HAWTHONN - 'RED GODESS (OF THIS MEN SHALL KNOW NOTHING)'

Formats

• BING134 - LP

  600197013410

• BING134CD - CD

  600197013427

Details

The music of Hawthonn is dense and atmospheric, but not inaccessible. Experimental electronic techniques fuse with doom-laden organ riffs, crystalline piano, elemental drones and haunting vocals. Largely guided by their own unconscious muse, the band’s chief inspirations lie outside of music, in Romantic poetry, dreams and reveries, esoteric symbolism, the history of magic and witchcraft, folklore and the English landscape. Hawthonn is Leeds-based duo Layla Legard and Phil Legard. Having previously collaborated in music, as well as text and photography, they officially formed in 2014 to deepen their uniquely imaginative approach to musicmaking. Often developing from obsessive explorations of a particular theme, their work precipitates dreams and imaginative journeys, which inform the direction of their music. Their earliest music explored the afterlife mythos of Coil’s Jhonn Balance through the image of the Hawthorn tree and Cumbrian landscape where his ashes were scattered. Their approach draws lyricism from the psychoacoustic phenomena of “phantom words”—sonic textures translated from geographical space into droning sound spectra, and verbalized dream imagery. The prime symbol of Red Goddess (Of This Men Shall Know Nothing), is mugwort. An herb associated with dreaming, travel and menstruation, mugwort particularly favors edgelands: those abandoned, untended places, part man-made, part rural, where nature begins to reclaim what humanity has left behind. The music here unfolds a mandala of symbolism from these liminal spaces, drawn from a web of fascinations which unfolded during the recording process.

Tracks

1. In Mighty Revelation 2. Misandrist 3. Lady Of The Flood 4. Eden 5. Dream Fugue

Press

Audio & Video

LONELY KAMEL - 'DEATH'S-HEAD HAWKMOTH'

Formats

• PSYCHOBABBLE098 - LP

  4046661554014

• PSYCHOBABBLE098CD - CD

  4046661553925

Details

There is ‘retro rock’, a fun throwback to the heyday of guitar music, and then there is ROCK. Can you spot the difference? Lonely Kamel from Oslo, Norway don‘t give a damn about your vintage denim jacket and bell-bottoms. “Death’s-Head Hawkmoth”, their fifth full-length record, is a testament to the true spirit of heavy rock. Beginning with their first LP in 2008, Lonely Kamel made a splash in the European heavy rock scene owing to a tasteful balance of blues and stoner rock with flourishes of psychedelia. In the ten years that followed, the caravan of Norwegian rockers left their mark all over the continent, leaving 3 more full-lengths and countless busted eardrums in their paths. Death’s-Head Hawkmoth shares much in common with the band’s previous albums -- for example, a predilection for the kind of no-nonsense rock that is instantly recognizable and satisfying. Yet Hawkmoth is a darker trip: there is a menacing in between the record grooves, perhaps reflecting our current turbulent times. The band has grown immensely since their beginnings and their joy in playing and crafting records shines vibrantly. Thomas Brenna and Stian Helle’s massive guitar and bass riffs are offset by Espen Nesset’s unpredictable and shifting drum beats, then counterposed by fantastic solos peppered throughout the album by band members and guest musicians. The album’s seven songs run the gamut from huge, stoned riff fests to explosive, punk-tinged speed runs, tied together by slow-burning and even epic songs like the closer “The Day I’m Gone”. The use of warped effects and sound clips ingeniously enhance the psychedelic atmosphere underlying the album - sometimes sinister and sometimes hopeful. The record was recorded and mixed in Norway and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Brian Gardner. The result is an immense rock record that is a joy to be bowled over by.

Tracks

Press

Audio & Video

GUIDED BY VOICES - 'SPACE GUN'

Formats

• GBVI81CD - CD

  655035088129

Details

In 2018, Guided By Voices will release precisely one new album, Space Gun. Once you hear it, you will know why. With a renowned work ethic and a daily pot of coffee, Robert Pollard continues to outclass younger generations of come-and-go rock bands. After 20+ years, 100+ albums, 2000+ songs, Pollard still can’t really explain (or doesn’t want to explain) his secret: “The songs just come to me.” In 2017, the new GBV line-up (veterans Doug Gillard and Kevin March and newcomers Mark Shue and Bobby Bare Jr) blew audiences away and toured behind the ambitious and sprawling multi-vocalist double album August By Cake, followed just months later by the concise punchy and catchy How Do You Spell Heaven. Pollard has acknowledged that this line-up’s adroit talents pushes him to more daring and dizzying heights. The band will be touring throughout 2018. And now, here it comes: Space Gun, the fullest realization yet of Pollard’s song talents, with the band firing on all cylinders. There’s humor and whimsical childlike musings, cinematic grace and elegance, heavy duty propulsion, dark futuristic undercurrents, twists and turns and kinetic magic. This is a band that turns on a dime, rips it up, psychs it out and can radically shape-shift to realize a threeact rock opera in 2 minutes and 48 seconds. Robert Pollard is a lyrical master; not a word out of place, every line bristling with surprise, telling a story that’s both irresistible and impossible. Invention and imagination remain the undiminished life-forces of a Guided By Voices record and this one absolutely crackles with this energy: this band is on fire.

Tracks

1. Space Gun 2. Colonel Paper 3. King Flute 4. Ark Technician 5. See My Field 6. Liar?s Box 7. Blink Blank 8. Daily Get Ups 9. Hudson Rake 10. Sport Component National 11. I Love Kangaroos 12. Grey Spat Matters 13. That?s Good 14. Flight Advantage 15. Evolution Circus

Press

Audio & Video

BONNY DOON - 'LONGWAVE'

Formats

• WOODSIST093 - LP

  647603400419

• WOODSIST093CD - CD

  647603400426

Details

Arriving in the early months of 2017, Bonny Doon’s self-titled debut was a warm introduction to the band for many. Hazy and bright, the album’s woozy melodies and swirling webs of summery guitar textures were easily ingested as low-key slacker pop. But the nonchalant breeziness belied a serious attention to songcraft, and hinted at depths yet unexplored. Lo and behold, before the ink was even dry on the first record, work had already begun on its follow-up Longwave, a conscious about-face from the sonic experimentation of the first album, and a journey inward. In the spring of 2016 the band decamped to a remote part of Michigan, nesting near the evocatively named Mystic Lake, and spent a week uprooting former approaches and reinventing their sound anew. Moving into more improvisational territory, they wrote quickly and from the hip, using repetitive chord structures to aid in spontaneous generation. Attracted to the session’s spacious arrangements and unaffected sounds, they immediately went into the studio to capture the material. Working for the first time outside of home recording settings with engineer Bill Skibbe and longtime friend and collaborator Shelley Salant, the experience allowed for a focused concentration on bringing the intrinsic spirit of the group to the surface. Opting for spontaneity and simplicity over the exploration of layers and textures that defined the first record, the band architected an incredibly intimate sound for these new songs. The album was tracked with minimal overdubs or production flourishes, constructing a frame that is spare and understated in the same way as the twilight-tinted third Velvet Underground album or the rusty glow of Bill Fay’s Time Of Last Persecution. These sessions aimed to capture the band at their essence. With the superfluous stripped away, a gentle but steadfast spiritual core is revealed as the backbone of Bonny Doon’s cosmic American music. • Detroit cosmic folk band’s follow-up to theirwinsome debut, which charmed the likes of Pitchfork, Noisey, NPR, etc. • For fans of the third Velvet Underground album and Bill Fay’s Time Of The Last Persecution

Tracks

1. Long Wave
2. A Lotta Things
3. I Am Here (I Am Alive)
4. Take Me Away
5. Where Do You Go?
6. Saved
7. Saw A Light
8. Try To Be
9. Part Of Me
10. Walkdown

Press

Audio & Video

HATIS NOIT - 'ILLOGICAL DANCE'

Formats

• ERATP108LP - LP

  4050486114506

• ERATP108CD - CD

  4050486114513

Details

Japanese vocal performer Hatis Noit will release her enigmatic EP Illogical Dance via Erased Tapes worldwide on 23rd March 2018. The arresting 4-track record creates unique song-worlds with transcendent vocal interpretations that at once deconstruct and recombine Western Classical, Japanese folk and nature’s own ambience atmosphere. Illogical Dance also features Björk-collaborators Matmos, who were so impressed with Hatis Noit’s recordings, they volunteered to edit the lead track Illogical Lullaby. Hailing from the distant Shiretoko, a small town in Hokkaido, which is the largest island in north Japan, Hatis Noit’s accomplished range is astonishingly self-taught, inspired by everything she could find from Gagaku — Japanese classical music — and operatic styles, Bulgarian and Gregorian chanting, to avant-garde and pop vocalists. The sounds she created on Illogical Dance, co-produced by Haruhisa Tanaka and Matmos, bring to mind the experimental vocal patterns of Meredith Monk with the attentive production of Holly Herndon. It was at the age of 16, during a trek in Nepal to the Buddha’s birthplace, when she realised singing was her calling. While staying at a women’s temple in Lumbini, one morning on a walk Hatis Noit heard someone singing. On further investigation it was a female monk singing Buddhist chants, alone. The sound moved her so intensely she was instantly aware of the visceral power of the human voice; a primal and instinctive instrument that connects us to the very essence of humanity, nature and our universe. The name Hatis Noit itself is taken from Japanese folklore, meaning the stem of the lotus flower. The lotus represents the living world, while its root the spirit world, therefore Hatis Noit is what connects the two. For Hatis Noit, music represents the same netherworld with its ability to move and transport us to the other side; the past, a memory, our subconscious. It is the same for Illogical Dance, a set of transformative songs that taps into our most primal instincts. “The human voice is our oldest, most primal yet most powerful instrument. I use it to describe nature’s many sounds, a language that isn’t logical. Yet it forms a beautiful conversation that isn’t restricted to words like the human language is. I want my music to remind us of that.” — Hatis Noit Wanting to interpret and mimic the sounds Hatis Noit hears in nature, Illogical Dance is as unpredictable, beautiful and mysterious as the world around us. Each track is made up from multi layers of vocals, all improvised and without words, before being carefully pieced together. Astonishingly no samples are used throughout, even the sound of crushing leaves came from Hatis Noit’s own vocal chords. The result is a stunning array of sound sculptures that see her switching between multiple styles with great ease. From the sweet operatics on Illogical Lullaby, the manipulated vocal loops duplicating electronic production on Anagram c.i.y. to the primordial chanting call to arms of Angelus Novus, a 10-minute odyssey that features whispering and leaves crunching, it showcases Hatis Noit’s full range and introduces a truly original artist. Previously only available in Japan, Illogical Dance will receive a worldwide release on 23rd March 2018 including a first edition on 12” vinyl. After participating in a ceremony for memorial and appreciation tailored to the withdrawal of the evacuation area in Fukushima on 31st March 2017, Hatis Noit collaborated with renowned visual artist Nobumichi Asai on a project titled INORI (prayer) which they premiered live as part of an Erased Tapes showcase at Mutek Japan in Tokyo. Having recently moved to London and performed a first string of UK shows, followed by a special live performance at the Milan Fashion Week and Mutek Japan appearance, Peter Broderick has invited Hatis Noit to support him at the Jazz Cafe on April 15th. She’s also been announced as part of this year’s Sea Change Festival line-up, and asked to participate in a workshop with the London Contemporary Orchestra.

Tracks

1. Angelus Novus
2. Anagram c.i.y
3. Illogical Lullaby
4. Illogical Lullaby (Matmos Edit)

Press

'She's got serious pipes' - Matmos

Audio & Video

UNI - 'MUSHROOM CLOUD'

Formats

• CHIM43 - 7"

  616892566342

Details

vinyl single (500 copies) 7" Single by the fabulous new glam/grunge band, Uni, including Kemp Muhl (of The GOASTT / Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger). Includes lyric insert and digital download. Pressed on splattered mushroom cloud vinyl.

Tracks

Press

Audio & Video