ANiMAL is a three piece, bass-heavy EDM punk band from London that formed in 2012 with a residency on Modestep Radio and quickly moved to doing guest mixes for Radio 1Xtra, XFM, and Pulse.
After a European tour in the Summer of 2012, ANiMAL retreated to the studio to work on remixes, collaborations, and begin writing new material. Soon the band signed a publishing deal with EMI and took to the road again, for two trips around the UK. They finished the year releasing their first track, ‘I Am Fire’ on the EDM label 2 Much Bass Records, and the track was later featured in the Ministry of Sound Bass Annual 2013. ANiMAL recently performed a live session for broadcast on BBC.
Kicking off 2013, ANiMAL is stepping up their game for the major European festivals by releasing their debut music video “The Animal Cage”. Read more ANiMAL – The Animal Cage (uncut)
Plymouth Fury – Vaudeville (2012)
With roots back to The Stooges and the grooves and melodies of The Dandy Warhols, merging the fury of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with the straight simplicity of the Danish Surf rockers The Good The Bad, juggling between the rawness of The Velvet Underground and the new blues spirit of The Black Keys, the French Plymouth Fury serve us a hot and noisy, garage flavored rock with resonances to Spaghetti westerns with Tarantino vibe.
The trio, Worzo – guitar and vocals, Will – bass and vocals, and Stephane Kurdijaka – drums, has been formed in 2007 in Paris, and so far they shared the stage with bands such as Division Of Laura Lee, The Elektrocution, The Bombettes, Favez, It’s Not Not, Magic People, TV Buddah and King of Conspiracy. They have one thing on their minds: to burn all those places down! And honestly, this 70’s taste-like, unpolished, straight and noisy rock it’s just perfect for a hell of an evening down in the club! Read more Plymouth Fury – Vaudeville (2012)
Coat Of Arms – Sun & Satellites (2013)
Coat Of Arms it’s a metal/groove band based in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and they just released their brand new collection of furious riffs, angry vocals and unstoppable grooves.
I’ve got a soft spot for these Middle and Far East, Oriental sounding bands, Acyl was a really great and pleasant surprise last time, and not so long time ago, but I must mention also a few other exciting bands I wrote about such as Nervecell , Orphaned Land, Melechesh, Absolace and Arkan. Well, unfortunately Coat Of Arms delivering a very Western (American) type of groove metal without adding any Oriental flavor to it. Fortunately they do it very well, they have a great sense of melodies and deliver some grinding you into the ground kind of solid and powerful riffs. Their sound it’s fueled by the Pantera branded rhythmic and riffs merged with some nu metal after-taste (Slipknot) and metalcore infusion (Alexisonfire). They find an excellent balance between melodies and brutality. Singer Rayan Bailouni manage to sing like a rock star and scream/howl like a dying devil and switch smoothly to one into another creating additional groove to their music and adding expressiveness. Read more Coat Of Arms – Sun & Satellites (2013)
David Bowie – Where Are We Now?
David Bowie’s surprise comeback track, “where Are We Now?” was released without warning or fanfare on Bowie’s 66th birthday on Tuesday and is the first single from his first new studio album since Reality in 2003, album which will be released in March.
The disturbingly emotional, downbeat song has failed to top the singles charts, only making it to number six, still, it has become his first top 10 single for 20 years, and his highest charting hit since Absolute Beginners reached number 2 in 1986, according to the Official Charts Company.
The album, entitled “The Next Day”, will marks the renewal of Bowie’s long-term relationship with producer Tony Visconti, who also worked on a range of albums with the singer, including Low, Heroes, Lodger, Young Americans and Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps).
Director Tony Oursler’s created an enigmatic promotional film for David Bowie’s new single. So, Let’s walking the dead now! Read more David Bowie – Where Are We Now?
Blue Willa – Blue Willa (2013)
Blue Willa is the debut album by the Italian art rock quartet bearing that same name. The band had been touring and recording for years under the name Baby Blue, but then they decide it that the time has come for change and came up with a brand new identity: Blue Willa.
They explains: “Continuing a story which lasted seven years and three records so far, we decided to carry on our pursuit for a sound that would fit neatly onto our ideas asking a person we unquestionably loved to help us fulfill it.
We called on Carla Bozulich, whom we had met in Florence some four years ago, and she immediately got involved and interested in our plans.
We spent ten days in the Italian countryside, working side by side with her and our sound engineer, Davide Cristiani. Carla took care of our songs and sounds, proposing shapes and a whole new imagery for them. She made our sounds feel aquatic, ringing and overturned: a sort of underwater punk rock music from the Thirties.
This music then went on to be mixed and fixed on the Himalayan mountainside and in Paris: it is a pleasant thought for us to imagine that something from these places – as well from our provinces – got entangled and caught inside these songs.”
And well, this is really a journey to folk flavored punk, psychedelic rock and vivid experimentalism, but also to yet undiscovered places, unrevealed sounds. Read more Blue Willa – Blue Willa (2013)
John Zorn – Music and Its Double (2012)
I’m not an “expert”, actually, not even a frequent and frenetic listener of contemporary symphonic music. But Zorn it’s Zorn, my curiosity was bigger then my fear of abstract, eventually unfriendly listening. And Zorn managed to grab my attention. Still, this is quite dark, dramatic, twisted out Wagnerian feels-like music, unfriendly and probably for most nerve-racking, or at least disturbing. The violin (the cello and ultimately the soprano… 😆 ) sometimes literally split your brain in two and makes your ears bleeding, while the tension it’s tenebrous and the dissonances makes you feel like you’re trapped in a horror movie – think of the Kubrick’s “The Shining” soundtrack. The four parts of “Ceremonial Magic” definitively fits that profile and vibe. Still, the work have a huge groove and Kenny Wollesen bang his drums like crazy. Zorn’s cinematic experiences are leaving their sonic finger-prints on his symphonic adventures as well. Don’t think that the closing one-act opera, “La Machine de l’Être”, because of the vocals it’s an easier piece. It’s not.
John Zorn is not only prolific, but also fascinating, he manage to express himself in so many different ways by different musical vehicles – just like any true Magician. And there is no doubt, Zorn it’s a Magician. Read more John Zorn – Music and Its Double (2012)
Welcome To The Music Business…. You’re FUCKED!
“Well, there are 101 ways to get fucked in this business – the more you are aware of – the better off you’ll be. Right? This is a very dangerous world and when you come un-stuck it isn’t always just “aw shucks that was wild” it could be bankruptcy, loss of friendships, divorce, death, you might end up in a cover band.” – says Martin Atkins and he continue: “It’s a little bit Disney, a little bit Tarantino….two conflicting ideas, the yin, the yang, two halves making a black hole battling it out in the tumble dryer with someones severed foot.”
Martin Clive Atkins (born 3 August 1959, Coventry, England) is an English drummer and session musician, probably best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd (PiL), Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface, Killing Joke, and his murderous projects such as the industrial supergroup Pigface, The Damage Manual, and Murder Inc.
Martin Atkins is the definition of entrepreneurial activity in cultural arts endeavors, his 30+ years in the music business spans across genres and borders and industries.
He is the owner of Invisible Records and Mattress Factory Recording Studios (est. 1988). He is the author of Tour:Smart, a Suicide Girls columnist, taught at Columbia College Chicago for six years and currently teaches Madison Media Institute. Martin is a producer, drummer, documentary film maker, DJ, and father of four.
Now you can download for free his fabulous write-up about music industry, “Welcome To The Music Business….You’re FUCKED!” from HERE by giving-up your precious contact details. Read more Welcome To The Music Business…. You’re FUCKED!
Ben Royal feat. Kate Walsh – Home, EP (2013)
Both, Ben Royal and Kate Walsh, are terribly common names. Not really helpful to google them because you will end up reading about a million different people from all over the world from Australia to Alaska.
If Ben it’s not a doctor having fun twisting beats off after-hours, he night be a DJ from Melbourne, Australia, while Kate, hm, there are too many Kate’s I guess, actresses, singers, waitresses, whatever.
The key of selling a product it’s not the product itself, but the identity of it. Hard to impossible sell something without solid, build-up identity while the market it’s anyway over-saturated and lately everybody “doing” music, “making” music, but nobody listening music, and very few are interested in buying music. You say Lady Gaga and everyone automatically knows exactly what you’re talking about. Ben who?
Although “Home” it’s an uplifting, melodious and minimalist, but really nice and sweet, danceable house track featuring in two different mixes (original and radio edit) and benefitting of 6 tasty alternative remixes delivered by Chris Valencia, U4Ya (with two mixes), Franco De Mulero, Desusino Boys and Max Fabian. Read more Ben Royal feat. Kate Walsh – Home, EP (2013)
Steven Wilson – The Raven That Refused To Sing (and other stories) (2013)
Third and deadly? The restless guitarist of Porcupine Tree, and beside involved in a million and one projects and collaborations, plus full time mixer, remixer and producer, it’s back with his third solo album which will be released on 25th February 2013. Alan Parsons (best known for his work on Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon”) engineering the album and we’ve got a quite colorful and dynamic mixture of King Crimson, Rush and Jethro Tull. Probably not accidentally, currently Wilson is remixing the back catalogue of King Crimson from 1969–84 into MLP (Meridian Lossless Packaging) 5.1 and new stereo mixes, as well as remixing the back catalogue of Jethro Tull.
So, the presence of Theo Travis (flute and saxophone) it’s not really surprising. Travis has made ten albums as leader, composing and arranging most of the material; and he has also worked with Robert Fripp, Gong, The Tangent, Bill Nelson, Bass Communion, No-Man, David Sylvian, Harold Budd, John Foxx, Burnt Friedman and Dave, Richard Sinclair, and Porcupine Tree. But this is a full all star release featuring exclusively well respected and acclaimed musicians. Read more Steven Wilson – The Raven That Refused To Sing (and other stories) (2013)
Tribute to Laghetto – Il coraggio di essere suonati (2013)
This is a double album, tribute to the Italian hardcore punk band called Laghetto compiled by the Italian music web magazine Impatto Sonoro. And what for these guys was a year of hard work, you can have it for free by giving up your precious e-mail address HERE. But, as they say, more then a tribute, this is a declaration of love. Although Laghetto prefers to called themselves a”ninja-core band”. So, this is Ninja love. Kind of murderous, isn’t it? And well, you got the chance to get know a lot of really ass-kicking Italian bands of different genres given quite different flavors to the original tracks. Read more Tribute to Laghetto – Il coraggio di essere suonati (2013)
