Ola Podrida‘s new album – Ghosts Go Blind is available for pre-order now! You can also catch the band live at a few different venues in Austin if you happen to be at SXSW. Catch several Western Vinyl bands at the WV official SXSW showcase at the Driskill on March 14, 2013 – the show will include performances by Balmorhea (1AM), Lushlife (12AM), JBM (11PM) Ola Podrida (10PM), and Aisha Burns (9PM).
Baboon Strength: Cool name, huh?
Charlie Hunter & company (Erik Deutsch on keyboards and Tony Mason on drums) recorded Baboon Strength at Trout Studio in Brooklyn. They have an old school set-up where everything happens in the same room, instruments, mixing desk, tape machine, everything.
The album was recorded to 16 track two-inch tape before putting it in the digital realm. Erik brought his 1970s Yamaha combo organ, Casiotone and Echoplex. His sonic aesthetic and abilities as an improviser are impeccable. Go Erik! Tony played Trout’s big ass bass drum, snare and toms. (In Charlie’s words, “He also happens to be, in my opinion, the best pure pocket drummer I’ve ever heard. Science. In terms of groove and time it’s his world, we live in it, act accordingly”). Erik and Charlie both concur that he gets the game ball for this record. Charlie brought some decent songs and tried not to overplay. It’s a never- ending process. Dave McNair did a hell of a job mixing and mastering the disc. Grab the album and see if you concur — the vinyl will be up soon! [Check out the fat drum sound on “Difford-Tillbrook”.]
Oops Baby Records is proud to announce their first release for 2013 — (some of us have) adrenalized hearts by LIVIDS! After taking some time off in 2012, OBR is back in full force with a slate of killer releases for 2013, starting with this 7″ EP from Brooklyn punks, Livids (featuring Eric Davidson from New Bomb Turks and Jami Wolf from Zodiac Killers). This 7″ is limited to 400 black and 100 Blood Splatter vinyl, (color vinyl available first come first serve exclusively through the OBR online store).
The last great San Jose, Calif. band has a debut album at last! Always mentioned in the same breath as the South Bay’s hallowed trio-the Syndicate Of Sound, the Chocolate Watchband and Count Five, The Mourning Reign has been woefully under-represented on wax-until now. Sundazed recently uncovered three powerful 1967 cover versions-the Who’s “Run, Run, Run,” Cream’s “Tales Of Brave Ulysses” and Love’s “Signed D.C.”-to complete a package combining the band’s first, ultra-rare Contour single “Evil-Hearted You”/”Get Out Of My Life, Woman” with all of the fuzz-drenched Golden State Recorders material, like “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and “Our Fate.” Mourning Reign guitarist Steve Canali uncorks the band’s story on the sleeve, assuring that you (and Dionne Warwick) will never again forget the way to San Jose.
From The Bird’s Cage is HRVRD’s sophomore effort with 10 tracks including “Flaming Creatures” and “We Never Shut Up About You.” The vinyl version of this release is ultra-limited – available only from Enjoy The Ride Records direct, and soon in very limited supply from Hot Topic (licensed for vinyl from Equal Vision Records).
After numerous lauded, local efforts under an assortment of band monikers [The Easys, Big Silver, etc.] writer Isaac Alexander goes solo. The latest collection of gems from Isaac Alexander is Antivenin Suite. 180g vinyl with a printed inner sleeve. Limited edition of 300, with the first 50 on light gray vinyl. Grab one from Max Recordings now!
Ken Janssen Medical Fund and Benefit Pre-Order. IT DON’T QUIT!
Ken Janssen has long been a fixture on the Cleveland music scene. He has interacted with local and touring musicians as a booker/bartender at the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern, and enthralled audiences as a founding member of The Hot Rails and The It*Men. Before moving to Cleveland, Ken cut his teeth in Kent, Ohio, providing a crucial link between the various social and musical factions in the area. He was always willing to help the bands – whether that meant securing out-of-town gigs, or just making sure there was a well-stocked party after the show.
Now Ken needs our help. In November 2012 he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. Expensive treatment and surgery will be required to slow the progression of the disease.
Many have graciously offered to help in any way they can. Rather than start a foundation to simply collect donations, Ken wanted to do something fun that would provide entertainment value as well. A benefit concert is scheduled for June 1st at the Beachland. In the meantime, Janssen and friends have decided to start a new record label to preserve Ken’s legacy and passion for local music.
Stow House Records is pleased to announce the vinyl reissue of the 2004 It*Men compilation Greatest Its. The recently reunited It*Men are a garage rock band comprised of current and former members of The Dreadful Yawns, The New Lou Reeds, Volcano Fortress, and New Planet Trampoline (among others).
You can pre-order the LP and/or contribute to Ken’s medical fund via Ken’s GrooveBot campaign.
VYIE (ˈvī-ə) is the name of a darkly inspirational non-fiction character. VYIE is a four-letter word. VYIE is a band.
Stories, told through VYIE, may be histories or future perspectives, events from the past or events that haven’t happened yet, and some may be present perspectives. But for more than the entertainment of her wild, imaginative stories, Jessi Monroe and Janey Criss use VYIE as a platform for bringing deathpop (an eskimonic sub-genre characterized by its electronic backbone and layers of darker, melodic clouds) to the forefront of independent music, where sounds are reviewed, discussed and analyzed.
The goal for VYIE on record is to take each song forward, into and through various methods of design. These methods include pairing digital elements with analog ones. Joined by drummer Alec Yeager, the goal of VYIE live is to take each song backward, beyond technical construction and artistic conception, in order to explore each meaning attentively and thematically.
On February 26, SST Records will release Life is Too Short to Not Hold a Grudge, the debut album from GOOD FOR YOU, the brand new band featuring influential guitarist and bandleader Greg Ginn and professional skateboarder and musician Mike Vallely (aka Mike V). Featuring eleven uniquely distinct high-energy rock songs blistered with themes of betrayal, regret, disillusionment, resolve, determination and independence propelled by Ginn‘s distinctive, stun-gun guitar, Life is Too Short to Not Hold a Grudge sets a new course for both musicians and delivers a strong statement of intent that begs to be heard.
Recorded at Ginn‘s Casa Destroy Studios in Taylor, TX, the album teams the singular guitarist — named as one of Rolling Stone’s ”100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” — with the creative, aggressive Vallely for the first time since BLACK FLAG‘s 2003 reunion shows in Los Angeles where Mike V performed the entire My War album from start to finish with the world renowned punk rock band at the invitation of Ginn.
As the founder, guitarist and driving influence behind BLACK FLAG, Greg Ginn defined the west coast punk sound and the DIY ethos of punk rock. In many ways, Vallely is the perfect frontman to lead Ginn‘s first hard rock band since the dissolution of BLACK FLAG. A strong-willed, determined, intense and inspirational figure, Vallely (owner and creative mind behind Elephant Brand Skateboards) has earned a devoted, worldwide following over the course of his two decade plus career as a professional skateboarder and years fronting the bands Mike V and The Rats and Revolution Mother. The vocalist first saw BLACK FLAG perform at City Gardens in Trenton, New Jersey in 1984, crediting it as a life changing experience. Greg and Mike first met in Long Beach, CA in May 2003 when Mike V And The Rats started a supporting run of shows for Greg that would eventually lead to the guest vocal spot at the BLACK FLAG reunion shows. A friendship was formed and the two have kept in touch through the years with the intention of collaborating on new music at some point. In February 2012, Ginn presented Vallely with new music and the singer spent the next five months filling notebooks with lyrics. The duo’s intense songwriting chemistry generated both a solid set of dynamic songs that would become Life Is Too Short To Not Hold A Grudge and the formation of an entirely new band: GOOD FOR YOU. Rarely is rock so pure and hard-hitting.
It’s Not Night: It’s Space is self-described as being the sense of dawn beneath pretense of an order of darkness; dissolving boundaries; fortifying culture; and remaining human. Their new album is Bowing Not Knowing To What, and is available on an ultra-limited edition pressing of 100 records on completely random colors.