29 Aug 2019

The Utopia Strong 2019 UK Tour



The Utopia Strong are the combined forces of Kavus Torabi (Gong/Cardiacs/Knifeworld/Guapo) and Michael J. York (Coil/Teleplasmiste/Guapo) and Snooker legend Steve Davis.

The Utopia Strong self titled album with be available on all formats on 13 September & the band will be taking their 'Medical Grade' music with a string of shows around the release:


September
05 / Oslo / London (supporting Teeth Of The Sea)
08 / Krakenhaus Festival / Cumbria November

November:
08 / Golden Lion / Todmorden

December
11/ The Cluny / Newcastle
12 / The Hare and Hounds / Birmingham
18 / The Crescent / York
19 / Deaf Institute / Manchester
20 / Cafe Oto / London
21 / The Music Hall / Ramsgate


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Buy/Stream: The Utopia Strong

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"A storming debut”
The Quietus

"The band’s pulsing krautrock and hazy synthwork should appeal to freaks of all stripes”
UNCUT

"Effortlessly mixes progressive rock, Krautrock and modern electronica”
Louder

"An extraordinary marriage between celestial radiance and hallucinatory repetition”
Circuit Sweet

"An hypnotic and ever changing musical soundscape”
Backseat Mafia

"Not bad for the man nicknamed Mr Boring as a snooker player”
The Mirror

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Live Band Video Footage by Katie Davies
 

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Birthday Cake for Breakfast reviews Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs at Arc Tangent


They say:

Not long after, the noise continued but in more drawn out, crushing fashion as Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs really stuck the boot in. Vocalist Matt Baty came festival ready in his Nike shorts and sparkly stage jacket, hood occasionally up like a boxer as he stalked the stage, bellowing across the tent. Last year we found Pigs’ in the dark, glowing under bright red lights, conjuring up something dark and evil from below the depths. Thursday found them in a slightly different setting in the mid-day sun…


Baty told us that if he blurred his eyes, he could see the crowd stretching on forever! After something new towards the tail end of their set (which was thunderous and sounded like death), Baty gave us a glimpse into their collective psyche, telling us that in their imagination, this isn’t 2019 – it’s 1979, Castle Donnington for Monsters of Rock! In this timeframe, Status Quo have just been on, with Judas Priest for afters – making them Twisted Sister! The pit appropriately opened up and became lively on closer ‘A66‘, the other Pigs blasting through the near ten minute thrill-ride as Baty howled and melted into the front row...

Read the rest here: Birthday Cake for Breakfast

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Bonnacons of Doom up-and-coming shows


Bonnacons of Doom start a series of up-and-coming shows this weekend at Manchester Psych Fest and finish with a new show to be announced at The Lanes in Bristol on 8 November.

Listen to new single Esus here: Youtube

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28 Aug 2019

Raven Sings The Blues say some words about Bonnacons of Doom's Esus EP


They say:

Liverpool heavies Bonnacons of Doom return to the fold with a new EP that reworks previous tracks from their debut, with edits by JD Twitch, Liars and, Capac. Also included is a new track, “Esus,” that proves once again why the band is such a stunner in Rocket’s roster. Making good on their name, the track gathers clouds of doom under a megaton blast of guitar and the soaring incantations of Kate Smith. Her vocals push the track towards oblivion as the track growls behind her. The band’s debut was a welcome surprise last year and they’ve apparently been working up some devastating live shows, more of which are on the way. The band embarks on a short UK tour starting on the 30th of August. The EP is out September 13th digital and on limited cassette.

Read the rest here: Raven Sings The Blues

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PETBRICK reveal support for London album launch party


We are excited to announce that PETBRICK have added Psywarfare to the line up of their London album launch. Psywarfare is Dwid from the legendary Integrity doing his solo noise mayhem! Dwid guests on PETBRICK's debut album, so you never know, maybe a live collaboration is on the cards? 

Baba Yags's Hut presents:
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PETBRICK
+ Psywarfare
+ DJs
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Shacklewell Arms
Saturday, 2 November

Tickets are shifting for this so grab one quick if you want to be part of the chaos: See

PETBRICK's full tour dates are:

28 Oct / UK / Huddersfield / The Parish
29 Oct / UK / Sheffield / Record Junkee
30 Oct / UK / Manchester / Soup Kitchen
31 Oct / UK / Bristol / Exchange
01 Nov / UK / Cardiff / Clwb Ifor Bach
02 Nov / UK / London / Shacklewell Arms
06 Nov / CZ / Prague / Underdogs
08 Nov / BE / Antwerp / Het Bos    
09 Nov / NL / Utrecht  / Le Guess Who? Festival  

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Listen to PETBRICK NOISESYSTEM


PETBRICK have put together a killer Spotify playlist of tracks, a feast of sounds for your ears and brain, so well worth following to hear an eclectic mix of music selected by Iggor and Wayne.

Listen/Follow here: Spotify

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27 Aug 2019

Listen to 'Esus' – the first track from new Bonnacons of Doom EP


 
Liverpool collective Bonnacons of Doom return with their first new music since 2018’s critically acclaimed S/T debut album. This new four track EP features a brand new composition called Esus and three incredible remixes by Liars, JD Twitch (Optimo) and Capac – all three are remixes of songs taken from their S/T debut album. You can listen to the lead track Esus above

Read what Echoes and Dust say about the track here: Echoes and Dust

Esus is being released as a special edition cassette that is ltd to 100 copies on 13 September and these can be preordered via: Bandcamp

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Esus starts with an ominous fuzz riff that draws the listener deep into the world of Bonnacons of Doom. Kate’s pagan’esque, repetitive vocal collides head on with the cacophony of doomed guitars and synths.

Then come the remixes of tracks from their debut S/T album...

JD Twitch – one half of the legendary Scottish DJ / label owners and NTS resident team Optimo has turned album opener Solus into a sub-bass heavy, psychedelic, caveman stomp of the highest order. Dance floors with crumble under its pure weight of this repetitive monster.

Track three sees ‘Australia via Brooklyn’s’ kings of avant-punk-electronica Liars take Bonnacons’ track Industria and deconstruct it into looping drones of noise, feedback and subtle melodies.

Finally, sonic explorers Capac take the track Solus and strip it back
to an otherworldly, minimalist soundscape of fuzz, voice and stripped back percussion.

The band are donning on their masks and robes on these following dates:

30 Aug / Manchester Psych Festival / Manchester
17 Sep / Huddersfield / The Parish
18 Sep / London / The Lexington
19 Sep / Brussels / Magasin 4
20 Sep / Berlin / Sneaky Snake Festival
21 Sep / Strasbourg / La Grenze




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23 Aug 2019

Rocket special on Reprezent Radio


Tune into Ailbhe Máiréad Reprezent Radio show on Sunday 6-8pm to hear a #CheckTheLabel Rocket special where she will be playing some of the latest Rocket releases plus maybe the first play of a brand new and exciting track!!

Tune in here: Reprezent

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Baize Watch interviews The Utopia Strong



Snooker Channel Baize Watch interviews The Utopia Strong during a practice session...watch from 7:30.

Preorder their debut album here: Bandcamp

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Bonnacons of Doom announce Strasbourg show


Bonnacons of Doom have announced a Strasbourg show at La Grenze on 21 September.
Info and tickets here: La Grenze

The bands up-and-coming shows now look like:

30 Aug / Manchester Psych Festival / Manchester
17 Sep / Huddersfield / The Parish
18 Sep / London / The Lexington
19 Sep / Brussels / Magasin 4
20 Sep / Berlin / Sneaky Snake Festival
21 Sep / Strasbourg / La Grenze

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22 Aug 2019

PETBRICK reveal new single featuring Full of Hell's Dylan Walker



PETBRICK - the duo comprising Wayne Adams (Big Lad/Death Pedals/Johnny Broke) and Iggor Cavalera (Sepultura/Soulwax/Mixhell), are releasing their debut album 'I' via Rocket on 25 October and you can watch the video to new face melter of a single called 'Radiation Facial' featuring vocals from Full of Hell's Dylan Walker: 

Watch video for Radiation Facial (Feat Dylan Walker) above

Read what Kerrang! have to say about the video here: Kerrang!

Preorder Ltd edition colour vinyl and CD here (full details below): Bandcamp

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We asked PETBRICK to say some words about the new single, Iggor said: “Radiation Facial is combination of minds moving forward on full speed, first with the music, and then with the additional vocal madness of one of my favourite singers of this new generation, the amazing Dylan Walker of Full of Hell." And Wayne followed up with: “Dylan is the best vocalist from any heavy act I’ve seen perform in the last few years, when I caught FOH at the underworld in Camden last year it blew my mind! So when Iggor said he had spoken to him and he was game to do some vocals for us I was so excited, and I think the result speaks for it’s self, it’s a total banger!”

And what about video? Iggor said "The video is a full dive into the mind of the director James Alec Hardy... a perfect combination of images that leaves lots of space for our imagination to fly, something that personally I believe is missing on a lot of music videos and movies.” And Wayne's take on James's twisted vision is "So slimmy, so weird, and damn classy! I think James has found that perfect line between cult, weird and the abstract that feeds directly from his primary practice as a visual artist. it feels very original, very intune with the music and really quite beautiful.”

PETBRICK's forthcoming album 'I' is packed with electronic experimentation, hardcore attitude, dystopian dread and in-the-red dementia. These all collide and collude to form a uniquely invigorating assault that mixes the intensity of Ministry and the synapse-shredding mischief of Aphex Twin yet lodged firmly in the here and now.

'I' is packed with other guest vocalists aside from Dylan Walker – Integrity’s legendary vocal exorcist Dwid Hellion. From the exhilarating melodic counterpoint of Mixhell's Laima Leyton and the unique stream-of-consciousness lunacy from Warmduscher’s Mutado Pintado.

The duo are taking the PETBRICK noise around the country and can be seen playing at:

28 Oct / UK / Huddersfield / The Parish
29 Oct / UK / Sheffield / Record Junkee
30 Oct / UK / Manchester / Soup Kitchen
31 Oct / UK / Bristol / Exchange
01 Nov / UK / Cardiff / Clwb Ifor Bach
02 Nov / UK / London / Shacklewell Arms
06 Nov / CZ / Prague / Underdogs
08 Nov / BE / Antwerp / Het Bos    
09 Nov / NL / Utrecht  / Le Guess Who? Festival 


'I' is available to buy on CD or LP in three ltd formats, all in a special spot varnished sleeve.

There is a ltd edition 'Black & White Swirl' vinyl can be preordered from the Bandcamp link below. And from your local record shops there are two ltd edition versions available – a 'Black & Clear, 50/50 split' version and a 'Skinned' colour version.


And for USA and Canadian fans, the PETBRICK album is being released there via the great Closed Casket Activities label.

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21 Aug 2019

Gnoomes to play DDW Festival


Gnoomes have been announced to play DDW Festival on October 22 at Stroomhuis in Eindhoven.

Info/tickets: Facebook

Gnoomes latest album MU can be bought from here: Bandcamp

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The Quietus say some words about Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs at Green Man


They say:

But when it comes to flexing muscles, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs are pumping iron. There’s a sense of security when faced with Orange amps and speaker stacks, and when frontman Matt Baty emerges wearing shorts and a boxing dressing gown, then you know they’re going for the prize. By their own admission, their psych-metal collision is forever playing Donington sometime after a Judas Priest slot, but it feels equally at home here. Rocking righteously against a muddy mix, they can claim a victory on points instead of a TKO.

Photo by Parri Thomas

See the full review here: The Quietus

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20 Aug 2019

Pick-up a Rocket bargain in FOPP and selected HMV stores


If you head to FOPP or one of the selected HMV stores you can pick-up a Rocket Recordings bargain as they are running a special month long campaign...

Some stores also have their hands on some rare stock, like Julie's Haircuts amazing and log s'old out' album 'Invocation And Ritual Dance Of My Demon Twin.'


Store locations can be found here: FOPP

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Get into This say some words about The Utopia Strong's new single and forthcoming tour


They say:

The Utopia Strong have released new single Konta Chorus from their self titled debut album, Getintothis’ Peter Goodbody chalks his snooker cue.

The Utopia Strong, the combined forces of Kavus Torabi (Gong / Cardiacs / Knifeworld / Guapo), Michael J. York (Coil / Teleplasmiste / Guapo) and snooker legend Steve Davis have arrived.

This is no less than a modular driven kosmische colossus of transcendent power enough to drive all talk of green baize firmly into the blue yonder.

With Davis’ modular geometry and ambient structures weaving with Torabi’s keen and skewed sense of melody alongside York’s various gifts for pipes, drones and fevered abstract are no more apparent on the second track to be revealed Konta Chorus.

The resulting tapestry is as likely to remind listeners of the counter-cultural benchmarks of Terry Riley and Cluster as the later vortex-voyages of Zimpel Ziolek with it’s melange of ‘70s Brain Records and ‘90s Warp Label skewed diabolus in musica melodic undertow.‎

Read the full piece here: GIT

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Give us your vote – Louder puts The Utopia Strong in their Tracks of the week Poll



Louder has put The Utopia Strong new single Konta Chorus in their 'Tracks of the week' Poll. Watch the great video created by Rocket's John O'Carroll for the single above.

And then you can vote for it to be THE Track of the week here: Louder

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19 Aug 2019

Music Pills Horizon say some words about DJINN


They say:

Djinn is both a mythological creature and a weird union of music and musicians. Djinn album review under the lens of jam and experimentation

Djinn is the name of spirit creatures whose origin can be put back in the early Islamic mythology and has been anglicized in genies. They could be considered good, neutral or bad, and it’s said that God created them out of a mixture of fire. Djinn is also the name chosen for an alternative project born from the mind of members of Swedish bands Goat and Hills. We’re going to dig into their first and homonymous full-length.

It’s a step forward for the label Rocket Recordings into a “jazzier” soundscape, where folk elements blend with free form solos to form a mysterious soundscape salted by a touch of irony and fun. The cover shows black and white characters whose traits are distorted and bent, their textures slightly show a fine symbolism regarding eyes shedding tears. We can group the figures this way: two single characters, each by its own, and all the others forming a masked unit, their mouth a painful grimace. Then there’s the single man on the left, the only one that wears a hat, a sort of crown, and the only one laughing at the scene. The main one is at the center of the mess: its skin is pure black, his limbs unnaturally stretched trying to grab something covered. This better reflects the image of the djinn, the mythologic creature.

The cover clarifies the sonic content: a distorted beast with bad intentions aiming to twist your mind with sounds beyond the earth, and the laughing man maybe is the conscious listener, the one who doesn’t fear the new and the mysterious. Together with him, let’s dive in...

Read the rest here: Music Pills Horizon

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16 Aug 2019

Preorder Double Date on DVD


Double Date – the movie that was scored by (and staring) GOAT gets its Blueray/DVD/Digital release on 9 September...and you can preoder a copy now: Amazon

The soundtrack 10" that we released is long sold out from us and our distributor, but some shops still have copies hidden away in their racks – one such shop is Crash Records in Leeds, so if you don't have this killer soundtrack then get it now before the discogs prices rise and rise: Crash Records

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14 Aug 2019

Ltd Edition Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs 'Green Man' poster


Here's a great Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs poster for this weekends Green Man Festival performance. The poster is a collaboration between @WeThreeClub and @lukedrozd.

They will be on sale at the fest and if any are left we expect they will be selling some online via: WeThreeClub

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Midnight to Six reviews Gnoomes MU!


They say:

MU! is album number three for Russian band Gnoomes, who set up shop right on the spot where narcotic noise-pop and experimental krautrock grooves meet. It’s a dandy of a psychedelic journey start-to-finish, squeezing as much color as possible out of traditional rock instruments, taken to new brain-busting heights by heavy digital post-production. If you love sonic experimenters like Eno, Can, Kraftwerk, MBV, Wire, and Spacemen 3, then you’ll get where the band is coming from, but there’s something really alien about the way Gnoomes contort those influences into a new whole. Take the song “Irma” for example: The tight rollicking beat could have come from Tago Mago, and Slowdive heads would approve of those beautiful guitar sounds; but there’s also dense layers of vocals snippets placed atop one another that create a highly disorienting effect. By the time the song kicks into its’ psychotic double-time crescendo it sounds downright futuristic. What I find most interesting about MU! is that most of its nine songs barely seem rooted in any kind of traditional song-structures. What that means is that, unlike the bands that influenced Gnoomes, the songs on MU! would be almost impossible for another band to cover (“Glasgow Coma State” is perhaps the only exception). MU’s songs are built to deliver a certain type of sonic nirvana and I just don’t see a way a band could take a song like “Sine Waves are Good For Your Health” – which is basically six minutes of kaleidoscopic headfuckery over rolling tom-toms – and do anything to make it their own. It’s exciting, heady stuff, and I’m pretty sure it will place high on my year-end list of best albums. I’d also imagine it sounds devastatingly good when you’re frying up on your favorite drugs.

See the full piece here: Midnight to Six

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13 Aug 2019

The Utopia Strong Reveal 'Konta Chorus' - 2nd Track from their Debut Album



We are hugely delighted to share 'Konta Chorus' the 2nd album track to be revealed from the up & coming The Utopia Strong debut album. The video with a slight homage to The Prisoner TV series was made by Rocket's Johnny O, so watch in the link above.

Stream Track: Konta Chorus

The Utopia Strong, the combined forces of Kavus Torabi (Gong/Cardiacs/Knifeworld/Guapo) and Michael J. York (Coil/Teleplasmiste/Guapo) and Snooker legend Steve Davis have arrived at no less than a modular driven kosmische colossus of transcendent power enough to drive all talk of green baize firmly into the blue yonder.

With Davis’ modular geometry and ambient structures weaving with Torabi’s keen and skewed sense of melody and York’s various gifts for pipes, drones and fevered abstract are no more apparent on the 2nd track to be revealed ‘Konta Chorus’.

The resulting tapestry is as likely to remind listeners of the countercultural benchmarks of Terry Riley and Cluster as the later vortex-voyages of Zimpel Ziolek with it’s melange of ‘70s Brain Records and ‘90s Warp Label skewed diabolus in musica melodic undertow.

An extraordinary marriage between celestial radiance and hallucinatory repetition as the sounds of an early Aphex Twin track intertwined with Liquid Liquid’s repetitive groove into a climax of electronic Grumbling Fur folk.

The Utopia Strong self titled album with be available on all formats on 13 September & the band will be playing a string of shows around the release with more to be added:


August
24 / Blackmarket Bar / Hastings

September
05 / Oslo / London (supporting Teeth Of The Sea)
08 / Krakenhaus Festival / Cumbria
November
08 / Golden Lion / Todmorden

December
11/ The Cluny / Newcastle
12 / The Hare and Hounds / Birmingham

18 / The Crescent / York
19 / Deaf Institute / Manchester
20 / Cafe Oto / London
21 / The Music Hall / Ramsgate




The album is still available for pre-order in 3 different colours vinyl & CD via Rocket store or your usual outlets:

Buy: Bandcamp
Stream: The Utopia Strong


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6 Aug 2019

PETBRICK announce Crash Records instore show


PETBRICK are heading to Leeds to do a very special instore performance at Crash Records, they say:

Very happy to announce that Petbrick will be in the shop on Sunday 18th August at 2pm performing and meeting fans - i cannot tell you how excited i am to have these 2 noise merchants here ( if you haven't heard this is the new project from Wayne Adams - of Big Lad / Death Pedals / Johnny Broke and Iggor Cavalera - of Soulwax / MIXHELL and of course Sepultura ) get those pre orders in to guarentee a spot - its gonna be LOUD!

Preorder here: CRASH

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Gli Stati Generali interviews Mamuthones


They say:

The interview is organized by the Indica radio program team , broadcast on Radio Sherwood : Matteo Molon and Salvatore Caruana.

As soon as Sherwood Festival ends it is nice to know that in Padua literally "the music continues". This is allowed by two factors: 1) groups of youngsters * who slam a lot to organize spaces and festivals dedicated to music, socializing and culture; 2) a city that has always lived an enviable underground musical movement.

In the first case we find, among others, the Arcella Bella team , which for the second year in a row gives life to the Milcovich Park in the Arcella district, contributing to the urban regeneration of the area. In the second case, instead, there is one of the fundamental bands of the Paduan subculture: the Mamuthones . As Indica we have been following the occult-psychedelic scene for some time, and finally on Friday 13 July we had the opportunity to interview the legendary group that played in the frame of the Arcellano festival.

The evening went by everything except as scheduled: on the stage the Lizards' Invasion should have been open , but the rain fell into question the line up. Once ascertained the passage of bad weather and having to greet the performance of the Lizards (we hope to see you soon!), From 23 to 24 the Mamuthones formed by Alessio Gastaldello (voice, synth), Francesco Lovison (synth), Matteo Polato (guitars) Andrea Davì (drums, percussions) stirred up the stage...

Read the rest here: Gli Stati Generali

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