Catholic School - Gary Sohmers & Various Artists - Rama Lama Records 2022 - Honey Harper
Catholic School - Suicide at Sun Studio (Sessions Mixtape).
Memphis' Catholic School uploaded four more songs from the previously unreleased Suicide at Sun Studio session to Soundcloud.
When Catholic School has released all the music from the session is released, the band plans to upload the release to Bandcamp as a "pay what you wish" download. The effort, which was recorded at the famous Memphis studio, follows the "Needle In The Storm" single released earlier this year, and which Brooklyn Vegan called, "dark-hued, post-punk-inspired rock."
After undergoing many musical shapes and forms over the decades, West Tennessee multi-instrumentalist John Christie started making solo material in 2019. These songs caught the ear of other better-known artists, one of whom urged him to come up with a new name for his project. Christie chose Catholic School as a new moniker and took to the studio in 2020, reaching deep into his past as a recovering drug addict.
He constructed a debut, self-titled EP built on the memory of lost loved ones, incarceration and undying friendship. With the help of local Memphis artist Ben Ricketts, the album was completed over a year later and was released on Cercle Social Records as a cassette and digitally by Christie’s Maudlin Jerk Records.
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“Beasties: A Sci-Fi Rock Opera Act One - Impulse” has been released across all digital services this week, soon to be followed by CD and Vinyl releases in early 2023. Act Two is being mixed and will be released in April 2023.
Following along the path paved by other cult classics, this cast concept album is just the beginning of a pop culture work of art aimed at saving the planet and humanity from climate destruction and societal corporate corruption.. Gary Sohmers crafted a story around these songs in early 2017, having written several of the songs over the course of his life, he wrote 9 new ones, along with 3 novels from the perspectives of 3 of the main characters. Having a 50+ year career in pop culture and showbiz, Sohmers releases his first record since his initial release in 1980.
Beasties: A Sci-Fi Rock Opera On the brink of planetary climate destruction, an otherworldly impulse rallies humans and their out-of-control beasties to save terra firma from corporate corruption in the midst of a concert in Central Park.
"Beasties: A Sci-Fi Rock Opera" is a story about a rock band that finally has a hit record after years of touring, performing a free concert in Central Park that attracts a huge crowd. But, without telling the band, the promoter sold a sponsorship to a corrupt politician, Dick T.Raitor, who interrupts the concert in an attempt to hijack the audience's attention. The hero, Grā (pronounced: Gray), currently a stagehand and a retired singer, is affected by an alien intervention from an otherworldly impulse—which infuses within him a schizophrenic identity with special powers—to make humanity aware of their inner Beasties. Two intertwined rock and roll love stories, one between humans and one between the universe and the sci-fi rock known as earth, to save the planet from climate destruction by societal corruption.
The cast concept recording to be released Dec. 14, 2022 features singers Dave Bickler (Oscar nominated, Grammy winning vocalist of "Eye of The Tiger") as Grā (an alien impulse from the cosmic universe); British rock star Chris Farlowe (1966 hit "Out of Time" with Mick & Keith, also sings with Jimmy Page, Van Morrison, among others) as the villain Dick T.Raitor; rock n soul singer Barrence Whitfield (of The Savages) as the "star" of the concert, Voice; and new-comer Liz Proteau as the female lead Terra. Orchestrated, arranged and co-written by Bill Holloman (Nile Rodgers, Bruce Springsteen, others). Record mixed by Paul David Hager (Miley Cyrus, Katie Perry, Jonas Bros., Devo).
2022 is coming to an end! As usual, we’ve put together a compilation with some of our favourite releases from the year, this time a year which we were awarded the "Indie Label of the Year" award at the Swedish Indie Awards Manifestgalan.
In 2022, we released a great album called "Swedish Punk" by a Danish act called Kindsight who doesn't play punk, either way there's no doubt that the album is an instant classic in the Rama Lama catalogue and the band is set to play SXSW 2023.
Talking about classics, Melby returned with their second album packed with psych/indie/folk-pop/rock bangers and six years in you're probably tired of hearing us declare our endless love for the band. Fun fact - Melby are the only ones who's managed to release something every Rama Lama year so far.
NOVA BLAST's melodic, dynamic and LOUD debut album showed how rowdy we can be. The EP game was strong with Guds Pengar's long lost debut EP getting an official release and Wy treating us with three beautiful songs once again showcasing why they are one of Sweden's best songwriters (probably parents to). Gula Blend's Jesper charmed us once again with his JERKA project and Per och Olof's hits were gathered on one incredibly strong and handy album.
On the singles side, we released everything from slow jams to experimental hypnotic rock from both newcomers such as Mary Anne's Polar Rig (more on them early next year...) to familiar faces such as E. Björklund, Jo Yonderly, Meet Me At The Quarry and Hippopotamus, with the two last being a part of the brand new Rama Lama Family Club.
There’s already a lot to look forward to in 2023 with some of these acts and some secret ones we can’t wait to share it with you. Huge thanks to everyone who’s supported us and the acts we work with this year, we hope you will enjoy this compilation and see you in 2023!
1. Mary Anne's Polar Rig (Malmö) - "Summer Girl" - single
2. Guds Pengar (Malmö) - "Innehåll" from "Solens uppgång och fall" EP
3. Melby (Stockholm) - "Waiting Game" from "Looks like a map" LP
4. Kindsight (Köpenhamn) - "Hi Life" from "Swedish Punk" LP
5. Per och Olof (Malmö) - "Jag drömde om dig inatt" from "Rädd häst" LP
6. NOVA BLAST (Stockholm) - "IndoorSong" from "Eccolalia" LP
7. Wy (Malmö) - "High Score" from "Something Amazing" EP
8. Meet Me At The Quarry (Lund) - "Daydreaming" - Rama Lama Family Club #2
9. E. Björklund (Stockholm) - "Jag ser bara fel" - single
10. Jo Yonderly (Malmö) - "I think I've got it, alright?" - single
11. Kindsight (Köpenhamn) - "Love You Baby All the Time" - single
12. Per och Olof (Malmö) - "Jag ska göra allt för dig" from "Rädd häst" LP
13. Melby (Stockholm) - "Other Nations" from "Looks like a map" LP
14. Hippopotamus (Uppsala) - "Horse Race" - Rama Lama Family Club #1
15. NOVA BLAST (Stockholm) - "Lurad" from "Eccolalia" LP
16. JERKA (Malmö) - "Annika" from "JERKA" LP
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The Toronto-based cosmic country band Honey Harper has released the official video for “Heaven Knows I Won’t Be There” from their new album Honey Harper & The Infinite Sky out now ATO Records. The video was directed by Angus Borsos and was filmed in Golden, British Columbia.
“I found the original version of this song on my friend Matthew Deloach’s Soundcloud in 2016,” explains frontman William Fussell. “We fell in love with the track and immediately asked if we could cover it for Starmaker. We made multiple versions of it but felt we couldn’t get it just right so we held on to it. When we were recording in LA, we decided to give it another shot with The Infinite Sky. This version was originally inspired by Harry Nilsson’s ‘Many Rivers to Cross’ but ended up somewhere in between that and ‘Tuesday’s Gone’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd. When we were listening back home in Toronto before finishing the vocals, Alana decided to add a new chorus that gave a Lou Reed ‘Perfect Day’ dynamic to the song.
The video was filmed exactly a year ago to this day in Golden, BC by our dear friend Angus Borsos. We convinced someone to forklift a piano to an abandoned helipad on the side of the mountain, so we could pretend we were John and Yoko for a day. A very cold day.”
Honey Harper & The Infinite Sky emerged from a deliberate revamping of the band’s creative approach with Honey Harper co-founder and keyboardist Alana Pagnutti taking on a far greater role in the songwriting process alongside Fussell. The 12-song collection marks their first time recording with their stacked band The Infinite Sky, featuring their longtime bassist and contributing writer Mick Mayer, pianist John Carroll Kirby (Solange, Steve Lacy), Spoon keyboardist Alex Fischel, guitarist Jackson MacIntosh (Drugdealer, Jessica Pratt), pedal-steel player Connor Gallaher (Black Lips, Calexico), and TOPS drummer Riley Fleck. The album was mixed at Wowcat Studios in Los Angeles by Joel Ford (yes/and, Ford & Lopatin).
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