The Phoenix Foundation have lived many lives. From high school distortion addicts to indie folk trippers to masters of motorik dream pop. It’s been five years since their last album, Give Up Your Dreams, but that downtime has been well spent. The New Zealand outfit have been writing, recording, touring with a Symphony Orchestra, creating the acclaimed soundtrack for Taika Waititi’s Hunt For The Wilderpeople, building shrines to light, creating scores for VR, producing other bands and, that most lockdown-friendly activity, baking sourdough.
It’s been 5 long years since “new zealand’s finest purveyors of psychedelic pop” (the times) last gifted us an album but thankfully, their downtime since ‘give up your dreams’ appears to have been well spent as they’ve come up trumps once again with ‘Friend Ship’. they’ve managed to enrol some of their homeland’s finest vocalists for quality guest spots, including previous dinked edition star Nadia Reid, another shop fave Tiny Ruins’ Hollie Fullbrook and Anita Clark (aka Motte). there’s also some sumptuous string arrangements performed by the New Zealand symphony orchestra.
Slowly, when they could, the six old friends found time to work together in studios, garages, forests, and sheds to put together the concise ten song set of that is Friend Ship. “We took such a long break after Give Up Your Dreams that when we did decide to make a new record we all felt it needed to be in some esoteric sense different,” says co-lead singer Samuel Flynn Scott. “To me that meant returning to something more focused. Honing in on the songs before we went deep into the arrangements and freaky sounds.” And the results reflect this approach too. Whilst Friend Ship, as you would expect, weaves seamlessly between dreamy introspective pop, stretched out grooves and psychedelic rock, it also exists as a collection of masterfully crafted songs.
Watch the video for our brand-new single “Hounds of Hell” with Nadia Reid. The video was directed by Anita Fontaine
For our UK fans, our new album “Friend Ship” will be available on very limited DINKED edition. With unique album art, transparent turquoise vinyl and two flexi discs with bonus songs!
Tramms have always wrestled with category. Part motorik drum beats, part discordant guitars, pop melodies and hypnotic bass lines. All are present here. With a collection of three new tracks they have expanded further. Collaborating with friends and new instrumentation, each track is different from the last. But all sound like the inimitable Tramms.
Written and recorded over a brief hiatus, ‘The Greyhound’, a near ten minute kaleidoscope of sounds, sees the band expanding further than ever. Recorded in Brighton with Theo Verney, and featuring Lewis Evans (Black Country, New Road) on Saxophone, the track builds from the offset into a hypnotic, driving, post rock blow out. Themes of repetition, life cycles, pursuing ones path, growth & education, fulfillment and closure.
Adam, Stuart & Leigh formed TRAAMS in late 2011 via their shared love of groups like Television, Battles, The Stooges, Can & Women. Having released EP Ladders & LP Grin via FatCat Records in 2013 – produced by Rory Attwell (Test Icicles) & MJ (Hookworms) they saw through the year playing shows with bands such as Wire, Fidlar, Parquet Courts, & Temples.
2014 saw TRAAMS support Drenge on a sold out UK tour, before venturing to the states for SXSW and releasing the Cissa EP.
Very excited to welcome the wonderful ME REX to Big Scary Monsters Record’s.
Initially the brainchild of Myles McCabe, the band has recently expanded to a four piece with the additions of Phoebe Cross (Happy Accidents/Cheerbleederz), Rich Mandell (Happy Accidents) and Kathryn Woods (Fresh/Cheerbleederz). Now they present their new EP, “Triceratops”, which is released on 28th August.
Check out the first single, “Stellar Abattoir”, below
Big Scary Monsters is an independent currently label based in Oxford. It has so far been responsible for releases from the likes of Minus The Bear, Andrew W.K., Pulled Apart By Horses, Gnarwolves, Kevin Devine, Into It. Over It, Cursive, Meet Me In St Louis, Bear vs Shark, Toe, This Town Needs Guns, Tall Ships, Matt Pryor, Walter Schreifels, Joyce Manor, Algernon Cadwallader and many, many more.
Deep into the psychedelic age, poster artist Lee Conklin took the notion of visual hallucination to a whole new level with his twisted, writhing images of figures, faces, and hands morphing into… what is that thing, anyway? This concert poster for the Yardbirds is especially notable, as it promotes one of the last appearances by the famed group before Jimmy Page led them into the New Yardbirds, who then, of course, became Led Zeppelin.
We are proud to announce the release of “The View From Halfway Down”, the debut solo album by Andy Bell from Ride, on October 9th. There will be two limited-edition vinyl variants: blue, which will be available from shops, and a white and blue splatter which will only be available from Bandcamp. There will also be a CD version in a card mini-LP sleeve, plus a full digital release.
It’s an incredible record and the first single, the five-minute burst of psychedelic joy that is ‘Love Comes In Waves’, is out now on all digital platforms after being premiered yesterday by BBC Radio 6 Music. Watch the Vanishing Point-meets-‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ video by Chris Tomsett, aka Innerstrings. Not only does the release of a solo album signal a brand new chapter for Andy, some 30-odd years into his career, the announcement also coincides with his 50th birthday today (August 11).
The product of a gradual, four-year process and finished during lockdown, The View From Halfway Down was made by Andy, engineered by Gem Archer and mastered by Heba Kadry. The end result sits somewhere between Ride’s widescreen shoegaze and GLOK’s darkly textured electronics. “I’ve always wanted to make a solo album, I’ve always said I would do it, although I never imagined it happening like, or sounding like, this one,” explains Andy. “I’d been sitting on this pile of almost finished tracks, along with all the other hundreds of ideas that had fallen by the wayside since I’ve been making music. Lockdown gave me the opportunity to find a way to present it to the world.”
Love comes in waves, psychedelic raves, lost nights, found in days of volume, fuzz and delays. If you’re searching for meaning, or a secret worth revealing, and you’re missing the feeling of connection, a reflection back from above, you’re ready to ride the first wave of love. Love comes in waves, give us a wave, I’m one step away, lost in the maze. If you’re searching for meaning, or a secret worth revealing, temptation is calling and your self control is falling, if your friends started stopping, but for you there’s no dropping off at all, and you’re missing the feeling of connection, a reflection back from above, you’re ready to ride the first wave of love. The first single from Andy Bell’s debut solo album ‘The View From Halfway Down’, released on Sonic Cathedral on 9th October, 2020.
The Knebworth Festival 1979 consisted of two concerts performed by the rock band Led Zeppelin and other artists at Knebworth House, Hertfordshire, England, in August 1979.
Led Zeppelin had not performed live for two years, since the death of Robert Plant’s son during the band’s 1977 North American tour, and they had not performed in the United Kingdom for four years. Their manager Peter Grant decided that the band should perform at Knebworth instead of embarking on a lengthy tour.
The whole [Led Zeppelin touring] operation had become too big. Page’s experience from the 1971 club tour ruled out any small dates. They had played the biggest indoor arena in the UK (Earls Court 1975) four years earlier. As Peter Grant saw it, they had to come back in the grandest style possible. Knebworth was the answer and after negotiations with promoter Freddie Bannister the 4th August date was scheduled with a second date on hold. The demand for tickets for the first date was enormous, leading to the second date being added.
The band’s fee for performing was reportedly the largest ever paid to one single act at that time. In the lead-up to the concerts Led Zeppelin undertook extensive rehearsals at Bray Film studios near London, and attended the venue at Knebworth in order to inspect the site, complete a publicity photograph shoot and perform a soundcheck. In addition, they performed two low-key warm-up shows in late July at the Falkoner Theatre, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Also performing at the Knebworth concerts in 1979 were The New Barbarians, featuring Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards (The New Barbarians played only at the second concert on August 11); Todd Rundgren and Utopia; Southside Johnny;Marshall Tucker; Commander Cody; Chas & Dave; and Fairport Convention. According to the official website of Knebworth House, the 1979 Knebworth Festival involved: the largest stage ever constructed, 570 loo seats, 750 feet of urinals and the biggest rock band in the world. Led Zeppelin played their last ever concerts (in the UK) at Knebworth, and it was the end of an era for the Knebworth shows. Both concerts overran, noise complaints were received from 7 miles away. The rubbish team struggled to cope with clearing the arena between the shows. The police believed that 200,000 people had turned up each night, Sainsburys lost 150 trolleys and Tesco 75% of their stock, and Lord Cobbold [owner of Knebworth House] ended up in Court. For many in attendance it was their first ever concert experience. For many it would be the only time that they would get to see Zeppelin perform live. For that reason alone it holds a special affection in their live history. The first show in particular, with so much riding on it, was perhaps the most important they ever played.[
In an interview he gave in 2005, Plant elaborated on the difficult issues:
I was racked with nerves. It was our first British gig in four years and we could have gone back to the Queen’s Head pub. We talked about doing something like that. But instead we went back in such a flurry and a fluster to 210,000 people in a field and 180,000 more the next day surrounded by Keith and Ronnie and Todd Rundgren. Nobody’s big enough to meet those expectations. But because there was some chemical charge in the air, it worked. It didn’t work for us. We played too fast and we played too slow and it was like trying to land a plane with one engine. But it was fantastic for those who were there.
Led Zeppelin’s manager Peter Grant stated after the event that Led Zeppelin’s performance at Knebworth was “a bit rusty”. In the opinion of many the gigs were a “nervous, rather tentative attempt [by Led Zeppelin] to step back into the limelight … Some of it was breathtaking, some musically woefully inept and sometimes it wavered between the two in the space of a few minutes.” music writer Chris Welch, who also attended the concerts, similarly suggests that:
The two concerts were professionally recorded on the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio (engineered by George Chkiantz) and also filmed, with live images beamed directly onto a giant screen behind the stage. The filming was done by the TV International Company under the direction of Chris Bodger.There was a plan for the footage to be used on a television special (this is one of the reasons the band members wore the same clothes on both nights) but this idea was never realised. Only short clips of some of the songs were used by Atlantic Records for promotional purposes.
For many years, bootleg copies of this audio and video material circulated amongst fans. The first audience-recorded bootlegs became available in early 1980, However, aside from the promotional snippets, Led Zeppelin never officially released any of the recordings until 2003, when parts of the footage were digitally remastered and included on the Led Zeppelin DVD.
Led Zeppelin at the Knebworth Festival, on August 11th, 1979.
It was felt it was necessary to include the date in the title because this is the Knebworth concert that wasn’t remastered on the Led Zeppelin DVD.
The video footage is from the Return of the Dinosaurs bootleg. The only available (and therefore best) complete footage of the concert.
Setlist:
1:00 The Song Remains the Same* 6:11 Celebration Day** 9:46 Black Dog 15:22 Nobody’s Fault But Mine 21:25 Over the Hills and Far Away** 27:35 Misty Mountain Hop* 32:53 Since I’ve Been Loving You 41:42 No Quarter [medley]* 56:45 Hot Dog 1:00:45 The Rain Song 1:08:30 White Summer/Black Mountain Side 1:14:20 Kashmir 1:23:44 Trampled Underfoot 1:30:25 Sick Again** 1:35:37 Achilles Last Stand 1:45:25 Guitar Solo 1:51:30 In the Evening 1:59:08 Stairway to Heaven 2:13:59 Rock and Roll 2:23:56 Whole Lotta Love [medley] 2:34:29 Communication Breakdown
The Story: This was pieced together from two different bootlegs, one that sounds flat but perfectly matches the video, and one that sounds The space in-between songs is made up of the former of those two, because the latter basically omits everything that isn’t a song. It took forever to match the good-sounding soundboard to the bad-sounding one (the speeds were slightly off for every song), then match all the audio to the video. It became somewhat trial and error, especially with Kashmir. The good-sounding bootleg had the Kashmir recording at varying speeds, meaning it would match up to the video at one point, then it would gradually get further and further ahead of the video, while accelerating in its increase in speed (if that makes sense). It became way too extravagant to even attempt to match it up, The version of Kashmir that is used is from the flat-sounding bootleg, although it’s honestly acceptable in quality.
You may notice that the overall sound quality of the concert dips after The Rain Song. That’s because of the bootleg, I don’t know why it does that. There’s not much I can do to make the end of the concert sound as lovely as the beginning, without having access to the original soundboard tapes. Regardless, it’s all the best sounding stuff for this concert.
Deadbeat Beat slowly took shape as the natural extension of a friendship begun in high school by drummer/vocalist Maria Nuccilli and guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Alex Glendening. Always at shows, hanging out, killing time and absorbing music, the two moved through early projects and various members coming and going before solidifying Deadbeat Beat with the inclusion of bassist Zak Frieling. By that point the band began finding their legs at shows in Detroit and through a series of sporadically self-released demos, EPs and singles.
In a scene of restless loners, everyone’s in at least a couple bands. While Deadbeat Beat actively percolated, Maria’s lockstep drumming kept time for long time candy-psych heroes Outrageous Cherry and Alex played with trashpunk stalwarts Tyvek and filled in on bass and guitar for Saddle Creek’s Stef Chura and Richard Davies’ recently reformed iteration of The Moles. Even immersed in a wildly creative community Deadbeat Beat stayed on a different path, set apart by complex song writing that drew from more internal perspectives.
While taking notes on the blacked-out guitar scuzz of their friends and neighbours, there was equal time spent dissecting key records by Kevin Ayers, La Düsseldorf, Joni Mitchell, Julian Cope, The Clean, and a whole litany of rainy pop music. Musically varied and lyrically congruous, “How Far” finds the band at the strongest voicing of this strange nexus, one spawned from rough nights at shitty dive bars as the emotional foundations for soaring pop songs that nervously bump into one another. Largely a reflection on asserting and maintaining a queer identity in an almost completely straight crowd, Glendening’s songs hit at the gut level — either doused in syrup like the harmony-heavy “You Lift Me Up” or stretched into an anxious infinity like “Tree, Grass & Stone,” the album’s extended freak out jam that still feels like a confessional indie pop song.
For Record Store Day 2020, we are releasing a limited edition LP of Galaxie 500’s COPENHAGEN. This will be available from stores that participate in Record Store Day only, please contact your favourite Store! Release date: August 29th.
To celebrate, 20 bands will be posting videos covering Galaxie 500 songs.
Earlier this year, a concert of covers of Galaxie 500 songs was planned for Record Store Day at Rough Trade Brooklyn, to coincide with the release of “Copenhagen” on vinyl and the launch of a limited edition Dogfish Head Galaxie 500 beer. The event unfortunately didn’t happen due to the pandemic, but some of the performers are recording home videos which we’re presenting online, prior to the rescheduled “RSD Drop” of the vinyl on August 29th.
20 videos will be seen on this page, adding one each weekday from August 3rd to August 28th.
Jeanines [Brooklyn] Jed: “I fell instantly for Galaxie 500 at age 20. They were simple and complex simultaneously, just like the Velvet Underground, which is probably the only band I’ve tried to rip off more.”.
Xiu Xiu [Los Angeles]: “We mention Galaxie 500’s On Fire by name in a song called ‘Dr. Troll’ on our first album. The closing lines of that song being ‘Listen to On Fire and pretend someone could love you.’ On Fire ends with ‘Isn’t it a Pity’ and their masterful and impassioned take on it has never failed to shred my heart to ribbons, even more now than then.”
Deadbeat Beat [Detroit]: “We recorded our cover in masks with one microphone in a garage. Our video is interspersed with footage taken on our phones throughout the past year.”
The Feelies have covered a lot of Velvet Underground songs over the last 40 years and they’ve even done whole VU tribute shows. One song they’ve never covered, though, is “Here She Comes Now.” Feelies frontman Glenn Mercer now has, however, as part of the month-long Galaxie 500 tribute that’s leading up to the Record Store Day reissue of Galaxie 500’s “Copenhagen Live” album on August 29th. It’s a bit of a cheat for Glenn, but Galaxie 500 did cover the song as a bonus track for their third and final album, “This is Our Music”, and it’s also on “Copenhagen Live”.
In addition to the bands who were planning to perform in Brooklyn, there are a few “out-of-town” favourites, both younger bands and some Galaxie 500 contemporaries:
Circuit des Yeux, Deadbeat Beat, Rachel Haden, Hamilton (British Sea Power), Jeanines, Calvin Johnson, Kiwi Jr, Mark Lanegan & Dylan Carlson, Alan Licht & Rebecca Odes (Love Child), Barbara Manning, Mark & Evelyn (Mark Robinson of Unrest, Evelyn Hurley of Blast Off Country Style), Glenn Mercer (of the Feelies), Mercury Rev, Stephin Merritt (the Magnetic Fields), Thurston Moore, the Natvral (Kip Berman of The Pains of Being Pure At Heart), Papercuts, Real Estate, Surfer Blood, Versus, Winter, Xiu Xiu, plus a few surprises.
This series of videos (and the original event) was curated by David Newgarden, WFMU radio director in the 80s/90s, and longtime manager of Guided By Voices and Yoko Ono. The limited edition Galaxie 500 beer will be making its delayed debut at the Dogfish Head brewpub in Rehoboth Beach at the end of August.
Hovvdy released a new single, “Runner,” last month, and now they’ve followed it with a second, which “is about the mixed emotions when a relationship has to change or end,” Will Taylor says. “Grief and relief. We were excited to pull the guitars back to let the vocals and ambient textures shine. The clank and swing of the programmed drums create a resonance and energy that brings it all together.”
Hailing from Austin, Texas, indie-pop duo Hovvdy are back again with another sumptuous treat for our ears with new single; ‘I’m Sorry’. Shortly after their release of ‘Runner’ — released just last month — ‘I’m Sorry’is Will Taylor and Charlie Martin at their finest; delightfully odd as always, whilst showcasing dreamy melodies that are best suited to lying in bed on a calm Sunday morning.
Slightly muted vocal melodies greet us from the get-go, along with a reverberated kick and snare beat that echoes through your soul to the very end. The song in its entirety feels somewhat zephyr-like; feelings of heartache but also of healing: a journey downstream that Hovvdy are kind enough to let us in on. Gradually swelling in volume, accompanied by wispy, mellow vocals throughout; ‘I’m Sorry’is a harmonically beautiful, and melodically considerate track — created for the disenfranchised, and executed to foggy, ambiguous perfection.
Fundamentally acoustic, Hovvdy also incorporates elements of electronica in the most subtle ways; pulling us in gently at the beginning with synth-enhanced vocals and rhythms, then reverting to their familiar, honestly indie style, before welcoming back the electronic-inspired rhythms, vocals and synths for the end of the track — bringing closure in a familiar, comforting way.
Stacking on Will Taylor’s growing pop sensibility, “I’m Sorry” carves a beat around the artist’s hollowed-out, echoing vocals. Jumbled feelings in flux swirl a cloud of granular electronic ambience. “I’m sorry,” he sings. “Going under the water again.”
Of the song and stylistic venture, Taylor says: “‘I’m Sorry’ is about the mixed emotions when a relationship has to change or end. Grief and relief. We were excited to pull the guitars back to let the vocals and ambient textures shine. The clank and swing of the programmed drums create a resonance and energy that brings it all together.”
Effortlessly minimalistic in nature, Hovvdy is consistent in delivering stunningly layered instrumentals lead by melodically sweet, wistful vocals that haunt you and soothe you in equal measure; providing a plethora of influences from pop to hip-hop. All-in-all, ‘I’m Sorry’ is the oh-so-familiar nostalgia trip that Hovvdy never fail to contribute to this ever-expanding world of plentiful music that we’re currently living in. Unapologetically honest, inexplicably raw, and invariably delightful; I’m Sorry is yet another notable mark on the musical map — transcending above normality and welcoming us in to their world of authentic memories.
Montreal’s No Joy release new album “Motherhood” next week via Joyful Noise / Hand Drawn Dracula, and here’s a track that features frontwoman Jasamine White-Gluz’s sister, Alissa, who plays in deathcore supergroup Arch Enemy. “I’ve never collaborated musically with my sister before,” says Jasamine. “When we were kids we would sing and play music together but as we’ve both become adults and touring musicians we’ve never had a chance to work together. This is the heaviest song on this record so it felt fitting to have her on there. There is something special about her being on this album, specifically because it’s an exploration of family and motherhood.” It’s definitely heavy, but also has space for No Joy’s ethereal side, too.
“Four,” which No Joy frontperson and principal songwriter Jasamine White-Gluz called in a statement “perhaps my favourite No Joy song ever written,” has a colourful sonic palette, starting with a buildup of shoegaze fuzz that melts into a spell of trip-hop instrumentals before jolting into a thrash metal closer. No Joy shared a music video for the new single, following visual artist Ashley Diabo at her home. The aim of the video, White-Gluz said, is “to appreciate Ashley at home, hoping to inspire all to embrace the love and inspiration of their home the way Ashley reminds us every day.”
Jasamine White-Gluz is back with No Joy’s first album in five years. The Canadian outfit arrived in 2010 with their debut Ghost Blonde, and have been releasing feedback-cloaked shoegaze with mystifying beats ever since. Their new LP Motherhood is the most ambitious thing they’ve ever done, but White-Gluz’s ear for immersive soundscapes remains. Here, No Joy expand into the realms of pummeling metal (“Dream Rats”), groovy trip-hop (“Four”), pulsing electro-pop (“Ageless”) and skying dance-rock (“Birthmark”), and it’s a heady, wispy ride. Sometimes throwing in everything but the kitchen sink works out.
“Four” by No Joy off the album ‘Motherhood’ out on Joyful Noise Recordings (world) & Hand drawn Dracula in Canada.
