Tuesday, March 17, 2015

A Troop of Echoes premiere first track from forthcoming album; "ideal song to spin as sunny rays of spring kick in."

"The saxophone-led, Pixies-channeling instrumental number "Small Fires" is an ideal song to spin as the sunny rays of spring kick in." -- PopMatters
Providence, R.I. quartet A Troop of Echoes premiere the first track from their forthcoming album today via PopMatters. The song "Small Fires" is available to hear and share HERE. (Direct Soundcloud HERE.)

The band take to the road in mid-May to support the album. Complete tour dates will be announced soon.

A Troop of Echoes has a stunning ability to encompass multiple moods within a single song - at times simultaneously sounding both soothing and unsettling; other times both wistful and hopeful. In that, their sound is truly cinematic. Not “cinematic” in the banal manner used to describe expansive music that’s ultimately sonic wallpaper, but in that A Troop of Echoes uses unique characteristics of each instrument - guitar, saxophone, bass and drums - the same way that a masterful director uses angles, lighting, editing, etc., to convey complex details of story and emotion. 

The evocative melodic work of Troop saxophonist Peter Gilli often interweaves with the chiming and textural feel to guitarist Nick Cooper’s parts as the two often create a swirling tug and sway driven by bassist Harrison Hartley’s chordal riffs and drummer Dan Moriarty’s symphonic approach to the rhythms. The quartet’s emphasis is on the journey and the impact, like the best moments of The Dirty Three wherein their deft musicianship never upstages the song’s emotional weight. Throughout the quartet’s forthcoming sophomore full length The Longest Year on Record, the music is marvelously engaging in its clever melodies, yet also loaded with innovative ideas.

A Troop of Echoes formed in 2004 amongst Providence’s fertile underground music scene, early on distilling the noise and math-rock tendencies of Lightning Bolt and Battles, combined with the chaotic free-improvisatory energy of late-era Coltrane. As Gilli, Cooper, and Hartley studied music at the University of Rhode Island, Moriarty ran a DIY music space while completing his degree in astrophysics at the University of Massachusetts. Marrying quirky harmonies with frenetic energy, their punchy and acrobatic 2009 debut Days in Automation set the ground for what was to come. 

Writing for The Longest Year on Record came to focus on space, both physically and compositionally. Cooper and Moriarty moved into a massive studio loft on Providence’s South Side in 2013, inspiring the use of more understated sonics. Troop began working with a wider palate of instrumentation, including strings, horns, vibraphone, vocals, and a drum team. The Longest Year on Record was tracked almost exclusively in the band’s new practice space by longtime friend Graham Mellor, mixed by Andrew Schneider (Unsane, Pelican) at The Seaside Lounge in Brooklyn, and mastered by Carl Saff in Chicago. Like Troop’s beautifully honed songs, the album production is impeccable in its use of space and blending or contrasting elements. 
The Longest Year on Record will be available on LP, CD and download May 19th, 2015. 


Artist: A Troop of Echoes
Album: The Longest Year on Record
Label: A Troop of Echoes
Release Date: May 19th, 2015

01. Manifest and Legion
02. Small Fires (STREAM)
03. Arecibo
04. Kerosene
05. Severna
06. Constellation
07. Broadway Ghost
08. The Longest Year on Record
09. Pure Alexia (Is It Silent In This Room?)

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Mylets debuts live Audiotree session featuring tracks from forthcoming full length debut

"Mylets builds up layer upon layer of complex instrumentation to create his experimental loop-rock. The results are mesmerizing, hypnotic soundscapes that can be odd, loud and beautiful. " -- NME

"A staggeringly intricate work that still manages to remain catchy and full of hooks." -- Noisey

Mylets shares a recently shot Audiotree live session of videos today featuring songs from the forthcoming full length, Arizona. Watch and share the videos HERE.

Noisey also recently shared an in-depth interview with Mylets' Henry Kohen, also premiering the title track from the album. The song "Arizona" is available to hear and share HERE. (Direct Soundcloud HERE.)

NPR previously premiered the song "Trembling Hands" HERE, in which they compared Mylets' "tactful atmosphere" to King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew. (Direct Soundcloud HERE.) Mylets takes to the road touring with And So I Watch You From Afar in late April throughout Europe and the UK following three Southern California shows with Balance and Composure. Please see complete dates below. 

Arizona will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download via Sargent House on April 21st, 2015. Pre-order at iTunes with instant downloads of the first two singles, and LP/CD pre-orders HERE.


MYLETS TOUR:
04/11  Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy #
04/18  Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction #
04/19  Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction #
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
# w/ Balance and Composure


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

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








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Thursday, March 12, 2015

Elephant Rifle premiere first track from forthcoming album, announce spring tour dates


Reno, NV aggro noisecore band  Elephant Rifle premiere the first track from their forthcoming new album, Ivory today via Noisey. The song "Bone Voyage" is available to hear and share HERE. (Direct Soundcloud HERE.)

The band launches a string of Bay Area dates in May, to be followed by national dates to be announced soon. Please see current dates below.

Ivory is an illicit substance. Elephants and other animals have been hunted to near extinction to support the market for ivory, the beautiful material stolen from the tusks and teeth of large mammals. Ivory is often associated with music, since it was historically used for the white keys on pianos. Carved ivory is art made from skeletal material, from dead or maimed animals.

Ivory is also the title of Elephant Rifle's new full-length album. The album title resonates with the band name in obvious ways: Ivory is the material an elephant rifle is usually aimed to obtain. There's very little actual piano on the album, however. It mostly consists of the raw materials of rock: electric guitar, bass and drums, along with a vocalist who, in live performances anyway, seems to channel John Belushi's impersonation of Joe Cocker. Elephant Rifle's music draws from '80s and '90s-style noise rock, like The Jesus Lizard, Shellac and Swans, with a bit of old-school hardcore and post-punk in the mix, along with a loving spoonful of the lascivious, cocksure swagger of '70s hard rock.

Elephant Rifle formed five years ago in Reno, Nevada, a hometown that might explain the band's underdog attitude. On Ivory, the band members sound like they might be struggling with the complex relationship implied by the band name and album title: beauty wrought by violence. They seem to be struggling against something anyway. The music is knotted, thorny, dissonant, noisy and often ugly-although cohesive songwriting is never sacrificed, and there are even occasional moments of humor: “Gold Standard,” for example, is a pop ditty about buying a boat. But most of the songs reference the album's strange theme: Death among animals. The instrumental opener, for example, is called “Hoof & Mouth.” “Dogs, Wolves, Wolverines” is a hardcore blaster about the resentment that wild animals might harbor toward their domesticated counterparts. The album closer is a stoner epic called “Horses,” which begins: “They say you die twice. First, when the breathe leaves from out your body and in the air. And then again when your final name's said the very last time, and then forgot.”

Ivory will be available May 19th on LP and download as a joint release via Humaniterrorist Record Collective and Gentlemen Friends. Pre-order HERE.


ELEPHANT RIFLE LIVE:
05/21 Chico, CA @ 1078 Gallery w/ Chiefs
05/22 Santa Cruz, CA  @ The Blue Lagoon
05/23 San Francisco, CA @ Benders
05/24 Reno, NV @ The Loving Cup 

Artist: Elephant Rifle
Album: Ivory
Label: Humaniterrorist Record Collective
Release Date: May 19th, 2015

01. Hoof & Mouth
02. Bone Voyage (STREAM)
03. Red Shirts
04. Rasputin
05. Frank, Black
06. Gold Standard
07. Dogs, Wolves, Wolverines
08. Clones & Clones
09. Skeleton Keys
10. Horses

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Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Introducing rural Louisiana "Jungle Punk" band Bill Mountain with debut track via Noisey

"What happens when you add Fela Kuti horns and percussion, spazzed-out Contortions-y sax, wild Ian Svenonious vocal delivery to a rolling thunder post-punk burner? Bill Mountain, a sophisticated five-piece post punk band from the very rural Houma, Louisiana provide the nitro. A call to arms if there ever was one." -- Noisey


Bill Mountain is a new quintet from Houma, LA often described as "jungle punk" for evoking the raw, primal energy of early No Wave bands like The Contortions and Chain Gang, West Coast punk (Weirdos, Minutemen, 100 Flowers) and later underground heroes Nation of Ulysses run through steamy Southern proto-rock'n'roll. Bill Mountain's first single premieres today via Noisey. Listen to and please share "Let's Get it Started" HERE. (Direct Soundcloud link HERE.)

"Imagine you’re running through a hot, heavy jungle, branches slapping you in the face while you sprint from a ferocious and beautiful tiger," writes the Beaumont Enterprise's Beth Rankin. "Bill Mountain is frenetic and primal and rabid; it's screaming vocals punctuated by pounding jungle drums and, surprisingly, earth-shattering horn sound coming from saxophone player Jon Kelpsch."

Bill Mountain formed in the summer of 2013 in Houma, LA (60 miles southwest of New Orleans). Four of the group's members were in a previous project that lasted a few years called Secret Society in Smaller Lies. Following the sudden departure of their singer, the remaining members quickly formed a new band with one of their guitarists taking over lead vocals. Bill Mountain started writing new songs and embarked on a West Coast tour followed shortly thereafter by the addition of a saxophonist/percussionist to the line up. 

Currently, Bill Mountain is finalizing their debut release, making videos, and playing shows in and around Louisiana. 

BILL MOUNTAIN LIVE:
03/31 Houma, LA @ The Boxer & The Barrel
04/03 Hot Springs, AR @ The Exchange
04/04 Dallas, TX @ Double Wide
04/25 New Orleans, LA @ Banks St Bar
05/08 New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
06/19 New Orleans, LA @ TBA w/ Quintron & Miss Pussycat
06/21 Houma, LA @ The Boxer & The Barrel

Artist: Bill Mountain
Track: "Let's Get it Started"
Label: Bill Mountain Music
Release Date: March 10th, 2015

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Thursday, March 5, 2015

Mylets premieres another new track from forthcoming album 'Arizona'

"Mylets builds up layer upon layer of complex instrumentation to create his experimental loop-rock. The results are mesmerizing, hypnotic soundscapes that can be odd, loud and beautiful. " -- NME

Mylets shares the title track from the forthcoming full length, Arizona today in an in-depth interview with Noisey. The song "Arizona" is available to hear and share HERE. (Direct Soundcloud HERE.)

NPR recently premiered the song "Trembling Hands" HERE, in which they compared Mylets' "tactful atmosphere" to King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew. (Direct Soundcloud HERE.) Mylets takes to the road touring with And So I Watch You From Afar in late April throughout Europe and the UK following three Southern California shows with Balance and Composure. 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.

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. Pre-order at iTunes with instant downloads of the first two singles, and LP/CD pre-orders HERE.


MYLETS TOUR:
04/11  Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy #
04/18  Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction #
04/19  Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction #
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
# w/ Balance and Composure


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

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








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Wednesday, March 4, 2015

The Demigs premiere first track from forthcoming double album


Denton, TX quartet The Demigs premiere the first track from their forthcoming 20-song double album today via PopMatters. The tune, "Melamine" is available to hear and share HERE. (Direct Soundcloud HERE.)

The Demigs are somewhat both an anomaly in and spiritual heirs to their home state's mixed musical traditions. While listeners can hear elements of classic American indie rock like Pavement and The Apples In Stereo and the noisy, art-tinged pop of celebrated New Zealand "Kiwi rock" bands like The 3-Ds and The Clean, there's also some of Texas' warped psychedelia like Roky Erickson and The Golden Dawn along with the slightest hint of the region's legendary blues-rock. There's inasmuch a healthy cynicism and cleverness to the lyrics as there is an unaffected innocence to the quartet's forthcoming third album Welcome to Hard Times. 

The 20-song double LP is an expansive collection of hooky tunes allowing the band to stretch out just enough to explore lush soundscapes alongside their taut songcraft without ever collapsing into excess. The Demigs run their own recording studio, Shady Lane at which guitarist Alex Hastings engineered the band's latest album. The cover art for Welcome to Hard Times was created by writer/guitarist/vocalist Chris Demiglio, which was also curated for an art exhibit. It's this DIY approach that gives the band its own unique aesthetic and ability to hone the album's meticulous sound. 

Since forming in 2006, The Demigs have dedicated themselves to crafting song and sound. Called "a criminally overlooked jewel of pop artistry" and "without peer," The Demigs combine the intensity of their live shows with the magnetic attraction of their studio albums - Yardling (2007) and Cities Can Wait (2011).

Welcome to Hard Times is being released in conjunction with I Love Math Records and will be available on 2xLP, 2xCD and download on April 14th, 2015.


THE DEMIGS LIVE:
03/14 - Denton, TX @ The Labb - 35 Denton Festival
04/03 - Dallas, TX @ Double Wide
04/05 - Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum Arts Fest
04/09 - Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
04/10 - Ft. Worth, TX @ Shipping and Receiving 
05/29 - Ft. Worth, TX @ Shipping and Receiving 
06/04 - Shreveport, LA @ Tiki Bar
06/05 - Monroe, Louisiana @ Trial Bar
06/06 - Jackson, Mississippi @ Ole Tavern
























Artist: The Demigs
Album:  Welcome to Hard Times
Label: I Love Math Records
Release Date: April 14th, 2015

DISC ONE:
01. Welcome to Hard Times (Vacant Houses)
02. Crossed Out Names
03. Melamine (STREAM)
04. Pluto
05. Paisley Desert
06. Long Runs the Fox
07. Everything is a Weapon
08. Metamoros
09. Pushers & Pullers
10. Henry & Maggie

DISC TWO:
11. Mr. Timer
12. Any Other Pattern
13. Distress Signals
14. Dead By Monday
15. One Light Year from Now
16. Arches
17. Athena Goes to War
18. Yeller
19. Welcome to Hard Times II (Black Cat/White Ghost)
20. Monochrome Blues

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The Dig share surrealist video directed by Terence Nance (Sundance pick: 'An Oversimplification of Her Beauty')

Click image above to watch video

New York City ethereal rock quartet The Dig premiere the surrealist short film for two tracks from their recent You and I album, "Cold Afternoon" and "So Alone" today via global arts and culture site Nowness. The clip is helmed by acclaimed director Terence Nance, whose 2012 Sundance Film Festival debut An Oversimplification of Her Beauty (co-produced by Jay-Z) earned him a Guggenheim fellowship and considerable praise from New York Times, The New Yorker and Huffington Post. 

Watch and please share "You and I and You" video HERE. 

Having wrapped up a three month long stretch of U.S. headlining tour dates in December, The Dig are currently back in the studio prepping new material.

 The Dig's recent release You and I was recorded with Greg Giorgio at the fabled Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, CT. Stream/share the full album HERE. You and I is available on CD and download via Buffalo Jump Records. 

Artist: The Dig
Album: You and I
Record Label: Buffalo Jump Records
Release Date: October 22nd, 2013

Tracks:
01. Cold Afternoon
02. Tired Hearts
03. You And I Lost Control
04. Our Hearts Were Wrapped In Ice
05. Made My Bed
06. So Alone 

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Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Qui share new video, announce US tour with Sebadoh, series of 7" releases

Click image above to watch video


"Qui are back at it, dosing their shreddy punk tantrums with arty aplomb and surprising harmony." -- SPIN

L.A. duo Qui premiere a new video, announce U.S. tour dates and a series of 7" singles today via Brooklyn Vegan. The video clip for "The Kind of Jazz This Is" is available to watch/share HERE. (YouTube HERE.)

Qui continue their relentless tour schedule this spring with East Coast dates supporting Sebadoh later this month and headlining shows across the country in April. Please see current dates below. 

The band also announce a series of 7" releases coming up. The first of these being a 2-song single via the Blood of the Young label in March. A split 7" with hepa/Titus (ex-Cows, Melvins) follows on Record Store Day in April via Cobraside. Cover art and track listings below. Additional special edition releases for summer will be announced soon. 

Qui also recently premiered a video featuring the band's former lead singer David Yow (The Jesus Lizard) and Kevin Rutmanis (Melvins, Cows) via Noisey. The clip for the song "I Definitely Love You" is culled from the band's single on Joyful Noise and available to watch/share HERE. 

The band's latest full length Life, Water, Living... is available to stream/share HERE. Life, Water, Living... was produced by renowned engineer Toshi Kasai and Melvins drummer Dale Crover at Entourage Studios in Los Angeles. The album was released on February 25th, 2014 on LP, CD and download in partnership with Cobraside Distribution.

QUI LIVE:
03/17 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg *
03/18 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
03/19 Washington, D.C. @ Black Cat *
03/20 Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street Nightclub * 
03/21 Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall * 
03/23 Raleigh, NC @ Kings *
03/24 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl *
03/25 Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar *
03/26 Knoxville, TN @ The Concourse at The International *
03/27 Cincinnati, OH @ The Woodward Theater *  
03/28 Morgantown, WV @ 123 Pleasant Street *
04/01 Indianapolis, IN @ TBA
04/02 Chicago, IL @ The Double Door
04/03 Minneaoplis, MN @ Grumpy's 
04/04 Kansas City, MO @ The Ship  
04/05 Fayetteville, AR @ JR's Lightbulb Club
04/06 Oxford, MS @ Proud Larry's 
04/07 Little Rock, AR @ Vino's
04/08 Dallas, TX @ Three Links
04/09 Austin, TX @ Red 7
04/11 Phoenix, AZ @ TBA
05/03 Los Angeles, CA @ Cafe NELA 

* w/ Sebadoh

Artist: Qui
Album:  "The Grace of a Ballerina" / "Jackie" 7"
Label: Blood of the Young
Release Date: March 17th, 2015


















Artists: Qui + hepa/Titus 
Album: Split 7"
Label: Cobraside Distribution
Release Date: April 18th, 2015

01. Qui "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy"
02. hepa/Titus "I Love You Less Than Anything"














Artist: Qui
Album:  Life, Water, Living...
Label: Cobraside Distribution
Release Date: February 25th, 2014

01. Kicked Out of Mime College (VIDEO)
02. Life, Water, Living... (VIDEO)
03. Mucho Sex in America (VIDEO)
04. Awkward Human Interest (VIDEO)
05. Boogie Down Disappointment
06. The Kind of Jazz This Is (VIDEO)
07. Proof of Bass
08. Songbirds
09. You're a Girl
10. Whateryadoin? (VIDEO)
11. Ham Spray



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And So I Watch You from Afar premiere new song via The Fader


Northern Ireland's And So I Watch You From Afar premiere a new track from their forthcoming album Heirs today via The Fader. The song "Wasps" is available to stream HERE. Album pre-orders are available at iTunes HERE.

ASIWYFA previously shared album track "Run Home" via DIY Magazine HERE. (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:
04/15  Moscow, RUS @ Teatr Club
04/16  St. Petersburg, RUS @ Kosmonavt
04/17  Yekaterinburg, RUS @ Nirvana Club
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
06/20  Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall
07/09 - 07/11  Cheltenham, UK @ 2000 Trees Festival
07/24  Beelen, DE @ Krach am Bach
07/25  Sheffield, UK @ Tramlines Festival

* 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 (STREAM)
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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