early 2011 to complete a new LP titled 'Out of It and Into it'

For ‘Out of It and Into It’ the fellas go back to their guitar duo origins. It’s sort of like if country blues never detoured through Chicago on its way to Electric Avenue, or like two people playing Gamelan melodies on the same piano whilst narrating the end of the world in loose harmony. This one calls back to the desolate spaces and warm places introduced on their first disc, while capturing a spirit of adventure and brutal honesty not seen from these guys to date.

Over the past 10 years the Firs have shared stages with Thurston Moore, Silver Apples, Jeff Mangum, Shellac, Awesome Color, Emily Haines, Sonic Youth, Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks, Magic Markers, Kurt Vile, Celebration and a host of others

TRACK LISTING

1. Suffer So Long
2. Waiting On A Friend
3. Axeman
4. Suicide
5. I Couldn’t Say It To Your Face
6. Vertigo
7. Crooked Smiles
8. Edge Of The World
9. Whole Thing Is Over
10. Reveille Of Babylon
11. Loss For Words

Their widely praised debut Cape Dory was released earlier this year.

For this album guitarist Patrick Riley, vocalist Aliana Moore and drummer James Barone headed to Nashville to work with The Black Keys' Patrick Carney.

After the success of their first album and touring for the better part of a year that included shows as far away as Moscow, Riley and Moore returned home and realized what was initially a bedroom-recording project had quickly evolved into a band. The challenge of a second record was upon them, but songwriting came quickly and in three months the duo had most of the material for their new album. The goal this time was to mature and vary their sound. Riley describes the new direction as "Stevie Nicks going through a Motown phase."

By the time they hooked up with Carney, they had fleshed out most of the songs that would comprise Young and Old. With their friend and mentor at the producer helm, the recording progressed naturally and within 3 weeks the album was done. While their debut was written with a third touring member in mind, the new album is written and recorded with the addition of a fourth. Over the last few months, Tennis has also released a series of covers as free downloads including "Is It True" by Brenda Lee and their take of "Tell Her No" by The Zombies.

2nd single from ‘Deerhoof vs. Evil’ available on 7” vinyl picture disc limited to 500 copies.
The b-side features two live tracks from the album ‘Milk Man’ performed at The Flaming Lips curated ATP I in New York in 2009, ‘Giga Dance’ and ‘Milking’, the latter featuring Kliph Scurlock of The Flaming Lips.

“Deep dub FX launch Behold A Marvel In The Darkness into ionospheric orbit” - UNCUT
“...you’ll keep returning to Vs Evil for it’s winningly alien hooks, it’s pop moments: the gossamer delight of Behold A Marvel In The Darkness (with Matsuzaki’s starkly affecting chorus of, “What is this thing called love?”)…” – MOJO

?Having formed in 1994, Deerhoof is now that fateful age and by rites it's the band's turn to go out and challenge the world. The same way a rebellious adolescent turns tough and irrational, Greg Saunier, Ed Rodriguez, John Dieterich, and Satomi Matsuzaki just up and split from San Francisco, the only home they've ever known as a band, and left behind all notions of what a "Deerhoof record sounds like."

The result is 'Deerhoof vs. Evil' (the band’s 11th album!). The musical equivalent of hormones raging out of control, it explodes out of the speakers with its gawky triumph and inflamed sentimentality. These are songs thatpractically demand that you dance and sing along (however elastic the rhythms, or abrupt the melodies). Right from “Qui Dorm, Només Somia” (sung in Catalan), it's evident that Deerhoof aren't afraid to take chances (critics be damned).?Ironically the result is polished, blissfully exuberant, and huge-sounding. Going DIY meant freedom to reinvent themselves, playing each others' instruments, altering those instruments so drastically as to be unrecognisable, (those aren't Joanna Newsom or Konono No. 1 samples, those are John and Ed's guitars), and generally splashing their sonic colours into the most unexpected combinations.

"Deerhoof vs Evil" documents the bands' 'coming-of-age'. The result is polished, blissfully exuberant, and huge sounding. Going DIY meant freedom to reinvent themselves, playing each others' instruments, altering those instruments so drastically as to be unrecognizable, (those aren't Joanna Newsom or Konono No. 1 samples, those are John and Ed's guitars), and generally splashing their sonic colors into the most unexpected combinations.

To document their musical 'coming-of-age' the band members could only trust themselves. Besides their cover of an obscure Greek film soundtrack instrumental ("Let's Dance the Jet"), and a song done for NY artist Adam Pendleton's documentary film installation BAND ("I Did Crimes for You"), these songs were completely self-recorded, mixed and mastered in practice spaces and basements with no engineers or outside input.

Recorded in an isolated mansion thirty minutes outside Yass, in country New South Wales, "Strange Tourist" captures Liddiard at his most naked, and his most explosive. Armed with just a guitar, he makes surreal stories of tightrope walkers, down and outers, suicidal Japanese salarymen and suburban radicals come alive like no one else could.

On "Blondin Makes An Omelette" Liddiard tells the story of wirewalker and acrobat Charles Blondin from the point of view of his eternally suffering understudy: 'No one cared for him at all until he crossed Niagra Falls/ So you’d all feel a little lower down the scale… but I ain’t here because he’s tall, I’m only here to see him fall/ And if I get on the wagon now it’ll only be to run him down'.

Liddiard’s interest in Australian history and folklore also makes a return on "Strange Tourist", but this time it’s mixed with a uniquely incisive take on current affairs and politics. The record contains one of his richest and most controversial songs to date, "The Radicalisation Of D", loosely inspired by the incarceration of Australian David Hicks in Guantanamo Bay detention camp in 2001.

Recorded with another graduate of the Australian Music Prize, Burke Reid (the producer behind 2007 winner The Mess Hall’s "Devils Elbow" and The Drones’ fourth album "Havilah"), "Strange Tourist" is the latest instalment from one of Australia’s most talented poets. Listen to it now, because you’ll be hearing about it for years to come.

First single from forthcoming album "Deerhoof vs. Evi.l".

Includes brand new b-side "Hitchcock" and also previously unreleased live version of "Rainbow Silhouette Of The Milky Rain" from the album "Milk Man".

'Good and bad title, made up by Greg Saunier. I love this song! Rave pop rock! Reminds me of 80s neo romantic music ... 'Me to the rescue!' I am gonna come to rescue you! 'You to the rescue!' Please rescue your friends who are lonely.” - Satomi on ‘Super Duper Rescue Heads !’

Having formed in 1994, Deerhoof is now that fateful age and by rites it's the band's turn to go out and challenge the world. The same way a rebellious adolescent turns tough and irrational, Greg Saunier, Ed Rodriguez, John Dieterich, and Satomi Matsuzaki just up and split from San Francisco, the only home they've ever known as a band, and left behind all notions of what a "Deerhoof record sounds like." The result is Deerhoof vs. Evil (the band’s 11th album!). The musical equivalent of hormones raging out of control, it explodes out of the speakers with its gawky triumph and inflamed sentimentality. These are songs that practically demand that you dance and sing along (however elastic the rhythms, or abrupt the melodies). Right from “Qui Dorm, Només Somia” (sung in Catalan), it's evident that Deerhoof aren't afraid to take chances (critics be damned).

Ironically the result is polished, blissfully exuberant, and huge-sounding. Going DIY meant freedom to reinvent themselves, playing each others' instruments, altering those instruments so drastically as to be unrecognisable, (those aren't Joanna Newsom or Konono No. 1 samples, those are John and Ed's guitars), and generally splashing their sonic colours into the most unexpected combinations.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Playful, crazy, clever, cute pop, and with a top message as well. Excellent.

'...stunning opener "Marina", a mix of twin guitar fuzz, ghostly folk melody and bravura Afro-Latin breakdown' - Uncut
'Although the album is full of brilliance, "Marina" stands headstrong above the others in terms of scope an grandeur' – Clash
''Marina' could be Hendrix tuning up for the star spangled banner before Rachel Fannan asks it to be floated down west of the lazy river in sweet and sexy folk tones.' - Subbacultcha.

"Marina" is the first single to be taken from Sleepy Sun's critically acclaimed album "Fever" released in May this year. (4/5 Mojo, 4/5 Uncut, 9/10 Clash). Sleepy Sun is a California band from many Californias. They hail from the rolling oak and sage hills of Sierra Gold Country, The San Francisco Peninsula, where Kesey raged and the Dead were once Warlocks, and the forever-sunshine climes of the Southland. They came together—young and garage strutting in the coastal Northern California crucible of Santa Cruz. And there they birthed the Sleepy sound—dead blues shaken alive, razor sharp and ramblin’, soul, sonic science and dead-on pop surgery. Wooden, earthy, stratospheric, and swinging…California music of beautiful contrasts for conflicted times.

A band working, and a working band—Sleepy Sun’s soaring and soul-stirring live shows are already mowing down audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. They’ve opened for Autolux and Mudhoney, rocked Primavera and Treasure Island, and relentlessly toured the capitals and humble hamlets of North America and Europe. And in their path, the converts are fast becoming legion.

ATP Recordings present the highly anticipated second album from their new signings, Los Angeles based trio Autolux. Autolux mix elements of Alt-Rock, Krautrock and Shoegaze to create an eclectic sound that has been compared to such kindred spirits as Sonic Youth, Blonde Redhead and My Bloody Valentine.

Since they stopped touring in support of "Future Perfect" in 2006, Autolux has been steadily crafting the songs that make up "Transit Transit", as well as continuing to play sold out shows to an ever-growing fan base and opening for a who’s who of the music world - including PJ Harvey on her first solo tour of Russia, and more recently, Thom Yorke, with his latest project, Atoms For Peace. In September 2009, Autolux went on their first headlining US tour, which included an appearance at the Flaming Lips’ curated All Tomorrow's Parties.

Autolux (Carla Azar: vocals/drums, Greg Edwards: vocals/guitar, and Eugene Goreshter: vocals/bass) produced "Transit Transit" themselves with Edwards serving as engineer. It was recorded in the band’s studio, Space 23, located near downtown Los Angeles. The album begins with the title track, an utterly unique concussion of rhythm, created from a looped sample of an old freezer slamming shut and a simple round of chords from an upright piano. The hypnotic density of the vocals and organic futurism of the instrumentation instantly rearranges any preconceptions about the 'Autolux sound'.

"Census" and "Supertoys" play like the logical evolution and refinement of "Future Perfect", delivering propulsive grooves and atmospheric chord changes, while "Highchair" combines a simple, yet effective drum machine beat with timpani-esque tom overdubs to create an orchestral lo-fi dance track. There is a notable sonic progression throughout "Transit Transit": vintage synthesizers and manipulated ambience glue central song components together, several tracks are built around piano, all three members take turns with lead vocals, harmonies are abundant, and there is even a bit of trumpet. Ultimately, "Transit Transit" is propelled by its individual members’ strengths, coalescing into beautiful, complex songs. Goreshter continues to innovate his bass style, effortlessly modernising the instrument's melodic role, while still providing an on-edge rawness and groove-filled momentum. Edwards' guitars serve to modulate the moods throughout the record, constantly evoking feelings found in the space between emotions. And Azar's sturdy, creative drumming (a phenomenon to behold on stage) continues on record with plenty of hook beats - ferocious and delicate, at once.

Fursaxa is Tara Burke. Formerly a member of the Silbreeze band UN, Tara started her Fursaxa project in 1999 after UN disbanded. Since then Fursaxa has released six full length albums on the Acid Mothers Temple label, Ecstatic Peace, Time Lag, Eclipse, Last Visible Dog, and ATP. In addition there have been 3 self released CD-Rs and a CD on the her own Sylph recordings.

In the summer of 2008 Fursaxa started recording her seventh full length record "Mycorrhizae Realm" at Hexham Head studio in Philadelphia. This studio recording is a first, as all of the previous releases have been recorded at home on a four track. In addition to recording, Fursaxa has played live music at venues in the US, UK, and Europe, touring with Bardo Pond, Black Forest/Black Sea, Christina Carter, Jack Rose, Spires That in The Sunset Rise, and Black Bright Morning Light, to name a few. Espvall and Tara have a duo called Anahita, and Sharron Kraus and Tara have the duo Tau Emerald. And in September of 2006 Fursaxa became part of "The Valerie Project", which was a live soundtrack for the 1970 Czech film "Valerie and her Week of Wonders". Tara really enjoyed playing with these musicians and decided to engage Greg Weeks, Mary Lattimore, and Helena Espvall, all fellow Valerians, for her next album.

Greg recorded the album at his studio, Mary played harp on 4 songs and also co-wrote 2 of the songs, and Helena played cello on 3 songs. It is an
exercise in symbiosis.

TRACK LISTING

1. Lunaria Exits The Blue Lodge
2. Poplar Moon
3. Celosia
4. Well Of Tuhala
5. Sunhead Bowed
6. Charlote
7. Ode To Goliards

"Climb Up" is a major departure and massive leap forward from Apse's most notable predecessor, "Spirit" - which was completed 4 years prior. They return with a different line-up and their horizons broadened. This is the sound of a 'post post-rock' (the term was often used to label Apse and "Spirit") band reaching out to a new audience, and finding a new identity. Where "Spirit" explored a dark world of reverberant guitars, ambient passages and minimal, haunting vocals, "Climb Up" proves a bold step out of that darkness. "Climb Up" was recorded entirely by the band in their homes. The bulk of the arrangements and mixing were authored by Bobby Jed and Michael. The ever-changing obtuse creative strategies of Bobby and Michael, paired with the adept musical knowledge and performance abilities of Jed and Brandon - and the diverse inspirations of all members combined to create an album that bares a fantastic dialogue between imagination and songcraft. "Climb Up" is wildly unique, versatile, and inarguably the bravest yet most accessible work by the band.

Uncut magazine hit the spot with their 4/5 review for Apse's debut album "Spirit", 'lo-fi, tense and occasionally terrifying... an enviable sense of dramatic narrative... spectacular and frequently unsettling climaxes spiked with Sonic Youth guitars, Robert Toher's ghostly disembodied vocals and a relentless rhythmic drive'. "3.1" is dense, innovative, cinematic and packed with more grooves, a greater use of electronics - a range of instruments both modern and classical and a stronger emphasis on vocals and melodies.

Deerhoof follow up the hugely acclaimed "Friend Opportunity" album with their strongest album to date. "Offend Maggie" is loose, funky and deliciously rough around the edges. Indeed, if last year's "Friend Opportunity" was much of the world's first restless handshake with Deerhoof, "Offend Maggie" finds them inviting us into their basement with flashlights and showing us pictures of the ones they love. Ultimately Deerhoof is not about notes and rhythms, but about emotion. And while "Offend Maggie" sparkles with that inimitable something-or-other for which the band's become known, what this record wears on its sleeve so boldly and poignantly, is its stark humanness: of the characters in the lyrics, of the singer in front of the mic, of the band bashing it out in a room together. Fans around the globe who've seen how powerfully they play on stage will recognize the Deerhoof they hear on "Offend Maggie": all fingers and arms and throats and muscles, physical, at times beautiful, at times brutal. Another way of putting it is that Deerhoof sounds more like 'themselves' than they ever have.

Apse consist of five lads from the East Coast who have been playing together – with slight changes in line-up - during the last 7 years, creating one of the most serious and inspired sounds today: the nerve of slowcore, bits of post-rock dynamics and avant-garde perceptions; beauty, darkness and tension. They showcase a solid, potent and mature musical sense with influences spanning classical compositions, Slint, Joy Division/New Order, and The Cure – to the first Sonic Youth noise adventures, ambient music and a wide range of post-punk. "Spirit" leads the listener through it's multi-percussional swamplands, plodding bass riffs, and alien melodies - both bittersweet and empowering. It is chock full of post-punk's disjointed rhythms, rough guitar passages and tribal stomp. Layers of tone and hand percussion top it all off, creating a beautifully produced record that's a damaged pop odyssey as much as it is a breathtaking wall-of-sound.

"Portal", the third Alexander Tucker long player for ATP recordings is a work of bewitching splendour. Tucker's previous albums ("Old Fog" and "Furrowed Brow") seem like stepping stones in the wake of "Portal". If we must draw comparisons then lets say Chicago musician/composer Jim O'Rourke; both are unparalleled in their pairing of the 20th Century avant-garde techniques of composers like Stockhausen and Steve Reich with the archaic sounding free-folk of John Fahey, Robbie Basho and Loren Connors. On "Portal" Tucker's finger-picked guitar lines become indistinguishable from the more traditional string arrangements and voice. These melodic clusters interweave like the paths incurved by a figure skater. This is still to say nothing of Tucker's voice, which sounds as if it is emanating from a ghost channel on an ancient mixing desk rather than appear sung on top of the epochal arrangements. It's a voice comparable perhaps to "Meddle" era David Gilmour or John Martyn on "Solid Air".

ATP Recordings announces the second instalment in the Custom Made series from English free-folk wunderkind, Alexander Tucker. Custom Made invites artists to submit four songs which are released on a limited edition 2x7" single.

Side A. Something old - Phantom Rings (New recording of this old song from the album "Old Fog")
Side B. Something new - Veins To The Sky (Single Version taken from the new album "Portal")
Side C. Something borrowed - Rodeo In The Sky (originally by Fursaxa)
Side D. Something blue - Florence Blue (Exclusive to this release.)

This is the fifth full-length release from West Philly-based solo artist Tara Burke aka Fursaxa. Previously a member of the band UN, Burke is now one of the key players of the North American free-folk movement, along with such luminaries as Jack Rose, Charalambides, Ben Chasny and the Jewelled Antler Collective. With her hypnotic, echo-y churchbell chanting, Burke possesses a power-filled vocal sound that harkens back not only to those other polar queens of disaffected freakout psychedelia Nico and Barbara Manning, but she is also akin to and inspired by Hildegard von Bingen, the 12th-century Benedictine mystical abbess. With the low drone of chord organ and Farfisa, detuned ringing guitar, and endlessly looped, multiply-tracked vocals applied with heaps of delay, Fursaxa sounds like a tripped-out medievalist perched upon a poppy petal. Burke has an alchemical knack for turning folk into lo-fi, and then into sheer psych and back again, but more importantly, her music is pure humming narcosis.

"Sedition" is an ultra-high quality live recording from the legendary Scientists presented in souvenir packaging (like a moleskin book) with liner notes by Thurston Moore, Jon Spencer, Warren Ellis and Henry Rollins. Recorded on May 11th 2006 at Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, the superior sound quality and amazing setlist make this album more of a 'best of' than simply a live record.

Alexander Tucker's outstanding new studio album "Furrowed Brow" was recorded in his home county of deepest darkest Kent. For this new recording Tucker has combined harmonised vocal patterns, layered instrumentation and heavy sonic bliss riffs to create a cross-between David Crosby, doom metal and Terry Riley.