Passion, far from limitations, kicks in the musical ability, a warmth that we rarely meet in "heavy" music make Hey Colossus stand out.
The Hey Colossus have played in a waiting room in Salford, at an industrial plant in Liege, in a vast field by a river in Portugal.
One of the biggest bands in Europe, independent and incredibly authentic, break amplifiers in their live performances, catch a triple guitar and without unnecessary effects their audience follows them faithfully in places that surpass any imagination.
Created in London in 2003 by childhood friends Joe Thompson and Robert Davis and Ian Scanlon, Tim Hall and James Parker. Their trademark is the "heavy" sound and their stylistic experimentation in each of their albums. Throughout their evolution they have combined elements from Rock, Post-Punk, Hardcore Punk, Sludge Metal, electronic music, psychedelic rock and Krautrock.
After all, their motto is "You have to keep moving", something that is still valid today. What remains constant all these years is their quality, the double vocals, the intense guitars, the politicized lyrics...
Read the rest here: Tivoli Radio
---
Under the banner of its prized "Rocklette" in the Val de Bagnes, the Palp Festival hosted on Wednesday at 2000 meters above sea level concerts by the Spanish Tundra and Swedish Goat in the idyllic and panoramic setting of the Brunet hut.
Three years since they had not stepped on a stage. For the Swedes of Goat, the enchanting setting of the Val de Bagnes undoubtedly fulfilled all expectations on Wednesday, as well as those of the Spanish instrumental rock quartet Toundra which opened the festivities at the beginning of the afternoon on the small hill overlooking the cabin. Brunet, nestled at an altitude of 2000 meters and popular with hikers.
The Dents du Midi cut out in the background, the green mountain pastures in focus and a few hundred spectators exempt from sanitary passes replacing for a time the alpine cows, the two groups seem to have savored this idyllic setting bathed at last in a frank summer sun.
Hypnotic rhythmic loops
Under the banner of the now cult "Rocklettes" of the Palp Festival, events combining rock and raclette, which began sold out last weekend in the Goly cover and end on Sunday at the Lein pass, the expected Goat have appeared. dressed up as voodoo wizards or flanked by animal masks that don't really stand out all that much in the district that houses the famous stuffed animals and stuffed animals from the Evolène carnival. Even their tracks mixing psychedelic rock and world music seem to act as rituals intended to drive out evil spirits...
Read the rest here: RTS
---
Watch the video made by Rocket's very own John O'Carroll for 'Hauberk', the first track to be revealed from Smote's debut Rocket release 'Drommon':
Originally released as a cassette earlier this year, this expanded vinyl version of 'Drommon' features a longer version of the title track, plus adds two new pieces of music.
'Drommon' is released on Green/Black splatter vinyl on 1st October.
Preorder here: Rocket
---
So as previously, it is a great time to buy some ltd Rocket albums and shirts - here's some of our latest releases we wanna shout about:
Smote - Drommon
Brand new presale going live today - ltd green/black vinyl
Teeth of the Sea – WRAITH (Repress)
The bands latest album finally gets a reissue on Moss Green and Black vinyl editions
The Utopia Strong – The Utopia Strong (Repress)
The bands debut album gets a long overdue reissue on Radiant Yellow and Black vinyl editions
Urdog – Long Shadows: 2003-2006 LP
Ltd edition Ice Black splatter vinyl version of this incredible retrospective compilation
GOAT – Requiem (Single LP edition)
Ltd Edition repress on 'Blue Flame' vinyl of this Rocket classic album, only a few copies left!
Deafkids/Petbrick – Deafkids
Warehouse find of a handful of copies of this long sold out killer album on Red/Black splatter
Paisiel – Unconscious Death Wish LP
Stunning second album, ltd Red/Black 'colour-in-colour' vinyl
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Offcuts
The band at their most ferocious on purple/black splatter
VED – Ett visst fängelse 7"
Banging two track ltd edition 7" from these Swedish master of repetitive psych rhythms
GNOD/Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – T-shirts
Reprints of classic GNOD and Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs t-shirts available.
+ there are loads of other great albums, shirts and posters to pick up from the Rocket or individual bands Bandcamp stores:
---
And we are excited to reveal that Ruton Music are releasing the instrumental versions of the album onto a ltd edition cassette of 75 copies as part of tomorrow's Bandcamp Friday via the Ektro Records site.
This is what they say:
This is Pharaoh Overlord’s monolithic album “6” deprived of its vocal performances. Soothing pulses, symmetric guitar licks and masses of synthetic chords hover about, creating free space for an estranged imagination. The listener is left with a dizzying confusion and a thirst for an album of Aaron Turner’s isolated vocal tracks.
Buy the cassette here from 6th August: Ektro
And buy the original version here: Rocket
---
Watch the John O'Carroll made video here: Psychedelic Baby Magazine
'Drommon' is released on Green/Black splatter vinyl on 1st October.
Presale will go live this Friday at 8am as part of a new run of six Bandcamp Friday's – the first Friday of the month where Bandcamp doesn't take a fee from labels/bands sales, so a great time to buy!
Preorder here from 6th August: Bandcamp
-
Summoned from the murkier reaches of the subconscious and summoning a powerful aura of twilight communion, Smote’s ‘Drommon’ is here to intimidate and enchant. The first Rocket release for this enigmatic Newcastle-based entity is no less than a mystically-aligned voyage into abandon and epiphany.
The base ingredients of Smote’s spell-casting may not be unfamiliar - the eternal three ‘r’s of repetition, repetition, repetition being paramount along an eldritch and less-travelled musical pathway which wanders from Swedish godheads like International Harvester via the skewed Americana of Sunburned Hand Of The Man and French cult psych-folk heroes Natural Snow Buildings, Nonetheless, a particular potency and singularity of vision triumphs throughout ‘Drommon’, reflective of cinematic chills and night terrors. Possessed of a peculiarly pastoral sensibility and earthen intensity, these ceremonial serenades thus take on feverish and compelling life of their own.
‘Drommon’ arrives as an expanded version of a ltd tape / digital release on Bandcamp, where Smote’s limited editions of their previous release ‘Bodkin’ have prompted excitement and consternation amidst intrepid psychic travellers. Yet this release, whereby brand new material is bookended by the mighty two-part invocation of the title track, create a richly engrossing voyage into the nether which establishes Smote as a force to be reckoned with in all manner of dimensions.
Replete with doom-laden atmospherics and crepuscular intensity, this is an intimidating denouement to return to time and again. Join the ritual, and submit to ‘Drommon’.
---
Mysterious and magical. Swedish Goat - with roots in Korpilombolo or Gothenburg, depending on who you ask - releases a collection, Headsoup, which helps in the export interest around the free-form ensemble.
Goat is an odd bird in Swedish music exports. For each album, the group has received increasing reaction. The album World Music has, for example, sold 40,000 outside Sweden and the group has performed at both the English Glastonbury Festival (twice) and the American Coachella. The group's single top live was otherwise when the Brixton Academy in London was sold out.
Now comes a collection, Headsoup, with songs from the past but also some new ones. The single Fill My Mouth comes today Tuesday 2/8.
I emailed the character The High Priest of Fuzz Guitars and got a slightly different response than this vignette is used to.
Five years ago Requiem - what have you been up to?
- Yes, we took a break, did something else. Mr. Goatman did a solo record, someone played free jazz in Djinn, Gås released some rock n roll. Then we had sessions and drank coffee as well.
How secret are you really?
-Super secret. Not even my partner knows who I really am. We only go out after midnight and then only masked.
What's happening around Headsoup?
-We will go out and play a little, not as much as usual for obvious reasons .. A gig in Malmö at least and a few other things in Europe. We are not usually super involved in campaigns and such, the label handles that best. But there is usually a bit of pressure and such, and lately we have had a bit of a spin on radio in the UK as well. Queen of the underground has received an A-list on 6Music, for example, that's a bit fun.
What kind of company is Rocket?
-Rocket Recordings is an indie label run by two fine sluts in London. They only release things they like themselves.
Read the piece here: Musikindustrin
---
Following the fuzz attack of 'Queen of the Underground,' we are now proud to bring you 'Fill My Mouth' the second brand new song to be taken from GOAT's forthcoming release 'Headsoup'.
'Headsoup', which is released on 27 August is a globetrotting acid trip of an album, collecting rarities spanning the bands career: standalone singles, B-sides plus two enormous brand new tracks!
'Fill My Mouth' is a scuzzy psychedelic funk knockout, the sleaziest thing the band have ever recorded. Watch the eye-popping video made by Rocket's very own John O'Carroll above.
We asked a member of GOAT for a quote about the track and this is what they said:
"I believe in miracles. Where're you from, you sexy thing, you sexy thang you. I believe in miracles since you came along, you sexy thing."
'Headsoup' is available on LP+7" and CD – sadly we have sold out of the vinyl at the Rocket Bandcamp:
But you can still preorder an exclusive version via Rough Trade:
Or you can also preorder a special ltd edition green vinyl version from your local record shop. And for all you 'audio purists', there is also a ltd 'Black' vinyl version available as well.
-
Sometimes dark and heavy, at others joyous and beautiful, like Goat themselves ‘Headsoup’ is mysterious and constantly shapeshifting, difficult to properly pin down but constantly enthralling. Jazz-flute solos, pounding Afrobeat rhythms, ferocious desert blues, drifting Ethio-jazz and churning drones are just a fraction of their dazzling mix of influences. This is, as the name of Goat’s first album made clear, ‘World Music’ in its most complete form, a sound unrestrained by genre boundaries.
Almost a decade since Goat first emerged from the depths of Korpilombo, there is still no other band on earth that sounds quite like them.
GOAT have also announced a handful of rare shows, and if you have witnessed this band in full flight on a stage before, you know these opportunities are not to be missed:
Aug 11 / CZ / Val de Bagnes / Palp Festival
Sep 11-12 / GR / Athens / Plissken Festival
Oct 23 / SE / Malmo / Plan B
---