Search Results for:

BIRDMAN

Infinite River

Space Mirror

    “The band is comprised of four badasses of Michigan underground sound: Gretchen Gonzales (Universal Indians, Slumber Party, Terror At The Opera), Warren Defever (His Name Is Alive, ESP Beetles), Joey Mazzola (Detroit Cobras, Sponge, Sugarcoats), and special guest Steve Nistor (Sparks, Ural Thomas, Seedsmen To The World). The instrumental combo has already played in London, the Bay Area (where they accompanied some of Harry Smith’s “Early Abstraction” films), and to packed houses in Detroit. Their debut, Prequel (Birdman) released at the start of 2023, received many fine notices; this album was recorded at the same time and in the same home studio in Birmingham, Michigan. “Space Mirror is so good. Each unnamed track flows into the next. It’s subtle, often quiet, and beautiful, to be sure. But it’s expansive and hard to pin down. Part of the reason is that the Michigan way is all-out. You can’t get on the smallest stage here without fully committing. That’s why we not only gave you the single best album of the peak rock era (rhymes with “pun mouse”), but the mind-melding depths of Emeralds (to use two Ann Arbor reference points). This here is an Infinite River, after all: We have the perfectly crafted harmonic noise guitar stylings of Gretchen Gonzales. And the expert drone of Warren Defever on tambura and harmonium. Steve Nistor’s percussion veers from imperceptible to all-encompassing. And Mazzola is such an adept stylist that it’s easy to mistake his emotive slide guitar work here for a full-on pedal steel. Fans of Barry Walker, Jr. and Henry Flynt will find much to enjoy here. “Everyone’s seen that panel by now, multiple times, originally printed in late 1986 in the fourth issue of Alan Moore’s Watchmen: A blue guy with a dot in his forehead sits on a boulder on the moon looking back at Earth, apparently exhausted. “I am tired of Earth, these people. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives,” the original caption states. And now with meme generators you can change it so it’s about how you don’t want to go to work, or something cool about capitalism, whatever. My setup here is that if that meme could talk (and we’re not talking its excellent HBO adaptation), Space Mirror is exactly what the soundtrack would be. It’s expansive, exquisitely rendered, and carries with it an unexpected emotional depth.” —Mike McGonigal

    TRACK LISTING

    1. Summer Session #1
    2. Summer Session #2
    3. Summer Session #3
    4. Summer Session #4
    5. Summer Session #5
    6. Summer Session #6
    7. Summer Session #7

    Gate

    The Numbers - 2023 Reissue

      In the 1980s, Michael Morley helped to push the jangly New Zealand music scene towards rougher, more exploratory realms, as a member of Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos, The Weeds, and the almighty Dead C. His gnarled, distorted guitar tone and aggressively moan-based vocal style are both as distinctive as they are secretly beautiful.

      Morley has released dozens of solo recordings—starting in the late 1980s as Gate, then more recently under his own name, and as the Righteous Yeah. He’s also unafraid to tackle entirely new genres and sounds, and to move into interactive installation-based music as well. Birdman is beyond excited to present the first vinyl release of this archival Gate release.

      “...I think it is classic Gate material. The idea of the palette is fascinating as I think I did approach it with a set of limited instrumentation and the desire to make something again that could sound like rock music. There is certainly a direct line from Wreck Small Speakers On Expensive Stereos, through the Dead C, and to Gate. I think I was also inspired by listening to [infamous and tragically short-lived early 1980s band] the Double Happys, and remembering their performances as a duo with the drum machine. There was such utter chaos and anarchy during their sets, with a desire to represent punk rock at its nascent truth, I wanted to see if it was possible to re- imagine that feeling. I was possibly also listening to the Stooges and MC5." - Michael Morley.

      TRACK LISTING

      1. All Of My Family
      2. Mountains
      3. Stars Keep
      4. Land
      5. Clouds Again
      6. Film Envy

      The Cuts

      2 Over Ten

        The Cuts are four 20-somethings from Oakland, California, who make some of the best garage pop that you'll hear today. Their wild sonic tantrums and lust scorched anthems are so soaked in Nuggets history it's hard to believe they aren't from the same time period. This is their second full length (their first for Birdman). 11 tracks of sharp garage pop with a tip of the hat to the Real Kids, Television, and the first Nuggets boxset!


        Just In

        101 NEW ITEMS

        Latest Pre-Sales

        164 NEW ITEMS

        E-newsletter —
        Sign up
        Back to top