Killer psych rock that sizzles!, BHDC is a stellar band with great vocals, a tight sound and expert musicianship. With its Wall of Psychedelic Sound, Setting Sun is one of my favourite songs of the year. This outstanding band is for real.
Sparkly magic mountain-drops fall from the outer cosmic reaches in the re-imagined mind-forest of The Flower Captain. Gloom/doom singer/songwriter Sasha L Smith envisions a brave new dark age of droney bliss in the sonic bazaar. Domenic Evans fret wizard, Deon Slaviero bass dealer, Andy Nunns time machine & Gabbie Potocnik Italian keys are on the magic bus we call “The Black Heart Death Cult”. Recorded over a sprawling 2 years (Sing Sing & Newmarket Studios) from early 2015 & produced by Ricky Maymi from The Brian Jonestown Massace, their self titled debut LP was released Jan 2019 through Oak Island Records (Kozmik Artifactz).
Debut single “She’s a Believer” & the “Black Rainbow” EP downloadable from theblackheartdeathcult.bandcamp.com
Debut single on limited sweet 7” vinyl format for your listening pleasure from Death Cult Records or download here right now for instant gratification.
Sparkly magic mountain-drops fall from the outer cosmic reaches in the re-imagined mind-forest of The Flower Captain. Gloom/doom singer/songwriter Sasha L Smith envisions a brave new dark age of droney bliss in the sonic bazaar. Domenic Evans fret wizard, Deon Slaviero bass dealer, Andy Nunns time machine & Gabbie Potocnik Italian keys are on the magic bus we call “The Black Heart Death Cult”.
This is the first release of new music from TBHDCult since their debut album in Jan 2019. Will be released as a limited edition 7″ pressed by Salty Dog Records, available for pre-order on the 28th of March 2020 from saltydogrecords.com.au
Band Members:
Sasha L Smith – guitar & vox
Domenic Evans – guitar
Andrew Nunns – drums
Deon Slavieros – bass
Gab Potochnik – keys
Releases March 15th, 2020
Special thanks to David Balaban for the beautiful sitar work
Before the 90s. Before the internet. Before Nevermind. Back when something called “independent music” first began reaching awider audience, through college radio, word-of-mouth, and that small “underground” record store you seem to find in every town…there was a band from Boston called Lemonheads
This Deluxe 30th Anniversary Edition of The Lemonheads ‘Lovey’. A 2xLP/CD Deluxe Book with expanded liner notes and unseen photos – this is the definitive document of Dando’s first steps towards the mainstream.
The lovingly repackaged remastered release is accompanied by a second disc, ‘Triple J Live at the Wireless’, taken from their legendary 1991 trip to Australia.
‘Lovey’was the major label debut for Evan Dando’s Lemonheads from 1990,caught up in Grunge mania and following three ramshackle punk albums that only hinted at what was to come.
– ‘Lovey’ includes the classic cover of Gram Parsons ‘Brass Buttons’ and fan favourites ‘Half The Time’ and ‘Stove’.
“Dando never completely abandons punk-pop but he balanced it with excursions into jangle pop and country-rock” All Music
Pivoted on a more approachable set of sweet melodies but still rife with punk spirit. Polished in the arrangements, nodding to the excess of American culture (Manson and Gummi Bears), hectoring Reagan’s drug laws (‘Lil’ Seed’) and riffing on everyday life.
I first saw Kiran Leonard back in 2018, just after he released “Western Culture” I think it was at the Green man Festival, his first studio album and first with his backing band. The Manchester, U.K. singer/songwriter has been uploading music to Bandcamp since 2013, and he’s released three albums with Moshi Moshi Records—quietly becoming one of the most fascinating singer/songwriters and gifted artists of our time. His brand new release, “World Argument Live”, includes live recordings with his old band from 2016 and 2018, along with newly-recorded versions of previously-shared tracks. Leonard codes the song titles in abbreviated capitals, so it might be difficult to decipher for anyone unfamiliar with his music, but fear not, I can help—highlights include “Öndör Gongor” from 2016’s Grapefruit (“ÖN/GO”), “An Easel” (“EAS”) and “The Universe Out There Knows No Smile” (“U/OUT”) from 2018’s Western Culture.
I first wrote about Kiran Leonard back in 2018, just after he released Western Culture, his first studio album and first with his backing band. The Manchester, based singer/songwriter has been uploading music to Bandcamp since 2013, and he’s released three albums with Moshi Moshi Records—quietly becoming one of the most fascinating singer/songwriters and gifted artists of our time. His brand new release, “World Argument Live”, includes live recordings with his old band from 2016 and 2018, along with newly-recorded versions of previously-shared tracks. Leonard codes the song titles in abbreviated capitals, so it might be difficult to decipher for anyone unfamiliar with his music, but fear not, I can help—highlights include “Öndör Gongor” from 2016’s Grapefruit (“ÖN/GO”), “An Easel” (“EAS”) and “The Universe Out There Knows No Smile” (“U/OUT”) from 2018’s Western Culture. By the bold titles, you can tell Leonard isn’t your average artist—he has a unique sonic and thematic imagination that becomes apparent immediately. This new release merges chaotic art rock jams with regal and pastoral compositions that border on chamber-pop and psych-folk. This combination of experimental clamour and pretty subtleties is precisely what makes Leonard such a dramatic force of nature. File World Argument Live under “albums so incredible that you have to pace around the room in deep thought.” Leonard is donating the funds from this release to The Music Venue Trust and the United Families & Friends Campaign, so please consider purchasing it on Bandcamp here.
By the bold titles, you can tell Leonard isn’t your average artist—he has a unique sonic and thematic imagination that becomes apparent immediately. This new release merges chaotic art rock jams with regal and pastoral compositions that border on chamber-pop and psych-folk. This combination of experimental clamour and pretty subtleties is precisely what makes Leonard such a dramatic force of nature.
Setlist: 0:35 Öndör Gongor 7:45 Secret Police 10:53 Don’t Make Friends with Good People 20:50 Geraldo’s Farm.
Canadian garage rockers Japandroids shared their first live album, “Massey Fucking Hall”, recorded at the aforementioned iconic Toronto venue from their 2017 tour with Cloud Nothings. “We’ve actually recorded a number of shows over the years, and for one reason or another, they just didn’t turn out,” drummer David Prowse explained. “We both like where this show catches us. We are at a bit of a crossroads in some ways between the band that put out Post-Nothing back in 2009 and where we are going. This setlist captures the first three albums really well and shows how much we’ve changed since those Post-Nothing days. We still have the energy but we have better command of our instruments and our voices. It feels a little less off the rails but still has a ton of momentum.
After playing the last of their 200 shows in more than 40 countries in support of their critically acclaimed 2012 album Celebration Rock, Japandroids took a much needed break to rest and recover after their last show in November of 2013. The band would not play again for three years. This month, they made their triumphant return to the stage, playing intimate shows in Vancouver, LA, Toronto, London and NYC, in which they treated fans to their favourites from Celebration Rock and Post-Nothing, and previewed a handful of new, unreleased songs.
Near To The Wild Heart Of Life, was written clandestinely throughout 2014 and 2015 in Vancouver, Toronto, New Orleans, and Mexico City. It was (mostly) recorded by Jesse Gander (who had previously recorded both Post-Nothing and Celebration Rock) at Rain City Recorders in Vancouver, BC (September-November, 2015). One song, True Love And A Free Life Of Free Will, was recorded by Damian Taylor during an exploratory recording session at Golden Ratio in Montreal, QC (February, 2015).
Like Post-Nothing and Celebration Rock, the album is 8 songs. This is because 8 songs is the standard template for a great rock n roll album: Raw Power by The Stooges, Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen, Marquee Moon by Television, IV by Led Zeppelin, Horses by Patti Smith, Paranoid by Black Sabbath, Remain In Light by Talking Heads, Master Of Puppets by Metallica, etc.
Like Post-Nothing and Celebration Rock, the album was sequenced specifically for the LP. On Near To The Wild Heart Of Life, side A (songs 1-4) and side B (songs 5-7) each follow their own loose narrative. Taken together as one, they form an even looser narrative, with the final song on side B (song 8) acting as an epilogue.
Back in October we played at Massey Hall. It was surreal to play such a beautiful and historic venue. The people at Massey Hall filmed and recorded the entire show and have put together this mini concert documentary, which shows some of the songs we played that night along with some clips from an interview we did right before the show. It’s a pretty cool document of an unforgettable night.
Offering a raw, loose take on the band’s material from 2016’s Teens Of Denial and 2018’s Twin Fantasy, the nine-track live album will feature eight Car Seat Headrest originals (plus a cover of Frank Ocean’s “Ivy”) culled from performances across the U.S., U.K. and France. The band recorded every show they played in 2018 and combed through upwards of 50 recordings to piece together the final tracklist for the album. “The recordings we made of the shows came out very clean, so rather than try to artificially recreate how it sounded in the different venues night to night, I tried to give the whole album that in-your-face feeling, like we’re playing the songs right in front of you,” frontman Will Toledo said in a statement.
It only makes sense that Car Seat Headrest put out a live album. Rather than follow the more conventional route of releasing a single live show or selections from a residency at a particular venue, group leader Will Toledo selected nine songs from over 50 gigs from around the globe recorded during 2018. The sites include several American towns including Kansas City, Olympia, Portland, and Columbus as well as one from Wales and two each from France and England. The disc features some stage banter (but not too much) that helps identify the locations and lots of appreciative noise from the various audiences.
The tracks on Commit Yourself Completely are among Car Seat Headrest’s best known. There is a powerful version of “Destroyed by Hippie Powers” with lots of amplified feedback, a quietly intense “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales”, and a trippy conversational rendition of “Drugs With Friends”. Toledo sounds comfortable disclosing innermost and intimate states of conscious. Car Seat Headrest also covers Frank Ocean’s “Ivy” with its lyrics of love and hate and lost youth. Toledo sings with an ache in his voice over a sparse acoustic guitar accompaniment. He comes off as naked and vulnerable. For a guy who was once so insecure that he recorded his music alone in his automobile (hence the band’s name), this suggests how much he has grown as a performer.
Most of the cuts are five to seven minutes in length, long enough to build to climaxes but short enough to maintain interest. There is little improvisation or hot-dogging by the band members and enough noise to rock hard when the song calls for it. The two longest tracks frame the album. It begins with the 10-plus-minute “Cosmic Hero” recorded in Cardiff that starts with stray instrumental noises as if the band is just warming up for the first two minutes and 20 seconds before Toledo sings, “If you really want to make it last, you have to commit yourself completely.” As this is where the album’s title comes from, it suggests Toledo is uprightly pledging his duty to the audience. He’s putting it all out there.
The album ends with a loud, 13-plus-minute version of the epic too scared to come out of the closet love song “Beach Life-in-Death”. It’s a weird choice for the final cut with its final chorus of “The ocean washed over your grave / The ocean washed open your grave” before ending abruptly. It may offer a sense of finality but not one of closure, like a concert without an encore
You can’t stop this band from amazing you. And nothing can stop them from playing so passionately. Every song is strong and energetic, thus so harmonic between every instrument. The production makes you feel like you are standing on the stage and performing with them.
released June 17, 2019
Will Toledo: vocals, guitar on 8 Seth Dalby: bass guitar Ethan Ives: guitar, vocals Andrew Katz: drums, vocals Grant Mullen : guitar, vocals Gianni Aiello: guitar, keyboards, vocals Henry LaVallee: additional percussion
The legendary John Mayall’s various bands were a revolving door of musical greats.
This superb new collection gathers performances by three separate outfits, featuring outstanding performances by Eric Clapton, John McVie, Mick Taylor and others. Originally performed live for radio and TV broadcast, they’re presented in superb fidelity here, together with background notes and images.
Incredible collection of performances, live in session from the UK and Germany, Includes BBC radio, Radio Bremen and WDR-TV broadcasts, Digitally remastered for greatly enhanced sound quality
Background liners and rare images First time on vinyl with Hand numbered editions.
Track Listing: Side One
SATURDAY CLUB
March 19th 1966 | BBC Radio
1. On Top Of The World (John Mayall) 2.31
2. Key To Love (John Mayall) 2.00
3. Hideaway (Sonny Thompson / Freddie King) 3.20
4. Little Girl (John Mayall) 2.45
5. Tears In My Eyes (John Mayall) 4.28
6. Parchman Farm (Mose Allison / Bukka White) 2.21
John Mayall – vocals, keyboards, harmonica, guitar Eric Clapton – guitar John McVie bass Hughie Flint – drums
DIE GLOCKE KONZERTHAUS
Bremen, Germany May 22nd 1969 | Radio Bremen
7. Love Me Baby If You Can (John Mayall) 5.53
8. Checkin’ Up On My Baby (Sonny Boy Williamson) 5.09
Side Two
1. Parchman Farm (Mose Allison / Bukka White) 13.50
2. Time Has Come (John Mayall) 6.12
3. 2401 (John Mayall) 5.32
John Mayall – keyboards, harp Mick Taylor – guitar Steve Thompson – bass Collin Allen – drums
BEAT CLUB
January 31st 1970 | WDR-TV
4. I’m Gonna Fight For You J.B. 4.08
To quote the Bandcamp description, “The slow-burn sounds of Sonic Youth’s 1986 rehearsals to score Ken Friedman’s spooky highway film Made In USA are yet another mile marker in the band’s long and varied existence, now being issued as “Spinhead Sessions” (named for the North Hollywood studio used by SST label acts like Black Flag and Painted Willie). These jams were later built upon for a full-on (and quite different) soundtrack production, but the rough sketches here find the band taking time with truly new and introspective sound worlds.
It was basically a brand new way of working for Sonic Youth, albeit a challenging one, under the auspices of major Hollywood film production overlords, routing their way into the world of soundtrack scoring. And it all comes at a key time and place.”
Recorded at Spinhead Studios, North Hollywood, CA 1986 during soundtrack rehearsals for the film “Made In USA” are yet another mile marker in the band’s long and varied existence, now being issued as the Spinhead Sessions These jams were later built upon for a full-on (and quite different) soundtrack production, but the rough sketches here find the band taking time with truly new and introspective sound worlds. It was basically a brand new way of working for Sonic Youth, albeit a challenging one, under the auspices of major Hollywood film production overlords, routing their way into the world of soundtrack scoring. And it all comes at a key time and place.
1986 was a transformative year for the band in many ways. The gravitation to the beloved SST stable, in addition to Steve Shelley, now drumming, certainly gave Sonic Youth a renewed vigour and vocabulary. They were already an international touring machine, and gaining considerable steam with critics (even spinning the heads of detractors who had dismissed their arty downtown boho sensibilities prior to ’86’s Evol). Their cultdom with fans had concrete roots by this point, and the influences that were swarming in the band’s orbit marked an exciting time, where almost any trajectory seemed possible, and they were going for it. Friedman’s film worked on a relatively darker frame for a mainstream Hollywood flick; characters played by stars Chris Penn and Adrian Pasdar made a cross-country journey that started out in Centralia, Pennsylvania, a real-life, anthracite coal producing town that had to relocate all its residents due to a decades-long, inextinguishable underground fire. The Sonics passed through this haunted-looking locale on their next tour after the sessions, and are pictured on the sleeve standing amidst smouldering embers. For the sounds they made at Spinhead, this image seems a fitting mental picture. Guitar harmonics billow like smoke, heavily reverbed drumming and shimmering cymbals echo from what sounds like the bottom of a deep mine.
This newly born Spinhead Sessions release once again defines Sonic Youth in a raw and engaging state of discovery at a terrific time. Is it a missing link between the complex, crafted cavernosity of Evol and the frayed-electric powerline sizzle of Sister? Yes and no. It’s an entirely unique animal, a meditative album where you can soak in the template of tapping overtones, sedate explorations of new chords, even sounding at times like AMM trying to play the VU’s Sweet Sister Ray bootleg or something similar.
It’s trademark Sonic Youth at the core, and in an unfettered, dreamy state and time, there and gone like smoke.
The story was a dark, somewhat politically pointed road movie. We watched the film a few times and set up a rehearsal/demo situation at the now legendary (and defunct) Spinhead Studios in the San Fernando Valley. This studio was the home to a lot of music generated by the SST record label (Black Flag, Painted Willie, etc.). We found ourselves constructing spindly, twisting rhythms and quiet rushes of noise and melody. We also blasted out some straight-ahead Mac-truck rock riffs. Anything to fit the film’s “mood.” Thurston Moore
• On vinyl for the first time since its first sold-out pressing in 2015, the fifth anniversary of Weyes Blood’s (Natalie Mering) warm and elegiac record, “Cardamom Times”, is celebrated with a deluxe Dinked edition.
• Since the EP’s release, Weyes Blood’sFront Row Seat to Earth (Mexican Summer, 2016) and Titanic Rising (Sub Pop, 2019) were both named Best New Albums by the majority of internet bloggers, with the latter making multiple Best Albums of 2019 lists, including The Guardian, Pitchfork, and The Independent. Different from these elaborate albums, “Cardamom Times” was recorded onto reel-to-reel tape at Mering’s home studio in Rockaway Beach, New York.
• The songs of Cardamom Times demonstrate Mering’s reverence of devotional music and the avant-garde, channeling the domestic hymns of Sybille Baer through the lens of Baltimore’s experimental DIY scene; the minimal, melodic drones of Terry Riley accompanied by the voices of the Sacre Coeur; the confrontational words of Anaïs Nin along with the warm embrace of St. Augustine.
• This anniversary edition of Cardamom Times features reimagined cover art with the focal image of a desolate paradise during sunset — Jamaica Bay in Queens, NY surrounded by rust. A couple is laying on the ground, caught in a comfort beyond time. With Cardamom Times, Mering invites listeners into that space of love and longing, struggle and change, surrounded by the decay of time that perpetually embraces us.
MUSE brings their Simulation Theory tour to life in this limited edition 80s-inspired deluxe box set. The box set includes a pink/blue marbled LP with selections from the band’s September 2019 performance at London’s O2 Arena housed in a gatefold jacket, a VHS-like box containing a HD 5.1 DTS Master Audio Blu-Ray of the film, a fluorescent pink cassette of the film score written by Matt Bellamy, a Marvel Simulation Theory comic book and an 11×17 Marvel Muse poster. Each box will have metallic foil packaging.
Based on the story and themes of their 2018 album ‘Simulation Theory‘, the movie has been teased as the Devonshire trio’s own version of Pink Floyd’s legendary The Wall. Their acclaimed live show for the record 28 countries and played in front of more than 1million people, with their show at London’s O2 Arena in September 2019 filmed for the new project by director by Lance Drake, (who also directed all the promo videos for ‘Simulation Theory album’) and produced by Muse, Pulse Films, Lance Drake, Jesse-Lee Stout and Matt Bellamy. As well as capturing the band’s performance, the film also “follows a team of scientists as they investigate the source of a paranormal anomaly appearing around the world” and is described as “blurring the lines between narrative and concert film, virtual and reality”.
The goal for Simulation Theory was to capture the scale of the electrifying live show and to expand upon its connection to the DNA of the world we built for the past three years in music videos for Muse,” said Drake. “In a strange turn, the film’s alternate reality eerily started to mirror our own.”
Speaking to NME earlier this year, frontman Matt Bellamy said: “It’s a cool film set in the ‘80s sci-fi world of the last album.
TRACK LISTING Disc 1 –
Side A 1. Algorithm (Alternate Reality Version) / 2. Pressure (Film Edit) / 3. Break It To Me / 4. The Dark Side / 5. Thought Contagion / 6. Dig Down (Gospel Version)
Side B 1. Propaganda (Acoustic Version) / 2. Algorithm / 3. Metal Medley
Disc 2 –
Side A 1. Simulation Theory Film Intro Music / 2. Psycho Murf Speaks / 3. Zombie Murphy Gets Wired Up / 4. Behold, The Glove / 5. Emotionality Rush / 6. Simulation Theory Film End Credits with Newscaster
Disc 3 – Side A 1. Simulation Theory Film
The Fat Angel Sings 