so good
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
FUCKED UP Announce US Tour * New 12" on What's Your Rupture!
New 12" on What's Your Rupture!
Just to utter their name is to be down, to sign up for a worldview that's absolutely committed to uncovering how the world is, well, you know. And though vocalist/alleged schizophrenic Pink Eyes bellows in classic corpulent-hard-core-lifer fashion (shades of Poison Idea), lyrics referencing both Greek astronomy and the Old Testament, as well as guitar textures indebted more to Glenn Branca than Black Flag, reveal an art-rock ace up the band's tattered sleeve. – Spin Magazine
Fucked Up remains one of the most talked-about bands in hardcore and punk rock in both the mainstream media and underground outlets. Their brand of relentless, aggressive, yet highly melodic music has been mentioned on nearly every magazine’s top ten list of the year, regardless of the magazine’s musical preference. Punk rockers, hardcore kids and indie rockers alike all seek to obtain the band’s highly sought after releases, which are almost all on vinyl and in limited numbers. The elusive personas that the band members take confirm that the music is more important than any image or gimmick. Their non-stop work ethic has led them on tours across the United States and Europe, creating a barrage of hype that is firmly backed up with a substantial dose of great fucking music and a highly energetic live show. – Arthur Magazine
The only band right now that matters. – NY Daily News
FUCKED UP US TOUR!
(select dates w/ speacial guests AIDS WOLF, BLACKLISTED, MODERN LIFE IS WAR, GOVERNMENT WARNING, BATTLES, LIMPWRIST, PISSED JEANS, and more!)
Saturday June 2 @ The Tanzac Club in Toronto "HIDDEN WORLD LIVE" - Fucked Up perform their album "Hidden World" in it's entirety. With guests AIDS WOLF
Wednesday June 20 Cleveland Ohio @ Now Thats Class 11213 Detroit Ave (at W. 112th)
Thu June 21 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania @ Lawrenceville Moose 150 51st St w/ THIS IS HELL / BLACKLISTED / CAUSTIC CHRIST
Fri June 22 Brooklyn New York @ 538 Johnson w/ THE DUSTHEADS
Sat June 23 Richmond (fest after party)
Sun June 24 Nashville Tennesee @ The Muse
Mon June 25 New Orleans Louisiana @ McWilliams Hall in Tulane
Tue June 26 Austin Texas @ Emos
Wed June 27 Las Cruces New Mexico @ The Farm 500 Belen
Thu June 28 Phoenix Arizona @ The Phix 1113 NW Grand Ave. 85007 w/ THINK FAST
Fri June 29 Los Angeles California @ 1269 E 6th
Sat June 30 Berkely California @ 924 Gilman
Sun July 1 Long Beach tba
Mon July 2 Tijuana @ Salon Fiesta
Tue July 3 LA Area
Wed July 4 San Fransisco tba
Thu July 5 Portland
Fri July 6 Olympia Washington @ Manium 421 4th Ave
Sat July 7 Vancouver BC @The Ukranian Cultural Center 805 Pender Vancouver
Sun July 8 Edmonton Alberta @ Teddy's 11361 Jasper Ave
Mon July 9 Regina Saskatchewan @ The Exchange 2431 8th Ave
Tue July 10 Winnepeg Manitoba @ The Collective Caberet 108 Osborne St
Wed July 11 Minneapolis Minnesota @ The Triple Rock
Thursday July 12 Chicago Illinois @ The Beat Kitchen
Fri July 13 Cedar Falls Iowa @ The Boathouse Corner of 1st and Center 50613
w/ MODERN LIFE IS WAR
Sat July 14 Lawrence Kansas @ The Jackpot Saloon 943 Massachusetts St
Sun July 15 St Louis Missouri @ TBA
Mon July 16 Chamblee Georgia @ The Shop 3875 Green Industrial Way
Tue July 17 Virginia Beach
Wed July 18 Washington DC @ 1017 7th St NW DC w/ GOVERNMENT WARNING
Thurs July 19 Philadelphia @ TBA w/ BATTLES
Fri July 20 NYC @ The Knitting Factory w/ LIMP WRIST (ex members of LOS CRUDOS)
Sat July 21 Brooklyn New York @ Southpaw w/ PISSED JEANS
In addition, the kind folks @ the What's Your Rupture imprint will be releasing the "Year of the Pig" 12" a bit early, available only on the band's US tour, before its national release in August. Visit www.whatsyourrupture.com for more information.
Fucked Up have also just returned home from a UK tour where they recorded a BBC Session (featuring a brand new, unreleased song) and played some wicked shows. You can read more about the tour, watch video of live shows, and learn more details about Year of the Pig HERE!
Stream "Hidden World" out now on Jade Tree HERE!
Fucked Up is back to tear apart the States. After much talked about and hugely explosive shows already this year @ SXSW (where the band performed on a bridge, rocked a Black Flag cover w/ former member Keith Morris, and proceeded to get kicked off stage - a moment that incited a near riot), a handful of NYC shows (which left many a fan bloodied up), and a performance on MTV Canada w/ the legendary Henry Rollins (luckily the people who booked this were not too pissed when the band and their 300 fans ripped the studio to pieces), it's fairly obvious that Fucked Up isn’t the typical hardcore band.
As a band, Fucked Up exist as miscreants, operating outside the parameters of traditional society. No one in the band (comprised of Pink Eyes- vocals, Gulag aka Concentration Camp - guitar, Mr. Jo- drums, Mustard Gas- bass, 10,000 Marbles- guitar) owns a cell phone or can legally operate a vehicle. Relationships between band mates are often strained (Pink Eyes has even avoided a European tour because, "The prospect of sitting in a van with those dudes made me sick to my stomach").
3/5 of the band is plagued by bouts of mental illness ("Pink Eyes has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Concentration Camp and I have been depressed for good parts of our adult lives," says guitarist 10,000 Marbles.) The band has been accused of championing fascism ("Mixing fascist imagery with a leftist anarchist punk band is like a bomb going off," according to the band.) The list continues; bewildering interviews in Vice Magazine, anarchist arrests in Canada, episodes of self-mutilation via razor blade and a slew of hard to find singles are but a few of the enigmatic characteristics that have embodied Fucked Up for the past five years.
Fucked Up came from nothing out of the Toronto, Canada punk scene, on their own accordance. Influences, both lyrical and musical, were mostly culled from within (though the band does cite Pink Floyd as a point of reference to their "more drawn out shit"), and the band slowly rose from obscurity without the obligatory tour and play with bigger band mentality of the modern punk scene. The band shuns full- length releases in favor of two-song singles, utilizes biological concepts to enact social change within their music, and has even been accused of mind control by some of their detractors. Illegible liner notes, being attacked onstage during live performances, self- releasing records with 17 minute long title tracks; all part of the deal for the convoluted world of Fucked Up.
What's worse? "The band exists within a culture of confusion," says manager/producer David Eliade, who additionally claims to have "Never attended a Fucked Up live show." True intentions and motivation are concealed under Internet hearsay, the band's inability to communicate with the public and obscure, hard to find releases. Fucked Up exist as a band, that much is known. But how, what and most importantly why continues to be a mystery. And if that's not fucked up enough, it gets even worse. People love Fucked Up, and their loyal fans include The Arcade Fire (AF violinist Owen Pallet plays on several tracks off of Hidden World), Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, Bloc Party and Vice Magazine (whom recently released a UK single for Fucked Up). In addition, throngs of eager listeners have tattooed their bodies with the Fucked Up logo, and many see no problem with paying outrageous amounts of money on eBay for out-of- print Fucked Up singles.
Somewhere amid the disparaging alienation, blatant offensiveness, and inter-band disillusionment, Fucked Up transformed into a highly sought after, enigmatic and essentially unconventional institution. In March of 2006, the band agreed to release their first full length album, Hidden World, on Jade Tree. Hidden World is cloaked in shades of unconventional aesthetics, symbolic overtones and an "Are you with us or against us?" burst of urgency. The album marks a turning point for the band, transcending the boundaries of punk with melody, aggression, expansive structures and enigmatic diatribes on what lies underneath the immediate, visualized world. Lyrically, Fucked Up continue to combine confrontational ideologies with deliberately skewed subject matter, producing a brutal yet alternative analysis on thought provocative punk.
Considering what we already know about Fucked Up, it's a feat that the tracks contained on Hidden World even made it out of the studio. Misunderstood revolutions are created and destroyed each day of our lives. With Fucked Up playing the role of bridge builder, demolitionist and subsequent analyst, there's no telling where this revolution may take us.....
Members:
10,000 Marbles - Lead Guitar. Previously of Ruination, Mike Haliechuk lives outside Toronto where he raises chickens.
Father Damian aka Pink Eyes - Vocals. Abraham works as a producer in the film industry under his birth name, which he has so far managed to keep secret so that his participation in Fucked Up will not negatively affect his career.
Slumpy aka Laundry aka Mustard Gas - Bass Guitar. Occupation unknown.
Gulag (formerly Concentration Camp) - Rhythm Guitar. Zucker is a transient who was chosen as the original frontman for Fucked Up due to his confrontational manner. Zucker was replaced as frontman after missing several crucial shows while in jail for punching a Toronto police officer who had stolen a ham sandwich from him. In order to remain active in the band after the arrival of new singer Damian, Zucker learned guitar.
Guinea Beat aka Mr. Jo - Drums. Falco splits his time between Fucked Up and Career Suicide, as well as being a full time student. He has had to keep the existence of Fucked Up a secret from his family, with whom he lives, after his father declared the band's name "...made him want to vomit."
David Eliade - Visuals, spiritual and political guidance. Eliade is the "fifth Beatle" so to speak, and manages Fucked Up from behind the scenes. He has designed their logo, records, and influenced most of their lyrics. Eliade has coordinated most of their interviews, except for those conducted live on the road. He has begun taking a more visible role, acting as management for the band of late and working with them in the studio on the production of their forthcoming LP. He is the one who taught Haliechuk to garden and Camp to hop trains. He is the only person involved with the band who knows how to tune a guitar. Unfortunately he has never attended one of Fucked Up's live shows.
The band doesn't get along, they get into fights (literally), and the singer has not gone on tours before. He's the modern day Darby Crash, and usually cuts his face just about every show with razorblades. He's got social anxiety disorder and Schizophrenia. The brainchild of the band Mike one of the guitar players (lead guitar) writes just about everything, has Asperbergers syndrome and is clinically depressed. The punk Daniel Johnston if you will. He wants everyone to listen to this album in it's entirety but said he will never listen this album.
Together for five years, Fucked Up has gotten big in the underground on their own, rarely opening for big bands. Their records sell for lots of $ on eBay. Kids are fanatical and obsessed with them. They are an enigma, which could be why so many people are talking about them (and not just punk kids).
To date, Fucked Up has released 11 7"s. No Paseran (sold 1000, oop), Police (sold 3500), Baiting the Public (sold 1000, oop), Dance Of Death (sold 3000) all came out on Deranged. Litany (sold 1500, oop) came out on Test Pattern. Generation (sold 2100, oop) came out on Slasher. Split with Haymaker (sold 1500, oop) came out on deep six, two European tour 7"s (sold 1000 each). Not to mention three 12"s. LET LIKES BE CURED BY LIKES Live 12" (limited to 500 copies, oop) came out on Schizophrenic Records. LOOKING FOR GOLD 12" (limited to 500 copies, oop) was self-released. Generation 12" (sold 1500) came out on Slasher Records, one cd compilation of 7" songs (sold 5000) on Deranged Records
, and most recently, the Triumph of Life 7" just released on Jade Tree.
The band has toured Europe once and hit the UK in May, also 2 east coast tours and 2 west coast tours (mostly as the headlining band but did some dates w/ The Gossip).
Influences: The Wipers, Ramones, Pink Floyd, Negative Approach, The Who “but at the base we are most influenced by ourselves.”
They don't have a website or Myspace page. Myspace page is a fake one done by a fan.
Click to view photo diary of Fucked Up's recent UK tour.
Illustration on “Hidden World” is influenced by the "Meddle" period Pink Floyd
What the People Say:
Even at its most straightforward, the record still thrills, nowhere better evidenced than the gloriously confrontational "Baiting the Public", one of FU's best singles: Six minutes of an indomitable guitar and double-bass-drum attack where Pink Eyes berates anyone within earshot, punching in his vocal from either speaker like a Devil on one shoulder and an undead fire-swallower who makes Satan look like a pussy on the other. – PITCHFORK
So many people have asked me about this Toronto band in the past month - mainly because of their upcoming shows at Mercury Lounge and SXSW - and I'm not talking about the people I would go see Sick of It All, Agnostic Front, or Scatterbrain & Ludachrist with - I mean people who you might even catch at an Andrew Bird show. - BROOKLYNVEGAN
"Ironically, their fast and sloppy early-80s-styled hardcore is a million times more musical and ferocious than 99% of professional myspace-era mosh bands, and their fans' postshow cuts and bruises remind us that this shit might have the potential to still be dangerous." - VICE
With a near perfect balance of really weird punk stuff and totally punk weird stuff, Hidden World, to borrow a phrase from hip-hop, is going to send some motherfuckers back to the lab." - DECIBEL
"I truly believe these guys are the second coming of hardcore... they are Incredible." - MRR
"Toronto's Fucked Up get it so right. Their hardcore telepathically bridges the early 80's, reaches even further back for intelligence, and is blazing across this great land of ours, one shitty stereo and uncool kid at a time." - THRASHER
Tracklisting for Hidden World:
1) Crusades
2) David Comes To Life
3) Invisible Leader
4) Carried Out To The Sea
5) Baiting The Public
6) Fate of Fates
7) Two Snakes
8) Hidden World
9) Manqueller Man
10) Blaze Of Glory
11) Triumph of Life
12) Jacobs Ladder
13) Vivian Girls
For more information, visit:
http://everything2.org/index.pl?node_id=1810056
http://lookingforgold.blogspot.com
http://jadetree.com/bands/artist/fucked_up
Thursday, May 24, 2007
RONEN KAUFFMAN Announces Warped Tour Appearance / DJ Rossstar Interview Tonight!
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O'DEATH Announces European Tour, Special NYC Appearances, and more!
Announce European Tour * NYC Release Shows * CitySol Festival * Spiegeltent Appearance * and new MP3's in support of the national release of "Head Home" out June 12th on Ernest Jenning (check out their new website below!)!
"The live O'Death show is where it's at." - Pitchforkmedia.com
O'Death Live!
USA!
Jun 12 2007 Maxwell's Hoboken, New Jersey
Jun 15 2007 Luna Lounge-- CD release show Brooklyn, New York
Jun 17 2007 The Fire Philadelphia, PA
Jul 14 2007 Citysol Festival: Solar 1 @ Stuyvesant Cove in NYC w/ Dragons of Zynth and Besnard Lakes
Aug 29 2007 @ The Spiegeltent in NYC w/ Death Vessel
Europe!
6.23.07 Waterville, Ireland - Fitz Hochzeit
6.24.07 Dublin, Ireland - Whelans
6.26.07 Cardiff, Whales - Barfly
6.27.07 London, UK - Barfly
6.28.07 Göteborg, Sweden - Accelerator Festival
6.29.07 Stockholm, Sweden - Accelerator Festival w/ Bright Eyes, Modest Mouse, Danielson, and more!
6.30.07 Oslo, Norway -Spasibar
7.2.07 Hamburg, Germany - Westwerk
7.4.07 Berlin, Germany- Festsaal Kreuzberg w/ Menomena & Beach House
7.6.07 Paris, France - Fleche D'or w/ Menomena & Dirty Projectors
* click here to check out the new Ernest Jenning site, offering "All The World" for download and album pre-order for the first time!
"Head Home" Tracklist
1. Down to Rest
2. Adelita
3. Allie Mae Reynolds
4. The Crab Apple Switch
5. O Lee O
6. Busted Old Church
7. Travelin Man
8. Face Mask
9. Only Daughter
10. Ground Stump
11. Rickey Fence Teeth
12. All The World
13. Jesus Look Down
14. Nathaniel
15. Gas Can Row
Photo by Jacob Blickenstaff
"The New York band O'Death drawes from the bluntness and spiritual purify of Appalachian folk, the menace of punk and the rowdy theatricaliy of Tom Waits, jumbling sacred adn profane." - The New York Times
"This is the sound of the Pogues madly slurping mothers' milk and brothers' blood at Gettysburg -- banjo and fiddle ballads turned berserker by Greg Jamie's bullfrog bleat." - Spin.com
The O'death live experience is halfway between a hootenanny and a punk show. Rusty Appalachian stomps collide with Pixies-esque moments of minor mayhem. It's a good fucking time. - TheSimpleMission.com
As great as everyone says. - Brooklynvegan.com
Watch O'DEATH Live HERE!
Five guys, maybe three shirts between them, take to the stage. There’s a banjo, a fiddle, a drum set littered with gas cans, chains, and broken cymbals. Then they all start howling, stomping; it’s an anachronistic jug band party in a junkyard with sing-along hooks and weathered vocals from another time. Their fans, an ever-expanding congregation, sing along and follow the band with an almost religious fervor, and as vocalist Greg Jamie’s eyes roll back into his head there’s a sense that something almost sinisterly spiritual has overtaken everyone in the room. This is the world of O’Death.
Originally formed in 2003 while the members attended SUNY Purchase, the band – with Jamie on guitar and vocals, Gabe Darling on banjo, David Rogers-Berry on drums, Jesse Newman on bass, and Bob Pycior on fiddle – self-released their first album in 2004. They quickly took to the task of stirring up a wholly original scene of NY musicians with their reverently twisted take on Americana filtered through a wealth of musical influences as divergent as Bill Monroe, Prince, Dock Boggs, Neil Young, The Microphones, and The Misfits via a series of the shows the now defunct Apocalypse Lounge
As they gathered the songs for their second LP, Head Home, the band perfected their mesmerizing and riotous stage presence and took to turning their share of heads across the country, playing over 100 shows in 2006, and gracing the stage alongside acts including Battles, Dr. Dog, Art Brut, The Big Sleep, Langhorne Slim, and Old Time Relijun.
With the re-release of Head Home, the critically acclaimed NY act has created a perfect companion to their spellbinding live show. Part southern gothic spiritual, part moonshine fueled hoedown, these recordings, now presented with new mixes done by the band and Billy Pavone are a timeless addition to the canon of weird old America.
O’Death will be heading out this summer and fall to promote the record in the US and Europe (with City Slang handling the European release). It’s an infectious sound coming your way; unique and wonderfully raw, but with the ability to drop the jaws of even the most jaded music fanatic and leave them testifying to it’s unique power.
For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/odeath
www.ernestjenning.com
it's official: Man Man / New York Magazine Dinner Party is Amazing
Huge thanks to New York Magazine, Insound/Drillteam, and all those who attended, for an amazing time last night.
Photos by Kathryn Yu
read more reports HERE and HERE
Photos by Kathryn Yu
read more reports HERE and HERE
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
STAMEN & PISTILS Kickoff Mini-Tour!
Kickoff Mini Tour in support of new album "Towns" out June 19th on Echelon Productions!
“... richly textured and consistently inventive.-- Washington Post
“...a bizarre group, altogether unconventional and jarring to the ears. But that’s exactly why they’re so interesting. If Animal Collective were remixed or Hood played up the quirk factor a little more, it would sound something like this.”—Treblezine.com
“...With an impressive indie warbling leading the guitar and electronic beats through their journeys, it is in the balance between the beats and more traditional music that Stamen & Pistils find their triumph...”-- Exclaim!
The second record from Stamen & Pistils is a diagonal step into new sonic terrain. On 2005’s End of The Sweet Parade, the band built a sound-scape that was largely reliant upon density for texture, with lyrical themes focused on the follies of youth, as well as passionate reactions to love and loss. But now, the band’s follow-up, Towns, sees them stripping that sonic and lyrical method down to the barest elements. The sound is refined, yet gritty, while maintaining a sparse, but textured, space throughout. Their expanded lineup now includes drummer/percussionist John Masters, whose contributions add to the organic presence in the music’s dialogue between man and machine.
At times, Towns approaches a dark, broken, Southern Gothic aesthetic, but without explicitly pursuing that specific sound. This is reflected more in the moods and lyrical content, albeit in a non-traditional form. This new sound is comprised of beat-up, vintage reedy wind instruments, keys, guitars, and vocals, all recorded and played through futuristic tools. The record time-travels through inhabited spaces — both actual and imagined — exploring an emotional relationship between the metropolis and the more private realms of rural expanses in a unique fashion.
Hailing from Washington D.C., Stamen & Pistils have built a sound atypical of what is commonly expected from this city. Acoustic based folk-pop, filled out with programmed beats and synths form a sort of controlled chaos. Influenced as much by the future as by anachronism, Stamen & Pistils aim to create something new and sincerely their own: a highly textured sonic pallet of fuzzy deconstructed pop. Towns features beautiful backing vocals by Carol Bui and Mikal Evans (Gypsy Eyes, Revival); additional production and mixdown by T.J. Lipple (Aloha); and mastered by Devin Ocampo (Mary Timony, Medications) for Silver Sonya Studios. Including members of Metropolitan, Person, and Radel Esca, the band has shared the stage with such notable acts as The Dirty Projectors, Telepathe, Asobi Seksu, The Blow, and more.
RIYL
Animal Collective, Neutral Milk Hotel, Smog, Karl Blau, Microphones, Why?
“Towns” Tracklisting:
1. Second Hand Valise
2. To That What We Might Belong
3. Quiet County
4. A Death in Ronkonkoma
5. An Elegy for Thee
6. Walk On
7. Hands Washing Water
8. Possessive Nouns
9. At Home Amongst Your
Stamen & Pistils LIVE!
May 22 2007 ISP w/ Deleted Scenes Atlanta, Georgia
May 23 2007 @ Bread & Bagel w/Deleted Scenes Bowling Green, Kentucky
May 24 2007 @ Lisa's Oak St. Lounge w/ Keenan Lawler and Pinatame Louisville, Kentucky
May 27 2007 Ronny's Bar w/The Armor Class and Prairie Primitives Chicago, Illinois
May 28 2007 HOUSE SHOW w/ Kyle Sowashes, Mirandasound, Joe Anderl, Lee Keller Columbus, Ohio
May 30 2007 Black Cat: CD Release Show w/ Carol Bui & Mikal Evans Washington, Washington DC
Jun 2 2007 The Khyber w/ A Study In Her, City State, and Inner System Party Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jun 3 2007 CakeShop - NYC w/ Mossyrock, A Study In Her and Brown Wing Overdrive New York, New York
Jun 9 2007 The Camel w/ Graceland Grave Robbers Richmond, Virginia
Jul 2 2007 DC9 - w/ A Sunny Day In Glasgow, My Teenage Stride and Fimfarum Washington, Washington
For more information, visit:
www.stamenandpistils.com
www.myspace.com/stamenandpistils
www.echelonproductions.com
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
BIRDS OF AVALON Release "Bazaar Bazaar" Today!
Release "Bazaar Bazaar" TODAY on Volcom!
"It sounded like Sloan gone psych. No, it sounded like Led Zeppelin gone pop. No, that's not quite it either. Black Sabbath meets The Beatles? In fact it's none of those, but the truth lies somewhere in the middle of those comparisons.” - Jim Kopeny (Chicagoist, Donewaiting, Tankboy)
"Like Led Zeppelin psychedelic blues, Black Sabbath's bag of riffs and a love for all things rockin' from the '60s and '70s... The band's debut is a freewheelin' ode to most of what's great about rock'n'roll." - Aversion.com
"The North Carolina-based group has released a surprisingly strong debut with Bazaar Bazaar, a chugging pop-rock (with emphasis on the latter) effort in a space where ELO, Wolfmother and Sweet coalesce." - The Houston Press
“Led by a pair of guitarists who seem, by sheer force, to be powering their amplifiers rather than the other way around, Birds of Avalon make thunderous, precise rock with enough proggy smarts to keep you on your toes.” Steve Haruch for the Nashville Scene
“A band capable of delivering three-minute rock bliss and expansive psychedelic workouts with equal chops.” – Salt Lake Tribune
After a 7-year stint in a prison van with the double drum, frenetic rock n’ roll assault known as The Cherry Valence, guitarists Cheetie Kumar and Paul Siler, felt a growing desire to move on. In a final whirlwind year that saw The Cherry Valence touring Europe multiple times, the couple, Kumar and Siler, got married and made the difficult decision to divorce their band.
Returning home hitched and band-less, they began late night clandestine meetings with neighbor and local crooner Craig Tilley (The Weather), where they hatched a plan to form Birds of Avalon and laid the foundation for what was to become the first batch of Birds Of Avalon songs. Still needing to round out their line up they snared their favorite area drummer Scott Nurkin (Dynamite Brothers) and soon added multi-instrumentalist and fanatical 4 tracker, David Mueller on bass.
With the release of their debut full length, Bazaar Bazaar, Birds Of Avalon have developed a unique psychedelic meets progressive sound that yields feelings that transcend the conventions of both. Skillfully channeling elements of a time in Rock since past, while maintaining their place in the lineage of North Carolinian independent rock heritage. Easily traversing an area between raw blues rock and atmospheric pysch-pop. Birds Of Avalon “can tear it up in a three-minute barn-burner or lure you into an extended psychedelic journey, wandering schizophrenically like a Brian May guitar solo,” so says Jens Lekman of Cincinnati City Beat.
Bazaar Bazaar is set for release on May 22nd on Volcom Entertainment and was recorded and produced by Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Let’s Active, Wilco), Greg Elkins and Brian Quast.
Watch Birds of Avalon shred HERE
BIRDS OF AVALON US Tour Dates:
w/The Fucking Champs!
5/23/2007 @ Caledonia Lounge - Athens, GA
5/24/2007 @ The EARL - East Atlanta, GA
5/25/2007 @ Bottletree Cafe - Birmingham, AL
5/26/2007 @ Hi Tone - Memphis, TN
5/27/2007 @ The Duck Room - St. Louis, MO
5/28/2007 @ The Picador - Iowa City, IA
5/29/2007 @ Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
5/30/2007 @ Magic Stick - Detroit, MI
5/31/2007 @ Sneaky Dee's - Toronto, ON
6/01/2007 @ La Sala Rosa - Montreal, QC
6/02/2007 @ Wallingford American Legion Hall - Wallingford, CT
6/03/2007 @ Great Scotts - Allston, MA
6/04/2007 @ The Mercury Lounge - New York, NY
6/05/2007 @ Studio B - Brooklyn, NY
6/06/2007 @ Ottobar - Baltimore, MD
6/07/2007 @ Johnny Brenda's - Philadelphia, PA
6/08/2007 @ Satellite Ballroom - Charlottesville, VA
6/09/2007 @ The Poor House - Raleigh, NC
w/ Ted Leo!
8/05/2007 Covington KY @ Madison Theatre - The Sonic Muse Festival (Ted Leo, The Hold Steady, The Black Angels, and more)
8/06/2007 Nashville TN @ Exit In
8/07/2007 Birmingham AL @ Bottletree Lounge
8/08/2007 Roswell GA @ Whirlyball Atlanta (Chunklet Presents)
8/09/2007 Athens GA @ 40 Watt Club - Athens Popfest
8/10/2007 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
8/11/2007 Towson MD @ Recher Theater
8/12/2007 - SECRET NYC SHOW!!!!
+ more TBA soon!
Stream "Bazaar Bazaar" HERE!
"Bazaar Bazaar" Tracklist:
1. Bicentennial Baby
2. Horse Called Dust
3. Instant Coma
4. Set You Free
5. Wanderlust
6. Taking Trains
7. Superpower
8. Where’s My Blood?
9. Turn Gold
10. Think
11. Lost Pages From the Robot Repair Manual
For more information, visit:
www.birdsofavalon.com
www.myspace.com/birdsofavalon
www.volcoment.com
BERGRAVEN Releases "Dödsvisioner"
Releases "Dödsvisioner" TODAY on Hydra Head!
Bergraven's main man, Pär, turns the traditional blast-and-flay aesthetic of “frostbitten grimness” on its ear and comes at us with sweeping riff dirges, winding cinematic passages, melodic guitar interludes, tortured-yet-vaguely-authoritarian & Germanic vocal overtones and—get this—ambient pedal steel excursions. All of which is enough to make your fucking head spin, especially if you (like us) are down with weirdness that transcends weirdness-merely-for-the-sake-of-beingweird and comes out on the other side looking like a total fucking destroyer. What we’re saying is this: Dödsvisioner is not your typical black metal experience, and Bergraven is not your standard Swedish killing machine.
Bergraven’s Dödsvisioner is Hydra Head's second collaborative work with Sweden's Total Holocaust Records. Rife with complex dirge riffage, bleak and haunting melodies, and traditiondefying rhythms, this black metal record is as torturous as it is wholly engaging. File in line with other black metal visionaries like Deathspell Omega, Ondskapt, and Leviathan. You may not yet have heard of Bergraven, but we guarantee you Dödsvisioner is already of the elite.
Stream "Dödsvisioner" HERE!
Tracklisting for Dödsvisioner
Döende (8:46)
Av saknad släcker jag ljuset (1:56)
Ondkall (8:03)
Känsla av livets nästa skede (7:08)
Den svarta angstens essens (6:54)
Det man med själen... (6:27)
Ekot av bikt (6:38)
Döende (en avslutning) (8:52)
For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/bergraven
www.hydrahead.com
www.hydraheadlines.blogspot.com
also coming soon on Hydra Head:
June 5th: OXBOW "The Narcotic Story"
July 10th: BOTCH "American Nervoso" Re-release
July 24th: DALEK “Deadverse Massive Vol. 1: Dälek Rarities 1999-2006”
Monday, May 21, 2007
Dinner w/ MAN MAN!
To kickoff the festivities, our good friends @ New York Magazine and Drillteam / Insound are throwing a very special Secret Kitchen dinner party w/ MAN MAN hosted by the one and only Isa Chandra Moskowitz (The Post Punk Kitchen)
details include:
date and time: Wednesday, May 23rd - 7:30 - 11pm
location: SECRET! will be announced Tomorrow, May 22nd.
price:
$35 tickets are completely SOLD OUT, however $10 tickets for the MAN MAN live performance and open bar are still available.
*note: if you are press, there is guestlist availability for the MAN MAN live performance and open bar only, if you'd like to be on the guestlist, please respond to this email.
to rsvp for the MAN MAN performance and open bar, visit:
www.nymag.com/nyxny
for more information, visit
www.wearemanman.com
www.myspace.com/wearemanman
www.nymag.com
www.theppk.com
THE FLESH Kickoff West Coast Tour!
Kickoff West Coast Tour Tonight * Announce More European Dates w/ TED LEO and THE GOSSIP!
Stream New Album "Firetower" out now on Gern Blandsten!
“"Dirty, sexy, sinister, and above all, fun." – Filter Magazine
"Part karaoke-ready, part darkwave operatic--big and bold and splashy." - XLR8R Magazine
“A fearless quartet...a New World Order in music that dares its competitors to keep up with the times.” - Blogcritics.com
“The Flesh has produced a distinct sound...both beautifully soulful, funky, and a bit creepy.” - CNN.com
On The Flesh’s new LP Firetower, this “fearless quartet” expands on and experiments with its sound, for an addictive set of alluring art-pop anthems: Switching up the boy/girl vocal attack of their debut, it spotlights the passionate vocals of keyboardist Gabriella Zappia; building beyond the signature “punk-goes-R&B” sound of their early work, it adds driving, melodic punk (a la The Pretenders), sly rhythmic changeups and key changes, searing guitars, and sweeping pop melodies. Tied together with an elliptical narrative thread of illicit love, Firetower’s delightfully diverse 11 songs trace an emotional journey through innocence and towards experience, for the band’s most direct, compelling work to date.
When the band previewed some of the new songs on a short American tour in late '06, CITYBEAT’s Mike Breen wrote: “The evolution of their sound is far from over and crossover success may be imminent,” praising the title track as “classic, dramatic Pop” with “sweeping strings” and “hip hop-ready beats,” and The Cradle, the Brothel, and the Bible School as a “sensual, propulsive, sure-fire hit in the waiting.”
The album opens with the rousing, guitar-driven, one-two punch of The Truant, and The Cradle, the Brothel and the Bible School, whose driving riffs and soaring vocals evoke an innocent yearning for love and escape. Well-placed, off-kilter time signatures give the latter track a glorious lift.
As the album continues, a dark undercurrent begins to emerge beneath the catchy melodies. At once romantic and foreboding, Firetower is a tail of illicit seduction set to a string-laden, pulsing pop track. The driving, dual-vocal anthem World to Come runs together romantic obsession with cult fanaticism, while the escapist In Paradise evokes The Flesh’s early work, with skittering R&B beats and throbbing punk choruses.
Compulsion pairs a Rick James groove with Lynchian atmospherics and sticky pop melodies, while Justice fuses drummer Pete Angevine’s dub beats to doom-laden strings (conducted by bassist Jason Binnick). The driving goth-punk of Loyale leads into the breathless Kelis-meets-Misfits groove of Morning Sickness and the triumphant, avant-garage of Hydra & Hercules. The wistful, unadorned ballad Cross the Ocean brings the record to a poignant close.
History, Releases, and Production Details
The Flesh split their time between Brooklyn and Philadelphia. The band formed in New York City in 2002 after newly relocated Texas native Gabriella Zappia caught New Yorker Nat Halpern and Philadelphians Pete Angevine and Jason Binnick, performing in an early incarnation of the band at a local underground club. They have released 2 EPs and a debut LP, praised in the pages of such publications as SPIN, the Village Voice, and Vice Magazine.
From 2004-2006, THE FLESH toured the United States and Europe, appearing w/ Death from Above 1979, Hot Hot Heat, Man Man, IQU, The Dirtbombs, Oxford Collapse, Suicide, Glass Candy, Xiu Xiu, These Arms Are Snakes, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Dresden Dolls, Tom Tom Club, and many more.
Upon returning home from a European tour in 2006, The Flesh began work on Firetower. Their only plan going into the sessions, Halpern says, was “to do things that would be fresh and new for us.” They worked with co-producer, engineer, and longtime friend Chris Sanchez at Studio Sanchez Dos in Bridgeport, CT, where they experimented with new approaches: Gabriella sang and layered lead vocals, Nat and Pete utilized increased multi-track capacity for guitar and percussion overdubs, and Jason brought up some classical musician friends, leading them through string and horn arrangements on several songs.
Firetower was then mixed by the band’s good friend Joel Hamilton (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Book of Knots, Beauty Pill) at Studio G in Brooklyn NY, and mastered by Fred Kevorkian at Absolute Audio in New York, NY.
The Flesh is:
Pete Angevine: Drums, percussion
Jason Binnick: Bass
Nat Halpern: Guitar, vocals
Gabriella Zappia: Vocals, keyboards
"Firetower" Tracklisting
1. Truant
2. Cradle, The Brothel, And The Bible School
3. Firetower
4. World To Come
5. In Paradise
6. Compulsion
7. Justice
8. Loyale
9. Morning Sickness
10. Hydra And Hercules
11. Cross The Ocean
The Flesh Live!
USA:
May 21 2007 Spaceland Los Angeles, California
May 22 2007 Safari Sam's - ALL AGES! hollywood, California
May 23 2007 Club Moscow @ Boardner's LA, California
May 24 2007 The Uptown Nightclub w/Bellavista (ex-Vue) and the Front Oakland, California
May 25 2007 Beauty Bar San Diego, California
May 26 2007 Beauty Bar w/Andy Rourke (Smiths!) Las Vegas
May 30 2007 Johnny Brenda's w/ Radio 4 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jun 1 2007 Pullout Method Party @ Club Midway New York, New York
Europe
Jun 5 2007 Club Fandango @ Dublin Castle London, London and South East
Jun 6 2007 The Windmill London
Jun 7 2007 The Metro London
Jun 8 2007 Hello Mr Fastlane @ The Macbeth London, London and South East
Jun 9 2007 Club Motherfucker @ Bardens Bourdoir in Dalston London, London and South East
Europe w/ Ted Leo!
Jun 10 2007 Chelsea w/ Ted Leo Wien
Jun 11 2007 Weekender w/ Ted Leo Innsbruck
Jun 12 2007 Feierwerk w/ Ted Leo München
Jun 13 2007 Schocken w/ Ted Leo Stuttgart
Jun 14 2007 K4 w/ Ted Leo Nurnberg
Jun 15 2007 Gebäude 9 w/ Ted Leo Köln
Jun 16 2007 Das Haus w/ Ted Leo Ludwigshafen
Jun 17 2007 Schlachthof w/ Ted Leo Wiesbaden
Jun 18 2007 Magnet w/ Ted Leo Berlin
Jun 19 2007 Molotow w/ Ted Leo Hamburg
Jun 20 2007 Gleis 22 w/ Ted Leo Münster
Jun 24 2007 Kleiner Club Garage w/ Ted Leo Saarbrücken
Jun 25 2007 TBA Paris
w/ The Gossip!
Jun 26 2007 VK w/ The Gossip Bruxelles
Jun 27 2007 Melkweg w/ The Gossip Amsterdam
For more information, visit:
www.putontheflesh.com
www.myspace.com/theflesh
www.gernblandsten.com
Friday, May 18, 2007
OXBOW Announces European Tour w/ ISIS!
Announce European Tour w/ ISIS * Stream "The Narcotic Story" out June 5th on Hydra Head!
Oxbow is expression in its purest form; they bring it in and spew it out—they are the great leveler. Unrepentant fury tempered with unparalleled musicianship. There has never been a band with will to form like this and within that will; there can only be one. Anybody who's been in the midst of an Oxbow performance knows the fear. If you embrace it you will be rewarded, if you deny it you better get your ass out of the room. - Scott Kelly/Neurosis
The malls whisper. The halls whisper. The phone rings. And you are mocked and shamed while walls shiver down like wet sand and it is noticed like you are noticed, which is to say: not at all. And through all of their glass, steel and formless cold you move like it moves, along and alone, and you sleep while standing and you stand while waiting for buses and cars and in clubs at bars.
And then there is change. Crystalline change.
And between spaces and for spaces of the full measure of IT ALL what was big becomes small and what's small becomes animal grand until it's you, and handfuls of you, running into the always firing sun: a love that spells its name along the frame of everything that's broken. For good. For ever. And so it goes that OXBOW'S THE NARCOTIC STORY, co-produced by Grammy-winning producer-mixer JOE CHICCARELLI [FRANK ZAPPA, AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB, THE SHINS, THE RACONTEURS] is the sixth chambered installment of a suicide that plays itself out on the hustings of a substanced and principled addiction to failure while the band plays on.
From their previous time and tutelage with the estimable STEVE ALBINI, seven records, multiple tours of Europe, Asia, and the United States, a documentary film [MUSIC FOR ADULTS], TV appearances [ViVA TV] and collaborations with a raft of luminaries of stage and screen - MARIANNE FAITHFULL, LYDIA LUNCH, JARBOE, KLAUS FLOURIDE, RICHARD KERN-OXBOW and their penchant for plumb lines of catastrophe direct THE NARCOTIC STORY, the first in a triptych [to later include both a film and a soundtrack] of successful [and beautiful] ruin.
PAST stage performances have included outings with CASPAR & PETER BROTZMANN, THE MELVINS, JESU, BIG BUSINESS, JESUS LIZARD, THE BOREDOMS, KING DIAMOND, ORANJ SYMPHONETTE, GENGHIS TRON, YAKUZA, NEUROSIS, ZENI GEVA, SHELLAC, BORIS, THE RUINS, THE UNSANE, CONVERGE, DEERHOOF, SAHARA HOTNIGHTS, ZU, ARAB ON RADAR, SIX FINGERED SATELLITE, PELICAN, and more.
OXBOW [and OXBOW's acoustic duo LOVE'S HOLIDAY] is touring Europe with ISIS from May 24th to June 22, 2007. With additional outings July 2nd in London and July 15th in Birmingham, England for the Supersonic Festival. U.S shows will be announced subsequent to their return.
OXBOW's vocalist EUGENE ROBINSON's book Fight: Or, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You'd Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking [Harper Collins] is scheduled for a fall release and will also be followed by a spoken word tour.
More facts:
There is nothing contrived in the Oxbow oeuvre. And after the blood, sweat, tears, brilliance, and panache of their previous records, Narcotic Story IS an absolute tour de force—the kind of music and narrative (it follows the drugridden tales of Eugene’s alter ego, Frank) that can only be crafted from REAL experience and passion. This record has rampant blues hooks, serpentine vocals, and deep rhythm all over. Strap on. Sink in.
This is the first proper new full length for Oxbow on Hydra Head, following 2006’s audio and visual retrospective Love That’s Last: A Wholly Hypnographic and Disturbing Work Regarding Oxbow. This is a record that solidifies what we’ve referred to in our office as “the most important band in the world”. It’s going to be impossible to look past what is surely one of the last bastions of true music and performance, i.e. fucking art.
The Oxbow performance, as a recent SXSW stand-off reminds us, continues to engage and challenge like no other. Prepare to see Oxbow tour a ton for this new platter. They’re already confirmed as main support for ISIS in Europe.
Words on Oxbow:
I've been cheered by Oxbow's career trajectory. - King Coffee, Butthole Surfers
What is it about Oxbow that strikes fear into the hearts of men, women, and children of all ilk and denomination? The band’s awe-inspiring predatory squall? Their lengthy history of confrontational live shows? Is it the fact that frontman Eugene Robinsonhas electrical tape over his ears and will stomp the tar out of you (gladly) if only you’d ask (or get too close)? Only the members of a band with albums entitled Fuckfest, King of the Jews (featuring a picture of Sammy Davis, Jr. on the cover) and The Balls in the Great Meatgrinder Collection would know. – DECIBEL MAGAZINE
Oxbow's compelling, ugly vision of hardcore inhabits the slow burning afterglow of some unspecified catastrophe... the band's commitment to only the most tormented musical expression produces no end of astonishing twists. - THE WIRE MAGAZINE
Rarely have I been so thoroughly seduced after an adverse reaction, and rarely have I been so driven to get up and thrash around and feel the blood pulse through my veins. - PITCHFORKMEDIA.COM
Eugene Robinson should have a phobia named after him: fear of hulking bodybuilders trained in mixed martial arts fighting with a thing for exhibitionism who front bands that play savage, jet engine-loud pummel-core and also dabble in porn and journalism. – SF WEEKLY
If you haven't been infected with the band's innovative approach to exorcising rhythmic demons, check out the boys' eerie aesthetic on their latest CD – XLR8R MAGAZINE
Known for frontman Eugene Robinson’s penchant for disrobing onstage as much as the band’s bombastic caterwauls of post-grunge dissonance, this album (five years since their last album, An Evil Heat) will loose the dam of confused ill will that’s likely been brewing inside the band – CMJ
A lot of bands bill their records as therapy, but Oxbow bleeds authenticity in a way most hardcore bands can only dream of. The band called Oxbow is a raw nerve in today's bland landscape of supposedly alternative music; you owe it to yourself to descend into their world. – SCENE POINT BLANK
Stream "The Narcotic Story" HERE!
Tracklist for The Narcotic Story:
(intro) (0:42)
Geometry of Business (4:11)
Time Gentlemen Time (4:52)
Down A Stair Backward (5:00)
She's A Find (8:47)
Frankly Frank (4:46)
A Winner Every Time (4:52)
Frank's Frolic (6:24)
It's the Giving, Not the Taking (6:01)
OXBOW European Tour w/ ISIS!
May 24 2007 Oran Mor Glasgow #
May 25 2007 Brickyard Carlisle #
May 27 2007 Bierkeller Bristol #
May 28 2007 Barfly Birmingham #
May 29 2007 Concorde 2 Brighton #
May 30 2007 Le Grand Mix Tourcoing #
May 31 2007 Ancienne Beligique Brussels #
Jun 1 2007 Moloko Geneva #
Jun 2 2007 Sonic Lyons #
Jun 3 2007 L'Embobineuse Marseilles #
Jun 4 2007 Le Rockstore Montpellier *
Jun 5 2007 Transilvania Live Club milan, Milano *
Jun 6 2007 Circolo Degli Artisti Rome, Roma *
Jun 7 2007 New Estragon Bologna, Bologna *
Jun 8 2007 Kilbi Festival Dudingen *
Jun 9 2007 Hirscheneck Basel
Jun 10 2007 La Locomotive Paris *
Jun 11 2007 Paradiso Amsterdam *
Jun 12 2007 Stollwerck Koln *
Jun 13 2007 Postbahnhof Berlin, Berlin *
Jun 14 2007 AN Club Athens *
Jun 16 2007 FLUC Vienna #
Jun 17 2007 Mediapark Ljubljana #
Jun 19 2007 Firlej Wroclaw #
Jun 20 2007 Progresia Warsaw #
Jun 22 2007 Palace Akropolis Prague *
Jul 2 2007 Koko London, London and South East *
Jul 14 2007 Supersonic Festival Birmingham #
Jul 16 2007 The Spitz London #
* = OXBOW (full band)
# = LOVE'S HOLIDAY (OXBOW'S ACOUSTIC DUO)
"We all get exactly what we fucking deserve." - Eugene Robinson
For more information, visit:
www.theoxbow.com
www.myspace.com/theoxbow
www.hydrahead.com
www.hydraheadlines.blogspot.com
ALSO COMING SOON ON HYDRA HEAD:
"Dödsvisioner"
(May 22nd, 2007)
Bergraven's main man, Pär, turns the traditional blast-and-flay aesthetic of “frostbitten grimness” on its ear and comes at us with sweeping riff dirges, winding cinematic passages, melodic guitar interludes, tortured-yet-vaguely-authoritarian & Germanic vocal overtones and—get this—ambient pedal steel excursions. All of which is enough to make your fucking head spin, especially if you (like us) are down with weirdness that transcends weirdness-merely-for-the-sake-of-beingweird and comes out on the other side looking like a total fucking destroyer. What we’re saying is this: Dödsvisioner is not your typical black metal experience, and Bergraven is not your standard Swedish killing machine.
Bergraven’s Dödsvisioner is Hydra Head's second collaborative work with Sweden's Total Holocaust Records. Rife with complex dirge riffage, bleak and haunting melodies, and traditiondefying rhythms, this black metal record is as torturous as it is wholly engaging. File in line with other black metal visionaries like Deathspell Omega, Ondskapt, and Leviathan. You may not yet have heard of Bergraven, but we guarantee you Dödsvisioner is already of the elite.
Stream "Dödsvisioner" HERE!
Tracklisting for Dödsvisioner
Döende (8:46)
Av saknad släcker jag ljuset (1:56)
Ondkall (8:03)
Känsla av livets nästa skede (7:08)
Den svarta angstens essens (6:54)
Det man med själen... (6:27)
Ekot av bikt (6:38)
Döende (en avslutning) (8:52)
For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/bergraven
www.hydrahead.com
www.hydraheadlines.blogspot.com
and:
July 10th: BOTCH "American Nervoso" Re-release
July 24th: DALEK “Deadverse Massive Vol. 1: Dälek Rarities 1999-2006”
Thursday, May 17, 2007
108 Announces New Album on Deathwish!
Announces "A New Beat From A Dead Heart" out June 26th on Deathwish!
If you look up the number 108 on Wikipedia, you'll learn the following:
One hundred [and] eight is an abundant number and a semiperfect number. It is a tetranacci number. It is the hyperfactorial of 3 since it is of the form . 108 is a number that is divisible by the value of its φ function, which is 36. 108 is also divisible by the total number of its divisors (12), hence it is a refactorable number. In normal space, the interior angles of an equilateral pentagon measure 108 degrees each. In Dharmic traditions Hindu deities have 108 names. Recital of these names, often accompanied by counting of 108-beaded Mala, is considered sacred and often done during religious ceremonies. The recital is called namajapa. Siva Nataraja dances his cosmic dance in 108 poses. The number of sins in Tibetan Buddhism is 108. Chinese astrology and Tao philosophy holds that there are 108 sacred stars.
However, if reading carefully, one would notice that 108 is also a California based Hare Krishna, hardcore punk band.
108 makes no mistake about the significance of their namesake. Frontman and lyricist Robert Fish/Rasaraja Dasa was practicing straight edge, vegetariansim and Gaudiya Vaisnavism while skating to punk and hardcore shows in NYC at the age of 13. Guitarist and mighty axe-thrower Vic Dicara (also formerly of legendary hardcore bands Beyond w/ Tom Capone of Bold and Quicksand, and Inside Out fronted by Zach De La Rocha now of Rage Against The Machine) actively practices Hinduism, as does earth-shaking bassist Trivikrama dasa (Tim Cohen), and newest member to the band, Tom Hogan, practices the art of pounding the hell out of his drumkit to round out the true tour de force that is 108.
108 formed in 1992 as a result of the legendary local New York City punk and hardcore scene of the 80’s and early 90’s, and have themselves become legends in their own right. Thanks to a collection of groundbreaking releases, most notably 1995’s “Songs of Separation” (an album whose sheer brutality and technical song-writing and musicianship, especially for it’s time, laid the groundwork for some of the heaviest and most technical bands soon to follow). The album’s landmark song “Deathbed” is still touted by many as one of the greatest hardcore anthems of our time.
Now, after a not so brief hiatus (1996 – 2005), the band is back with their first studio album in over a decade (Equal Vision Records recently issued a 37 song discography of the band’s history to this point), and it sounds like they haven’t missed a beat. "A New Beat From A Dead Heart" was recorded and engineered by Kurt Ballou (Converge) at Godcity Studios. With the opening bass line of "Declarations On A Grave", 108 transports listeners to a new aural plane with it's jarring grit and intensity. Standout track "Three Hundred Liars" is as musically infectious as they come, pulsing and writhing through it's many sonic twists and turns. And elsewhere on the album "Angel Strike Man" soars with a Bad Brains-esque white hot anger while "The Sad Truth" cuts deep with repetition and poignant poetic vocal styling. These, along with the other songs on the album, are all sonically unique and spiritually invigorating. Redefining "heavy" with their controlled chaos, drive to enlighten, and will to inspire through sound, all of these qualities make "A New Beat From A Dead Heart" the kind of rare artistic achievement that few bands could ever attain.
108 will be performing in a city near you as they prepare for a full tour of the United States, but not before they destroy our lucky friends in Europe first (see full tour schedule below).
Stream 108 Player HERE!
Tracklist for "A New Beat From A Dead Heart"
1. Declarations on a Grave
2. Guilt
3. Angel Strike Man
4. Three Hundred Liars
5. Resurrect to Destroy
6. Martyr Complex
7. The Sad Truth
8. My Redemption
9. Bibles + Guns = The American Dream?
10. (IL)logical End
11. We Walk Through Walls
12. Our Kind
13. Repeat
108 Live!
USA
Jun 29 2007 Significant Fest @ 688 Clearwater, Florida
Jun 30 2007 Worcester Youth Center Worcester, Massachusetts
Jul 1 2007 538 Johnson Ave (Brooklyn, NY) Brooklyn, New York
Europe
Jul 3 2007 BeiChezHeinz Hanover
Jul 4 2007 Jubez Karlsruhe
Jul 5 2007 Wolfsburg, Germany @ Jugendhaus Ost Wolfsburg
Jul 6 2007 Leisnig, Germany Leisnig
Jul 7 2007 Muggefug Cottbus
Jul 8 2007 Matrix Bochum
Jul 9 2007 The Engine Room Brighton
Jul 10 2007 Music Box (Jilly's Rock World) Manchester
Jul 11 2007 The Electric Ballroom London
Jul 12 2007 Batofar Paris
Jul 13 2007 Winston Amsetrdam
Jul 14 2007 Dour Fest Dour
Jul 14 2007 Rock Herkfestival Herk-de-Stad
Jul 15 2007 La salle des fetes Imphy/Nevers
Jul 16 2007 Feierwerk, Sunny Red München
Jul 17 2007 Austria TBA Austria TBA
Jul 18 2007 Wein Arena Wein Arena
Jul 19 2007 Poland TBA Poland TBA
Jul 20 2007 Fluff Fest Plzen
Jul 21 2007 Italy TBA Italy TBA
Jul 28 2007 The Alpine (www.myspace.com/soundandfuryfestival) Ventura, California
+ US Tour TBA soon!
For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/108music
www.weare108.com
www.deathwishinc.com
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