Monthly Archives: August 2017

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Roger Miret (pioneer of New York Hardcore, vocalist of Agnostic Front, and Cuban immigrant turned American citizen) is thrilled to release an excerpt from Part I of his memoir My Riot: Agnostic Front, Grit, Guts & Glory on Remezcla. In addition to Chapter 1 entitled “From Cuba with Love: The Struggle of an Immigrant in a World of Hate,” the piece includes never before seen photographs from Miret’s childhood. Fans can check out the preview now, here.

Lesser Gods announced the official release of My Riot: Agnostic Front, Grit, Guts & Glory—a memoir written by Agnostic Front vocalist Roger Miret with Jon Wiederhorn (also known for his book entitled Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal and his contributions to Rolling Stone, Loudwire, and Vice’s Noisey, among many more) in June. Since then, the book has been dubbed the #1 New Release and Best Seller in “Punk Musician Biographies” on Amazon.

My Riot chronicles Miret’s life surrounding his career as the vocalist of Agnostic Front, a leader in the New York Hardcore scene, and the significant events in his upbringing that led him to where he is now. Though he has a colorful musical history replete with trouble and mischief, the biography focuses on Miret’s trials and tribulations growing up in 1980s New York City.

Born in Cuba, Miret fled with his family to the US to escape the Castro regime. Through vivid language and graphic details, he recounts growing up in a strange new land with a tyrannical stepfather and the roles that poverty and violence played in shaping the grit that became critical to his survival. In his teen years, he finds himself squatting in abandoned buildings with unforgettably eccentric runaways and victims of similar childhood trauma. With like-minded misfits, he helps pioneer a new musical genre but with money scarce and commercial success impossible, he turns to running drugs to support his family and winds up in prison. It’s the ultimate test of his toughness and perseverance that eventually sets him on a path towards redemption.

“My dad and I would play a game when I was a kid where he’d put on a record and I’d have to guess it within a few seconds. The Beach Boys were a favorite, though I felt a bit insulted by the immediately unmistakable ‘Barbara-Ann.’”

“I spent hours on the living room floor pouring over album covers. I loved having a big piece of artwork to hold. When I first saw the cover of Every Picture Tells a Story, I remember thinking Rod Stewart didn’t match the mental image I’d had of him. This perturbed me because he and I were supposed to get married.

Soon after, my dad gave away all his records and replaced them with CDs—everyone’s favorite wave of the future.

Vinyl reentered my life in high school when some of the punk bands I was into started pressing vinyl exclusives. I bought a record player, created a little oasis in my bedroom, and began growing my own collection.

I remember getting Against Me!’s Reinventing Axl Rose in the mail and opening it up to find a pink and white vinyl disc. It looked like candy. I loved it.

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At the intersection of art and rock there is a signpost, and scrawled across it is the name Pere Ubu. From their inception until 1991, Allen Ravenstine’s sui generis synth playing was crucial to the band’s sound, but a new archival LP places his artistry squarely in the foreground; featuring a nearly 16-minute piece with Ravenstine playing EML synthesizers and tapes and Albert Dennis contributing string bass, Terminal Drive is the second release in Smog Veil Records’ Platters du Cuyahoga, Series 2. Accompanied by exhaustively researched notes by music scholar Nick Blakey, it’s out on vinyl Sept 1.

Of the first-generation punk scenes, it feels safe to claim Cleveland as the most artistically ambitious, so much so that some of the participants bristled at the stylistic categorization, and in fact continue to do so. In Pere Ubu’s case, the alternate descriptor Avant-Garage was utilized, and while it apparently wasn’t meant to be a long-term designation, it has lingered as an adequate shorthand regarding the band’s unique style.

Back then, Allen Ravenstine was squarely on the left side of the hyphen, and so it remains today. In the mid-’70s, synths in a pop or rock context were still novel, but it wasn’t simply that he played synths, it was how he played them, a wildly expressive, human approach to technology that helps to solidify Pere Ubu as one of rock’s greatest units.

Ubu’s perseverance as a recording and touring act continues right up to this moment under the leadership of its one constant member David Thomas, and his prominence in the saga perhaps slightly overshadows the contributions of others in their history. Suffice to say that as folks left and returned and left, Ravenstine was a constant on their first eight studio albums.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Dark Entries and Honey Soundsystem Records have teamed up once more to release the final volume of gay porn soundtracks by San Francisco-based musician and producer, Patrick Cowley. One of the most revolutionary and influential figures in the canon of disco, Cowley created his own brand of Hi-NRG dance music, “The San Francisco Sound.” Born in Buffalo, NY on October 19, 1950, Patrick moved to San Francisco in 1971 to study at the City College of San Francisco. He founded the Electronic Music Lab at the school, where he would make experimental soundtracks by blending various types of music and adapting them to the synthesizer.

By the mid-70s, Patrick’s synthesis techniques landed him a job composing and producing songs for disco superstar Sylvester, including hits like “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”, “Dance Disco Heat,” and “Stars.” This helped Patrick obtain more work as a remixer and producer. His 18-minute long remix of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” and his production work with edgy New Wave band Indoor Life were both of particular note. By 1981, Patrick had released a string of dance 12″ singles, like “Menergy” and “Megatron Man.” He also had founded Megatone Records, the label upon which he released his debut album, Menergy. Around this time Patrick was hospitalized and diagnosed with an unknown illness: that which would later be called AIDS. Throughout 1982, he recorded two more Hi-NRG hits, “Do You Wanna Funk” for Sylvester, and “Right On Target” for Paul Parker, as well as a second solo album Mind Warp. On November 12, 1982, he passed away.

In 1979 Patrick was contacted by John Coletti, owner of famed gay porn company Fox Studio in Los Angeles. Patrick jumped on this offer and sent reels of his college compositions from the ’70s to John in LA. Coletti then used a variable speed oscillator to adjust the pitch and speed of Patrick’s songs in-sync with the film scenes. The result was the VHS collections Muscle Up and School Daze released in 1979 and 1980.

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Sometimes only a world-class studio will do. Serendipity deposited Shapes On Tape in the lower east side of New York City on a beautiful June afternoon in 2017 in just such a place. There they made “Get Ready,” the explosive new single from their album in progress, Legends in the Process. It’s equal parts loud rock and synthy feels, classic ’80s and ’90s vibes with hooks galore, tailor-made for a shower sing-a-long.

When they added drummer Justin Heaverin to the band for live shows, it became clear that robots would no longer suffice for recordings either. They needed a real studio for real drums to make real music. They had no such thing available and had one abysmal failure of an attempt to record in their rehearsal studio.

“Once Justin joined us, it was obvious that couldn’t rely on programming to get those skins properly banged,” said Jason S. Matuskiewicz, principal songwriter and lyricist for the group. “So we tried to record them ourselves in the Stanhope Cellar Studios, a 10 foot cube in Bushwick where we rehearse, and people hated it. People do not like lo-fi Shapes on Tape.” One blog even commented, “This isn’t the direction for the band, is it?”

The miracle of the free use studio came along and long-time friend Andrew Gerhan, offered to engineer. To top it off, the band brought in their regular producer and frequent collaborator, Justin Craig, a visionary Grammy nominated rock ‘n’ roll platonic ideal. There they hammered out a multitude of tracks to appear on the album to be—the first of which is “Get Ready.”

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First, the good news—Ian Felice, frontman of the jaw-droppingly wonderful The Felice Brothers, has just released his debut solo album, In the Kingdom of Dreams.

Another piece of even better news—his solo jaunt does not spell the break-up of the Catskill Mountains-based Felice Brothers, whom I consider to be perhaps the finest band in America. If they were to call it a day, I don’t know what I’d do. Go to the nearest roadhouse and tell the barkeep to put some whisky in my whisky, probably. As the guy says in Animal House, some situations are so utterly unacceptable they require a really stupid and futile response on somebody’s part. And to paraphrase another guy in Animal House, I’m just the guy to do it.

Now for the not-so-great news. Half of the album’s 10 tracks, which were recorded in Felice’s childhood hometown of Palenville, NY over the course of four frigid days in February 2017, are irredeemably downcast, which can make for a tough listen unless you’re suicidal, in which case this just might be the perfect soundtrack for perfecting your noose-knotting technique. And the other five, while lovely, are anything but chipper.

Don’t get me wrong—In the Kingdom of Dreams is still an extraordinary piece of work, even if does lack those raucous shouts of pure joy that have made every Felice Brothers LP I own a celebration of being alive. But what are you going to do? Based on Felice’s comments about the project, I gather it constituted a therapeutic means of working through some tough personal issues, and if the results are far from upbeat, they nevertheless offer the listener a dark but revelatory glimpse into the soul of a very complex and brilliant artist. Besides, it’s not as if Felice hasn’t written his fair share of brooding songs in the past; indeed, one could argue they’re more the norm than not.

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Press Play is our Monday recap of the new and FREE tracks received last week to inform the next trip to your local indie record store.

Anastasia Minster – Hour Of The Wolf
Cameron Blake – After Sally
Karla Kane – King’s Daughters Home For Incurables
Stephen Doster – Love Like Summertime
Romeo Dance Cheetah – The Air Guitar Song
Broken Bellows – In the Deep
Pearl Earl – Meet Your Maker

TVD SINGLE OF THE WEEK:
Grapell – We Can Only Blame Ourselves

The Yorks Band – Liaison
Best Girl Athlete – In Your Head
Sven-Erik Olsen – Sketchbook Traces
Three For Silver – Down in the Cut
My Little Hum – Rise Over Run
Eddie Gold – Pool Party (Original)
Orbital – Chime (Stereotype 2017 Remake)
The Bodies Obtained – First To Arrive

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Reprise Records is proud to announce the release of nine seminal Neil Young albums from the 1970s on both CD and vinyl. The first of two CD box sets, Original Release Series 5-8 is composed of four classic titles: Time Fades Away, On the Beach, Tonight’s the Night, and Zuma, and is limited to 3,000 sets that are available now.

The second CD box, Original Release Series 8.5-12 continues chronologically with Young’s next four esteemed subsequent titles: Long May You Run, American Stars ‘N’ Bars, Comes a Time, Rust Never Sleeps, and Live Rust, and is limited to 3,000 sets. These four albums are also released individually on vinyl and are available now. Each of these critically praised albums from Young’s hyper-prolific, mid-70s period have been out of print for years and are considered by both fans and critics alike to be essential. The nine albums in this Original Release Series are among his finest work and among the most universally acclaimed and influential song-cycles ever recorded.

Every decade of Young’s enduring career continues to reveal a dynamic ebb and flow that underscores his restless creative spirit. Young’s mid-70s output continues to capture the attention of both long-time fans that already cherish these works, as well as younger generations discovering these albums for the first time. Not only do the songs found on these albums hold a timeless appeal, but the stories behind the creation of the albums are equally unique. Together they present a singular and unequaled artistic narrative that remains as affecting as the day they were recorded.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Legacy Recordings, the catalogue division of Sony Music Entertainment, and LaFace Records announce the launch of the P!nk vinyl series, with the first three of the artist’s original studio albums—Can’t Take Me Home, M!ssundaztood, and Try This—released as limited edition 2LP 12″ coloured vinyl packages on Friday, October 6.

The second half of P!nk’s solo studio album catalogue—Not Dead, Funhouse, and The Truth About Love—is slated for release on 12″ coloured vinyl in April 2018, completing the six album set. All six albums have recently been remastered for vinyl at the acclaimed Battery Studios in New York by Vic Anesini. Can’t Take Me Home (gold 12″), M!ssundaztood (violet 12″), Try This (red 12″), have not previously been available commercially on vinyl; although the album Try This was pressed as a limited edition promo in 2003. The three albums will be available in standard black vinyl editions following the limited edition pressing of the first 9,000 copies on 12″ coloured vinyl.

P!nk’s debut album, Can’t Take Me Home, was originally released in the U.S. in April 2000 on LaFace Records. The album generated three hit singles “There You Go,” “Most Girls,” and “You Make Me Sick” and is certified double platinum in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Green Day’s seminal 1997 album, Nimrod, will receive a 20th anniversary limited edition vinyl reissue on October 13th on Reprise Records. The reissue will be available in two configurations, with both including double 140 gram bright yellow vinyl. Click here to see details on each configuration.

Originally released on October 14, 1997 through Reprise Records, Nimrod was recorded in Los Angeles, CA and produced by Rob Cavallo. The critically acclaimed album debuted in the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 Chart and has since sold over two million copies and has been certified Double Platinum by the RIAA. The album yielded the acoustic hit “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” which became a massive hit around the world and soundtracked the finales of several high-profile television series, most notably Seinfeld.

Upon its release, the Los Angeles Times hailed: “Though Green Day clings resolutely to some powerful punk tenets–a clean-burning musical attack fueled by protracted teen angst and guided by a “loser” outlook–the musicians’ knack for whipping up incandescent pop songs transcends punk and makes them winners…”