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MALE

Michael Pedersen

Boy Friends - A Memoir Of Joy, Grief And Male Friendship

    An intimate and original memoir of love, grief and male friendship by one of Scotland's brightest young talents.

    Ever feel like you were fated to be friends with someone? An alchemy in your meeting, instant fondness – part chemical, part kismet. This is how I’ve felt about every friend I’ve fallen in love with – none so much as you.

    In 2018, Michael Pedersen lost a most cherished friend soon after their collective voyage into the landscape and luminosity of the Scottish Highlands. Sitting at a desk at The Curfew Tower, Northern Ireland, Michael begins to write to his departed friend – Scott Hutchison. What starts as a love letter to one magical, coruscating human soon becomes a paean to many friendships – perhaps all friendship.

    In Boy Friends, Pedersen confronts the bewildering process of grief. As memories rise to the surface – both heart-wrenching and hilarious – he recalls his younger self: the overly sensitive boy growing up in working-class Edinburgh; his befuddling stint in an ancient collegiate university; a short-lived, combustible career as a lawyer; and, foremost, the gorgeous male friendships that have transformed his life.

    Written to glitter, with intoxicating energy, Boy Friends is a powerful depiction of friendship and loss, a homage to the beauty of moments shared.

    Wilder Maker

    Male Models

      Ask singer-songwriter Gabriel Birnbaum what inspired Male Models – the diverse new album from New York band Wilder Maker – and he'll mention everything from American novelist James Salter and the NBA playoffs to Thin Lizzy and the delicate tightrope of positive masculinity. These reference points might sound arbitrary to the uninitiated listener, but together they provide some insight into the creation of an album that somehow succeeds at being both an apocalyptic novel of ideas and the most cohesive party playlist that you've ever heard. The music of Male Models was recorded live over several days with a core band that consisted of Birnbaum and longtime collaborators Nick Jost and Sean Mullins. Despite his status as the frontman and principal songwriter of Wilder Maker, Birnbaum's voice can only be heard singing lead on five of the twelve songs. The remaining tracks have guest vocalists taking the mic, unveiling an impressive lineup that includes (but isn't limited to) Counting Crows' Adam Duritz, Katie Von Schleicher, and Jordan Lee (aka Mutual Benefit).

      Like guests at a strange afterparty, when you hear these accomplished vocalists recount Birnbaum's tales of unrequited love, drunkenness, and desperation, it feels almost voyeuristic, as if you were sitting in a crowded cocktail bar, sneaking glances at nearby tables. "We all listen to playlists a lot, even us album diehards" Birnbaum admits, "I've been keeping an ever-expanding playlist of songs that I never want to skip, with all of these different voices back to back. I wanted to make a record that sounded like a playlist in this way; it became a kind of songwriting challenge for me." Male Models succeeds in capturing the energy of a crowded party and its accompanying playlist without losing the philosophical underpinnings of its concept. Musically, it also changes shape constantly.

      Across the 12 songs of the album, listeners will hear electrified soul, heartfelt folk songs, indie rock, and searing barn burners, all of which are expertly tethered by Birnbaum's sardonic and doom-laden storytelling. The band's unique blend of control and playfulness is established in tracks like the pop-oriented 'A Professional' (beautifully sung by Felicia Douglass of Dirty Projectors and Ava Luna) and 'New Anxiety', which Birnbaum wrote as his answer to Springsteen's classic 'Atlantic City'. One of the most energetic songs on the album, 'All Power Must Remain Hidden' is a propulsive jam that, complete with grin-inducing cowbell, wouldn't feel out of place in a rowdy sports stadium.

      Perhaps destined to be the most talked-about track on the album, 'O Anna' features Counting Crows' Adam Duritz on the mic. Duritz instantly makes the song feel nostalgic and warm, while Birnbaum's lyrics explore male isolation and social constructs through the metaphor of Michael Jordan's athleticism. The album finishes with the heartbreaking track 'Jason'. Compared to the bombastic affair that preceded it, the song sounds almost oppressively stark and skeletal. Featuring little more than piano and Birnbaum's voice, 'Jason' tells the story of two brothers and their tense reunion after a long time apart.

      TRACK LISTING

      01 Letter Of Apology
      02 A Professional Ft. Felicia Douglass
      03 New Anxiety Ft. Mutual Benefit
      04 Static Ft. V.V. Lightbody
      05 Surfers Trace Ft. Yellow Ostrich
      06 All Power Must Remain Hidden
      07 Scam Likely
      08 Silver Car Ft. Katie Von Schleicher
      09 5 Train
      10 O Anna Ft. Adam Duritz
      11 Against The Numbers
      12 Jason 

      Male

      Zensur & Zensur

        It was 40 years ago when Germany’s first ever punk band MALE released their 'Zensur & Zensur' album, now to be reissued. Anything was possible in those heady days. The Dusseldorf punk scene was without compare in the years 1977 to 1979 and MALE were there in the thick of it, etching their name into German musical history. MALE arguably reached their zenith as backup for The Clash on the London Calling tour in Germany. In the wake of the name change to Vorsprung, Jorgen Engler soon shifted his focus to die Krupps, but MALE remained close to his heart as new songs and the odd gig here and there demonstrated in the years that followed. 

        Male Gaze

        Miss Taken

          “Matt, Mark and Adam, aka Male Gaze, return quickly from the brainy roar of their previous album King Leer with their six heels hanging even further over the edge of the abyss. Good bands often pull punches but the great ones don’t and these charismatically scarred veterans of romance, gear singed from all too real firefights in the dark world of adulthood, lodge ten new slugs into your vest. Your life was spared but you’ll feel every second of the thirtyfive-plus minutes, grateful that all you got was a bruising. Imagine what it did to them! Have you ever flung yourself out there to such a degree that you risked total humiliation if it all went south, to where the next step would be self deportation to some distant island of annihilation in your mind? How did that work out for you? Don’t worry, Male Gaze knows and they wrote some songs about it. Look out your window, down at the glittering metropolis below and listen to this album.” - Henry Rollins.

          TRACK LISTING

          1. Keep Yr Kools
          2. Wha Do Wha Do
          3. All Yours
          4. Didn't
          5. Tell Me How It Is
          6. Pale Gaze
          7. If U Were My Girl
          8. African Ripoff
          9. Pyramids
          10. Miss Taken

          Weirdo-punk supergroup Male Gaze is back with nine new chunks of octave-pedal abuse and sultry croons with King Leer, their first proper long-player. This time around, the trio of Matt Jones (ex-Blasted Canyons), Mark Kaiser (ex-Mayyors), and Adam Cimino (ex-The Mall) have added former Blasted Canyons and Tiaras member Adam Finken on second guitar and resident Castle Face engineer Chris Woodhouse behind the boards to ramp up the skuzzpop of last year’s Gale Maze into brutal wall-of-sound territory.

          “On King Leer, the boys toy with their poppier side, dosing the songs with syrupy melodies and some newfound heartfelt introspection, but they’re by no means going soft on us—these tracks, buried beneath mountains of fuzz and pounded out with Adderall-fueled fury, pack enough sonic punch to rattle your brain loose.” - Luca Cimarusti, Chicago Reader. 

          Fans of early 90s Am Rep crunch will dig deep here!!

          TRACK LISTING

          1. Got It Bad
          2. Lesser Demons
          3. Krav Maga
          4. Ranessa
          5. Green Flash
          6. Easy To Void
          7. Bad Omens
          8. Stupid Heart
          9. This Is It

          The Pre New

          The Male Eunuch

            The Male Eunuch follows the highly acclaimed Music for People Who Hate Themselves and its remixed companion album Music for Homeowners. Early material has been streamed online and has had strong radio play with tracks Speed Queen and A Song for One Direction.

            The bands own protest ambassador Stu Boreman stated: "Binary Digital Bankruptcy converts this Sonic Debris into the sound of summer. Off shore becomes on shore as British Summer Time arrives early. Shot thru the Black Hole into the hole in your heart, it's the colour chart from hell. Foxton's still burns. Face-sitting is banned. Froch vs Groves. Farrow & Ball. We are at War."

            “The Pre New bring absurdist punk spleen, synth pulse and the chaotic free play of signifiers – with an enraged estate agent on vocals, a Zal Cleminson lookalike in a hoodie and samples from Mike Leigh’s ‘Nuts in May’” – Q
            “The Pre New – as the name suggests – are the a mix of the noble past and the glorious future” – THE HERALD
            “Wow – that was definitely made for television...brilliant” – BBC 6 MUSIC - MARC RILEY
            “Wrap your ears round the warped brilliance of The Pre-New” – THE QUIETUS


            Male Gaze

            Gale Maze

              Blow-out enthusiasts, make ready to scarf this down without chewing:
              “How many licks does it take to get to the spider egg in the center of this sugar bomb?
              “You got the jitters, and dude, there’s blood on your shirt.
              “I like gore with my goth.
              “Hey, you got your pop sensibilities on my explosion!”

              Strong vocals à la Modern English, back-beat complete and foamy bass bleached onto half-inch tape specially for Castle Face. Seven headstrong tunes to clatter your phonograph needle. I’ve always loved Matt Jones’s (ex- Blasted Canyons) vocal stylings, rich with tenor muscle flexes. Over the top in its endeavors and reaching, always reaching. Primal gas-guzzler drumming, center speaker from Adam Cimino sets the ear up for a beating. And hell, it’s got the old (and I mean old) bass player, Mark Kaiser, from Mayyors; solid-state aggression at its mid-low, knuckle-dragging finest. A slap in the brain done up nicely here on wax. Enjoy. - John Dwyer.

              Self-titled album from new Transatlantic duo Omega Male, comprised of David Best (Fujiya & Miyagi) and Sammy Rubin (Project Jenny, Project Jan).

              Ten rump-shaking electronic tracks which combine Best’s trademark hushed vocals with pulsating funk-led basslines.

              As well as exploring notions of masculinity and what it means to be an ‘Omega Male’, evident on such songs as lead single ‘Testosterone’, Best’s darkly witty lyrics also cover subject matter as diverse as the coalition government (‘Blue Narcissus’) and voodoo dolls (‘Wax & Glue’).

              TRACK LISTING

              Omega Male
              Testosterone
              Uh-pol-uh-jet-ik
              You Bore Me To Tears
              Wax & Glue
              Blue Narcissus
              No
              Rotten Fruit
              X
              Buildings Like Symphonies

              Male Bonding

              Endless Now

                Male Bonding is a noise-pop trio from London’s Dalston neighborhood.

                ‘Nothing Hurts’, the band’s 2010 debut was described by Pitchfork as “the sound of a fast, fuzzy rock band racing from hook to hook, plowing happily through breakdowns and guitar blasts, springing through scrappy melodies with style. It's one of the happiest surprises of the year so far”.

                This new Male Bonding album, ‘Endless Now’, was recorded at Dreamland Recording Studio in Woodstock, NY, the converted 19th century church that birthed such classics as The B-52s’ ‘Love Shack’ and Dinosaur Jr.'s 1993 full-length ‘Where You Been’.

                The band worked with producer John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Thurston Moore, Dinosaur Jr.)

                Eleven tracks – plus a wee reprise –’ Endless Now’ is 36 minutes of songs tailor-made to anchor your mix tapes and playlists - if you can stand to separate them from the whole album.


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