Talking about short (but effective!) news
Dream Affair is putting out a new EP From Now On (digital Feb 26/vinyl 12" April 9) on Artificial Records/Hand Drawn Dracula.
Dead Leaf Echo. The words are rich literature. Nabokov. Conjured images of drugged passions fading into nihilistic apprehension. An Art Project blossomed in 2006, DLE has matured rapidly since it?s birth now unveiling their unique style of Nouveau Wave.
DLE has released numerous EP?s, Singles and Remixes in addition to their noir film videos and heavy tour schedule prompting Time Out NY to call them ?Some of the best live music in the city?. They toured the US last fall and played SXSW on bills with The Wedding Present, Japanther, A Place to Bury Strangers and Trail Of the Dead. In 2010 they played sold out shows opening for the reunited Chapterhouse and Ulrich Schnauss.
Dead Leaf Echo?s previous work with Ulrich Schnauss on their Pale Fire EP has now caught the attention of famed 4AD producer John Fryer (Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil) who has mixed their debut LP ?Thought & Language? to be released early this year. A concept album that follows the conception and birth of a child and his discovery of thought and language.
By incorporating elements of ambient, baroque, dream-pop, shoegaze, new wave, and goth, and crafting every aspect of their sound and vision, they remain one of the few left willing to work on high-art as concept. Chiming guitars in twin stereo reverbs with shimmering vocals and silky basslines. Dead Leaf Echo runs the gamut of what is now possible within the contemporary underground by running at the forefront of the indie NYC music scene.
You can download the track here.
MY EDUCATION
None could doubt the ascendancy of My Education after the success of "Sunrise“, their last album, composed of pieces from their original score for F.W. Murnau’s 1927 silent masterpiece “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans”. Having perfected the Sunrise material with live film performances over the last two years that sold out shows across the USA, My Education has now moved on to the most dramatic and heaviest expression of their career. On "A Drink For All My Friends“, My Education taps into its most triumphant, untethered set of compositions, even as the title and theme pay tribute to the departed.
“Respect to everyone we’ve lost” takes on further meaning with "A Drink For All My Friends“. In November 2009, drummer, long-time friend and role model Jerry Fuchs from Maserati was killed after falling down a broken elevator shaft. “Roboter-Höhlenbewohner,” is dedicated to Fuchs, starting with a relentless drum intro.
"A Drink For All My Friends" will be out on 28th March on CD, Digital and limited LP. 300 copies, 200 on black, 100 copies on a nice red, blue & white tri-color vinyl. 180 gram vinyl, download card!
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ASCETIC:
We are proud to announce the release of ASCETIC: - Self Initiation. This is a brandnew band from Melbourne, Australia featuring Damian Coward of "Heirs" on drums.
Drawn from a collective obsession with fringe philosophy and post-new-age consciousness, Self Initiation evokes the moods & spaces of 4AD’s early roster (Swans, Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins), with a nod to contemporaries The Soft Moon, Factory Floor & Portishead’s ‘Third’. Thick pulsing rhythms erupt into glorious, cascading conclusion; from narcissistic rants, to sickly crooned anthems; from the outer regions of reality to the depths of the subconscious, a white shadow emerging from the process: ASCETIC.
Their record will be released on 15th March on CD and limited LP. 300 copies on black and 100 copies on white. 180 gram vinyl, download card! Preorder starts NOW and we have some nice shirts as well and bundles!
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TOURDATES
Kerretta
17.05. Hannover (GER), UKZ Korn @ Deathfest w/ Planks etc.
18.05. Siegen (GER), Vortex w/ Planks
19.05. Mannheim (GER), JuZ @ Pfingsfestival w/ Planks etc
28.05. Esslingen (GER), Komma w/ Abrakadabra
29.05. Braunschweig (GER), Nexus w/ Abrakadabra
31.05. St. Petersburg (RU), TBA
01.06. Moscow (RU), TBA
Maserati
28.03.13 GR-Athens, AN Club
30.03.13 BE-Zottegem, Dunk! Festival
31.03.13 FR-Lyon, Sonic
01.04.13 FR-Toulouse, Dynamo
02.04.13 FR-Montpellier, The Black Sheep
03.04.13 FR-Limoges, La Fourmi
04.04.13 FR-Paris, FMR
05.04.13 FR-Metz, Trinitaires
06.04.13 CH-St. Gallen, Grabenhalle
07.04.13 CH-Lausanne, Le Romandie
08.04.13 CH-Zürich, Kinski
09.04.13 IT-Torino, Sapzio 211
10.04.13 IT-Roma, Circolo Degli Artisti
11.04.13 IT-Milano, Circolo Magnolia
12.04.13 IT-Ravenna, Bronson
13.04.13 AT-Graz, Forum Stadtpark
14.04.13 CZ-Praha, Divadlo Dobeska
15.04.13 DE-Würzburg, Cairo
16.04.13 DE-München, Orangehouse
17.04.13 DE-Oberhausen, Druckluft
18.04.13 NL-Tilburg, Roadburn Festival
19.04.13 DE-Bielefeld, AJZ
20.04.13 LUX-Esch/Alzette, Out Of The Crowd Festival
21.04.13 DE-Leipzig, tba.
22.04.13 DE-Berlin, Bi Nuu
23.04.13 FIN-Helsinki, Kuudes Linja
24.04.13 DE-Hamburg, Hafenklang
25.04.13 DE-Siegen, Vortex
26.04.13 DE-Karlsruhe, New Noise Festival
27.04.13 DE-Dresden, Chemiefabrik
My Education
22.03. Leipzig (GER), UT Connewitz @ Doom Over Leipzig Festival
23.03. Berlin (GER), Tiefgrund
24.03. Vienna (A), Rhiz
25,03. Brno (CZ), Boro
26.03. Budapest (H), Szabad Az A
28.03. Ljubiljana (SLO), Gala Hala
29.03. Beltinci (SLO), Ambassada
31.03. Zottegem (B), Bevegemse Vijvers @ Dunk! Festival
01.04. Paris (FR), Escape B
04.04. Giessen (GER), AK 44
05.04. Esslingen (GER), Komma
07.04. Hamburg (GER), Molotow Bar
08.04. Leverkusen (GER), Struppig Tanzen
09.04. Düsseldorf (GER), Cube
10.04. Braunschweig (GER), Nexus
Planks
15.02. Leipzig (GER), UT Connewitz @ South Of Mainstream Detention w/ Obellyskh, Conny Ochs, Earthship
16.02. Berlin (GER), Jägerklause @ South Of Mainstream Detention w/ Obellyskh, Conny Ochs, Earthship
09.03. Mülheim (GER), AZ w/ Unrest
16.03. Villingen-Schwenningen (GER), Jugendhaus w/ Blank
20.04. Wermelskirchen (GER), AJZ Bahndamm (Heartcoretage)
30.04. Winterthur (CH), Gaswerk w/ Amen Ra, Syndrome
17.05. Hannover (GER), UJZ Korn @ Deathfest w/ Kerretta, Graves At Sea etc.
18.05. Siegen (GER), Vortex w/ Kerretta
19.05. Mannheim (GER), JUZ @ Pfingstfestival w/ Kerretta etc.
22.06. Kiel (GER), Alte Meierei (Kids Explode Festival)
29.06. Versmold (GER), Wöstenkrug (Cry Me A River Festival)
12.10. Eindhoven (NL), Dynamo Club (Bloodshed Fest)
A collision leaves a mark. A planet's surface is broken; a body, a heart, or a mind is left rent and torn. But trauma is only the initiation of change. Broken earth can fill with water, become a lake, host new life. Battered hearts can mend, forgive, forget. Whether jagged hole or fractured soul, a crater is a process, not a state of being.
This is the purview of Crater Vol. 1, the fifth studio album from Android Lust. After the success of 2010's The Human Animal and the national tours that followed, singer/songwriter/producer Shikhee uprooted from her longtime home of New York City and settled on the opposite coast, in Los Angeles. The new surroundings were accompanied by a new method of songwriting. "I wanted to take a more linear approach to writing with a stronger emphasis on sound design, focus on mood pieces and let vocals take a backseat."
That sound design has always set Android Lust apart from the pack, and Crater Vol. 1 puts the intricate electronic and acoustic instrumentations front and center; only three songs feature Shikhee's memorable voice. Ambient soundscapes give shape to the void, while beds of processed field recordings provide grit and texture. Rhythmic melodies build like thunderheads but rarely break into outright storms, maintaining a pensive mood throughout. Crater Vol. 1 is an album for the aftermath of a traumatic impact, a soundtrack for the introspective journeys that bring new growth.
Pieter Nooten’s all instrumental new double album ‘Haven’ is the third in a series of solo-releases composed and mixed entirely on the Mac Book Pro. Obliged to disregard the frills of most hi-end ambient/neo-classical productions ’Haven’ is nevertheless one of the most authentic and exemplary sounding cds you will hear all year. It has the true mark of the contiguous quality and style we have learned to appreciate from Nooten’s previous releases, all the way back to his ‘Clan Of Xymox’ days.
‘Haven’ contains a vast diversity and collection of different shades of melancholia. Without a human voice or single beat to be heard, Nooten wanted no earthly distractions from the mood he set out to communicate. And it works. On more levels then one.
Nooten sounds more introverted and world weary then we are accustomed to hearing him yet, with an ease and productivity we can only marvel at, he sketches an introspective and deeply poetic musical world of heart-wrenching beauty, incorporating elaborate sound design and experimentation without over-producing the music or compromising his initial goals.
As a rule Pieter Nooten sounds like Pieter Nooten: there are no influences by predecessors, external styles or genres. This music is his music; timeless, introvert, even desolate at times, it never fails to transmit Nooten’s unique musical message, all the way from a totally different planet back to ours. Even considering the restriction of a single Mac Book Pro as the only composition tool, the music remains sophisticated and profound, restrained and minimalistic.
