The Aaron Clift Experiment – Faith – Live at One 2 One Bar
We’re proud to share with you the first of several live videos from our concert at One 2 One Bar on 06/16/19. This is our performance of “Faith” from “If All Goes Wrong.”
Check out the video for the genre-defying single “Captain Awkward” here:
Re-emerging from the primordial soup of modern music, Moron Police return with “A Boat on the Sea” in the hopes of offering something different to those who would listen. Having formed in 2008, their career has seen many strange twists along the path to its release. They’ve played live with a full-piece orchestra, had one of their songs performed across the US by the award-winning Los Alamitos Show Choir, performed across Scandinavia and at various popular festivals (Hove, Norway Rock Festival, by:Larm), even on a small island with a lighthouse, trapped in the maw of the ocean.
“A Boat on the Sea” is many things. Catchy and adventurous, but with an underlying current of Scandinavian melancholy—as perfectly captured by returning cover artist DULK. It has huge choruses, rampant guitar play, inventive synths, a plethora of time-signature changes—all the workings of an album of excess, yet it comes together to form a cohesive whole. Perhaps its most defining feature is that it sounds like Moron Police and no-one else, and no manner of superlative spluttering could really hope to capture its spirit. The best way to describe it would be to hear it.
The album is already getting great reviews:
“It’s a rare album, one that makes you play air guitar or keyboards while grinning stupidly in blissful joy.” – Sonic Perspectives’
“I honestly cannot remember having this much fun listening to a record in a very long time.” – The Prog Report
Tracklistlisting: 1. Hocus Pocus (1:20) 2. The Phantom Below (4:12) 3. The Invisible King (4:05) 4. Beware the Blue Skies (4:11) 5. The Dog Song (3:20) 6. Captain Awkward (5:12) 7. The Undersea (3:27) 8. Isn’t It Easy (6:57)
Band Members: Sondre Skollevoll – Vocals, guitars, additional keyboards Lars Bjørknes – Keyboards, grand piano, Hammond organ Thore Omland Pettersen – Drums Christian Fredrik Steen – Bass
The Brainchild Of Guitarist, Woody Aplanalp, Bonsai Universe Takes You On A Journey To Another World With Its Psychedelic Electric Sound
San Gabriel, CA August 12th, 2019–Woody Aplanalp has toured extensively, playing guitar and collaborating with a diverse array of artists such as Bobby Womack, Lauryn Hill, Nels Cline, Thomas Mapfumo and more. In 2017 he began working on a project he called Bonsai Universe and in 2018 he released the first album from that project, Moonstream. Critics described the debut as “intoxicatingly different” (Tom Carter, KZSU) and claimed that “(he) effectively captures your attention by combining different styles into one instantly delectable mix.” (BabySue Music Review)
This year, in between road gigs, he worked on the Bonsai Universe upcoming release, Too Many Ghosts.Too Many Ghosts was produced, engineered and mixed by Aplanalp and mastered by Tony Austin, who plays drums on the song “It’s A Shame” and is currently touring with Kamasi Washington. “I went to college with Tony,” explained Aplanalp. “We’ve probably been in 5 or 6 bands together.” The same holds true for the rest of guests on the album—veterans of past musical campaigns that Aplanalp has known for years, distinctive and notable in their own right. This familiarity and history lends itself a certain warmth to Aplanalp’s dreamy ethereal compositions.
The 15-song album kicks off with the aforementioned “It’s a Shame” which is a nod to Bobby Womack, “It’s my version of a disappointment blues,” said Aplanalp. “I used to play Bobby’s first hit song, ‘It’s All Over’, so this is kind of a twist on that.” “Beepsy” is a hypnotic electro-pop number that was written for Aplanalp’s cousin, Beepsy. –
“Beepsy , I thought you’d like to hear a song just for you | It might not be the best song , but I still hold it dear “.
The title song, “Too Many Ghosts” is a dreamy melancholic song lamenting impressions that are left behind, “In the small hours before the dawn | something still there something gone | In this old house outside of town, something won’t stop , hanging around”.
Aplanalp resides in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and there’s a thread of California running throughout the album. “Walnut Grove” was written as a nostalgic memory of growing up in Rosemead, CA. An avid cyclist, “Altadena” was written for his favorite cycling route that cuts through that city, while “Ode to Ridge Road” is also a favorite road that cuts across the San Gabriels to Mt. Baldy. And then there’s the funky tune, “Crumbs” because, as he explains, “California is perpetually drought ridden…so yeah.”
The album ends with “My Little Corner”, which is a song from 1960 by Anita Bryant. “However,” he clarifies, “this cover is closer to the Yo La Tengo version from the 90’s.”
With Too Many Ghosts Aplanalp has struck planetary gold again. Steve Hochman, music critic for KPCC (NPR-affilliate) said “…as Bonsai Universe, it seems he’s a lovelorn, instrospective, gentle spirit with a cosmic gaze.” Aplanalp explains it like this, “With this project, each song could be its own little universe, or you could say, A Bonsai Universe.”
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Guest Players Noted and Notes:
1.“It’s a Shame” — Drums-Tony Austin | Bass-Miles Mosley (Kamasi Washington Band, West Coast Get Down) “Miles and I were in Lauryn Hills band together and Dakah, The Hip Hop Orchestra” | Keyboards-Jon Neimann (Gospel Beach, Miranda Lee Richards) “I’ve been working on songs with Jon on and off for years.”
2. “Beepsy”– Drums -Justin Smith (Howlin’ Rain and Aplanalp’s bandmate from Old Californio) | BV- Liela Avila “Liela is from my neighborhood and I’ve been friends with her dad since she was a kid. He’s on a few songs, as well.”
3. “Walnut Grove”–Drums-Anthony Logerfo (Neil Young, Promise of the Real) “Anthony played in my band many years ago and we’ve done various projects over the years.” | Bass- John Avila (Oingo Boingo) “John is a neighbor of mine and we’ve been in several bands together over the years, including Oingo Boingo Former Members.
4. “Altadena”– Vocals- Gwendolyn (Composer for Orange is the new Black, Weeds) | Percussion-Brandon Jay (Composer for Orange is the new Black, Weeds) | Bass-John Avila
5. “Too Many Ghosts”–BV-Dylan McKenzie (Derde Verde) “Dylan was a guitar student of mine and now he has his own band.” | Bass-John Avila
6. “Do Something” – All Aplanalp
7. “Crumbs”– Drums-Justin Smith | Keyboards- Jamison Trotter
8. “Ode to Ridge Road”– Percussion- Randy Gloss (Hands Ensemble) | Bass-Jason Chesney (Michael Nesmith, Old Californio “Jason and I have been playing longer than anyone else that I know. We’ve done many projects together.”
9. “Spanish Lady”—All Aplanlap
10. “Hey Brown Eyes”—Drums Bryon Holley | Bass and BV Corey McCormick (Neil Young, Promise of the Real, Chris Cornell)
11. “Sideways Summer”—Bass- Juan Perez (Quetzal) “Juan and I have played together in Quetzal and with Aloe Blacc.”
12. “Rain”—Drums-Justin Smith | Bass-Jason Chesney
InsideOutMusic are set to release the self-titled debut album from Philadelphia- duo Rise Twain on September 6th, 2019. The union of Brett William Kull (producer, audio engineer, and member of Echolyn, Grey Eye Glances, and Francis Dunnery’s New Progressives) and J.D. Beck (The Scenic Route, Beck-Fields, author & playwright) bring their collective years of direct and varied experience in writing, performing and recording music together for their impressive debut.
Today they launch the 3rd single, and final preview track, titled ‘Oh This Life’ and you can listen to it now here:
The band comments: “Sometimes a complete song appears and is constructed as if it was always here; the songwriter just a conduit to allow its declaration into being.
“Oh This Life” is a song at our most immediate – available to intimate observation, confession, and creativity.”
The track-listing is as follows:
1. Everspring 2. Golden 3. The Range 4. Lit Up 5. Death of Summer 6. Oh This Life 7. Prayers 8. Falling Skies 9. Into A Dream 10. That Is Love
The album is also now available to pre-order on Limited CD Digipak, 180g Black Vinyl LP + CD & as digital album here: https://risetwain.lnk.to/RiseTwain
Talking of how the duo came together: “I produced an album for J.D.’s original band, The Scenic Route”, says Kull, describing his first meeting with Beck in 2007. “They were a rocky, progressive kind of band, like a Jeff Buckley kind of thing. I was immediately drawn to his vocals. He’s such a strong singer.” Kull says he and Beck immediately hit it off, what he describes as an “inevitable connection.”
Adds Beck, “I just knew I had to work with Brett on a higher level. When I came in to cut the vocals on the Scenic Route album, the way we worked together…some people you just gel with, and then some people you have a barrier with. Brett and I gelled.” They spoke of one day collaborating on their own project, which finally surfaces as Rise Twain.
Discussing the album’s musical direction, Beck notes, “There’s not a typical structural theme that we use over and over and over. ‘Organic’ is a word that comes to mind. Seeking openness through simplicity and allowing the complexity of music to exist without the necessity of overly packing it or overly processing it. With that we were able to achieve such a broad spectrum of sound, and a colossal sense of its existence, without having to have a billion guitars and a billion things put over top. There’s some colouring with strings and other embellishments, but it really is something very simple and stripped down, and it’s awesome.”
Kull adds, “There’s a lot of complexity in this, but it’s not overt in the least bit. But yet, when you get into it, there’s all this really rich harmonic and dynamic stuff going on.”
RISE TWAIN are: J.D. Beck: Piano, lead and backing vocals Brett William Kull: Guitars, bass, keys, percussion, lead and backing vocals
“65daysofstatic have always been a band unafraid to take on wildly ambitious projects” – The Independent
“A band more than well-versed in creating bold, beautiful music that often feels like the universe collapsing or a new day rising” – The Line Of Best Fit
“The music of 65daysofstatic has always sounded vast and out of this world” – NME Magazine
On September 27th, Sheffield-based experimental stalwarts 65daysofstaticrelease their anticipated, expansive new album replicr, 2019 via Superball Music. This immersive album highlights a continuation from previous releases and a constant evolution which has been evident since their formation.
Today they launch the video for the new single “trackerplatz“, the second track taken from ‘replicr, 2019’.
The band comments of the track: “Back in January, in a remote studio that would have been buried under snow had we not have collectively killed snow’s ability to thrive in the 21st century, the four of us were huddled around a warm mixing desk trying to stop Trackerplatz from falling apart. More than one song had already been unceremoniously left in the dirt whilst recording replicr, 2019. It’s always that way with us when trying to make records. We go into it expecting one thing but as soon as we manage to bring it to life it starts behaving oddly and there’s only so much we can do to keep it all hanging together. Trackerplatz we were all particularly fond of though. We really wanted it to survive.
At the last possible minute, on the cusp of us throwing the entire song into the memory hole, the song was saved by a 1998 Akai S2000 digital sampler. In the earliest days of 65, this sampler travelled with us in vans up and down the country and then around Europe. More recently it sat, lonely, in the corner of a rehearsal room, its circuits getting coated in dust and melancholy.
At 65’s darkest hour, the sampler chugged its way back to life and offered up a 16bit sine wave embued with a decade of sadness. We threw out the overwrought polyrhythmic piano tracks, replaced them with the sampler’s plaintive yearning for its lost younger years, and out of nowhere the song bloomed into the end piece of our new record.”
For a decade, 65daysofstatic could generally be found on the peripheries of any scene trying to claim them, headed in the opposite direction. From their immediately recognisable aesthetic of glitches and urgent guitars of 2004 debut ‘The Fall of Math’, the band’s sound evolved via techno, post-rock, drum’n’bass, math rock, IDM, drone, breakcore, film scores and their self-proclaimed “dustpunk”, clattering into the colossal, widescreen noise sculptures of 2013’s ‘Wild Light’. In 2016, they released their critically-acclaimed score for ‘No Man’s Sky’, the most anticipated game in the world at that time. Their generative, infinitely long, in-game score was experienced uniquely by each of the game’s millions of players.
This crash course in algorithmic music led to the band building their own procedural musical systems and generative soundscapes, crafting custom synths, live coding and writing software to make music for (and against) them. This new way of working they called “Decomposition Theory” — decomposing from the infinite possibilities their systems churned out instead of composing from the ground up, a dialectic between the band and their machines.
From the eventual smouldering wreckage of their broken software systems and entropic algorithms, the band realised their next record needed to be the opposite. An album born from the debris, but stripped down to its most focussed, intentional form.
replicr, 2019 is the album carved from the wreckage. Forty two minutes of dread. A record that stares head on into the abyssal futures of late capitalism and refuses to blink. A melancholic, tireless soundtrack of acceleration. A feeling of frayed-nerved, time-smudged, light-speed drifting through cities built upon cities. Neon seen through rain-riddled windowpanes. replicr, 2019 is a stark, angular, stripped back slab of focussed noise. It wastes no time because there is no time left to waste.
Opener pretext immediately lays out 65’s intent, a collage of apprehension assembled from a palimpsest of worn out tape hiss, the downsampled entropy of rusted hulks in a forgotten harbour, the pulse of a perpetual machine in decline.
Out of this unease explodes stillstellung’s furious heartbeat. Presumably this places us somewhere between Walter Benjamin’s ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’, emphasised by the music’s repetition, and his ‘On the Concept of History’ in which the stillstellung describes a frozen moment, a slice of time in which all understanding of what has gone before can manifest. A kind of historical materialist music then, a title that speaks to the politics weaved throughout this record, never explicit but made clear through its relentless re-cataloguing of multiple musical histories, its interrogations of failed futures.
Despite its title, bad age reveals the utopian impulse that drives 65 to push through their bleak strategies in the hope of getting somewhere better, as obscure time signatures, micro-tuned synths and bastardized guitars become immediately accessible, even hummable. A reminder that 65daysofstatic never knowingly wear their obscurity with pride but rather strive for music that is inclusive, human, inviting and yet always pushing towards the new.
If bad age is the search for better futures then sister is locked in the grim now, with dusk coming on. Having “2019” in the album title is a deliberate choice by the band. As drummer Rob Jones explains: “This was supposed to be the future, but that future got cancelled. History is moving but it’s got nowhere to go. It’s piling up all around us. That’s what this record is about. This atemporality is an illusion, it’s the cultural logic of late capitalism, consuming everything faster and faster, each artefact a more diluted replica of the last. Even the idea that ‘pop will eat itself’ is eating itself. We need to find a way out.”
The year in the title pins the record down, a marker in history, a lighthouse in an exponential typhoon of blind progress.
Album closer trackerplatz begins with a plaintive 16bit sine wave, a blunt distress signal cutting through the fog. A swarm of distortion rises but gone is the bombast of previous 65 outings. As the song’s spare, angular form lifts into noise and its last careful message gets lost in the storm of static, it never quite tips over into oblivion. It suggests that maybe 65daysofstatic haven’t reached the end yet.
Maybe there’s a future to be found after all.
Tracklist: 1. pretext 2. stillstellung 3. d|| tl | | | 4. bad age 5. 05|| | 1| 6. sister 7. grv—_s 8. popular beats 9. five waves 10. interference_1 11. lid 12. z03 13. u| || | th | r| d 14. trackerplatz
German instrumental-rock group LONG DISTANCE CALLING are pleased to announce their first ever live album ‘STUMMFILM – Live from Hamburg (A Seats & Sounds Show)’, scheduled for release on November 1st, 2019 through InsideOutMusic. Filmed during a special run of dates in early 2019, it saw the band performing seated shows in some very special locations for a stunning experience.
The band comments: “We are happy to unveil our first ever live album ‘STUMMFILM – Live From Hamburg’ which we recorded on the ‘Seats & Sounds’ tour earlier this year. After more than ten years on the road, we felt it’s more than about time to do a proper live album. We are very satisfied with the result, a lot of atmosphere, energy as well as some nice surprises have been captured at Kulturkirche Altona in Hamburg. We can’t wait to share this beautiful experience with you! Love LDC”
To celebrate the announcement, the band have launched a live clip of the track ‘Black Paper Planes’, and you can watch that here:
‘STUMMFILM – Live from Hamburg (A Seats & Sounds Show)’ will be available as a limited edition Blu-Ray + 2CD, Gatefold 3LP Vinyl & as digital audio download.
The full track-listing is as follows:
1. Into The Black Wide Open 2. The Very Last Day 3. In The Clouds 4. Like A River 5. On The Verge 6. Interlude 7. Out There 8. Apparitions 9. Black Paper Planes 10. 359° 11. I Know You, Stanley Milgram! 12. Sundown Highway 13. Flux 14. Metulsky Curse Revisited
For 13 years now, the Münster-based four-piece Long Distance Calling has been famed and cherished for its weightless yet massive music. After having returned to their instrumental roots Long Distance Calling sat down to carefully ponder their next step. When they got up again, they were ready for their most extraordinary live undertaking yet: Aptly entitled “Seats & Sounds”, this string of concerts saw Long Distance Calling take to the stage in very special locations in front on a seated audience.
The band took the matter almost religiously and went to great lengths in pulling off their most daring effort. “We wanted to go one step further, highlighting the audio-visual quality of the band for the very first time”, the band states, referring to the phalanx of video screens and specially curated visuals corresponding to each song.
One of those rare performances, the one at the Kulturkirche Altona in Hamburg, was captured on film and tape and is now being released. More an elegant silent film (visually speaking) than an ordinary live video, Long Distance Calling deliver a stunning performance in two acts: A “normal” Long Distance Calling set with songs from all their albums, and a special ‘Avoid the Light’ set, performing the dramatic album almost in its entirety. “This is one of the most important releases of our entire career”, the band continues, “and playing it felt like time travel.”
Meticulously prepared and rehearsed, this is Long Distance Calling on another level. Backed by guest musicians Luca Gilles on cello and Aaron Schrade on percussion and electronic beats, the experimental rock veterans show their grandeur in cinemascope – elaborately filmed and monumentally staged. In the end, Janosch Rathmer (drums), Jan Hoffmann (bass), Florian Füntmann (guitar) and David Jordan (guitar) not only played their biggest Hamburg headlining show; they also peaked their stellar career.
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