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MATADOR RECORDS SHARE FIRST ENTRY IN 2020 REVISIONIST HISTORY REISSUE SERIES WITH 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF GUIDED BY VOICES’ LANDMARK ALBUM ALIEN LANES
Today, Matador Records has announced a 25th Anniversary vinyl edition of Guided By Voices’ album Alien Lanes.
Inspired by the multicolored drumhead featured on the album’s artwork, this new edition is pressed on blue, green and red multicolored vinyl making it the first non-exclusive color vinyl edition of this release.
Matador has also released a high-quality version of the hard to find, 1996 Guided by Voices documentary Watch Me Jumpstart directed by Banks Tarver.
In a rare statement, Bob Pollard has written a short essay reflecting on the creation and lasting legacy of this landmark album.
“We were fearless at the time we recorded Alien Lanes. That’s why it bristles with insane energy and confidence. We were still riding the high accolades of Bee Thousand and probably should have succumbed to the critical pressure of a worthy follow-up. Instead we had, in our megalomaniacal view, mastered the instant gratification machine known as the 4-track and began recording song after song with titles like “Cuddling Bozo’s Octopus”, “My Valuable Hunting Knife”, “Pimple Zoo” and “After the Quake (Let’s Bake a Cake)”.
The door had been opened for us to throw out as many weird ass ideas as we were capable of and we did. We even thought we were starting to look cooler and decided cool enough to have the entire back cover be a photograph of us in the basement looking pseudo intellectually laid back and stoned with long hair, stars and stripe gym shoes and a box of Tide in the background.
Our friend Kim thought the album was too bombastic. Too frenetic and difficult to digest. I agreed. We were proud to be putting out our first album on Matador and cock strutted accordingly. It cost us $10 to make. It’s worth a million. I personally think it’s better than B-1000 (but not by much). There are two different camps of GBV fans to argue and debate.
God bless 1995 and open hearted record labels like Matador (and Scat before them) for allowing bands like us, with the preferred limited resources, to remove the constraints and pre-conceived notions of the more industry-minded constituents who would have much preferred we destroy the cassette master of Alien Lanes in the better interest of sound manufacturing and what’s more agriculturally consumable. It’s better to leave the farm than to continue plodding through the cow shit.”
—Robert Pollard 2020
“The greatest post-modern classic rock album ever made.” – Pitchfork
“A brilliant collection of songs whose importance feels predestined.”- Rolling Stone
“The gold standard in intoxicated, visionary, psych-pop scrapbooking… your first exposure to this band changes you forever.” – Stereogum
“Genius, loon or mystical union of both, Pollard’s consistent songsmith-ery and charisma are joys to behold.” – Magnet
caroline share new single
New signings to Rough Trade Records caroline, today share their debut 12” single Dark blue backed with ‘BRJ’. Both tracks are available to listen to across DSPs now and they will also be released as a 12” single on April 24th.
On the video caroline say: “We see ‘caroline’ as being ‘systems-based’ music in the way that all the musical parts are mutually interdependent and none are expendable. This video shows a city and explores how, with it’s similarly interconnected roads, tracks, tunnels and rivers, it shares something with this characteristic of our music and of this song in particular. A city’s architectural features, and the ways that they coexist with each other, became analogies for the musical parts that knot together in ‘Dark blue’.
We have developed this video in parallel with the escalating COVID-19 situation and the influence of the crisis on the editing process has been inevitable. Central features of the video have taken on a new significance in light of this. The video shows a city that could be a lot of places in the world right now – the lights are on, the city is being powered, but it’s inhabitants are hidden. It shows skyscrapers that sit, ominously frozen, waiting to be reactivated. The video tries to animate these buildings beyond their status as symbols of global finance, gradually deconstructing them into basic shapes and distorting the light from their windows into new patterns. The buildings are animate and persist, regardless of human presence.”
London based caroline began as a three-piece (Jasper Llewellyn, Mike O’Malley, Casper Hughes) in early 2017, initially evolving out of weekly improvisation sessions. Bringing together shared influences in, and experiences of playing, midwestern ‘emo’ guitar music, Appalachian folk, minimalist classical and various forms of dance music.
The group spent a year and a half playing privately, without a project name. Reiterating, deconstructing and re-building the same small handful of songs over and over again, the group slowly expanded their on-stage members before playing their debut show as caroline in 2018. caroline are currently working on their debut album.
Watch A Live Performance Of ‘Dark blue’ in a disused swimming pool here
caroline are – Jasper Llewellyn – acoustic guitar, cello, drums, vocals, Mike O’Malley – electric guitar, vocals Casper Hughes – electric guitar, vocals Oliver Hamilton – violin Magdalena McLean – violin Freddy Wordsworth – trumpet, bass Alex McKenzie – clarinet Hugh Aynsley – drums, percussion
Everything Is Recorded release "11:55am/This World" featuring Infinite Coles and Maria Somerville
This coming Friday 3rd April, Everything Is Recorded, the collaborative artist project helmed by British musician and producer Richard Russell, will release its highly anticipated second album via XL Recordings.
Titled FRIDAY FOREVER, the album is an investigation into the universality of the Friday night experience and is the follow up to his eponymous debut album which was released in 2018 and went on to be nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.
In anticipation of FRIDAY FOREVER’s release, Everything Is Recorded today reveal a brand new song from the record.
“11:55AM / THIS WORLD” features vocals from long term EIR collaborator Infinite Coles alongside Maria Somerville, summoning a delicate gospel energy to soundtrack the wooziness of the morning after the night before.
It stands in stark contrast to previous FRIDAY FOREVER singles 10:51PM/THE NIGHT, 12:12AM/PATIENTS (FUCKING UP A FRIDAY) and 03:15AM/CAVIAR which showcased a more frenetic, hedonistic side of the album.
FRIDAY FOREVER was almost entirely recorded in Russell’s Copper House studio in London. It features an instinctively curated set of collaborators of all ages and backgrounds including South London’s FLOHIO and James Massiah, the Manchester rapper Aitch, Trinidad-born Berwyn, Ireland’s Kean Kavanagh, Staten Island rap god Ghostface Killah of Wu-Tang Clan, west London’s A.K. Paul and a rare contribution from the anarcho punk legend Penny Rimbaud of Crass in addition to Coles’ and Somerville’s contributions. Together, they tell a story through music that starts at 9:46PM on a Friday night and finishes at 11:59AM the next morning.
Meanwhile, Richard Russell will release his debut book “Liberation Through Hearing: Rap, Rave and the Rise of XL Recordings” this Thursday 2nd April.
Available via White Rabbit, it tells the remarkable story of XL Recordings and their three decades on the frontline of innovation in music; the eclectic chorus of artists who came to define the label’s unique aesthetic, and Russell’s own story; his highs and lows steering the fortunes of an independent label in a rapidly changing industry, his celebrated production work with the likes of Damon Albarn, Bobby Womack and Gil Scott-Heron and, of course, his work as Everything Is Recorded.
Richard Russell has also curated a ten-hour plus playlist of over 140 songs as a soundtrack to the book. The playlist is presented today by the newly-launched The Social Gathering.
The Lemon Twigs move third album release date; North American tour postponed
In light of the current global situation, Brian and Michael D’Addario – the brothers behind The Lemon Twigs – have decided to postpone their upcoming North American tour and the release of their third studio album. Songs For The General Public will now be released on 21 August 2020. The tour dates will be rescheduled for a later date to be confirmed. All tickets will be honoured.
To quote an old showbiz saying, “The show must NOT go on!”
It’s with great disappointment that we announce the postponement of our 2020 tour. We know you wanted to see us, and we wanted to see you too. And they wanted to see us also. Not to mention them. But as we retreat back into ourselves and try to pick up the pieces, we drop our keys, and after our keys, we drop our glasses. And without our glasses, it becomes very difficult to find the pieces we were looking for. But I digress. I’d like tell you when the new shows will be, but I’m a lousy scientist, and an even worse doctor.
It’s with even greater disappointment that we move our record release date to August 21st. They say good things come to those who wait, and even better things come to those who wait longer. And then they tell you not to procrastinate. What kind of sense does that make? To try and make it up to you, we’re hard at work on another record. And expect some new tracks and videos in the meantime.
In times of global turmoil, I find it comforting to recall something the late great Abraham Lincoln once said. After that, I like to take a large ice cube out from the freezer and suck on it for a couple of minutes
Light and Love
Brian and Michael D’Addario
AFFECTED TOUR DATES:
29 April – DURHAM, NC, Motorco Music Hall
30 April – ASHEVILLE, NC, The Orange Peel
1 May – NASHVILLE, TN, Exit/In
2 May – ATLANTA, GA, Shaky Knees Festival
5 May – ST. LOUIS, MO, Off Broadway
7 May – COLUMBUS, OH, Ace of Cups
8 May – INDIANAPOLIS, IN, Hi-Fi
9 May – DETROIT, MI, El Club
12 May – TORONTO, ON, Mod Club
13 May – MONTREAL, QC, Belmont
15 May – BROOKLYN, NY, Elsewhere
16 May – PHILADELPHIA, PA, Underground Arts
17 May – BOSTON, MA, Sinclair
3 June – SAN DIEGO, CA, Music Box
4 June – SANTA ANA, CA, Constellation Room
5 June – LOS ANGELES, CA, Troubadour
6 June SAN FRANCISCO, CA, The Chapel
10 June – PORTLAND, OR, Wonder Ballroom
12 June – VANCOUVER, BC, Fox Cabaret
13 June – SEATTLE, WA, Crocodile
16 June – MINNEAPOLIS, MN, Fine Line
17 June – CHICAGO, IL, Lincoln Hall
19 June – WASHINGTON, DC, U Street Music Hall
The 12-track album will now be released on 21 August digitally and on CD, limited translucent red vinyl (only available via indie stores and the 4AD Store) and standard black vinyl. Pre-orders made for the original release date will still be honoured.
SPENCER. Shares New Track ‘Hold It Down’
Today, the captivating and impassioned artist Spencer. shares his latest single Hold It Down
Swaying, measured beats come together with a low-key guitar that sets a tender mood. Spencer.’s dewy, sleek vocals carry along honeyed lyrics that illustrate the feeling of a first love, “This the moment that they talk about…”
The 20-year-old genre-defying artist melds R&B with his velvety vocals, hip-hop in his off-kilter beats, funk in his effervescent bass-lines, and moody indie rock in his reverb-soaked guitar, which he writes, records and produces almost in isolation.
Hailing from Rochester, NY, Spencer. credits the city’s rich and under-appreciated creative scene for fostering his growth as an artist. Dropping out of college in the summer of 2018 and relocating to Brooklyn, he gave himself a year to get his career off the ground. “My parents were understandably upset when I left school,” he says, “but I promised them I’d go back if things didn’t work out.”
Less than twelve months later, he’d racked up millions of streams on Spotify with the singles ‘Want U Back’ and ‘To Be You’, garnered glowing reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, and signed a record deal. “I don’t think I’m going back,” he says with a laugh.
