BARNES, TED - 'PORTAL NOU'

Formats

• MORN001 - CD

  5050693204020

Details

This summer sees the release of PORTAL NOU, the much-anticipated third album by renowned British musician TED BARNES and the debut release on Ted's own label Mornington Records. Written and recorded between his home on the Kent coast and time spent on the Regents Canal in London, and inspired by the recent birth of his son, the record marks a new phase in Barnes' personal and musical life. Although it still displays some of the melancholia of his previous work, PORTAL NOU, which is Spanish for 'new gateway,' is lighter and appropriately buoyant. Coming after the widely critically acclaimed and characteristically dark second album, 'Underbelly', the new record offers a more optimistic outlook and brings with it elements of humour and a playfulness. Somewhat of a departure for Barnes, the album is also the first to include songs for which he has written lyrics ('All That's Real', 'Dreams & Hopes'), alongside a body of instrumental tracks. It also features an impressive array of guest lyricists and vocalists, many with whom he is a long-term collaborator, including Beth Orton, Gavin Clark (Sunhouse / Clayhill / Unkle), Francoiz Breut (Calexico / Yan Tierson), Dan Michaelson (Absentee) and Kathryn Williams. Restrained yet incredibly powerful, Barnes treats the voice as another instrument rather than the overriding force of a song, and manages to create a hypnotic and absorbing continuity throughout the album. Through the beautifully paired down introduction, 'Singing Glasses', which runs almost seamlessly into the intriguing 'Ghosts in the Cupboard' the listener is drawn into a world of curiosity and adventure. From the enchanting 'All That's Real' 'and 'Caught Out' to the haunting 'Squeezebox', and throughout the consistently mesmerising PORTAL NOU, the listener is made to feel part of a storytelling experience; seduced in the most innocent way by its captivating, filmic qualities. Like the soundtrack to a romantic French film, its deceptively simple melodies and rhythms belie deeper goings on and hint at the beguiling characters hidden within. Combining guitar, piano, strings, double bass, beats and electronics with toy and found instruments, Barnes' genius lies in carefully crafting soundscapes that have a spontaneous charm. With PORTAL NOU and its collision of English pastoral idylls, junk shop cacophonies and Parisian romance, he has once again created a unique musical experience.

Ted Barnes released his first solo album, ?Short Scenes? in 2002 after writing it in periods off from working with Beth Orton whom he had worked with on both her ?Trailer Park? and ?Central Reservation? albums. Released on Narwhal records to critical acclaim it featured Beth Orton and Gavin Clark and instrumentals written by himself and producer Oisin Lunny. After this release he continued to work with Beth on her ?Daybreaker? album and toured extensively. In 2003 he formed the band Clayhill with longtime colleague Ali Friend and singer Gavin Clark and as such has released a mini album and three albums, alongside working on soundtracks for English director Shane Meadows. In 2005 he released ?Underbelly? on Sketchbook Records. A completely instrumental affair, it also received high critical aclaim as did the seven-piece band for their live performances. Ted has recently produced Gavin Clark?s album ?When We Had Faces?, which is also used as the soundtrack to Shane Meadows latest film project ?Somerstown?, a romantic drama due to be released later in the year.

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Press

Already received a 4/5 review i nthe current Uncut, reviews in Word, MOJO confirmed, more tbc

Audio & Video

KING KHAN AND THE SHRINES - 'THE SUPREME GENIUS OF ...'

Formats

• VR80005 - 2xLPs

  883888000511

• VR8005CD - CD

  883888000528

Details

Forte is more than pleased to announce its UK distro of this King Khan compilation for the VICE record label....The 11-piece psychedelic-soul big-band explosion known as King Khan & The Shrines finally detonates musical dynamite all over the US of A. After tearing up Montreal in the Spaceshits, and in between stints as the sexy half of the King Khan & BBQ Show, Khan moved to Germany where he and his Shrines have been spreading their love like peanut butter since 1999. Deutschland has seen a flurry of full-lengths, EPs, singles, and hard-to-find vinyl, and now Khan brings the greatest hits of his greatest hits to VICE Records. This is the cream of a very creamy crop - this is The Supreme Genius of King Khan and The Shrines.

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Press

Press being handled by Goldstar, expect reviews in MOJO (big fans of King Khan), Uncut, Plan B, and more.

Audio & Video

A SUNNY DAY IN GLASGOW - 'SUMMERLONG SILENCES'

Formats

• DISJ002 - 7"

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Details

Super limited (we are getting 150 of the 250 being made) 2 track 7" from Philly's ASDIG, touring the UK at the end of July, this is chiming modern day shoegaze indie rock that shimmers...b-side On & On (Fantastic Imagination Remix). This will fly out.

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Press

Lot of big ups from Drowned in Sound, more tbc

Audio & Video

SHINING PATH - 'CHOCOLATE GASOLINE'

Formats

• HOLY241205 - LP

  N/A

Details

Chocolate Gasoline is the new 12-inch from The Shining Path. While their eponymous album exists in the world of post-SST black-clad psychedelia and noise, the group decided that they had gone far enough in said direction and realigned themselves. Chocolate Gasoline has a less harsh demeanor, ? la Accelerator- era Royal Trux if the Stones-meter was set a little closer to "Under Cover of the Night" than "Dancin' with Mr. D," especially on the opener, "Lonely Hearts Killer." The remaining tracks stretch out via influences ranging from hard dub, early PiL, no wave, block-banging hip hop, and kraut-dance/industrial, if one could imagine a version of Viva more about bikinis than white overalls. Nonetheless, all of this can be played with real instruments and "rocked out" in a live setting, which is what the group intends to do.

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Press

?Monosov?s feedback massaging has a strong Jimi Hendrix
bent, and Reif?s rolling drums evoke the spastics of Keith
Moon. But together the trio most recalls Japanese explorers
like High Rise, Fushitsusha, and Kousokuya.?
?Pitchfork

Audio & Video

SIC ALPS - 'U.S. EZ'

Formats

• SB98 - LP

  N/A

• SB98CD - CD

  655030109829

Details

U.S. EZ is the fourth long-player in the Sic Alps canon (excluding the recent singles comp CD, A Long Way Around to a Shortcut), and their first for the Siltbreeze label. Fans of last year's amazing Description of the Harbor LP will not be disappointed, especially if they want to hear Side A's cosmic concr?te creak, forged with the trebly, high-end neo-glam pop of Side B. The duo of Mike Donovan and Matt Hartman outdo themselves here and it is the most fully realized Sic Alps release to date. U.S. EZ knows perfectly well what it means to be high and inside. It's not just baseball jargon anymore. If you've been jonesin' for an LP that calls to mind equal parts Bob Markley and Uli Trepte, then look no further, mein d?den (und d?detten). U.S. EZ is the virtual brick of Berlin / Big Sur hash we've all been waiting to break into. The ominous death's head fez has now been ensconced in a witchy naugahyde bonnet, thus levelling the playing field for both the psychedelically challenged and the itinerant avant garde. Sic Alps have always sprechen zie good vibes and U.S. EZ is a solid thump on all fronts. A summer tour of the States and a European one in the fall are in the works.

Tracks

1. Massive Place
2. Bric Jaz
3. Sing Song Waitress
4. Put the Puss to Bed
5. Bathman
6. Everywhere, There
7. Mater
8. Clubbing for $$
9. Inventing a Common Rule
10. N##JJ
11. Gelly Roll Gum Drop
12. CO/CA
13. Bric Jaz (Reprise)
14. Quai des Orf?vres

Press

?San Francisco?s Sic Alps take a modern approach to the
psychedelic sound, with reverb remaining a key ingredient,
and effects a routine tool, but with a sound more organic
than their ?60s predecessors, the final product something
more roughly hewn and imperfect.? ?FakeJazz.com

Audio & Video

STRANGE BOYS - 'WOE IS YOU AND ME'

Formats

• ITR160 - 7"

  N/A

Details

In The Red is proud to announce the signing of Austin, Texas' Strange Boys to it's roster. While finishing touches are being put on their Jay Reatard produced debut album, ITR has seen fit to release a couple of seven inch vinyl discs in the meantime to prime the pump. This first single pairs one of the band's ramshackle originals with a cover of Joe Williams' "Baby Please Don't Go". Does the world really need another cover of Baby Please Don't Go? When you hear this snotty version you will that, YES, it indeed does! Fronted by brothers Ryan and Philip Sambol, the Strange Boys are a quartet who brilliantly plow through 60's garage riffs overlayed with Ryan's lazily whined vocals. Not since the Black Lips has a band come down the pike who have managed to take basic garage-beat-rock n' roll and twist it in such a unique way that they come off totally fresh young and original. And, with band members barely in their 20's, The Strange Boys are one of the few bands around who make the Black Lips look old.

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Audio & Video

U.S. GIRLS - 'INTRODUCING....'

Formats

• SB94 - LP

  N/A

Details

If the alluring moniker used by Megan Uremovich conjures images of volleyball teams or cheerleading squads, forget it. Not that there's any doubt that Uremovich-sorry, U.S. Girls-couldn't rise and conquer either challenge. Like fellow DIY ingenues Sally Strobelight and Inca Ore, U.S. Girls' approach is deceptively ethereal and delightfully haunting; lithe, lysergic gamma rays of keyboard murk beamed over percussive bonk sort of resemble Diamanda Galas reinterpreting Suicide's Red Star. And dig that cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Prove It All Night," done in such an effortless, barbital lush you'd swear the air was filled with mescaline. Guess what? It's not. "In her cover version of The Kinks melancholy anthem 'Days,' U.S. Girls sticks to Albert Einstein's wise maxim 'Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler.' The dirgey clatter of the drums brings to mind images of old steam machines advancing through vast fields where things grow slow and women sing folk songs which are eternal because they are sung from the heart and nothing else. U.S. Girls' voice does this, free from decoration, frills or pretense, mapping the country of the soul with a burning honesty strange in this reality, something we also find in the ballads of Acid Mothers Temple sorceress Cotton Casino." -20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk Debut from Chicago-based musician, Hand-screened cover, one-time edition of 500

Tracks

1. National Anthem
2. Jungle Jokes
3. Mutate Machine
4. Prove It All Night
5. Don?t Understand That Man
6. Outta State
7. Always E
8. Walk Life Away
9. R.I.P. KJSN (AM910)
10. Lit Fire To This Life
11. Forward Troubles Asia

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Audio & Video