Rarely can a singer/songwriter display dual sides of his musical personality—one who can quite thoroughly and convincingly operate in opposite realms of popular music. With Please Come Home, Dustin Kensrue joins those elite musical ranks.
Thanks to Enjoy The Ride Records, Please Come Home is receiving the vinyl treatment. There will be two limited edition colors available, so stay tuned to the Enjoy The Ride online store for the official pre-order launch!
It has been said before that Stanley Kubrick seemed like a classical composer who created films instead — that the images played out more like arias and overtures than a matinee movie. The inverse of that is probably the only way to approach Selenelion, the debut LP from Vaura. Less a collection of songs and more like an expedition into an elegantly foreboding universe, the eleven tracks that comprise the latest release from Wierd Records sound as if they were each crafted to evoke unearthly scenery and monolithic events.
From harsh distortion and aggressive screams to cold and shimmering clean guitars and vocals, the spectrum of sound on Selenelion is both varied and atmospherically cohesive.
The album title refers to a horizontal lunar eclipse: the moment at which the sun and the eclipsed moon can be seen at the same time. With song titles referencing everything from an Etruscan demoness to a Luciferian take on the conversion of St. Paul, and with artwork by the German photographer Alexander Binder, the unifying thread is an unmistakable sense of shadow-drenched enigma. “Drachma” refers to the coins that bought passage for the dead into the underworld, suggesting that everything following that track is part of an Orpheus-like journey. But repeated nods to the occult literature of Jorge Luis Borges, in particular to “The Aleph” and “The Zahir,” two stories that deal with infinity and vision, suggest that beyond the the dark hallucinations there is also a serious meditation taking place on the limits and paradoxes of seeing. Approaching such subject matter by way of something as invisible and intangible as music, Vaura invites the listener to share in a visceral, yet intimate ceremony of sensuality and destruction.
Available for pre-order now from Wierd Records.
Hot off a European and Japanese tour, Less Than Jake‘s limited edition color 7″ for the TV EP is finally available! This EP features killer renditions of classic and modern television show theme songs (plus the Freecreditreport.com song).
The guys will be staying busy with many upcoming U.S. tour dates in 2011. So, as they say in TV land….stay tuned! (sorry, had to do it).
Jukebox the Ghost have passionate fans. Fans who’ve gone so far as to tattoo the band’s name on their body or drive for days to see their shows, or post lovesick monologues dedicated to their glory on YouTube. Through a dogged work ethic and near-obsessive touring — headlining and alongside heavyweights like Ben Folds and Adam Green (The Moldy Peaches) — the band managed to sell over 10,000 copies of their debut album and cultivated the aforementioned rabid fan base. Now, with a fully developed sound and a songwriting and live performance approach seasoned by hundreds upon hundreds of gigs, the band are set to turn heads with sophomore effort Everything Under the Sun, produced by Peter Katis (Interpol, The National).
Proudly pressed here at GGR on 180 gram wax…..will be available nationally at independent record stores on 09/21/2010!
This is the first JAZZ album pressed here at GGR, and it’s a pretty great musician to start the genre here. According to the Matt Nowlin Orchestra website, “The Good News!, the Matt Nowlin Jazz Orchestra’s debut LP, calls to mind Jimmie Lunceford and the arrangements of Sy Oliver, while bringing to the forefront a new voice in jazz writing. In the hands of composer Matt Nowlin, swing is a vibrant feeling rather than a bygone era.”
The record is streeting on October 26 nationally — both online and at independent record stores everywhere!
When Kelly Wicks, owner of the Grounds For Thought cafe in Bowling Green, Ohio approached us about pressing this limited edition vinyl-only record by The Kinsey Report, it was one of those daily moments that remind us how amazing a job we all have here. This record was recorded live at Grounds For Thought and mastered by Thomas Bethel of Acoustik Musik/Room With A View Productions.
You can catch The Kinsey Report (along with a list of several other amazing acts) this weekend at the annual Black Swamp Festival in Bowling Green, Ohio. Several of us will be trekking over to Northwest Ohio to catch the shows…if you can make it, let’s grab a beer!
The folks at SXSW just launched their PanelPicker online, which allows for anyone to vote on topics they would be interested in being finalized as panels at SXSW 2011. Voting is live until August 27.
GGR submitted its own panel proposal, and you can vote for it here. (you’ll have to register for a FREE panelpicker account first)
Regardless of whether you plan on having a record pressed here at GGR, or by any one of the fine pressing plants around the world, we feel strongly that the topics we proposed will be helpful to anyone — new or veteran — wanting to get records pressed.
Here is a description of our proposal:
With the recent increase in the number of albums being pressed on vinyl, there is more interest now than in a very long time among bands and indie labels on how to press their own records. Many of these bands and labels have been raised during the “digital generation”, and therefore can find the process of moving their music to the analog vinyl format challenging. In particular, music that has not been mastered specifically for the vinyl format can sound horrible– clips; distortion; and in some cases, skips can ruin the end listening experience. This panel introduces those who are interested in having their own music pressed on vinyl to the process and limitations of the format. From the very limitations of the analog sound spectrum, to the inherent specifications of those flat black circle discs– this panel will discuss every technical aspect of pressing a vinyl record from the start to the finish and all in-between.
QUESTIONS ANSWERED:
Remember– voting closes on August 27!
Local Northeast-Ohio (Akron) based Experimedia‘s first GGR pressing is Kansas-based Aaron Martin‘s Worried About The Fire. Former collaborator of artists as diverse as Machinefabriek and Dawn Smithson (Sunn O))), Martin originally devised ‘Worried about the Fire’ as the soundtrack to a short film and the record sees him deconstructing preexisting snippets, sketches and samples from various collaborations and solo performances. All prior restrictions were set aside as Martin forwent his regular live-approach, untypically using electronic processing and effects and editing the parts without limiting himself in any way. Still built around his set-up of cello, banjo, harmonica and organ, there is an unsettling installation-character to the work, with distant echoes of acoustic instruments shining through the ghostly fabric of these twelve short pieces. Mastered by 12k label-head Taylor Deupree, ‘Worried about the Fire’ has however not only turned out a dark and demure work, but also one of brittle beauty – ranging from the meditative cymbal-space of ‘Ice melts’ and the broken-Piano semblance of ‘Blue Light’ to the consoling Ambient-Folk of ‘Making Rope’.
The record was pressed on random color vinyl, so each LP is completely unique. You can grab a copy here.
Aptly titled, Donavon Frankenreiter’s “Revisited” is not just a re-recording of his 2004 self titled album; it’s a complete reinterpretation…with a Hawaiian twist. Well, you still have time to soak it up before the summer is over…grab a copy today — it is available only at independent record stores or from Donavon himself!
Matt Taha from Cleveland’s futurepunk trio Filmstrip came by to grab his new [GGR-pressed] LP entitled Everything Can Change last week. If you happen to live in the Northeast, you can check out a show this month!
Matt Taha of Filmstrip
