Four years after the unexpected and exquisite treat that was Philip Selway’s debut album Familial, the man formerly known only as the drummer of Radiohead returns with his sophomore record, Weatherhouse. At ten tracks and 38 minutes, the album is as concise in shape as it is expansive in mood and assured in execution, mining a generally darker, fuller sound than its gentler, more acoustic-based predecessor and reflecting the band-centred nature of its construction and its creator’s growth in confidence.

Weatherhouse was made in collaboration with Adem Ilhan and Quinta; artists in their own right who had previously performed in Philip's backing band. “From the outset,” Selway recalls, “we wanted the album to be the three of us, and we covered a lot of instruments between us. With a studio full of inspiring gear and a great-sounding desk, we felt like a band. Different musicians stretch you, and I felt stretched on Weatherhouse, but very enjoyably so.” Working mostly out of Radiohead’s studio in Oxfordshire, Adem also produced and engineered Weatherhouse, while Quinta played an equally integral role in the arrangements. The album was mixed by David Wrench.

Album opener ‘Coming Up For Air’ sets the scene with its brooding, spectral mood, mantra-like pattern and Selway’s simmering, reverb-drenched vocal exploring the album’s dominant theme. “It’s very much about taking stock of my life. I wanted to convey a sense of release and affirmation,” he says. “This was the first song that we recorded. Immediately it felt in a very different space from Familial.”

The album's talismanic qualities explore a world of hope and plans, connection and disconnection - between family, friends and self - and dreams and fears: “I love records that you can almost live in, where the songs become talismans that you take to heart. That’s what I was trying to create in Weatherhouse.” With its emotional frankness, haunting melodies and gripping tension, Selway has made a great artistic leap and created something that even the most experienced singer-songwriters would be proud of. 

This weekend, Philip, Adem and Quinta begin a run of shows with Rambert Dance Company at their Southbank home. They perform a specially commissioned score for a series of Merce Cunningham 'Events', set against the backdrop of Gerhard Richter’s “Cage” paintings.

Weatherhouse will be released 6th October on Bella Union. 

The BIMFEST 2014 line-up is complete and quite impressive if we may say.
Like in the great BIMFEST traditions we managed to put together a mixed merited bill with some cult legends like DIE FORM, the rebooting BORGHESIA and THE FORCE DIMENSION, fresh and rising talents like AGENT SIDE GRINDER, DER KLINKE, FULL CONTACT 69, POKEMON REAKTOR and EDRIVER69 and extremely rare live concerts from the likes of SERPENTS and GAYTRON (Both Plastic Noise Experience related projects).
And thats not all because, next to the German Electro terrorists from TYSKE LUDDER, longtime Ministry/Revolting Cocks singer/composer Chris Connelly will be presenting his brand new project COCKSURE.

Principe Valiente release second album “Choirs Of Blessed Youth”

The Swedish post punk / shoegaze band PRINCIPE VALIENTE and their dark architect Fernando Honorato, mesmerized their listeners with their exceptional self-titled debut album in 2011, resulting in an extensive and successful tour throughout Europe.

Having shared the stage with Peter Hook and The Light, Peter Murphy (Bauhaus) and playing at the WGT Festival in Leipzig (Germany), the band started to prepare their second album "Choirs of Blessed Youth".

Last year part of their new work was unveiled with the singles "Take Me With You" and "She Never Returned", a collaboration with producer Niklas Björklund and star producer Ed Buller who was responsible for their mixing and mastering. The official videos of both singles were produced by Videomaskinen (Tony Ahola, Niklas Kärreskog).

With "Choirs of Blessed Youth" PRINCIPE VALIENTE have managed to make an irresistibly beautiful and intense continuation of what was started in their debut album. Resting in the shadowy arms of melancholy, their refined sound glistens with a coating of elegant darkness captivating the listener’s heart.

Tracklist
01. The Son I’ll Never Be
02. Take Me With You
03. She Never Returned
04. The Dream
05. Wasted Time
06. The Fighting
07. Choir Of Blessed Youth
08. Fiction
09. Dying To Feel Alive
10. Temporary Men
11. Flower In You

Harsh EBM legends Grendel will be touring North America with the Ludovico Technique and DJ Electronic Commando. The tour starts July 26th in New York City and ending in Tampa, FL the end of August. The tour will be a total of 27 dates going though most of the USA and parts of Canada and Mexico.

VLRK started Grendel in 1997. To date Grendel has released four studio albums and four EPs. They have had numerous hit songs that are staples in the EBM scene. Grendel has also held top positions on the DAC and GEWC music charts.

The Ludovico Technique are rising stars in the EBM music scene. Their debut album "Some Things Are Beyond Therapy" was received well by critics and fans alike. Recent they released a remixed album called "We Came To Wreck Everything" containing remixes by artists like Aesthetic Perfection, Shiv-r, God Module and many more.

7/26/2014 New York City @ Stimulate/Cybertron
7/27/2014 Buffalo @ Broadway Joe's
7/29/2014 Omaha @ Hideout
7/30/2014 Denver @ Casselman's
8/1/2014 Los Angeles @ Das Bunker
8/2/2014 Tijuana @ Club Respekt
8/3/2014 San Francisco @ DNA Lounge
8/5/2014 Seattle @ Highline
8/6/2014 Portland @ Ash Street Saloon
8/8/2014 Salt Lake City @ Area 51
8/9/2014 Phoenix @ Horns&Halos Heat
8/12/2014 Austin @ Elysium
8/13/2014 Houston @ Numbers
8/14/2014 Dallas @ Boiler Room
8/15/2014 Oklahoma City @ Voodoo Lounge
8/16/2014 8/16/2014 St. Louis @ Crack Fox
8/18/2014 St. Paul @ Amsterdam
8/19/2014 Chicago @ Cobra Lounge
8/20/2014 Detroit @ Smalls
8/21/2014 Toronto @ Velvet Underground
8/22/2014 Pittsburgh @ Thunderbird Cafe
8/23/2014 Wilmington @ Asylum 13 3rd Anniversary Bash
8/24/2014 Richmond @ Fallout
8/25/2014 Atlanta @ Masquerade
8/26/2014 Jacksonville @ Eclipse
8/27/2014 West Palm Beach @ Respectable Street
8/28/2014 Tampa @ Orpheum

Zola Jesus has announced details of a brand new album, Taiga, out on 6 October 2014. Mute is proud to welcome Zola Jesus to our worldwide roster.

Nika, the 25-year-old behind Zola Jesus’ creative incarnations, is a singer, sole songwriter and producer. Written on Vashon Island, WA and mixed in Los Angeles, CA by Dean Hurley, Taiga follows the widely celebrated albums, Versions (2013) and Conatus (2011). This is Nika’s fourth full-length album release and the first single from the forthcoming 11-track album is ‘Dangerous Days’,
In regards to the album title, Nika explains, “Taiga is the Russian name for the boreal forest. For me it feels very alive… very expansive. It represents a feral, untapped world that could happily exist without us. There are taiga forests in Northern Wisconsin where I was raised, and also in Russia where my ancestors are from, so it also feels very native.”

Liberated in the present and connected to the past, this album is a transition for Zola Jesus. Masterful layers of composition are bathed in familiar atmospheric vocals, but a new sensibility is deeply present. Taiga is at once challenging and accessible, and is undeniably branded with what Nika terms a “piercing ambition.” Such encompassing purpose, she explains, would be impossible without a newfound sense of artistic self. The album is a declaration of that purpose; one faced with jarring clarity in both its content and production. Nika summates, “For me, it feels like my true debut, because it is the first time I have felt so open and liberated.”