February 26, 2013 sees the release of KUNST, the latest offering from KMFDM, the purveyors of The Ultra Heavy Beat. "KUNST" is German for "ART", fitting for a band that has spent three decades conceptualizing its own brand of art war against the establishment.
KUNST is bombastic musical graffiti, showing the band making another indelible mark on the walls of society.
Sascha, Lucia, Jules, Andy & Steve kick things off with the snarky title track, instant payoff for long-term fans and newbies alike, then delve into freakadelic mayhem, seamlessly blending their anarchic signature sound / themes with elements of punk, industrial and EBM.
KUNST is the passageway into the very abyss, the unknown depth of a staple we took for granted over the years, commonly known as KMFDM. Relentlessly pouncing headlong into tracks named "AVE MARIA", "QUAKE", and, as a show of solidarity for the jailed Russian punk band, "PUSSY RIOT", KMFDM expose the underbelly of societies' shortcomings, tracks such as "HELLO", "PSEUDOCIDE", "ANIMAL OUT" and "I <3 NOT" show that entering into its 30th year, KMFDM is definitely "doin' it again", but catching us off-guard this time around!
Contributions by Swedish cult band MORLOCKS and LEGION WITHIN's William Wilson add further fuel to this fury, THE MESS YOU MADE and NEXT BIG THING are rock-solid statements against the eroding forces that leave no rock unturned in the effort of undermining our societies, yet stalwartly we stand united, counting down the days until February 26, 2013!
01. KUNST
02. AVE MARIA
03. QUAKE
04. HELLO
05. NEXT BIG THING
06. PUSSY RIOT
07. PSEUDOCIDE
08. ANIMAL OUT
09. THE MESS YOU MADE
10. I ♥ NOT
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KMFDM 2013 Tour dates!
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The Veils return with their highly anticipated 4th album Time Stays, We Go - released on their own Pitch Beast Records imprint.
Recorded at Seedy Underbelly Studios in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles and produced by lead singer/songwriter Finn Andrews and Adam Greenspan, Time Stays, We Go marks the beginning of a captivating new era for a band already hailed as “The best and most unsettling thing I’ve seen in music this year” by The LA Times and “Quite possibly the most underrated band on the planet” by NME.
Finn has had a life consistently surrounded by music. His father Barry Andrews was one of the founding members of new wave pioneers XTC and also collaborated with Iggy Pop, David Bowie and Robert Fripp in the 1980’s – but it wasn’t until Finn moved to New Zealand with his mother in his teens that he started writing songs of his own. At 17 years old he returned to London and formed The Veils and has been touring and releasing records ever since.
It is with his band’s 4th effort however, that the exceptional promise he has always displayed as a singer/songwriter has come to fruition.
Time Stays We Go consists of ten songs culled from a batch of literally hundreds of songs written in the three years since The Veils last full-length release in 2009. Andrews says of the editing process:
“Adam Greenspan & also Nick Launay (producer The Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah, Yeahs) helped me sort through them all and separate the good from the… not so good. I write almost every day so it was quite incredible the sheer quantity of ramblings I’d managed to accumulate in three years.”
On Time Stays, We Go Andrews’voice sometimes echoes the low baritone of Lee Hazelwood or Leonard Cohen, such as on the ornithological Grimm Tale ‘Birds’. But this voice becomes twisted and possessed during ‘Dancing With The Tornado’, screeching and hollering through its narrative of a girl with “Tombstone teeth and hair pulled back tight like a violin bow.”
Much like Andrews’ heroine in that song, The Veils like to dance with the larger things. Subjects like love, death and time have always provided the backbone of Andrews’ song writing and it is a pleasure to listen to a band having such fun with the material.
Long time collaborators Sophia Burn (bass), Raife Burchell (drums), Daniel Raishbrook (guitar) and new member Uberto Rapisardi (hammond organ) help create a rich musical backdrop for Andrews’ songs, audibly relishing the opportunity to take the listener from frenzied album opener‘Through The Deep, Dark Wood’ to the glistening, reverb-soaked ode to lost youth ‘Candy Apple Red’ - all within the album’s first 10 minutes.
‘Train With No Name’ is built around a rhythm track made of “about 15 toms and 25 tambourines” and features Robert Herrick’s epigram “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” spliced together with Andrews’ own “’Cause once the night arrives it’s here to stay”. The couplet repeats as all around the rhythm takes on a distinctly locomotive feel of its own.
Returning to the same studio where they made their critically acclaimed album ‘Nux Vomica’ in 2006, the band have again been inspired by both California’s physical & musical landscape. Sprawling string arrangements on‘Another Night On Earth’ bring to mind the lush instrumentation of Van Dyke Parks, while Mariachi-style horns on the joyous ‘Turn From the Rain’ and album closer ‘Out From the Valley’ evoke the Mojave’s dusty desert badlands.
The band tempted seminal English producer Bill Price (The Clash, Jesus & Mary Chain) out of retirement to mix the record to tape at Metropolis Studios in London, lending the album a richly analogue sound, rarely heard in popular music today.
Time Stays, We Go shows The Veils at the very height of their creative powers so far, deftly combining two distinct sides of their personality, or as Andrews calls it, “The Pop & The Snarl”:
“I never set out to be in a successful band, I just really hoped that someday I might get to be in a great one. Ultimately I’ve just always wanted to tell little stories in my songs, but then there’s a very improvised and cathartic aspect to what we do as well and I really wanted this record to put both of these sides across. I like the idea of Roy Orbison having a weird day out in the desert with The Stooges.”
As for the future of The Veils, Finn has only one thing on his mind:
“I just want to make another record, then another, then another - on and on until I have to hang up my hat. I really do hope I get to do that...”
On the heels of three well-received singles comes Ride Your Heart, the bombastic debut album by LA band, Bleached, out April 2 via Dead Oceans. Sisters Jennifer and Jessie Clavin match their ability to blend a mix of freewheeling '77 punk with vintage sunny Southern California melodic rock and roll; creating blindingly bright hooks and dark heartfelt lyrics about love, loss, and the crazy fun moments in between. That's the goal: the sugary and sour, repurposed by two aggressively harmonic musicians and songwriters. Their first single "Next Stop" epitomizes this movement - fun, raw, adventurous and free. Tossing you out onto the dance floor, hair mussed from make-outs, cigarette still dangling from your fingertips.
Raised up deep in the San Fernando Valley, their suburban isolation nurtured the girls creativity, as they started making their own music at a young age. Sneaking into punk shows over the hill in Hollywood, they grew up to become teenaged underground staples at all-ages Downtown DIY venue, The Smell. "Me and Jen were punk kids who weren't taught how to play instruments," says Jessie. We taught ourselves how to play, out in the garage." Eventually signing to Kill Rock Stars and Post Present Medium, their all-girl punk band Mika Miko drew international acclaim, landing slots on tours with No Age, Black Lips, and The Gossip.
Bleached originally formed when the Clavin sisters resolved to continue working with each other upon the break up of Mika Miko. Plans were postponed when the sisters joined other bands. Jennifer relocated to New York and toured extensively. With Jennifer away, Jessie began to play with various bands in LA. But in the fleeting moments they found together back home, the songs that became Bleached's early 7" singles came together. Since Jennifer moved back to her hometown, Bleached now serves as both girls' chief creative outlet. "I was going crazy being in someone else's band," remarked Jennifer. "Me and Jessie are so proud and happy to be able to focus on our own music, together."
As a whole, the twelve tracks on Ride Your Heart reveal the many facets of Bleached's music in a delirious vortex of playful harmonies, tangled guitars, and golden noise. Each song brings a new element, while also imbibing the classic moods of bands as varied and iconic in nature as The Ramones and The Cars to The Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac. From the syncopated backbeat and two-part chorus of "Dead In Your Head,", the rolling riffs and sparkling melodies of "Searching Through The Past" and the pulsating energy and urgency of "Dreaming Without You" and "Outta My Mind", Bleached take you on a sweeping emotional roller coaster that churns and burns. Ride Your Heart is a thrilling, beating, glorious wall of sound strong enough to withstand its own impact.
Sounds like: Mazzy Star/Hope Sandoval, Kurt Vile, Feist, Cocteau Twins…
Already one of the “keep an eye on” bands in both Humo and De Morgen forecasts early January and the debutsingle “Shell” was immediately picked up at Radio 1 daytime rotation and Studio Brussel “Select” show…there is clearly something in the air with those Bits…
Musicians Tim Coenen, Jules Lemmens, Peter Pask and Steven Holsbeeks gather around singer-songwriter Karolien Van Ransbeeck to bring heartfelt lyrics. The mood is intimate, subtle, sometimes even restrained. Yet every so often the band flies off the handle with boisterous guitars, soul and drive.
On stage Few Bits knows exactly how to pull the right strings and move the audience in more ways than one.
The band did already several supports for artists like Heather Nova, I blame coco and Jessica Lea Mayfield but was also on the bill of respectable festivals like Crossing Border or Les Nuits
CONCERTS
LIVE:
22/02 café salle jeanne deurne
23/02 cc de posthoorn hamont achel
26/02 arenbergschouwburg antwerp
28/02 depot leuven
02/03 cactus bruges
27/03 beurs bxl
13/04 c-mine genk
16/05 4ad diksmuide
Electric Voice II featuring Martin Dupont, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Tropic of Cancer and more scheduled for March 1st release
Electric Voice Records just released two more exclusive tracks from their much anticipated Electric Voice II Compilation. The record is slated for a digital and limited vinyl release on March 1st. Due to heavy demand, those looking for the LP version are encouraged to take advantage of the label's pre-order option in order to ensure availability.
Electric Voice II
On this deluxe compilation, Electric Voice Records offers yet another exploration of historical and contemporary underground music. Whereas last year’s Electric Voice V/A release focused on alternative approaches to electronic pop music, this new album mines a darker spectrum of genres, one that spans more than three decades of minimalist synth and industrial work.
Here, new generation artists like Tropic of Cancer and Martial Canterel (Xeno & Oaklander) are seen to extend rather than revive the music of their influences. Electric Voice II marries these young artists with pioneers from the beginning days of this music, truly groundbreaking acts like Ike Yard, the first America band to sign with Factory Records, and Throbbing Gristle/Psychic TV’s enigmatic Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, now performing some of her most poignant material to date as Thee Majesty.
Other featured artists include Das Ding and French group Martin Dupont, who both offer cuts from their respective early 80’s archives. There are also exclusive tracks by ADN’ Ckrystall, Frank (Just Frank), Vita Noctis, and Nine Circles. Taken together, the seamless flow of these tracks, despite the span of generations, makes clear the continued relevance of these practices and pure electronic sounds. To celebrate this collection, acclaimed artist Juan Mendez (Silent Servant) provides cover artwork, with additional design by Dmytrij Wulffius. Brandon Hocura at Polyphasic Studios offers the meticulous final master.
Tracklist:
A1 Real Eyes - Thee Majesty
A2 Who Will Remain - Martial Canterel
A3 Der Stasi Palace - ADN' Ckrystall
A4 Bit of Smile - Martin Dupont
A5 Fall Apart - Tropic Of Cancer
B1 Traversez le Pont - Frank (Just Frank)
B2 Elysians - Ike Yard
B3 Serial Killer - Vita Noctis
B4 Mercy - Nine Circles
B5 End Credits Roll - Das Ding
