Wednesday, February 25, 2015

No Spill Blood premiere first video from forthcoming album via Invisible Oranges

Click image above to watch video

"No Spill Blood takes Six Finger Satellite and the spazzy noise of Arab of Radar and puts it through that sick, unrelenting Killing Joke sieve... sounds this caustic, muscular, and acidic probably should be eased into. Or just turn it on high and fry the shit out of your brain." -- Noisey


Dublin, Ireland trio No Spill Blood premiere the first video from their forthcoming full length debut Heavy Electricity today via Invisible Oranges. The live performance clip of "El Duurto" was recorded to multitrack audio by Francesco Gatti and shot & edited by Neil Hoare. Watch video HERE. (Direct YouTube HERE.)

SPIN recently shared album track "Harsh Route" HERE. (Direct Soundcloud HERE.) Noisey launched the previous single, album version of "El Duurto" HERE. (Direct Soundcloud link HERE.) Photos of the band recording in the studio can be seen at TheFarmFamily.com. Album art by Samantha Muljat and track listing below. 

No Spill Blood's debut EP Street Meat was released via Sargent House in 2012. Thereafter, the trio quickly grew from side project to a full fledged band. They hit the studio in early 2014 with original drummer Lar Kaye to capture the raw, eviscerating experience of its live show for Heavy Electricity. Powerhouse drummer Ror Conaty replaced Kaye shortly before NSB toured the UK with Sargent House family band Deafheaven in August 2014, their reinvigorated live show receiving considerable praise in the process.

Heavy Electricity will be available March 10th, 2015 via Sargent House. 


Artist: No Spill Blood
Album: Heavy Electricity
Label: Sargent House
Release date: March 10th, 2015

Track list:
01. White Out (STREAM)
02. Back To The Earth
03. Now II
04. El Duurto (STREAM) (VIDEO)
05. Harsh Route (STREAM)
06. Heavy Electricty
07. Thinner
08. Sweet Beans
09. Endless Drift








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Hi-res photos, cover art and full bio:

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Low City premiere new video directed by Dean Winkler (Phillip Glass, Laurie Anderson)

click image above to watch video

Brooklyn, NY's Low City premiere a new video today directed by video artist Dean Winkler (who has worked with Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass) via HitFix. The band and artist say the animated clip is, "an abstract meditation on global warming set to music, with 1980s style analog video layering, created with modern desktop tools." Watch/share video HERE(Direct Vimeo HERE / YouTube HERE.)

Low City recently shared another track from an ongoing series of singles via Brooklyn Vegan. The brainchild of music producer Abe Seiferth (Yeasayer, RAC) and composer/musician Jeremy Turner, Low City also features guest performances by members of Dirty Projectors and Bon Iver. The song "All You Can Dream Of" is available to hear and share HERE. (Direct Soundcloud link HERE.)

The recently released video for the track "Skyline", directed by Lance Ferguson, is a stunning portrayal of a dystopian future mired in virtual/pharmaceutical reality. Watch/share video HERE. (Direct YouTube link HERE.)

Low City is a new collaboration between longtime friends and former bandmates Seiferth and Turner, aiming to combine the former's electronic production background with the latter's classical and film scoring expertise. The band's lyrically and musically cinematic aesthetic is inspired by the retro-futurism of films like Blade Runner, Gattaca and Fritz Lang's Metropolis, to name a few. While Low City's songs were written, performed and recorded by Seiferth and Turner, the duo were joined by several guest performers to flesh out its sound. 

Turner is a film composer who recently wrote a piece for yMusic's Balance Problems and a former cellist with the NY Metropolitan Opera who has also performed with artists such as Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, David Byrne, et al. Seiferth is a Brooklyn based producer currently working on the upcoming Yeasayer album, who has also worked with RAC, Reggie Watts, Bear in Heaven and many more. He also makes electronic music in the duo Tippy Toes with former Hercules and Love Affair member Morgan Wiley.

Low City's "All You Can Dream Of" and the first single "Skyline" is available via iTunes by Low City Music.

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Thursday, February 12, 2015

No Spill Blood share another track from forthcoming full length debut


Dublin, Ireland trio No Spill Blood share another new track from their forthcoming full length debut today via SPIN. Listen to and share "Harsh Route" HERE. (Direct Soundcloud HERE.)

Noisey launched the previous single, "El Duurto" HERE. (Direct Soundcloud link HERE.) Photos of the band recording in the studio can be seen at TheFarmFamily.com. Album art by Samantha Muljat and track listing below. 

No Spill Blood's ferocious dose of synth-laden aggression, Heavy Electricity comes across with all the brutal heft of underground metal but also with the clever intellect of post-punk bands like Killing Joke and Iceage.

 The band's shared love of Devo's smarmy synths, Trans Am's rhythmic soundscapes and the Melvins' unencumbered experimentalism brought them together to create a beastly noise using just vocals, bass, synths and drums. "The album chronicles a journey," explains keyboardist Ruadhan O'Meara. "It's an elemental pilgrimage emerging from the bowels of the earth, only to encounter savage environments, altered states, and the brutal inhumanity of fellow men." In other words, Heavy Electricity is a dark, but transcendent experience.


 Album opener "White Out" kicks things off with a commanding hi-hat to triplet count-in, as bassist/vocalist Matt Hedigan jumps in to the syncopated fray with growling, distortion-soaked bass. It's a moment of syrupy intensity befitting Masters of Reality-era Sabbath until the band suddenly lunges into a driving post-punk riff. "Back To The Earth" sounds like krautrock cranked to 11, with O'Meara's shimmering synth lines warbling over the churning rhythms. The hypnotic and occasionally hallucinogenic 6-1/2 minute "Now II" (featuring guest vocals by Mike Watt) builds subtly open a simple keyboard line into an epic metallic eruption similar to labelmates Russian Circles' awe-inspiring work. Throughout the album's 9-song, 46-minute duration, No Spill Blood never lets up on its intensity and power while still exploring a variety of sounds. 

 No Spill Blood's debut EP Street Meat was released via Sargent House in 2012. Thereafter, the trio quickly grew from side project to a full fledged band. They hit the studio in early 2014 with original drummer Lar Kaye to capture the raw, eviscerating experience of its live show for Heavy Electricity. Powerhouse drummer Ror Conaty replaced Kaye shortly before NSB toured the UK with Sargent House family band Deafheaven in August 2014, their reinvigorated live show receiving considerable praise in the process.


 Heavy Electricity will be available March 10th, 2015 via Sargent House. 

Artist: No Spill Blood
Album: Heavy Electricity
Label: Sargent House
Release date: March 10th, 2015

Track list:
01. White Out (STREAM)
02. Back To The Earth
03. Now II
04. El Duurto (STREAM)
05. Harsh Route (STREAM)
06. Heavy Electricty
07. Thinner
08. Sweet Beans
09. Endless Drift








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Thursday, February 5, 2015

And So I Watch You From Afar premiere first single from forthcoming album


Northern Ireland's And So I Watch You From Afar premiere the first track from their forthcoming album Heirs today via DIY Magazine. Listen to and share "Run Home" HERE. (Direct Soundcloud HERE.)

ASIWYFA also hit the road with Mylets this spring for extensive shows throughout the UK and EU. Please see complete dates below. 

And So I Watch You From Afar have applied to their fourth album the same rigorous work ethic that has seen them touring nearly non-stop all over the world in recent years -- including less common tour stops like China, Russia, India and Africa. Heirs is both the band’s most painstakingly created album as well as its most personal and meaningful. “Its central theme is about the inheritance of ideas,” the band says. “In that we’re all heirs to other peoples’ passion, which in turn inspires ourselves.”

Many new lives, new imperatives and invigorated perspectives helped shape the 10-song album borne of over 30 tracks written in prolific isolation spanning over 6 months in the band’s Belfast, Northern Ireland home. It’s a work of intense focus and adventurous abandon that reaches to the heart of artistic expression. 

“We started making the album while touring in 2013,” guitarist Rory Friers explains. “We would be recording demos in our hotel rooms, back stage and we would even hire out rehearsal rooms during days off.” Being the first album with new guitarist Niall Kennedy (who joined as a touring member in 2012), the band grew increasingly productive taking half a year off from the road and working nearly every waking moment together in their rehearsal room. Friers and Kennedy, along with drummer Chris Wee and bassist Johnathan Adger amassed about 30 new songs, which were then whittled down to 15 tracks. Of those 15, only 10 songs made the final cut, carefully selecting those that best represented the ideas and feelings the band wanted to express with the album. 

“Its called Heirs as a tribute to a lot of new people who came into all our lives during the writing and recording of the album -- lots of nephews and Johnny had a daughter, Eisa,” Friers explains. “It seems like the songs soaked up all those feelings we had during the writing. Because making the album was such an intentionally intense and full time experience none of us where listening to much other music or even experiencing much else outside of it. So, it feels like a very pure representation of what happens when these four people decide to make music together. It was a very intense time and the record has been shaped by that.”

Album opener “Run Home” kicks things off with a flurry of hammer-on guitar notes and a chorus of voices chanting the two words of the song title as the band races toward the anthem’s explosive conclusion. Elsewhere, Wee’s maniacal double-time rolling toms, Adger’s rumbling heavily-distorted bass and murmuring guitar notes drive the perpetually buzzing (and fittingly titled) “Wasps” as reverb-drenched voices howl above the proceedings until banshee wail harmonized guitars erupt, nearly decimating everything in their path. “A Beacon, A Compass, An Anchor” takes a slow build approach, starting out with melancholy chords fading in to a pulsing 3/4-time driving rhythm section and muted, scraped guitars leading to a soaring harmonized guitar leads. The album title track is also its longest at seven and a half minutes, and fittingly as explorative as all that went into the album’s creation. Staccato guitar chords lead into an impossibly complex time signature as half-time drums and bass drop in while a heavily-effected guitar lead veers throughout the tune. All of those elements converge into an anthemic melody that peaks with a simple, infectious hook in the last 1:27 that ties Heirs up concisely with its deliberate, determined power. 

Heirs will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download on May 5th, 2015 via Sargent House.


AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR TOUR 2015:
04/28  Glasgow, UK @ King Tut's Wah Wah Hut *
04/29  Manchester, UK @ Gorilla *
04/30  Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory *
05/01  London, UK @ Islington Assembly Hall *
05/02  Dunkerque, FR @ Les 4 Ecluses *
05/03  Luxembourg, LUX @ Den Atelier *
05/04  Paris, FR @ La Fleche D'or *
05/06  Molenbeek Saint Jean, BE @ Vk *
05/07  Rotterdam, NE @ Rotown *
05/08  Eindhoven, NE @ Effenaar, Small Hall *
05/09  Deventer, NE @ Burgerweeshuis *
05/10  Nantes, FR @ Le Ferrailleur *
05/11  Clermont Ferrand, FR @ La Cooperative De Mai Club *
05/12  Zurich, CH @ Dynamo *
05/13  Bern, CH @ Dachstock @ Reitschule *
05/14  Geneva, CH @ Usine *
05/15  Milan, IT @ Leoncavallo *
05/16  Rome, IT @ TBA *
05/17  Modena, IT @ La Tenda *
05/19  Ljubljana, SLO @ Kino Siska *
05/20  Zagreb, CR @ Zedno Uho Festival *
05/21  Budapest, HU @ Durer Kert *
05/22  Vienna, AT @ Arena *
05/23  Munich, DE @ Ampere *
05/25  Prague, CZ @ NoD Teatro *
05/26  Wiesbaden, DE @ Schlachthof *
05/27  Leipzig, DE @ Taubchental *
05/28  Berlin, DE @ Bi Nuu *
05/29  Hamburg, DE @ Logo *
05/30  Essen, DE @ Zeche Carl *
05/31  Cologne, DE @ Underground *
06/01  Amsterdam, NE @ Paradiso *
06/19  Dublin, IE @ Olympia Theater
06/20  Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall

* w/ Mylets

Artist: And So I Watch You From Afar
Album: Heirs
Label: Sargent House
Release date: May 5th, 2015

Track list:
01. Run Home (STREAM)
02. These Secret Kings I Know
03. Wasps
04. Redesigned a Million Times
05. People Not Sleeping
06. Fucking Lifer
07. A Beacon, A Compass, An Anchor
08. Animal Ghosts
09. Heirs
10. Tryer, You 





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

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Mylets shares first single from forthcoming album via NPR


Mylets shares the first track from the forthcoming full length, Arizona via NPR today. Listen to and share the song "Trembling Hands" HERE. (Direct Soundcloud HERE.) See cover art and track listing below. 

Mylets takes to the road touring with And So I Watch You From Afar in late April throughout Europe and the UK. Please see complete dates below. 

Under the moniker Mylets, Henry Kohen takes on the roles of several musicians at once. The wunderkind guitarist who, at 17, became the youngest artist signed to Sargent House has since established his reputation as an awe-inspiring and agile performer, playing across North America and Europe multiple times over the past couple of years.

Dancing across multiple guitar pedals that line the stage, Kohen also sings and lays down guitar loops while simultaneously tapping out beats on a drum machine. Nothing is pre-programmed. Every note played is as organic and fallible as its performer. Kohen's physicality and presence is captivating on stage, but what's even more impressive is that his songwriting talent is equally as vast and varied as his multitasking skills.

Arizona is the defining work of a masterful tunesmith. Despite their complexity, the songs are never disrupted by the intricacies running beneath their hyper-infectious pop structures. Kohen operates his equipment like the conductor of a small orchestra, summoning fully realized melodies from his devices. "I put in a lot of effort to make every single word and note of each song as deliberate and concise as I could," Kohen explains, "rather than throw out an unintelligible overflow of information."

Album opener "Trembling Hands" is a massive, hook-heavy anthem driven by layers of churning guitars and distortion that stirs somewhere between the throaty verses of Broken-era Nine Inch Nails to the hymnal anxiety of a Cloud Nothings record. The title track follows with a cascade of syncopated guitar arpeggios setting the stage for a reverse-reverb soaked vocal harmony that chimes like something off of U2's Unforgettable Fire. And, that's the beauty here: Mylets appeals to every listener, not just other musicians. Kohen understates his unparalleled and highly specific skills and instead forces the emotion informing his music to the forefront. This ability is what makes the songs on Arizona command repeat listens.

Mylets first came to Sargent House's attention with a series of self-released solo EPs, much of which were remastered and compiled on the label's 2013 release Retcon. Around that time, Kohen relocated from Columbus, Indiana to Los Angeles, residing at the artist-friendly Sargent House all the while working intensively on prepping Arizona material for the studio. In the interim, Mylets also toured extensively on different continents with And So I Watch You From Afar, TTNG and Emma Ruth Rundle. "Because of the range of time spent writing, it was very important for me to capture the concepts of creative and personal growth within the songs on the record," Kohen says. "I recorded the album twice under very different circumstances in 2014 and on the second round of studio time, I left with a product that I felt was as true of a representation of what was initially in my head as I could have created."

Arizona will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download via Sargent House on April 21st, 2015.


MYLETS TOUR:
04/28  Glasgow, UK @ King Tut's Wah Wah Hut *
04/29  Manchester, UK @ Gorilla *
04/30  Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory *
05/01  London, UK @ Islington Assembly Hall *
05/02  Dunkerque, FR @ Les 4 Ecluses *
05/03  Luxembourg, LUX @ Den Atelier *
05/04  Paris, FR @ La Fleche D'or *
05/06  Molenbeek Saint Jean, BE @ Vk *
05/07  Rotterdam, NE @ Rotown *
05/08  Eindhoven, NE @ Effenaar, Small Hall *
05/09  Deventer, NE @ Burgerweeshuis *
05/10  Nantes, FR @ Le Ferrailleur *
05/11  Clermont Ferrand, FR @ La Cooperative De Mai Club *
05/12  Zurich, CH @ Dynamo *
05/13  Bern, CH @ Dachstock @ Reitschule *
05/14  Geneva, CH @ Usine *
05/15  Milan, IT @ Leoncavallo *
05/16  Rome, IT @ TBA *
05/17  Modena, IT @ La Tenda *
05/19  Ljubljana, SLO @ Kino Siska *
05/20  Zagreb, CR @ Zedno Uho Festival *
05/21  Budapest, HU @ Durer Kert *
05/22  Vienna, AT @ Arena *
05/23  Munich, DE @ Ampere *
05/25  Prague, CZ @ NoD Teatro *
05/26  Wiesbaden, DE @ Schlachthof *
05/27  Leipzig, DE @ Taubchental *
05/28  Berlin, DE @ Bi Nuu *
05/29  Hamburg, DE @ Logo *
05/30  Essen, DE @ Zeche Carl *
05/31  Cologne, DE @ Underground *
06/01  Amsterdam, NE @ Paradiso *


* w/ And So I Watch You From Afar


Artist: Mylets
Album: Arizona
Label: Sargent House
Release date: April 21, 2015

Track list:
01. Trembling Hands (STREAM)
02. Arizona
03. Honeypot
04. King Sleep
05. Seven Seals
06. Retcon
07. Ampersand
08. Homes
09. Shark








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Monday, February 2, 2015

KNIFIGHT streaming full album a week before release via CraveOnline, launch tour dates this week

Click image above to watch "Breaking Glass" video

“Exciting and penetrating… Imagine a far more rockin’ and muscular love child between Depeche Mode and Erasure.” — CraveOnline

Austin heavy post-punk band Knifight is streaming their forthcoming new album in its entirety a week early today via CraveOnline. Listen to/share the album HERE. (Direct Soundcloud HERE.)

Knifight recently premiered their take on a classic song from David Bowie's Low album via Brooklyn Vegan. Their cover of the song is a unique track not included on their forthcoming album, V. Listen to and share the track HERE. (Direct YouTube HERE.) Knifight also hit the road this month for a series of shows in the Southwest. Please see current dates below.

The band previously shared the lyric video for album track "Young Lovers". Watch/share the video HERE. (Direct YouTube link HERE.)

Knifight is not the type of name you'd associate with a synth-rock group. You'd probably think of a rough-and-tumble bar metal band with a name like that, cargo shorts and Mesa stacks abound. Vocalist John Gable did grow up in the hardcore scene of Tyler, Texas, where he saw bands like Hatebreed and Brutal Truth. Perhaps that's where the tough name came from. Knifight started as an industrial project of Gable, and later keyboardist/saxophonist Patrick Marshall would also become part of the group's nucleus. They performed as a noise duo, eventually finding their way into Austin, and formed into a full band, rounded out by guitarist Nick Garrison, bassist John Hetherington, and drummer Nick Cogdill.

Knifight may be the only group that’s played a noise fest and opened for Future Islands and Duran Duran in 2014, and dipping in both of those worlds has worked in their favor. They’re set to release their album, V in 2015, which is their first album with live drums. Last year’s Dark Voices saw them heading in a murkier direction, and while this record is clearer, it ups the darkness in many ways. They’re less focused on pop structures, stretching out so Gable and Marshall’s synths sound more brooding and gorgeous. “A Perfect Day To Die” sounds like it was commissioned for a James Bond film, right down to the title. “Buttons (Slow)” has echo-laden growls from Gable that suggest his metal past isn’t entirely behind him. Knifight haven’t gone completely doom and gloom on us, though. John H dials in some bouncy basslines throughout, especially evident on the brief ray of sunshine in the form of “Broken Feeling.”This still has all the hallmarks to make the goth club go up on a Tuesday; the weekend’s too bright, after all. Dance floors are staging areas for all sorts of desires and danger, and Knifight are reflecting that with this new record.

will be available February 10th, 2015 on LP, CD and download via KnifightMusic. 


KNIFIGHT LIVE:
02/06  Austin, TX @ Cheer Up Charlie’s
02/18  Austin, TX @ Andy’s
02/21  Conway, AR @ Bear’s Den
02/27  Beaumont, TX @ Boom Town Festival
03/26  Tulsa, OK @ SoundPony
03/27  Lawrence, KS @ Frank’s North Star
04/09  Austin, TX @ The North Door (noise set)


Artist: Knifight
Album:  V
Label: KnifightMusic
Release Date: February 10th, 2015

01. Mistakes
02. Everything's Perfect
03. A Perfect Day To Die
04. Broken Feeling
05. Young Lovers (STREAM)
06. Buttons (Slow)
07. Vii

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