Rock & Indie 333 Items

Over the last ten years, Michael Morley has embraced the acoustic guitar as the means of channeling the darkest threads that have run through his work since the early 1980s. While he largely made a name for himself as a maverick of primitive electric guitar and electronics in The Dead C and Gate, Morley's love of song form has never been far from the surface. In recent years, chance discoveries of Spanish and classical guitar records languishing in the discount and free bins at junk shops in South Dunedin proved to be a revelation. These records, largely recorded in the 1950s and 60s, began to shift Morley's work and lead him to piece together a new musical language from elements completely removed from the rock and avant-garde underground from which he first emerged. Spanish, Mexican and South American composers such as De Fossa, Ponce, Lauro, Barrios, Pujol, Albéniz, Falla, and Villa-Lobos as well as more traditional classical guitar composers like Schubert, Haydn, and Scarlatti all began to etch themselves into his consciousness. Rather than emulate them, Morley "channeled the experience of listening to these strange guitar sounds" as he began to play the acoustic guitar for hours at a time every day as an almost meditative exercise and a way of discovering a new way to play. This new musical language is realized on Pushed Streets, a suite of 12 songs Morley recorded at home in Kōpūtai/Port Chalmers, New Zealand. The music is quiet, almost ephemeral. Chords and melodies are traced in a dark atmosphere with Morley's unmistakable voice almost imperceptibly double tracked, words softly sung and stretched, sometimes at a near whisper. There are no amplifiers, no effects, nothing to distract from Morley's words and the tone of his guitar. Recorded with two 1970s guild guitars, an orchestral six string and dreadnaught twelve string, the guitar sound is rich and dynamic, chords and melodic figures are struck with what sometimes seems the gentlest possible gesture, resonating and floating away into the night. The music and voice, the lyrics are all of that dark thread, distilled with frightening clarity. The music is intimate and fragile, unadorned and heartbreaking in a way that recalls the spirit of lonely and world-weary albums by Skip Spence, Bill Fay, and Loren Connors; yet against the backdrop of the absolute finality of today's culture, the album's alchemy of Spanish and classical influences with Morley's formative work avant garde work, Pushed Streets exists in its own hauntingly desolate realm.

New York City’s invigorating Italo-hardcore outfit Mirage are back with a new 12" Legato Alla Rovina. Their latest release shifts ever closer toward the forefathers of classic Italian punk with eight new tracks in the vein of Nerorgasmo and Upset Noise. Martial drums and commanding riffs are the backdrops to sonorous mad-preacher-style vocals while maintaining a reverence for post-punk influence.

Re-issue of the Canadian band's only album released back in 1973 on the small Kot'Ai label. Moonstone came from Winnipeg, Manitoba and were a small cult band active in the early 1970's. They played mainly acoustic folk rock with psychedelic overtones and beautiful harmonies.

Somewhere in between Shannon Wright's rawness and the gentleness of Coilguns' sound, Møsi gets rid of every kind of influences, without a second thought. Their poetry is blunt, the voice is raw, the drums tell the story. Produced by Amaury Sauvé (Birds in Row, It It Anita, Lost in Kiev...) Le Brouillard Jusqu'à la Chute concludes their "lose trilogy," started in 2017 with their first installment La Mise en Scène Volontaire de l'Échec

Mπλουμ (Bloom) is the third album in Nalyssa Green’s short but impressive discography. It comes six years after her sophomore “The Seed” and is her first record in her mother tongue.

The ten songs were written in 2015, while most of the album was recorded in 2016 in Lagia, which is her hometown in East Mani. The recordings of the vocals plus additional recordings followed in Athens and the album was completed in the beginning of 2018. Through her intense need to express herself with Greek lyrics, the singer-songwriter not only wins the bet, but manages to strengthen her musical identity.

The songs of Μπλουμ have a double meaning value just like the felicitous album title (Μπλουμ has the same pronunciation as Bloom but in greek slang means plunge. Blooming eerie vocals and dream melodies meet diving-baptisms in the dark bottom of the soul. Personal but at the same time everyday stories that strongly bear the feminine energy of their creator.

The tracks met the most suited sound with the production of Vasilis Dokakis (No Clear Mind). The euphoric artwork was created by Kakia Konstantinaki.

Crust punk originates from the misty moors and factory cities of the UK. Since the '80s, countless bands have been established to play their dirty apocalyptic ruckus in the vein of Amebix, Antisect, and Axegrinder. At the same time, across the ocean, in the squats of New York’s Lower East Side, bassist John John Jesse founded Nausea.

Svart Records is releasing Nausea’s two legendary EPs in 12” format for the first time ever, including the Cybergod 7” from 1991 - with a bonus track, "Here Today," from the same recording sessions - and the Lie Cycle 7” from 1992. All tracks are remastered from the original, untouched studio tapes by Jack Control (Darkthrone, Kohti Tuhoa, Fear). Tribal and rocking apocalyptic crust for apocalyptic times.

The Cybergod lineup might be the most legendary era of Nausea, where the tracks reach almost epic proportions. The EP is pretty much the blueprint of crust, where Vic Venom’s hypnotic and rocking guitar riffs meet the tribal drumming of Roy Mayorga. Al’s and Amy’s dueling vocals spit out timeless issues dealing with consumerism and the hypocrisies of organized religions. Musically, the Lie Cycle EP rocks out more in the faster and straightforward style, where Discharge meets Motörhead, and lyrics reflect the times when war and nuclear destruction are still the plague of mankind.

Nausea’s timeline lasted only seven years, but they managed to create a cult following with their true dedication to the punk scene and played shows in the squats of Europe and the eastern part of Europe. Their music is timeless, unpleasant music for unpleasant times, but hey! At least it’s more fun to rock out to the apocalypse!

This LP contains recordings of some of Nirvana's greatest live performances of all-time. Recorded in 1987 and 1992-1993, the release includes renditions of 'Rape Me', 'Come As You Are', 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', 'Territorial Pissings', 'Lithium', the Shocking Blue cover 'Love Buzz', and more.

No Doubt performed at Irvine Meadows numerous times over the years, including a main-stage slot at KROQ's annual Weenie Roast in 1996. This performance was part of the Tragic Kingdom tour. This edition features 4 bonus tracks with 1991 demos produced by Flea.

At last, one of the all-time bat legends, Nomeansno has returned to Alternative Tentacles Records. The entire catalog no less, starting with their most beloved album, Wrong. Using the original all-analog master, from the original mother, as engineered by George Horn, John Wright, and Jello Biafra.

At last, one of the all-time bat legends, Nomeansno has returned to Alternative Tentacles Records. The entire catalog no less, starting with their most beloved album, Wrong. Using the original all-analog master, from the original mother, as engineered by George Horn, John Wright, and Jello Biafra.

Nomeansno formed in a vacuum, in Victoria, British Columbia in 1979 and honing their sounds for years before relocating to Vancouver and releasing eleven albums over an almost forty year career, including a collaborative album with Jello Biafra, and numerous EPs and singles. Originally formed as a two-piece by brothers John and Rob Wright, and later joined by monster guitarist, Andy Kerr. Mixing hardcore punk, dark lyrics, and sophisticated arrangements boarding on prog, Nomeansno was massively influential and widely regarded as the first band to be referred to as “math rock”.

Originally released on Alternative Tentacles in 1989, Wrong stands on its own and is still considered to be a much-loved classic. Allmusic called the album a masterpiece and a definitive jazz core album. In 2021, the album was voted by the public’s to win the Canadian Polaris Heritage Prize to honor classic Canadian albums released before the creation of the award.

In 2015, drummer John Wright described the album as their “most popular album by a country mile” and to the St. Louis Music Press of Wrong’s success to the rise of alternative music and the success of Nirvana:

“That’s where all the buzz about us came from. We were touring throughout the States in the mid-80s, and we’d get a little bit of an audience here and there, but after a couple of years in Europe, we started doing some big shows there, and all of a sudden, people in the States were coming out to our shows. And we went from getting paid $200 to getting paid $1000. It was just like that. You had to have the buzz, and then it all just kind of blew up.”

Getting Nomeansno vinyl into stores is long overdue, so it all starts here with Wrong. Expect all vintage Nomeansno vinyl to systematically return in the days ahead.

“We could go so far as to say that it is the human condition to be grotesque, since the human animal is the one that does not fit in, the freak of nature who has no place in the natural order and is capable of re-combining nature’s products into hideous new forms.” So reckoned Mark Fisher in ‘The Weird And The Eerie’, which chronicled the means by which the uncanny can enter the everyday. Mwg Drwg, the second album from South Wales psychic seers Obey Cobra, is an album that dwells in exactly this kind of headspace, where the otherworldly meets the kitchen sink. Always a band who’ve sought out new dimensions to explore via their trademark warped post-punk, electronic and industrial influences, Obey Cobra have crafted surreal new shapes here. Taking influences as diverse as Diane Arbus, David Lynch and Sonic Youth, they balance out heaviosity and grace on the likes of the majestically discordant ‘Ten Of Wands’ Elsewhere, on the title track, the band sculpt a Jesus Lizard-esque rhythmic pulse, eerie vocal abstraction and the crepuscular downtempo atmosphere of Massive Attack’s Mezzanine into a uniquely haunting dreamscape. Mwg Drwg is where the weird and eerie are amplified to intimidating proportions It’s where grotesquely and beauty happily cohabit. It’s an aural exorcism of William Friedkin proportions that demands your immediate attention.

Six years ago, Oum Shatt released a critically acclaimed debut album that led to Song of the Year awards from Berlin Radio Eins ("Gold To Straw") and TAZ Popblog ("Power To The Women Of The Morning Shift"), as well as BBC and Arte features and appearances at Sxsw, Transmusicales in France and Electric Picnic in Ireland.

Now, the Berlin-based band, whose members are otherwise known from bands such as Kissogram, Fenster, Die Türen, Golden Showers and Peaches, consisting of singer and songwriter Jonas Poppe, founding member Chris Imler on drums, guitarist Richard Murphy, and Rémi Letournelle on bass and synthesizer – return with a second effort that even surpasses their debut. Building on the minimal-rock style of their debut album (Vogue Magazine), OUM Shatt weaves a mystic, at times psychedelic soundscape with meandering guitars, a wild percussive aesthetic, and Jonas Poppe’s evocative, mantra-like baritone. "Opt Out" also stands as a thematic concept album, delving into the individual's various forms of resistance against societal expectations. While drawing from obscure influences, the album remains unmistakably unique.

Paddan's Sigtryggur Baldursson and Birgir Mogensen are lifelong friends from Kópavogur, Iceland, who started as mates on the local football team, then graduated to making music together as teenagers, and even later as young men doing time in the experimental punk collective Kukl, from 1983 - 1986.

Kukl was populated by survivors of the post-punk scene in Iceland in the early 80s, which is well documented in the film Rock in Reykjavik from 1982. The band was released by the Crass collective in London and featured members, apart from Birgir and Sigtryggur, like Guðlaugur Óttarsson, Einar Melax, Björk and Einar Örn, some of whom would become better known later in outfits like the Sugarcubes and their respective solo work and other collaborations.

Sigtryggur has a long career in music, having worked with among others, Emiliana Torrini, Howie B, Les Negresses Vertes, Tomas R. Einarsson, Petur Ben, KK, Kaktus Einarsson, and many many others. He also produces an award-winning documentary music show for RUV called Hljómskálinn.

Birgir Mogensen is a classically trained classical guitarist and bass player who has worked through the years with artists ranging from Kukl to Killing Joke to Spilafifl and Inferno5.

Birgir and Sigtryggur formed Paddan during the 2010s, and are now preparing to release their EP Fluid Time, which has been inspired by their perception of time and space. Birgir Mogensen says, "As a duo, we trusted our musical intuition and were guided by allowing the first idea to remain unchanged during the recording process"Recorded, produced, and arranged by the pair, Sigtryggur and Birgir play basses and drums along with various other instruments.

All recordings are played on live instruments except a modular synth which is

programmed in the background of two tracks The duo is joined by the great harmonica and lap steel player Gaukur Davidsson on "Vaguely" and "Bug," and trumpet player Eirikur Orri Ólafsson on "Splash," not to mention the mixing expertise of Vaccines bassist Arni Hjörvar Árnason on "Bug," "Splash," and "Kokka," and sound-mixer Albert Finnbogason on "Vaguely."

Late Night Load Out is the debut LP from Dublin five piece band Papa Romeo.

The release is a collection of work which catalogues their first two years of rehearsing and gigging together around Ireland, a process which has forged their sound. The tracks journey through sound palettes which variously touch on dreamy spaced out indie rock, moments of ambient contemporary jazz, and rougher post-punk influenced sounds.

The ‘Late Night Load Out’, became the term to describe loading gear out of venues late at night after a show, which is a moment to both dread and cherish, the (sometimes) hard work which follows elation.

Now primarily based in London, Papa Romeo’s music has connected with London based DJs and broadcasters. Their debut single ‘Yellow Magic Orchestra’ was supported by Flo on NTS, as well as Avalon Emerson, and appeared as the A1 on a vinyl compilation from All City Records Dublin. Singles from ‘Late Night Load Out’ have also gained early support on BBC 6 Music and from Ross Allen on NTS.

In the meantime the band have been busy on the Irish circuit with appearances at Cork Jazz Festival, Other Voices, All Together Now and Another Love Story, as well as repeat sold out shows at Dublin’s Sugar Club. They have built a reputation as a versatile band who can bring the energy to a packed room, and were named an Artist to Watch for 2024 by Hot Press Magazine.

‘Late Night Load Out’ will be released on digital and vinyl in May 2024.

Papa Romeo is Paddy Rogers, Mark Rogers, Dan Coyne, Rob de Boer and Chris Wong.

LP comes with download code. Initially released in 1979, ‘New Picnic Time’ is “weird, wonderful and so far beyond the expected that these deconstructions of popular music are as charmingly retro as the Beatles and as modern as today's blending’s of funk, hip-hop and alt-rock. Revolutionary and demented yet full of fun, Pere Ubu are indispensable to any collection of 20th century rock.” (Herald-American, Scott Laurence). The album features in new box set, ‘Architecture Of Language 1979-1982’, released in March. It gathers together ‘New Picnic Time’ with its companion releases, ‘The Art Of Walking’ and ‘Song Of The Bailing Man’ plus LP of extras, ‘Architectural Salvage’. Coed Jail! Spring dates mark the release of the box with a set list drawn exclusively from the recordings of 1975-1982. Tom Herman, guitarist from 1975 to 1979 and from 1997 to 2002, rejoins the band for the tour. The line-up is David Thomas, Tom Herman, Robert Wheeler, Michele Temple and Steve Mehlman. Wheeler and Temple have been in Pere Ubu since 1994, Mehlman since 1995.

LP comes with download code. Released in 1980, ‘The Art Of Walking’ sees Pere Ubu ‘moving even further from the conventions of rock music - and from their own past - but still moving forward, without a doubt, and losing none of their integrity as a group.’ (Melody Maker, Chris Cutler). The album features in new box set, ‘Architecture Of Language 1979-1982’, released in March. It gathers together ‘New Picnic Time’ with its companion releases, ‘The Art Of Walking’ and ‘Song Of The Bailing Man’ plus LP of extras, ‘Architectural Salvage’. Coed Jail! Live dates mark the release of the box with a set list drawn exclusively from the recordings of 1975-1982. Tom Herman, guitarist from 1975 to 1979 and from 1997 to 2002, rejoins the band for the tour. The line-up is David Thomas, Tom Herman, Robert Wheeler, Michele Temple and Steve Mehlman. Wheeler and Temple have been in Pere Ubu since 1994, Mehlman since 1995.

Perennial is an art project: Mod pop, post-hardcore, 60s soul, ambient electronic music, midcentury design, abstract expressionism, French New Wave cinema; it’s all collage material for Perennial. The band—electric organist Chelsey Hahn, guitarist Chad Jewett and drummer Ceej Dioguardi—is equal parts manic basement show bombast and studio-as-instrument headphone listening. To see the New England three-piece in person is to experience a 20-minute burst of kinetic energy: dynamic, reckless, electrifying. To put on one of Perennial’s records is to spend almost the same amount of time with impeccably layered studio-as-instrument punk modernism. Art History, the band’s newest full-length album (out June 7 via Ernest Jenning Record Co.), finds Perennial further experimenting with their angular cut-and-glue aesthetic. An adventurous 20 minutes of impressionist punk energy, British Invasion guitar pop chic, and Mod-inflected rhythm and noise rave-ups, Art History is both Perennial’s most giddily accessible and most artistically daring record to date. Edition of 275 copies pressed on clear with black and green splatter vinyl.

There are two versions of Perennial: the adventurous art-punk modernists, layering British Invasion pop, 60s soul, 90s Dischord post-hardcore, electronic music, and free-jazz, and the live three-piece whose bombastic 20 minute sets have become a “must-see” in the New England music scene. What started in 2015 as an all-encompassing art project has since grown into an honest-to-goodness word-of-mouth phenomenon, with over 300 shows played in the last six years (including shows with Guerilla Toss, Bully, Calvin Johnson, Jon Spencer, Sheer Mag, Teenage Halloween, and Downtown Boys) and multiple pressings of both of their full-length records. Perennial formed the band they always wanted to hear, and when they play, they're the band they always wanted to see.

Following the label’s 9 minute sell out of it’s recent Mark E. Smith BBC “football results” lathe cut, Feral Child return with a cracker. A split LP featuring two of mainland Europe’s finest experimental electronic artists, Germans Phantom Horse and Belgiums’ Innercity. 2 side long epics of rich exploratory, kraut tinged Electronica. Phantom Horse offer up “Pink Star”, a side long slowburner (with production by Kohn’s Jurgen de Blonde) built around opening drones and sporadic kosmische themed synth flourishes. We’ll mention Cluster again in a moment, but this has its head pointed firmly towards the legendary work of Moebius and Roedelius. A lovely track, kinda cleaner and more sonically polished than it’s flip, but that juxtaposition increases the records’ appeal here. For these ears, it’s Innercity’s epic “Ali” that steals the show here and is easily worth the proverbial price of admission on this one. A monumental, moody, side long piece of lo-fi drum machine enthused electronica recalling some imaginary dream collision of the very finest Conrad Schnitzler flavoured K/Cluster or first 2 LP Kraftwerk with latter day industrial, electronic pioneers of our own, early Cabs, Clock DVA, Throbbing Gristle, Robert Rental et al. Just magnificent and we don’t say “hike it right up” lightly…. Label head Dom has long had Hans Dens -and his Innercity project- pencilled in for releases on his previous labels Deep Distance and Polytechnic Youth which -for one reason or other- never materialized but their coming together here is exquisite and the track is a monster, my “new” track of the year thus far; talk about it being worth the wait…. A lovely record, in a limited one time pressing on vinyl through North London’s homespun Feral Child label.