Announces First Quarter Release Schedule!
Happy New Year friends! We hope everyone had a fun holiday and are slowly getting settled back into the game w/out too much difficulty.
To make everyone's lives a little easier, we thought we'd supply you w/ a list of just some of the great releases on tap for the first quarter of 2008. We are very humbled and excited to welcome labels such as Anticon, Fat Cat, and Graveface to the family, as well as amazing new releases from Hydra Head, Jade Tree, Volcom, Ferret, Eyeball, Suicide Squeeze, Impose, Ernest Jenning, and much much more. More surprises soon!
January:
ASG
"Win Us Over"
(Volcom 1.22.08)
ASG are the brutal balls-to-the-wall four-piece from North Carolina whose furious blend of stoner rock is reminiscent to that of Queens of the Stone Age, cKy, High on Fire, and others. Already set for a ton of critical acclaim, these dudes have just announced a massive US tour w/ Fu Manchu. Sick.
Myspace // ASG Youtube Page // Volcom Artist Page
FOXY SHAZAM
"Introducing"
(New Weathermen / Ferret 1.22.08)
Another sick release already set for mountainous heaps of press support is that from a band who has been destroying faces coast to coast thanks to their endless touring and MONSTROUS live show. Here's a taste of what you can expect live. These guys are going to be larger than large. Just wait 'til you hear some of the fun they will be announcing soon ;)
Full album stream
user: introducing / pass: F0XYC1NC1
Myspace
EUGENE ROBINSON
“Fight: Or, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You'd Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking” 2xCD
*Audio version of the book released November 07 on Harper Collins
(Hydra Head 1.22.08)
In November, legendary book publishers Harper Collins released a book by our friend Eugene Robinson, front-man of the tortured jazz-rock ensemble and "best art-rock band in the world" (Vice Magazine), OXBOW. What is this book about? Fighting. Eugene Robinson, aside from being one of the greatest and most intimidating singers of our generation, is also an established and professional ultimate fighter. That's right, he's huge like that for a reason, and that reason is, he enjoys kicking people's asses. Man that's awesome. For Eugene it all started at the age of 17 w/ a few simple words. "What the fuck are you looking at?" - he was then attacked by three men w/ wrenches which left Robinson bloodied and hospitalized. Following a few years of mixed martial arts training, a 265 pound animal emerged. Stories of fighting two-and three-dudes at once, choking people out, stomping on heads, being begged to stop, getting the cops called on him, and countless other amazing stories, lead us through Robinson's training history and countless adventures (Fight Club?!) of becoming a professional fighter. Genius.
Jan 13 2008 Club Midway New York, New York
Jan 14 2008 Borders Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 14 2008 The Church Boston, Massachusettes
Jan 20 2008 Borders-Uptown Dallas, Texas
Jan 21 2008 MonkeyWrench Books Austin, Texas
Jan 21 2008 Emo’s Lounge Austin, Texas
Jan 22 2008 Beat Book & Co Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Jan 24 2008 Modified Arts Phoenix, Arizona
Mar 11 2008 12 Galaxies San Francisco, California
Website // Decibel interviews Eugene Robinson
TEAM ROBESPIERRE
"Everything's Perfect"
(Impose 1.22.08)
Team Robespierre is the party-punk outfit from Brooklyn who’s recent 2007 shows w/ Yeasayer, Japanther, VHS or Beta, Dan Deacon, Mates of State, and more, made the kids GO OFF! The band’s debut release, “Everything’s Perfect” explodes w/ party atmosphere debauchery and punk rock anthems for the L train punx to go nuts to.
Myspace // Team Robespierre Live
JETTIE
"Kites For Charity"
(Eyeball 1.22.08)
Jettie hail from Sweden and create soaring, atmospheric, and epic rock reminiscent to Mineral and early R.E.M. Absolutely breath-taking and gorgeously powerful. Lookout for a trip to the states in February!
Myspace // Full album stream
MOUNTAIN HIGH
"Wicked Wanderer"
(Hot Dog City 1.22.08)
The five men of Mtn. High are taking back the streets with their wickedly awesome double drumming; this sometimes turns to triple drumming, quad-guitars, multi-bass, vocals, keys, they got it all. These dudes are punk rock and don't give a fuck about anything. Wild, untamed savagery. Try and check 'em on the live tip, they don't care, but they will most definitely crush a slice of pizza if you offer.
Myspace
THE BREATHING PROCESS “In Waking: Divinity”
THE RED DEATH "Godmakers"
(Siege of Amida 1.22.08)
The Breathing Processs are the first in a set of bands ready to launch a flank attack from left field on the world of loud music. Composed of a rabid hybrid of guttural growls mixed in with icy synth vapors, these New England lads have finally discovered a secret recipe which sees to it that power metal isn't just for wusses anymore. The Red Death is bracing for their sophomore release Godmakers (January 22nd) following much buzz among critics in 2007. With the dual riff goblin spawned by guitarists Aaron Conti and Mark Kelley placed alongside the fire-breathing voice of singer Paul Hamblin, The Red Death have created what is quite possibly the most powerful beast sired from a brutal tryst of speed metal and serrated hardcore.
Full album stream
The Breathing Process: user: soarindustry pass: F091S1EGEO8
The Red Death user: soarindustry pass: F092AM1DAO8
Breathing Process Myspace // Red Death Myspace
XASTHUR
"A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors"
(Hydra Head 1.29.08)
Recorded in 2000/01 and initially issued on a mere 150 CD-Rs, A Gate Through
Bloodstained Mirrors is a crucial transitional release in Xasthur’s blackened oeuvre, the turning point at which mastermind Malefic was thrust into the unenviable (but ultimately more satisfying) position of running Xasthur as a one-man operation for the first time. As such, A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors is the accursed genesis
of Xasthur as you know it/him today: cold, black and solitary, the sequestered
misanthrope with a heart full of hate and no “band members” to impair his bleak and
terrifying visions. In 2004, a more instrumental version of the album was released on
cassette and CD by Sweden’s Total Holocaust Records, this version eventually
appeared on vinyl in a limited edition of 500 from France’s Debemur Morti Productions. Hydra Head’s deluxe 2xCD package, the last-ever edition of A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors, includes that definitive version of the album in all its miserable mono-aural glory, complete with Burzum (“Black Spell Of Destruction”) and Mütiilation (“Eternal Empire Of Majesty Death”) covers and a six-track bonus disc of unreleased material from the same era. It’s impressive, we know—but let’s just say we’re doing our part to keep hate alive.
Website // Metal-Observser review
February:
OCRILIM
"Annwn"
(Hydra Head 2.5.08)
There’s a man that goes by the name Mick Barr, he's a man of many talents and many masks, and a master of them all. Mr. Barr has performed in a number of groups, as well as as a solo artist under such banners as Orthrelm, Octis, Crom Tech, The Flying Luttenbachers, Zach Hill & Mick Barr, and most pertinently Ocrilim. The Wikipedia entry on Mr. Barr marks him as an "american avant-garde metal guitarist", and while this may not be entirely accurate, it's probably as close as anyone will come to paraphrasing the genre defying compositions made by Barr and his occasional collaborators. It can be said without hesitation that the content of "Annwn" (comprised entirely of pieces for multiple electric guitars), is his crowning achievement, and a considerable achievement in the larger scope of modern music. Though Mr. Barr may be in some way categorized as a metal guitarist, this album has as much to do with modern classical composition as it does with anything associated with the term "heavy metal". Daunting as that may sound to some, "Annwn" is an album that will appeal to anyone with ears and a true sense of musical adventure.
Myspace
SLEEP STATION
"The Pride of Chester James"
(Eyeball 2.5.08)
Sleep Station is the alter-ego of one David Debiak, a man who is notorious for writing some of the most groundbreaking concept albums of our generation. Over the past seven years he's released albums about a robotics engineer falling in love with a robot he created, two astronauts being abandoned by ground control and left to die in outer space, the love story of Dr. Carl Von Cosel (a famous necrophiliac who fell in love with his deceased patient, Elena Hoyos), and a first person drama taking place in World War II. Also the creative force behind New London Fire's epic I Sing The Body Holographic in 2006, Debiak has now turned his focus back on Sleep Station with The Pride of Chester James.
Myspace // Eyeball Records Artist Page
PAINT IT BLACK
"New Lexicon"
(Jade Tree 2.19.08)
An album that front-man Dan Yemin proclaims "will bring punk rock back to year zero" - "New Lexicon" is a devastating, apocalyptic tour de force put together w/ the help of producer masterminds J Robbins, and avant-hiphop demi-gods, Dälek. Yemin says he hasn’t been this excited about a recording of his own since Lifetime’s landmark Hello Bastards. We say, it's the best punk rock album of the last decade. US Tourdates w/ Strike Anywhere and Riverboat Gamblers this March just announced!
Myspace // Website // Pastepunk interview
SON LUX
“At War with Walls and Mazes”
(Anticon 2.19.08)
Meet a man driven wildly by music. A man classically trained, but rewired with his own two hands. A frequent collaborator, occasional curator and consummate “man behind the curtain” now emerging at the front of something yet unnamed. Somewhere between the concert hall and the club you’ll find his haunting liquid soundscapes, born of hip-hop composition, o’er-strung with chant, hinting at some divine unreachable. Meet Son Lux. Son Lux is set to release his debut album on Anticon, and although new on the scene, his work (compositions) can already be found on remixed Castanets and Beirut tracks and collaborations w/ My Brightest Diamond. The support of his debut album will also see Son Lux performing live w/ Anticon contemporaries, Why?. Get ready for a beautifully crafted, tricked out record that only one label knows how to bring us.
Myspace // MTV interviews Son Lux
HAYAINO DAISUKI
"Headbanger’s Karaoke Club Dangerous Fire"
(Hydra Head 2.19.08)
Hayaino Daisuki’s approach to frantic grind is far more sugar high than blood
thirsty. This isn’t to say that this 4-song EP is pop-chart ready and already up for
hip-hop remixes, for there is plenty of metal up your ass from a band who’s name
translates to simply, “I Love Speed”. They do indeed. Here to provide you inhuman
speed levels are Takafumi Matsubara (Mortalized) on the ax, Eric Schnee on the drums, and screaming all over the surprisingly catchy madness is none other
than speed and all things Sci-Fi obsessive Jon Chang of Discordance Axis fame.
So if you have been keeping up with the upcoming releases Hydra Head are about to plant into your ears in ’08, Hayaino Daisuki’s “Headbanger’s
Karaoke Club Dangerous Fire” is the second Jon Chang affiliated project to write a blog about along with the upcoming Gridlink release. Hayaino Daisuki’s introductory release may be small, but it is in no shortage of what everyone has come to expect from a Jon Chang project, not to mention Fast, Fast, Fast, and Fast. So get out your Discordance Axis T-shirts and grow out your hair, because we ain’t got a speed limit.
Website
5IVE
"Hesperus"
(Tortuga 2.19.08)
Hesperus, 5ive’s forthcoming full-length LP, prods and provokes the
listener to ascend through a modulated mind muddle, in attempts to
exhume the brimming melodic crest slumbering beneath a cyclic miasma
of transformative sound. Ben Carr (Guitars) and Charlie Harrold (Drums)
after seven years of relative anonymity, have graced us again with both
their presence and a picture perfect record, which serves as a frame worthy
summation of the band’s past impressions and conceptual progression.
Produced by Grammy nominee Andrew Schneider (Cave In, Daughters,
Scissorfight), these seven tracks will send you silently swaying into a
somnambulant state and then abandon you still stirring and stark naked in
a roomful of uncomfortable silence. 5ive, longstanding purveyor of the
recently popularized metallic twosome, has, with Hesperus,generated a
centripetal force to be reckoned with.
Myspace
PEGASUSES-XL
"The Antiphon"
(Ernest Jenning 2.26.08)
Mark Dale of Disband, Jeff Tobias of We Versus the Shark and Dark Meat, Joel Hatstat of Cinemechanica and Jeff Rosenstock of the Arrogant Sons of Bitches and Bomb the Music Industry! have come together as Pegasuses-XL and made a new record, entitled the Antiphon. It comes on the heels of three EPs on Quote Unquote Records, and is some sort of mix of Trans Am, Devo, Vangelis and Brainiac? Or maybe its just 4 dudes sussing it out with a bunch of keyboards, books, bikes, drugs and coffee. A total tweaker epic.
Myspace // Ernest Jenning Artist Page
EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT “Third Transmition” POWER PILL FIST “KOGMAIVOG”
(Graveface 2.26.08)
I'm not sure just how well we can put this into words, but we are really, really excited to work w/ Graveface Records. You probably know them as the label who recently released some amazing albums from the likes of Black Moth Super Rainbow, The Appleseed Cast, and The Octopus Project, but their upcoming roster of talented artists is frankly mind-blowing. Here, Experimental Aircraft's female fronted, lush pop landscapes, bring to mind such groundbreaking artists as My Bloody Valentine, All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors, or The Jesus and Mary Chain. Their sound is beautiful and atmospheric, soothing and etherreal. Power Pill Fist, on the other hand, describe their sound as "reel-to-reel doom for fucked up little kids on an atari 2600." Twisted, strange, and fascinating, Power Pill Fist (also featuring Ken Fec of Black Moth Super Rainbow) is eerily reminiscent to something you'd hear super late night at the club, tweaked out of your skull, wondering if you should take home that new dancing partner of yours. Fans of Mixel Pixel, Yip-Yip, and White Mice take note, this will move you.
Experimental Aircraft Myspace // Power Pill Fist Myspace // Graveface Records
March:
BAUMER
"Were It Not For You"
(Eyeball 3.4.08)
Exploding w/ raw fury and bombastic production, Baumer’s upcoming follow-up to 2005’s Come On Feel It is an over-the-top display of one of the best rock bands making music today. Radio friendly? Sure, if Muse, The Faint, and New Order are radio friendly. Were it Not For You is an amazing album, perfect for driving fast and feeling awesome. A contender for top 10 2008 releases w/ ease. On tour now - March, do not miss this!
Myspace // Eyeball Records Artist Page
SILJE NES
“Ames Room”
(Fat Cat 3.11.08)
We're not sure what to say, but yet again we are humbled and happy to welcome an amazing new client to the Solid PR roster. We know you know them. They brought you Sigur Rós, Animal Collective, Múm, Twilight Sad, Vashti Bunyan, and No Age, and they command respect the world over as one of the most important record labels in independent music. They are Fat Cat Records, and now, they bring us a beautifully epic album from Norway's Silje Nes. Fragile, female-fronted minimalist-glitch-pop from Norway is what we have here. Undoubtedly inspired from her surrounding's icy Nordic nights, "Ames Room" recalls a sound made famous by the Postal Service and One AM Radio. Enjoy this anytime, anywhere.
Myspace // Fat Cat Records Artist Page
THE BLACK HOLLIES
"Casting Shadows"
(Ernest Jenning 3.11.08 - NEW RELEASE DATE!!!!)
Ahh, garage rock the way it was intended to be: badass, rockin, and tripped (way) out. Garnering massive accolades over their East Coast adventures, and unforgettable performances at both SXSW and CMJ, as well as hometown freakouts alongside everyone from Joan Jett, Ted Leo, The Spinto Band, The Fleshtones, Blue Cheer, and The Woggles, The Black Hollies continue to win over any crowd with their mix of skill and sincerity. They'll be on the road throughout 2008 and you can rest assured that if you catch them once, it definitely won't be the last time.
Myspace // Ernest Jenning Artist Page
CAVITY
Laid Insignificant
(Hydra Head 3.18.08)
Extracted from the dank and murky swamps of south Florida, Laid Insignificant is brought forth anew, resplendent in all it's misanthropic glory. With remastered audio and added tracks from the original session, herein is a
document of paroxysm of the aural variety, sounding just as virile and ornery
as it did the day it was birthed. While the climate of any Cavity album could
be considered hostile, Laid Insignificant has proven to be the most unhinged and ferocious occupant in the Cavitystable in the 10 years subsequent to it's original release. While retaining the foundational elements of Sabbathian
swagger upon which their reputation was built, this album proved Cavity had
more to offer in terms of compositional prowess. With added emphasis on
faster tempos, layered chordal discordance, and an overall air of frantic
desperation, this may stand if not as Cavity's best album, then certainly as
their most furious and scathing.
Website
SOLTERO
"You're No Dream"
(La Société Expéditionnaire 3.25.08)
Soltero is the musical project of songwriter Tim Howard. A sort-of international man of mystery who sometimes resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Howard creates charming and self deprecating indie folk pop on this, his fifth release. Recorded as an 8-track home recording, You're No Dream yields surprisingly high-fidelity results,sounds as good as any of his previous studio albums, and serves as yet another hidden crystal release from La Société imprint.
Myspace // La Société Expéditionnaire
DATURAH
“Reverie”
(Graveface 3.25.08)
Remember what we were saying before about Graveface Records? Well here's another for you: Daturah hail from Frankfurt, Germany, and play that heavy instrumental rock like Isis, Explosions in the Sky, The Six Parts Seven, and Mogwai; which is to say, they rock the instrumental sound hard, and their style is trance-inducing, and of course, pummeling.
Myspace // Graveface Records Artist Page
Also coming soon, new albums from TORCHE, KAYO DOT, GRIDLINK, RUSSIAN CIRCLES, THE VSS, MOON & MOON, A GIRL A GUN A GHOST, BLAKE/E/E/E and more!
