Rude Audio - Greg Laswell - Glorietta - FEVA - Dave Davies
Background - Rude Audio are proud to announce their new 'Rude Redux' EP, slated for release on October 8 through Zirkus Records. Featuring five tracks, this new release sees the band refine their trademark sound, and fusing their love of woozy dub with throbbing electronics. Here, house music, flecked with Arab and Indian vibes, also shamelessly cavorts with dub.
Ahead of this release, Rude Audio present the lead track 'To The Sun', complete with a new virtual reality-inspired video, directed by Ali Ingle. This week, Andrew Weatherall also just premiered two tracks from the new EP on his radio show.
Rude Audio is a South London-based collective with a history of putting on fantastic underground parties, releasing the occasional dubby Balearic opus, engineering for the disparate likes of Paul Weller, Lemon Jelly and Royal Blood and generally mooching about anywhere that doesn’t have bouncers or operate a dress code.
The core of the collective are Mark Ratcliff (whose releases have been played by the likes of Andrew Weatherall, Laurent Garnier, Kris Needs, Don Letts, Graeme Park and Rob de Bank, as well as BBC Radio 6's Nemone and Gideon Coe), Owain Lloyd (mixing engineer for everyone from Oakenfold and Weller to Niall Horan) and Dave [The Rave] Brennan (ex The End recordings and key player at tech house dons' label, Bombis).
The EP represents a progression from Rude Audio's latest 'Rudest' EP. More hooks, more chug, and more Middle Eastern and Indian influences, while retaining an underlying commitment to the dubby end of the spectrum. Inspired by the more open-minded dancefloors proliferating in south and east London, where world music might brush up against techno, dub and indie dance, the 'Rude Redux' EP operates between 108 and 120 BPM – fast enough to dance to, slow enough to let the music breathe. WEBSITE.
The first of five tracks on the 'Rude Redux' E.P. is 'To The Sun' a piece that exemplifies this tastefully refined collection of music. If dub or electronic music in any shape or size is of interest to you, then dive head first into Rude Audio's music, your in for a very pleasant musical journey.
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Background - Veteran singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Greg Laswell will release his eighth album Next Time on September 21st. Like his previous release, the acclaimed Everyone Thinks I Dodged A Bullet, the new album was entirely written, performed, produced and mixed by Laswell, with mastering by Grammy-winner Gavin Lurssen (Tom Waits, Queens of the Stone Age, Leonard Cohen).
The eleven songs comprising Next Time represent the largest breadth in sound and sentiment of any of Greg’s albums to date. The album is both more revealing and more visionary, a move from emotional crisis to biographical examination. “I feel more in control than I did on my last record,” he says. “Life is the most difficult it has ever been circumstantially, but I'm also kind of okay, even if just for moments, which is all life is anyway. My hope is that’s what came across with these songs.”
In a career of dramatic arcs, Next Time – perhaps a result of the real difficulties of seeing it through – would seem to represent a musical and emotional pinnacle for Greg. Indeed, it’s the album he has surely always meant to make, while life’s little (and sometimes very big) vagaries were getting in the way.
The first single from Next Time is the stunning departure “Royal Empress” which was world premiered by legendary radio DJ Nic Harcourt during his August 14th broadcast on KCSN in Los Angeles. Harcourt praised the song as “Broody and anthemic, pretty great” and added that it “sounded sick on the airwaves”. “Royal Empress” is available now for purchase and streaming. WEBSITE.
Greg Laswell's vocals come in two parts on 'Royal Empress'. Gritty and personal on the verses, melodic, sweeping and powerful on the chorus's, it's a gorgeous combination, accompanied by a similar musical backdrop, the song is enticing on so many levels, leaving album number eight something to keenly anticipate.
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Background - Glorietta was born out of a desire to collaborate with friends. Those friends; Noah Gundersen, Kelsey Wilson (Wild Child), David Ramirez, Grammy award winner Adrian Quesada (Brownout, Black Pumas), Jason Robert Blum and Matthew Logan Vasquez came together over the course of nine-day recording session in a rented house in Glorieta, NM - just outside of Santa Fe.
The days were long with the tape running constantly as the players brought ideas for songs in various stages of completion to their new family of collaborators. Mid way through the sessions the group was joined by a guest appearance from Nathaniel Rateliff who drove straight through the night to join the party.
“We chose Santa Fe because it was isolated enough to where it would feel like we were at camp” said Vasquez, “the only requirements were that the house had vaulted ceilings and a Jacuzzi.” The players were all connected in one-way or another to Matthew Logan Vasquez (Delta Spirit) some of them old friends, some of them meeting for the first time when they arrived.
The result is a their self-titled debut record; a beautiful mix of voices from six band leaders that fit perfectly together like a low-fidelity puzzle. Their self-titled album is now available digitally, and on CD / Vinyl in the UK via Bread & Butter Music, WEBSITE.
Musically 'Losers Lament' is a gutsy no nonsense rocker, add in the vocals and harmonies and it upgrades to impressive to say the least. This is one rather splendid collaboration by friends and musicians.
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Background - Rising alt-rockers FEVA storm back into the limelight with gripping new single Uneasy, furthering their reputation as one of the North East’s biggest emerging indie talents.
With a seemingly endless production line of ready-made anthems, the Newcastle quartet continue to impress with their heaviest release to date, a relentless onslaught of noise that draws welcome comparisons to the likes of Sundara Karma and The Amazons.
“It’s not as much of a story but more of a statement”, the four-piece reiterated. “The expectations of life can often leave us well and truly out of our comfort zone, torn between yesterday and tomorrow. Uneasy is a punk song at heart, simple and very, very angry. Forget yesterday, forget tomorrow, you’ll get it right eventually”.
Having already clocked up impressive supports alongside Anteros, Baby Strange and The Pale White in recent months, demonstrating their fierce live reputation in the process, the band’s widespread tastemaker approval and radio airplay (BBC Radio 1) leaves them well-placed to make their mark ahead of a busy autumn. FACEBOOK.
Alt rock with plenty of fire and passion 'Uneasy' is a mixture of superb and imaginative vocals rubbing shoulders with some sharp and potent guitar lead rock and roll.
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Background - Founding member of The Kinks Dave Davies has announced the upcoming release of Decade, a new collection of unreleased songs recorded in the 1970's. Davies has also shared the lead track from the record, "Cradle To The Grave," which was recorded in 1973. Decade will be released on October 12th via Red River Entertainment and Green Amp Records, and Davies will be on tour in early 2019.
In what may be considered the sequel to 2011’s Hidden Treasures, which chronicled Davies' solo recordings from the 1960's, Decade pulls back the curtain on the legendary guitarist and songwriter's unreleased works spanning 1971 to 1979. Davies writes, "I am so pleased that after all this time these tracks are being released to see the light of day. These songs have been silently nagging at me to be recognised all these years. At last I can proudly present this album Decade to the world. I do hope you all enjoy the music."
Years prior to the issue of his first “proper” solo album, 1980’s AFL1-3603, Davies was working on the fascinating tracks that make up Decade. The tapes were unearthed by his sons Simon and Martin from “under beds, in attics, in storage,” and properly mixed and mastered in a way that lets these songs shimmer and shine even brighter than they did at inception. Any album recorded over the span of 10 years runs the risk of ending up wildly erratic in tone and style, and yet, Dave’s Decade is surprisingly cohesive, the songs working together beautifully as songs on albums do.
The period 1973 to 1975 saw The Kinks make the move into their own recording studio, Konk, which Davies took a major role in setting up and developing. “I’m always really into the sound, and the mixes, and gadgets..." writes Davies. "I was able to go in, and make what I thought were demos—these recordings."
Listening to the contemporary, FM radio-friendly quality of these songs, it’s hard to fathom that these solo tracks remained under wraps, particularly as these were born in the aftermath of clear Dave Davies triumphs such as “Strangers” and “You Don’t Know My Name,” change-of-pace songs that added considerable value to the early ‘70s Kinks albums they appeared on. But with brother Ray deep into the creation of a series of high-concept albums on which Dave’s songs had no apparent place, these Dave Davies gems remained unissued on both the solo and band fronts. WEBSITE.
Yes that Dave Davis! That songs like 'Cradle to the Grave' have remained on the shelf for so long is explained above, that they are now getting a proper airing is very welcome.
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