Ultra-blues? misanthropop? despair-core? What exactly is Folkicide? Agreed, it fits all these categories yet it is much more-possibly a genre all its own.

The Howlin’ Brothers are a three-piece string band that brings heart and passion into every performance. Their upbeat shows are heavy with original and traditional music, featuring the sounds of slide banjo, harmonica and old-time fiddle. Their latest album TROUBLE was produced by Brendan Benson for Readymade Records.  You will find them touring all over North America in 2014 in support of the album, bringing their spirited, roots-based show to the good people.

The following excerpts are from Surachai’s Trash Audio interview about his new album – Ritual.

Pre-Production
After several years of creating complex arrangements and aurally dense albums, I decided to simplify the tools and work with its impact on composition and sound. One of my favorite synthesizers is the semi-modular Cwejman S1 MKII and knew that it was complex enough to shape all the sounds I needed for an album. 

Recording
The signal chain was short. Cwejman S1 MKII output > Eventide Space > RME Fireface UC. The Cwejman was sequenced by the Make Noise RENE. The Dynaverb algorithm in the Eventide Space was the only reverb model used, except 20 (00) where a Tip Top Audio Z5000 delay preset was utilized. The album was tracked into Logic X and like my previous albums, everything was recorded into one large session but this time only 4 tracks were used.

Sync & Editing
Sync was placed by hand – not quantized on a grid or snapped to a BPM. A drifting master clock might be considered “charming” or give the album “personality” but it presented an unnecessary task of syncing audio files that would eventually sound like a train wreck if not reorganized. Although the drifting was unintended, by the end, I grew fond of this quirk, at points, and let some parts go their own way.

Mixing & Mastering

Unlike past albums, I didn’t dwell on the mix for very long – hell, I didn’t even EQ anything! Because of the unique and versatile filters in the Cwejman S1 MKII, I was able to carve out unwanted frequencies during the recording process and simply had to automate volume changes in post. The bass in the Cwejman is very intense, and even with proper monitoring, I didn’t understand its depth until I went to Richard Devine’s studio that has subs. His system revealed frequencies I didn’t know existed in the recordings until monitoring on his system. I decided to leave all this extra information for Shawn Hatfield to play with.

Mastering
The mastering duties were conducted by Shawn Hatfield of Audible Oddities. My biggest concern was keeping the Cwejman envelope aggression as well as the intense bass frequencies. The references I sent Shawn was Raime’s Quarter Turns Over a Living Line and Grischa Lichtenberger’s And IV (Inertia). As always, he glued it all together, didn’t compromise the mix and extended its volume slightly.

Artwork
For my previous albums I’ve worked with some of my favorite artists that I’m fortunate enough to call friends and Ritual was no different. I’ve followed Emilie Elizabeth’s photography for years and have always admired her style, sets, and aesthetic. John Crawford was involved throughout the process and provided his post production expertise that helped the images reach another level of unsettling. John also created the Waveform Gate which is an altered Necronomicon Gate Key with the 7 waveforms of the Cwejman S1 – one of many subtle and original touches this team obsessed over. They made me a bit uncomfortable by asking for my input so often. This is an abbreviated version of Emilie’s responses, the full length article can be found: Surachai.org.

Four years after the band’s last release,  the Austerity Program are just about to release Beyond Calculation, an 8-song full length record. The record comes out in a few weeks but you can put in a pre-order now. A pre-order gets you a shirt and copy of the record that will ship right before the release date.  There’s four choices of color for the shirt; the design is a five-color print on nice American Apparel. The record is 150g black vinyl and includes both a CD and d/l instructions. (The band is going to toss a few extra things into the first few packages that get out too).

If you’d like to buy it from us in person, it will be available at the record release show – Wed 6/4 at St. Vitus in Greenpoint, Bkln, NYC with Mockingbird, Force + Fire and Scowl.

Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, Red Kate has been pounding the pavement in the name of high octane rock and roll since 2007. Formed out of the remnants of such regional and national acts as Truck Stop Love, Wayback Machine, Squadcar, and the River City Revelator’s, Red Kate’s experience has helped them persevere in an industry that can love you one minute and spit you out the next.

Sonically, the band tips a cap to the beer soaked barroom floors of the short lived early 70’s British Pub-Rock scene and the modern blues-punk sounds that have since taken root in the Midwest’s dive bars and basements. Hard working both on and off the stage, the band’s locale has lent its perspective in sound, lyric, and work ethic. Straight off the factory line, Red Kate hearkens back to a time when musicians played hard, stayed up late, and carried a union card.

Red Kate and Bad Ideas split 7 inch release party is Saturday, May 31 at Harling’s in Kansas City!

Up first this year in Max Recording‘s Spring release schedule is Canehill Engagement — a debut 45 single featuring two songs; one from Jeremy Brasher, the other sung by Kevin Kerby.  The jackets are printed on a new material comprised of recycled chipboard with a coated white outer shell.  Limited to 250 copies.

The Mole People is a psychedelic punk/power pop band from Austin, Texas who have built a reputation for balls-out, raucous live rock n’ roll shows over the past four years.

Friends since their days as college DJs at KVRX 91.7 FM at the University of Texas in Austin, their radio background contributes to a unique sound. Compared to the destructively soulful noise grooves of The Stooges and the live frenzy of James Brown, their new record owes more to The Byrds, Big Star, or The Raspberries while displaying Ramones-like muscular pop tendencies. Filtered through musicologists’ brains, The Mole People produces something that sounds like the 13th Floor Elevators playing surf guitar backing Arthur Brown on a Beach Boys song produced by Brian Eno. 

Grab their new record – Lost Age – from Punctum Records.