The long-lost “Iron Fist” Motörhead album trailer has been unearthed!

LONG LOST FILM RESTORED & RELEASED 

FEATURING UNHEARD, INSTRUMENTAL DEMO 

‘RIPSAW TEARDOWN’

WATCH HERE

SPECIAL 40th ANNIVERSARY EDITIONS OF

 IRON FIST

TO BE RELEASED ON 23rd SEPT 2022

PREORDERS & EXCLUSIVE MERCH BUNDLES HERE https://motorhead.lnk.to/ironfist40thPR

Once upon a time the loudest, nastiest, speed-freaked trio in the land – the mighty Motörhead – decided that they needed an intro-film to come on stage to, so they could tour their brand-new album Iron Fist. Not for them some gentle promo video, for this was Motörhead in 1982 comprising the seminal three amigos line-up of Lemmy, Fast Eddie Clarke and Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor.

What they produced has been buried in the mists of time, confined to dodgy bootleg VHS’s, but it’s a gory, brutal, hilariously OTT short movie directed by Nick Mead where knights are murdered and maidens are in distress. Shot in a Hertfordshire forest it features a medieval, battle-hardened band stomping around a darkened forest, fuelled by vodka and brandishing weapons, wearing horned helmets and looking fierce whilst punching the air with their Iron Fist!

Imagine a recklessly non-health-and-safety, amphetamine-nightmare, super low budget take on Monty Python and the Holy Grail and you’re halfway there.

And now, in honour of the 40th Anniversary of the album that inspired this piece of cinematic pastiche, the Iron Fist trailer has been re-discovered, digitised and officially released for the world’s viewing pleasure. Originally cut to Gustav Holst’s ominous ‘Mars, Bringer Of War’, it now features the previously unreleased instrumental demo ‘Ripsaw Teardown’ as its audio soundbed. It’s really quite something, and sets up the forthcoming release of the Iron Fist 40th Anniversary editions

Whilst the album was rudely dismissed by critics on release, it now reveals itself as a vital snapshot of the band at a crucial period. It followed the consecutive triumphs of Ace Of Spades and No Sleep Til Hammersmith, when the three-piece found themselves caught in the tornado of success, but in true Motörhead style, they careered into their next phase at such velocity it transcended logic or reason to become this trio’s final kamikaze joyride.

Forty years later, Iron Fist sounds like prime Motörhead with the gloves and seat-belts off. For sheer velocity, it could be fastest, most out-of-control of all their releases. To celebrate the anniversary it is being presented in new deluxe editions. There will be hardback book-packs in two CD and triple LP formats, featuring a hammer fist blow, remaster of the original album, previously unreleased demo bonus tracks and a full concert, originally broadcast on Radio Clyde from 18thMarch 1982. Plus the story of the album and many previously unseen photos. There’s also a limited edition, blue and black swirl of the original standalone album.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Maria at Adrenaline PR.]

Review: JayWood – Slingshot

Jeremy “JayWood” Haywood-Smith went through a lot, like all of us, in the last three years but he had an added gut punch to the mess – the death of his mother in 2019. He, again like all of us, wanted to put those times behind him, but he realized he needed to take an honest look back to move forward, which inspired the name of his newest album, Slingshot.

The album’s overarching story takes place in one day and covers topics ranging from childhood to religion to racial violence, and the musical styles across the record cover as much ground, if not more. “God Is a Reptile” is a bumping, thumping track with psychedelic guitar flourishes and trance bass while he encourages us to not beat ourselves up over trivial crap. In fact we should, as the next track suggests, “Pray, Move On.” “All Night Long” seems to skewer people who will party their lives away while the planet crumbles around them. The fact that JayWood makes it a lovely dance track only emphasizes the ironic point.

“Just Sayin'” has JayWood and Ami Cheon singing us a danceable Zen lesson with funky grooves and lyrics like “I’m not thinkin’ ’bout the future. We can’t go down that path. ‘Cause I’m just rooted in the here, the now, the black, the brown, the truth…” “Is It True (Dreams Pt. 3)” has a great mix of hand percussion, processed beats, soothing bass, clockwork guitars, and pulsing synths as JayWood wonders if love is real. His vocals get trippy and drippy on “Kitchen Floor” – a lyrically scalding track that has JayWood shaking up white folks, black folks, his friends, himself, and apathy in general.

“Shine” (with co-vocalist McKinley Dixon) is a plea let black people just live their lives. “Tulips” seems to be a song directed toward a lady who JayWood sees at church now and then, but it might be directed toward God – who really is the same person. He encourages us on “YGBO – Interlude” that “If you’re healing, you’re gonna be okay.” “Thank You” is a song for his “dearly parted” mother and other people he’s lost, and we’ve all lost, in the last three years. “I just want to thank you for the best years of my life,” JayWood sings, and you can’t help but clap along with him. His lyrics about dealing with grief are spot-on: “Here’s hoping time will help when feeling low. Here’s hoping it’s not that bad thinking you’re in heaven now. So I’ll just keep my head in the clouds. Seems hard to go down roads I’ve never known. Seems hard to flow forward, not thinking about what happens now, but Imma do my best to make you proud.”

Amen.

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: Death Valley Girls – Darkness Rains (2018)

Death Valley Girls‘ third album has an interesting title – Darkness Rains. It’s not “Darkness Reigns,” as you might think if someone told you the name of the album. After all, DVG are known to be explorers of oddities, the unexplained, and things the prowl in shadows, but they chose “Rains” instead. Does it convey an image of environmental disaster, a heavy thunderstorm overpowering a bright summer sky, or impending death?

My guess is on the last one, as the album starts with the hard-hitting “More Dead” and flows right into the heavy fuzz of “(One Less Thing) Before I Die.” The latter reminds me that I need to keep de-cluttering my house and the trend of “Swedish death cleaning” that grows more popular each year. Why burden ourselves and our descendants with our crap? Why live a life unfulfilled? If you’ve seen DVG live or had the pleasure of meeting them, you’d know they were living in a way that would produce no regrets. They encourage us to do the same before darkness rains upon us, like we know it will but try to forget that it will.

“Disaster (Is What We’re After)” is great Stooges-style skronk meant to shake things up wherever you are, and “Unzip Your Forehead” is 60’s horror-psychedelia that makes me imagine Frankenstein’s monster opening the stitches on his square head and literally opening his mind. “Wear Black” could be the dress code for a DVG show. It also has these cool organ chords throughout it that make it hypnotizing (as does Larry Schemel‘s echoing guitar work).

“Abre Camino” is one of DVG’s biggest hits, and often the opener for their live sets. Each listen seems to unveil more layers you hadn’t heard before then, much like finding a book with strange scribbles and arcane symbols that reveal power messages to you after falling asleep. Laura Harris‘ drums hit hard on “Born Again and Again,” driving you to a near panic at one point. “Street Justice” is almost a punk rager with some of Bonnie Bloomgarden‘s most frantic vocals.

“Occupation: Ghost Writer” makes me want to write at least a short story based on the title. It has a dreamy quality to it, like a spirit floating around you while writing a blog post. “We’ll be together, somewhere forever,” they sing on “TV in Jail on Mars” – another song title that deserves an entire short story. The vocals repeat and echo like a trippy mantra or a broadcast from the red planet sent by things living deep within the canals there. It’s the sound of darkness raining down in a slow shower rather than a pounding torrent.

Darkness rains all over this record, but there are moments of sunlight that peek through the clouds to remind us that what lies beyond the veil is something we can’t comprehend, but shouldn’t fear.

Keep your mind open.

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Dry Cleaning announces new album due October 21st and say “Don’t Press Me” on the first single from it.

Photo by Ben Rayner

London-based band Dry Cleaning announce their sophomore album, Stumpwork, out October 21st, and share the lead single/video, “Don’t Press Me.” Stumpwork is the follow-up to New Long Leg, their debut full-length and one of 2021’s best albums (a top 10 album of the year, according to The New York Times, Pitchfork, SPIN, The Atlantic, The Ringer, and more). The new album was inspired by a plethora of events, concepts and political debacles, be they represented in the icy mess of ambient elements reflecting a certain existential despair, or the surprising warmth in celebrating the lives of loved ones lost through the previous year. Surrealist lyrics are as ever at the forefront – but there is a sensitivity now to the themes of family, money, politics, self-deprecation and sensuality. Furious indie-pop anthems combine across the record with psych and prog influences, demonstrating the wealth of influences the band feed off and their deep musicality.

​​Clocking in at under 2 minutes, today’s “Don’t Press Me” is about the pleasure of gaming and the enjoyment of intense and short-lived guilt-free experiences. Vocalist Florence Shaw also says, “The words in the chorus came about because I was trying to write a song to sing to my own brain, ‘You are always fighting me / You are always stressing me out.’” Its animated video was created by Peter Millard, whose naïve depictions of the band is perfectly in sync with the song’s hooks and riffs.

 
WATCH DRY CLEANING’S VIDEO FOR “DON’T PRESS ME”
 

Stumpwork follows New Long Leg, Dry Cleaning’s debut album that became a huge critical and commercial success, reaching #4 in the UK Album Charts and featuring in best-of-2021 polls across the board. Buoyed by its success, Nick Buxton (drums), Tom Dowse (guitar), Lewis Maynard (bass) and Florence Shaw (vocals) returned to rural Wales in late 2021, partnering once more with Parish and engineer Joe Jones. Working from a position of trust in the same studio and with the same team, imposter syndrome and anxiety was replaced by a fresh freedom and openness to explore beyond an already rangy sonic palette, a newfound confidence in their creative vision. A longer period in the studio afforded the time to experiment, improvise, play,  and sharpen their table tennis skills. With the pressure of their debut album behind them, Dry Cleaning have crafted an ambitious and deeply rewarding new work that marks them out as one of the most intelligent and exciting acts to come out of the UK.

The album and single artwork were conceived and created by multi-disciplinary artists Rottingdean Bazaar and photographer Annie Collinge. James Theseus Buck and Luke Brooks of Rottingdean Bazaar first worked with Dry Cleaning directing the official video for “Scratchcard Lanyard” and as their creative partnership with the band continues to flourish, they have fashioned a brilliantly unique visual identity for Stumpwork.

 
PRE-ORDER  STUMPWORK

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Jon Hopkins and ANNA team up for a “night version” of “Deep in the Glowing Heart.”

Jon Hopkins has revealed a transcendent new collaboration with Brazilian techno producer ANNA, “Deep In The Glowing Heart (Night Version).” The original version of “Deep In The Glowing Heart” is found on Hopkins’ Music For Psychedelic Therapy, released last November on Domino. Talking about the original, Hopkins said there is a feeling that “music can cleanse you, music can guide you through.” Today’s “Night Version” takes you on a very different journey. Evolving over a month-long trans-Atlantic collaborative process, “Deep In The Glowing Heart (Night Version)” feels like an explosive release of energy, inspired by Hopkins’ return to regular DJing this year. With early versions of this track being premiered to huge crowds by both artists at their DJ sets across the world – including ANNA at Coachella and Hopkins at Fabric – “Deep In The Glowing Heart (Night Version)” is now available to hear widely for the first time.

Of the collaboration, Hopkins says: “I first came across ANNA’s music through her track ‘Hidden Beauties’, which I found myself playing in DJ sets all the time and always goes down so well. I then asked her to remix ‘Singularity’ and the results were so amazing I was super keen to work with her again but in a more collaborative way, rather than just handing over stems. We went back and forth a lot and it flowed really well. I love how this one turned out, it’s such a meeting of our two styles.”

ANNA adds: “It is a big honor to be able to create music together with Jon. His music is part of my daily life, part of my meditations, my long walks and contemplative moments. My remix for his track ‘Singularity’ had a huge impact on my career and getting to know Jon better since then, and collaborate on this version of DITGH, it feels like our relationship has come full circle!”

Listen to Jon Hopkins & ANNA’s “Deep In The Glowing Heart (Night Version)”
Music For Psychedelic Therapy was Hopkins’ first full-length since the release of sister albums, the GRAMMY-nominated Singularity (2018) and Immunity (2013), and it was a departure in sound from these records; “an album with no beats, not one drum sound, something that is closer to a classical symphony than a dance / electronica record.”

 
Listen/Watch/Purchase:
Purchase/Stream Music For Psychedelic Therapy
Watch “Sit Around The Fire” (with Ram Dass, East Forest) Visualizer
Watch “Music For Psychedelic Therapy (Excerpt)” Visualizer

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[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

October and the Eyes shares a “Tit Pic.” It’s a single! A new single! What were you thinking?

Following the release of her recent EP ‘Who Upset You?‘,  New Zealand-born, London-based singer & songwriter October and the Eyes is sharing her new single “Tit Pic.“ 

Speaking about the track, October said “We destroy the earth because of our innate sense of self importance – that we have a god given right to rape, pillage and exploit the earth for our own consumption. We simultaneously distract ourselves from the worsening repercussions of our destructive hand via narcissistic pursuits of social media exhibitionism and sterile lit bathroom selfies. It’s a great picture though and successfully garnered 237 likes which is a huge relief.”

Listen to “Tit Pic” via Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiSZVMUBR5I

Listen via other streaming services here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/octoberandtheeyes/tit-pic

October is no new-comer to music, the New Zealand born musician has been involved in musical pursuits since she was a child. Heralding from a musical family, the prospect of pursuing music in one form or another was almost inescapable: A classical pianist mother, fanatic music fan father, and two older multi- instrumentalist brothers who were always holding their band practices in the family playroom. October’s childhood was that of a humble upbringing; having grown up in a small rural town in New Zealand’s wine country, she turned to songwriting as a means to stave the boredom away. She taught herself how to record and produce her own music aged 12, locking herself away in her bedroom for hours on end, and hasn’t looked back since. Claiming the internet raised her, it’s clear she had her sights set on broader horizons and bigger cities.

Having moved half way across the world to her new home in East London, October has remained true to her traditional isolated writing style by holing up in her East London flat for several months and writing a small collection of songs that can be described as dizzying, darkly kaleidoscopic, and dauntless above all. October describes her musical style as ‘collage-rock’ (not the be confused with college rock). Pulling musical inspiration from the likes of Bauhaus, Bowie, Siouxsie Sioux and Suicide, she then squeezes her influences through the gauze of modernity and electronics, thus creating something entirely of her own.

With nods to acid rock, psychobilly and post-punk, October and The Eyes’ music is equal parts nostalgia-drenched as it is future forward, employing layers of ambient synth drones to anchor the crunched guitars and jagged organ parts. Delivered with a twisted theatricality, her vocals pendulum between commanding chants and soothing coo’s, proving that not only is she a versatile songwriter and producer, but a versatile vocalist too.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Frankie at Stereo Sanctity.]

Estella Boersma drops hot new single – “The Wave.”

Berlin based producer Estella Boersma announced themselves with a debut on Unknown to the Unknown’s Dance Trax imprint and a string of appearances in the infamous HOR bathroom have followed – including one at Crave Festival – generating a positive stream count thanks to their varied DJing style; floating between techno, bass, breaks, electro and old school rave.

Today Estella shares the first single ‘The Wave’ from thier highly anticipated EP ‘Contact’ forthcoming on UKmainstay Lobster Theremin, due for release October 7th. The EP will feature three other tracks that perfectly exemplify the energy felt front-left at one of their sets.

‘The Wave’ is the most quintessential Estella track on the release – brimming with acid, breakbeats and warehouse rave energy, channeling older XL Recordings-inspired sounds and modern-punk electronic aesthetics.

PRE-ORDER 

NEW SINGLE ‘THE WAVE’

STREAM       WATCH

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[Thanks to Harbour Music Society.]


 

Review: System Efe – Carpetania

Toledo’s System Efe has released a killer EP of Detroit techno-inspired music, Carpetania. The title track fills you with slow-burn energy with its swelling synth-bass and perfect electro-beats. It’s like a bowl of steel cut oats served by a robot waitress at a diner that’s playing house music. It prepares you for a lot of dancing to come.

The bass drops on “Primitive,” immediately turning up the heat and your pulse. Put it on your workout playlist and proceed to shred your routine. “Steppe” builds with radar bleeps and simple, somewhat muted beats into an almost frantic track that leaves you a bit breathless.

The EP’s afterparty is the Raul Alvarez “360 Primitive Edit” of the title track, which takes on a slightly dangerous edge with beats and hooks that sound like something that emerges from the futuristic car full of cyborg hitmen from the year 3045 who’ve come to kill you so your ancestors won’t stop them from being created in the first place.

Don’t miss this one.

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Medicine Singers announce fall U.S. tour.

Photo by Erik Luyten

Medicine Singers announce a fall headlining tour and present a live video of “Sunrise (Rumble),” a standout track from Medicine Singers , their self-titled debut album out now on Stone Tapes/ Joyful Noise Recordings.

Recently highlighted in a New York Times article as a group on the forefront of Native experimental music, the Medicine Singers’ groundbreaking debut LP acts as a guided tour de force of decades of musical genres influenced by Native American music, and their live show remains the stuff of legend. The Medicine Singers often set up in-the-round, and go into a trance-inducing set where the walls between band and spectator – as well as between psychedelic rock and shamanic chants – are blurred. Full dates are listed below and tickets are on sale tomorrow, Friday August 19th.

The Medicine Singers’ tour kicks off with a very special “immersive” performance on September 24 at Brooklyn’s Pioneer Works to celebrate the release of Medicine Singers and the launch of Stone Tapes, Yonatan Gat’s eclectic new label. The show will be opened by two site-specific duo performances from Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth)  & Hassan Ben Jafaar (Innov Gnawa) and Laraaji & Mamady Kouyate (Bembeya Jazz)  performing inside the Charles Atlas video installation in Pioneer Works’ main hall, followed by a special Medicine Singers 10-piece band featuring jaimie branch, Thor Harris, Lee Ranaldo, Laraaji and Gat.

 
BUY TICKETS TO SEE THE MEDICINE SINGERS
 
WATCH “RUMBLE” LIVE VIDEO
 

Half a decade after the spur-of-the-moment story of how the musicians first met and unraveled their sound on an unsuspecting audience during SXSW 2017 when Gat saw Eastern Medicine Singers play on the street and invited the band to spontaneously join his show  – the collaboration between the musicians reaches a climax with this breathtaking debut album as Medicine Singers, helping pave the way to this year’s rising wave of Native contributions to experimental music – shining a spotlight on guest vocalists representing indigenous nations from outside of the Northeastern Woodland tribal area. “Where else can you get all these different native people singing together on an album?” bandleader Daryl Back Eagle Jamieson asked. “On this album you have east, west, north and south all coming together. That’s why we say it’s medicine.”

For Jamieson, this album is more than a collection of songs, it’s a vessel of culture, history and language; a symbol of the strength and creativity of the Eastern Algonquin people in contemporary American society. “I want to show people not only that our Indian culture is just as good as the rest of the culture that’s out there, but also that the two can exist together, side by side.”

 
Medicine Singers Tour Dates
Sat. Sept. 24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Pioneer Works (RECORD RELEASE / STONE TAPES LABEL LAUNCH) *
Wed. Sept. 28 – Troy, NY @ No Fun
Thu. Sept. 29 – Montreal, QC @ Pop Montreal
Fri. Sept. 30 – Toronto, ON @ Vashe ZDorov’ye
Sat. Oct. 1 – Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog West
Sun. Oct. 2 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
Mon. Oct. 3 – Indianapolis, IN @ Square Cat
Sat, Oct 8 – Washington, DC @ Down in the Reeds Festival
 
* w/ Lee Ranaldo & Hassan Ben Jafaar (Duo), Laraaji & Mamady Kourate (Duo)
 
Watch Medicine Singers’ “Hawk Song” Video
 
Watch The “Daybreak” Lyric Video
 
Watch The “Sunrise (Rumble)” Video
 
Listen to “Sanctuary”
 
Purchase Medicine Singers

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[Thanks to Yuri at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Blackwater Holylight’s Sunny Faris and Night Heron’s Cam Spies combine their super powers to create WHIMZ.

Portland, OR synth-doom duo WHIMZ share the first single from their forthcoming album PM226 today via Metal Injection. Hear and share “AM2” HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Sunny Faris (vocalist/bassist and founder of Blackwater Holylight) and Cam Spies (Night Heron) have been friends for years. Cam recorded the first BWHL record several years ago and they hadn’t had a chance to collaborate again, until 2021 when they decided to spend a day in the studio to see what emerged. The result was a seamless blending of their two projects: dark, synth heavy, austere doom-pop, with hauntingly beautiful vocal harmonies, and sexy bass lines. 

Sunny’s characteristic voice is immediately recognizable from opening track “AM1”. Although it may at first seem confusing to hear her singing over low-end rich, heavy synthesizer and vintage drum machines, it quickly becomes apparent how perfectly suited her voice is for these songs. While the music evokes the icy, consumer excess bliss of mid- to late-80s synth pop, Sunny’s melancholic voice permeates like the angelic harmonies of Julie Cruise and Cocteau Twins. 

The emotionally intense, melodically lush shoegazey doom of Blackwater Holylight’s widely hailed 2021 album Silence/Motion provides a good touchstone for WHIMZ, but Night Heron’s pawn shop deep collection of carefully curated retro synth instrumentation and Cam’s tasteful production also gives the album both its skeleton and a wealth of subtle and clever tones tucked neatly into each song. 

Upon completing the 5-song, 26-minute album they decided to release it on Portland label Literal Gold Records, and assembled a live band which includes members of YOB and Spoon Benders joining Faris and Spies. 

PM226 will be available on LP, CD and download on October 28th, 2022 via Literal Gold Records. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

WHIMZ LIVE 2022:

Nov 10 – Portland – Doug Fir Lounge

Nov 12 – Seattle – Freakout Fest – Sunset Tavern 

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]