Hotly tipped New Zealand band Opossom have signed to Fire Records. The brainchild of Kody Nielson, formerly of acclaimed “trouble gum art punks” The Mint Chicks, Opossom will release their first record on the label ‘Electric Hawaii’, on 6 August.
Already acclaimed by the likes of Pitchfork, NME and CMU, the band’s intense live performances have garnered rave reviews and the band made waves after their UK live debut in April. Joining Kody on stage are Bic Runga in the role of chanteuse and multi-instrumentalist and former fellow Mint Chick Michael Logie on bass guitar duties. There are plans are afoot for UK, European and US shows in the Autumn.
Have a watch of the video for the first single from the album, “Blue Meanies”, below:
Former Velvet Underground man John Cale has announced the release of his 16th studio album, ‘Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood’ due for release on 1st October 2012 via Double Six Records.
Shifty Adventures…is the result of sessions held at Cale’s LA studio. Days were spent experimenting with MPCs, pounding fists onto pianos, manipulating glitches and lots of signature viola drone while patiently waiting for songs to reveal themselves. There was also a spontaneous session with Danger Mouse to create the opening track ‘I Wanna Talk 2 U’.
The music of Rooftop Runners ripples positively original pop waves through far darker lyrics than you’d expect from your typical indie fair: a seething concoction of trippy electro beats and spine-shattering bass lines is equalized by soulful falsetto vocals and folksy, dissonant guitars, making for a sobering but enjoyable listen.
Forging a mix of menacing mood and moving melody out of their adopted city of Berlin, Germany, RTR are Canadian singer-songwriter brother duo Benedikt and Tobias MacIsaac. An internationally accomplished choreographer and dancer respectively, the brothers are no strangers to performing-arts success, having toured and performed extensively with world class troupes in Europe.
Rooftop Runners’ new 4 song EP “We Are Here” will be released April 3, 2012, and it’s meant as both an affirmation and a promise that “RTR has arrived and they are here to stay.” With fervent response from local music media and a rapidly growing fan-base, a European Tour completed and an eagerly-anticipated full length debut album also due in 2012, the siblings seem set to drop their pioneer strand of Trip-Pop at us from rooftops the world over before long. The EP “We Are Here” is just an introduction.
Band: Monks of Mellonwah Location: Sydney, NSW Members: Will Maher (vocals), Joe de la Hoyde (backing vocals/guitar), John de la Hoyde (bass), Josh Baissari (drums) CD: “Neurogenesis” EP (Advance release May 24, 2012) Production: Jeff Bova (Michael Jackson, Billy Joel), Ryan Miller (John Frusciante, Flea), Howie Weinberg (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, RHCP) Websites:www.monksofmellonwah.com, www.facebook.com/monksofmellonwah, www.twitter.com/monksofmellonwah Style: indie rock, alternative rock Similar to: The Black Keys, Muse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_8crOOSRu0
News release: Coming off their big win for “Best Indie Rock Artist” at the Artists in Music Awards 2012, and being nominated for best International Artist in the LA Music Awards, Sydney’s buzz act Monks of Mellonwah are now ready to release their new EP “Neurogenesis”. Contributing to the new EP were Grammy Award winning producer Jeff Bova (Michael Jackson, Billy Joel), Ryan Miller (John Frusciante, Flea, The Ruminators) and renowned engineer Howie Weinberg (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers).
Neurogenesis features 4 alternative rock tracks which explore a range of concepts from Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb in “Neurogenesis” to the longing for life in “Neverending Spirit”. Each track has something to offer and is demonstration of the Monks of Mellonwah’s evolution, both in terms of maturity of song writing and musical and vocal prowess.
Mumford & Sons kicked off a series of UK shows this week, playing alongside the likes of The Vaccines, Michael Kiwanuka, Zulu Winter, Slow Club, and Willy Mason.
These shows include their “The Gentlemen of the Road” series of outdoor events , headlined by Mumford & Sons, and will feature full bills of support acts curated by the band themselves.
Ahead of the shows the band have compiled a playlist of their favourite songs from each of the artists playing these June events. The playlist – complete with specially-created artwork – is available to stream below:
Speaking about the shows the band said: “The Gentlemen of the Road Stopover is based loosely upon our favourite festivals like Colorado’s Telluride Bluegrass and Scotland’s Loopallu Festivals. We want to stop off in towns not usually heavily toured by bands, and celebrate the people, food and music that inhabit them. We’re keen to promote the town’s local businesses, and we’ll be using the local bars and venues for aftershow parties, whilst working closely with the local people to get everyone involved in making these shows spectacular. There will be a host of our friends playing too, and the vibe falls somewhere between ‘travelling Victorian circus’ and ‘Victorian travelling circus’. It should be a whole lot of fun.”
All of the Gentlemen of the Road Stopover shows will heavily involve the local communities, from the produce sold on the sites, to engaging visitors with the towns as a whole. The band will be playing a series of shows between the gigs with the support acts selected from the Summer show line-ups.
The final show will be on 9th June in Galway featuring Mumford & Sons + The Vaccines, Willy Mason, Zulu Winter, Nathaniel Rateliff and The Correspondents. For further details visit http://gentlemenoftheroad.com/
London electronica gods Hot Chip have unveiled the Peter Serafinowicz-directed video for ‘Night And Day’, the first single from their forthcoming fifth LP, ‘In Our Heads’, released on 11th June. The video features appearances from Terence Stamp, Reggie Watts, Lara Stone and of course Hot Chip.
Peter Serafinowicz stated that “many animals were harmed during the making of this video. Regrettably, none of them made the final edit.”
The band can also announce that they have invited The 2 Bears, Peter Um and Factory Floor as special guests on their forthcoming June UK tour. Details below:
The band’s new album, ‘In Our Heads’, was recorded in London and produced by the band with Mark Ralph and is the band’s follow up to 2010’s intoxicating One Life Stand and their first LP for Domino. In Our Heads will be released on 11th June .
West London MC and producer Scru Face, aka Scrufizzer, is steadily becoming one of the UK undergrounds most explosive new talents. Renowned for his inventive, rapid-fire flow and cutting-edge fusion of urban production styles, the last two years have seen a steady ascension of his name, leading to collaborations and performances with the scenes top names including Dizzee Rascal, Donae’o and Skepta, being put on the radar of Annie Mac, Nick Grimshaw, Rob Da Bank and Trevor Nelson on Radio 1, as well as being selected as one of BBC 1Xtra’s ’12 for 2012′.
His latest video for new track ‘What’s New’ sees Scrufizzer on the mean streets of his native borough of West Ealing in London.
Founded in 2002, DRUNKSOULS are an indie/reggae French band sonically similar to Manu Chao, Gorillaz, Michael Jackson and Damian Marley. Their music is a patchwork of influences intended to make you dance as well as think. The Daily Consciousness says they’re “creating a unique sound with little to no borders.” Their songs, sometimes playful and sometimes dark, carry a message of reconciliation and tolerance, in which humour and gravity are intelligently cohabiting. Rock Is Rock says of the band “Dead Prez called themselves ‘Revolutionary but Gangster’. If that’s the case then DRUNKSOULS are ‘Revolutionary but Funny’.”
DRUNKSOULS have received a high amount of word-of-mouth from their fanbase, generating over 100,000 downloads of their debut album. Their music has been used in films like the documentary “I Believe I Can Fly”, whose trailer alone has garnered over 5 million views. DRUNKSOULS have played in legendary venues such as the mythical stage of Olympia-Bruno Coquatrix. In 2011, DRUNKSOULS were given the chance to play twice in another legendary venue, the Grand Auditorium du Palais des Festivals de Cannes, one of the events supporting the African Reggae Star TIKEN JAH FAKOLI.
Now, DRUNKSOULS are back with “Revolution”, a 16 track album offering of rock, reggae, electro, funk and pop. Building on the success of their debut, the band continues on the path of poppy hooks and political/emotional lyrics with tracks like “Human Race”, “The Fall” and “Revolution”.
