TRASH KIT have a wild feel for melody, writing songs that pull at the reins with a spontaneous charm. Having formed the band in 2009, Rachel Aggs, Rachel Horwood and Ros Murray have since become the glowing core of London’s DIY underground.
Their music is primal yet thoughtful, affirming yet sincere, drawing on the potential of post-punk and the naturalism of an internal folk music.
They will release their second record, Confidence, on 1st December via Upset The Rhythm. Watch the video for 'Medicine' below...
Although Trash Kit have their forebears in bands like X-Ray Spex, The Ex and The Raincoats, their sound is very much their own take on facing forwards. Galloping polyrhythms, overlapping sung-spoke lyrics and entwining guitars are all drawn together into a taut unity, sounding willfully alive.
As a follow up to their exuberant debut album, Confidence sticks with the “play it all live” pluck we’ve come to expect from Trash Kit. There’s a minimal bent, a lyrical directness, an unadorned ethic that all evokes the sense that the song is being written at the same time as it’s performed. Yet whilst the first album at times felt too fleeting, its succinct songs flashing by so fast, Confidence is startlingly more assured, allowing ideas to develop, conclusions to be gathered. Tracks like ‘Hair’, ‘Skin’ and ‘Boredom’ embrace dynamics like never before. Ros is joined by her previous bandmate Verity Susman (of Electrelane) on a few tracks including the adventurous ‘Shyness’ and lead single ‘Medicine’, lending some fluently inventive saxophone flourishes. It all adds to the heady, sensation of free-falling through the album. A feeling that the horizon has become broader.
In 2010, Trash Kit released their self-titled debut album on Upset The Rhythm, which met with critical applause. The Sunday Times called it “tumbling, spirited and joyously nimble”, whilst it reminded The Quietus that “female punk can sound like cocoons cracking open in full fierce sunlight”. Since then Trash Kit have toured Europe several times, recorded two more 7”s and explored other musical projects as members of Golden Grrrls, Halo Halo, Sacred Paws and Shopping most notably. Writing for their new album started up again in 2012 and saw the band over the last two years recording sets of songs at DIY recording hub Sound Savers with Mark Jasper. When the basket became full earlier this year, the tracks were then handed over to Canadian musician / sound engineer Sherry Ostapovitch for mixing, before they were mastered by Mikey Young (Total Control etc).
Confidence is a robust album with several themes at its heart that keep reappearing. Lyrically the tracks deal with identity, miscommunication, the passing of time and listening closer. Trash Kit are unmatched at making the personal poetic and vice versa, they never become overwrought, they just keep things honest and follow their natural course. There’s a restless energy that abounds, a momentum growing stronger, an alchemy at play between each member of Trash Kit and between each song on Confidence. It’s this reason why we should listen closer, listen to the sum of the parts, listen to ourselves. One day we’ll find gold where once there was only hope.
Confidence is released on December 1st through Upset The Rhythm. The digipak CD is limited to 500 copies, whilst the LP will appear in first pressing on 180g purple vinyl.
Track listing:
01. Beach Babe
02. Medicine
03. Big Feeling
04. Skin
05. Hair
06. Leaves
07. Boredom
08. Cinema
09. Cheshire Cat
10. Teeth
11. Shyness
After an incredibly successful year, which saw the release of his debut album 'Built On Glass', Chet Faker is set to dominate at this year's ARIA Awards. Already taking home the accolade for Producer Of The Year, Engineer Of The Year and Best Cover Art, he has picked up a total of nine nominations at the Australian ceremony, including Album Of The Year and Best Male Artist. The winners are revealed on 26th November at the award ceremony in Sydney.
'Built On Glass' was released independently through Future Classic and is on track to being one of the year’s highest selling Australian albums. Chet has also released an acclaimed joint EP with label-mate and last year's ARIA hero Flume. The 'Lockjaw' EP saw the pair collaborate in impeccable style and is also in the running for this year's Best Dance Release award.
Chet Faker has also announced a European headline tour for November, including a date at London's Coronet theatre.
CHET FAKER ARIA NOMINATIONS:
Best Male Artist
Album Of The Year
Breakthrough Artist Release
Best Independent Release
Best Video
Best Dance Release
Producer Of The Year - WINNER
Engineer Of The Year - WINNER
Best Cover Art – WINNER
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CHET FAKER EUROPEAN TOUR 2014:
10th November – Berlin – Astra
11th November – Brussels – Botanique/Orangerie
12th November – Amsterdam – Paradiso
15th November – Strasbourg – La Laiterie
16th November – Lille – Le Grand Mix
18th November – Dublin – Academy
20th November – London – The Coronet
21st November - Manchester - The Ritz
22nd November – Glasgow – Art School
Neonsol is a Danish/Canadian project made up of three members: Nina Io and Jesper Io - both handling live synths and vocals, lyrics and melodies, and Frédéric Scarfone, well known for his work with Memmaker, Iszoloscope and Norad handling production, sound design, live drums/effects, and additional song-writing.
Neonsol began life in Copenhagen in 2009 with Nina and Jesper writing and performing the band’s early tracks. The duo made their first stage appearance in Trondheim, Norway in August 2010 being joined in 2012 by Frédéric to complete their lineup. They premiered live as a three-piece in Copenhagen at the Cyberworld XX album release party in October 2012 and in April 2013, the band played their second Danish live show at the prestigious Club Braincorp's 8 Year Anniversary event.
In July 2014, Neonsol debuted with their single release Citadel, entering the German Electronic Web Chart at number 15 and quickly gaining positive reviews and great feedback from fans and peers alike. Featuring Nina and Jesper’s distinctive and hypnotic vocals, thoughtful lyrics and well-crafted production work, the band’s music is best described as dreamy, dark and melodic electro that fuses diverse elements of industrial, synthpop, EBM and numerous other genres to create the Neonsol sound.
In October this year, the band’s debut album Ecliptic is released via AnalogueTrash Records. Containing ten tracks (plus two bonus remixes on the physical version by Iszoloscope and Leaether Strip), Ecliptic perfectly presents Neonsol’s versatile style; shifting seamlessly between dreamy electronic pop and more dancefloor-focussed industrial beats with ease, all the while revealing new complexities and depths with every listen.
Does the idea of passionate thinking leave you startled? Phasenmensch picks up the concept of his earlier work “Begegnungen” (=encounters) on his sophomore release for HANDS, a result of difficult, eventful changes in the social environment, yielding excitingly controversial situations. Musically, “Entschleunigungsprozesse” is an impressively mature, antithetic work: Full of emotional atmospheres, yet strict in composition, decidedly rhythmic, yet avoiding any harshness, highly melancholic, yet fuelled by positivity – a gentle and thoughtful piece of electronic music.
Atomzero was initially a UK-based music project by Peter Godziszewski. A 3-track demo was recorded in 2001 with the track “Metaverse” included on Elektrauma Vol.6 compilation released in 2002.
Relocated to Canada the project continued with remix work for other bands and further compilation contributions, culminating in Gord Clement joining forces with Peter in 2004 and a new phase of Atomzero was born. The new songwriting partnership brought strong vocals, thoughtfully-crafted lyrics and a more melody-driven brand of electronic music, fusing classic electronic influences of early electro-pop, industrial and EBM into a modern mix.
In September 2014, Atomzero signed a European label deal with Manchester-based independent label AnalogueTrash Records to release a special edition of their debut album Symbiosis in December 2014. Their label debut, Surface is released as a free single in October and provides the perfect appetiser to Atomzero’s unique and powerful sound.
The single contains the title track taken from Symbiosis, and also an exclusive b-side in the form of Halo.
