Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Hella release new album, premiere song on RollingStone.com, stream entire disc via Spinner


"A return to what Hella does best: breakneck instrumentals and raw, inhuman-sounding musicianship. A-" -- The Onion AV Club

"Hella has never put out an album that's as flat-out fun to listen to as this one." -- Prefix

"Executed with so much precision that it shows the past few years of Hill and Seim getting their hands into other outlets has rubbed off into a fuller sounding spectrum." -- Absolute Punk


Legendary experimentalist duo Hella release their fifth album, Tripper today via Sargent House. In celebration of the band's first release in over 4 years, RollingStone.com premieres a new song today, titled "Self Checkout". Grab the MP3 HERE

Meanwhile all this week, Spinner.com offers a full album stream HERE.

Hella has long been celebrated for bringing a rigorous and artful musical complexity to the punk aesthetic. Now, after a four year hiatus, the legendary Sacramento duo founded in 2001 by drummer Zach Hill and guitarist Spencer Seim has returned with their fifth album, Tripper. As the title suggests, it's a wild ride that finds Hella in classic frenetic anthemic form.

The sonic experimentalists have stripped the band lineup back down to the original 2-piece, returning to the streamlined aggression of their earlier work while expanding the barriers of their sound. Tripper is Hella's most "focused" album to date -- and, by focused, we mean in a kaleidoscopic way. While each of the multiple riffs and movements of every song have a clearly defined mood and feel, the way that Hill and Seim breeze between time signatures and parts is like watching the scenery unfold within a kaleidoscope. It's entrancing in its beauty and beguiling in its complexity. 

Hella's previous album, There's No 666 In Outer Space (Ipecac Recordings) saw the band expanded to a 5-piece, with lead vocals, bass and two guitars. But, it's the well defined space in-between the duo's impenetrable foundation of drums and guitar that Hella revisits on Tripper with a vigor. Seim's guitar sounds like a one man orchestra of six-string flagellation while Hill's eminently esoteric playing style and innovative collection of repurposed drum equipment redefines the pair's ground-shaking impact. 

Hella formed in 2001 when teenage friends Seim and Hill abandoned a previous full band project to start anew. Their name was derived from Bay Area slang meaning "really", "excessively" or more literally, "hell of." Quite fittingly, the duo proved to be "hella" talented and innovative. Early albums and EPs on Kill Rock Stars offshoot 5 Rue Christine and Suicide Squeeze, as well as incessant touring saw the band develop a massive following in underground DIY circles for their incendiary live shows. After later experiments with an expanded lineup, Hella took a break from recording and performing to focus on myriad other projects before reconvening in 2011. 

Tripper is available everywhere on CD, LP and Download today, August 30th, 2011 via Sargent House.




Artist: Hella 
Album: Tripper
Label: Sargent House
Release Date: August 30th, 2011  

01. Headless (MP3)
02. Self Checkout (MP3)
03. Long Hair 
04. Yubacore (MP3)
05. Netgear 
06. Kid Life Crisis 
07. On The Record  
08. Furthest  
09. Psycho Bro  
10. Osaka 












Hi-res photos, cover art, bio and more:


On the Web:

Friday, August 26, 2011

The Nocturnes (feat. Emma Rundle of Red Sparowes) premiere MP3 via RCRD LBL, launch West Coast tour dates

Click image above to watch video

The Nocturnes -- the band led by Red Sparowes guitarist Emma Ruth Rundle -- premiere a new song today from their forthcoming second album, Aokigahara. RCRD LBL hosts the MP3 for the track, "Love" which is available to stream/download HERE.

The band launches a short West Coast tour today, beginning with tonight's show in L.A. at Pehrspace. Please see all dates below. The entire album is available beginning today for streaming and download via The Nocturnes' Bandcamp page.

Consequence of Sound recently debuted the video for the song "The Road", an icy, trippy look at some kind of secret society ritual. Watch it HERE

The Nocturnes are the folkgaze brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Emma Ruth Rundle. While the band began as a duo in 2007 and built a cult following prior to her joining Red Sparowes in 2009, Aokigahara is nonetheless a dramatic rebirth for The Nocturnes. Featuring a revamped quartet lineup, the 8-song album ventures into multiple textures of style and sound that create a lush haze of melody that blends hints of folk, shoegaze, chamber pop, goth and post-rock.

Rundle is joined on this recording by guitarist/vocalist Julian Rifkin, multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Paris Patt and drummer Dave Clifford (also of Red Sparowes). Aokigahara was written collectively, combining the different styles and personalities of the players. Some of the songs were built from Rundle's unrecorded older songs, others were written by Rifkin ("Craving", "Hello Neighbor") and others penned as a group ("Aokigahara", "The Road"). The album takes a more ethereal approach -- leaving behind the more direct vocal and rock-leaning song structures of the band's earlier releases -- for a new sound awash with reverb, drifting voices and harmonies, atmospheric guitars, Twin Peaks-esque bass lines and orchestral style drumming.

As a duo featuring Rundle and drummer Daniel Yasmin, The Nocturnes released their debut Wellington EP in January 2008 while based in New Zealand. Upon returning to Los Angeles, the duo issued the full length A Year of Spring the following year. In this time, Rundle formed a close musical connection with Patt, who contributed bass guitar to the debut album. The Live on KXLU EP released in 2010 shows hints of what was to come, as Rundle was joined by Rifkin for the drum-less session when Yasmin was unable to play. He left the band shortly thereafter, relocating to the Bay Area.

In 2010 the newly solidified quartet recorded a set of songs in Venice, CA in what was once a studio space used by the Beach Boys. In a way, you can almost hear the famous Wilson clan's melancholic harmonies and saturated Wall of Sound within the somber, pliant and thoroughly soaring songs of Aokigahara. The album is available August 30th on LP, CD and Download. 

THE NOCTURNES LIVE:
08/26  Los Angeles, CA @ Pehrspace
08/27  San Diego, CA @ Tincan Alehouse
08/28  Oakland, CA @ Merchant's Saloon
08/29  San Francisco, CA @ TBA
09/01  Portland, OR @ Saratoga
09/03  Seattle, WA @ Highline
09/30  Los Angeles, CA @ The Central (LA Record + LA Underground present) 



Artist: The Nocturnes
Album: Aokigahara  (ALBUM STREAM)
Label: Errant Child Records
Release Date: August 30th, 2011

01. Aokigahara
02. London Town
03. Love (MP3)
04. The Cradle
05. The Road (MP3) (VIDEO)
06. Hello Neighbor
07. Craving
08. Grandmother Make a Steeple











On the Web:


Thursday, August 25, 2011

Italian electropop duo M+A premiere MP3 on RCRD LBL, new album in November 

Click image above to watch video


Italian duo M+A premiere the first track from their forthcoming album, Things.Yes today courtesy of RCRD LBL. The song, "Liko Lene Lisa" is a delicate and beautiful dose of electro-acoustic pop infused with dubstep elements evoking comparisons to the Postal Service, Panda Bear, Phoenix, Tunng, et al. The MP3 is available to stream/download HERE

A short video sampling of another album track, "Bergen.jpg" is available HERE

M+A is Michele Ducci,19, (vocals, instruments) and Alessandro Degli Angioli, 22, (instruments) of Forli, Italy. Their new 10-song album of inventive, spirited electronic pop will be released worldwide on November 8th via Monotreme Records on CD/LP/Download. 

In their own words:

"We listen to music to understand what we do, and we do music to understand what we listen to. We record everything at home, in a mansard to be more precise. The 'home-made' policy corresponds to a definite aesthetics, particularly with regard to a pop range. It's like a scene from a thriller movie where, at the very crucial moment, there's a shot of the director and his assistants while setting up the play set. So yes, we do make pop, but with the unpretentious intention to thrill. Our band is made up by two components, not merged in a unique identity, but rather coexisting. Sticking to the common sense of the word, we never really felt like a group. With its naivety and brutality, M+A plainly represents our initials just to make the whole thing more tangible and real. It's two people moving forward parallel one another, though with countless meeting points."

Artist: M+A
Album: Things.Yes
Label: Monotreme Records
Release Date: November 8th, 2011 
01. Yeloww
02. Yes.pop  
03. Liko Lene Lisa  (MP3)
04. Sommer 
05. Bam  
06. BlĂ„ 
07. (we)  
08. Bergen.jpg  
09.  Adidas  
10. Ly



On the Web:

M+A are available for interviews. For more information, please contact Dave Clifford at dave@usthemgroup.com

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Fang Island recording second album, announce East Coast tour dates to begin in September



"Honest and life-affirming and infectious, and it's that rare concentration of directness and simplicity that makes Fang Island so uniquely and wonderfully inclusive." Best New Music -- Pitchfork 

"Fang Island are simply killer fun, a proper gang who sing collectively and pummel their guitars without recourse to errant soloing." Four Stars -- MOJO


Perpetually positive guitar heroes Fang Island are currently in the studio recording the followup to last year's wildly popular self-titled debut. Small hints of the recording process have been popping up on the band's Twitter account, and we hope to have more samples of the work in progress in the near future. The band will take a short break from recording to hit the road in September for a series of East Coast shows, some of which will be with The Joy Formidable. Please see below for complete dates.  

Fang Island's debut album hit shelves on February 23rd, 2010 via Sargent House amid a wealth of praise from press, with many writers declaring it one of the Best of 2010, just two months into the new year. Since the album's release, the band has spent most of the past year on the road, including tours with The Flaming Lips, Stone Temple Pilots, Matt & Kim, et al.. Check out MP3s for two tracks from the band's first album, "Daisy" (MP3 HERE) and "Life Coach" (MP3 HERE). Or, stream the entire album HERE.
.  
FANG ISLAND LIVE  
09/10 - Pawtucket, RI @ Machines With Magnets 
09/21 - Washington DC @ Red Palace
09/23 - Durham, NC @ Tremont Music Hall
09/24 - Atlanta, GA @ The Drunken Unicorn
09/25 - Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum #
09/26 - West Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern #
09/28 - Carborro, NC @ Cat's Cradle #
09/29 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall #
09/30 - Rochester, NY @ Club at Water Street Music Hall #
10/05 - Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands  

# w/ The Joy Formidable    

Artist: Fang Island
Album: Limited Edition 7"
Label: Sargent House
Release Date: November 1st, 2010

01. Sideswiper
02. Dreamboys Club (DJ Phil Screwcuru remix)
03. Patterns On The Wall (feat. Andrew W.K.) (MP3)
04. Sidepiper (DJ Phil Screwcuru remix)







Artist: Fang Island
Album: Fang Island
Label: Sargent House
Release Date: February 23, 2010

01. Dreams of Dreams
02. Careful Crossers (VIDEO)
03. Daisy (MP3) (VIDEO)
04. Life Coach (MP3) (VIDEO)
05. Sideswiper
06. The Illinois
07. Treeton
08. Davey Crockett
09. Welcome Wagon
10. Dorian

Hi-Res photos, cover art and bio:

On the Web: 

Members of Fang Island are available for interviews. For more information, please contact Dave Clifford at dave@usthemgroup.com

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Empty Space Orchestra premiere new video, release free Dark Matters EP

Click image above to watch video 

"They rock in an In the Court of the Crimson King-era King Crimson kind of way but with a sound all their own. These guys (and gal) have a kind of talent rarely seen outside of jam-band/festival circles." -- SSG Music

"Part jazz, part The Mars Volta bizarro world, part stoner/spacey rock, part post-rock, Empty Space Orchestra is a band that don't want to pigeonhole themselves into anything, so instead they encompass everything -- and they do that on display in quite a loud fashion." -- Redefine Magazine

"This band could be considered The Mars Volta of their ilk. They mesh and meld everything so well that it ends up sounding like something special in and of itself." -- Delusions of Adequacy  


Empty Space Orchestra premiere a new video today performed live in-studio courtesy of TerroreyesTV. Watch video HERE. The clip, directed by Sean Stout features the virtuoso quintet performing a song from their new Dark Matters EP. The 2-song, 18-minute digital single is released today for FREE download via Bandcamp.  

The group will be playing shows in the Pacific Northwest this Fall. Please see complete dates below.

Empty Space Orchestra unleashed the impressive instrumental heft of its new Robert Cheek (Deftones, Tera Melos) engineered, Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Pearl Jam, ISIS) mixed self-titled album back in May 2011.  

ALARM Press premiered an MP3 from the album, "Exit Strategy" which is available HERE. Check out additional album tracks, "Intergalactic Battle Cruiser" HERE and "El Viento" HERE.  

Their recently released self-titled album is a hook-laden marriage of heft and harmony that veers far away from the navel-gazing jamming often associated with music of such explorative origins. Elements of The Mars Volta's most frenetic moments merge with soaring post-rock of Russian Circles, as well as hints of King Crimson, Deftones, Dub Trio and lilting chamber pop all colliding in brilliant synergy from one song to the next.

The group of well-trained musicians is anchored by the stunning power and precision of drummer Lindsey Elias -- clearly a musician soon to hold rank amongst her most celebrated male counterparts. Guitarist Shane Thomas and bassist Patrick Pearsall provide a balance of head-bobbing riffs interspersed with tasteful and inventive lines that weave like musical narrative throughout. Meanwhile, multi-instrumentalists Keith O'Dell (keyboards, piano, lap steel) and Graham Jacobs (saxophone, flute, synths) add myriad melodic layers and cinematic moods that often deftly counterbalance heavy riffs with glissando piano melodies and swaggering horns.


EMPTY SPACE ORCHESTRA LIVE:
09/10    Portland, OR @ Widmer Brothers Brewing Company 
09/24    Bend, OR @ Century Center - Bend Roots Festival 
10/14    Missoula, MT @ The Badlander     
10/31    Bend, OR @ Century Center  



Artist: Empty Space Orchestra
Album: Dark Matters EP  (FREE DOWNLOAD)
Label: Empty Space Unlimited
Release Date: August 23rd, 2011

01. New Breed of Skank (VIDEO)
02. Sad Panda



Artist: Empty Space Orchestra
Album: Empty Space Orchestra
Label: Empty Space Unlimited
Release Date: May 10th, 2011

01. Brainjar (VIDEO)
02. Exit Strategy (MP3) (VIDEO)
03. Intergalactic Battle Cruiser (MP3) (STREAM)
04. El Viento MP3) (STREAM) (VIDEO)
05. Get Some
06. Tiger Puss
07. Tennessee Red
08. The Hangar
09. Clouds



On the Web:

Hi-res photos, cover art and bio:



Members of Empty Space Orchestra are available for interviews. For more information, please contact Dave Clifford at dave@usthemgroup.com




Friday, August 19, 2011

Johnny O'Donnell & Sacramento premiere video, announce West Coast tour

Click image above to watch video

"O'Donnell's compositions have a woozy barroom sagacity, and surprising arrangements to boot." -- Buzzbands LA

"Johnny O'Donnell is, perhaps, one of the few musicians around today who can say he understands what Brian Wilson was doing on Pet Sounds, and what he was trying to do on Smile, without having you snicker behind his back." -- Neotomic


Wildly inventive noir-pop group Johnny O'Donnell and Sacramento premiere their latest video today via Consequence of Sound. The clip, "Loose Cannons" pays homage to the dark, often seedy glamor of Hollywood's Golden Era. The song is culled from their double-EP release Masquerade / Korean Debutante on L.A.'s White Noise Records. Watch the video HERE

The quartet launches West Coast tour dates in early September. Please see details below.  

O'Donnell writes songs as cleverly restless as himself. Having leapt in recent years from rural Louisiana to Seattle to South Korea to currently settling in Los Angeles, O'Donnell pens brilliantly skewed classic pop songs that likewise shift and morph from one style and sound to the next. His talents as a composer and storyteller echo those of legends like Paul McCartney, Harry Nilsson and Elliott Smith

Check out MP3s for "The Gothic Singer" HERE and "Supermarket Nightmare" HERE. And, in support of their upcoming tour dates, O'Donnell is offering FREE downloads of back catalog albums -- one full album each week for the next four weeks available at his Bandcamp page.  

O'Donnell is the former guitarist in avant pop band Holy Ghost Revival. After that band's breakup, he moved to Seoul, South Korea, where he penned songs for his first EP, Korean Debutante. Later moving to the City of Angels, he mentored with Van Dyke Parks prior to assembling his band, Sacramento and completing a second EP, Masquerade. The double-EP assembles all nine songs into a single LP/digital format.


JOHNNY O'DONNELL & SACRAMENTO LIVE:
09/03  Encinitas, CA @ 1st Street Bar (w/ John Carpenter)
09/05  Long Beach, CA @ The Rocketboat (Raw  Geronimo) 
09/07  San Francisco, CA @ The Knockout (Mission Creek Music Festival) 
09/08  Portland, OR @ Kelly's Olympian 
09/09  Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern  
09/23  Los Angeles, CA @ Taix  



Artist: Johnny O'Donnell & Sacramento
Album: Masquerade / Korean Debutante (STREAM)
Label: White Noise 
Release Date: June 28th, 2011

01. The Gothic Singer (MP3) (VIDEO)
02. Loose Cannons (VIDEO)
03. The Griffin Arrives Again
04. The Inch Worm
05. Roaming Thing
06. Last Lonely Won
07. Retreat To America
08. Supermarket Nightmare (MP3)
09. Crackin' Up 









On the Web:

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Russian Circles announce new album, Empros with cover art & track listing

Photo credit: Chris Strong

Chicago trio Russian Circles reveal the title, cover art, track listing and release date for their forthcoming new album today. The band's fourth full length, titled Empros will be available worldwide via Sargent House on October 25th. See cover art and full track listing below. 

The hard working trio remains on the road this Fall with tour dates in Australia and New Zealand in September, followed by North American headlining shows in October & November -- including a performance on the Black Stage at the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, TX in early November. See all current dates below; more details to be announced soon. 

Russian Circles return with not only their fourth and heaviest album to date -- but also with Empros they're poised to take the crown as innovators reinvigorating the staid trappings of genre. Empros picks up where the anthemic riffs and melodies of 2009's Geneva left off and injects evermore slithering rhythms amid skull-crushing heft with all the visceral intensity of Godflesh, Swans and Neurosis. Put simply, Empros is Russian Circles' Master of Reality: a radical revision of both heavy and melody that is monolithic in its clarity and perfection. Or, like a lone surviving wooly beast emerging from a brutal winter's frost, Empros is the sound of a band shaking the ages from its shoulders with all the brutal force of a behemoth awakened. 

Taking to Chicago's Phantom Manor studio once again with producer Brandon Curtis of The Secret Machines & Interpol -- who also helmed the band's previous album Geneva -- Russian Circles set out to experiment with their sound in new ways that would still reflect their live sound. In so doing, the band reached a new creative apex in which each of the musicians, guitarist Mike Sullivan, drummer Dave Turncrantz and bassist Brian Cook impart a streamlined and intensified attack to their songs that pummels even as it shifts throughout a range of moods and tempos.

The album opens with an imposing mechanical drone leading into funereal guitar notes that are abruptly interrupted by a propulsive drum beat as the proceedings of "309" erupt into something akin to a neo-industrial revision of Celtic Frost. The song lunges through nearly 9 minutes of masterful rhythmic shifts and brutal guitar warfare with such assertive grace it sounds as though the band is throwing down a gauntlet defying all challengers. "Mladek" kicks off with the soaring notes of Sullivan's signature hammer-on guitar arpeggios as Cook's volume-swelling bass notes surge like bubbling molten lava. Turncrantz's innovative rephrasing of the drum pattern elevates the song as it slinks from part to part, guided by the syncopated chatter traded between chiming guitar notes and churning bass. Elsewhere, there are beautiful moments of melodic respite, helping to underscore the album's majestic strength. And, there may even be a few surprises awaiting within the album's six tracks. There are riffs, yes -- many of them. But, with Empros the entire band seems to be the embodiment of the riff itself.

Empros is Russian Circles' first full-length to be released worldwide exclusively via Sargent House, the band's longtime management company and record label that had previously released only the vinyl editions of its three prior albums. It will be available everywhere on LP, CD and Digital Download on October 25th, 2011. 

Russian Circles - Australia & New Zealand 2011 
Sept 07 - Melbourne @ East Brunswick Club 
Sept 08 - Melbourne @ The Corner Hotel 
Sept 09 - Canberra @ ANU Refectory 
Sept 10 - Brisbane @ The Zoo
Sept 11 - Sydney @ Hermann’s Bar
Sept 13 - Auckland, NZ @ The Kings Arm w/ JAKOB 
Sept 14 - Auckland, NZ @ Whammy Bar 
Sept 15 - Wellington, NZ @ San Francisco Bath House w/ JAKOB 
Sept 16 - Melbourne @ The Palace w/ Monster Magnet 
Sept 17 - Perth @ The Bakery 
Sept 18 - Adelaide @ Fowlers Live


Artist: Russian Circles
Album: Empros
Label: Sargent House
Release date: October 25th, 2011

Track list:
01. 309
02. Mladek
03. Schipol
04. Atackla
05. Batu
06. Praise Be Man












On the Web:

Album stream:  Geneva
Album stream: Station 

Hi-res photos, album art, bio and more:


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

65Daysofstatic announce deluxe album release with bonus EP; Featuring guest vocals from Robert Smith of The Cure

Click image above to watch album teaser video

"Deliriously exhilarating." -- BBC Music

"Ever unafraid to shoot for the stars, 65's fourth album retains the skyscraping elegance of their past work but infuses the familiar guitar-based noise with a heftier dose of electronica. 'Come To Me' features former tourbuddy Robert 'The Cure' Smith on vocals but chopped up as if it was just another sample - there aren't many bands brave enough to do that and ever fewer who pull it off with so much style." -- Rock Sound


British electronic-infused post-rock faves 65Daysofstatic announce the North American release of their latest album We Were Exploding Anyway in a special deluxe edition that also features the recent Heavy Sky EP. The expanded set will only be released in North America and hits stores on 2xCD, LP and Digital Download on October 25th, 2011 via Monotreme Records

The Cure founder and legendary songwriter Robert Smith lends his iconic vocals to the album track, "Come To Me", while the band also experiments wildly with its sound throughout both critically praised releases. Check out MP3s for the pair of lead tracks from the deluxe edition: "Crash Tactics" from We Were Exploding Anyway download/stream HERE and "PX3" from Heavy Sky download/stream HERE

65daysofstatic - the name still shrouded in inspirational ambiguity, the band still one of the most arresting live acts on the circuit - arrive at album four reborn. Following years of incessant touring, and three albums in as many years, a break in momentum has given them the breathing space necessary to revaluate their artistry, to focus on fresh ambitions and reach for them. From the underground, over; out of the basements and into the light: this is the Sheffield quartet as you've never heard them before. 

The quintet -- Joe Shrewsbury, Paul Wolinski, Rob Jones and Simon Wright -- scored an unlikely hit in 2004 with their debut album, The Fall Of Math. A critical success, it launched the band into a new league of recognition; here, they would hone their sound, transforming from studio operatives crafting rave music for rockers into a rock band impossible not to rave to. Live, they excelled. Audiences swelled. Album two, 2005's One Time For All Time, furthered their already enviable reputation. Audiences got larger still. In 2007 they released The Destruction Of Small Ideas -- album three was supported not only by domestic treks up motorways, but also by worldwide touring alongside The Cure. The ante had been upped.

But then, silence. A pause. Stasis for the 'static. Rediscovery of music that passed them by before -- Daft Punk, house music, hedonism over IDM headaches -- and a prolonged period of writing where new ideas could exert substantial pressure on the old. Audacious, disregarding of former glories, We Were Exploding Anyway is 65days anew. This is not a rock band with a bit of glitch on the side, all guitars with the slightest semblance of high-BPM beat-craft as underlay; it's a not-so-distant dance party, the purest euphoria as earworms that dig deep and nestle tight. It's an arms-aloft salute to the thrill of letting yourself go in the tide, and riding that rush 'til it leaves you breathless but so prepared to go around again.

We Were Exploding Anyway is a game-changer from a band that has only ever followed its own rules, and now they're broken. Don't pick up the pieces. Leave them. Dance over them. This time, and for all time.

The deluxe 2-CD edition includes bonus 7-track Heavy Sky CD EP. Vinyl edition is heavyweight 180 gm vinyl (dark blue and white versions) and includes a free copy of the album CD, poster and digital download coupon for the Heavy Sky EP. 

Artist: 65Daysofstatic
Album: We Were Exploding Anyway (Deluxe Edition)
Label: Monotreme Records
Release Date: October 25th, 2011

DISC 1
01. Mountainhead
02. Crash Tactics (MP3)
03. Dance Dance Dance
04. Piano Fights
05. Weak
06. Come to Me
07. Go Complex
08. Debutante
09. Tiger Girl 
DISC 2
01. Tiger Girl (Wishful Thinking Edit)
02. Sawtooth Rising
03. The Wrong Shape
04. PX3 (MP3)
05. Pacify
06. Beats Like a Helix
07. Guitar Cascades


Hi-res photos, cover art and bio:

On the Web:

Members of 65Daysofstatic are available for interviews. For more information, please contact Dave Clifford at dave@usthemgroup.com

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Zechs Marquise premiere new song from forthcoming album Getting Paid


Click image above to watch album teaser video




The Mars Volta sibling band Zechs Marquise premiere the first track from their forthcoming new album, Getting Paid today via Consequence of Sound. The song, "Everlasting Beacon of Light" features guest vocals by Matthew Embree and is available for download/streaming HERE.

The band also recently posted a video teaser comprised of snippets from several album tracks. Watch it HERE

Zechs Marquise, the El Paso, TX quintet are back with their sophomore album Getting Paid, bringing an intensified swagger to the band's multifaceted psych-prog haze for their most aggressive and versatile effort to date. "We liked that hip-hop attitude," explains drummer Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez of the album title. "Getting your piece, taking yours." And, Getting Paid certainly finds the band fully taking charge of their musical destiny. 

In the years since their auspicious 2009 debut Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare, Zechs Marquise toured extensively throughout the U.S., proving to be a formidable live act supporting Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group and RX Bandits as well as leading their own headlining tours. Zechs Marquise have also grown considerably in other ways. Recent addition Rikardo Rodriguez-Lopez on keyboards and trumpet joins his brothers, drummer Marcel and bassist Marfred alongside guitarists Matthew Wilkson and Marcos Smith contributing to the band's expanded sound. Not only have they reached new plateaus of entrancing riffs and rhythms, but Getting Paid also integrates vocals on select songs, including guest performances by vocalist/guitarist Matthew Embree and El Paso singer Sonny Baker.

The album was entirely produced and engineered by Marcel. "We started off recording percussion to sequencers and loops," he explains. "I chopped those sounds up and arranged them. From there, were wrote the album with each of us coming in and playing on top of it. Kind of like a hip-hop song." Considering the hectic tour schedules of both Zechs Marquise and The Mars Volta (in which Marcel plays keyboards and percussion), the band was forced to work on the album over an extended period of time in between both band's tours. "It gave us a lot of time to get perspective on the songs," Marfred says. "We're really happy with and proud of this record."

Once all parts were composed using the studio as a tool, the band re-recorded the album live. "We wanted something to represent our live energy," says Marfred. 

"The album cover is a play on Blacksploitation soundtrack art and stuff like (Miles Davis') Bitches Brew cover," Marfred explains. "We wanted our own weird take on it." Likewise, Getting Paid is throughout a wickedly wild take on elder forms of free jazz, skronk excursions, proto-funk and psychedelia with assertive tones and rhythms. 

Getting Paid will be available everywhere on LP/CD/digital on September 27th on Rodriguez Lopez Productions via Sargent House.




Artist: Zechs Marquise

Title: Getting Paid
Label: Rodriguez Lopez Productions
Release Date: September 27th, 2011

01. Getting Paid
02. Lock Jaw Night Vision
03. Static Lovers
04. The Heat, The Drought, The Thirst, and The Insanity
05. Time Masters
06. Guajira
07. Everlasting Beacon of Light (MP3)
08. Crushin' It!
09. Mega Slap









Hi-res cover art, photos and bio:

On The Web: