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Outblinker release video for Walter Peck!
"...Glasgow's standard quo rejectionists..." - Spin
"...as blissful as they are boisterous." - NME
"...it'll latch onto your lapels and drag you into a claustrophobic abyss." - The Line of Best Fit
"...slick, modern Kraut for an uneasy Britain...." - The Skinny
Fame is just so fucking futile. That's the thing about being an outsider. You accept your fate. You know that 50 years from now a bank won't be butchering your work to flog mortgages to suckers. You make your noise and you watch it echo for a bit then dissipate. Like our protagonist, Walter Peck, your ashes are gradually diluted by a planet of dirt and your music even more rapidly subsumed by the white noise of the world.
In many ways, Outblinker owes it's existence to Walter and certainly this EP - The Remains of Water Peck released on 6th May 2016 via Stabbed In The Back Records - would never have been recorded or co-written with Ben Power (Blanck Mass/ Fuck Buttons) were it not for Mr Peck's unifying influence. His friendships, a chance meeting, a jar of human remains and a table of beers. It's a long story. Suffice to say he'd suggest we enjoy it while it lasts.
To continue their homage to him, the band have released a video for their track Walter Peck, which premiered on The Line of Best Fit and is available to watch now on the bands YouTube channel.
The video follows the free download track Farrokh Bulsara, which premiered on Spin and is available to download via the ABoF SoundCloud page.
The product of a musical pilgrimage to record in a medieval church on a remote island in Orkney, these three songs are a precursor to Outblinker's debut album (due October 2016) and a tribute to the transitory, fleeting nature of everything we seek to build and accomplish. All the beauty, all the greed, all the pride and all the fucking politics. Given long enough, none of it will last. And thank fuck for that.
When the lights across the planet finally go out for the last time and all the MP3s evaporate in microscopic puffs of electrons and all the CD's lie scattered across the land like the scales of some huge, extinct fish: what then for all these idiotic fucking pop songs? And what then for the Bach and Simone, Mercury and Mingus?
Nothing. That's what. Sweet anonymity. Sheer oblivion.
And as time marches on ceaselessly into that eerie, silent new era, none of those chart anthems will mean any more than the centuries of forgotten folk music, decades of shitty demo tapes or the deluge of vacuous, ironic, indie shit currently sloshing around. How will Virgin, Warner, Universal and Sony trick kids into buying their cynical, hollow bullshit then? Especially when there are no kids left to fleece.
Art is for now so eat your fill. You're not taking it with you and ultimately there's no point leaving it here. Walter Peck taught us that much.
The Remains of Water Peck by Outblinker is released on 6th May 2016 via Stabbed In The Back Records and is available to pre-order on Outblinker's Bandcamp page.
Introducing… The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer!
“...a real blues kitchen with all sorts of ingredients in the pan.” - Pop Matters
Canadian duo The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer are about to embark on their first European tour supporting Dr. Dog (April 19th - 25th) and XIXA (April 27th - May 2nd). Catch them in London on April 25th 2016 at Oslo in Hackney in anticipation of their latest single Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To, which is out on May 6th 2016 via Tonic Records.
The video for Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To premiered on The Blues Magazine and it is also available to watch via the band’s YouTube channel now.
The duo combines the classic blues rock sound of Willie Dixon but with a modern edge akin to Jack White and The Black Keys. Together, the pair have created a their own take on the genre, smothered in greasy, gritty soul and imbued with and injection of funk.
The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer are Shawn Hall (lead vocals, harmonica) and Matthew Rogers (guitar, drums, backing vocals). The two met and bonded over music whilst at a recording session for a radio jingle and named their new project after the blues harp reference lyric “I took my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana” from Kris Kristofferson’s Bobby Mcgee and the term “axe” as a common reference to a guitar. Since then, the guys have gone from strength to strength with the release of their debut album The Blues Can Kill in 2007, the widely acclaimed Checkered Past in 2011 and most recently, A Real Fine Mess in 2014.
The two-piece have already received praise from the likes of Exclaim!, Pop Matters and The Blues Magazine amongst others. They have also been nominated for Blues Album of the Year at the Junos in 2014, for multiple Maple Blues Awards and won Blues Act of the Year at the SiriusXM Indies in 2013. Despite this being their first European tour, they are far from unknown on the live circuit, having already played at SXSW 2013/14, Ottawa Blues Festival, Montreal Jazz Fest and have shared the stage with Taj Mahal, Booker T Jones, David Wilcox and Mother Mother, to name but a few. Catch them live at the following dates:
April 20th - Nichtspeicher - Hamburg
April 21st - Sugar Mountain At Paradiso - Amsterdam
April 22nd - Bababoum - Paris
April 23rd - Cafe De Zwerver - Oostende
April 25th - Oslo - London
April 27th - Blue Shell - Cologne
April 29th - La Graviere, Geneva
April 30th - Hafen 2 - Offenbach
May 1st - Slowclub - Freiburg
May 2nd - El Lokal - Zurich
The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer’s latest single Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To is out on May 6th 2016 via Tonic Records.
La Boum Fatale’s debut album ‘Holygram’ - out now!
"... a wonderful and unique take on ambient melodies and ideas..." - Indie Shuffle
"...an immersive sonic journey." - Earmilk
La Boum Fatale aka Antonio de Spirt has just released his debut album Holygram - out now via cutting edge, Berlin based label Sinnbus.
The German producer recently shared a track from Holygram - Johnny Blitz, which is available to watch now via the Sinnbus' Youtube channel.
Single No Tongue In Cheek premiered on Indie Shuffle and the Liam Back remix premiered on Earmilk. You can stream both tracks along with the rest of the No Tongue In Cheek EP now via the Sinnbus YouTube channel.
La Boum Fatale is the musical alter ego of German musician and producer Antonio de Spirt. His latest album Holygram is out now via Berlin based label Sinnbus.
It’s been almost four years since La Boum Fatale’s debut EP Damwild was released and instead of taking the ‘usual’ release route, de Spirt decided to carve his own path. He released secret hit AAA and moved from Hamburg to Berlin where he began to experiment more with his sound, his live set-up and collaborated with producers like Glenn Astro and Sieren as well as remixing tracks for Me And My Drummer, Hundreds and Sizarr.
However, in 2015, Antonio began to focus on writing tracks for an album and the end result is the exquisite electro infused masterpiece Holygram.
The album twists and turns from post apocalyptic chillwave to electro infused rhythms and beats that teeter on the darker edges of pop as heard on tracks like ’Ghosts’. La Boum Fatale is caught somewhere in-between the epic electronic soundscapes of Autechre, Boards of Canada and haunting alt pop of Autre Ne Veut - an enticing and mesmerising combination. ‘No Tongue In Cheek’ and ‘He Just Might’ are perfect examples of
Antonio’s ability to blend genres, whilst maintaining his unique sound.
La Boum Fatale’s Holygram is a fresh and captivating debut; from the moment the album begins, you’re invited into de Spirt’s world and as each track rolls and flows into the next it feels as though you’re falling deeper into a wonderful dream.
La Boum Fatale’s debut album Holygram is out now via Sinnbus and is available to buy on iTunes now.
Fugazi’s Ian Mackaye confirmed for exclusive Q+A at Restless Natives Festival!
Ian Mackaye of legendary post-hardcore band Fugazi is confirmed for an exclusive Q+A following a screening of Jem Cohen’s 1999 film Instrument at this year’s inaugural Restless Natives Festival in Glasgow.
Instrument was a collaboration between Jem Cohen and Fugazi, with the title of the film is taken from a track from their 1993 album In On The Killtaker. Following the screening, Ian Mackaye will answer fans’ questions live via Skype from a radio station in Washington.
The screening at Restless Natives is scheduled for 7.30pm on Thursday 12th May at the African and Caribbean Centre - tickets can be purchased from the Restless Natives website.
Restless Natives’ heart and soul lies within the DIY scene as the festival not only aims to bring people together in and around the East End of Glasgow, generating income for the local community, bands and charities, but it also aims to promote ethnic diversity and gender equality throughout the program.
Restless Natives is reflective of a truly modern DIY ethic that showcases talent from a broad spectrum, mirroring the diverse talent the creative scene has to offer.
“Given Ian's decades of experience within the DIY community in Washington D.C and his role (both via his bands and the Dischord label) as an inspiration for thousands of purveyors of independent music and art, he is the perfect participant in an event looking to strengthen the fortunes of those communities within our own country,” comments festival organiser Chris Cusack.
All events will be individually priced as affordably as possible to ensure accessibility for people from all economic backgrounds and the organisers will also be donating a portion of gate receipts towards specially nominated East End charities to help their community.
The festival already boasts a strong line-up including Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah, LAW, Cardiff's alt rockers Future of the Left, Sheffield mathcore champions Rolo Tomassi, Canadian composer Tim Hecker, electronic maverick Blanck Mass, Chicago favourites Into It. Over It, US cult heroes The Hotelier and Glasgow’s own Tuff Love, United Fruit, Happy Meals, Spinning Coin and Nightwave. Full details of further showcases, film nights and talks programmed by Hotgem Music, Nightschool Records, No One Knows Records, Winning Sperm Party, Stretched, Fuzzkill Records, Nice n' Sleazy, Bloc+Music, Song, By Toad and Struggletown are also set to be announced very soon.
A number of film events have already been confirmed including The Skinny presents Couple In A Hole with live Q&A by Geoff Barrow (BEAK>, Portishead) and Billy Fuller (BEAK>, Robert Plant Band), The Room featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary and live Q&A with Greg Sestero, Song, By Toad presents The Ambiguity Of David Thomas Broughton with exclusive unseen footage, Restless Natives’ own national exclusive of Blood, Sweat and Vinyl : DIY in the 21st Century starring Neurosis, Godspeed You Black Emperor and ISIS (the band!) with live Q&A by director Kenneth Thomas, Une Chant D'Amour & A Page Of Madness with an exclusive live original score by Adam Stafford. Plus special guest-curated screens by The Glasgow Film Theatre, Africa In Motion, The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival and The Radical Film Network.
Restless Natives Festival will take place May 9th - 15th 2016 and tickets are available via the Restless Natives website.
She Makes War’s new album ‘Direction Of Travel’ out now!
“…a pioneering revelation that will blow you away.” - DIY
"Why just sing songs, when you can build worlds?" - The Quietus
She Makes War's new album Direction Of Travel is out now via The state51 Conspiracy and is available to stream in full and buy now.
To celebrate the release, Laura has unveiled a magical video for her song Paper Thin featuring Tanya Donelly (Throwing Muses, The Breeders, Belly) on guest vocals. The song was championed by Lauren Laverne on her BBC Radio 6 Music show and the video was shot in New York and Boston in February, with animation by award-winning illustrator Viv Schwarz.
She Makes War has also announced her next single, Cold Shoulder, which premiered on Marc Riley’s BBC Radio 6 Music show last week. What happens when Elastica meets Queens Of The Stone Age? Stream Cold Shoulder on Soundcloud now.
Direction Of Travel was recorded in the winter months of 2014/15 in Bristol, Brighton and London. Produced by She Makes War, mixed by Dan Austin (Doves, Pixies) and featuring guest appearances from Tanya Donelly and Mark Chadwick, most of the instruments on the album were played by Laura herself, added to by a cast of supporting musician friends including Clive Deamer and Andy Sutor on drums, The McCarricks and Nicole Robson on strings and Cajita on piano.
The songs on Direction Of Travel reveal widescreen ambition, deepening the glittery, grunge-inflected guitar driven sound of She Makes War’s back catalogue while exploring new worlds of cinematic orchestration and heartfelt, confessional songwriting. The songs vibrate with sadness but the album’s message is hopeful - we can all become strong enough to reclaim ourselves, to escape from suffocating situations, process sadness and sorrow and emerge all the stronger for the experience.
Catch She Makes War at the dates below to celebrate the album release:
12th May - Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar, Brighton - Tickets
13th May - Fallow Cafe, Manchester - Tickets
15th May - The Hug & Pint, Glasgow - Tickets
16th May - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds - Tickets
17th May - OPEN (Club Room), Norwich - Tickets
18th May - Ort Cafe, Birmingham - Tickets
19th May - Sebright Arms, London - Tickets
20th May - Notes Cafe, Southampton - Tickets
21st May - Cavern, Exeter - Tickets
Cold Shoulder is out on May 13th 2016 via The state51 Conspiracy and Direction Of Travel is out now and is available to buy on She Makes War's website.