US / THEM: June 2023

Friday, June 30, 2023

Aquarius Records documentary coming to Amazon Prime + Seattle screening & party with Q&A after film

"An in-depth look at the heartbreak of shuttering the beloved store amid the Mission District's wave of gentrification and traces its long history of influencing music and culture in the city." -- CBS News SF

"An affectionate cinematic tribute." -- The Wire Magazine

"It Came From Aquarius Records" the feature length documentary about the beloved, esoteric San Francisco record store announces its streaming debut via Amazon Prime begins in July. The film is also screening in the Pacific Northwest on July 19th at the Northwest Film Forum in Seattle, WA.

The film's director Kenneth Thomas will hold a Q&A after the film, followed by an afterparty at The Runaway with music by DJ Veins. For more information, please see below.

Watch/share the "Bittersweet Sex Pistols extravaganza" clip on YouTube. Watch the film trailer on YouTube.

"It Came From Aquarius Records" is an award-winning feature-length documentary about the SF-based independent record store, Aquarius Records. Having closed in 2016 after 47 years, this small apartment-sized store championed local, underground, independent, and challenging music to the masses - most memorably with their infamous bi-weekly, college essay-length, new-release lists.

This doc has interviews with the aQ owners dating back to 1970, other record store owners from around the world, musicians, label heads, music journalists, and INTENSE music collectors. Interviewees include Matt Groening (The Simpsons), Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips), Bruce Ackley, John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats), Ty Segall, and Liz Harris (Grouper). About 65 (!!) total!

Aquarius Records influenced and enriched countless peoples’ musical tastes with their curated selections - but this film also shows the realities of an indie record store trying to survive in an increasingly difficult market of brick-and-mortar music shops, especially in the ever-changing and price-gouging Mission District of SF.

Six years in the making, the film has a very personal angle, with lots of behind-the-scenes footage (and drama) that shows both the joy and excruciating stress that comes with running — and closing — a store like this.

Seattle, WA premiere:

Location of film: NWFF. 1515 12th Ave., Seattle

Location of afterparty: The Runaway, 1425 10th Ave., Seattle

Date and Time of film: Wednesday, July 19th, 7pm

Date and Time of afterparty: Wednesday, July 19th, 9:00pm

Tickets and more Info:

nwfilmforum.org/films/it-came-from-aquarius-records-in-person-only

LINKS:

Website: thescourge.com

FB: facebook.com/aqdoc

IG: instagram.com/aquariusdoc

Thursday, June 29, 2023

MAGGOT HEART (led by ex-The Oath guitarist Linnéa Olsson) share lyric video for first single from forthcoming album Hunger

Iconoclast Berlin trio Maggot Heart announce their forthcoming third album today, sharing the official lyric video of lead single "Looking Back At You" via YouTube HERE. The song hits all streaming platforms on Friday, June 30th.

About the single, singer/guitarist Linnéa Olsson says, "one of the more aggressive songs on the album and definitely some of the angriest lyrics I’ve ever written; Looking Back at You is about reclaiming power. The video plays on the concept of being observed, something like ’Schrödinger’s Woman’! One of my faves on the album.”

Maggot Heart, crossover rock band based in Berlin, channels emotional alchemy through music. Consisting of guitarist and singer Linnéa Olsson, bassist Olivia Airey and drummer Uno Bruniusson, Maggot Heart refuse to be categorized. Originally from Sweden, Olsson formed Maggot Heart as a solo project in 2016, after carving a name for herself in bands like The Oath, Beastmilk/Grave Pleasures.

From detonating their initial underground break-out City Girls EP, Maggot Heart had the underground by the throat, palpitating the grapevine. With two critically acclaimed albums under their belt, the 2017 debut Dusk To Dusk to 2020’s Mercy Machine, Maggot Heart are not here to coast, they’re here to make waves. Musically compared to such diverse acts as L7, Patti Smith, Sonic Youth, The Stooges, Killing Joke and Voivod, playing live with Earthless in the US, High on Fire and Amyl & The Sniffers in the EU along with several invitations to tread the hallowed stages of Roadburn Festival, Maggot Heart have been foaming-at-the-mouth road dogs.

Now on their third album Hunger, recorded in Berlin and mixed by the acclaimed American producer and engineer Ben Greenberg (METZ, Portrayal Of Guilt), Maggot Heart’s game is about to change. If Dusk to Dusk was the mind, and Mercy Machine the body, then Hunger is the spirit. Whip-tight choruses, guided by a grunge-aged sensibility, where Punk and Noise Rock grime are layered beneath Swedish 70’s proto-metallic ooze, lurch you back for more.

Hunger goes for the gut but with panache, boldly exploring the dichotomy of desire and desperation through powerful refrains and a brave sense of rhythm. Songs like "This Shadow" and "Archer" with abrasive pop hooks and Bowie-esque Jazz brass, showcase Maggot Heart's ability to blend simplicity with deft musical awareness. Bassist Olivia Airey and drummer Uno Bruniusson (whose former work includes the enigmatic In Solitude) are musicians at the very peak of their powers, and the backbone of Maggot Heart. As Olsson says it best when she states, “a band is a family, a pact in blood, a strange and unique and incredible relationship. I think playing music together with someone is probably the most intimate you can get outside of romance. All that sweat, the trust you have to have in one another, the exchange of energy."

Hunger is the album where Maggot Heart’s finesse of their own fervor finds them standing on their own feral hind legs. Existing on a diet of her own determination, Olsson knows well what hunger means for the survivor. Olsson isn’t hungry, she embodies Hunger. The album cover, a vulnerable portrait of strength. No other band out there sounds like Maggot Heart.

On Hunger their bones are exposed, a hole where the rib used to be, the void staring back. Sink your teeth into Hunger. Starvation has never sounded this vital.

Hunger will be available on LP, CD and digital on September 29th, 2023 via Svart Records and Rapid Eye Records. Pre-orders are available via Svart Records (LP, CD) HERE and digital/blue vinyl via Bandcamp HERE.

MAGGOT HEART LIVE 2023:

09/07 PL Lodz - Summer Dying Loud Festival

10/05 DE Hamburg - Hafenklang

10/06 DE Bochum - Die Trompete

10/07 DE Berlin - Urban Spree

10/17 New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge *

10/18 Hamden, CT - Space Ballroom *

10/19 Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie *

10/20 Washington. DC - Comet Ping Pong *

10/21 Cleveland, OH - Beachland *

10/22 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle *

10/23 Ypsilanti, MI - Ziggy's *

10/24 Cincinnati, OH - Woodward Theatre *

10/25 Nashville, TN - The Cobra *

10/26 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *

10/27 Orlando, FL - Will's Pub *

10/28 Miami, FL - Gramps *

10/30 New Orleans - Gasa Gasa *

11/01 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves *

11/02 Austin, TX - The Lost Well *

11/05 San Diego, CA - Brick by Brick *

11/07 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *

11/08 Los Angeles, CA - Zebulon *

11/11 UK London - The Black Heart

* w/ Messa

Artist: Maggot Heart

Album: Hunger

Label: Svart Records / Rapid Eye Records

Release Date: September 29th, 2023

01 Scandinavian Hunger

02 Nil by Mouth

03 LBD

04 Archer

05 This Shadow

06 Looking Back at You

07 Concrete Soup

08 Parasite

On The Web:

maggotheart.com

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Mario Infantes (vocalist of Metal Blade band Cult of Lilith) shares last single from forthcoming solo album Antidote to a Turbulent Mind

“Has a very cinematic feel to it, almost like the soundtrack to a spy movie. The Icelandic composer has a knack for electronic music.” — Metal Injection

"Infantes steps away from the Icelandic progressive death metal style to take listeners on a synth-driven journey into his artistic psyche. The artist skillfully weaves 8-bit chiptune, Kitaro-inspired ambient pieces, and tension-filled horror movie soundtracks into a mesmerizing atmospheric record." -- Metal Insider

Iceland based artist Mario Infantes shares a new single from his forthcoming solo debut album Antidote to a Turbulent Mind today via Toxic Metal. Hear & share "Inexplicably Long Winter" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp and Spotify.)

Metal Injection recently premiered the single "Explore The Woods..." HERE. A video launched by Metal Insider shows Infantes hand carving and painting a fantasy diorama model, one of the singer's many areas of expertise in the visual arts, as the song "...And Find My Grotto" plays. Watch/share "...And Find My Grotto" HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

On Antidote to a Turbulent Mind, Mario Infantes, lead singer of Metal Blade signed band Cult of Lilith, has painstakingly crafted a record of synth soundscapes that brings the listener on a voyage deep into the mind of the artist. The album follows a man after he consumes a psychedelic tincture and descends into his own fears, desires and obsessions. The songs range from 8-bit chiptune to Kitaro influenced ambient pieces while also maintaining the tension of a horror movie soundtrack. Infantes weaves these together into a cohesive whole that allows the listener to apply their own interpretation to the journey.

Infantes, the Spanish born singer, is a visual and music artist based in Iceland. His "show stopping vocal power" has drawn the attention of metal fans and publications across the world. Recently he has begun experimenting with synths, drum machines and virtual instruments, the result is his first instrumental album. This is his first album for Lost Future Records.

Antidote to a Turbulent Mind will be available on LP and digital on July 7th, 2023 via Lost Future Records. Preorders are available HERE.