Twin brothers John and Marc Beaudette formed Destroy Babylon with their friend Chris Moran during the summer of 2001 in Hudson, New Hampshire, before attending college.  The band name was taken from a song by the Bad Brains. They began writing music influenced by the energy and DIY ethics of punk rock and the rhythms of Roots reggae and Dub music. The band relocated to Boston in 2005 and released their first full-length, Oligopuzzled, in 2006 on their own Music ADD label.  Rob Carmichael joined the band on lead guitar and they released two EPs, sEParation and The Shadow Army. Jon Mercer then joined the band on keys and live dub effects, and after some national touring, released a live full-length, Backyard Babylon.

Destroy Babylon gained national airplay with their 2009 single, “Culture Pirates”, released on a 7″ vinyl record packaged with a 28-page art book. In January 2009, the band started a “Dub of the Month” series, releasing a new song once a month for a full year. Each song debuted on WMBR’s Pipeline! show. The 12 songs were collected and released as Dub of Ages, Vol. 1 in 2010. DB toured and supported the likes of Lee “Scratch” Perry, The Wailers, Eek-A-Mouse, Bad Brains frontman HR, plus contemporaries like The Slackers, The Aggrolites, Dub Trio, and Westbound Train, among others.

The band worked with Craig Welsch (John Brown’s Body, 10 Foot Ganja Plant) on their latest full-length, Long Live the Vortex. Both Jon Mercer and Chris Moran left the band before the album was released. John Beaudette switched to bass and Casey Gruttadauria joined on keys. In August the band completed a short tour with the Easy Star All-Stars.

Check out some cool videos below on the making of the ultra-detailed LP packaging, and be sure to grab a copy for yourself before they are gone!

Firehorse is the new project of acclaimed singer-songwriter-instrumentalist Leah Siegel. With Steve Elliot on guitar, the inimitable Tim Luntzel (Rosanne Cash, Loudon Wainwright III, and more) on bass, and Brian Wolfe (My Brightest Diamond, Sufjan Stevens, and others) on drums.

And so they ran faster… explores the sonic possibilities and personal expression of an artist reaching for the next horizon.

If you are in NYC, definitely hit up the album release show at Rockwood Music Hall TONIGHT (09.29.11) at 9pm, and grab a copy of the limited edition vinyl of this release!

The long awaited Topshelf Records debut for Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) is finally being released! On Time Spent Waiting or placing weight of the world on the shoulders of those you love the most is the bands best effort to date. Four brand new tracks packed into one 7 inch. Expect to see them at a show near you very soon!

First pressing is of 500 split between 100 Cream, 125 Baby Blue, 125 Green, 150 Opaque Red.

Hit up Topshelf to grab a copy now!

A portrait emerges in the video for the lead single from Xeno & Oaklander‘s Sets & Lights: one of two separate yet unmistakably intertwined individuals. Liz Wendelbo gracefully ascends and descends a menacing staircase while Sean McBride stands patiently in the ambiguous, blurred distance. The time is warped, the architecture is unfriendly, and the relationship between both people and their physical environment is made anxiously questionable. And yet, dominating the proceedings is an air of exoticism and pervasive sensuality in the face of what feels like an impending violent event. The collision of these tensions, atmospheres, and personas is soundtracked on this latest offering from Wierd Records — available everywhere on October 11.

You can also now grab the title track (b/w “Sunday”) on 7″ vinyl ahead of the LP Release for a limited time from Wierd Records.

Thanks to a 5 week residency at Threewalls in Chicago this summer, Casey Droege had time to hunker down in the studio. For her current project Tracks Of My Tears, she compiled a list of every song that has made her cry, dating back to 1991.  For each song, she wrote and recorded a story about the moment she remembers tears being induced.

Strictly limited to 100 copies on random color wax, the record features jackets letterpressed by Artnoose in Pittsburgh.  You can grab one directly from Casey before they are gone!

Coming soon from our friends at Rocket Heart Records, this 7″ featuring The Dead Girls‘ newest “hit song” that will never be heard on the radio (ha!) is called “She Laughed a Little,” and it has become a staple of the bands’ live shows. The B-side, “It’s All Happening,” is a treat as well. It’s a one-off song written and recorded in four hours when Motion City Soundtrack singer/guitarist Justin Pierre came into town for a day. The Dead Girls then called up former Blackpool Lights/Creature Comforts/Ultimate Fakebook multi-instrumentalist J.D. Warnock to create a three-vocal/four guitar/six-man wall of sound. The epic super-catchy thumper of a song has since been remixed and remastered exclusively for this release.

The Kickstarter campaign for this 7″ still has a few days left for you to grab some cool extras in exchange for supporting the project.

Coming soon from Limited Fanfare Records on 7″ vinyl — the crushing debut single ” Anchors Up!” from MonstrO‘s self-titled debut album (released by Vagrant Records).  The first pressing is limited to 75 copies on Black Vinyl, 250 copies on Blue Marble Vinyl, and 250 copies on Fuchsia Vinyl.

The single was produced by William DuVall (vocalist and guitarist of Alice in Chains), and will be available starting next week from Limited Fanfare, and on MonstrO’s U.S. dates with KYUSS LIVES! and The Sword.

MonstrO’s self-titled debut album for Vagrant Records twists and turns through a psychedelic hard rock haze that’s as hypnotic as it is heavy. That heady combination is embodied on “Stallone” which glides from a guttural stomp into a resounding refrain, while “Concertina” rises and falls with a dark elegance, and album closer “April” blasts off on the fumes of a final ethereal hum. Four individual sonic personalities converge to make this music. There’s bassist Kyle Sanders [ex-Bloodsimple], drummer Bevan Davies [ex-Bloodsimple, Danzig], guitarist Juan Montoya [ex-Torche], and vocalist and guitarist Charlie Suarez, and they’re ready to take flight.

“America’s Hottest Accordion” winner, Dwayne (Dopsie) Rubin, plays a unique, high energy style of zydeco. Dwayne hails from one of the most influential Zydeco families in the world. Although inspired by tradition, he has developed his own high energy style that defies existing stereotypes and blazes a refreshingly distinct path for 21st century Zydeco music. This singer/songwriter and accordionist has performed all over the world since debuting his band, Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers, at age 19.

Grounds For Thought in Bowling Green, Ohio brought about the vinyl incarnation of Get Down! –a double LP recorded live in Grounds For Thought’s coffee shop & bookstore in April 2011.  If you missed the band at the Black Swamp Arts Festival in Bowling Green this past weekend, definitely try to grab a copy of their electric live performance embodied on this double album!

The Chocolate Horse is Jason Snell (vocals, guitar, banjo), Andrew Higley (keyboards, horns, bowed saw, vibraphone), Paul Brumm (bass, vocals), Johnny Ruzsa (alto flute, ocarina, percussion), Dave Cahill (drums) and Joe Suer (keyboards, percussion).

Jason Snell began The Chocolate Horse as a modest side-project in the summer of 2003.  It was happily self-indulgent, centered on writing simple, slightly romantic 2-minute one-liners with an old guitar and a worn-in banjo, recorded on a deteriorating 4-track recording device in which only two tracks worked.  Realizing the project’s potential and imagining a bigger, more vibrant sound Snell invited good friends and fellow musicians Andrew Higley (French horn, saw and bow, trumpet, piano, fun machine), and Paul Brumm (upright bass, vocals) to join in.  The result is a whirlwind of experimentation and the birth of the hauntingly melodic, non-traditional edge that is The Chocolate Horse.

We were proud to have been enlisted by Jason to press the trio’s latest album, Beasts on wax.  The custom “luna green” color wax is very limited, but you can grab it from Stable Records now!