31 Aug 2011

Rocket Probes August 2011 Playlist




Gnod – Chaudelande Vol.1
(3 amazing tracks the band recorded when stopping in France on their euro tour. This is Vol.1 of three volumes, and I must admitt, could well be their best stuff)

White Hills – Measured Energy
(A great 7" from White Hills on the ever great Trensmat)

The Hygrades – In the Jungle
(Great Nigerian rock with some serious, serious fuzz!!!)

Bong – Roadburn
(Absolutely amazing recording of Bong at their most heavy psychedelic best)

Bitchin Bajas / Faceplant – split
(Bitchin Bajas is Cooper from Cave creating some lovely Kosmiche drones and Faceplant is Aaron from Peaking Lights, who brings more of a groove to his repetitive analogue synthscapes)

Bardo Pond – s/t
(Thanks to Deej for playing us this, BP returning to form)

Rhys Chatham - Die Donnergötter
(Like an orchestration of Sonic Youth guitars cover Neu!)

Electric Wizard - Chrono-naut (Phase II)
(The Wizard doing Hawkwind & that's a winner round these parts)

Can - Ege Bamyasi
(Finally picked up the re-mastered version of this is electronic kraut funk, pop masterpiece and it still sounding incredible fresh)

Grumbling Fur - Furrier
(Supergroup featuring members of Circle, Guapo and Alex Tucker, a dark and somber trip)

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26 Aug 2011

Supernormal 2011 – a short review by Mission Control




So Supernormal 2011 managed to go ahead after all the troubles and early financial worries and thank fuck it did, as once again it was a fantastic weekend.



We were privileged to of been asked to help curate some of the line up for this years event and here are a few words about these performances (we will continue to update this review with images as we receive them):


The only Rocket curated band actually to play on Friday was the amazing and rarely seen live Black Tempest, who headlined the second stage. Adorned in a white lab coat, BT subjected the audience to some stunning psychedelic analogue soundscapes from his vintage sonic weaponry, that even got some of the crowd writhing around in the grass...stunning!!


Saturday started with a downpour which luckily decided to stop before Bad Guys entered onto the stage for turned out to be quite a shambolic performance, however they did manage to set a good 'fun' vibe through the festival that lasted the whole weekend.


Next band to stake the stage was the wonderful Thought Forms who greeted us with shimmering droning guitars, eastern pipes and psych feedback, filling the stage with beautiful ethereal guitar riffs that enveloped into a wall of hazy noise.


Next up on the second stage was the band who we knew nothing about called Drunk in Hell. We booked them solely on Paddy from Gnod's recommendation and my gnod, are we glad we got them on as they were amazing!!!! Repetition is the key to their confrontational hardcore. Imagine Circle as a hardcore band, or early Cosmic Psycho's, amazing band...thanks Paddy, you gave us this years Rex Nemo!!!

By the time Primordial Underground came on, all heads were mangled,but unfortunately PU's fairly boring and run-of-the-mill psych rock didn't tick any boxes.


Luckily though it was then time for our very own Gnod...after the recent changes in ranks we weren't sure what we were gonna get, but we definitely weren't left disappointed as Gnod played another storming set!!! Within seconds of starting, the main stage was turned into a rave and Gnod's fuzzed out psychedelic dance grooves blew everyone away. The new tracks sounded immense particularly our current fave, Visions of Load...and finishing with their live fave Tony's, they reasserted that Gnod are one of the best live bands in the UK


So, after a short breather, the UK's other best live band Teeth Of The Sea took to the stage. Due to the earlier rain the stage was running late and TOTS were asked to cut their set short before they played which obviously pissed them off and they came out baying for blood, and my god they fucking got it!!!! They stormed through the set they been slaying people with of late and you could tell from the faces of the TOTS virgins in the crowd, they were blown away by the sound and spectacle, they truly came and delivered a jaw dropping set.

We took our fried minds up to the bar tent where Bad Guys played an impromptu set, and they managed to redeem themselves with a great set of their totally mashed up psych metal.


Sunday's started for us with the great noise by the mighty Bong. They played an amazing collage of droned out psych doom, perfect for the state of mind we were all in.

Straight after Bong was Big Naturals, they get better and better every time I see them and their in-your-face kraut noise created from just bass and drums is mesmerizing.

Following them was another two piece, this time the great Gum Takes Tooth who subjected us to their fantastic mix of noise, psych and fucked up electronica.

Skullflower came on and did a 20-30 min noise set like they did at St Giles church a couple of years back, it was good but a bit underwhelming when you compare it to their great recorded work.

So finally, to wrap things up, maybe the band of the weekend Drunk in Hell set up in the bar for an unannounced set which transformed the tent into a full on mosh pit, what a way to finish an amazing festival. Lets hope it happens again next year as Supernormal truly is a rare event amongst an over cluttered and very samey festival circuit...long live Supernormal!!



(If you have any photos of any of the bands mentioned above, please send them to

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24 Aug 2011

Rare Heads footage - live at The Cube & unseen tour footage



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Watch Teeth Of The Sea live at Supernormal 2011


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23 Aug 2011

Watch Gnod play 'Tron' at Supernormal




Gnod's amazing set on Saturday at Supernormal was captured on film.
Here is the band playing the track Tron.

A full Rocket review of the festival will follow soon!!

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High Wolf / Annapurna Illusion gets interviewed by The Quietus




Read the full interview here

Annapurna Illusion's album on Rocket called 'Life is an Illusion' is released in all good record shops on September 19th

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16 Aug 2011

Gum Takes tooth to play next 'Nothing is...'



We are excited to announce that one of Mission Control's favorite bands around at the moment, the amazing Gum Takes Tooth, will play the next 'Nothing is...' night at the Alibi. If you are unfamiliar with the band, two drummers and keyboard play an amazing mix of Kraut rock meets Lightening bolt. Full information is as follows:

Nothing is...
-
DJs:
Cage and Aviary (Walls have ears / DFA)
Cherrystones (Whatever we want records / Brutal music)
Rik Motör (Rocket Recordings)
Little Dirty (Head Nod Music)

Live:
Gum takes Tooth
(Playing at 10pm)
-

Date:
August 26th
-
Venue:
The Alibi (91 Kingsland High Street, Dalston, London E8 2PB)
-
Time:
9pm to 3am
-
Cost:
Its FREE
-
More info visit here

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Gnod live at Far Out Fest




Check out this recording of Gnod at the recent Far out Fest, quality not the best, but def worth a listen to hear two new tracks 'Where's Jasper?' and Mission Control's fave track at the moment, the amazing 'Visions of load'!!!

GNOD - Live @ Fat Out Fest - Islington Mill - Manchester - 6th August 2011 by GNOD

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GNOD's Vatican appears on Haxan Cloak mix for FACT magazine




Haxan Cloak who has released a great record on the ever great Auorora Borealis has put together a mix for FACT magazine and it features the might GNOD track 'Vatican'.

Check out the mix here

Haxan cloak is currently doing a remix of the track.

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15 Aug 2011

BONG added to Supernormal line up



The Supernormal team have informed us that BONG have been added to this years Supernormal festival.

Check there music out here:

13 Aug 2011

ONEIDA + MUGSTAR + QUIETUS DJS



ONEIDA + MUGSTAR + QUIETUS DJS
13 Aug 2011 , The Lexington, London, UK

Join Rocket Recordings at the Lexington for this ATP organised gig, we will be giving both bands their brand new Collisions 2 (Launch 044) vinyls, so if you come along you could may well be in line for a pre-release copy as its not available in shops till October......but that is up to the bands!!

Further details:

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12 Aug 2011

Supernormal - line up announced



We are very happy to announce the full Supernormal line up has been published.

To view all events for the 3 day line up visit:
supernormalfestival/line-up

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Standon Calling 2011 - Teeth of the Sea



Teeth of the Sea play Standon Calling festival (12-14th Aug) & will be performing on the Twisted Licks stage at 14.45 on the 13th Aug.

For full stage times & further details visit:
standon-calling.com/artists/twisted-licks/

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11 Aug 2011

The Anything Goes Breakfast Show with GNOD



The Anything Goes Breakfast Show with GNOD (11/08/11)

Gnod join The Anything Goes Breakfast Show in the studio for a 90minute Gnod take-over of ALL FM (96.9).

The show features interview's with the band about influences, touring, past and present releases and they play some of their favourite music from James Brown to Bong!

The show featured a *radio exclusive* first play of 'Visions of Load' from the upcoming LP 'Chaudelande Volume 1' coming to all decent record shops and the internet soooooooon!!

Check it here:
AnythingGoes/110811

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10 Aug 2011

The Wire magazine - Supernormal Festival: A Video Primer



Supernormal is an outdoor festival in the Chiltern Hills drawing primarily on the UK underground, supported by The Wire.
The line up includes Skullflower, Primordial Undermind, Cindytalk, A Band, Hamilton Yarns, Teeth of the Sea, Gnod, Thought Forms and more, plus art projects from Juneau Projects, Dirty Electronics & Anat Ben-David, The aPAtT Orchestra, a discussion strand and more.
Oxfordshire Braziers Park, 19–21 August, £65/ festival pass.
A Video Primer:
thewire
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Supernormal Festival Preview - Radio Broadcast (Resonance FM)



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Supernormal Festival Preview
---------------------------------------------

Resonance 104.4fm - Clear Spot Radio Broadcast in support for SUPERNORMAL festival.

Broadcast on the 5th of August and featuring unreleased and exclusive tracks by Gnod, Teeth of the Sea, Big Naturals and Thought Forms.

Plus an interview with Jimmy from Teeth of the Sea.

Branchage Festival 2011: Teeth of the Sea - Present 'REAPER' - Live Soundtrack


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Branchage Festival 2011
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Teeth of the Sea presents REAPER
[a re-imagining of Neil Marshall’s DOOMSDAY]

Saturday, 24th September
Jersey Arts Centre
20:30 - 21:30

Teeth Of The Sea, London's most intrepid and adventurous psychedelic rock band, have always looked to the extraordinary and outlandish for inspiration, and been as influenced by books and films as by music. With this in mind, some of their biggest influences include the films of Neil Marshall: Dog Soldiers and The Descent have both made their marks on the band's psyche, but by far the closest to the band's collective heart is Doomsday, the hyperreal, volatile and audacious 2008 Frankenstein's monster of a movie that follows a perilous journey to the maws of Armageddon via a killer virus, a retro-futurist medieval society ruled by gangs of marauding punks and/or Malcolm McDowell, and no small amount of blood and gore, putting the viewer in mind of the very best classic 2000AD scripts.

One of the most attractive facets of Doomsday for Teeth Of The Sea has always been its freewheeling approach, not to mention its disregard for conventional notions of narrative structure and a disregard for genre. With this in mind, the band have decided to offer a re-imagining of the movie, taking the most visceral, dramatic and colourful debacles and denouements and turning them into a riot of disorientation that they could then match with a soundtrack that would do its damnedest to challenge it for sheer chutzpah and otherworldly allure. The result, Reaper (named after the movie's killer virus) is a kind of psychedelic reconfiguration that the band will interact with musically to create something truly original and nightmarishly thrilling. Indeed, if there is such a thing as hell on earth, this will hopefully be it.

For full programme line up and further details visit:

9 Aug 2011

Tonight’s Teeth of the Sea show postponed




Tonight’s Quietus promoted show with Teeth of the Sea, Gum takes tooth and Maria and the Mirrors at Madame Jo Jo’s has been show postponed due to the current situation in London.

As soon as a new date has been decided, we will let you know.

On the subject of the rioting aftermath, just want to send our utmost regards to all labels who have lost all their stock in the PIAS warehouse fire...it is shocking!!!

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Supersonic Q&A: TEETH OF THE SEA


Supersonic Q&A: TEETH OF THE SEA

From London, Teeth of the Sea play a wild, mixed-up strain of what sounds like semi-improvised jams. Structures are amorphous, reference points are redundant as they switch modes from song-to-song – noise-rock, electronics and dubbed-out trumpet all get a look-in. As DROWNED IN SOUND said in their review of current album ‘Your Mercury’ (Rocket Recordings, 2010), the band create “a steamy, light-starved jungle of tangled electronics and feral distortion occasionally punctuated by startlingly lucid bottom end. For the most part Teeth of the Sea’s second record defies any worries about genre categorisation, a hermetically sealed unit with such a strong sense of self that comparisons to other music seem perverse.”

Read the Supersonic interview:

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4 Aug 2011

Annapurna Illusion - Life Is An Illusion





The super limited Annapurna Illusion - Life Is An Illusion LP's have just landed at Rocket Recordings Mission Control.

AI's pyramidal mediation will be available on limited edition purple vinyl as of the 19th of September.

Proceed from the dream outward and encounter the Annapurna cinerama in its full illusion.

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Catch Annapurna Illusion alter ego 'High Wolf' on tour soon: facebook.com/High-Wolf

Brighton: komediabrighton
Cambridge: bad-timing


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Supernormal - Number 17 in The Best Festival Guide By The Independent



Supernormal has been voted no.17 out 50 in the best festival guide by The Independent newspaper.

Supernormal is a non profit festival, it is run by people who are doing it for the love and to get the chance to host an amazing event like they did last year, which Rocket Recordings attended and had the best festival experience of our lives, think Glastonbury '71 but less hippies!!!

View the article here:

Don’t forget, all these amazing bands are playing, with still a couple real special guests, still to be announced:

Live:
Skullflower
Teeth Of The Sea
Thought Forms
Gnod
Black Abba (Alexander Tucker, Moss, Sunday Mourning collaboration)
Primordial Undermind
Gum Takes Tooth
Mugstar (DJ)
Cindytalk
Fuzzy Lights
Pink Reason
Big Naturals
Black Tempest
Drunk In Hell
Bad Guys
Maria and the Mirrors
The Rent boys
The Nuns
Proxy Music
A Band
David Davant an his Spirit Wife
And many, many more

Plus art by Geraldine Swayne, Juneau Projects, Dirty Electronics, Chicks on Speed, Lucienne Cole, Tai Shani and many more.

So, if you are thinking of coming, please buy a ticket from here before 7th August...

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3 Aug 2011

Head Heritage review Annapurna Illusion - Life is an illusion



Mr Cope has once again sang the praises of a Rocket release in his monthly address. On this occasion the forthcoming album by High Wolf's alter ego Annapurna Illusion.

Annapurna Illusion - Life Is An Illusion (Launch043) will be launched on 19th September 2011.

Read the review here:

Introducing: Annapurna Illusion


Annapurna Illusion - Life Is An Illusion (Launch043)

Release Date: 19th September 2011

In the highs of the Nepalese mountains, the spirits of the dead
are alive and well, their mantra’s chant atop mossy ruined
temples to the Kosmische jams brewed by the melted soul
of the mysterious Annapurna illusion.

Rocket Recordings are proud to introduce the pyramidal
meditationist ‘Life is an Illusion’ album by France’s
Annapurna Illusion, the evil twin of Not Not Fun’s High Wolf.

Annapurna Illusion's dark Krautrock aesthetic reveal itself in
tracks showered in shamanic dust and rolled tight in a soupy,
psychedelic batter. Life is an Illusion is scattered with fizzing
electric guitars and ambient ragas which unfurl with the might
of a psychedelic blizzard, fogging the sponges of the brain and
eyeballs with a wash of hallucinations where Ash Ra Temple
jam for hours on end with Loop.

Tropical repetitive rhythms drone and drift, guided by a swarm
of breezy effects and celestial layered synths that engulf the
base of the mountain in hypnotic swirls of colourful head
spinning rituals before zipping airborne to glide in a state
of tranced euphoria.

Escapism is bottled and prescribed with each dose of these
6 entrancing mysteries, Life is an Illusion draws from the
same smoke filled breath as fellow explorers Emeralds,
Stellar Om Space, Dylan Ettinger as well as those great
Kosmische artists, AR Machines, Klaus Schulze
and Harmonia.

Proceed from the dream outward and encounter the
Annapurna cinerama in its full illusion.

For more information e-mail:

2 Aug 2011

Rocket to play records on Supernormals show on Resonance FM



We have been invited to play records by the bands we have curated at this years Supernormal festival this Friday on a dedicated Supernormal hour on Resonance FM at 8pm.

Expect to hear an exclusive new Gnod track which sounds amazing, plus a chance to hear the brand new Teeth of the Sea track/remix which we mentioned in last months Rocket Probes. Also there may be an interview with Jimmy from Teeth of the Sea.

So tune into Resonance at 8pm this Friday...

Also, if you are unaware, for this week only there are discounted tickets for sale for the festival... so to get to see three days of great bands for only £55, get your tickets here before Monday 7th.

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Mugstar and Part Chimp announced as Oneida supports




We are extremely excited to announce that two of our fave British bands have been asked to support the amazing Oneida at their London show at the Scala in a couple of weeks. You can get tickets and info here.

Also there is this downloadable Oneida comp that goes through their back cat here.

See you down the front!

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